In my blog post all the way back in June of 2019, which seems like another lifetime ago with all that has happened in 2020, I wrote about the southern states forming the Confederate States of America and about the opening battle of the Civil War. The first Battle of Bull Run at Manassas was the signal that the war was starting to heat up. So let's get back into my Armistead and Baker families in Jackson County, Florida and see how they reacted to the events of 1861.
Map of the Civil War, 1861-1865
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/CivilWarMap.jpg
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/civil-war-battles-by-state/
Mary Eliza (Baker) Armistead and William Jordan Armistead welcomed fifteen children (ten boys and five girls) into this world over a 26 year period. The last one (my great-grandfather) was born when Mary was 45 years old (close to 46). Over a ten year span, 1841 to 1851 they lost six children, five boys and one girl, with four of the five boys dying within a three year period. Now, in the year 1861, they were faced with the prospect of their remaining five boys going off to risk their lives in the Civil War. The youngest two boys would turn fourteen and thirteen respectively, during 1861, so if the war lasted several years every son had the potential of fighting in the war. Just a little hint, they had every reason to worry.
Soldiers of Florida in the Seminole Indian, Civil and Spanish American Wars.
This is the beginning of the Roll for Company E, 1st Florida Infantry. You can see, starting in the middle of the page, the list begins with Hyer H. Baker, then on down you can find Anthony and Lawrence Armistead, and Beverly Baker.
Florida, State Board of Institutions, Robertson, Fred L.
http://archive.org/stream/soldiersofflorid00flor#page/65/mode/1up
On March 30, 1861, Anthony Armistead enlisted in Company E, 1st Florida Infantry. This Florida Infantry Regiment was officially organized on April 5, 1861. Anthony was 25 years old. He would turn 26 on Sep 17, 1861. His rank at enlistment was Corporal. The enlistment period was for one year and as you can see below, he mustered out of the 1st Infantry as a Sergeant. More on this later.
First two cards of Anthony Armistead's service record on Fold3.com.
NARA M251. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Florida units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations , compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865, Florida: Roll 0025, NARA catalogue id: 586957.
https://www.fold3.com/image/102021280
Enlisting on the same day with Anthony was his cousin, Henry Hyer Baker. The son of Anthony's maternal uncle, James L. G. Baker, Henry Hyer, had only turned 18 years old the previous Dec 23rd. He must have exhibited really strong leadership qualities at this young age, because he was commissioned an officer (Lieutenant) in Company E at the time he enlisted and would later be promoted to Captain.
First two cards of Henry Hyer Baker's service record on Fold3.com.
NARA M251. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Florida units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations , compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865, Florida: Roll 0025, NARA catalogue id: 586957.
https://www.fold3.com/image/102021996
A second Baker would enlist along with his cousins above. This was Beverly Baker, who was the son of Simmons Jones Baker, Jr., (James L G Baker's brother). He turned 19 earlier in March and was enlisted as a Sergeant in the same company and infantry regiment as Anthony and Henry Hyer.
First two cards of Beverly Baker's service record on Fold3.com.
NARA M251. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Florida units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations , compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865, Florida: Roll 0025, NARA catalogue id: 586957.
https://www.fold3.com/image/102021958
A short time later, on June 1, 1861, (one record says June 1st and another says Apr 5th) Anthony's younger brother, Laurence (two different spellings) Turner Armistead (23 as of Oct 8, 1860), enlisted in the same company as his brother and cousins. He enlisted as a private but was promoted to 4th Sergeant on June 19, 1861.
First two cards of Lawrence Turner Armistead's service record on Fold3.com.
NARA M251. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Florida units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations , compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865, Florida: Roll 0025, NARA catalogue id: 586957.
https://www.fold3.com/image/119068805
It would be a natural desire, I guess, for brothers and cousins to want to go off to fight together at the same time in the same unit. But, also, the methodology used by the state was to bring together recruits from three or four adjacent counties to form companies. Company E was organized with men from Jackson County and the surrounding counties, such as Washington and Calhoun Counties. Once the units were organized by the state of Florida they were then assigned over to the Confederate States. It seems this strategy utilized the desire of the men to stick together and fight with friends and relatives and also, I am sure it was much easier to just keep all the men in one area together than it would be to move them all over the state.
As the war progressed, this strategy proved particularly disastrous to families and communities. There were times when one or two companies would take the brunt of the casualties during a battle, sometimes being so decimated with dead, wounded, and captured that there were not enough men left to re-form the company. This kind of disaster left communities and whole counties deprived of an entire generation of their young men.
The First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, VA.
By Kurz & Allison - Library of Congress, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13545366
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Battle_of_Bull_Run_Kurz_%26_Allison.jpg
On July 21, 1861 the first major battle of the war was fought at the First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas and resulted in almost 5,000 casualties (dead and wounded). It was considered an overwhelming Confederate victory and shocked the North, but it really didn't take long for both sides to realize this would not be a short and easy war for either side to win. Both sides had thought before the war that they would make short work of the other side. But realization finally set in that this war would be long in years and costly in terms of the number of dead and wounded, and would inflict terrible financial burdens for both the North and the South. The 1st Florida Infantry was still deployed in Florida and did not participate in this battle.
First two cards of William Jordan Armistead, Jr.'s service record on Fold3.com.
NARA M251. Compiled service records of Confederate soldiers from Florida units, labeled with each soldier's name, rank, and unit, with links to revealing documents about each soldier.
Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations , compiled 1903 - 1927, documenting the period 1861 - 1865, Florida: Roll 0025, NARA catalogue id: 586957.
https://www.fold3.com/image/89341511
On Sep 17, 1861 William Jordan Armistead, Jr., enlisted in Company C, Florida 3rd Cavalry Battalion. He lived in Santa Rosa County so he signed up at Milton, which was located in his county. He was the oldest Armistead brother at age 37. This meant, before the end of the first year of the war, W.J. and Mary Armistead had three of their five sons at war and Mary had two of her nephews fighting as well.
Fort Pickens, Florida.
By Notneb82 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16626562
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pickens#/media/File:Bastion_of_Fort_Pickens.jpg
The first battle action for the 1st Florida Regiment came at the battle of Santa Rosa Island. The United States Military had maintained a presence at every US Fort when the war began and Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Florida was one of these forts. Obviously the plan of the US was to maintain possession of all it's forts and so naturally this would be one of the objectives of the South, to take control of these forts. We know that Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina was the first one to fall to the South at the start of the war.
General Braxton Bragg, Confederate Army. Note that he is one of the Southern Generals and slave owner that has a United States Fort named after him. The Pentagon is rightfully looking at changing the name of this and other forts.
By Unknown author, restoration by Adam Cuerden - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3g07984.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12072590
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg#/media/File:Braxton_Bragg.jpg
Brigadier General Braxton Bragg* was in charge of the approximate 7000 Confederate troops in the Pensacola, Florida area in September of 1861. One objective of General Bragg at that time appeared to be the taking of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. However, word at the time was that he did not believe he had the strength to mount a full scale siege of the fort and put off an attack. Things changed on Sep 14, 1861, when the Confederate schooner Juda was boarded and set ablaze by a raiding party. In retaliation, Bragg ordered an attack on the US fortifications on Santa Rosa Island.
The Harbour of Pensacola, Florida, 1861.
By February 9, 1861 Edition of Harper's Weekly; photo taken from http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war-feb-1861/confederate-montgomery-state-house.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53672019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Rosa_Island#/media/File:Pensacola-harbor-florida.jpg
Rather than attack the fort, however, Bragg ordered an attack of Colonel William Wilson's troops encamped about a mile east of Fort Pickens. Wilson commanded five companies of the 6th New York Volunteers.
General Richard H. Anderson was in charge of attack on Fort Pickens, Florida.
By Courtesy Century Co. - https://archive.org/stream/lifeoflieutenant01walk#page/n9/mode/2up, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68956277
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_H._Anderson#/media/File:Lieutenant_General_Richard_H._Anderson.png
Bragg put Major General Richard Anderson in charge of the attack. On Oct 9th, the Confederate army, under Anderson's command, took two small steamers across to Santa Rosa Island. In route "the troops were divided into three battalions. General Anderson Placed Colonel James R. Chalmers of the 9th Mississippi Regiment in command of the first battalion, 350 strong. The second battalion, numbering 400 soldiers, was placed under the command of Colonel J. Patton Anderson of the 1st Regiment of Florida Volunteers. Colonel John K. Jackson 5th Regiment Georgia Volunteers, assumed command of 260 men in the third battalion." (1)
Lieutenant Colonel James Patton Anderson was commander of the 1st Florida Infantry. He would later be promoted to Major General.
By Unknown author - https://web.archive.org/web/20080113225240/http://www.generalsandbrevets.com:80/sga/andersonjp.htm; http://dma.myflorida.com/floridas-militia-and-confederate-generals-1861-1865/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45599760
Just after midnight the Confederates landed about 1200 men on a beach four miles east of Fort Pickens. After proceeding three miles toward the fort, the Confederate Army surprised and routed the Union camp under the command of Colonel Harvey Brown. The Confederates, after burning and looting the camp, took up a defensive position to draw the Union troops out of the fort. However, reinforcements arrived from another location on the island and the Confederates retreated back to the mainland. (2)
Drawing of the Attack on Wilson's Camp during the Battle of Santa Rosa, Florida.
http://thesouthsdefender.blogspot.com/2011/10/150-years-ago-battle-of-santa-rosa.html
The result was generally considered a Union victory, but both sides claimed the advantage. If Bragg's main objective was to rout the New Yorkers encamped outside the fort in retaliation for the burning of the Judah, he had a good argument. With casualties about even, Confederates had 18 killed, 39 wounded, and 30 captured, and the Union had 14 killed, 29 wounded, and 24 captured, neither side gained much from the encounter except experience for the next battle. (3) The US forces would be able to maintain control of Fort Pickens throughout the war.
I doubt W.J. Armistead, Jr., was involved in the battle, being in the Calvary, but the other four probably were. The Armisteads and Bakers would not have any major battles the rest of 1861.
General Braxton Bragg, Confederate Army. Note that he is one of the Southern Generals and slave owner that has a United States Fort named after him. The Pentagon is rightfully looking at changing the name of this and other forts.
By Unknown author, restoration by Adam Cuerden - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3g07984.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12072590
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg#/media/File:Braxton_Bragg.jpg
Brigadier General Braxton Bragg* was in charge of the approximate 7000 Confederate troops in the Pensacola, Florida area in September of 1861. One objective of General Bragg at that time appeared to be the taking of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. However, word at the time was that he did not believe he had the strength to mount a full scale siege of the fort and put off an attack. Things changed on Sep 14, 1861, when the Confederate schooner Juda was boarded and set ablaze by a raiding party. In retaliation, Bragg ordered an attack on the US fortifications on Santa Rosa Island.
The Harbour of Pensacola, Florida, 1861.
By February 9, 1861 Edition of Harper's Weekly; photo taken from http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war-feb-1861/confederate-montgomery-state-house.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53672019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santa_Rosa_Island#/media/File:Pensacola-harbor-florida.jpg
Rather than attack the fort, however, Bragg ordered an attack of Colonel William Wilson's troops encamped about a mile east of Fort Pickens. Wilson commanded five companies of the 6th New York Volunteers.
General Richard H. Anderson was in charge of attack on Fort Pickens, Florida.
By Courtesy Century Co. - https://archive.org/stream/lifeoflieutenant01walk#page/n9/mode/2up, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68956277
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_H._Anderson#/media/File:Lieutenant_General_Richard_H._Anderson.png
Bragg put Major General Richard Anderson in charge of the attack. On Oct 9th, the Confederate army, under Anderson's command, took two small steamers across to Santa Rosa Island. In route "the troops were divided into three battalions. General Anderson Placed Colonel James R. Chalmers of the 9th Mississippi Regiment in command of the first battalion, 350 strong. The second battalion, numbering 400 soldiers, was placed under the command of Colonel J. Patton Anderson of the 1st Regiment of Florida Volunteers. Colonel John K. Jackson 5th Regiment Georgia Volunteers, assumed command of 260 men in the third battalion." (1)
Lieutenant Colonel James Patton Anderson was commander of the 1st Florida Infantry. He would later be promoted to Major General.
By Unknown author - https://web.archive.org/web/20080113225240/http://www.generalsandbrevets.com:80/sga/andersonjp.htm; http://dma.myflorida.com/floridas-militia-and-confederate-generals-1861-1865/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45599760
Just after midnight the Confederates landed about 1200 men on a beach four miles east of Fort Pickens. After proceeding three miles toward the fort, the Confederate Army surprised and routed the Union camp under the command of Colonel Harvey Brown. The Confederates, after burning and looting the camp, took up a defensive position to draw the Union troops out of the fort. However, reinforcements arrived from another location on the island and the Confederates retreated back to the mainland. (2)
Drawing of the Attack on Wilson's Camp during the Battle of Santa Rosa, Florida.
http://thesouthsdefender.blogspot.com/2011/10/150-years-ago-battle-of-santa-rosa.html
The result was generally considered a Union victory, but both sides claimed the advantage. If Bragg's main objective was to rout the New Yorkers encamped outside the fort in retaliation for the burning of the Judah, he had a good argument. With casualties about even, Confederates had 18 killed, 39 wounded, and 30 captured, and the Union had 14 killed, 29 wounded, and 24 captured, neither side gained much from the encounter except experience for the next battle. (3) The US forces would be able to maintain control of Fort Pickens throughout the war.
I doubt W.J. Armistead, Jr., was involved in the battle, being in the Calvary, but the other four probably were. The Armisteads and Bakers would not have any major battles the rest of 1861.
Let's reflect for a moment about the Armistead parents living in Marianna, FL in 1861. They had three sons fighting in the war. After nine months of worrying about them, they now had to face 1862 with no end to the war anywhere in sight. Think about how slow information was obtained and reported, how limited the information was when it actually got out. News of battles was often, no, mostly, conflicting. Both sides claimed victory or put a spin on things. Battles would generally last over more than a day and the results changed daily, a Union victory today, a Confederate victory tomorrow. How long did it take to get reports of casualties to families when the units involved in a battle had to move out quickly to avoid being over run. Many times their dead and wounded had to be left on the battlefield.
The Armisteads still had two sons and three daughters, plus twenty slaves to feed and clothe. Lots of stress this family was under and things would only get worse in 1862.
*Note that Braxton Bragg is one of the Southern Generals and slave owner that has a United States Fort named after him. The Pentagon is rightfully looking at changing the name of this and other forts.
(1) Emerging Civil War, Battle of Santa Rosa, October 12, 2017, by Caleb Pascoe, guest author, WordPress, https://emergingcivilwar.com/2017/10/12/battle-of-santa-rosa/
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
