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