Reminder of Civil War wall

In 1864, the Union Army occupying Jacksonville built a wall around the city, in anticipation of a Confederate siege that never came.

That wall was later largely forgotten, since it was long ago dismantled and covered by the streets and buildings of a growing city. But it stretched from McCoys Creek on the west to Hogans Creek on the east, taking in much of the small city of Jacksonville, roughly covering today's downtown.

On Thursday a visible reminder of those Civil War fortifications was unveiled in LaVilla — a historical plaque marking the believed location of Fort Hatch, which stood just outside the wall, guarding the western entry gate into the city.

It's due to the work of the Cowford Archaeological Research Society, an all-volunteer group, mostly amateurs, which took clues from an 1864 map showing the location of Fort Hatch. In 2013, with the permission of Lee & Cates Glass, they began digging in the company's grass and gravel parking facing the 800 block of West Adams Street. 

At about three feet, under layers of more modern things, diggers found a Union soldier's uniform button, intact glass bottles used for medicines, a fancy crystal handle and nice ceramic pieces that might have been used by officers. Then, a crucial find: the casing for a bullet for a Spencer rifle, which was used by Union troops. A short while later, they found a metal rod with a circular handle, thought to be used to clean the fuse hole of a cannon.

The plaque notes that Fort Hatch, named after Union Gen. John P. Hatch, was one of nine gun batteries erected to protect the city. Soldiers from the 54th Massachusetts Infantry — the African-American regiment whose story was told in the movie "Glory" — were among those manning the fort.

The wall was built during the Union's fourth occupation of the city, after the Union defeat at the Battle of Olustee, as Northern soldiers anticipated the South taking the fight to Jacksonville.

Gunboats patrolled the St. Johns River to protect from attack from the other direction.

Joel McEachin, the city's historic preservation planner, said the wall was built of sharpened logs, placed vertically, along with a 12-foot-deep moat and pits for riflemen. Troops also put tangled telegraph wires in front of the wall to stymie a cavalry attack.

McEachin said the Union had 12,000 troops behind the wall, including six regiments of black troops, while the Confederates had about 8,000 men at Camp Milton, some dozen miles west.

George Burns and Dean M. Sais from the Cowford archaeological group spoke at a presentation of the Fort Hatch plaque Thursday, telling how it was one of nine fortified spots in the long wall protecting the young city of Jacksonville. They said they'd like to pinpoint each spot and put plaques there, but digging would be difficult if not impossible at many of the developed downtown sites.

Excavating for new construction, though, can turn up new finds: They said Civil War artifacts were found as the Fresh Market on Riverside Avenue went up. That was probably the site of what was called Fort Foster. Other items were unearthed recently just across from the Lee & Cates parking lot, where an apartment complex is being built, which was most likely part of Fort Hatch.

Burns is a registered professional archaeologist, with a master's degree in the field from Colorado State. Sais has worked for decades as a contract archaeologist, and has a business selling tools of the trade. They and numerous volunteers worked for five months at the site, and combined with the Jacksonville Historical Site to get the plaque put up.

Burns said the Cowford group had a booth at the 2015 One Spark festival and asked 1,000 people if they knew of the wall that once went around the city. "Mostly what we got were funny looks and questions," he said.

The plaque could begin to bring some awareness of it though, he said: "It's a forgotten part of our city's history, and now it's here for everybody to see."

Matt Soergel: (904) 359-4082