Lola Sánchez (Confederate spy)
| María Dolores (Lola) Sánchez | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Lola |
| Born | c. 1844 Armstrong, Florida |
| Died | 1895 Armstrong, Florida |
| Buried | St. Ambrose Cemetery, Elkton, Fl |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America Confederate Army |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Lola Sánchez (1844 – 1895) was one of three sisters who became spies for the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Sánchez became upset when their father was falsely accused of being a Confederate spy by the members of the Union Army and imprisoned. Officers of the Union Army then occupied the Sánchez residence in Palatka, Florida. On one occasion Sánchez overheard various officers’ planning a raid and decided to alert the Confederates forces. She informed Captain John Jackson Dickison, commander of the local Confederates forces, of the plan. The result of her actions was that the Confederate forces surprised the Union troops in an ambush and captured the USS Columbine, a Union warship, on the day of the supposed raid in the "Battle of Horse Landing". This was one of the few instances in which a Union warship was captured by land-based Confederate forces during the Civil War.
Lola Sánchez (birth name: María Dolores Sánchez ), who was born in Armstrong, Florida, was one of five siblings, which included two sisters Francesca (Panchita), Eugenia and two brothers Emanuel and Henry born to Cuban parents. Prior to 1850 the Sánchez family immigrated to the United States from Cuba and settled on the east bank of the St. John's River in an area known as Federal Point opposite Palatka, Florida, a town situated about 63 miles (101 km) due south of Jacksonville.
Between 1840 and 1850, Palatka was a major shipping port for oaks, cedar, cotton, sugar and syrup. Goods were shipped down the Ocklawaha, loaded onto larger steamers in Palatka and plied north on the St. Johns River. In 1855, Col. Hubbard L. Hart started the first line of barge freighters on the Ocklawaha River. Palatka had become a popular tourist destination, however its popularity as a tourist spot was interrupted by the Civil War, when gunboats cruised the waters and most of the town’s residents had abandoned Palatka leaving it destitute and largely deserted. Palatka was soon occupied by Confederate troops which included one of Sánchez's brothers. On October 7, 1862, the USS Cimarron fired several shells from the St. Johns River over the town after seeing some Confederate cavalry. Mary E. Boyd, wife of Robert T. Boyd, one of the wealthiest men in Palatka, pleaded with Union Commander Maxwell Woodhull to spare Palatka, assuring him that the horse soldiers were not residents; he complied with her and spared the town. At one time, the town was occupied by 5,000 federal troops.
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