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Lake City, Florida: A Sesquicentennial Tribute (2009) H. Morris Williams, Dr. Kevin M. McCarthy

Chapter Six: 1860 - 1869
To honor Brigadier

General Finegan, a monument
(pictured to the right) was
placed on the battlefield. The
text on the monument reads:
“Placed by the United Daugh-
ters of the Confederacy Florida
Division in memory of Brig. Gen.
Joseph Finegan, commander of
district of Middle and East
Florida. ‘So well did he perform
his part that a signal victory over
the Federals was won in the
Battle of Olustee.’ February 20,
1864.”

Concerning the Battle of Olustee, historian Mark Boyd noted
that, “Although the Battle of Olustee was a clear-cut Confederate
victory, and may have frustrated some, at least, of the nebulous plans
for Florida the Federal government entertained, nevertheless it did
not appreciably affect the course of the war.” 14
According to William Nulty’s Confederate Florida: The
Road to Olustee, “close to thirty railroad cars of wounded from Olustee
had arrived in Lake City by the night of the twenty-first [of February
1864]” and the local residents there did their best to care for their
wounds and minister to their needs. Historians would debate for
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some time whether the victorious Confederate troops should have
pursued the federal troops to deal even more of a crippling blow, but
Confederate General Finegan later stated that his men spent the cru-
cial days after the battle tending to the wounded of both sides, burying
the dead, and securing their prisoners. There were so many wounded
soldiers that Confederates had to take them to Lake City and also to
Tallahassee for hospital care.

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