General John Newton, in charge of the Department of the Gulf
In the early morning hours of May 17, 1865, off the far southwestern cape of mainland Florida, pickets stationed there by Union General John Newton intercepted a small vessel bound for Cuba. That promontory, jutting out into the Gulf of Mexico, Cape Sable. Today, the cape is preserved, not for its connection to the Civil War, but within the confines of Everglades National Park, and the critical habitat of the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow.
Lieutenant J.J. Hollis of the 2nd Florida Cavalry (USA) had been sent with a detachment to Cape Sable on May 9 with the sole purpose of “to intercept any parties who might be making their escape from the Confederacy.” The intervening days was spent in an area filled with mangroves, hardwood hammocks, and dense vegetation, a remote area of Florida even in today’s world. The intelligence gathered and shared by Union authorities in the state of Florida though would ensure their wait in this tropical location would not be in vain.
Small waterway back into the Everglades and Southwest Florida and why it was easy to disappear into (unless Union soldiers happened to be in the same vicinity)
(courtesy NPS-EVER)
Continue reading →
