Battle of Natural Bridge

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The Battle of Natural Bridge was a battle during the American Civil War, fought near Tallahassee, Florida on March 6, 1865. A small band of Confederate troops and volunteers, mostly composed of teenagers from the nearby university that would later become Florida State University and the elderly, protected by breastworks, prevented Union troops from crossing the Natural Bridge on the St. Marks River. This action prevented the Union from capturing the Florida capitol and made Tallahassee the only Confederate capitol east of the Mississippi River not to be captured by Union forces during the war.

The site of the battle is now Natural Bridge Battlefield State Historic Site, a Florida State Park, and contains a monument with the inscription:

This monument erected under authority of an act of the legislature of Florida of 1921 as a just tribute of the people of Florida to commemorate the victory of the battle of Natural Bridge. March 6, 1865. And to keep in cherished memory those brave men and boys who, in the hour of sudden danger, rushed from home desk and field and from the West Florida Seminary and joining a few disciplined troops by their united valor and patriotism saved their capital from the invaders. Tallahassee being the only capital of the South not captured by the enemy during the War between the States.

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