Battle of Olustee – February 20, 1864

The battle of Olustee¹ was the largest battle to take place, in Florida, during the American Civil War.  Florida was viewed as strategically important, for political reasons.  The Lincoln administration believed there was significant “Pro Union” sentiment in the state and had decided on a policy, to allow Confederate states to seat electors, once 10% of the pre-war voting population had taken a loyalty oath.

To accomplish their strategic objectives, the administration ordered troops from the Department of the South, to Jacksonville, Florida.  US Brigadier Quincy A. Gillmore, commander of the department, created the District of Florida, and sent US Brigadier Truman Seymour to command the district.  Seymour would arrive in Jacksonville on February 7, 1864 and would secure the city.  Lincoln also sent his private secretary, John Hay to Jacksonville, to follow the army, securing loyalty oaths from the citizens of Florida.

Seymour, began moving west, towards Lake City, Florida to destroy a railroad bridge in an effort to keep troops from arriving and supplies from being sent north.  CS Brigadier General Joseph Finegan, Confederate commander in the area, only had 500 troops to halt the Federal advance.  However, reinforcements began arriving ahead of Seymour’s division.  Finegan began entrenching his 5,000 troops in the area near the Olustee train station.  On February 20, Seymour arrived with his 5,500 soldiers, and attacked Finegan’s waiting troops.  Sending a brigade towards the Confederate fortifications, they would suffer severe losses.  With the momentum on the side of Finegan’s Confederates, Seymour was forced to send in his reserves.  They would also be turned back.  The battle raged most of the afternoon, with the Federals finally retreating, all the way to Jacksonville.  Unfortunately, for the Confederates, Finegan did not pursue the fleeing Union army.  Seymour suffered 1861 casualties (34%), with 203 being killed outright.  The Confederates suffered 946 casualties (19%),with 93 soldiers being killed.  While compared to large scale conflicts, the casualties do not appear excessive.  However, with a 26% overall casualty rate it was indeed significant.

Aftermath:
The Federal strategy, of securing enough loyalty oaths, was unsuccessful.  Indeed, the the Federal government questioned it’s overall strategy in Florida.  The result was that Florida would continue to be controlled by the Confederacy for the remainder of the war.

¹ The Battle of Olustee on Wikipedia, was used to research this article.