The Destruction of Camp Milton- June 1, 1864

Following the Battle of Olustee the Confederates advanced to McGirt’s Creek on the western edge of Jacksonville. General P.G.T. Beauregard arrived there on March 2nd and planned a three mile long line of earthworks on the western side of the creek named for Florida’s governor John Milton. Camp Milton would be occupied by 7,500 Rebels and armed with light artillery. It was built along the Jacksonville and Tallahassee Railroad to prevent any further Union attempts to move west from Jacksonville. However, as spring arrived the Confederate need for troops further north resulted in significant troop reductions in Florida. The Federals would take advantage of that to launch a surprise attack on the camp and destroy it.

Brigadier General George Gordon planned a two pronged attack. The first column of 1400 men under Colonel Noble would cross McGirt’s Creek south of the railroad and march north gaining the rear of the camp. The second column of 1,059 men under Colonel Shaw would March west from Jacksonville on a road that ran along the railroad and threaten the camp from the front. The two columns started out in the early morning hours of June 1. When both arrived at the camp they found it abandoned and the railroad trestles burned by the retreating Rebels. The Federals burned the camp, destroyed the works and returned to Jacksonville. General Gordon described the fortifications in his report “The breast-works were made of huge logs firmly fastened and covered with earth. The log part was 6 feet wide at the bottom and 3 at the top. They were proof against field artillery. The stockades were composed of timber from 12 to 16 inches thick, with loop-holes 2 feet apart. Their base was protected by earth thrown up from a ditch which ran along the whole line of works. There was a salient or re-entering angle at about every 150 yards. Two batteries in the rear completely commanded the railroad, and in addition to being very strong were most elaborately finished, having a sharpness of outline almost equal to masonry. This line extended about 1 1/2 miles, when a new line began. Across the dirt road north of the railroad the works were of the same class as those described, except that the stockades had platforms and em-brasures for field pieces. The works at that point were most solidly constructed and beautifully finished.” The last remaining piece of this fortification is preserved in the Camp Milton Historic Preserve.