Page 105 - a-history-of-columbia-county-florida-(1996)-edward-f-keuchel

A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 94/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

until his parole in June, 1865. T. J. Albritton of Company D was a
substitute of N. Keen. He died in the Nashville fighting.14
The Fifth Florida Infantry Regiment, which saw major action
in the second battle of Manassas and the Maryland campaign, was
organized in 1861 and entered Confederate service in Tallahassee
in the spring of 1862. John C. Hately of Jacksonville was elected
colonel, while Thompson B. Lamar was elected lieutenant colonel.
Company B was almost entirely a Columbia County unit. Four
members of the Douglass family, Frederick M., John F., Martin
L., and Alexander J., all served in Company B. Garrett Vanzant
was its captain until he went A.W.O.L. (absent without leave).
John H. Tolbert, who started out in the unit as second lieutenant,
was promoted to captain to replace Vanzant. Tolbert was later
killed. Second Lieutenant John C. Raulerson was killed at Chancel-
lorsville in May, 1863. During the war there were 53 deaths, 18
discharged, 3 taken prisoner before the final surrender, and 8
desertions in Company B.15
Problems of unauthorized absences such as Vanzant’s and
desertions were common in both Confederate and Union regiments
during the Civil War. Soldiers frequently returned to their homes,
but some hid out in groups in such wilderness areas as Lafayette
and Taylor counties. Desertions in the Confederacy became more
pronounced late in the war.16 The desertion of Private William
Keen of Company K (Columbia and Suwannee Guards), Third
Florida Infantry, was one of Florida’s more celebrated cases.
Keen went A.W.O.L. in 1862 while serving with the Third Florida
11 Robertson, Soldiers of Florida, pp. 124-125; Confederate Muster Rolls, Vol. I.
n.p.n.
lsRobertson, Soldiers of Florida, pp. 135-39; Confederate Muster Rolls, Vol. I,
n.p.n.; Official Records, Ser. 2, Vol. LI 11, pp. 239-40.
16Johns notes that no consistent policy toward deserters was ever adopted by
either the state or the Confederate government. A systematic but unsuccessful
effort was made by the state to root out bands of deserters under the leadership of
William W. Strickland who hid out in the swampy areas of Lafayette and Taylor
counties. Late in the war on February 11, 1865, General Robert E. Lee issued an
amnesty to all deserters who returned within twenty days. See Johns, Florida
During the Ciidl War, pp. 154-69.
92

www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: 02905885-C4E0-4A35-9DAE-804ED8349EC9