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FAMILY
PORTRAITS
(SANCHEZ)
LOLA SANCHEZ'S RIDE
Long before the Civil War, Mauritia Sanchez left Cuba and returned
to Florida. He settled on the banks of the St. John's River
opposite Palatka. He was in ill health . His family consisted
of an invalid wife , a son in the Confederate Army, and three
attractive daughters.
Information on Yankee movements were constantly being passed
to the Confederates, and after extensive investigations the
Yankees decided that the spy was Mauritia Sanchez. The feeble
old man was arrested and imprisoned in Fort San Marco.
The three daughters, Panchita, Lola, and Eugenia were left to
care for their invalid mother. Often their place was surrounded
at night by Yankee troops and the house searched periodically
for spies but information still reached Confederate ears. The
Yankee troops never suspected the daughters were the informers.
The Yankee officers were very fond of spending their evenings
at the Sanchez hacienda listening to three beautiful Cuban girls,
their merry chatter and singing to the soft accompaniment of
the guitar. Though the conversation was light and airy, the
girls managed to glean information and feed it to the Confederates.
On one momentous Saturday evening, three Yankee officers were
present for light bantering conversation. The sisters withdrew
to prepare a Spanish supper for them and their guests.
As Lola Sanchez flitted from pantry to dining room she overheard
earnest conversation between the officers about two activities
to be carried out the next day. One was a gunboat raid up the
river in the early dawn while confederate troops were sleeping;
the other, a foraging party to go southward from St. Augustine,
pillaging and capturing all they could find.
Recognizing the importance of the information she decided that
Captain Dickerson at Camp Davis near Palatka must be warned.
She bade her sister, Panchita, to entertain the Yankee officers
with song and laughter while her sister, Eugenia, prepared the
supper.
A mile and half lay between her and Camp Davis, which consisted
of dense tropical Florida woods and the strong currents of the
St. John's River. She sped first by horse, thru the woods, and
then by skiff, over the water. She spotted the Confederate picket
and informed him of the message but he couldn't leave the lookout
on the riverbanks so she proceeded to the camp and relayed the
information to Captain Dickerson.
To Lola the time of her absence seemed an eternity but she pushed
on back across the water and through the woods to the hacienda.
She noted on the clock upon returning, she had only been gone
for an hour and a half. Panchita was still entertaining the
unsuspecting guests and the aromas of Eugenia's chicken olla
catalina, olla podrida, and Cuban coffee filled the air.
The next morning, in the gray mist of dawn, the Confederate
battery lay in wait for the Yankee transport and gunboat. The
transport was captured, the gunboat disabled and the troops
captured.
South of St. Augustine, preparation was made for the foraging
party. The Confederate ambushed the enemy and the Yankee General
Chatfield was killed, Colonel Nobles was wounded and the larger
part of the company captured, including wagons and mules.
The Sanchez sisters truly were valuable assets to the Confederate
Army
Panchita Sanchez, determined to effect the release of her father
from prison, made her way to St. Augustine and suffered untold
hardships but accomplished the goal.
In 1909, the State Convention of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy was held in St. Augustine and the two daughters
of Panchita and Lola were pages, in honor of their mothers'
service to the Confederacy.
Confederate
Veterans, Volume XVII, No.8, August 1909.
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