By the Noble Daring of Her Sons
By the Noble Daring of Her Sons
The Florida Brigade of the Army of Tennessee
Until recently Florida’s Confederate soldiers have received scant attention. This volume explores the story of Florida soldiers going to war, families left behind, a white population fighting to maintain a society built on slavery, and a state torn by political and regional strife.
Before the war Florida’s inhabitants engaged in bitter political rivalries. Sheppard argues that prior to secession Florida citizens maintained regional loyalties rather than considering themselves “Floridians.” He argues that service in Confederate armies eased tensions between political factions and fostered solidarity among white Floridians. In this illuminated account, Sheppard also addresses the practices of prisoner parole and exchange, unit consolidation and its effects on morale and unit identity, politics within the Army of Tennessee, and conscription and desertion in the Southern armies. These issues come together to demonstrate the connection between the front lines and the home front.
'By the Noble Daring of Her Sons breaks new ground in Civil War historiography. Sheppard’s vignettes of the soldiers and commanders allow the general reader to develop a rapport with (or ‘rooting interest’ in) his subjects. Sheppard’s writing likewise demonstrates a thorough knowledge of past and current research on the army of the Confederate heartland.’
—Zack C. Waters, coauthor of A Small But Spartan Band: The Florida Brigade in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia
List of Maps
Preface
Chapter 1. Therefore Let Us Unite: Florida’s Secession
Chapter 2. Like Achilles He Has Girded on His Armor: April–September 1861
Chapter 3. The War Trumpet Is Sounding Its Blasts in Every Direction around Us: October–December 1861
Chapter 4. Its Flag Will Show Where the Fight Was Hottest: January–April 1862, West Florida and Shiloh
Chapter 5. To Maintain Inviolate the Sacred Honor of Florida: January–May 1862, East Florida
Chapter 6. Our Cause Is Just and We Need Not Fear Defeat: Floridians’ Rationales for Fighting the Civil War
Chapter 7. I Am Now As You Know in the Enemys Country: June–August 1862/p>
Chapter 8. Another Luminous Page to the History of Florida: September–October 8, 1862
Chapter 9. Our Company and Regiments Mourns the Loss of Their Very Best: October 9, 1862–January 10, 1863
Chapter 10. I Expect We Will Stay Here All Winter: Winter–Spring 1863, Tennessee
Chapter 11. This Seems to Be Our Darkest Times: May 26–July 15, 1863, Mississippi
Chapter 12. Napoleon’s “Old Guard” Never Fought Harder: July 16–September 21, 1863
Chapter 13. I Have Never Known Them to Fail in the Hour of Trial: September 21–December 2, 1863
Chapter 14. The Old Soldiers Are Much Better Satisfied: December 1863–May 5, 1864
Chapter 15. The Company and Entire Brigade Suffered Immensely and Accomplished Nothing: May 7–September 3, 1864
Chapter 16. This Is a Kind of Curious Management to Me: September 4, 1864–January 1, 1865
Epilogue. It Is the Duty of Everyman to Obey the Powers That Be: January–May 1865
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
A Forgotten Front
Florida during the Civil War Era
Edited by Seth A. Weitz and Jonathan C. Sheppard; Introduction by Seth A. Weitz
