Olustee Battlefield preserves the site of the largest Civil War battle fought in Florida. In February 1864 a Union expedition moved west from occupied Jacksonville under Brigadier General Truman Seymour. Federal aims included disrupting Confederate supply routes, recruiting Black soldiers, and extending Union control in the state. Confederate forces under Brigadier General Joseph Finegan concentrated near Olustee and Ocean Pond, where the railroad and sandy roads passed through pine woods and wetlands. Neither side initially expected the full engagement that developed on February 20.

Union cavalry and infantry encountered Confederate advance units east of the prepared position. Both commanders fed regiments into the fighting, producing a prolonged battle line in open pine forest rather than a formal assault on fortifications. Brigadier General Alfred Colquitt directed much of the Confederate line as reinforcements arrived. Ammunition shortages, confused orders, and the piecemeal commitment of Union units weakened Seymour's position. Confederate attacks eventually drove the federal army back toward Jacksonville after several hours of intense close-range fire.

The Union force suffered roughly 1,800 killed, wounded, and missing, an exceptionally high proportion of the soldiers engaged; Confederate losses were about half as great. The 8th United States Colored Troops fought in its first major battle, and the 54th Massachusetts and 35th United States Colored Troops helped cover the retreat. Contemporary testimony and later research describe the killing of some wounded Black Union soldiers after the battle, placing Olustee within the wider racial violence that shaped combat and captivity during the war.

The Confederate victory halted the immediate Union advance into the Florida interior, though Jacksonville remained in federal hands. Florida continued supplying cattle, food, and other resources to Confederate armies, while raiding and smaller operations persisted. The battlefield itself returned to forest and railroad use. Graves, scattered artifacts, local memory, and veterans' accounts marked the landscape, but vegetation and timber activity obscured the lines of battle. Commemoration initially reflected the segregated politics of the postwar South and did not equally represent all of the soldiers who fought.

Florida acquired land at Olustee in the early twentieth century, creating the state's first historic site. A monument, museum, trails, archaeological work, and annual commemorative programs gradually developed. Modern interpretation addresses strategy, battlefield terrain, medical care, African American military service, and the contested history of remembrance. Preserved earthworks and the open pine landscape help explain how visibility and movement affected the battle. Olustee's significance extends beyond a Confederate victory: it reveals the Union's wartime ambitions in Florida, the service and sacrifice of Black troops, and the evolving public memory of a racially charged conflict.