 Its chief importance was in food-supply to the south and support for blockade-runners along its long coastline full of inlets that were hard to patrol.At the outbreak of war, the Confederates seized many United States facilities in the state, though the Union retained control of Key West, Fort Jefferson and Fort Pickens throughout the war.There was little fighting in Florida, the only major conflict being the Battle of Olustee, near Lake City in February 1864.