3 4 Jacksonville Santa Rosa 11 St. Augustine 2 Apalachicola By Land & Sea: Florida in the Civil War Cedar Key New Smyrna Visitors to the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum will be immersed in the period of 1861 to 1877 M in Florida, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. ANY CIVIL WAR HISTORIANS The new special exhibition gives visitors a peek into everyday life tend to overlook the role Florida played in the war because no aboard a US naval vessel searching for Confederate blockade major battles occurred in the state. But the state sent more runners, exposes the amount of activity in Florida’s coastal waters, than 16,000 men to war—most served exclusively in other and shows how Florida supplied the Confederacy with vital Confederate states and participated in all the major battles. supplies, including salt, beef cattle, and goods smuggled in past Florida was also the port of entry for hundreds of blockade Tampa the Union blockaders. runners bringing war materials, medical supplies, and everyday necessities to the beleaguered combatants. The state also served Adults and children alike will enjoy learning about the music and as the breadbasket of the Confederacy, supplying salt, beef, and games that helped relieve the tedium of shipboard and camp life. other agricultural goods to the soldiers on the front lines. Visitors can also examine the rudimentary medical equipment and weapons of war. This exhibit provides a perspective of the With most of Florida’s population centered across the north- obstacles participants had to overcome to survive the War ern section of the peninsula, south Florida became a haven for Between the States. Unionists, those who were neutral, and Confederate deserters. It was also a gateway for escaping slaves seeking refuge in the Fort Myers R I C H A RDR D A N D PATPAT Bahamas and Cuba. Union ships’ crews helped Unionists and JOHNSNSON African Americans alike to make their way to safety. PA L M B E A CHC H C O U N T Y HIHISTORY The crews of the Union blockaders suffered from tropical MUSEEUMUM diseases such as malaria and yellow fever, which could sicken an entire crew, making the ship useless as a war vessel. The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum Between periods of intense and dangerous activity, including is operated by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. capturing blockade runners and raiding Confederate camps, the crews would pass their idle hours playing games and musical instruments and writing home about the vicissitudes of serving in the sub-tropical climate and trying to avoid the hordes of mosquitoes. For tours of 10 or more, advance reservations are requested. Fort Jefferson Key West 300 North Dixie Highway, Downtown West Palm Beach For more information and Museum hours: www.historicalsocietypbc.org | 561.832.4164 1 Battle of Olustee | February 20, 1864 – Confederate victory • Occupied throughout war 2 Battle of Gainesville | August 17, 1864 – Confederate victory • Periodic occupation 3 Battle of Marianna | September 27, 1864 – Union victory throughout war Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. Audrey and Martin Gruss 4 Battle of Natural Bridge | March 6, 1865 – Confederate victory • Union Naval Blockade Foundation, Inc. Foundation M ANY OF THE CIVIL WAR’S UNION Brigadier General Truman Seymour Escape of Confederate General 1861 Boston confectioner William Schrafft invented and Confederate senior officers learned to fight in Florida during (1824-1891) the jelly bean and urged the public to send them the Second and Third Seminole Wars (1835-1842, 1855-1858). John Breckinridge to soldiers on the front lines. Here are just a few who served in Florida: A West Point graduate (1846), Seymour served in the Mexican-American War; was William F. Ketchum developed the Ketchum an instructor at West Point and served in A hand grenade, a cast iron projectile thrown like a T THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR, Union General Joseph E. Johnston dart. It was used during sieges including Vicks- Florida during the Third Seminole War; troops tried to arrest as many Confederate leaders as possible. CSA burg and Petersburg. The Confederate Army’s (1807-1891) he was stationed at Fort Sumter under the President Jefferson Davis tried to escape the round-up, but was command of Major Robert Anderson equivalent, the Raines Grenade, was less effective. Johnston graduated from West Point in captured. General John Breckinridge, Secretary of War, CSA, when Civil War started; is the ill-fated 1829 and was in the same class as Robert did escape through Florida. He and a small group of men, includ- Dr. Richard J. Gatling invented the six-barreled commander who attacked Fort Wagner, E. Lee. He participated in the Black ing his slave Tom Ferguson, escaped through Florida, fleeing to Gatling Gun, an early machine gun. It could fire South Carolina, sending in the all black Hawk War of 1832, and served in Florida the Indian River near Cape Canaveral up to 350 rounds a minute. 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment; during the Second Seminole War; Seymour with the intention of trying to sail to The he was wounded during the attack; 1862 Union doctor Jonathan Letterman created the resigned and became a civilian topographi- Bahamas. defeated by Confederate forces at the Battle of Olustee, Florida, on first “evacuate and care” system using ambulance cal engineer. Johnston accompanied a joint wagons to move wounded soldiers from the February 20, 1864; he was present at the surrender of General They rowed a small boat down the army and navy reconnaissance of the battlefield to the hospital which is the model for Robert E. Lee on April 9, 1865. Indian River past Union patrols through Loxahatchee River under the command the ambulance-to-ER system of today. of Navy Lieutenant Levin Powell. On the Jupiter Inlet and stopped at what is Johnston January 15, 1838, the small force clashed General William T. Sherman known today as Palm Beach. There they Canned goods, produced by Borden, Van Camps, with a larger group of Seminole warriors on the Loxahatchee 1820-1891 rested and were almost captured by a Armour, and Swift were introduced. ( ) Union naval patrol. The group traded for River. The Seminoles routed the soldiers and sailors. Johnston Confederate General Gabriel J. Rains is credited A West Point graduate (1840), Sherman Breckinridge food near what is now Boynton Beach took charge, fighting a rear guard action saving the engagement with the development and use of anti-personnel served at Fort Pierce, Florida, during the with some Seminole Indians and then, at Fort Lauderdale, they from becoming a massacre. He rejoined the army as a first mines. He first used them during the Battle of Second Seminole War, captured Seminole stole a large sailing vessel from some Union deserters. lieutenant and was wounded twice during the Mexican- Yorktown in 1862. American War; promoted to brigadier general in 1860 but War leader Coacoochee and served briefly resigned and joined the Confederate Army; in 1861 he was at Fort Lauderdale; resigned commission They made it to Miami where they were involved in a gun battle 1863 James Caleb Jackson, operator of the Jackson promoted to full general. He was the highest-ranking U.S. in 1850s but returned to the army in 1861 with some ruffians but eventually they came to terms and one of Sanitorium in Dansville, New York, invented the regular army officer to leave the U.S. Army. Johnston surren- with the rank of colonel; during Civil the group was allowed to go ashore to buy supplies. From Miami breakfast cereal. It was not popular because the dered to Sherman in April 1865 in North Carolina. War, he rose to the rank of major general; they sailed to Cuba where the governor-general welcomed them bran nuggets had to be soaked overnight so they lead the “March to the Sea” through with open arms. Breckinridge went on to Europe and later moved would be soft enough to eat. Georgia; received surrender of Confeder- to Canada. He eventually returned to Kentucky after President Sherman Calcium floodlights, known as “limelights” were Major General George G. Meade ate forces under command of General Andrew Johnson pardoned him in 1868. first adapted and used for war during the Union 1815-1872 Joseph E. Johnston; served as commanding general of the U.S. ( ) attack on the Confederate’s Fort Wagner. The Army (1869-1883); and is credited with saying “War is hell.” Meade graduated West Point in 1835 Inventions during the Civil War chemical lights illuminated the target for Union and served at Fort Brooke, Tampa, artillery gunners. It also blinded Confederate Others who served in Florida during the Seminole Wars: Florida, during Second Seminole War; 1861-1865 gunners. resigned and worked as a civilian with The Civil War brought developments to the Robert Anderson - USA Braxton Bragg - CSA clothing industry: standard shoe and clothing sizes Corps of Topographical Engineers; later James Leonard Plimpton of Medford, Massachu- Abner Doubleday - USA Jubal Early - CSA made it easier to supply soldiers with shoes and received a commission in the Corps as a setts, invented the first four-wheeled roller skates uniforms. Ebenezer Butterick used tissue paper to lieutenant; served in Mexican-American William S. Harney - USA Samuel Heintzelman - USA arranged in two side-by-side pairs. create the first graded sewing patterns (1863). War; designed the Jupiter Inlet Light- Ambrose Hill - CSA Joseph Hooker - USA 1865 house; during Civil War, was severely John Magruder - CSA Edward Ord - USA Pocket watches were carried by soldiers. The John Batterson Stetson invented the cowboy hat wounded at Battle of Glendale; and he is Waltham Watch Company of Massachusetts while on a hunting trip using fur, boiling water, Meade most remembered for defeating General John C.