After the disastrous East Florida campaign of early 1864, which culminated in the bloodbath of Olustee, the Civil War in Florida went back to the status quo of raids and specifically for the Federals occupation duties. There was one raid in September, however, that managed to leave a mark on Floridian memory. This raid’s high point was the Battle of Marianna, occurring at a lightly populated yet important location for the Confederate war effort.
A Raiding War
Though
spared the larger battles in most other theatres of the war, West Floridian
defenders were not in good shape heading into what would be the last year of
the war. One Major-General Sam Jones reported, “The health of the whole command
in this department has been unusually bad this season. It is believed that it
would have been much worse had it not been for the use of quinine as a
prophylactic, for the sanitary condition of the troops improved materially
after its issue.” While quinine alleviated the diseases endemic to hot and in
many places swampy Florida, the men were still severely short of clothes,
especially shoes. The requests of Jones and other officers for clothes and
other valuable goods went unheeded.[1]
Making
matters worse, they were almost at the complete mercy of the Union military,
with only strategic disinterest keeping the rebel presence alive in the
interior. Fanny Chapman, a resident of Marianna, later wrote that “No part of
our coast from Pensacola to Apalachicola was protected, while every bay, bayou,
and inlet was blockaded, and the Apalachicola River was open to Federal
gunboats at any time.”[2]
The commander of the Union Army in West Florida was about to exploit
Confederate weakness.
Alexander S. Asboth
Alexander
Sandor Asboth was born in Hungary in 1811. He became an engineer for the
government, then took part in the 1848 Hungarian revolt against Austrian rule.
Like the other revolutions of that year, it failed and Asboth joined thousands
of other European liberals in moving to America. Also like the other “Dutch”,
he was a fervent supporter of the Union cause and joined the army in 1861.
General
John C. Fremont was familiar with Asboth, whose engineering skills made him a
prominent immigrant citizen. Thus the Republican officer made Asboth both his
chief of staff and a brigadier-general. Fremont’s fall from grace at the end of
1861 threw Asboth’s military career into question, but he ended up retaining
his rank as a divisional commander under fellow European Franz Sigel. He was
wounded at the Battle of Pea Ridge and participated in the taking of Corinth. After
an eventful start to his war, Asboth found himself shuttled off to less active
postings in Kentucky and then West Florida. He found his coastal duty tedious,
and by late 1864 he was itching for action. Thus he began to plan out raids
which he would personally lead.[3]
One
such raid happened late in August. Asboth’s objective was to disperse or better
yet capture Confederate Calvary at Milton. His command consisted of two
companies of the 19th Iowa Infantry, 200 men from the 2nd
Maine Calvary, and two guns and their crews of the 1st Florida
Battery. On the morning of August 29th they boarded the Clinton and Planter. The next day the steamers reached Bayou Mulatte, but the
water level prevented the boats from getting close enough to unload their
soldiers quickly. Not until well in the afternoon the Federals disembarked and
marched 9 miles to Milton, restoring a bridge along the way. Because the delay,
the Confederates were able to load all their valuable stores and send them off
o the town of Pollard. To their credit the Rebels tried to give a fight, but
were soon pushed back and pursued.[4]
These
raids, including the one this post focuses on, rarely produced permanent
territorial changes. Later in October the Federals would return and disperse
another gathering of cavalry in the very same town.[5]
The March
The
raid on Milton had been a success, but Asboth craved much more. He soon planned
an ambitious long cavalry march into the interior. On September 18 he grabbed
700 men and left Santa Rosa Island. His force was necessarily mounted for speed,
and made up of a battalion from the 1st Florida Cavalry (under Major
Ruttkay), three of the battalions from the 2nd Maine Cavalry (under
Lieutenant-Colonel Spurling), and 2 mounted infantry companies from the 82nd
and 86th US Colored Troops (under the Hungarian Colonel L.L.
Zulavsky).[6]
From
Barrancas Asboth intended to take an old military route used by Andrew Jackson
decades earlier, and then to turn northeast.[7]
Asboth’s men actually made a quite impressive march. Starting from the Ridge
Road, they marched “134 miles, into the interior of West Florida,” and often
through heavy rain. On the 23rd the Federal surprised a Confederate
gathering at Euchee Anna Court-House, seizing 15 military and political
prisoners and over 50 horses and mules. Among the prisoners was Allen Hart, a
beef contractor, and it may have been some of his cattle that were next seized
by Asboth’s expedition. The Federals also destroyed the ferry on the
Choctawhatchee River, and for good measure smashed up all the small boat they
could find. The Union cavalry next went to Huett’s Bluff and Cerro Gordo and
there crossed the Choctawhatchee. Their next destination was Marianna, the
hometown of Florida’s own Secessionist Governor John Milton.[8]
The Battle
John Milton was one of the
first governors to push for
secession
Marianna
was not a city, but it was an important town of over 500 people, in Jackson County (which borders the state of Alabama). Governor John
Milton hailed from there, and would sometimes make home visits. It was also the
headquarters town of the Confederates military in West Florida. It was perhaps
inevitable that the Union would eventually make some kind of strike at it.
There were also mistaken reports that Union prisoners were held there, another
reason for Asboth to target it.[9]
4 or 5 companies of rebel cavalry were stationed around Marianna. They spent
their time patrolling the area, also going up to the coast to see if the
Federals were up to any activity. At the time of the battle most of the
companies would be too far away to do any good, though there were plenty of
militia that could make up the numbers.[10]
On
the 26th news reached Marianna that a Federal column was
approaching. As it happened, Governor Milton was visiting his home that day and
he sent out a call for every man who could bear arms to head to his hometown.
Colonel Alexander B. Montgomery was to command. The news was not quite public
yet, so Milton asked that it be kept quiet. He didn’t want an unnecessary panic
if the Federals actually headed elsewhere. Fanny Chapman, a resident of
Marianna, recalled over 40 years later that “the morning of September 27, 1864,
dawned fair and bright in our usually quiet town, and but few of the citizens
of Marianna had the slightest intimation that such a fearful tragedy would be
enacted that day.”[11]
At 8 AM the Federal approach was confirmed and
the news was made public. The militia was called to arms. A few actually army
officers were home on leave, so they took command. The majority of the sudden
soldiers, however, were not in the military for a reason. They were under 16 or
over 50, and they were armed with shotguns and squirrel rifles. One history put
the militia’s strength at 300. Chapman remembered, “Women heard the dreadful tidings
with blanched faces, and hastened with trembling hands and with hearts that
almost ceased to beat with very heaviness to gather up some things that might
be saved from the pillaging band that would soon be upon us.”[12]
The
Confederate force that morning was a hodgepodge of men. They included men from
Alabama militia, Florida Cavalry from the regular army, and Florida militia,
home guards, and just-armed citizens.[13]
By 10 AM they got into position. The cavalry formed at the entrance of the
town, while the militia took cover in buildings at the left side of the road in
hopes of surprising the Federals with their fire from the Episcopal church,
graveyard, and several other buildings. A barricade was thrown up at the fork
of the road, on the main street. The cavalry formed behind the barricade.[14]
At the Waddell Plantation to the west, the mounted Union cavalry materialized. One of them stopped to address Armstrong Purdee, an 8-year old slave child. He asked if he wanted ride along with him. Purdee, awed by the appearance of the men fighting to make him and millions of others free, agreed, and got on the horse behind the trooper. The soldier advised, “Hold on, do not fall off.” Years later Purdee recalled that the cavalry “did not go around anything,” instead jumping “their horses over fallen trees and logs.” Irresponsibly, the white trooper kept the lad with him for the duration of the coming battle.[15]
After
“what seemed like an eternity,” the Federals finally showed up at Marianna. Asboth’s
men reached the town proper in the middle of the afternoon. The 2nd
Maine Cavalry charged ahead, but fire from the buildings and the barricade on
the street sent them back. Asboth ordered another charge, this time leading it
himself. The militia opened fire again. Instead of completely halting his men,
Asboth led much of them after the withdrawing Confederate horsemen while
leaving the remainder to deal with the armed citizens. Of the latter portion, a
group came around the flank and caught the ambushers from behind. Chapman claimed
that a traitorous deserter had guided the bluecoats there.[16]
According
to the assistant surgeon of the 2nd Maine, the black part of the
Union force charged forward with the cry, “Remember Fort Pillow!” This
referenced the mass slaughter of black soldiers at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, far
earlier in the year. Reportedly one of the blacks at Marianna stated to the
Confederates, “Your men give us no quarter when they take us; now it is our
turn.” And they followed their word, dismounting so they could get a better
shot. The white officers had to stop them as they gunned down surrendering
militiamen.[17]
The
Confederate force was certainly falling apart now. The foot soldiers either
fled for the Chipola River or the Episcopal Church, where the fight was still
being kept up.[18] Colonel
Montgomery gave the order to his cavalry to retreat across the Chipola River
bridge in hopes that would be a more defensible position. The officer’s horse
stumbled and threw him to the ground, resulting in his capture.[19]
Asboth
was elated by this taste of action. He bragged that the final charge, “led by
myself, was a brilliant and successful one.” However, he negatively targeted
the 2nd Maine, saying that “all my troops except” for the Mainers
“behaved with the utmost gallantry and secured for our raid a most decided
success.”[20] At
some point in the battle, Asboth was hit, in fact twice. The first bullet hit
him in the cheek, breaking a cheek bone. The second was worse, “fracturing my
left arm in two places.” In fact most of the officers, leading the men
pell-mell in a frontal charge, became casualties.[21]
Militia
continued to fire from the church. The Federals threw torches at the building
and it caught fire. Men who tried to flee were shot down, falling down in the
graveyard. Resistance at the church crumbled when the Colored Troops made a
bayonet charge. The Confederates chased out of town ran down a steep slope,
where more became casualties. One brutal case was Captain Henry O. Bassett, one
of the officers who had been on leave. His body was terribly cut up.[22]
Around 40 Confederates made it to the bridge crossing the Chipola River. Once
across, Assistant Surgeon Henry Robinson took charge and ordered the planking
ripped out of the bridge to prevent pursuit. The Federals made it the crossing,
but without a functional bridge they ended the battle with a brief exchange of
fire. [23]
The
Federals wreaked destruction on the town, “burning and pillaging houses.” Any
building which the militia had used to shoot from was specifically targeted.
One of these was the Episcopal Church, which had offered the stoutest
resistance. Chapman claims that the Federal officers ordered it burned while
they were still inside, and it was only the pleas of the women on sympathetic
ears that saved them. Chapman also praised the Union officers for “protecting
us from the insolence of the negro troops who were with them.”[24]
“We captured 81 prisoners of war, 95 stands of
arms, quantities of commissary and quartermaster’s stories, over 200 fine
horses and excellent mules, 17 wagons, and over 400 head of cattle…besides over
600 contrabands who followed us with the greatest enthusiasm.” The number of
animals and liberated slaves was high for a rural region and was sure to have a
major impact on the Marianna community. Two of the major Confederate officers
fell into Union hands. They were General William E. Anderson, a militia
commander, and Colonel Montgomery.[25]
For such a small battle the Federals suffered some noticeable casualties, Asboth noting
that “our loss is not large, yet it is deeply felt by the whole command.”
Captain M. M. Young of the 7th Vermont, “a highly educated gentleman
and a most efficient officer,” was killed, as was Lieutenant Ayer of the 2nd
Maine Two officers from the 2nd Maine, Major Cutler and Lieutenant
Adams, were too badly wounded to move and were left at Marianna along with
several of the wounded enlisted men.[26]
One of Marianna’s telegraph operators informed Asboth that he had notified and
called every available Confederate to rush to the town. Asboth quickly had his
men get ready to leave. He left town on a bed put on a wagon. Of the few
wounded Federals left behind, 4 died.[27]
A Community
Broken
Despite
his wound, Asboth kept in charge of the raid until its completion. He went
ahead to Washington Point, where the Lizzie
Davis waited with provisions for his men. Then the wounded, including
Asboth himself, went aboard the steamship. From this point the men were safely
back in Federal territory. Captain L.L. Zulavsky of the 82nd US
Colored Infantry took command of the hundreds of cavalry still on shore and
marched them south for Santa Rosa Island, a journey of 400 miles.[28]
Young
contraband Purdee traveled the whole way with the cavalry, ending up at Fort
Barrancas with the rest of the emancipated slaves. His father eventually found
him and took him home. Its unclear whether this was a return to enslavement at
the Waddell Plantation or an in-between status between slavery and freedom, but
he was back with his family.[29]
Back
home the community of Marianna suffered greatly in the aftermath of the raid:
One must pass through such an ordeal to
have the faintest conception of our feeling of utter desolation on that 28th
of September. The wounded were to be cared for, the dead to be buried, the
homeless to be sheltered and clothed and fed. Some negroes had robbed their
owners of all they could lay hands on. Husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers
were either wounded, dead, or prisoners. There was suffering beyond
description. We cared for their wounded as kindly as our own. They were some
mother’s sons or husbands and their women were kind to ours in many instances.
When they were well enough, they were sent to Andersonville, where they
received at least as gentle treatment as did ours at Elmira.[30]
Union
losses at the Battle of Marianna were initially numbered at 32 overall. One
more recent update suggests 8 killed, 19 wounded, and 10 missing, another 13
killed and 26 wounded. Confederate losses were 10 killed, 16 wounded, and 54
captured.[31] .
Lost amidst these comparatively light military casualties is the fact one in
four Marianna males were killed, wounded, or captured.[32]
While only the size of a skirmish, the affair at Marianna was a major event in Florida’s Civil War. It “was the culmination of the deepest penetration of Confederate Florida by Federal soldiers” and even perhaps over-dramatically called “Florida’s Alamo.”[33]
Sources
“The
Battle of Marianna, Florida.” https://web.archive.org/web/20131110070043/http://www.battleofmarianna.com/
Chapman,
Mrs. Fanny. “The Battle at Marianna, Fla.” Confederate
Veteran 19 (1911): 483-484.
Davis,
William Watson. The Civil War and
Reconstruction in Florida. New York: Columbia University, 1913.
Kohl, Major Keith. “The Battle of Marianna.” https://web.archive.org/web/20061022102502/http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/battleofmarianna.htm
Trudeau, Noah
Andre. Like Men of War: Black Troops in
the Civil War, 1862-1865. Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1998.
United
States. The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies Vol. XXXV.
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union
Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1964.
[1] OR XXV, 636.
[2] Mrs. Fanny Chapman, “The Battle
at Marianna, Fla.,” Confederate Veteran
19 (1911), 483.
[3] Ezra J. Warner, Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union
Commanders, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1964), 11.
[4] OR XXV, 442.
[5] William Watson Davis, The Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida,
(New York: Columbia University, 1913), 312.
[6] OR XXV, 443-445.
[7] Davis, Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida,
311.
[8] OR XXV, 443-444.
[9] Noah Andre Trudeau, Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil
War, 1862-1865, (Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1998), 267-268.
[10] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
483.
[11] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
483.
[12] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
484; Davis, Civil War and Reconstruction
in Florida, 311.
[13] “The Battle of
Marianna, Florida.” https://web.archive.org/web/20131110070043/http://www.battleofmarianna.com/.
[14] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
484; Trudeau, Like Men of War, 267;
OR XXV, 444.
[15] Trudeau, Like Men of War, 267-268. Trudeau, Like Men of War, 267-268.
[16] Trudeau, Like Men of War, 268; Chapman, “Battle
at Marianna,” 484.
[17] Trudeau, Like Men of War, 268-269.
[18] Davis, Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida, 311.
[19] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
484.
[20] OR XXV, 444.
[21] OR XXV, 445;
“The Battle of Marianna, Florida.” https://web.archive.org/web/20131110070043/http://www.battleofmarianna.com/.
[22] Davis, Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida,
311-312; “The Battle of Marianna, Florida.” https://web.archive.org/web/20131110070043/http://www.battleofmarianna.com/.
[23] Kohl, Major
Keith. “The Battle of Marianna.” https://web.archive.org/web/20061022102502/http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/battleofmarianna.htm.
[24] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
484.
[25] OR XXV, 444.
[26] OR XXV, 37, 444-445.
[27] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
484.
[28] OR XXV, 37, 444-445.
[29] Trudeau, Like Men of War, 269.
[30] Chapman, “Battle at Marianna,”
484.
[31] Trudeau, Like Men of War, 269; Kohl, Major Keith.
“The Battle of Marianna.” https://web.archive.org/web/20061022102502/http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/battleofmarianna.htm.
[32] “The Battle of
Marianna, Florida.” https://web.archive.org/web/20131110070043/http://www.battleofmarianna.com/.
[33] “The Battle of
Marianna, Florida.” https://web.archive.org/web/20131110070043/http://www.battleofmarianna.com/.
Very interesting
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