The epic Battle of Olustee marked the culmination of a daring Union incursion into Florida, instigated a mere few weeks earlier. The Union’s General Quincy Gilmore entrusted Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour with marching to Jacksonville on February 7, 1864.
Seymour’s forces swiftly secured the town and dispatched cavalry units towards Lake City and Gainesville, meeting little resistance on their advance. However, their progress was impeded as they neared Olustee, where Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan’s Confederate troops had fortified their position.
The subsequent clash at Olustee saw Seymour’s maneuvers towards Lake City thwarted by Finegan’s beleaguered but reinforced troops. By the time skirmishes commenced near the Olustee railroad station, both sides had mustered approximately 5,000 soldiers each.
Throughout the relentless engagement on February 20, the Confederates nearly breached the Union lines before ammunition shortages temporarily stalled their advance. As fresh supplies arrived, the confrontation intensified. After four hours of fierce combat, and with Finegan exhausting his reserves, Seymour ordered a strategic retreat.
The battle exacted a heavy toll of 2,807 casualties and culminated in the Union forces retreating to Jacksonville, where they remained until the war’s conclusion fourteen months later. This Confederate victory secured their dominance in Florida’s heartland for the duration of the conflict.
Over 10,000 cavalry, infantry, and artillery units clashed in the pine-laden terrain surrounding Olustee. The engagement notably featured three regiments of U.S. Colored Troops, including the renowned 54th Massachusetts. Initially led by Col. Robert Gould Shaw and immortalized in the 1989 film “Glory,” these troops, although the movie overlooks the Battle of Olustee, filmed portions of the movie within the park.
Following extensive fundraising efforts by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Florida Legislature procured three acres in 1909 to erect a memorial in remembrance of the event.
On October 23, 1912, veterans of the Battle of Olustee, joined by dignitaries, convened to dedicate the memorial, establishing the state’s inaugural historical site.