 At one period during the Federal reoccupation, more than 400 people crowded into the fort's grounds.The fort was garrisoned primarily by the 2nd Florida Cavalry (made up mostly of refugees who had enlisted), a recently detached company of the 110th New York Volunteer Infantry and a company from the 2nd United States Colored Infantry, both from Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West.The Confederates organized a special battalion of the state militia with the sole purpose of stopping the Union raids.