Olustee: February 20, 1864

From Civil War Battles and Battlefields

I have driven past the battlefield of Olustee a number of times on my way to or from my mom's place in Florida, usually in a hurry to get there or get home. We had a few extra days on our last visit. Despite intermittent rain showers, my wife and set out on the short loop trail of the battlefield.

A small battle by any measure, Olustee, fought on February 20, 1864, stands out for several reasons. Though only about 5000 troops were engaged on each side, Federal forces suffered losses of almost 40% . Rebel reinforcements arrived by rail to turn the tide of battle. And according to one battlefield interpretive marker, General Alfred H. Colquitt mounted a heavy cannon on a flatcar. It's steady, deliberate fire wreaked havoc on the Federal infantry.

Finally, as the Federal line disintegrated, Brigadier General Truman Seymour commited a reserve brigade under Colonel James Montgomery including the 54th Massachusetts regiment. The 54th fought a desperate rearguard action and prevented a total rout of Federal forces from the field. Some of these men, as well as other soldiers of the USCT wounded or captured at Olustee, suffered grim fates at the hands of Confederate soldiers in the aftermath of battle.

The state park contains a small museum and self-guided loop trail. The terrain is devoid of any elevation and the entire battle area is covered in tall pine woods carpeted with palmettos. Signage along the trail details the course of the battle. It seems the lopsided results of this fight may be laid squarely at the feet of the Federal commander. Seymour committed his troops piecemeal, and also lost most of his artillery early in the fight.

While the battle derailed Federal efforts in Florida, it's overall impact on the course of the war was negligible. Nevertheless, like so many minor engagements, it provides unique stories of courage, folly, and sacrifice, and has earned a place in our collective memory.

Petersburg: Battery 5 and the Dimmock Line

From Petersburg

The Federal Eighteenth Corps, under William F. “Baldy” Smith, crossed the James and advanced on Petersburg., supported by Augustus V. Kautz’s cavalry division. As his troops approached the Dimmock Line, the main defenses of Petersburg, Smith discovered they were lightly manned and determined to attack on a broad front with dispersed formations to minimize casualties.

PGT Beauregard, in command of the rebel forces defending the city, scrambled for troops to man its fortifications. Lee, with the Army of Northern Virginia, remained north of the James, unwilling to uncover Richmond until he was certain about the destination of the majority of Grant’s forces. Beauregard would have to defend the city’s fortifications, known as the Dimmock Line, with a scratch force consisting of Henry Wise’s Brigade and reinforcements rushed to the scene from Bermuda Hundred.

Battery 5 (see slideshow) guarded the western face of a salient in the Dimmock Line jutting northward along the bed of the Petersburg and City Point Railroad. Without sufficient supporting infantry, the battery itself was indefensible. Smith’s troops attacked near dusk. They overran Battery 5 and large portions of the Dimmock Line, but failed to advance beyond Harrison Creek (see slideshow) to the west. Beauregard positioned his reinforcements on high ground along Harrison Creek and braced for another assault on the following day. Fighting from these new positions, the rebels gained enough time to establish a permanent line along the Jerusalem Plank Road farther west.

Today, the Petersburg Visitors Center stands nearby the remains of Battery 5. The fortifications are well preserved and offer an excellent example of the forts both armies used to position batteries at various points in their lines at Petersburg. In the woods just beyond Battery 5 stands the Dictator (see slideshow), a monstrous Federal seacoast mortar used to shell batteries north of the Appomattox River during the later stages of the siege.

South of Battery 5, and the next stop on the tour route, lies Confederate Battery 8, renamed Fort Friend after it s capture by troops of the USCT during the mid-June fighting. This fort offers a study in reversing works, as the Federals refaced the ramparts and enclosed the position once they captured it.

From Petersburg

A Quick Visit to Monocacy National Battlefield

Monocacy National Battlefield has been in the news recently because Frederick County, MD planned to build a waste to energy facility, basically an incinerator, within sight of many core areas of the battlefield. The board of supervisors recently dropped the proposal by a vote of 5-1. While this is certainly good news, we can only hope the idea never resurfaces.

I visited Monocacy briefly at the end of April. Changes in the park over the last few years are impressive and exciting. The new visitors center expands on the exhibits available in the former Gambrills Mill facility, from a more attractive display of the fiber optic map to interactive displays for younger visitors. A new tour stop now exists on the Best Farm, site of the skirmishing north of the Washington Turnpike Bridge and also of several Confederate battery positions.

With the addition of the Best Farm to the Thomas and Worthington Farms already included in the park, it now encompasses most of the corps areas of the battlefield where Early’s troops struggled against veterans of Rickett’s division of the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Sadly, with the exception of a small city park featuring several Civil War Trails markers, the Jug Bridge (northern) sector has not been preserved.

While visiting, I purchased B.Franklin Cooling’s Monocacy, The Battle that Saved Washington. Cooling’s work places the campaign in context, captures Wallace’s desperation as commander of a hastily assembled defense force, and explains the reasons for Early’s failure to seize the Washington fortifications following his victory at Monocacy. It is a serviceable account with sufficient tactical detail, though the maps are a bit lacking. I look forward to the upcoming account (2010?) by J.D. Petruzzi and Eric Wittenberg. Given their previous work, we can expect a first rate tactical account, as well as a driving/hiking tour of campaign and battle sites.

I plan to spend more time at Monocacy this summer, and will likely post on the Thomas and Worthington Farm trails, where most of the heavy fighting occurred.