On 147th Anniversary of Gettysburg Battle, the Florida Brigade Remains Overlooked

July 1-3 this year marks the 147^th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, the pivotal conflict in the Civil War. While the story has been told over and over again -- from the stand of the 20^th Maine under Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Little Round Top, to Picketts Charge -- its easy to overlook the role of theFlorida Brigade, nominally under the command of Gen. Edward Perry, who went on to serve as governor in the 1880s.

The Floridians formed one of the smallest brigades of Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia. While the brigade, part of Third Corps at Gettysburg, did not see action on the first day of the battle, it was engaged in heavy combat on July 2 and July 3 -- even serving a supporting part in Picketts Charge. The Florida Brigade suffered 65 percent casualties during the battle -- the highest proportion for any brigade in Lees army.

Perry himself missed Gettysburg. Col. David Lang, who would later serve as the state adjutant general and do some time in the Legislature, was in charge of the brigade during Lees Pennsylvania campaign in the summer of 1863. Lang would later return to Gettysburg to help set up the Florida monument on the battlefield.

For more on the Florida Brigades role at Gettysburg, the National Park Service has an excellent article. For a more harrowing view, take a look at a letter from Capt. Council Bryan, who was later elected to the Legislature (the brigade was apparently full of politicians), to his wife about the chaos of Lees retreat back to Virginia.

Bryan himself seemed to recognize how the small Florida Brigade would be overlooked despite the high casualties.

When the secret history of the war is known - then we will get justice, I hope, wrote Bryan to his wife. The men say that no matter how bravely they act, they get no credit for it at home or abroad and I think they are more than half right.