Skirmish at Cedar Creek | |||||||
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Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
Camp Captain Mooney Cemetery | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
lieutenant Colonel Benjamin B. Sample | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
10 (2 killed 3 wounded 5 captured) | 25 (7 killed 12 wounded 6 captured/missing) |
The Skirmish at Cedar Creek, also known as Camp Mooney or McGirt's Creek, was a small engagement of the American Civil War fought in present-day Jacksonville, Florida on March 1, 1864. It was fought between a small Confederate States Army outpost and the 40th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army, and resulted in 35 casualties. It was the last engagement in the Olustee Campaign. [1]
Jacksonville, Florida was occupied on and off by the Union throughout the Civil War. In February 1864 Union forces under General Truman Seymour went west out of Jacksonville to take back Florida for the Union and to recruit slaves for the Union Army. Confederate forces met the Union forces and defeated them at the Battle of Olustee near Lake City, Florida on February 20. After the battle Confederate forces were west of Jacksonville discouraging Union forces to venture out beyond their established lines. Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin B. Sample, the young confederate officer who had seen some of the worst fighting at Olustee, was ordered to deter any advance from Jacksonville.
On the morning of March 1, 1864 a portion of the 2nd Florida Cavalry went east toward Jacksonville to probe defenses. On that same day an expedition of a Union cavalry of the 40th Massachusetts left Camp Mooney and went west to probe the Confederate position. The Union expedition consisted of companies B, C, and D of 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, a squadron of Massachusetts infantry and one gun of Elders Horse Artillery under Major Stevens. At mid-morning the 2nd Florida Cavalry met the Union forces about 2 miles west of Camp Finegan. The Confederate forces were then joined by reinforcements and pushed the Union forces back through Camp Finegan. [1]
At Cedar Creek the Union forces made a stand. The creek offered a natural barrier that hampered the Confederate advance. Because of the difficulty of the approach, Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Sample ordered his force towards the creek in a piecemeal manner. An intense but short fight erupted between the two armies at the creek but the Union was forced out to Three Mile Run or McCoys Creek. [2] The Confederates followed but the Union rear guard ambushed them killing Captain Winston Stephens and a private. The Confederate infantry managed to cross Cedar Creek and advanced toward Jacksonville. The Union forces met reinforcements from Camp Mooney and were ordered back to Cedar Creek but retreated again to their defense breastworks at Three Mile Run. At the end of the day 7 Confederates were killed, 12 wounded, 2 Union killed, 3 wounded and 5 captured. Confederates stayed in the area and guarded it from more Union encroachments while the Union held Jacksonville for the remainder of the war. [1]
Camp Captain Mooney Cemetery was established on the same day of the battle. The cemetery is named after the Camp Captain Mooney outpost in the vicinity of where the battle occurred. The camp name comes from George Mooney (Builder of the Confederate Gun Boat in Jacksonville, on whose land it was located. [3] It is owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. [4]
Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistical Area, composed of Columbia County, as well as a principal city of the Gainesville—Lake City, Florida Combined Statistical Area. Lake City is 60 miles west of Jacksonville.
The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment, organized in the Northern states during the Civil War. Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African-American enlisted men commanded by white officers. The 54th Massachusetts was a major force in the pioneering of African American civil war regiments, with 150 all black regiments being raised after the raising of the 54th Massachusetts.
The Battle of Olustee or Battle of Ocean Pond was fought in Baker County, Florida on February 20, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
The Battle of Piedmont was fought June 5, 1864, in the village of Piedmont, Augusta County, Virginia. Union Maj. Gen. David Hunter engaged Confederates under Brig. Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones north of Piedmont. After severe fighting, Jones was killed and the Confederates were routed. Hunter occupied Staunton on June 6 and soon began to advance on Lynchburg, destroying military stores and public property in his wake.
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. During the morning, Lieutenant General Jubal Early appeared to have a victory for his Confederate army, as he captured over 1,000 prisoners and over 20 artillery pieces while forcing 7 enemy infantry divisions to fall back. The Union army, led by Major General Philip Sheridan, rallied in late afternoon and drove away Early's men. In addition to recapturing all of their own artillery seized in the morning, Sheridan's forces captured most of Early's artillery and wagons.
Truman Seymour was a career soldier and an accomplished painter. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of major general. He was present at the Battle of Fort Sumter. He commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Olustee, the only major Civil War battle fought in Florida.
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.
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Joseph Finegan, sometimes Finnegan, was an American businessman and brigadier general for the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. From 1862 to 1864 he commanded Confederate forces operating in Middle and East Florida, ultimately leading the Confederate victory at the Battle of Olustee, the state's only major battle. He subsequently led the Florida Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia until near the end of the war.
The 115th New York Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Iron Hearted Regiment", was a volunteer regiment recruited during the American Civil War from the counties of Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, and Saratoga, New York.
The 2nd Florida Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that fought in service of the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.
John Jackson Dickison, known as J. J. Dickison, was an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Dickison is mostly remembered as being the person who led the attack which resulted in the capture of the Union warship USS Columbine in the "Battle of Horse Landing". This was one of the few instances in which a Union warship was captured by land-based Confederate forces during the Civil War and the only known incident in U.S. history where a cavalry unit sank an enemy gunboat. Dickison and his men were victorious in all of his raids against the Union troops in Florida, including his raid in Gainesville what is known as the Battle of Gainesville. Tragedy struck Dickison, when one of his sons, both of whom served under his command, was killed during a raid.
Theodore Washington Brevard Jr. was best known for having served as a military officer in the Confederate States Army. During his tenure with the Confederate army, he eventually reached the rank of Brigadier-General. Brevard was captured by the forces of General George Custer and imprisoned at Johnson's Island. He later died in 1882.
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The Skirmish of the Brick Church was the first land engagement in Northeast Florida between the Union Army and Confederate Army of the American Civil War. It was fought on March 24, 1862 and resulted in the first Confederate victory in Florida.
The 40th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a three-year infantry regiment of the Union Army that served in the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, the Army of the Potomac, and the Department of the South during the American Civil War.
The 4th Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.