Natural Bridge Battlefield Preservation
I noticed this morning a blog entry on Civil War Florida concerning some recent preservation successes at Natural Bridge Battlefield. The site was listed earlier this year in CWPT’s list of most endangered battlefields. The good news, those 55 acres mentioned by the Trust have been purchased by the State and included under a program known as Florida Forever. The additional land will be added to the existing State Park. The battle, fought in March 1865, was among the largest actions in Florida during the war, and was one of the last major Confederate victories. The operation’s aim was to isolate a Confederate garrison at St. Marks, at the coast.
It has been years since I visited the site, in the mid-1990s. The park is a short trip from Tallahassee, with the closest major highway being I-10 to the north. I preferred the drive along the Coastal Highway (US 98) to the south. The unique geological (or topographical) feature, for which the site is named, is a “bridge” formed where the St. Marks River passes under a rock formation. So this isn’t just a “Civil War” site but also an interesting natural history site. Looking at recent photos of the park, it appears on site interpretation has expanded.
The threat to the site has been, as with other localities, the growth of subdivisions out from a large urban area. With the purchase by the state, it appears this endangered battlefield can be moved to the “saved” column.
UPDATE: Against my preference not to use old 35mm photos from days past, I posted a marker entry for the Battle of Natural Bridge. If anyone out there has better photos, I would be happy to post, with proper credit of course.
A few additional points about this battle.
- Federal forces were commanded by Gen. John Newton. Newton took command of I Corps on July 2 at Gettysburg (as Meade did not prefer Doubleday in that position following Reynold’s death).
- The Federal Navy, which was unable to provide the planned support for the march on St. Marks, was commanded by Commander R. W. Shufeldt, who had a rather colorful career both pre- and post- war.
- Most of the US Troops engaged were USCT – 2nd and 99th USCT.
- Brig. Gen. William Miller is listed as the commander of Confederate forces at the battle.
