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John W.Curry, was a Confederate soldier and his family provided the Confederacy with 2,000 head of cattle weekly. |
PALMETTO–April 12, 2011 will mark the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. The wave of events that the war between the states created, rippled all the way down to Manatee County. Residents were recruited into cow cavalries to round up beef for starving troops. Necessary goods and essential gunpowder were scarce and the Gamble Mansion would never be the same after a forlorn ”Frenchman“ by the name of Monsieur Banfal, rode his way down on a mule.
Because Florida offered a strategic geographical location, it was important to the North and indispensible to the South because of its supply of beef, sugar and most importantly, salt. As Federal power increased, Confederate resources diminished. The Union blockade was particularly effective because the Feds had gained control of two tactical locations, Fort Pickens in Pensacola and Fort Jefferson off of Key West. However, a few men familiar with the Manatee area continued to evade their troops.
Capt James McKay, Capt Fredrick Tresca and Capt Archibald McNeil were the first three men to provide commercially furnished transportation for cargo and passengers to the Manatee River – they were the first cattle shippers. To say that they were resentful when the blockade ended their profitable business was an understatement. They made it their mission to get back at Union troops. The first ship, the steamer Fargo, was captured on June 7, 1861 in route to Cuba. Fargo belonged to McKay, commissionary agent for this section of Florida, assigned to getting cattle and food to the Confederate army.
McKay was released only to be captured again. This time the Fargo was carrying 100 boxes of revolvers, six rifle cannons, ammunition and 21,000 stands of arms. Everything was confiscated and McKay was thrown in prison at Fort Jefferson. After five months, he somehow managed to escape.
In June of 1861, a squall came upon five recently seized ships approaching the Gulf shores off of Anna Maria and they were separated. The Confederate troops in the area were able to recapture four of the ships.
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| Cow cavalries were formed. The military would recruit settlers to drive the cattle all the way up to the Georgia line, or to the railroad which extended as far south as Cedar Key. The meat was used to feed Confederate soldiers. |
The only recorded act of treachery in Florida, according to military historian Robert E. Knowles, was right here in Tampa Bay. Records indicate that a launch was set out by the Federal ship Pursuit, anchored in Tampa Bay. Union troops went to investigate what looked like two African-American women and a white woman that were waving a white flag on the shore. As the boat got closer they could hear cries of joy screaming ”Thank God, we’re free! We’re free!“ As the men got closer, the women threw off their disguises and 100 troops attacked the Union soldiers. The Pursuit pulled up anchor and left shortly after.
The Confederate Steamer Cuba was burned by its own crew in May of 1863 when it was apprehended just south of Tampa Bay. Union troops solemnly watched as an estimated $1.2 million worth of cargo, ammunition and guns sank into the cool blue waters of the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Captain McKay had at least three more ships either captured or destroyed. McKay had been operating salt works in Tampa and along the Manatee River. Salt was extremely sought after because curing was instrumental in getting food to the now starving Confederacy in the North. The need for it became so acute that a person could avoid military service all together if they could produce 20 bushels of salt daily. One of McKay’s secret salt works on the Manatee River was destroyed during a raid on August 4, 1864 when the sugar mill in Ellenton that was providing the Confederacy with ”1,500 hogsheads of sugar“ each year was destroyed by Federal soldiers. The explosion was reportedly heard miles away. Although they spared the Gamble Mansion, it was raided for all usable materials and the only remnant of the mill was the large stone chimney that still stands today.
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| Drawing of the old sugarmill that provided the Confederacy with sugar. It was blown up by Union troops. All that remains today is one of the chimneys |
Aside from salt, the other essential commodity provided by the area was beef. Florida had become famous for the amount of free-range cattle. The Confederate troops were consuming more beef than could be provided by surrounding states.
”The cattle in Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas have all been consumed,“ In 1862, a Union naval officer wrote in a letter, ”The whole dependence of the Confederate Government to feed this Army now rests in Florida.“
Cow cavalries were formed. The military would recruit settlers to drive the cattle all the way up to the Georgia line, or to the railroad which extended as far south as Cedar Key. The Curry settlement, 30 acres that included Manatee Mineral Springs Historical Park, belonged to Capt John Curry. His son, John W. Curry, was a Confederate soldier and provided the Confederacy with 2,000 head of cattle weekly. The Union sent the Third U.S. Colored Cavalry, to stop the Curry’s from raising livestock for the Confederacy, but by that time, all the cattle were gone.
At the conclusion of the war between the states, Judah P. Benjamin who served as Secretary of the Confederacy, was making his way south in Florida disguised as a Frenchman named Monsieur Banfal. He had assumed other identities including a lone farmer looking for land to settle. He met Maj. John T. Lesley in Central Florida. Lesley and Capt. McKay led him to the Gamble Plantation where he was introduced as ”Mr. Howard“ to Capt. McNeil and his family.
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| At the conclusion of the War Between the States, Judah P. Benjamin who
served as Secretary of the Confederacy made his way south in
Florida disguised as a Frenchman named Monsieur Banfal. He hid in the Gamble Mansion until he could escape out of the country. |
It seemed the mansion harbored a lot of wanted men. Benjamin had a prize on his head amounting to $50,000. Captain Archibald McNeil, a Scotch navigator was no exception. He had become skillful at evading the blockade and was often able to bring Manatee settlers much needed goods and mail. He was also a wanted man.
Benjamin occupied a room overlooking the Manatee and was sure to keep a watchful eye out for Union Gunboats searching the shores. On one afternoon he let his guard down and a party of soliders came up to the house. While guests Mrs. James Vanderipe and Alice Bullock distracted them, Benjamin and McNeil were able to hide in the woods. As Union soldiers searched the premises, one man came within arm length of the hidden fugitives. After the close encounter, Benjamin went to live with Capt. Fred Tresca, also a skillful seaman, and resident of Manatee Village. Captain Tresca had to find a boat for Benjamin’s planned escape.
According to Joe Warner in the Singing River, Tresca purposefully sank a yawl two years prior to hide it from Union Troops. It was brought up and used to transport Tresca. They had to get him to Sarasota, where the ship was harbored. They put him in a two-wheeled cart designed for hauling beef and covered him with palm fronds. This was common at the time to keep the meat cool and bug-free. Disguised the as a hunk of beef, they made it to the ship, the Blonde.
The Blonde departed with Capt. Tresca, H.A. McLeod and Benjamin aboard. They sailed the inlets as much as possible to avoid the blockade. At Gasparilla Island Pass, a close encounter with the Union Navy occurred, but they managed to escape by hiding in the mangroves. A second close encounter occurred when a gunboat searched their vessel. Benjamin disguised himself as a cook and smeared soot on his face.
On July 7, the escapees reached Knight's Key and traded the yawl for a larger boat to reach Bimini. From there Benjamin slowly made his way to Havana, Cuba. Eventually, he arrived in England where he became a famous Barrister.
After the War Between the States, Manatee County had to transition into a new way of life. For many, it was a better way of life, one that didn’t require slavery as a means of production. Before long, farms were producing crops and cattlemen were back in business, although the amount of free-range Florida cows would never completely replenish, eventually becoming extinct.
Sources:
The Singing River by Joe Warner Copyright 1986
A Brochure of Ida’s Confederate Shrine; A Historical Monument issued by the Judah P. Benjamin Memorial Commission, 1942
Millitary and Naval History of Manatee County During the Civil War, an address given by Robert E. Knowles to the Manatee Historical Society, 1966
100 Years in Palmetto by Ruth A. Abel Copyright 1967
