The Florida Monument at Chickamauga stands in quiet testimony to the men of Florida who marched far from home and fought on these fields in September 1863.
While exploring the battlefield this week, I paused here to reflect on the thousands of Floridians who answered their state’s call and endured the hardships of campaign, battle, disease, and separation from family. Many never returned home.
The sunlight breaking through the clouds above the monument reminded me that these memorials are more than stone and bronze. They are places of memory. They connect us to the soldiers whose courage, sacrifices, and stories helped shape the history of our nation and our state.
More than 160 years later, visitors still walk these fields, read their letters, study their service, and remember their names.
May their memory endure.
#Chickamauga #FloridaAtChickamauga #FloridaHistory #SCV #RememberThem #scv1316