Page 83 - history-of-military-units-in-columbia-county-fl-(1970)-robert-gary-shields

History of Military Units in Columbia County, FL (1970) Robert Gary Shields

On the evening of Thursday, the 30 of April, various of the
friends of Watson, the white man, went to the Sheriff, as well as to
the undersigned, and most earnestly protested against the exposed
situation of the County Jail, and repeatedly asserted that some time
during that night an attempt would be made to assault the a jail,
take out the prisoners, Watson and Rees, and hang them.. These
representations were made with such earnestness, and the various and
sundry reports of threats of mob violence were so fife, that the
Sheriff at 10^15 o'clock, p.m., Thursday, April 30, after a conference
with the undersigned and other, officials upon the the subject, stated
to the undersigned, as the Post Commander at Lake City, that he
feared that he was unable to protect his prisoners from mob violence,
and formally called upon the undersigned for the assistance of the
State Troops, and asked that they guard the jail during the night.
A pre-arranged signal for the assembly of the local troops was
then givep, and within a few minutes a number of the members of
Company"H" together with the undersigned and the Battalion Sergeant-
Major, were at the Armory, and were marched at once to the County
Jail. Within some thirty minutes First Lieut. A. G. Whitie, and
some twenty of the officers and men of Company "H" the undersigned and
the non-commissioned Battalion staff, were at the jail, and between
ten-thirty and eleven o'clock an effieient guard had been established.
The Post Commander, being on the ground, assumed the command of hthe
troops present and the general direction of the disposition made,
leaving the details, however to Lt Whithie, commanding the company.
Guards were posted and pickets were stationed at suitable distances and
places, with a view to guarding all the avenues of approach to the jail,
and mantained throughout the balance of the night. T am’ glad- to say
that ' not attempt was made by any one to approach the jail, or to
create any disturbance during the night. Whether this was on account
of the troops being on duty, or hthat the alarm was groundless,
cannot, of course, be known. At five o'clock the next morning, Friday,
May 1, the Sheriff stated that he no longer felt the necessity of
the assistance of the troops, and they were thereupon withdrawn,
marched to the Armory and dismissed.
I did not deem the occasion to justify calling out Company "E"
of Live Oak. The prisoners, Watson and Rees, remained at Lake City
until last evening, when their case was transferred to Hamilton
County, and they were, by order of the Court, removed to the Duval
County Jail, at Jacksonville, In-as-much as there was a possibility
of futher service in this matter until these® prisonere were carried
out of the city, this report has been dalayed until they were
removed. I append hereto a roster of hthose participating in the
service.
In closing this report, I desire to say that £ feel expecially
gratified at the promptness and dispatch with which the troops
assembled upon the occasion referred to, and the exemplary and efficient
manner with which they discharged the duties which devolved upon them
during the night, and I desire particularyJ. to mention in this
connection, the promptness and energy of Lieuts. Withie and Helvenston
in getting their men out and at their posts of dury. The call for
assembly was sounded about 10:15p.m. , after practically all the
members of the company had ret’ired for the night, but within 15
minutes the officers and a squad of about a dozen men had reached the
Armory, had been furnished with arms and ammunition, and were on the way
to the jail. Fortunately there, was no occasion for more serious
duty than that of merely guarding the jail, but it is a source of
gratification to me to say that I fully believe, that if an emergency
had arisen, the troops present whould have been equal to it.
* Very respectfully,

A. B. SMALL
Major First Regiment Infantey
Commanding

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