Florida
Civil War
Memorials
On
June 22, 2007 I embarked on what will without doubt be a long and
sporadic journey to document Civil War monuments and memorials in
Florida. I undertook a similar journey in Oklahoma a number of
years ago (http://uwf.edu/wlees/Monuments.pdf),
which resulted in what I think is a fairly comprehensive
directory of Civil War monuments, memorials, and memorial
landscapes. This endeavor will happen like that--I will add
places as I encounter them in my travels. Stay tuned, and be
patient!
IN MEMORY OF THE CONFEDERATE
SOLDIERS OF JACKSON COUNTY, FLORIDA
Located on the grounds of the Jackson County courthouse in Mariana. This is an unusual monument made of what appears to be cast zinc. It is a modified obelisk placed on a concrete base; four bas relief images grace the base of the obelisk above the text panesl, and which are on the east side a mounted cavalyrman, on the north crossed sabers, on thewest the bust of a private soldier, and on the south a stack of rifles (which includes a carbine). The base of the monument on the east side carries in very prominent letters, "November 30, 1881."
Located on the grounds of the Jackson County courthouse in Mariana. This is an unusual monument made of what appears to be cast zinc. It is a modified obelisk placed on a concrete base; four bas relief images grace the base of the obelisk above the text panesl, and which are on the east side a mounted cavalyrman, on the north crossed sabers, on thewest the bust of a private soldier, and on the south a stack of rifles (which includes a carbine). The base of the monument on the east side carries in very prominent letters, "November 30, 1881."
Eastern text panel:
In memory of the / Confederate / Soldiers / of / Jackson County, Florida
Northern text panel:
We care not whence they came, / dear in their lifeless clay! / Whether unknown, or known / to fame, / their cause and country / still the same - / they died - and wore the gray.
Western text panel:
In God we trust.
Southern text panel:
Of the warriors tried and true, / who bore the flag of our / peoples trust, / and fell in a cause, though lost, / still just, / and died for me and you.
In memory of the / Confederate / Soldiers / of / Jackson County, Florida
Northern text panel:
We care not whence they came, / dear in their lifeless clay! / Whether unknown, or known / to fame, / their cause and country / still the same - / they died - and wore the gray.
Western text panel:
In God we trust.
Southern text panel:
Of the warriors tried and true, / who bore the flag of our / peoples trust, / and fell in a cause, though lost, / still just, / and died for me and you.
This cast metal marker was erected on the square of the Jackson County Courthouse in 1961 by the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials. It reads:
BATTLE OF MARIANNA
On Sept. 27, 1864, Gen. Asboth's force of 700 Federal cavalry from Pensacola arrived in the Marianna area to forage and secure Negro recruits. Confederate forces of a few hundred home guardssmen barricaded the streets of Marianna and withstood the first assaault but were forced to surrender when they were outflanked. Confederate casualties were 26, Federal about 55. Marianna was apared, but St. Luke's Church, situated in the middle of the battle, was burned.
On Sept. 27, 1864, Gen. Asboth's force of 700 Federal cavalry from Pensacola arrived in the Marianna area to forage and secure Negro recruits. Confederate forces of a few hundred home guardssmen barricaded the streets of Marianna and withstood the first assaault but were forced to surrender when they were outflanked. Confederate casualties were 26, Federal about 55. Marianna was apared, but St. Luke's Church, situated in the middle of the battle, was burned.
Parts of the Olustee Battlefield near Lake City are today a Florida State Park commemorating the battle. The main monument is an impressive construction erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and the State of Florida in 1912; this is flanked by two later monuments, one erected in 1936 by the UDC and the other at an unknown date also by the UDC.
The main monument carries two inscribed marble tablets:
TO THE MEN WHO FOUGHT
AND / TRIUMPHED HERE IN DEFENCE / OF THEIR HOMES AND FIRESIDES / THIS
MONUMENT IS ERECTED / BY THE UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY AIDED
/ BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA / IN COMMEMORATION OF THEIR / DEVOTION TO THE
CAUSE OF / LIBERTY AND STATE SOVEREIGNTY. / MCMXII
THE BATTLE FO OLUSTEE WAS FOUGHT / ON THIS GROUND / FEBRUARY 20TH, 1864, / BETWEEN 5,000 CONFEDERATE TROOPS / COMMANDED BY GENERAL JOSEPH e. FINEGAN / AND 6,000 FEDERAL TROOPS UNDER / GENERAL TRUMAN SEYMOUR. / THE FEDERALS WERE DEFEATED WITH / A LOSS OF 2,000 MEN / THE CONFEDERATE LOSS / WAS LESS THAN 1,000.
THE BATTLE FO OLUSTEE WAS FOUGHT / ON THIS GROUND / FEBRUARY 20TH, 1864, / BETWEEN 5,000 CONFEDERATE TROOPS / COMMANDED BY GENERAL JOSEPH e. FINEGAN / AND 6,000 FEDERAL TROOPS UNDER / GENERAL TRUMAN SEYMOUR. / THE FEDERALS WERE DEFEATED WITH / A LOSS OF 2,000 MEN / THE CONFEDERATE LOSS / WAS LESS THAN 1,000.
The 1936 UDC monument flanks the 1912 monument to the north:
HERE WAS FOUGHT ON
FEBRUARY 20, 1864 / THE BATTLE OF OCEAN POND / UNDER THE IMMEDIATE
COMMAND OF / GENERAL ALFRED HOLT COLQUITT / "HERO OF OLUSTEE"
THIS DECISIVE ENGAGEMENT PREVENTED A / SHERMAN-LIKE INVASION OF GEORGIA FROM / THE SOUTH.
ERECTED APRIL 20, 1936 / BY THE ALFRED HOLT COLQUITT CHAPTER / UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY / GA. DIV.
THIS DECISIVE ENGAGEMENT PREVENTED A / SHERMAN-LIKE INVASION OF GEORGIA FROM / THE SOUTH.
ERECTED APRIL 20, 1936 / BY THE ALFRED HOLT COLQUITT CHAPTER / UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY / GA. DIV.
The other UDC monument flanks the 1912 monument to the south:
PLACED BY / THE
UNITED DAUGHTERS / OF THE CONFEDERACY / FLORIDA DIVISION / IN MEMORY OF
/ BRIG. GEN. / JOSEPH FINEGAN / COMMANDER OF THE DISTRICT OF / MIDDLE
AND EAST FLORIDA
"SO WELL DID HE PERFORM / HIS PART THAT A SIGNAL / VICTORY OVER THE FEDERALS / WAS WON IN THE / BATTLE OF OLUSTEE / FEB. 20, 1864"
"SO WELL DID HE PERFORM / HIS PART THAT A SIGNAL / VICTORY OVER THE FEDERALS / WAS WON IN THE / BATTLE OF OLUSTEE / FEB. 20, 1864"
Nearby to this cluster of UDC monuments if a monument in the Olustee Cemetery, which is a post-battle cemetery that is believed to also be the final resting place of the Federal dead from the Battle of Olustee. This is an unusual monument in that it commemorates U.S. involvement in the Civil War. It consists of a granite cross on a base engraved on all four sides:
East (front)
TO THE MEMORY OF /
THE OFFICERS AND / SOLDIERS OF THE / UNITED STATES ARMY / WHO
FELL IN / THE BATTLE OF / OLUSTEE / FEBRUARY 20, 1864
THIS MEMORIAL REPLACES / THE ORIGINAL WOODEN ONE / ERECTED ON THIS SITE / MAY 1866
THIS MEMORIAL REPLACES / THE ORIGINAL WOODEN ONE / ERECTED ON THIS SITE / MAY 1866
West
MAY THE LIVING /
PROFIT BY / THE EXAMPLE OF / THE DEAD
PARTICIPATING UNITS
COL. G.V. HENRY CMD. / 40TH MASS MTD. INF. / BTRY B 1ST U.S. HORSE ARTY. / IND. BN. MASS. CAV.
CAPT. J. HAMILTON CMD. / BTRY E. 3RD U.S. ARTY. / BTRY M. 1ST U.S. ARTY. / BTRY G. 3RD R.I. ARTY. / DET. 1ST N.Y. ENGS.
COL. G.V. HENRY CMD. / 40TH MASS MTD. INF. / BTRY B 1ST U.S. HORSE ARTY. / IND. BN. MASS. CAV.
CAPT. J. HAMILTON CMD. / BTRY E. 3RD U.S. ARTY. / BTRY M. 1ST U.S. ARTY. / BTRY G. 3RD R.I. ARTY. / DET. 1ST N.Y. ENGS.
North
UNITY / AND / PEACE
PARTICIPATING UNITS / COL. W.D. BARTON BDE / 47TH, 48TH, 115TH N.Y. VOL / COL. J. MONTGOMERY CMD. / 1ST N.C. VOL. U.S.C.T. / 54TH MASS. VOL.
COL. J.R. HAWLEY BDE. / 7TH CONN. VOL. / 7TH N.H. VOL. / 8TH U.S.C.T.
PARTICIPATING UNITS / COL. W.D. BARTON BDE / 47TH, 48TH, 115TH N.Y. VOL / COL. J. MONTGOMERY CMD. / 1ST N.C. VOL. U.S.C.T. / 54TH MASS. VOL.
COL. J.R. HAWLEY BDE. / 7TH CONN. VOL. / 7TH N.H. VOL. / 8TH U.S.C.T.
South
OUR / COUNTRY
ERECTED BY / UNION ARMY DISTRICT OF FLA / MAY 1991
ERECTED BY / UNION ARMY DISTRICT OF FLA / MAY 1991
"OUR CONFEDERATE DEAD"
Located in Lee Square, formerly
Florida Park, sandwiched between the
north and south bound lanes of North Palofox. This 30 ft granite
obelisk was funded by the Ladies Confederate Memorial
Association. It was designed by J.F. Manning with the figure of a
Confederate soldier with bowed, uncovered head facing southward by M.
Casper Buberl. It is surrounded by four iron cannon which may or
may not have been installed when the monument was erected.
See: http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/ART.ASP?PAGEID=6589
Southtern inscription:
Eastern inscription:
Northern inscription:
Western inscription:
A.D. 1861
A.D. 1865
The Uncrowned Heroes of the Southern Confederacy. Whose joy was to suffer and die for a cause they believed to be just. Their unchallenged devo-tion and matchless heroism shall continue to be the wonder and inspiration of the ages.
The Uncrowned Heroes of the Southern Confederacy. Whose joy was to suffer and die for a cause they believed to be just. Their unchallenged devo-tion and matchless heroism shall continue to be the wonder and inspiration of the ages.
Eastern inscription:
Jefferson Davis,
President of the Confederate States of America. Soldier, statesman, patriot, christian. The only man in our nation without a country, yet twenty million people mourn his death.
President of the Confederate States of America. Soldier, statesman, patriot, christian. The only man in our nation without a country, yet twenty million people mourn his death.
Northern inscription:
Stephen R. Mallory.
Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States of America.
"tis not in mortals to command success; but we'll do more sempronius, we'll deserve it."
Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States of America.
"tis not in mortals to command success; but we'll do more sempronius, we'll deserve it."
Western inscription:
Edward Aylesworth Perry.
Captain of the Pensacola "Rifles," Colonel of the Second Florida Regiment, General of the Florida Brigage of the Army of Northern Virginia. Among the first to volun-teer in the defense of his adopted state. Faithful in every position to which his merit advanced him. His life and deeds constitute his best monument.
Captain of the Pensacola "Rifles," Colonel of the Second Florida Regiment, General of the Florida Brigage of the Army of Northern Virginia. Among the first to volun-teer in the defense of his adopted state. Faithful in every position to which his merit advanced him. His life and deeds constitute his best monument.
This monument was erected very shortly after the end of the Civil War in the heart of St. Augustine. I first visited this monument before I envisioned this current project and my record of it is incomplete at this time. Inscriptions on this monument include the following made on marple tablets:
Erected
by the
Ladies Memorial Association
of St. Augustine, Fla.
A.D. 1872
In Memoriam
Our Loved Ones
Who Gave Up Their Lives
In The Service Of
The Confederate States.
THEY DIED
FAR FROM THE HOME
THAT GAVE THEM BIRTH
BY COMRADES HONORED
AND BY
COMRADES MOURNED.
Ladies Memorial Association
of St. Augustine, Fla.
A.D. 1872
In Memoriam
Our Loved Ones
Who Gave Up Their Lives
In The Service Of
The Confederate States.
THEY DIED
FAR FROM THE HOME
THAT GAVE THEM BIRTH
BY COMRADES HONORED
AND BY
COMRADES MOURNED.
This granite obelisk horors Confederate officer William Wing Loring. It was erected near the 1872 Confederate monument in downtown St. Augustine. Like the 1872 monument, I have imperfect information on this monument, but will correct this next time I am in St. Augustine. Inscriptions in this monument include:
WILLIAM WING LORING
[Confederate Battle Flag]
Confederate State Army 1861-1865
Brigadier General May 1861
Major General February 1862
[Confederate Battle Flag]
Confederate State Army 1861-1865
Brigadier General May 1861
Major General February 1862
