Gunboats Found Only Silent Guns

Confederate Brigadier General John Finegan’s battery was threatened on October 1st 1862 near Jacksonville, Florida on ST John’s Bluff.

To stop Union ships from moving up the ST Johns River, Confederate Brigadier General John Finegan placed a battery on the ST Johns Bluff near Jacksonville, Florida. Union Brigadier General John M Brannan, with about 1500 troops aboard 4 ships left from Hilton Head, South Carolina on September 30th 1862, and arrived at the mouth of the ST Johns the next day where they were joined by gunboats. In the early afternoon of October 1st 1862 Brannan began sending part of his troops ashore at Mayport Mills, and another force at Mount Pleasant Creek which was five miles behind the Confederate battery.

Finding themselves outmaneuvered the Confederates abandoned the position in the dark. When the Union gunboats arrived at the buffs on October 3rd 1862, they found the guns silent, and the Rebel gone.