Joseph Finegan Joseph Finegan ( November 17 , 1814 – October 29 , 1885 ) was an attorney , politician , and railroad builder in Florida , but is primarily known as the general who commanded the Confederate States Army in its victory at the Battle of Olustee . Early life and career . Finegan was born November 17 , 1814 at Clones in County Monaghan , Ireland . He came to Florida in the 1830s , first establishing a sawmill at Jacksonville and later a law practice at Fernandina . At the latter place , he became the business partner of David Levy Yulee and began construction of the Florida Railroad to speed transportation of goods and people from the new state ' s east coast to the Gulf of Mexico . Finegan ' s successes are perhaps attributable to his first marriage on July 28 , 1842 , to the widow Rebecca Smith Travers . Her sister Mary Martha Smith was the wife of Florida ' s territorial governor Robert Raymond Reid , an appointee of President Martin Van Buren . At a courthouse auction in 1849 , Finegan paid just forty dollars ( $ 40 ) for five miles of shoreline along Lake Monroe . By the outbreak of the American Civil War , Finegan had built his family a forty - room mansion in Fernandina , bounded by 11th and 12th Streets and Broome and Calhoun Avenues , the site of the modern Atlantic Elementary School . His family included his three stepdaughters Maria , Margaret , and Martha Travers ; and children Rutledge , Agnes , Josephine , and Yulee Finegan . At Florida ' s secession convention , Finegan represented Nassau County alongside James G . Cooper . Civil War . In April 1862 , Finegan assumed command of Middle and East Florida from Brigadier General James H . Trapier . Soon thereafter , he suffered some embarrassment surrounding the wreck of the blockade runner " Kate " at Mosquito Inlet ( the modern Ponce de Leon Inlet ) . Her cargo of rifles , ammunition , medical supplies , blankets , and shoes was plundered by civilians . Attempts to recover these items took months before he issued a public appeal . Eventually , most of the rifles were found , but the other supplies were never recovered . Also in 1862 , recognizing the importance of Florida beef to the Confederate cause , Finegan gave cattle baron Jacob Summerlin permission to select thirty men from the state troops under his command to assist in rounding up herds to drive north . At this time , the principal Confederate military post in east Florida was dubbed " Camp Finegan " to honor the state ' s highest - ranking officer . It was about seven miles ( 11 km ) west of Jacksonville , south of the rail line near modern Marietta . In 1863 , Finegan complained of the large quantity of rum making its way from the West Indies into Florida . Smugglers were buying it in Cuba for a mere seventeen cents per gallon , only to sell it in the blockaded state for twenty - five dollars per gallon . He urged Governor John Milton to confiscate the " vile article " and destroy it before it could impact army and civilian morals . Col David Lang was the brigade ' s last commander before the surrender after the Battle of Appomattox Court House . In February 1864 , General P . G . T . Beauregard began rushing reinforcements to Finegan after Confederate officials became aware of a build - up of Federal troops in the occupied city of Jacksonville . As Florida was a vital supply route and source of beef to the other southern states , they could not allow it to fall completely into Union hands . On February 20 , 1864 , Finegan stopped a Federal advance from Jacksonville under General Truman Seymour that was intent upon capturing the state capitol at Tallahassee . Their two armies clashed at the Battle of Olustee , where Finegan ' s men defeated the Union Army and forced them to flee back beyond the Saint Johns River . Critics have faulted Finegan for failing to exploit his victory by pursuing his retreating enemy , contenting himself by salvaging their arms and ammunition from the battlefield . But , his victory was one rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy year for the dying Confederacy . Some Finegan detractors believe he did little more to contribute to the Confederate victory at Olustee than to shuttle troops forward to General Alfred H . Colquitt of Georgia , whom they credit for thwarting the Federal advance . They point out that Finegan was quickly relieved of his command over the state troops , replaced by Major General James Patton Anderson . But this change in command was necessary as Finegan was ordered to lead the " Florida Brigade " in the Army of Northern Virginia . And , he performed with excellence in that capacity until near the end of the war . Postbellum career . General Finegan returned to Fernandina after the war to discover his mansion had been seized by the Freedmen ' s Bureau for use as an orphanage and school for black children . It took some legal wrangling , but he was eventually able to recover this property . He had to sell most of his lands along Lake Monroe to Henry Sanford for $ 18 , 200 to pay his attorneys and other creditors . ( Though he did retain a home site at Silver Lake . ) Adding to his sorrows was the untimely death of his son Rutledge died April 4 , 1871 , precipitating a move to Savannah , Georgia . There , Finegan felt at home with the large Irish population and worked as a cotton broker . It was while living in Savannah that Finegan married his second wife , the widow Lucy C . Alexander , a Tennessee belle . They eventually settled on a large orange grove in Orange County , Florida . Finegan died October 29 , 1885 , at Rutledge , Florida . According to the " Florida Times Union " , his death was the result of " severe cold , inducing chills , to which he succumbed after brief illness . " The paper described him as " hearty , unaffected , jovial , clear - headed , and keen - witted . " He was buried at the Old City Cemetery in Jacksonville .