Abstract
Isabella Beecher Hooker spent March 12-14, 1864, visiting senior army officers in Jacksonville. The timing was auspicious, given that her visit came just weeks after the only significant Civil War battle in Florida. The Federal defeat at Olustee had occurred on February 20. Moreover, she had access to regimental and brigade commanders through her brother, James C. Beecher, and her Hartford friend and neighbor, Joseph R. Hawley.1 At the end of her visit Isabella wrote to her husband offering observations about the battle and the Federal officer who led Northern troops in this engagement. The source of her information about General Truman Seymour, significantly, was the general's own cousin, Caroline Seymour Severance.2
Recommended Citation
Foster, Sarah Whitmer
(2007)
"In the Aftermath of the Battle of Olustee: A Beecher's Surprise Visit to Florida,"
Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 86:
No.
3, Article 6.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol86/iss3/6
