The War also affected people being able to get the basic necessities of life. A shortage of iron, used to make nails and repair farm machinery, kept farmsteads, tools and fences in a state of disrepair. Fabric was in short supply, with that which was available selling at astronomical prices. One example was calico, which selling at 10 cents a yard in 1860 had risen to two hundred dollars a yard by December 1861; slaves, who had been accustomed to receiving bolts of calico as Christmas presents, became convinced that Santa Claus had been either killed or captured by the Federal blockade when they didn't receive material that year. Also, food was scarce; from 1863 until the end of the war families in Archer went hungry a good deal of the time due to poor harvests and the need to send much of the food grown to soldiers fighting out of state. Another item that was scarce was medicine.
To help reduce the negative effects of the War on the home- front several measures were undertaken. Material was spun at home using spinning wheels that had until then sat in attics as useless relics. Women formed sewing circles and knitting societies. Those wealthy enough, such as David Yulee, donated money to buy corn for the relief of soldiers' families. Medicines were made from locally found plants: crushed chinquapin leaves were used for bad burns, boiled blackberry roots treated infant cholera, and arrowroot, willow bark and quinine were used for fevers. Other medical treatments of the times were alcohol baths, morphine and iron water.
The Federal blockade and subsequent invasion of towns and plantations along the seacoasts and rivers caused many people to flee inland, which further put a strain on the area's dwindling resources. Scarlet and yellow fevers both killed numerous people during these years as well; plantation owners--usually the wife- atended to the afflicted of both races. In May 1864 David Yulee's children both had yellow fever; luckier than most they recovered and were back to normal activities by June.
Although there were no extensive Civil War engagements in Florida,
except for the Battle of Olustee, near Lake City, where the Federal
forces suffered a major loss, there were several raids into
Alachua County by Union troops in
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1864 and 1865, The first occurred in February of 1864 when Federal forces pushed south from Jacksonville into the middle of the state, with some troops reaching as far as Flemington before being driven back. Civilians in the path of the invasion evacuated their homes, burying valuables and transporting both slaves and family members to safer areas; in Archer the Yulees left their plantation, Cotton Wood, and spent several days with friends on a plantation near Ocala.
Another raid happened in August 1864, when a combined Union force of artillery and cavalry attacked Gainesville; their objectives were to capture war materials and burn the warehouses in Gainesville, and to capture David Yulee, who as president of the Florida Railroad, was at train's headquarters, which had moved to Gainesville after Fernandina was captured. The Union troops were met by J. J. Dickinson and were forced to retreat. In February 1865, the Union tried another invasion of North Central Florida and sent troops through Levy County. They reached as far east as Levyville (between Chiefland and Bronson) before being turned back by Confederate troops, local militia units and men under the command of Dickinson. A small battle was fought near Otter Creek as the Yankees waited to return to Cedar Keys. The shooting lasted for several hours until both sides pulled back, the Yankee troops in retreat and the Confederates out of ammunition. It was estimated that the Union losses were 70 killed or taken prisoner; Confederate losses were reported to be 6 killed or wounded.
Laurel Hill Cemetery reportedly holds the remains of about 20 to 30 Civil War soldiers killed in a battle somewhere near Otter Creek. The bodies were loaded onto a boxcar and taken to the first town that would allow both Union and Union Colored troops to be buried in its cemetery. The remains were interred near the front of the cemetery, which at that time faced the railroad tracks. At the time of this writing (1990) there is a plaque commemorating the spot in the cemetery.
As the Civil War drew to a close more and more deserters were
found in the area. By August 1864 it was estimated to be as many
as 500 Union sympathizers, Confederate deserters and 'layouts'
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hiding in the swamps between Cedar Keys and Archer. These brigands preyed on outlying homesteads, stealing slaves and other valuables and burning houses; on the roads they robbed mail carriers and destroyed bridges. Although local militiias and others made an effort to control these lawless bands they were largely unsuccessful and it wasn't until the end of the War that law and order returned to this part of the state,
In May 1865, one of the last events of the Civil War happend in Arther. A month after Lee surrendered his army in Virginia, a number of high ranking government officials were still trying to make their way south, carrying with them important state documents and the remains of the Confederate treasury, in hopes of eluding Federal troops and setting up a government in exile in either the Bahamas or Cuba. On May 15, a wagon train carrying about $25,OOO in gold coin--all that was left of the Treasury--and personal baggage of Jefferson Davis, crossed into Florida. They made slow progress, having to stop frequently to elude Federal patrols and bush-whackers.
Finally they arrived at Cotton Wood plantation on May 22 at which time they learned from Mrs. Yulee that Jefferson Davis had been captured near Irwinville, Georgia on May 10th. Their camp that night on the grade of the Florida Railroad was, according to one of the men there, a gloomy one. During the night they discussed what they should do. In the morning, after the bitter debating was over, the ten men that formed the wagons' guard decided to split the treasure equally among themselves after laying about a quarter of it aside for Mrs. Davis. Each man received about 400 gold sovereigns, or about $1,940. They also allotted themselves $55 each for traveling expenses and another $975 was paid out to their scout Howard, Jefferson Davis' bodyguard, Staffin, and five black servants who had traveled with the wagon train.
Mrs. Yulee tentatively agreed to hide Jefferson Davis' trunks
and bags as well as the secret government papers, She asked a
Lieutenant Purviance to help her son hide the chest where it could
not be found. Purviance later reported, "I informed her that I
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thought I could bury it in Charlie's stable; Charlie was a Cuban Poney[viz] that was kept apart from the other horses in a log cabin stable, to himself. That night, after all the people were gone to bed but Mrs. Yulee, I turned the poney out of his stable, and dug a pit in the middle of his stable, and went with the wheelbarrow to the House, and took the trunk and buried it". Two other chests and another trunk containing papers and personal items were hidden by Wickliffe, Yulee's fifteen year old son, in a cow barn that same night.
David Yulee returned home the next day and advised the wagon train's guards to seek paroles, return to their families and resume civilian life. Several of the men did just that and left the next day, getting paroled in Waldo, Baldwin or Jacksonville. One, Captain Clark, remained near Cotton Wood for about a week to make sure the Federals hadn't found their trail and were chasing them. He hid his share of the money at the end of that week and went north.
David Yulee was arrested in Gainesville a few days later. He had already made plans that should he be arrested his wife and family were to return to her father's home, that of former Governor Wickliffe of Kentucky. Also, expecting that he would be arrested soon, Yulee had ordered that the baggage be dug up and transported to Waldo, where it was entrusted to M.A. Williams, a Florida Railroad agent.
In the meantime, one of the black drivers of the treasure
train had informed the Yankees of the whereabouts of the wagons at
Cotton Wood. Captain O.E. Bryant and a detachment of Colored
Troops arrived at the plantation and asked Mrs. Yulee where the
wagons and their contents were located. After a moment's
reflection, she said that the trunks were the property of Mrs.
Davis, who was an esteemed friend and were now in Waldo in the care
of Williams. Before the troops left she delivered to Bryant
Jefferson Davis' French musket which he described as a "most
murderous weapon". The troops also confiscated three horses and
the ambulance left with the Yulees. They marched to Waldo where
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the luggage and secret Confederate papers were found and taken without incident.
Life slowly returned to normal in Archer following the War. The town was part of the Gainesville Post District during the period of martial law in 1865 and 1866. Many of the regiments in Alachua County were comprised of black troops from South Carolina. Whites feared that recently freed slaves might begin to act violently towards them while under the protection of black troops, but such was not the case. As in 1862 these fears were largely unfounded and blacks continued to act cordially towards their ex- masters. Many of the freed slaves elected to stay on or near the plantations that had been their home. Others received 80 acre homesteads when the Freedman's Bureau began distributing lands in 1866. More blacks moved into the area in 1866 and 1867 when a labor shortage caused planters to recruit workers from Georgia and South Carolina.
Civil government was reinstated in late 1865 in Alachua County. Many Federal troops left the North Florida area at that time. The result was an increase in violence towards blacks in Alachua and surrounding counties. Regulatory companies, of which the KKK is a surviving example, were formed and operated around Newnansville and the surrounding neighborhood. The regulatory companies attracted, in the words of one observer, "poor young men who had never owned a slave", but were frustrated over the South's defeat and the current hard times. Blacks were physically assaulted, killed or imprisoned over the most minor of offenses throughout all of Northern Florida; in Archer two black men who had served in the Union Army were attacked by whites and stabbed. Federal troops were ordered back into Alachua County because of the wave of violence, not leaving this time until 1868.
The railroad line was repaired by Federal troops shortly after
the War's end. By the end of 1865 regular rail traffic had resumed
through Archer. In addition the troops had strung telegraph lines
along the railroad and a telegraph key was set up in Archer,
connecting the town to the greater world outside.
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Part 1.... Part 2.... Part 3.... Part 5.... Part 6.... Part 7.... Part 8.... Archer History Page 1