Though only a small town at the time, Tampa had been an important port for exporting cattle and crops from ranches and farms in the interior of central Florida before the war.

However, several fast blockade runners based in Tampa had consistently slipped out to deliver cattle and cotton to Spanish Cuba in exchange for needed goods and gold.

[3] In the autumn of 1862, Captain A.A. Semmes, the commander of Union naval forces off Florida's west coast, decided to mount an operation to end the blockade running that had continued from Tampa.

Their target was the Jean Street Shipyard on the Hillsborough River near today's Sligh Avenue, and upon reaching their destination, they quickly seized and burned several ships moored at the dock including two notorious blockade runners, the steamship Scottish Chief and the sloop Kate Dale.

Escaping capture by the attackers along with some crew members, McKay sped to the town and warned the Confederate forces at Fort Brooke about the raiding party and the fate of his ships.

The 2nd Florida Infantry Battalion along with the Oklawaha Rangers cavalry unit and a few citizens of the town quickly gave chase and caught up with the Union detachment near their landing point on Tampa Bay.