Reconstruction Florida: Quick Links and References

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The Olustee Museum

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 Greetings, this week we are reviewing the trip to Olustee and the maintenance of the Lost Cause narrative in Florida. Prominently positioned in the viewing room, this First National/Stars and Bars flag signifies the reign of the Confederacy and was first employed by the CSA on March 4, 1861. Olustee's small museum features the memory of the Confederate forces as the main attraction. Hanging on its wooden, paneled walls are numerous educational boards that tout Confederate successes amid Union (northern) aggression.  Florida was seen as culturally similar and economically tied to the other southern states. As a result, Florida withdrew from the Union January 10, 1861 and was determined to defend the right to enslave people while resisting Federal intervention efforts. Initially, Florida was an independent state which formed its own militia to overcome Union fortifications. However, money soon drained from the state's coffers and Florida could only maintain its troops with assi...
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Concluding the 1994 Survey of Olustee

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Greetings, this week we analyze more of Daniel T. Penton's original comments about the Olustee battlefield in 1994 and add new first-hand accounts to the Olustee narrative. Pictured: the site of the battle at Olustee. Photo courtesy of the Author, 2021. The full reconnaissance level survey was a cumulative endeavor by Penton and the  Olustee Battlefield Citizens Support Organization (CSO). Many historical documents from private collections, artifacts, funding, and relevant secondary sources stemmed from the members of the CSO. In fact, the CSO prides itself as the "watchdog" organization of Olustee; to both protect and improve for future generations. As such, both Penton and Leigh sought to include whatever they could from the CSO when undertaking their massive field survey. One aspect of the project saw the archaeologists canvassing more than the "site" of the final battle (where the Park is today). Instead, they also included substantial subsurface testing of ...
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Surveying the Archaeology of Olustee

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Greetings, this week we are examining the history of the landscape prior to the battle and the 1994 archaeological survey of the Olustee Battlefield as it relates to the missing Union dead.  The origin of the survey is credited to the Olustee Battlefield Citizens Support Organization (CSO), with financing provided by the Bureau of Historica Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, along with early CSO support (Penton and Leigh III, 4). Daniel T. Penton, the Principal Investigator, stressed in the report that the survey was primarily focused on properly denominating the battlefield and assisting in the long-range interpretation of the site (Ibid). Initially, the report summarizes the location and physical setting of the battlefield. The principal survey area was south of Ocean Pond and east of the actual Town of Olustee (Ibid, 6). The geological range varies between "Central Highlands" elevations greater than 100 feet, mean sea level (msl), ...
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