Overview of the role of the U.S. state of Florida during the American Civil War
This article is about the Confederate state of Florida between 1861 and 1865. For the ships, see CSS Florida. For other uses, see Florida (disambiguation).
Florida
Flag
Seal
Map of the Confederate States
Capital
Tallahassee
Largest city
Pensacola
Admitted to the Confederacy
April 22, 1861 (7th)
Population
140,424 total
• 78,679 (56.03%) free
• 61,745 (43.97%) slave
Forces supplied
- Confederate troops: 15,000 - Union troops: 2,000 (1,000 white; 1,000 black)[1][2] total
Major garrisons/armories
Fort Pickens
Governor
Madison Perry (1861) John Milton (1861–1865) Abraham Allison (1865)
Senators
Augustus Maxwell James Baker
Representatives
List
Restored to the Union
June 25, 1868
History of Florida
The seal of Florida reflects the state's Native American history
Topics
Cities - Counties - Politics
Timeline
Pre-history, until 1497
Spanish Rule, 1513–1763
British Rule, 1763–1783:
American Revolutionary War, 1775–1783
Spanish Rule, 1783–1821:
War of 1812, 1811–1814
First Seminole War, 1817–1818
U.S. Territorial Period, 1822–1845:
Capitol moved to Tallahassee, 1824
Second Seminole War, 1835–1842
Constitutional convention, 1838
Statehood, 1845–present:
Third Seminole War, 1855–1858
Ordinance of Secession, 1861
Civil War, 1861–1865
3rd Constitution, 1865
Reconstruction, 1865–1868
4th Constitution, 1868
5th Constitution, 1885
Great Migration, 1910–1930
Land Boom, 1925–1929
6th Constitution, 1968
Gore v. Harris, Presidential Election, 2000
COVID-19 pandemic, 2020–present
Florida portal
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Confederate States in the American Civil War
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Dual governments
Kentucky
Missouri
Virginia
West Virginia
Territory
Arizona Territory
Allied tribes in Indian Territory
Cherokee
Chickasaw
Choctaw
Creek
Seminole
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Florida participated in the American Civil War as a member of the Confederate States of America. It had been admitted to the United States as a slave state in 1845. In January 1861, Florida became the third Southern state to secede from the Union after the November 1860 presidential election victory of Abraham Lincoln. It was one of the initial seven slave states which formed the Confederacy on February 8, 1861, in advance of the American Civil War.
Florida had by far the smallest population of the Confederate states with about 140,000 residents, nearly half of them enslaved people. As such, Florida sent around 15,000 troops to the Confederate army, the vast majority of which were deployed elsewhere during the war. The state's chief importance was as a source of cattle and other food supplies for the Confederacy, and as an entry and exit location for blockade-runners who used its many bays and small inlets to evade the Union Navy.
At the outbreak of war, the Confederate government seized many United States facilities in the state, though the Union retained control of Key West, Fort Jefferson, and Fort Pickens for the duration of the conflict. The Confederate strategy was to defend the vital farms in the interior of Florida at the expense of coastal areas. As the war progressed and southern resources dwindled, forts and towns along the coast were increasingly left undefended, allowing Union forces to occupy them with little or no resistance. Fighting in Florida was largely limited to small skirmishes with the exception of the Battle of Olustee, fought near Lake City in February 1864, when a Confederate army of over 5,000 repelled a Union attempt to disrupt Florida's food-producing region. Wartime conditions made it easier for enslaved people to escape, and many became useful informants to Union commanders. Deserters from both sides took refuge in the Florida wilderness, often attacking Confederate units and looting farms.
The war ended in April 1865. By the following month, United States control of Florida had been re-established, slavery had been abolished, and Florida's Confederate governor John Milton had committed suicide by gunshot. Florida was formally readmitted to the United States in 1868.
^Civil War and Reconstruction - Florida Department of State. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
^Robison, Jim (January 30, 2005). "Black Soldiers Played Proud Roles In Civil War Combat". Orlando Sentinel.
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