Florida in the Civil War- 1865

The final Confederate victory in Florida occurred on March 6, 1865, at the Battle of Natural Bridge. The Federals landed near the St. Marks Lighthouse on the Gulf coast south of Tallahassee, while a Union naval force ascended the St. Marks River. When Confederate troops defended a bridge over the St. Marks River at Newport Brigadier General John Newton’s Federals marched northward and attempted to cross at Natural Bridge. A hastily assembled Confederate force of about a 1,000 men under the command of Brigadier General William Miller, including cadets from the West Florida Seminary (present-day Florida State University) in Tallahassee, defended the crossing. More than 600 Union black soldiers attacked Confederate positions at Natural Bridge but were defeated. The Confederate victory helped ensure that Tallahassee would remain the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River not be captured before the war’s close.

By the spring of 1865 Confederate control of Florida was limited to the interior north and central portions of the state. On April 1, Governor John Milton committed suicide at his home near Marianna. Shortly thereafter on April 9th General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia would surrender at Appomattox followed by General Joseph E. Johnston’s army in North Carolina on April 26. On May 10th Union Brigadier General Edward McCook entered Tallahassee and accepted the formal surrender of Confederate forces. The posts for the final year of the Civil War in Florida are shown below.

February 13- The Battle at Station #4- February 13, 1865 (link)