Posted on 01/25/2014 6:38:12 PM PST by Colonel Kangaroo
Florida’s first state park has become ground zero for a raging political fight to establish a monument honoring Union Army soldiers who died during the Civil War.
The three-acre Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park currently includes three monuments honoring Confederate soldiers who died fighting to secede from the country.
The park, first established in 1912, was the site of Florida’s largest and bloodiest Civil War battle that killed 3,000 Union and 1,000 Confederate soldiers. It occurred on February 20, 1864, and raged on for four hours.
With no marker respecting the sacrifice of so many northern men, the Florida chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War asked the state parks department last year for permission to place an obelisk to honor Union soldiers.
State officials agreed that the park needed some historic balance. They held a public hearing about the new monument and chose a location within the park for it.
But those actions angered the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which called the proposed monument a “Darth Vader-esque obscene obsidian obelisk.”
Opponents enlisted the help of key politicians, like State Representative Dennis Baxley, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, to stop the addition to the park. “There is a sacred trust that's being violated when you go in and change an historic site from the way it was commemorated by those who established (it),” Baxley told the News Service of Florida.
“Putting a Union monument at Olustee would be like placing a memorial to Jane Fonda at the entrance to the Vietnam memorial,” added Leon Duke, a wounded veteran.
Longtime historical park exhibitor Mike Farrell, who is a descendent of a Union soldier who died at Olustee, said that park visitors often seek out a Union memorial at the site. “I always have the visiting public approach me and ask me where the Union monument is on the battlefield, and I often tell them, ‘There isn't any,’” he told the News Service. “I'm not talking about…a cemetery marker to the dead. What I'm talking about is a battlefield monument.”
Ancestors of Charles Custer fought on both sides of the war, and he favors a Union monument. “There were twice as many Union casualties there as Confederate,” he told The New York Times. “They fought. They bled. And they are really not recognized anywhere.”
The battle of Olustee is reenacted each year, making it one of the Southeast’s largest Civil War re-enactments.
Although it was not nearly as large as many other Civil War battles, the Olustee one was significant because the South’s victory denied the North from establishing a government in Florida and cutting off supplies to the Confederate army.
Most of the early settlers of north Florida were from Georgia. I often remark to my wife on our Florida excursions that when we cross the state line into Florida that we are still among our own people. It’s only when you work your way south that you encounter the contagion.
And they wonder why most southerners dislike the north.
My only Southern relative who lost his life during the war was a rebel soldier murdered by the Confederate home guard in Walker County, Georgia. If Sherman had just made it to Walker County sooner, my kinsman might have survived the war.
I had ancestors on who fought on both sides of the War Between the States ...tough call on the monument.
Sob should have been hung for crimes against humanity.
the wrong side won Sir, and now we have the situation we have today, a nice strong central government.
We can’t blame the Union victory for our sad condition today no more than we can blame our revolutionary victory over the British. And given the oppressive, heavy-handed short history of the Confederacy’s treatment of its own citizens, I think a strong case can be made that we’d be in even worse shape.
“Although it was not nearly as large as many other Civil War battles, the Olustee one was significant because the South’s victory denied the North from establishing a government in Florida and cutting off supplies to the Confederate army.”
There you have it. Why would they want to put up a monument to an invading horde?
Some wounds don’t heal even after 150 years.
“To those unfamiliar with Florida, Miami, West Palm Beach, etc., probably comes to mind, the area this battlefield is located is up next to Georgia. Rebel flags on almost every pickup truck up there.”
“Some have noted that the folks in this part of Florida are even more zealous of things southern than their neighbors in the southern states nearby. It thus comes as no surprise to see the brouhaha about this monument. To those who know this area, we would not expect otherwise.”
When you are right you are right. I’m originally from Jax and the sentiments have not changed much in 150 years. Same goes for GA and a lot of the South. I would not bet on the Union monument going at at Olustee. Might as well call the Japs and ask them if they want to erect a statue to Truman on Hiroshima.
Other than ice storms, crowding, Urban Ferals, anti-gun laws, hive personalities to match their hive dwellings, excessive regulations, Nanny-state gubments - what’s not to like about Neu Yuk types?
I don’t think the sons of the Union soldiers are planning to erect a mighty Yankee triumphant victory monument, just a dignified memorial to brave men who died fighting for what they thought right, the type of apolitical memorial that has been generally accepted at battlefields for both sides, by both sides, for well over a century.
If ya ever served with damn yankees you would know that most are idiots, always had to have a southern country boy in charge so wouldn’t get lost.
Ah, there’s that genteel southron grace I’ve heard so much about. Well bless your heart.
Well I have to tell you that its not wanted in N Fl and you can put forth any reasonable argument you want but the folks don’t want it. Its their choice. Let it go.
I
Sounds like you’re taking a few isolated cases and painting it with a broad brush. As a Canadian with no relatives in that fight, and seeing from outside, it looks to me like the central government types won, and freedom and state’s rights lost.
All the Confederate veterans, wounded or not, died 60+ years ago. So unless he's a veteran of a non-American military he's a veteran of the Union forces' successors.
All the Confederate veterans, wounded or not, died 60+ years ago. So unless he's a veteran of a non-American military he's a veteran of the Union forces' successors.
Considering the long tradition of Civil War threads here, this one is very mild. You need to see the one a few days ago on the same incident for more typical fireworks.
Did you kick that one off too?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.