Jan. 26, 1861 Peninsular

1861 - January 10  - Florida secedes from the Union

 

Animated map adapted from Tennessee Civil War History

1861 - January 17 - Senator Magbee instrumental in creation of Polk County

On Jan. 17, 1861, Sen. Howell introduced legislation to create Polk County from parts of Hillsborough and Brevard counties.  Magbee shepherded the bill through the Senate.

On Jan. 21, Senator David Levy Yulee read a statement of withdrawal to the Senate, indicating that he and fellow Floridian Stephen R. Mallory would withdraw from the Senate to support the Confederacy.  On March 14, 1861, the Senate declared Mallory’s seat vacant. Yulee’s term expired on March 4, 1861, so no official Senate action was necessary.

Maps, Etc. - Johnson's Florida, 1860 Johnson, A.J., Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas (New York, NY: Johnson and Browning, 1860)

Florida, 1871

Maps Etc., Asher & Adams, Asher & Adams new commercial, topographical, and statistical atlas and gazetteer of the United States (New York, NY: Asher & Adams, 1871).

Courtesy of the private collection of Roy Winkelman

1861 - January Legislature session continued

In addition to the act forming Polk County, Magbee introduced a treasury act** to produce funds for the state, a bill that donated the Fort Brooke reservation to Hillsborough County and a bill granting land warrants to military veterans.  (**The treasury act is lengthy and has been cut from the image below.)

Feb. 23, 1861 Peninsular

In the paragraph directly above,
"County Site" should be "County Seat."

During its first six years, Polk County had no official county seat. The 1861 legislation creating the county directed voters to select a courthouse site. In fact, the legislation went so far as to name the county seat-to-be "Reidsville," possibly after Sam Reid, an early surveyor of the Peace River valley. In 1862 cattle baron Jacob Summerlin purchased the site of Ft. Blount on the Peace River and donated land for schools, churches, and a courthouse. The name Reidsville was abandoned for that of General Francis S. Bartow, recently killed at the first battle of Manassas, one of the first Confederates of high rank to die in the Civil War. Bartow, nicknamed "City of Oaks and Azaleas," has remained the county seat through the present day.
Florida's 10th Judicial Circuit - Polk County Courthouse

Magbee returned home on Wed., Feb. 20 from the Senate session in time to speak at (ironically) the George Washington Birthday celebration on February 22, 1861.

Feb. 23, 1861 Peninsular
 

James McKay and  Jean St. Shipyard

Feb. 1, 1861 Peninsular

Captain James McKay, Sr.
Sketched by Philip Ayers Sawyer in 1938 from an old photo in the home of James' son, H.C. McKay.**
State Archives of Florida

**James Sr. didn't have a son with H.C. initials. 

Image from Jean St. Shipyard website

The Jean Street Shipyard (est. 1843) is a shipyard located on the Hillsborough River in Tampa. It is located approximately 5 miles from the mouth of the Hillsborough River, about 1 mile above the Hillsborough Avenue bridge in what is now the neighborhood of Seminole Heights. It is a full service shipyard with wet slips and a Travelift for hauling vessels from the water.
 

The shipyard was first established in 1843, as far upriver as was navigable on good solid ground. This allowed the shipyard to be surrounded by good quality shipbuilding material, as well as protect it from storms and weather. A massive wharf was built for the loading of local cargo, but the primary function of the shipyard was servicing and repairing riverboats, skiffs, barges, and local sloops. The site was equipped with a machine shop, wood shop, a marine hardware store, and railways for hauling vessels from the water. James McKay, a schooner captain, was one of the first owners of the shipyard and used the facilities to maintain his cargo and trading vessels, including steamships, schooners, sloops, skiffs, and barges. McKay was heavily invested in Tampa, owning a general store and a sawmill. He also owned two schooners that he used in the cargo trade with Cuba, Central America, and South America. McKay was elected mayor of Tampa in 1859.

McKay, an experienced sailor and seaman, is well known to Tampa history as a wealthy and successful businessman who owned the local salt works. He is credited with organizing the “Cowboy Cavalry” to supply beef to the fighting Confederate Army.
 

Around the time of the start of the Civil War, the Jean Street shipyard on the Hillsborough River was owned and funded in part by James McKay, and another local Tampa businessman, David Hope. McKay also owned and operated a shipping line that ran from Tampa to Havana.

McKay, however, is probably best known for, and perhaps immortalized for, being a daring and brazen blockade runner. In spite of the Union’s efforts to cut Tampa off from the rest of the world, he and his fleet of blockade runners helped to keep Ft. Brooke and the citizens of Tampa supplied with goods and able to continue outside trade.

During the Civil War the Union controlled the waters of Tampa Bay from its Naval base at Egmont Key. It also controlled most of the Gulf of Mexico from its Naval and Army bases in Key West, making it no easy task to get past a blockade. Both McKay and Hope owned and operated blockade runners during the Civil War. Jean Street Shipyard serviced these vessels, and as such became indirectly involved in the battle.

The Hillsborough River Raid and the battle of Ballast Point, at Jean Street Shipyard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1861 - April 20 - Articles in The Florida Peninsular
 

Partial article, see entire article online

John T. Lesley was a prominent cattleman and like many of the prominent men in Southern communities at the onset of the Civil War formed a military company at his own expense. Lesley’s Tampa troops who were later described as coming from “the best families of the town and vicinity,” trained and paraded through Tampa streets while waiting two months to be sworn in.

Unfortunately, some of the Lesley’s youngsters were more used to parties than digging the earth works ordered by Col. William I. Turner, commander of Fort Brooke and a veteran of the Second Seminole War. This lack of discipline led to problems.

In one instance in April 1861, Lesley and his men refused to obey the direct orders of Turner, a colonel in the state militia. They had seized and refused to return a fishing smack they believed to belong to the controversial James McKay whose business dealings, including selling Florida beef and supplies to Unionists in Key West since 1858, placed his loyalty to the Confederacy in question. The high jinks by Lesley’s men angered fellow merchant, John Darling and others who wanted the men placed under Turner’s authority. 
 

Tampa’s citizens informed Governor Madison Perry of the conflict at Fort Brooke and Turner’s strict conformity to orders in a letter dated June 27, 1861.  McKay wrote and asked the governor to clarify for Lesley and his men that they were subject to his friend, Turner’s authority.

Magbee responded to McKay in a letter to the Florida Peninsular, July 19, 1861.** After comparing McKay to Benedict Arnold, Magbee wrote:

 

"Former differences I burn upon the altar of my country and will to the last moment stand side by side with any one in the cause of the South. She is now entered into a Just and Holy war, in which every man, woman and child is and should feel interested and we have not the right to cater to the views and interests of friend or foe, whose conduct cannot meet the smiles and plaudits of our country, the land of the "stars and bars," the home of the patriot where the only temple of true fealty has been preserved. I am a Southern man by birth, was reared and educated in Georgia, was born a slave owner and have owned slaves all my life and am also an undoubted secessionist."

**All Florida Peninsulars of July 1861 through April 1866 are missing.

John Thomas Lesley on his wedding day when he married Margaret Brown Tucker, widow of William W. Tucker.
Photo from Florida Memory State Archives

There were few aspects in the life of the young community of Tampa that Capt. John Thomas Lesley (1835-1913) did not touch in some significant way. At the age of 25, Lesley had already become one of Tampa’s leading citizens. Born in Madison County, Florida, John Lesley moved to Tampa with his family in 1848. During the Third Seminole War, Lesley joined the Florida militia as a private but quickly was promoted to lieutenant. He became a cattle rancher and at the outbreak of the Civil War, he formed a company of Tampa men and was elected its captain. In October 1862, Lesley was commissioned a major in the Confederate Army.

At the end of the war, Lesley returned to Tampa where he worked to establish his financial and social position. During the next several years, Lesley served as sheriff for two years and built a sawmill that supplied much of the lumber used to re-build the town. He later became a  state legislator.

Magbee then began a campaign in the Peninsular to have McKay arrested for petty treason.

Gov. Perry agreed with McKay, but Lesley's unit was mustered out before McKay’s boat was returned. Col. Turner was replaced in late July by Florida Militia General, Joseph M. Taylor.

The Robles Family During the Civil War in Tampa, by Karen Lucibello

Ads for Gettis, Hart and Magbee appear one right after the other on the front page of many issues of the Peninsular.  These from May 21, 1859.

Ossian B. Hart
10th Governor of Florida, and first governor of Florida who was born in the state.  Wikipedia

James Gettis

When 32-year-old Pennsylvanian James Gettis arrived in Tampa in 1848, he doubled the local lawyer population.  Born May 4, 1816, he graduated from law school in Pennsylvania and practiced in that state until he moved to Hillsborough County. Gettis never spoke of his family, for personal reasons known only to himself, even when directly questioned about them. He had practiced law in his home state but friends believed that disagreement with his family, over the issues that led to the War Between the States, prompted his removal to Florida.

The first recorded session of circuit court in Hillsborough County occurred in April 1846, although an earlier term was held in the fall of 1845, no records remain. Georgia-born James T. Magbee, Tampa's first practicing attorney, was admitted to the bar in April 1846 and not until October 24, 1848 was another Tampan admitted to practice. On that date, James Gettis was examined by attorneys Magbee and Thomas E. King and found qualified to practice law in the courts of Florida. The court minutes show that Circuit Judge Joseph B. Lancaster granted his approval to the admission of Gettis. He had several students of law under his tutelage including Henry Laurens Mitchell, later Governor or Florida; and John A. Henderson.
 

James Gettis, from a larger group photo of the 1861 members of Florida's Secession Convention in Tallahassee.
Florida Memory-State Archives
 

On August 10, 1850, James Gettis was initiated an Entered Apprentice in Hillsborough Lodge No. 25, Free and Accepted Masons and was raised a Master Mason on September 17, 1850. For the remainder of his life, Gettis remained a loyal and active Freemason. Though northern-born, James Gettis soon earned his bona fides as a Southerner. He owned no slaves but strongly supported the institution. Gettis, a member of the controversial "Know Nothing" party, was active and vocal in politics. He was city councilman, a state representative and later a judge, as well as tireless promoter of Tampa's development.

He was elected Representative to Legislature for Hillsborough County and was Solicitor for the Southern Judicial Circuits of Florida; was a Circuit Judge, delegate to the Secession Convention of 1860 (voting for secession) and was elected Chairman. He was also a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Florida in 1865. During the Civil War, he organized his own Company and was elected its Captain. Captain Gettis served in the Company from 10 April 1862 until he resigned on 17 April 1863, due to ill health, at that time he served in the Tampa City Guards. As a bachelor, upon his death all of his property was left to James F. Henderson, executor of his estate. He is buried in Tampa's Oaklawn Cemetery.
 

1861 Florida Secession Convention members, Gettis 2nd row, 3rd from left, #12.  Click to see larger

City of Tampa Parks & Recreation Dept., Oaklawn Cemetery
The South Florida Rifles, Officers Biographies
THE SUNLAND TRIBUNE, Journal of the TAMPA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Volume XXIII November, 1997 - JAMES GETTIS: TAMPA PIONEER LAWYER By KYLE S. VanLANDINGHAM
 

At McKay's trial, which was described as "long and acrimonious," Magbee prosecuted the case with vigor and called for the death penalty, demanding that McKay be hanged.

However, the Justices of the Peace, after the intercession of Gen. Joseph M. Taylor, commander at Fort Brooke, Ossian Hart, Gettis, and a number of cattlemen who pressed the justices to set McKay free on bail, avoided judgment by binding the captain over for a new trial at the October term of the circuit court.  Taylor also arranged for McKay to pass the new Union blockade and head for Key West.  McKay was required to post a bond of $10,000. Soon after, McKay was allowed to leave Tampa and resume his business activities.  He went back to Key West.

In mid-August Taylor left Fort Brooke and J. T. Lesley began his short stint as commander there. In less than two weeks he and his men were transferred to Shaw Point on the south side of the Manatee River. His unit came under the new commander of Fort Brooke, Major Wylde Bowen from Lake City who brought his two companies of the 4th Florida Infantry formerly of the Cedar Keys.

The Robles Family During the Civil War in Tampa, by Karen Lucibello

Maj. Wylde Lyde Latham Bowen
The Sunland Tribune, Journal of the Tampa Historical Society, Volume XVII November, 1991 Journal of the Tampa Historical Society - Tampa's Forgotten Defenders, By Zack Waters.

Florida's gulf coastline geography and sparse population provided an ideal setting for resourceful sea captains with small ships to slip past the Union ships blockading the east gulf coast.  The U.S. Navy kept a close eye on Florida's ports and patrolled the coastline, sending armed expeditions ashore to destroy Confederate facilities. Tampa's large bay offered many places of hiding for blockade-running vessels, so it drew much attention from the Union Navy.

To support the blockade and control Tampa Bay, the Navy kept a base of operations and a coal station on Egmont Key,  located about 35 miles from Fort Brooke, where Tampa Bay joins the Gulf of Mexico. The key's small civilian population was mostly made up of northern sympathizer taking refuge on the small island.

Early confrontations in the bay area could be described more accurately as "skirmishes"   or "squabbles" between resident Unionists and Confederate troops comprised of local citizens.  But engagements on land and sea became more serious when crew members of Federal ships started going ashore and raiding the local salt works.

Salt processing facilities were built in the shallow salt waters along the gulf coast, where seawater was boiled in large kettles so the water would evaporate and leave the salts behind.  When Union salt factory raiders began to be  ambushed by the local Rebels, the Navy changed its strategy and began to shell the salt factories before sending troops ashore to finish the destruction.

Fort Brooke, with its ideal location, provided excellent protection for the area during the Seminole wars and served as a marshaling point for troops going to Mexico during the Mexican War.  But when the Civil War started, Confederates took over the fort, and the cannon that once had protected Tampa from Indians were turned facing the river in expectation of a Union invasion. Directly south of Fort Brooke, in Hillsborough Bay, were some mud flats, the largest was known as Big Grassy Island. Any ship coming in from south had to pass the island to get to the Hillsborough River.

The Hillsborough River Raid & Battle of Ballast Point

The story of Egmont Key is not that of a major battle or a significant individual. Egmont Key’s story is about local resistance, disease, and the fight for survival. It reminds the public that the sectional conflict reached even the distant corners of the divided nation and illustrates the challenges that war thrust upon the settlers on the Florida frontier.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the Tampa Bay area was a sparsely populated borderland rife with mosquitoes and disease. Indeed, in 1861, one New York Times correspondent denounced it as a “miserable, God-forsaken hole.”  But the U.S. government disagreed and, even years earlier, had perceived the strategic value of Tampa Bay and of Egmont Key, which stands guard where the bay’s shallow waters meet the Gulf.

1855 Nautical map of entrance to Tampa Bay
From Florida Memory, State Library & Archives of Florida

When Florida became a state in 1845, recognition of the bay’s importance heightened. The following year, Florida’s senators pressured Congress to appropriate funds for a lighthouse to guide ships into Tampa Bay. Three years later, a group of army engineers, led by young U.S. Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, recommended fortifying the Key. Fortifications did not materialize, but Congress appropriated ten thousand dollars to construct a lighthouse, which began operating in May 1848.

A few months later, on September 25, 1848, a hurricane inundated the Key with six feet of water, damaging the new beacon. The U.S. Congress responded on August 10, 1856, by appropriating sixteen thousand dollars for a new lighthouse. This structure, completed in 1858, stood eighty-seven feet above sea level and could “withstand any storm.”  The sturdy lighthouse has needed very few repairs over the years, but one resulted from the actions of loyal Confederates during the Civil War.

Egmont Key Lighthouse, 1862
From Florida Memory, State Library & Archives of Florida

James McKay blockade-running and capture
 

Most of the Tampa area population sided with the Confederacy, and one of the most prominent of Tampa's was Captain James McKay, the owner of two blockade runners, among other vessels.

McKay was a master seaman from Thurso, Scotland, who brought in a large amount of cash from his  business ventures and eventually became city mayor and local hero.

In 1859, McKay bought several ships and started shipping cattle from Tampa to Havana, and then from Charlotte Harbor to Key West, Havana and Tortuga. The Cubans paid him in gold, enabling McKay to expand into other businesses. He continued to operate these businesses during the Civil War while also handling supplies for the Confederacy. It was common for McKay to lead herds of cattle northward to supply Southern troops with his much-needed beef.

After reclaiming the Salvor in Key West from the Union command's 3-month lease, McKay took it to Havana for repairs.

On October 13, 1861, McKay was traveling with his son and crew from Havana aboard his steamer Salvor when he was captured by the USS Keystone State. A search of the Salvor reportedly found 600 pistols and rifles, 500,000 percussion caps, coffee, cigars and clothing.   They were brought into Key West where McKay, his son Donald, and his crew became prisoners of war and his steamer was confiscated.

McKay felt that his ship, the Salvor, which was sailing under the British flag as the MS Perry, was wrongfully seized by the Union, claiming he had sold it to a British subject in Havana.

The Salvor and its cargo, along with McKay's young son Donald, the crew, and McKay's slaves, were towed to Philadelphia, while McKay, and two passengers were detained at Fort Taylor in Key West.  From Philadelphia, Donald McKay and the crew were sent to prison at Fort Lafayette off the coast of the Bronx in New York, where they were eventually released on different dates for various reasons.

It was only after five months, at a considerable cost and through the personal intervention of President Lincoln, that James McKay was allowed to take an oath of allegiance and was paroled. 

See details of this on this separate page:
THE CAPTURE OF THE SALVOR and MCKAY'S IMPRISONMENT

On April 21, 1862, McKay was back in Key West and returned to Tampa in mid-May.

Part of the condition of McKay’s pardon was a promise not to return to the service of the Confederate cause, a promise the now bitter McKay abandoned immediately upon his return to Tampa.

Upon his return he armed the Scottish Chief with a 6-pounder cannon, and went to work eliminating a fleet of small boats which were fishing with "illegal fishing contracts" along the lower west coast of Florida and were also spying. This fleet of small boats was supplying federally-controlled Key West not only with Florida fish, but also with information about Confederate ships and their positions to the Union army based at Key West.  The Scottish Chief captured 24 small boats and their crews, thus making Florida waters safer, but earning a vendetta against him from the Union.

This vendetta would eventually cost him dearly. Later, according to Union records, it was the destruction of McKay's two vessels, and nothing more, that was the actual focus of a attack against Tampa in October 1862, dubbed the Hillsborough River Raid. The Hillsborough River Raid then led to the Battle at Ballast Point.

After the capture of these “illegal fishing boats” for the Confederacy, McKay continued  blockade running with his sailing sloop, the Kate Dale, and his prize vessel, the Scottish Chief. He made six more successful runs past Union vessels with Scottish Chief.

At first he carried beef to Havana but as beef became more vital to the Confederacy and the Florida legislature outlawed the export of cattle, he shifted to cotton. For the relief of the remaining Tampans he also brought in medicines, rum, foodstuffs and other supplies.

The relief offered to Tampa by McKay and the other local blockade runners so rankled Union blockaders that on several occasions Union ships entered Tampa Bay to reek mischief and remind Tampa citizens that they were being blockaded. 

By October 1863, McKay was ready to make another run with bales of cotton through the blockade with the Scottish Chief and his new vessel Kate Dale, a small sailing sloop, neither of which drew more than 4 feet of water.

Congressional Edition, Volume 3788
Hillsborough River Raid.
The Hillsborough River Raid and Battle of Ballast Point

In July 1861, approximately thirty to forty U.S. seamen from the steamer R.R. Cuyler fortified the key with three eighteen-pound guns and erected a battery on the island’s east side. But blockaders did not maintain a constant presence at Egmont Key since blockade duty elsewhere along the Gulf Coast often necessitated their presence.

In August 1861, lighthouse keeper George H. Richards, an opportunist who feigned loyalty in blockaders’ presence but harbored Confederate sympathies, fled to Tampa in their absence. Upon hearing of the Yankees’ departure, members of the Sunny South Guard and pro-Confederate civilians went out to Egmont Key and removed the lighthouse’s lamp and oil to black out Tampa Bay, scuttle U.S. ships, and frustrate the blockade. The crafty Floridians smuggled the lamp to Tampa and hid it so well at Fort Brooke that it was not rediscovered until after the war, allowing the lighthouse to finally resume operating in June 1866.

One New York Times correspondent decried the theft of the light as “a mark of Southern vandalism,” but the Union persisted in its efforts to thwart blockade runners from reaching Tampa by devising a makeshift light.

Union military campaigns, the blockade, and Confederate government directives bled Florida residents of necessities as the war dragged on.

1864 drawing of three vessels blockading Tampa Bay, the schooner Stonewall, the man-of-war James L. Davis, and a steamer Sunflower. Courtesy of Florida Memory: The State Library & Archives of Florida.

Consequently, U.S. troops took advantage of the war-weariness of Bay Area residents, especially those with Union sympathies. Captain Eaton, of the U.S. Ethan Allen blockading Tampa Bay, estimated that there were about forty Unionist families in Tampa and, in February 1862, proposed making Egmont Key into a place of refuge for residents seeking U.S. protection.

Nine months later, the New York Times reported that a dozen contrabands and four white refugees occupied the buildings surrounding the lighthouse, cleared the island’s ground, and cultivated sweet potatoes. These men and women recognized that Union forces on the Gulf Coast generally, and on Egmont Key specifically, represented their best hope of survival despite the logistical challenges that U.S. troops faced in supplying refugees and contrabands who sought their protection.

Egmont Key remained isolated from major engagements, but the men stationed on or near the island felt the ravages of one of the Civil War’s most deadly assailants – disease. A yellow fever epidemic struck the Key in July 1864 and claimed the lives of sixteen young men – seamen and soldiers – whose ages ranged from sixteen to thirty-six. Survivors buried these casualties, along with four others who died from accidental gunshot wounds as well as from unknown causes, in a modest cemetery under Egmont Key’s sandy soil, where they rested until 1909 when the Civil War burials were reinterred in the National Cemetery in St. Augustine.

Egmont Key lighthouse & pier, 1910s
Courtesy of Florida Memory: The State Library & Archives of Florida.
 

See separate page  The Capture of the Salvor and Imprisonment of James McKay.

River History fact sheet at Hillsborough Water Atlas, USF.edu
 

1862 - April 13 & 14  Fort Brooke threatened, told to surrender
 

On April 13, 1862, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant William B. Eaton, who had begun the blockade, sent a detachment from his small bark, the USS Beauregard, to Piney Point (today's Palmetto area), to "shell out a company of soldiers who were stationed there to watch our movements and signal to the town." Confederate batteries were located along the banks of Tampa's main channel, and soldiers were stationed at various points to keep track of the blockading fleet.  Eaton reported, "A few shells drove them away and a force was landed, and the barracks, consisting of log huts, were destroyed."

On April 14th, Eaton proceeded up the harbor, entering the main channel, and anchored off Big Grassy Island just one and a half miles from Fort Brooke and out of range of her guns. He sent a boat ashore demanding the Confederate major R. B. Thomas, who was in command of the fort, "to unconditionally surrender the town of Tampa, Fla., together with all munitions of war and ordinance stores contained therein.  If these terms are not complied with I will give you 24 hours to remove all women and children to a proper distance and proceed to bombard the town." 

Major Robert Brenham Thomas who commanded Company F, 4 Florida Infantry (“Lafayette Rangers”) and the Key West Avengers (who became Company K, 7 Florida Infantry) had arrived at Fort Brooke in 1856 and on Feb 10, 1862 was assigned command of the fort. Thomas was a Kentuckian and the first West Pointer to serve with the Confederacy in Tampa. There, he met and married a daughter of James McKay. 

When Thomas refused to surrender to the Union threat (but removed the women and children to safety), the Beauregard withdrew from the bay.  There is some question whether Eaton bombarded the town as he had threatened. Some say he did and the damage was slight and that he later wrote a letter of apology.

Florida Civil War Blockades: Battling for the Coast By Nick Wynne, Joe Crankshaw
The Robles Family During the Civil War in Tampa, by Karen Lucibello
Discovering the Civil War in Florida, by Paul Taylor

1862 - Confederate draft and rebels bushwhacking Unionists

On April 16, 1862, the Confederate Congress enacted a draft law and in June, Capt. John Pearson’s Confederate troops stationed at Fort Brooke began scouring the woods, looking for deserters and conscripts. Tampa was nearly deserted, many of its residents having moved into the country.

Later that year, on Sept. 3, , Capt. J.C. Howell, of the USS Tahoma, wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, that three Unionists who had been seeking refuge at Egmont Key, under protection of the United States, were on the mainland trying to obtain potatoes, beef, and other supplies from their own farms near Tampa for the support of themselves and families, when two of them, John and Scott Whitehurst, while shoving from the shore in their boat, were barbarously attacked by Rebel  guerrillas. Scott Whitehurst was immediately killed and John Whitehurst mortally wounded.  A third man, named Arnold, is supposed to have been murdered later in the day. "These guerrillas are scouring the woods, looking after deserters and conscripts" he wrote. "They rob, murder, and steal indiscriminately. If the reports of the refugees are to be credited; Union men they threaten to hang, and do shoot."

Major John W. Pearson, who had raised his own company of volunteers, the Oklawaha Rangers, were ordered in June to protect the town of Tampa at Ft. Brooke. Pearson replaced Thomas at Fort Brooke just in time to face the not unexpected arrival of Union warships into Hillsborough Bay.

Oaklawn Cemetery marker from "Tampa: An Intimate History" on Facebook

On June 30, 1862, the gunboats, USS Sagamore and the Ethan Allen under the command of Lieutenant Bigelow, came to anchor broadside to the fort and opened her ports. She sent a launch bearing twenty-one men carrying a flag of truce. Pearson took a boat and sixteen men and met the Federal forces on the bay and rejected the demand for unconditional surrender, saying “we do not understand the meaning of the word surrender, there is no such letter in our book; we don't surrender.” 

The Union officers, after allowing time for the civilians to evacuate the town, began the shelling of Tampa at 6:00 p.m. and continued it for one hour. They continued the attack the next morning for two hours with an 11-inch gun and rifles, inflicted no significant damage, and then suddenly just sailed away. Pearson described the encounter as  "a spirited little engagement."

The Robles Family During the Civil War in Tampa, by Karen Lucibello

July 12, 1862 Savannah Republican - Letter from Alfonso DeLaunay, Postmaster, re June 30 & 31 attack
 

Title: "View of Ship Island, Louisiana. -- By our Special Artist on Board the 'Sagamore'"
Description: Photo #: NH 59009 View of Ship Island, Louisiana. By our Special Artist on Board the 'Sagamore' Line engraving, published in Harper's Weekly, 1862, depicting several U.S. Navy ships anchored off the Federal base at Ship Island in early 1862. Ships are (from L to R) Winona, New London, Niagara, Sagamore, Wissahickon, and Massachusetts. Other features identified, in the center and right background, are Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island, the 9th Connecticut and 22nd Massachusetts Regiments and a military camp. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photo.  Catalog #: NH 59009

USS Ethan Allen
The Ethan Allen was built in 1859 at Boston, Massachusetts; purchased by the Navy 23 August 1861; and commissioned 3 October 1861, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant W. B. Eaton in command. During her first wartime cruise, 27 October 1861 to 30 March 1863, Ethan Allen patrolled in the Gulf of Mexico, capturing eight prizes, and destroying extensive salt works along the Florida coast, thus hampering the Confederate war effort and civilian economy.
Info from Wikipedia

Title: USS ETHAN ALLEN (1861-65) Caption: Painting by Rear Admiral J.W. Schmidt, USN (retired). Description: Courtesy of Mrs. Robert H. Hopkins Catalog #: NH 54113-KN
Photo courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command Original Creator: Artist, Rear Admiral J.W. Schmidt, USN (retired) After this Year: 1861 Before this Year: 1865 Original Medium: Painting, BW Photo

Gov. John Milton
(1807–1865)

Fifth governor of Florida

October 7, 1861
to April 1, 1865

John Milton was born near Louisville, Ga., on April 20, 1807. A descendant of the English poet John Milton, he practiced law, first in a number of Georgia and Alabama communities and later in New Orleans. Before coming to Florida in 1846, Milton allegedly killed an adversary in a duel. After entering Florida politics, Milton became a statewide force in the Democratic party, serving as a presidential elector in 1848 and as a member of the 1850 House of Representatives. A vigorous states-righter, Milton encouraged the early secession of Florida from the Union. As governor, Milton stressed Florida's ability to serve as an important source of food and salt for the Confederate war effort. On April 1, 1865, as the southern cause was collapsing, John Milton shot himself at "Sylvania," his home near Marianna. In his last message to the legislature, he had said, "Death would be preferable to reunion."

Photo from Florida Memory State Archives

Info from Florida Dept. of State website

Ossian B. Hart (1821 - 1874) a Republican, was the tenth governor of Florida serving from January 1873 until his death on March 18, 1874.  Hart was a progressive who had a good relationship with black citizens in Florida.
Photo and info from the Clarence Darrow digital collection of the University of Minnesota Library
 

    THE CIVIL WAR IN TAMPA

Dec. 3, 1862 Savannah Daily Morning News - Another Example  
Hamlin V. Snell's generosity in selling cotton at cost.

1863 - March 27 - Pearson's Revenge

Angered by the June 30, 1862 attack and the ramming of a blockade runner in Tampa Bay by two Federal gunboats, Pearson got his revenge on March 27, 1863. When the Federal gunboat Pursuit appeared in the harbor, Pearson dispatched some of his men to Gadsden Point disguised in dresses and in blackface to lure the sailors ashore. The Union sailors took the bait and when were in range Pearson’s men emerged from the woods and opened fire, wounding four sailors and incensing the Unionists. They again bombarded the town, but as before little damage was done.

USS Pursuit was a bark purchased at New York City on 3 September 1861; and was commissioned 17 December 1861, Acting Volunteer Lt. David Cate in command.  Assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, she operated off the Florida coast, with several cruises to Cuba, during the course of the American Civil War.

Period watercolor of the USS Pursuit alongside the Federal troopship Empire City
USS Pursuit watercolor by T Flagler c1863, Heritage Auction Gallery
Image and info from Wikipedia

1863 - Oct. 18 - The Hillsborough River Raid and Battle at Ballast Point

The next bombardment came that October during an invasion by Commander Semmes. The shelling from the 11-inch Dahlgren gun (200-pounder) on the Tahoma and the two 20-pound Parrot guns, one 12-pound and four 24-pound smooth bores on the Adela was intense.  A shell was said to have blown the dinner off the table of a Miss Crane. The bombardment lasted all day and later it was found that 126 shells had been fired at Fort Brooke. 

The USS Tahoma was a Unadilla-class gunboat built by order of the United States Navy for service during the American Civil War. Tahoma was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. Info from Wikipedia.


USS Tahoma (1861-1867) Description: Wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1903, depicting the ship as she was during the Civil War. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.
Photo from U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 57826

The USS Adela (1862) was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.

USS Adela Description: (1863-1865) Drawing by George H. Rogers, depicting the ship on blockading service off the coast of Florida, winter of 1863. The artist served on board Adela as a Pharmacist's Mate. Courtesy of Charles Rodgers Lord. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 57250

1863 - Oct. 18 - The Hillsborough River Raid and Battle at Ballast Point (continued)

The shelling was only a diversion, as Semmes had sent 85 Union troops from the SS Adela and the gunboat  USS Tahoma to move six miles up the Hillsborough River and destroy McKay’s blockade runners, the Scottish Chief and the Kate Dale.

A Union raiding party, under Acting Master T.R. Harris, disembarked at Ballast Point, landing at the current intersection of Gandy Boulevard and Bayshore Boulevard.

McKay's ships were  at Jean Street Shipyard in preparation for another supply run through the blockade, along with at least one other blockade runner, the A.B. Noyes, having their hulls scraped of barnacles for better speed. They were loaded with cargo and awaiting the signal to depart past the blockade. Almost a dozen blockade runners operated out of Tampa, but McKay was the target of this raid, presumably for breaking the promise that freed him from Union captivity a few years earlier.

Acting Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey, commanding the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, wisely chose two local men, Union sympathizers Henry A. Crane and James H. Thompson, to act as guides for the raiding party.  Crane had moved to Florida during the Second Seminole War and had served in the Army during that conflict. When the Civil War broke out, both men sided with the Union. In late 1862 they joined the Union Navy, Crane serving as an acting volunteer master's mate and Thompson as a first-class fireman. They had quickly been put to use guiding Federal forces throughout central Florida.

They guided the Union expedition 14 miles by foot to the Jean Street Shipyard to destroy McKay’s Ships. The expedition carried a small boat in case they needed to cross the river, but ended up hiding it a few miles from their destination to speed up their walk.

(River Raid continued after the Crane profile below.)

Henry A. Crane (c1810-88) Continued from a previous profile: New Jersey’s Henry A. Crane, a newspaperman, founded the Tampa Herald in 1852  and was editor of the Florida Peninsular. During the Third Seminole War, he served as a lieutenant under Capt. Leroy G. Lesley. Active in the vigilante or regulator organization of 1858 were some of Tampa’s leading citizens, including Henry A. Crane.  Crane advocated secession in 1860 but soon sided with the Union and left Tampa in 1862, making his way to the Indian River.  Crane's lapse from Unionism occurred on November 24, 1860 when he signed a petition of Hillsborough Countians calling for a convention to consider secession. Among those attending and signing the petitions were: John Darling, James Gettis, Reason Duke, James E. Bowden, Hamlin V Snell, John T Givens and Henry A. Crane.   He joined the U.S. Navy as "acting volunteer master’s mate" and served until 1864 when he became a captain in the 2nd Florida Cavalry.  On April 2, 1864 Union Capt. Henry A. Crane, formerly of Tampa,  in recommending a commission for James D. Green, described him as having: "the dash & daring necessary for a leader in this peculiar kind of warfare which is different from almost any other-nothing but skulking Guerrillas to encounter. During the Civil War he was a captain, later major in the Second Florida Cavalry, U. S. Army. After the war, the Republican Crane settled in Key West where he served as clerk of the circuit court and as state senator. He was also editor of the Key West Dispatch and, subsequently, founder and editor of the Key of the Gulf. Henry A. Crane's son Henry Lafayette Crane was a Confederate soldier throughout the war, later a county judge, and U. S. Commissioner. Henry Lafayette Crane was born Sept. 25, 1838 at St. Augustine. He came to Tampa with his parents in the early 1850s. During the Civil War he served as Chief Musician of the Fourth Florida Infantry, CSA. He was captured near Spring Hill, Tennessee, Dec. 21, 1864, confined at Camp Chase, Ohio, and released Feb. 18, 1865. Crane and the Ferris brothers, Josiah and William, had been members of the Tampa Brass Cornet Band, organized March 31, 1860, by J. A. Butterfield. The band’s musical instruments were purchased for $170.11 from W. G. Ferris and Co. The "S.S. Guards" were the Sunny South Guards, a Tampa company commanded by Capt. John T. Lesley. They became Co. K, 4th Florida Infantry. The Orange Grove Hotel during the 1876-77 winter season. The Orange Grove Hotel was located near the present day intersection of Kennedy Blvd. & East St. See historical marker in downtown Tampa where hotel was located.  The hotel was built in 1859 as the home of cattleman William B. Hooker, Florida's pre-Civil War "cattle king". During the Civil War, it was used as Confederate Headquarters. It is where Tampa pioneer Joe Robles marched his captive Union soldiers in the winter of 1863. (See "The Courage of Joe Robles" below). In 1866, Hooker converted it into a hotel. Judge Henry L. Crane and his wife, who operated the hotel in 1876, are said to be standing on the left side of the second floor porch.  Poet Sidney Lanier has been identified by contemporaries as the man standing on the far right side of the second floor porch with his leg propped on the rail. But D. B. McKay in the Tampa Tribune, March 6, 1955, said Lanier is standing at the left end of the first floor veranda. Located at 806 Madison Street. The original of this photo was owned by Mrs. Samuel E. (Mary Hooker) Hope, later Mrs. Clara (Hope) Baggett and then by Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Vinson of Tarpon Springs. The large image used above is courtesy of William LaMartin, with ultimate source being the Florida State Archives Memory collection.   Ads in the Florida Peninsular Ad in the 1882 "Key of the Gulf" Key West newspaper   Click to enlarge the marker See the fine print at the bottom of the marker: Erected by the Tampa Historical Society in cooperation with Kyle S. VanLandingham, a great-great-great-grandson of (William B. ) Hooker. Orange Grove Hotel, 1924 Burgert Brothers photo courtesy of the USF Digital Collection Same photo at the Florida Memory collection includes: Note from sleeve: Poet Sidney Lanier stayed here during his visit to Tampa (Dec. 1876 - April 1877) and wrote 11 poems, including the famous "Tampa Robins". A famous visitor came to Tampa in 1876. The celebrity was Sidney Lanier, noted poet of the South, who arrived with Mrs. Lanier on December 21. At first he was not much impressed with Tampa and in a letter home described it as "the most forlorn collection of one-story houses imaginable." Mr. and Mrs. Lanier stopped at the Orange Grove Hotel, the former home of William B. Hooker which had been converted into a hotel and was being operated by Hooker's son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Crane. Lanier described the hotel as "a large three-story house with many odd nooks and corners, altogether clean and comfortable in appearance, and surrounded by orange trees in full fruit." Lanier came to Tampa primarily to obtain data for a Florida guide book he was then writing and expected to remain only a short time. But he learned to like the town so much that he stayed three months.   Sidney Lanier photo from "Literary Hearthstones of Dixie by Pickett, La Salle Corbell, 1848-1931 at Project Gutenberg,  Internet Archive.org In a letter to a northern friend he rhapsodized: "What would I not give to transport you from your northern sorrows instantly into the midst of the green leaves, the gold oranges, the glitter of great and tranquil waters, the liberal friendship of the sun, the heavenly conversation of the robins, and mockingbirds, and larks, which fill my days with delight." While in Tampa, Lanier wrote eleven poems including Tampa Robins, The Mockingbird, The Masters, and A Ballad of the Trees. Despite his love for Tampa, Lanier never returned. His failing health prevented him from again undertaking the long, hard journey, the trip from Philadelphia having required eleven days. He had spent four days on trains, four days on steamers, and three days in layovers at Danville, Va., Brunswick, Ga., Fernandina and Cedar Keys. He had traveled from Cedar Keys to Tampa on the steamer Valley City, of which Capt. James McKay, Jr., was master. Tampa, A History of the City, etc by Karl H. Grismer

1863 - Oct. 18 - The Hillsborough River Raid and Battle at Ballast Point (continued)

Somehow, the expedition ended up on the wrong bank of the river. Since they had previously left their boat behind, they had no boat to cross the river. The surprised and equally disorganized sleeping crew of the Scottish Chief , however, actually sent a boat for two Union officers, and a hand full of the Union soldiers that were calling to them from the other bank. The Scottish Chief’s crew was ambushed, and the landing party removed 156 bales of cotton from the Scottish Chief and 11 bales from the Kate Dale before they set them aflame.

McKay and his Captain of the Scottish Chief, and two crewmen escaped, but five other crewmen were captured. The captain and the two crewmen that escaped ran to Tampa and alerted the town and the Fort of the attack.  Another boat at the Shipyard (name unknown) was also destroyed by the Union soldiers. The “A.B. Noyes” escaped upriver, near to what is now Lowry Park, only to run aground and be burned by its own crew to prevent it from being captured and used by the Union. Had the Captain and two crewmen of the Scottish Chief not escaped, the Union expedition would have undoubtedly destroyed the shipyard, but aware that the fort would quickly be alerted, and with their primary mission now accomplished, the expedition quickly moved back south toward their rendezvous point of Ballast Point, some 14 miles away.

1863 - Oct. 18 - The Battle at Ballast Point

On the way down to Ballast point by land, Harris's Union forces were surprised by a detachment from the garrison; the 2nd Florida Infantry Battalion. A brief but sharp exchange resulted in a few casualties before the Union troops returned to Ballast Point.

The Union sailors finally reached the shore at Ballast Point (near current day intersection of Bayshore Blvd and Gandy Blvd) and posted lines of lookouts  while they waited to board their ships. A short time later, Harris received word that a party of Rebel cavalry was hiding the woods. A company of Rebel infantry was also reportedly advancing.

When he learned of the enemy's presence, Harris ordered his party to prepare for a fight in case they were attacked before the boats arrived. At 10 a.m. from aboard Adela, Lieutenant Stodder saw some of his sailors on the beach. He quickly signaled the Tahoma, and boats from both ships were sent to recover the men.

Harris ordered all but about 20 men, including officers, to depart. As the departure began, Confederates in the woods opened fire on the them. The Rebels brought a weapon manufactured in Tampa from a bored-out engine shaft and used it to blast buckshot at the sailors.

Harris's raiders were met by not just local militia with homemade weapons, but by 40 armed Confederate soldiers, under the command of General Bragg, who just happened to be in Tampa at that time as part of an expedition to protect a cattle drive leaving Tampa to supply the Confederate front.

Meanwhile, gunners aboard the Adela caught glimpses of the Confederates hiding in the tree line, upon which they opened fire so as to cover the landing party's escape. Admiral Bailey later reported that while most of the landing party, along with seven prisoners, headed for the boats in an orderly manner, the rear guard spread out and returned the Confederates' fire "energetically and with great coolness and bravery." But one young Confederate, Dick Robles, noted that some of the Federals "threw away their heavy guns" so they could get away more quickly.

The Confederate cavalry unit, the Oklawaha Rangers, also caught up with the Union raiders, and a full engagement ensued. The union soldiers came under direct fire as they boarded their dinghies in a tactical retreat.

For about 20 minutes, Harris and the rear guard were under heavy fire until the landing boats arrived and the acting master gave the command to pull out with the wounded. As the last of the sailors waded out to their boats, the Confederates continued their assault. One sailor was killed in the water while six more were captured. Of those captured, two were severely wounded; one of them died the following day at a hospital in Tampa.

By 2 p.m., all the boats had returned to the Adela with the wounded. As the two gunboats were preparing to leave Hillsborough Bay, Semmes sent another raiding party to Frazier's Beach at the head of the bay (near the east end of present-day Courtney-Campbell Causeway), where it destroyed a large salt works factory owned by McKay. In operation since early in the war, the works was equipped with large boilers, giant kettles, vats and barrels. Losing this facility was a devastating blow to the people of Tampa, as salt from the works was locally used to preserve food.

1863 - Oct. 19 - The aftermath

Captain John Westcott of Company A, 2nd Florida Infantry Battalion, who was a recent arrival in the Tampa area, had taken command of Confederate forces at Fort Brooke on October 14, 1863, just before the Union river raid. The next day after the raid, Semmes and Westcott met under a flag of truce to discuss the status of the prisoners. No decision was made about the them, and negotiations continued for more than a month as noncombatants were exchanged.

The Federals considered the mission a success, since the goal of destroying McKay's two steamers and their cargo had been achieved. Five Southern boatmen and two militiamen were captured, six killed and a significant number wounded. The Federals also paid a price. Three sailors; Joseph O'Donnell, James Worrall and John B. Roddy; were killed, 10 others were wounded and five others were taken prisoner.

Confederate commander Westcott also considered the engagement at Ballast Point a Southern victory. He reported that before the Federals returned to their boats, "they were badly whipped.... If I had more men I could have captured the whole concern."

By the time the story got to the Savannah Republican, from the Tallahassee Floridian by report from someone in Gainesville, it was a "rout" by Westcott, capturing 50 prisoners (instead of 5).

Oct. 22, 1863 Savannah Republican reports on Wescott's action

After the loss of his ships, McKay accepted an assignment as head of the Fifth Commissary District for the Confederacy and continued to provide the Confederate Army with cattle for meat, tallow and hides. At the request of Federal Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Woodbury, Henry A. Crane was transferred to the U.S. Army.  Admiral Bailey wrote a letter to Woodbury stating that Crane was "well known and popular among the people of lower Florida, and will, no doubt, be useful in recruiting."

The remains of the Kate Dale are sunk near the west side of the Jean St. Shipyard. The Scottish Chief remained afloat after it burned, and it was towed back to Tampa by its owner, stripped of its fittings and furnishings, and the rest destroyed. The remains of the A.B. Noyes lies in the river just up from Lowry Park and can sometimes still be seen at low tide. Its sighting is often included in the Nature Boat Tour from Lowry Park Zoo.

The Hillsborough River Raid and Battle of Ballast Point by Lewis Zerfas, America's Civil War magazine
Long-Lost Ship May Surrender Civil War Secrets
Scottish Chief, The Pride of Tampa Bay  
McKay Historic Marker 
Civil War Monument Courthouse
Jean Street Shipyard**
The Robles Family During the Civil War in Tampa, by Karen Lucibello
The American Battlefield Protection Program

Read more about the wreckage of the Scottish Chief in this 2009 article: Divers Survey Wreckage of Civil War-Era Boat 

**Jean St. Shipyard's account of the River Raid (which cites the Tampa Bay History Center as their source, see below) has James McKay hiding and watching in horror as his blockade-running ships burned.  Others say he escaped with the others and alerted Ft. Brooke about the attack.  They also state that "both sides incurred heavy casualties," but most sources say the number of casualties, other than the few which occurred as the raiding party made its escape to Ballast Point, are unknown.

1863 - Dec. 24 - USS Tahoma fires on Ft. Brooke again

A later bombardment took place by the Tahoma on December 24, 1863. On Christmas Eve, Tampans were given another reminder of the Union’s presence and a warning not to interfere with the Union forces around Fort Myers. The warship USS Tahoma anchored off Fort Brooke and fired off one shell just before midnight. The next morning after fine-tuning its trajectory it bombarded the fort and the town at two hour intervals.

1864 - May 5 - Fort Brooke and Tampa fall to Union forces

On May 5, 1864, Tampa and Ft. Brooke fell to the Union forces.  Commanding Gen. Woodbury landed troops south and east of Tampa, surrounding and capturing it by surprise. Troops from the James Davis, Honduras and Sunflower, along with Navy personnel, comprised of elements of the 2nd U.S. Colored Regiment, 2nd Florida cavalry, U.S. sailors and Florida Union (irregular troops) quickly overtook the town and the fort without a fight.   The town of Tampa was relatively empty at the time because most of the men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were away raiding Unionist farms or rounding up cattle.  Darwin Givens, who was 5-years old at the time, went screaming home through the streets, "The devils are coming!" 

The Federal troops destroyed the fort and scattered the larger old cannon along with most of the fort's armaments on the banks of the Hillsborough River and hauled off many of the smaller cannon.  They arrested about 40 citizens, damaged or destroyed buildings and machine shops, and even plundered ritual items from the Masonic Hall. About a year later, those items were returned to Tampa when they were found by Union officers in Key West. The Federals left after Tampa was rendered defenseless and no longer a threat to the North. Not finding enough justification to stay, after they threw most of the fort's armaments into the Hillsborough River and took much of the city's remaining food and supplies, they left after three days.

When Westcott and his Confederate soldiers returned, they immediately saw the damage done to the fort. Westcott decided that the outpost was no longer worth manning and departed after only a few days. On May 15, a Federal force commanded by Captain D.B. Westbury came back to Tampa and stayed about a month. The Federals soon left after also deciding that the town had no further military importance.

Darwin Branch Givens (1858 - 1942) was a young boy when Union forces arrived. As a young child, he alerted Tampa of the invading Yankee soldiers with the cry "the devils are coming." For his bravery, he was actually granted a Confederate soldier’s pension long after the war. 

Along with many other ships that fought in the Civil War, Adela and Tahoma were decommissioned after the war and auctioned off by the Navy in New York.  Adela brought $21,000 on November 30, 1865, and Tahoma was sold for $3,000 on October 1, 1867.

Tampa - An Intimate History: Tampa Trivia
Hardcore Confederates

The blasé attitude towards the bombardments adopted by Robles and the citizens of Tampa was noted by a New York Herald reporter: “Some of the rebels would dodge behind the trees when the shells were fired and after they had exploded would come out again evidently much pleased with the fireworks.”

Despite their brave fronts, Tampa’s wives, mothers, sisters and sweethearts not only faced the loss of their beloved men from war and disease in far off places, they faced depravation at home. Women’s lives in Tampa were greatly affected by the widespread shortages brought about by the blockade. Luxuries and often the basic necessities of life were curtailed. Candles were used sparingly because of the shortage of tallow. Clothing became scarce. New dresses were unavailable due to the cost of cotton. Some women made do with hats made from palmetto fronds. Shoes sold at fantastic prices if they could be found at all.

The Robles Family During the Civil War in Tampa, by Karen Lucibello
 

Read about "The Final Battle for Ft. Brooke" here at TampaPix