Page 111 - a-history-of-columbia-county-florida-(1996)-edward-f-keuchel

A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 100/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida
battle developed during this third occupation of Jacksonville, and
Federal forces withdrew on March 29, 1862. Burning and looting
by the Union troops accompanied the withdrawal.26
After the third occupation of Jacksonville ended, East Florida
suffered no serious invasion until early 1864. Although some
measure of danger was always present, the reduced levels of
military activity allowed some Florida troops to be shifted to the
fighting areas of Tennessee. Among the units preparing to leave
East Florida in the summer of 1863 was an artillery battery
known as “Dunham’s Light Artillery.” This unit was raised in
Apalachicola in 1861 by Joseph L. Dunham of Apalachicola, who
was elected captain. Henry F. Abel and Simon K. Bull, also of
Apalachicola, were elected lieutenants. In the spring of 1862 the
battery was ordered to East Florida and took part in the fighting
at St. Johns Bluff and other engagements during the first three
occupations of Jacksonville.27
As Dunham’s battery boarded the train to Lake City enroute to
their new assignment in Tennessee in the summer of 1863, a most
tragic incident took place. James M. Dancy of Apalachicola, the
son-in-law of Florida territorial governor Robert R. Reid, served in
Dunham’s battery and later related the incident. As the train load
of troops stopped at White House Station, some twelve miles west
of Jacksonville, enroute to Lake City, an area planter by the name
of Pickett appeared at the officers’ car and insisted on boarding the
train. Lieutenant Bull told Pickett that it was against orders for a
civilian to ride on a military train. Pickett got on anyway and
Lieutenant Bull ordered a guard to put him off. The train con­
tinued on to Lake City where the troops were to spend the night.
Pickett obtained a fast horse from his stable and rode into Lake
City.28 *
pp. 74-75; Davis, History of Jacksonville, pp. 128-29.
27 Robertson, Soldiers of Florida, pp. 303-07.
28James M. Dancy, "Reminiscences of the Civil War,” Florida Historical
Quarterly 37 (July, 1958), pp. 71-72.
98

www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: 02905885-C4E0-4A35-9DAE-804ED8349EC9