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Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy
Battle of Olustee
In early 1864, Union troops moved west from Jacksonville
toward Lake City and Tallahassee with the intent of destroying the rail
lines that were helping the Confederate cause and also to capture the
capital of Florida. Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Finegan
organized the 6th Battalion Florida Infantry and other regiments from
Georgia into the First Brigade, under the command of Brigadier
General Colquitt.
On February 20, 1864, the forces met just east of Lake City
at Olustee in present-day Baker County, and the Confederate troops
prevailed, driving the Union troops back to Jacksonville. In what turned
out to be the only major battle in Florida during the Civil War, the
Union troops suffered the loss of 1,861 men killed, wounded, or
missing. Confederate losses were 946 killed, wounded, or missing.
The Battle of Olustee was the only major battle
fought in Florida during the war.
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