The Fate of the Confederate Governors

   As the war ground to a close, orders went out for the arrest of various political figures, including both sitting governors and former governors.

Alabama had three men who served as governors. Andrew B. Moore served from 1857 to 1861. The Alabama constitution did not allow Moore to run for a third term, although he remained active in the war effort. Moore was replaced by John G. Shorter, who served one term, and was replaced by Thomas H. Watts, then serving as Confederate Attorney General. Watts served as governor until the end of the war. US Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered Moore to be arrested on May 16, 1865. He was imprisoned at Fort Pulaski in Savannah until being released in August 1865. Shorter apparently avoided arrest, while Watts was arrested on May 1, 1865, and sent to Macon, but appears to have been released by mid-June 1865.

Arkansas had three men in the governor’s chair during the war years. Henry M. Rector served from November 16, 1860, until he resigned after losing an election on November 4, 1862; President of the Senate Thomas Fletcher served from November 4, 1862, until November 15, 1862, when Harris Flanagin was elected. Flanagin served until May 26, 1865, often as governor in exile. None of these men appear to have served jail or prison time after the end of the war.

Florida had two war-time governors. Madison S. Perry and John Milton. Perry could only serve two-terms, and following his second term, became colonel of the 7^th Florida Infantry. His health was poor, and he returned to Florida, dying at home in March 1865. John Milton, realizing that the war was over, took his own life on April 1, 1865.

Georgia had one war-time governor: Joseph E. Brown. He was in office from November 6, 1857 to June 17, 1865, when he resigned. Brown was arrested on May 23, 1865 and imprisoned at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. He was released after meeting with President Andrew Johnson. (The Atlanta Constitution, August 7, 1910)

Kentucky, as a border state, is complicated. George W. Johnson was the first Confederate governor. He was serving as an aide-de-camp on Breckinridge’s staff at Shiloh when his horse was shot from under him. Johnson continued on foot, attaching himself to the 4^th Kentucky Infantry (CS). Johnson was mortally wounded in the afternoon of April 7, 1862, dying two days later. Richard Hawes was selected by the state council as Johnson’s replacement, often making his headquarters with the Army of Tennessee. Hawes returned home after the end of the war.

Louisiana had two Confederate governors: Thomas O. Moore and Henry Watkins Allen. Moore could only serve two terms. He returned to his home near Alexandria, but after Federal troops burned his plantation, he fled to Mexico, and then Cuba. He eventually returned to Louisiana. Hawes also lost his home to fire, and with Moore, also went to Mexico. Allen, who was colonel of the 4^th Louisiana infantry, was wounded at Shiloh and Baton Rouge and died of his unhealed wounds in Mexico City on April 22, 1866.

Mississippi had John Pettus and Charles Clark. At war’s end, Pettus, wanted for questioning regarding the Lincoln assassination, went into hiding. He died of pneumonia in Lonoke County, Arkansas, on January 28, 1867. Clark was arrested and imprisoned at Fort Pulaski and was held until he took and signed the Oath of Allegiance in September 1865.

Missouri’s Claiborne F. Jackson took office on January 3, 1861, and after June 1861, was basically a governor in exile. Jackson was deposed by the General Assembly in July 1861, followed various Confederate military forces around on campaign, and died in Little Rock, Arkansas, December 7, 1862. Lieutenant Governor Thomas C. Reynolds assumed the role of governor, but really did not have a large role in political affairs. At the end of the war, he also went to Mexico, but returned to St. Louis.

North Carolina had three war-time governors. John W. Ellis led the state out of the Union in May 1861, only to die in July 1861. He was replaced by Speaker of the North Carolina Senate Henry T. Clark. Clark did not pursue election and stepped down at the end of the term in September 1862. Zebulon Baird Vance, colonel of the 26^th North Carolina, was elected as governor twice during the war years. At the end of the war, he attempted to surrender and was told to go home. In Statesville, he was arrested on his birthday, May 13, 1865, and imprisoned in Old Capital Prison. Vance was released after receiving his parole on July 6, 1865.

South Carolina had three men in the role of governor: Francis W. Pickens, Milledge L. Bonham, and Andrew G. Magrath. Pickens and Bonham were limited in the number of terms they could serve. Pickens retired to his plantation, and Bonham was reappointed a Confederate general and served in the Army of Tennessee. Magrath was arrested and imprisoned at Fort Pulaski, not being released until December 1865.

Tennessee had only one Confederate governor: Isham G. Harris. After the fall of Nashville, Harris served on the staffs of several Confederate generals, including Joseph E. Johnston, Braxton Bragg, and Albert S. Johnston. The US Congress issued a $5,000 reward for the capture of Harris at the end of the war. He fled to Mexico, then England, only returning to Tennessee once the bounty was removed.

Texas had Sam Houston, who was removed in March 1861; Edward Clark, the lieutenant governor, who lost the election in November 1861; Francis Lubbock who did not run for reelection and stepped aside in November 1863; and Pendleton Murrah.  Houston died in 1863. Clark served as colonel of the 14^th Texas Infantry but fled to Mexico at the end of the war. Lubbock was commissioned lieutenant colonel on the staff of Maj. Gen. John B. Marguder, and then aide-de-camp for Jefferson Davis. Lubbock was captured with Davis in Georgia and imprisoned at Fort Delaware for eight months.

Virginia had two governors. John Letcher and William Smith. Letcher’s arrest order was issued by U.S. Grant, and he was taken into custody on May 20, 1865, and imprisoned at Old Capital Prison. He was released forty-seven days later. Likewise, Smith turned himself in on June 8, 1865, and was paroled.

More information on these governors can be found in Years, editor, The Confederate Governors. For information on biographies on each governor, check out this link.  

Most decisive Confederate victories.

   There was one goal for army commanders: to obliterate the opponent. While this was their objective, it seldom happened. The enemy often escaped to fight again another day. The American Battlefield Trust has 10,000 battles and engagements fought between 1861 and 1865. Which ones were the most decisive Confederate victories is a hard list to determine. Here are five on my list.[1]

Brice’s Crossroads, Tennessee

   Fought in June 1864, this battle pitted Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, with 3,500 men, against 8,122 Federal soldiers under Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis. The Federals were moving from Memphis toward Northern Mississippi in an effort to keep Forrest preoccupied and away from the major supply line stretching from Nashville into North Georgia. Federal forces were able to slowly push back Confederate cavalry. With Confederate reinforcements arriving, the Federals called for infantry support. Confederate attacks forced the Federals into a tighter defensive line. A Confederate attack across a bridge spanning the Tishomingo River failed but caused panic in the Federal lines. Federal soldiers fled in disorder, and many were captured by the pursuing Confederate cavalry. The Federals lost sixteen of their eighteen artillery pieces, and 2,249 men, a loss of about 27%. Sturgis finished the war “awaiting orders.” Brice’s Crossroads is considered one of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s greatest victories.[2]  

Olustee, Florida

   The often-overlooked February 1864 battle of Olustee, Florida, could have been another Richmond, Kentucky, had Confederates cavalry been a little more active in securing the fleeing Federal army. Once again, the two sides were almost evenly matched. Federal general Thuman Seymour, with a force of 5,500 men, faced off against general Joseph Finegan, with 5,000 men (all estimates). The Federals had disembarked at Jacksonville and were moving toward Lake City. The Confederates were waiting for them at Ocean Pond/Olustee, and the Federals attacked in piecemeal fashion. Federal losses were 1,861, about 34%, including six artillery pieces. The Civil War Book of Lists, due to the ratio of troops involved, places Olustee as the second bloodiest battle of the war for the Union. The Federals retreated back to Jacksonville. [3]

(Historical Marker Database.)

Richmond, Kentucky

   Fought at the same time as Second Manassas, the August 1862 battle of Richmond, Kentucky, often gets overshadowed. Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. E. Kirby Smith tangled with Federal forces under Brig. Gen. William “Bull” Nelson. The forces were about even: 6,580 US v. 6,500 CS. Often described as a “running fight,” the Federals took up at three defensive positions, the last being in and around the cemetery in Richmond. In the end, the Federals lost an estimated 5,353, killed, wounded, and captured, including Bull Nelson, who was wounded, but escaped. Smith wrote that the Federals lost “some twenty pieces of artillery,” or, all that the Federals brought to the field. “Indeed, everything indicates the almost entire annihilation of this force of the enemy,” Smith wrote. Confederate forces were able to capture the capital of Kentucky a few days later. Federal losses were 81% of those engaged.[4]  

Plymouth, North Carolina

   Combined Confederate army and navy operations during the war were rare, and the April 1864 battle of Plymouth might be the pinnacle of Confederate success. The Federal garrison at Plymouth was commanded by Brig. Gen. Henry W. Wessells, with about 3,000 men, excluding the US Navy, which included four ships. Confederate commander Brig. Gen. Robert F. Hoke commanded around 4,500 men, excluding two Confederate naval vessels. At the end of the three-day siege, two Federal vessels were sunk, while Wessells listed his losses in killed, wounded, and captured at 2,843. A handful of members of the 2^nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry (US) and Black recruits for various United States colored Troop regiments escaped. Losses were around 97%, including some twenty cannons, mostly heavy seacoast guns.

Munfordville, Kentucky

   Located south of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Munfordville just might just vie with Plymouth as one of the most complete victories of the war. Munfordville was garrisoned by a Federal force just over 4,000 men under the command of Col. John T. Wilder. Braxton Bragg, commanding 16,000 Confederate soldiers, launched his campaign to wrest control of Kentucky from the Federals in September 1862. Initial Confederate attacks were repulsed with losses. Bragg brought up the rest of his command, encircling the Federal garrison. All 4,133 Federal soldiers were surrendered by Wilder. Federal loss was 100%.[5]

   So, how doe these battles stack up? Federal losses at Gettysburg were 24%; Chickamauga 26%; Chancellorsville, 17%; Sharpsburg, 14%; Perryville, 7%; Pea Ridge, 12%; Murfreesboro, 31%; Cedar Mountain, 29%; Port Republic, 28%.[6]

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[1] https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts

[2] Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary, 85.

[3] The Civil War Book of List, 97.

[4] Lambert, When the Ripe Pears Fell, 234; OR, Vol. 16, pt. 1, 932-33.

[5] Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary, 575.

[6] Aall American Battlefield Trust numbers.

Florida Leading the Historiography Charge!

   There have been tens of thousands of books written about the war. Even with that seemingly gluttonous number, there are huge gaps in that historiography. For the longest time, Florida seemed to be lagging behind in that quest to document that history. There were just a handful of books – Dickison and His Men (1890), Civil War in Florida  (1899), Florida During the Civil War (1975), Confederate Florida; The Road to Olustee (1990),  Blockaders, Refugees, and Contraband: Civil War on Florida’s Gulf Coast, 1861-1865 (1993), or the volumes that Lewis G. Schmidt wrote in the late 1980 and early 1990s.

   However, in the twenty-first century, the sunshine state has really been making up for lost time. Now there are numerous forays into the history of Florida and the war, as evidenced by the list below. This list is not conclusive. It only looks at books published in the last two decades or so. And, there are several books not included. Claude Kenneson has several books looking at Civil War Veterans buried in various Florida cemeteries. But, is there a state that has done a better job? These books are from both academic presses and public presses, with a few self-published as well. I do not have all of these, nor have I read them all. I think other states need to catch up!

 

Thunder on the River: the Civil War in Northeast Florida (University Press of Florida, 2010) Daniel L. Schafer

The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida: The Confederate Defense of Tallahassee (Dale Cox, 2010) Dale Cox

A Small but Spartan Band: the Florida Brigade in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia (University of Alabama Press, 2010) Zach C. Waters and James C. Edmonds

The Battle of Marianna, Florida (Dale Cox, 2011) Dale Cox

Florida’s Civil War (Keith Kohl, 2011) Keith Kohl

Florida Civil War Blockades: Battling for the Coast (History Press, 2011) Nick Wynee and Joe Crankshaw

Discovering the Civil War in Florida: A Reader and Guide (Pineapple Press, 2012) Paul Taylor

By the Noble Daring of her Sons: The Florida Brigade of the Army of Tennessee (The University of Alabama Press, 2012) Jonathan C. Sheppard

Civil War Memories: A Compilation of Remembrance from the Families of Boca Grande Residents (Friends of Boca Grande, 2013)  Sandy Ross Jacobs

Recalling Deeds Immortal: Florida Momunemts to the Civil War (University press of Florida, 2014) William B. Lees and Frederick P. Gaske

Central Florida’s Civil War Veterans (Arcadia, 2014) Bob Grenier

St. Augustine and the Civil War (History Press, 2014) Robert Redd

The Yacht America in Florida’s Civil War (Old Book Shop Publications, 2015) Jack Owen

On this Day in Florida Civil War History (History Press, 2015) Nick Wynee and Joe Knetsch

Civil War Correspondence of Florida’s Governor John Milton (CreateSpace, 2015) M. Edward Hughes

Governor John Milton & the War for Southern Independence (FriesenPress, 2015) M. Edward Hughes

Florida’s Civil War: Terrible Sacrifices (Mercer University Press, 2016) Tracy J. Revels

The 1^st Florida Union Cavalry in the Civil War (Sharon D. Marsh, 2017) Sharon D. Marsh

A Forgotten Front: Florida During the Civil War Era (University of Alabama Press, 2018) Seth A. Weitz and Jonathan C. Sheppard

Florida Postal History During the Civil War (Confederate Stamp Alliance, 2018) Deane R. Briggs

Storm Over Key West: the Civil War and the Call of Freedom (Pineapple Press, 2020) Mike Pride

Fort Clinch, Fernandina and the Civil War (History press, 2020) Frank A. Ofeldt

Florida Thunder: The Marion Light Artillery, 1861-1865 (Fulton Books, 2022), Michael Evans.

Key West’s Civil War: “Rather Unsafe for a Southern man to Live here.” (Shotwell Publishing, 2022) John B. Thuersam

Hidden History of Civil War Florida (History Press, 2022) Robert Redd

The other first shots of the war.

   Everyone is familiar with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861.  Confederate forces demanded the return of the property, and Federal forces declined. After word arrived that the Federals were going to reinforce the fort, Confederate forces, on April 12, opened fire. After a thirty-six-hour bombardment, Federal forces surrendered a smoking, partially burned-out fort. This event is widely heralded as the first shot of the war.

   However, what if the war actually started three months earlier, in January 1861?

Fort Barrancas (Florida Memory)

   January 8, 1861 - If Charleston Harbor was ablaze with excitement in March and April 1861, Pensacola Harbor was on fire. There were three forts in Pensacola. All three, Fort Pickens, Fort McRae, and Fort Barrancas, were unoccupied. There was a company of forty-six men at nearby Barrancas. After conferring with Commodore James Armstrong at the nearby naval yard, who promised no help, Lt. Adam Slemmer moved his men into Fort Barrancas, put the guns into working order, established a guard, and on the night of January 8, raised the draw bridge. “About midnight on the eighth a group of men approached the fort and failing to answer when challenged, were fired upon by the guard. The alarm was sounded as the group retreated in the darkness. . . Slemmer doubled the guard and they waited through the night to see if another attempt would be made to take possession of the fort.” The following day Slemmer began to move his small command from Fort Barrancas to Fort Pickens. Florida passed its ordinance of secession the following day.[1]

   January 9, 1861 - Major Robert Anderson’s forces at Fort Sumter were on short on men. When Anderson abandoned Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor on the evening of December 26, 1860, and moved to Fort Sumter, he had eighty men under his command. Seeking to reinforce the Fort Sumter garrison, Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott secretly boarded 200 Federal soldiers into the Star of the West. Except, it was not a secret. The Star of the West left New York Harbor on the evening of January 5. Newspapers, both North and South, were starting to carry the news the following day. Waiting for the day to get light enough to enter the harbor and head to the fort, the Star of the West was spotted by a patrol boat that alerted a masked battery on shore. The battery was manned by cadets from the Citadel. They fired several shots, two hitting the vessel. Gunners at Fort Moultrie aimed their pieces as the Star of the West came into sight, firing a few rounds but doing no damage. With no signal from Fort Sumter, and an unknown vessel heading swiftly in their direction, the Star of the West broke off and headed back out to sea and back to New York.[2]  

Marker in Vicksburg (HMdb)

   January 13, 1861 – Named for its owner, the A.O. Tyler started life as a 180-foot-long, three-side-wheeled packet steamboat that plied the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. With the secession of states bordering the Mississippi River, orders went out to gain control of the waterway to “prevent any hostile expedition from the Northern States descending the river.” Part of the Jackson Artillery was ordered to Vicksburg, and permission given to call out local militia companies. One account says that on the night of January 13 (or maybe January 11), the A.O. Tyler, heading south from Cincinnati, was fired upon, stopped, and searched. It was then allowed to continue on. Another account states that a blank charge was used and had not the A.O. Tyler stopped, a live round would have been used next. Later, the A.O. Tyler was purchased by the Federals and used as a river gunboat.[3]  

   These are just three accounts. There are undoubtedly more waiting to be discovered.

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[1] Taylor, Discovering the Civil War in Florida, 27-28; Coleman and Coleman, Guardians of the Gulf, 39.

[2] Detzer, Allegiance, 152-59.

[3] Rowland, Military History of Mississippi, 35-6; The Louisville Daily Courier, January 21, 1861.

Feeding the Confederate Garrison at Fort Clinch

   In 1861, as various Southern states left the Union, they seized and assumed control of various forts in Southern ports. As in the case of Fort Sumter, it took a battle for the facility to switch hands. A handful of forts were never captured, like Fortress Monroe in Virginia and Fort Pickens in Pensacola. However, many other forts only had a caretaker, usually an ordinance sergeant, and a few workmen. This is true with Fort Caswell, Fort Macon, and Fort Clinch.

   Fort Clinch was not even close to being completed at the start of the war. Sitting on Amelia Island on Cumberland Sound, the fort was begun in 1847, and the construction was slow Only two walls were completed, and no cannons were mounted. On January 7, 1861, Fort Clinch was seized by state troops. Over the next couple of months, various Confederate organizations rotated in and out of the area until the fort and island were abandoned on March 3, 1862. Among the Confederates stationed on the island during this period of time were the 3^rd Florida Infantry, 4^th Florida Infantry, Marion Light Artillery, 24^th Mississippi Infantry, and the Marion Dragoons.[1]

Feeding this new influx of men on a remote island was a challenge. In December 1862, they numbered over 4,500. At the same time, there were a couple of advantages. Foodstuffs could be brought up the St. Mary’s River, could come up the Amelia River, or, they could come from the interior via the Florida Railroad.  Records from the Florida Railroad mention freight such as “Substance Store” in reports filed in January 1862. The garrison commander contracted with C. L. Holbrook to provide pork, dry goods, and vegetables from Fernandina and St. Marys, Georgia. It is unclear just who Holbrook was. M. Wood and Company were contracted to supply beef rations. Wood lived in Callahan, Florida. Callahan was roughly 25 miles from Fort Clinch. However, it would have been easier to deliver the supplies elsewhere and have the quartermasters on the Island take charge. “M. Wood” is probably Michi Wood, a wealthy Prussian immigrant, 43 years old and a merchant, who listed his place of residence as Fernandina.[2]

   One of the soldiers stationed on the island, T.M. Broome, wrote home that “The rations which we receive each day are of the best quality available to us; we have beef three times a week with pork and fish, oysters, clams and crab, along with rice, onions and yams. The corn are right fine; our bread ration comes from the many bakers of the town, with our own mess providing biscuits and sweet bread. Wild game is abundant… the weather allows for us to fish when not posted to duty… the citizens are always offering biscuits, sweet bread and cookies. My friends and neighbors are always visiting the men of the volunteers with treats and goodies.”[3]

   Finding more information on this subject is a challenge. None of the regiments listed above appear to have regimental histories. The Washington Ives letters have been published (4^th Florida), but begin in June 1862. There is a history of the 1^st Florida Special Battalion and 10^th Infantry Regiment, by Don Hillhouse, but copies are scarce. The 1^st Florida Special Battalion was stationed on the island and at Fort Clinch. There is no history of the 24^th Mississippi Infantry, either. Ofeldt’s new history of Fernandina and Fort Clinch does not go into much detail on the subject, unfortunately .

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[1] Ofeldt, Fort Clinch, Fernandina and the Civil War, 51.

[2] 1860 US Census, Nassau County, Florida; Confederate Citizens File, Business, M346, RG109, NARA; Ofeldt, Fort Clinch, Fernandina and the Civil War, 37.

[3] Ofeldt, Fort Clinch, Fernandina and the Civil War, 37.

Robert E. Lee’s Wartime visit to Florida

    It is hard to fathom, but in 1861, the Confederacy’s most celebrated general was shunted to a seemingly backwater command. Of course, after the debacle in western Virginia in late 1861, Lee was not yet the most celebrated general. Those accolades fell to Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard, the heroes of First Manassas and Fort Sumter. It was not until after the Seven Days battles that “Granny Lee” was promoted in the minds of the press and general population. But still, Lee’s engineering skills were present in the minds of those who mattered, and Jefferson Davis sent Lee to command the department of the Military District of South Carolina, Georgia, and Eastern Florida. 

Robert E. Lee

   Lee’s task was to protect the railroad and ports of entry along the lower east coast. Like most generals in command of an army or department, he had too few troops and too much territory.  He arrived in Charleston on November 7 and assumed command the following day. This was not Lee’s first trip to the area. As a young engineer, he had worked on Fort Pulaski in Savannah in 1829-1830, and was in Florida examining coastal defenses in Pensacola, Fernandina Beach, and points south in 1849. [1]

   While serving as departmental commander, Lee made many inspection trips. His headquarters were located on the Coosawhatchie River in South Carolina, using an abandoned house owned by the Mackay family. Lee was frequently in Savannah, Charleston, and near the Port Royal Sound, working on coastal defenses. Twice, he visited the defenses on Amelia, spending November 20, 1861, and January 13, 1862, on Amelia Island.[2]

 What was so important about Amelia Island? Florida was the third state to leave the Union. It contains over 1,300 miles of coastline with many harbors. However, Florida lacked railroads connecting it to other Southern states. Just two lines crisscrossed the northern section of the state. The Florida Railroad went from Fernandina to Cedar Key, while the Florida, Atlantic, and Gulf Central ran from Jacksonville to Lake City and the Pensacola and Georgia ran to Quincy. It was not until March 1865 that the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad stretched south to Live Oak and Florida gained a small connection with railroads outside the state.

   Fernandina Beach was the eastern terminus of the Florida Railroad. The community sat just south of where the St. Mary’s River, dividing Florida and Georgia, emptied into the Atlantic Ocean. Any troops or supplies coming out of Florida could use this railroad to access the port. Above Fernandina Beach, on the northern end of Amelia Island, sat Fort Clinch. Construction began on the small brick missionary fort in 1847, but the fort was unfinished when the war began. Only two walls had been finished to their complete height, and the only buildings were the guardroom, prison, and carpenter’s shop. And there were no cannons. Fort Clinch was seized by state forces in January 1861. Those state forces moved cannons from the recently captured Fort Marion in St. Augustine to Fort Clinch on the ship Everglade. Batteries for the cannons were constructed in the surrounding sand dunes, as Fort Clinch was unable to support the cannons.[3]

   Lee wrote General Samuel Cooper on November 21, a day after his first war-time visit to Florida. He makes no real mention of the defenses save that he had been to Fernandina. However, in a letter to two of his daughters written on November 22, he stated that he had been as far south as “Amelia Island to examine the defences. They are poor indeed & I have laid off work enough to employ our people a month. I hope our enemy will be polite enough to wait for us.”[4] 

  On his second visit on January 13, Lee followed up with a letter to the “commanding Officer, Fernandina, Fla.” (Lee did not address this person by name, although he had been to the site two days earlier. It appears that Col. Edward Hopkins, 4^th Florida Infantry, was in charge.)  Lee’s letter dealt with rifles, accouterments, powder, and the shipment of additional cannons to strengthen the armament in the area. Lee also wrote home regarding his visit, this time addressing his January 19 letter to his son George Washington Custis Lee. “I have just returned from a visit to the coast as far as Fernandina. Our defences are growing stronger, but progress slowly, The volunteers dislike work & there is much sickness among them besides. Guns too are required, ammunition, & more men. Still, on the whole, matters are encouraging & if the enemy does not approach in overwhelming numbers we ought to hold our ground.”[5]

Fort Clinch 

   Lee’s time as commander of the department came to an end in early March 1862. He was in Charleston on March 4, and then worked his way north. General John C Pemberton replaced him. Two weeks earlier, Lee ordered that Fort Clinch, Fernandina, and all of Amelia Island were to be abandoned by Confederate forces. [6]

    Robert E. Lee visited Florida once more, just a few months before he died. His ship docked in Jacksonville, and he was on on his way to Palatka and an old friend. One wonders if he was able to catch a glimpse of Fort Clinch and Amelia Island as he sailed past. After the island was abandoned by the Confederates, Federal forces reoccupied the fort and finished its construction. Fort Clinch is now a state park and open to the public.[7]

 

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[1] Freeman, R.E. Lee, Vol. 1, 304.

[2] Knight, From Arlington to Appomattox, 82, 92.

[3] Ofeldt, Fort Clinch, Fernandina, and the Civil War, 21-23.

[4] Official Records, Vol. 6, 327;  Dowdey and Manarin, The Wartime Papers of R.E. Lee, 89.

[5] Official Records, Vol. 6, 327; Dowdey and Manarin, The Wartime Papers of R.E. Lee, 89. 

[6] Knight, From Arlington to Appomattox, 102; Official Records, Vol. 6, 93-95.

[7] Johnson, In the Footsteps of Robert E. Lee, 164-195.

Biographies on Confederate governors

     Knowing what is available is an important thing to both the reader and the researcher. That is why I create these lists: to see what is available and to know where the holes in the scholarship are. W. Buck Years, in 1985, released The Confederate Governors, a collection of essays on the role of governors of each state during the war. There is also Malcolm C. McMillan’s The Disintegration of a Confederate State: Three Governors of Alabama’s Wartime Home Front, 1861-1865 (1986). Several (all?) states have general histories of governors. For example, North Carolina has Crabtree’s North Carolina Governors, 1585-1958: Brief Sketches (1958). This list does include published papers. North Carolina’s John W. Ellis has two volumes of published papers, including a biographical sketch, but he does not have a traditional, full-length biography. If you see anything I missed, please drop me a line.

 

Alabama

John Gill Shorter (1861-1863)

Andrew Barry Moore (1857-1861)

Thomas H. Watts (1863-1865)

Arkansas

Henry Massie Rector (1860-1862)

Thomas Fletcher (acting 1862)

Harris Flanagin (1862-1864)

Florida

Madison Starke Perry (1857-1861)

John Milton (1861-1865)               

     Hughes, Civil War Correspondence of Florida’s Governor John Milton (2015)

Abraham K. Allison (1865)

Georgia

Joseph E. Brown (1857-1865)

     Fielder, A Sketch of the Life and Times and Speeches of Joseph E. Brown (1883)

     Hill, Joseph E. Brown and the Confederacy (1972)

     Parks, Joseph E. Brown of Georgia (1977)

     Roberts, Joseph E. Brown and the Politics of Reconstruction (1973)

Louisiana

Thomas Overton Moore (1860-1864)

     Moore, Thomas Overton Moore: A Confederate Governor (1960)

Henry Watkins Allen (1864-1865)

     Cassidy and Simpson, Henry Watkins Allen of Louisiana (1964)

     Dorsey, Recollections of Henry Watkins Allen (1866)

Mississippi

John Jones Pettus (1859-1863)

     Dubay, John Jones Pettus, Mississippi Fire-eater (1975)

Charles Clark (1863-1865)

Missouri

Claiborne Fox Jackson (1861)

     Phillips, Missouri’s Confederate: Claiborne Fox Jackson and the Creation of  Southern Identity (2021)

Thomas Caute Reynolds (1862-1865)

     Reynolds, Letters of Thomas Caute Reynolds, 1847-1885 (1943)

North Carolina

John Willis Ellis (1859-1861)

     Ellis, The Papers of John Willis Ellis (1964)

Henry Toole Clark (1861-1862)

     Poteat, Henry Toole Clark: Civil War Governor of North Carolina (2009)

Zebulon Baird Vance (1862-1865)

     Dowd, Life of Zebulon B. Vance, (1897)

     Yates, Zebulon B. Vance as War Governor of North Carolina, 1862-1865, (1937)

     Adler, Zebulon B. Vance and the “Scattered Nation” (1941)

     Yates, The Confederacy and Zeb Vance (1958)

     Camp, Governor Vance: A Life for Young People. (1961)

     Shirley, Zebulon Vance, Tar Heel Spokesman. (1963)

     Tucker - Zeb Vance: champion of Personal Freedom. (1966)

     Szittya, Man to Match the Mountains: the Childhood of Zebulon Baird Vance. (1980)

     Cooper, Zeb Vance: a Leader in War and Peace. (1985)

     Weinstein, Zebulon B. Vance and “The Scattered Nation.” (1995)

     Vance,  My Beloved Zebulon: the Correspondence of Zebulon Baird Vance and Harriett N. Espy. (1971)

     McKinney, Zeb Vance, North Carolina’s Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader. (2004)

     Mobley, “War Governor of the South” : North Carolina’s Zeb Vance and the Confederacy.(2005)

     Johnston, Zebulon Baird Vance Letters, 1843-1862 (1963)

     Mobley, The Papers of Zebulon Baird Vance, 1863 (1995)

     Mobley, The Papers of Zebulon Baird Vance, 1864-1865 (2013)

South Carolina              

    Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1860-1862)

    Milledge Luke Bonham (1862-1864)

    Andrew Gordon Magrath (1864-1865)

Tennessee

    Isham G. Harris (1857-1862)

         Elliott, Isham G. Harris (2009)

Texas

Edward Clark (1861)

Francis Lubbock (1861-1863)

     Lubbock, Six Decades in Texas (1900, autobiographical)

Pendleton Murrah (1863-1865)

Virginia

John Letcher (1860-1864)

     Boney, John Letcher of Virginia, (1966)

William “Extra Billy” Smith (1864-1865)

     Mingus, Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith (2013)

 

Southern Lighthouses and the War

    While we view lighthouses as interesting pieces of history, they also served a vital role in commerce in the 19^th century. These lighthouses helped guide vessels in and out of ports and away from dangerous areas along the coast. Most commerce was transported by ships. Cotton grown in the South was loaded onto ships and moved to Northern ports, or ports in Europe, for the manufacture of cloth. At times, these finished products were then loaded back onto ships and shipped back to the South. Foodstuffs from foreign ports, iron products from foundries up North, coffee from South America—they were all shipped into Southern ports.

   Federal forts and armories are often mentioned in histories as being captured and surrendered to the Southern states as they withdrew from the Union. Lighthouses were also surrendered or captured. There were approximately 106 lights in the Southern states. Some of those were traditional tall lighthouses that we normally picture on the coast, while others were range lights, light ships, or beacons in rivers and harbors. For example, Fort Sumter, in Charleston, South Carolina, had a range light, completed in 1857. This was considered the front range light, while the steeple of St. Phillip’s Church was the rear light. Fort Sumter was pretty much a pile of rubble after the war ended, and the light was lost.[1]

Mobile Point (AL) Lighthouse (National Archives) 

    After various Southern states took control of the lights, and the North declared war, many of the lenses were removed from the lights and stored for safe keeping. Some lenses wound up in the interior of a state. Others were secreted away close by. The lens and machinery from the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse were buried in an orange grove nearby. The last thing Southern forces wanted to do was aid the Federals in their attempts to blockade Southern ports.[2]

   Many of these towers became observation posts for Confederates, such as the Morris Island Lighthouse in Charleston Harbor, the Sabine Pass Light (Louisiana), the Point Isabel Light (Texas), and the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse (Florida). At the latter, Confederate forces not only observed from the darkened lighthouse, but used torches to signal waiting blockade runners when no Federal vessels were around.[3]

   Some of the towers were destroyed during the war. These include the Morris Island Lighthouse (Charleston); Bald Head Lighthouse (North Carolina); Mobile Point Lighthouse at Fort Morgan (Mobile); Sand Island Lighthouse (Mobile); and Hunting Island (Georgia), (but it’s unclear if the War or erosion destroyed the tower). Bruce Roberts writes that some of the towers that were made out of metal were salvaged by Confederate forces and melted for more important war-time needs. This apparently happened to the Bolivar Point Light near Galveston, Texas.[4]

Others were simply damaged. The Tybee Lighthouse (Georgia) had its lens removed and the top of the tower burnt by state forces. Likewise, the Bayou Bon Fouca Lighthouse was burned by Confederates. Confederate soldiers placed kegs of gunpowder inside the St. Marks Lighthouse (Florida), in an attempt to blow it up, but only damaged the tower. Likewise Confederates used the same method with the Matagorda Light (Texas). While unable to actually take the tower down, they did damage it so badly that it was dismantled in 1867.[5]

Egmont Key Lighthouse (FL) 

   Once the Federals reoccupied an area, they put the lighthouses back in working order. This is true with the lights on Amelia Island (Florida); Cape Henry (Virginia); Hatteras (North Carolina); Cape Lookout (North Carolina); Cape St. George Light (Florida)– (Confederates did hit this tower with a few artillery rounds); and the Skip Island Light (Mississippi – the Federals used the lens captured in a warehouse on Lake Ponchartrain).[6]

   There were, of course, lighthouses that never fell into Confederate hands, such as those around Key West (Florida).

   An interesting comparison study would be the number of ships that grounded out near some port because they had no lights to guide them in. We’ll save that for another post in the future. Another interesting study would be a claim by Mary Clifford. She writes that “Some lights during the Civil War had women keepers paid by the Confederate government.”[7]

  

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[1] https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1770

[2] Carr, Cape Canaveral, 19-21.

[3] Itkin, “Operations of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in the Blockade of Florida,” 198.

[4] Roberts, Southern Lighthouses, 90.

[5] Jones, Gulf Coast Lighthouse, 43, 86.

[6] Jones, Gulf Coast Lighthouses,  63.

[7] Clifford, Women Who Kept the Lights, 35.