Submitted by Phil Calandra
This article provides a much more thorough and harrowing telling of George Washington Scott's career in CSA cavalry and a good look into his personal and business life.
George's brother, John, stayed in Pennsylvania when George moved to the South for health reasons (1852). The brothers held extreme opposite positions regarding the war. This is a common story of how the morality of war and its motivations split family bonds.
After the war, the northern and southern wings of the Scott family never regained closeness. John became Republican senator in 1869 for two terms. George resumed his business and farming, became active in politics and ran for governor in 1868, being defeated by a 2 to 1 vote. In 1870, Scott moved to Savannah, Ga, where he hoped to expand into cotton and other business interests. In 1877 following financial reverses, Scott moved to Decatur, Ga, just outside Atlanta, where he amassed a fortune in phosphate fertilizer, cotton manufacturing, and real estate. By 1887, the Gossypium Phospo made by the George W. Scott Company had become one of the most noted fertilizers in the south.
Scott was a strong lifelong supporter of the Presbyterian Church. He was one of the founders of Agnes Scott Institute, that later became Agnes Scott College, a women's liberal arts college still in operation today. It was named for his mother. At seventy-four years old, he died (October 3, 1903) and the Tallahassee paper described him in an editorial as “one of Florida’s noblest sons.”
Scott joined the Tallahassee Guard as a sergeant in 1860. On March 5, 1861, a month before Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor starting the Civil War, the Tallahassee Guards were mustered into Confederate service. Scott became captain in Company D, Second Florida Cavalry. By 1863 Scott had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel and commanded “Scott’s Cavalry” of the 5th Battalion Florida Cavalry, one of the few units that operated in the backwaters and marshes of the middle and eastern districts of Florida. He is an excellent example of the minor officer, the unsung hero, who endured hardships in out-of-the-way places of the Confederacy.
By 1860, Florida's population was 140,500, and 61,750 of the total were Negro slaves. The cotton belt was the most densely populated section of the state, and Negro slaves in this area far outnumbered whites. (Source: United States Census, 1830-60). The Scott plantation was two miles south of Tallahassee consisting of 1036 acres and 60 slaves. At the end of the war, Scott and all slave holders' wealth was greatly reduced when the slaves were freed. Around 1884 or 1885 the plantation was sold to J. P. Castleman.
In an effort to increase supplies to the southern troops, Scott increased his labor force. His plantation records reveal the purchase of ten slaves during 1862, some of whom were children, for $6,100. In early 1863, he paid $1,000 for a female slave and her child. Due to the intermittent military threats from Union forces and his closeness to Tallahassee, he attempted to oversee planting and production.
While protecting the salt-works, Scott recognized salt’s business potential. Scott and a fellow officer, Captain P. B. Brokaw, chose to invest nearer home in the Newport area, about five miles north of St. Marks. They purchased large sugar boilers and several steam boilers commonly used on ships. Salt-works were highly profitable but were also in constant danger from effective hit-and-run attacks by Union forces. In early 1864, Scott estimated his share to be worth between six and eight thousand dollars.
Less than a month after Olustee, Scott wrote his wife Bettie two extensive letters. “For fear anything might happen to me I have thought it best that I should give you a statement of how my affairs are arranged.” The meticulous two-pages covered his indebtedness and a complete accounting of his various business interests, their value and money owed to him. The second letter, dated March 19, was an action plan should the Union army invade the Middle District. He said “quietly” and “without attracting attention,” be prepared to flee at a moment’s notice to South Georgia. It even detailed which horse teams were to be hitched to particular wagons, how loads were to be arranged, and how much food should be taken. Only “Aunt Gina” was to be left behind with enough food and money to watch over things while the Federals were there.
Scott’s letters are a lesson in character as they carefully pointed out to his wife the need of paying the ten per cent tax on agriculture products to the Confederate government before departing Tallahassee. His feelings were patriotic, practical and without remorse. Duty compelled him to pay his share.
He also wrote Bettie what to do if there was no invasion. He instructed that the spring planting must be completed, especially the corn crop. It was important, he wrote, that the slaves “push early and late” to ensure a good crop, and not to let the field hands “lay off for every little complaint” during the next three month cultivating season.
The next several months were very difficult for Scott and the Confederate military as their supplies, ammunition, horses and numbers were thin against the Union forces. Scott's dissatisfaction in his inability to seriously engage the Union forces was no greater than the Union commander's, as they were limited to raid and retreat. There was no Federal "invasion" as on Aug. 15 Union forces returned to the East after burning buildings and supplies. The Union general said this was "a record of raiding and not of fighting."
As the Confederate strength began to spiral down in the last months of 1864, General Beauregard and Governor Milton agreed on a new plan to defend Florida. The tactics were for Confederate forces to retreat, following a scorched earth policy, lure the Federals into the interior and stretch out their lines. During this, a newly-organized militia force would reinforce the retreating Confederate troops and counter attack.
This new plan contributed to the Confederate victory at Natural Bridge as delaying skirmishes allowed reinforcements to arrive. Scott's role in the battle was critical to victory and he was hailed as a local hero. (See M. B. Lusas's article for full battle details) The excitement of the victory was short lived as a month later, General Lee surrendered his remaining forces to General Grant. Colonel Scott surrendered his troops on May 13, and was paroled ten days later when he was reunited with his family.
The problems Scott had during the Civil War were typical of those of a thousand other officers of the Confederacy. His lines were frequently stretched beyond the breaking point and he seldom received adequate munitions or commissary supplies to prepare them for battle. Colonel Scott and his men fought loyally and diligently against overwhelming odds. Scott’s ability, poor Federal officers and the failure of the northern high command to see Florida as an important military front prevented Union success in northern Florida.
The one consolation Scott had was that he served the Confederacy in the vicinity of his home, permitting the loneliness and anxiety of a bitter Civil War to be broken by frequent letters and packages from home which assured him that his wife and children were safe.
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