On February 21, 1865, Brigadier General John Newton stationed at Key West learned of two events in Florida. The first was Major Edmund Weeks raid through Levy County to Levyville and Clay Landing and the battle that followed at Station 4 near Cedar Key. Here the Union force was pushed back from the mainland across the bridge at channel number four by Confederate cavalry commanded by Captain John Dickison. The second event occurred on February 20th when in retaliation for Weeks’ raid Confederate horsemen attacked the Union outpost at Fort Myers. Newton already knew of the fall of Fort Fisher near Wilmington, NC, on January 15, 1865. The loss of Fort Fisher meant that Wilmington, the last major southern blockading port, was now closed to all traffic. There was concern that blockade runners might shift their point of call to Saint Marks, which had a rail connection to Tallahassee. Newton met with Rear Admiral C. K. Stribling, commander of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron the next day. They would formulate a plan for a joint Army-Navy action to attempt to cut off the Confederate column that attacked Fort Myers before it could return to its base and if that was not possible to proceed further north to the Saint Marks River to not only blockade the river but land troops for a possible strike on Tallahassee. A map of the gulf coast is shown below.

On February 23rd General Newton boarded the Honduras with Companies A, B, and K of the 2nd USCT (US Colored Troops) and headed north up the Gulf Coast with the 99th USCT on the Magnolia. At Punta Rassa near Sanibel Island and Fort Myers he met with Captain Doyle who informed him that there was no chance of overtaking the Confederate band that had attacked Fort Myers. Newton headed further north to Cedar Key arriving on the 25th. He went ashore and learned that he was too late to cut off the Confederate column there as well. The Alliance arrived at Cedar Key and there Companies C, D and E of the 2nd Florida Cavalry and Companies E, G and H of the 2nd USCT joined the expedition. Leaving a force behind to protect Cedar Key they sailed for the St. Marks River on the 27th. In a heavy fog they arrived off the bar of the river on the 28th. Naval Commander William Gibson was to meet Newton there with additional warships (warships- Britannia, Fort Henry, Hibiscus, Mahaska, Spirea, and Stars and Stripes, and schooners- Matthew Vassar, O.H. Lee and Two Sisters) but because of the fog the ships did not arrive until the evening of March 2nd. While waiting for the fog to lift General Newton and Commander Gibson developed their plans.

The gunboats would land three small parties the first at the mouth of the Aucilla River to burn a trestle of the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad preventing rail traffic from the east from reaching Tallahassee, the second at the mouth of the Little Aucilla River met resistance and would turn back, and the third at Shell Point was to proceed up the Ocklockonee River to destroy a railroad bridge and interrupt rail traffic from the west of Tallahassee. The main force would land on Lighthouse Island and proceed inland to capture the bridge over the East River. From there they would head for Newport crossing the St. Marks River where they could either strike St. Marks from the rear or proceed up the railroad destroying it as they went toward Tallahassee. See the Google satellite image of these points below, and the map from Ed Bearss paper showing the disposition of the Federal fleet and the landing point of the main force.

On the 3rd the fog lifted but then a gale blew in and the ships were forced to drop anchor. Despite the winds Major Weeks with 60 men from the 2nd FL Cavalry and thirty seamen commanded by Acting Ensign John Whitman were ordered ashore. Weeks landed around midnight while Whitman and his men rowed up the East River to the bridge but were unable to capture the pickets who fled. The pickets were from the 5th FL Cavalry and headed to the bridge at Newport where their commander Major William Milton had a small camp of about 45 men. Milton quickly sent a courier back to the railhead of the Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad at St. Marks. Milton and his small detachment headed to the East River bridge to assess the situation. The courier commandeered a special train and arrived in Tallahassee to warn headquarters about 9:00 PM. Alarm bells were sounded to mobilize the Home Guard and the alert was wired as far east as Lake City and as far west as Marianna for reinforcements. Soon companies from five neighboring counties were on their way to the capital. Brigadier General William Miller would head south toward Newport with a company of militia and cadets from the West Florida Seminary (now Florida State University) the next morning. Major General Sam Jones remained in Tallahassee to organize defense forces and the arriving reinforcements.

The railroad no longer exists. The tracks were taken up and the path paved as a walking and bike trail shown below.

Milton arrived at the East River bridge before sunrise with his detachment of the 5th FL Cavalry and a firefight broke out across the river with Acting Ensign Whitman’s men. Advanced elements of Weeks’ column were close by and they joined Whitman at the East Bridge around 4:00 AM on the 4th. Weeks concerned that there was no sign of General Newton sent an aide back to the lighthouse who reported that all the Union ships were on the other side of the bar with no evidence of a landing in progress. Feeling that he could not hold his position without reinforcements Weeks returned his men to the lighthouse. Milton and his men followed the Federals as they headed back to the lighthouse and there they saw the large Union fleet offshore. Realizing now that he had encountered advanced elements of a large expedition he sent back additional couriers to the capital. The alarm was extended further and the 2nd FL Cavalry, the rest of the 5th FL Cavalry and the Milton and Kilcrease Light Artilleries were ordered to Tallahassee. The delay in landing had occurred because when the fleet got underway at dawn on the 4th both the Honduras and Spirea ran aground. When Newton saw Weeks back on the shoreline he ordered his force into the landing crafts for the long row ashore. The landing would take until 4:00 PM to complete. This delay would prove costly because it would allow the Confederates time to mobilize their reinforcements and consolidate their defenses. During this time the Hendrick Hudson, Isonomia, Iuka and Proteus joined the fleet. The Union column marched 2.5 miles to high ground where they camped (thought to be the low knoll where the offices of the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge are located). By 8:00 AM on the 5th the artillery, ambulances and ordinance wagons had landed and the Federals were ready to advance.

The St. Marks Lighthouse

The lighthouse is located in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge at 1255 Lighthouse Road, Tallahassee, FL, map shown below. Lighthouse parking lot- 30.0741869, -84.1799836.

Sources

The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida The Confederate Defense of Tallahassee by Dale Cox

Federal Expedition against Saint Marks Ends at Natural Bridge by Edwin C. Bearss The Florida Historical Quarterly Volume 45, No. 4, pages 369-390.

Florida’s Civil War Years by Keith W. Kohl