Editing Hernando County, Florida (section)

===American Civil War===
During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Hernando County primarily contributed foodstuffs, cotton, and lumber to the Confederacy. Although Union ships imposed a blockade on the port of [[Bayport, Florida|Bayport]], runners enjoyed a great deal of success—enough to lead the Union in June 1864 to order some 150–250 troop to destroy Confederate stockpiles in the county. In early July, the expeditions, including 2 companies from the [[2nd Florida Cavalry Regiment (Union)|2nd U.S. Florida Cavalry]], marched northward from Anclote River to [[Brooksville, Florida|Brooksville]], meeting some resistance from assembled Confederate troops hastily organized to protect the city.{{sfn|Landers|2010|p=14}} The Federal troops won this engagement (known locally as the Brooksville Raid<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pascocemeteries.org/brooksville_bayport_raid.html|first=Jeff|last=Cannon|date=December 11, 2009|title=The Brooksville-Bayport Raid and The Civil War in Hernando County|access-date=February 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313153213/http://pascocemeteries.org/brooksville_bayport_raid.html|archive-date=March 13, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> and marched to Bayport, where they and an auxiliary force landing from gunboats sacked Rebel operations. The skirmish between Union raiders and local Confederates is reenacted annually in the county.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/briefs/brooksville-raid-re-enactment-to-be-held-today/1145572 |title=Brooksville raid re-enactment to be held today |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=January 15, 2011 |publisher=www.tampabay.com |access-date=February 8, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014154111/http://www.tampabay.com/news/briefs/brooksville-raid-re-enactment-to-be-held-today/1145572 |archive-date=October 14, 2012 }}</ref>

At least one unit that fought in the Civil War was mustered in Hernando County. The Hernando County "Wildcats," formed Company C of [[3rd Florida Infantry Regiment]]. The unit was captained by Walter Terry Saxon who was reportedly well liked by his men. He was paid roughly $20,000 for work surveying the Everglades. He used most of this money to arm and equip the Wildcats.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sheppard |first1=Jonathan C. |title="Everyday Soldiers": The Florida Brigade of the West, 1861-1862 |journal=Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations |date=2004 |pages=13–14 |url=https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:176255/datastream/PDF/view |access-date=January 9, 2023}}</ref>