The Battle of Marianna, Florida

Asboth pushed into Jackson County
on the morning of September 26th,
his men continuing to raid farms and
homes along their route as they went.

Passing through the Galilee
Community, south of Graceville, they
struck the home of Nelson Watford,
taking meat from the smokehouse,
fodder for their horses, and even
digging up and pouring out the
family's large barrel of molasses.
Other soldiers carried out similar
destruction as far north as
present-day Graceville, where one
Union soldier fell sick and was left in
the care of a local family.

This activity quickly alarmed the
countryside and Captain Alexander
Godwin, the local home guard
commander, ordered out his small
cavalry company and rode off to meet
the raiders.

Godwin's company had organized the
previous spring and counted 25 or 30
members from throughout Northwest
Jackson County. Their strength could
have been a little higher that day
because other men volunteered at the
first sign of danger and fought
alongside the Campbellton men.

Since Asboth's appearance took the
county by surprise, it is probable that
Godwin had no idea he would soon
be facing a strong column of Union
cavalrymen. He and his men simply
turned out at the first sign of danger
and rushed to the protection of their
neighbors.

Exactly what happened in or near
Campbellton that afternoon is still a
bit of a mystery.

Asboth made no mention of the affair in his
official report, but did note that as he
marched from the Choctawatchee to
Marianna, "rebel troops were constantly in
close vicinity of my column, with frequent
skirmishes with my vanguard." One of
those skirmishes, undoubtedly, involved
Captain Godwin's Campbellton Cavalry.

Whatever happened, the Campbellton men
were quickly in full retreat. At least two men
were captured by the Federals on the 27th -
William Clayton and Sgt. Charles Tipton of
the 11th Florida Infantry. Tipton, it turns out,
was a neighbor of William A. Abercrombie,
a member of Godwin's company, and
being home on leave at the time of the raid
probably turned out with his neighbors.
William Clayton was among the known
members of Godwin's unit.

A Union clerk also listed Capt. W.B. Jones
and several of his men from Washington
County as having been captured on the
26th, but this was in error as other
documents show they were taken near
Vernon on the 28th.

Capt. Henry B. Grace
(pictured above) was one of
the men for whom the
modern Jackson County city
of Graceville was named.
When Asboth's raiders
arrived at his home, the
captain was in Georgia
fighting Sherman's army. His
daughter and father-in-law
were home, however, and
spent a difficult afternoon
dealing with their unwanted
guests. A day later they were
visited again, this time by
men in gray who they
assumed to be Confederate
soldiers. In reality, these men
were Federals also. Lt. Col.
Spurling and his detachment,
still disguised in Confederate
uniforms, were trying to catch
up with Asboth's main
column. They left a record of
their visit to the Grace home,
reporting that they, "fared
sumptuously, men and
horses, the captain's
daughter and father-in-law
vying in their attentions to
their guests."