Surveying the Archaeology of Olustee

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), and flatwoods, bayheads, and swamps which are seasonally under the water table (6). 

Penton then continues with a prehistoric overview of the earliest Paleoindian inhabitants; including the locking up of water during the Pleistocene glaciation, which limited surface water sources (8). The wide and present assemblage of Clovis, Suwannee, and Simpson projectile points indicated that the Paleoindian groups were highly nomadic. 

The Archaic period witnesses the first boom in sedentary populations. Technological advancements, such as horticulture, domestication, and tempered ceramics "which reflected the enhanced familiarity with, and exploitation of, the local environment" (9). This Transitional period denotes the time between which these early groups fully devolved from nomadism to sedentarism. Additionally, the formation of social, political, and hierarchical bodies greatly intensified around the time of European contact (12). 

However, European contact pushed many indigenous groups out of their contemporary territories and ancestral homelands. Florida was an early site for displaced Native Americans from Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. As early as 1725, displaced populations were allowed to stream into Florida and would eventually become known as the Seminoles (12). 

In the 19th century, the United States government sought to remove these indigenous populations from Florida and place them on marginal grounds around Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Three war campaigns were launched and each met with fierce, or broad, resistance from the combined Seminole communities. 

However, by February of 1864, it is not clear if there were any Native American communities present near the battle site. As a result, the contemporaneous landscape can be considered similar to the time of the battle (not foreholding active beautification and reforestation discussed in previous blogs), since early in the war Florida was underpopulated and lacked large industries (16). 

In the survey itself, William L. Leigh III (the field archaeologist), along with assistance from CSO members, dug several test pits in the area to examine the landscape's prominent physical features and composition. More specifically, they found in almost all of their sections a "peaty, organic hardpan that usually occurs within two feet of the present surface" (6). But, in test units excavated west of the Confederate Monument they found virtually no hardpan, except only in holes near wetland features. Otherwise, "hardpan was not present in the uppermost three feet of the majority of test units excavated west of the Cemetary" (Ibid).  

The implications of this take on more clarity now that we know of the infamous post-battle clean-up undertaken by a few Confederate regiments. However, it is the Union's documents that begin to lead to an explanation. In Lt. Grossman's report on the Aftermath of the Battle of Olustee he describes the efforts he took to gather the displaced and unattended remains. 

"In this manner and by carefully searching over an area of about two square miles, I collected two wagon loads and a half of bones. I then had a large grave dug eighteen feet by twelve feet, in which all the bones collected were deposited." - Lt. Grossman

Pictured: The field behind the cross. Note the fence separates the Park property from the cemetery. Photo provided by the Author. 

Remanents of this eighteen by twelve-foot grave are still present. The nearby, and unincluded, African American cemetery has graves encroaching all the way up to the Union cross - but then stops, keeping bare the land heading to the west side and immediately behind it. 

Since the site lacks recent physical disturbance and does not possess any modern graves on top of it, it is likely that this is the site of the mass grave in Lt. Grossman's letter. Furthermore, the lack of hardpan supports Lt. Grossman's report. In it, he also commissioned a large wooden cross to denote the resting place of the Union dead. After the destruction of the original, the replacement was made of stone and placed on the original posting as far as we know. 

Sources cited:

Penton, Daniel T. and William L. Leigh III. "A Reconnaissance-Level Archaeological Assessment of the Olustee Battlefield Vicinity". Commissioned by the Olustee Battlefield Citizens Support Organization (CSO). June 1994.