Skirmish At Levyville  "Dixie's Land"  February 13, 1865

Throughout the Civil War, Florida was spared much of the fighting that was common in most of the other Southern states. Florida, however, was valuable to the Confederacy for the soldiers it provided and for the 660,000 head of cattle and countless hogs that it contributed to the Southern cause. Livestock raised in the south-central part of the state were driven to Gainesville and then shipped north by railroad. Though Union troops sometimes made excursions to try to interrupt the flow of beef and pork, the area between the St. Johns River and the Gulf Coast was principally controlled by Capt. John Jackson Dickison. Northern troops dubbed him "Dixie" Dickison and called the territory over which he ruled "Dixie's Land".

In an effort to cut off the Rebel supplies going north, 400 Union troops landed from gunboats at Cedar Key, the railroad's gulf terminus, on February 8, 1865, and marched toward Gainesville, 55 miles up the tracks. The force was composed of 200 cavalrymen from the Union 2nd U.S. Colored Infantry. Upon learning of the Yankee expedition, Dickison, who was at Waldo, 15 miles northwest of Gainesville, quickly gathered his 90 Rebel cavalrymen and one cannon and galloped 60 miles to confront the Union force at the little town of Levyville on February 13.

Dickison's troopers blocked the Union advance and after a half hour of hard skirmishing forced them to fall back to a swampy area, where the Yankees formed a strong defensive line. After four hours of fighting, darkness brought the conflict to a close. By that time, the Rebel cannon had fired its last shell and none of the Southern troopers had more than three rounds of ammunition left. Fortunately for Dickison's men, their brave fight had convinced the Union troops that the road to Gainesville was too dangerous. The Union force retreated to Cedar Key during the night, reboarded their gunboats, and departed.

Fascinating Fact:  At the end of the war three months later, Dickison helped Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, who had a $40,000 "dead or alive" reward on his head, escape capture and make his way safely through Florida and on to Cuba.


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