Joseph Finegan
Fernandina's Confederate General
By Charles Litrico
When you think of famous generals
from the Civil War, the names of Lee, Grant, Longstreet, Chamberlain and Jackson are
probably the ones that most often come to mind. But did you know that one of the
Confederacy's generals hailed from right here in Fernandina?
Joseph Finegan was born in Clones, Ireland on November 17, 1814. He emigrated to Florida
in his early twenties and became a planter and lawyer. He then fought in the Seminole
Indian wars, where he received his first dose of military experience. Finegan became a
family man when he married his first wife, Rebecca, the widow of wealthy central Florida
landowner, William Travers. (Rebecca already had three daughters, Maria, Margaret and
Martha.) Soon, the family moved to Jacksonville, where Finegan became the owner and
operator of a sawmill.
In 1854 Finegan moved to Fernandina to serve as the contractor for the Florida Railroad.
This was where he first became associated with David Yulee, a United States Senator and
founder of the Florida Railroad. Finegan was responsible for acquiring property needed for
the railroad. He ended up buying much of the land that would later become downtown
Fernandina.
In addition to railroad construction, Finegan operated a sawmill and built several houses
on Amelia Island. His 40-room mansion was located between 11th and 12th streets between
Broome and Calhoun, where Atlantic Elementary School is today.
The house was one of the most beautiful in Fernandina, with its three-story, cupola-topped
frame rising above a grove of orange and olive trees that lined the walkway from the house
to the street. Each floor had a porch from which to view this peaceful estate.
As the outbreak of war seemed imminent, Finegan became more
involved in supporting the Confederate cause. His involvement became even more clear when,
on January 5, 1861, Yulee wrote to Finegan and to the governor of Florida with a plan for
secession:
"Occupy the forts and arsenals in Florida. What is advisable is the earliest possible
organization of a Southern Confederacy and of a Southern Army... with Jeff Davis for
General in Chief. I shall give the enemy a shot next week before retiring. I say enemy. I
am theirs and they're mine..."
(Unfortunately for Yulee, when Finegan's home was raided by Union troops several
years later, this incriminating letter was found and contributed to Yulee's
imprisonment after the war.) The following week on January 11, 1861, Florida's
Secession Convention voted to secede from the Union. Joseph Finegan was the delegate from
Nassau County. |
General Joseph Finegan
(Florida State Archives)
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After secession, Finegan was placed in charge of military
affairs for the state. Finegan's political connections within the state helped him secure
the three stars and wreath of brigadier general and, in April 1862, he was
placed in charge of the District of Middle and East Florida.
Finegan's appointment to this post was not without criticism. Perhaps his sharpest critic
was Governor John Milton, who very candidly remarked:
"I confess I was surprised, and not agreeably, at the appointment of General Finegan
upon the recommendation of the Florida Delegation in preference to General Richard F.
Floyd, recommended by me."
Apparently the situation between Finegan and Milton improved somewhat in the months that
followed, as evidenced by Milton's letter to Jefferson Davis:
"I am much pleased with General Finegan. He is industrious and energetic, and
superior in those respects to his predecessors, and we cooperate most agreeably, and
although we occasionally differ in opinions, yet not unpleasantly."
However, Milton and Finegan would clash once again, this time over the Florida Railroad,
owned by Finegan's business partner and friend, David Yulee.
After Union forces occupied Fernandina, the terminus of the railroad, Milton wanted the
iron rails taken up as far as Callahan and used to connect other Confederate-held
railroads. Much to the extreme displeasure of the governor, Yulee and Finegan stopped this
procedure with an injunction from a circuit court judge. The ensuing legal case dragged on
for most of the war.
Finegan's antebellum mansion stood above a grove
of citrus and olive trees.
(Photo courtesy of the Amelia Island Museum of History)
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In November 1862, the District of Middle and
East Florida was divided, with Finegan maintaining control over the eastern portion of the
state, which included all of Florida east of the Suwannee River. For the next two years he
retained Confederate control over most of the state, notwithstanding occasional Union
raids and skirmishes. He also fought in the battle of Natural Bridge.
The high point of Finegan's military career came in the winter of 1864 at
the Battle of Olustee, in nearby Baker County. This battle, in which Finegan's troops were
a |
decided underdog, was one of the few bright spots in a year
full of dismal events to the Confederacy.
After Union forces numbering about 7,000 landed at Jacksonville in early February 1864,
they began moving westward toward Florida's interior. Finegan had less than 2,000 men with
which to repel the advancing Union army. After several "hit-and-run" skirmishes
that did little more than
keep the federal troops in check, reinforcements arrived to give Finegan almost 5,000 men.
He retreated to Olustee and waited for the Union army led by General Truman Seymour.
On February 20 the battle was fought, and the result was a surprise Confederate victory.
Union casualties numbered 1,860 to the Confederacy's 946, and the defeated Yankees were
forced to retreat to Jacksonville.
After Olustee, Finegan was transferred with a brigade of Florida regiments to Virginia in
May 1864. There, he took part in the battles of Cold Harbor and Hatcher's Run, continuing
to serve with the Army of Northern Virginia until March 20, 1865, when he was again
ordered to
duty in Florida.
At the war's end, Finegan returned to Fernandina to find that his grand home had been
taken over by the Freedmen's Bureau for use as an orphanage and school for black children.
The house was eventually reclaimed and sold to Episcopal Bishop John Freeman Young, who
wanted it to house an exclusive girls' school known as the Bishop's School or St. Marys
Priory.
While in Fernandina, Finegan served as a state senator from Nassau County in 1865 and 1866
and was an active member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. Local church records state that
Finegan gave St. Peter's a communion service costing $205 in memory of his son, I.
Rutledge Finegan, who died of consumption on April 4, 1871. The chalice and two patens of
the communion service are still in use. After leaving Fernandina, Finegan moved to
Savannah, Georgia, and became a cotton broker.
He later moved back to central Florida, where he owned a large orange grove until his
death in 1885.
Finegan died in Rutledge, Florida, on October 29, 1885. Newspaper accounts say his death
was caused by a "severe cold, inducing chills, to which he succumbed after a brief
illness." His obituary in The Florida Times-Union labeled him as "hearty,
unaffected, jovial, clear-headed and keen-witted." General Finegan is buried in the
Old City Cemetery in Jacksonville.
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