Florida SCV 3d Brigade
Programs

There are a number of sites in the 3d Bde area of Florida that are of significance to the history of the area during the period of the War of Northern Agression. One, Fort Ward at St. Marks, is better known for its days as Spain's Fort San Marcos de Apalachee, but the site now lies more as the Confederacy left it than as it was in the days of Spanish possession of Florida or General Andrew Jackson's taking of it for the United States. Part of the site of the Battle of Natural Bridge is probably the best known site related to the Confederacy in the area. Both of these sites are state parks and are open to the public on a regular basis. Other sites are unmarked and are completely unknown not only to the general public, but also to the Florida Secretary of State's Master Site File. While the Master Site File is replete with locations of sites related to the Spanish period, there is a definate paucity of Confederate sites. The following list is a first step towards establishing such an inventory and securing markers for these sites:

* Confederate Cemetery, Quincy (Gadsden County) - This site is actually a small plot enclosed by an iron fence inside a historic cemetery on the right side of U.S. Highway 90 as it enters the town of Quincy. There are no grave stones and no list of interments is known to exist, though it may be possible to create an approximate list from the Compiled Confederate Service Records. However, it has already been discovered that this may be a dauntingly huge task. Records of units such as the 64th Georgia Volunteer Infantry which were quartered in the area for a time could be expected to yield likely candidates, such as Richard White's great great granduncle Private James Autry of Company G, who died at Quincy on 20 May 1863. But would one expect to find Sergeant John Haire of the 29th Georgia Cavalry Battalion at Quincy? After he was wounded at the Battle of Chatanooga, John Haire was sent to the Confederate Hospital in Quincy for a time. Fortunately, he recovered. But his stay there indicates that casualties from any part of the Confederacy may have been sent to recuperate at Quincy, and if that is so... some of them probably died and are buried in the nearby cemetery.

* Confederate Hospital, Quincy - The Confederate hospital building in Quincy fronts on U.S. Highway 90 a block or two west of the cemetery. It is now occupied by a library.

* Confederate Hospital (?), Tallahassee - Rumor says that a home at 805 Miccosukee Road, or perhaps a previous building on the same foundation, was once a Doctor's home and office and was used to treat Confederate soldiers.

* Camp Cobb, near Quincy in Gadsden County - (location not currently known)

* Camp Leon, Leon County - This Confederate bivouac was located on both sides of the Woodville Highway not far south of Capital Circle. This is near the former location of Buff Cobb's gun shop, and is located on property of the St. Joe Paper Company and possibly in the Apalachicola National Forest.

* Old Fort, Old Fort Drive, Tallahassee - The "Old Fort" earthworks in Tallahassee isn't terribly impressive, but it does have historical marker signs, which puts it far above most Confederate sites in the area. Generations of children have played on its banks and the only "preservation" it seems to have enjoyed is a sort of benign neglect.

* Camp Randolph, Wakulla - This Confederate bivouac was located at Wakulla in Wakulla County. It's approximate location is within the forks in the branch of SR267 west of Wakulla Springs at the Bloxham Cutoff.

* Camp Sidney Johnston - This Confederate Camp was in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Shell Point Road and the road to Newport, in Wakulla County.

* Camp Simpkins, Wakulla County - This Confederate Camp was situated on the St. Marks River approximately mid-way between Newport and St. Marks.

* Miscellaneous other sites integral to Confederate coastal defenses in the area included: West Goose Creek, Shell Point, Dickerson Bay, Mashes Point, Roberts Landing, Newport, Port Leon, and the St. Marks Lighthouse. How is this known? Easy: Col. Carraway Smith was the commander of elements of the 2d Florida Cavalry in these parts. A map of the area which was presented to him by Captain George W. Scott, of the 2d Florida Cavalry, shows these features as well as including a table showing distances from Oil Still (a point on the Tallahassee - St. Marks railroad near present day Crawfordville) to each. Thanks to Mike Begley, Commander of Wakulla Guards Camp 742, for making this map available, and thanks too, to Allan Gerrell, Jr.

This is probably still not an exhaustive list. Information regarding additional sites is welcomed.

If you are planning to clean ancestoral or other historic grave stones (or heirloom quilts for that matter), use Orvus, a mild detergent (sodium laurel sulfate) produced by Proctor and Gamble for animal care and available at farm supply and feed stores. I picked up a 7 1/2 pound plastic bottle of Orvus paste at Gramlings in Tallahassee at the price of $18.99. For instructions on non-destructive use of this product in cleaning grave stones, read the recommendations from John R. Dennis, Dallas Musem of Art Conservation Laboratory, to the Texas Historical Foundation (near the bottom of the linked page).