Reminders of War at Torreya State Park - Liberty County, Florida

Civil War Earthworks at Torreya State Park

Torreya State Park, located on the Apalachicola River in Liberty County, is best known for its stunning natural scenery and extremely rare trees and plants, but for those interested in Florida's Civil War history, it also holds a hidden treasure.

Located along the trail that leads down the slope from the beautifully restored antebellum Gregory House in the park can be found the earthwork remains of a Confederate fortification. Built to defend the river against invasion attempts by the Union Navy, the battery was one of a series of such fortifications along the river. It is, however, by far the best preserved.

150 years ago the Apalachicola River was a vital avenue of transportation. Paddlewheel steamboats churned up and down the river from Apalachicola, carrying cargo and people as far upriver as the cities of Columbus and Albany,Georgia, located far up its tributaries, the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers.  Apalachicola at the beginning of the Civil War was one of the most important port cities on the Gulf Coast and the river itself provided access to some of the most successful plantations and farms in the South.

Gun Emplacement at Torreya State Park

When Apalachicola was evacuated by the Confederates in 1862, army engineers began to design a series of fortifications to stop Union warships from coming up the river to devastate inland cities and farming districts.

The battery at Torreya State Park once mounted an array of heavy guns and featured artillery emplacements, rifle pits and heavily reinforced magazines. Despite (and possibly because of) the reclamation of the site by the forest in the years after the Civil War, the earthworks remain in remarkable condition today and provide a rare opportunity to step back in time to the days when Florida desperately tried to defend itself from Northern invasion.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/torreyabattery.

Confederate Battery at Torreya State Park

Torreya State Park (located in the northwest corner of Liberty County between Bristol and Chattahoochee) is well known for its rugged scenic beauty. The Florida Torreya, one of the rarest trees in the world, grows in the park, and visitors have enjoyed tours of the antebellum Gregory House for decades.

Often overlooked, however, is the park's role during the Civil War.

The commanding bluffs that now draw visitors in search of challenging hikes and scenic views once attracted Confederate engineers for very different reasons. They were tasked with building fortifications to protect the Apalachicola River from an attack by Union warships. The river served as a gateway to a vast area of Northwest Florida, Southwest Georgia and Southeast Alabama. Its tributaries, the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, were navigable as far north as Columbus and Albany.

To protect against possible attack, the Confederates build earthwork batteries at Alum Bluff, Ricco's Bluff and the River Narrows, all downstream from Torreya. Another battery was placed up the Chattahoochee at Fort Gaines, Georgia. Troops were also stationed at Fort Gadsden and other locations along the river to provide early warning of a Union attack.

The final battery constructed on the river, and perhaps the most powerful, was the once placed by Confederate engineers at Rock Bluff, now encompassed by Torreya State Park.

Designed for six heavy cannon, the battery consisted of three pairs of two gun emplacements. Positioned below the northern crest of the bluff, which provided protection against a bombardment from down stream, the guns commanded a significant stretch of the Apalachicola from short range.

Today, the cannon are gone but the powerful Confederate earthworks remain. They are located along the nature trail just down the slope from the Gregory House. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/torreyabattery.