2nd & 5th FL Cav

I don't have a whole lot of information about the 2nd and 5th Florida Cavalry Regiments as yet. My ancestor Rufus Goodson happened to serve in both regiments at different times in the war.

Rufus enlisted May 1862 at Camp Gladden and was transferred to Com G of the Florida 2nd Cavalry as his was one of several independent companies organized into the 2nd Cavalry in December 1862.
The Florida 2nd Cavalry primarily stayed in Florida and guarded the coast against Union intrusion.
They fought battles from Jacksonville to St. Augustine to Gainesville and companies were reported to have fought at Olustee. Capt. Dickison's regiment even fought with the 1st FL Spec Cavalry at the Battle of Station Number 4.

By the time the Battle of Olustee was fought, Rufus had been transferred to Company A of the 5th FL Cavalry as 3rd Corporal. The 5th FL arrived on the day of the battle, but after a forced march from Gainesville the night before, they were fatigued and were only committed late in the battle.

I hope to share more on these regiments and/or Rufus Goodson when I have more to share.

J.J. Dickison

The print shown above and the Munnerlyn print on the previous page are from very old books I found in the Alachua Co. Library, which proved to be the "mother load", when I first began to look for my family's history. If you are ever in the area and are researching your family history, they have a great amount information, such as extensive Florida census records on microfiche, to assist you in your search for your cracker background.
Below is a picture I found on the net, of J.J. Dickison reliving his glory years. God bless him.