Fort Clinch was named for Gen. Duncan Lamont Clinch, an important figure in Florida's Seminole War of the 1830's. Construction of the fort by the federal government started in 1847, and continued during the Civil War. Occupied by Confederate forces when the war began in 1861, the fort was taken by federal troops when a withdrawal was ordered by Gen. Robert E. Lee the following year. The garrison operation was greatly reduced in the years following the Civil War and eventually ceased altogether. In 1898, the fort was re-activated for several months during the Spanish-American War. Today, it remains in a remarkable state of preservation.