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Introduction This book is designed to fill a void. In a recent volume Dr. Irvin D. S. Winsboro posed the question “What do Florida and national audiences actually know about the state’s involvement in that conflict [the Civil War] and how accurate is that knowledge?”1 The answer to the first query, unfortunately, seems to be “Almost nothing.” In fact, many intelligent Americans know so little about Florida’s role in the War between the States that geographic location would be their only clue regarding whether the soldiers from the southernmost state fought for the Union or the Confederacy. In over twenty years of researching Florida’s Rebel soldiers, the authors have lost count of the times we’ve been asked: “Oh, did they actually fight?” The second question is harder to answer, but we suspect that much of the “knowledge” about the southernmost state during the Civil War is similarly flawed. Even some serious students of the war still believe that Florida’s only real contribution to the Confederacy was as a supplier of cattle and salt. Others believe that all the “Flowers” (“Land of Flowers” being the state’s nickname in the 1860s) had deserted the army by the end of 1864. Confederate heritage groups, on the other hand, seem to believe that their ancestors were mighty warriors, so devoted to the cause of Southern independence they could do no wrong on the battlefield or in camp. All of these positions are incorrect, to one degree or another. Part of the reason for these misconceptions is likely due to trends in scholarship . Florida historians of the Civil War era have, for almost a century, turned their gaze inward. They have examined many aspects of Florida’s Civil War experience—as long as it happened within state lines. Some valuable, even ex- 2 / Introduction ceptional, books have been the result of this scholarship.2 It seems to the authors , however, that studying World War II (for example) by looking only at industrial war production, civilian rationing, the changing role of women in society , and U.S. internment camps for Japanese Americans tells only a part of the story. Many might consider the soldier’s experiences at D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima, or Okinawa and the strategies that led to victory or defeat as topics worth exploring. Admittedly, some military history topics have been “done to death.” Such is not the case with the Florida brigade. A few unpublished master’s theses have dealt with the military experiences of troops from the southernmost state in the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee,3 but fewer than ten titles still comprise the entire published library dealing with the Florida regiments that served in the Confederacy’s major armies. Few are written to appeal to scholars and none of these tell the complete history of the Flowers in the Army of Northern Virginia. Two of the most widely known books were written during the heyday of the “Lost Cause” era and reflect the philosophy of that period.4 In them, Confederates were hard-hitting fighters who would never consider retreating without orders, and mention of desertion, scavenging, and other indiscretions are studiously avoided. Two recent books—Don Hillhouse’s Heavy Artillery and Light Infantry: A History of the 1st Florida Special Battalion and 10th Infantry Regiment , CSA and Gary Loderhose’s Far, Far from Home:The Ninth Florida Regiment in the Confederate Army—are more evenhanded, dealing extensively with desertion, conscription, and the final days of the war.5 Unfortunately for students of Florida history, the Ninth and Tenth Florida served only one year in Virginia. The six-volume set Biographical Roster of Florida’s Confederate and Union Soldiers, 1861–1865 by David W. Hartman and David J. Coles has also been a noteworthy recent addition to the study of the troops from the Land of Flowers.6 It is not intended, however, as a chronological account of battles and the political maneuvering that impacted the decisions of officers and the lives of ordinary soldiers. Part of the lack of attention paid to the Florida Rebels is understandable. The authors have spent more than twenty years researching this volume and can attest that material for Lee’s Floridians is scattered, difficult to locate, and, in some cases, virtually nonexistent. There is no vast repository of contemporary source material for the Flowers. The Official Records usually offer little help, as battle reports by Col. David...

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