This Biography written and donated by Vincent Draa

Moses Blackwelder in the Civil War

Moses Blackwelder, my great great great grandfather, served with the First Florida Cavalry Regiment from his enlistment in October 1861 until his capture at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee in November 1863. He spent the remainder of the war at the Union prison located at Johnson’s Island in Lake Erie off the coast of Sandusky, Ohio. He was released in June 1865 and returned home to Lake City. He died in 1881 and was buried in the Blackwelder/Little Springs Cemetery in Worthington Springs. Subsequently his grave was relocated to New Zion Cemetery (between Lake Butler and Lulu), along with the graves of 15 other civil war veterans.

Before the War

Moses Blackwelder was born in Catawba County, North Carolina in 1831. He moved to Lake City with his family before 1850. Moses worked as a farmer and a miller. He stood 5’10" tall and had sandy hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion. He married Mary Ann Lastinger in 1850. By 1860, they had 7 children: Rubin (1851) Martin Van Buren (1852) Moses (1854) July Ann (1856) Matilda (1858) Betsy Ann (1859) Sarah Carolina (1860)
1861-1862
Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861. No one knows precisely what motivated Moses to join the army—he wasn’t a slave owner at any rate—but in October 1861 he kissed Mary (who was six months pregnant with their eighth child) and the children goodbye and rode his horse a few miles east of Lake City to Sanderson to enlist in the army.
On October 18, 1861 he was enrolled by Captain Harvey as a second sergeant in what was to become Co.D, First Florida Cavalry. As was the norm in the Confederate Army, cavalrymen supplied their own horses and equipment. Moses’s horse was valued at 350 dollars and his equipment at 50 dollars . His brother, David, served in Company C.
The regiment served in Florida until April 1862, when it was transferred first to Corinth, Mississippi then to East Tennessee. Moses was elected 3rd Lieutenant in May 1862 and promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in August 1862. As the army needed more infantrymen than cavalry, Companies D-K voluntarily gave up their horses and served on foot after May 13th 1862.
The First Florida Cavalry served primarily in garrison duty in Chattanooga and East Tennessee until they participated in General Braxton Bragg’s autumn 1862 invasion of Kentucky. They finally “saw the elephant” at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky on October 8. Bragg retreated after this battle, and Moses found himself back in East Tennessee.
He was on detached duty as an officer of the police guard in Knoxville from December 10, 1862 to April 11, 1863.

Battle of Chickamauga

Moses Blackwelder commanded Company D during this battle as the First Florida was engaged in combat on September 19, 1863 at Viniard Farm (in the southern portion of the battlefield) and on September 20 at Horseshoe Ridge/Snodgrass Hill (in the north central portion of the battlefield).
Held in reserve most of the second day of the battle, the First Florida Cavalry saw action late in the afternoon during the fierce struggle for the Horseshoe Ridge/Snodgrass Hill area and incurred casualties of 1 killed and 9 wounded. As noted by its commander, Col. G. Troup Maxwell, the regiment narrowly avoided being sent on a suicide charge up Horseshoe Ridge:
“I . . .was met by a storm of balls from the rifles of the enemy, who was strongly posted behind breastworks upon the crest of a hill . . .[General Gracie] first directed me to take the hill, but upon my suggestion that it was hardly possible for my small regiment to do what his large brigade had failed to accomplish, he ordered me to remain where I was . . .”

Missionary Ridge

Following the Confederate victory at Chickamauga, Moses continued to serve with his unit in the area during the siege of Chattanooga until the siege was broken at the battle of Missionary Ridge on 25 November 1863.
Washington Ives wrote home on December 4, 1863 to describe the Floridians’ role in the Battle of Missionary Ridge:
“The First Cav. 4th and 7th Inf. were on picket from the Florida Brigade and not having been relieved on the 25th they formed skirmishers and were left down in the ditches rifle pits. . .which lay at the foot of the ridge and other about 100 yards up the ridge and between the ridge and the army. As the Yankees had been short of wood for several days and had cut everything inside of their lines, we were afforded a fair view of all of their movements. . .[A]bout 8 o’clock the Yankees began the engagement. . . [A]bout 3 or 4 p.m. . . . the troops in the ditches to the right of the Fla. Brig. gave way. . .allowing the enemy to follow them partly up and getting higher up the . . .ridge than the Floridians . . .the ridge was so long and steep and as all the underbrush and trees had been cut down for firewood, our boys afforded fair marks for the Yanks . . .the 1st Reg’t Cav., had about 200 in the fight and brought out 33.”
On December 8, 1863, Washington Ives wrote his mother concerning the escape of some of the Floridians captured at Missionary Ridge along with Moses Blackwelder:
“Lt. Williams, P. Roberts Co. D 4th Fla and Knight 1st dismounted cavalry [Editor’s Note: Lt.Daniel Knight was in Co. C. His records indicate he was captured 2 more times following Missionary Ridge] arrived in camp day before yesterday [and reported]: [T]he Yanks ordered him (with the other Confederates) to the rear and he soon found himself under a Yankee guard and was made to double quick to Chattanooga 2 1/2 miles distant. . . the officers are tolerating well getting hard bread bacon beef and beef soup as rations they are confined apart from and not allowed to speak to the privates after having everything resembling uniforms taken away . . .the prisoners destination was [the Union prison camp at] Johnson’s Island Mich {sic}.”
Johnson’s Island, Ohio
The prison’s stockade was a four-sided area of approximately 16 acres with a 15 foot high wooden fence surrounding it. At the base of the fence was a ditch to prevent tunneling, since the ditch reached bare limestone. Inside the stockade were 13 two-story prisoner barracks or “blocks”, each roughly 25 by 125 feet. Twelve blocks were barracks and the thirteenth was the hospital. There was a yard down the center and behind each block was a sink or privy which was always foul due to poor drainage of the soil over the limestone shelf. The hastily built barracks were constructed of green lumber which shrank leaving many gaps. Prisoners knocked out knots and cut additional holes for ventilation.
The refreshing lake breezes so valued in summer became brutal as the bay froze in winter and a layer of insulating newspaper was used to ease the numbing cold. Each block had a kitchen at one end with a small cast iron stove where the prisoners cooked and laundered when water was available and the pumps were not frozen. Because of the number of prisoners in each block the mess process continued all day. An unappetizing menu of salt fish or pickled beef in a stew with rice and beans was the standard fare.
Outside the stockade wall were some 40 buildings for the operation of the prison. Barracks for the officers and their families, enlisted men’s housing, a stone powder magazine and two block houses were built in addition to the parade grounds and various barns and horse stables.
Moses Blackwelder arrived at Johnson’s Island on December 7, 1863. His initial experiences and impressions were probably much like those of his fellow inmate, Col. D.R. Hundley:
“Thursday, June 23, 1864. UPON reaching Sandusky this afternoon, we were immediately marched on board the steamer Princess, which plies regularly between Sandusky and Johnson’s Island. The sun shone brightly, the lake was scarcely ruffled by a breath of wind, and . . . I had a splendid view of my present residence before reaching it. I can say with truth that distance lent an enchantment to the view, which my closer acquaintance with the island, although as yet but a few hours old, has totally dispelled. Upon landing, we were marched immediately to Colonel Hill’s quarters, in two separate squads the officers from the Virginia army in one, and those from the army of Johnston in another. We were then divested of our money, and our names and rank and date of capture being taken down carefully in a book, we bade adieu to the outer world; the gate to the prison-yard swung open; we entered, our guards still on either side of us, and beheld some thousand or fifteen hundred brother rebels formed in line on either side of the walk over which we were soon to be conducted, many of them bawling out lustily, “Fresh fish!” It was a strange, sad sight, that crowd of badly-dressed, yellow-looking gentlemen, shouting out the slang salutation of convicts and felons to their unfortunate comrades, fresh from those fields of glory and noble daring on which most of themselves had played at one time no mean part. But I am in no humor to-night for moralizing”.
Moses Blackwelder was assigned to Block 5.

Prison Life: In the words of the inmates

Set forth below are descriptions of various aspects of life in prison taken from diaries and memoirs of the inmates.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 1864. The great excitement to-day has been about the match game of base-ball between the Southron and the Confederate base-ball clubs, the former having for their colors white shirts, and the latter red shirts. The game was very spirited nine innings and was won by the white shirts. During the progress of the game, nearly all the prisoners looked on with eager interest, and bets were made freely among those who had the necessary cash, and who were given to such practices; and very soon the crowd was pretty equally divided between the partisans of the white shirts and those of the red shirts, and a real rebel yell went up from the one side or the other at every success of their chosen colors. [Editor’s Note: Other amusements included organized snowball fights, cricket, chess, foreign language studies and arts and crafts]
The rations upon which life was maintained for the latter months of my imprisonment were distributed every day at noon, and were as follows: To each prisoner one-half loaf of hard bread, and a piece of salt pork, in size not sufficient for an ordinary meal. In taste the latter was almost nauseating, but it was devoured because there was no choice other than to eat it, or endure the tortures of prolonged starvation.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1864. Last night I had occasion to step out just before the bugle sounded the tattoo, and I was no little diverted at a novel scene which met my gaze.. .I chanced to look down the row of buildings, and, behold! at least twenty prisoners were out, deployed as skirmishers, and armed with clubs, making a general hunt! It was the Rat Club engaged in securing their meat for to-morrow’s dinner! I could not but laugh, and yet really this spectacle ought not to incline one to mirth. It is true these gentle men make light of the extremes to which they have been reduced, but, alas! what a commentary is this upon the boasted civilization of the nineteenth century!
The winters in the latitude of Johnson’s Island were doubly severe to men born and raised in the Southern States. Moreover, the prisoners possessed neither clothing nor blankets intended for such weather as we experienced. During the winter of 1863-64, I was confined in one room with seventy other Confederates. The building was not ceiled, but simply weather-boarded. It afforded most inadequate protection against the cold or snow, which at times beat in upon my bunk with pitiless severity. The room was provided with one antiquated stove to preserve 70 men from intense suffering when the thermometer stood at fifteen and twenty degrees below zero. The fuel given us was frequently insufficient, and in our desperation, we burned every available chair or box, and even parts of our bunks found their way into the stove. During this time of horrors, some of us maintained life by forming a circle and dancing with the energy of despair.
SATURDAY, September 24, 1864. The wreck made by last night’s storm presented a sad spectacle this morning. The roofs of three blocks [Editor’s Note: This included Block 5, in which Moses lived] are blown off, besides a portion of the roofing to the hospital, and nearly all of the west wall of the prison-fence was prostrated on the ground, and the new dining-hall was nearly careened over on its side, to say nothing of the damage done to the buildings outside the prison enclosure. Had the prisoners made a bold attempt early in the morning, the island could have been captured in ten minutes.

After the War

The war ended in April 1865, and was released from Johnson’s Island on June 12, following his taking of the oath of allegiance to the United States on June 12, 1865. It is unknown how he made his way back some 1,000 miles to Lake City, but it must not have been an easy trip.
Moses and Mary started right back up after the war where they left off before Moses joined the First Florida Cavalry Regiment—having more babies.
In addition to William Aaron, who was born in January 1862, their post-war offspring include: Paul Elias (1866) Mary Jane (1869) Emily Penina (1871) John Guilford (1873) Florence Francis Elendor (1875). Sometime after the birth of Florence and before 1880, they moved to Palestine in Bradford (now Union) County.
Mary Blackwelder, surely worn down by having 13 children over a 24 year period and the stress of raising 8 children single handedly while Moses was in the army, died May 17, 1879. She was 45 years old. Moses, whose year and a half at Johnson’s Island could not have been beneficial to his health, outlived Mary by less than 2 years. He died at the age of 49 on May 5, 1881.