As a History Teacher for over 30 years, I can't have a webpage without teaching something. My first entry will deal with Florida during the war:

Florida was still a frontier during the Civil War, mostly unsettled, and had only been a state for about 15 years.

Florida's population was small. Only 11 infantry regiments were mustered into the Confederate army from Florida. Compare that to a state like New York or Pennsylvania that had over 200 infantry regiments each!

The largest battle in Florida was the Battle of Olustee in February of 1864, about 40 miles west of Jacksonville. There were about 5,000 men on each side and casualties reached about 25%. This places Olustee in the top 10 for battles of the war with the highest percentage of casualties for the number of troops involved.

Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi not captured during the war. The effort to do so was stopped at the Battle of Natural Bridge in March of 1865. Among the Confederate soldiers at this battle were a group of 25 boys aged 12 to 16 from a military school in Tallahassee. That school is now called Florida State University.

The only documented unique insignia worn by Florida soldiers was a six-pointed star, similar to a spur. It was used on early flags, buttons, and used as hat insignia. To their dismay, Florida soldiers were sometimes mistaken for Texans with their 5-pointed stars. (I sell these Florida Stars for $4.00)

There is one case in the history of the United States when a Navy warship was sunk by cavalry. This was when Capt. J.J. Dickinson of the 2nd. Florida Cavalry attacked a U.S. gunboat on the St. Johns River at Horse Landing, south of Palatka, Florida.

Florida's unique history provided some units that were more "multicultural" than people would expect. For example, Company B of the 3rd. Florida Infantry from St. Augustine included Blacks, Hispanics, and Minorcan Greeks.