The Battle Intensifies

Around 2:00 p.m. Union troops reached a railroad crossing east of Olustee and met stronger resistance from advancing Confederate forces. The 7th Connecticut opened heavy fire with Spencer repeating rifles, catching the 64th Georgia off guard and killing all of the regiment's field officers. General Colquitt's reinforcements arrived just in time to prevent the 64th from being cut down. The 7th Connecticut then advanced beyond their flanks and came under crossfire. When their ammunition ran low, they withdrew several hundred yards to the rear, and there the Union advance was finally halted. Milton M. Woodford of the 7th Connecticut later wrote to his wife that as they advanced, the enemy retired while staying just in sight, and whenever his men got close enough to have any chance of doing execution, they fired and the enemy returned fire in a way that showed they were good marksmen, with shots coming plenty near enough although none of his group were hit.

Florida · United States