After The Battle of Olustee
1866 to the Present

Following the end of the Civil War, the Olustee battlefield site was virtually forgotten. In 1866, a U.S. Army detachment under the command of Lieutenant Frederick E. Grossman visited the battlefield to collect the remains of the Union soldiers that had been hastily buried on the field in 1864. Grossman reported finding the remains of some 125 soldiers and placing them together in a mass grave. A twelve-foot high wooden monument was placed over the ossuary, and the area surrounded by a fence. Among the inscriptions added to the monument were the words: "To the memory of the officers and soldiers of the United States Army who fell in the Battle of Olustee, February 20, 1864." Apparently the marker survived only a few years, as in 1873 an Olustee veteran visiting the area noted that a portion of the fencing was all that remained. In 1991, a replica of this monument was erected on the spot where the original monument is believed to have been placed. As no record exists to indicate their removal, it is thought by most students of the battle that the remains of the Union dead are still located in the mass grave in which they were buried in 1866.

In 1897 the Florida Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) began raising funds to place a monument at Olustee. Two years later, the Florida Legislature appropriated $2500.00 and established a commission to oversee construction of the monument. After numerous delays, the project was completed in 1912, and on October 23 of that year the monument was officially dedicated. More than 4,000 people, including many veterans, attended the dedication. Former Confederate Major General Evander M. Law presided over the ceremonies, while Florida Governor Albert W. Gilchrist and various dignitaries also attended. U.S. Senator Duncan U. Fletcher made the keynote address, proclaiming that "... this granite tower... stands sentinel over the field where the Confederate soldier won admission to the temple of fame."

The UDC administered the Olustee Battlefield Memorial until 1949, when the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials assumed responsibility for Olustee Battlefield. Subsequently a small museum was built on the site and interpretative markers erected. Today the site is administered by the Florida Department of Natural Resources. The Olustee Battlefield State Historic Site is the oldest unit in the Florida state park system.

On February 22, 1964 a ceremony was held at Olustee Battlefield Memorial to commemorate the centennial of the battle. In conjunction with the centennial, a reenactment of the battle was held at the Gator Bowl sports stadium in Jacksonville. This observance included a parade through Jacksonville, a barbecue for troops in the Gator Bowl, a narrated dramatization of the Battle of Olustee, a costume ball at the George Washington Hotel and memorial services held the day before and the day after the Gator Bowl observance. At the memorial service held at the Olustee State Park, two cannons were presented to the park. The Battle of Olustee Centennial Observance, Inc. staged the observance.

In 1976, representatives of the First Regiment of Florida Volunteer Infantry were contacted by Major Jim Stevenson, the Chief of Interpretive Services, of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Florida and asked if it would be possible to put on a reenactment of the Battle of Olustee at the State Historic Site. Since this was a long held goal of reenactors statewide, the members of the group were ecstatic at the prospect, but disappointed that it would be impossible to fulfill his request, as he wanted to hold the event within two to three weeks. After being informed of the prerequisite planning time, the logistics of attracting reenactors from across the nation, and the amount of materials, supplies, and amenities necessary, it was agreed that February 1977 should be the target date. Dr. Ray Giron, a local Civil War reenactor and consultant, was instrumental in organizing the reenactment community in support of this event. In fact, for the next twenty years, "General Ray" would command the Union forces at the Battle of Olustee.

On 20, February 1977 the First Annual Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee was held at the State Historic Site. Less than 300 participants were present, but keen visitor interest was obvious. The initial site for the battle was in the long visitor trail loop. The spectators walked in on the right and left trails and viewed from the top of the small loop as several hundred reenactors waded through waist to shoulder-deep saw-palmetto. The battle was lop-sided in favor of the far more numerous Confederates, and the panorama was somewhat limited, with puffs of smoke, heads, hats, and shoulders all that some could see.

In subsequent years the battle was moved a few hundred yards to the northeast where an old field had been and where visibility was far better. There the action took place in a park-like area with large pines, and little undergrowth. It was very much like period descriptions of the battle.

Then in 1984 the old field was clear-cut and the battle now takes place in a field with action continuing on the fringes in palmettos and woods. In 2002, the twenty-third annual reenactment, over 2,000 troops from around the nation and from several foreign countries attended. This number does not include the hundreds of reenactors portraying civilians. In the future it is hoped that the "old field" and the pine forest east of it will be utilized, with an earthen berm to allow the most accurate and most picturesque panorama to be easily viewed by maximum numbers of spectators.

In 1979, interested people in the area organized, with cooperation from the State and local reenacting groups, the Blue-Grey Army, Inc. to help support the battle and to raise funds through 1860's centered activities in Lake City, Florida. The Blue-Grey Army's "Olustee Battle Festival is today one of the most successful festivals in the Southeast.

Aided by the funding of the Blue-Grey Army, Inc. and the State of Florida, the battle reenactment has grown to include up to 28 artillery pieces, over 50 mounted troops and horse-drawn artillery in some years, 100 ground charges and an increasing number of black participants, and greater degrees of authenticity yearly. At the Lake City Olustee Festival (in Columbia County), craft shows, gun shows, the annual parade, medical demonstrations, and musical offerings add to the weekend's enjoyment.

At the battle reenactment (at the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park in Baker County), the contributions of the many reenactors were enhanced by the wares of many excellent sutlers, selling their Civil War goods. While the 1977 reenactment had 10 to 15 sutlers, the mid-90s saw over 100 sutlers for several years and reached a high of 120 sutlers one year. However, the cooperating organizations then decided to limit the participation to only authentic 1860-era sutlers and in 2003 the event had 65 merchants providing not only needed goods, but also an interesting and truly authentic view of 19th century sales and merchants. We now limit sutlers to just 50 of the very best.

In 1990 the Olustee Battlefield Citizen Support Organization was formed to assist the Florida Park Service in its administration and interpretation of the Olustee Battlefield Memorial. The organization includes among its membership reenactors, historians, and others interested in the preservation of the Olustee Battlefield. Long-term goals include improvements to the museum and interpretative markers, the acquisition of additional land for the Memorial, archaeological surveys of the battlefield, the publication of historical booklets and pamphlets relating to Florida!s role in the war, and improvements to the annual battle reenactment. All interested parties are encouraged to join the CSO and assist it in its efforts.

In the mid-90's Thomas Fasulo, a reenactor, living historian and member of the CSO, proposed the idea of a World Wide Web site for the Battle of Olustee. Armed with three booklets printed by the CSO, he assembled a site with history on the battle and participating units that included a few photographs. Since then, numerous individuals and organizations have stepped forward to generously contribute information and photographs from their files and family histories that have significantly increased the amount of information available to the public on the Battle of Olustee. As a result, in 2000 and 2003, The Battle of Olustee Web site was selected as "...one of only 95 sites selected as 'the cream of the crop...'" in both editions of the book The Civil War on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites.

Over the years certain highlights such as the rains of 1988, 2003 and 2004, the filming of Glory in 1989, and the freezes of 1991 and 2007 make the annual events stand out, but overall Olustee is looked upon fondly as the most authentic, largest annual reenactment in the Southeast.

Battle of Olustee Home Page
http://battleofolustee.org/