FLORIDA HISTORY: Union Forces’ Fearless Raid on Depleted Walton County
In the summer of 1864, the quiet town of Eucheeanna, Florida, braced for invasion. Hungarian-born Union General Alexander Asboth, leading the newly formed 1st Florida Cavalry, Union Volunteers, turned his sights on Northwest Florida. His force, comprised largely of former Confederates who had switched sides, descended upon a militia of old men and boys guarding the county seat. This raid marked the start of Asboth’s aggressive, yet complicated, campaign through the pine forests of the Gulf Coast.
