The Bear River Massacre
"On the 29th of January, 1863, during the American Civil War occurred one of the greatest massacres of Native Americans by U.S. troops in American history."
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From Confederate military history; a library of Confederate States history (1899) Vol. XI, Chap. VI, page 114 By Clement A. Evans.
Massacre at Marianna, Florida.
FURTHER OPERATIONS IN THE FALL OF 1864 FED
ERAL INCURSION TO MARIANNA GREEN COVE
SPRINGS RAID TO MILTON FIGHT NEAR BRAD-
DOCK FARM NEAR CEDAR KEYS NATURAL BRIDGE
THE CLOSING SCENES.
ON the morning of the 25th of September, 1864,
the usually quiet little town of Marianna, in west
Florida, of about 2,000 inhabitants, was in a state
of great anxiety over the report that the * Yankees were
coming. The nearest railway station was Quincy, some
50 miles east, and the nearest point on the gulf coast, St.
Andrews bay, about an equal distance, where a number
of Federal gunboats blockaded the sound. Pensacola,
the largest naval station in the South, 150 miles to the
west, was held by the Federals. The inhabitants, aside
from the slaves, consisted of well-to-do planters, mostly
emigrants from North Carolina and Georgia. The politics
of this county previous to the war was strongly
Whig, and secession was bitterly opposed ; but after the
war commenced the young men volunteered freely in
the Confederate army. A small detachment of Confederate
cavalry was then stationed at and near Marianna,
about 300 men all told, residents of Jackson and adjoining
counties, and men of fine intelligence. At Marianna
was a cavalry company, commanded by Captain Chisolm;
two other companies detached from Colonel Scott s battalion
of cavalry were stationed, one under Capt. W. H.
Milton 25 miles south of Marianna, and one under Captain
Jeter 20 miles west, at Hickory hill. They were
under the command of Colonel Montgomery, once a lieu
tenant in United States army and appointed from private
life. He was a martinet with little or no experience in
the field. There was also a post hospital in charge of
Assistant Surgeon H. Robinson, C. S. A.
The scouts had often brought alarms that the Yankees
were coming from St. Andrews bay, but they generally
proved false. On this occasion, however, September
25th, Colonel Montgomery made a personal reconnaissance
and found the report well founded. He hastily re
turned to headquarters and sent out couriers to his scattered
companies, with orders to report in all haste at Marianna.
The church bells were rung, calling out all citizens
to the court house, where a meeting was held and
resolutions passed to repel the invaders. A few Con
federate soldiers, then at home on sick leave, formed a
nucleus of an organization which was at once perfected.
Grayheaded old men, boys under 16 years of age within
the town and ten miles around, regardless of previous
Union sentiment, arrived with shotguns and formed what
they themselves called * The Cradle and Grave militia
company," in all about 200, and partly mounted. They
elected Captain Norwood, a prominent Unionist, as their
captain, and reported for duty to Colonel Montgomery,
full of ardor and brave endeavor.
Two roads enter Marianna from the west in parallel
lines, one from Campbellton and the other from St.
Andrew s bay. At the point where the two roads unite
in the center of the village, forming the main street,
there was on the left an Episcopal church and cemetery,
and opposite the church a large two-story boarding-
house. Another road, diverging from the Campbellton
road, led around the town in the rear. As Colonel Montgomery
had no pickets out he did not know from which
direction the Federals would advance. He ordered his
hastily levied militia to form a line, and constructed an
abatis of old wagons and logs of wood across the street
at the junction of the Campbellton and St. Andrews roads,
forming his right at the boarding-house and his left resting
at the Episcopal church. Here the gallant men and
boys impatiently awaited the arrival of the enemy. The
Federal command consisted of a battalion of the Second
Maine cavalry under Maj. Nathan Cutler, of Augusta,
Me., and several companies of deserters, the so-called
First regiment of Florida Union troops, and two full companies
of ferocious Louisiana negroes, in all about 600,
under the command of Brigadier- General Ashboth.
About two o clock in the day the advanced pickets of
the enemy made their appearance on the edge of the
town, from the Campbell ton road. It was then too late to
draw in Colonel Montgomery s straggling line, so fire
was opened upon the pickets about 200 yards in front of
our men, under which the Federal advance made a hasty
retreat, inspiring the little Spartan band of defenders
with hope of victory. But presently the main body made
its appearance and General Ashboth detached a part of
his command to flank the village, and advanced the main
body directly toward the church. An indiscriminate firing
began from the Confederate front and rear, the old men
and beardless boys fighting like enraged lions, disputing
every inch of ground. The contest was fierce and deadly
for half an hour, when General Ashboth ordered the
church, boarding-house and a private residence opposite
burned. The militia kept their ground manfully between
the two walls of flames. In the meantime the Federal
flanking party gained the rear of the militia and com
menced an indiscriminate slaughter, giving no quarter to
any one. The negro companies in particular acted in the
most fiendish manner. Old men and boys who offered to
surrender were driven into the flames of the burning
buildings ; young lads who laid down their arms were
cut to pieces; others picked up bodily by stalwart negro
soldiers and thrown into the seething, burning church.
The charred remains of several of the half-grown boys
were afterward found in the ruins of the church. Colonel
Montgomery and his staff made a very precipitate
retreat toward the Chipola river, the eastern boundary of
the village, leaving the men to fight it out the best they
could. The colonel was unhorsed and captured, and the
staff made their way across the river in safety. The
Confederates scattered in every direction, every man for
himself, pursued by the Maine cavalry who kept up a
steady fire upon them. The casualties on the Federal
side were Captain Adams and i o men of the Second Maine
cavalry, killed. General Ashboth and Maj. N. Cutler
were seriously wounded, and about 25 enlisted men
wounded. The loss on our side was about 60 killed,
burned and wounded. About 50 of the Confederates succeeded
in crossing the Chipola river and tore up the
bridge. Captain Miller, quartermaster, and Dr. Robin
son, post surgeon, made attempts to reform the scattered
command, and held them together until late in the evening,
when they were reinforced by the arrival of Captain
Milton with 75 mounted men. The whole fight lasted
about an hour. With the retreat of the Confederates
across the river, the town was in full possession of the
Federals. General Ashboth and Major Cutler were carried
to a private house, where their wounds were dressed.
A council of war was held by the Federal officers, who
concluded that in consequence of the wounded condition
of their general they would return to Pensacola with
their prisoners, contraband and plunder. About mid
night General Ashboth was carried off in a carriage.
Major Cutler and the other wounded were left behind,
and the town evacuated. The several companies of Con
federate cavalry who had been previously sent for made
their appearance on the east side of the river, anticipating
and hoping for a renewal of hostilities next morning.
By dawn their scouts were sent in town and learned of
its evacuation by the enemy.
It was deemed advisable not to attempt a pursuit until
stronger reinforcements that were looked for from Tallahassee
should arrive, but to take possession of the town and await
results. The prisoners carried off by the Federals
were most of them old men and boys who had surrendered,
also a number of non-combatants, in all about 100 men.
They were sent to northern prisons, principally
Elmira, N. Y. About 40 of these unfortunates survived
the rigor of the climate and the painful experience
of prison life and returned to their homes so enfeebled in
health and broken-hearted that most of them were soon
released from a life of suffering before the year expired,
and but few are living to tell the tale of their sufferings.
On the arrival of Col. G. W. Scott with a battalion the
day following, an attempt at pursuit was made, but the
enemy had 24 hours start and the desperate Confederates
failed to overtake them. The day after the fight, Marianna
presented a pitiable sight. The dead and wounded
lay all about, and the wails and cries of mothers, wives and
sisters could be heard in every direction. Women and
children searched for father, son or brother in the ashes
of the burnt buildings. Here and there a charred thigh
or ghastly skull was disinterred from the debris. Eventually
some sort of order was evolved from the chaos.
The dead were buried, the wounded citizens taken to
their homes or those of friends, and the Federal wounded
to the military hospital. While this skirmish was a de
feat to the people of Marianna, it in reality resulted in a
victory. The objective point of General Ashboth s expedition
was to capture Tallahassee, the capital of the State,
and as the resistance made at Marianna frustrated his object
and compelled his hasty retreat to Pensacola, his
success was barren.
The foregoing account of this cruel raid was given by
the post surgeon, an eye-witness of the horrors of the invasion
and the atrocities that were perpetrated. |
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