New Posts
  • Hi there guest! Welcome to PoliticalJack.com. Register for free to join our community?

The Battle Of Natural Bridge, March 6,1865

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
IMG_20190202_124051261_HDR.jpg

Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park is located 15 miles southeast of Tallahassee, Florida. The Battle Of Natural Bridge was fought on March 6,1865. Visited there on Saturday,2/2/2019, with my mother and her brother(my uncle) and sister-in-law(my aunt). Aunt and uncle live in Sneads, Florida which is 64 miles northwest of Natural Bridge. I have been to Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi etc. where you can be driving on a highway and see roadside signs to turn off and go to Civil War sites and still be 50 miles away. Not so with Natural Bridge Battlefield. My guess is that most first time CW visitors like myself are on a mission to go there. Not really the kind of place where you can just be driving along and see a sign and think "Hey, let's turn off and go there." It isn't really hard to find but it sure helps to pull it up on Google Maps or dial it in to GPS to get there.
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
I also had the Civil War Preservation Trust map of the battle with me:

battle-of-natural-bridge-925_0.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
Here is a brief description of the battle from the Civil War Preservation Trust:

"Late in the war, Union Maj. Gen. John Newton led a joint force expedition to engage and destroy Confederate troops in Florida that had attacked at Cedar Keys and Fort Myers, and were allegedly encamped somewhere around St. Marks near the state capital at Tallahassee. When the expedition began, the U. S. Navy had difficulty getting its ships up the narrow and shallow St. Marks River. The Army force, however, had advanced, and after finding one bridge destroyed, started before dawn on March 6th to attempt a crossing of the river at Natural Bridge. The Union troops initially pushed Rebel forces back but not away from the bridge. Confederate forces under Gen. Samuel Jones, protected by breastworks, guarded all of the approaches and the bridge itself. The action at Natural Bridge lasted most of the day, but, unable to take the bridge, the Union troops retreated to the protection of the fleet. The battle prevented the Union from capturing the Florida capital and made Tallahassee the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River not to be captured by Union forces during the war. The battle has been described as the last Confederate victory in the Civil War, and it was the second largest battle fought in Florida."

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/natural-bridge
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
Originally,our visit there was to be a guided private tour. There is a local historian in the Florida panhandle named Dale Cox who has written 4 Civil War books,one of which is on the Battle Of Natural Bridge. I had my book with me for Mr. Cox to sign. My aunt had set up the private tour as sorta a surprise for me. She told me about it shortly before we departed for Florida last week and I was real excited about it. I have read 3 of his books. Unfortunately,Mr. Cox had to cancel and give me a raincheck. Shortly after we arrived at the park he sent me a message saying he was sick and that he tried to make it but had to turn around and go back home because he was feeling too bad. My aunt was a little upset about it,but I told her not to be because I would have gone there anyway and with them living in Sneads,there was plenty of reason to come back again

Here is a good YouTube video by Dale Cox about the Battle Of Natural Bridge. It's 10:29 minutes long.

 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
The video above describes all the troop movements to and from the battle and a few pre-battle skirmishes. I am not sure where all Dale Cox had planned to take us on the tour so when he cancelled,we had to decide where we would go. We decided to stick to the park and my aunt wanted to go to the St. Marks Lighthouse,so we did that too. I guess the main attraction of Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park is it's most prominent feature,the monument.

IMG_20190202_125659522_HDR.jpg

2019-02-02 13.14.44.jpg

IMG_20190202_130249434_HDR.jpg

2019-02-02 13.33.41.jpg

2019-02-02 13.11.13.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
As you can see in the first group of pictures of the monument above,there are a number of smaller monuments and a historical marker around it.

2019-02-02 13.07.49.jpg

2019-02-02 13.07.30.jpg

2019-02-02 13.07.37.jpg

2019-02-02 13.09.49.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
If you look at the 2 middle pics in post #7 above,you will see the name "J.B. Fletcher" on them. One of my fellow Civil War Round Table members has a brother-in-law who is a direct descendant of J.B. Fletcher. Both the brother-in-law and J.B. Fletcher are direct descendants of a Confederate veteran of the Battle of Natural Bridge. Don't recall the Confederate veteran's exact name. There were 3 Fletchers in the 1st Florida Reserves and 3 Fletchers in the 5th Florida Cavalry at Natural Bridge.

The last 2 sentences in the Introduction of Dale Cox's book are as follows: "This effort is dedicated to my sons, William and Alan. Their ancestors fought at the Battle of Natural Bridge and I hope that this narrative helps them gain a better understanding of their own heritage." I had a list of questions I was gonna ask Dale Cox and one of them was the names of those ancestors.
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
If you look at the park map in the link in post #2 above, it shows remnants of earthworks to be across and slightly further down Natural Bridge Rd. from the monument. The Civil War Preservation Trust map seems to indicate that those earthworks were manned by troops from the 1st Florida Reserves. That was another question I had for Dale Cox. There was a slight drizzle going on while I was taking these pictures:

2019-02-02 13.36.00.jpg

2019-02-02 13.36.12.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
On the north side of Natural Bridge Rd,between the monument and Natural Bridge Sinks,are a couple of interpretive markers. The Confederate one is a little weathered. Unfortunately,with these type markers,the Florida heat, sunlight and humidity take a toll.


2019-02-02 13.24.11.jpg

2019-02-02 13.22.09.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
And then there are the sinks themselves. As you can see in the video,park map and battle map,the St. Marks River flows underground at this point and emerges in a series of "sinks" until it fully emerges east/southeast of the sinks. The land in between the sinks is the "Natural Bridge". Again,we were there on a Saturday and the weather was temporarily dreary at that point in the day. I can imagine it is a beautiful place in the Spring and late Fall.

2019-02-02 13.26.48.jpg

2019-02-02 13.26.54.jpg

 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
As I said earlier,this was supposed to be a guided private tour so other than another historic site nearby,I hadn't really mapped out the area beforehand. My aunt wanted to go to the St. Marks Lighthouse and spontaneity is how I roll on trips like this so off we went. The lighthouse is 17 miles and about 30 minutes south of Natural Bridge. We followed Natural Bridge Rd. east and judging from the terrain on either side,I imagine it follows the same or similar path as it did in the Civil War. If you pull up the lighthouse on Google Maps,you'll see there is not much between it and Natural Bridge. Google maps driving directions is a bit unreliable at times too. Some times you just have to follow your instincts.

Along the way we crossed over the St. Marks River and it is very beautiful. Along the way you also pass signs to Port Leon and Newport which played a part in the Natural Bridge Campaign. All of the Union troops involved were transported by water. Some landed at the lighthouse and some at Port Leon when their transports ran aground. My recollection is that all of the remaining Union troops retreated to the lighthouse after the battle,embarked on transports and escaped by sea.
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
If you pull up the St. Marks Lighthouse on Google Maps you will also see that it is located in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Even in February it is beautiful there and we could've easily spent the whole day there if we'd had a whole day. I would love to take my grandkids there some day while they're still young. They would love it. We all had a good time there that day. I am glad my aunt wanted to do that. My uncle really enjoyed it too.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/st_marks/
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
It is $5/car entry fee at the gate at St. Marks NWR. There is a Visitor Center to the right just after you go through the gate. We drove straight to the Lighthouse which is literally at the end of the NWR road. It is not a short road either. You can easily envision it being the same road that was there in wartime too. Nothing but flooded timber,coastal marsh, marsh ponds and small canals on either side of the road as far as the eye can see. Couldn't see anywhere else where a Civil War era road mighta been. At intervals,there are areas to launch canoes, kayaks and trolling motor powered boats.There are fishing and picnic areas and some hiking trails too.

In Dale Cox's book,he wrote that the Union troops brought artillery with them but no artillery horses. The cannons had to be manhandled to the areas they were used. I'm guessing powder,ammo and other supplies had to be moved the same way. Most of the Union troops in the Natural Bridge Campaign were USCTs(United States Colored Troops). They earned their $10 in March 1865.
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
The St. Marks Lighthouse was built in 1842 and is the second St. Marks Lighthouse. The first one was located a bit to the east of the current lighthouse. The keeper's house has been rebuilt several times.

2019-02-02 14.32.22.jpg

2019-02-02 14.33.57.jpg

2019-02-02 14.36.46.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
To the rear of the keeper's house, which is a small museum now, is an elevated walkway which leads to an elevated observation deck.

2019-02-02 14.47.18.jpg
2019-02-02 14.47.46.jpg
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
As I said above,what was the former keeper's house is now a small museum. I think it's $2/person to get in. My aunt and uncle paid for the 4 of us to go in. There were 2-3 people giving visitors tours of the museum and the history of the lighthouse. On this particular day there was a man there who is the great grandson or grandson of one of the lighthouse keepers and was sharing some of the lighthouse history. They told about the lighthouse lens being removed during the war and hidden. It was reinstalled in 1867 and lit back up. There are a lotta artifacts and old photographs on display. There are also relics found during renovations and storm repair.

They also had a number of free brochures. I got a few including a couple about a "Fort Williams" built near the lighthouse when the Civil War Union naval blockade began. According to the brochure,it was more of a stockade for troops guarding salt works and the town of St. Marks. Union Marines landed near the lighthouse on June 15,1862 and burned the Fort and it wasn't rebuilt. The brochure says "The exact location of Fort Williams is unknown,but it is thought to be near the end of Cedar Point Trail." On the brochure there is a drawing of the area including the fort and lighthouse that is in the State Archives Of Florida. Using Google,I have not been able to find anything on Fort Williams.
 

bdtex

Administrator
Staff member
Our tour guide in the Lighthouse told us the history of the lighthouse lens. As I said earlier,it was removed and hidden by Confederates during the Civil War and put back in 1867. It was eventually moved one more time to where it is today. It is on display in the St. Marks NWR Visitor Center. The guide said it was moved a total of 4 times including it's initial installation and had been chipped some along the edges and had a coupla small cracks. We looked around a little more outside the lighthouse and headed for the Visitor Center. My aunt wanted to do a little shopping there. They do have quite a bit of stuff. I was mainly interested in the lighthouse lens.

2019-02-02 15.45.20.jpg

2019-02-02 15.45.32.jpg

2019-02-02 15.45.40.jpg
 
Top