Battle of Olustee
Olustee, Baker County, Florida, USA
What happened
Union troops under Truman Seymour, including Black regiments such as the 54th Massachusetts, fought Confederates under Joseph Finegan. Seymour landed at Jacksonville and pushed inland, against his orders. Near Ocean Pond he met Confederate troops and sent his men into battle a few units at a time. The Union line broke in the open pine woods and the army retreated.
Why it matters
Why it matters: Florida supplied beef and salt to the Confederacy. Union leaders began to question whether more fighting there was worth it.
What came next
Union forces fell back to Jacksonville. The site is now Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park.
Did you know?
After the battle, soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts pulled a broken-down train full of wounded men by rope toward Jacksonville.
Timeline
- February 1864Union troops land at Jacksonville.
- 20 February 1864Battle of Olustee.
- 22 February 1864The wounded reach Jacksonville.