Armistead Family History #22

               1862 - Armistead Family in the Civil War

By the close of 1861, the Civil War's violent and deadly clashes had reached across the United States.  North, South, East, West, as well as down the Gulf Coast, and the central states along the Mississippi River.  Battles were occurring all over and increasing in size and frequency.

Battles of the American Civil War.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_battles#/media/File:American_Civil_War_Battles_by_Theater,_Year.png

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35637

You may remember from an earlier blog post that the population of the US was growing rapidly and expanding Westward across the continent.  In 1860 the population was 31,443,321, spread over 44 states from Maine to Florida, Virginia and North Carolina to Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas, and even to California.

To give you a better picture of how the population was actually located though, let's look at the breakdown between North and South, defined by the two sides in the Civil War.  The Northern states (33) had a population of 22,339,989.  The Southern states (11) had a population of 9,103,332.  That's a big difference in manpower, however, the difference was even greater than that, because out of the total population in the south, 3,521,110 were held as slaves.  This leaves a population of about 5.6 million for the south and 22.3 million for the north.  Looking at these numbers alone, the end just seems so inevitable.  Manpower, railroads, access to goods, manufacturing, were all lopsided in favor of the North. (1)

Still, the people of the South thought they would defeat the North and with the arrival of  January 1, 1862, after a year of bloody fighting, their opinion had not changed.  But I do think both sides realized the war would not be quick or easy.   

There were many battles and skirmishes in 1861.  Civil War Saga's website - Civil War Battles (civilwarsaga.com) - lists ten major battles during 1861, including the First Battle of Bull Run/First Battle of Manassas, (4,878 casualties), Wilson's Creek, (2,330), Battle of Dranesville (5,750), and others.  This website is an excellent source for information on battles of the Civil War.

The Armistead and Baker families survived 1861, even though they had at least  10 family members enlisted and fighting.  This number included William Jordan Armistead, Sr., George Franklin Baltzell, and Simmons Jones Baker, Jr.  I did not mention these men in my last blog.  They were of the older generation and did not figure prominently in any fighting, but they were listed as members of the Jackson Home Guard from Sep. 1861 to sometime in 1862 when it was disbanded.  This was a cavalry group from Marianna and the surrounding area.  It was held on standby, as a last resort against the invasion of Union forces. (See Dale Cox's list below).

 

Jackson Home Guard.  

Dale Cox, The History of Jackson County, The Civil War Years.

When April, 1862 arrived, the one-year enlistments of the Armisteads and Bakers ended.  They re-enlisted but in different units from what they were in previously.  William Jordan Armistead, Jr. transferred to Richard L. Smith's Company, known as the Marianna Dragoons Calvary.  Anthony Armistead enlisted in Company E, of the 8th Florida Infantry.  He was soon promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.  His brother, Lawrence Turner Armistead, did not go with his brother this time. Instead, he signed up in Co E, of the 6th Florida Infantry. He too would be appointed as a Lieutenant.  Their cousin, Henry Hyer Baker, signed up with Co A, 33th Regiment, North Carolina Infantry.  He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in October and would later become Captain. Beverly Baker went with his cousin, W.J. Armistead, Jr., and signed up with Captain Smith's Marianna Dragoons. (2)  

Marianna Dragoons Calvary  

Dale Cox, The History of Jackson County, The Civil War Years.

W.J. Armistead, Jr. and the others, mustered into Captain Richard Smith's Marianna Dragoons Cavalry in 1862 and were assigned as an independent company.  The company's responsibility was to protect Jackson County and the other counties of the Northern part of Florida.  At one point they were transferred from Jackson County to Pensacola in Escambia County, participating in skirmishes and battles across the northern part of the state.  

With the new year of 1862, other family members would reach an age that enabled them to enlist in the military as well.  Anthony's younger brother Thomas Stewart Armistead, (19) joined Anthony in Company E, as a 1st Sergent.  He would soon become a 3rd Lieutenant.  Beverly Baker's brother, Lawerence, (18) joined Lawerence in the Marianna Dragoons. (3)  

Sample of Thomas S. Armistead military record. 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.

https://www.fold3.com/image/120589231

Another family enlistment in the Marianna Dragoons was George Albert Baltzell (17).  George was the son of George Franklin Baltzell and stepson of Ann Penelope (Armistead) Baltzell.  Ann was the eldest of W.J and Eliza's children.  There are other family members, cousins, etc., I am sure.  I have decided to limit the names a little.  (I expect many of you reading this are saying "He should learn how to limit a lot more than that!").  Well, I am afraid that I am not a good editor and so I tend to get too wordy.  I am giving you a fair warning, the posts on 1862 will be fairly long and will have a lot of battle information.  If you are not into that sort of thing, feel free to skip forward to the parts you are interested in.  But I feel it is important to go into some detail to try and give us a better understanding of how bad this terrible war was during this time.

From the website, Civil War Saga, I found information about the battles of 1862.  It lists Mill Springs, Jan 19, (814), Fort Henry Feb 6, (119) Fort Donelson, Feb11, (16,537), and Pea Ridge, Mar 6, (6,073) just to name a few in the first months of the year.  As a reminder causalities (listed in parenthesis) included: deaths, wounded, and captured.  Death counts after a battle were not actually accurate because death caused by the fighting continued for days, weeks, maybe years.  The effects of amputations, wounds that didn't heal, gangrene, pneumonia, bullets and shrapnel that could not be removed, etc., caused numerous deaths long after the battle ended.

Battle of Shiloh.

By Thure de Thulstrup - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID pga.04037.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=69199332

On April 6-7th, the Battle of Shiloh was fought, resulting in a Union victory.  The actual victor of any battle was illusory, however.  Casualties were 13,047 for the Union forces and 10,699 for the Confederates and then both armies just moved on to fight again another day. (4)  None of the family members I mentioned above were involved at Shiloh (due to enlistments ending and re-enlisting, or not being in a unit sent to that theater of the war).  

Lawrence T. Armistead and the 6th Florida, commanded by Colonel Jesse J. Finley, were ordered to report to General E. Kirby Smith at Knoxville.  Smith was the Commander of the Department of East Tennessee and participated in the Kentucky Campaign.  The 6th, under Finley, was ordered by Kirby to occupy and defend the Cumberland Gap against a possible approach by Northern forces.  General Smith meanwhile moved north and won a decisive battle at Richmond, Kentucky.  He next marched into Lexington, Ky to hold the line against the approaching Northern forces.  After a month-long siege by Colonel Finley and the Confederates against the Federals at Cumberland Gap, the Federals blew up or set fire to their stores of ammunition and arms and escaped to the Ohio River.  Colonel Finley and the 6th Florida then reunited with General Kirby at Lexington, Ky. (5)

The Kentucky Campaign.By Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com, CC BY 3.0,           https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17811337

The Kentucky Campaign ended with "General Bragg, (overall commander of the campaign), either retreating or withdrawing (there is disagreement on which) from Kentucky in front of the Union's General Buel."  The South had planned to force the neutral state of Kentucky to get involved on the Confederate side, or to at least recruit a substantial number of soldiers from the state.  They were not successful on either count. (6)  

Anthony, Thomas, and the 8th Florida Infantry, under command of Colonel R.F. Floyd, were sent to Virginia.  Along with the 2nd and 5th Florida, they were ordered to join General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.  These regiments were placed in Brigadier General Roger A. Pryor's Brigade, Major General Richard H. Anderson's Division under Major General James Longstreet's command.  Henry Hyer Baker's company, Co. A, in the 33rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment,  under Brigadier General L. O'Brian Branch's Brigade, in A.P. Hill's Division, and under command of Major General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, was also a part of Lee's army. (7) 

In July, August, and September, General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia executed the Maryland Campaign.  In mid-July 1862 they fought a battle near Sharpsburg, Maryland at the opening of the Maryland Campaign.  In August Lee found Union General Pope, with a larger force than his, in his way.  Lee decided to split his army and have General Longstreet hold the position he had taken right in front of Pope, and have Stonewall Jackson swing around Pope's right flank and destroy Pope's supply lines in his rear.  He was not to engage in battle but to burn bridges, destroy railways, etc., and then to meet up with Longstreet in the vicinity of Manassas where Lee would take advantage of whatever opening Pope might give up. (8)  See the map below for movements of both armies during August in Northern Virginia. 

By Map by Hal Jespersen, www.posix.com/CW, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7100910

By late August, Jackson's troops had marched behind the Bull Run Mountains, through Thoroughfare Gap, and had moved on past Hay Market.  Traveling south-southeast from there led him to Gainesville, then across the Warrenton Turnpike, and on to Bristoe Station.  At Bristoe Station Jackson's men overwhelmed the few startled guards that were there and set about dismantling train tracks, and causing several trains to wreck.  The Broad Run railroad bridge was destroyed next and then it was time to head to Manassas.  His troops were weary but Jackson knew he must get to Manassas before Pope could send troops to reinforce the town and most importantly the supply depot there.   He left two brigades to guard the Broad Run crossing (at Bristoe Station on the map) in his rear and moved on with the rest of his troops to Manassas. (9)  

By ManassasNPS - Manassas Junction3 1862Uploaded by AlbertHerring, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29594683

Here is how Shelby Foote described it when they arrived at Manassas Station: "The sight that awaited them there was past the imagining of Stonewall's famished tatterdemalions.  Acres - a square mile, in fact - of supplies of every description were stacked in overwhelming abundance..."  "...warehouses overflowed with rations, quartermaster goods, and ordnance stores."  They found everything from molasses, coffee, cigars, jackknives, writing paper, handkerchiefs, whiskey, (but Jackson ordered these barrels destroyed) loaves of light-bread, pickled oysters, canned lobster, and Rhine wine. (10)

As Jackson's men were gorging themselves, Union Brigadier General George W. Taylor and a brigade of four New Jersey regiments were sent down from Alexandria with orders to save the railroad bridge.  Instead of stopping at the bridge, they rushed forward to attack the confederate force that was thought to be just a cavalry unit.  Little did they know they were running straight into General Lee's largest and probably hardest fighting division in Lee's whole army.  The union forces pushed forward under fire, determined to drive this force out.  But Jackson unleashed his full force against the oncoming "Jerseymen".  "..it was as if they struck a trip-wire.  Suddenly demoralized, they turned and scampered, devil-take-the-hindmost."  (11)

Jackson burned the railroad bridge and loaded the ambulances and ordnance wagons - all the rolling stock he had - with Federal stores that were most needed, mainly medical supplies.  Then once again the men were allowed to recover whatever food, etc. they could.  Jackson received word his troops were under attack at Bristoe and realized it was time to fall back to a position of strength and wait for the arrival of Longstreet and the rest of Lee's army.  The remaining ammunition dumps were exploded, warehouses and train cars were burned.  Then Jackson and his men slipped away. (12)

When General Pope and his men reached Manassas, all they saw was wreckage and desolation.  Jackson was nowhere to be seen and they were unsure as to what direction he might have gone.  Pope's big fear was that Jackson would be able to escape his grasp and rejoin Longstreet, who he knew would be moving to meet up with Jackson.  Pope was not in the dark for long.  Late that evening he received two dispatches.  One telling him Longstreet was forced back to the west side of Bull Run Mountain and that Jackson had been found in the woods along the Warrenton Turnpike.  He had Jackson isolated from Longstreet and, with his greatly overpowering numbers, he could crush Jackson's army, once and for all. (13)

Jackson's Troops location (in red) on Aug. 28, 1862.

By Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com/, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9064179

It turns out General Pope had underestimated his adversary.  Jackson was not trapped, and he was not trying to escape as Pope thought.  After burning the stores at Manassas, Jackson had deliberately headed out for Groveton, located on the Warrenton Turnpike.  Jackson, having spent time in the area the year before, knew the lay of the land and the most advantageous place to set up a defensive position.  His destination was an excellent covered position where he could wait for Longstreet, or if forced out by Pope, he had a line of retreat that would be reasonably secure. (14)

Jackson stationed his troops in the woods along the Warrenton Turnpike.  He was soon notified of Federal forces moving up the pike heading toward Stone Bridge.  This was John Gibbons's brigade of four regiments under Pope's command.  Waiting for the best moment to strike, Jackson waited until the Union troops were in front of his position, before giving his order to strike.  Artillery and infantry emerged from the woods with a deafening roar.  The two armies slugged it out for two hours in extremely hard-fought, close-quarter fighting.  About 9:00 pm the Federals withdrew across the Warrenton Pike.  After conferring, the Union leaders decided to head with their wounded down to Manassas. (15)

Confederate and Union Positions on August 29, 1862.  

By Map by Hal Jespersen, www.CWmaps.com, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7104342

The next day Jackson positioned his troops behind the high grade of an unfinished railroad, which afforded his men excellent defensive positions to take on any incoming attacks.  Jackson poured artillery fire into Pope's men's position located on the other side of the unfinished railroad.  Around 10:00 am one of Longstreet's divisions arrived on the scene as Lee's army was beginning to reunite, but all of the units were not yet up.  As they arrived, Longstreet's men were deployed straddling the Warrenton Turnpike. 

Pope, ignoring Longstreet's arrival, continued focusing on Jackson.  He was so intent on crushing Jackson with his superior numbers, he seemed to block out Longstreet's arrival and positioning off of his left flank.  Pope promptly sent wave after wave of his troops against Jackson's position behind the berm along the railroad.  At times it seemed a portion of Jackson's line would be overwhelmed, but the Federals were repulsed each time.  Jackson suffered a large number of casualties but somehow was able to hold the line. (16)

On the map below locate the bottom right panel.  This panel shows the early movements of the two armies leading up to this battle.  Then move to the upper left panel and you can see in the upper-middle portion the red lines of Jackson's position to the northwest of the railroad line.  The final panel in the upper right shows the positioning on Aug 29th and 30th of Jackson, Pope, and Longstreet.  

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WPMA01_Second_Bull_Run_Campaign.jpg#/media/File:WPMA01_Second_Bull_Run_Campaign.jpg

Once most of Longstreet's forces were up, Lee conferred with Longstreet about attacking Pope's left flank.  Longstreet was cautious, waiting for Anderson's Division. This was Thomas and Anthony Armistead's division.  They had been left protecting the rearguard so it was the last to come up.  He also told Lee he needed to check out the lay of the land and make sure he was aware of the situation before ordering his troops to move. (17)    

Anderson finally arrived on the scene with the main body of his army. Lee directed General Longstreet to move into position along Jackson's right flank, which would be just to Pope's left.  As mentioned, Pope had inflicted heavy casualties on Jackson and Pope had a much larger force.  On Aug 30th, Pope thought the time was right to make an all-out assault on Jackson, overrun his position, and crush him.  Again, ignoring Longstreet, the assault on Jackson's position began around 2 pm.  This was exactly what Longstreet was hoping would happen.  After Pope's attack began, Longstreet smashed into Pope's left flank.  With Jackson in front and Longstreet on the left, Pope was smack in the middle of a pincher-like movement by Lee's army that soon crushed Pope's army.  Pope's army eventually withdrew to the north across Stone Bridge, blowing it up, after they crossed. (18) This time the withdrawal was not as panicked as the disastrous retreat from the First Battle of Bull Run/First Battle of Manassas had been a year ago, but it was a major defeat for the Union Army nonetheless.

Union Retreat across the Stone Bridge.  By Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum - This file is from the Mechanical Curator collection, a set of over 1 million images scanned from out-of-copyright books and released to Flickr Commons by the British Library.View image on FlickrView all images from book View catalog entry for book., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60711156

Stone Bridge destroyed by Union troops after retreat.

By George N. Barnard - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16896858

So here, on the plains of Manassas, a year after the first, the Second Battle of Bull Run/Second Battle of Manassas was fought.  Pope suffered 13,824 casualties (62% of the total) and Lee 8,353. 

As Pope retreated Lee moved his army further into Maryland to continue his Maryland Campaign.  His plan was to clear out any Union forces on his way deep into the north, as far as Washington DC if possible.  This could be a disruptive and devastating blow to the North.  Harper's Ferry was one of those places where he wanted to clear out the Union forces.

Anthony Armistead, Thomas Armistead, and Hyer Baker saw heavy fighting during the battle at Manassas/Bull Run and survived.  What would the future hold?  Well, they will soon be fighting again, at Harper's Ferry.

References:

(1) Demographics of the United States - Wikipedia

(2) National Park Service. U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007., Original data: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online <http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/>, acquired 2007.

(3) Source Citation: Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database, Source Information: Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.

Copyright 1997-2009, Historical Data Systems, Inc., PO Box 35, Duxbury, MA 02331.

(4) History of the American Civil War (civilwarsaga.com)

(5) Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999, Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997-2000, Historical Data Systems, Inc., PO Box 35, Duxbury, MA 023.

(6) Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999, Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997-2000, Historical Data Systems, Inc., PO Box 35, Duxbury, MA 023.

(7) Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999, Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA from the following list of works. Copyright 1997-2000, Historical Data Systems, Inc., PO Box 35, Duxbury, MA 023, 

(8) Foot, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative, Fort Sumter to Perryville, Random House, New York, Copyright 1958. pg 616.

(9) Ibid, pg 617

(10) Ibid, pg 618-619.

(11) Ibid, pg 619.

(12) Ibid, pg 620-621.

(13) Ibid, pg 623

(14) Ibid, pg 624.

(15) Ibid, pg 625-626.

(16) Ibid, pg 631.

(17) Ibid, pg 631.

(18) Ibid, pg 638.

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.