Wednesday, January 30, 2008

ABC Wednesday: "B" is for Battlefield




This is the sign to the Olustee Battlefield, a state battlefield park between Jacksonville and Lake City, Florida. On February 20, 1864 a Union expeditionary force out of Jacksonville met a Confederate "army" of roughly equal strength here in the pine woods near the small railroad depot of Olustee. Over the course of a few hours that afternoon over 2,000 soldiers became casualties out of the 10,000 total men engaged. This makes Olustee one of the costliest battles of the entire American Civil War in terms of percentage of casualties per man engaged. Even though it was a small battle by Civil War standards (there were well over 100,000 men at Gettysburg the previous year in 1863 in Pennsylvania) it was still by far the largest battle fought in Florida and helped buy the Confederacy a little more time before the untilmate defeat in 1865. Florida best served the Confederacy by supplying vast quantities of beef, salt, and other food products to the Confederate armies further north, though over 14,000 Floridian men did serve under arms - including many of my ancestors, some of whom fought on this very battlefield. I grew up just 15 minutes away by car and could hear the cannons each year when they would hold the annual reenactment. I still enjoy going out every year to watch the reenactment, visit the camps and suttlers, and enjoy a trip back in time.


32 comments:

Nessa said...

I'm learning so much history.

Sharon said...

That is some intreesting info! Thanks for sharing.

dot said...

Good post! I've never been to a reenactment but I've always wanted to.

RUTH said...

A fascinating piece of History. :0)

Pernille said...

Interested story and a great photo. Have a nice day:)

FO - 2 said...

Interesting American history. :) Great post.

DeeMom said...

Fabulous history, great pictures

ArneA said...

This is the kind of using ABC Wed. as I like. Story and covering picture.
The Election fight yesterday in Florida was not so hard I hope but probably more costly in dollars

Rune Eide said...

A good B that reminds us that "war is hell"

Paulie said...

Interesting history lesson. . . we have Fort Vancouver here and several re-enactments yearly.

Silly Goose said...

I'm wondering who makes the costumes to make this look so real?

Andrea said...

Wonderful post here. Nice "B" for ABC Wednesday. Looks like that would be interesting to see.

Liz Hinds said...

It's right to remember.

Just saw your profile: you're a busy man!

Dragonstar said...

Lovely pictures, particularly the second - very evocative.
Thank you for all the information. That's the great thing about blogging, all the new things to learn.

Daryl said...

Fascinating!

Edmund (the explorer) Nesbitt said...

Hello Uncle Alan,
When I was living in the charity shop I used to read some of the history books. I found this very interesting.
I am doing a lot of reading right now, mostly travel and stuff explorers need to know.

Nice to meet you.
I have done my ABC post today.
Regards
Edmund(the explorer) nesbitt

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

hey Nice photography, I do not know a lot about battlefields but now I can see a bit...

See what I made for ABC wednesday,
Greetings form JoAnn Holland

TheModernGoddess said...

Great photos.
http://themoderngoddess.wordpress.com/

bonnie said...

Very cool. I've never seen an enactment, but I've been to Gettysburg many times.

Neva said...

What a great "B" post. I am from West Virginia, originally, and of course, West Virginia is a product of the Civil War. Many of my ancestors fought against each other, blue to grey.....I enjoyed reading about your part of history!

imac said...

Intersesting B post. nice one.


My ABC is now up.
also next post =they are real

imac said...

Intersesting B post. nice one.


My ABC is now up.
also next post =they are real

imac said...

Intersesting B post. nice one.


My ABC is now up.
also next post =they are real

Max-e said...

Hi Alan, what an interesting post. The American civil war, along with many other civil wars fascinates me. What is it that make fellow countrymen take up arms and start killing each other - is it ever worth it?
I think not

photowannabe said...

My goodness, I had no idea about this part of history in Florida. My ignorance is really showing. Thanks for the great B post.

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Very interesting post. I sure love Florida and enjoyed surfing around your blog. I didn't know Florida had any Civil War history. We have Revolutionary War Reenactments around here sometimes.

VP said...

Thanks for posting this I learnt a lot today :)

Lilli & Nevada said...

Very nice i would love to see something like that

Flassie's Fil'a said...

Great B photos. I wish war wasn't even in the dictionary or even a thought. These is a reminder to pray for peace and for the people fighting in the wars.

I have been to a reenactment and thought about posting some of them for my B but I want to get as many prayers lifted up for my son. So I posted a photo of him when he was a child.

Have a Blessed Happy Fun
Creative Healthy Year!!!

Katney said...

You've moved from interesting zoology to interesting history. ABC Wednesday is a learning experience. I'm still with flowers.

Tom said...

What a fantastic post Alan

Mike said...

Thanks for the history lesson, I really enjoyed taking a read.