Florida’s Lighthouses in the Civil War
In the mid-1980s, author Neil Hurley served as a staff officer for the U.S. Coast Guard. One of his many duties was answering questions from the public about Florida’s old lighthouses. Hurley soon discovered that historical information was scarce and often erroneous. Enhancing and correcting that information became his avocation for the next two decades. By the time of his retirement from the Coast Guard in 2005, Hurley’s passion had helped him create Florida’s Lighthouses in the Civil War, a beautiful book that covers a most obscure topic. Florida was by far the least populous Confederate state. Once the war began, Hurley notes that there were 20 lighthouses and one lightship situated along Florida’s 1,200 miles of virtually uninhabited coastline. It was by far the largest shoreline in the Confederacy and one that was immediately deemed indefensible. Unfortunately for the South, seven of those lights, all in the extreme southern end of the state, would remain lit and in Union control for the duration of the war. Union control allowed the Federal navy to use Fort Taylor in Key West and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas as bases. All other lights in the state were extinguished by the end of 1861. Some of those lights went out because they were damaged during military efforts to capture or control a lighthouse. Other lights were intentionally disabled by Confederate forces to create hazards to Union blockade and troop ships patrolling Florida’s lonesome coastline. Hurley starts by giving a detailed timeline of Florida’s war-related events and then moves into a thorough overview of lighthouse administration in Florida and the Confederacy during the Civil War. For instance, one learns that Cmdr. Raphael Semmes of C.S.S. Alabama fame was the very first head of the Confederacy’s Light House Bureau, though his reign lasted but one week. The meat of the book follows — a detailed presentation of each lighthouse’s history, its significance to the surrounding region and the events that occurred near it during the war. The author adds context by discussing the importance of a lighthouse in a time of war. In addition to its detailed research, this production will not disappoint bibliophiles who appreciate sturdy, well-made books. The publisher has given the volume the look, feel and heft of a small coffee table book, as it features an 8½ x 11-inch trim size with heavy glossy paper that is simply chock full of modern color photographs of its subjects, many taken by the author himself. Ample black-and-white period illustrations round out the work. In all, the book is lavishly illustrated with over 200 color and black-and-white drawings, photographs and maps. While the smooth-flowing text features an index and a slender bibliography, no endnotes or footnotes are to be found, which is admittedly a minor disappointment. Nevertheless, students of the Civil War in Florida, Floridiana in general, or historical lighthouses will find this handsome book a fine addition to their collections. Hurley is the historian for the Florida Lighthouse Association, a statewide non-profit, and has written and contributed to a number of books on lighthouses. Following its publication, this book won a bronze medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Reviewer: Paul Taylor Paul Taylor is the author of five books on the Civil War, including Discovering the Civil War in Florida (Pineapple Press, 2001). Visit his website at www.paulrtaylor.com |
200+ illustrations and photographs, bibliography, index, 176 pp, 2007, Middle River Press,