| Battle of Fort Myers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
 Fort Myers, Florida: Historical marker | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  Confederate States | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Capt. James Doyle | Col. C. J. Munnerlyn | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 300 | 250 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 dead, 3 wounded | 1 wounded | ||||||
The Battle of Fort Myers was fought on February 20, 1865, in Lee County, Florida during the last months of the American Civil War. This small engagement is known as the "southernmost land battle of the Civil War." [1]
Fort Myers had been abandoned after the Seminole Indian Wars and was reoccupied by Union soldiers in December 1863. The Union commanders planned to send horse soldiers into the area north of the Caloosahatchee River to confiscate livestock from area cattle ranches, thereby preventing shipment of beef to the Confederate Army of Tennessee in Georgia. By 1865, it was estimated that more than 4,000 head of cattle had been taken from cattle farms by the Union cavalry units from similar raids.
Fort Myers was used as a refugee center for escaped slaves and Union sympathizers who were being persecuted by the secessionists. Unionists had their homes burnt down and were driven off their farms. At one period during the Federal reoccupation, more than 400 people crowded into the fort's grounds. The fort was garrisoned primarily by the 2nd Florida Cavalry (made up mostly of refugees who had enlisted), a recently detached company of the 110th New York Volunteer Infantry, and a company from the 2nd United States Colored Infantry, both from Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West.[ citation needed ]
The Confederates organized a special battalion of the state militia with the sole purpose of stopping the Union raids. The battalion, commanded by Col. C. J. Munnerlyn, was made up of cattle drovers who were exempt from the Confederate Army. Among them was Capt. Francis A. Hendry. They became known as the Cattle Guard Battalion or "Cow Cavalry." [2]
At the time that the Confederates planned their attack, the Fort was particularly weakened. There were only 250 men in Fort Myers and they were short on weapons and ammunition. On top of that, the troops from the 2nd USCT were still fatigued after returning only two days prior following sustained skirmishing with the enemy. [3]
In early February 1865, the Cattle Guard Battalion was deployed at Fort Meade. They were ordered to attack Fort Myers because it was learned that the fort might soon be abandoned. Three companies (between 275 and 400 men) and one 12-pounder artillery piece arrived at old Fort Thomson (LaBelle, Florida) on February 19. They marched down the river and camped near Billy's Creek. The next morning, they surprised several black Union soldiers on picket duty and shot or captured them as they tried to flee. [4] [5]
The firing had alerted the fort, so the Confederates fired a warning shot from their cannon, followed by a messenger demanding the Union troops surrender. The fort's commanding officer, Capt. James Doyle, sent back a refusal: "Your demand for an unconditional surrender has been received. I respectfully decline; I have force enough to maintain my position and will fight you to the last." Doyle wheeled his own two cannons outside the fort. A battle began with the black Union soldiers firing the artillery and the white Union cavalrymen firing their carbines. Throughout the day, both sides continued sporadic firing, which finally ceased at dark. One black Federal soldier had been killed in the skirmishing.
The next morning, the Cattle Guard Battalion returned to Fort Meade. Even though the attack had been repelled, Fort Myers was abandoned by its garrison in early March.
Lee County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, the population was 760,822. The county seat is Fort Myers, and the largest city is Cape Coral with an estimated 2020 population of 194,016. The county comprises the Cape Coral–Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a classic military siege, in which a city is usually surrounded and all supply lines are cut off, nor was it strictly limited to actions against Petersburg. The campaign consisted of nine months of trench warfare in which Union forces commanded by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Petersburg unsuccessfully and then constructed trench lines that eventually extended over 30 miles (48 km) from the eastern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, to around the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Petersburg was crucial to the supply of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. Many of these battles caused the lengthening of the trench lines.
Fort Myers is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 2021, ranking the city the 370th-most-populous in the country. Together with the larger and more residential city of Cape Coral, the smaller cities of Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, and Bonita Springs, the village of Estero, and the unincorporated districts of Lehigh Acres and North Fort Myers, it anchors a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) which comprises Lee County and has a population of 787,976 as of 2021.
Punta Rassa is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,620 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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Francis Asbury Hendry was a Florida cattle rancher, politician, and officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was known by the nickname "Berry."
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The 2nd Louisiana Cavalry Regiment was a unit of mounted volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Breazeale's Cavalry Battalion was formed in July 1862 and was augmented by five additional companies in September 1862 to form a regiment. It served for the entire war west of the Mississippi River in the Trans-Mississippi Department. The regiment fought at Georgia Landing, Fort Bisland, Irish Bend, and Brashear City in 1863 and Henderson's Hill and Mansfield in 1864. Afterward, the regiment fought in minor skirmishes before the Trans-Mississippi's final surrender on 26 May 1865.
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Coordinates: 26°37′54″N81°51′26″W / 26.631667°N 81.857222°W
