18-year-old Chris Wall donated items to the West Pasco Historical Society Museum with the intent of inspiring others to learn about the war.
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published August 11, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY - Above a glass case containing the relics of war, a Confederate battle flag hangs with the words "Ocean Pond" stenciled in tiny black letters.
A square banner like this once belonged to the 6th Florida Battalion, which included the Brooksville Guards drawn from the area now known as Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.
The soldiers carried the stars-and-bars banner into the Battle of Olustee, an 1864 clash near Lake City where the Confederates repelled Union forces in a struggle for Florida control. The fighting took place near a lake called Ocean Pond.
Now a hand-crafted replica of the flag hangs in the West Pasco Historical Society Museum, a quiet reminder of the local soldiers who played a part in the nation's bloodiest war.
"I want people to realize that Florida was involved in the Civil War," said Chris Wall, 18, who donated the flag and other items to improve the museum's Civil War exhibit.
"I just want people to go, "Hey, maybe one of my ancestors fought in it,' and maybe look into it," he added.
The revamped Civil War exhibit, a centerpiece in the former schoolhouse-turned-museum near Sims Park, was Wall's Eagle Scout project. With the help of friends he met through Civil War re-enactments, Wall found the battalion's battle flag design and had a replica made.
He also added a handmade bullet mold and a 19th century fork and spoon, all obtained from local antique shops, to the museum's display cabinet. The items sit alongside a leather rifle socket used in Gettysburg, three small cannon balls from the Seminole War and toy American soldiers from the Spanish-American War.
And with information from the state archives and the Hernando Heritage Museum in Brooksville, Wall made two plaques: one telling the history of the 6th Florida Battalion, and another naming the 112 men in Company C, the Brooksville Guards.
"It's much more poignant because it's about an event that happened in Florida, which is our mission," said Midge London-Prace, president of the West Pasco Historical Society, as she looked over the improved exhibit.
Florida's role in the war often is overlooked, London-Prace said. But the state provided a crucial supply of cattle and citrus crops to feed the Confederate forces, not to mention the lifeblood of thousands of men.
The Union forces poured into Florida early in 1864 with the hope of cutting off that supply line, recruiting black soldiers and installing a Union-friendly state government.
Determined to repel them, the Confederates entrenched in a forested area near Olustee. Several skirmishers drew the Northern troops toward the site, where they fought a fierce battle Feb. 20, 1864, before the Union soldiers retreated to Jacksonville.
The battle took quite a toll: 1,861 Union soldiers and 946 Confederates died. Considering each side came with about 5,500 soldiers, it was proportionately one of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War.
Wall, a Mitchell High School graduate, became fascinated with Civil War history after learning two of his ancestors - brothers Robert and James Shelton - served in the 21st North Carolina Infantry.
Wall plans to major in history at St. Petersburg College.
"It's my life goal to be a park ranger living at a Civil War battlefield, telling people about what it was like," he said.
