Battle of Natural Bridge | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Natural Bridge Monument | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John Newton | Sam Jones William Miller | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
2nd Florida Cavalry Regiment 2nd U.S. Colored Infantry 99th U.S. Colored Infantry | 1st Florida Militia 5th Florida Cavalry Battalion Kilcrease Artillery Dunham’s Battery Abell's Battery Company A, Milton Light Artillery Barwick’s Company Reserves Hodges' Company Reserves Companies A, B, and F; Florida Reserves Reinforcements from Georgia Florida Military and Collegiate Institute Battalion 2nd Florida Cavalry (Confederate) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
700 | 1,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
148 total 21 killed 89 wounded 38 captured | 26 total 3 killed 23 wounded |
The Battle of Natural Bridge was fought during the American Civil War in what is now Woodville, Florida near Tallahassee on March 6, 1865. A small group of Confederate troops and volunteers, which included teenagers from the nearby Florida Military and Collegiate Institute that would later become Florida State University, protected by breastworks, prevented a detachment of United States Colored Troops from crossing the Natural Bridge on the St. Marks River.
The Natural Bridge is a 1⁄4-mile-long (400-meter) stretch along which the St. Marks River runs underground, after dropping into a sinkhole. [1]
The Union's Brig. Gen. John Newton had undertaken a joint force expedition to engage and destroy Confederate troops that had attacked at Cedar Keys, Florida and Fort Myers and were allegedly encamped somewhere around St. Marks. The Union Navy had trouble getting its ships up the St. Marks River. The Union Army force, however, had advanced and, after finding one bridge destroyed, started before dawn on March 6 to attempt to cross the river at Natural Bridge. The Union troops initially pushed Rebel forces back, but not away from the bridge.
Sailors from USS Hendrick Hudson also participated, and two were awarded the Medal of Honor for their part in this battle: Seaman John Mack and Coxswain George Schutt. [2]
Confederate forces under Brigade General William Miller, protected by breastworks, guarded all of the approaches and the bridge itself. The action at Natural Bridge lasted most of the day, but, unable to take the bridge in three separate charges, the Union troops retreated to the protection of the fleet.
Based on the involvement of the students from the Florida Military and Collegiate Institute, the Florida State University Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program is one of only four Army ROTC programs to have a battle streamer for their actions in the Civil War. [3] Since it was originally part of the Army, FSU's Air Force ROTC unit also displays the same battle streamer.
While the raid was not aimed at Tallahassee, the defeat of the Union force is regarded as keeping Tallahassee as the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi River that was not captured by the Union during the war. [4]
The site has been preserved in the Natural Bridge Battlefield State Historic Site. [5] As of mid-2023, the American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 110 acres (45 hectares) of the battlefield that are now part of the state park. [6]
A ceremony honoring the combatants on both sides of the Battle of Natural Bridge, followed by a reenactment of the battle featuring Union, Confederate, and civilian reenactors, is held at the park the first weekend of March every year. The event is free and open to the public. [5]
The Battle of Olustee or Battle of Ocean Pond was fought in Baker County, Florida on February 20, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
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Natural Bridge Battlefield State Historic Site is a Florida State Park in Leon County, Florida. It is located roughly between the city of Tallahassee and the town of St. Marks. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Natural Bridge was fought here on March 6, 1865. The site is named for a natural bridge over the St. Marks River. The Civil War Trust, a division of the American Battlefield Trust, and its partners have acquired and preserved 110 acres of the battlefield park.
The Battle of Chalk Bluff, also known as the Skirmish at Chalk Bluff, was a military engagement of the American Civil War. The battle was fought near Chalk Bluff, northwest of St. Francis, where U.S. Brigadier General William Vandever, commanding the Second Division of the Army of the Frontier, was repulsed in an attempt to prevent Confederate General John S. Marmaduke's Division from crossing the St. Francis River. Though a Confederate victory, Marmaduke suffered considerable casualties and his momentum had been checked, forcing him to abandon his second expedition into Missouri.
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, located near Republic, Missouri, preserves the site of the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Fought on August 10, 1861, the battle was the first major American Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River. In the battle, a Confederate army commanded by Benjamin McCulloch and Sterling Price defeated a smaller Union army commanded by Nathaniel Lyon. However, the Confederates were unable to hold much of Missouri, and a Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge effectively solidified Union control of the state. Major features include a five-mile automobile tour loop, the restored 1852 Ray House, and "Bloody Hill", the site of the final stage of the battle. The site is located near Republic in southwestern Missouri just southwest of the city of Springfield. It has been a unit of the National Park Service since 1960, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
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David Lang was a land surveyor, Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War, civil engineer, and Florida politician.
Florida participated in the American Civil War as a member of the Confederate States of America. It had been admitted to the United States as a slave state in 1845. In January 1861, Florida became the third Southern state to secede from the Union after the November 1860 presidential election victory of Abraham Lincoln. It was one of the initial seven slave states which formed the Confederacy on February 8, 1861, in advance of the American Civil War.
The Big Bend of Florida, United States, is an informally named geographic region of North Florida where the Florida Panhandle transitions to the Florida Peninsula south and east of Tallahassee. The region is known for its vast woodlands and marshlands and its low population density relative to much of the state. The area is home to the largest single spring in the United States, the Alapaha Rise, and the longest surveyed underwater cave in the United States, the 32-mile (51 km) Wakulla-Leon Sinks cave system.
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This article incorporates public domain material from the National Park Service