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FORT TAYLOR COMMANDERS, KEY WEST, 1860-1863

John M. Brannan January, 1860 To February, 1861

William H. French February, 1861 To October, 1861

Bennett H. Hill October, 1861 To January, 1862

Joseph A. Haskin February, 1862 To April, 1862

C. G. Clark May, 1862 To November, 1862

William H. Gausler December, 1862 To February, 1863

Lewis W. Tinelli March, 1863

Tilghman H. Good April, 1863 To December, 1863

Source: USAC, Fort Taylor, January, 1860 To December, 1863.

KEY WEST GARRISON COMMANDERS

D. P. Woodbury, Brigadier General March 16, 1863 to September 13, 1864

Charles Hamilton, Col. 110th NYV September 13, 1864 to October 15, 1864

John Newton, Brigadier General October 15, 1864 to July, 1865

Garrison Life

A soldier's life in the garrison tended to be rather uneventful. Soldiers could expect the new day would be much the same as the previous day. His day began with reveille, sounded at 5:00 am by a bugler or tapped out by a drummer boy. The use of bugle calls or drum calls signalled each activity in the day's routine. For artillery troops there were more than 20 such calls. Approximately 30 minutes after reveille came the breakfast call, commonly known as "Peas on a Trencher," followed by sick call and fatigue call. Fatigue duty consisted of cleaning up the parade grounds and quarters and anything else the First Sergeant had in mind. Around 8:00 am the call for guard mounting was sounded, which signaled company inspection. Following inspection, the men were signalled to drill which usually lasted until the call for lunch was sounded. Following lunch, the men were afforded a bit of free time, followed by afternoon drill and preparations of uniforms and equipment for the evening inspection and dress parade -- the day's most impressive ceremony. Supper call came after the evening retreat exercise, followed by another roll call before the men were ordered to their quarters for the night. The final call of the day was taps, at which signal all noise and activity was to come to an end.

What free time the troops had was usually used for writing letters home to their loved ones. Among the other activities the soldiers would engage in included playing card games like poker or faro. Given that Fort Taylor was located off shore from Key West, some might try their hand at fishing.

Here's a typical menu for soldiers while serving in a fortress (source - National Park Service). At Fort Taylor, it's reasonable to assume that local fish would also be a Supper or Dinner entree.

Breakfast @ 0530	Baked Meat Hash with Onion Gravy Coffee Bread	Codfish Hash Coffee Bread
Dinner @ 1200	Vegetable Soup Baked Beans and Bacon Mashed Potatoes and bread Boiled mush with syrup	Pork and Cabbage Potatoes Rice Pudding Bread
Supper @ 1730	Stewed dried fruit Tea Bread	Boiled rice and syrup Coffee Bread

George Smith

The following was copied from Chapter 6 of the 47th PA history:

At this time, the regiment had recently left for the SC Lowcountry and would not return to Key West until later in the year.

Of those members left behind at Key West by the regiment, seven men were sick in the hospital and an additional man remained there to nurse them. Unfortunately, all eight men would succumb to typhoid and yellow fever before the 47th returned to Key West, in fact within the short period of two and one half months. One of these men was Pvt. George Smith of Company B, whose lost remains precipitated the writing of this history.

Sunday, July 6, 1862
But sadly, back at the Key West Hospital on Sunday, Pvt. George Smith of Company B died at 2 PM of "Febres Typhoide" or typhoid fever; or "Diarrhea Cholera Morbus" as listed on his mother's pension applications. He was the second to die of those left behind at Key West. His casualty sheet was certified by Surgeon W.F. McCormack and was signed by clerk Thomas W. Dalton, and his records indicated he entered the hospital at Key West on May 5 with acute dysentery, and on June 1 with chronic diarrhea.
A cryptic inscription on his records, "F.S. given Oct 14, 62", may indicate that funeral services were conducted for him on that date, since the 47th was not able to be present to honor him. George was 18 years old, 5' 9" tall with dark complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, and was a weaver from Allentown at his enlistment, but had been born in Bucks County. He had last been paid on April 30 and more than two months pay were due him when he died. It was the search for his grave that precipitated the writing of this history, as his remains and the remains of other members of the military that had been buried in the Key West Post Cemetery, were relocated to the Fort Barrancas National Cemetery on the Naval Air Station grounds in Pensacola, Florida in 1927. Pvt. Smith had been buried in grave #31 at Key West, but his present grave at Fort Barrancas is marked by a stone that lists the occupant as "Unknown", and is one of a group of 228 unknown burials that had been mishandled when removed from Key West, resulting in the loss of their identification.
George's brother Christian would join the regiment the following year, and his mother would later apply for and receive a pension the result of George's death.

Two views of the Key West Cemetery. The image on the left is the view of today. The image on the right shows the cemetery as it appeared in 1909.
RELOCATION OF KEY WEST POST CEMETERY BURIALS IN 1927 TO BARRANCAS NATIONAL CEMETERY AT PENSACOLA, FLORIDA

Investigation and Report compiled by:
Lewis G. & Janeth E. Schmidt
1464 N. 39th St.
Allentown, PA 18104-2126

In 1982, as a result of an anticipated visit to Key West, Florida, my wife Janeth and I made plans to visit the grave of her great grandfather's brother, George Smith, who died from typhoid fever at Key West on July 6, 1862, as an 18 year old private serving with the 47th Pennsylvania Regiment during the Civil War. He was buried according to family oral history in the Key West Post Cemetery, which we discovered no longer existed. Our inability to locate George's grave resulted in an intense five year research project during which we eventually identified 192 unknown dead at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, FL; and our publishing a 960 page history of the 47th Pennsylvania Regiment.

The regiment's 19 month service in Florida resulted in our publishing the four volume (six book, 4,559 pages) history of the Civil War in Florida, followed by a history of the regiment's first battle at Pocotaligo, SC. We were now involved in the Civil War in depth for 18 years and felt a need to publish a history of my great grandfather George Buchman's regiment, the 147th Pennsylvania.

After visiting Key West in 1982, and examining available records and period newspapers, it was determined that the military had abandoned the Key West Post Cemetery in 1927. A Jacksonville undertaker was engaged by the government to disinter the 468 burials in the cemetery and arrangements were made to transport them on the US tug Jenkins of the Army Quartermaster Department, to Barrancas National Cemetery at Pensacola, FL. The operation was commanded by Major Tilton of the 13th Regiment of US Coast Artillery, acting as inspector for the 4th Corps area. While sailing north from Key West to the Florida Panhandle and Pensacola on February 19, 1927, it was planned to stop at Tampa and load twenty bodies disinterred at Fort Dade, according to contemporary newspaper reports. Unfortunately, at this point in our investigation, all evidence concerning the eventual location of the bodies was missing. The Tampa newspapers recorded a storm at sea during the time period of the voyage and we speculated that the tug may have been in trouble somewhere along the Florida west coast and may have been lost at sea. Barrancas National Cemetery had no records or knowledge of the bodies being reburied in that cemetery, and had no record of George Smith. The cemetery was unaware that such a group burial had ever taken place.

While conducting our investigation in Key West, we had discovered a microfilm of the Key West New Era newspaper of September 13, 1862, in which 41 soldiers were identified as dying from yellow fever over a period of twenty days, from August 23 through September 11, 1862. Using this list to examine the files at Barrancas National Cemetery, several men on the list were identified as being buried at Barrancas. We concluded that if one of the Key West military deaths was identified at Barrancas, then all were buried there, having arrived together aboard the tug Jenkins. We spent several days reviewing the records and walking and mapping the cemetery at Barrancas to attempt to develop a burial plan for the 488 bodies. A pattern of small numbers on the back of some tombstones was noted and a plan made of these burials. Time had confused their relationship as the cemetery was filled with more recent burials, and rows between the original sections were filled with these later burials. The National Archives was contacted and arrangements made for a special microfilm of the Key West Post Cemetery records to be created. Using this record and other information that had been collected, it was possible to identify 192 of the men from the Key West Post Cemetery as being buried in a group of 228 unknown graves at Barrancas National Cemetery. They were markers. We could not prove which man was buried in which specific grave, only that these 192 men were buried in a specific group of 228 graves. This was before we became involved with personal computers, and as a result, we had 1,000 file cards spread all over the floors of our residence. The 228 unknown graves associated with this relocation are Section 17, graves 175 through 316; Section 18, graves 317 through 370; Section 20, grave 436; and Section 24, graves 371 through 375, 379 through 398, 403 through 408. Additional information uncovered in the National Archives told a sad story of incompetence on the part of those in charge of the relocation, and their subsequent reprimand by the Inspector General. Unfortunately, among other problems associated with the disinterment and relocation, the tug had left Key West with 64 unidentified bodies. When it arrived at Barrancas National Cemetery, there were at least 228 unidentified bodies on board, and another 26 that were lost to the records. Copies of our report and the records we gathered were donated to Barrancas National Cemetery and Monroe County Library in Key West, and to other interested archives and agencies.*The list of Fort Taylor's soldiers and family members buried at Barrancas National Cemetery is in the documents folder labeled "Key West Post Cemetery" filed under 'Burials'.

Walter McFarland

While in Louisiana, at the secession of that state McFarland found himself in a dilemma. State authorities demanded the surrender of the forts under his charge. The young lieutenant conceded to the demand, but refused to sign receipts for the properties, "leaving to the State the responsibility of (?) seizure of such property". Transferred to Key West, McFarland was carried on (?) Fort Taylor return as "detached," having been stationed at Fort Pickens. In February, 1862, he was considered a (?) candidate to accompany the New Orleans expedition as an engineer, but was rejected for lack of experience. He went on to win two brevets during the war. From 1866 to 1888 McFarland was extensively engaged in harbor and river work. He died while still in the service, having attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, at the age of fifty-two.

THIS PAGE IS A MAJOR DEDICATION OF MINE. WALTER MCFARLAND IS OWED MUCH FOR HIS SERVICE AND DEDICATION AT FORT TAYLOR. HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE REMAINS A MYSTERY TO ME, AND ANYONE WILLING TO VOLUNTEER TIME ON THIS SUBJECT WOULD BE MOST RESPECTED BY ME.

Ranger DJ