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In addition to the two brigades of
Colquitt and
Harrison,
Finegan's army included Colonel Caraway Smith's cavalry force,
comprising Duncan L. Clinch's Fourth Georgia Cavalry, the Fifth Florida Cavalry
Battalion under the command of Major George Washington Scott, and a
portion of the Second Florida Cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel Abner H. McCormick.
Finegan's cavalry and artillery were generally of poor
quality, due mainly to the inferiority of their weapons
and equipment. In particular, the cavalry horses were weak
and underfed, and might not be able to withstand the rigors of an
active campaign. Overall, however, the Confederates had amassed
a surprisingly potent force with which to oppose the Federal
advance, and in a remarkably short time. In his official report
of Olustee, Finegan estimated his infantry force at 4,600 and his
cavalry at less than 500, with his artillery units probably
including several hundred effectives.
The mounted troops saw little combat. primarily skirmishing with the Federals before
the battle, guarding the Confederate flanks, and conducting a leisurely pursuit in
the battle's aftermath. Smith's superiors criticized the cavalry's failure to more
vigorously pursue the defeated Union troops. Casualty totals for the entire brigade
numbered just four men wounded.
Colonel Caraway Smith's Offical Report of the battle and the associated correspondance related to his superiors' disssatisfaction with his report and performance
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Drawings from the Olustee
