Battle of Marianna, page three

The morning of September 27, 1864, dawned clear and sunny after several days
of rain. The men and boys of the community were summoned to an impromptu
meeting at the courthouse, as volunteers and reservists flooded in from the
countryside. Valuables were hidden away for safe-keeping and many non-
combatants fled the city. Some are said to have hidden in area caves.

Asboth continued his advance on Marianna early that morning, pushing southeast
along the Campbellton road through the large plantations of western Jackson
County. His movements were watched by Confederate scouts, who by now were
aware that they were facing a force much larger than their own.

The first known confrontation between the two forces took places at Hopkins
Branch, a small sluggish stream about three miles northwest of Marianna,
somewhere around mid-morning. Exactly what happened is unknown, but
Montgomery appears to have taken advantage of the thick tree cover along the
branch to resist the Federal advance.

Armstrong Purdee, an eight-year-old child who had been liberated from slavery at
the nearby Waddell plantation, later remembered witnessing the encounter at
Hopkins Branch from the back of a Union soldier’s horse. He described how the
soldiers spread out from the road and charged through the thick woods, jumping
their horses over fallen trees and logs. Purdee also remembered seeing Union
soldiers fire their “little short guns” (i.e. carbines) at Hopkins Branch.

Montgomery and his outnumbered Confederates soon withdrew, but one Union
cavalryman remembered that they kept up a “sharp skirmish” with the Federals as
they approached Marianna.

Somewhere just west of town, the Confederate cavalry broke contact with Asboth’s
column and reentered Marianna via a little known northern bypass. Actually not
much more than a logging trail, this road broke away from the main Campbellton
Road just west of town and followed the route of today’s Kelson Avenue as far as
Caledonia Street, where it turned south and rejoined the main road. Montgomery
and one or two of his offers remained outside of town to see what the Federals
would do as they approached.

When the Confederate cavalry returned to Marianna, they joined with the local
volunteers and there was a general advance to the western edge of town. Exactly
how many Confederates took part in the fight is unknown, but nearly 300 can be
identified by name. Among the units known to have been present were Captain
Robert Chisolm’s Alabama cavalry, Captain Wilson Poe’s Company C from the
1st Florida Reserves, Captain Alexander Godwin’s Campbellton Cavalry, Captain
Henry J. Robinson’s Greenwood Club Cavalry, Captain Jesse J. Norwood’s
Marianna Home Guard (dubbed the “Cradle to Grave”) and a number of
Confederate soldiers who were home on leave due to illness or wounds.

The Confederate cavalry formed a line of battle across Lafayette Street where the
St. Andrews and Campbellton Roads intersected on the western edge of town.
This area was then known as “Ely’s Corner,” and is still overlooked by the
beautiful old Ely-Criglar home today. The actual site of the battle line is paved over
at today’s intersection of Lafayette, St. Andrews and Russ Streets, adjacent to the
historic Russ home that now houses the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.

A short distance behind the Confederate cavalry, the local volunteers built a
barricade of wagons and other debris across the street. Although legend holds
that they stood their ground behind this barricade, in reality they did not. The wall
was constructed as an abatis or barrier to delay a cavalry charge down the street.
The local volunteers and home guardsmen took up positions along the sides of
the street behind fences, bushes, trees and buildings from the barricade back to
about St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

They were in this position waiting when the Federal troops reached the outskirts
of Marianna.