A Most Severe Campaign: The 75th Ohio at the Battle of Gainesville Florida

     In August 1864, General John P. Hatch ordered an expedition from Jacksonville into the interior of Florida to wreck the Gainesville Railroad. Among the troops that participated in the expedition were roughly 200 men from the 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. These hard-fighting 11th Army Corps veterans of Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg had been sent to South Carolina in the aftermath of their terrible losses at Gettysburg to recoup. The regiment's rest period proved brief, and in early 1864 they were converted into mounted infantry and now found themselves marching through the wilds of Florida.

    After three days of marching, the 75th Ohio was brought to heel by a scratch force of Confederate cavalry and militia in the center of Gainesville, Florida. "The inhabitants generally were most intensely secesh and the fairer portion with the incomparable sneer delighted to ring in our ears what proved an unwelcome truth: that preparations were made to stop our career at Gainesville. We could not help but be aware that the chances would be heavily against us," Orderly Sergeant Joseph Harris of Co. C later recalled. After a hard fight, the 75th Ohio was ordered to charge through the enemy's lines to break out of being surrounded. " It was a terrible gauntlet to run, but the will cut the way and fortunately, but few were wounded through our ranks were terribly thinned by the horses being disabled and their riders falling into the hands of the enemy."

    All told, the regiment lost three men killed, 13 wounded, and 132 captured during this brief excursion into Florida, losses that approached from a percentage basis that which the regiment sustained at Gettysburg. Sergeant Harris' superb account of the expedition and the battle was originally published in a September 1864 edition of the Eaton Register and appears on the blog courtesy of Larry M. Strayer. 


The Battle of Gainesville, Florida was fought between 250 Federals and approximately 300 Confederates under the command of Captain J.J. Dickison, also called the "Swamp Fox of the Confederacy." The engagement occurred in what is now the center of town at intersection of Main Street and University Avenue. One does not often connect Ohio troops with military actions in Florida during the Civil War. The only other Ohio regiment that took part in any engagements in Florida was the 107th Ohio, another veteran regiment of the 11th Army Corps that was sent south after Gettysburg. 

 

Magnolia, Florida

August 30, 1864

 

          Since the regiment has been mounted, its duties have run an almost constant round of raids, scouts, and hairsbreadth escapes, but until recently good fortune favored us and although such incessant duties necessarily had their effect in wearing out the men, but few of us met with any of the casualties of the battlefield. It seems though this good fortune could not last always for in our last campaign the 75th Ohio met with a disaster that came near giving us all a trial in the hardships and miseries of a Rebel prison.

          Early on the morning of the 15th, a force of about 2,500 men including cavalry, infantry, and artillery left Baldwin, Florida under the command of Colonel William H. Noble of the 17th Connecticut for the purpose of making a raid in the southern part of Florida. The infantry consisted of four Negro regiments and five pieces of the 3rd Rhode Island Light Artillery; they took a direct road for Trail Ridge Station 15 miles away on the Gainesville Railroad while a detachment of the 75th Ohio and one piece of artillery under command of Colonel Harris made a detour towards the enemy’s line via Darly Station and thence to New River for the purpose of destroying a bridge said to be across this stream. On our arrival at the point where the road crosses the river, we found no bridge but succeeded in capturing a part of the enemy’s picket stationed here, and after destroying the ford, took a direct road for Trail Ridge where we arrived at sundown.

          Colonel Noble arrived with his force shortly afterwards. We rested there a short time while getting our suppers when Colonel Andrew Harris received orders to resume the march with his command in the direction of Gainesville. We started about dark and after a heavy night’s march through the most miserable roads arrived at Starke Station at 2:30 in the morning. Here we met two companies of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry that had arrived the preceding evening from Magnolia which added to the detachment of our regiment made a force of about 250 effective men. It was a daring act to thus venture into the very heart of the enemy’s country with such a small force, but our orders were imperative, and we could do nothing but go, trusting that all would be well in the end.

Battle of Gainesville historical marker

          We remained at Starke for four hours and destroyed a considerably amount of Rebel commissary stores and a train of some six or eight cars. The enemy was hovering around us, and we expected an attack at this place, but they did not, and at 7 a.m. we resumed our march for Gainesville. We expected to reach there on the evening of the 16th but learning at Santa Fe River, which the direct road crossed, was unfordable, we were compelled to make a circuit of Lake Santa Fe 15 miles and with a continuous march of nearly 13 hours, we did not arrive until 5:30 a.m. on the 17th. So far, our raid had proved very successful for in addition to the property we destroyed at Starke, we had captured some 60-70 horses and mules, destroyed about 300 bales of cotton, and 200 contrabands had eagerly bundled up their effects and voluntarily followed us in a strike for the land of freedom.

          We were now in the thickest-settled and most fertile portion of Florida. The inhabitants generally were most intensely secesh and the fairer portion with the incomparable sneer delighted to ring in our ears what proved an unwelcome truth: that preparations were made to stop our career at Gainesville. We could not help but be aware that the chances would be heavily against us. A short distance from town our advanced encountered about 70 of the enemy and a brisk skirmish ensued, but with a charge from our men, they gave way and shortly after with caution, suspicious that a trap was laid that boded no good for us, we took quiet possession of the place. Pickets were immediately thrown out on all sides and as our horses were greatly in need of feed, orders were given to feed them.

Captain Henry L. Morey, Co. K
75th O.V.I.

We were about to proceed to get breakfast when Captain Henry L. Morey of Co. K, in charge of the picket line and rear guard, reported that a large force of the enemy was advancing on the same road we had come. This alarm had hardly been given when the pickets were attacked on the railroad north of town and a piece of artillery opened on us. The pickets were soon driven in and with a yell the enemy was advancing on a charge. In less time that it takes to relate this, the 75th Ohio was in front, the two companies of the 4th Massachusetts in reserve and the piece of artillery in the front and center of the detachment of our regiment. The charge was met with a volley from our line and after a fierce contest for a few moments, the enemy was beaten back through a shower of grape and canister.

But a large force was discovered moving on our left and rear which made it necessary to take the reserve to protect this point. Soon a fierce attack was made on this line, a running fire still being kept up in front and in the meantime, sharpshooters were playing on both flanks which made us painfully aware that we were surrounded. A portion of our front line had to be thrown out to protect our flanks, which made our lines looks fearfully thin compared to the overwhelming force from every side. With the forces so arranged, a running fire consisting mostly of sharpshooting was kept up on both sides for over two hours, during which time our artillery had lent material aid in keeping the enemy back by its shower of grape, shell, and canister thrown into their ranks. The enemy had three pieces, two of which kept up a constant fire upon us; the other piece was dismounted at the second shot from our gun. Up to this time, comparatively few of our men had been killed or wounded on account of the protection we had from the houses, but the shelter we could not get for our horses, and they were unmercifully slaughtered by the concentrated fire of the enemy.

About 9 a.m. there was a lull in the battle. The enemy had become deadly silent, and we knew this silence boded no good for us. Our piece had fired its last shot, every horse attached to the caisson was disabled, as also were about a quarter of the horses of our force. The stern fact now began to stare us in the face that our only alternatives were to surrender or cut our way through their lines. The Colonel chose the latter. The order was given to fall in which was accomplished as well as possible under the circumstances as a great many were dismounted and we nerved ourselves for the fearful charge. In the meantime, the enemy gathered his forces in our front for the final charge, and the withdrawal of our force was the signal for its opening. So with a deafening yell, they were coming.

This was an opportune moment for us to charge through their rear line and the order was given. But here an unfortunate circumstance occurred which added greatly to our misfortunes and in the capture of a larger number of prisoners that would otherwise have been taken. The object was to cut our way out by the Waldo road north of town, having come in on the southeast, but in the confusion of the moment, the piece of artillery started on a road leading south and was followed by part of our force. Thus, we became divided but with a moment’s thought and with a few additional men that could be gathered on the spur of the moment, the colonel dashed after the piece with the determination of saving it if possible. By the time it was turned in the right direction, the other part of our force had charged through the enemy’s line, but they were forming again to meet us and the charging force from our former front were also at this time pressing fearfully close. About 100 men were now left under Colonel Harris to defend the piece, but with the irresistible force of desperation, we made the arc of a circle around the Waldo road, cutting through a line in front and with a countercharge beating back the line advancing from our right. It was a terrible gauntlet to run, but the will cut the way and fortunately, but few were wounded through our ranks were terribly thinned by the horses being disabled and their riders falling into the hands of the enemy.

Our charge confused the enemy, and we gained some distance, but it seems they were determined to have our piece and soon were on us again. For two miles we made a desperate defense of the gun, but the horses attached to it gave out and the enemy came near surrounding us again; with sorrow, we were compelled to give it up. The artillery men who had done their duty nobly through the whole engagement stuck to their piece to the last and spiked the gun when it became evident it would be taken. Our force was now reduced to 50 men and our capture seemed inevitable, but with a race of about six miles we came out safe for they gave up further pursuit and we came to Magnolia undisturbed, arriving on the morning of the 18th 60 miles from Gainesville. The other part of our force under Lieutenant Colonel Morgan inadvertently got on the Lake City road and after being badly cut up, a remnant arrived about two hours later. In addition to this, a few have straggled in since, but of about 200 enlisted men and officers of the regiment who made the expedition, but 55 made their escape and are now camped on the banks of the St. John’s River at Magnolia Springs, 20 miles above Jacksonville.

Captain William J. Rannells of Co. I was among those captured during the Battle of Gainesville. This marked the second time the Ohioan had been captured during the war, the first time occurring nearly two years before during the Second Battle of Bull Run. During his second imprisonment, he was confined at both Macon and at Camp Sorghum in Columbia, South Carolina. He was not discharged from the army on July 1865. Rannells had also been wounded at Gettysburg.


Thus ended a short campaign, but the most severe in the annals of the 75th Ohio. The enemy had made every preparation to meet our  whole force by assembling all the militia in that county and by reinforcements from the St. Mary’s in front of Baldwin on the Saturday morning previous, two days before we left the latter place. From the best information we can gather, we contended with at least 1,000 men, infantry and cavalry, and the only wonder is that any of us escaped to tell the tale. As to the blame for the disaster, it is hardly worth the while to venture an opinion, but still it would not be unreasonable to assume that our commanding general had not a full knowledge of the movements of the enemy or he would not have sent a fractional part of his force against the objective point of the expedition, there to be overpowered while the main force was leisurely following in the rear and at least 25-30 miles away.

It is hardly necessary to say that our wagon train fell into the hands of the enemy and that we lost all our captured property.  The poor Negroes who were looking so eagerly forward with bright hopes of freedom were doomed to be sadly disappointed. The total loss of the regiment is three killed, 13 wounded, and 132 missing; 12 of the wounded are included in the missing, also 11 commissioned officers among whom are Lieutenant Colonel Morgan, Major Fox, and Surgeon Ingram. Co. C went into the fight with 28 men including two commissioned officers and only eight escaped.

 

Source:

Letter from Orderly Sergeant Joseph Harris, Co. C, 75th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Eaton Register (Ohio), September 1864

Comments

  1. David ColesJuly 31, 2022 at 1:41 PM

    Very interested in reading this description. My dissertation was on the last two years of the war in Florida, and included a summary of the Gainesville fight, but I had not seen this account before. Would love to know if you have come across any other sources from the 75th or 107th Ohio Regiments describing their service in Florida.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more