Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerillas in East and South Florida, 1861-1865

by Zack C. Waters

Modern historians have consistently treated Florida as a military backwater. Despite that assessment, Rebel guerrillas blocked repeated Union attempts to establish a stronghold in the Florida's interior. After the "abandonment" of Florida by the Confederate government, in early 1862, Gov. John Milton organized guerrilla units to protect the state's citizens. These irregular companies kept Union forces largely confined to a few coastal outposts (St. Augustine, Fernandina, and Ft. Myers), though the state's citizens suffered greatly from the depredations of Unionist units. After the Federals capture of Vicksburg, the South's only significant source of beef were the vast herds in Florida. It fell to the state's Rebel partisans to protect the state's interior, thereby keeping open routes for the delivery of longhorns to the South's major armies. Skirmishes and battles raged throughout Florida, but the flow of beef cattle halted only after Appomattox.

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 2, 2023

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first learned about the history of the American Civil War in the 1960s in High School in Florida. We were taught a romantized view of the old south with little mention of slavery. We were taught to sing "I wish I Was in Dixieland" and to revere Confederate Generals. I developed an avid interest in the military aspects, especially the Confederate Navy, of the war. I have kept up this interest for fifty years.Frankly, until I read this fine book, I didn’t know much about Florida’s role in the Civil War except for the Battle of Olustee. For anyone like me who wants to know more about the state’s very important role in the conflict, I highly recommend this very readable book. Waters gives a very even handed, historical account of every aspect of his subject. Surely he provides all the details a non specialist should ever need, and still keep his tales interesting, and at times quite exciting.
I have visited many of the towns/sites discussed, such as Ft Myers, Ft Brooke, Ft Denaud, etc. – without fully appreciating their role in the Civil War. Years ago, I even canoed a portion of the Myakka River (south of what is now Sarasota). I had no idea I was following the same path of a union ship (boat?) the Rosalie, that accompanied a unit from Pennsylvania on a raiding party into the interior.
One section I particularly enjoyed was the battle for Tampa. Tampa was a significant importance, as it provided a harbor Confederate blockade runners. A certain Lt. Comm. Alexander Alderman Semmes was in partial command of the Union attack which included heavily armed union vessels . Most readers of a book such as this will recognize the name ‘Semmes’ from Adm. Raphael Semmes. Raphael, the cousin of the Alexander was the very famous Confderate raider who inflicted fear and havoc on Northern shipping for years on his raiders Sumter and Alabama. You will enjoy the lively, exciting tale of the evenly matched battle. You can almost hear the splashes of the Rebels and their famous Rebel Yell as they chased the Yankees back to heir boats. Overall it sounds like both sides had something be proud of from the battle.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the amazing detail Waters’ research revealed on the many skirmishes and minor battles throughout the state. He seems to have left no stone unturned, and I appreciated that very much. So the book is an easy recommend for other Florida heritage individuals for sure(like me),and all who have a serious interest in this part of American history. The book nicely fills the bill for Civil War history that’s quite a bit of the beaten track. It’s a ‘must have’ for all Civil War bookshelves. All libraries need this marvelous book.

[Josh Liller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilderness of Destruction is the story of the guerilla war in Florida (east and south of the Suwanee River) during the American Civil War. The subtitle says "Confederate Guerillas" but this is somewhat misleading. Most of the Confederate forces were light cavalry companies of the Confederate Army and thus more accurately partisan or irregular units. The book also covers Union raids that neither targeted nor encountered armed Confederate forces. The book even spends a dozen pages on the Olustee Campaign, despite admitting it involved essentially no guerilla warfare beyond a single ambush at a river crossing. The author is casting a wide net, but catches a lot of small actions.

The war is told roughly chronologically, most chapters covering about a half year (Jan-Jul & Aug-Dec). Within each chapter are sections covering specific raids or operations within a particular area. This is a simple arrangement, though it doesn't really reflect the realities of Florida's two seasons (wet & dry). The writing is decent, though there are some odd quirks such as always spelling out the unit designation of Union regiments or referring to "N. T. Banks" and "W. J. Hardee" rather than giving the first names of these well-known generals.

A simple order of battle, listing what regiments and battalions served in the state and under what commanders, would have been helpful but nothing of the sort was included. There are two simple maps and a handful of relevant images at the beginning of the book.

The book shows extensive research, with plenty of footnotes and a lengthy bibliography. Besides the Official Records (OR), J. J. Dickison's writings, and a few key secondary works by Buker and Schaefer, the primary source of many of these events is wartime newspapers which are frequently of questionable accuracy. Letters and diaries are sparse, which isn't surprising as such material is notoriously hard to come by for Confederate Florida. The result is that, despite the author's efforts, the book often feels like a story only half-told.

The biggest thing I took from this book is that Union operations in Florida were often careless.

I vacillated a bit on what rating to give for this book. I liked it, but I had an unusual number of quibbles with it. In appreciation for writing on such an overlooked subject, I ultimately decided to round up. If you're interested in obscure Florida and/or Civil War history, it's worthwhile.

[R B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could write a thousand words about this book but I will limit it to being the best book I ever read about Florida during the War Between the States.