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]

 

---

[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.

War Department Papers Captured in Charlotte

Post-war image of the Mecklenburg County Courthouse

    To my knowledge (limited, I know), there has only been one article ever written on Confederate War Department papers. Dallas D. Irvine wrote "The Fate of Confederate Archives: Executive Office" and it appeared in The American Historical Review in July 1939. Irvine talks a great deal about the Papers of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, but for the next few lines, I would like to focus on the papers other than those of the Executive Branch.

   Irvine tells us that the papers of the State and War Departments were boxed up and sent away from Richmond. The State Department papers were sent away prior to the evacuation on April 2, 1865. William J. Bromwell, "disbursing clerk," was in charge. The papers were first taken to the Danville Female College, but Bromwell later loaded them back on the train and took the State Department papers to Charlotte. In Charlotte, "the containers were placed in packing crates marked with his [Bromwell's] initials and stored in the courthouse." Later, in fear of a Federal raid, they were removed to the "country" under the care of Mr. A. C. Williams" (826).  Bromwell wrote to Judah P. Benjamin on April 5, so I would assume they were in Charlotte and then the "country" by this date.

   According to Irvine, the papers of the Quartermaster's Department were shipped to Lynchburg, Virginia. All 128 cases of them were captured there. Records of the Exchange Bureau were left in Richmond, along with the records of the Engineer Bureau and from the office of the chief paymaster. The War Department papers were hurried out of Richmond on the night of April 2, 1865, and taken to Charlotte. There were reportedly 81 crates of documents. When Jefferson Davis chose to leave the Queen City, the papers of the War Department were turned over Gen. Samuel Cooper.

   Other papers from the War Department were destroyed, including the records of the Surgeon General, Commissary General, Signal Office, and Army intelligence Office. Other records still missing to this day include those of the Engineer Bureau, Ordnance Bureau, Niter and Mining Bureau, Office of Foreign Supplies, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Engineer Bureau papers were reported as abandoned in a railroad car in Greensboro. The ordnance records might have made it as far as Charlotte. It was reported that some records were destroyed at Fort Mill, South Carolina, possibly including the records of the Naval Department.

Some of the "Rebel Archives." Photo by Lee Spence. 

   The State Department records mentioned above, according to Irvine, were retrieved by Bromwell after the war and brought to Washington, D.C., by Confederate colonel John T. Picket. Picket put the papers up for sale in 1868, and they were finally sold to the US Treasury Department in 1872. In 1906 and 1910, they were transferred to the Library of Congress.

   An interesting paper trail for the War Department records can be found in the Official Records. After the surrender at the Bennett Place, Joseph E. Johnston made his way to Charlotte. Cooper notified Johnston of the papers, and on May 8, Johnston wrote from Charlotte to Maj. Gen. John Schofield: "It has just been reported to me that the archives of the War Department of the Confederate States are here. As they will furnish valuable materials for history, I am anxious for their preservation, and doubt not that you are too. For that object I am ready to deliver them to the officer you may direct to receive them." (OR 47, 3:443)

   Schofield finally responded on May 12, writing from Raleigh. He informed Johnston that he was sending "Lieutenant Washburn, of my staff, to receive the War Department papers... I fully share your desire for their preservation, as they will be invaluable to history, and will take care that they be properly preserved for that purpose." (OR 47, 3:483).

   When C. P. Washburne came calling on the evening of May 14, Johnston was out, but replied to Washburne's note that the documents had already been turned over to the local post commander. However, Johnston agreed to meet with Washburne the next morning. An observer noted that the papers were stored in a building on main street, "in a cellar-a dark, dismal spot... wagons were procured, and the boxes containing the documents conveyed to the railroad" and then taken to Raleigh. There were 83 boxes "of various sizes, from an ammunition box to a large clothing chest... They were also of all shapes. Some of them are rifle boxes, and many of them resemble the ordinary army mess chest." 

   Washburn wrote Col. W. M. Wherry on May 14 from Charlotte that he had the "rebel War Department documents" and would start for Raleigh at 7 o'clock the next morning (OR 47, 3:497). The papers were shipped via rail to Raleigh.

   US Secretary of War Edwin Stanton wrote to Schofield on May 16: "Please turn over to Colonel Cutts, to be brought here immediately, all the rebel War Department papers and correspondence recently captured by you, and all papers or correspondence relating to the rebellion or the operations of the rebel Government in Richmond... Also give Colonel Cutts transportation and every facility to get here with the papers as speedily as possible" (OR 47, 3:510).  At the same time, Schofield writes to Henry Halleck: "I have all the archives of the late rebel War Department, including all the army muster-rolls, officers' reports, captured flags, &c. They amount to about two car-loads" (OR 47, 3:511). Halleck fired back on May 16: "Box up all captured Confederate papers, flags, &c., and send them to C. A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War... Preserve every paper, however unimportant it may appear. We have the key to their ciphers. Important links of testimony have been discovered here of the Canadian plot." (OR 47, 3:511-12)

   There were several notes passed between Stanton, Halleck, and Schofield on May 17. Halleck informed Stanton that the boxes, "weighing ten tons" would set out that evening. Stanton wanted the papers shipped via rail, but that was not to be. Schofield then prepared a manifest of what he was shipping:  

   Halleck then notified Stanton that the papers "left Raleigh on the evening of the 17th." They were presumably shipped via rail to New Bern "or Beaufort," placed on the steamer John Tracy, and sent to Fort Monroe. Schofield sent a member of his staff, Colonel Treat, with the documents.  (OR 47, 3: 534)

   Stanton was trying to connect Jefferson Davis with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The papers soon arrived in Washington, D.C., but the connection between Davis and John Wilkes Booth eluded not only Stanton, but also historians up until this day.

Last Meeting of the Confederate Government

Over the past couple of weeks, as I have been out speaking about the various Confederate capitals, the question frequently arises about other sites in South Carolina and Georgia. It is my argument that once Jefferson Davis rode out of Charlotte, the Confederate government ceased to exist. The final important decision made by Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Cabinet was to accept the terms worked out by Joe Johnston and William T. Sherman.

I want to look specifically at the monument in Washington, Georgia, dedicated in 1938. On that monument is a list of names of men present, meeting with Davis, when Davis dissolved the Confederate government. I mean no disrespect to my family and friends in Georgia, but not everyone carved on this monument was present at the Washington meeting.

The names carved on this rock are:

Jefferson Davis, President

John H. Reagan, Postmaster General

Stephen P. Mallory, Secretary of Navy

John C. Breckenridge, Secretary of War

M. H. Clark, acting Secretary of the Treasury

Samuel Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector General

C. E. Thorburn, Naval Purchasing agent

Braxton Bragg, Military Advisor

I. M. St. John , Commissary General

A. R. Lawton, Quartermaster General

Burton Harrison, Private Secretary

J. T. Wood, Aide-de-camp

Francis Lubbock, Aide-de-Camp

William P. Johnston, Aide-de-Camp

This meeting took place on May 4, 1865. Breckenridge and Reagan were still at the Savannah River, paying off the Confederate Cavalry escort. Also with Breckenridge and Reagan were Micajah Clark, A. R. Lawton, Isaac M. St. John. Reagan would not catch up to Davis until after Davis had left Washington. Breckenridge never rejoined Davis. William C. Davis's biography of Breckenridge also hints that Bragg was with Breckinridge at this time. However, McWhineny and Hallock, in Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, write that Bragg was with Davis in Washington, leaving the president's party the next day.

Clint Johnson writes in Pursuit: The Chase, Capture, Persecution and Surprising Release of Jefferson Davis, that Mallory left before the meeting was called, joining with Brig. Gen. Louis T. Wigfall, and heading toward Atlanta.

Samuel Cooper, also on the monument as having been at the meeting on May 4 in Washington, Georgia, never left Charlotte. Cooper received his parole in the Queen City.

So of the above list, we know that Davis was there, maybe Bragg, and Thorton, Harrison, Wood, Lubbock, and Johnston. This is a far cry from the fourteen listed above. 

Why does no one remember Samuel Cooper?

I had a great time signing books and speaking at the Bentonville Battlefield this past Saturday. A conversation with one of the patrons led me to this question: why does no one remember Samuel Cooper?

Ask the common rank and file on the streets who the highest ranking Confederate general was, and you usually get one, maybe two answers. Most people say Robert E. Lee. A few will say Joseph E. Johnston. Neither is right. The highest ranking Confederate general was Samuel Cooper.

Born in Dutchess County, New York, in 1798, Cooper graduated from West Point in 1815. He served in the artillery until 1837, when he became chief clerk at the War Department. After that he served as Assistant Adjutant General, until July 1852, when he was promoted to Adjutant General. For three days in March 1861, Cooper was Secretary of War ad interium. Cooper resigned from the United States Army on March 7, 1861, and a few days later, appointed Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate Army. His appointment as a full general in the Confederate Army was dated May 16, 1861. Cooper died on December 3, 1876, and is interred at Christ Church Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia.

The other ranks of the other top five Confederate Generals: Albert S. Johnston's commission as a full general dated to May 30, 1861; Robert E. Lee - June 14, 1861; Joseph E. Johnston - July 4, 1861; and, P. G. T. Beauregard - July 21, 1861. Of course, many of you are familiar with the story of Joseph E. Johnston, upset that he was not the highest ranking Confederate general, based upon his being promoted to quartermaster general in the regular army a year prior to the war.

So, what does this have to do with North Carolina and the War? In the last days of the conflict, as Jefferson Davis fled south into North Carolina, his cabinet followed him. Cooper traveled as far as Charlotte. When Davis chose to continue further south, Cooper, being 67 years old, chose to remain behind in Charlotte, supposedly watching over the papers of the War Department. Cooper was paroled in Charlotte on May 3, 1865.

So there you have it. The highest ranking Confederate general.