On May 23rd, 1864, Captain John Jackson Dickison, with men from the 2nd Florida Cavalry and a battery from the Milton Light Artillery, disabled and captured the Federal gunboat Columbine at Horse Landing. At the time, Union forces controlled the land east of the St. Johns River, and Dickison had made several raids across the river, capturing two outposts. Hoping to trap the Confederates on the east side, Union ground troops moved toward Welaka, and the Columbine was sent upriver. Dickison had already crossed the river and set an ambush at Horse Landing, where the channel and current would bring the boat within 60 yards of shore. Under Acting Ensign Frank Sanborn, the 117-foot Columbine returned fire, but was soon disabled and surrendered. All but three of her crew and the army troops aboard were killed or captured, and the Federal dead are reportedly buried on the rivershore. There were no Confederate casualties. After removing all possible supplies and armament, the Confederates burned and sank the Columbine to avoid recapture. It is the only known incident in history in which a cavalry unit sank an enemy gunboat. Dickison was known in the Southern press as the Swamp Fox and by the ladies as the Knight of the White Camellia, while Federals referred to him as "Dixie," and land west of the St. Johns was called "Dixie's Land." A lifeboat taken from the Columbine was later given by Dickison to John S. Breckenridge, Confederate Secretary of War, to aid in his escape to Cuba at the end of the war.