More Action at Cedar Keys, Florida-- Part 2

The USS Somerset captured the blockade runner Curlew off Atsena Otie Key in June 1862 and in October destroyed salt works on James Island near Depot Key.  Some 2,000 bushels of salt were destroyed along with the salt works.  They also captured many civilian workers, slaves and horses.

In 1868, the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company built a lumber mill on Atsena Otie Key to supply wood for its pencil factory in New Jersey.

--Old B-Runner

Battle of Cedar Key (Florida) -- Part 1: Destruction of Railroad and Harbor

Continued from October 9, 2017.

The Battle of Cedar Key 7 January 1862.

The USS Hatteras landed sailors and Marines and attacked the railhead and Station No. 4.  At first they were repulsed by a company of Florida state cavalry and local civilian workers, but they succeeded in destroying tracks, engines and buildings before returning to their ship.

Then the Hatteras boarded and either sank or burned seven blockade runners in the harbor at Depot Key and landed a small force to burn the harbor facilities.  This was a small, but important event known as the Battle of Cedar Key.

--Old B-R'er

Depot Key-- Part 5: In the Civil War

During the Civil War, Confederate agents extinguished the light at Seahorse Key and removed the sperm oil supply.

The USS Hatteras raided Cedar Keys in June 1862 and burned several ships laden with cotton and turpentine and then destroyed the railroad's rolling stock and buildings in Way Key,  Most of the Confederate troops who had been guarding the area had left for Fernandina because of an anticipated Federal attack on that place.

Cedar Key became an important source of salt for the Confederacy.  In October 1862, (see previous post) Union ships raided and destroyed 60 kettles on Salt Key capable of producing 150 bushels of salt a day.

Union forces occupied Cedar Key in 1864 and remained until the end of the war.

--Old B-Runner

Depot Key-- Part 4: Development and "Pencil" Mills

Several people received permits to settle Depot Key, Way Key and Scale Key.  Augustus Steele received a permit for Depot Key and renamed it Atsena Otie Key.  The City of Atsena Otie was chartered in 1859.  It became an important port for lumber and naval stores.

By 1850, there were two mills producing cedar "slats" for Northern pencil factories and Congress appropriated funds to build a lighthouse on Seahorse Key which was completed in 1854.

In 1860, Cedar Key became the western terminal of the Florida Rail Road connecting Fernandina on the east coast of the state.  David Levy Yulee, U.S. Senator and president of the Florida Rail Road acquired most of Way Key to house the railroad terminal facilities.

A town was platted for Way Key and the Parsons and Hale's General Store, still standing and now the Island Hotel, was built in the same year.

--Old B-R'er

Depot Key-- Part 3: End of the Second Seminole War and Open for Settlement

On October 4, 1842, a huge hurricane hit the Cedar Keys with a 27-foot surge that completely destroyed Cantonment Morgan and did much damage to Depot Key.

Colonel William J. Worth declared the Second Seminole War over in August 1842 and Depot Ket was abandoned.

In 1842, Congress enacted the Armed Occupation Act to increase white settlement in Florida as a way to force the Seminoles out.  With the military's abandonment of Depot Key, the Cedar Keys became available for settlement.

--Old B-Runner

Depot Key-- Part 2: The Second Seminole War

In 1840, General Walker Keith Armistead, who had succeeded Zachary Taylor in command of U.S. troops in the Second Seminole War, ordered the construction of a hospital on what became known as Depot Key (the place's name may reflect the establishment of a depot there by the Florida militia General Leigh Read.)

The primary U.S. Army depot in the Second Seminole War was at Palatka, Florida.  Depot Key was the headquarters of the U.S. Army in Florida, although the headquarters was wherever the commander was.

Cantonment Morgan was established on nearby Seahorse Key by 1841 and used a s a troop deployment station and holding station for Seminoles who had been captured, or who had surrendered, before they were sent west.

--Old B-Runner

Depot Key is Atsena Otie Key, Florida, Today-- Part 1: Second Seminole War

From Wikipedia.

In the last post I mentioned the Union attack on Confederate salt works at Depot Key in Florida.  Depot Key is now Atsena Otie Key and a part of the Cedar Keys area on the Gulf of Mexico southwest of Gainesville, near the state's panhandle in Levy County.  Population in 2010 was 702.

It is in a cluster of islands referred to as the Cedar Keys, the most developed one of which is Way Key.

It's being called Depot Key dates to the Second Seminole War.  During it, the U.S. Army established Fort No. 4 on the mainland by the Cedar Keys.  In 1840, General Zachary Taylor, commander of American troops in the war, requested that the Cedar Keys be reserved for military use for the duration of the war and that Seahorse Key permanently be reserved for a lighthouse.

--B-Runner

October 4, 1862: Attack on Salt Works at Depot Key, Fla.

OCTOBER 4TH, 1862:  The USS  Somerset, Lt-Cmdr. English, attacked Confederate salt works at Depot Key, Florida.  The landing party from the Somerset was augmented by a strong force from the USS Tahoma, Cmdr. John C. Howell, and the salt works were destroyed.

Salt at this time was among the most critical "strategic materials" in the Confederacy.

This action at Depot Key was one of the innumerable such landing and raiding operations all along the far-flung Confederate coastline which, often lacking dramatic appeal, nonetheless exacted ceaseless activity and untiring effort, and were instrumental in bringing the Confederacy to defeat.

--Old B-R'er