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Secession.
Although the state of
Florida was sparsely settled, the population according to the United
States census in 1860 being but 140,424, and the highest vote ever cast
being only 12,898, yet in proportion to her population she furnished as
large a quota to the Confederate army as her sister states. Florida
participated in the general political struggle which prevailed throughout
the South during the year 1860.
The legislature met in
regular session Nov. 26, 1860, a bill was immediately introduced to
provide for calling a convention to be held Jan. 3, 1861, which passed
both houses unanimously, and an election was ordered for delegates to the
convention, which assembled at Tallahassee, the state capital, on the day
named. A test resolution in favor of secession was passed by the
convention on January 7. A resolution offered on the 9th that the
ordinance be submitted to the people for ratification was lost. On January
10 an ordinance of secession was adopted.
The president of the
convention was then instructed to inform the proper authorities of other
Southern states of the action which Florida had taken, and the following
resolution was adopted by the convention:
"Whereas the state of
Florida has severed her connection with the late Federal Union, notice of
that fact should be communicated to President Buchanan. Resolved that Hons.
S. R. Mallery, D. L. Yulee and Geo. S. Hawking be and are hereby appointed
commissioners for the purpose."
It was also resolved,
"That this convention
authorize and empower the governor of this state to employ the militia of
this state, and such forces as may be tendered to the state from the
states of Alabama and Georgia to defend and protect the state; and
especially the forts and public defences of the state now in possession of
the state; and that the governor be authorized to make all necessary
arrangements for the support and maintenance of such troops and carrying
on the public defences; that it is the sense of this convention that the
governor should not direct any assault to be made on any fort or military
post now occupied by Federal troops, unless the persons in occupation of
such forts and posts shall commit overt acts of hostility against this
state, its citizens or troops in its service, unless directed by the vote
of this convention."
The War in Florida.
On January 12, two days
after the passage of the ordinance of secession, the Pensacola navy yard
and Fort Barrancas were abandoned by the Federal troops who retired to
Fort Pickens after spiking the guns in both places. The movement indicated
that the Federal garrisons anticipated a demand for the surrender of the
forts within the limits of the state, and were preparing to act on the
defensive by concentrating in this strong fortress, which was located on
the extreme western part of Santa Rosa Island and commanded the entrance
to Pensacola Bay and harbor, where they could sustain a siege and with the
aid of the navy could soon control the city of Pensacola and the adjacent
towns. The possession of this fort was of vital importance to the seceding
states on the Gulf of Mexico, no other place being safe while the Federal
troops held Fort Pickens which was an almost impregnable stronghold and
could only be taken by an effective force and a bold and skilful movement.
The importance of Pensacola to Alabama from a military point of view
induced the governor to send thither a regiment of 225 troops under the
command of Colonel Lomax; and the governor of Mississippi ordered troops
to go to Mobile and there await orders to go to Pensacola. Troops were
also sent from Georgia. The object of this concentration of forces was to
prevent the establishment of a great Federal depot at this point, from
which none of the gulf ports would have been free from danger, especially
Mobile and New Orleans. Though these demonstrations were apparently
hostile, yet it was the unanimous feeling that no blood should be shed in
the existing state of affairs and that a Southern Confederacy must first
be organized. Senator S. E. Mallery telegraphed to the commanding officer
"that a collision should be avoided; that Fort Pickens was not worth a
drop of blood"; hence within about ten days the troops were disbanded by
the order of Governor Perry, it having been decided not to attack Fort
Pickens at that time.
The convention of Florida, still in session,
sent three delegates to the Southern convention to be held at Montgomery,
Ala., in February for the purpose of forming a provisional government. The
delegates were instructed "to oppose any attempt on the part of said
convention to legislate or transact any business whatever, other than the
adoption of a provisional government to be substantially on the basis of
the constitution of the late United States, and a permanent constitution
for the Southern Confederacy upon the same basis; and that in the event of
the said convention undertaking on any pretext whatever to exercise any
powers than that above enumerated our delegates are instructed to protest
against the same and to declare in behalf of the state of Florida that
such acts will not be binding." On Feb. 4, 1861, the delegates from the
seceding states prepared a provisional constitution for the new
Confederacy which was adopted on February 8. All the principal measures of
that body met with the approval and support of the Florida delegates; and
on February 9, Mr. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected president
and Mr. Alexander H. Stevens, of Georgia, vice-president.
War having been begun soon after the
inauguration of President Lincoln, the governor of Florida began active
preparations for the inevitable conflict. Orders were issued to the
volunteer companies to organize into battalions and regiments, and for all
citizens subject to military duty to prepare at once for war and be in
readiness for the defense of the state and the protection of the extensive
line of Florida's seacoast. The response to the call was prompt, resulting
in a few months in the formation of regimental organizations composed of
the finest material in the state. Four artillery companies were also
formed, known as Abel's, Gamble's, Dunham's and Martin's, which did good
service not only in the state but in the army of Tennessee. Senator Yulee
wrote from Washington that "the immediately important thing to be done is
the occupation of the forts and arsenals in Florida," occupied by United
States troops in the following places, viz., the Apalachicola arsenal at
Chattahoochee, where there were stored a number of small arms, 5,000
pounds of powder and about 175,000 cartridges; Fort Barrancas, with
forty-four cannon and ammunition; Banancas barracks, where there was a
field battery; Fort Pickens equipped with 201 cannon with ammunition; Fort
McRee, with 125 seacoast and garrison cannon; Fort Taylor at Key West,
with sixty cannon; Key West barracks, with four cannon; Fort Marion, with
six field batteries and some small arms, and Fort Jefferson on the Tortu-gas.
As the naval station and forts at Pensacola were first in consequence, ten
companies were ordered to the military rendezvous at Chattahoochee arsenal
and were there organized into a regiment known as the "First Florida
Infantry Regiment," which was ordered to report at Pensacola to General
Bragg, who on March 8, 1861, had been appointed brigadier-general in the
provisional army and assigned to duty in Florida with headquarters at
Pensacola. Lieut. A.
J. Slemmer was in command of Fort Pickens, having a force of eighty men.
He was summoned to surrender the fort to the governors of Alabama and
Florida on January 12, and also on the 15th. A few days later the demand
was renewed by Col. W. H. Chase who had constructed the fort when an
officer of the United States army; but Slemmer refused to comply with
these demands. Meantime the Washington government sent reinforcements to
forts Taylor and Jefferson and the Confederates under Colonel Chase began
to erect a battery.
The sloop of war Brooklyn with a company of artillerymen was sent to
reinforce Fort Pickens with orders from General Scott to land the company
and hold the fort until further orders.
On April 1 Col. Harvey Brown was given command
of Florida by the United States government and ordered to make Fort
Jefferson the base of operations. His fleet consisted of the ship
Atlantic, the Illinois (carrying stores) and the Sabine, the St. Louis and
the Crusaders, also the Powhattan, commanded by Lieut. David D. Porter.
The obvious purpose of the United States government was to retain the
fortifications at Key West, Dry Tortugas and Santa Rosa Island, to which
end 3,000 troops were to be concentrated on the Island of Santa Rosa.
Meanwhile the Confederate government called out the following troops for
the defense of Pensacola harbor, viz., from Georgia 1,000, from Alabama
1,000, from Louisiana 1,000, from Mississippi 1,500, from Florida 500;
total, 5,000. As far as practicable Florida made preparations to defend
itself against invasion, but it was impossible to fortify the entire
coast. Key West and Tortugas were held by the Federals and these posts
were the keys to the gulf. At St. Augustine, Fort Clinch at the mouth of
the St. Johns River, Fernandina, Cedar Keys, St. Marks, Apalachicola and
at Tallahassee were a few guns only. In May Florida had an estimated force
of 700 men at Pensacola and nearly 2,000 more were organized and equipped
ready to march where ordered.
On May 10 the United States schooner William
Atwater with thirty-one men was captured off Cedar Keys by the Confederate
steamer Spray. She was taken to Apalachicola and converted into a blockade
runner, but in January, 1862, the Atwater was recaptured by the Federal
steamer Itasca. In July Tampa Bay was blockaded, and in August St. Marks
was also blockaded by the steamer Mohawh, and the channel obstructed by
the sinking of a captured sloop. The Federal steamer Massachusetts
captured four schooners and sent them as prizes to Key West, but they were
recaptured by the Florida troops when off Cedar Keys; subsequently all the
important ports were blockaded by the United States navy. The military
command of middle and east Florida was assigned first to Brigadier-General
Grayson, and afterward to Gen. James H. Trapier, and in November it was
included in a new department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, under
command of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Early in October Maj. W. L. L. Bowen
captured two sloops with thirteen men at Tampa Bay.
In Pensacola harbor on Sept. 14, 1861, the
Confederate schooner Judah, carrying five guns, while lying at the navy
yard, was captured and burned by the United States forces; they lost three
killed and thirteen wounded. This was the first encounter in the state in
which lives were lost. General Bragg sent an expedition of 1,000 troops
under command of Brig.-Gen. B. H. Anderson, against the outposts on Santa
Rosa Island. Wilson's zouaves were in charge of the outposts; they were
driven in and the camp, containing large stores of provisions, clothing,
equipage, arms and ammunition, was burned. The Confederate loss was:
killed eighteen, wounded thirty-seven, taken prisoners thirty. It was
estimated that the Federal troops lost 150 killed and wounded and twenty
prisoners. On
November 24 there was an artillery battle between Fort Pickens and the two
battleships Niagara and Richmond on the Union side, and Fort McRee and
other Confederate batteries. It lasted two days, but the loss of life was
small and the results indecisive. No important engagement occurred this
year. In February, 1862, as more troops were needed in Tennessee and
Kentucky, the Confederate War Department decided to abandon all Florida
ports, and General Bragg ordered Gen. Samuel Jones, who was in charge at
Pensacola, to abandon the works and move the heavy guns with ammunition to
Mobile, to which port General Bragg had been transferred, and other
supplies to Montgomery, Ala. His orders were as follows: "I desire you
particularly to leave nothing the enemy can use; burn all from Fort McRee
to the junction with the Mobile road. Save the guns and if necessary
destroy our gunboats and other boats. They might be used against us.
Destroy all machinery, etc., public and private, which could be useful to
the enemy; especially disable the saw mills in and around the bay, and
burn the lumber. Break up the railroad from Pensacola to the junction,
carrying the iron up to a safe point." General Bragg was succeeded by
General Jones, who detailed Col. T. M. Jones to execute General Bragg's
orders. On May 7, hearing of Federal demonstrations at Mobile harbor, he
proceeded to evacuate at once. All sick and baggage were sent out on the
8th and on the night of the 9th the infantry marched out, leaving several
companies of cavalry to accomplish the work of destruction. Public
buildings, camp tents, and whatever was combustible, from the navy yard to
Fort McRee, were quickly in flames; and, notwithstanding that the Federal
fleet opened a heavy fire, the work of destruction was thoroughly
completed. At Pensacola, an oil factory, the quartermaster's store-houses,
three small steamers and some small boats were burned. On May 12 the
Federal forces took possession of the ruins, and also occupied Pensacola.
Fernandina was evacuated in March, 1862; St. Augustine surrendered to
Commander Rodgers of the flagship Wabash on March 11, and Jacksonville on
March 12. The destruction of two unfinished gunboats lying at the wharf at
Pensacola, by Lieutenant-Colonel Beard, who acted under the orders of
Maj.-Gen. Sam Jones, elicited the censure of G. W. Randolph, the secretary
of war, who pronounced it an unnecessary act and a serious loss to the
Confederacy. Previous
to the occupation of Jacksonville, a battalion of Confederate troops,
numbering 400, and under the command of Col. C. F. Hopkins, had come in
and, acting under orders, burned the extensive sawmills and the foundry,
also the Judson House, a fine hotel. On March 19 Gen. F. W. Sherman
arrived at Jacksonville and called a meeting of loyal citizens, and steps
were taken to secure the cooperation of other counties in restoring
Florida to the Union, but without much result. On April 8 the Federal
troops evacuated Jacksonville, and many buildings were burned, presumably
by the soldiers or camp followers. After the evacuation of Pensacola,
General Hunter ordered Colonel Bell, commanding at St. Augustine, "to at
once drive out of your lines all persons, without reference to sex, who
have not taken and still refuse to take the oath of allegiance." A similar
order was made by Brigadier-General Saxton, directing the provost-marshal
to expel all such people who should refuse to take the oath of allegiance.
A large number of women and children were put on board the steamer
Burnside, but off the bar of the St. Johns River, they were met by Gen. A.
H. Terry, who, under the direction of General Brannon, countermanded
General Saxton's order, and compelled the Burnside to return to St.
Augustine with the expelled people.
On May 20 a boat from a blockading vessel in
the Apalachicola River was attacked by Capt. H. T. Blecker, and seventeen
of the twenty-one on board were killed or wounded. On June 30 the
Confederate battery at Tampa Bay, held by Captain Pearson, was attacked by
a Federal gunboat, which after several hours' cannonading withdrew with
but little damage on either side. A heavy battery at St. Johns Bluff on
the St. Johns River, under the command of Col. C. F. Hopkins, was attacked
by a heavy force of United States gunboats and troops. The position was
flanked by the latter, rendering it untenable, and consequently it was
abandoned by the Confederates.
In January, 1863, Colonel Higginson, with a
regiment of South Carolina troops, made an expedition from Fernandina up
the St. Marys River without accomplishing anything of note, and on March
10 he and Colonel Montgomery, commanding a force of colored troops, took
possession of Jacksonville. General Saxton had become impressed with the
idea that a great deal could be done by securing the negroes in Florida
and enlisting them in the United States service. He obtained Mr. Lincoln's
indorsement of his plan, and was authorized to enlist 5,000 negroes for
military service and 5,000 as laborers. He proposed to make Jacksonville
an asylum for negroes. General Saxton reported that negroes were
collecting from all quarters, but he was apprehensive of being attacked by
the Confederates, who, under General Finnegan, were closely surrounding
the town. Being reinforced he moved out against the Confederates, but
after a sharp skirmish, retired. Colonel Montgomery went up the river to
Palatka raiding plantations and carrying off negroes, but in attempting to
land at Palatka bis troops were fired upon by Confederate troops under
Capt. J. J. Dickinson, who afterward became celebrated as "The Marion of
Florida," and be immediately returned to Jacksonville. On March 27, 1863,
after seventeen days' occupation, General Hunter ordered the evacuation of
Jacksonville, thus breaking up the plans of General Saxton for recovering
Florida to the Union.
The government at "Washington had been led to
believe that there was a strong Union sentiment in Florida which would
declare itself if a sufficient force was sent into the state; hence
President Lincoln sent Major Hay to further this end, with blanks and
papers to be used in the process of restoring the state to the Union.
General Gilmore, in command of the department in the South, entertained
similar views, and his plan was to occupy Florida in force, to cut off the
Confederate sources of commissary supplies of beef and salt, and to
procure an outlet for cotton, lumber, turpentine, etc; also to obtain
recruits for colored regiments and to inaugurate movements for the
restoration of Florida to the Union. As most of Florida's troops were in
Virginia or the west, leaving only a few hundred in movable detachments to
guard the interior of the state, it was supposed that the Federal forces
would meet with but little opposition in an advance to the capital of
Florida, Tallahassee, and that they would expel the Confederate
authorities and organize a quasi-state government which should recognize
the supremacy of the United States.
Accordingly, on February 5 Gilmore ordered
Gen. Truman Seymour to proceed with a division of troops from Hilton Head
to Jacksonville. Admiral Dahlgren sailed with a squadron of five gunboats
to escort the transports, and the expedition, comprising about 7,000 men,
including cavalry, infantry and artillery, was landed at Jacksonville on
Feb. 2, 1864. On receipt of this intelligence General Finnegan, then in
command of the Confederate forces, notified Lieutenant-General McCormick
who had a force of about 350 men at Camp Finnegan, to guard against a
surprise. On the night of the 8th an advance was made by a troop of
cavalry under Col. Guy Henry, which passed Camp Finnegan and captured a
battery and several wagons and mules. Proceeding to St. Marys, near the
Georgia line they encountered two companies of cavalry under Maj. Robert
Harrison, by whom their progress was checked, and they returned to
Sanderson, from which place they made a raid to Gainesville, capturing
sugar, cotton, etc., on the way. While at Gainesville they made a
temporary breastwork of cotton bales and repulsed an attack by two
companies of Confederate cavalry. The captured stores were burned, and the
Union troops left and rejoined General Seymour, who, having encountered
but little opposition and being greatly elated by the success of these two
raids, decided to make a forward movement.
On February 13 General Finnegan had
concentrated near Lake City a force of 4,600 infantry, 600 cavalry and
three field batteries of twelve guns. He had encamped his little army at
Olustee on a line between Ocean Pond and a cypress pond. The Union force,
as officially stated, was 5,500 men. Upon receiving information of the
advance of General Seymour, General Finnegan sent out a force of cavalry
and part of the Georgia troops to skirmish with the enemy, who were then
about three miles east of Olustee. The skirmish developed into a battle in
which all the forces were speedily engaged. The ground was stubbornly
contested by the Confederates, notwithstanding that two Georgia regiments
had exhausted their supply of ammunition and were compelled to hold their
ground for fifteen or twenty minutes without a round of ammunition, but
with which they were finally supplied from a train of cars half a mile
distant. A New Hampshire regiment armed with Spencer rifles found the
Confederate fire too heavy and broke in confusion; a colored regiment
having its colonel and major killed, also broke and retreated; but on the
whole General Seymour's forces fought bravely, having marched fourteen
miles and fought for three hours before retreating. Their batteries were
well served, but they left five guns and 1,600 stands of arms on the
field. The losses as officially reported were 1,861 killed, wounded and
missing on the Federal side, and 940 on the Confederate side. Under date
of February 22, General Beauregard sent the following congratulatory
message to General Finnegan: "I congratulate you and your brave officers
and their commands on your brilliant victory over the enemy on the 20th
inst. Your country will be cheered by this timely success, and I trust it
is but the earnest of heavier and crushing blows which shall destroy our
enemy on the soil of Florida."
The defeat at Olustee put an end to President
Lincoln's expectation of restoring Florida to the Union, and to General
Gilmore's and General Seymour's plans of separating her from the rest of
the Confederacy. On May 9, 1862, Maj.-Gen. David Hunter, U. S. A., had
ordered the emancipation of all the slaves in Florida, Georgia and South
Carolina, but on May 19 President Lincoln issued a proclamation stating
that General Hunter nor any other commander or person had been authorized
by the government of the United States to make proclamation declaring the
slaves of any state free, and that the supposed proclamation was
altogether void. On
March 10, 1864, the Federal troops occupied Palatka, located on the St.
Johns River about sixty-five miles from Jacksonville, but it was evacuated
by them on April 12. While there, frequent skirmishes occurred with Capt.
J. J. Dickinson's Second Florida cavalry. Torpedoes had been placed in the
river between Jacksonville and Palatka by the Confederates, and on April 1
the United States transport Maple Leaf was blown up and sunk off Maudarin
Point, and what was left above water was burned. Captain Dickinson, having
occupied Palatka after its abondonment by the Federals, made arrangements
to engage any gunboats or transports coming up the river. On May 22, 1864,
two gunboats and four transports were seen coming up near Palatka. One of
these — the gunboat Ottawa, the largest boat on the river, carrying twelve
guns — was accompanied by a transport which had landed troops on the other
side of the river; they continued on their way and anchored about three
miles above Palatka at Brown's Landing. The Confederates opened fire on
them with two guns which they had hurriedly hauled from Palatka, and the
transport Was so badly crippled that she hoisted anchor and left without
firing a gun. The Ottawa, however, responded with so heavy a broadside
that Captain Dickinson ordered his two guns withdrawn, but she was badly
injured and could not move for thirty hours. Several of her crew were
killed and wounded. The Confederates lost not a man.
The gunboat Columbine having passed up the
river the previous night, Captain Dickinson determined to await her
return, and proceeded to a landing known as Horse Landing, six miles
distant from engagement of the previous evening. The Columbine appeared
about three o'clock and approached within sixty yards of the landing
before a gun was fired. Two rounds were then fired which disabled the
vessel, and she floated down and river and struck a sand bar. A hot fight
ensued. The boat carried two fine thirty-two rifle guns and 148 men with
small arms. The fight lasted forty-five minutes when she surrendered. Only
sixty-six of the 148 men were found alive, and one-third of these were
badly wounded, several of whom died that night. The Confederates did not
lose a man. Captain Dickinson ordered the boat burned as it was impossible
to save her from the enemy, several gunboats being in the river below. On
the Columbine were found orders explaining the object of landing the two
regiments of Federal troops on the east side of the river. The gunboats
were ordered to guard well each landing, and use all means to prevent
Dickinson from recrossing the river. The two regiments were to scour the
country on the east side of the river for Dickinson's command. As he had
only a few days previous crossed to the east side and captured two posts,
returning all safe, it would seem from this plan that the great trouble of
the enemy was to locate Dickinson at any time only when engaged in
fighting. On April 16 the United States transport Hunter was blown up and
sunk by a torpedo near the place where the Maple Leaf had been previously
destroyed. Tampa was occupied by a detachment of Union troops on May 6 and
the Confederate guns and battery disabled. The United States transport
Harriet A. Weed was blown up and sunk by a torpedo near Cedar Creek and
the crew drowned. On May 9 Captain Dickinson captured fifty-six men and
two officers at Welaka and Saunders on the St. Johns. On July 21 General
Ashboth moved out of Pensacola to attack Fort Hodgson, fifteen miles from
Pensacola, which after half an hour's engagement was evacuated by the
Confederates. Captain Childs, with a Union force from Fort Myers, landed
at Bayport and captured some cotton and negroes; Major Weeks, with a
United States force from Cedar Key, landed at St. Andrews Bay and captured
cotton and burned bridges. On August 15 a raiding party, commanded by
Colonel Harris of the Seventy-fifth Ohio, with 138 men of that regiment,
ninety men of the Fourth Massachusetts cavalry, and one piece of artillery
and ten men, left Baldwin, advanced in the direction of Lake City up to
Fort Butler in Bradford county, and then flanked around to Starke, a small
town fourteen miles north of Waldo, at which place Captain Dickinson was
with his command. Flanking Waldo and cutting the telegraph wires, and
tearing up the railroad track to prevent communication with the
Confederate forces at Lake City, they proceeded to Gainesville, where
immediately after their arrival they were attacked by a force of cavalry
under Captain Dickinson and completely routed. Colonel Harris escaped to
Magnolia with less than forty men. On his march Harris had gathered 200
negroes, forty mules, wagons and other plunder, but all of these were
recaptured by Captain Dickinson, whose whole force was only 175 and whose
loss was but two killed and four wounded.
In September General Ashboth made a raid from
Pensacola on Marianna, capturing many citizens and much private property,
and carrying off 600 negroes. About 100 prisoners were taken and sent
north, principally to Elmira, N. Y. The objective point of General
Ashboth's expedition was to capture Tallahassee, the capital of the state,
but as he was seriously wounded in the encounter, the plan failed.
On October 24 Captain Dickinson attacked a force of Federal cavalry near
Middleburg on Black Creek, completely routing them, killing and capturing
almost the entire command, of which three only escaped, and without any
loss to the Confederates. A few days afterward Dickinson's cavalry
encountered another Federal force near St. Augustine and defeated it. On
the same date two Federal steam transports, with a force of 700 men and
two howitzers left Barrancas to proceed up the Blackwater Bay, whence the
troops were to march to Pierce's mills to secure a supply of lumber and
thence advance toward Milton, about twelve miles distant. Near Milton they
encountered a detachment of about eighty Confederate cavalry and a brisk
fight ensued, forcing the latter to retire. On Feb. 2, 1865, Captain
Dickinson attacked the Seventeenth Connecticut regiment, commanded by
Colonel "Wilcoxson, near Picolata and captured the entire command of
seventy-five men, together with all their fine cavalry horses, and also
ten wagons loaded with sea-island cotton, each with six mules and horses.
On February 13 two Federal regiments were landed at Cedar Keys under cover
of their gunboats, and advanced up the Florida railroad toward Lake City.
At Levy-ville, Captain Dickinson encountered them with a force of about
150 men. The Union forces fell back to Station Number Four and occupied a
strong position behind a high embankment of the railroad, where Dickinson
attacked them. After four hours' desperate fighting the Confederates had
exhausted their ammunition, and the Union troops retreated, having lost
seventy killed and wounded; Dickinson's loss was six.
After the defeat of the Federal troops at
Cedar Keys on Feb. 13, 1865, it was determined to make another effort to
capture Tallahassee, and for this purpose Gen. John Newton planned to
concentrate forces from Cedar Keys, Santa Rosa and Key West; land in the
neighborhood of St. Marks, and in conjunction with a naval force, ascend
the river. The cavalry, infantry and artillery landed at Lighthouse Point,
marched to Newport, and finding that the bridge had been burned, went
eight miles further up to the Natural Bridge, where they were surprised to
find some Confederate troops prepared to meet them. As they were under the
impression that the Confederate forces were so scattered over the state,
that they would encounter little or no opposition, the Union troops were
forced to fall back to their gunboats after sustaining a heavy loss. No
other important engagement occurred in Florida, as upon April 9, 1865,
General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, and
the Confederate forces in Florida made a formal surrender to General
McCook on May 30, 1865.
Reconstruction in Florida.
Gov. John Milton died April 1 and Lieut.-Gov.
A. K. Allison assumed the duties of governor, but he, together with
Senator Yulee, was soon consigned as a prisoner of state to Fort Pulaski,
Ga. Senator Stephen E. Mallory, Confederate secretary of war, was
imprisoned in Fort Lafayette, N. Y. The dark days of reconstruction were
now entered upon, and on July 13, 1865, Judge William Marvin was appointed
by President Johnson provisional governor of Florida, with authority to
call a constitutional convention. On August 3 he issued a call for an
election to be held October 25. An amnesty oath was required as a
qualification to vote at such election, and no person was to be allowed to
vote who was not a qualified voter before Jan. 10, 1861, thus preventing
any negro from voting; 7,042 persons subscribed to the oath, fifty-six
delegates were chosen, and the convention met at Tallahassee, Oct. 25,
1865. The ordinance of secession was repealed and a new constitution
adopted, which provided for an election to be held on Nov. 20, 1865, for
governor, cabinet officers, judges, legislature, county officers and
members of Congress. The whole vote cast at this election was less than
4,000. David S. Walker was elected governor, only eight votes being cast
against him. He had been one of the judges of the Supreme Court and one of
the most popular leaders of the old line Whig party; W. W. J. Kelly was
elected lieutenant-governor. The legislature met Dec. 20, 1865. Wilkinson
Call and William Marvin were chosen United States senators, but were not,
however, admitted to their seats in Congress. The Thirteenth amendment to
the constitution was ratified on Dec. 28, only two votes being cast in
opposition. In February, 1866, Congress enlarged the functions of the
Freedman's Bureau. This was an institution devised by Congress under the
influence of the very best people of the North as a means of protection of
the freedmen and to prepare them for the new responsibilities and
privileges conferred. Instead of a blessing it proved a curse to the race,
administered as it was by dishonest men. The national government sent
provisions to the state to be distributed to such of the freedmen as were
struggling without means of subsistence to make a crop, but instead of
honestly distributing the meat and flour, those in charge of the bureau
appropriated much of it for their own benefit. General Steadman was
appointed to examine and report upon the condition of the Bureau's
affairs; learning which, the commissioner of the Bureau for the state,
who, in company with a retired army officer, carried on a large plantation
on the Apalachicola, suddenly transferred his interest to his partner, who
gathered and disposed of the cotton crop and all available stock, and
disappeared. The Freedman's Savings Bank in Jacksonville, in which had
been deposited considerable sums of money by colored and white people,
under the impression that it was backed by the United States government,
but which was an institution organized with no capital by a political
ring, failed and the deluded depositors recovered only 62 per cent. of
their money. The
legislature met again in December, 1866. Meantime Congress had passed the
Fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, and it was
proposed to the legislatures for ratification. It virtually disfranchised
the most intelligent classes of the South. Those who had held office of
any kind, national or state, under the Confederate government were
disqualified from voting or holding any office in the state. Governor
Walker advised its rejection and the legislature refused its ratification.
In March, 1867, Congress passed the reconstruction law, over the
President's veto, which divided the Southern states into five military
districts, over which the President was authorized to place an army
officer with supreme control. Florida was made part of the Third Military
District, under the command of Gen. John T. Pope, who was succeeded by
Gen. G. C. Meade, with Gen. John T. Sprague commanding in Florida. The law
provided that registration should be made in every county in each state,
and each applicant was required to make oath that he had not given aid or
comfort to the enemies of the United States. After the registration was
completed, an election was to be held for a constitutional convention to
form a constitution and frame a civil government acceptable to the people
of Florida and the Congress of the United States. The registration lists
showed 11,148 white and 15,434 colored voters, but only 14,503 votes were
cast, nearly all for a convention. Forty-five delegates were elected. On
Jan. 20, 1868, the day appointed for the meeting of the convention at
Tallahassee, twenty of the delegates met and elected a president and
secretary, the former being D. Richards, of Sterling, Ill., who was
returned from Gadsden county (where he had spent but two days of his
life), and W. H. Christy, of Jacksonville. There existed two factions in
the state, viz., the Loyal League, headed by Richards, and the Lincoln
Brotherhood, by F. W. Osborn, both of which had been organized among the
Freedmen. The Osborn faction withdrew and went to Monticello, leaving the
body without a quorum. The remaining members continued in session, framed
and adopted a constitution, and sent it to General Meade for approval. At
midnight the seceders came from Monticello and took possession of the hall
of the House of Representatives and organized as a convention. Several
members of the opposing faction were ousted and others seated. An appeal
was made to General Meade, who came to Florida and directed both factions
to come together and take their seats in the convention, and that both
presiding officers resign, and General Sprague take the chair and
reorganize the convention. This was done; Horatio Jenkins, Jr., was
elected president and Sherman Conant, secretary. The convention then
adopted that known as the Constitution of 1868. "Under this constitution
suffrage was to be universal. Judges and all state officers were to be
appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate; upon
a popular vote the constitution was ratified by a majority of 5,000.
Harrison Reed, who came to Florida after the war, holding a government
office, was nominated for governor by the Republicans, and George W. Scott
by the Democrats. Reed was elected, and a legislature consisting of
twenty-four senators and fifty-three representatives was elected, the
majority being Republicans, including quite a number of negroes.
Ignoring the action of the preceding
legislature, the newly elected legislature ratified both the Thirteenth
and Fourteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States, and
the election of senators previously made was disregarded. Florida was
readmitted to representation in Congress under the act of June 25, 1868,
and on July 4, the newly elected state officers were installed. On June
15, 1868, the legislature ratified the Fifteenth amendment to the
constitution of the United States, and elected F. W. Osborn, chief of the
Freedman's Bureau, and Abijah Gilbert of St. Augustine, who was very
wealthy and had agreed to cash $50,000 or $100,000 of state bonds when
issued at eighty-five cents on the dollar. Subsequently on January 19 a
resolution was introduced into the legislature reciting the fact that
large sums of money had been used at the last session of the legislature
to secure the election of said Gilbert, and that, therefore, the said
election was unlawful and void. There was no intention of the Osborn ring,
who controlled the legislature, to elect another senator, but only to make
Gilbert pay more for his seat, for which they openly said he had not paid
enough. The old gentleman submitted and retained his seat, but said ''
Surely I have fallen into a den of thieves.'' Charles M. Hamilton, an
agent of the Freedman's Bureau, was elected to the House of
Representatives. For the first time in the history of the state,
presidential electors were chosen by the legislature, not by the people,
who cast the vote of Florida for Gen. U. S. Grant. As Governor Reed had
resisted the efforts of the Osborn ring to loot the treasury, the latter
endeavored to impeach him for malfeasance in office at three different
times, but failed to do so.
In view of the conduct of the legislature, and
the marked distrust between the blacks and whites, the governor deemed it
advisable to secure an armament for the state in case military force
should become necessary. He sought the aid of the national government but
it was refused. He applied to Governor Fenton of New York and Governor
Andrews of Massachusetts for a loan of arms but was unsuccessful. He then
purchased in New York 2,000 stands of muskets and 4,000 rounds of
ammunition for $21,000, giving four months' notes for the same. The arms
were shipped and delivered in Jacksonville, where they were received by
the adjutant-general, Carse, and General Houston and placed in cars to be
delivered in Tallahassee. Unknown to General Houston, the president of the
railroad company, men were secreted in the cars who were to throw them out
when they reached Madison county where a company of Dickinson's guerillas
were placed to seize and destroy them. All but 800 of the guns were thrown
out and carried away by the enemies of the governor, and Governor Reed was
left to foot the bill; but no occasion arose for calling out the troops,
although in 1868 and 1869 there were great lawlessness and a number of
murders in Jackson county, where the blacks and whites became arrayed
against each other in deadly hostility. On Jan. 4, 1870, the legislature
met in the third regular session under the constitution of 1868. Josiah T.
Walls, an intelligent colored citizen of Alachua county, was nominated as
the Republican candidate for Congress. The Democrats nominated S. L.
Niblock of Columbia county, and the Hon. William D. Bloxham of Leon county
for lieutenant-governor. The state canvassers threw out several counties
and gave Walls the certificate of election, but he was unseated by
Congress, and Niblock declared entitled to the seat. Bloxham, who had been
counted out, was by a decision of the supreme court of the state given
that office. He had been a slaveholder, but after the emancipation
established a colored school on his plantation, building a schoolhouse at
his own expense and contributing the major portion of the money for a
teacher. Much of the
time of the legislature of 1872 was consumed in attempts to impeach
Governor Reed, and they were so far successful that he was placed under
arrest and disqualified from performing any of the duties of his office as
governor of Florida until acquitted by the Senate of Florida.
Lieutenant-Governor Day proceeded to assume the office of governor.
Governor Reed carried the matter before the supreme court of Florida and
obtained a decision in his favor. The Republicans met in convention in
July, 1872, and nominated Ossian B. Hart for governor. The Democrats also
held a convention and nominated W. D. Bloxham. Hart was elected but died
in 1874 and was succeeded by Lieut.-Gov. M. L. Stearns; and Josiah T.
Walls (colored) and W. J. Parman were elected Representatives in Congress.
Under the constitution of 1868, the Seminole Indians, residing mostly in
the counties of Dade and Monroe, in the extreme southern part of the
state, were entitled to one representative in each branch of the
legislature; accordingly a man named J. King, claiming to be a Seminole,
came to Tallahassee and asked to be received representative of the
Seminoles. As he proved to be a bogus Indian his application was rejected.
In this legislature about one-half were negroes. In the succeeding
legislature of 1875 parties were nearly equally divided, and Charles W.
Jones, a Democratic member of the legislature from Escambia county, was
elected senator. The
Republican party had now been in power in the state since 1868, mainly by
the aid of the colored vote. The fall election of 1876 was of vast
importance, not only to the state of Florida, but also to the United
States. The canvassing board was in session several days and by the
rejection of certain counties and precincts the Democratic candidate for
governor, George F. Drew, was declared elected and the majority of
ninety-seven for the Tilden electors was changed into a majority of 928
for Mr. Hayes. The contest was transferred to Washington where the
electoral commissioners by a vote of eight to seven awarded the electoral
vote of Florida to Rutherford B. Hayes.
Democratic Party in Power, 1876-1909.
Governor Drew's administration was a very
successful one. Confidence was restored. State bonds rose from 65 per
cent. to par and taxes were reduced. The census of 1880 showed that the
population of Florida was 269,493, of whom 142,605 were white and 126,696
colored and 180 Indian. The assessed valuation of taxable property was
$31,000,000. In 1880
William D. Bloxham was elected governor. During his administration
4,000,000 acres of swamp and overflowed land were sold to Hamilton Disston
of Philadelphia for $1,000,000. Mr. Disston undertook to plant cane and
manufacture sugar on a large scale, but want of familiarity with the
conditions necessary to success involved an enormous loss and the scheme
was ultimately abandoned. At the session of the legislature in 1881
numerous charters were granted to railroads, and up to 1884 1,045 miles of
railroad had been constructed. Population increased rapidly and a special
impetus was given to the planting out of orange groves. In 1885 the orange
crop reached 900,000 boxes and notwithstanding a severe frost on Jan. 12,
1886, which destroyed all the fruit on the trees, the growers were not
discouraged, and crops grew larger every year until Dec. 29, 1894, when
another and more disastrous frost occurred, destroying all the ungathered
fruit, estimated at over 2 000,000 boxes and worth as many dollars. Again
on Feb. 7, 1895, the temperature fell to fifteen degrees above zero. In
one night men who at sundown were owners of large fortunes were made
penniless. A frost such as was never known in the history of the state
reached all the way down to the end of the peninsula. The freezing of the
oranges only would have meant but the loss of one crop, and the growers
would have lost only one year's income, but it did not stop there, the
trees themselves were frozen. At that time the orange crop of Florida was
about 5,000,000 boxes a year. It was reduced to nothing in a single night.
While the orange culture had received a severe blow it was not abandoned
and at the present time it has reached a production of about 3,000,000
boxes. The result has been advantageous to the state, as it has led to the
cultivation of a diversity of fruits and crops which are yielding a
greater income than did the orange crop.
The election of 1884 resulted in the choice of
Gen. Edward A. Perry for governor. He was a native of Massachusetts but
had been a resident of Florida before the War of Secession. He entered the
Confederate service and became a brigadier-general. In 1885 a
constitutional convention was called and met at Tallahassee June 9 and
framed a constitution which was ratified by a vote of the people, and went
into operation Jan. 1, 1887. In the latter part of July, 1888, yellow
fever broke out in Jacksonville. The epidemic lasted till December. The
whole number of cases was about 5,000, the deaths 500. Measures were
promptly adopted to prevent any future recurrence of an epidemic, and no
case has occurred since.
At the election of 1888
Francis P. Fleming was elected governor. The entire vote of the state was
66,641, of which the Cleveland electors received 39,561. By the census of
1890 the population of Florida was shown to be 391,422, of whom 224,949
were white and 166,495 colored.
About this period Mr. Henry M. Flagler,
vice-president of the Standard Oil Company, and Mr. Henry B. Plant, a
railroad magnate of New York, each erected magnificent hotels at St.
Augustine and Tampa, which, with increased railroad facilities leading to
Florida, very largely increased the tourist travel. In 1892 Henry L.
Mitchell was elected governor and the Cleveland electors received 30,143
votes. No Republican presidential ticket was put in the field, but the
populist, Weaver, received 4,843 votes.
In 1881 Mr. J. F. LeBaron, a civil engineer,
found phosphate pebbles in Pease Creek. It attracted no attention at the
time, but in 1889 phosphate of a high grade was discovered at Dunnellon in
Marion county, which created considerable excitement, and the whole
country was explored for other deposits. Companies were formed, lands
purchased and plants constructed to prepare the phosphate for
manufacturers of fertilizers. The territory in which phosphate was found
extended about 200 miles along the western border of the state, and in a
number of river beds. The export for 1894-95 was about 500,000 tons,
valued at $5,000,000. C. F. Van Horn, of the United States Geological
Survey, reported in 1907 the actual quantity of phosphate rock mined in
Florida was 1,386,578 long tons, valued at $4.85 per ton, and that nearly
60 per cent. of the entire production of the United States came from
Florida. In November,
1896, William D. Bloxham was elected governor and the vote of the state
was given to the national ticket headed by William J. Bryan. During
Bloxham's administration the Cuban war occurred. Large numbers of Cubans
had settled in Tampa, Key West and other parts of Florida. General
Weyler's inhuman policy, and the destruction of the Maine aroused the
sympathy of the Floridians and Florida became the gathering point for the
troops called out by the President, and Jacksonville and Tampa were
occupied by large bodies of soldiers, under the command of Maj.-Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee. Secret expeditions were formed by Cuban sympathizers from
time to time in Florida ports. Small and swift steamers carried arms and
munitions of war to the insurgents. Chief among these was the steamer
known as the Three Friends, of which the present governor of Florida was
one of the owners. In
1900 William S. Jennings was elected governor. His cousin, William
Jennings Bryan, was the Democratic nominee for President, and received the
electoral vote of the state. During Governor Jennings' administration
occurred the disastrous fire in Jacksonville. At noon on Friday, May 3,
the fire broke out in Cleveland's fibre factory in the northwestern
section of the city. A brisk northwest wind quickly spread the flames to
adjacent dwellings, and before the fire department could reach the scene
the fire was beyond control and swept rapidly in a southeasterly
direction. The wind became a furious gale, and, the houses being chiefly
frame, burned like cigar boxes, and as there had been a long dry spell the
flying cinders were carried from roof to roof until the city became a
roaring furnace of flame, in which even those buildings constructed of
brick melted like wax. At 8:30 p. m., 150 blocks covering an area of 455
acres of the best and most populous portion of the city were in ashes —
embracing the city hall and market, the Duval court house, the city
clerk's office with all the public records, the armory, the board of trade
and city library, the fire department and three engine houses, the police
headquarters, the city jail, the Seminole and Elks' club buildings,
seventeen churches and the high school. The total number of buildings
consumed was 2,362 was the value of property destroyed was $15,000,000;
insured for only $6,000,000; and 10,000 persons were rendered homeless,
but fortunately only six lives were lost. There has probably never been in
this country or anywhere else such a remarkable rebuilding of a burnt city
as has been shown in the instance of Jacksonville. The ashes had hardly
grown cold before the work of rebuilding began. Business was resumed by
the larger business houses in improvised sheds. New stocks of goods
ordered, banks opened up in temporary quarters, Sunday services resumed in
makeshift places and everything done to restore order and confidence. The
number of buildings since erected is 7,850 at the rate of 1,000 a year.
Ten per cent. of the number are brick and two per cent. of reinforced
concrete and stone.
In the fall of 1905 Napoleon B. Broward, a native Floridian of humble
parentage, was elected governor of the state. He began his career as cook
on a steamboat and by indomitable energy worked his way upward until he
obtained the highest office in the state. He built the famous steamer
Three Friends and personally contributed toward furnishing munitions of
war to the Cuban insurgents during their struggle against Spanish tyranny.
During his incumbency Governor Broward strongly advocated the drainage of
the Everglades, an immense tract of marsh filled with islands, in Dade
county, the southernmost county in the state. As this scheme involved the
taxation of land supposed to be benefited it met with strong opposition
from the owners and led to applications for injunctions to prevent the
collection of taxes, notwithstanding which the governor induced the
trustees of the internal improvement fund to begin operations and an
experimental canal is being constructed at New River near Fort Lauderdale.
Economic and Educational Conditions.
One of the remarkable engineering feats
undertaken in this country is that of the construction of the Florida East
Coast Railroad from Jacksonville to Key West. To Miami, 366 miles south of
Jacksonville, no serious obstacles were encountered, but between Miami and
Key West fully seventy-five miles lie over water and a considerable
portion over the sea itself. The Florida Keys may be called a series of
stepping stones leading into the ocean. They extend between the Florida
peninsula and Key West in the form of a curve, the channels separating the
islands varying from a few hundred feet to several miles in width. Nearly
thirty islands are to be used for short stretches of the construction, the
longest being sixteen miles on Key Largo. More than fifty miles of rock
and earth embankment has been built where the intervening water is
shallow; but where the water is deeper and the openings are exposed to
storms by breaks in the outer reef concrete arch viaduct construction is
used, consisting of fifty-foot reinforced concrete circular arch spans and
piers, with occasional spans of sixty feet. The water is ten to thirty
feet deep in most places and the bottom is of limestone. There are four of
these arch viaducts, aggregating 5.78 miles in length. The work of
construction has already been completed to Knights Key. The intentions of
the company are to engage in export trade on a very large scale. Key West
will be the nearest American seaport to the Atlantic end of the Panama
Canal. The distance between Key West and Havana is but ninety miles. The
transportation of passengers and freight will be conducted by means of
huge railroad steamboats, transporting cars directly to Havana. The man
whose enterprise and capital is accomplishing this great work is Henry M.
Flagler, vice-president of the Standard Oil Company. Cars are now running
regularly between Jacksonville and Knights Key, distant only forty-four
miles from Key West. The cost of this great enterprise has averaged
$200,000 per mile. Mr. Flagler has also built a number of magnificent
hotels at St. Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Ormond, Palm Beach, Miami and two
at Nassau, N. P. (Bahama Islands).
Another gigantic engineering and industrial
undertaking which will result in the material development of Florida is
the construction of the East Coast Canal. This enterprise is the
connection of the St. Johns, Matanzas, Halifax, Indian, Hillsborough and
other rivers, sounds, creeks and water courses along the east coast by
means of tide-water canals so as to make a continuous land-locked
waterway, without locks and practically at tide-water level from the St.
Johns River to Key West, covering a distance of something over 500 miles.
Work has been going on steadily for twenty-five years and has already
involved an expenditure of over $2,000,000. The work to date has been
completed all the way up the coast to St. Augustine, and the balance of
the stretch from St. Augustine to Jacksonville is already under way. The
canal company will operate a line of passenger and freight steamers of
about 150 feet in length, and of suitable draft, which will make the run
along the entire route. With both adequate fast freight furnished by the
Florida East Coast Bailway for vegetables and perishables on one side, and
water transportation for heavy or slow freight on the other, the people
located along the east coast will have shipping facilities not equaled in
any other section.
Florida has vast forests of pitch pine,
cypress and over 200 kinds of other trees valuable for manufacturing into
a great variety of useful articles, but the conversion of the pine and
cypress trees into lumber and of cross-ties for railroads has been the
leading business for a number of years. In connection with forest products
the naval store business is closely associated. The lumber business was at
first confined to the vicinity of navigable rivers or seaports, but with
the extension of railroads into the interior of the state and the
improvement of the rivers and harbors by the United States government, the
output has been immensely increased. The principal ports of export are
Tampa, Fernandina and Jacksonville. The latter port was for many years
handicapped by a long and shallow river with a bar at its mouth. In 1878
James B. Eads was induced to come from New Orleans, where he was
constructing jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and examine
that of the St. Johns River. His opinion being favorable, the United
States government commenced making appropriations for constructing jetties
there, but they were intermittent, and at the end of thirteen years a
channel over the bar fifteen feet deep at low tide and nineteen and
one-half feet at high tide had been obtained; but owing to a long and
shallow reach in the river at Dames Point, the city of Jacksonville
received but small benefit. On Aug. 25, 1890, the Times Union, the leading
paper in the city, asked "what are we going to do about it?" The writer of
this article, then secretary of the board of trade, suggested that "we do
it ourselves." The idea took root and after a discussion pro and con it
was determined to bond Duval county for $300,000 and under sanction of the
United States government the work was carried to completion. The
government thereafter was more liberal in its appropriations and now a
channel twenty-four feet deep at mean low tide and practically 300 feet
wide exists from Jacksonville to the ocean.
Prior to the year 1905 there existed in
Florida nine schools of so-called higher education which were denominated
colleges, viz., the Florida Agricultural College or University of Florida,
at Lake City; the "West Florida Seminary, known as Florida State College,
at Tallahassee; the "White Normal School, at DeFuniak Springs; the East
Florida Seminary, at Gainesville; the South Florida College, at Bartou;
the Florida Agricultural College, in Osceola county; the Institute for the
Blind, Deaf and Dumb, at St. Augustine; the Colored Normal School, at
Tallahassee; and the industrial and normal department of the Industrial
and Normal School, at St. Petersburg. Under this system the burden upon
the taxpayer became very onerous and state appropriations for their
maintenance were yearly increasing. Each of these so-called colleges had
its separate board of trustees; each importuned succeeding legislatures
for funds to be disbursed in their own way and without system; and each
was becoming a political factor whose strength, when joined together, was
so powerful as to force the legislature to make appropriations to them,
even against the best judgment of that body. Under these conditions the
legislature in 1905 abolished the entire system by what is known as the
Buckman Bill, and created in their stead a state university for men, and a
college for women; the former located at Gainesville and the latter at
Tallahassee. The Colored Normal School and the institution for the blind,
deaf and dumb were retained. The state board of control was created to
manage these four institutions. There are two other very prosperous
colleges in the state, viz., the Stetson University, a Baptist
institution, located at DeLand, and Rollins College at Winter Park. The
latter was founded by the Congregationalists, but is now undenominational.
Bibliography.— Dickinson, Mary E.: Dickinson
and His Men; Evans, General Clement A.: Confederate Military History (Vol.
XI.); Fairbanks, George R.: History of Florida; Smith, Charles H.:
Jacksonville and Florida, Jacksonville Relief Association; Wallace, John:
Carpet-Bag Rule in Florida; War of the Rebellion, Official Records of
Union and Confederate Armies (United States Secretary of War); Chattanooga
(Tenn.) Tradesman; Manufacturers Record (Baltimore, Md.), Scientific
American (New York); Florida Times Union (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Charles H. Smith,
Formerly Secretary, Jacksonville Board of Trade. |
