Dickison and His Men/Jefferson Davis’ Baggage

City Park, SR 24 in front of caboose Waldo, Florida

John Jackson Dickison (1816-1902), Florida’s famous Civil War guerrilla leader, bivouacked at Camp Baker, south of here, during the closing weeks of the conflict. Dickison and his men became legendary figures. As Company H, Second Florida Cavalry, they engaged in skirmishes, raids, battles, scouting expeditions, and forced marches from the time of organization at Flotard’s Pond, Marion County, in 1862, until the force was mustered out at Waldo on May 20, 1865.

On June 15, 1865, a detachment of Union soldiers under Captain O.E. Bryant seized personal baggage belonging to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and some of the Confederate government’s records in a house near this site. The trunks and papers were hidden first at Senator David Levy Yulee’s plantation, “Cottonwood” between Archer and Gainesville. The baggage was moved to Waldo and placed in care of the railroad agent.

This marker can be found at the City Park, State Road 24 in front of the caboose Waldo, Florida.

Sponsored By:
Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials in Cooperation with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company

TAGS: All,19th Century