elements of the Second Florida Cavalry, militia from Leon and Gadsden counties, and cadets from the West Florida Seminary, traveled down the Tallahassee Railroad the night of March 5 and into March 6, detraining at Hodgsons (turpentine) distillery, in the vicinity of what is now Woodville, as that was closer to the natural bridge than Newport. Newton's forces reached the natural bridge on March 6, only to find it defended by Confederate troops. Confederate forces held the crossing in the Battle of Natural Bridge, and the Federal troops withdrew. Mergers In March, 1867, George William Swepson, in a fraudulent transaction, purchased the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad for $1,220,000, and the Tallahassee Railroad for $195,000. The two railroads were then merged into a new company, called the Tallahassee Railroad. That company was in turn incorporated into the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad, which was created in 1869. Edward Reed purchased the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad and, in 1882, merged it into the Florida Central and Western Railroad. The Florida Central and Western Railroad was in turned merged into the Florida Railway and Navigation Company in 1884, which was re-incorporated as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad in 1888, and again, in 1893, as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railway. The Seaboard Air Line Railway leased the Florida Central and Peninsular Railway in 1900, and purchased it in 1903. The line would be known as the Wakulla Subdivision under the Seaboard Air Line and its successors. Abandonment The Seaboard Air Line Railway (SAL) had ceased operating over the last of the St. Marks branch (the old Tallahassee Railroad) leading into St. Marks in 1932. A petition by the SAL to resume service to those to the end of the line in St. Marks was approved the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1939. The St. Marks branch remained in use through the 1960s. The line was officially abandoned by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SAL's successor) in 1983, and the State of Florida purchased the abandoned right-of-way in 1984. of that right-of-way has since become the Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail Historic Stations Notes Citations Sources External links Interactive map of the Tallahassee Railroad Defunct Florida railroads Transportation in Leon County, Florida Florida in the American Civil War Transportation in Tallahassee, Florida Predecessors of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1834 Railway companies disestablished in 1870 5 ft gauge