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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 104/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

On February 4, 1864, a sizable Federal force under Brigadier
General Truman Seymour was assembled at St. Helena Island,
South Carolina, and Fort Pulaski, Georgia. The troops boarded
transports, and the force, protected by the warships of Admiral J.
A. Dahlgren, reached the mouth of the St. Johns on February 7. A
few shots were fired into one of the transports as the force moved
upstream, and the Confederates tried to block the channel by
sinking the steamer St. Marys, but the expedition’s most serious
obstacle was encountered as the transports nearly grounded on the
sand bars at the river’s mouth. On February 8, the troops were
landed and the force moved westward from Jacksonville.37
After landing, a mounted force under Colonel Guy V. Henry
moved westward and occupied Camp Finegan, the largest Con­
federate post in the Jacksonville area. On February 9, the force
moved on to Baldwin, the important railroad junction some twenty
miles to the west. Private Milton M. Woodford of the Seventh
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and a member of the expedition
described Baldwin in a letter to his brother as “a depot, tavern, half
a dozen shanties, three railroads and a rail fence.”38
On February 10, 1864, the Federal force reached Sanderson, a
village thirty-three miles west of Jacksonville. A brief skirmish
took place when the Federals encountered a Confederate cavalry
force of the Second Florida Cavalry under Major Robert Harrison.
Apprehension mounted in the plantation belt of Middle Florida,
and newspapers called for every Floridian with firearms to pre­
pare to defend his home.39
General Joseph Finegan, who commanded Confederate troops
in East Florida, organized his forces at Lake City. By February 10,
he had assembled a force of some 490 infantry, 110 cavalry, and 2

37 Boyd, “Campaign of 1864,” p. 7.
33Vaughn D. Bornet, "A Connecticut Yankee Fights at Olustee,” Florida
Historical Quarterly 27 (January, 1949), p. 255; Boyd, “Campaign of 1864,” p. 6.
3yJohns, Florida During the Civil War, p. 195.
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