Category Archives: Florida

The Battle of Olustee

Florida, Military, Reconstruction February 20, 2019 Leave a comment

February 20, 1864 – A major confrontation occurred in Florida, as Federal forces tried restoring the state to the Union but ran up against strong Confederate defenses.

Brigadier General Truman Seymour’s 5,500 Federals continued moving west from the state capital of Jacksonville, freeing slaves and destroying anything considered useful to the Confederate war effort along the way. They moved through the pine forests of northern Florida as they sought to destroy the strategically important railroad at Lake City. Seymour’s superior, Major General Quincy A. Gillmore, had urged Seymour not to move so far inland, but Seymour insisted on wrecking the railroad.

The Federals approached Olustee Station, a depot on the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Railroad, about 10 miles east of Lake City and nearly 50 miles southwest of Jacksonville. Brigadier General Joseph Finegan’s 5,000 Confederates set up defenses at Olustee and awaited the Federal approach. Tired of waiting, Finegan directed two brigades under Brigadier General Alfred H. Colquitt to advance.

Colquitt’s troops met advance Federal elements on open ground along the railroad southeast of a lake called Ocean Pond. Colquitt reported, “I threw forward a party of skirmishers, and hastily formed line of battle under a brisk fire from the enemy’s advance.” Colquitt ordered his men forward, which he stated “was gallantly done, the enemy contesting the ground and giving way slowly.”

The Battle of Olustee, or Ocean Pond | Image Credit: Wikipedia.org

Seymour directed Colonel Joseph R. Hawley’s brigade to capture Colquitt’s guns in the center of the Confederate line, but as they advanced they fell victim to enfilade fire and were forced to fall back. Two regiments fled in panic, and the Confederates captured two guns.

Colonel George P. Harrison’s Confederate brigade came up to link with Colquitt’s forces, and the opposing sides traded fire for several hours. Colquitt called on Finegan to send more reinforcements, but when they did not come, Colquitt ordered a general advance anyway. As the Confederates started pushing the Federals back, Harrison reported:

“But soon a new line of the enemy appeared, and our advance was checked. His resistance now seemed stubborner than before for more than 20 minutes, when the enemy sullenly gave back a little, apparently to seek a better position, but still held us at bay. Now the results of the day seemed doubtful.”

The Confederates began running low on ammunition, with the ordnance wagons a half-mile away. Couriers worked in teams to deliver more ammunition to the troops so they could renew their offensive. Seymour deployed a brigade under Colonel William Barton, but with replenished ammunition, the Confederates held firm.

Finally, Finegan’s reinforcements joined the main line. Harrison wrote, “These re-enforcements served to embolden our men and intimidate the enemy, for their retreat now became more hurried and their fire less rapid and effective.”

Colquitt directed Harrison to send two regiments against the vulnerable Federal right. Harrison reported that this–

“… succeeded admirably, for soon their right was exposed to a cross-fire, which told upon their ranks with fine effect. A general advance of our line now drove the enemy, who retreated, at first sullenly, but now precipitately, before our victorious arms for some miles, when night came on, and by order of General Colquitt we ceased firing and our line halted.”

Finegan sent the rest of his troops forward, and the Federals gradually gave ground before finally retreating. Seymour sustained nearly the highest casualty percentage rate of any Federal commander in the war, losing over 30 percent of his men (203 killed, 1,152 wounded, and 506 missing or captured). Some Federal soldiers who were veterans of the large battles in the Eastern and Western theaters wrote that this was the most vicious battle they ever experienced.

Three black regiments participated in this contest: the 8th U.S., the 35th U.S., and the 54th Massachusetts. The 8th U.S. Colored Troops lost 310 men, 87 of whom were killed. An officer in the regiment recorded that his commander, Colonel Charles W. Fribley–

“… now ordered the regiment to fall back slowly, which we did, firing as we retired, being unable to withstand so disastrous a fire. The order had just reached me on the extreme right when the colonel fell mortally wounded. The command now devolved on Major Burritt, who soon received two wounds and retired from the field, the regiment at this time engaging the enemy with steadiness, and holding the ground for some time near Hamilton’s battery, which we were trying to save. We here lost 3 color-sergeants and 5 of the color guard while attempting to save one gun, but we were driven back, leaving the gun and, as I afterward learned, the color beside it during the excitement.”

According to Seymour, Lieutenant Colonel William Reed of the 35th U.S. Colored Troops was “mortally wounded while managing his regiment with conspicuous skill, and his major was severely hurt.” Seymour praised the black regiments:

“The colored troops behaved creditably, the 54th Massachusetts and the 1st North Carolina (i.e., the 35th U.S.) like veterans. It was not in their conduct that can be found the chief cause of failure, but in the unanticipated yielding of a white regiment from which there was every reason to expect noble service, and at the moment when everything depended upon its firmness.”

Seymour reported that the white troops had failed because of “conscripts and substitutes, of a very inferior class.” Confederates rounded up the wounded Federals stranded on the battlefield; the white troops were generally treated respectfully, but many blacks were killed. Private James Jordan of the 27th Georgia wrote:

“The Yankee prisoners say they had no idea of meeting with such a force here. They said they did not expect to meet nothing but cavalry here. The negroes were badly cut up and killed. Our men killed some of them after they had fell in our hands wounded.”

Finegan sustained 934 losses (93 killed and 841 wounded). Southerners celebrated this rousing victory, with a Georgia newspaper reporting that the Federals were forced to march “40 miles over the most barren land of the South, frightening the salamanders and the gophers, and getting a terrible thrashing…”

Confederate cavalry pursued the Federals ineffectively, repairing the railroad that the Federals had destroyed along the way. Federal forces retained control of the Florida capital of Jacksonville, but other than destroying vast amounts of property, this campaign proved a total failure for them.

Gillmore, who had opposed Seymour’s westward advance in the first place, reported to General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, “The enemy have thrown so large a force into Florida that I judge it to be inexpedient to do more at the present time than hold the line of the Saint Johns River.”

Only the weak and timid Confederate cavalry allowed Seymour’s force to return to Jacksonville intact. Nevertheless, this was one of the Confederacy’s most decisive victories of the war, and Florida remained a vital source of cattle, grain, salt, and other staples for the Confederates.

The Federal defeat at Olustee ended President Abraham Lincoln’s hopes of imposing his “Ten Percent Plan” on Florida. His representative/secretary John Hay failed to get the 1,400 voters to pledge loyalty to the Union so they could help form a new Unionist state government. Critics of Lincoln’s plan to reconstruct Florida (as well as Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana) accused him of rushing to install new state governments that would support his upcoming reelection bid.

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References

Catton, Bruce, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War (New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1960), p. 441; Chaitin, Peter M., The Coastal War: Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983), p. 139; CivilWarDailyGazette.com; Denney, Robert E., The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle (New York: Gramercy Books, 1992 [1998 edition]), p. 375-76; Donald, David Herbert, Lincoln (Simon & Schuster, Kindle Edition, 2011), Loc 10303; Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian (Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2011), p. 903-05; Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 3: Red River to Appomattox (Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2011), Loc 2202-12; Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 400-01; Linedecker, Clifford L. (ed.), The Civil War A to Z (Ballantine Books, 2002), p. 195; Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 466; Longacre, Edward G., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 259-60, 545; White, Howard Ray, Bloodstains, An Epic History of the Politics that Produced and Sustained the American Civil War and the Political Reconstruction that Followed (Southernbooks, Kindle Edition, 2012), Q164

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Federals Begin Operations in Florida

Florida, Military February 19, 2019 Leave a comment

February 19, 1864 – Federal forces launched an expedition to conquer Florida, while Confederates scrambled to put up a defense.

Major General Quincy A. Gillmore, commanding the Federal Department of the South, had been assigned to invade Florida. Gillmore was to impose President Abraham Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan” by registering 10 percent of the state’s voters so they could elect delegates to form a new Unionist state government. Lincoln had dispatched his secretary, John Hay, to register the 10 percent as Federal troops operated in Florida.

Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, granted Gillmore’s request for naval support by providing the screw steamers U.S.S. Ottawa and Norwich to transport troops up the St. John’s River. The gunboats U.S.S. Dai Ching, Mahaska, and Water Witch would also support the army expedition.

Gen Truman Seymour | Image Credit: Wikipedia.org

Gillmore assigned Brigadier General Truman Seymour, an officer familiar with Florida as a veteran of the Seminole Wars, to lead the division in the field. Seymour had four objectives:

  • Help restore Florida to the Union under Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan”
  • Secure the St. John’s River for Federal trade
  • Liberate slaves and recruit them into the Federal army
  • Destroy Confederate supply lines and any materiel–primarily beef and saltworks–considered useful to the Confederate war effort

Gillmore instructed Seymour to land his troops at the state capital of Jacksonville and then move west to Baldwin, “and, if possible, beyond.” Gillmore told him that the Confederates probably had a “small force of infantry and a battery between Jacksonville and Baldwin.” Seymour was to advance no farther than Lake City.

General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, learned that Seymour was preparing an expedition and correctly guessed that his target would be Florida. Beauregard dispatched troops under Brigadier General Alfred H. Colquitt to reinforce Brigadier General Joseph Finegan, who commanded the District of East Florida.

Seymour’s Federals left Hilton Head, South Carolina, aboard 20 transports on the 5th. The force consisted of 5,500 men in three infantry brigades, two cavalry regiments, and four artillery batteries. The transports and gunboats moved up the St. John’s River and landed at Jacksonville two days later. The city had been virtually destroyed by previous Federal occupiers.

The Federals debarked and quickly captured about 100 remaining Confederates. Hay informed them that if they swore allegiance to the Union, they would be freed and allowed to help form the new state government; if they refused, they would be sent to northern prison camps. Hay said, “There is to be neither force nor persuasion used in this matter. You decide for yourselves.”

Hay received the signatures of about half the prisoners, along with several city residents. During his stay at Jacksonville, Hay invested in real estate as part of his plan to become a congressman in the new state government.

Seymour’s Federals also seized eight cannon and a large amount of cotton awaiting blockade runners for shipment. The Norwich trapped the Confederate steamer St. Mary’s on McGirt’s Creek, forcing the Confederates to burn and abandon her. The Federals prepared to head west along the Florida, Atlantic & Gulf Central Railroad, toward Baldwin and the Suwannee River.

Sporadic skirmishing occurred over the next few days, with the Federals arriving at Baldwin on the 10th. To Seymour’s disappointment, the civilians expressed none of the Unionist sentiment that the Federal high command expected. Moreover, Federal cavalry under Colonel Guy V. Henry probed forward and discovered that Confederates were preparing to make a stand at Olustee.

Seymour reported to Gillmore, “I am convinced that a movement upon Lake City is not, in the present condition of transportation, admissible, and indeed that what has been said of the desire of Florida to come back (to the Union) now is a delusion.” Seymour recommended returning his force to Jacksonville, but Gillmore urged him to continue west to Sanderson, halfway to Lake City, and dispatched the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry as reinforcement.

The Federals advanced to Sanderson, where they destroyed vast amounts of public and private property. During this time, Gillmore left Jacksonville and returned to Hilton Head, where he arranged for supplies to be delivered to Seymour’s men. They were now in the unforgiving Florida country of stunted oaks, pines, and palmettos, and their only train had broken down. When Gillmore received word that Confederate cavalry might be threatening Seymour’s right flank, he ordered Seymour to fall back to Baldwin.

Seymour complied, but by the 16th, he was convinced that he could get to Lake City. He informed Gillmore that he intended to head there and destroy the railroad. He asked Gillmore to send him naval support on the Savannah River, adding, “I look upon this as of great importance.”

Stunned, Gillmore replied that there was no way he could arrange such support so quickly. He wrote, “You must have forgotten my last instructions, which were for the present to hold Baldwin…” Gillmore reminded Seymour that he (Seymour) had argued for returning to Jacksonville, but now he inexplicably sought to capture Lake City. He also informed Seymour that the Federal high command had no plans to operate in the Lake City region of Florida, making his proposed advance there pointless.

Meanwhile, Confederates stationed at Lake City observed the Federal movements and relayed them to Finegan. He reported to Beauregard that the enemy numbered at least 10 regiments. Beauregard responded, “Enemy’s forces should on no account be exaggerated. His regiments average 600 at most, composed largely of newly drafted men and recruits; not a match for one-half of our men.”

Finegan scrambled to build a defense line along the railroad near the small hamlet of Olustee, about 10 miles east of Lake City. He ordered his officers “to impress the required negroes and to collect such tools as might be procured from the surrounding plantations.” By the 19th, the Confederate defenses were not yet completed, but Colquitt’s Confederates had arrived to reinforce Finegan. Seymour’s Federals passed Barber’s Plantation and headed for the Confederate line outside Lake City.

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References

Chaitin, Peter M., The Coastal War: Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983), p. 139; CivilWarDailyGazette.com; Denney, Robert E., The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle (New York: Gramercy Books, 1992 [1998 edition]), p. 366, 371, 373-74; Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian (Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Kindle Edition, 2011), p. 900-03; Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 394-97; Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 462; Longacre, Edward G., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 545

The Fall of Pensacola

Florida, Military May 10, 2017 1 Comment

May 10, 1862 – Confederate forces abandoned a key naval base on the Gulf of Mexico after holding out against a powerful Federal threat for over a year.

Earlier this year, Major General Braxton Bragg had led most of the Confederates stationed at Pensacola and Mobile west to reinforce General P.G.T. Beauregard’s Army of Mississippi. Colonel Thomas M. Jones of the 27th Mississippi began directing the withdrawal of the remaining forces. On May 7, Jones received word from Brigadier General John H. Forney, commanding the Confederate Department of Alabama and West Florida, that a Federal naval fleet was approaching to threaten Mobile.

Jones quickly prepared to lead his Confederates out of Pensacola to reinforce Mobile. Abandoning Pensacola included “the destruction of the beautiful place which I had labored so hard night and day for over two months to defend, and which I had fondly hoped could be held from the polluting grasp of our insatiate enemies.”

Pensacola Navy Yard | Image Credit: Wikipedia.org

Pensacola Navy Yard | Image Credit: Wikipedia.org

The Confederates in the area had held out for over a year against the Federal garrison at Fort Pickens, as well as various threats from the Gulf Blockading Squadron. The Federals had already destroyed the Pensacola Navy Yard’s dry dock as well as portions of Fort McRee protecting the town.

The evacuation began on the 9th. The Confederates burned the navy yard, destroying the unfinished ironclad C.S.S. Fulton and all other ships that had been under construction. In addition, the troops burned Fort McRee, the marine hospital and barracks, factories and mills, and warehouses filled with lumber and cotton.

That night, Federals stationed across Pensacola Bay saw the fires in the town and determined that the Confederates were evacuating. Brigadier General Lewis G. Arnold, commanding the Western District of the Federal Department of the South, sent his chief of staff across the bay to accept Pensacola’s surrender.

By dawn on May 10, about 1,000 Federals landed to occupy the town. Commander David D. Porter stated, “The Rebels have done their work well. The yard is a ruin.” However, the navy yard was soon rebuilt and used as an important supply base for the Federal blockading fleet in the Gulf of Mexico.

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References

Chaitin, Peter M., The Coastal War: Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983), p. 8; Denney, Robert E., The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle (New York: Gramercy Books, 1992 [1998 edition]), p. 168; Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 150; Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 209; Longacre, Edward G., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 574; Stanchak, John E., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 276-77

Federal Attack on Pensacola Bay

Florida, Military November 22, 2016 1 Comment

November 22, 1861 – Colonel Harvey Brown, commanding the Federal garrison at Fort Pickens on Florida’s Gulf coast, directed a preëmptive attack on Confederates seeking to take back the fort.

Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island | Image Credit: Wikimedia.org

Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island | Image Credit: Wikimedia.org

Since their failed invasion of Santa Rosa Island in October, General Braxton Bragg’s Confederates had surrounded Fort Pickens, according to Brown, “with batteries and daily arming them with the heaviest and most efficient guns known to our service–guns stolen from us–until they considered this fort as virtually their own, its occupancy being only a question of time.”

Brown worked with Flag Officer William McKean, commanding the Gulf Blockading Squadron, to drive the Confederates out of their nearby positions along Pensacola Bay at Forts McRee and Barrancas, and the Pensacola Navy Yard. At 9:55 a.m. on November 22, the steamers U.S.S. Niagara and Richmond, aided by artillery from Fort Pickens, opened a massive bombardment.

The Confederates quickly abandoned the navy yard, but the Federal vessels could not get any closer than 2,000 yards due to shallow waters. Meanwhile, Confederate artillery began responding with their four-mile line of batteries facing Fort Pickens.

The Confederates in Fort McRee sustained a tremendous shelling. A soldier in the 1st Alabama at Pensacola wrote:

“On one occasion, simultaneous volleys raked the outer walls and parapets of the fort (McRee), wrapped it with flames of bursting shells, sent huge timbers and massive pieces of concrete flying through the air, swept away the flagstaff and demolished a section of wall on the right. As dimly seen from our position the whole structure seemed to bulge and sink to the earth in one general conflagration and gigantic heap of ruins.”

By 3 p.m., the Federals had disabled all of Fort McRee’s batteries while keeping up their fire on Fort Barrancas and the navy yard as well. Confederate gunners at Barrancas hit the Richmond twice, killing one and wounding eight, before the ships withdrew for the night. Brown then ordered the firing from Pickens suspended, ending the action for the day.

Bragg reported that “the number and caliber of guns and weight of metal brought into action it will rank with the heaviest bombardment in the world,” making the fight “grand and sublime. The fire of the enemy, though terrific in sound and fury, proved to have been only slightly damaging, except to McRee.” Bragg noted that fire from the Niagara and Richmond had “much greater accuracy, the fort and garrison of McRee suffered more.” The Confederates sustained 21 casualties (one killed and 20 wounded).

The Federals resumed their bombardment the next day without the Richmond, which had been put out of action. The Niagara and the guns from Fort Pickens opened on the three main Confederate positions, shooting the flags away from Forts McRee and Barrancas by noon and pummeling both the shore batteries and the lighthouse. The Niagara tried getting closer but became a prime target herself, forcing her to withdraw under heavy fire.

That afternoon, Federal gunners began firing hotshot (i.e., heated cannonballs), burning most of the nearby town of Warrington to the ground. Firing ended at nightfall, with the Confederates still holding all their fortifications despite suffering heavy damage. Federals had fired about 5,000 rounds over 28 hours. Both sides combined sustained eight men killed.

Bragg congratulated his troops on what he called a victory over the enemy: “We have crippled his ships and driven them off, and forced the garrison of Fort Pickens, in its impotent rage, to slake its revenge by firing into our hospital, and burning the habitations of our innocent women and children, who had been driven there from by an unannounced storm of shot and shell.”

Brown acknowledged that the bombardment had failed to drive the Confederates out of their menacing positions near Fort Pickens. However, he announced that “the attack on ‘Billy Wilson’s’ camp (i.e., the Confederate invasion of Santa Rosa Island), the attempted attack on my batteries, and the insult to our glorious flag have been fully and fearfully avenged.”

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References

CivilWarDailyGazette.com (multiple dates); Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 85; Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 142-43; Stanchak, John E., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 276-77

Lee Receives a New Assignment

Florida, Georgia, Military, South Carolina November 5, 2016 Comments: 2

November 5, 1861 – President Jefferson Davis reassigned General Robert E. Lee to command a new Confederate military department responsible for protecting the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Confederate Gen R.E. Lee | Image Credit: Wikispaces.com

Confederate Gen R.E. Lee | Image Credit: Wikispaces.com

By this time, Confederate officials knew of the Federal armada headed to attack Port Royal. Hoping to prevent that vital point from falling, Davis and Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin created the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and East Florida. This combined all departments already within that area into six military districts. Five were in South Carolina, and the sixth, the District of Georgia, covered both Georgia and eastern Florida.

Davis summoned Lee to a meeting on the morning of the 5th. Although “Granny” Lee’s reputation had been tarnished by his less than stellar western Virginia campaign, Davis informed him that he would be the senior officer of the new department with full administration support. The department’s new jurisdiction would, according to Benjamin, “enable him (Lee) to concentrate all our forces at any point that might be attacked.”

Lee left Richmond the next morning. Opposition to Lee coming to command was so great that Davis had to write to Governors Francis W. Pickens of South Carolina and Joseph E. Brown of Georgia assuring them that Lee was the best commander available. By that time, the Federal fleet had assembled off Port Royal and prepared to attack.

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References

CivilWarDailyGazette.com (November 5); Freeman, Douglas Southall, Lee (Scribner, Kindle Edition, 2008), Loc 2986, 2998; Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 79; Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 135; Longacre, Edward G., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 303-04, 704; White, Howard Ray, Bloodstains, An Epic History of the Politics that Produced and Sustained the American Civil War and the Political Reconstruction that Followed (Southernbooks, Kindle Edition, 2012), Q461

The Invasion of Santa Rosa Island

Florida, Military October 9, 2016 Comments: 2

October 9, 1861 – A Confederate assault failed to dislodge Federals from Fort Pickens on Florida’s Gulf coast.

General Braxton Bragg | Image Credit: Wikispaces.com

General Braxton Bragg | Image Credit: Wikispaces.com

Fort Pickens, on the northwestern end of Santa Rosa Island, had been held by Federal troops since Florida seceded in January. Confederates had sought to capture the fort ever since, and General Braxton Bragg, commanding Confederate troops at nearby Pensacola, finally developed a plan for a surprise attack.

Bragg selected Brigadier General Richard H. Anderson to lead the 1,200-man assault force, which consisted of selected companies from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The troops began boarding the C.S.S. Ewing and transports towed by the Neaffie around 10 p.m. on October 8. The vessels shuttled them to their attack point across Pensacola Bay.

Around midnight, Anderson’s force landed on Santa Rosa Island four miles east of Fort Pickens. Two hours later, they began marching under cover of darkness in three columns. The first column was to advance along the north beach, the second to advance along the south beach, and the third to advance in between the other two. A force trailed the columns to destroy Federal batteries, armaments, defenses, and camps in their wake.

After two hours of hard marching along the sandy terrain, the first Confederate column encountered Federal pickets, who fired on them and ruined their element of surprise. Even so, Colonel Harvey Brown, commanding the Federal garrison at Fort Pickens, rejected a report stating that Confederates had landed and driven in one of his outposts.

The attackers met stronger resistance as they came upon the camp of the 6th New York Zouaves, about a mile east of the fort. However, the Confederates drove the Federals off with a bayonet charge and burned the camp. Colonel Brown soon received another report stating that the 6th New York was under attack. He finally dispatched two companies under Major Israel Vogdes and directed the east-facing artillery batteries to prepare for action.

Combat on Santa Rosa Island | Image Credit: CivilWarDailyGazette.com

Combat on Santa Rosa Island | Image Credit: CivilWarDailyGazette.com

Several of Vogdes’s Federals became lost in the darkness, with Vogdes himself taken prisoner. The Federals tried establishing a defense behind a sandy hill, but overwhelming enemy numbers drove them out. The Confederates occupied the 6th New York’s camp, but Anderson realized that with dawn approaching, his men could not overcome the massed artillery facing them and capture the fort. He ordered a withdrawal back to the transports.

Meanwhile, Brown dispatched more Federals under Major Lewis Arnold to support the force formerly led by Vogdes. Arnold’s men attacked the Confederates as they boarded the boats. The Confederates repulsed the attacks, but many were killed or wounded by sniper fire as the transports tried getting off the island. Many other Confederates were captured after missing the call to retreat while tending to wounded comrades.

The Federals sustained 67 casualties (14 killed, 29 wounded, and 24 captured) and the Confederates lost 87 (18 killed, 39 wounded, and 30 captured). The Confederate effort to capture Fort Pickens failed.

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References

CivilWarDailyGazette.com (multiple dates); Denney, Robert E., The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle (New York: Gramercy Books, 1992 [1998 edition]), p. 86; Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 71-72; Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 125; Pollard, Edward A., Southern History of the War (New York: The Fairfax Press, 1990), p. 219; Stanchak, John E., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 276-77; The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. VI, Ch. 16, p. 438-63

Breaking the Fort Pickens Truce

Florida, Military April 12, 2016 Comments: 3

April 12, 1861 – Federal Lieutenant John L. Worden delivered President Abraham Lincoln’s order to break the unofficial truce with local Confederates by reinforcing Fort Pickens, Florida.

General Braxton Bragg | Image Credit: Wikispaces.com

General Braxton Bragg | Image Credit: Wikispaces.com

Pickens lay two miles offshore from Pensacola, surrounded by Confederates under Brigadier General Braxton Bragg. The Confederates had seized nearby Forts Barrancas and McRee, as well as the Pensacola Navy Yard. Pickens held great importance because it had access to the best harbor and naval repair yard besides Norfolk, Virginia, but Bragg’s men threatened to starve out the Federal garrison at the fort if more supplies and reinforcements did not arrive.

Through Worden, Lincoln directed that soldiers, artillery, and supplies be transferred from the naval squadron of U.S.S. Brooklyn, Sabine, St. Louis, and Wyandotte to the fort. Brooklyn moved behind Santa Rosa Island to disembark 200 Federal soldiers under Colonel Harvey Brown at Pickens’s rear. Inside the fort, Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer transferred command of the garrison to Brown. The “Fort Pickens Truce” that had been in effect since January 29 was no more.

Confederates could not prevent the Federal landing due to its location. When word reached Confederate officials at Montgomery that the Federals might try reinforcing Pickens, Secretary of War Leroy P. Walker telegraphed General Bragg to warn him. Bragg responded: “Mr. Worden had communicated with fleet before your dispatch received. Alarm guns have just fired at Fort Pickens. I fear the news is received and it will be reinforced before morning. It cannot be prevented…” The strengthening of Federal defenses compelled the Confederates to cancel plans to invade Santa Rosa Island.

The next day, Confederate authorities apprehended Lieutenant Worden near Montgomery as he was returning to Washington by train. However, they caught him too late to prevent him from delivering Lincoln’s order to reinforce Fort Pickens and blockade the harbor. Worden was ultimately released due to lack of evidence.

Meanwhile, Confederate officials received a dispatch stating the Federals “have violated their agreement. Reinforcements thrown into Fort Pickens last night by small boats from the outside. The movement could not even be seen from our side, but was discovered by a small boat reconnoitering.”

This news outraged the Confederates, who considered Federal forts to be state property on loan to the Federal government. To reinforce Pickens was to invade sovereign territory with foreign troops, an act of war. President Jefferson Davis, not expecting the Lincoln administration to commit such a dubious act, lamented that he did not order Confederates to attack Pickens along with Fort Sumter.

Within a week, a second naval relief expedition led by Lieutenant David D. Porter’s U.S.S. Powhatan arrived at Pickens to land more reinforcements. Powhatan had flown a British flag to deceive nearby Confederates. Federal presence in the Pensacola area now totaled 1,000 troops and four warships. Colonel Brown soon established headquarters at Pickens as the commander of the new Federal Department of Florida.

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Sources

  • Chaitin, Peter M., The Coastal War: Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983), p. 8
  • Davis, William C., First Blood: Fort Sumter to Bull Run (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983), p. 17-18
  • Denney, Robert E., The Civil War Years: A Day-by-Day Chronicle (New York: Gramercy Books, 1992 [1998 edition]), p. 34-36
  • Fredriksen, John C., Civil War Almanac (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007), p. 22-23
  • Long, E.B. with Long, Barbara, The Civil War Day by Day (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971), p. 56-61
  • Longacre, Edward G, Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 264-65
  • Stanchak, John E., Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (New York: Harper & Row, 1986, Patricia L. Faust ed.), p. 276-77
  • White, Howard Ray, Bloodstains, An Epic History of the Politics that Produced and Sustained the American Civil War and the Political Reconstruction that Followed (Southernbooks, Kindle Edition, 2012), Q261