Battle of Olustee in the Civil War

Skirmish of Olustee in the Civil War Skirmish of Olustee - Conflict Date: The Battle of Olustee was battled February 20, 1864, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Armed forces Commanders Association Brigadier General Truman Seymour5,500 men Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Finegan5,000 men Skirmish of Olustee - Background: Impeded in his endeavors to diminish Charleston, SC in 1863, including massacres at Fort Wagner, Major General Quincy A. Gillmore, leader of the Union Department of the South, turned his eye towards to Jacksonville, FL. Arranging an endeavor to the territory, he expected to broaden Union command over northeastern Florida and keep supplies from the area arriving at Confederate powers somewhere else. Presenting his arrangements to the Union initiative in Washington, they were affirmed as the Lincoln Administration wanted to reestablish an unwavering government to Florida before the political race that November. Leaving around 6,000 men, Gillmore depended operational control of the campaign to Brigadier General Truman Seymour, a veteran of significant fights, for example, Gaines Mill, Second Manassas, and Antietam. Steaming south, Union powers landed and involved Jacksonville on February 7. The following day, Gillmore and Seymours troops started propelling west and involved Ten Mile Run. Throughout the following week, Union powers struck similar to Lake City while authorities showed up in Jacksonville to begin the way toward shaping another legislature. During this time, the two Union administrators started contending over the extent of Union tasks. While Gillmore squeezed for the control of Lake City and a potential development to the Suwannee River to wreck the railroad connect there, Seymour detailed that nor was prudent and that Unionist supposition in the district was negligible. Therefore, Gillmore guided Seymour to focus his constrained west of the city at Baldwin. Meeting on the fourteenth, he further guided his subordinate to invigorate Jacksonville, Baldwin, and Barbers Plantation. Clash of Olustee - The Confederate Response: Naming Seymour as officer of the District of Florida, Gillmore withdrew for his central command at Hilton Head, SC on February 15 and coordinated that no development into the inside be made without his authorization. Contradicting the Union endeavors was Brigadier General Joseph Finegan who drove the District of East Florida. An Irish worker and an enrolled veteran of the prewar US Army, he had around 1,500 men with which to safeguard the area. Incapable to legitimately restrict Seymour in the days after the arrivals, Finegans men skirmished with Union powers where conceivable. With an end goal to counter the Union danger, he mentioned fortifications from General P.G.T. Beauregard who told the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Reacting to his subordinates needs, Beauregard sent contingents south drove by Brigadier General Alfred Colquitt and Colonel George Harrison. These extra soldiers expand Finegans power to around 5,000 men. Clash of Olustee - Seymour Advances: Soon after Gillmores flight, Seymour started to see the circumstance in upper east Florida all the more well and chose to begin a walk west to crush the Suwannee River connect. Thinking around 5,500 men at Barbers Plantation, he wanted to progress on February 20. Writing to Gillmore, Seymour educated his boss regarding the arrangement and remarked that when you get this I will be moving. Paralyzed after accepting this message, Gillmore dispatched a helper south with orders for Seymour drop the crusade. This exertion bombed as the assistant arrived at Jacksonville after the battling had finished. Moving out promptly in the first part of the day on the twentieth, Seymours order was separated into three units drove by Colonels William Baron, Joseph Hawley, and James Montgomery. Propelling west, Union rangers drove by Colonel Guy V. Henry explored for and screened the section. Clash of Olustee - First Shots: Coming to Sanderson around late morning, Union mounted force started skirmishing with their Confederate partners west of town. Pushing the adversary back, Henrys men met increasingly serious obstruction as they approached Olustee Station. Having been strengthened by Beauregard, Finegan had moved east and involved a solid situation along the Florida Atlantic and Gulf-Central Railroad at Olustee. Invigorating a restricted piece of dry ground with Ocean Pond toward the north and marshes toward the south, he arranged get the Union development. As Seymours principle section drew nearer, Finegan would have liked to utilize his mounted force to draw the Union soldiers into assaulting his primary line. This neglected to happen and rather battling increased forward of the fortresses as Hawleys unit conveyed (Map). Clash of Olustee - A Bloody Defeat: Reacting to this turn of events, Finegan requested Colquitt to progress with a few regiments from the two his detachment and Harrisons. A veteran of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville who had served under Lieutenant General Thomas Stonewall Jackson, he propelled his soldiers into the pine timberland and drew in the seventh Connecticut, seventh New Hampshire, and eighth US Colored Troops from Hawleys unit. The responsibility of these powers saw the battling quickly develop in scope. The Confederates immediately increased a high ground when disarray over requests among Hawley and the seventh New Hampshires Colonel Joseph Abbott prompted the regiment sending inappropriately. Under substantial fire, a significant number of Abbotts men resigned in the disarray. With the seventh New Hampshire falling, Colquitt concentrated his endeavors on the crude eighth USCT. While the African-American warriors cleared themselves well, the weight constrained them to start falling back. The circumstance was exacerbated by the passing of its leader, Colonel Charles Fribley (Map). Squeezing the bit of leeway, Finegan sent extra powers forward under the direction of Harrison. Joining together, the consolidated Confederate powers started pushing east. Accordingly, Seymour hurried Bartons unit forward. Shaping on the privilege of the leftovers of Hawleys men the 47th, 48th, and 115th New York started shooting and stopped the Confederate development. As the fight balanced out, the two sides perpetrated progressively overwhelming misfortunes on the other. Throughout the battling, Confederate powers started to come up short on ammo compelling a loosening of their terminating as more was presented. Furthermore, Finegan drove his outstanding stores into the battling and took individual order of the fight. Submitting these new powers, he requested his men to assault (Map). Overpowering the Union soldiers, this exertion drove Seymour to arrange a general retreat east. As Hawley and Bartons men started pulling back, he guided Montgomerys detachment to cover the retreat. This brought the 54th Massachusetts, which had picked up acclaim as one of the primary authority African-American regiments, and the 35th US Colored Troops forward. Framing, they prevailing with regards to keeping down Finegans men as their comrades withdrew. Leaving the region, Seymour came back to Barbers Plantation that night with the 54th Massachusetts, seventh Connecticut, and his mounted force covering the retreat. The withdrawal was supported by a feeble interest with respect to Finegans order. Clash of Olustee - Aftermath: A bleeding commitment given the numbers drew in, the Battle of Olustee saw Seymour continue 203 executed, 1,152 injured, and 506 missing while Finegan lost 93 murdered, 847 injured, and 6 missing. Association misfortunes were aggravated by Confederate powers slaughtering injured and caught African-American troopers after the battling had closed. The destruction at Olustee finished the Lincoln Administrations seeks after sorting out another legislature earlier the 1864 political race and made a few in the North inquiry the estimation of crusading in a militarily immaterial state. While the fight had demonstrated a thrashing, the crusade was generally effective as the control of Jacksonville opened the city to Union exchange and denied the Confederacy of the districts assets. Staying in Northern hands for the remainder of the war, Union powers routinely directed attacks from the city however didn't mount significant battles. Chosen Sources CWSAC Battle Summaries: Battle of OlusteeBattle of Olustee Civil War Trust: Battle of Olustee