OF A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER ?
The Ma Gen. John C. Breckinridge camp #1786, Invites you to join us at our monthly meeting on the third Tuesday of the Month at
Perkins Restaurant, In front
of Wal-Mart on C.R. 466 just 1 mile east of 301 in the
Villages on the third Tuesday of the Month at 6:30 P.M.
For more information write to us at:
Sons of Confederatr Veterans
Maj. Gen. Johe C. Breckinridge camp #1786
P.O. Box 2065 Belleview, Florida. 34421
Florida Confederate Stats Holidays
January 19, 1807. General Robert E. Lee Birthday
March 4, 1861. Flag Day Confederate States of America
April 26, 2010 Confederate Memorial Day.
June 3, 1808 President Jefferson Davis Birthday
Confederate Veterans Reunion at the Gazebo Oxford Florida 1916
Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans
To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish.
To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish.
Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee Commander-General
United Confederate Veterans
New Orleans, 25 April 1906
Remember,
it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is
presented to future generations
The Salute to the Confederate Flag:
I Salute the Confederate Flag With affection, reverence,
And Undying devotion To the Cause For which it Stans.
And Undying devotion To the Cause For which it Stans.
DID YOU KNOW?
That the Congressional Record of March 2, 1928. Reports senate joint resolution No. 41 wherein congress recognized the titleWar Between the States as proper.A war was waged from 1861 to 1865 between two organized governments: the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. These were the official titles of the contending parties. It was not a “Civil War,” as it was not fought between two parties within the same government. It was not a “War of Secession,” for the southern States seceded without a thought of war. The right of a State to secede had never been questioned. It was not a “War of Rebellion” for sovereign, independent States, co-equal, can not rebel against each other. It was a War Between the States, because twenty-two non-seceding States made war upon eleven seceding States to force them back into the Union of States. It was not until after the surrender of 1865 that secession was decided to be unconstitutional.
President and vice President of
the Confederate States of America
the Confederate States of America
President Jefferson Davis and vice President Alexander Stephens
"I
love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union
with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it." - President
Jefferson Davis
The President of the Confederate States was the Head of State of the short-lived republic of the Confederate States of America, which seceded from the United States. The only person to hold the office was Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. He was president from Feberany 18, 1861 to May 10, 1865, and his vice-president was Alexander Stephens.
The Great Seal of the Confederacy
Flags of the Confederacy
The Bonnie Blue / Secession Banner
The origin of this flag is obscure. A blue field with a single white star was carried by troops fighting for Texas independence. This flag seem to have been used as a secession banner as it was seen in the streets of Montgomery during the first Session of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America. The song “The Bonnie Blue Flag” was written by Harry MacCarthy and first sung by him in a theatre in New Orleans, The immediate popularity of the song gave immortality to the banner.
The First National / The Stars and Bars Adopted March 4,1861
The first flag to be adopted by the Confederate States of America was the First National the Stars and Bars, with 7 white stars in the blue field, one for each Confederate State at the time of adoption. This flag was raised over the Capitol Building in Montgomery, Alabama, at sunrise on March 4, 1861; being unfurled by a grand-daughter of President John Tyler, of Virginia. It is now used with 13 stars in the blue field by the United Daughters of the Confederacy as their insignia.
The Battle Flag / The Cross of Saint Andrews Adopted September 1861
At the Battle of Manassas July 21, 1861, General Beauregard was anxiously hoping for reinforcements, while holding his ground against great odds. The reinforcements came, but for a time the General could not tell whether the troops were Confederate or Federal. The Stars and Bars of the First National flag in the dust and heat of the battle could scarcely be distinguished from the Stars and Stripes of the Federal flag. General Beauregard decided that this must not happen again, that the Confederacy must have a flag that could not be mistaken. The Confederate Battle flag was adopted in September 1861 and witch was the flag to fellow the Confederacy until the end of the war. The Confederate Battle flag was only used in thee sizes Infantry size 52”x52” Artillery size 38”x38” and Cavalry size 32”x32” And it is the insignia of the United Confederate Veterans. The flag you see today is called the Navy Jack.
The Second National / The Stainless Banner Adopted May 1, 1863
The likeness of the First National flag and the Federal flag often
caused confusion, therefore, the Confederate Congress on May 1, 1863,
adopted the design for a new flag. The Second National flag was a white
flag with the “Battle Flag” In the upper left hand corner.
The Third National / The last Flag of the Confederacy Adopted March 4, 1865
It was found that the Second National Flag when hanging limp, it could easily be mistaken for a flag of truce, so on March 4, 1865 Congress again changed the National Flag. this was done by placing a broad red bar across the end of the Second National Flag, thus forming the Third National Flag the last flag of the Confederacy…And the flag we have today.
DID YOU KNOW?
On
January 24, 1851, the General Assembly of Florida passed an act to open
two seminaries of learning, one to be located east of the Suwannee
River and the other to the west of it. Tallahassee, the state's capital, seemed a logical site for the Seminary West of the Suwannee. Mayor Francis Eppes, grandson of President Thomas Jefferson, worked diligently to acquire the school, but until 1855, no building was available to house the facility. Finally, in 1855 the Florida Institute opened as a secondary school and college on the site where the Westcott fountain stands today. This facility was offered to the state as a home for the Seminary West of the Suwannee River.
On January 1, 1857 the Legislature accepted Tallahassee's proposal and passed a bill making Tallahassee the official site of the Seminary West of the Suwannee. The public was generally pleased with the 10-acre site with one exception: women were not admitted to the school. The administration rectified this situation and permitted females to attend beginning in 1858.
The
Civil War forced many state schools to close their doors, but only
briefly disrupted the West Florida Seminary's progress. In an attempt to
prevent the Confederate States of America from drafting male teachers,
the seminary operated as the Florida Collegiate and Military Institute
during the war years. Cadets attended military classes in case they were
called upon to fight. On March 6, 1865 such an occasion arose. Cadets
from the school joined regular CSA troops in the Battle of Natural
Bridge, just south of the city, and prevented Union soldiers from
capturing Tallahassee.Following the war, the school took back the name Seminary West of the Suwannee River and continued to grow. As tourism increased in Florida in the 1880's, many visitors to the state remained and became permanent residents. The expanding population provided the Legislature with a broader tax base with which to fund the state's educational system. Schools began to increase in number, relocate to more populous areas, and change their names. Under the leadership of Albert Alexander Murphree, the Seminary West of the Suwannee River became The Florida State College (FSC) in 1901. The four original colleges of FSC were Arts and Sciences, Education, Home Economics and Music. In 1902, FSC awarded its first master's degree. The first library at the college opened the following year. The college offered athletic programs and an intercollegiate schedule for both male and female students. The football team won the state championship in 1904
The Buckman Bill of 1905 reorganized higher education in the state by funding only four institutions and eliminating coeducational facilities at two of those four schools. Florida State College became the Florida Female College, a name that proved unpopular with the state's citizens. In 1909 the Legislature changed the name of the growing women's school to Florida State College for Women
A.A. Murphree continued as the school's president. He did all he could to ensure that the Florida Female College would be a source of pride to the people of Florida, and that it would rank among the top colleges in the South.
Florida Secedes from the Union
In early January 1861, a special convention of delegates from around the state met in Tallahassee to consider whether Florida should leave the Union. Governor Madison Starke Perry and Governor-elect John Milton were both strong supporters of secession. For days, the issues were debated inside and outside the convention. In a minority opinion, former territorial governor Richard Keith Call, acting as a private citizen, argued that secession would bring only ruin to the state.On January 10, 1861, the delegates voted sixty-two to seven to withdraw Florida from the Union. The next day, in a public ceremony on the east steps of the capitol, they signed a formal Ordinance of Secession. News of the event generally led to local celebrations. Later, the delegates adopted a new state constitution. Florida was the third state to leave the Union, and within a month it joined with other southern states to form the Confederate States of America.
(original in the Florida State Archives)
We, the People of the State of Florida in Convention assembled, do solemnly ordain, publish and declare: That the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Confederacy of States existing under the name of the United States of America, and from the existing Government of said States; and that all political connection between her and the Government of said States ought to be and the same is hereby totally annulled, and said union of States dissolved; and the State of Florida is hereby declared a Sovereign and Independent Nation; and that all ordinances heretofore adopted in so far as they create or recognize said Union are rescinded; and all laws or parts of laws in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to said Union be and they are hereby repealed.
Done in open Convention, January 10th, A.D. 1861
(Collections of the Museum of Florida History)
Florida's Secession Flag
Helen Broward, of Broward's Neck in Duval County, and other southern women who supported the secessionist cause made and presented this flag to Florida Governor Madison S. Perry. It was unfurled by Governor-elect John Milton on the east porch of the state capitol when the delegates signed Florida's Ordinance of Secession on January 11, 1861. The three large stars represent the first three states to leave the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida. The flag's motto, "The Rights of the South at All Hazards!", echoes the uncompromising position of southern supporters on the eve of the Civil War. The banner reportedly hung above the speaker's desk in the Florida House of Representatives throughout the war.
At the war's end, the banner still hung in the capitol and reportedly was taken as a trophy by a Union army officer during the postwar occupation of the building. It is recorded that this officer later felt guilty about taking the banner and gave it to a Mrs. Hasson, the wife of a military doctor, to return it to the state. The Hassons moved to the western U.S. shortly after this incident. It was not until 1911 that Mrs. Hasson sent the flag to a Florida member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who then returned it to the State of Florida.
The Homefront:
Government and Private Support
Florida's state government generally strongly supported thesouthern war effort. For example, in late 1862, the legislature decided to remove the carpet in the capitol so that it could be cut up and made into blankets for Florida's ill-equipped troops serving in cold winter camps outside the state. In a more substantive move, the legislature voted to provide much-needed, although minimal, assistance to the many families of soldiers who were left destitute by the war. Florida had limited resources to meet the huge demands of equipping troops and running a wartime economy.
Southern citizens and foreign investors demonstrated their support for the South by purchasing Confederate bonds. The South experienced a lack of hard currency to buy foreign goods, since many merchants would not accept southern credit or Confederate currency in payment for products.
Governor John Milton, Florida's governor for most of the
war, worked hard to manage the state's very limited financial
resources to try to meet wartime needs. (Florida State Archives)
Florida currency
Three-dollar bill printed by the Keatinge and Ball Company
in South Carolina in 1863 and 1864. The Confederate States
of America printed increasingly large amounts of paper
currency. As the war continued, very high inflation, combined
with lack of faith in the monetary system, greatly devalued
the buying power of both Confederate national and state
currency.(Collections of the Museum of Florida History)
Crisis at Pensacola, 1861
When
Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861, state officials quickly
ordered Florida troops to seize key federal forts and arsenals
throughout the state. At Pensacola, federal troops moved from the
mainland to the more defendable Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island.
Florida troops, supported by soldiers from Alabama, demanded the
surrender of Fort Pickens. Federal Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer refused to
give up the fort. Thus, in early 1861 the war could have easily started at Fort Pickens, Florida, rather than at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. However, a truce was worked out at Pensacola in which the North agreed not to reinforce the fort, and the South agreed not to attack it. Immediately following the southern bombardment of Fort Sumter, on April 12, 1861, Union forces landed near Pensacola to reinforce Fort Pickens. The standoff at Pensacola continued for several months. Union forces conducted a raid in which they burned a southern ship, and in early October the Confederates launched a large, nighttime raid on Santa Rosa Island.
On October 9, Confederate forces landed approximately 1,000 troops on the island in an assault that overran the camp of a Union army regiment. However, the southern troops were forced to withdraw after Union reinforcements from Fort Pickens arrived on the scene. In November, Union heavy guns at Fort Pickens started a two-day exchange of artillery fire with Confederate-held forts on the mainland. A second exchange of fire took place in early January 1862. The need to send southern troops outside the state increased following Confederate defeats in Tennessee in early 1862. Most southern troops were transferred out of the state, and by May 1862, Confederate forces completely withdrew from Pensacola, ending the more than one-year standoff.
9th. Mississippi Infantry Photographed in 1861 at Pensacola, Florida.
Abandoning Florida's Coastal Defenses, 1862
Abandoning Florida's Coastal Defenses, 1862In early 1862, the Confederate military defeats in Tennessee led to a pressing need for more Florida troops to fight outside the state. Confederate national officials determined that Florida's long coastline was too large an area to defend and ordered most of the troops guarding the state to transfer to more active theaters of the war.
Confederate troops withdrew from Pensacola in early 1862, and Union troops quickly occupied the area of extreme northwest Florida. On the northeast Florida coast, at Fernandina, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine, a large Union naval force pressured the southern forces to evacuate. In spite of its decision to weaken its defense of coastal regions, the South was able to successfully hold and defend most of the populated, interior regions of Florida.
Florida's Confederate Soldiers
By mid-1862 most of Florida's soldiers had been sent outside the state. In the Army of Northern Virginia, Florida units were organized into a Florida Brigade. Later, a second Florida Brigade was formed from units serving in the other major Confederate army, the Army of Tennessee. Floridians fought in most of the major battles of the war, including the epic Battle of Gettysburg, where they suffered heavy casualties.
Patriotism for the southern cause, so common at the beginning of the war, was later tempered by exposure to an increasing amount of death and suffering. At first, the South relied on volunteers, but as early as April 1862 it was necessary to institute a draft in order to fill the ranks. Draftees and those disillusioned by years of war increasingly deserted the Confederate ranks in the latter part of the conflict. Bands of deserters in Florida operated against southern authority in parts of the state.
Approximately 5,000 Floridians (about one out of every three soldiers) died or were killed in Confederate service. Many of those who survived were disabled or had their lives shortened due to health problems related to the hardships of military service.
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| Camp chest
This pine chest was one of several used to carry
the personal camp equipment of Major General William W. Loring, C.S.A., of Florida. (Collections of the Museum of Florida History) |
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A photograph of southern troops in camp near Pensacola in 1861. (Florida State Archives) |
Battle flag of the 1st Florida Cavalry & 4th Florida Infantry
Regiment (consolidated), captured near Murfreesboro,
Tenn. on Dec 7 1864.
Unionism in Florida
Support for the Union cause took several forms in Florida. At the time Florida left the Union, some prominent citizens argued that it was a grave mistake. An existing loyalty to the Union continued among some citizens. Business people and merchants who relied on northern trade feared a disruption of commerce. Subsistence farmers and cattle grazers in some rural areas often were more concerned with supporting their families than with the political issues of the North or South. Moves by the Confederate government to forcibly draft these men or to confiscate parts of their herds or crops turned some against the Confederate cause.Floridians who supported the Union sometimes were forced to leave their homes and flee as refugees to coastal towns in Florida that were occupied by federal troops. Union authorities organized pro-Union supporters into two regiments of cavalry (designating them the 1st and 2nd Florida Cavalry) and a unit of artillery.
As the war dragged on and shortages of basic goods increased, "war weariness" often turned to anti-war and anti-Confederate sentiment. Although Unionism was always a minority view among whites in the state, many citizens hoped for a conclusion of the fighting on any terms.
the newspaper's masthead, was published in Union-occupied Jacksonville in March 1865.
illustration was published in 1862, in Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper, following the Union occupation
of the coastal town. (Florida State Archives)
African American Floridians
Conditions for African Americans in Florida varied considerably during the war. The 1860 census recorded nearly 63,000 blacks in the state. Of this figure, almost 62,000 were listed as slaves, while less than 1,000 were free blacks. Because of the restrictive laws of the time, even those few who were "free" had only very limited freedom.The conditions of slavery in Florida often differed by region. In the cotton belt plantations of central north Florida, many enslaved blacks worked under a "gang system" in which large groups of agricultural workers labored from sunup to sundown. In east and west Florida, a "task system" was more common, which provided workers with a daily task quota and could allow some personal time after the tasks were completed. However, in some plantations both systems were used.
As enslaved residents in the Confederate states, most African Americans had little choice but to support the Confederate war effort. Some went to war as servants to white southern officers. Others toiled in hard labor when the Confederate military impressed enslaved blacks for labor projects, such as building fortifications and transportation systems.
Although many enslaved blacks remained on plantations during the war, many others who had an opportunity fled to Union-held areas, such as Jacksonville and Fernandina in northwest Florida, where they lived as refugees. More than a thousand African American men from Florida joined the Union army, filling out the ranks of black regiments.
African Americans cultivating cotton, ca. 1870s
"Mauma"
Mollie was a woman brought from Africa to South Carolina as a slave and then to Florida in the 1830s. She came to Jefferson County with the family of John Partridge and served as a beloved nurse to the children of the family. This photo dates to the late 1850s. (Florida State Archives)
Louis Nopoleon Nelson
In 1863, after many members of a Tennessee regiment had fallen in battle Sons of Confederate Veterans member Nelson Winbush Grandfather, Chaplain Louis Nopoleon Nelson “uncle Louis” a Black Confederate Soldier read sincere and earnest eulogies to his fallen comrades, and prayed over the wounded with unsurpassed zeal. Louis Nopoleon Nelson was one of Thousands of blacks that served the Confederacy as laborers, teamsters, cooks, and solders. Some estimates indicate 25% of free blacks and 15% of slaves actively supported the South during the war.
The Homefront:
Women's Lives and Work
The Civil War greatly affected
the lives of women, particularly in southern white society. With many
heads of households away from home serving in the military, women had to
take on many additional responsibilities. Whether it was a large
plantation in north Florida or a small subsistence farm in peninsular
Florida, women often had to perform all of the tasks that the men had
done, as well as their own.
The burden fell to women on the homefront to raise their families and to make do with less. The absence of working men, combined with the severe economic hardships imposed by the Union naval blockade, made life difficult for the average woman in the South. As towns along Florida's coast changed hands, the inhabitants often found themselves as refugees in their own land--forced to relocate inland or live under Union or Confederate occupation.
Many women served as supporters of the Confederate war effort. Groups such as the Ladies Soldiers Friend Sewing Society in Tallahassee formed to make clothing for southern soldiers. Others in the state organized fund-raising events to support the Florida Hospital set up for sick and wounded Florida soldiers in Richmond, Virginia.
Day dress
Women in the South often found it necessary to patch and mend their everyday dresses, since new ones rarely were available due to wartime shortages caused by the Union blockade. Although this example was worn in South Carolina, similar types were worn in Florida. (Collections of the Museum of Florida History)
Florida in the Confederate Economy
Florida's major contribution to the Confederate war effort was the supplying of much-needed beef, pork, corn, and molasses to feed the southern armies. The relatively sheltered nature of the state's northern interior, free from most large federal raids, allowed cattle to be raised and food crops to be grown. The other commodity that Floridians produced was salt, which was necessary to preserve meat. Salt-making along Florida's Gulf coast involved boiling seawater in large kettles or containers to evaporate the water and collect the salt.The southern economy and its military efforts were closely tied together, since much of the economic activity directly supported the Confederate war effort. Some southern officials served as both civil tax agents and commissioned military officers responsible for acquiring food and supplies for the military.
Southern economic targets in Florida were attacked in small Union military operations, such as cavalry raids in south Florida to seize cattle, navy raids against saltworks along the coast, and the Union naval blockade to prevent the import and export of goods. To protect cattle in south Florida, southern authorities formed small military units called the "cow cavalry."
Cattle rancher from Florida
Cattle ranchers in the state played a key role in supplying the
Confederate government with meat. However, some ranchers
also sold cattle to Union authorities. (Florida State Archives)
Illustration of a Union navy raiding party approaching a salt factory
on Florida's northern Gulf coast in the summer of 1862. Most salt-
making operations were smaller and less complex than this rather
elaborate factory. (Illustration from Harper's Weekly, September
15, 1862; Florida State Archives).
Medicine and Surgery
During the war, soldiers were twice as likely to die of disease as they were to be killed in battle. Poor sanitation and crowded camp life helped spread epidemics among the armies. An often insufficient diet, exposure to the elements, and combat stress weakened the body's resistance to disease. Because Civil War surgeons did not know about germs and the need for sterile instruments during operations, many unnecessary infections resulted from even relatively minor wounds.Many serious wounds were beyond the abilities of military surgeons to treat, without relying on amputation. Amputation was a common operation if a patient's arm or leg had a extensive wound. The procedure lessened the chance that gangrene or fatal infection would occur. Although amputation could sometimes save the life of a patient, it left thousands of soldiers permanently disabled.
Surgeon's amputation kit
This kit originally was owned by Dr. Thomas P. Gary of Brooksville
and Ocala, who served as a surgeon in the 7th Florida Infantry
Regiment during the Civil War. Gary may have purchased the kit,
made by the Snowden Company of Philadelphia, while studying
medicine in that city before the war. The ivory handles of these
instruments indicate that they probably were designed for civilian
use. Surgeon's kits from the Civil War period were usually elaborate
sets of instruments fitted in fine fabric-lined wood cases. Each
instrument served a specific function in an amputation.
(Collections of the Museum of Florida History)
Private Charles L. Sewell, a veteran of the 1st Florida Infantry,
was wounded in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, in late 1864.
Several days later his arm was amputated by a Confederate
surgeon. He survived the operation and lived into the twentieth
century. (Florida State Archives)
Naval and Riverine Operations in Florida Waters
Early in the war the Union navy began a blockade of Florida's coast to prevent the Confederacy from importing and exporting arms and trade goods. Initially, the navy did not have enough ships to effectively police Florida's long coastline and stop southern commerce. Blockade runners brought in war materials and luxuries, often from Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Cuba. In turn, cotton, molasses, whiskey, and other products were shipped abroad. As the federal navy acquired more ships, it was able to catch or destroy more and more blockade runners. In some cases, the Union navy refitted captured blockade-running ships for use as blockaders. The East Gulf Blockading Squadron was the primary naval force in Florida, headquartered at Key West.Union navy gunboats also patrolled some of Florida's larger rivers. During the war, the Union army used transport ships to move troops and equipment. The Maple Leaf, which was sunk in 1864 by a Confederate mine in the St. John's River, was one of these army transports.
Blockade duty for the average sailor was long, hot, and boring. Diseases like yellow fever were a deadly problem in the summer months. Ships could go for days, weeks, or longer without spotting a blockade runner. The few warships of the Confederate navy usually were raiding northern merchant ships on the high seas or safely in protected rivers, out of range of the Union navy's guns. Union naval operations also included raids against southern salt-making works on the coast or occasionally in support of army operations ashore. The navy often was assisted in shore raids by escaped slaves who knew the local areas. In addition, many African American men enlisted in the navy and served on Union blockading ships.
John Jackson Dickison
No account of Gainesville's experiences during the Civil War would be
complete without mentioning Captain John Jackson Dickison's famous
Company H of the Second Florida Calvary. Dickison’s outfit, organized in
August 1862 in Marion County, was composed of some of the best soldiers
and horsemen of the entire state. Dickison, called "Florida's most
conspicuous soldier," remained in Florida throughout the Civil War; his
headquarters were in Palatka much of the time but he roamed all over the
state, functioning as the principal thorn in the side of the Federal
forces. There is an historical marker about Capt. Dickison on State Road
24 in Waldo. An excellent book about Capt. Dickison is "Dickison and
His Men, Reminiscences of the War in Florida," written by Mary Elizabeth
Dickison and published in 1890.
Union sailors from the USS Stars and Stripes sail a captured
Confederate schooner with a cargo of cotton in the Ochlockonee
River while under fire by southern cavalry troops.
(Florida State Archives)
The Union Army in Florida
In January 1861, as Florida seceded from the Union, U.S. Army officers stationed at Pensacola and Key West moved quickly to ensure that two key forts in Florida would remain in Union hands. By securing and holding Fort Pickens near Pensacola and Fort Taylor in Key West, along with Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, the Union had access to strategic outposts in the deep South.Over the course of the war, the Union army increased its occupation of most of Florida's coastal forts and towns. Unlike many other areas of the South, Florida saw minimal large-scale fighting. With the exception of the Olustee campaign and several small expeditions into the interior, the Union army usually remained near its forts and occupied cities. Duty in some places, such as St. Augustine, could be interesting for northern troops. However, many were stationed in remote locations and suffered from boredom, insects, and potentially deadly tropical diseases such as yellow fever.
A variety of northern units served in Florida, from the New York Zouaves to the Union army's African American regiments. In the latter two years of the war, an increasing number of black units were involved in the Union operations in Florida. In addition to fighting at Olustee, both black and white Union army units stationed in different parts of the state fought small battles with southern forces at Gainesville, Marianna, Station Number 4 near Cedar Key, Fort Myers, and Natural Bridge. Smaller skirmishes also occurred in other parts of the state.
Union army officer's frock coat
This coat was worn by Captain William H. Bristol, an officer from
New York, and bears distinctive New York state buttons on the
front of the uniform. Several regiments from New York served in
Florida. (Collections of the Museum of Florida History)
Union artillery soldiers in camp in Jacksonville. The Union army
occupied Jacksonville on four separate occasions during the war.
(Florida State Archives)
The Battle of Olustee
In February 1864, Union forces landed in Jacksonville and launched a major expedition westward into the interior of the state. Union objectives included cutting off Confederate supply lines, locating recruits for black Union regiments, and establishing a pro-Union government in east Florida. The Union expedition was commanded by Brigadier General Truman Seymour. To counter this move, Confederate Brigadier General Joseph Finegan gathered southern troops sent from north Florida, southern Georgia, and South Carolina.
In the largest battle fought in Florida, approximately 5,500 Union troops clashed with a roughly equal number of Confederates at a point east of Lake City. For several hours in the afternoon of February 20, 1864, fighting raged in the pine woods near Olustee Station and Ocean Pond. Both commanders committed their forces only a few units at a time; however, the Confederates established a more effective position. As a result, the federal units directly engaged in the battle faced a relatively larger number of southern troops. Three regiments of African American troops fought in the battle and suffered heavy casualties. The Confederates held their ground and inflicted a stinging defeat on the Union forces. As darkness approached, the Union troops began their retreat to Jacksonville.
For its size (approximately 11,000 soldiers altogether), the battle was one of the bloodiest clashes of the war, with 1,861 Union casualties and 946 Confederate casualties. The Confederate victory helped keep the interior of the state under the South's control.
Map of the Battle of Olustee (also called Ocean Pond). Based on a sketch by Confederate Lieutenant M. B. Grant, the map was published in the Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1895. The positions of Confederate forces are shown in red and the Union forces are in blue. The southern units clashed with the northern troops and turned them back after more than four hours of heavy fighting.
Lithograph of the Battle of Olustee. This color lithograph, published by Kurz and Allison of Chicago in 1894, was part of a post-war series of romanticized images of Civil War battles. Here, the 8th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment is shown under fire during the battle. This illustration, while dramatic, does not accurately reflect the actual battle. The engagement at Olustee was fought in pine woods, rather than in the open as shown in this print.
The Battle of Natural Bridge
Late in the war, in March 1865, a combined Union army and naval force assembled in the northern Gulf of Mexico off St. Mark's. Almost 1,000 Union troops, including several hundred Florida soldiers in the 2nd Florida Union Cavalry, landed near the St. Mark's lighthouse and prepared to move inland. The initial targets of the expedition appear to have been the town and fort of St. Mark's. However, with a large Union force moving inland, the Confederates thought that there was a clear danger to the capital city, Tallahassee.Following a skirmish at Newport bridge on the St. Mark's River, the Union commander, Brigadier General John Newton, decided to conduct a night march north to Natural Bridge in hopes of crossing the river unopposed. Observant Confederate scouts reported the move, and the southern field commander, Brigadier General William Miller, redirected his forces in the area to meet the threat. The southern troops consisted of both Florida cavalry and artillery soldiers, supplemented with young and old militia members, and a small group of young cadets from the Florida Military Institute in Tallahassee.
At dawn on March 6, 1865, the sound of gunfire could be heard at the Natural Bridge crossing. The first attempt by the Union troops to cross quickly was checked by southern fire. Both sides reinforced their positions during the morning, and the northern troops searched for another way across the river. Unable to find another crossing point, the federal commander chose to force a passage at Natural Bridge. Near midday the Union troops of the 2nd and 99th U.S. Colored Infantry regiments attacked. For several hours the woods and swamps echoed with the sounds of battle.
The Confederates had the advantages of a solid defensive position, more cannons, and, by the end of the battle, more troops. After finally realizing that they could not successfully force their way across Natural Bridge, the Union troops broke off the engagement and retreated to the safety of the coast. The battle resulted in 148 casualties for the northern side and 26 casualties for the southern side. The Confederate victory ensured that Tallahassee would remain in southern hands for the remainder of the war--the only southern capital east of the Mississippi River with that distinction.
Brigadier General William Miller, C.S.A. A veteran commander of the 1st Florida Infantry, General Miller served as Confederate field commander at Natural Bridge. (Florida State Archives)
Brigadier General John Newton, U.S.A. General Newton was a veteran of several major battles, including Gettysburg, before being assigned to a post in Key West. His expedition to Natural Bridge was his last battle before the war ended. (Library of Congress)
The War Ends:
Surrender, Occupation, and Emancipation
During the
spring of 1865, the infrastructure of the Confederacy collapsed. The
northern advantages of superior numbers of troops, combined with a huge
industrial base, had exhausted the South in a four-year war of
attrition. General Lee's once-mighty Army of Northern Virginia was
starving and, after the abandonment of Petersburg and Richmond,
outmaneuvered by a relentlessly pursuing Union Army of the Potomac. Lee
surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on
April 9, 1865. Unable to link up with General Lee, the South's other
major field army, the Army of Tennessee, under the command of General
Joseph E. Johnston, surrendered on April 26th at Durham Station, North
Carolina. As part of the surrender of the Army of Tennessee, other areas
in the Southeast, including Florida, were instructed to yield to
federal troops.
| News of the war's end reached Florida in rumors and fragments
later in April and in early May. Several months before, Florida's Governor Milton had proclaimed that death would be preferable to reunion, and on April 1, he ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The state's adjutant general removed the retired battle flags from the capitol and turned them over to his sister to hide them to prevent them from falling into Union hands. |
| The people of Florida greeted the end of the war in very
different ways. For ieutenant Francis Fleming, a Florida Confederate officer whose brother had been killed in battle the year before, the end was "a sad and terrible result." In contrast, for some other Florida troops, weary and anxious finally to go home, the news of the war's end was greeted with cheers. In Union-occupied areas of the state, cannons boomed victory salutes. |
| On May 10, 1865, Union Brigadier General Edward McCook and
his staff entered Tallahassee without incident. McCook and his occupation force had come from Macon, Georgia, to establish federal control and authority in Florida. Confederate troops signed parole documents agreeing not to fight and turned over military equipment to federal authorities. In a May 20th ceremony marking the formal transition of power, Union troops raised a large United States flag over the state capitol. On the same day, General McCook announced the Emancipation Proclamation, formally freeing enslaved blacks in Florida. The war was over for Florida, and the uncertain period of Reconstruction began. |
Civil War Veterans
For many veterans, their participation in the Civil War was the most important period of their lives. As they aged, many joined veterans' organizations, where they could meet with old friends and share memories of their service. The two main veterans' organizations were the United Confederate Veterans (U.C.V.) for southern veterans, and the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) for veterans of the Union army. Annual reunions and parades were among the popular events held by these groups, who were active mainly between the 1890s and 1920s.
Albert McBride served as a corporal in the 6th Florida Infantry and was captured at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee. After the war, he lived in Georgia. He is shown wearing a postwar United Confederate Veterans' uniform with a collar star designating the rank of an honorary major. A "Southern Cross of Honor" badge is pinned to his lapel. (Florida State Archives)
Confederate History Month
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The 150th.
Anniversary “Sesquicentennial” of the War Between the States
“1861-1865” is now underway through 2015 and the Confederate History and
Heritage Month encourages everyone to make it a family affair and learn
more about this important time in our nation's past.
April
is Confederate History Month that commemorates the men and women of the
Confederate States of America who came from all races and religions
that include: Irish-born General Patrck R.Cleburne, Black Confederate
drummer Bill Yopp, Mexican born Colonel Santos Benavides, Cherokee born
General Stand Watie, Jewish born Nurse Phoebe Pember and Cuban born
Colone Ambrosio Jose Gonzales.
Confederate
Memorial Day is a state holiday lost due to political correctness. This
is a day to remember, our Southern American veterans who went to wae to
dafend there homes, community, the Constitution and the founding
principals of our republic. Sadly, this period of american history is
often distorted for divisive purposed and our honorable heritage as a
law abiding citizenry is attacked.
Please
take the time to do a little something to honor the Sourthern Veterans
who gave there all to give us our freedoms we are losing today. Help
Preserve the memory ofour SouthernPatriots of the past, their values and
the freedoms they fought to preserve for us.
“Should
we choose today to be afraid to speak the truth, hold accountable those
who manipulate the truth, neglect to act on behalf of the truth or fail
to stand and fight for truth, liberty and freedom, truth, liberty and
freedom shall not be preserve for future generations to enjoy.”
Today, Confederate Memorial Day, is celebrated as follows:
Alabama: Fourth Monday in April
Florida: April 26,
Georgia: April 26,
Louisiana: June 3,
Mississippi: last Monday in April
North Carolina: May 10,
South Carolina: May 10,
Tennessee (Confederate Decoration Day): June 3,
Texas (Confederate Heroes Day): January 19,
Virginia: Last Monday in May
The C.S.S. Alabama
one of the Civil War's most notorious ships, the C.S.S. Alabama, a Confederate raider lost on an unlikely battlefield off the coast of France. The sinking of the Alabama on June 19, 1864, was big news. "The Battle of the U.S.S. Kearsarge and the C.S.S. Alabama" In the 22 months it roved the seas, from Brazil to Singapore, the Alabama obliterated 65 Union merchant ships. The 220-foot-long vessel, fitted with eight cannons and a retractable smokestack, was built for Rafael "Old Beeswax" Semmes, an Alabama captain with a waxed handlebar mustache (hence his nickname) and a track record for burning enemy ships. The vessel was constructed in secrecy in Liverpool, England, under the name 290. On July 29, 1862, Semmes told customs officials he was taking the finished ship out for a test run. Packed with ladies and gentlemen who were treated to champagne and lunch, the 290 left Liverpool for a "short excursion." At the mouth of the Mersey River, Semmes unloaded the surprised merrymakers into a tugboat and high-tailed it 2,000 miles southwest to the Azores, where guns, ammunition, and a crew were waiting. Within two months, the Alabama—renamed for its captain's home state—had burned 19 Union ships without firing a shot: Semmes's ploy was to raise a British flag, board the ship, seize its goods, take prisoners, and set it afire. The New York Times and Harper's Weekly dubbed Semmes a pirate, but the South celebrated him as a hero. After almost two years at sea, Semmes paused in
the
Cherbourg harbor to repair the Alabama's hull and take on fresh
ammunition. Hearing of the elusive vessel's landing, Capt. John Winslow
of the U.S.S. Kearsarge blocked its exit. A few minutes before 11:00
a.m., the Alabama fired the first shot. One shell hit the Kearsarge's
unprotected stern post—a potentially fatal wound—but didn't explode. The
Alabama was less fortunate. "Nearly every shot from the U.S.S.
Kearsarge our guns was telling fearfully on the Alabama, By noon, the
Alabama had slipped beneath the waves. Photo of C.S.S. Albama's Capt.
Rafael Semmes
The H.L. Hunley 
Imagine, if you can, It's the night of Feb. 17, 1864. 26-year-old Confederate naval captain, Lt. George E. Dixon, from Kentucky, is standing in front of a new military marvel — a 39-foot submersible iron ship called a submarine. At its widest point, the craft is only four feet across, and on top of that, it's only three-and-a-half feet deep. standing about six feet tall, a man must squeeze through a hatch 16 inches in diameter into a tiny compartment that also contains eight other crew members. all folding into an almost fetal position, must propel the submarine by hand into the dark and quiet waters of the Atlantic off the coast of Charleston, S.C. to where Union ships have blockaded Charleston Harbor.there mission is to open up the harbor by sinking one of these giants. No submarine has ever accomplished this task. In fact, the submarine is the first to make history the H. L. Hunley, the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship, in this case the U.S.S. Housatonic. The mystery and tragedy surrounding the Hunley and its captain remained a mystery for more than 130 years, until it’s discovery located it about three miles off Sullivan's Island in South Carolina when Dixon's
remains
were uncovered "The presence of the $20 gold piece He carried giving to
him by his believed Queen in Mobile to be a good-luck charm when a
bullet struck Dixon in the leg at precisely the spot where the coin
rested, warping it into the shape of a bell. If not for the coin, Dixon
might have lost his leg, or even his life. After the incident, Dixon
inscribed the words "Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G.E.D." and
carried the coin with him wherever he went confirms the identity of Lt.
George E. Dixon who was found slumped forward at the battle station,
where he manned the diving and steering instruments. "The coin was found
on Dixon's remains and in the middle of some textiles. he kept in his
pocket,.. Dixon and the other eight sailors in his crew was buried in
Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston S.C.
Imagine, if you can, It's the night of Feb. 17, 1864. 26-year-old Confederate naval captain, Lt. George E. Dixon, from Kentucky, is standing in front of a new military marvel — a 39-foot submersible iron ship called a submarine. At its widest point, the craft is only four feet across, and on top of that, it's only three-and-a-half feet deep. standing about six feet tall, a man must squeeze through a hatch 16 inches in diameter into a tiny compartment that also contains eight other crew members. all folding into an almost fetal position, must propel the submarine by hand into the dark and quiet waters of the Atlantic off the coast of Charleston, S.C. to where Union ships have blockaded Charleston Harbor.there mission is to open up the harbor by sinking one of these giants. No submarine has ever accomplished this task. In fact, the submarine is the first to make history the H. L. Hunley, the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship, in this case the U.S.S. Housatonic. The mystery and tragedy surrounding the Hunley and its captain remained a mystery for more than 130 years, until it’s discovery located it about three miles off Sullivan's Island in South Carolina when Dixon's
remains
were uncovered "The presence of the $20 gold piece He carried giving to
him by his believed Queen in Mobile to be a good-luck charm when a
bullet struck Dixon in the leg at precisely the spot where the coin
rested, warping it into the shape of a bell. If not for the coin, Dixon
might have lost his leg, or even his life. After the incident, Dixon
inscribed the words "Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G.E.D." and
carried the coin with him wherever he went confirms the identity of Lt.
George E. Dixon who was found slumped forward at the battle station,
where he manned the diving and steering instruments. "The coin was found
on Dixon's remains and in the middle of some textiles. he kept in his
pocket,.. Dixon and the other eight sailors in his crew was buried in
Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston S.C.
The C.S.S. Virginia (The U.S.S. Merrimack)
The steam frigate, CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack),burned but inadequately destroyed by the Northern navy the previous spring, had been raised by the Confederates, rebuilt, and armored with three inches of iron and a four-foot iron beak. It was ugly, unwieldy with a 22-foot draft, but a very effective guardian. On March 8, the Virginia slowly steamed out of the Elizabeth River, heading for the two large wooden warships, the USS Cumberland and the USS Congress, which patrolled the mouth of the James and Hampton Roads. The Union guard was down, and washing lines hung from the Cumberland. It was hard for the Yankees to believe that a ship which, as Bruce Catton writes, "looked like a derelict barn
adrift
on the tide, submerged to the eaves," could pose a serious threat. All
day hundreds of people watched from the shores as the Federal fire
bounced off the Virginia's iron plates and both Union warships burned
and sank. The next day the Virginia encountered a far more worthy
opponent, for the recently built USS Monitor had arrived at Hampton
Roads in the nick of time. Described as a "tin can on a shingle" but
more maneuverable than the Confederate ironclad, it challenged the
Virginia, and they battled to a draw by noon. For the next two months,
the rival ironclads glared at each other in Hampton Roads, each
unwilling to risk destruction. When finally the Confederate forces had
to retreat from Norfolk, the Virginia, its draft too deep to navigate
the river channel, had to be blown up. Photo of C.S.S. Virginia's Flag
Officer Franklin Buchanan.
The steam frigate, CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack),burned but inadequately destroyed by the Northern navy the previous spring, had been raised by the Confederates, rebuilt, and armored with three inches of iron and a four-foot iron beak. It was ugly, unwieldy with a 22-foot draft, but a very effective guardian. On March 8, the Virginia slowly steamed out of the Elizabeth River, heading for the two large wooden warships, the USS Cumberland and the USS Congress, which patrolled the mouth of the James and Hampton Roads. The Union guard was down, and washing lines hung from the Cumberland. It was hard for the Yankees to believe that a ship which, as Bruce Catton writes, "looked like a derelict barn
adrift
on the tide, submerged to the eaves," could pose a serious threat. All
day hundreds of people watched from the shores as the Federal fire
bounced off the Virginia's iron plates and both Union warships burned
and sank. The next day the Virginia encountered a far more worthy
opponent, for the recently built USS Monitor had arrived at Hampton
Roads in the nick of time. Described as a "tin can on a shingle" but
more maneuverable than the Confederate ironclad, it challenged the
Virginia, and they battled to a draw by noon. For the next two months,
the rival ironclads glared at each other in Hampton Roads, each
unwilling to risk destruction. When finally the Confederate forces had
to retreat from Norfolk, the Virginia, its draft too deep to navigate
the river channel, had to be blown up. Photo of C.S.S. Virginia's Flag
Officer Franklin Buchanan.
THE SOUTHERN CROSS OF HONOR
While
attending a reunion of Confederate veterans in Atlanta in July 1898,
Mrs. Alexander S. Erwin of Athens, Ga., conceived the idea of bestowing
the Southern Cross of Honor on Confederate veterans . Mrs. Erwin and
Mrs. Sarah E. Gabbett of Atlanta are credited with the design of the
medal: a Maltese cross with a wreath of laurel surrounding the words
"Deo Vindice (God Vindicat) 1861-1865" and the inscription, "Southern
Cross of Honor" on the face. On the reverse side is a Confederate battle
flag surrounded by a laurel wreath and the words "United Daughters of
the Confederacy to the UCV." Mr. Charles W. Crankshaw of Atlanta was
chosen to manufacture the Crosses, but the first order was not given
until the UDC had secured a copyright (February 20, 1900). During the
first 18 months of the Cross's availability, 12,500 were ordered and
delivered. Only a Confederate veteran could wear the Southern Cross of
Honor, and it could only be bestowed through the UDC. Money 
could
not buy the Cross; they were bought by loyal, honorable service to the
South and given in recognition of this devotion. The first Cross ever
bestowed was upon Mrs. Erwin’s husband, Captain Alexander S. Erwin, by
the Athens (Ga.) Chapter on April 26, 1900. To request confirmation of
the bestowal of a Southern Cross of Honor between 1900 and 1913 and/or
for any information available for subsequent years, please download the
research request form [Microsoft Word file PDF file] and mail to: UDC Memorial Building Southern Cross of Honor Research328 North Boulevard Richmond, VA 23220-4009
While
attending a reunion of Confederate veterans in Atlanta in July 1898,
Mrs. Alexander S. Erwin of Athens, Ga., conceived the idea of bestowing
the Southern Cross of Honor on Confederate veterans . Mrs. Erwin and
Mrs. Sarah E. Gabbett of Atlanta are credited with the design of the
medal: a Maltese cross with a wreath of laurel surrounding the words
"Deo Vindice (God Vindicat) 1861-1865" and the inscription, "Southern
Cross of Honor" on the face. On the reverse side is a Confederate battle
flag surrounded by a laurel wreath and the words "United Daughters of
the Confederacy to the UCV." Mr. Charles W. Crankshaw of Atlanta was
chosen to manufacture the Crosses, but the first order was not given
until the UDC had secured a copyright (February 20, 1900). During the
first 18 months of the Cross's availability, 12,500 were ordered and
delivered. Only a Confederate veteran could wear the Southern Cross of
Honor, and it could only be bestowed through the UDC. Money 
could
not buy the Cross; they were bought by loyal, honorable service to the
South and given in recognition of this devotion. The first Cross ever
bestowed was upon Mrs. Erwin’s husband, Captain Alexander S. Erwin, by
the Athens (Ga.) Chapter on April 26, 1900. To request confirmation of
the bestowal of a Southern Cross of Honor between 1900 and 1913 and/or
for any information available for subsequent years, please download the
research request form [Microsoft Word file PDF file] and mail to: UDC Memorial Building Southern Cross of Honor Research328 North Boulevard Richmond, VA 23220-4009
Native American Confederates
Flags of Navive American Confederates Cherokee Braves Flag, the Chictaws Flag, and the Seminoles Flag
The following are Native American Confederate tribes, inlisting within the southern ranks in the war between the States. are the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Chictaw, theCreek, and the Seminole. The last Confederate General to stand down was Brig. Gen. Stand Watie, a Cherokee. On June 23, 1865, long after the war in the east had ended, Watie agreed to cease-fire terms at Ft. Towson in Choctaw Nations area of Indian Territory.
Jewish Confederate
Judah Philip Benjamin (August 6, 1811–May 6, 1884) was a British-American politician and lawyer, who served as a representative in the Louisiana State Legislature, as U.S. Senator for Louisiana, in three successive cabinet posts in the government of the Confederate States of America, and as a distinguished barrister and Queen's Counsel in England. He was the second Jew (after David Levy Yulee of Florida) to serve as a U.S. Senator and the first in the cabinet of a North American government, and had the opportunity to be the first Jewish nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, though he declined the position..
Judah Philip Benjamin (August 6, 1811–May 6, 1884) was a British-American politician and lawyer, who served as a representative in the Louisiana State Legislature, as U.S. Senator for Louisiana, in three successive cabinet posts in the government of the Confederate States of America, and as a distinguished barrister and Queen's Counsel in England. He was the second Jew (after David Levy Yulee of Florida) to serve as a U.S. Senator and the first in the cabinet of a North American government, and had the opportunity to be the first Jewish nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, though he declined the position..
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE
DEFINITION OF A GENTLEMAN
The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman. The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in plain light. The gentleman dos not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient to let the past be the past. A true man of honor feel humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE IN HIS OWN WORDS & WISDOM,
We can learn a lot from the character of a man through his own words. Hear are some of General Robert E. Lee’s wisdom and thoughts on various topics:
Character: As a general principal, you should not force young man to do their duty, but let them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their characters.
Choices: I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, then to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.
Conduct: We have only one rule hear (at Washington College) to act like gentleman at all times.
Defeat: We may be annihilated, but we cannot be conquered.
Determination: We had, I was satisfied, sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend, for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavor.
Dreams: All I ever wanted was a Virginia farm, on end of cream and fresh butter and fried chicken-not one fried chicken, or two, but unlimited fried chicken.
Duty: Do your duty. That is all the pleasure, all the comfort, all the glory we can enjoy in this world.
Education: The education of a man or woman is never completed until they die.
Faith: I trust that a kind Providence will watch over us, and notwithstanding our weakness and sins will yet give us a name and place among the nations of the earth.
Farewells: After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources. With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
Forgiveness: Abandon your animosities, and make your sons Americans.
Honesty: The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.
Honor: A true man of honor feels humble himself when he can not help humbling others.
Integrity: There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done the honor of the integrity of principle.
Loyalty: If the Union is dissolved, the government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share in the miseries of my people. Save in her defense, I will draw my sword no more.
Patriotism: These men are not an army-they are citizens defending their country.
Perseverance: We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters.
Promotion: What do you care about rank. I would serve under a corporal if necessary!
Purpose: I am glad to see no indication in your letter of an intention to leave the country. I think the south requires the aid of her sons now more than at any period in her history. As you ask my purpose, I will state that I have no thought of abandoning her unless compelled to do so.
Regrets: If I had taken General Longstreet’s advice on the eve of the second day of the battle of Gettysburg…then the Confederates would today be a free people.
Union Atrocities: I have never witnessed on any previous occasion such entire disregard of the usage of civilized warfare and the dictates of humanity.
Vengeance: It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemies…
General Thomas J. Jackson
Death
held no terror for the Christian soldier, They faced danger with a
serene calmness of one who had nothing to fear. This kind of belief is
the what made General Thomas J. Jackson a “Stonewall” in the face of
danger at Bull Run. When ask “How is it that you can keep so cool and
appear so utterly insensible to danger in such a storm of shell and
bullets as rained about you when your hand was hit?” He answered, “My
religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed, God has
fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but
always be ready, no matter when it may overtake me.” And he added, “That
is the way all man should live, and then all would be equally brave.”
Jackson knew that God knows and does all things for the best. Jackson
who was a very stern, silent man with little sense of humor and believes
in the word of God and would not drink, smoke, dance, curse, play
cards, or attend the theater. Born on January 21, 1824. will graduate
from West Point in 1846 to fight in the Mexican War. And stayed in the
army until 1851, when he left to join the faculty of the Virginia
Military Institute in Lexington, Va. In 1860 he join the Confederacy. In
the War Between the States (The Civil War) On the Battlefield he was
daring, calm, decisive, and got his name “Stonewall Jackson” Jackson
died on Sunday May 10, 1863. His last words was.
“Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the tree.
"Rebel Sons of Erin" They too fought for the Cause. America's Irish community - like so
many other Americans - was divided by the War Between the States. Irish
volunteers in the North achieved fame through the battlefield exploits
of units like "Meagher's Irish Brigade." Less known, but no less fervent
in their patriotism, were Southern Irishmen - who promptly took up arms
in defense of the South and Southern Independence. Most prominent among
Irish Confederate commanders was General Patrick R. Cleburne, and among
the best-known Irish Confederates were the troops of the 10th
Tennessee, C.S.A.
1999 Florida Statutes
Title-XVIII Chapter-256
256.051 Improper use or mutilation of state or Confederate flag or emblem prohibited
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to copy, print, publish, or otherwise use the flag or state emblem of Florida, or the flag or emblem of the Confederate States, or any flag or emblem used by the Confederate States or the military or naval forces of the Confederate States at any time within the years 1860 to 1865, both inclusive, for the purpose of advertising, selling, or promoting the sale of any article of merchandise whatever within this state.
(2) It shall also be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to mutilate, deface, defile, or contemptuously abuse the flag or emblem of Florida or the flag or emblem of the Confederate States by any act whatever
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the use of any flag, standard, color, shield, ensign, or other insignia of Florida or of the Confederate States for decorative or patriotic purposes.
A Confederate Soldier’s Prayer
I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made week, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among man, most richly blessed.
Found on the body of a valiant Southern soldier
killed during the Battle of Fredricksburg, December 1862.