Battle Of Olustee
When people think of the American Civil War, they, more often then not, have no idea that it was fought in Florida. Instead, they think of the Civil War as being fought in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and the Carolina's. The Battle of Olustee was pretty much the turning point in the Florida expedition and the attempt to make Florida a loyal state.
The Battle of Olustee came about during 1864 of the Florida Campaign. The Florida Campaign was the idea of Simon P. Chase . The hopes were to gain the loyalty of Florida for the Republican Convention in 1864. The Florida expedition did not even begin until the invasion of Jacksonville in 1864 . The goal was simple, to take the capital of Tallahassee.
Union Order of Battle.
The Union commander at Olustee was Brigadier General Truman Seymour . Under his command were three brigades. The first was Colonel William B. Barton's Brigade. This brigade included the 47th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (47th NY) under the instruction of Colonel Henry Moore, the 48th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (48th NY) under the leadership of Major W. B, Coan, and the last of these infantry units was the 115th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment (115th NY) under the command of Colonel Simeon Sammon .
Seymour's second Brigade was that of Colonel Joseph Roswell Hawley. The regiments that made up this brigade was the 7th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment (7th CT) commanded by Captain Benjamin F. Skinner, the 7th New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment (7th NH) led by Colonel Joseph C. Abbott, and the last of these regiments was the 8th United States Colored Troops (8th USCT) under the leadership of Colonel Charles W. Firbley .
The third brigade was under the command of Colonel James Montgomery. In his brigade was the legendary 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (54th MA/colored) having been commanded by Colonel...
Please login to view the full essay...