Strange and Mysterious Waters:

The History of Wakulla County

“Free Fight in The Court House”

By Henry Clay Crawford

“At a Republican mass meeting, Rupert Charles, a white Republican, then Custom House officer at St. Marks, was Chairman: Otis Fairbanks, (John) Hogue, (?) Goode and other white Republicans, all of the sons of ham in Wakulla County and a few white Democrats, who had assembled from curiosity and who occupied the rear of the Court House, were present. After a bitter speech by Otis Fairbanks, who used invectives of the vilest kind against the Democrats, the Democrats present call for Mr. (?) Causseaux, an old (Civil War) veteran and Democrat, to make a reply to Fairbanks. This privilege was denied him by the Chairman, which caused excitement to run high and someone shouted to Fairbanks that he was a LIAR. This caused a stampede: more than five hundred people trying to get to the door and down the stairs. C. K. Miller was the Sheriff and was in front of the crowd, calling on everybody to help him. No one paid any attention to him and in the great scramble descending the stairs, walking sticks, umbrellas and in one or two instances pocket knives were used on negros (who were registered Republicans). On reaching the ground (outside the courthouse) the white Democrats ran to the public well which was inclosed by a picket fence and each pulled off a picket and went after a NEGRO. The only white man struck by a negro was Jacob Raker, a stalwart man, and on reaching the ground he pulled up a small tree by the roots but failed to reach his man. In less than five minutes, there was not a NEGRO in the village, except those who had lost their power of locomotion by the sever treatment they had receive. Fortunately no one was killed, but it was late at night when tow of the NEGROES regained their consciousness.”

Sources used:

Henry Clay Crawford Memoir

Strange and Mysterious Waters:

The History of Wakulla County

Valarious Lafayette Roberts with team of oxen

Western Wakulla County

After the end of the Second Seminole War, in 1842, Wakulla experienced an influx of new settlers, especially in the western portion of present-day Wakulla County. Although there were already a few scattered home sites in the area, the 1840’s saw the establishment of several new towns along the Sopchoppy and Ochlocknee Rivers, such as Smith Creek, Sanborn, and Curtis Mills on the Ochlocknee, West Sopchoppy and Greenough on the western side of the Sopchoppy River, and Ashmore on the eastern side of the Sopchoppy River.

   When Florida changed hands from Spain to the United States, many families, primarily from South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia, moved to present-day Wakulla County, settling along rivers, streams, and coastal areas. In the early days of American settlement in what would become Wakulla County, there were barely any roads. Most were old Indians paths that were nearly impassible with wagons. They were winding and twisting, covering many more miles than a person actually needed to travel to get where they were going. This was because the road builders who cut the trail only would cut smaller trees, so the road winded around large ones. There were no bridges, so the roads had to curve around wetlands, and people had to cross rivers and streams at their shallowest places. A person would have to have a high wheeled cart to use the roads, because the road cutters often did not cut the trees low enough, and wagons would hit them, sending the occupants flying forward onto the ground. The roads were usually only wide enough to accommodate a wagon going one way, so when two wagons were coming towards each other, one of the had to go up into the woods to let the other pass, which could be difficult depending on where they were. During long times of heavy rain, many of the roads were made impassible. The bad road situation lasted for a long time, as Freeman Ashmore reminisced, “I can recall, when I was growing up on Dad’s turpentine still at Smith Creek, that there were times when we could not travel to Sopchoppy, Tallahassee, Quincy, or any other place for two or three months at a time.”

Because of the transportation situation overland, most people settled near rivers and streams. One such river was the Sopchoppy River. In a local Native American language, the word sokhe meant convulsing, or twisting, and the word chapke meant long, so from the native Sokhe Chapke, we get the English pronunciation of “Sopchoppy.” The land along the Sopchoppy River, as well as most of the land in Wakulla, was part of the Forbes Purchase and was owned by the Apalachicola Land Company. The land was cheap, and was sold at auction in both Apalachicola and Tallahassee.  Many of the men who began to settle the area were farmers. As well as their families, these men brought with them their wagons, tools, livestock, and some of the wealthier settlers owned slaves. When these Wakulla County pioneers arrived in the present-day Sopchoppy area, they found the land basically untouched by human hands. They planned on planting cotton and tobacco, as well as other crops, and pitched tents up to live in while they cleared their newly acquired land and built their houses out of trees they felled. It was not an easy life. Homes were made of logs and had no screens in the windows or doors. People kept mosquitoes out of their houses by using smoke from outside campfires. The kitchen was separate from the main house, usually behind it, in those days, so as to prevent the entire home from burning in case a fire occurred while cooking. These were the days before fencing, and people’s cattle, goats, hogs, and chickens roamed freely.

One family that settled on the Sopchoppy River in the early 1840’s was the Adams’. John Wesley Adams, who was a medical doctor, born in April of 1815, and his wife, Caroline Powell Adams, settled on property located along the shores of the Sopchoppy River, located one mile west of old Ashmore Station, which they called “Sopchoppy Place.” Sopchoppy’s first post office opened in 1847 located at Sopchoppy Place, and Caroline Adams served as its postmistress. The Adams’s, being devout Methodists, built a church at Sopchoppy Place as well, with John Wesley Adams serving as its pastor, and during the 1847 Annual Conference of the Methodist Church, Dr. Adams was appointed the pastor for the Wakulla County area, in which he conducted services from Sopchoppy to Newport, ministering to all. John Wesley Adams was also a farmer who owned a large number of slaves. It is said that he constructed his own cotton gin, and processed his and his neighbor’s crops. John Wesley Adams also owned a schooner named the John Wesley, which was used to transport the cotton to the port at St. Marks.

Greenough was one of the earliest settlements to spring up along the Sopchoppy River, and was a busy town in the 1840s. It was about three miles above present-day Sopchoppy, but on the western shore of the Sopchoppy River. Freeman Ashmore remembered “it was a beautiful spot along the river where it flowed through high bluffs which were lined with huge, towering trees on both sides.” Greenough consisted of a group of farms, and the epicenter was a gristmill, which the local farmers would gather around to grind their corn talk to one another. Also because long distance travel was difficult overland, many small communities sprang up in relative close distance to one another. Greenough was kind of special because all the roads in the area passed through the small town. One road traveled westward from Greenough to West Sopchoppy and on to Curtis Mills. Another road traveled north from Greenough to Sanborn, and then Smith Creek. Traveling east across the Sopchoppy River, another road took people to Ashmore, and then curved south towards the present-day Sopchoppy, which before 1894, was just a few scattered homes. Before the train track was built, in order to gain access to large quantities of goods needed to live, people had to travel by water to the St. Marks River, then upriver to Newport to visit Daniel Ladd’s general store. People could also use a very long, narrow, and winding road to Newport from the Sopchoppy River, but the trip took days to complete, much like a trip to Tallahassee. People in the western portion of Wakulla also traveled by water to Apalachicola for supplies needed.

Along the Ochlocknee River, the community of Smith Creek was established. Land along the Ochlocknee River was known as “the Promised land.” Some of the earliest families to settle in what would become Smith Creek were the Smiths, the Grants, the Lawhons, the Hodges, and the Kerseys. Some of these families eventually moved to Greenough and West Sopchoppy, where the land was more suitable for growing tobacco and cotton. Edwin Bunyan Smith was one of the first people, along with his brother, to settle what would be known as Smith Creek. He built his home site near a beautiful creek, and eventually his place became known as “the Smith place near the creek.” Eventually the creek was known as Smith Creek. In the late 1840s through the 1850s, more families arrived, such as the Langstons, the Bosticks, and the Stricklands. The Mt. Elon church was built in 1854, with George Washington Bostick serving as its first preacher. By the time the Civil War erupted in 1861, the little community was growing and thriving. After the war ended in 1865, the town was one of Wakulla County’s most important community. The need for a formal name for the community came up when the citizens requested a post office. They chose to call the community Smith Creek and in 1872, the post office was open for business, with Jonathan “Jack” Langston as its first postmaster. After the war, Smith Creek kept growing, hosting a post office, two churches, two grist mills, a turpentine still, several bee keepers, logging businesses, several sawmills, sizeable farms, with around eighty-five families.

On the lower Ochlocknee River, there lived a man named Curtis Roberts who, together with Nels Revell, owned an important sawmill located about six miles from the mouth of the river. Curtis Roberts was the partner who actually ran the mill, so the community became known as Mr. Curtis’s Mill, then eventually shortened to Curtis Mills. [Ashmore, p.586] In the 1880s, Curtis Mills was a prosperous lumber and sawmill town. Most people lived in log shanties scattered along a long and winding road between the Sopchoppy and Ochlocknee Rivers. There was a long cabin that served the community as both a schoolhouse for the children and a church, which some people had to walk miles to get to. There was also a boarding house at Curtis Mills called “the Corner.” Mostly people doing business with the sawmill stayed there, and it was known to be a rough place, where fights and shootings occurred often.

Besides the towns located along the Sopchoppy and the Ochlocknee Rivers, there was a community nearer the center of Wakulla, close to Shell Point (present-day Crawfordville), known as Lost Creek. Like much of the communities in Wakulla, Lost Creek was settled by farmers from Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, as well as some from Europe. Some of these families were; the Taffs, the Vauses, the Harveys, the Nazworths, the Gwaltneys, the Harrels, the Tuckers, the Lawsons, the Councils, the Basses, the Trices, the Pelts, the Griggs, the Grays, the Johnsons, the Radfords, the Stricklands, the Vickers, the Greiners, and the Edwards. Lost Creek was a quiet and peaceful tiny community.

Sopchoppy. c1909

Where present-day Sopchoppy sits today, in 1885 there was not much there but a few houses and a small store ran by a black man named Brice Allen. The original town of West Sopchoppy was on the western side of the Sopchoppy River near where the West Sopchoppy Cemetery is today. The Sopchoppy that we know and love today did not really begin until the Georgia, Florida, & Alabama Railroad was constructed on the eastern side of the Sopchoppy River. Born in 1855 along the Ochlocknee River at Smith Creek, John Calhoun Hodge worked for the railroad company who was planning on constructing a line from Carrabelle to Georgia. Hodge is known today as the founder of Sopchoppy because he envisioned people taking advantage of the train tracks by establishing several communities near them. Hodge wanted to take advantage himself, so, being the only surveyor in the area, he surveyed and purchased the land of what would become the new Sopchoppy. He laid out the new town and even named the streets. He moved his family across the river from Greenough, and settled in a house he built on Rose Street, the first one built in present-day Sopchoppy. [Majesty Becton Strickland – Heritage of Wakulla County, p. 155] People from West Sopchoppy, and other places west of the Sopchoppy River, followed Hodge and settled in the new Sopchoppy as well to take full advantage of the railroad.

The town grew, and Andrew Roberts from Greenough, moved his large general store from there to the new Sopchoppy, as others built houses there as well. Hodge donated land to the Methodist and Baptist church for them to build on. Farmers, and others, began to buy lots near the railroad, and merchants built businesses in the main city block around the newly constructed train depot. None of the houses had indoor bathrooms, so the community built public facilities. Farming began to give way to logging and turpentine operations, and more people moved to the east side of the river to take advantage of the railroad as well. At Curtis Mills, a spur was built to connect to the railroad, and loggers began to float their logs down the Ochlocknee River to be cut at Curtis Mills, then loaded onto the train and shipped out. The new railroad tracks also provided the children a better walking route to school. The tracks also created problems for some families who lived close to them, because they often worried about their children’s safety when the train came through. Also, vagrants walking the railroad’s right-of –way posed a threat to their safety as well.

John Calhoun Hodge

The railroad passed through Sopchoppy, where there was a depot. Another depot was built at the quite community of Lost Creek. After the railroad and depot was constructed there, the community became known as Arran. We are not completely sure why Arran was chosen as the name, but there are a few theories. The most accepted theory is that one of the railroad officials who selected Lost Creek as the site for a depot, named the place Arran after his daughter, Arrana. Arrana Harvey was the first child born in the newly named Arran, and was named after the community. The coming of the railroad turned the community from the quite Lost Creek to the busy and prosperous Arran. In addition to farming, the town became home to new industries, including logging, turpentine operations, making crossties, and trapping animals. Some of these operations were already in business, but the train increased their opportunities, by opening up more markets. The timber and logging industry thrived in Arran, because a spur-line of the railroad was constructed from there, heading west over the Sopchoppy River, down pass Big Blackjack and Little Blackjack, then, following present-day Forest Road 13, down the west side of Bradwell Bay. Trees were cut there, and the timber was shipped by rail back to Arran, and from there to Carrabelle.

On July 31, 1899, the sky turned dark, and the wind picked up as rain began to fall. It was supper time, and many families were most likely sitting down to eat. After supper people began to lay down for the night to get some sleep. As night fell, and as July 31 became August 1, the wind and rain picked up tremendously as debris began to fly through the air. The hurricane lasted for hours, and when the sun rose in the morning, people could see the devastation the storm had caused. Many families, such as the Langstons in Sopchoppy, had their homes destroyed. Roofs were torn off houses, outhouses and sheds were destroyed. One man’s house was lifted from its foundation and put down, mostly intact, about thirty yards away.

Source used:

Looking Back - By Freeman Ashmore

Heritage of Wakulla County

Looking back

Strange and Mysterious Waters:

The History of Wakulla County

An Act to Organize the County of Wakulla

On March 11, 1843, Florida’s fifth Territorial Governor, Richard Keith Call (who was also the third Territorial Governor), signed in to law the twenty-fifth act passed by the twenty-first session of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida. His signature made it official that Wakulla County was to be carved out of Leon County. The Act to Organize the County of Wakulla states as follows:

“Section 1: Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of he Territory of Florida, That the district of country included within the following boundaries, to wit: - Beginning at the Gulf, thence north on the range line between range two and three, until it intersects the north boundary of section twenty-four, township two, range two, south and east: thence due west on that line, until it strikes that Oklockonee River; thence down the river, until it strikes the Gulf; and thence, along the line of the Gulf, to the point of commencement (including islands), shall constitute a county, to be called Wakulla.

Section 2: Be it further enacted, that the Governor of the Territory, on passage of this act, shall appoint a Judge of the County Court of said county, to hold his office according to law.

Leon County c.1843, prior to the creation of Wakulla

Section 3: Be it further enacted, That the inhabitants of said county be, and they are hereby, authorized, on the first Monday in April next, and at the usual day thereafter, to elect such county officers as by law are directed in the several counties of this territory, and in the same manner, and subject to the same duties, provisions and responsibilities.

Section 4: Be it further enacted, That the said county of Wakulla, shall be, and is hereby, declared to be in the Middle Judicial District of Florida.

Section 5: Be it further enacted, That a County Court for said county, shall be holden at the county-site of said county semi-annually, in each and every year, the first term to be held on the third Monday in April, and the second term on the third Monday of November, and regularly thereafter.

Section 6: Be it further enacted, That the Judge of the Superior Court of the Middle District, shall be, and he is hereby, required to hold in said county, two terms of the Superior Court, in each and every year, the first to be holden on the third Monday in May, and the other term on the first Monday in December.

Section 7: Be it further enacted, That all suits pending in the Superior or County Courts of Leon county, against any person, persons, or corporations, residing in, or incorporated in the said county of Wakulla, together with all proper originals or copies of papers, or documents, whether criminal or civil, shall, on application within then days after notice of that effect, form the Clerks of the Superior or County Courts, or other officers of said county of Wakulla, be delivered over to the respectively; and that said suits, prosecutions or causes, shall stand upon the Dockets in the courts of the said county of Wakulla, as of the term of which they properly belonged in the county of Leon, and the clerks, marshals, or other officers, of Leon county, shall not be authorized to have, or demand, any fees, until the said causes thus removed shall be decided in the said county of Wakulla.

Section 8: Be it further enacted, That all moneys remaining in the County Treasury of the county of Leon, after the passage of this act, shall be equally divided between the counties of Leon and Wakulla, pro rata, according to population, to be determined by the latest tax list: Provided, That all debts heretofore contracted by the county of Leon for county purposes, shall be first liquidated and paid.

Section 9: Be it further enacted, That the county-site of Wakulla county, shall be fixed and determined by three commissioners, to be elected on such day and in such manner as the county court may direct, by persons entitled to vote for county officers; who, being duly sworn faithfully, and to the best of their skill and ability, to discharge their duties, shall proceed to, select the most eligible place for the county-site, to lay off lots, and dispose of the same to the best advantage, for the benefit of the county, make transfers of the title on payment of the purchase money; also, to contract for the building of a Court-House, and other buildings for said county.

Section 10: Be it further enacted, That until a county-site is selected, as provided for by the provisions of this act, the courts for said county shall be held, and public offices kept, at the town of Port Leon.

Section 11: Be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act, the county of Leon shall be entitled to three representatives in the Legislative Council and no more, and the county of Wakulla one.

Section 12: Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

Approved 11^th March, 1843”

The twenty-first session of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida was not done with Wakulla just yet. The thirtieth act passed re-drew the northern border of Wakulla County, creating the “heel” of the boot-shaped Leon County. That act to change the northern line of the County of Wakulla states the following:

“Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, That the northern boundary line of the County of Wakulla shall be as follows, to wit: - To commence at the northern line of section thirty-six, in town ship two, range two, South and East, and thence due West on said line to Ocklockonnee River, which boundary shall be in the place of the northern line of said county specified in the act establishing said county.”

The Civil War

1861-1865

Part Six

The Battle of Natural Bridge - Retreat and Pursuit

  Such is the case with the aftermath of many Civil War battles, the pursuit of the retreating enemy after a defeat on the battlefield was delayed. While the Confederates were momentarily unorganized, the Federals began their retreat back to the lighthouse. U.S General Newton ordered his men to cut down trees to make the road impassable behind them during their retreat, slowing down any would-be pursuers. By the time the southerners cleared the road, the Union force were a two hours’ march ahead. Lieutenant Colonel Scott then took around forty mounted men and rode as fast as they ever had to catch up to the Union column’s rear. Scott caught up with them about two miles north of Newport around seven o’clock that evening of March 6. The cavalrymen captured several prisoners, most of whom were wounded Union soldiers left behind on the battlefield during Newton’s hasty retreat. Also left behind by Newton were detachments of guards stationed just south of Natural Bridge. These men were captured near the East River bridge while trying to escape back to the lighthouse. Miller followed up behind Scott with a number of infantry, though the men were completely exhausted, and many struggled along the way as the sun set into night. Several soldiers simply found some where dark to sleep.

The men of the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry (unmounted) who had stayed behind at Newport to guard the bridge, were dug in on the east bank of the St. Marks River. While the main battle was on at Natural Bridge, the Florida Unionists kept skirmishing with Confederate soldiers and citizens from the west bank of the St. Marks River. When the sun went down on the night of March 6, the firing ceased. Confused and exhausted, a group of Florida Unionists from the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry found a dark structure, probably a house or a hotel, to sleep in for the night. As the night went on other soldiers joined them, but since it was so dark, they did not know who each other was. When the sun rose the next morning of March 7, the Florida Unionists discovered that the newcomers were tired Confederate soldiers who had pursued the retreating Union column from Natural Bridge. The men of the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry jumped to their feet and ran for the door. They did not get far before being fired on and captured by the rebels. 

Two of the Florida Unionists captured in Newport were Corporal Asa Fowler and Private Peter Pelt. The two captured soldiers were once part of the 2^nd Florida Cavalry (CSA) before they deserted and joined the 2nd Florida U.S. Cavalry. Unfortunately for Fowler and Pelt the men who captured them recognized them as deserters and the punishment for desertion was death. On the same day they were captured, March 7, they were charged with desertion and sentenced to be shot. Their sentencing was carried out that very day, as the two were tied to a fence post to be shot. Confederate surgeon Charles Hentz was there and described what he saw: “They were halted close to me, as a hollow square for the execution was formed. Some bandages, pinned around their eyes, were taken from my haversack; how dreadfully did I commiserate their awful condition. Pelt, whom I had known as a little boy…, was trembling in every fiber; his face was the hue of ashes – his lips quivering compulsively in prayer, his eyes closed and bandaged.”^[1] The firing squad stepped forward, and when given the order, fired into the two prisoners. Fowler was hit thirteen times and died instantly, but Pelt fell to the ground in intense pain, and died a few minutes later. The two men’s corpses were then stripped naked and thrown into a hole. To this day we do not know where their unmarked grave site in Newport is. This was a truly sad moment in Wakulla County history, and made even sadder by the fact that the Civil War ended a little over a month later.

 The Home Guard that was sent back to Newport earlier in the day tried to retake the bridge from the Federals guarding it but were repulsed. Upon learning that Newton was returning to the St. Marks lighthouse, the Union Navy sent forty men to secure the East River bridge. Once Newton’s retreating army crossed the East River bridge the Federals burned it behind them to stop the Confederates form pursuing them any further. During the campaign the Union captured several civilians, which they released during their retreat. One man they made prisoner was Lewis Franklin Hall who lived on the east side of the St. Marks River, about a mile and a half south of Natural Bridge. After the battle at Natural Bridge, Hall was returned to his home on the St. Marks River. Back at the lighthouse Newton meet with the Navy officers and began the process of re-embarking, and just five days after the Battle of Natural Bridge, March 11, 1865, Newton and his troops arrived back at Key West.

Confederate casualties during the campaign were four killed, forty-one wounded, and four captured. On the Union side, casualties were thirty-four killed, seventy-seven wounded, thirty captured, and thirty-six missing. Medical care was giving to left behind wounded Union soldiers. The house of Elizabeth Ann Condelar just south of Natural Bridge was were several wounded men from the U.S. Colored Infantry were left by Newton. There were rumors that Confederate soldiers were putting wounded and surrendering black Union soldiers to the bayonet, but this anecdote is unfounded. Actually, about thirty black Union soldiers who were captured at Natural Bridge were sent to Andersonville prison in Georgia. The legend that many of the dead Union troops from the battlefield were simply tossed into one of the many sinkholes may have some truth to it. It is said that the smell of the rotting corpses from the sinks forced locals to retrieve the bodies and bury them elsewhere. Many are buried at Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee.

 The Confederate wounded, as well as wounded Federals, were taken by train back to Tallahassee to be cared for. Most of the troops hung out around the Newport area until they were sure the Federals were retreating back into the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the soldiers arrived back in Tallahassee a few days later on the March 9, and were greeted by adoring citizens. In the House of Representatives, Governor Milton addressed the troops and praised them for their valiancy. Before being allowed to return home the soldiers were warned that the Federals may attempt to try their attack again, and to be ready if called upon. The Battle of Natural Bridge was a Confederate victory, one of the last before the end of the war, but Newton and his troops managed to inflict great loss to the town of Newport, especially to Daniel Ladd personally. Ladd’s mill at Newport, as well as the workshops attached to it were burned by the Federals.

The Confederate victory at Natural Bridge was short lived, as the war was over by April, 1865. Brigadier General E.M. McCook was ordered to Tallahassee to take U.S. possession of the capital city. He reached the town on May 10, 1865, and accepted the surrender of General Jones, ending Florida’s involvement with the Confederate States of America. The U.S. flag once again flew over the Florida capitol.

---

[1] Cox, p.67

The Civil War

1861-1865

Part Five

The Battle of Natural Bridge

                As the U.S. troops rested at Tompkins’ Mills, more Confederate reinforcements were steadily arriving by the trainloads to Tallahassee, such as the 1^st Florida Infantry Reserves, the cadets from West Florida Seminary, and Home Guards from surrounding counties. These troops did not stay long in the capitol city, as they were ordered to board the Tallahassee-St. Marks train to Camp Randolph, a military encampment along the railroad between Tallahassee and St. Marks, in the vicinity of present-day Wakulla Station. They finally reached Camp Randolph at ten o’clock on the night of March 5, after a slow moving four hour train ride from Tallahassee. Colonel J.J. Daniel from the 1^st Florida Reserves commanded the men, and with a guide, the troops headed out for Natural Bridge. The march that night was cold and miserable for a lot of troops like Joshua Frier who had not had much sleep lately, and it is written that many men fell asleep while marching and fell over onto the ground.[1]

            On the morning of March 6, around two o’clock, the Federals at Tompkins’ Mills began to mobilize and resumed their march towards Natural Bridge under the watchful eyes of Scott’s cavalry. While Newton was slowly marching towards Natural Bridge using the infrequently traversed road along the east side of the St. Marks River, Scott and his cavalry raced as fast as possible using the Plank Road along the western side of the river on horseback, easily beating the Union force to secure Natural Bridge. Newton had no idea that the Confederates were on to him, as he also vied to seize the natural crossing. At Natural Bridge, a very heavily wooded area, the St. Marks River bends to the west at St. Marks Spring just before going underground forming the land bridge. On the western side of the crossing there is a ridge that creates a high ground overlooking the bridge in the shape of a semi-circle. Scott and the Confederates beat Newton to the crossing and set up a line of defense along the fifteen-foot ridge on the west side of the bridge. Scott ordered Lieutenant Croom to the east side of the crossing and to fire upon the Federals once they appeared thus warning the rest of the soldiers on the west side of the approaching enemy. Soon after Scott and his dismounted cavalrymen took command of the ridge, Colonel Daniel’s troops arrived.

            With the arrival of Colonel Daniel, the Confederates stretched out along the ridge using the Natural Bridge road as the center and forming a semi-circle that curved towards the river on either side of the crossing. The left flank on the north side of the bridge was held by Lieutenant Colonel Girardeau and the 1^st Florida Militia. The center of the ridge was held by Lieutenant Colonel Barnes and the 1^st Florida Reserves, and the right flank, on the south side of the bridge, was commanded by the dismounted cavalrymen of Major William H. Milton. Two cannons were placed just south of the Natural Bridge road, aimed at the crossing itself, which was only 170 yards away.[2] Once lined up, many of the soldiers, exhausted from the day’s events, stacked their muskets together and hoped to get some rest. But just as soon as many of them closed their eyes Lieutenant Croom and his men on the eastern bank of the river fired at the head of the approaching Federal column, and retreated back across Natural Bridge to the western side of the crossing. The Federals had finally arrived.

   

            Colonel J.J. Daniel was the overall commander at this time with Colonel Scott as his second. About four o’clock in the morning of March 6, 1865, Newton sent forward Companies B and G of the 2^nd U.S. Colored Infantry to charge the bridge and take it from any Confederates posted there. The Federals were not aware of the numbers of Confederates guarding the crossing when they first tried to advance across the bridge and were repulsed by southern cannon fire. The Federals retreated back into the woods and prepared for another attempt to take the crossing. About twenty minutes after the first attempt the Union made their second, more determined attempt but was also repulsed. However, during the second attempt, Colonel Daniel’s horse was startled and threw the colonel into a tree, injuring him and removing him from battle.

            Around the time of the second Union retreat, General Sam Jones arrived on the battlefield and took overall command. It is believed Jones had a hand in placing the Confederate artillery. Six cannons were placed along the elevated ridge in a semi-circle ready to tear down the enemy if they tried to take the bridge. General Miller said he placed the cannons where they were, but that was untrue, as they were already placed before Miller even arrived on the field of battle. Miller was still in Newport at the start of the fighting, keeping Major Weeks and the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry from repairing the bridge and crossing at Newport. Once they heard the commotion coming from Natural Bridge they began their march along the Plank Road. After abandoning Newport Miller risked the possibility that Major Weeks and his men would repair the bridge, so he placed local volunteers to man the trenches and make Major Weeks believe the Confederates never left. One of these volunteers was none other than Daniel Ladd himself, who took random shots at the Federals to keep them at bay.

            Meanwhile at Natural Bridge, there was a lack of activity between the two opposing forces, besides the occasional erratic musket and cannon fire. The Union was not attempting another charge of the crossing just yet, while they again were looking for an alternate route. The Confederates could not see what the Federals were doing behind the trees so they sent forward men from the center and left flank of the Confederate line of defense. The men went forward into the woods between the Confederate line and Natural Bridge. They did not see much action at first, until they were attacked by a Union sniper who shot a Confederate soldier in the stomach. It was during this skirmishing that General William Miller arrived from Newport with reinforcements, around eight o’clock in the morning. These new men bolstered the ranks of the already well-defended Confederate line. The young cadets from West Florida Seminary, including young militiamen like John Wesley Adams from Sopchoppy, were placed in the center of the line just to the left of the Natural Bridge road.

 About an hour later Captain Dunham from the Milton Light Artillery arrived on the scene with three more cannons, placing one on the left flank and the other two on the right. By eleven o’clock, the Confederate line of defense was fully shaped and dug in behind breastworks. The Confederates had placed six cannons equally distributed along the crescent shaped line, aimed to mow down any Union attempt to take the crossing. Confederate commanders called the skirmishers from the 1^st Florida Reserves back to the line on the right flank. The line now looked as follows: the far left flank was manned by Lieutenant Colonel Girardeau and his force of home guards from Jefferson, Madison, Leon, Gadsden, and Wakulla Counties, with an artillery piece under Captain Dunham.  The left-center of the line had a breastwork thrown up with the cadets placed behind it. The right-center of the line were Houstoun’s cannons which were aimed directly at the crossing. A company of home guards from Gadsden County reinforced Houstoun’s guns. The right flank consisted of the 1^st Florida Reserves under the command of Lieutenant Colonel W.D. Barnes, and was joined by three companies of dismounted cavalrymen from the 5^th Florida Cavalry, as well as Captain Benjamin Chaires’ Leon County home guards. Also somewhere in the line were sailors from the Spray, and artillerymen from Fort Ward, both acting as infantrymen.

While there was not much action accept some troop movements and placement, General Newton sent workers from the 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry to construct a breastwork along the bank of the river, opposite the Confederate’s right flank. Three cannons were placed there, as well as three companies from the 99^th to reinforce them. Union commanders later reported that the two armies could barely even see each other for thickness of the trees, and since their position was lower than the rebel’s, many of their gunfire went over their head. U.S. General Newton then came up with a gutsy plan of attack. The first stage of the attack consisted of men from the 2^nd U.S. Colored Infantry, who were to charge the bridge while being fired on by cannon and musket fire, then attack the Confederate right flank once they got across. The second part of the plan was for more men from the 2^nd to charge across the bridge and attack the Confederate center. Afterwards, the 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry were to come up and exploit whatever the first two attacks achieved. Newton and other Union leaders had no idea of the numbers that the Confederates were able to gather. On the eastern side of the river, Newton only had five-hundred soldiers and three cannons at his disposal, while the Confederates had over a thousand men with six cannon.

Around noon, though some records indicate an earlier time, cannons from the Union breastwork began to open fire on the Confederate line with most of the shells landing well behind it. The Confederates returned cannon fire then both infantries began firing shortly thereafter. Suddenly, Federal troops in their dark blue uniforms emerged from behind the trees and the fighting intensified. A Union column traversed the crossing and advanced into positions on the west side of the bridge, and attacked the Confederate’s right flank. Another column attacked the center of the Confederate line. During this fierce attack the Confederates started suffering casualties. The Confederate right flank wavered a bit and the Federals attempted to storm it, but was halted by an impassable sinkhole that they could not see until they were right up on it and were forced retreat back to the tree line.[3] It is said that General Miller rode out to the right flank himself and hollered for the men to get the line back in order. The two Federal columns and the Confederates on the ridge engaged in a severe infantry battle that lasted for several hours. The Confederate’s Minie balls tore through the 2^nd and 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry, wounding and killing dozens of soldiers.

The exchange of volley after volley continued for hours, then reinforcements arrived in the form of dismounted men from the 2^nd Florida Cavalry. They had finally made it to the battle all the way from Lake City. General Newton and the Federals were now outnumbered three to one by a force with a superior position and artillery, and he knew it.[4] Jones and Miller sent a detachment of home guards with a cannon back to Newport to reoccupy the trenches, which were currently being held by Daniel Ladd and a handful of other unknown locals. After the Federals seized fire, believing they were in retreat an order came in for two companies to push forward and drive the Federals out. Men from the 5^th Florida Cavalry and the 1^st Florida Reserves advanced forward. Walking past the mutilated corpses of men from the 2^nd and 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry, they found an earthwork to the rear of the first line which held a force of Union soldiers. It had been a trick. Newton had not withdrawn, but built a new line of defense protected by earthworks and the cannon that they captured at the East River bridge.

          Once the Confederates were in open view from the new Federal earthworks, they released canon and musket fire. The Confederates made three attempts to take the entrenchments, but were repelled by heavy fire. The rebels took refuge behind the Yankee’s first entrenchments as it exchanged gunfire with the second. This fighting on the east bank of the river caused the Confederates to suffer great casualties. The Confederates retreated. Soon after, the Federals stopped firing and Colonel Scott ordered men to move scout forward to ascertain the Union’s position. They found that Newton was taking advantage of the momentary Confederate retreat to withdraw his own force. The Confederates had won the battle, not allowing the Union force to cross the St. Marks River, and the victorious "rebel yell" bounced from tree to tree. Officers then organized their men for a pursuit of the fleeing Union army.

Sources Used:

Joshua Hoyet Frier, Reminiscences of the War Between the States by a Boy in the Far South at Home and in the Rank of the Confederate Militia p.145-169,

Brig. Gen. John Newton, Report of March 19, 1865, Official Records, Series 1, Volume 49-1, pp.58-62

Cox, D. (2007). The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida: The Confederate Defense of Tallahassee. Fort Smith, Arkansas: Dale Cox.

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[1] Frier p.150

[2] Cox, p.41

[3] Newton, p.60-61

[4] Ibid. p.61

The Civil War

1861-1865

Part Four

The Union Organizes for an Attack on St. Marks

Following participation in General Sherman’s campaign on Atlanta, U.S. Brigadier General John Newton was sent to Key West to assume control of the Florida District and the troops there. This was due to the fact that the Union anticipated an increase of activities in Florida.[1] The 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry had just arrived at Key West when Confederates attacked a Union garrison at Fort Myers. After some light skirmishing, the Confederates withdrew. The steamer Alliance was dispatched to Key West to inform Newton of the attack on Fort Myers. Besides bringing the most recent news of the attack on Fort Myers, the Alliance also informed Newton of an earlier skirmish at Station Number 4 near Cedar Key, in which the Union was repulsed by troops under the command of J. J. Dickison. Upon learning the news, General Newton boarded the 99^th U.S. Colored Infantry onto the steamer Magnolia and sent them to Punta Rassa, close to Fort Myers.

The day before Newton learned of the attacks, he had already planned a mission to St. Marks. Newton left Key West on February 20, 1864, aboard the Honduras with three companies from the 2^nd Colored Infantry, Companies A, B, and K. They met up with the Magnolia at Punta Rassa on February 24, at which time the two steamers began their travel together to Cedar Key, located near the mouth of the Suwannee River, where they arrived the next day. Commander of the Federal post at Cedar Key was Major Edmund Weeks of the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry, but he was away on a raiding mission at the time General Newton arrived. The 2^nd Florida was one of two Union regiments made up of Florida Unionists and Confederate deserters. Another battalion from the 2^nd U.S. Colored Infantry was also stationed at Cedar Key.

U.S. Brigadier General John Newton

Major Weeks returned two days later, around the same time as the Alliance arrived from Key West. General Newton ordered Companies E, G, and H from the 2^nd U.S. Colored Infantry and Companies C, D, and E from the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry to board the Magnolia, while he transferred his center of operations to the Alliance. The two Union vessels reached Apalachee Bay on the foggy morning of February 28. The fog hid the Union vessels for the next two days, as several other ships joined the flotilla at the mouth of the St. Marks River. General Newton, along with Lieutenant Commander Gibson of the U.S. Navy, formulated a plan to capture Fort Ward and destroy Newport and St. Marks. First, a group of sailors and dismounted men from the 2^nd Florida U. S. Cavalry were to land at the St. Marks lighthouse to capture the Confederates there, and take control of the East River Bridge. Afterwards, more troops would land at the lighthouse to get ready for a march inland, which was to begin at sunrise on March 4. These troops were to march to Newport, destroy all facilities in the town, then control the Newport Bridge that crosses the St. Marks River. They also planned to disrupt Confederate communication and supply lines by destroying the bridge over the Ochlocknee River, the Aucilla River, and taking control of the Tallahassee Railroad to attack Confederate forces before they could concentrate their troops. The Navy was to send ships up the St. Marks River to attack Fort Ward, and drop off around six-hundred sailors at the site of Port Leon to prevent Confederate forces from attacking the main Union force from the rear.[2]

On March 2, the Federals put their plans into action. First they dropped off soldiers at Shell Point and the mouth of the Aucilla River. Their missions were to destroy railroad bridges that connected Tallahassee to Quincy and Madison. The men at the Aucilla River were to destroy the railroad bridge that crossed the Aucilla on its way to Madison. When this small group of men neared the bridge, they noticed far more Confederate troops than anticipated. They canceled the sortie and returned to their steamer. The group that got dropped off at Shell Point were to destroy the railroad bridge that crossed the Ochlocknee River and connected Tallahassee to Quincy. They also failed at accomplishing their goal. This was a bad start for General Newton. To make matters worse for the Federals, on the morning of March 3, when the troops were preparing for their landing the next day, the fog that had been hiding them so well began to dissipate. The Federals panicked. Worried they would alarm Confederate pickets into action, they decided to exit Apalachee Bay and head out into the Gulf. They were worried that the Confederates may figure out their intentions.

When they felt the coast was clear and the sun was down, the Federal flotilla returned to the Wakulla County coastline. Unfortunately for them, a storm with very high winds came rolling through the bay, tossing the flotilla about. The officers anchored their ships and waited out the storm. Newton had planned to land his troops and begin the march inland by first light on March 4, but it was looking like that would not happen. Newton instead decided to go ahead and take the East River Bridge that was on the road from the lighthouse to the mainland, and the Confederates posted there.[3] He wanted to go ahead and control the road to the mainland. He did not want these pickets to witness the landing of the army’s main body at the lighthouse the next morning. The first party set out under the command of Acting Ensign John F. Whitman around seven o’clock on the evening of March 4. It was two boats, consisting of around twelve men, who rowed away from the Federal steamers towards the East River with the goal of capturing the Confederate pickets before they could get the word out about the Union’s attentions. Following up behind the first wave of soldiers was a second wave consisting around sixty dismounted men from the 2^nd U.S. Cavalry, under the command of Acting Master Thomas Chatfield.

Whitman’s troops landed without too much difficulty, despite it being dark and foggy. They marched a quarter-mile to the lighthouse and arrived there around twelve midnight. Whitman’s Federals tried to surprise the Confederates and take their pickets at the East River Bridge. Newton’s plan was to capture the Confederates before they could alert their superior officers, but the attentive watchmen from the 5^th Florida Cavalry were able to escape Union grasp. Instead of pursuing the fleeing rebels, Whitman decided to stay at the East River Bridge to make sure they kept control of it. Soon the main body of the Union attack force were supposed to arrive from the lighthouse.

Major William H. Milton of the 5^th Florida Cavalry, and son of Governor Milton, was stationed at Newport with a small detachment of forty-five men. The Confederates who were guarding the East River retreated to Newport where they told Major Milton that Federal soldiers had seized the bridge over the East River. Before Milton geared up to go to the East River, he sent a messenger to the Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad to requisition a train and speed towards Tallahassee with a warning of the Federals seizing the East River Bridge. The train arrived at Tallahassee around nine o’clock at night, an odd time, which startled the residents. The message was delivered to the capitol, and people gathered around the steps to find out what was going on. The capitol fired a cannon to alarm the citizens, and to signify that local home guards were to report for duty by sunrise. Telegraphers made themselves busy by sending messages for troops to begin to converge at Tallahassee. Acting commanders in Tallahassee, General William Miller and General Samuel Jones, met to come up with a strategy.

Meanwhile, as a strategy was being formulated and local troops were beginning to make their way to Tallahassee, Major Milton and his detachment headed for the East River to stop the U.S. troops from advancing any further. Leaving Newport, Milton rode all night long towards the East River Bridge, which he reached by sunrise on March 4. Milton ordered several of his men to remain in the rear with the horses while he and the rest advanced toward the bridge. Taking their time, the cavalrymen marched to the bridge while a few scouts went a head of them. On the other side of the East River, Acting Ensign Whitman and his troops were watching the bridge when they noticed the rebel scouts approach. Most likely the first shots of what would become the Battle of Natural Bridge, Acting Ensign Whitman ordered his men to fire on the scouts. Shortly after, Milton and his men returned fire from across the river. Union reinforcements under the command of Acting Master Thomas Chatfield could hear the fighting begin as they were still making their way to the bridge from the lighthouse. Once Chatfield arrived, he ordered Whitman to take his men and return to the fleet, as they would be needed to help the main body land. The U.S. force still outnumbered the Confederates two-to-one, but they did not know that.

As the fighting at the East River continued, Weeks began to feel as though he could not hold the bridge for much longer, as the Confederates were continuously unleashing a barrage of musket fire. He sent a rider to find out if the main body had landed at the lighthouse yet and soon found out that not a single solider had been put ashore. Weeks decided he could no longer hold the bridge without reinforcements, so he ordered his troops to withdraw back to the lighthouse. Major Milton pursued the retreating Federals back to the lighthouse, keeping up fire along the way. The Confederate commander then saw the Union fleet amassed offshore, and dispatched couriers to warn Tallahassee of the larger threat.

When news reached Generals Miller and Jones in Tallahassee, they called out for all available troops. A message was sent to Lake City where Colonel Caraway Smith and the main force of the 2^nd Florida Cavalry were, which told them to be ready to go to Tallahassee by train as soon as possible. The Kilcrease and Milton Light Artillery units were ordered to Tallahassee, as well as the rest of the 5^th Florida Cavalry. Because Miller and Jones figured they needed all the men they could muster, Governor Milton approved the usage of the young cadets from West Florida Seminary and ordered them to be ready to move by daybreak. The Commanders in Tallahassee decided to make their stand on the western bank of the St. Marks River, and to not allow the Union to cross it. General William Miller, along with the cadets from West Florida Seminary and a detachment of militia, was to move out by morning and assume command.

Meanwhile, Weeks and Milton were skirmishing at the East River, as the U.S. tried to make its move and land the main body of troops at the lighthouse. However, on the way to the lighthouse, the Spirea and then the Honduras ran aground in the tricky Apalachee Bay. The other ships of the flotilla were forced to stop and wait. This stalled the Federals greatly, but by four o’clock in the afternoon of March 4, Newton had finally landed his main force, but still had to wait for his supplies to be unloaded. Within view of Major Milton and the Confederates, Newton marched his men to higher ground and set up camp for the night, realizing he could not advance any further until his supplies were unloaded. Major Milton then decided to stop the pursuit and withdrew back to the north bank of the East River. The Confederates dismantled the East River bridge so the Federals could not cross it, which he figured they planned to do in the morning.[4] As this effort was being made, Confederate reinforcements began to arrive at the East River. Lieutenant Colonel George W. Scott of the 5^th Florida Calvary arrived and brought with him a section of Dunham’s Battery from the Milton Light Artillery. They had with them a 12-pound howitzer which could easily be fired on the Federals as they tried to reach the river.

Following the storm that wreaked havoc on the Federal flotilla, a cold front began to set in as night fell. The Union, around eight o’clock in the morning of March 5, broke down their camp and fell into formation on the trail that lead to the East River Bridge and began their advance. One of the Confederate artillerymen later recalled that they could see “a blue stream that seemed endless” extending from the lighthouse and nearly reaching the bridge.[5] For reasons we may never know, Lieutenant Colonel Scott decided not to use the 12-pound howitzer against the advancing blue coats. The Confederate defenses at the East River Bridge quickly began to break down as the Federals got closer and began to fire on them. Scott ordered a retreat, but not before the 12-pounder unloaded one blast which drew the first blood of the Battle of Natural Bridge. Troops from 2^nd U.S. Colored Infantry managed to capture the howitzer that the Confederates left behind in their hastily retreat from the East River. Men from the 99^th U.C. Colored Infantry began to repair the bridge as Scott and the Confederates retreated to Newport. 

Reinforcements began to flow in from Tallahassee to St. Marks via the railroad as the Confederates were withdrawing to Newport. At Newport, the Confederates took up positions behind breastworks along the west bank of the St. Marks River and Scott had his men dismantle the bridge there. Scott also left a detachment of men on the east bank of the river to hassle the U.S. troops should they continue north from Newport. Scott furthermore ordered Daniel Ladd’s mill and workshop, along with several other buildings located on the waterfront of the east bank of the St. Marks River in Newport, to be burned to the ground so the Federals could not use them for protection. The destruction of all barges and boats that the Confederates could find was ordered as well. These men entrenched at Newport were joined by sailors from the Spray, as well as troops from Campbell’s Georgia Siege Artillery from Fort Ward. Now Scott had a force of nearly one-hundred men guarding the bridge at Newport.

The Battle of Newport

Around eleven o’clock in the morning, General Newton’s force arrived at Newport and found that the wooden bridge that spanned the St. Marks River had been destroyed. Major Weeks was ordered, with his dismounted cavalrymen, to take the bridge an attempt to salvage it and use it. As soon as they were out in the open, the one-hundred entrenched Confederates opened fire on them. As southern musket shot whistled through the air and bark from shot-up trees went flying in every direction, the Federals withdrew in an effort to protect themselves. Musket fire was exchanged for a while as Weeks tried to force the Confederate defenders out of their entrenchments. He decided to use his howitzers to blow the breastworks away. Two cannons were pulled to the front, one directly across from the bridge and the other pointed at the west bank entrenchments. The town of Newport was being shelled by Union cannon fire as its residents fled into the woods. The Federals were highly inaccurate with their shelling, which lasted for an hour, and were unable to cause the rebels to flee their entrenchments but were able to destroy the private homes of Newport citizens. The fighting at Newport resulted in zero Confederate casualties, and very low Federal casualties. However, five of Daniel Ladd’s slaves were killed by shrapnel when a Yankee shell exploded near them. After Newton decided the shelling was not working, he called the cannons back.

In Tallahassee, many of the home guards from surrounding counties, including Wakulla, arrived on March 5. Also ready for action on March 5 were the young cadets from West Florida Seminary. Some young local boys enlisted and joined the cadets on March 5, and they replaced those who were too young to fight. With the home guards and the cadets, General Miller boarded the Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad bound for Newport, which they reached around five o’clock in the afternoon. Miller relieved Scott of command and placed the home guards and cadets behind the breastworks, where they came under Union gunfire. The erratic shooting of guns continued until nightfall.

General Newton, having acknowledged that his troops would not be able to secure and repair the bridge at Newport, decided to march his troops north along the eastern bank of the St. Marks River to a place his scouts had discovered called Natural Bridge, where the river went underground for a short distance, creating a “natural bridge” to cross the St. Marks River. Newton decided to leave a detachment from the 2^nd Florida U.S. Cavalry behind at Newport under Major Weeks to prevent the Confederates from repairing the bridge and following and harassing his column from behind. General William Miller ordered Scott to take three companies of cavalry to mirror Newton’s march, but along the western side of the river. About three miles north of Newport, the Federals stopped at a place called Tompkins’ Mills to rest, and on the other side of the river, the Confederates did the same.

General Sam Jones arrived at Newport from Tallahassee and he and General Miller assumed correctly that Newton would try to make his crossing at Natural Bridge. Jones rode off on his horse to start directing troops to defend Natural Bridge. Around midnight at Newport, General Miller got a disheartening message that the troops stationed at Fort Ward were in a panic and planned to destroy the Spray and the fort’s magazines. The reasons for the panic is that the soldiers at Fort Ward knew that Scott was defeated at the East River Bridge, and thought they were defeated at Newport as well. Also, the Union Navy was creeping up the St. Marks River towards the fort. The U.S. planned to land near six-hundred soldiers near Fort Ward to attack it, and support the main Union force. From Newport, General Miller traveled to Fort Ward and told the garrison that the fort was the key to the defense of Tallahassee and he would hear no more talk about its abandonment. The U.S. Navy never landed the six-hundred men that it had planned to do. In fact, because of the shallowness of the St. Marks River, they never got closer than a mile-and-a-half from Port Leon, let alone Fort Ward.

Sources Used:

Cox, D. (2007). The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida: The Confederate Defense of Tallahassee. Fort Smith, Arkansas: Dale Cox.

Brig. Gen. John Newton, Report of April 19, 1865, Official Records, Series 1, Volume 49, p.66-68 

To read Newton's April 19, 1865 report in its entirety, visit the link below:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hwanrh;view=1up;seq=86

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[1] Cox, p.8

[2] Cox, p.14

[3] Newton, p.59

[4] Ibid, p.60

[5] Cox, p.23