St. Augustine in the American Civil War
The city's historic (and endangered) Sea Wall was built in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s by West Point engineers who went on to design military fortifications for both sides in the Civil War.
After the assault on Harper's Ferry by abolitionist John Brown in 1859, St. Augustine Examiner owner Matthias Andreu devised the motto "Equality in the Union and Nothing Else", feeding a sense of mistrust towards the federal government that the paper promised could lead to war between the states.
The lone United States army sergeant guarding the fort gave the Southerners the keys after demanding, and receiving, a receipt from the Confederacy.
[2] When news reached St. Augustine on January 12, 1861, that Florida had seceded, the city celebrated with ceremonial flag raisings, church bells, and musket volleys, followed that night by torchlight parade and bonfires.
These ships included the Garibaldi, the St. Mary's, and the Jefferson Davis, which had captured several prizes until it ran aground in St. Augustine Harbor in mid-August, 1861.
After the war began, he crossed over to Mexico where he raised the 1st Texas Cavalry (USA), served as its colonel, and was later promoted to Brigadier General of U.S.
[16] Confederate general Robert E. Lee, well familiar with the area after having charted the coastline years before, said that the city "serves only as an invitation for an attack".
A heavy presence of U.S. Army forces would remain through Reconstruction and until the end of the Spanish–American War, always as an important part of the local economy and social life.
The Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers' historian said that living in St. Augustine was good for the health of his fellow soldiers, and regretted when ordered to leave the city.
[18] Among the interesting Union soldiers to serve in St. Augustine were Joseph Hawley, later governor and senator from Connecticut, Francis Wayland Parker, pioneer of progressive education in the United States, Joseph C. Abbott, later senator from North Carolina, and Anthony Comstock,[19] who became one of the nation's most notorious bookburner and anti-pornography crusader.
[citation needed] Thanks to the general deprivations of war as well as, specifically, the Union blockade, many of St. Augustine's citizens suffered from a lack of food and some were on the verge of starvation.
After the arrival of the Union army, even Confederate sympathizers, including Mrs. Joseph Lee Smith, mother of General Kirby-Smith, traded with the Federals for food.
In the Flagler era, two prominent Union generals, John McAllister Schofield and Martin D. Hardin retired, sequentially, to the same house at 20 Valencia Street.
[23] He is buried at the U.S. National Cemetery on Marine Street under a large cross, and a marker on the La Leche Chapel on the grounds of the Mission of Nombre de Dios notes that the building was restored in General Hardin's honor by his widow.
