Natural Bridge, Part Fourteen (March 3, 1865)

Natural Bridge, Part Fourteen (March 3, 1865)

The morning of March 3, 1865 (143 years ago today) was supposed to signal the beginning in earnest of the Federal invasion of Middle Florida. Instead, things began to fall apart almost immediately.The sun rose over Apalachee Bay that morning to reveal that the fog that had been shielding the Union ships off the mouth of the St. Marks River from view had suddenly lifted and was gone. The day dawn bright and clear, with excellent visibility. Knowing that they had to act quickly and hope they had not already been spotted by Confederate pickets on shore, the Union ships weighed anchor and sailed off across the horizon and out of view. This caused a major delay in General Newton's plans. He had expected his landing parties to seize the St. Marks Lighthouse and East River Bridge that morning, to clear the way for the landing of his main force. Instead, he was forced to pull away from the coast instead of going into action. The necessary action placed an immediate 24 hour delay in his plans. This was critical because the longer they remained off the coast of St. Marks, the greater the risk of their being discovered.Meanwhile, the demolition party that had landed the previous day on the Aucilla River continued to wind its way north through the swamps of Florida's "Big Bend" Region. North Florida had been experiencing heavy rains that winter and the creeks, rivers and swamps were all flooded. This would cause great difficulty and delays for Strickland and his men as they tried to reach the railroad bridge east of Tallahassee.The other landing party, supposedly on its way to destroy the Ochlockonee River bridge west of Tallahassee, was also wading around in the flooded swamps. Whether they got lost or simply gave up is not known, but they never reached their intended target.Confederate forces in the area, meanwhile, remained in the dark as to the presence of a large Union force just off St. Marks. Pickets along the coast had not seen the ships before they were able to sail out of view on the morning of March 3rd. Although General Newton later repeated a rumor that one of his men had deserted and alerted the Confederates to his presence, there is absolutely nothing in Confederate records of the Battle of Natural Bridge that confirms this. In fact, the Confederates would be quite surprised when the Federal troops finally did actually make it to shore.Our series will continue. In the meantime, you can read more by clicking here. Also please consider my book, The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, now available through http://www.barnesandnoble.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, or for order through most local bookstores.