Martin continued in his low monotone, breathing audibly and occasionally mopping his face with a scarf from his pocket. “At that point we either march the next day onward to Collmerton or make a left turn on the coastal road and proceed north toward Columbus or Jasper to sever the main east-west rail line in Florida. We anticipate hundreds if not thousands of loyal Unionists to rally to the colors as we go further inland. Any questions to this point, gentlemen?”
Martin stopped and waited for the men around him to speak. Most of them stared at the chart and moved their hands with nervous tapping or fumbling. The officers with experience on this coast, Wake included, knew that the water offshore of the Timucuahatchee River was shallow with many reefs. Getting over the bar at the mouth of the river to ascend the stream could only be done at the top of a high tide, and then only with the schooners and tug. The gunboats and ferryboat drew too much water.
And then there was the issue of the Floridians and if they would really rally to the United States colors. Wake had seen some that would but had never heard that thousands were waiting for the chance. And why only one regiment? This operation should take at least a brigade of three or four regiments. Of course, Martin, Colonel Wherley, and their regiment had no personal knowledge of Florida and her people. They were relying on information supplied to them.
Wake looked at the other naval officers who stood there silently. He could see they were thinking the same thing but not speaking up. He was about to talk when Taylor, with his customary bluntness, spoke first.
“Damnedest idea I ever heard of. The water’s too damned thin at the mouth of that river, the march is too damned long in this heat for you New York boys, you don’t have half the number of soldiers you need, and there ain’t no thousands of folks around this coast willin’ to give you anything but some lead in your belly. You might get a hundred refugees, and most of them will be women and children. Who gave you boys this idea, Major?”
Several of the other naval officers grunted out affirmations of Taylor’s opinion as Martin stammered out that the plan had come from army officers in Key West already familiar with the situation in Florida and that his regiment had been sent down to make this assignment successful. His sweat now dripping onto the chart below him, Martin glanced over at his colonel for support. Wherley stood and faced Taylor while West leaned back in his chair and watched with a bemused glint in his eyes. Wherley’s voice was loud and clear, like an actor on stage or a lawyer in a courtroom.
“Captain Taylor, I can appreciate your thoughts on this matter. However,” he waited for a second and went on, “the time for debate as to whether the planners planned for any and all contingencies is over. We have been given a mission and we, that means we in the army and you in the navy, are going to carry it out. Will it be easy? No. Will it be successful? Yes.”
West now waved his hand impatiently and spoke from his chair.
“Gentlemen, it is an officer’s duty to follow his orders and to have his men follow those orders. The colonel is quite correct, the time for debate is gone. Let’s continue and see how we can do this the best way with what we have here.”
Taylor was getting angrier and replied with barely controlled emotion, his mustache twitching as he pronounced the words. “Captain West, an officer is also duty bound to point out when a plan is flawed, and that is precisely what I was doing, sir. I resent any implication from anyone that I had any other intention. Sir.”
Wake noticed that Taylor’s right hand was clenched in a fist and the look in his eyes was anything but respectful. West turned to the colonel. “Colonel, what opposition do you expect from the Rebels?”
Wherley’s voice assumed its stentorian dimension as he described what he had been told. His confidence was loud, but it reminded Wake of what Rork had recently said about the old Irish saying about fools who are convinced they are right.
“Captain West, Colonel Grosland in Key West, who is quite familiar with the situation in Florida, has assured me that we might face a militia rabble at the most. They will probably have shotguns and pistols but no field pieces. They don’t even know how to serve them if they had them. The militia will probably be somewhere around Claresville. After they are captured, we should have an unopposed march until we reach the main rail line.”
Taylor greeted this information with a snort but said nothing. Wake didn’t like the attitude displayed by the army officers and West. They were far too nonchalant about the difficulties to be faced. But Wherley wasn’t finished yet.
“Captain Taylor, you expressed concern that our regiment would be too few men for this operation. That is not the case. What Major Martin did not get a chance to say was that the navy will be furnishing a landing force to assist us, and therefore we will have enough men. Colonel Grosland has planned all of this out very carefully and has assignments for naval officers and their detachments.”
West smiled at Wherley, then around at the gathered officers. It was clear he and the army colonel shared an optimistic outlook on the operation, and that he was already counting on some of the reflected glory from it success. The other naval officers leaned forward and stared at Wherley.
“Ah, now I’ve got your undivided attention, don’t I? The ships here will provide a portion of their crews to form
