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ELLIS
FAIRBANKS DAVIS - 1813-1885
His
participation in
The
Battle of Marianna, 27 September, 1864 and Imprisonment at Elmira Prison, NY
by
Betty
L. Norem
©1998
My
maternal great, great grandfather, Ellis Fairbanks Davis, was born in
Pascagoula, Jackson County, MS about 1813-14 (his exact birth date is unknown).
He was about 12 years old when he moved to the Marianna, Jackson County, Florida
area with his father, mother and siblings, from Pascagoula. His parents, John
Walter and Rebecca (Harvey) Davis, had moved to Mississippi from Effingham
County, Georgia in December 1809, and then moved the family again about 1822 to
Jackson County, Florida. On Nov 10, 1824, Walter was listed as one of the
signers of a Petition to Congress by the Citizens of Jackson County, Florida,
which states that most of the signers had moved to Jackson County in the early
part of 1822. He was also listed on the property tax records of Jackson County,
Florida in 1825. In 1827 Walter and his son, John Davis, bought land in Jackson
County, FL located on the east side of where the town of Marianna now stands(3).
Walter was listed as the Head of Household on the 1830 Federal Census of Jackson
Co., FL., but had moved to Franklin County by February 12,1832 where he was
appointed as one of two Justices of the Peace by the Governor. This is the last
record on which he was listed, and his wife, Rebecca, was listed as Head of
Household on the 1840 St Joseph, Calhoun Co., Fl Census, so evidently Walter
died sometime in the 1830's. By 1850 his widow had married a man named Devaughn
and was again a widow living in the home of her son, John Davis, in Marianna.
Ellis moved back to Jackson County in the early 1850s, where he resided for the
remainder of his life.
Ellis
was about 51 years old on 27 September 1864 when the Battle of Marianna took
place during the Civil War. He had already lost one young son to the War. Walter
B., 18 years old, enlisted on 20 March 1862, as a Private in Captain Richard L.
Smith's Company, Cavalry, Marianna Dragoons. (This company was organized about
15 March 1862, and served as an independent company until assigned as Company B,
15th Regiment, Confederate Cavalry, about 24 Sept. 1863.) Walter was signed in,
mustered and inspected in Jackson County, Florida, by Col. J. J. Finley, 6th
Fla. Regiment, for a period of three years or the duration of the war. He
furnished his own horse, valued at $200, and his equipment, valued at $30. This
third son of Ellis F. and Ruth Davis, was to serve only a little over three
months before he died of disease (not named) at Camp Jackson on 28 June 1862.
His father filed a Claim of Deceased Officers and Soldiers from Arkansas and
Florida for settlement in the Office of the Confederate States Auditor for the
War Department, on 24 August 1863. The document does not state how much the
settlement was for.
Another
son, William E. ( "Will" ), not yet 21 years old, enlisted in the
Confederate Army on Aug. 11, 1862, at Merrill's Bridge, Marianna , Fla. He was
signed up by Lt. Joseph C. Dykes for the duration of the war. He was a Pvt. in
Capt. W. J. Robinson's Co. A, 11th Fla. Infantry. Sometime in late September,
1864, during a skirmish at Turkey Ridge between Petersburg and Richmond, Va., he
received a gun shot wound to his left hip. He was admitted to the General
Hospital, Howard's Grove, Richmond, Va. on Oct. 4, 1864, for medical treatment,
(at about the same time that his father, Ellis, was being imprisoned at Ft.
Barrancas in Pensacola). He was released on a 60 day furlough on Oct. 11, 1864,
and he went home to Sink Creek, a few miles south of Marianna, Fla., and was
there when the war ended and was
marked AWOL. He states in his applications for a veteran's pension in 1909 that
he was unable to return to his unit because of the bad conditions of the
railroad, and was advised in December, 1864, when his furlough was up, by Gen.
A. B. Montgomery, Commander of the military Headquarters of the district between
the Apalachicola and Choctawhatchee Rivers, that he should go home and await
further orders from Capt. Robinson, his Company Commander.
He states that he "never received any further orders from said
Captain or anyone else at any time thereafter." He finally received
approval for his pension in 1913, but only after successive applications and
numerous affadavits attempting to prove that he was not a deserter. He died on
16 March 1919 of cancer.
One
can only imagine the state of mind that Ellis was in when he answered the call
to arms in defense of his home and family, after loosing one son and not knowing
whether or not another was dead or alive in the fighting in Virginia. Left at
home was Laura, 19, John Ellis, 17, Martin, 14 (who was to become my Great
grandfather), Frank, 11, and Ellen, 7, with no mother to care for them in his
absence. His first wife, Ruth, had died in 1853, probably at the birth of Frank
in March, or shortly thereafter. He had married again almost a year later on 2
February 1854, to Elizabeth, daughter of widow, Abigail Brickhouse. She gave him
another daughter, Frances Elexena (called Ellen), born 20 October 1857.
Elizabeth died in 1862, leaving all of the children completely motherless. So it
must have been with very mixed emotions that Ellis left his children at home
alone while he took his old squirrel rifle and answered the call, which had gone
out over the county, for all able-bodied men and boys to report to Marianna to
help defend the town from the eminent raid of Federal soldiers. His brother,
Joseph, and his family, lived fairly close by, so we can assume that he helped
to look out for Ellis' children in the absence of their father.
The
following account of the battle is an excerpt from The History of Jackson
County, and gives a much better account than this author is capable of.
The
Battle of Marianna
The
Battle of Marianna was the most tragic event in the history of Jackson County,
as it is the most memorable. It was not, however, an engagement of great
historic importance, but it was a typical example of the indomitable spirit of
the South, which, in face of almost insurmount-able odds, had sustained the
Confederacy
through the years of the Civil War.
The
Federal raid on Marianna did not come as a surprise, but had been anticipated
& feared by Governor Milton for many months. He had warned the Confederate
military authorities, time and time again, of the defenseless position of West
Florida - one of the chief sources of food supplies and salt remaining to the
Confederacy - which had been stripped of its military strength to bolster the
crumbling armies of Lee and Johnston.
In
1864 Marianna was the military headquarters of the district between the
Apalachicola and Choctawhatchee Rivers, under the command of Col. A. B.
Montgomery, who, before the Civil War was a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, and a
Major in the 5th Florida Infantry; wounded at Second Manassas. His
troops at, or near, Marianna, consisted of a small detachment of Confederate
Cavalry of about 300 men, recruited largely from Jackson and neighboring
counties. One company, commanded by Capt. Robert Chisholm, was stationed at
Marianna; a second company, led by Major William H. Milton, was located about 25
miles south of headquarters; and a third, under Capt. William A. Jeter, was 20
miles west at Hickory Hill. The Cavalry was used principally for patroling the
district, which was infested by deserters and frequently raided by small parties
of Federals from
patrol
boats, in an effort to destroy the salt works on the Gulf coast in the St.
Andrews Bay area of Washington County (now in Bay County).
The
Marianna raid was planned by Gen. Alexander Asboth with a definite objective in
view, as shown by the following communication:
Headquarters
District of West Florida
Barrancas,
September 12, 1364.
Major-General
Drake,
Assistant
Adjutant-General,
Department
of the Gulf:
Major:
I have the honor to report that owing to the information received and
forwarded yesterday, under No. 1045, I am to start a cavalry raid into the
northern portion of West Florida. Going up to the Santa Rosa Island and swimming
the horses across the East Pass to the mainland, I will proceed to Port
Washington, and from thence to Marianna and vicinity, returning via St. Andrews
salt works. My object is to capture the isolated rebel cavalry and infantry in
Washington and Jackson Counties, and to liberate the Union prisoners at
Marianna; to collect white and Negro recruits, and to secure as many horses and
mules as possible.
Very
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
ASBOTH,
Brigadier-General.
About
a week before Federal Gen. Alexander Asboth's raiders appeared in Marianna, news
was received at Confederate headquarters that the Federals had surprised and
captured a part of Capt. Chisholm's cavalry at Eucheeanna in Washington County,
and were advancing toward Marianna. On 26 September, the Yankees were reported
to be at Campbellton, only about 18 miles away, and the long dreaded appearance
of Federal forces in Marianna seemed only a matter of hours away. A call was
immediately sent over the county for all men able to bear arms to report to
Marianna at once. The following morning - the day of the raid - the town was
filled with volunteers, mostly old men and boys, who paraded the streets with
their squirrel guns and old rifles, anxious to fight, and each one was fully
confident that he could "lick a dozen Yankees."
Col.
Montgomery left town on the morning of September 27th with his staff
and two companies of cavalry to intercept the Union raiders, but finding the
enemy in greatly superior force, he fell back to Marianna, arriving about an
hour ahead of Asboth's mounted Infantry and cavalry. Col. Montgomery immediately
ordered his troops to retire across the Chipola river bridge to the comparative
safety of the east bank, leaving the town to be defended by the old men and boys
with their antiquated guns, to the best of their ability. This brought a storm
of criticism down on the head of the Confederate commander. Editor Edward J.
Judah, publisher of the West Florida News, wrote, a few days later, that
Montgomery's conduct was "too disgraceful for us to dwell upon."
In
the meantime the organization of the volunteer defenders of Marianna had been
hastily perfected. Capt. Jesse J. Norwood was chosen to command the volunteers,
which consisted of members of Norwood's Marianna Guard, Capt. Henry Robinson's
Greenwood Guards, and several members of Capt. A. R. Godwin's Cavalry Company at
Campbellton. The rank and file included boys under 16 & elderly men between
50 and 75 years
old,
which is the reason these volunteers were called Norwood's "Cradle to Grave
Volunteers." Capt. Norwood was a 30-year old local attorney who had earlier
served in the 5th Battalion of Florida Cavalry.
The
Federal forces consisted of three battalions - the 2nd Maine Cavalry,
Lt. Col. Spaulding in command; one battalion of the 1st Fla. Cavalry, who were
Confederate deserters, led by Major Rutkey; and two companies of Negro mounted
infantry from the 56th and 82nd Louisiana regiments. In all about 900 troops,
well armed and under the command of Gen. Asboth, a Hungarian adventurer and
soldier of fortune who had sold his sword to the Yankees.
Capt.
Norwood deployed his little army behind trees, fences and any other cover they
could find, along the road from Ely's Corner, (at Lafayette and Russ streets),
east to the Episcopal church. The Yankees came into town from the west over the
old Campbellton road and were met at Ely's Corner, with a devastating fire from
the home guards that killed one of the raiders and wounded several others,
causing the front ranks of Federals to wheel and retire in confusion. The
enemy's lines were quickly reformed, however, and led by the Union general
himself, they charged back down the road, two & three abreast, literally
running over the old men and boys, forcing the defenders to retreat to the
Episcopal church yard. Here the defenders encountered a detachment of the enemy
that had skirted the northern part of town as far as the home of Mrs. Edwin
Whitehead and then turned south to outflank the home guards. At this point, an
eye-witness related, the Union troops halted, many dismounting, and appeared to
be watching the church. Soon it was rumored the general (Asboth) had been shot,
and in a few minutes orders came to fire the church and the homes of Mrs.
Hunter
and Dr. R. A. Sanders. When the church burst into flames, men were shot down as
they came running out of the building, trying to escape the flames.
Gen.
Asboth had been shot and wounded in that first skirmish, and he was in an ugly
mood. He had been told, "there'll be no fight at Marianna; you'll be
welcomed with open arms," and here he had been painfully wounded, three of
his officers killed and there were many casualities among his troops. He not
only ordered the burning of the church, over the protest of one of his officers,
but he also ordered the town sacked and burned and permitted his blood-thirsty
Negroes to shoot and club defenseless prisoners. Someone interceded and the
order to burn the town was countermanded. Who had sufficient influence with
General Asboth to save Marianna from total destruction is not
known, but Dr. Burke said it was a Mr. Moore.
Five
of the defenders of Marianna were killed in the church yard after they had laid
down their arms, and their bodies burned beyond all recognition in the church
fire. The victims were Woodbury (Woody) Nickels, Littleton Myrick, 15th
Confederate Cavalry, John Carter, 6th Florida Infantry; Rev. Frank Allen and Dr.
M. A. Butler, both of Greenwood.
John
Davis, Sr., who was 63 years old, had joined the Volunteers in the defense of
their home town, also. He had served as the captain of a state militia company
during the Second Seminole War in 1836 and was also the original captain of the
Jackson Home Guards. He sustained a compound fracture of his thigh during the
fighting and fell on the north side of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. He was
probably treated at home and lived
another
11 years before his death on 5 Aug 1875 at 74 years old. . (This was one Ellis
F. Davis's 5 brothers - BN)
Major
Nathan Cutler, 2nd Maine Cavalry, one of the few Yankee officers with whom the
people of Marianna became friendly, told the late John H. Carter, Sr. in 1916
that the destruction of the church was "a piece of vandalism, committed by
Negro troops by order of General Asboth." The Major said he did not
remember all the circumstances as he was shot from his saddle about that time,
but he afterwards learned that an express order was given to fire the church.
Someone, he stated, from the Federal forces protested, but the command from the
same source was repeated, at which time kerosene swabs were run up the sides of
the building. The flames licked furiously upward - the whole church stood ablaze
- and soon burned to the ground. Armstrong Purdee, a Negro lawyer, born a slave,
was an eye witness and, years later, he wrote: "It was fired (the church)
on the west side, on the side of the steeple. I was about 40 steps from the
church on the south side of the road in line with it." All the records of
the church were destroyed but the Bible, which tradition credits Major Cutler
with saving, notwithstanding he was painfully wounded at the time and in no
position to do so.
The
incident which endeared Major Cutler to the people of Marianna was his clemency
to the two boys who shot him from his horse, seriously wounding him, and
resulted in his imprisonment at Andersonville, Georgia, for a time before he was
paroled. He told Mr. Carter the boys "literally peppered me with shot until
I fell from my saddle." One of the boys was Frank Baltzell, 14 years old,
Major Cutler remembered, but he could not recall the name of the other boy.
There
are no official records of the Confederate and Union casualties in the Battle of
Marianna. General Asboth's official report mentions two Union officers killed
and six wounded, namely: Capt. Young, 7th Vermont, and Lieutenant Ayer, 2nd
Maine Cavalry, killed; Majors Cutler and Hutchinson, 2nd Maine Cavalry; Captains
Stanley and Adams, Lieutenant
Moody, and Lieutenant Raleigh, his aide-de-camp, wounded.
He made no report of the killed and wounded among his troops.
Asboth's
report is a happy mixture of fact and fiction, designed to substantiate his
claim of a "brilliant victory." He referred to the rebel cavalry in
the front line and the sharp-shooters who had ambushed his troops, as a
purely fictional force, as the home guards had neither cavalry support
nor sharpshooters. The General further stated, "We captured 81 prisoners of
war, 95 stands of arms, over 200 fine horses, 400 cattle." There was
probably not a single gun used in the defense of Marianna that could be classed
as a military arm, and the number of prisoners was a gross exaggeration. Asboth
also claimed to have captured Brig-Gen. William E. Anderson of the state
militia. This was not, however, General Anderson, but an elderly man of the same
name and initials. (War Department
records show General Anderson was captured and imprisoned).
The
Federal General ended his report with the statement. "I, myself, was also
honored by the rebels with two balls; the first in the face, breaking my cheek
bone, and the second fractured my left arm in two places."
Davis Gray, a plantation owner of Greenwood, was credited with firing the
shots that wounded General Asboth. He escaped across the Chipola River.
Edward
J. Judah published in the West Florida News, October 5, 1864, a list of the
casualties of the home guards, reporting 9 killed, 16 wounded. and 54 taken
prisoner. The article also states, "The Yankee loss is estimated at about
15 killed, and 40 wounded." The Union wounded, who survived, were sent to
the prison at Andersonville, Georgia. The Federals carried away all their
wounded except six, who were treated at the Post
Hospital,
except Major Cutler and Lieutenant Adams, who were taken to the home of Thomas
M. White. The Federals left their dead unburied. (Some years ago I saw some
graves of Federal soldiers in the cemetery in the town of Marianna with no names
or inscriptions except to identify them as Yankee soldiers - evidently the
towns
people buried them after the Yankees left them behind.) (Author)
Among
the prisoners taken away by the enemy was Colonel Montgomery, commandant of the
Marianna post, who is said to have been thrown from his horse and captured while
trying to escape across the Chipola river bridge. Dr. Robinson and some others
did escape to the east bank of the river, after which the planks of the bridge
were removed. Dr. Burke wrote that Col. Montgomery "was captured at Mr.
White's residence, or was soon thereafter carried there, probably by
prearrangement." Among the other prominent prisoners taken by the Yankees,
many were paroled, some escaped, and others
were taken to Ft. Barrancas and later transferred to Federal prisons in the
North. Several died in prison while others lived to come home after the war and
start life anew.
In
addition to their prisoners and loot, the Federals carried back to Ft. Barrancas
about 400 Negro women and children. Armstrong Purdee, the 8-year-old slave boy,
was picked up by a Union cavalryman at the Waddell plantation, about 11 miles
west of Marianna, and rode into town with him. Purdee, who later became a
prominent Negro lawyer, witnessed the battle and the burning of the church and
was one of the Negroes taken back to Pensacola by the Federals. He wrote,
"The women and children were put in wagons, and the men and prisoners all
walked, until reaching Point Washington. Here the women and children were put on
a steamboat, while the men and soldiers crossed the Bluff to Ft. Barrancas and
Ft. Pickens, I being with them. My father found out where I was and came after
me. We came back by the way of Apalachicola."
The
only white man to leave Marianna voluntarily was the telegraph operator, Charlie
Philips, who had turned over to the enemy all the telegrams that had passed
between Major W. H. Milton and Tallahassee, asking for reinforcements. This
information speeded the departure of the Federals, who pulled out of Marianna
during the night, two days before Col. G. W. Scott arrived with reinforcements.
Editor
Judah, in the News on October 5, 1864, told how the noble women of Marianna
opened their homes to the wounded and administered to them "with all the
attention which can be bestowed by sleepless, untiring, ministering
angels." He reported that Mr. Adam McNealy and Mr. Solomon Sullivan were
being treated at the home of Mrs. W. J. Armistead, Sr.; Dr. A. F. Blount, at
Mrs. W. S. Wilson's; and young Payton Gwin (printer's devil), at the residence
of Mrs. Robert Johnson. Dr. Burke also spoke in the highest praise of the women
of Marianna. "Mrs. Armistead." he wrote, "threw open her house
and told me to bring in all that it would hold." and the doctor paid
tribute to her two daughters, Misses Sallie and Baker, as well as many other
young ladies who came in that night to aid in caring for the wounded.
Extreme
youth and age were equally conspicuous in the defense of Marianna. The teenagers
who shared the honors with their older comrades-in-arms were Charles Nickels,
Richard Baltzell and Robert Armistead, only 15 years old; and Frank Baltzell who
had not yet reached his 14th birthday. They were mere school boys but they
fought like veterans. Frank Baltzell was painfully wounded, taken prisoner, but
released. He is said to have gone to sleep under a bench in the courthouse where
the prisoners were confined, and was overlooked by the
Federals
in their haste to get out of town. The other boys were also taken prisoner and
carried as far as Vernon, in Washington County, where they were released. Woody
Nickels, 17, was one of the ten defenders to lose their lives when the Federals
raided their home town.
Among
the minor engagements of the Civil War there were few, if any, which surpassed
in fierceness the clash between Asboth's Federal raiders and the Home Guards at
Marianna, September 27, 1864. It was a moral, if not an actual, victory, for the
"old men and boys," as the objectives of Asboth's raid through
northwest Florida - the capture of the isolated Confederate cavalry and the
destruction of the St. Andrews salt works - were never attained because the
"rebels" at Marianna did not give up without a fight. [End of
excerpt.]
Among
the prisoners taken away by the Federal troops was my Great Great Grandfather,
Ellis Fairbanks Davis. Copies of his military papers shows the following:
"Captured at Marianna, Fla., Sept. 27, 1864, by a portion of
the
Federal Troops under command of Brig. Gen. Asboth, on the late raid into the
interior of Western Florida.
Remarks:
Member of the Legislature." (I have been unsuccessful in finding any
documentation of him being a member of the FL Legislature - however, his nephew
who was named for him, Ellis Fairbanks Davis, Jr., later became a lawyer and
member of the legislature).
Ellis
next appears on The Roll of Prisoners of War at Ft. Barrancas, Pensacola,
Florida, and "forwarded to New Orleans, LA, per Steamer "Clinton"
on Oct 8, 1864." The Roll of Prisoners of War Received at New Orleans, LA.,
shows Ellis as arriving there "during the 5 days ending Oct 10, 1864."
He appears again on the roll of prisoners at New Orleans,
who were "transferred to Ship Island, MS on Oct 20, 1864, by order
of Maj. Gen. E. R. S. Canby, and received there on Oct 21st." He next
appears on the Roll of Prisoners of War at Ship Island,
Miss.,
"sent to New York Nov. 5, 1864, by order of Capt. M. R. Marston." It
does not indicate whether the prisoners were sent by ship or train, & it is
not known just what date that Ellis arrived in New York at Elmira Prison, but
the following account of that prison, where so many of the Confederate soldiers
were confined, leaves no doubt that the next several months of his life, and
those of his fellow soldiers, must have been a
living
hell.
[End of excerpt]
Ellis
Fairbanks Davis somehow managed to survive those inhuman conditions for his 3
months of imprisonment at Elmira and was transferred for exchange on February
13, 1865. He returned to Jackson County where he resumed farming and taking care
of his family. Family traditions
says that he walked almost all the way home, and since the railroads had almost
all been destroyed by the Union, this story is probably true. Ellis lived
another 20 years after his ordeal, and lived to see his surviving children all
married and starting families of their own.
Will
married Delaura Pledger on Dec 24, 1867, and they had 4 sons and 1 daughter.
Martin
married Lovest (Lovey) Syrena Cooper on 15 April 1871, and they had 6 sons and 2
daughters, including Mary Ann Elizabeth, who would later become my Grandmother
Faircloth.
John
Ellis married Sara Porter about 1875, and they had 7 sons and 4 daughters.
Ellen
married Warren Frederick Laramore
on 25 May 1876, and they had 3 sons and 3 daughters.
Frank
married Josephine Nixon on 3 Feb.
1877, and they had 9 sons and 3 daughters.
Laura
married last, when she was 35 years old, on 28 Feb. 1880, to Jack Tanner. Being
the eldest living child and a daughter, it most likely fell to her to see all of
her brothers and one sister through their childhood and into adulthood. At this
point in time, I have no further information on her, and do not know if she ever
had children of her own.
Ellis
died on Oct. 10, 1885. At this time, his burial place remains unknown, but he
may be buried in the Pledger Cemetary in Marianna where several of his
descendants are buried.
====================================================
Footnotes:
(1)
Before the Civil War, Col. Montgomery was a lieutenant in the U. S. Army; was a
major in 5th Florida Infantry; wounded at Second Manassas.
(2)
These companies were detached from Col. George W. Scott's 5th Florida Battalion
Cavalry, including Companies I, G. and E.
(3)
War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Vol. Part
2.
(4)
From letter of Dr. Burke now in possession of Mrs. Ella Lewis Pierce, Marianna.
(5)
Col. Montgomery's decision was undoubtedly sound from a military standpoint
(6)
Capt. Henry Robinson was H.
Robinson, surgeon at Marianna post.
(7)
Runnymede Hotel, originally the Baltzell hospital, stands on Ely's
corner at Lafayette and Russ streets.
(8)
Asboth reported officially "
... all my troops, except the repulsed battalion, reportedly of the 2nd Maine
Cavalry, behaved with utmost gallantry."
(9)
From information furnished W. H. Milton by Armstrong Purdee, a Negro lawyer and
eye-witness of burning of Episcopal church.
(10)Woody
Nickels was the 17-year-old son of William Nickels, an alleged Unionist, as
was John T. Myrick, father of Littleton Myrick. Myrick was sheriff of Jackson
County (1845-7). State Senator (1854-1856). a Whig, he later joined the
"Know-Nothing" party.
(11)
Dr. Henry Robinson married Margaret A. Dickson of Greenwood in 1865; moved to
Jacksonville where he became a prominent banker, serving as president of the
Commercial Bank for 30 years. In Dr. Webster Merritt's history, "A Century
in Medicine," Dr. Henry Robinson is referred to as one of the prominent
"Builders of Jacksonville," who were members of the medical
profession.
(12)
War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Vol. 25, Part
1.
(13)
William E. Anderson served as Brigadier General of Florida Militia [date of
commencement or terrnination unknown]; was elected Captain of Co. H, 11th
Florida Infantry, March 17, 1863; resigned Nov. 27, 1863; private in Marianna
Home Guards and captured at Marianna Sept.27, 1864; imprisoned at New Orleans,
Ft. Lafayette, N. Y. Harbor, and Ft. Warren, Mass; released June 26. 1865, on
taking oath of allegiance to U. S.
(Letter
dated June 24, 1936, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D. C.)
(14)
Davis Gray of Greenwood is credited with firing the shots that wounded Asboth.
(15)
Dr. Robinson wrote in 1916 that Col. Montgomery's loyalty could not be
questioned.
(16)
Charlie Philips was telegraph operator who left Marianna with the Federals.
(17)
Mrs. Wilson was wife of Dr. W. S. Wilson and daughter of Judge Jacob Robinson.
(18)
Dr. Burke married Elmira McNealy, whom he met while treating her father, Adam
McNealy; they moved to Texas and were pioneers of Texarkana, Texas.
(19)
Frank BaltzeIl is said to have gone to sleep under a bench in the courthous
where the prisoners were confined, and was overlooked by the Federals in their
haste to get out of town.
(20)
Robinson's praise of Major Cutler did not please some members of the UDC and he
was asked to eliminate it from his history of the Marianna raid.
(21)
Downloaded from the Civil War BBS - posted by David Cole & Steve Bowers.
====================================================
Roster
of participants sent to Elmira Prison in New York: (Data & names in Italics
are from the book The West Florida War by Dale Cox)
Blarney,
John J. was a member of the legislature and was captured at Marianna 9/26/64. He
died of pneumonia 12/15/64 at Elmira prison and was buried in the prison
cemetery, grave # 1216.8
Blaney,
John. Fifty years old, Blaney was captured during the fighting and imprisoned at
New Orleans, Ship Island and Elmira. He died at the latter place on December 15,
1864, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Bush,
Albert G. Forty-nine years old, Bush was captured during the fighting and
imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship island and Elmira. He returned home to his farm
after the war. Bush, Allen Henry. Fifty-five years old, Bush was the local
circuit judge and had been a practicing Marianna attorney since the early
1840's. Imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and Elmira, he returned home
after the war and resumed his law practice. Judge Bush was delegated to the
ill-fated state constitutional convention on October 25, 1865, and was listed a
year later as being friendly to the Carpetbaggers then controlling local
politics.
Davis,
Ellis F. (b. 1814 MS; m. [1st]; m. Elizabeth Brickhouse 2/2/54 [2nd]) came to
Jackson Co. in the 1840s and was a successful farmer before the war. He was a
member of the legislature during the war and was captured 9/26/64 at Marianna as
a member of this company. He was sent to New Orleans then Ship Island prison
then onto Elmira prison where he arrived in November 1864. He was transferred
for exchange 2/13/65 and returned to Jackson County where he resumed farming.
According to an ancestor, Ellis had at least nine children by his two wives. One
of his sons, Walter B., served in Captain Smith's Cavalry Company and died of
disease 6/28/62.
Davis,
Ellis. A local farmer, Davis was captured during the fighting and imprisoned at
New Orleans, Ship Island and Elmira. Paroled from Elmira during early 1865, he
evidently returned home.
Everett,
Miles. Captured during the fighting, Everett was imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship
Island and Elmira. He was released from the latter place on March 2, 1865 and
hospitalized in Richmond, Virginia, until the 14th of May, when he was
furloughed and allowed to return home.
Harrison,
Samuel was captured 9/27/64 at Marianna and released on oath 5/29/65 at Elmira
prison. He was 5' 7", blue eyes, auburn hair, fair skin.
Hentz,Thaddeus
W. Gamble's Light Artillery. The 30-year old dentist was also a member of a
company of state artillery reservists. Suffering the loss of a finger during the
fighting, he was captured and imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and
Elmira. Hospitalized during his stay at Elmira, he was released on March 2,
1865. Again hospitalized at a Confederate hospital in Richmond, Virginia, until
March 14, 1865, he returned home and resumed his dentistry practice.
Justus,
J. B. was a Revolutionary War and War of 1812 veteran. He was a member of the
legislature and was captured at Marianna 9/27/64. He was sent to Elmira prison
then transferred for exchange 2/20/65. He was hospitalized in Richmond then
furloughed 3/16/65. Sometimes called "Captain" Justiss, the volunteer
was captured during the fighting and imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and
Elmira. He was exchanged during March of 1865 and hospitalized at Howard's Grove
Hospital in Richmond for two weeks before being released on March 15, 1865.
McBright,
Israel does not appear on any rolls but was released on oath 5/29/65 from Elmira
prison. He was 5'7", blue eyes, dark hair, fair skin. Background unknown,
McBright identified himself as a member of Norwood's company and was imprisoned
at New Orleans, Ship Island and probably Elmira. His name does not appear on
Asboth's p.o.w. list, but does appear on subsequent Northern prison records.
Fate unknown.
Merritt,
Alexander S. was captured defending Marianna 9/27/64 and paroled at Elmira
prison 12/12/64. He was 5'9", dark eyes, black hair, fair skin. He was
believed to have been a Unionist. A 32-year old local merchant, Merritt was
captured during the fighting and imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and
Elmira. He was released from Elmira on December 12,1864, and returned home.
Morning,
E. W. was a member of the legislature and was captured defending Marianna
9/27/64. He was sent to Fort Columbus prison and was released from prison after
the war. Mooring, Edwin W. Thirty-six years old, Mooring was a local merchant
and whiskey distiller. Captured, he was imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship island
and Elmira. At the latter facility he was listed as an "adjutant."
Eventually released, he returned home after the war.
Myrick,
J. F., Sr. was captured defending Marianna 9/27/64 and released on oath 5/29/65
from Elmira prison.
Myrick,
John T., Jr. was captured defending Marianna 9/27/64. He was believed to have
been a Unionist.
Myrick,
J. T., Jr. Sixteen years old, Myrick was captured during the fighting and
imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and Elmira. Released from the latter
place on May 29,1865, he returned home. A bitter advocate of Reconstruction,
despite his father's Unionist attitudes, he was convicted in October, 1869, for
killing local black leader Matt Nichols, his wife and son. He was also charged
with assault and battery in connection with another crime and accused of
ambushing a party of freed slaves near Blue Spring. He fled the county and
eventually showed up in Texas.
O'Neal,
James was a member of the legislature. He was captured defending Marianna
9/27/64 and died of pneumonia 3/5/65 at Elmira prison. He was buried in the
prison cemetery, grave #2387.
O'Neal,
James (Daniel). Fifty-one years old, O'Neal was captured during the fighting
imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and Elmira. Listed "too sick"
to be paroled on February 13, 1865, he died on the 5th of March at Elmira and
was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Pittman,
Frederick R. A private in the 11th Florida Infantry, Plttman was home on leave
and volunteered for service. Fifty- one years old, he was captured during the
battle and imprisoned at New Orleans, Ship Island and Elmira. The former Whig
politician was released from the latter establishment on December 12, 1864.
Roulhac,
James B. was a member of the legislature and was captured defending Marianna
9/27/64. He was paroled 12/12/64 at Elmira priosn and was 5'9.5", grey
eyes, dark hair, light skin, residence: Marianna.
Tucker,
Charles lived in Quincy and was a member of the legislature. He was captured
defending Marianna 9/27/64. He died of diarrhoea 12/11/64 at Elmira prison and
was buried in the prison cemetery, grave 1107.18
Tucker,
Charles (of Quincy). Captured during the fighting and imprisoned at New Orleans,
Ship island and Elmira, he died at the latter place on December 11, 1864, and
was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.
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