Florida in the American Civil War

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Confederate States' Involvement
in the American Civil War
South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana
Texas
Virginia
Arkansas
North Carolina
Tennessee
Border States
Maryland
Missouri
Kentucky
West Virginia

Following Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, Florida joined other Southern states in seceding from the Union. Secession took place January 10, 1861, and, after less than a month as an independent republic, Florida became one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America. Although the vote to secede passed 62-7, there was a relatively large and vocal pro-Union and anti-Confederate minority in the state, an element that grew as the war progressed.

Florida being an important supply route for the Confederate Army, Union forces operated a blockade around the entire state. Union troops occupied major ports such as Cedar Key, Jacksonville, Key West, and Pensacola. Confederate forces moved quickly to seize control of many of Florida's U.S. Army forts, succeeding in most cases with the significant exceptions of Fort Zachary Taylor and Fort Pickens, which stayed firmly in Federal control throughout the war.

Governor John Milton, an ardent secessionist, throughout the war stressed the importance of Florida as a supplier of goods, rather than personnel, with Florida being a large provider of food (particularly beef cattle) and salt for the Confederate Army. The 13,000-mile coastline proved a haven for blockade runners and a daunting task for patrolling Federal warships. However, the state's small population (140,000 residents making it last in size in the Confederacy), relatively remote location, and meager industry limited its overall strategic importance. Nevertheless, Milton worked feverishly to strengthen the state militia and to improve fortifications and key defensive positions.

Overall, the state raised some 15,000 troops for the Confederacy, which were organized into twelve regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, as well as several artillery batteries and supporting units. Since neither army aggressively sought control of Florida, many of Florida's best home-raised troops instead served in Virginia in the Army of Northern Virginia under Brig. Gen. Edward A. Perry and Col. David Lang. The "Florida Brigade" fought with distinction in many of Robert E. Lee's campaigns, and twice charged Cemetery Ridge during the Battle of Gettysburg, including supporting Pickett's Charge.

The Battle of Olustee was the only major Civil War battle fought in Florida.
The Battle of Olustee was the only major Civil War battle fought in Florida.

In early 1862, the Confederate government pulled General Braxton Bragg's small army from Pensacola following successive Confederate defeats in Tennessee at Fort Donelson and Fort Henry and sent them to the Western Theater for the remainder of the war. The only Confederate forces remaining in Florida at that time were a variety of independent companies, several infantry battalions, and the 2nd Florida Cavalry. They were reinforced in 1864 by troops from neighboring Georgia.

There were over 61,000 slaves in Florida in 1861. Their labor accounted for 85 percent of the state’s cotton production. Confederate authorities used slaves as teamsters to transport supplies and as laborers in salt works and fisheries. Many Florida slaves working in these coastal industries escaped to the relative safety of Union controlled enclaves. Beginning in 1862, Union military activity in East and West Florida encouraged slaves in plantation areas to flee their owners in search of freedom. Some worked on Union ships and more than a thousand enlisted as soldiers and sailors in the U.S. military. [1]

Escaped and freed slaves provided Union commanders with valuable intelligence about Confederate troop movements and passed on news of Union advances to the men and women who remained enslaved in Confederate controlled Florida. Planter fears of slave uprisings increased as the war went on.[2]

Growing public dissatisfaction with Confederate conscription and impressment policies encouraged desertion by Confederate soldiers. Several Florida counties became havens for Florida deserters as well as deserters from other Confederate states. Deserter bands attacked Confederate patrols, launched raids on plantations, confiscated slaves, stole cattle, and provided intelligence to Union army units and naval blockaders. Although most deserters formed their own raiding bands or simply tried to remain free from Confederate authorities, other deserters and Unionist Floridians joined regular Federal units for military service in Florida.[3]

Though numerous small skirmishes occurred in Florida, including the Battle of Natural Bridge and the Battle of Gainesville, the only major battle was the Battle of Olustee near Lake City. Union forces under Quincy A. Gillmore were repulsed by Florida and Georgia troops and retreated to their fortifications around Jacksonville. Gillmore's relatively high losses caused Northern lawmakers and citizens to openly question the necessity of any further Union involvement in militarily insignificant Florida, and many of the Federal troops were withdrawn and sent elsewhere. Throughout the balance of 1864 and into the following spring, the 2nd Florida Cavalry repeatedly thwarted Federal raiding parties into the Confederate-held northern and central portions of the state.

In January 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued a set of special orders that set aside a portion of Florida as a designated home for runaway and freed former slaves that had accompanied his command during its March to the Sea. These controversial orders were not enforced in Florida, and were later revoked by President Andrew Johnson.

In early May 1865, Edward M. McCook's Union division was assigned to re-establish Federal control and authority in Florida, whose Governor Milton had shot himself in the head rather than submit to Union occupation. On May 13, Col. George Washington Scott surrendered the last active Confederate troops in the state to McCook. On May 20, General McCook read Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation during a ceremony in Tallahassee, officially ending slavery in Florida. That same day, his jubilant troopers raised the U.S. flag over the state capitol building. Tallahassee was the last Confederate state capital to fall to the Union army.

After meeting the requirements of Reconstruction, including amendments to the US Constitution, Florida was readmitted to the United States on July 25, 1868.

Contents

[edit] Battles in Florida

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Murphree, R. Boyd. "Florida and the Civil War: A Short History" State Archives of Florida. Retrieved on June 5, 2008.
  2. ^ Murphree (2008)
  3. ^ Murphree (2008)

[edit] References

[edit] External links


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Florida in the American Civil War
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