Armistead Family History #21

                                             The Civil War Heats Up - 1861

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.  

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.

References:

*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.

Armistead Family History #20 - Part 2

My Visit to Marianna - Part 2

Before I pick up on day two of my trip, I want to pass along information I received from my cousin Claudia.  You remember cousin Claudia, right?  You should I mention her often.  She and I have been working on the Meixner and Armistead family for over 40 years.  She is a great researcher and would probably write this blog better than I do.  Anyway, she sends me information, corrections, or updates on my post now and then and I always appreciate her input.

She found information on the young lass, as I called her, that I talked about in my last post.  You can see her photo below.  This is a Victorian-era Flue Cover, (probably a replica).  This young woman is called Lady Purity.  Claudia suggested they may have had a set or series of these representing the merits of women called Purity, Chastity, Beauty, etc.   So, depending on the age of the person reading this, you may or may not know that there was a time when everyone had wood stoves to heat their homes. They had to have a way to vent the smoke and fumes from the stove, so it was funneled through a hole in the wall and up to the roof and to the outside.  During the warm weather months when they did not need the stove, they would remove the stove pipe from the stove to the wall.  Well, this left a very unsightly hole in the wall.  The lady of the house did not like that so they needed a way to cover it up.  That is where this flue cover came in.  They would simply hang the flue cover over the hole and problem solved.  They were made from all kinds of materials and featured all types of colorful artwork.  They do make replicas of them today and people collect them.

Now back to my trip.

Jackson County Courthouse from a brochure provided by Main Street Marianna and Chipola Historical trust.  Shows sketches of earlier courthouses. You can see the trees are in a lot better condition than they were when I was there.

On my second day in town, I spent the morning and early afternoon at the courthouse, and then at about 4 pm I headed to the Family History Center.  I was excited that I was going there to meet up with a special person that I had corresponded with some thirty-odd years ago.  Her name is Paula and I have mentioned her before.  I wrote to the church library years ago and she was the one that responded.  She helped me with my research many years ago by making copies of records, by giving me tips from what she found and she even went to the cemetery and took pictures.  She mailed me tons of information.  I still remember what a thrill it was to open that large envelope and take out all this wonderful information.  She also got me in touch with Betty Breland, (She unfortunately has passed away.) who sent me copies of the history of St Luke's Episcopal Church, as well as a couple of local histories all containing names of my ancestors.  Betty, I found out from our correspondence back then, was a Baker cousin of mine.  I am so sad we never got to meet in person.  We have Simmons Jones Baker and Mary Turner (Smith) Baker in common as our great-great-great-grandparents.

Paula still volunteers at the Family History Center and it was very exciting for me to give her a hug and thank her in person for all her help.  She continued with her helpful ways by directing me to additional information of interest, making copies of items, and then giving me a person's name to contact at the courthouse about online maps.  I hated to leave Paula, but I did leave about 6:30 pm so I could get to my scheduled massage.  Another great day in Jackson County!

Here is a better photo of The Hinson House from the brochure mentioned above.  It also gives you the background of the home.

Friday, my last full day in the county, was my day to go to the cemetery and drive around the county.  First, I drove to St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

This is a view of the east end of the church.  The cemetery is off to the right.

Wide view of the cemetery.

Sign on the grounds that gives information regarding the old cemetery.

This sign on the church gives the date the church was organized and the dates of each church building that was erected.  Simmons Jones Baker, Sr., (my great-great-great-grandfather) was the first Senior Warden and one of the founders of the church back in 1838.  Armistead, Baker Tillinghast, and Baltzell families all attended church at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church.

The church is located at the northwest corner of Lafayette and Wynn Streets.  The cemetery surrounds the church on three sides.  I walked in using the east entrance and started finding relatives' graves right away.  I spent the better part of an hour walking around the cemetery and taking pictures of the headstones and of the church.  Such a feeling to stand near the graveside of my ancestors.  I imagined family members standing in the very spot where I stood, paying their last respects to their loved ones.  Real people with feelings of sorrow, hopes, and fears, contemplating their future, just like me standing there 150-plus years later.

Location of the Armistead cemetery plot.  There was a large tree there at one time, as you can see it has been gone a while.

The tombstone says "William Jordan Armistead His Wife Mary Baker Armistead and their Children".  I don't know which of the children might be buried here.  There is no record of any children in church records that I found.  Looks like the stone was placed years later and is a general memorial for the family.

Sobering place, a graveyard.  Makes you realize the lightning-quick span of our lives and the fact that time marches on at the same speed of light.  I have written about St Luke's Episcopal Church before and the part Simmons Jones Baker played in its founding.  Bakers and Armisteads and their extended families were a part of this church for many generations and many are buried in that cemetery.

Graves of the two brothers of Mary E. (Baker) Armistead, my great-great-granduncles Simmons Jones Baker, Jr., and James L. G. Baker.  Also, the second wife of Simmons Jones Baker, Jr., Caroline (Tillinghast) Baker, and the wife of James L.G. Baker, Sarah Anne (Smith) Baker.

The Baker Cemetery lot.

This church and cemetery played a major role in the Battle of Marianna in 1864 and I  plan to write about the church and that battle as I move through the years of the Civil War.  I hope you will continue to follow my blog so you can read about that devastating event in this church's history.

Grave of Littleton Myrick, who was killed during the Battle of Marianna in 1864.  He was 16 years old.

Grave of John Milton, Governor of Florida during the Civil War.  He was from Jackson County, FL.

My next stop for the day was at the courthouse to meet the lady Paula had directed me to the night before.  She gave me information about the website where I can look up locations of plots of land on a map. It has been very interesting as another tool for me to use.  After that, I headed out to find where my Baker relatives lived or had plantations.  So, with my many maps, (topographical, county, state, I love Maps) I headed east on US Highway 90, which is also Lafayette Street that runs through town.  I crossed the Chipola River and headed north on FL State Hwy 71.  I had to wind around a bit until I got to Two Egg, FL, located on state highway 69.

Yes, this is pretty much the view of Two Egg, FL.

Yes, that is the name of a little town, or wide spot in the road as we say in Texas.  The author, Dale Cox, wrote a book about Two Egg and he also has a YouTube channel called Two Egg TV, where he uploads interesting videos on historical events and happenings in Jackson County and the surrounding areas.  I have watched several of his videos and they are very interesting.

Next, I found County Road 164, which would take me to the first Baker property.  As I roamed around road to road, looking at my maps now and then to help me find my way, I couldn't help but think of traveling through this area on horseback.  I am sure the area was very dense with trees and vegetation in the early years.  How in the world did they maneuver through to get where they were going and how in the heck did they keep from getting lost.  Of course, it is a lot more open now, but, even with my maps, I had a hard time navigating.  You would have had to have an excellent sense of direction and lots of common sense as well to get around during those days.  I know I would not have lasted one day during the early days of this county!

OK, so there is really nothing to see here.  This is the dirt road to where the James L.G. Baker plantation was.  I just wanted to have photos to prove I was there and then it also makes a nice break from an entire page of text.

You can see on the map below the first stop located in the eastern part of the county.  Can't miss it, I circled it, marked the location in red, and numbered it #1. This property is located about one mile west of County Road 164.  It was once owned by James L.G. Baker.  There was a dirt road that would have taken me to the property but I did not try to drive it.  Even though it would have been nice to be on the very spot, I had an inkling that people might not be too keen on a strange car wandering around their back roads and I figured my car rental company would not be too thrilled if I damaged their car or got stuck or ruined a tire.  So I was content to view it from afar and just be in the area.  I was able to get a sense of the distance it was from Marianna, which would be quite a distance on horseback or wagon, I would think.  I wonder how often they actually went around to each plantation or if they actually lived here, how often did they get to town?

As you can see from the map, the next location I wanted to get to was north and then west.  It was about a half mile south of State Highway 2.  This property was also owned by James L.G. Baker.

I did not find either in person or on the map any roads that actually go to this property.  I am sure they had some way to get there back then but, not so much today.  Must have been fertile soil located right on the river.  The property was on each side of Cowarts Creek, a tributary to the Chipola.  Again, I really enjoyed the drive, getting a feel for distances and getting to see the countryside.

My next stop was Campbellton, where I took a short break and had a snack.  Ok, I had to stop for the restroom.  Anyway, I next headed south (or kinda southeast) out of Campbellton on US Hwy 75.  Just across the railroad track, there was a dirt road that would have taken me to the area of the property.  This property was owned by Simmons Jones Baker.  Again, I took a pass on the dirt road and headed on toward Marianna.

No, you can't prove it by me, but the third plantation, owned by Simmons Jones Baker, is over that way somewhere.

The last property that I had mapped out was located close to Marianna.  Well, actually today it is in the outskirts of Marianna but back then it would have been in the country.  It is located 2.5 miles from the courthouse.  It is a short distance north of Lafayette Street and just west of Bump Nose Road.  I was able to drive right to the edge of this property because there was a street with houses right on the boundary line.  I would think that a Baker family or maybe the Armistead family lived at this location, being so close to town.  The property was owned by Simmons Jones Baker.  I would think that a lot of properties were originally owned by S.J. Baker, Sr.  Then, after his passing, they went to the two sons and two daughters.  He also may have given some property to his two sons when he could no longer oversee them.  I believe this last property, or at least part of it, was willed to Mary E. (Baker) Armistead because I found a legal description where she sold part of the property, as well as some other property in the county.  Her land was under the control of her two brothers who were the administrators of their father's estate.  She couldn't own property so her name does not appear as the owner.

This is Bump Nose Road.  I went North on this road about a mile and then left, or West, about a quarter mile.  I was on the eastern edge of the Simmons Jones Baker, Sr. property that was, if I am reading the documents correctly, at least partially willed to Mary E. (Baker) Armistead.

This is a dirt road that leads over to the property that I believe belonged to Mary E. (Baker) Armistead.  Part of it is developed and there is some development just to the east side of the property.  I did not take photos from those locations.  Most of the land itself is wooded.

Jackson County map indicating the four locations of Baker-owned property from the mid-1800s that I traveled to in Jackson County.  I know there are still more properties that I have not located yet.

So if you take another look at the map above, you can see that I have circled the location of a fifth and a sixth group of properties.  I did not find out about these until I returned home and started going though the pages of property locations that I looked up and printed out.  Some of these were much smaller plots of land.  These properties were the properties inherited by Mary E. (Baker) Armistead from her father Simmons Jones Baker, Sr.  She sold the properties circled and labeled #5 in 1859 for $9,200, apparently, due to financial difficulties.  The group of properties labeled #6 was eventually obtained by her two daughters, Sarah Jordan Armistead and Emily Baker Armistead after their mother died.  More on that in a later post.  I am sure there were many other properties the Bakers owned.  According to Dale Cox, the "James L. G. Baker estate, northwest of Marianna, boasted 7,340 acres."  So, as you can see, the few hundred acres I located were just a drop in the bucket.

Marianna is really a neat little city.  I have included a few more photos from the brochure "Self Guided Tour of the Marianna Area" that I mentioned above so that you can see a few of the beautiful old homes located there.  I did not get a chance to take photos myself.

You can see that each house is named and has a short history underneath.  The dates built range from the 1840's to the 1860's.

After a long day on Friday, and another enjoyable night at the B and B, I headed off on Saturday to catch my plane back to my home in Texas.  I hope I get back to Marianna and Jackson County again and can spend a few more days there.  Still, a lot I would like to see and a lot more research I would like to do.