The Battle of Horse Landing- May 23, 1864

The Union reoccupied Palatka on March 12, 1864. Confederate Captain John J. Dickison and his cavalry were the main Confederate force in the area. Four days later Dickison’s men attacked a scouting party and captured 2 men. Another attack on March 31st resulted in no casualties but led to the Union leaving Palatka and moving 20 miles closer to Jacksonville. In late April another Federal expedition established garrisons on the east shore of the St. Johns River at Welaka and Fort Butler in order to destroy Confederate supplies and recruit slaves. On April 20th Dickison captured the captain and 38 men (the entire garrison) of the 17th CT at Welaka without firing a shot. A few hours later they captured all 30 men from Fort Butler. The following day the gunboats USS Ottawa and USS Columbine escorted 200 men on the transport Charles River south from Jacksonville to capture Dickison. At Picolata more troops from the 35th USCT and the 157th NY boarded bringing the total troop number to 650-700. On May 22nd men were offloaded across from Palatka and the Columbine was ordered to transport a detachment of the 35th USCT 50 miles further upstream to Fort Butler at Volusia. The Columbine was a side-wheel steamer with two 32-pound guns, one fore and one aft. The other two ships would follow later that day. Captain Dickison alerted to the ships took 50 men from Company H, 3rd FL Cavalry, and 2 cannons and 25 men from the Milton Light Artillery commanded by Lieutenant Mortimer Bates to Brown’s Landing.

The Columbine had already passed the landing but the Ottawa and Charles Houghton anchored near it around 7:30 PM. The Ottawa, one of the largest gunboats on the river, had 12 guns including two 150-pounders. The Confederates got off 28 shots before the surprised men on the Ottawa began to return fire. Although there were no Federal casualties the Ottawa was hit 37 times before the Rebels fell back into the woods. Captain Dickison also had information from a local Confederate spy, Lola Sánchez, that the Federals were planning to conduct a pre-emptive strike on Dickison’s camp at Palatka and planned to bring gunboats for support. They feared that Captain Dickison was going to launch a raid to sever Union supply lines. Lola became a Confederate spy after her elderly father was imprisoned by Union soldiers at Fort Marion on accusations that he was a Confederate spy. His residence, on the east bank of the St. Johns River opposite Palatka was occupied by the Union and his three daughters. Lola overheard the officers discuss plans that their unit had for a raid against Confederate forces at dinner. She left the dinner to notify Captain Dickison of what she had heard while her sisters covered for her. Her absence was not noticed and she returned an hour and a half later.

On the 23rd Dickison along with 20 riflemen and the artillery moved 5 miles south to Horse Landing and waited for the Columbine to return downriver. At 4:00 PM the ship neared the landing and fired on the shoreline anticipating a possible attack. When it got within 100 yards the Confederates opened fire. Their second shot cut the wheel chains and the pilot abandoned ship. After another shell struck the steam pipe, the ship grounded on a sandbar only 100 yards from the riflemen and 200 yards from the cannons. Acting Ensign Frank Sanborn, the ship’s commander, manned the forward gun while Acting Master’s Mate W.B. Spencer tried to back the ship off the bar. The Rebels fired canister at the quarterdeck and the infantry guard abandoned ship. Sanborn tried to rally his men but with his ship hopelessly grounded and the continuing fire of the Confederate riflemen, he surrendered the Columbine after a 45-minute battle. The Federals reported their loss in killed, wounded, and missing as: Acting Master’s Mate John Davis – killed, privates- 5 wounded, 16 killed and missing. There were no Confederate casualties. Dickison reported that he captured 7 commissioned officers and 1 claiming to be a noncombatant, 9 seamen, and 47 enlisted negroes. He estimated the number killed and drowned at 25. Of the Black troops, Captain Daniels and 5 others were wounded, 3 of which were mortal. Among the killed was a lieutenant of the naval service. The Confederates looted the ship before burning it. This incident is thought to be the only known example of a cavalry unit capturing an enemy gunboat in battle. Dickison did keep one of the lifeboats from the ship for future use which he hid. He later gave this boat to John C. Breckenridge, Confederate Secretary of War, when he was fleeing the United States on his way to Cuba after Lee and Johnston surrendered ending the Civil War in the east.