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Eleven thousand men fought at the Battle of Olustee, the largest Civil War battle in Florida, which took place on Feb. 20, 1864. The fighting took place on the floor of a virgin pine forest and lasted until dark, when the Union forces retreated. There were 1,861 Union casualties, and 946 Confederate casualties, making the battle, proportionally, one of the bloodiest of the war.
This week, almost 150 years later, in a public school auditorium in Lake City, Fla., the Battle of Olustee once again pitted Confederates against Yankees. This time, there were no casualties. But at stake was the fate of a monument to the Union soldiers who fought in the battle, proposed by the Florida "department" of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
"We really don't want controversy," Charles "Buck" Custer, treasurer of the Union group, told TPM in an interview this week. "We're down here in Dixie, and we certainly don't want to make enemies of our neighbors and people that we live with. But on the other hand, I think there should be justice, if you will, and I think that those 2,000 Union soldiers that died up there are at least entitled to have people know that they were there and existed."
The plans for a Union monument at the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park -- about 46 miles west of Jacksonville, Fla. -- began several years ago. The idea was to commemorate the Union regiments that fought at Olustee (pronounced oh-lusty), and to recognize the African American regiments that made up one third of the Union forces. The group members also hoped to correct a perceived imbalance -- they say three Confederate monuments currently exist on the site -- and to get the monument built in time for the battle's sesquicentennial in February 2014. The Florida chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War intended to fully pay for the project, and to offer it as a gift to the people of Florida.
A federal monument celebrating the union soldiers should be erected in time for the 150 year celebration.
The state can build one for the confederate traitors if it wants.
A federal monument celebrating the union soldiers should be erected in time for the 150 year celebration.
The state can build one for the confederate traitors if it wants.
They should have honored all of the Americans that died on that field, not just the union soldiers. I'm glad that they are resisting the installation if that monument.
A federal monument celebrating the union soldiers should be erected in time for the 150 year celebration.
The state can build one for the confederate traitors if it wants.
both sides were american jake.
Are the cracker assholes ever going to accept that they fought a war to prove they were better than the slaves and lost?
A federal monument celebrating the union soldiers should be erected in time for the 150 year celebration.
The state can build one for the confederate traitors if it wants.
both sides were american jake.
Yup, they are, and one of those sides was traitorous.
I think there are two other federal monuments in the south to Union efforts, one of them being Der Truer at Comfort, Texas.
If the feds won't, then Florida can build one if it wants to the confederates, since the argument was over the role of government.
Are the cracker assholes ever going to accept that they fought a war to prove they were better than the slaves and lost?
it wasn't just about that
and nice racial slur asswipe
Are the cracker assholes ever going to accept that they fought a war to prove they were better than the slaves and lost?
it wasn't just about that
and nice racial slur asswipe
When did "cracker" become a race?
Are the cracker assholes ever going to accept that they fought a war to prove they were better than the slaves and lost?
