It was the largest battle in Florida during the war

One of the most interesting facts about the Battle of Olustee is that it was the largest battle in Florida during the war. On February 20, 1864, at the Battle of Olustee, the greatest Civil War battle in Florida, a Confederate force led by General Joseph Finegan decisively beats an army led by General Truman Seymour. The victory gave the Confederates control of the interior of Florida for the rest of the war.

Union General Truman Seymour had landed troops in Jacksonville with the primary goal of disrupting the Confederacy's food supply. Truman Seymour's 5,500-man force proceeded from Jacksonville deep into the state, encountering no resistance. He continued against orders towards the state capital of Tallahassee, expecting that he would only fight the small Florida militia. Confederates in Charleston deployed reinforcements led by General Alfred H. Colquitt, and the two armies clashed near Olustee's Ocean Pond. As he moved toward Lake City on February 20th, he came into Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan's 5,000 Confederates were positioned in open pine woods near Olustee. Finegan dispatched one infantry brigade ahead to meet Seymour's advance divisions.

As Finegan committed the rest of his reserves to the conflict, the Union line crumbled and began to flee. The majority of the injured and captured black Union soldiers were killed by Confederate troops. Following the Union's setbacks, Northern leaders questioned the need for further Union intervention in the militarily inconsequential state of Florida.