So, here we have a flag in the Fort Clinch visitor center. It does not say, but from its condition, I am guessing it is a reproduction that has been flown over the fort in modern times.
Here is the current flag, a reproduction of the US flag in use in 1864. This is actually the most popular design of the 36 star flag, and several other variations existed.
This is my wife's version of the flag-in-the-window shot.
The Union campaign that climaxed in the Battle of Olustee (or Ocean Pond) began in February 1864, when troops commanded by General Truman A. Seymour embarked at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Their immediate objective was a fourth occupation of Jacksonville. The force could then disrupt transportation links and deprive the Confederacy of food supplies from central Florida; capture cotton, turpentine and timber; gain black recruits for the Union army; and induce Unionists in east Florida to organize a loyal state government.
Seymour's expeditionary force landed at Jacksonville on Feb 7. Scouts and raiders moved west and met little opposition.Meanwhile, during the month of January, movement of the Federal fleet had been noted by the Confederate forces, and they began to prepare for an offensive. The defense of Florida was placed in the hands of Brig. General Joseph Finegan and Brig. General Alfred Colquitt. Once it was apparent the Union forces were moving westward in Florida, Finegan began searching for the Confederate army's best defendable position.Finegan found that position at Olustee. With a lake called Ocean Pond on his left, a nearly impassable swamp on his right and only a narrow passage between, he called for troops to help defend Florida. Colquitt answered that call, bringing veteran troops from Savannah, Georgia.
On Feb 20, the Union force of 5,500 men and 16 cannon marched westward from Barber's Plantation, near modern day Macclenny. Their plan was to defeat the Confederates 32 miles away, near Lake City, and then cut off the railroad there. But by this time, the Confederate forces almost equaled the Union opposing army in number, and Finegan sent skirmishers to draw the Union forces to Olustee. The Union army drove the Confederate cavalry back several miles, but resistance kept growing stronger. H.W.B. Athens wrote "At 8 o' clock in the morning on the 20th instant we were informed that the Yankees were advancing. A part of the brigade was immediately ordered to some rifle pits hastily constrcuted near at hand, the remainder forming line of battle in open field. In this position we patiently waited the coming of the foe for an hour, when our General, who is a fair man, concluded to meet halfway." The opposing armies made contact that afternoon and the Confederate line was formed, infantry in the center with cavalry on each flank.
The battle was joined on the floor of a forest of virgin pines, free of underbrush. Men fought in the open forest; neither force constructed earthworks. The Union army was cauhgt between two swamps, one preventing their advance, and one hindering a retreat. Initially, neither side expected the battle here to amount to much.
Around 2 PM, the battle intensified as the 7th Connecticut opened up heavy fire with their Spencer repeating rifles. This caught the 64th Georgia off guard and killed all of their field officers. Colonel Barrow of the 64th had told his men "I am sure that we are in the right, and that God is on our side. Follow me today, my men, and I will lead you to the enemy. Remember, that the honor of Georgia rests with you." Soon after saying these words, Col Barrow was shot through the heart by a Union bullet and killed instantly. The 7th Connecticut advanced quickly, and soon found themselves ahead of the rest of the army, and in a deadly crossfire. The Union advance was finally halted when they ran low on ammunition and witdrew several hundred yards. Milton M. Woodford of the 7th CT wrote home "As we advanced, the enemy retired, keeping just in sight. Whenever we could get near enough to atnd any chance of doing execution we would blaze away at them and they returned the fire in a way that showed that they were good marksmen, for their shots came plenty near enough, although none of us were hit."
By 3 Pm, the 7th New Hampshire deployed on the Union right flank, battling heavy fire from the Confederates. The regiment had earlier been ordered to exchange their Spencer repeating rifles for old, defective muskets, many of which did not even fire. Colonel Hawley, leading the 7th new Hampshire, either gave a wrong command or his command was misunderstood, causing the confused 7th to scatter to the rear.
The 8th US Colored troops with no battle experience and little traing were deployed on the Union left flank. They had less than one month's service and had never practiced firing their weapons. They were severely mauled at a railroad crossing east of Olustee. Of the 375 men in this troop, 310 were killed or wounded. The 8th US Regimental Surgeon wrote "Here they stood for two hours... under one of the most terrible fires I ever witnessed, and here on the field of Olustee, was decided whether the colored man had the courage to stand without shelter, and run the dangers of the battlefield, and when I tell you that they stand with a fire in frint, on their flank without flinching, I have no doubt as to the center of every man who has gratitude for the defenders of his country, white or black."
Around this time, Colonel Harrison arrived with Confederate reinforcements. The area recently vacated by the 7th New Hampshire now came under concentrated fire. The train also had a large cannon mounted on a flatcar which shot a lare shell every five minutes with devastating effects. By now the Union had five cannon captured and almost all others rendered useless. James H. Clark remarked "the horses and men were nearly all killed or wounded, and it was the greatest slaughter among artillery known in the history of the war."
By now the Union felt the day was lost, but the 54th Massachusetts and 1st North Carolina US Colored advanced, staggering the enemy.
The 1899 Florida legislature created a commission to select a site and to raise funds for a suitable monument to commemorate the battle. The site was acquired by the state of Florida in 1909. the monument was built in 1912 and dedicated in 1913, just 49 years after the battle.
A small onsite museum has several artifacts, but does not say if they are originals or reproductions.
This is another little known fascinating site, just a while south of Tallahassee. During the War of 1812, the British recruited Native Americans and runaway slaves in an attempt to use them against the Americans. Here on the banks of the Apalachicola River they built a fort to shelter them and make a base for operations against American shipping on the river. The British left in 1815, but the fort continued to harass American shipping on the river. In spite of the fort being in what was still Spanish territory, the United States ordered it destroyed.
Alerted to the threat from the US, the local Natives and runaways took shelter in the fort and awaited an attack. Col Duncan Lamont Clinch with 116 men in riverboats met with Major John McIntosh and 150 friendly natives. On July 23, 1816 word was received that four men sent to the river for water had been killed by men from the fort. That was the excuse needed to attack, and on July 27, they approached by land and on the river with the gunboats.
The gunboats opened fire, and on the fifth salvo, an explosive shot landed in the fort's magazine, which exploded, killing over 300 of the people in the fort. Clinch reported that "the explosion was awful and the scene horrible beyond description." When the fort surrendered, the Native Chief and leading runaway were captured and executed for the murder of the four men who went to the river. In the above photo, small wooden posts mark the corners of the fort's magazine. In the center is a flagpole flying the British flag.
While this dramatic episode occurred after the official end of the War of 1812, and before the official beginning of the First Seminole War, it has often been considered a battle of both wars.
In 1818, after the official start of the First Seminole War, Andrew Jackson sent a group of men down the Apalachicola River to destroy Seminole Villages. Upon encountering the site of the old fort here, he was so impressed by the location, that he ordered a new fort constructed. The new fort was smaller, but on the same spot. The above model shows what the new American fort would have looked like.
The new fort was not occupied for long, and the site was virtually forgotten until the Civil War. With the Apalachicola River leading to vital plantations in southern Georgia and Alabama, the Confederates realized its importance and occupied the Fort Gadsden site until 1863 when Malaria drove them away. 
Today little remains of the American fort, and almost no trace exists of the British fort. The site is a National Historic Landmark, and is well maintained by the Apalachicola National Forest. 
In this site, locally known as the "Renegade Cemetery," the remains of many of the persons killed in the explosion of the British Fort were buried. The brick burial vault dates from the late 19th century. Grave Robbers, though to be workmen building a nearby railroad, broke into it in the early part of the twentieth century. Archaeological excavations revealed that the wet acid soils had destroyed all physical remains of the persons buried here. Only the numerous shallow depressions mark the resting places of those killed in the terrible explosion.
The brick vault in the cemetery
In 1838 the Steamship Irvington, carrying 200 bales of cotton on a downstream run, burned and sank four miles upstream from here. This 15 foot sidewheeler was constructed in 1836 in Madison, Indiana. These boilers and parts were dredged from the river about where the Irvington went down. The ship's short life on the river came during the early part of the Apalachicola steamship period. Later over 200 ships worked the river from the Gulf to as far north as Columbus, Georgia.
More parts from the Irvington
View of the Apalachicola River
Near the parking lot for the site is a large encased booth with many excellent artifacts found here and displays including the fort model and Gadsden portrait. Above are Native and British items from the time of the first fort.
Remains of a British musket and bayonet
Items from river steamboats found in the area
I'm not sure what this is, unless it's just a baby tree. 
This is Old Fort Park, also known as Fort Houston because it was located on the plantation of E.A. Houston. It was hurriedly built by locals in the Civil War to prevent the Union army from capturing the capitol at Talahassee. The Union army was stopped at Natural Bridge by an army that included Houston's son, Patrick, who commanded the artillery. Now the fort is a peacefull park in a nice neighborhood near the capitol. A silent testimony to the dedication of the local citizens to defend their territory.
This is a book I no longer have and really wish I still did. Though with moving to Connecticut soon, maybe it doesn't matter so much. Anyway, this book by local author Alejandro De Quesada is an excellent guide to the forts of Florida. The book is arranged in time periods, from the earliest colonial settlements to the defensive sites of the Cold War. The book covers all existing forts and several forts that are long gone, with a fascinating historical text, along with descriptions and photos of the sites today. Several are National or State parks, some are cared for by other agencies, and some are simply neglected and left to the raveges of nature. This book is excellent for a history of the state or for someone wanting to see historic places in Florida. Also good because it has good information about topics that are otherwise hard to find, such as the Seminole Wars and the early colonial disputes. Overall and excellent book, highly reccomended for anyone living in or near Florida. It can be found on Amazon here.
This is the St Mark's River Wildlife Refuge, which I came to, in order to see the lighthouse here. It would be my luck they were having some kind of festival that day, and not wanting to deal with the fiasco, I decided to take a few photos from the parking lot and call it a day.
One of the NWR waterways
Looking upriver towards San Marcos de Apalache
The current light tower was built in 1842 when the older tower was threatened by erosion. It rests on a bed of limestone taken from fort San Marcos de Apalache and was originally 65 feet tall. The light had survived two hurricanes by the outbreak of the Civil War, when both sides used the light. It was bombarded by Union ships in 1862 and in 1863 Union troops landed to burn the stairs so the Confederates could not use the tower. In 1865 when the Union army landed to march towards Talahasee, they found several explosive charges planted in the tower by retreating Confederate soldiers. Fortunetly the charges did little damage and the tower was soon repaired.
And with a little telephoto...
And here on the loooong drive out, you can see smoke from the many control burns occuring around the state recently. Apparently the fire season these last couple years have left Florida officials feeling a little "burned!" (Oh that was bad!)
