FLORIDA CRACKER

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GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS!

Welcome to the Florida Cracker, and as we natives say in Florida, I hope you enjoy your visit (the key word being "visit")! I'm dedicating this website to my late grandfather, R. B. Horton, who I loved more than the wide world and looked up to as the consummate Southern gentleman.

I've gotten a tremendous response from all y'all and have even discovered a few distant relatives, and I am truly glad to hear from everyone. As always, if you have anything to add, any interesting tidbits to share, or just want to say "hey cousin, how you doin'?", please feel free to drop me a line.

Now, first things first- let's discuss the term Cracker. I once heard a rather ignorant person state that crackers were so-called because of the sound their whips made while they were beating their slaves. I remember playing frisbee with similar piles of dry cow excrement when I was young, but unlike the subject of my extremely country and a little disgusting analogy, the former reference "just won't fly"! Consider a couple of actual facts for a moment. Most South Georgia and North Florida pioneers were very brave and adventurous types- it was still a wild and dangerous place to make a home-, but because of the harshness of the terrain and climate, they were mostly poor (to our standard) types. The wealthy slave owners were an extremely small part of the population, albeit powerful and influential, and these families tended to be the ones calling people crackers. No, the "peculiar institution" (as Southreners called it) of slavery was not the origin of the term Cracker.

Jacob Summerlin, Co. A
1st FL Special Cavalry, CSA
and Seminole War militiaman.

Raising cattle was, and is, a way of life for many Floridians and South Georgians. In the days before the electric cattle prod, the tool of choice for herding cattle in the region- often, the larger and more obstinate males being the primary recipients- was a long, braided leather whip called a bullwhip (for explanation, read a little more carefully). The cowboys moving the cattle (observe photo of pioneer Florida cattle-rancher, Mr. Summerlin, above), most of which were wild cattle left by the Spaniards, used the crack of the whip to motivate the little suckers to leave their dear cover in the scrub brush and join the rest of the cattle who had already fallen in line. Thus, the more "sophisticated" types in the area gave them the endearing nickname, crackers (some say the term extends even further back to Shakespearean times, but regardless, most Crackers would likely agree with the previous statement, and I'm sticking with it). Here endeth the lesson.

As if no one has noticed, there is a serious lack of information out there on Florida's participation in the War for Southern Independence, even though Florida provided a higher percentage of its male population to serve in the war effort than any other state in the Confederacy. I'll try my best to do honour to these brave men, half of whom never lived to see their beloved home state again.
With all that being said, throw some oysters on the grill, some fish in the fry, and fire up a pot of swamp cabbage, 'cause what follows is what I know about a few ole crackers and the units in which they fought! Hope you enjoy!

Almost all of these graphics, with the exception of the anim. gifs, have been created and/or customized by me. I would love for you to use them, but, please, give me some credit or a link every once in a while. God save the South.