compiled by David Flint
During the Civil War, Stephentown resident Charles F. Chapel was a Landsman, a seaman recruit, aboard the USS Wabash, Flagship of Admiral Samuel F. du Pont, Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Flagship Wabash March the 30, 1862
Dear Brother
Having a few lessur moments I thought I would write a few lines to you in answer to yours of the 25th and was happy to hear from you and that you were all well and doing well. Well we have been to the coast of Florida. They showed no fight to speak of. The fighting men all left when they saw the old Wabash. I was ashore at Mosquito Inlet. We went in with a flag of truce and took off (the bodies of ?) Captains of gun boats that was kild there. It is a nice place there. The trees hang full of oranges but they were not good to eat not being ripe. I was ashore in Augustine. It is a nice place. There is some pretty Spanish girls there. I think we will go and settle there when the war is over. I thought we were coming home but it don’t look much like it. We look in three months (?)- it will be May or June before we start. I can’t think of anything more to write about so good by. Take care of yourself and excuse my bad writing. I am getting stubbeled up like a woodchuck. Give love to all.
Yours,
Charles F Chapel
Confederate forces abandoned the Castillo de San Marcos, also known as Fort Marion at St. Augustine, Florida, on March 10, 1862 after spotting the approach of the Wabash the previous day. Following is a report from DuPont dated March 13, 1862: “ I dispatched her (the USS Huron) off St. Augustine, where I followed her, arriving on the 11th. I immediately sent on shore Commander C. R. P. Rogers, with a flag of truce, having reason to believe that, if there were any people on this coast likely to remain in their houses, it would be at St. Augustine…The American flag is flying once more over that old city, raised by the hands of its own people, who resisted the appeals, threats and falsehoods of their leaders, though compelled to witness the carrying off of their sons in the ranks of the flying enemy. This gives us possession of a second National fort of strength and importance.”
Mosquito Inlet, now known as Ponce de Leon Inlet near New Smyrna Beach, is 62 miles south of St. Augustine. During the Civil War it was an important port for Confederate blockade runners to export cotton and bring in arms and supplies from Cuba and the Bahamas. In March of 1862 Confederate forces attacked gun boats dispatched from blockading ships under duPont’s command, killing seven Union marines including two gunboat captains. The next day a landing party from the Wabash were able to retrieve the bodies of the two captains under a flag of truce.
