As I was planning a reprieve from the Minnesota weather, I did some research on what I would like to do while in the Tampa/St Pete area. In keeping with my recent interest in Civil War history, I learned that Florida was the third state to cede from the Union and actually had some skirmishes prior to the official start of the war at Ft Sumter.
With that knowledge, I was now interested in going to Ft DeSoto and Egmont Key where the two side took pot shots at one another prior to the Union troops coming ashore near the current site of Gandy bridge and marching to Confederate shipyards to burn blockade runners. I did make it to Ft DeSoto but the remains of the fort there lost date the Civil War. Watching freighters easily skimming across on the gulf , I could only imagine how much more challenging that was in the ships of the late 1800s.
Another key location is the Gamble Mansion where Confederate Judah Benjamin took refuge after the end of the Civil War while awaiting passage on a blockade runner to escape prosecution. A child prodidgy who spoke five languages by the time he was eight, he was thw first US senator elected without declaring his faith. It wasn't until later it was learned that he was Jewish. Benjamin held many key roles in the Confederate government -- secretary of atate secretary of war, and attorney general. At the end of the war, he and Jefferson Davis were fleeing south from the Confeserate Capitol of Richmond.. They separated in Georgia. Davis was subsequently captured but ultimately allowed to return to civilian life.
After Benjamin made it safely to London, he resumed is law practice and became a barrister there for the next 20 years. He retired and moved to Paris where his wife had lived for some time. He died a year later in 1884.
The Gamble Mansion is the only remaining former plantation in Florida and only 16 acres of the original 3500 remain intact. The Daughters of the Confeseracy purchased it in 1925 and turned it over to the state. Recently restored in 2020, the mansion is in great condition and worth time and $6!to take the tour to learn about Gamble and his attempt to become a sugar cane magnate. According to our entertaining guide Jesse, Gamble abandoned the property when in $196000 in debt (in 1800s dollars). He walked away and let the creditors take everything. They were disappointed to learn that the most valuable "asset" he left behind were his 192 enslaved people.
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