REMINISCENCESOF THE WAR IN FLORIDA. By MARY ELIZABETH I!ICKISON. "THESE ARE DREDS THAT SHOULD NOT PASS AWAY, AND NAMES THAT MUST NOT WITHER." LOUISVILLE. KY. : COCRIEa·JOURNAL JOB PaINTING COMPANY. 18<)0. Digitized by Coog Ie CAPTAIN J. J. DICKISON, c. S. A .• 1864. Digitized by Google , ':' , COPYRIGHTltD. 18c;)o. Digitized by Google Go\?ernor lDa\?tb $. 1IlIlalker: TO YOU, OUR DISTlNGUISHJU) U-CHIElt EXECUTIVE AND EVER-LOYAL" ltRIEND, I RESPECTltULLY DEDICATE THIS LITTLE VOLUME• . 1 Honored for your public services, adorned by every &0- cial virtue, admired for the gentle dignity and suavity of manner, and beloved by the people among whom your noble life has been passed, I feel a proper pride when I present you to the youth of our fair land as one whose example is a model for imitation . .. In action faithful and In honor clear, Who broke no promise, served no private end, Who won a title, and who lost no frUnd." .. DICKISON PARK," July 4, IIilB9. Digitized by Google PREFACE. To THE READER: Let me feel your hand clasp in kindly greeting, while I tell of the daring deeds of .. DICKISON AND HIS MEN." In the development of our reasoning powers, there is a fascination in the beautiful truth revealed, the charming lesson taught, that our life is a dual one, made up of the material and spiritual, the real and ideal. Truly inspiring and elevating the knowledge that it is not all of life to eat and sleep; for in our hearts throbs loud the truth, that •• man for nobler ends has birth. " We daily learn that more than one-half our pains and pleasures is derived from the imagina-. tion of the mind, either in the contemplation of ideal beauty or in brooding over imaginary evils. There is an inspiration that awakens the deepest emotions in the soul, in contemplating objects that bring up associations of the past. There is an inexpressible pleasure in the perusal of long-treasured letters written by our loved ones around their camp fires, or by dear ones who have gone before to the spirit world. How sweet the silent language even a faded flower breathes, of brighter, happier days! We can not well analyze the sentiment, but it seems to be an attri­ bute of the human mind to pay instinctive homage to all that is noble and grand in the warrior, the statesman, the poet, the artist. With what earnestness and interest do we gaze upon some trifling relic that bears the impress of ancient workmanship I The excavations in Indian mounds reveal long-buried utensils of pottery that were made by these untutored sons of the forest, and are regarded with interest by the race that now own their old hunting grounds, and have built cities over the burial places of their dead. (5) Digitized by Google 6 P1Ul;FACE. The museums of the world are filled with coins and trinkets that seem but broken links in that mysterious chain which connects the spirit of the living present with the long-buried past. The recent exhibition in Paris of curious portraits more than two thousand years old, that have been lately opened, once ornamented Egyptian burial places, and have been admirably preserved. Only the classic student and antiquary can properly appreciate this valuable collection of antique relics. We know that the governments of Europe expend annually large sums of money in digging up the ruins of old, buried and almost for· gotten, cities-some of them once buried beneath a deep river of burning lava fiowiD;g from Vesuvius, and, in the course of centuries, forming an almost impenetrable crust; and they treasure, as almost beyond price, defaced images and broken columns that possess no other value or merit than that they were carved by hands now moldering in the dust of long-gone centuries. To a practical mind such relics possess no value, and the public bounty expended in discovering and collecting them seems to be an unpardonable waste of time, labor and money. But the wise and sagacious statesmen understand human nature to a better purpose, and know, that in catering to that almost universal sentiment of the human mind and heart, they are insensibly binding the affections of the sub­ ject and strengthening the hands of government. Among these ancient collections of art and trophies of war, that crowd the pal. aces and public edifices of the capitals of Europe, are many held in such sacred veneration that their loss would be regarded as a national calamity. In obedience to that all-pervading sentiment I have so feebly attempted to describe and illustrate, I have lovingly cherished many sacred memories of the" Lost Cause," and carefully guarded the records of as gallant a defense as was ever made by a wronged people, and am now led by its promptings to chronicle a few events Digitized by Google PREFACE. 7 or our struggle to secure our indel;lendence, and establish for ourselves .a separate government. It is no historic effort, only a simple narrative of events that tran­ spired in our own little State, and have been so long familiar they seem .a part of my own home life. It is not my purpose, in this record of o()Ur eventful struggle, to defend the right of a State to secede from 'the general government, or attempt a vindication of the secession of the Southern States from the Union. Such action has been firmly asserted, clearly elucidated and bravely vindicated by our wise and able statesmen; and, though disastrous the results. I repeat the lan­ guage of our illustrious chieftain, President Davis: "We have cause to feel proud that the course of the Southern States has left no stain nor blot upon the honor and chivalry of their people: .. • And if our children must obey, They must-but thinking on our day, 'Twill less debase them to submit.' .. Many friends, during the years that have so rapidly gone by, have urged me to write up the brilliant achievements of my husband's campaigns during the war. As a young matron, a peculiar sensitiveness .restrained me from :such publicity. I could not "sing of arms and a man," when the bero was my own liege lord. But now, that I wear the silver crown .of declining years, and the strong hand of sorrow having struck the .c. harp of life," tuning all its chords, and, self-exorcised, has "passed in music out of sight," I fear no unkind criticism. - Encouraged by the hope that the same love of the heroic that makes the school boy and girl read with rapturous delight "Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious Men," the grand epics of Virgil and Homer, and later on the glori­ .ous deeds of our own revolutionary heroes, may lead the youth of our fair Southland, the rising generation upon whom the mantle of their noble fathers will, in time, fall, to read the daring deeds of heroism Digitized by Google 8 PREFACE. performed by their own loved sires and friends who were ever a living bulwark between their homes and a cruel foe. Though my heart swells with a just pride at this review of the faithful services rendered by my husband to the State of his adoption, and of the lofty patriotism and affectionate devotion of the gallant men who followed him into battle, never faltering in their cOBfidence, and ever willing to follow where he led, no selfish exultation sullies the purity of my homage. For every patriot citizen who unsheathed his sword in defense of our rights, or laid his rich mental gifts upon our country's altar, and, in clarion tones, told of her wrongs, and inspired every heart to deeds of gallant daring, who were ever faith­ ful guardians of our liberties, my heart pours out a rich tribute of grateful praise. Tbey well deserve the love and veneration of their countrymen, and their names shall be " The immortal names that were not born to die." While our proud successes failed to reach the glorious consumma­ tion so earnestly desired and prayed for, we can not forget that it is God who alone decides the contest and gives the victory. So we bow in humble submission to His will. May we ever remember that it is His wisdom that guides our councils, His providence which has shielded us to the present hour and saved us from internal dissensions by the inspiration of a moral heroism which challenges comparison in the affairs of men. Most earnestly should we pray that peace may ever reign within our borders. "DICKISON PARK," July 4, I88? .. Digitized by Google CAI'TAI:-I JOH~ M. ~IARTI:-I, C. S. A., 1864. Digitized by Coog Ie DICKISON AND HIS MEN. CHAPTER I. " Now then to conquer, or to die prepare; To die, or conquer, are the terms of war; And for our country, 'tis a bliss to die." The storm that had been steadily gathering during the administration of President Buchanan, culminated a short time previous to his retirement to private life, by the withdrawal of South Carolina from the Union. Mississippi soon followed, then Florida, and, in rapid succession, the rest of the Southern States. At the commencement of hostilities in Charleston harbor, and the proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for troops to make an unconstitutional war on the seceded States, the war-cloud darkened over our little State, and every heart burned with indigna­ tion. And, with the spirit that had inspired their fathers in 1776, they resolved to unite in the patriotic effort to secure for the South an independent gov­ ernment, as the constitution, framed by their fore­ fathers, had been violated, and the people of the Southern States wantonly deprived of their rights to an equal citizenship.