From Kentucky to the Keys

An artist's illustration titled, "Fort Jefferson, on the Tortugas, the place of confinement of the assassins" featured in Harper's Weekly Magazine, August 26, 1865.

Dickinson College

A Remote Ocean Wilderness

Whoso Entereth Here Leaveth All Hopes Behind
- John Milton, Paradise Lost, Rumored inscription above prison entry gate

Located on Garden Key, roughly 70 miles away from Key West, Florida, stands the isolated military jewel of the United States fortress system– Fort Jefferson. Construction on Fort Jefferson began in 1846, when the U.S. government was amidst its program to develop the Third System of Coastal Forts. This expansive System was designed to protect U.S. coastal borders from foreign attack following the War of 1812. Other Third System forts include Fort Sumter, in South Carolina; Fort Monroe, in Virginia; Fort Pulaski, in Georgia; and Fortress Alcatraz, in California. Fort Jefferson’s location amongst the Dry Tortugas islands served an important purpose, as it allowed the U.S. military to maintain an armed presence to protect state interests and security in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, Fort Jefferson is part of Dry Tortugas National Park, a unit administered by the National Park Service.

Though Garden Key and the other Dry Tortugas islands may be surrounded by crystal-clear, turquoise waters and thriving coral reefs, life on the island was difficult. The designation “Dry” in the islands’ name, “Dry Tortugas,” was to inform sailors looking for a place to stop and reprovision that there were no fresh water sources amongst the islands. The only fresh water available was that caught in rainwater cisterns or shipped in from the mainland. The only plentiful food sources on Garden Key were those that could be caught from the ocean. The abundance of turtles, which were a major source of food for those working and imprisoned on the island, gave the islands the second part of their name, “Tortugas.” The remainder of the food rations needed on the island had to be shipped and often arrived in varying conditions.

 

Modern day aerial view of the isolated Fort Jefferson on Garden Key.

NPS/ M. Collier

Fort Jefferson was an architectural marvel. The design of the fort featured two-tiered casemates along 6 curtain walls. The shortest curtain walls were 325 ft long, while the longest were 477 ft. The fort also had corner bastions that contained gunrooms and gunpowder magazines. These design elements ensured that Fort Jefferson could fire its guns from any direction and left no areas unprotected. Each tier of casemate was designed to accommodate 150 guns, with another 150 guns placed along the top of the fort. Fort Jefferson was a beautiful but intimidating symbol of the United States’ military strength.

Made of over 16 million bricks and under construction for over 30 years, the fort was never truly finished. In fact, when it was transformed into a military prison following the start of the Civil War in 1861, Fort Jefferson was still under construction. The constant, active construction of the fort itself was an integral part of the punishment of being sentenced to confinement and hard labor in the Dry Tortugas. Military prisoners at Fort Jefferson were required to participate in the back breaking labor of expanding the fort and making repairs. These prisoners, the majority of whom were U.S. army soldiers themselves, toiled day after day under the blisteringly hot Caribbean sun. Some of those sentenced to confinement and hard labor at Fort Jefferson were forced to do so while wearing a ball and chain.

 

Court Marshall Order of Private Manlys Coleman

The National Archives

From Camp Nelson to Fort Jefferson

While Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas may seem light years away from Camp Nelson, the two sites were connected during the Civil War. Between 1865 and 1866, 17 soldiers belonging to 5 of the 15 regiments organized at Camp Nelson would be sentenced to various terms of confinement and hard labor at Fort Jefferson. 16 of these 17 men belonged to Camp Nelson’s United States Colored Troops (USCT) units. In fact, USCT soldiers represented nearly 15% of all prisoners held at Fort Jefferson between 1864 and 1865.

The most common crimes committed by U.S. Army prisoners were desertion, mutiny, or robbery. In fact, 3 men of the 116th U.S. Colored Infantry–Private Manlys Coleman, Private Dudley Simms, and Private Thomas Tompkins–were sentenced to terms at Fort Jefferson for their role in inciting a mutiny within their regiment. Mutiny amongst the USCT regiments was common, as many of these regiments were retained long after the war’s end in April, 1865. Not only were many of these USCTs being retained, they were subject to back breaking labor in Texas along the border with Mexico. These men were also often assigned to the roles that were considered too menial for white soldiers. They were subject to long stretches without pay and mistreatment at the hands of white officers, soldiers, and local citizens.

Private William Bruce, Co. K, 114 USCI, was the only man from Camp Nelson’s regiments sentenced to confinement and hard labor at Fort Jefferson for the crime of sleeping at his post. Sleeping or being drunk at one’s post was a serious crime according to military law during the Civil War. The most common sentencing for such a charge was death by firing squad, unless a soldier or his superiors could offer a reasonable justification for the commutation of a death sentence.

Private Bruce arrived at Fort Jefferson on May 30, 1866. Although his sentence ended on June 4, 1867, Private Bruce had to remain at Fort Jefferson until the military could furnish transportation to return him to the mainland. Transportation from Fort Jefferson to New Orleans, Louisiana, was arranged for Private Bruce on June 6, 1867, on the steamer, Alliance. From New Orleans, Private Bruce traveled north via river to his home state of Kentucky.

Perhaps most striking amongst the prisoner rolls is the collection of 11 men from the 12th and 13th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery (USCHA) regiments who arrived at Fort Jefferson on March 1, 1866. These men were arrested, tried, and sentenced for their role in the death of a local landowner named Abraham Grant. The group of men were out on a foraging party when they encountered Grant on his land and entered some sort of confrontation with Grant that resulted in his death.

 

Special Orders, No. 306 granting release from Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas.

The National Archives

Privates George Washington and Moses Smiley, both of Co. F, 13th USCHA, received the harshest sentences of the group. Private Washington was originally sentenced to death by hanging, but the military court ultimately commuted his sentence to 10 years of confinement and hard labor at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Private Smiley also received a 10 year sentence of confinement and hard labor. Privates James Carter, James Finley, Henry Hastings, Jeff Lisle, Alfred Roe, Charles Spotts, James Thornton, James Woodson, and Gibson Wormley, the other 9 men tried in connection with the death, received sentences of hard labor and confinement ranging from 4 to 10 years.

Private James Finley died September 21, 1866, at Fort Jefferson of unknown causes. The other 8 men listed above, with the exception of Private Henry Hastings, were released from their sentences alongside 2 other prisoners on the basis of Special Orders, No. 306. This Special Order, dated June 28, 1866, ordered the release and transportation of the men to their state’s mustering office for official discharge.

According to the 1870 census, Fort Jefferson held only 18 remaining military prisoners. Privates Hastings and Smiley were amongst those 18. Privates Henry Hastings and Moses Smiley were amongst the last 18 military prisoners held at Fort Jefferson. Records do not indicate what happened to these men when the U.S. Army abandoned Fort Jefferson in 1874. It is unclear what happened to Private George Washington during the course of and after his sentence, but his name does not appear on the 1870 census of Fort Jefferson.

 

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Men from Camp Nelson Regiments Sentenced to Fort Jefferson

Prisoner Number	Last Name	First Name	Middle	Rank	Company	Regiment	Arrival	Charges
1802	Bruce	William		Pvt	K	114 USCI	05/30/1866	Sleeping on Post
1763	Carter	James		Pvt	M	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1725	Coleman	Manlys		Pvt	I	116 USCI	02/18/1866	Mutiny, Violation of 8 Article of War
1757	Finley	James		Pvt	F	13 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1756	Hastings	Henry		Pvt	F	13 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1322	Johnson	James	A.	Pvt	K	49 KY Inf	02/19/1865	Mutinous Conduct
1759	Lisle	Jeff		Pvt	B	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1760	Roe	Alfred		Pvt	B	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1624	Simms	Dudley		Pvt	A	116 USCI	12/03/1865	Exciting Mutiny
1755	Smiley	Moses		Pvt	F	13 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1762	Spotts	Charles		Pvt	B	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1758	Thornton	James		Pvt	B	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1726	Tompkins	Thomas		Cpl	C	116 USCI	02/18/1866	Mutiny
2227	Washington	George		Pvt	F	13 USCHA	Unknown	Manslaughter
2216	White	Henry		Pvt	B	12 USCHA	Unknown	Unknown
1761	Woodson	James		Pvt	B	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter
1764	Wormley	Gibson		Cpl	M	12 USCHA	03/01/1866	Manslaughter