St. Mark's Expedition (March 3-6, 1865)

 Even very late in the Civil War, after the Confederate Army of Tennessee ceased to be a formidable force, all the vital Southern ports had fallen, and William Tecumseh Sherman’s army was ravaging its way north to squash Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia between himself and Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac, fighting still erupted in less prioritized theatres of the war. One such battle occurred in Western Florida, truly a sideshow of the war. A relatively tiny affair, the Battle of Natural Bridge nevertheless has gained attention for being one of the last battles of the war and one of only a mere handful of notable clashes in Florida.

 

Florida’s Little War

Even well into 1865, the war in Florida remained virtually the same. The Union Army, assisted by the navy’s steamships, launched various raids into Confederate Florida. Because Florida was not a priority, there was no attempt at a decisive push and the Confederacy remained alive if somewhat besieged. Occasionally there was a deviation from this pattern and it was soon to occur thanks to two small, but concerning actions.

The Battle of Marianna (September 27, 1864)

 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.

The Battle of Santa Rosa Island (October 9, 1861)

 

Florida is not commonly associated with Civil War battles. I’ve already written on the Battle of Olustee, the largest and bloodiest confrontation in the state between Union and Confederate forces. While Florida is rightly seen as a sideshow theatre for most of the Civil War, it was considered important in 1861. One of the few remaining Federal outposts on southern soil in earl 1861 was Fort Pickens, situated on the western end of Santa Rosa Island in Pensacola Harbor. Secessionists had been trying to get the Federals to evacuate, and at times seriously considered an assault that would have made Pickens, not Sumter, the name associated with the start of the war.

Facing a heavy Federal blockade, the Confederates were keen to dislodge the Union presence on Santa Rosa Island. If they did so, they could construct more naval vessels and even send them out to challenge the blockade. In October of 1861 the Confederates launched their only major offensive action against the island, resulting in one of the few Floridian battles.

 

Across the Bay

General Braxton Bragg

As the war continued to shape up throughout 1861, Confederate president Jefferson Davis put his personal friend General Braxton Bragg in charge of Florida. Davis may have thought that this was a prime posting for his old army pal, as Fort Pickens remained a high-profile target. If it was taken, the harbor could be freed for both ship construction and naval operations. Bragg, however, was more concerned with his defensive obligations, expressing to his wife “This is a fearful responsibility.” He had to defend Florida with just 6,000 men. On a professional level he would much rather be in charge of the more important and critical New Orleans. Regardless of where he was, he would need success to advance his career friend, and he wrote to Davis for reinforcements. The president got him several regiments of additional men. Bragg’s numbers swelled to about 8,100 men, and these made up the Army of the Pensacola.[1]

Bragg’s main focus remained Pensacola and its access to the sea. The Pensacola Navy Yard was one of only three shipyards in the South. Its entrance was protected by three Forts. Two of them, McRae and Barrancas, were on the mainland. McRae was to the west of Santa Rosa Island. Barrancas was to the north, west of Warrington and the Naval Yard. All along the coast which ended in the Naval Yard, Bragg had placed batteries.  The third, Fort Pickens, was on Santa Rosa Island, situated near the west end of a long, then strip of land. Thanks to its separation from the main landmass, the island and fort were still held by Union troops.[2]

Kurz & Allison Part VII: Black Regiments

 Many white Union veterans had a deep respect for their black comrades in arms (check out Barbara Gannon’s The Won Cause, which shows how discrimination against blacks among veterans’ organizations was actually the exception rather than the rule). Louis Kurz was evidently among them, as he depicted black soldiers in a favorable light. I’ve already covered his use of helpful black civilians in the Monitor-Merrimac lithograph. This section contains three examples covering events from mid-1863 to early 1864.

Storming Fort Wagner

The summer of 1863 saw many attempts to capture the birthplace of secession: Charleston, South Carolina. In July General Quincy A. Gilmore sought to force Fort Sumter’s capture or surrender by seizing Morris Island and its Battery Wagner as a launching pad. The Federals landed on the island, but were not able to take the main objective. On July 18 the 54th Massachusetts, a regiment with Abolitionist white officers and mostly free northern blacks in the enlisted ranks, led a costly assault on Battery Wagner. The heavily outnumbered Confederates managed to repel the Union assault and only protracted siege warfare led to their abandonment of their post. Though a defeat, the battle proved to many that black soldiers could fight just as well as whites.

The Florida Expedition Part IV: The Death of the Florida Expedition

The Retreat

Colonel Barton claimed that his men had “not a single round of ammunition remaining.”[1] The artillery was in desperate straits as well. Langdon was down to 7 unwounded artillerists to draw his remaining guns off. Langdon ran for Seymour. All about him the firing was so intense that men were “being struck every instant.” Reaching his commander, he asked for men to help draw back the guns, as the caissons were far in the rear. There were no men to spare.[2]

Seymour tried to inspire his men to further defense. To instill caution in the enemy and slow them down, he suggested that the men give out loud cheers to give the impression that they were not so vulnerable. Captain Dana was about to order the cheers when a limping soldier passed by. Overhearing what the commander wanted, he issued a “hurrah for gen. Seymour and with the last word a stream of blood spurted from his mouth and he fell on his face dead.”[3]

The 54^th Massachusetts had refused the initial order to retreat as it came from the unpopular James Montgomery. Colonel Hallowell intervened and gave the order himself. This time they complied. They enacted Seymour’s cheering plan. The black troops gave nine shouts of victory, then in an act of audacious defiance about-faced and marched away from the Confederates at a regular pace. Every couple hundred yards they turned and delivered a volley. One staff officer of Seymour’s liked to believe that the cheering strategy gave the enemy doubts and produced the lack of a strong pursuit, but in reality darkness and exhaustion affected the enemy infantry.[4] Captain Robert Newell had a more chaotic take on the retreat. “There were a number of stragglers on my right and left, who had rushed forward & been fighting on their own account, several of these were hit, and I shall never forget the cry of agony of one poor fellow who was hurrying to catch up to the rest & fell forward on his hands & knees disabled, for the men expected no mercy if taken remembering Fort Wagner, & made desperate exertions to get away.”[5]

The Florida Expedition Part III: The Battle of Olustee

 

Hawley vs. Colquitt

Early in the afternoon, 4 miles east of Olustee, the 40^th Massachusetts Mounted Infantry met Confederate horsemen from the 2^nd Florida and 4^th Georgia Cavalry. The Confederate riders fell back, the Federals in pursuit.[1] Corporal William Penniman of the 4^th Georgia took credit for drawing the first shots of the battle.  He was with Colonel Caraway Smith on top of a railroad embankment. Smith was looking one way with his field glasses, Penniman another. Penniman saw Seymour’s force and directed Smith’s attention to it. Smith, noticing the presence of black regiments, said, “It’s the Yankees sure enough and they seem to be niggers.” Federal skirmishers came within 300 yards and discharged “quite a volley.” The two Confederates mounted their horses and escaped.[2]

According to the history of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry (a battalion, as readers might recall, that was assigned to the Mounted Infantry to serve as an experienced core), they reported back to the rest of the army that there were at least three Confederate regiments. Captain Elder of the Horse Artillery came up and said but could only see “just one man.” The Confederates, per Finegan’s plan, had withdrawn, the Federals unaware of how large the opposing force was.[3] Elder’s Horse Artillery advanced and with the 7^th Connecticut established a firing line of skirmishers. Confederate cavalry would show themselves and then draw back, “as though inviting us to charge after them.”[4]

The Florida Expedition Part II: Marching through Florida

 Camp Finegan

Once enough of his army had landed, Seymour led a force out of Jacksonville on February 8. Gus Henry’s Mounted Infantry, the only mounted force, would of course be the advance guard. Those in the 54^th Massachusetts, who had been happy to leave fatigue duties at Charleston, were disappointed to learn that they would be staying behind on garrison duty for the moment. They entertained themselves by making a lot of noise in an attempt to make their regiment look larger to any Confederate partisans in the area. They were also pleased to find the civilians getting much friendlier than they had been during the landing.[1]

Seymour’s first target was Camp Finegan, the largest concentration of Confederate forces at that moment. The Rebels had destroyed all the bridges, so the Federals forded the stream instead. The mounted men led the way, surprising and capturing six pickets. In 10 minutes they were nearly upon the camp. Colonel Henry used a local guide, Mr. Alsop, to bypass the camp and strike an artillery camp at Pickett’s Station.[2]

Colonel Guy Henry. His 40th
Massachusetts Infantry was
constantly at the forefront of
the Florida Expedition.

The Confederates in the artillery camp, under Captain Joseph Dunham, were unaware of the danger. Outside, Henry formed his men for an assault, nearly surrounding the target, then said, “If ever you yell in your lives, boys, yell now!” The horsemen shouted to the calls of bugles. It was past 11 PM and most of the Confederates were already sleeping. A sergeant awakened Dunham, shouting, “Save yourselves if you can; the enemy is right upon you!” The captain yelled at everybody to grab horses, mules, or carriages, and flee to Baldwin. The Union riders entered the camp firing “their carbines and slashing with their swords shouting surrender you Rebel sons of bitches.” A Major Stevens gunned for a telegraph operator. An train was expected to arrive soon and the telegraph operator was determined to warn it away. “Major Stevens walked into the room and seized the fellow by the throat as he was on the point of sending another message. In a few minutes his instrument was knocked to pieces and the wire cut.” The Massachusetts riders quickly captured many Confederates, along with a few pieces of artillery. Much of the camp’s men escaped through the one opening, a system of swamps.[3] Henry’s men advanced further to Baldwin, driving off more Rebels and capturing more goods.[4]

The Florida Expedition Part I: The Start of the Campaign for Florida

 

People sometimes ask me why there was little fighting in Florida during the Civil War. The state noticeably juts out into the Caribbean and looks highly invasion prone. Narrow from east to west, one successful offensive could slice off a large chunk of the Confederacy. The truth is that until well into the 20^th Century Florida was a largely undeveloped state full of swamps and other wild terrain. Most of the important population centers were in the north. There was thus little strategic incentive for the Union forces to invade, and a simple blockade of its few ports was far less cost-intensive. That changed at the onset of 1864, when a mix of military, economic, and political factors suddenly drew the attention of Abraham Lincoln’s administration as well as the military Department of the South. The sole major campaign in Florida would climax in the Battle of Olustee, a Confederate victory that is often emphasized more as a Federal blunder. Historians usually portray the Florida Expedition as a wasteful sideshow akin to the Red River Campaign just about to start on the other side of the Confederacy. A few historians have attempted to argue that a Union success could have actually shortened the war. This series will attempt to see which side holds more weight.

 

Florida Before 1864

The American Civil War almost began months earlier in Florida. In late 1860 exuberant Secessionists planned an assault on a weakened Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, in Pensacola Harbor (the westernmost point of the state). However politicians intervened, believing this would paint the Confederates as the instigator of hostilities and drum up war support in the North. This fear was still fulfilled when South Carolinians fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.[1] Almost immediately the war hit Florida hard. Its inhabitants were heavily dependent on ships to export its produced goods and import what they did not make themselves. The absence of Northern trade vessels as well as the blockade led to the shutdown of businesses and shops alongside rising prices.[2]