Re: 8th Fl, Co. D - Richard C. Smith
The 8th Florida did not have artillery. See Major R. Stiles's "Four Years Under Marse Robert." The Richmond Howitzers, Stiles's unit, seems to have been the artillery group most often associated with the Florida Brigade, ANV. I wonder if when your ancestor found that he could not get back to Virginia, he joined a local artillery company in Florida.