Combat· American Civil War
Occupation of St. Marys, Georgia
One of the bloodless coastal occupations of Du Pont's spring 1862 sweep down the Georgia and Florida shore.
As the squadron took possession of the abandoned points along the coast, Fernandina, St. Simons, Jekyll, Brunswick, parties of Marines and sailors from the warships landed at the small town of St. Marys, on the Georgia side of the line, and occupied it. The Confederates had withdrawn from the exposed seaboard, and the occupation met no resistance. No casualties resulted, and the Marine guard's conduct ashore was orderly and respectful of the townspeople's property. The seizure was part of the same general consolidation of Union control over the South Atlantic coast that followed Port Royal, the squadron methodically taking up the harbors and river mouths the enemy had given up. St. Marys was a minor point, but its quiet occupation rounded out the Union hold on the Georgia-Florida coastal corner.
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Record no. 416