The USCT of Olustee and the Aftermath of the Battle

Greetings, today we explore some witness testimonies at the Battle of Olustee and its aftermath.

As was described in previous posts, the combatants that met at Olustee consisted of roughly the same number of Confederate and Union men. Just over 5,000 soldiers made up the Union forces and consisted of segregated regiments. The Confederates had roughly the same without segregated units.

The US Colored Troops (USCT), a now historical term that is indicative of the social dilemmas plaguing freedmen and black veterans at the time, were largely represented by the 54th Massacheussats, 35th USCT, and the 8th USCT at Olustee. 

Unlike its more famous partner, the 54th Mass., the 35th USCT had not seen combat before battling at Olustee. Most of the unit's men were ex-slaves from Virginia and the Carolinas while its officers came primarily from the North (35th USCT letter from Col. Beecher). 

"I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of communications 9th inst directing me to assume command of U.S. Troops at this place... The force[s] under my command consists of [the] 35th USCT, 157th NY, and 8th USCT...

I propose to maintain the detachment of 8th U.S.[C.T.] in its present locality until further orders. If it is deemed undesirable to send a boat hither I would respectfully suggest that the post QM [quartermaster] at St. Augustine be instructed to furnish at least the teams for transportation of supplies." - Colonel James Beecher (35th USCT - white officer)

Formerly enslaved individuals were often left at a disadvantage because of their position. Overseers, slave-drivers, and their enslavers routinely kept their laborers uneducated in reading, writing, or arithmetic in order to keep workers subjugated and uninformed. Daylight hours were spent laboring in the field and any nightly activities were monitored or restricted. Of course, the threat of physical abuse and torture remained throughout this period as well.

However, we see a brighter story emerge for the soldiers of the 35th USCT. While stationed at Beaufort and Jacksonville, Frances Beecher, the wife of Col. James Beecher, would take to teaching the men of the regiment to read and write, and would often reflect in her letters: 

"My mornings were spent in teaching the men of our regiment to read and write, and it became my pleasing duty and habit, wherever our moving tents were pitched, there to set up our school. Sometimes the chaplain assisted, and sometimes the officers; and the result was that when the men came to be mustered out each one of them could proudly sign his name to the pay-roll in a good legible hand." - Frances Beecher

In fact, Frances Beecher is not the only one to stand up for the 35th USCT. At the close of the Civil War, the 35th regiment was mustered out and the fate of freedmen, ex-slaves, and African American soldiers hung in turmoil as the Federal government started to develop reconstruction and reconciliation plans with formerly rebellious states. One idea was to return the "slaves" to the southern states, to which the President replied:

"There have been men who have proposed to me to return to slavery the black warriors of Port Hudson & Olustee to their masters to conciliate the South. I should be damned in time & eternity for doing so." - Abraham Lincoln 19 April 1864

Still, the vast majority of US Colored Troops were volunteers. After Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, US recruiting efforts and forces were able to expand the number of black regiments largely due to this civic volunteerism in which freedom (and citizenship) was exchanged for defending the Union and fighting the Confederates. Secondly, these segregated regiments were also populated by the Federal draft, and nearly 1 in 3 draftees from the period were black substitutes for white men (courtesy of the National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior). 

While it is hard to consider every reason for volunteering, fighting, and dying for the country that economically supported your enslavement; the redirection of the Republican party as a friend to the "negro" was ultimately advantageous for both sides. Unfortunately, Reconstruction would end in 1877 and southern Democrat strongholds would pass a slurry of racialized laws incriminating black people well into the 20th century.

Perhaps this sheds some light on the depraved conditions in which our troops were left on the battlefield. In May of 1866, over a year after the battle of Olustee, Lieutenant Federick E. Grossman of the 7th U.S. Infantry was ordered to the Olustee battleground site to determine the condition and whereabouts of the Union graves. In his report he states:

"The bodies of the Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Olustee, February 20, 1864, were buried by the Confederates in such a careless manner that the remains were disinterred by the hogs within a few weeks after the battle, in consequence of which the bones and skulls were scattered broadcast over the battlefield. In many instances where portions of bones protruded, we removed the earth and disinterred all the bones that had not been disturbed by the hogs. 

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. I counted one hundred and twenty-five human skulls among the remains. Considering that the Confederate dead were principally buried on the south side of the railway, and that they were more carefully interred (their graves are now even in perfect condition), it is fair to presume that all the remains collected are those of Union soldiers." - Lieutenant Frederick Grossman (7th US Infantry)

Appalled by what he saw, Lt. Grossman compared the clean and orderly Confederates' graves nearby with the nearly 2 sq. mile area of disturbed and unburied remains left on the field of battle. This dereliction of their war duties is indicative of their attitudes towards black bodies, the Union, and reconciliation. Unfortunately, it isn't until the modern Civil Rights era that some of these Black Codes and Jim Crow laws would be repealed. Additionally, it isn't until recent memory that public support has shifted towards recognizing the contributions and impact that black Americans and formerly enslaved people had on this country in a major way. The current movement also seeks to restore Union memorialization without competition from supporters of the Lost Cause narrative. 

While this task remains on many to-do lists; white supremacist narratives - and their supporters - continue to resist. But I think we can all agree that the state in which US troops were left is despicable and that their identity and honor should be restored to the fullest possible means.