The Christmas Capture of the Steamboat Bloomer

The 1862 Union Raid in Walton, Geneva, Holmes & Washington Counties

by Dale Cox

The Union raid came ashore at Four Mile Landing at today's
Freeport, Florida, on Christmas Day of 1862. 

The paddlewheel steamboat Bloomer was the object of a raid launched by the U.S. Army and Navy during Christmas week 1862.

The 130-ton sternwheel boat was built at New Albany, Indiana, in 1856, but operated on the Choctawhatchee River. She carried cargo and passengers to and from points as far up the river as Geneva, Alabama, providing transportation through Choctawhatchee Bay and Santa Rosa Sound to Pensacola.

Her owner decided not to risk his boat when the War Between the States or Civil War erupted in 1861, opting instead to rope her to the bank one-mile below Geneva.

The Bloomer's presence there soon attracted the attention of Acting Master E.D. Bruner of the U.S. Navy. He commanded the schooner USS Charlotte, which in late 1862 was stationed at East Pass near today's resort city of Destin, Florida.

East Pass near Destin, Florida, as seen on a rainy winter day.
The USS Charlotte was stationed here to prevent Southern
vessels from slipping through the Union blockade.

Bruner was debating how to capture the Bloomer when he was visited by Lt. James H. Stewart of the 91st New York Infantry. The army officer was scouting Choctawhatchee Bay with a small detachment of soldiers:

...He said he was “on a scout,” and remained with me five days, during which time we made a partial arrangement to ascend the Choctawhatchee River in company, he to furnish a detachment of soldiers and I to take the men under my command. On or about the 17th of December Lieutenant Stewart returned to East Pass with a detachment of 25 men and remained at my camp while I went to the Potomac for an extra boat, for transportation, and extra arms, etc. When I returned to the pass I received on board the schooner Charlotte Lieutenant Stewart and his command and proceeded up the bay to La Grange Bayou, 40 miles distant. I sent Master’s Mate Crissey with the Caroline in advance with orders to secure the pilot, which he had accomplished by the time we arrived. [1]

USS Charlotte sailed up to Four Mile Landing at Freeport
to put ashore the raiding party and its cannon.

The Charlotte sailed into LaGrange Bayou near present-day Freeport, Florida, on Christmas Eve of 1862. On the next morning, Christmas Day, the sailors and soldiers went ashore at Four Mile Landing. To support their movement, they also brought a boat howitzer ashore from the ship:

...I found when I arrived at the landing a number of horses and teams secured. I attached my gun to a team, loaded with provisions, and had everything ready by 3 o’clock, at which time we started. We traveled 16 miles before encamping. The next morning (Friday) at 6 o’clock we again started and traveled all day, encamping in the evening 17 miles from Geneva. At 3 o’clock p.m. I ordered a citizen volunteer to take a horse and proceed to ascertain if the route was clear before us, and also if the steamboat was afloat. Lieutenant Stewart and another person volunteered to accompany him. The scout returned in the evening and reported that everything was right and that Lieutenant Stewart had remained. [2]

The raiding party followed a road that led from Freeport up the west side of the Choctawhatchee River to Eucheeanna, then the county seat of Walton County. An unnamed correspondent from Marianna described the movement in a letter to the Montgomery Daily Mail:

Alexander L. McCaskill
State Archives of Florida.

...On Wednesday last they marched from “Four Mile Landing,” on the western boundary of Walton county, to the Court House, where they interfered with nothing; went a few miles further, arrested Hon. Mr. McCaskill, who was a member of our State Convention. [3]

The "Hon. Mr. McCaskill," seized by the raiders, was Alexander L. McCaskill. One of Walton County's delegates to the state secession convention, he was a Unionist farmer who voted against Florida's secession from the Union. His treatment at the hands of the raiders did not sit well with McCaskill,. After returning home, he enlisted in the 6th Alabama Cavalry, eventually rising to the rank of 1st lieutenant.

Lt. Stewart went aboard the idle steamboat, untied it from its moorings and floated it out to the middle of the Choctawhatchee. He and the soldier who accompanied him then added planking to the pilothouse to fortify it against small arms fire.

Acting Master Bruner reached the boat on Saturday morning, December 27, to find that it could be placed in running order within 24-hours. His men immediately went to work:

The raiding party steamed the Bloomer down the Choctawhatchee
River, passing such points as the Cowford (seen here).

...At 8 o’clock a.m. everything was reported ready, but upon getting up steam a hole was found in one of the boilers, and we were obliged to let the steam go down again in order to repair it, which took until 3 o’clock p.m., when everything being ready we started. After running two and a half days in one of the very worst rivers I have ever been in, and expecting to be fired upon at any moment, we returned safely alongside the Charlotte. [4]

The capture of the Bloomer was a remarkable exploit, but its value soon caused tension between the soldiers and sailors who took part in the adventure. The army and the navy both claimed the vessel as a prize, with Lt. Stewart going so far as to accuse Bruner of cowardice during the raid:

...During the march of 41 miles Mr. Bruner was very earnest to return, as citizens said there were several companies of rebel cavalry in the neighborhood, but my officer refused to retreat. At 23 miles from the vessel they were assured that she was sunk, and Mr. Bruner insisted upon a retreat. My officer said he would have a piece of the steamer if he had to dive for it. [5]

Bloomer, mounted cannon on her decks, and put her to use along the coast of Northwest Florida. She later took part in the burning of the village of St. Andrews (now Panama City) on St. Andrew Bay and participated in the destruction of hundreds of saltworks along the Gulf Coast.

The road used by the Union raiding party passed by the crystal
clear spring at today's Ponce de Leon Springs State Park.

A judge ultimately settled the dispute in favor of the U.S. Navy, which purchased the

The steamboat's owner never regained possession of his vessel. She sank at East Pass in June 1865, but was raised by the navy and sold to S.P. Griffin & Company of Woolsey, Florida.* The Griffin firm renamed the boat Emma and used her until 1868 when she was sold to foreign interests. Her eventual fate is unknown.

The Christmas raid of 1862 penetrated more than 50 miles of Confederate territory without the firing of a shot. Modern communities along its route include Freeport, Eucheeanna, Ponce de Leon, Barker Store, and Geneva.

The map below shows the Junction of the Choctawhatchee and Pea Rivers at Geneva, Alabama. The capture site was one mile downstream.

REFERENCES:

[1] Acting Master E.D. Bruner to Commander Alexander Gibson, U.S. Navy, commanding Frigate Potomac, January 3, 1863, ORN.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Montgomery Daily Mail, January 4, 1863.

[4] Brig. Gen. Neal Dow, U.S. Army, to Rear-Admiral David G. Farragut, U.S. Navy, January 2, 1863, ORN.