Ambush on the Waccasassa River, Florida

On 20 July 1863, a launch was dispatched at dawn from the USS Fort Henry, lying off the Cedar Keys. The boat was under the command of Chief Boatswain’s Mate Gillespie. Ordinarily, an officer would be in command of the boat, but two of Lt. Commander McCauley’s officers were down with illness, a third was taking a prize to Key West and a fourth was needed on the gunboat. The mission of this boat expedition was to pull south towards Bayport and locate and intercept any blockade runners. Gillespie was specifically ordered not to proceed up Crystal River due to the suspected presence of rebel militia. As they cruised south past the mouth of the Waccasassa River, just south of Cedar Keys, the bluejackets spotted bales of cotton floating out of the river into the bay. With visions of prize money clouding their judgment, they proceeded up the Waccasassa, hoping to capture more. As they pulled through an area where the river channel narrowed, the boat was fired upon by an ambush of as many as 50 or 60 enemy troops. Seaman Patrick Doran was hit in the neck and died instantly. Seaman John Bishop was also hit and died shortly afterward. The remaining seamen returned fire and pulled the boat back downriver out of range. As might be expected, McCauley was not at all pleased when the boat returned, indicating in his report to Adm. Bailey:

“I forbade the ascent of Crystal River, little imagining a necessity of the kind in respect to the Waccasassa.”

Seamen Doran and Bishop were buried in a small cemetery on Seahorse Key. Their graves can be viewed today when the key is open to the public the third weekend in October. A nice set of photos of the cemetery is on Flicker at: (Flicker Photos.com). Seaman Bishop's new headstone was placed in 2004 by the Friends of the Cedar Key Wildlife Refuge.

Marine Sgt. Christopher Nugent – Medal of Honor Recipient

We haven’t written much about the U.S. Marines on this blog. They certainly were an important part of the U.S. Navy in the Civil War. The Marines had been in existence since the Revolutionary War. Initially they mirrored the role of the Royal Marines in the British Navy; helping to defend the ship from enemy boarding parties, and providing shipboard security and suppressing mutiny. These two roles continued into the Civil War, but the Marines by now were beginning the transition into an amphibious landing force that could project power ashore. They were involved in numerous shore expeditionary actions, along with Navy seamen, in all of the blockading squadrons during the war.

The USS Ft. Henry, patrolling the Florida gulf coast between Tampa Bay and St. Marks, had a small detachment of U.S. Marines assigned to the ship’s complement. In early June 1863, ship’s boats from the Fort Henry captured the sloop Emma off Seahorse Key. Having need of an extra boat, Lt. Commander McCauley decided to keep the sloop instead of sending it to Key West as a prize. Marine Orderly Sgt. Christopher Nugent had the sloop repaired and fitted out to transport his marines, and on 15 June 1863, Sgt. Nugent and six marines from the Fort Henry’s guard undertook an expedition up the Crystal River. About six miles upriver, Nugent spotted a log breastworks. Landing with a party of four marines, Nugent and his men drove away the 11 Confederates manning the small fortification. Nugent was hit, but not injured, by a shot from the officer commanding the militia as they retreated. He ordered his marines to hold their fire due to the presence of a woman in the midst of the enemy troops as they retreated. The marines carried off the small arms found in the works and destroyed the other material found there which they could not remove.

After receiving McCauley’s report of these actions, Adm. Bailey of the East Gulf Squadron wrote to Sec. Welles:

“I would respectfully suggest whether the conduct of Orderly Sergeant Nugent does not bring him within that class of men who should receive the medal of honor authorized by Congress to be given to ‘such petty officers, seamen, and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by gallantry in action,’ etc.”

On 16 April 1864, Marine Sgt. Nugent was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Crystal River (now known as the “Congressional Medal of Honor”). Today is the 150^th Anniversary of his actions which earned this award. An article profiling Sgt. Nugent and his actions, written by my Ft. Henry shipmate Dave Ekardt, is on the Navy and Marine Living History "Webzine" at: http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862USMC_MoH.htm