Capturing Tallahassee was not General Newton’s primary objective, even though the capital lay just eighteen miles north of St. Marks; his plan was to take St. Marks and the fort there and destroy the railroad, bridges, and other property in the area. In his battle report, Union General John Newton said the expedition, though it did not accomplish all that had been anticipated, was far from unfruitful: two important bridges, one foundry, and two large mills were burned, extensive salt works were partially destroyed and opened to future raiding parties, and the blockade vessels off the lighthouse were established there instead of outside the bar, so that Saint Mark’s was now thoroughly blockaded. The Union infantry consisted of about 500 troops from the Second U.S. Colored Infantry and the Ninety-Ninth U.S. Colored Infantry. An anonymous Louisiana soldier of the 99th U.S. Colored Infantry wrote to the Secretary of War that the regiment landed at Fort Jefferson, Florida, then went to the battle at Natural Bridge, carrying sixty rounds of cartridge, two days’ rations in haversacks, rubber blankets, woolen blankets, and two pieces of artillery through mud and water. Newton concluded that the enemy’s position was too strong in numbers and strength to be carried, and because the Union position lay in a low salient in the marshes exposed to cross-fire, it was decided to withdraw to the open pine barrens about 300 yards distant. He also wrote that the officers and men behaved nobly under the most trying circumstances, marching fifty miles in forty-four hours, resting only five hours, and fighting or skirmishing most of the time.