The Battle of Marianna, Florida

Turning inland on the morning of
September 20, 1864, Asboth's men
pushed up the old Ridge Road
through heavy downpours. In fact, it
would rain continually for the next
several days. The soldiers reached
the Shoal River area on the morning
of the 22nd, rounding up cattle and
taking a few prisoners (men home on
leave from their regular units). No
fighting seems to have taken place.

By the night of the 22nd, Asboth had
pushed as far east as the modern city
of Defuniak Springs. That railroad
town had not yet been established
and the area was generally
characterized by rolling hills and cattle
farms. The raiders camped for the
night near Lake Defuniak, learning at
some point that a small force of
Confederate cavalry was camped -
unawares - just a few miles away at
Eucheeanna Courthouse.

Getting the jump on his enemy,
Asboth moved out early on the
morning of the 23rd and covered the
three miles between his Lake
Defuniak campsite and Eucheeanna
before sunrise. They quickly located
the small Confederate camp and Lt.
Col. Andrew Spurling and troopers
from the 2nd Maine Cavalry swept in
on the unsuspecting Southerners at
daybreak.

There are several different accounts
of the skirmish, but all agree that it
wasn't much of a fight. Asboth
reported the capture of nine prisoners
of war, including Lt. Francis Gordon of
Company I, 15th Confederate Cavalry
and five of his men. The other four
prisoners were members of Captain
Robert Chisolm's (Chisholm's)
company of Alabama cavalry, then
stationed at Marianna. The Federals
also took six "political" prisoners at
Eucheeanna, but these seem to have
been released.

A few of the Confederate cavalrymen
managed to escape and concern
grew that they might alarm the
countryside. Asboth sent Lt. Col.
Spurling to find them:

It being feared that they would arouse the
country and trouble our progress,
Lieut.-Col. Spurling, accompanied by Lieut.
Jones of Company D, Sergt. Butler,
Company B, Second Maine Cavalry, and
ten men, all disguised in rebel uniforms,
left the main body for the purpose of
securing them.

This was dangerous business. If captured
in Confederate uniforms, Spurling and his
men could expect immediate execution.
They went as far north as Geneva,
Alabama, and followed the path of the main
column until the 28th, but never came up
with the missing Confederates.

Asboth's men inflicted severe damage on
the farms around Eucheeanna. Every
usable item was taken or destroyed. Food
and livestock was confiscated. Weapons
were seized. Wagons and carts were
taken. The Emancipation Proclamation
was also enforced with regard to slaves
discovered on local farms by the Federal
troops.

Asboth also ordered the destruction of any
boats found on the Choctawhatchee River
and then pushed north to Cerrogordo in
Holmes County, where he crossed the river
on the 25th and began his final advance on
Marianna.

Although alerted that a raiding party was
active in Walton County, Montgomery and
his men at Marianna had no idea that they
had crossed the Choctawhatchee.

A party of escapees from the
infamous Confederate prison
camp at Andersonville (Camp
Sumter) passed through
Walton County a few weeks
after Asboth's raid. They
reported that the Federals
had destroyed everything that
would float in the area, but
that a local resident -
Thomas Reddick - took pity
on them and produced a
small skiff and some oars
that they used to paddle out
to the Union blockade ships.
Reddick was far from being a
Union sympathizer, but told
the escapees that, "I have a
heart."