Civil War Memorials of the First Coast: Part 2

[lastdaysoffla]

It shows that white supremacists continue to venerate these Jim Crow-era monuments.

Say we were to remove the monuments, the WS's would find other places and monuments to venerate. The better choice would be to contextualize and explain to these bigots how and why they are wrong. Also, the statues go away and the people will still exist, this is a battle of ideas not of metal and masonry.

[BridgeTroll]

Found this today...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-truth-about-floridas-civil-war-history

FIELD OF STUDY
The Truth About Florida's Civil War History
150 years ago a brutal battle in the Civil War was fought in Florida but what happened that day has been obscured by political games and historical revisionism.
T.D. ALLMAN
02.20.14 5:45 AM ET
Olustee, Florida—Lugging their private artillery pieces behind their pick-up trucks, heavy-weapons hobbyists drive days to get to the annual celebration of the Civil War Battle of Olustee, fought 150 years ago, on February 20, 1864. Fire fills the night sky as celebrants shoot off their mini-howitzers, and the next day rebel yells fill the air as reenactors whup the Yankees. Other events include a crafts fair and the annual Tiny Miss Tots Battle of Olustee contest.

These festivities commemorate what news reports, history books, and the organizers describe as Florida's greatest moment of the Civil War. According to the Ocala Star-Banner, Olustee was "a decisive victory for the South." Standard accounts also describe Olustee as "the largest Civil War battle on Florida soil."

That's historical misinformation........

[Tacachale]

Found this today...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-truth-about-floridas-civil-war-history

FIELD OF STUDY
The Truth About Florida's Civil War History
150 years ago a brutal battle in the Civil War was fought in Florida but what happened that day has been obscured by political games and historical revisionism.
T.D. ALLMAN
02.20.14 5:45 AM ET
Olustee, Florida—Lugging their private artillery pieces behind their pick-up trucks, heavy-weapons hobbyists drive days to get to the annual celebration of the Civil War Battle of Olustee, fought 150 years ago, on February 20, 1864. Fire fills the night sky as celebrants shoot off their mini-howitzers, and the next day rebel yells fill the air as reenactors whup the Yankees. Other events include a crafts fair and the annual Tiny Miss Tots Battle of Olustee contest.

These festivities commemorate what news reports, history books, and the organizers describe as Florida's greatest moment of the Civil War. According to the Ocala Star-Banner, Olustee was "a decisive victory for the South." Standard accounts also describe Olustee as "the largest Civil War battle on Florida soil."

That's historical misinformation........

TD Altman's too sensational and bombastic for my tastes, but most of his info is correct. While Olustee was undoubtedly the largest Civil War battle in Florida and a defeat for the Union, it wasn't a great victory for the Confederates, who failed to capitalize on the victory with a strong pursuit. From what I've read, the blame for that was put on the leading general, Joseph Finegan. It's true that Confederate soldiers massacred black troops and buried the Union dead in shallow graves that were defaced by nature within two years. It's further true that the neo-Confederates made Olustee a kind of shrine to the Lost Cause in the early 20th century, and locals have continued to fight recognizing the Union dead there. Hopefully, things will change once the new interpretive center is finished, but there will be a lot of pushback to telling the real history from certain locals.