The Maine bugle ... campaign; 1-5 Jan. 1894-Oct. 1898 - Maine.gov

THE MAINE BUGLE. 

Entered at the Po$t Office, Rockland, Me., at Second-Ctati Matter. 

Campaign I. January, 1894. Call i 

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From sixty-one until the grant! review. 

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A . A.

Losses in the First Maine Heavy Artillery. 

Of the two thousand and forty-seven regiments in the Union 

army, the First Maine Heavy Artillery sustained the greatest 

loss in battle. Not only was the number killed the largest, but 

the percentage of killed was exceeded in only one instance. 

Again, its loss at Petersburg, June eighteenth, was the greatest 

of any regiment in any one action, during the war. It made 

the charge that day with about nine hundred muskets, losing 

six hundred and thirty-two in killed and wounded. Only a 

month previous the regiment had suffered a terrible loss in its 

gallant fight on the Fredericksburg Pike, near Spottsylvania, 

May 19th, 1864, where it lost eighty-two killed and three hun- 

dred and ninety-four wounded ; 

total, four hundred and seventy- 

six. Among the killed were six officers, and in the battle of 

June eighteenth, just referred to, thirteen officers were killed or 

mortally wounded, besides others who were hit. This regiment 

was raised principally in the Penobscot valley, and was organ- 

ized August 2 1st, 1862, as the Eighteenth Maine Infantry. 

Major Daniel Chaplin, of the Second Maine, was appointed 

colonel. He fell, mortally wounded, August i8th, 1864, at 

Stra*vberry Plains, Va., (Deep Bottom). The regiment left the 

State August 24th, 1862, and was changed to heavy artillery in 

December. It remained in the defences of Washington until 

May, 1864, when it joined Grant's army at Spottsylvania. All 

its losses occurred within a period of ten months. During the 

spring campaign of 1865, it was in Dc Trobriand's brigade of 

Mott's Division, Second Corps.


The Charge of the Heavy Artillery. 

BY JOEL F. BROWN, CO. I FIRST MAINE HEAVY ARTILLERY. 

Nearly thirty years have passed since 1864, and scenes clear 

and bright to memory once have become dim and misty now. 

Time and the smoke of the battle of life have obscured the 

recollection of those days of trial and danger. One scene, in 

which it was my lot to act an humble part, is burned on my 

memory so deeply that nothing will ever efface it. I have only 

to close my eyes and I can see it clear and distinct as I saw it 

then. It was the charge of the famous First Maine Heavy 

Artillery at Petersburg on the eighteenth day of June, 1864. 

I was a member of Co. I of that regiment, and after having lain 

in the defenses of Washington for eighteen months, where it 

was a ceaseless routine of drill six days in a week with inspec- 

tion and dress parade, supplemented with a little battalion drill 

and church service for variety, on Sunday, we joined the Army 

of the Potomac, a full artillery regiment, eighteen hundred 

strong, just in season to receive our first baptism of fire at 

Spottsylvania Court House in an action known as the fight at 

the Fredericksburg Road. 

How well I remember, when we joined the army, the old 

veterans laughed at and jeered us, called us " Abe's pets," 

" Paper collars," " Band box soldiers," etc., just as though we 

could help staying in the defenses of Washington when the 

•' Powers " thus decreed. How well I remember that first fight, 

where our heavy artillery brigade under the lead of the gallant 

Gen. Tyler confronted the whole of the rebel Gen. Elwell's corps 

and held them in check for two hours and a half until reinforce- 

ments arrived and drove them off the field. The rebs outnum- 

bered us three or four to one, and according to all the rules of 

war we were whipped several times over, but it was our first 

fight and we were green at the business, as well as being Abe's

CHARGE OF THE HEAVY ARTILLERY. 5 

pets, etc., so we did not know we were whipped and kept on 

fighting. The rebs got disgusted with our way of shooting 

straight at them and kept behind a stone wall, and the reinforcements 

coming up, we did not all go to Andersonville as we 

should have done if they had been disposed to advance their 

flanks and simply scoop us all in. I well remember also that 

an old veteran came over to where we were lying in a piece of 

woods and said, " Well, you can fight if you did come out of 

the defenses." 

We lost as near as I can remember, about four hundred of 

our regiment here. I also remember sometimes, in a dim, hazy 

kind of way, of the march to Milford Station, of the North 

Anna, of Cold Harbor, and skirmishes and fights without names, 

all parts of the great battles, I suppose. Some of these mem- 

ories are dim to me; it seems as though the smoke of burning 

powder obscures them ; 

and some are quite sharp and clear yet. 

I recollect the march to, and the crossing of the James, the 

advance on Petersburg, of lying all night—we were in the Sec- 

ond Corps then—and hearing the roar of the trains as the 

advance of Lee's army was being hurried into the defences of 

the city; also the fighting on the sixteenth and seventeenth of 

June, and the rumors of an advance on the eighteenth, when it 

was our duty to lead ; all of this comes back to me as a dream. 

During all this marching and fighting our regiment had dwindled 

down until scarce nine hundred men remained, but we had 

learned how to fight. On the morning of the eighteenth of 

June seventy-five men of Co. I answered " Here " at roll call. 

There were one hundred and fifty at Spottsylvania. Just one- 

half was gone. I was the second man on the right of the com- 

pany in the front rank, and next but one to the regimental 

colors. Of the original eight who formed the first two files on 

the right, two were dead and three wounded, leaving but three 

in the ranks, but others had closed up to the right, and our front 

although shorter, was still solid. I think it must have been 

about three o'clock in the afternoon when we came out from our 

breastworks and began to advance. We moved a short distance 

to the front and then up to the right, down a sunken road that

6 THE MAINE BUGLE. 

ran parallel to the line, where we halted in the line of battle for 

some time. There was a piece of open woods in our rear and 

the bank of the road was so high in our front as to completely 

cover us from the enemy. We soon found that the rest of the 

corps was being massed in our rear and were told what was to be 

done. The whole corps was to charge in mass, we to lead ; and 

then came the getting ready. Knapsacks, haversacks and blankets 

were thrown off, in fact everything that would lighten our load ; 

messages were delivered to be sent home, in case anything hap- 

pened, and good byes were said. I can call to mind how I stood 

there leaning upon my musket, looking on. I had no particular 

comrade tp say good bye to ; both were dead, one at Spottsyl- 

vania, the other at Cold Harbor. I expect my face was white. 

I know I saw other white faces there and some of them wore 

shoulder straps, but there was no flinching ; it is always harder to 

wait than to fight. At last we heard from our colonel, " Atten- 

tion, First Maine Heavy Artillery—Forward, Guide Right, 

March !" As we scrambled up out of the road, what a sight 

was before us : about ten or fifteen hundred yards away, across 

an open field having a little rise and covered with old corn 

stubble, were the rebel works, bristling with artillery, still as 

death, awaiting our onslaught. We had become somewhat 

broken in climbing up out of the road and the sight before us, 

together with a few stray shots from the sharpshooters along 

our front, did not tend to steady the line, so our old colonel, 

who was I believe, the coolest man that it would be possible to 

find, gave the command to halt, took his station as on dress- 

parade, ordered his guides on a line, dressed up the regi- 

ment, and then put us through the manual of arms as quietly as 

though we were still in the defences of Washington, and all the 

while the bullets from the sharpshooters humming about his 

ears like bees. Then came the word, " Forward, Double Quick, 

Charge," and with a wild cheer which seemed to me more like 

the bitter cry wrung out in a death agony, we sprang forward. 

I saw the works plainly before me. I saw the blinding flash of 

red flame run along the crest of those works and heard the 

deafening crash as the awful work began; then the air seemed

CHARGE OF THE HEAVY ARTILLERY. 7 

filled with all the sounds it was possible for it to contain, the 

hiss of the deadly minie, the scream of the shell, the crackle, 

crash and roar of every conceivable missile, and through it all 

that red blaze along the crest of that work which we must cross, 

as we, with bowed heads, breasted that storm. Once I fancied 

I heard the order to fall back and glanced from right to left to 

see if it were so ; but no, the boys, bent forward with arms at a 

trail, were still rushing on. At last I could see the faces of the 

rebels and hear above the roar their shouts of " Come on, 

Yanks." Again I looked to right, to left, and found that I was 

almost alone; we were turning back. Then came the rush to 

get off the field and under cover; the ground over which we 

must return was covered thick with those who were down, the 

wounded, dead and dying together. How I ever got back I 

cannot tell ; it seemed but a moment and yet we were twenty 

minutes in that awful place. When about half way I felt some- 

thing strike my foot, numbing it, and I stumbled forward on 

my face. I remember drawing up the foot to see how bad it 

was hurt and found that only the heel of the shoe was gone, 

shot off, and I sprang up and rushed on again, but the whole 

foot was black the next day from the bruise. At last I reached 

the sunken road. But what a scene ! It is too horrible to 

attempt to describe. Those who have seen such pictures know 

all about them ; let those who have not thank God for it and 

not try to learn about them. I remember well that about the 

first thing I heard as I came into the road was this greeting, 

from the rest of the corps, " Didn't you fellows know any bet- 

ter than to go in there?" History says that Gen. Birney 

massed the Second Corps and made a desperate charge that 

day. So he did, but it was the First Maine Heavy Artillery 

that made the charge alone. The rest of the corps never 

crossed the sunken road. I went up the road towards the left 

to where the colonel was, just as Gen. Birney rode up, and 

heard him say, "Col. Chaplin, where are your men?" and I 

shall never forget his answer : 

" There they are, out on that field 

where your tried veterans dared not go. Here, you can take 

my sword ; I have no use for it now ; " and the old hero sat


down in the road and cried like a child. Just as night began to 

close in, the adjutant came along and told us to get together 

and call the roll. Wc did. Company I got together; we had 

gone in with seventy-five men ; six privates had come out. 

There was no roll call in that company that night; one of our 

number wrote the names on a piece of paper and with tears 

running down his cheeks handed it to the adjutant; that was all. 

Out of the nine hundred men of the regiment about seven hun- 

dred had fallen. Late that night Lieut. Sam Oakes came to us. 

He had been knocked senseless on the field, but at night revived 

and crawled off. How we hugged him and cried over liim 

His coming saved our company from being wiped out, but the 

bruises he got that day cost him his life within one short year. 

Our colonel was broken hearted over his loss and threw his life 

away at Deep Bottom soon after. He seemed not to care to 

live after his regiment was gone. 

Such was the charge of the First Maine Heavy Artillery on 

the eighteenth day of June, 1864, before Petersburg. I do not 

believe there was a man came out of that charge without some 

mark about his clothes. I had a bullet through my cap, cutting 

off a lock of hair close to the skin, one took off the heel of 

my shoe, two went through my canteen, one cut the bayonet 

scabbard in two, and one went through the left sleeve of my 

blouse leaving a small splinter in the arm, where it is yet. I 

have never attempted to talk about that charge ; I cannot, nei- 

ther can I describe it; it is beyond description; but I can see 

it yet, and suppose I always shall. 

Has any regiment in ancient or modern time suffered so 

severely? Behold the record ! 

LOSSES AT SPOnSYLVANIA, MAY I9, 1S64. 

Co. A— Killed—Copl. Daniel W. Snow; Pvts. John O. Hughes, George F. Stan- 

wood, Adelhert Withani— 4. 

Wounded— Lt. Prince A. Gatchell (slight); Sgt. Benjamin Berry; Copl. Martin 

Scott; Pvts. Benjamin Dow, Thomas H. Griffin, Amos Holt, (arm amputated), Chas. 

M. Lovejoy, Hugh A. Morrison, John R. Morrill, Horace L. Peasley, William Pendleton, 

Bealy Runnells, Benjamin Richardson, John R. Towle, Frederick H. Tucker, M. 

Augustus Turner, Marcellus L. Fisher— 17.

LOSSES OF THE HEAVY ARTILLERY. 9 

Co. B— Killed—Sgts. Addison C. Percival, Samuel M. Bolton, Gustavus A. Watson; 

Pvts. Warren M. Brown, James M. Call, Jethro W, Clark, Rosalvan P. Cowan, John 

C. Erskine, Austin Q. French, Herbert T. Gibhs, Nathan A. Hopkins, Henry C. 

Hutchinson, Amaziah Langley, James McGrath, Charles H. McKinney, Thornton M. 

Pierce, George B. Robinson, Henry W. Ryder, Lemuel B. Whitney— 19. 

Wounded— Lt. Isaac N. Morgan (lost an eye); Sgt. Henry L. Thomas; Copls. 

Sylvander G. Elliott, Ezra McGray; Pvts. Benjamin F. Adams, Joseph H. Barnes, 

Jeremiah T. Bowden, Artemas Butterfield, Benjamin F. Buzzell, James A. Courtney, 

Andrew M. Davis, George Delany, Isaac Duff, George S. Gates, Benjamin Jackson, 

Thomas Loran, Patrick McCue, James B. Robbins, John Speed, Charles H. Stewart, 

Moses H. Stewart, Peter Tibdo, Charles T. Twombly, William H. Kent— 24. 

Co. C—Killed— Lt. George W. Grant; Sgt. Elliot J. .Saulsbury; Pvts. George W. 

Burns, James Cain, William H. Campbell, Edward E. Emery, Sidney S, Eldridge, 

Harrison Fogg, Eben W. Foster, John P. Higgins, Francis G. Knowlton, Christopher 

Mench, Edwin G. Marcyes, George Morrill, George A. Smith, Isaac C. Staples, Elisha 

H. Wasgatt— 17 

Wounded— Capt. Zemro A. Smith; Sgt. Mark T. Richardson; Copls. William F. 

Emerson, Benjamin Frazier, Stillman Gray, Cushman E. Harden, John J. Scott; Pvts. 

Francis A. Blanchard, Smith C. Beverly, Joseph S. Bonzey, Sylvester Bowden, Edwin 

G. Brimmer, Benjamin S. Campbell, William B. Campbell, Levi Chapman, John 

Douglass, Maurice Downey, John L. Emery, William H. Fox, Alden H. Frazier, 

Newell Garland, Ezra P. Gray, James H. Grover, Jeremiah Harrington, Sewall F. 

Haskell, Richard Higgins, Charles W. Jellison, Peter McCabe, Llewellyn McGown, 

John Murphy, John Royal, Luther M. Royal, Abraham Sargent, Jr., Arthur L. Sauls- 

bury, William P. Squire, James R. Sutherland, Edwin F. Smith, Henry G. Smith, 

William H. U. Staten—39. 

Co. D—Killed—Copl. Charles W. Smith— i. 

Wounded— Lt. George Rollins; Pvt. David Ames— 2. 

Co. E— Killed— Lt. John F. Knowles; Sgts. Charles M. Parshley, Everett M. Del- 

ano; Copls. Eben W. Bean, Cyrus S. Labree, Henry O. Smiley; Pvts. Emerson Bart- 

lett, John Bradford, Joseph F. Brown, Joshua L. Brown, Seth H. Brown, Albert 

Chadbourne, Wilson G. Cole, Samuel Flanders, Cyrus B. Hayes, Charles W. Hanson, 

Elavil B. Jackson, Francis D. Lindsey, Francis J. Lord, Leander Maxim, Almon C. 

Morton, Alfred B. Shea, Orrin A. Sidelinker, Royal H. Strout— 24. 

Wounded— Lt. Benjamin F. Rollins; Sgts. Jeremiah Daine, Charles H. Gatchell; 

Pvts. Thomas Arnold, Benjamin D. Averill, James A. Barnes, William Baitlett, Geo. 

H. Brown, Wm. H. Brown, Elisha H. Broad, Ervin Chamberlain, Lucian II. Chase, 

Alton P. Fassett, James Fish, Albion K. Fletcher, Charles Fogg, George W. Green- 

ough, Gustavus B. Hiscock, Charles J. House, Bradish B. Jackson, George P. Leighton 

Charles P. Lindsey, Henry H. Lufkin, Benjamin C. Lyford, Andrew W. Mcharland* 

Harrison P. Mclntire, Delvin B. Merrill, Randall C. Noyes, Amos D. Orne, James 

W. Overlock, David Palmer, William S. Randlett, Andrew J. Reeves, John P. Roberts, 

William L. Sampson, George Smith, Wentworth Staples, Domingo C. Thomp- 

son, Leonard H. Washburn, Osborn Weeman, Charles E. Weld— 41. 

Prisoner— Pvt. David J. Whitney— i. 

Co. F— Killed— Sgt. William M. Stevenson; Art. Sylvester Drew; Pvts. Franklin 

C. Barwise, Darius G. Brown, Alvah M. Chick, Charles R. Clark, Jacob B. Holmes 

Charles W. Jones, Levi K. Mayo, Thomas L. May, Harrison L. Mitchell, Andrew


Patterson, Alphonzo Smith, Samuel Snow, Rodney J. Taylor, Frank Voyer, Charles P. 

Wheeler, David B. Wiggin, Abijah T. Young— 19. 

Wounded—Capt. Roscoe F. Hersey; Sgts. Luther K. Patten, John W. Blake, Jas. 

E. Wentworth, Edward C. Tuttle, George E. Gilman; Copls. Edwin K. Stuart, Brad- 

ley W. Abbott, Melvin S. Stevenson, Daniel R. Stevenson; Pvts. David W. Barrett, 

Allison HIackden, Joseph Carter, Frederic L. Clark, Aaron W. Edgerly, Oris W. Ellis, 

Isaac W. Grant, Orrington Gowen, Amos E. Hardy, Orrin Houston, Francis E. Joy, 

Andrew S. Knight, David A. Legrow, Broadstreet Mason, Charles H. Maddocks, Peter 

Patterson, Nathaniel D. Philbrook, Henry W. Pomroy, Charles B. Smith, Lowell M. 

Stevenson, Henry F. Stubbs, James Turner, Jr., Oliver Wiley, George A. York, Heze- 

kiah Whitcomb, John W. Shaw, Daniel P. Raymond— 38. 

Co. G— Killed— ist Sgt. Sewall T. Douglass; Pvts. Timothy C. Atkinson, George 

A. Bonsey, Charles W. Gray, Charles Prue, Clinton D. Saunders—6. 

Wounded— Sgt. James A. Ripley; Copls. Woodman C. Hun toon, John E. Ginn; 

Pvts. Joseph M. Currier, David L. Dodge, Obed Leach, John Murphy, Nathaniel 

Spaulding. Willard E. Suckforth, Elias Webber, Jr.— 10. 

Prisoner— Pvt. Kenney Depray— i. 

Co. H— Killed—Copl. Philander D. Low; Pvts. Joseph L. Downs, Granville Dun- 

ham, Alexander Parker, Edmund Perry—5. 

Wounded—Copl. Michael Cunningham ; 

Pvts. Arthur D, Bumps, James H. Braz- 

zell, Hanson Cole, Benjamin H. Foss, Sherman L. Tucker, Thomas Williams or Williamson— 

7. 

Co. I—Killed—Sgt. Ithamar D. Morton; Pvts. Ira Chapman, George Derocher, 

Oval Derocher, Henry H. Doane, Levi Doane, Richard Dowdell, William Grover, 

John F. Hodgkins, David Lord, Whitelield Mills, Isaiah Randall, Frank St. Pierre, 

Benjamin B. Soule, John A. Trickey, True W. Wedgewood— 16. 

Wounded—Lt. Richard V. Moore; Sgts. Charles M. Weymouth, Isaac Q. Freeze; 

Copls. John A. Cousins, John B. Curtis, Edwin F. Lord, James M. Moore, Edmund 

C. Parsons; Pvts. Eli Andrews, William S. Averill, Charles W. Bosworth, Charles A. 

Burgess, Joshua L. Clark, Elijah K. Cleveland, Joseph W. Cottle, William H. 

Doughty, John A. Dowst, Ithamar Emerson, Daniel J. Flanders, Alverdo W. Ford, 

James F. Getchell, Thomas Gilbert, John Gilpatrick, Theodore H. Graffam, Selden 

Hancock, Nicholas Harris, Rollins Hammon, William L. Holmes, Justin M. Leavitt, 

Henry Pooler, John L. Rollins, Henry Rowe, Leander Russell, Arthur G. Sawyer, 

Gilman J. Shaw, CJeorge E. Tibbetts, Lorenzo Warren, George C. Waters, Daniel W. 

Winchester, Thomas B. Worcester, Leander R. Young; Art. George T. Springer— 42. 

Co. K—Killed—Capt. William R. Pattangall; Lt. Gershom C. Bibber; Sgt. Chas. 

H. Moore; Copls. Ambrose A. Huntley, Jeremiah Loring, Henry W. Motz; Pvts. 

George E. Bradbury, Samuel Collier, John J. Dority, Reuben C. Fickett, James T. 

âck, George P. Potter, Nathaniel Treadwell, Jr., Brazilla F. Whiting, Franklin York 

— »5- 

Wounded—Sgt. Edward B. Kilby; Copls. Edward J. Gilligan, Hiram Smith, Rob- 

ert C. Clark, Andrew Hall, Christopher C. Huntley; Arts. Isaiah L. Lincoln, George 

W. Howe; Pvts. Philander C. Brawn, John Cambridge, Arthur S. Chickering, Samuel 

Harmon, George H. Hayward, Horace Howes, 

J. ("•osby, Ezra Dean, Andrew J. 

Charles T. Huntley, James Finn, Taylor Larrabee, Reuben Lyon, Barnard McDavit, 

John D. Mailer, Henry Pomroy, Josiah T. Potter, George W. Jewell, Daniel LittleBeld,

LOSSES OF THE HEAVY ARTILLERY. \\ 

Nehemiah Littlefield, Francis McLaughlin, Elbridge G. Nelson, Charles W. Robbins, 

Stephen M. Smith, J. F. William Richter, Isaac Shaw, John P. Sprague, Isaac Wat- 

son, George E. Wilder, John W. Presley, Paron W. Cook— 38. 

Co. L— Killed—Capt. William T. Parker; Lt. Wilmot T. Vickery; Copls. Fields 

Baston, David A. Chase ; Pvts. George W. Beede, Webster Brown, Fphraim Bowley, 

Edward P. Chaplin, Franklin Chapman, John L. Crooker, Hiram S. Emerson, Charles 

S. George, Daniel W. Kilbourne, Henry H. Newman, Irad Walker, Jr.— 15. 

Wounded—Sgt. Cassius C. Roberts; Copls. David F. Gilman, James R. Creasey, 

Daniel O. Bowen, Charles H. Noyes; Pvts. Charles Call, Charles Downs, Levi W. 

French, Hiram J. Grant, Daniel Green, Henry A, Higgins, Elisha James, Jr., William 

W. Kilbourne, Stephen O. Lilley, Joseph C. Love, Herrick Luf kin, George W. Luce, 

George W. .Maddox, John V. Maxtield, Joseph R. Mears, Nathan E. Nickerson, John 

H. Qaimby, William H. Richmond, John C. Rogers, James H. Stinson, Benjamin C. 

Studley, William H. Talbot, Benson L. Trundy, James H. Towle, Horace C. Webber 

—30. 

Co. M—Killed— Pvts. Orrin W. Brann, William H. DeWolf, Alfred J. Douglass, 

Isaac H. Davis, Horace C. Griffin, Charles McMann, James Merrill, Henry H. 

Miichell, Ira B. Robbins, Charles E. Smiley, Timothy Spencer— 11. 

Wounded—Capt. Frederic A. Cummings (slight) ; Sgt. David A. Knowles; Copls. 

John S. Foster, Edward Lyford, Isaac A. Billington, William W. Pratt, Henry A. 

Ramsdell (slight); Pvts. Isaac P. Balchelder, Hiram Batchelder, Hartley B. Cox, 

William B. Cox, Andrew Clindennin, George A. Freeman, Daniel B. Friend, Charles 

Green, Mark P. Kelley, Henry O. Keith, Alvah B. Knight, Franklin R. Knowlton, 

Benjamin Leach, John A. Mitchell, Orlando Moore, Samuel W. Moore, David M. 

Morgan, Starling Mower, Timothy Nicholas, William H. Over, Charles D. Robbins, 

Smith A. Symonds, George W. Speed, Oscar Tracey, Reuben H. Turner, Hezekiah C. 

Moore— 33. 

LOSSES AT MILFORD STATION, MAY 21, 1864. 

Co. D— Killed— Pvt. Alberti J. Dunbar— i. 

Prisoner— Pvt. George A. Haskell— i. 

Co. I—Prisoner—Augustus Goodwin— i. 

LOSSES AT NORTH ANNA, MAY 23-26, 1 864. 

Co. B—Wounded—Pvts. Samuel Gibson, Charles Speed— 2. 

Co. H—Killed— Lafayette Murray— i. 

Wounded — Pvts. Wilmot N. Burk, Andrew J. Lombard, Albert C. Phinney— 3. 

LOSSES AT HANOVER TOWN, MAY 27-29, 1 864. 

Co. L—Prisoners—Copl. James P. Newell; Pvt. Franklin Campbell— 2. 

Co. M—Wounded— Pvt. John G. Tibbetts— i. 

LOSSES AT TOLOPOTOMY, MAY 3O-3I, 1 864. 

Co. B—Wounded—Pvt. William M. Erskine— i. 

Co. G— Prisoners— Pvts. Charles D. Tirrell, Roscoe Trevitt—2. 

Co. H—Killed—Sgt. Fernando C. Plummer— i. 

Wounded—Sgt. Charles Emerson; Pvt. Ezra C. Gray— 2. 

Co. K— Killed— Pvt. Richard Sears— i. 

Wounded—Copls. Cornelius Nickerson, William H. Wilder— 2.


LOSSES AT COLD HARBOR, JUNE 2 TO 12. 

Co. A— Killed—Pvt. Andrew J. Dill— I. 

Wounded—Pvts. John Flemming, William J. Smith (lost right hand)—2. 

Prisoners— Pvts. Isaac E. Bowley, Addison C. Kenne, Francis L. Philbrook, 

Frederick Philbrook, Eri Rowe— 5. 

Co. C—Wounded— Pvt. Ezra N. Curtis— i. 

Co. E—Wounded—Copl. Leonard E. Howard; Pvt. Albert Hayes (slight)— 2. 

Co. F—Wounded—Copl. Fred A. Chamberlain— i. 

Co. G—Wounded—Pvt. Edwin P. Hill— i. 

Co. H—Wounded— Pvts. William L. Allen, Phineas S. Bennett— 2. 

Prisoners— Pvts. Nathaniel W. Pinkham, Enos Sawyer— 2. 

Co. I—Wounded— Pvt. George B. Stinson— i. 

Co. L—Wounded— Sgt, George H. Oakes; Pvt. Hiram S. James— 2. 

Co. M—Wounded—Wag. Joel A. Dorr; Pvts. Isaiah L. Jones, William H. Merrill, 

Rufus H. Rook, Charles M. Staples—5. 

LOSSES AT PETERSBURG, JUNE 1 6, 1 864. 

Co. B—Wounded— Pvt. John H. Furbish— I. 

Co. C—Killed— Pvt. Franklin Morrill— i. 

Co. E—Killed— Pvt. William H. Buck— i. 

Wounded— Sgts. Albert W. Chapin, Thomas O. Fâton; Pvts. Richard P. Raynes 

(slight), Joshua Grinnell, William G. Page— 5. 

Co. F—Wounded—Copl. Samuel E. Pray— i. 

Co. G— Killed—Copl. George L. Stover— i. 

Wounded—Sgt. Isaac J. Dunham; Pvts. Daniel Davis, George P. Clark, Ivory 

Otis—4. 

Co. H—Wounded— Pvt. Everett W. Davis— i. 

Co. L—Wounded— Pvts. John D. Edes, Willard Page— 2. 

Co. M—Killed— Sgt. Sewall I). Ramsdell; Pvt. Silas S. Bennett— 2. 

Wounded—Lt. Cyrus K. Bridges; Sgt. Dallas Knowlton; Pvts. George W. Llo)d, 

Alexander H. Maddocks, John E. Mitchell— 5. 

LOSSES AT PETERSBURG, JUNE 17, 1 864. 

F'ield and Staff—Killed—Major George W. Sabine— i. 

Co. A—Wounded— Pvts Edward Jennis, Thomas G. Libby—2. 

Co. B— Killed— Pvts. Charles N. Leavitt, Thomas Savage— 2. 

Wounded— Pvt. George Inman— i. 

Co. C—Killed— Pvt. Stillman Smith— i. 

Co. D— Killed— Pvts. Gustavus W. Bean, Horatio B. Downer, Llewellyn Knowlton, 

Frank W. Whittier—4. 

Co. F— Killed—Sgt. Mark T. Emerson— i. 

Wounded— Pvts. Isaac M. Lawry, Joseph Morse, Charles F. Read, Charles E. Saw- 

telle, Peleg Bradford, Jr.— 5. 

Co. G—Wounded—Copl. Thomas E. Dodge— i. 

Co. I—Wounded—Segt. Alphonzo A. Tozier; Pvt. Llewellyn H. Smith— 2. 

Co. K—Wounded—Copl. Jacob Henry; Pvts. John Fisher, Joseph Moholland 

John G. Wilder— 4. 

Co. M— Wounded— Pvts. Thomas S. Henderson, Phineas P. Jones 2.


LOSSES AT PETERSBURG, JUNE 1 8, 1 864. 

Field and Staff—Wounded—Maj, Christopher V. Grossman; Sgt. Maj. Nathan M. 

Mills—2. 

Co. A—Killed—Sgts. Jonathan Clay, Jr., Moses P. Wing; Copls. Amasa S. Tlagg, 

Daniel Fitzpatrick; Pvts. Cleorge Duren, Scribner H. Davis, Henry W. Howard, 

Cyrus A. Lord, Daniel McCurdy, John Murphy, Joseph Pooler, John C. Ritchie, 

Andrew J. Rowe, John B. Scott— 14. 

Wounded—Capt. Charles W. Nute; Lt. Samuel E. Burham; Sgts. Arthur P. 

Budge, John H. Taylor; Copls. Benjamin M. Griffin, William Harmon; Art. Ilerod 

Robinson, Jonathan G. Rideout; Wag. Lyman H. DoUey; Pvts. Jeremiah S. Bartlett, 

Manly S. Brown, Otis H. Bruce, Charles W. Carson, John P. Crowley, Levi D. Curtis, 

John A. Davis, Simon Devou, Charles H. Dill, Joseph C. Dunn, George W. Hooper. 

Nathaniel Ladd, Charles H. Lancaster, Charles H. Morrison, Horatio Nelson, Isaac 

L. Olmstead, Edward ('. Osborn, Hiram D. Raymond. George W. Sprague, Charles 

W. Stewart, William H. Stewart, Thomas Sullivan, Thomas B. Walker, James Warren. 

William C. Warren— 34. 

Co. B— Killed—Capt. Samuel W.Daggett; Lt. Albert G. Abbot; Sgt. Charles H. 

Whittier; Copls. Herbert Leadbetter, George F. Marquis; Pvts. William Alexander, 

William Allen, William Bartlett, Lysander Bragg, John Coffin, James A.Cole, Charles 

A. Colomy, Charles H. Daggett, Leander F. Elliot, John Frazier, Edward W. Gorham, 

James A. Grant, Alphonzo Miller, Daniel R. Mills, Jacob Mudgett, Hoyt R. Parks, 

Franklin S. Playze, William W. Pomroy, John S. Smith, William White, Joseph O. 

Ward— 26. 

Wounded— Lt. Andrew J. Hilton; Sgts. Herman P.Smith, William .\. Weiister, 

P'reeman D. Gove, William K. Nason; Copls. Calvin R. Billington, Isaiah B. Bolton, 

.Simeon A. Hapworth, George H. Robbins, Marion F. Tyler; Pvts. Harvey .\. Klanch- 

ard, David Braley, Nehemiah Brawn, Amos Burgess. Ferdinand C. Burr, Henry Cur- 

tis, Charles E. Dodge, George Emerson, Alphonzo Fletcher, Andrew E. Gates, Henry 

W. Hutchinson, Charles W. Johnson, John Keating, Joseph R. Langley, Joseph Le 

Belle, Charles E. Lovell, Henry A. Severance, Charles Stade, William W.Tib'-etts— 29. 

Co. C—Killed— Lt. Edward S. Foster; Sgt. Milton S. Beckwith; Copls. Geo. Kit- 

tredge, Arthur P. Hinkley; Art. James M. Parker; Pvts. Charles W. Allen, Nathan 

Brazier, Charles T. Clare, James S. Emerson, Isaiah Garland, Reuben (jragg, Jr., 

.Michael Lee, John M. Liscomb. William T. Lunt, .\lgernon Morgan, Joseph W. 

Nason, Lemuel .\. Smith, Daniel (). Sullivan, James Williams— 19. 

Wounded— Sgts. Carlton M. Austm, James M. Smith, Hervey L. H.-istings. Frank 

T. Sargent; Copl. Eben F. Burns; Pvts William S. Butler, John H. Douglass, John 

M. Fogg, George G. Henries, Walter Jordan, William L. Miles, Nahum Murch, James 

F. Osgood, David Pottle, John A. Rodick, Charles II. Long, Asa Smith, John A. 

Smith, William Smith, William H. Stanley, Wellington Stratton—21. 

Co. D—Killed—Lt. Thomas S. Drummond; Sgt. Frank S. Robinson; Copls. John 

Jackson, Horace W. Burleigh, Josiah E. Hurd, Sumner Tibbetts, .Albert C. Ellis; Art. 

Matthew Waters; Pvts. Charles H. .Austin, David Bishop, Charles F. Broad, George 

Brown, William C. Chamberlain, Jeremiah Cook, Adrian R. Drew, Otis Dunbar, 

William E. Dutton, Thomas Hatch, John S. Libby, Charles Parkhurst, Frank S. Pow- 

ers, Harvey H. Reed, Reuben W. Seavey— 23. 

Wounded— Lts. Henry E. Sellers, William A. Beckford; Sgts. William A. Howe, 

Henry M. Howe; Copls. Walter S. Gilman, George E. Johnson, James F. Robinson,


Corydon Ireland; Pvts. John Bowen, George H. Crosby, Thomas Donohue, William 

Dixon, Hiram Dulac, James W. Dutton, Sylvester Eaton, John Hanscom, Ebenezer 

D. Harlow, Nathan Knowlton, William Knowlton, Jr., Aaron Nason, Charles N. 

Smith, William Wallace— 22. 

Co. E—Killed— Lt. James W. Clark; Sgt. Samuel T. Hiscock; Pvts. Henry N. 

Cole, Willard G. Delano, Robert Higgins, William R. Kennerson, Lewis Lord, James 

R. Orne, Holman Staples, Lewis A. Sturtevant, George G. Thompson, Amos A. 

Withee, George S. Woodbury— 13. 

Wounded—Capt. Whiting S. Clark; Sgt. Dexter Goodwin; Copls. Charles J. 

House, William A. Fenlason. Samuel F. Tasker; Pvts. Levi I>. Curtis, John Fitzger- 

ald, David V. Fogg, William W. P. Foster, Charles A. Gates, James IL Gerrish, 

Stephen F. Harriman, Albert Hayes, Amos K. Hodgdon, Atwood Hilyard, William 

T. Newbit, Charles L. Patten, Henry W. Stearns, Cleaves C. Tracy— 19. 

Co. F— Killed— Lt. Gardner H. Ruggles; Sgt. James C. Gray; Pvts. Eugene Bur- 

rill, Augustus H. Corliss, Ransom C. Dodge, John F. Drew, Nathan D. Hanson, 

Edmund Jefferds, Charles Larrabee, Eugene Lord, Samuel H. Nason, Selden Rogers, 

Josiah Staples, Harrison R. Friend— 14. 

Wounded— Lt. George R. Fernald; Sgts. Stephen G. Waldron, Asa T. Wing, 

James Goodell, Jr.; Copls. Alonzo A. Orr, Simeon C. Whitcomb, Samuel E. Pray, 

Orville J. Dorman, Araunah Tracy, Stephen S. Sawyer; Pvts. Corydon C. Blackden, 

Goff >L Blackden, Lorenzo T. Davis, Robert C. DunafT, Michael Ford, Cyrus Heard, 

Henry Lord, James F". McKellar, John F. Montgomery, George J. Nickerson, Ezra 

Pattee, James J. Reeves, Dennis Sherburn, John W. Smith, Francis H. Snow, Martin 

V. Tripp, Thos. Wentworth— 27. 

Co. G— Killed—Capt. Frederick C. Howes; Lt. James W. Hall; Sgts. George W. 

Carr, Albert Leach, Joel K.Grant; Wag. John B. McCaslin; Art. Lyman Carley 

Pvts. Simeon E. Allen, William H. Betts, Jacob L. Cain, Jr., John C. Chandler, Asa 

Dore, Franklin Ellis, William C. Green, Nathan E. Gross, John F. Haynes, William 

\\. Heagan, William H. Jipson, Francis N. Leach, Aaron Saunders, Addison J. 

Strout, Moses B. Tolman, Joseph Uhr— 23. 

Wounded— Lt. James .\. Godfrey; Sgts. Rufus P. Peaks, Lewis M. Page, Hudson 

Sawyer; Copls. Charles L. Heywood, Lorenzo D. Perkins; Pvts. Daniel .\ustin' 

Joseph M. Batchelder, Charles H Bonsey, Norman S. Brown, Asa Batchelder, Nathan 

E. Burton, John B. Craig, Joseph M. Currier, Greenlief P. Curtis, Edmund N. Davis, 

Samuel T. Davis, Ezra H. Dodge, Everett Dodge, Frank B. Dore, James E. Fulton^ 

Floriman D. Furbish, Howard M. Gilley, Isaac B. Goodwin, Edwin W. Gould, Josiah 

M. Gowdy, George P. Hooper, John M. Houston, Irving C. Jackson. Seneca E. 

Keene, Edwin L. Ladd, Alonzo Libby, Gilbert L. Lurvey, John Marsh, Cornelius 

Meehan, Gilman Pike, Henry H. Sleeper, Stephen Thurston, Jesse Tibbetts, Minot 

Tolman, .\ar"n E. Williams— 41. 

Co. H— Killed— Lts. William R. Newenham, Allan E. Barry; Sgt. Alvin C. Casey; 

Copls. .Samuel H.Bussell, Horatio P.Nash. Benjamin N. Tucker; Pvts. Andrt-w F- 

Blyther, George W. Burk, William H. Gates, Richard Cannon, llillman Foss, Je emiah 

Gray, Henry W. Grant, Warren L. Hall, Samuel Hart, Calvin P. Holway, William G. 

Jackson, Leonard W. Lee, James A. Nash, John F. Norton, Howard M. Siration, 

George W. Tueslcy, Austin W. Whiitier— 23. 

Wounded—Capt. Harrison G. Smith; Lt. John A. Lancy; Sgts. Jonathan Pineo, 

George H. Coffin, Joseph W. Worster ; Copls. Charles H. Sawyer, Leverett C. Bridg-


ham, Calvin Farnsworth, Elias Grirtin, Aaron \V, Kelley; I'vts. Justus Adams, Moses 

N. H. Haker, Daniel S. Bunker, Elijah C. Clark, Benjamin Cousens, William Dobbins, 

Jr., Kdwanl J. Donald, Everett W. Drisko, Jeremiah Durgan, George A. Estes, Ceorge 

L. Fitzgerald, Benjamin T. (ienthner, Benjamin M. Gilman, Jason Leighton, Rufus 

P. Sinclair, Converse Thomas, Samuel A. Thomas, William W. Warren, Nathan B. 

Watson, Benjamin Weaver, tJeorge M. Willey, Joseph F. Wakefield— 32. 

Co, I—Killed—Capt. Andrew J. Jacquith; Lt. Samuel W. Crowell; Sgt. Adelhert 

F. Sproule; Cupl. Rulus Cross; I'vts. Charles S. Bunker, Benjamin F. Cilley, Frank 

L. Dearborn, George W. Doe, James G. Dudley, James II. Harrison, James A. Hath- 

away, Job Kelley, Joseph H. Meader, Anson C. Merrill, Zina Michael, Jr., Walter S. 

Malbon, Jerome Mitchell, Thomas Neddo, Ira Scott, .\lbert Tucker, Daniel W. 

Tucker, Alexander \'eancou, Elisha Whit'aker— 23. 

Wounded—Sgts Benjamin M. Foss, .Vlbert Guppy; Copls. Chesley L. Metcalf, 

Edward J. Milton, Charles W. Southard; Wag. Charles Mercer; I'vts. .\lvin S. 

Archer, Ephraim L. Brown, John D. Cole, William Doane, Calvin Douglass, Edmund 

M. Erskine, James A. Farr;ir, Siillman Guppy, Calvin L. Hutchins, James S. Jewett, 

Alvin Overlock, William T. Partridge, Winthrop Shirland, Horatio Tibbetts— 20. 

Co. K— Killed—Côpl. John Johnson, Jr.; Pvts. Israel P. Benner, John Byrne, 

Timothy Collins, Edward Crowell, Sylvanus G. Lincoln, Samuel G. McCuUough, 

Frederic W. Patterson, James Sears, Thomas Walton— 10. 

Wounded— Lts. Hugh F. Porter, Lucius B. Gibson, Hiram F". Swett; -Sgts. Calvin 

R. Gardner, John T. Ward, Enoch L. Hanscomb; Copls. Abijah Ayer, Edgar M. 

Johnson, James \N'. Huntley; Art. George W. Howe; Pvts. John Barrell, John W. 

Bugbee, Flias Brewster, Jesse Brown, .\lonzo J. W. S. Cook, John E. Corbet, Moses 

P. Corson, Enoch S. Crosby, John H. Dearborn, Horace E. Ellis, Horace W. Getchell, 

Robert II. Gibson, Hiram Farley, George Hunter, David S. Jewell, Barnett X. Jewell, 

P^dward J. Kernin, William B. Kief, Patrick McCarthy, Gustavus Malm


Frederick Ordway, Ferdinand Palmer, Luther F. Rolf, Charles F. Runnels, Hosea H- 

Sherburn, Frederick Stanhope, Virgil D. Sweetland, Edwin White, Axel Woodbury— 16. 

LOSSES AT JERUSALEM PLANK ROAD, JUNE 22, 1864. 

Co. A—Wounded—Pvts. Philander W. Rowell, Albert Spearing, George W. Tucker 

—3- 

Prisoners— Pvts. Noah Cross, Arthur F. Howard—2. 

Co. B—Wounded—Pvts. Richard P. McGrath, John A. Whittier— 2. 

Prisoner— Pvt. Ezra R. Reed— i. 

Co. C—Wounded— Pvt. Oscar Kimball— i. 

Prisoners—Copl. John G. Remick; Pvts. Alanson Bennett, Sewall A. Bunker, 

James M. Stratton— 4. 

Co. D— Prisoners— Pvts. Hosea B. Perkins, Charles A. Peavy—2. 

Co. E—Wounded—Sgt. George W. Labree— i. 

Prisoners— Pvts. Joseph S. Church, William S. Randlett— 2. 

Co. F—Wounded—Pvt. Joseph Appleton— i. 

Co. G—Wounded—Pvt. Charles B. Gilley— i. 

Prisoners—Copls. John Ames, Charles A. Jackson; Pvts.Eben W. Johnson, Uriah B. 

Leach— 4. 

Co. K—Killed—Sgt. Robert Smith— I. 

Wounded—Pvt. Archibald McKenzie— i. 

Prisoner—Sgt. Robert Smith— i. 

Co. L—Wounded—Sgt. George E. Dodge— i. 

Prisoners—Sgts. Joseph A. Burlingame; Pvt. Marcus M Alley— 2. 

Co. M—Wounded—Sgt. Byron W. Murphy; Pvts. James H. Buck, Philonas K. 

Martin, Charles H. Philbrick— 4. 

Prisoners— .\rt. Samuel R. Cromwell; Pvts. Stephen N. Barker, Thomas B. Drys- 

dale, Franklin Ware— 4. 

LOSSES AT DEEP BOTTOM. AUCJ. I4-18, 1 864. 

Field and Staff—Killed—Col. Daniel Chaplin— i. 

Co. E—Killed—Pvt. David O. Pollard— i. 

Wounded—Sgt. Dexter Goodwin; Pvts. George E. Ball, Sullivan Ellis— 3. 

Co. F—Wounded—Copl. Stephen S. Sawyer; Pvt Samuel E. Pray— 2. 

LOSSES IN PICKET LINE SKIRMISH, SEPT. 9, 1864. 

Co. A— Prisoner—Copl. Randall M. Davis— i. 

Co. G— Prisoners—Mus. James A. Smith; Pvt. Asa Batchelder— 2. 

Co. H— Prisoner—Copl. Warren T. Small— I. 

Co. K— Prisoner—Sgt. Edward B. Kilby— i. 

Co. M—Prisoner—Wag. Joel A. Dorr— i. 

LOSSES AT SQUIRREL LEVEL ROAD, OCT. 2, 1864. 

Co. A—Wounded— Pvt. Andrew Hooper— I. 

Co. C— Killed— Pvt. James H. Grover— i. 

Co. D— Killed— Copl. Rodolphus \. Tufts— i. 

Prisoner— Pvt. Charles A. Jones— i. 

Co. F— Killed— Pvts. Owen D. Bradford, Charles H. Maddocks— 2. 

Wounded— Pvt. Amos E. Hardy— i. 

Co. H—Wounded— Pvt. Converse Thomas— i.


Co. L— Killed— Pvt. Isaac Adams— i. 

Wounded— Pvt. John Rigelow— i. 

Co. M— Wounded—Pvt. James M. Bryant— i. 

LOSSES AT BOYUTON ROAD, OCT. 27, 1 864. 

Qo. .\— Killed- Pvt, Roger Connelly— i. 

Wounded -Sgts. Thomas B. Gifford, Joseph W. Knights— 2. 

Prisoners— Sgt. Thomas B. Gifford; Pvt. Roger Connelly— 2. 

Co. B— Killed— Pvt. Leander N'ickery i. 

Co. C— Killed — Pvt. Luther Kingsman— i. 

Wounded— Lf. Carltan M. Austin; Sgt. Prank J. Sargent; Pvt. Owen O'Neil— 3. 

Prisoner— Owen O'Neil— i. 

Co. D—Wounded— Art. Amaziah Billings; Pvts. Hiram G. Bolton, Benjamin W. 

Hinton— 3. 

Prisoners— Art. Amaziah Billings; Pvt. Hiram G. Bolton— 2. 

Co. E—Wounded— Lt. Frank A. Clark; Pvts. Peter Pelkie, Benjamin W. Rollins, 

Osborn Weeman— 4. 

Prisoner— Peter Pelkie— i. 

Co. F—Wounded— Pvt. Sanford Annis— I. 

Prisoner— Pvt. Oliver P. Hodgdon— i. 

Co. G— Killed—Sgt. Lorenzo D. Perkins; Pvt. Freeman S. Hancock— 2. 

Co. H—Wounded— Lt. Ira M. Bowers— i. 

Co. I—Killed— P^•t. Lorenzo Warren— i. 

Wounded— Pvts. Francis M. Archer, George E. Tibbetts— 2. 

Prisoners— Lorenzo Warren, Francis M. Archer— 2. 

Co. K—Wounded— Sgt. David Wilbur; Pvt. Ezra Dean— 2. 

Prisoners— Sgt. I)avid Wilbur; Pvt. Ezra Dean—2. 

Co. L— Killed—Copls. George C. Knowles, Virgil D. Bowley— 2. 

Co. M— Killed— Pvt. Elias Chick— I. 

Wounded— Pvts. Charles Conery, Josiah M. W^hittier—2. 

LOSS ON WELDON RAID, DEC. 8, 1 864. 

Co. F—Prisoner—Sgt. Luther K. Patten— i. 

Co. H—Prisoner— Sgt .Augustus P. Nash— i. 

LOSSES IN FORT HELL AND VICINITY, SUMMER AND FALL OF 1864. 

Co. .\—Wounded— Pvt

Ig THE MAINE BUGLE. 

Co. G—Killed— J'vt. James \V. Lunt— i. 

Co. I—Wounded— Pvt. Joel F. Brown— i 

Co. K— Killed— Pvts. John Cambridge, Thomas H. Woodman— 2. 

Co. L—Wounded — Pvts. Heman Case, John V. Maxfield— 2. 

Co. M— Wounded—Pvts. Charles K. Dunn, .\lfred Iloyt— 2. 

LOSSES AT HATCHERS RUN, MARCH 25, 

Co. A- Wounded— Pvts. John Miller, James Warren— 2. 

Co. B— Wounded— Pvt. Joseph Jordan— i. 

Co. C—Wounded—Pvt. Jeremiah Harrington— i. 

Co. D— Killed— Pvt. James Morrill— I. 

Wounded—Pvt. Robert A. Webster— i. 

Prisoner—Pvt. Henry H. Frost— i. 

Co. F—Killed— Pvt. Loomis J. Felker— i. 

Wounded— Sgt. Orrin Houston— i. 

Co. G—Wounded—Pvt. Wilbur H Eldridge— 

1 865. 

Co. H—Wounded—Copl. Robert L. Willey ; Pvts. Newell Davis, Israel .Sweet— 3. 

Co, I— Killed—Capt. Samuel J. Oakes; Pvt. Moses Davis— 2. 

Prisoners— Pvts. James Davis, Moses Davis, Erastus F. P^mery, William Harlow, Jr., 

Samuel P. Soule, Augustus Young—6. 

Co. M—Wounded—Pvt. William F. Butters— 1. 

LO.SSES NEAR FIVE FORKS, MARCH 3I, 1865. 

Co. A—Killed— Pvt. John M. Steward— i. 

Co. E—Wounded— Pvt. Elijah Dow— i. 

LOSSES AT SAILORS CREEK, APRIL 6, 1865. 

Co. A—Wounded— Pvt. William W. Scott— i. 

Co. B—Wounded— Pvts. Albert Clements. William H. Welch— 2. 

Co. C— Wounded— Pvts. John L. Emery. James F. Osgood. Calvin J. .'>argent— 3. 

Co. D—Wounded—Copl. Stephen M. Bickford— i. 

Co. E— Killed— Pvt. Henry A. Evans— 1. 

Wounded—Sgt. Alpheus Rowell; Copl. David W. ,\dams, Pvts. David V. Fogg, 

Francis O. Nichols, John Saul— 5. 

Co. F—Wounded—Lt. John X. Batchelder; Copl. Edwin K. Stuart; Pvts. Herbert 

C. Arey, David A. Legrow— 4. 

Co. H—Wounded— Pvt. Rufus S. .Sinclair— i. 

Co. I—Wounded — Copl. Edmund C. Pars )ns; Pvt. George B. McKechnie 1. 

Co. K— Killed—.\lonzo J. W. S. Cook— i. 

Wounded— Pvt. John P. Sprague— i. 

Co. M—Killed — Ferdinand Palmer— i. 

Wounded—Pvts. Oliver W. Bates, James .\1. Bryant—2. 

LOSSES AT FAKMVlLl.i:, APRIL 7, 1865. 

Co. G—Wounded—Copl. John Murphy— i. 

Co. H—Wounded— Pvt. Robert Goodwin— i.

AN OLD BLUE CAP. 19 

S mining up the al>uve gives the fulluvving in killed, wuunded and prisoners 

Spottsylvaniii 

Milfurd Station 

\orth Anna 

Hanover Town 

Tolopotinny 

Cold Harbor 

Petersburg, June i6.. 

Petersburg, June 17- • 

Petersliur^, June iS.. 

Jerusalem Plank road- 

Deep Itottom 

Picket skirmish 

Squirrel Level road • . 

Hoydton road 

Weldon raid 

Fort Hell 

Hatcher's Run 

Kive P'orks 

Sailors' Creek 

Farmville 

Totals 

152 

I 

I 

2 

I 

5 

9 

221 

I 

2 

423 

An Old Blue Cap. 

BY KENDALL POLLARD OF CO. K. 

There's a cap in the closet, old tattered and blue, 

Of very slight value it may be to you 

321 

5 

5 

17 

«9 

17 

328 

Hut a crown, jewel-studded, could not buy it to-day, 

With its letters of honor, brave " Company K." 

Bright eyes have looked calmly its visor beneath, 

O'er the mark of the reaper, grim harvester death. 

Let the muster roll meagre so mournfuPy say 

How foremost in danger was "' Company K." 

Who faltered or shivered? Who shunned battle stroke? 

Whose fire was uncertain? Whose battle-line broke? 

Go ask it of history, years from to-day 

.\nd the record shall tell you, not " Company K." 

Though my darling is sleeping to-day with the dead 

.\nd daisies and clover bloom over his head, 

I smile through my tears as I lay it away, 

That liattle-worn cap lettered " Company K.'' 

»5 

5 

65 

475 

3 

6 

3 

9 

25 

24 

26 

549 

38 

7 

6 

II 

40 

2 

23 

22 

2 

25 

2 

1,298


Side Lights 

ON THE BATTLE OF THE FIRST MAINE HEAVY ARTLLEKY OF MAY I9TH. 

Col. Walker in his history of the Fourth Maine Volunteers, 

says : 

" Our train had been guarded by the Maine and Massachu- 

setts heavy artillery regiments, acting as infantry. It was being 

parked, and the guards had moved to a fine spot and stacked 

arms, when the rebel General Rhodes' division issued from the 

woods and attacked the rear of the train. The newly arrived 

regiments were close at hand and attacked recklessly, driving 

back the enemy and holding them in check, but meeting with 

severe losses. I was moving to the flank and rear of the enemy, 

with the determination to fight " for all we were worth," and in 

three minutes more we would have been engaged, but an aid 

brought an order from Gen. Birney, who was as usual at the 

rear, for me to withdraw from the woods to the open field, At 

this time the first brigade was to the left, on the enemy's right; 

the Maine " heavies " were engaged at their front, and if Birney 

had permitted us to attack as I desired, we would have destroyed 

the rebel force or captured it. I reluctantly withdrew to the 

field as ordered, and was assigned by Birney 's adjutant to a 

position to the right and front of the troops that had been 

engaged. The enemy retired and fighting ceased. 

I knew full well that the enemy were leaving, and called at 

division headquarters several times during the night to get per- 

mission to advance and attack, but the general was sleeping 

soundly, his staff officers refused to have him disturbed, and I 

dared not take the responsibihly without orders. At three 

o'clock I found the general awake, preferred my request, 

received orders, and both brigades advanced. The main body 

of the enemy had gone, leaving a strong rear guard and many 

non-resistant stragglers. Five hundred willing prisoners fell 

into our hands, our brigade turning over two hundred and sev- 

enty-five."

Gen. Humphrey writes : 

SIDE LIGHTS. 21 

" On the 17th of May, Brig. -Gen. R. 

O. Tyler, with a temporary division of heavy artillery regiments 

serving as infantry, and the Corcoran Legion, joined the Second 

Corps, making an addition to it. General Hancock says, of 

8,000 men. General Tyler was assigned to the command of 

one of Gibbon's brigades."—Virginia Campaign of 1864-5 

Humphrey, p. 109. 

"Gen. Ewell was directed by General Lee on the nineteenth 

to demonstrate in his front to ascertain whether the Army of 

the Potomac was moving to his, Lee's, right, as he believed it to 

be. General Ewell says that to accomplish this he moved with 

his corps around on our right by a detour of several miles, on 

roads impassable for artillery, when he came upon us prepared 

to receive him— his force 6,000. Our position being developed 

and his object obtained, he was about to retire, he says, when 

he was attacked. Part of his line, he continues, was shaken, 

but Pegram's and Ramseur's brigades held their ground so 

firmly that he maintained his position till nightfall, when he 

withdrew unmolested ; that his loss was about nine hundred 

killed, wounded, and missing. 

Ramseur (whose account is the only one I find besides that 

of General Ewell) says that his brigade was in front, that their 

movement was discovered, and that he then attacked with his 

brigade and drove the enemy rapidly, and with severe loss, until 

his flanks were enveloped, when he retired two hundred yards 

and formed, Grime's brigade on his left. Battle's on his right; 

but that Gordon's division on their left being flanked, retreated, 

and the whole line was compelled to fall back, when it was 

repeatedly attacked by a heavy force until night, when it quietly 

and safely withdrew. Kersaw's division held Ewell's intrench- 

ments while he was absent. The force encountered by Ewell 

was Kitching's brigade and General Tyler's division, posted on 

the Fredericksburg road in the vicinity of the Harris house. 

Colonel Kitching, on the left of Tyler, perceived indications of 

the movement in the course of the afternoon, and precautions 

were taken to meet it. The firing began about half-past five 

o'clock, and it being heavy. General Hancock was at once

22 THF. MAINE BUGLE. 

directed by General Meade to send a division in double-quick 

to Tyler, and to hold his corps read}' to nio\e up. General 

Warren, being the nearest at hand, was directed to send some 

troops over, and the Maryland brigade sent b\- him got to the 

ground in time to take an acti\e and effective part in the fight. 

The First Maryland regiment, returning from Fredericksburg, 

had at once, without waiting for orders, joined in the attack on 

Tyler's right. 

General Hancock ordered up Birney's division in double- 

quick, directed Barlow and Gibbon to be ready to follow, and 

went himself to the ground, where he found Tyler's division 

" fiercely engaged " with the enemy in front of the Fredericks- 

burg road. As soon as General Birney's troops arrived two o^ 

his brigades were thrown into action on Tyler's right, but the 

severity of the action was already over. Gen. Crawford of the 

Fifth Corps, arrived shortly after Birne)-, about dark, and was 

formed in support of Kitching and the Maryland brigade on the 

left. 

The fighting, General Hancock says, continued obstinate until 

about nine o'clock, when the enemy gave way, retreating rap- 

idly across the Ny. The loss of the enemy in killed and 

wounded was severe, and about four hundred prisoners fell into 

our hands. This was the first engagement Tyler's troops had 

taken part in, and they acquitted themselves handsomely, he 

says. Gen. Early says that his whole corps was held ready to 

co-operate with Ewell, should his attack prove successful, and 

that, to create a division in his favor, Thomas' brigade was 

thrown forward. It made a demonstration on Gen. Cutler's 

front so far as to drive in the pickets on his right flank."— Idem, 

pp. 

I 12-13-14.

Dr. HENRY C. LEVENSALER, 

Surgeon 8th Me. Inf. and Bvt. Col. U. S. Vols. 

Thomaston, Me.

EARLY SERVICES OF THE EIGHTH MAINE. 23 

Early Services of the Eig-hth Maine. 

HY KENUAI.L POLLAKl) (il CO. K. 

At the call of President Lincoln in 1861 for three hundred 

thousand men for three years, or during the war, the Eighth 

Maine Regiment sprang into existence, and the first of Septem- 

ber, 1861, found the regiment ready to go forward. It left 

Maine September 7th, 1861, with the following named officers 

in command : Colonel Lee Strickland, Lieut. Col. John D. 

Rust, Major Joseph S. Rice, Adjutant James Dingley, jr., 

Quartermaster Augustus H. Strickland, Surgeon Paul M. Fisher, 

Assistant Surgeon Jonathan S. Houghton, Chaplain Henry C. 

Henries; Co. A, Capt. Ephraim W. Woodman, ist Lieut. Aus- 

tin S. Bump, 2d Lieut. John M. Adams; Co. B, Capt. Joseph 

F. Twitchell, ist Lieut. Charles C. Perry, 2d Lieut. Luther B. 

Rodgers ; Co, C, Capt. John C. Bryant, ist Lieut. Isaac H. 

McDonald, 2d Lieut. William H. Timberlake; Co. D, Capt. 

Henry Boynton, ist Lieut. Franklin E. Gray, 2d Lieut. John 

R. Sprague; Co. E, Capt. Thomas Hutchins, ist Lieut, Thomas 

S. Hutchins, 2d Lieut. Isaac A. Phillips; Co. F, Capt. John 

Heminway, ist Lieut. Alonzo E. Kimball, 2d Lieut. John w. 

Roberts; Co. G, Capt. Augustus A. Hoyt, Ist Lieut. Wilbur F. 

Lane, 2d Lieut. Edwin B. Bates; Co. H, Capt. John F. Milliken, 

1st Lieut Edward A. True, 2d Lieut. Charles P2. Howard; 

Co. I, Capt. William M. McArthur, Ist Lieut. Charles H. Rob- 

inson, 2d Lieut. John E. McUrda ; 

Co. 

K, Capt. John Conant, 

1st. Lieut. Henry Brawn, 2d Lieut. Hillman Smith, making ten 

good companies of men and officers as ever left the State ; 

and 

no State in the Union shows a better record for gallantry in the 

war than the Pine Tree State. Its soldiers never faltered, never 

shrank from any known duty. 

At Hampstead Plains, L. I. , we 

remained three days, thence 

to Washington where we arrived Monday morning just at break


of day. While marching through the streets of Baltimore in 

the night, we could hear the rebels yell " down with the Yanks," 

" shoot them," but no hand was raised for the)' had not forgotten 

the Massachusetts troops. VV'e laid in the streets of Wash- 

ington all day until nearly dark, and then marched to East 

Capitol street where we pitched our tents. Up to this time we 

had received no arms, but in a day or two were supplied. 

Then began our manual drill. We remained only one week, 

then to Annapolis, Md., where we did provost duty for two 

weeks, when we were shipped on the steamship Aerial and sent 

to Fortress Monroe. We lay in Hampton Roads a week, saw 

a large fleet of steamships and gunboats steam in and anchor, 

all loaded with troops. The war ship Wabash was the most 

active. Officers rowed back and forth all of the time. It 

dawned on our minds that our destination was south. After a 

week's delay, one morning in October the signal flew from the 

Wabash and we all started out of the harbor. It was a splen- 

did sight—nearly thirty sail and steamsnips moving at the same 

time. The fleet went forward grandly until off Hatteras, when 

we encountered a heavy storm. For two days and nights, 

November second and third, our fate hung trembling in the 

shock of the seas. The fleet was scattered, the waves rolled 

mountains high, but the Aerial breasted well the storm. Men 

and officers were seasick ; one 

captain said to his lieutenant 

during the storm, " I should like to know where we are going," 

to which the lieutenant replied, " It looks like down to Hades." 

We knew not who had command of the land forces or the 

naval fleet, nor where bound, but one night, November fifth, 

just at dark we ran into Port Royal Harbor, S. C , and were 

saluted with a few shots from some small crafts. The Aerial 

was the first of the fleet. The next morning all of the fleet 

arrived, and after resting two or three days for the men of the 

gunboats to get everything ready, on the morning of November 

eighth, the Wabash led off" and five other war ships followed, in 

a wide circle in Port Royal river pouring a broadside of fire as 

their guns bore on the East Fort and another volley of fire as 

the West Fort came into range. The engagement lasted from

EARLY SERVICES OF THE EIGHTH MAINE. 25 

nine o'clock A. M. until four o'clock P. M., then the troops 

landed. It was an inspiring sight for us on the steamship Aerial 

as the naval fight was in full view ; none 

of us who saw it will 

ever forget it. We were a happy set of men to be on land 

once more as our appetites never rallied from the vast upheaval 

of the seas off Cape Hatteias. We found the land forces were 

in command of Gen. Sherman, and were divided into three 

brigades. The Eighth was in the first brigade, with the Third 

New York, Seventh Connecticut, Forty-seventh and Forty- 

eighth New York, our brigade commander being Gen. E. G. 

Viele of New York, and that we were at Hilton Head or Port 

Royal, S. C, (known by both names) and that the naval vessels 

were under Commodore Dupont. In a day or so we were sent 

into the woods to cut timber to erect a large wharf so the boats 

could land. The Maine men were selected because they were 

familiar with the use of the axe, and knew how to handle tim- 

ber. From the ranks you could always detail men qualified to 

make a watch or to perform all kinds of work, carpenter, 

machinist, millwright, boiler-maker, or men educated to con- 

struct a railroad or run a locomotive. Then men with spades 

and picks begun extensive fortifications to render the place safe 

from the attack of the enemy. This hard, monotonous work 

continued and the only incidents to vary its dullness were the 

resignation and promotion of officers in the regiment. Col. 

Strickland resigned, Major Rice left and John Rust was made 

colonel ; Capt. Joseph Twitchell lieutenant colonel, Capt. Woodman 

major. H. C. Henries, chaplain, also resigned; Capt. John 

Conant had resigned, and Lieut. Brawn was made captain. 

Some other changes were made but nearly thirty years have 

passed and many things of those early days are forgotten. We 

worked at Port Royal till into January, then the different com- 

panies were sent out to build breastworks on the other islands 

for the purpose of taking Fort Puluski, which controlled the 

mouth of the Savannah river. Early this year Gen. Sherman 

left us and Gen. Hunter took command, while Gen. Gilmore 

had charge of the forces building breastworks on the Tybee. 

The Eighth worked on Mud, Bird, Awfuskie and Tybee islands,


building fortifications and mounting guns. It was an unhealthy 

locality, the water was so bad to drink and the men obliged to 

work in the mud until the tide drove them ofi", and then wait 

near by to be ready when the tide left. On Tybee the men had 

to build up places to sleep on, the ground was so damp and the 

snakes so abundant and large. The regiment landed on Tybee 

the first of February, 1862, and remained there until after the 

capture of Fort Pulaski. The Eighth helped build the batteries 

and mount the guns, and worked them during the bombardment 

of the fort, which lasted all one day and part of the next 

when the white flag was hoisted at four o'clock P. M. the typical 

day of April 9th, 1862. A detachment of the Eighth with its 

colors went over and hoisted the stars and stripes, which now 

wave so proudly from every public building and from every 

school house through our land. A few days after the capture 

of Fort Pulaski Chaplain Philbrook came to us and was gladly 

welcomed by the boys. 

Cavaliers at Cedar Mountain. 

The h'irst Rhode Island Cavalry held their reunion this year 

on the ninth of August, the thirty-first anniversary of the battle 

of Cedar Mountain (August 9th, 1862)—the first engagement 

in which many of our comrades took part. A very interesting 

feature of this reunion was the reading of the following poem, 

written for the occasion, by Rev. Frederic Denison, A. M., 

chaplain of the regiment, entitled " Cavaliers at Cedar Moun- 

tain," which the genial chaplain has kindly furnished for publication 

in the BUGLE 

.Again we hear the bugles blow, 

And don our sabres and our spurs; 

Comes back afresh the long ago 

That warmly every bosom stirs. 

Some heads are bald ; 

all locks are gra;' 

The print of one and thirty years 

We bear since our hot battle-day 

At Cedar Mountain, which appears

CAVALIERS AT CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 27 

With flaming face and ihunclcrous sound 

As if it were Imt yesterday : 

And so we tread the crimson j;round 

And share again the desperate fray. 

That summer morn was cahn and bright. 

And gentle dew was on the plain; 

The mountain stood serene in might, 

And lields were k)aded with their grain. 

But ere the sun that day went down, 

How changed and marred was nature's face 

.\s if beneath some demon's frown, 

Whose foot left naught of beauty's trace. 

Battalions gather on the hills, 

The horsemen spur from side to side, 

At length the hoit the valley lills, 

When sudden breaks the martial tide. 

Our squadrons met the opening fire 

The hail of hot and howling shell, 

As if the heavens had burst with ire, 

And fully sounded doomsday's knell, 

The mountain belched from rebel throats; 

Hot were the guns that sent reply; 

Horrific were the missiles' notes, 

Like meteors sereeching through the sky. 

We held our guidons 'mid the smoke. 

While bursting shot flew thick o'erhead, 

And felt the fiery battle-stroke 

That strewed the valley with the dead. 

There sleep our comrades in their blood, 

Who died with sabre strong in hand, 

Who at their posts unfalterinj^ stood 

To do our country's high command. 

As billows, lifted by a gale, 

Roll on in rage with bellowing note. 

So warrior-waves stretched through the vale 

And full armed hosts together smote. 

.\while eclipsed the summer sun 

By heavy, surging battle-cloud 

Of dust and smoke, inmixed and dun. 

As though the heavens together bowed. 

How splintered by the shot and shell 

The mansion house midway the field. 

Whose inmates, as the hail stones tell, 

Fled to the cellar as their shield.


Again we hear the bugle calls 

From mountain summit echoed back, 

While sulphurous clouds arose as palls 

To veil the struggling army's track. 

When charged the rebel infantry, 

They met a burning wave of shot 

From our alert artillery 

Their corses left to mark the spot. 

What though our flag was battle-torn, 

We held it firmly in the storm; 

Nor ever standard braver borne, 

Or soldiers moved in truer form. 

When midnight mantle shut the day 

And hushed the raging battle-greed. 

Dead men and dying horses lay 

For mercy's ministries to plead. 

With twenty thousand 'gainst Banks' eight, 

Still Jackson ordered wise retreat 

Across the Rapidan in flight. 

There for a better day to wait. 

Who can forget those long trench-graves 

Dug in the valley cannon plowed. 

Filled with the forms of Freedom's braves, 

Their uniforms their only shroud. 

We see the buzzards hovering o'er. 

That smelt the carnage from afar, 

Swift hasting to the feast of gore 

The black-winged scavengers of war. 

And we who faced the battle-blaze 

With brothers who in action fell. 

Can best declare their meed of praise, 

And their heroic conduct tell 

How firm they stood for right and God 

Where piercing lead and iron hailed. 

And, spite the tide of fire and blood, 

In patriot courage never failed. 

We sing a single battle-flame 

Of those that filled four burning years 

And indicate the proper claim 

Of Freedom's gallant cavaliers. 

Our spurs were on the flaming front 

Till treason bowed its guilty head; 

We shared the closing battle-brunt 

When Sheridan our sabres led.

Col. HENRY C. LOCKWOOD 

Aide decamp to General Ames. 

New York City.

A MAN FROM MAINE. 29 

Let proud Virginia boast her knights 

Obedient to her bugle blast; 

An overmatch in raids and tights 

She found the Yankee blades at last. 

Confederates gained their dark renown 

In planning their l)arbaric power; 

They drew, from heaven, the lightning down 

That left them neither wall nor tower 

All southern soil is richer now 

That slain is demon slavery, 

And broad upon our Union's l)row 

Sharp swords imprinted Liberty. 

Thus we review our battle-day. 

And once more rally round our P'lag 

That holds triumphant, peaceful sway 

P'rom ocean-wave to mountain-crag. 

That August day! how well we know; 

Deep in our thoughts, it cannot die; 

On History's page it long shall glow 

In proof of quenchless bravery. 

No more we hear the bugles bray 

Adown the vale to call the tight; 

.\11 fields, for harvests, bloom to-day 

And joyful drink the summer light. 

A Man from Maine. 

A TRUE HISTORY OF THE ARMY .VF FORT FISHER. 

FY COLONEL HENRY C. LOCKWOOD. 

With the ex'ception of the naval engagement between the 

" Monitor" and the "Merrimac" and the sea-fight between the 

" Kearsarge " and the " Alabama," there was no event of the 

Civil VVâr, in which the navy bore part, so brilliant in action 

and so significant in result as the capture of Fort Fisher, for it 

shut off the Confederacy from Europe, and in this way did 

much in causing the surrender of the Southern armies. 

This strangely isolated battle, in which a combined army and 

navy force attacked an immense work defended by its garrison 

alone, has many features that are scarcely known in the annals


of modern warfare. Still, this most brilliant and dramatic event 

was largely overshadowed by the great closing battles of the 

long contest, and even at this late day new explanations are set 

forth to show that it is one thing to storm such a fort and get 

possession of one of its bastions with several traverses, and quite 

another to capture the garrison that defends the interior of 

such a stronghold inch b\- inch for seven long hours. 

As a participant in both the successful and unsuccessful expe- 

ditions against this famous fort, having ser\'ed on the staft" of 

Brevet Major-General Adelbert Ames, who commanded the 

division of attack, I held a position that enabled me to know 

what happened at this time, and to form as I think a correct 

judgment on many questions that have arisen since the capture. 

I believe that each one who took part in the leading battles, 

sieges, and expeditions of the war should state the facts as they 

appear to him. in order that truths of history maybe developed ; 

not to foment controversy, but to aid those who wish to learn 

the true history of those times. With this spirit I propose to 

set down some facts that relate more particularly to the move- 

ments of the army before Fort Fisher. 

Before proceeding to the more important part of this paper I 

desire incidentally to refer to the subject of the failure of the 

explosion of the " powder-boat." which made General Butler 

the butt of so much ridicule and called down upon him so much 

adverse criticism. 

" We all believed in it from the admiral down," says Lieutenant-Commander 

Parker in a paper lately read before the New 

York Commandery of the Loyal Legion, " but when it proved 

so laughable a failure, we of the navy laid its paternity upon 

Genercl Butler." 

This is a very frank admission, for the truth is that in looking 

about for a scape-goat after the failure, Butler was seriously 

charged with the fiasco. The general's plan was to run the 

powder-boat on shore before firing it, and at a time when the 

arm\' was near enough to take advantage of any damage that 

might be done. It was not carried out. The navy, that had 

full charge of the .iffair. exploded the powder at 1.30 A. M.,

.4 MAN FROM MAINE. 81 

which was an error of itself, and then again, on account of the 

faulty arrangement for ignition, but a small part of the powder 

was burnt, (icneral Butler knew nothing of the explosion until 

it was over. 

It is not generally known that although General Butler 

accompanied the expedition as commanding general of the 

Department of Virginia and North Carolina, still, Major-General 

Godfrey Weitzel was in actual command of the troops by order 

of General Grant, and upon Weitzel and Lieutenant-Colonel 

Cyrus B. Comstock, United States I-^ngineers of headquarters 

of the armies of the United States, rests the responsibilit\- for 

the withdrawal of the military forces. But I will waive this 

position, which may be called technical, and state the facts. 

While the arm\- was storm-bound in Beaufort. North Caro- 

lina, vvhere it had been driven for coal and water. Admiral Porter 

attacked Fort F'isher. The War and Navy Departments had 

determined that a combined attack of the two branches ot the 

service was necessar\- for the reduction of the fort. Porter 

made a purely naval attack on December 24. What would the 

country have said if Butler, while lying off New Inlet waiting 

for the navy, had taken advantage of the beautiful weather that 

preceded the storm and had made the attack without waiting 

for the navy? The na\'y had no more right to attack without 

the presence of the army than the army would ha\'c had to 

attack in tlê absence of the navy. 

After ordering his transports to follow him. Butler, who had 

heard of the operations of the navy, started for and arrived off 

New Inlet between four and fi\e o'clock in the afternoon, in time 

to see the end of the first da\'s bombardment. 

A staff officer was sent on board the Hag-ship " Malvern " by 

Butler to confer with Porter, but the admiral returned word that 

he was too much fatigued to give him audience, but would 

receive General Weitzel and Colonel Comstock in the morning. 

A brigade of Ames' division were the first troops to land, at a 

point two miles and a half north of the fort. This brigade was 

immediately formed and marched towards the fort along the sea 

beach. But it was soon evident that the surf was becoming


heavier ; already boats were swamped in their attempts to reach 

the shore. Curtis was ordered forward, but the day was fast 

drawing to an end. The fact is that the fort was not silenced 

by the fire of the navy on December 24th and 25th, but its 

firing was so slow that the navy formed the erroneous idea that 

it had been silenced. "The fire of the fleet had been diffuse," 

sa}-s Colonel Lamb, who commanded the fort, " not calculated 

to effect any particular damage, and so wild that at least one- 

third of the missiles fell into the river beyond the fort or in the 

bordering marshes." 

*' It was evident," says Butler, in his report of December 25th, 

1864, " as soon as the fire of the navy ceased, because of dark- 

ness, that the fort was fully manned again, and opened with 

grape and canister upon our picket line." It would have been 

temerity to order a charge at this time. Weitzel, however, was 

present with Curtis and could have ordered a charge if he so 

pleased. Even Curtis did not deem it wise to make an assault, 

although he had permission from Ames to do so. All the 

troops that had made a landing were pushing on through the 

deep sand to support Curtis. General Ames, who had been 

among the first to land, displayed his usual energy and dispatch 

and strained every nerve to get Pennypacker's brigade up in 

time, but it could not be accomplished. The night was dark 

and the storm that was coming up might drive off the navy and 

the transports, and the small body of our troops that had been 

landed would then fall into the hands of the rebels. There was 

no hope for immediate re-inforcements, for the now furious surf 

had cut off all communication with the fleet.* 

*" A piece of romance was sent North and got a lodgment i.i current history, and is 

actually repeated liy General Grant in his Memoirs, thuu^^h Genc-ral Huller Ciirrected 

the error in his ofiicial report of January 3d, 1865. No Federal soldier entered Fort 

Fisher Christmas d.iy except as a pMS(jner. The courier was sent out of the fort 

without my Unouledge and was killed .Tnd hiis horse captured within the enemy's 

linei. The flag captured was a small company flai{, placed on the extreme L fI of the 

work, and which was carried away an 1 thrown oft' the parapet by an enrtlading shot 

from the navy. It was during a terrific bombardment of the land force when 1 had 

ordered my men to cover themsilves behind parapet and traverses as well as in the 

bomb-proofs. Aniid the smoke of bursting shells Captain \V. H. Walling of the


Butler requested Weitzel and C omstock, who had reported 

the condition of things on shore, to return, examine the ground, 

and decide if an assault were possible. " To me," he said, " it 

does not look possible, but I am unwilling to give it up." 

These two officers reported against the assault. 

General Butler says, " I sent to him [Admiral Porter] and 

asked what could be done. He sent me word that he had not 

an hour's ammunition, and that he must go into Beaufort to 

replenish his ships."— Report of Committee on the Conduct of 

the War. 

In causing the withdrawal of the troops Butler acted under 

the advice of two engineer officers, than whom no more skilled 

and learned members of their profession then held commissions 

in the United States army. 

" I went back to General Butler," says Weitzel, " and told 

him I considered it would be murder to order an attack > 

i that 

work with that force. I understood Colonel CoiT!i;tock to agrcP 

with me perfectly, and General Butler has înce said he did. I 

am fulh' satisfied, from all I have hoard since; fr m the result 

of the second attack and everything else,—I am fully satisfied 

that I did my duty there."—See Report of Committee on the 

Conduct of the Wâr. 

" The failure of the expedition," says General Butler, " was 

owing to the delay of the navy in Beaufort, the exploding of 

the powder-boat before the troops got there to take advantage 

of the effect of it, whatever it was, the refusal of Admiral Por- 

ter to run by the fort, and the failure of the bombardment to 

silence the fire of the fort on the land-front. ... I believe 

m)' withdrawal from F"ort Fisher to face the calumny which has 

rolled its waves over me, and which I calmly looked in the face 

when I made my decision to withdraw my troops, was the best 

and bravest act of my life." 

One Hundred and Forty-second New York, gallantly crawled through the broken 

palisade and carried oft the flag, doing what. two or more men could not have done 

without observation. The angle of the work hid him from the sharpshooters on the 

front, who behind traverses were watching for an advance."—See Col. Lamb's article 

in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. IV., p. 646.


The Committee on the Conduct of the War gave the subject 

a thorough examination. The testimony covers two hundred 

and sixty pages of printed matter, and after mature deUbera- 

tion the committee found as follows: "In conclusion, your 

committee would say, from all the testimony before them, that 

the determination of General Butler not to assault the fort seems 

to have been fully justified by all the facts and circumstances 

then known or afterwards ascertained." 

Whatever may be a just criticism of the distinguished officers 

who commanded our forces on land and sea on the first expe- 

dition against Fort Fisher ; as to whether a proper co-operation 

between army and navy existed ; 

whether 

the troops that had 

been landed in the face of a Confederate division, which threat- 

ened to attack them in their rear if they advanced in the direc- 

tion of the fort, and although afterwards cut off, as they were 

for two days, from the transports and fleet by surf and storm, 

whether they should have been ordered to charge during that 

night or at early dawn against this immense work, whose ram- 

parts were remanned when the firing of the navy ceased, are 

questions that have caused some discussion among military and 

naval men; but while this is true, there is, however, another 

view of this most important movement upon which all minds 

seem to agree. I refer, of course, to the fact that the Butler- 

Porter expedition constituted a thorough and careful recon- 

noissance of the fort and all its approaches. While the navy 

had an opportunity to test the strength of the work and the 

power of its guns, the troops that had been landed and pushed 

by General Ames to a point near the work were enabled not 

only to learn the conformation of the ground but to discover, 

as will be seen, the weak part, if not the key to the fortification 

itself. 

General Alfred II. Terry, who had been placed in command 

of the army branch of the second expedition after the removal 

of General Butler from his command, was an officer of experi- 

ence and ability. To him is due the credit of having, from the 

outset to the close of the movement, established that harmony 

of action between the army and navy which was so necessary


to success. He and Porter seemed to pull together as well as 

if they were within speaking distance of each other. In fact, 

during the action an army signal-officer was stationed on the 

" Malvern," Porter's flag-ship, in communication with one on 

shore at General Terry's headquarters. In addition to these 

arrangements there were other general signals agreed upon and 

followed. Terry iiad detailed instructions from general army 

headquarters. He effectively carried them out. 

The men who composed the army force on the second expe- 

dition were picked from soldiers who had seen considerable 

field service. No one who had any disability was allowed on 

the transports. Terry's force consisted of three thousand three 

hundred men of the Second Division, Twenty-fourth Army 

Corps, under command of Brigadier-General Adelbert Ames 

(afterwards brevet major-general United States Volunteers) ; 

the same number from the Third Division, Twenty-fifth Army 

Corps, Brigadier-General Charles J. Paine; and the Sixteenth 

New York Independent Battery with four three-inch guns, commanded 

by Captain R. L. Lee. In addition to these troops 

that were on the first expedition there were fourteen hundred 

men of the Second Brigade, First Division, Twenty-fourth 

Army Corps, Colonel J. C. Abbott; Seventh New Hampshire 

Volunteers ; 

and Light Battery E, Third United States Artillery, 

with six twelve-pounder guns, under command of Lieutenant 

John K. Myrick. There was also a siege-train with a detail 

from the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, under command of 

Captain William T. Pride, and a detachment of engineers from 

the Fifteenth New York, under Lieutenant H. S. O'Keefe, for 

service in case a gradual approach was determined upon. 

At four o'clock on the morning of the 6th of January the 

transports sailed from Hampton Roads. During the day a 

severe storm arose, which greatly impeded their movements; 

but on the 8th they reached the rendezvous off the coast of 

North Carolina, although many had been damaged by the gale. 

The weather continued unfavorable, and it was not until the 

1 2th that the combined force arrived off Federal Point; the 

disembarkation was deferred until the following morning.


At daylight on the 13th of January Porter formed his fleet in 

three Hnes, and stood in close to the beach to cover the land- 

ing. The " Brooklyn," the double-enders, and the other gun- 

boats opened fire on the woods directly in the rear of the posi- 

tion upon which it was decided to land the troops. The first 

troops were landed on the beach about three miles north of 

New Inlet. Pickets were thrown out in every direction. The 

enemy did not make any opposition to this movement. During 

this day eight thousand five hundred men were landed, with 

forty rounds of ammunition in the cartridge-boxes and three 

hundred thousand additional rounds of small-arms ammunition, 

and six days hard bread in bulk. 

The landing was accomplished amid the greatest enthusiasm 

of the soldiers. Cheer upon cheer went up, clearly indicating 

their splendid morale. The surf gave some trouble at first, but 

it subsided as the day progressed. This favorable condition of 

the surf continued through the three days of active operations 

which culminated in the accomplishment of the object of the 

expedition. 

Paine's division of colored troops having disembarked was 

marched a short distance towards the fort and then directed 

across the peninsula to the Cape Fear River, in this way forming 

a defensive line facing Wilmington. These troops now 

threw up a strong intrenchment from the ocean to the river. 

Colonel Abbott's brigade also formed a part of this line, and 

on the 14th, Captain Lee's and Lieutenant Myrick's batteries 

were also placed there in position. This line held Hoke's divi- 

sion of Confederate troops, under command of Bragg, in check 

but at no time, much to the surprise of the Federals, did this 

rebel division make any serious attempts to charge this defen- 

sive line ; it seemed to rest paralyzed before it. This movement 

left General Ames' division free to operate against the fort 

without any fear of an attack upon his rear. 

To this gallant young general, with his division numbering 

only three thousand five hundred men, was assigned the post of 

honor and danger, the tremendous task of assaulting and carry- 

ing by storm a permanent fortification pronounced impregnable


by the ablest engineers in the rebel army, and as the sequel 

shows it could not have been placed in worthier hands. 

All da\- antl night of the 13th and 14th the navy continued 

such a ceaseless fire against the fort that it was impossible for 

its garrison to repair damages. The monitors and the " Iron- 

sides " bowled their eleven- and fifteen-inch shells along the 

parapet, scattering a destructive storm of shrapnel in the dark- 

ness. The defenders of the fort lost heavily in killed and 

wounded, and this fact shows that the fire of the navy was much 

more effective than on the first expedition. 

On the afternoon of the 13th Ames directed the Forty-seventh 

New York Volunteers, Second Brigade, under command 

of Colonel Joseph M. McDonald, to cross the peninsula to the 

river, and under the protection of its bank to push up skirmish- 

ers as near to the fort as possible. This movement was executed 

with difficulty, as it had to pass over a strip of marshy 

ground. The skirmishers were quite successful in silencing the 

gunners who were trying to serve the barbette guns on the 

parapet. 

Curtis with the First Brigade, however, had been selected by 

Ames for the advanced line, and on the morning of the 14th 

the Third New York of this brigade was ordered to relieve 

Colonel McDonald. As this regiment marched across the open 

plateau it was fired upon by the rebel steamer " Chickamauga," 

and a number of its men were killed and wounded. Colonel 

Weeks, commanding, lost a leg. This attack did not materi- 

ally check the advance of Curtis, who pushed on to the river 

and captured a rebel flat-bottomed steam-transport laden with 

stores, that had unwittingly come up to the dock at Craig's 

Landing. This brigade had been over this same ground on the 

first expedition and was familiar with it. It worked its way 

along the river-shore, taking advantage of its bank, that gave 

some protection, until the advance redoubt near the river and 

about half a mile from the main fort had been reached and 

captured. This brigade met a determined resistance, the fort 

having thrown out a company of skirmishers and brought the 

guns to bear on our position, while we on our part picked off


every man we could who appeared on the parapet. The fort 

was now thoroughly invested. Preparations were being fast 

made for the bloody work of the morrow. In the evening 

Terry went aboard of the " Malvern " and arranged the plans 

for the attack of the next day. 

The bright rays of the sun aided the besiegers to see the fort 

plainly. The land-face of Fort Fisher commenced about one 

hundred feet from the river with a half bastion and extended 

with a heavy curtain to a full bastion on the ocean side where it 

joined the sea-face. The outer slope was twenty feet high from 

the berme to the top of the parapet, which was not less than 

twenty-five feet thick. The revetment was five feet nine inches 

high from the floor of the gun-chambers. The guns were all 

THE GREAT MOUND AT THE ANGLE. 

mounted in barbette, on columbiad carriages; there was not a 

single casemate gun in the fort. Between the gun-chambers, 

containing one or two guns each (there were twenty guns on 

the land-face), there were heavy traverses, exceeding in size 

any known to engineers, to protect from an enfilading fire. 

They extended out some twelve feet on the parapet, and were 

twelve feet or more in height above the parapet, running back 

thirty feet or more. In each alternate traverse was a magazine 

or bomb-proof. Passage-ways or galleries penetrated the trav- 

erses in the interior of the work and under the gun-chambers, 

with openings on the interior plane.


The sea-face for one hundred yards from the northeast bastion 

was of the same massive character as the land-face. A crescen^ 

battery intended for four guns joined this. From this bomb- 

proof a series of batteries extended for three-quarters of a mile 

along the sea, connected with an infantry curtain. On this line 

was a bomb-proof electric battery connected with a system of sub- 

terra torpedoes. Farther along a mound battery sixty feet high 

was erected.with two heavy guns. This battery was one mile from 

the northeast bastion. At the extreme point of land was Bat- 

tery Buchanan, four guns, its two eleven-inch guns covering the 

approach by land. An advanced redoubt with a twenty-four- 

pounder was added after the attack by the forces under Butler 

and Porter on Christmas, 1864. A wharf for large steamers 

was close by. This battery was also intended to cover a retreat 

by water in case of capture of the fort. The fort was also pro- 

tected by a system of subterra torpedoes extending across the 

peninsula, five to six hundred feet from the land face, and inside 

this torpedo line, about fifty feet from the berme of the work, 

from the river-bank to the sea-shore, was a heavy palisade of 

sharpened logs nine feet high pierced for musketry, and so laid 

out as to have an enfilading fire on the centre, where there was 

a redoubt guarding a sally-port, from which two Napoleon guns 

were run out as occasion required. At the river end of the 

palisade was a deep and muddy slough, across which was a 

bridge, the entrance of the river road into the fort; command- 

ing this bridge was a Napoleon gun. 

Against this immense work, in many respects the strongest 

in America, the Second Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, 

was to be led by Brigadier-General Adelbert Ames, upon whom 

now devolved all the responsibility of leadership in the desperate 

and bloody encounter that in a short time was to commence 

and not to end until after darkness had covered the earth for 

many hours. 

Scientific and literary education may assist a man to fill the 

requirements of time and station, but at the foundation of all 

there must exist those qualities of heart, character, and imagin- 

ation that alone give power to create, or to turn into success


the great opportunities that come in hfe. This rare combina- 

tion of human virtue, cultivated mind, and heroic bravery ied 

to the favor of the gods in the distant past, and inspires the 

gratitude of the people in these prosaic times of ours. If there 

were demigods in days of yore, there were heroes in these later 

days of internecine strife. There was as much honor, fidelity, 

and fortitude displayed on the battle-fields of the Civil War as 

in the conflicts over which history casts the glamour of its 

romance and chivalry. 

One of the most distinguished and meritorious characters 

that this later period produced is Brevet Major-General Adel- 

bert Ames, who was scarcely more than a boy at the beginning 

of these days of storm and stress. This cultivated gentleman 

and distinguished graduate of West Point, entertaining the 

highest conception of duty to the cause of national unity, and 

possessing a character that combined perfect self-possession, 

chivalrous modesty, and courageous manhood, was endowed 

with a high ortlcr of personal bravery and steadiness combined 

with soundness of judgment that made him naturally and pre- 

eminently a capable and aggressive leader. He was the beauideal 

of a division commander, and as such there was ho more 

efficient and gallant officer in the armies of the Union. Every 

one who rode with him in battle soon discovered that Ames 

never hesitated to take desperate chances under fire. He 

seemed to have a life that was under some mystic protection. 

Although he never permitted anything to stand in his way, and 

never asked men to go where he would not go himself, still his 

manner was always cool, calm, and gentlemanly. Under the 

heaviest fire, when men and officers were being stricken down 

around him, he would sit on his horse, apparently unmoved by 

singing rifle-ball, shrieking shot, or bursting shell, and quietly 

give his orders, which were invariably communicated in the 

most polite way, and generally in the form of a request. I 

often thought when I saw him under fire that if one of his legs 

had been carried away by a round shot he would merely turn 

to some officer or soldier near by and quietly say, " Will you 

kindly assist me from my horse? "


The outbreak of the Civil War found him a cadet at West 

Point. He was graduated with his class, and commissioned in 

a battery of regular artillery. At Bull Run, where he showed 

great gallantry, he was shot through the leg. He was soon 

promoted to the colonelcy of the Twentieth Maine and served in 

the Army of the Potomac. In the disastrous battle of Freder- 

icksburg he led his regiment in the assault of Marye's Heights, 

rendered almost impregnable by a stone wall, trenches, and 

batteries. He was soon promoted to be brigadier-general, and 

continued to serve in the field. It was a fortunate thing for the 

army before Fort Fisher and for the country at large that this 

brilliant and gallant officer commanded the division that was 

destined to charge into the imminent deadly breach and over 

the walls of this Malakoff, to stand undaunted amid the crash 

and destruction of the heaviest artillery, the deadly work of the 

murderous rifle, and to lead his men into positions that seemed 

like a forlorn hope only at last to be rewarded with victory. 

January 15th, 1865, proved to be a bright and beautiful day. 

The air was mild and balmy as a May day. The sun shed its 

bright rays upon a scene through a cloudless sky. What little 

wind there was, scented with the aroma of the pine-trees of the 

Carolinas, blew oft' shore, flattening the surf and ocean to a 

calm seldom seen on this coast. While the unruffled bosom of 

the sea glimmered in the morning sunlight and all nature seemed 

attuned to peace, the boys in blue on land and sea were not to 

have a day of rest. This mild, tranquil morning was in strange 

contrast with the storm of human conflict that was soon to burst 

forth. 

Early in the morning, Ames, at the head of Pennypacker's 

and Bell's brigades of his division, advanced towards the fort. 

Curtis, who was already at the outwork which had been gained 

the day before, was now ordered to advance against the fort, 

and to hold the position he might gain until the assault. He 

gallantly succeeded in pushing his brigade to within two hun- 

dred yards of the stronghold. In the formation of the brigade 

line the One Hundred and Seventeenth New York had the right 

towards Cape Fear river; the One Hundred and Twelfth New


York the left, in the direction of the sailors, who were then 

forming on the sea-front. The distance from the left of this 

line to the face of the fort was much greater than on the right 

and far more exposed; the right being sheltered somewhat by 

a sand ridge to within a few rods of the stockade, which ran 

from the left half bastion to the river. There was an opening 

in the stockade through which the road from Wilmington passed. 

A bridge was here thrown across a low, and almost impassable 

marshy strip, and extended for some distance beyond the fort, 

and in front of the position held by the One Hundred and Sev- 

enteenth. This bridge and gate-way that proved so disastrous 

to the fort was protected by a single Napoleon gun. A company 

of the Thirteenth Indiana, from the Third Brigade, armed 

with Spencer rifles, and fifty volunteers of Curtis' brigade, all 

under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lent, and accompanied 

by Captain Albert G. Lawrence, acting aide-de-camp, represent- 

ino- the division staff, and provided with shovels, now volun- 

teered to go forward in advance of Curtis' line as skirmishers to 

pick off men who might appear on the fort, and also to cut 

holes through the palisading with axes, with which they vvere 

provided. A number of these men were directly in front of 

the "-ate-way, which has been called a sally-port. They ren- 

dered most important service, and in the charge that soon followed, 

aided by Curtis' men, shot down the artillerists who 

attempted to use the Napoleon gun. Over the bridge the 

stockade was reached, through which the pioneers cut holes 

near the bastion. It was along this river road, over this bridge, 

and through this opening around the west bastion that so many 

of our men afterwards gained the interior of the fort. 

The movement of putting Curtis' brigade into position was 

plainly seen by the garrison, and the parapet was manned at 

once, the enemy opening with musketry and artillery regardless 

of the pitiless storm of shot and shell which belched from every 

gun of the navy on the fort. The Napoleon guns in the redoubt 

at the centre sally-port fired on our men at this time with grape 

and canister. The garrison had to leave the gun-chambers and 

stand on the parapet to fire on our men, who on their part


threw themselves on the sand, and using their hands, tin cups, 

or anything else that would aid them in their work, threw up 

little trenches as soon as possible. In the meantime they 

hugged the sand and fired as best they could. 

The Second Brigade under command of Colonel Penny- 

packer, was now formed also in line of battle at a position of 

about five hundred yards from the fort, parallel to, and in rear 

of, the line formed by the First Brigade. The Third Brigade, 

under command of Colonel Bell, was formed in a similar man- 

ner about seven hundred yards from the fort. This column of 

brigades was manceuvred on tne open sand plateau, directly in 

front of the land-face. It extended from a point opposite the 

west bastion to the east of the centre sally-port. The men were 

quickly in position, and then they threw themselves on the sand 

and dug small rifle-pits for protection, as has already been 

described. They were often directly over the subterra net-work 

of torpedoes placed in front of the fort, that fortunately for the 

l-'"ederal army did not explode.— the wires having been cut by 

shots from the navy. 

While these operations were taking place, General Terry and 

staff, and General Ames and staff, occupied the advance earth- 

work already described. It was situated near the river about 

eight hundred yards from the fort. It was at this point that 

Terry made his headquarters during the fight. From this posi- 

tion he could communicate with the navy and, at the same time, 

have a good view of the fort. 

General Ames gave a most minute and careful supervision to 

every detail of these preliminary manoeuvres, not hesitating to 

go himself to direct the troops into better positions and to cor- 

rect and establish the lines of attack, although at each time he 

and his staff showed themselves on this plateau of sand they 

became targets for the sharp-shooters stationed on the parapet 

and behind the palisading. It is difficult to understand how 

Ames went unscathed at this time while exposing himself, as he 

did, for he wore a brigadier-general's dress-coat, and had made 

as careful a toilet as if he were going to review. 

While these operations of the army had been going on, a 

force of sailors and marines, numbering two thousand, were


landed on the sea-beach, under command of Fleet Captain K. 

R. Breese. The head of this column had been pushed up to 

within a few hundred yards of the fort by means of a succession 

of small intrenchmcnts and rifle-pits, behind which the men lay 

prone upon the sand, sheltering themselves as best they might, 

while tongues of flame and puffs of smoke in their frojit plainly 

showed whence arose the storm of lead that fell upon them. 

Although the navy kept up its terrific fire upon the fort, still, at 

no time was it entirely silenced. The " Ironsides " and the 

monitors hurled forth their immense projectiles, the grand old 

frigates boomed out their heavy broadsides, and the gunboats 

poured in their whistling shots upon the doomed stronghold. 

The directions that Admiral Porter issued from the " Mal- 

vern " to the sailors and marines were of a remarkable charac- 

ter. The sailors were to be " armed with cutlasses, well sharp- 

ened, and revolvers," and they were to " board the fort on the 

run in a seaman-like way." The marines were to " follow after, 

and when they gain the edge of the parapet they will lie flat 

and pick off the enemy in the works. The sailors will charge 

at once on the field-pieces in the fort and kill the gunners. The 

mouths of the bomb-proofs must be secured at once, and no 

quarter given if the enemy fire from them after we enter the 

fort. ... If, when our men get into the fort, the enemy 

commence firing on Fort Fisher from the Mound, every three 

men will seize a prisoner, pitch him over the walls, and get 

behind the fort for protection, or into the bomb-proofs."—See 

pages 194 and 195, Report of Committee on the Conduct of 

the War. 

Never before was such an order issued to brave men of war. 

It is beyond criticism because it is incomprehensible. This 

force of gallant sailors and marines should have been properly 

armed. It should have been put on shore the same day the 

army was landed, thus avoiding the undue haste that occurred. 

It should have been placed under the direction and command 

of army officers, accustomed to handle men in field operations. 

These brave but unfortunate men were strung out, by a hurried 

movement under fire, along the sea-beach, with subdivisions of


too small fronts, giving the movement, as seen from the river, 

almost the appearance of a charge by the flank. In fact, Cap- 

tain Selfridge says that the formation was " by a flank." 

This famous "landing order" issued from the "Malvern," 

from which a quotation has been made, and which gave the 

naval officers such minute and peculiar instructions as to the 

arming, landing, and handling the sailors and marines, has never 

been equaled as a blunder, except perhaps at Balaclava, when 

the order was given to the Six Hundred to charge, while cannon 

on three sides of them " vollej-ed and thundered." 

All preparation for the assault was now completed. From 

this moment to the close of the battle the whole direction, 

manoeuvring, and fighting of the army force that operated 

directly against the fort devolved on General Ames. " To him 

more than to any living soul is due the success of the assault, 

on account of the way he put the brigades in and kept them 

there until the final surrender." 

During the entire battle of seven hours, Terry gave Ames 

but two orders,—one as Ames was about to leave the redoubt 

for the attack, and the other when it was nearly dark, and while 

he was directing the fighting of his division inside the fort. 

The memory of Brevet Brigadier-General Charles A. Carle- 

ton, who was then serving as a captain and assistant adjutant- 

general on Ames' staff, as well as my own, is perfectly clear as 

to what was said on this occasion. " I heard Terry's last words 

to Ames," says Carleton, " before we left that redoubt for the 

assault. 

" ' General Ames,' said Terry, ' 

the signal agreed upon for the 

assault has been given.' 

"'Have you any special orders in regard to it?' inquired 

Ames 

"'No,' replied Terry; 'you understand the situation and 

what it is desired to accomplish. I leave everything to your 

discretion.' 

" I went to the rear at least twice," says Carleton, " and saw 

Terry, reporting the condition of afi*airs as they were, and he 

told me he had no instructions for Ames, intimating that he left 

everything to his judgment."


The only other order Ames received during the battle was in 

" General Terry orders that you make one more 

these words : 

effort to capture the fort, and if you fail to retreat." This order 

was delivered to Ames by a staff officer. 

On this order General Ames acted, not only in his general 

orders directing the movement of the several brigades, but in 

the successive steps of the prolonged struggle during the rest 

of the day. He it was who directed the battle, sharing its 

exposures with his officers and men, and inspiring them with 

new courage by his coolness and self-possession. 

General Ames was now ready to advance in order to direct 

and lead the assault. " Gentlemen, we will now go forward," he 

quietly said to his staff. 

As soon as he and his staff appeared on the level place in 

front of the fort, the enemy selected this bunch of officers as a 

target. Ames, noticing this firing, said, " We had better sepa- 

rate somewhat from each other." Before tiiis could be done 

Captains Dawson and Keeler were hit,—Dawson dying of his 

wounds. Captain (afterwards Brevet Brigadier-General) A. G. 

Lawrence, aide-de-camp, had been instructed by General Ames 

to order Curtis' brigade to charge. He was shot down, losing 

an arm and being otherwise severely wounded while placing a 

color on the parapet, which he was the first man to reach while 

accompanying Lent's skirmishers. The writer of this paper 

received a severe contusion on the head, disenabling him for 

some time during the fight. Ames was thus left at the commencement 

of the battle with but two of his personal staff, 

Carleton and Matthews, and Carleton was the only one to 

accompany him when he entered the fort, and the onlj' one not 

either killed or wounded during the assault. 

It was half-past three when the steam-whistles shrieked out 

the signal for the attack. Such vessels as could do so turned 

their guns upon the lover batteries, the others ceased firing. 

The troops and sailors darted forward, vying with each other to 

reach the parapet. The large guns of the fort were so injured 

that few of them could be used against the national columns, 

but the garrison valiantly manned the parapet to resist the 

charge.

A MAti FROM MAINE. 47 

Keeping close to the sea, the sailors and marines charged 

against the sea- and land-face of the northeast bastion with des- 

perate valor; but the marines seemed to fail properly to do the 

work of sharpshooters according to instructions given them. A 

columbiad on the Mound Battery opened on this column, and 

the two Napoleon guns in the redoubt of the centre sally-port 

fired grape and canister into the fated ranks. The parapet now 

swarmed with rebel troops, who exposed themselves with reck- 

less gallantry. They had until then largely reserved their mus- 

ketry fire, but they now poured volley after volley into the 

faltering ranks of the sailors and marines, some of whom had 

reached the berme and sprung up the slope of the fort. It was 

a grand spectacle while it lasted. The brave Lieutenants Pres- 

ton and Porter were instantly killed. The numerous casualties 

did not at first check the exhibition of courage and nerve that 

seemed like madness, but soon the bravest began to fall back. 

The officers could not control the men, who, leaving several hun- 

dred of their comrades dead and dying under the walls of the 

fort, turned and ran, or took shelter under the slope and pali- 

sade of the fort. They were never rallied to charge again, but 

some of them were later in the day put on the defensive line, to 

take the place o{ Abbott's brigade and Blackman's (Twenty- 

seventh United States) colored regiment, that were marched 

against the fort in the evening with the object of re-enforcing 

Ames. 

Simultaneously with the charge of the sailors the recumbent 

men of Curti?" brigade sprang to their feet with a bound and 

charged forward with a wild cheer; many passing through the 

apertures in the palisade, across the dry ditch, and up to the 

parapet, the rest charging over the string-pieces of tbe bridge 

the planks had been torn up—on the road that led around the 

left and rear of the fort. The left of this brigade was exposed 

to a severe enfilading fire, directed by General Whiting, who was 

present in the fort as a volunteer. The Confederate officers 

had scarcely ceased cheering at the repulse of the sailors when 

they were surprised to see Federal battle-flags on the left of their 

work. The ground over which the right of our column passed


was marshy and difficult; sometimes the men sank waist-deep 

into the mire, and some of the wounded perished here. In fact, 

the Confederate commandant, Lamb, thought the marsh was 

impassable for troops. But it did not stop our men, who then 

rushed for the gate-way through the stockade, which extended 

from the bastion to the river. This entrance was covered by a 

Napoleon gun. Two reliefs of rebel gunners with their supports 

were shot down here before the enemy gave way at this point, 

but finally they could resist no longer, and over the dead bodies of 

the blue and gray the charging column entered the fort. A great 

advantage had been gained, and these soldiers now mounted the 

parapet from the inside and joined their comrades who had charged 

the front of the work. They soon had possession of the left 

bastion and of three of the immense traverses. When the fourth 

gun-chamber was reached, out men met with a desperate resist- 

ance, for that portion of the garrison that had defeated the 

"sailors was now turned against us. Now began a series of the 

most terrifir hand-to-hand conflicts ever known in the annals of 

modern warfare, only ending with the surrender of the work. 

The glory of this initial charge by which the fort was entered 

and a foothold gained which could not be broken is due to the 

steady valor of the First Brigade. 

But while we had gained a foothold our position was critical. 

Aside from the exposure from advancing over the field, the cap- 

ture of the first traverses was the easiest part of the afternoon's 

work, and the most quickly accomplished. To hold what we 

had gained tenaciously and to advance with a wise audacity, in 

the face of a determined opposition, to the complete possession 

of a work still most formidable, was the difficult problem to be 

solved by General Ames and his gallant division. There was 

need not onl\- of the valor of veteran troops, well led by their 

immediate officers, but of the personal direction and the cool 

courage of the commander of the division, the man directly 

responsible to his superiors and to the nation for the success of 

a struggle involving such vast interests. The nation should be 

thankful that we had the right man in the right place. 

Having advanced across the field with a coolness which 

elicited the admiration of officers and men, he was early in the


fort, and constantly engaged, with characteristic quietness, in 

directing the disposition of his troops. 

The Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Galusha 

I'ennypacker, which had moved into the position vacated by 

the First, was now ordered up by Ames. As they rose to their 

feet they met a murderous fire. The Forty-seventh New York, 

commanded by Colonel Joseph M. McDonald, held the left 

of the brigade line, somewhat to the east of the centre 

sally-port. As the men of this regiment moved forward its 

entire color-guard was swept away, every man being killed by 

a shot from a Napoleon gun in the redoubt at the sally-port. 

A great number of this brigade gained the fort by passing 

through the openings in the palisading made by the navy fire 

and over the parapet, but the Two Hundred and Third Pennsylvania, 

that held the right, and some others entered the work 

aiound the left bastion. At this juncture Colonel Pennypacker 

was so severely wounded that his life was despaired of for 

many months. 

The contest continued for the fourth traverse. These two 

brigades were somewhat mingled in the fighting on the parapet, 

INTERIOR VIEW OF THE THREE TRAVERSES OF THE NORTHWEST SALIENT ADJOIN- 

ING THE RIVER ROAD. 

but temporary formations were made and rushes followed. 

The contestants fired into each other's faces. The Confederate 

Whiting was plainly seen leading and encouraging his men to 

action. It was at this time he came face to face with some

V v.-.*.:-:- ••i^>.: • ••» .-': _^>l'y

:.:.rsy : .•: 

Scale ofPUiit- 32grt-fi.^ 

o «. Scalê of Section.-!. ^J. F< . I r,.^ 

> 1 ?= 1 1 1 1 1 4^ 1 ["» 

PLAN AND SECTIONS OF FORT FISHER.


Federal soldiers. They called on him to surrender. " Go to 

h you Yankee ! 

, 

" he replied, and tried to get away. 

He was shot down, and died 

York harbor. 

several months afterwards in New 

Ames now sent Carleton to order up the Third Brigade, 

commanded by Colonel Louis Bell, which had been moved up 

to this position just occupied by Pennypacker. Carleton 

directed the column obliquely towards the right so it could 

enter around the left bastion. Bell's manly form was seen at 

the head of his column as it darted over the famous bridge 

which had been repaired by replacing the planks— and in this 

way entered the fort. But it was his last charge, for at this 

point the noble soldier fell mortally wounded. The greater 

part of the brigade was now directed across the interior plane 

of the fort against the rear and inside of the sea-face. Some 

of the men joined the troops on the parapet, where the fighting 

continued for the immense traverses, which were forts of them- 

selves. The ground inside the fort over which the Third 

Brigade had to charge was obstructed by the debris of barracks 

and magazines. The enemy was also sheltered by an old work, 

which was used as a breastwork, and took advantage of every 

object that would afford cover. When Colonel Bell fell, 

Colonel Alonzo Alden took command of the brigade, and 

Lieutenant-Colonel James A. Colvin led the One Hundred and 

Sixty-ninth New York, which was the leading regiment in this 

charge. Colonel Colvin explains the difficulty that existed in 

making an advance against the enemy, who were firing from 

the sea-face, from the openings, of the galleries that ran 

along both sides of the fort, from the old interior work, from 

the magazine, from the debris of buildings, from the barracks, 

and from the hospital. It was desperate work. To make it 

worse, if that were possible, Lamb, the Confederate commander, 

went to the Mound Battery and turned two of its guns on the 

column in the fort. In this way this column received a con- 

centric fire of musketry as well as an artillery fire on its flank. 

Not only did the Mound guns open, but the guns of Battery 

Buchanan poured in shot on the western end of the work, at


one time killing friend and foe alike. When Lamb returned 

from the Mound he brought back with him more than a hun- 

dred of his garrison and threw them in front of those already 

engaged. 

A large number of the traverses of the land-face had been 

taken, the interior plane had been occupied, but Fort Pîshcr 

was not captured. The Third Brigade was within one hundred 

feet of the breastworks inside the fort. Lamb saw he must 

make an heroic effort or all was lost. He massed what men he 

could gather, including those he brought from the Mound; he 

called upon them to follow him, but as he gave the command 

he fell seriously wounded and was carried to the rear. 

Outside the circle of flame and smoke the sun was seen 

setting in a flood of rosy light; men were gladdened at the 

sight, hoping that the fighting would now cease. 

At this time the herculean General Curtis, who had been 

fighting with his men all the afternoon, approached General 

Ames, who was then standing on the interior plane of the fort 

some little distance from the left bastion. Ames was engaged 

in giving some general instructions as to the battle, when Curtis 

suddenly threw up his arms and fell to the ground. He had 

been struck in the eye by a fragment of shell fired from Battery 

Buchanan. Carleton sprang to his relief, and picked up his 

sword, which he carried during the rest of the fight. Curtis 

was borne from the fort, not to die, however, for in a few hours 

he heard the shouts of victory. 

At last Ames stood within this circuit of fire amid the frag- 

ments of his division ; every brigade and almost all of the 

regimental commanders had fallen, as well as most of his 

personal staff, so that for necessary duty substitutes for the 

latter had to be taken temporarily from the most available 

officers at hand. Ames, who had entered the fort at the head 

of the Second Brigade, remained there fighting with his men 

until the close of the action. He had been made particularly 

conspicuous by the prominent and advanced position he occu- 

pied. There he stood among his troops. No advice to retreat, 

no suggestion to postpone the engagement until the following


morning, found a listening ear with him. "Advance! Drive 

" were his repeated orders, To 

the enemy from the works ! 

his determined bravery, tenacity, and skill on this occasion the 

country owes more than to that of any other one officer either 

in the army or navy. 

It was now quite dark, but the battle was not ended. At 

some points the different brigades were mixed up. Here it 

was a soldiers' fight. The men would wait until there were 

enough together for a charge, then some officer would form 

them into line, and they would rush up a traverse and over; 

when they came against the enemy it was cold steel or the butt 

of a gun. At other places the contending forces would blaze 

away into the darkness. They would throw themselves on the 

ground and then come alternately crawling or running for 

position. Hoarse voices were shouting orders, and from the 

huge round traverses, that looked like great sea-billows toppling 

over to engulf all before them, shadowy forms of friend and 

foe were seen in confused masses. 

While the first assault of the combined forces was progress- 

ing, the fire of the navy ceased ; but after the repulse of the 

sailors and marines it was recommenced. At first it was 

directed at the southern portion of the sea-face, including the 

Mound and Battery Buchanan; but later on the fire was 

changed so as to include a large part of the land-face. It was 

attempted to fire on the traverses in front of our men and not 

yet occupied by them. But it was too close work, certainly for 

night-firing, and the consequence was that many of the shells 

fell in the traverses held by the Federals, killing and wounding 

them by the score. The enemy still kept up an impetuous 

resistance, and would not permit darkness to put an end to 

hostilities. They continued the fire from the Mound on the 

interior of the fort, while the navy maintained its fire as 

described, both navy and Confederate shot falling in many 

places amid friend and foe. The bursting of shell, the rattling 

of musketry, the shouts of the men, and the groans of the 

wounded, all united to make up a perfect pandemonium. In 

the midst of this scene Ames sent an officer to Terry to signal


the fleet to cease firing on the land-face. The request was 

comphcd with. 

At tliis late day I retain a vivid impression of the horrors 

of war as then portrayed by the conflict raging about me. 

A lieutenant of the Two Hundred and Third Pennsylvania, who 

had had a leg shattered by a shot from the Confederates, was 

lying in one of the gun-chambers, when a shell from the navy 

tore of his arm. "For God's sake," he exclaimed, "take me 

out of here ! 

" The poor fellow did not live to be carried from 

the fort. The scene at this time was indescribably horrible. 

"Great cannon were broken in two, and o\'er their ruins were 

lying the dead ; 

others lay partly buried in graves dug by the 

shells which had slain them." The outlines of the work could 

now and then be seen by the flash of exploding shell or blaze 

of musketry, but indistinct as the creation of some hideous 

dream. A soldier was shot in the head by a rifle-ball. There 

was no outcry; simply a spurt of blood and all was over. 

"Poor fellow," said his comrade next to him, "who will be 

next?" Death does not always come in this way, for there 

arose now and then an agonizing clamor of wounded men, 

who were writhing in the sand, and in heartrending accents, 

beseeching those near them to end their suffering. The dead 

certainly, and perhaps the wounded, do not count for much on 

a battlefield. A color-bearer had fallen, and though choked by 

blood and sand, he murmured, "I am gone. Take the flag." 

An officer who had been shot through the heart retained nearly 

an erect position ; he seemed leaning against a gun-carriage. 

Some lay outstretched, with their faces in the sand, and others 

who had been near each other when a shell exploded had 

fallen in a confused mass, forming a mingled heap of broken 

limbs and mangled bodies. At times a grim and uncanny 

humor seized a wounded man. Lawrence, of Ames's statt, lay 

on his back; one arm had been amputated, and the other arm 

as well as his neck was pierced by rifle-balls. He had told the 

chaplain to write his father that he could not live. Seeing me 

approach, he motioned me to lean over him, and when I had 

done so, he whispered, as he held up the stump of his amputated


arm, "Isn't this a devil of a bob-tail flush?" These are some 

of the scenes of this human battle-field. 

At eight o'clock the garrison seemed to weaken : its firing 

was not so rapid. Whether this was caused from want of 

ammunition or exhaustion could not at first be determined. 

The Third Brigade, now commanded by Colonel Alden, did not 

cease to press the enemy across the plane, while the other bri- 

gades were fighting on the parapet. About this time General 

Ames, wishing to make " assurance double sure," sent to Gen- 

eral Terry for re-enforcements. He immediately forwarded 

Colonel Abbott's brigade, which arrived at the bridge and left 

bastion at quarter to nine in the evening, and also Blackman's 

Twenty-seventh United States Colored Regiment, which, how- 

ever did not enter the fort. 

These re-enforcements could not well be used in the hand-tohand 

conflict for the traverses. Nor did it seem advisable to throw 

them across the interior plane towards the rear of the sea-face 

of the work, for here the Second Brigade had been checked 

during the day, mainly because of the obstructions presented 

by ruined barracks, lumber, and other rubbish, and which would 

have inevitably thrown any force into confusion in attempting 

to pass over the ground at night. Bearing these facts in mind, 

General Ames ordered Colonel Abbott to move his command 

by flank between the palisading and the foot of the land-face 

of the work till the head of the column should reach the angle 

of the fort, then facing to the right, go over the fort in line of 

battle. The darkness and noise made this movement practi- 

cable. 

When Colonel Colvin, who commanded the leading regiment 

of Ames' Third Brigade, heard that Abbott was coming, he in 

* friendly emulation called on the men to drive the rebels out of 

their works before the re-cnforcements could arrive. At nine 

o'clock, however, a general assault was made, and the garrison 

of the fort fell back in retreat along the sea-face, the rear-guard 

keeping the Union forces engaged as they advanced in the dark- 

ness as far as Battery Buchanan. 

The writer of this paper, who had partially recovered from 

his hurt, had, by order of General Ames, taken charge of the


movement of Abbott's brigade towards the retiring enemy. 

Skirmishers were thrown out as the brigade followed the retreat- 

ing garrison. As we approached near Battery Buchanan the 

writer, who was some distance in advance of Colonel Abbott 

and staff, dimly saw the forms of two men in his front. Up to 

this time—about ten o'clock—we did not know at what moment 

we might be fired upon, or whether the retreat to Battery 

Buchanan meant surrender or not. These men just referred to, 

who proved to be Major James H. Hill and Lieutenant George 

D. Parker, of Colonel Lamb's staff, challenged the writer. When 

they learned they were speaking to a staff-officer of General 

Ames, they stated that they wished to surrender, and asked 

what the terms would be. They were informed that no condi- 

tions could be extended. One of these officers then said, " General 

Whiting and Colonel Lamb are lying seriously wounded 

behind the battery, and we ask that our men be allowed to carry 

them back to Fort Fisher." They were informed that there did 

not seem to be any objection to this course, but that the entire 

disposition of these two wounded officers and of the other prisoners 

must be left to the discretion of Colonel Abbott. The 

writer then asked to be conducted to Whiting and Lamb, whom 

he found lying on the exterior slope of Battery Buchanan. He 

asked these officers for their swords, but some one standing by 

said that they had been thrown into the sea. He did not stop 

to investigate what had been done with them, and ordering 

Abbott to take charge of the prisoners and arms, he mounted 

a horse he had found near by and riding back to the fort 

reported the formal surrender to General Ames. Cheer upon 

cheer now rang out on the night air; the fact of the capture of 

the fort was signaled to the fleet. The naval vessels sent up 

rockets in celebration of the glorious event. In the excitement 

of the moment the killed, the dying, and the wounded were 

apparently forgotten. 

Consequent to the fall of Fort Fisher the enemy, during the 

nights of the sixteenth and seventeenth, blew up Fort Caswell, 

and abandoned both it and their extensive works on Smith's 

Island, at Smithsville and Reeve's Point, and all the works 

erected to defend F"ort Fisher.


There were found in the fort one hundred and sixty-nine 

pieces of artillery, two thousand stand of small arms, commis- 

sary stores, and full supplies of ammunition. The prisoners 

numbered one hundred and twelve commissioned officers and 

nineteen hundred and seventy-one enlisted men.—See General 

Terry's Report. 

The sacrifices of the army, navy and marine corps in killed 

and wounded amounted to eight hundred men. The rebel loss 

was trifling compared to ours. 

In the language of General Ames, " The names of every offi- 

cer and man engaged in this desperate conflict should be men- 

tioned." Space will not allow the full recital of the sacrifices 

and acts of heroism of that eventful day. 

" Of General Ames," says General Terry, in his oflicial report 

of the battle, " I have already spoken in a letter recommending 

his promotion. He commanded all the troops engaged, and 

was constantly under fire. His great coolness, good judgment 

and skill were never more conspicuous than on this assault." 

Colonels Curtis, Pennypacker, Bell, and Abbott, the brigade 

commanders, led their men with the utmost gallantry. 

On the second expedition the fleet was handled with perfect 

skill, and the firing was most effective. Every request made by 

Terry of Porter was cheerfully complied with, and the utmost 

harmony existed between them from the outset to the close of 

the battle. 

The assault of the sailors and marines although it failed, 

undoubtedly contributed to the success of the army. But this 

repulse proved to be a short-lived victory, for the enemy had 

scarcely tmie to utter a shout of triumph before it found itself 

called upon to turn its entire force against the army, which it 

engaged in a hand-to-hand fight for seven hours, and during 

which time the sailors took no part in the fighting, and strange 

as it may appear, no attempt was made to rally them to renew 

their effort to " board the fort in a seaman-like manner." 

In the uncertain light of the early dawn our exhausted men 

could be seen, with here and there one of the enemy of whom 

no notice had been taken, lying on the sand wrapped in their


blankets just where they had found themselves after the fight, 

whether they had joined their own regiments or not. They lay 

like corpses with their bronzed faces rigid in the slumber of 

sheer exhaustion. To arouse them from their death-like sleep 

they had to be rudely shaken, when with haggard eyes they 

arose like beings summoned against their wills from much 

needed rest. 

The writer comes now to the relation of an episode as dread 

as it was unexpected. 

In the northeast angle of the fort was the reserve magazine. 

It was a frame structure twenty by sixty feet and six feet high, 

covered with eighteen feet or more of sand well turfed, and 

contained probably thirteen thousand pounds of powder. It 

made an artificial mound most inviting to a wearied soldier, and 

after the fight Colonel Alden's One Hundred and Sixty-ninth 

New York Regiment found itself near it. The members of this 

regiment laid themselves there for rest. Two sailors who had 

wandered into the fort, and who, it is said, had drunk of brandy 

found in the hospital, were seen to enter the magazine. The 

next moment the green mound blew up, killing some two hun- 

dred Federal soldiers and some Confederates. The entire struct- 

ure, with a dull, heavy sound that shook the surrounding 

country, went up into the air like an immense water-spout, with 

timbers, debris, and human forms flying against the sky. The 

existence of telegraph-wires between a bomb-proof near this 

magazine gave rise to the belief that it had been purposely 

exploded from the opposite shore, but an official investigation 

traced it to the sailors already mentioned. 

The writer wishes to draw attention to the fact that Whiting 

and Lamb, through staft'-officers, had requested to be taken back 

to the fort after the battle. They would not have made this 

request if they had known the magazine was to be exploded 

the next morning. Certainly if the magazine was to have been 

exploded they would have known it. 

By a providential change of mind the life of General Ames 

was spared from this catastrophe, as he had at one time after 

the surrender decided to establish his headquarters for the rest


of the night in a small out-building on the very spot of this 

explosion. 

Admiral Porter's theory in relation to the force necessary to 

capture the fort seems to have been that alter the navy had 

bombarded it any land force could successfully assault it, and 

that when such a force had reached the parapet, the garrison 

would capitulate. Porter makes use of the following language 

in describing the events of the first expedition : " Until late in 

the day of the 26th the fort lay at our mercy, and if the men 

had not been brought off the rebels would have surrendered 

when they marched up and the navy opened fire." (See Report 

of Committee on the Conduct of the War, page 78.) . . . 

"They [the forts] were so blown up, burst up, and torn up that 

the people inside had no intention of fighting any longer. . . 

Never was a fort that invited soldiers to walk in and take pos- 

. . We have shown 

session more plainly than Fort Fisher. . 

the weakness of this work. It can be taken at any moment in 

one hour's time."—See Report of Secretary of Navy, page 51. 

To the superficial observer the final capture of the fort might 

seem to prove the correctness of these views, but in fact it 

establishes the contrary. It has been shown by the experience 

of the second expedition that assaulting the fort was but a small 

part of the work to be done, for after the troops had gained the 

inside and rear of the land- and sea-face of the fort, the fight, 

which partook of the nature of a battle of infantry against 

infantry, continued for over seven hours. This great fact has 

been lost sight of by those who believe that the engineer offi- 

cers showed a lack of judgment on the first expedition. Porter, 

however, afterwards changed his mind on the subject of the 

strength of the fort and the forces necessary to carry it. In 

his testimony before the Committee on the Conduct of the 

War (see page 190) he says, " I have since visited Pôrt Pîsher 

and the adjoining works, and find their strength greatly beyond 

what I had conceived. An engineer might be excusable in 

saying they could not be captured except by regular siege. I 

wonder even now how it was done. The work, as I said before, 

is really stronger than the Malakoff Tower, which defied so 

long the combined power of P^'rance and England."


All honor to the officers and men on land and sea, who, dis- 

heartened by no defeat, discouraged by no obstacle, appalled 

by no danger, neither paused nor swerved until the national 

colors floated over the ramparts of Fort Fisher, thus closing 

the gate-way of the Confederacy to the outer world. 

While the events that have just been described were taking 

place before Fort Fisher, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, 

who had been at Savannah, in conference with General Sher- 

man, was returning north on the steamer " Spaulding." On the 

day following the capture of the fort he arrived off New Inlet, 

and called on Admiral Porter and General Terry, who had gone 

on board the " Malvern," and then learned of this brilliant 

achievement of the army and navy. After receiving the infor- 

mation imparted to him by Admiral Porter as to the navy and 

by General Terry as to the army, he proceeded to Fortress 

Monroe. On his arrival at that place he sent a dispatch to the 

President. That this famous telegram, which recites the move- 

ments and action of the army was inspired by Alfred H. Terry 

and dictated by him to Edwin M. Stanton does not admit of 

a shadow of a doubt, nay more, that portion of it which 

describes the army operations discloses its source as clearly as 

if it had been signed b)- Terry himself. 

The Secretary's dispatch to the President is marked " Official." 

It is dated Fortress Monroe, Tuesday, lo A. M., January 17th, 

1865. This was the first official statement that reached the 

people. The names, it contains, became impressed on the public 

mind, and incredible as it may appear the name of Adelbert 

Ames is not once mentioned in this dispatch to the President as 

proved by the following extracts which include every name 

occurring therein : 

EXTRACTS. 

" The rebel flag of Fort Fisher was delivered to me on board 

the steamer ' Spaulding,' off that place, yesterday morning, 

January 16, by Major-General Terry. An acknowledgment and 

thanks for their gallant achievement was given in your name to


Admiral Porter and General Terry, from whom the following 

particulars were obtained." 

" A reconnoissance was made by General Terry on Saturday." 

% ^ % ^ % ^ 'i^ 

" The front was assaulted at the hour mentioned by a column 

of seamen and marines, eighteen hundred strong, under command 

of Captain Breese." 

"The assault on the other and most difficult side of the fort 

was made 

******* 

by a column of three thousand troops of the old 

Tenth Corps, led by Colonel Curtis, tinder the immediate supervision 

of General Terry."— (The italics are the author's.) 

" Admiral Porter contributed to the success of the assaulting 

column by signals between himself and General Terry at brief 

intervals."******* 

" At about ten o'clock at night the enemy were entirely driven 

from the fort, forced down towards Federal Point, followed by 

a brigade of our troops, and about twelve o'clock at night, Gen- 

eral Whiting surrendered himself and his command to General 

Terry." 

" Colonel Curtis was severely but not mortally wounded. 

Colonel Bell died of his wounds Monday morning. Colonel J. 

W. Moore and Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman were killed. Colonel 

Pennypacker was badly wounded, also Lieutenant-Colonel Coan." 

******* 

"General Leroy reported to Surgeon-General Barnes that he 

had ample provision of surgeons," etc. 

******* 

" How the explosion occurred was not known; but General 

Terry believed it was occasioned by accident or neglect." 

" General Hoke's division, reported as five thousand, was at 

Wilmington. ... A demonstration was made by General 

Hoke against our defensive line."


" Their respective commanders, Admiral Porter and General 

Terry, 

******* 

vied in their commendation of each other. Each seemed 

more anxious to do justice to the other than to claim anything 

for himself." 

******* 

" General Beauregard, a few days before, pronounced it [the 

fort] impregnable." 

" General Whiting had three wounds in the thigh. Colonel 

Lamb also, who had gone into the fort with re-enforccments 

and to relieve General Whiting on Sunday, is wounded." 

The history of the Civil War docs not afford a parallel to 

the successful assault on Fort P'isher, and the conflicts of other 

lands would be searched in vain for its counterpart, for in no 

war until the Crimean had the system of earthwork defenses 

been tested, and in the Crimea there is no instance of a suc- 

cessful assault upon any work till it had been regularly approached 

by elaborate and protracted siege operations. For the first time 

a really formidable earthwork was carried by a direct assault, 

and in a military view, therefore, the storming of Fort Fisher is 

probably entitled to be reckoned the most brilliant, as it surely 

was the most remarkable victory of the war. 

From the facts that have been set down in this paper, does it 

not occur to the reader's sense of justice that Terr\-, in failing 

to acknowledge Ames' services, and by suppressing his name in 

the recital that was about to go before the country, and one that 

would be sure to make a wrong impression that only iiistory 

could correct, did a great injustice to a gallant officer? If Terry 

had stated that the fighting and leadership of the troops had 

devolved on Ames, who led the charge over the walls of Fort 

Fisher with his division and remained fighting with it, and the 

other troops that were sent to him, until the close of the action, 

he (Terry) would have told a plain and truthful tale; but when 

he put his own name forward as personally supervising the con- 

flict—except within the scope of his action as already stated 

he did a wrong to the actual hero of the fight, whose name 

should be a household word throughout the land.


While there was an irony in the fate of that officer who was 

shot by an Indian and had his name spelt incorrectly in the 

newspapers, there was a refinement of injustice in the suppres- 

sion of the name and deeds of Adelbert Ames in this recital of 

the capture of Fort F"isher, inspired and dictated by the gene- 

ral commanding, as it was, and made authoritative by the sig- 

nature of the secretary of war. 

Terry's information and description given to Stanton was like 

a representation of Hamlet with the role of Hamlet omitted. 

In Major-General Terry's official report of the battle, which 

was sent to the adjutant-general of the army, he says of Gene- 

ral Ames, " I have already spoken in a letter recommending his 

promotion. He commanded all the troops engaged and \vas 

constantly under fire. His great coolness, good judgment, and 

skill were never more conspicuous than on this assault." 

This report to the adjutant-general of the army was not the 

one he gave to Secretary Stanton in person, and must not be 

confounded with it. 

The report to the great War Secretary went blazing forth to 

the whole world, and was known of all men ; 

the 

other report 

went direct to a pigeon-hole in the War Department. 

For that day's work Terry was promoted brigadier-general in 

the regular army ; 

Colonel 

Pennypacker, among other promo- 

tions, received that of brigadier-general of volunteers, and Colo- 

nel Curtis was made a brigadier-general of volunteers, while the 

record shows that Ames, who was then a brigadier-general of 

volunteers, was " promoted Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. Army 

for gallant and meritorious services at the capture of F"ort 

Fisher, N. C, January 15th, 1865 " ! 

(Official.) 

FROM SECRETARY STANTON TO THE PRESIDENT. 

(From the New York Times, Thurselay, January ig, iS6j.) 

Fortress Monrok, Tuesday, January 17, 1865, 10 p. M. 

" The rebel flag of Fort Fisher was delivered to me on board 

the steamer * Spaulding,' off that place, yesterday morning, Jan-


uary i6, by Major-General Terry. An acknowledgment and 

thanks for their gallant achievement was given in your name to 

Admiral Porter and General Terr}-, from whom the following 

particulars were obtained : The troops arrived off Fort Fisher 

Thursday night; Friday they were all landed under cover of a 

heavy fire from the squadron. A reconnoissance was made by 

General Tcrr\' on Saturday. A strong defensive line against 

any of the enemy's forces coming from Wilmington was estab- 

lished on Saturday, and held by four thousand men, chiefly 

colored troops, and an assault was determined on The assault 

was made on Sunday afternoon at half-past three o'clock. 

" The sea-front of the fort had been greatly damaged and 

broken by a continuous and terrible fire of the fleet for three 

days, and the front was assaulted at the hour mentioned by a 

column of seamen and marines, eighteen hundred strong, under 

command of Captain Breese. They reached the parapet; but 

after a short conflict this column was checked, driven back in 

disorder, and was afterwards placed on the defensive line, tak- 

ing the place of a brigade that was brought up to re-enforce 

the assaulting column of troops. Although the assault on the 

sea-front failed, it performed a useful part in diverting the atten- 

tion of the enemy and weakening their resistance to the attack 

by the troops on the other side. The assault on the other and 

most difficult side of the fort was made by a column of three 

thousand troops of the old Tenth Corps, led by Colonel Curtis, 

under the immediate supervision oi General Terry. The ene- 

my's force in the fort was over two thousand. The conflict 

lasted for seven hours. The works were so constructed that 

every traverse afforded the enemy a new defensive position, 

from whence they had to be driven. They were seven in num- 

ber, and the fight was carried on from traverse to traverse for 

seven hours by a skillfull}- directed fire thrown into the trav- 

erses. One after another they were occupied by the enemy. 

Admiral Porter contributed to the success of the assaulting column 

by signals between himself and General Terry at brief 

intervals. The fire was so well managed as to damage the 

enemy without injury to our troops.


" At about ten o'clock at night the enemy were entirely 

driven from the fort, forced down towards Federal Point, fol- 

lowed by a brigade of our troops, and about twelve o'clock at 

night, General Whiting surrendered himself and his command 

to General Terry unconditionally as prisoners of war, numbering 

over eighteen hundred, the remainder of his force being killed 

and wounded. 

" Our loss was not accurately ascertained on Monday after- 

noon, but was estimated at between seven and eight hundred in 

killed and wounded, besides the naval loss, which was slight, 

not exceeding one hundred killed and wounded. Not a snip 

nor a transport was lost. 

" Colonel Curtis was severely but not mortally wounded. 

Colonel Bell died of his wounds Monday morning. Colonel J. 

W. Moore and Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman were killed. Colonel 

Pennypacker was badly wounded ; also Lieutenant-Colonel 

Coan. A complete list of the killed and wounded will be forwarded 

as soon as it can be prepared. 

" General Leroy reported to Surgeon-General Barnes that he 

had ample provision of surgeons, nurses, and hospital supplies 

for the wounded. They will be sent north to their respective 

States as fast as they can be placed on transports, of which 

there was ample supply. 

" On Monday morning, between six and seven o'clock, the 

magazine of Fort Fisher exploded, killing and wounding two 

or three hundred persons. 

" After the capture of the fort all the troops were withdrawn, 

except one brigade left in charge of the works. 

" How the explosion occurred was not known ; but General 

Terry believed it was occasioned by accident or neglect. 

" General Hoke's division, rei)orted as five thousand, was at 

Wilmington. A portion of it was thrown into the fcrt not long 

before the assault; and while that was going on a demonstra- 

tion was made by General Hoke against our defensive line, but 

it was found too strong for anything more than a skirmishing 

attack. 

"About eleven o'clock on Monday morning a heavy cloud 

of smoke was observed over Fort Smith, on the south side of


New Inlet. The naval oflficer commanding that station reported 

that the enemy had fired their barracks and evacuated the fort. 

"Vou will be pleased to know that perfect harmony and con- 

cert of action existed between the land and naval forces, and 

their respective commanders, Admiral Porter and General 

Terry, vied in their commendation of each other. Each 

seemed more anxious to do justice to the other than to claim 

anything for himself, and they united in the highest commenda- 

tion of the naval and military officers and the forces engaged. 

To this harmony of feeling, and the confident spirit inspired, 

ma\-, perhaps, be attributed, in some degree, the success of our 

attack, with nearly equal numbers, against a resolute enemy in 

a work unsurpassed, if ever equaled, in strength, and which 

General lêauregard, a few days before, pronounced impregnable. 

The armament of the fort was seventy-two guns, some 

of large calibre and rifled, and one Armstrong gun. The 

troops in the fort had rations for sixteen days. Their loss in 

killed and wounded was between four hundred and five hundred. 

General Whiting had three wounds in the thigh. Colonel 

Lamb also, who had gone into the fort with re-enforcements 

and to relieve General Whiting on Sunday, was wounded. On 

Monday everything was quiet as a Sabbath-day. The dead 

were being buried and the wounded collected and placed in 

transports and field hospitals. 

Edwin M. Stanton, 

''Secretary of War." 

Fort Fisher (Second Expedition). Capture. 

GENERAL AMES'S REPORT. 

Headquarters Second Division Twenty- fourth Army Corps, 

Fort Fisher, January i6, 1865. 

" Captain A. Terry, Assistant Adjutant-General: 

" I have the honor to submit the following report of the late 

movements and operations of this division : 

" On the night of the 2d the division, which had just returned 

to its camp from a demonstration against this point, received


orders to prepare for a second expedition. I left camp on the 

3d, and embarked on ocean transports at Bermuda Hundred, 

between the hours of 7 and 9 v. M., on the 4th instant. The 

transport fleet sailed from Fortress Monroe on the morning of 

the i3th instant. 

"At 3 o'clock P. M. on the 15th, we stormed Fort Fisher. 

Brevet Brigadier-General N. M. Curtis' brigade (the First) made 

a lodgment on the northwest angle of the fort. I immediately 

ordered up Colonel G. A. Pennypacker's brigade (the Second). 

The enemy was at once driven from behind the palisading 

extending from the fort to the river, and about one-third of the 

work, its northwest angle, occupied by us. I then ordered up 

Colonel Bell's brigade (the Third), and moved it forward against 

and in rear of the sea-face of the work, the ground being much 

obstructed by the ruins of the barracks, lumber, and other rub- 

bish ; the enemy being protected by traverses, and taking 

advantage of the cover afforded by magazines, etc., checked 

our advance. Fighting of a most obstinate character continued 

till after dark, during which time we made considerable advance- 

ment on the left and captured about four hundred prisoners. 

" About 8 o'clock P. M., Colonel Abbott with his brigade com- 

pleted the occupation of the face of the work, extending from 

the ocean to the river. A general advance was now made, and 

the fort occupied without opposition. 

" The conduct of the officers and men of this division was 

most gallant. Aided by the fire of the navy and an attacking 

column of sailors and marines along the sea beach, we were 

able to pass over the open ground in front of the fort, through 

the gaps in the palisading in the ditch made by the nax-al fire, 

and finally to carry the work. 

" Where the name of every officer and man engaged in this 

desperate conflict should be submitted, I shall at present only 

be able to give a few of those most conspicuous. It is to be 

hoped that all may be suitably rewarded. 

"Brevet Brigadier-General N. M. Curtis, commanding First 

Brigade, was prominent throughout the day for his bravery, 

coolness, and judgment. His services cannot be overestimated.


He fell a short time before dark, seriously wounded in the head 

by a canistor-sh>;t. Colonel G. A. Pennypacker, commanding 

Second Brigade, was seriously wounded while planting his col- 

ors on the third traverse of the work. This officer was sur- 

passed by none, and his absence during the day was most deeply 

felt and seriously regretted. Colonel L. Bell, commanding 

Third Brigade, was mortally wounded while crossing the bridge 

in advance of the palisading. He was an able and efficient 

officer, one not easily replaced. 

" I here submit the names of the regimental commanders, 

and in connection with the brigade commanders is the credit 

due them for the heroic conduct of their men. 

"Regimental commanders: First Brigade—One Hundred 

and Forty-second New York Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel A. 

M. Barney; One Hundred and Seventeenth New York Volun- 

teers, Lieutenant-Colonel F. H. Meyer; One Hundred and 

Twelfth New York Volunteers, Colonel J. F. Smith; Third 

New York Volunteers, Lieutenant E. A. Behan. Second Brig- 

ade—Forty-eighth New York Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel 

\V. B. Coan ; Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, Colonel 

J. Forty-seventh 

S. Littell ; 

New York Volunteers, Captain J. 

M. McDonald; Two Hundred and Third Pennsylvania Volun- 

teers, Colonel J. VV. Moore; Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, 

First Lieutenant J. VVainwright. Third Brigade—One 

Hundred and Sixty-ninth New York Volunteers, Colonel Alonzo 

Alden ; Thirteenth Indiana Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel S. 

M. Zent; Fourth New Hampshire Volunteers, Captain J. H. 

Roberts; One Hundred and Fifteenth New York Volunteers, 

Lieutenant-Colonel N. J. Johnson. 

" Colonel J. VV. Moore, Two Hundred and Third Pennsylva- 

nia Volunteers, behaved with the most distinguished gallantry. 

He was killed while passing the second traverse of the fort in 

advance of his regiment waving his colors. 

" F"ew equaled, none surpassed, the brave officer, Lieutenant- 

Colonel S. M. Zent, in command of the Thirteenth Indiana; 

his own regiment and a detachment of volunteers from the First 

Brigade, numbering in all one hundred men, were deployed


within two or three hundred yards of the fort, and by their fire 

materially aided our advance. 

" Major J. R. Lawrence, Thirteenth Indiana Volunteers, and 

Lieutenant-Colonel James A. Colvin, One Hundred and Sixty- 

ninth New York Volunteers, also behaved in the most gallant 

manner, and rendered efficient service in collecting and organ- 

izing the troops which had become separated from their commands 

in the charge and in leading them to positions where 

important advantages were gained. 

" Captain G. W. Huckins, Fourth New Hampshire Volun- 

teers, and First Lieutenant J. Konig, Seventh United States 

Colored Troops, aides on the staff of Colonel L. B. Bell, commanding 

Third Brigade, were untiring in their labors and rendered 

valuable services in the absence of my staff-officers, who 

had been stricken down in the early part of the engagement. 

" Privates Ulric Chapin and James Spring, Company G, One 

Hundred and Forty-second, D. O. Hotchkiss, Company A, and 

O. R. Kingsland, Company D, One Hundred and Twelfth New 

York Volunteers, volunteered to approach to a point consider- 

ably in advance of our skirmish line, which they did do, and by 

this step valuable information with reference to the ditch was 

gained. 

" Private James Cadman, wounded ; William Cabe, Company 

B, George Hoyt and S. R. Portens, Company C, D. H. Morgan 

and Edward Petue, Company E, E. H. Cooper, Company G, 

wounded; Silas Baker, Company H, missing; George Merril 

and William J. McDuff, Company I, Z. E. Ncahel and Brure 

Anderson, Company K, One Hundred and Forty-second New 

York Volunteers, volunteered to advance with the head of the 

column and cut down the palisading. Copies of the reports of 

the brigade commanders will be forwarded. In them will be 

found lists of officers and men who particularly distinguished 

themselves. It is recommended that medals be bestowed upon 

all enlisted men mentioned. 

" To my staff"-officers I am particularly indebted for their zeal 

and gallantry throughout the day : 

they were constantly passing 

to and fro and exposed to the hottest fire. I would respectfully

A CAVALRYMAN IN THE ELEVENTH MAINE. 71 

recommend that they be brevetted for their services : Captain 

Charles A. Carleton, assistant adjutant-general; Captain A. G. 

Lawrence, acting aide-de-camp ; 

de-camp ; 

Captain H. C. Lockvvood, aide- 

Captain R. W. Dawson, assistant inspector-general; 

Captain J. S. Matthews, provost-marshal ; ("aptain B. B. Keeler. 

mustering-officer. 

" Captain Lawrence was the first man through the palisading, 

and in extending his hand to receive a guidon which he intended 

to place on the parapet of the works a shell exploded near him, 

taking oft" his left arm and seriously injuring his throat. He 

was afterwards shot in the right arm. For his services on this 

occasion, as well as those on a former one, I most earnestly urge 

his promotion. 

" Captain Dawson was disabled by a wound in the left arm. 

"To Captain Lockwood, General Whiting and Colonel Lamb 

surrendered with the garrison at Fort Buchanan. 

" I am very respectfully your obedient servant, 

(Signed^ "A. Ames, 

" Brigadier- General Volu)itecrs." 

Brevet Major H. C. Lockwood, 

Aidc-de-Camp to General Ames. 

A Cavalryman in the Eleventh Maine Infantry. 

CAPT. MONROE DAGGETT, ST. MARIES, IDAHO. 

After being discharged from the First Maine Cavalry, having 

served three years, two months and six days, I immediately 

accepted a commission as second lieutenant in the Eleventh 

Maine Infantry and went to Galloups Island, Boston harbor, to 

await transportation to the front. After remaining there a few 

weeks drilling recruits, we took ship for Fortress Monroe, Va., 

on the transport Mississippi. Quite a full account of that voy- 

age can be found in the National Tribune of Februar)- i8th, 

1892. under the heading, " Fighting Them Over," from the pen 

of A. C. McShane, who was a passenger on the ship. On


arriving at my regiment I found quite as pleasant a state of 

affairs as I expected. I was well received by the officers, and 

very kindly treated. I was quite sick for two weeks from the 

effects of my sea voyage but continued on duty. We were 

camped at Chapin's farm, a few miles from Richmond, and 

about my first duty was to go on picket in front of the confed- 

erate capital, where " eternal vigilance was the price of liberty." 

My training in the cavalry came in good play. I knew all about 

picketing, and had the reputation of the First Maine Cavalry to 

sustain, for I soon acquired the title of the " Cavalry Lieuten- 

ant." Every officer felt that his regiment was equal to the best 

and deserving" quite as much credit as any other; therefore, 

coming from such a noted regiment I was not looked upon as a 

recruit, by any means, and you will pardon me, I trust, if I say 

that I did not play the part of a recruit, at least such was not 

my intention. I felt that I was a miniature Atlas, and had the 

reputation of the First Maine Cavalry on my shoulders, which 

I fully determined to carry. 

In the direction of Cold Harbor, Gen. Kautz' cavalry was 

doing picket duty during March, 1865, and when Sheridan came 

down from the Shenandoah Valley, Gen. Kautz was ordered to 

meet him. Consequently infantry had to take his place. A 

detachment was sent from my regiment and by mere chance, I 

always thought, I was sent in command. We remained four 

days on picket, and strange to state I was not relieved during 

the time. If my memory serves me right I did not sleep dur- 

ing the four days. We were finally relieved and returned to 

camp, just in time to find tents struck and all ready for a night 

march. We crossed the James and the Appomattox rivers that 

night and did not halt until the next morning, and then only 

long enough to eat breakfast. The ne.xt night we halted in front 

of Petersburg, near the camp of the Sixth Maine Battery, in 

which command I had a brother. I went to his tent, sat down 

on his bunk while he made me a cup of coffee, but before the 

coffee was ready I was asleep, and all efforts to wake me failed 

until the next morning. To my great satisfaction my regiment 

had not moved and I had not been missed, so far as I ever


learned. The next mornins^, March 29th, we marched for 

Hatcher's Run, within a few miles of which place we met the 

enemy's skirmish line and they objected to our further advance, 

but we advanced all the same up to within about four hundred 

yards of their works and got down to business in earnest. We 

skirmished in the day time and did picket b}' nii^ht until the 

first day of April, when just before daylight the Eleventh Mis- 

sissippi charged our pickets, capturing several men of our reg- 

iment and one officer and killed Lieut. Ireland of Co. H and 

seriously wounded Major Baldwin in the shoulder, from which 

he is still a cripple. 

During the day much was said about the aftair, and Capt. 

Maxfield (a splendid fellow) whose lieutenant had been killed, 

was trying to smooth the affair over, when I showed a very 

large amount of indiscretion by stating in a very positive man- 

ner that in my humble opinion there was no cause for such a 

surprise, that my regiment (emphasizing the my) was never 

taken in, in any such way, and that there was not a corporal in 

the regiment that would have allowed such a surprise had he 

been in command. Col. Hill was standing near by and took in 

the conversation, as I soon learned, when Adjt. Hanscomb noti- 

fied me that I would be for picket that night. My brain was 

not so thick as to prevent my seeing through the cause of my 

detail for picket at that time, when I had just returned from 

four da}'s picket duty. The adjutant was my friend and sym- 

pathized with me, but it was the colonel's orders and I had to 

go. On reporting at brigade headquarters I found m}'self the 

ranking officer on the line that night, Lieut. Griswold of the 

Tenth company being the only officer with me. The old picket 

was relieved and we went on duty. I stationed my men in 

holes in the ground that the Rcbs had dug for picket posts, 

twelve men in each post, just far enough apart to be a heavy 

skirmish line when deployed. I walked the line that night until 

about two A. iM. when a fearful fire of musketry commenced up 

the line near Fort Hell and it seemed to me as if the enemy 

were advancing, and I looked very anxiously for the brigade 

officer of the day (my friend Capt. Maxfield of my regiment).


He did not come. Fearing that an advance would be made in 

our front and the reputation of the First Maine Cavalry resting 

on my shoulders would not be fully sustained, I deployed my 

skirmish line (without orders) and advanced towards the ene- 

my's entrenchments. Before advancing I went along the line 

and gave directions to every post to advance or fall back as the 

center of the line did, without orders, which command was fully 

obeyed. We advanced up to the first line of abatis, very quietly 

tore it down and, as the firing up the line somewhat ceased 

and no advance from the enemy in prospect, we fell back to our 

picket posts without anybody knowing that we had advanced 

one rod. All was quiet again and I was once more happy. 

About an hour before daylight the fog fell so thick that we 

could not see six feet, and as that was the condition of affairs 

the morning before when our picket line was surprised I felt 

sure that another advance would be made by the enemy. So, 

being fully determined to sustain the reputation that I had 

given the First Maine Cavalry, I advanced the picket line a sec- 

ond time, that I might surprise the Rebs instead of being sur- 

prised by them. That time we advanced to the second or last 

line of abatis and took that down also, marched a couple of 

rods inside and halted preparatory to giving our friends a warm 

reception when they came out to carry our picket line again. 

They did not attempt this, but when daylight came they gave 

us a very warm reception indeed. My men returned their fire 

from behind stumps while they fired from behind their breast- 

works. We settled down to business and I was sustaining the 

reputation of " my regiment " with a vengeance. The First 

Maine Cavalry always obeyed orders but I was into it in Al 

shape without orders. 

About this time Lieut. George Paine of my regiment came to 

my relief with about one hundred men, took position on the 

right of the line and opened fire. I did not go to interview him 

as my position behind a big pine stump was much safer than 

out in open ground. In a short time some of my men commenced 

calling for more ammunition, and then and only until 

then did I realize my perilous situation. I had advanced with-


out orders, brought on an engagement, and was nearly out of 

animunition. and to fall back meant the loss of at least one-half 

of my men, and if I did not get killed or captured I would 

surely be cashiered, so my only chance for my life and the rep- 

utation of the old First Maine was to charge the works—and 

get captured. I did not stop to think twice but gave the order 

—^just as we lay behind the stumps— " Fix ba)'onets ! 

" which 

order was promptly obeyed by every man, including Lieut. 

Paine's detachment, and at the command " Charge ! 

" every 

man was on his feet and trying to get over those breastworks 

before the other fellow got there. Over we went, and to our 

extreme joy the little force of ninety-two men that had been 

left to be captured b}^ us surrendered. I only had eight men 

wounded. A West V'irginia brigade on our left and across 

Hatcher's Run, commanded by Gen. Harris I think, immedi- 

ately charged and carried the works in their front, capturing 

everything. My good friend, Capt. Maxfield—brigade officer 

of the day before— put in an appearance and about the same 

time Gen. Harris showed up in the redan that we had taken and 

asked who ordered that charge. I replied that I did, and after 

inquiring our regiment he walked away with the remark, " You 

will hear from me, young man." I did not know whether he 

meant Capt. Maxfield or myself, but I hoped that he meant 

the captain for he spoke in anything but commending terms, 

but we never heard anything from him, at least I did not. 

The really interesting part was, our brigade had gone to 

Petersburg, Fort Gregg, in the night and left the officer of the 

day with Lieut. Paine's company to bring my command away 

after daylight, which he did as soon as he could get where we 

were. He remained with Lieut. Paine until after the charge, 

which was quite as dangerous as where I was. We joined our 

regiment just before the final charge on Fort Gregg. The next 

morning when the regiment was reorganized Capt. Maxfield 

was assigned to duty as major and I was given command of his 

Co. IL which positions we held until we returned \o Richmond 

after the surrender at Appomattox, our regiment taking an act- 

ive part in the last charge a few moments after Lee had surren-


dcred. After returning to Richmond I was detached from my 

regiment and assigned to duty as assistant provost marshal, 

where I remained until the city was turned over to civil authority. 

In conclusion, I wish to say that I had a \'ery mistaken idea 

of the infantry, as all know who were there. The last campaign 

was the hardest of the war, and the infantry made cavalry time 

on that march, and I have to report that the infantry service 

except the last campaign was a picnic as compared with the 

cavalry service. I was never punished or even reprimanded 

for my action on the skirmish line at Hatcher's Run, but on the 

contrary was on the best of terms with every officer and man 

in the regiment, from the colonel down. And just here I want 

to record the fact that no better, braver, more faithful to duty 

and the cause of the Union lot of officers and men were ever 

organized into a regiment than those comprising the Eleventh 

Maine Infantry, from Col. Hill down, your humble servant 

excepted of course. After serving a full term in the First 

Maine Cavalry I ought to know whereof I speak. My service 

in the infantry was of the most pleasant and satisfactory char- 

acter, considering the time and duties to be performed, and I 

look back to the days that I spent with the Eleventh Maine 

Infantry, counting even the hard work and exhaustion of the 

time from Chapin's farm on the north side of the James River 

to Appomattox Court House and back to Richmond as among 

the most pleasant of my life. 

Eleventh Maine at Appomattox Court House. 

BY THOMAS J. HOLMES, SECOND SERGEANT, CO. G. 

I will commence my story April 8th, 1865. We commenced 

marching at the Appomattox river at a burnt bridge west of 

I'ârmville, where we arrived the night of the seventh of April. 

We started before daylight in a thick fog back for the main 

road \vc left the night of the seventh. The road on which we 

continued to march all day was the road over which the cavalry 

had gone, and all along the way we saw jaded and played

THE ELEVENTH MAINE AT APPOMATTOX. 77 

out horses which had been turned loose. About six o'clock in 

the afternoon we heard cannon firing and fighting going on in 

front of us a good distance ahead ; 

later on a courier came back 

and the news spread like fire running through the grass that 

Sheridan's cavalry had captured a train of cars loaded with supplies; 

then our officers commenced urging us on. Away we 

went, until eleven o'clock that night, the eighth of April, '65. 

We came up to the railroad and trains and to the cavalry guard- 

ing the same, pushed across the track where two cars had been 

shackled, then crossed a broad turnpike into a pine forest, and 

here lay down for the night. At four o'clock in the morning, 

April 9th, we moved up the broad pike straight ahead, with 

woods on the left side and fields on the right. We arrived just 

at daybreak at an almost square turn in the pike to the left, and 

in the field on the right side of the pike were the headquarters 

of Generals Sheridan and Custer. Our men at this time commenced 

singing out " hot coffee." Gen. Sheridan came out and 

said something to our commander. Gen. Ord. Our division, 

the first. Twenty-fourth Army Corps, filed in to the field on the 

right of the pike and commenced cooking coffee. The water 

had not boiled when we heard rifle shots away out on the pike. 

Soon they got thicker and faster and we had orders to fall in 

quick. We kicked over the hot water and fell into line as quick 

as we could. Orders were given to double-quick, so on we 

went double-quick; a heavy growth of timber on the left side 

of the pike and scrub oaks on the right. We had double- 

quicked a long distance when we came to a down hill grade in 

the pike. Here we met some of the cavalry falling back, com- 

ing out of the scrub oak on the right side of the pike, and I 

remember well a cavalry major coming up the pike and singing 

out at the top of his voice for us to fall back, that we would all 

be taken prisoners. Gen. Hill ordered us forward, and we 

charged the pike till we came to si.x pieces of artillery—twelvepound 

brass-pieces— in the middle of the pike. Right here 

was a road on the left of the pike leading to Lynchburg, as we 

understood at the time. Wc passed this road and the cannon, 

meeting horses without riders. We cleared our way until we


came to a pair of bars leading into a small field, triangular in 

shape, surrounded by woods on- all sides. We tore the bars 

away and charged into the field. Here we formed a new line 

of battle and marched in line to the back end of the field, close 

to the fence. I must mention here that there were one or two 

old rebel wagons in this field, loaded with all kinds of plunder. 

I remember seeing Gen. Foster, commander of our division, 

draw his sword and demand of some cavalrymen who had fol- 

Joucd close behind us into the field and were pilfering the 

wagons, to give up the plunder as it belonged to his men and 

not to the cavalry. They gave up the plunder to Gen. Foster, 

and if my memory serves me right, one of the trophies was a 

blue silk banner that belonged to the Norfolk Blues. Here 

orders were given to fix' bayonets and charge. I was one of 

the company on the extreme left of the regiment, being in 

Company G ; 

our regiment held the extreme left of the divi- 

sion. We charged there from the field through a heavy growth 

of hard wood timber, through low land at first then rising 

ground. We kept on until we came to a field, sort of ox-bow 

shape. Our left at this time rested close by a small white 

house ; Company H near the house, and Company G to right 

of the house, near corn house and tobacco house, lying down 

behind the fence. When we came over the crest of the hill 

there was a rebel battery in the ox-bow field that opened a 

murderous fire on us with grape and canister, and a good many 

of our boys fell dead and wounded. I lay low with the boys 

on the left of my company behind the fence, shooting at the 

rebel artillery. Our whole attention was directed in front watch- 

ing the artillery and getting in a shot when we could, not dream- 

ing that the whole right had fallen back—even the whole right 

of our company had fallen back. The first notice I had of this 

was from five or six rebel cavalrymen, wearing red caps, and 

mounted, coming out from behind the tobacco house on our 

right, singing out " Surrender, you d d Yanks." I sung out 

" Boys, get up, the rebs are on us." I told the boys to blaze 

away at them; they did so and the cavalry fell back behind the 

tobacco house for cover. I told the boys to run for the timber.

THE ELEVENTH MAINE AT APPOMATTOX. 79 

Wc all made for the timber, and when we got there each man 

got behind a tree and commenced blazing away ait the cavalrymen. 

While behind the trees we saw the cavalrymen take some 

of Company H prisoners, among whom was an Arabian, very 

dark and with curly hair. The rebs song out " He is a nigger; 

kill him ! 

" We could sec and hear the poor fellow pleading 

for his life ; that he was not a negro but an Arab. The next 

scene was the artillery in the field, limbering up and going back 

at break-neck speed towards the court house. Here we commenced 

to fall back to see where the regiment was. We went 

through the woods some two hundred yards into low land, when 

we heard voices. I told the boys to lay low and I would see 

who was there. I picked my way from tree to tree for about 

three rods, then peaked out and saw the old flag of our regi- 

ment. It was drawn up in line of battle, with Major H. C. 

Adams in command. I sang out to the boys to come on and 

we all came from the woods together, and when the regiment 

saw us they cheered. We fell into our places, and were ordered 

to fix ba}'onets and charge. We charged through the woods 

again, coming out in the field to the left of the white house. 

Soon after reaching the field wc were called to a halt, and at 

this place the white rag came out, or the flag of truce. At this 

point, while in line, we heard yelling in the rear coming from 

the woods and shouting and cheering. We looked around and 

saw the colored troops coming up from the woods we had just 

left. Then we moved still farther to the left, as far as the field 

extended next to the woods. There was a road running straight 

along parallel with our line, past us, then through the woods to 

the field and past the house. The Eleventh did some shooting 

and skirmishing with Fitz-Hugh Lee and his cavalry. We held 

the left then and until we marched back to Farmville after Lee's 

army was paroled. All of this is just as I remember things at 

that time, and I think I am right. I do not know what hap- 

pened on the right on the first charge to cause the break, but 

have been told that a brigade of hundred day men who were on 

the right when the grape and canister came, broke and run and 

so caused the line to fall back and form again.


Reveille. 

O voices winter-clear, awake ! 

In all the wild familiar shrines; 

In thunder on the great shores break; 

Call from the deathless mountain pines 

The chant, that lulled their cradle rest. 

The sweet refrain to heart and brain; 

Cry " Welcome " ! 

down each cliff and crest 

For these, our boys—the sons of Maine ! 

For two years and a half have the First Maine Cavalry skir- 

mished with the First Maine BUGLE. They have fully found 

out the lay of the land and ascertained the position of the 

enemy, and now, in the usual cavalry custom, they propose to 

withdraw the curtain of their ranks and let the infantry men of 

Maine and the red artillery do some shooting. Don't be 

alarmed about your flanks. The cavalry will be out that way, 

somewhere, and when you have defeated the opposing foe you 

will hear them yell as though they had performed all the fight- 

ing. But in good fellowship do not take umbrage at their noise ; 

for it is a military axiom that the cavalry yell on the flank or 

in the rear of the enemy's column is as efifective in demoraliz- 

ing their ranks as the sharp, close crack of repeating carbines. 

The clear field now before you is all Maine, and on the field 

thus developed and made ready for the muskets and guns of 

the artillery and infantry, )'ou are urged to take your position 

and open fire. 

We ask the attention of every reader of this first Call to its 

distinctive Maine flavor, and to the fact that such flavor is as 

upright and fragrant as her northern spruce. One feature in 

this Maine atmosphere is the adherence of her soldiers to an 

unbending devotion to the lines of duty as relentless and full of 

purpose as her northern winters. The first article—Comrade 

Brown's, of the First Maine Heavy Artillery—has aroused crit- 

icism and discussion. This is one purpose of the BUGLE. It

Dr. HORACE C. WHITE, 

Asst. Surgeon 8th Me. inf. 

Somerville, Mass.

REVEILLE. 81 

is to awake each and every comrade who hears its notes to 

declare in enduring form what he remembers and knows con- 

cerning " that great struggle which preserved constitutional 

liberty on the face of the earth." Such narration must be 

honest and not imaginative. It may vary from the actual facts 

but such variation must be due to the smoke and confusion that 

hangs over every participant in actual battle, and not to a desire 

to vary or wrongfully color. Every excited and actual worker 

in front of the enemy's fire sees a narrow field of view with no 

perspective and with a universal misconception of time and 

distance, but such detached pictures are the life of any regimental 

or other organization seeking material for history. The 

very design of the Bugle is to break up the soil that lies buried 

under thirty years or more of subsequent struggle for livelihood 

and material ends. 

The First Maine Heavy Artillery is grandly noticed in this 

issue ; next, sandwiched between a melody of poetry, appears 

an appetizing sketch of the early services of the Eighth Maine. 

Tn the April issue a bright and interesting narration of experi- 

ence in southern prisons and escape of a member of the Eighth 

Maine will appear. It is right to remark here that the Eighth 

Maine are fully awake and will crowd every issue of this year's 

Bugle with pictures of her comrades and articles of value to 

her members and of exceeding interest to lovers of Maine. 

Next in order comes the leading and most important article 

in the issue, " A Man from Maine," a true history of the army 

at Fort Fisher; a clear, honest narration of what was done, 

bearing its own justification on its face and giving the right 

proportions of the various actors by their own words and their 

positions in the fight at the time. It is an article of great and 

permanent historic value and should be carefully re-read to see 

how clear and strong its deductions are established. 

Attention is further called to the interesting and attractive 

manner in which the Eleventh Maine with two leading articles, 

wheels into line on the pages of the BUGLE and how grandly 

that regiment, which on foundation unstable as water, builded 

the resting place for the feet of the Angel, symbollically called


from heaven to send its messages into the heart of Charlestown 

from her own inaccessible swamps, continued her serv'ices till 

the final campaign of Lee's surrender. Her losses in killed on 

the 9th of April, 1865, were only equaled by one other regi- 

ment, and that regiment was from Maine. Now follows page 

after page of distinctive echoes, all of which will interest e\'ery 

reader and are in themselves a rich reward, like " the song that 

from the heart is poured." 

A FEW CORRECTIONS AND AN IMPORTANT SUGGESTION. 

Augusta, December 26th, 1893. 

Gen. J. P. CiLLEY, 

Dear Comrade—In looking over the advance sheet, pages one to sixteen, of this 

issue, I have become interested in the article of Comrade Joel F. Brown of Co. I, 

First Maine Hea\y Artillery, on page four. For the sake of historical accuracy, I 

will give the figures of some of our losses which he gives from recollection. The list 

of killed and wounded at Spottsylvania as printed at that time numbeied four hun- 

dred and eight}'-four, with seventeen missing, ten of whom at least proved to be 

wounded and three prisoners. About twenty who were slightly wounded did not 

leave the regiment. The loss of the regiment at Petersburg has been set down at 

six hundred and four, of which Co. I lost forty-five and not sixty-nine as his article 

would indicate. The comrade must be in error as to the cause of the death of Lieut. 

Samuel J- Oakes, afterwards captain of Co. I. He was killed in action March 25th, 

1865, near Hatcher's Run. In regard to halting, dressing with "guides on a line" 

and going through with the manual of arms after starting out on the fielil at Peters- 

burg I must disagree with my comrade. Col. Chaplin never needlessly exposed his 

regiment, as his weeping over the loss of his men clearly proves. And in regard to 

his throwing away his life, he threw it away just as four hundred and twenty-live 

others of our brave boys did, in the faithful performance of a stern duty as ordered 

by a superior officer. Now in regard to being on the field twenty minutes; I think 

five would be nearer the correct time. The distance from the road to the breastworks 

is less than four hundred yards, less than h.ilf a mile out and back, over which a man 

could easily walk in ten minutes; and as we mafle no halt after starting but advanced 

on a double quick and retreated with all the speed at our command, the time we were 

on the held was decidedly brief. Every memiier of the F"irst Maine Heavy .Artillery 

who reads this number of the Bugle will at once recognize the list of losses on page 

eight accompanying the article as part of a circular letter prepared by myself and 

sent out to the members of our regiment and some others for additions and correc- 

tions. But through some misunderstanding the list was printed in the Bugle without 

my corrections, but now it is printed let us turn it to good account. Let it be under- 

stood that this list does not truly represent our losses. Since getting it out I have 

learned of over eighty wounded men whose names are not on the list, besides a large 

number that I have found are located in the wrong action, and a few will be stricken

REVEILLE. 83 

off the list as not wounded. I have also accounted for nearly one-half of my list of 

" Not accounted for." Now let ever>' meml>er of the First Maine Hea\y, or any 

other person who has any knowledge of the facts, write me supplying any omissions 

or corrections that should be made in the list, and in the April number of the Bi'glf 

I will have all the new names and changes published. 

Yours in F., C. & L., 

Ch.\kles J. HorsE, 

Historian of First Maine Hea\"s- .\rtillerv. 

Mv Dear General, 

Gloucester, M.\ss., December 22d, 1893. 

Your kind letter, also its contents from Comrade Parsons of Dwight, 111., together 

with a part of the Blgle for January next, has just been received and tinds me sick 

and under the doctor's care; yet comrade Brown's article rouses me all up. He is in 

error, T think, about Col. Chaplin leading his regiment. Col. Chaplin wsis in command 

of the brigade, Gen. Mott in command of the division, and Gen. Birney in 

command of the Second Corps. I don't remember of seeing Col. Chaplin at the time 

of the charge. Lt.-Col. Talbot was away sick. The regiment as I recollect it was 

in command of Maj. R. B. Sheppard. The order came from Gen. Mott for the charge 

to be made, and was given by his assistant inspector, Capt. Isaac ^V. Starbird, Nine- 

teenth Maine Regiment, who went into the charge with us. Only Birney "s division. 

Third Division, Second Corps, was there, consisting of the three brigades. Our 

brigade was in the center, massed into column of regiments, but our regiment being 

so ver)- large was massed in three lines of four companies each. The tirst line was 

commanded by Maj. R. B. Sheppard, second by Capt. Whitney S. Clark, Co. E, and 

the third line by Capt. Christopher V. Grossman, Co. D. The other two brigades were 

on our right and left one hundred and tifty or two hundred yards away. The brigade 

containing the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery was at or near the O. P. Hare 

house, where afterwarils was built Fort Steadman. Now Gen. Mott writes me that 

his intention was to have our brigade make the charge, led by the First Maine Heavy 

.\rtillery, which was a new regiment, had not seen the tiger nor felt its claws, therefore 

unmindful of its danger, and might possibly go through the rebel lines. ** Then 

it w'.s my duty," says he, " to have the old tried regiments ready to profit by any 

advantage we might gain." When I came off the lield, probably ten minutes from 

the time the charge was ordered and started, I saw Col. Chaplin coming towards our 

brigade, still massed in the road, consisting, I am informed by Gen. Starbird, of the 

First Maine Heavy Artillery, Sixteenth Massachusetts Infantry, One Hundred and 

Fifty-second New York Infantry, Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh New Jersey Infantry. 

He, Col. Chaplin, was riding towards us from our left, I think coming from Gen. 

Mott's position near the O. P. Hare house. I went towards him aiid met him about 

seventy-five yards from the brigade. He sai.1, " L


January 4th, 1894. 

A week ago yesterday I went to Melrose and spent three or four hours with Comrade 

Brown. We talked over the whole matter and he told me he had learned many 

things about the charge he never knew before. I find he corroborates the story that 

Col. Chaplin offered his sword to Gen. Mott or Gen. Birney after the battle saying 

he should not need it any more, " There is my regiment lying in that field." But it 

has been disputed by Capt. H. H. Shaw of Portland, who was on Gen. Mott's staff. 

I will send with this, a book, " Frank Wilkenson's Recollections of a Private Soldier," 

an account of its graphic description of the march of the heavy artillery into Spott- 

sylvania. It begins on page eighty-two and covers five pages. That description is 

the best I have ever seen. The march was made by the Seventh and Eighth New 

York Heavy Artillery, First Maine and First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery on May 

17th, 1864. We marched from Belle Plains Landing to Falmouth, opposite Freder- 

icksburg, crossed the Rappahannock river to and through Fredericksburg, and con- 

tinued directly on to Spottsylvania, arriving there and going into bivouac about eleven 

o'clock that night. We were held in reserve in the rear lines the next day. The 

army moved to the left the nineteenth, and this brigade, or as it was called, Tyler's 

Division of Heavy Artillery, remained expecting a wagon of ammunition and commissary 

supplies from Fredericksburg. About four o'clock in the afternoon as we 

were lying in the woods, our arms stacked near by, we suddenly heard not far away, 

probably not over one hundred rods, the crack, crack, crack of the advancing skir- 

mish line of rebel forces who had advanced to the wagons. We jumped into line, 

took arms and were ordered forward, "right oblique, double quick, march," and in 

this order the whole line advanced. We did not stop but passed the wagon train 

just in our front, the rebel skirmishers falling back to the woods beyond the road. 

We continued to advance till about seventy-five rods beyond the wood, through a field ; 

we came up to their line of battle. Thus began our first battle. We fought over 

two hours, many of us exposing ourselves unnecessarily; over half of the killed I 

believe were shot through the head. We were relieved after expending all our ammu- 

nition by one of the divisions of the Second Corps. We came off the field dripping 

with sweat and after getting our supper were marched ali jut one and a half miles 

away and went on picket in a low swampy place where we suffered severely with the 

cold as we had lost our blankets; we had thrown them into a pile just before going 

into the woods and placed a guard over tlum. We never saw them again. I have 

always remembered the suff"erings of that night as it was very cold. I am satisfied by 

what Comrade Brown says, that Col. Chaplin went in with his regiment and came out 

on the left near the O. P. Hare house, offered his sword to Gen. Mott, then called 

for his horse, and rode down and met me as before stated. Comrade Brown desires 

the following corrections made: On page six, ninth line from boitoT strike out the 

words, "And put us through the manuel of arms;" on page seven, fifth line from 

bottom, change "Gen. Birney" to Gen. Mutt; on page eight, fourth line from top, 

change "seventy-five men" to forty-nine. In your list of losses I fmd my name left 

out. T was woui\ded April 6th, 1865, at Sailor's Creek—Co. B, Capt. Fred C. Low 

and in Co. I, Lt. Albert White was wounded at the same time and place. I have the 

photographs of all the officers of the regiment—one hundred and nmeteen—except 

one, Lt. Whitmore, Third Maine Battery, which belonged to the regiment ten months 

and twenty-five days. 

Yours truly, 

F. C. Low.

BUGLE ECHOES. 85 

Bugle Echoes, 

Blow, bugle, hlovv; 

Set the wild echoes flying. 

LETTERS FROM THE COMRADES. 

Kendall Pollard, Co. K, Eighth Maine, of Swampscott, Mass., writes: 

I am always ready in a good warfare anrl will do my best to aid you as far as I can. 

I think that every comrade ought to have a copy of the roster of the regiment. I 

should like one. 

IN TWO REGIMENTS. 

Joseph F. Twitchell, Col. Eighth Maine and Capt. Second Maine Cavalry, of 

Hiram, Me., writes: 

I received a copy of the Bucle and was very much interested in it. The articles it 

contains are or should be of much interest to the old veterans. I left the Eighth in 

June, 1863, and joined the Second Maine Cavalry, and am not so familiar with the 

doings of the Eighth Maine after June, 1863, as Col. Boynton, and he would without 

duubt be pleased to prepare an article for your BuciLE. He is a very pleasing and 

forcible writer. I think a pul^lication of the roster and addresses of the members of 

the Eighth would interest "the boys," and have no doubt a large percentage of them 

will subscribe for the Bugle. I hope that you will meet «ith good success, as you 

deserve to, as you must have been to a good deal of expense. 

WILL DO ALL I CAN. 

J. W. Caldwell, Co. B, Eighth Maine, of Sherman's Mills, writes: 

I assure you if I felt competent to perform the task properly, and could devote 

myself to it, I should esteem it both a privilege and sacred duty; but I have engaged 

in an enterprise which will occupy all my time this fall and the tirst part of the winter 

at least. I shall be glad to contribute an article or two later, but not a leader. I 

shall most gladly do all I can to extend the circulation of the Bugle in this vicinity 

during the year 1894. 

WILL write an article. 

GusTAVUS Peasr, Co. A, Eighth Maine, of Bean's Corner, Me., writes 

1 heartily concur with you as to the value of publishing history that the " Men of 

Maine " helped to make a third of a century ago. I have thought for years that a 

publication of the character that you propose might be of great interest and benefit. 

The fact is, I am a poor ploddmg farmer who has to work day by day for his daily 

bread, and such a life is not conducive to brilliancy of intellect, and I sus])ect that 

this is somewhat the condition of nearly all of the survivors of the Eighth Maine, if 

not of all the survivors of the war. But if no one does anything the good work that 

you have inaugurated will not go on, and although 1 have not been able to do any


work for the proposed history of my own regiment as yet, I will give you my word 

that I will take time to endeavor to write an article for your publication. But with 

many of us the dollars are so few that we can enjoy neither politics no' reminiscence. 

A WAR sroKV. 

Rev. Oliver M. Cousens, Co. F, Eighth Maine, of Dexter, Me., writes: 

You propose my writing for the BuGLE. I think 1 will do so, though perhaps 

before deciding to what extent, I will ask to hear from you again. Certain injuries 

received in war have incapacitated me for the pastorate of a church but they have 

not incapacitated me for writing. And for this purpose I relinciuished my pastorate 

at Saint Clair, Pa., and came on here to this quiet place that 1 might write out what I 

have treasured up for these years. Of course I would be glad to have such work 

yield me something pecuniarily, but I will write you something anyway. I)oes your 

publication include any fiction? I have in my mind a war story of considerable 

length, embodying some of my own actual experience, and yet, to enhance the 

interest, containing a little tissue of fiction. You will favor me by saying whether or 

not such contribution would come within the line of your plan and whether you 

could make it of use. 

Note—Our plan includes fiction, poetry, biography, travels, exp'orations and 

everything appropriate to Magazine literature, but the especial trend of all our literary 

eflort must be personal experiences and historical accounts pertaining to the war 

of the rebellion, and its effect on the development of our country. The unifying 

bond (hat encircles all the papers of the Bugle is the i)ersonal element of comradeship, 

that what interests one comrade will interest another. As regards pecuniary 

profits, the Bugle can pay nothing. Articles appearing in the Bugle can be 

reprinted in book form at small expense b^ using the type before distribution. 

WOULD NOT believe HALF OF IT. 

Albert W. Friend, of Brooksville, Co. G, First Maine Cavalry, writes: 

Modesty forbids my writing up my experience as a prisoner of war, although I 

stated in my letter to you that I could give a short sketch of my capture and my four 

months experience in Libby Prison and also my escape from that den of misery. I 

was only a recruit in the old First Maine, and you know what a horror old veterans 

have for recruits, and if I should make a statement of all the proceedings from the 

time I was captured up to the time I was paroUed and have it published, I am afraid 

that the old veterans of the regiment would not belief half of it, and that would 

make me feel bad. But the recruits ilid not shirk their duty, they did the very best 

they could. I enlisted for three years or during the war and served about half of my 

time. Although I did not plant any flags on little Round Top, and was not the first 

man that entered Richmond when it was taken, I tried to do my duty; if 1 didn't, 

then it was no fault of mine. I do enjoy reading stories and incidents of army life, 

and I hope to see lots of them in the coming Bugle. If there is anytiiing that I can 

contribute in the form of my army service that will help to make the Bugle interest- 

ing I will try to do so. 

Rev. H. \. I'liiLBKOoK, Chaplain Eighth Maine, of Quincy, Mass., writes: 

I have been elected president of a large corporation, and with others am eng.iged 

in establishing a new school in the city of Quincy. I am willing to be quoted as 

favoralile to your plans and to the Bugle, but I cannot take upon myself any more 

work at present.


DR. WILLIAMS NAMED. 

Dr. Loceko J. GiBBS, Co. H, Eighth Maine, of Chicopee Falls, Mass., writes : 

I feel interested in your enterprise and will certainly aid you to the extent of sub- 

scription to the Bugle and would gladly aid you otherwise if I thought anything I 

might write would be of interest to the " boys " who served in my own and other reg- 

iments. Vou know the horizon of the individual soldier in the ranks was a limited 

one and an} thing like history from him would lie limited and reasonably inaccurate. 

I would suggest Dr. Henj. Williams of your city as one well calculated to hll this 

position, and I will later try and contriliute something to fill space a. least. 

Gen. Henry Uoy.ntun, Col. Eighth Maine, of ,\ugusta, writes: 

Vour favor of the seventeenth found me helpless from a sudden and very severe 

illness, from which I am now just again getting upon my feet, b^t I am so debilitated 

as to be until to attempt to write anything longer than a brief letter. My idea is that 

a sketch ought to embody incidents, real events, and occurrences that made up the 

real life of the regiment. I shall be glad when 1 become physically able, to record 

the various interesting episodes and striking events that are the salient points of the 

old Eighth, from the many notes and recollections that I have, but first it would be 

essential to know the exact amount of space in type at my disposal. 

CAMP PENOBSCOT. 

Mrs. Perky Arnold, wife of .\rnold of Co. C, Eirst Maine Cavalry, Bangor, Me.,writes : 

Inclosed you will find note for one dollar and a half ($1.50) which my husband 

owes for the Bu(;le. We waited a few days thinking we could get money to send 

money is hard these times; we will soon have it and for the next year, for we could 

not get along without the Bucjle. I think I enjoy it as much as my husband, for I 

have to read every word of it aloud as his eyes trouble him. It is not hard to read 

its contents, no matter how tired I am. J forget self and am again with the boys in 

blue, and re-live the past again. I think it is more real to me as I was at Augusta all 

of the time the First Maine Cavalry was encamped there. What a handsome regiment 

it was, when marching to the front. How changed when they came home 

We always had to laugh at Col. Goddard. His riding ! ha ! ha ! So you see we 

have much to talk about, and we never tired of hearing of husband's army life. I 

saw in the last two Bucles mention of W. L. Boyd, now in the west. Ask him if he 

remembers going to the ball of the non-commissioned officers in old Meonian hall, 

and of a captain of one of the companies losing hat or cap and coat, he taking 

Billy's to get into camp, promising to send them right back so B. could see his best 

girl home; we waiting there till past 4 o'clock A. M., then taking table covering from 

the dressing room, to use for cap, so they could get home and he to camp. When 

he got there captain was sound asleep; when aroused he said: "I was so sleepy 

that I thought it was my own." What a laugh the boys had. It was a long walk 

from down town then (now cars make easy work of those hills). Those days were 

full of fun to all concerned, little anticipating the hardships and exposure of actual 

service. Many of those little incidents 1 remember most pleasantly. I have some 

papers taken from the Court House at Fairfax, where the regiment camped in 

April '62; the one I have is dated in the 10th year of the reign of George the Second, 

which was about the year 1741. In these papers is a very interesting description


of the place. What was called the Happy Family at that time now sleeps in the 

old church in which our Noble Washington was mariied. The letters, I have, written 

in the field, are very interesting as they are very descriptive and cover the whole 

period of my husband's campaign; but I think you have enough of this. We have 

not much ready money but we are much better off than some of the comrades, as we 

have a good home for which we are very thankful. I hope I can send by anri by 

something to pay for the Bugle for some poor fellow who is not able to pay for it, 

for I think every one of the First Maine Cavalry should have it. 

Note.— Letters like the above are most interesting and helpful. Time after time 

I have been discouraged and have resolved not to continue my efforts to print the 

Bugle, and linie after time I have had my heart made glad, because to many the 

Bugle Echoes were as refreshing as the biblical cup of water, and 1 forgive those 

who are dead to the memories it wakens. 

"I AM A MAINE MAN." 

Hiram S. Tuttle of Oakland, Cal., writes 

I was in Co. K, Third California Volunteers, but I had a brother in Co. D, Eighth 

Maine Volunteers. He was at Beaufort, S. C. while 1 was at Salt Lake, Utah; but 

I am a member of the Eighth Maine Association. At some future time I will write 

you my experience of thirty-eight months service. I am a Maine man, was born in 

the town of Palmyra, claim Maine as my State and any one, who says aught against 

Maine or her boys who wore the blue, says it against me. I am a member of 

Bo'sworth Post of Portland. I will forward this letter of yours to my brother 

J. P. Tuttle, Hartland, Me., and I will send you the subscription for your Bugle soon 

as I can get a spare dollar for I have an interest in the history of Maine troops more 

tnan I have in these of California, for there we were not treated right; we enlisted 

with the full assurance that as soon as the regiment was full we should be sent to the 

seat of war. 

all the readers say they want the whole. 

Eraj* JS DoBLE, Co. B, Eighth Maine, of Kingman, writes: 

Several years ago I wrote out part of my experience in rebeldom for my children 

to read over when they were old enough to understand it, so they could know 

something of what we prisoners of war had to endure if I did not live to tell them 

by word of mouth. It is very crude and I do not now see any time to rewrite it. I 

give you full liberty to use what you like of it or reject the whole or any part of it. 

"A LI'ITLE INSIDE HISTORY" PROMISED. 

Gen. Egbert L. Veile of New York City, writes: 

I thank you very much for the copy of the Bugle you have sent me. I am a very 

busy man just now and although I fully appreciate and most heartily endorse your 

praiseworthy efforts to keep alive the spirit of comradeship and spirit of patriotism, 

I fear I cannot be of much service to you. The war for the Union was with me the 

continuation of an interrupted military life. There was no novelty in it to me, as it 

was the third war in which I had been engaged. But there was a very strong sense 

of duty and a very heavy weight of responsibility, for my West Point education left 

me no excuse on the score of inexperience for any mistakes or oversights. I felt all 

this more forcibly, I think, than at any other time, when those stalwart men of the 

Eighth Maine came to report to me, fresh from their homes in the great forests

JAMES H H. HEWETT, 

Capt. Cc. D, 8th Me. Inf and Bvt. Major U S. Vols. 

Thomaston, Me.


of their State, with the sinews of Hercules and the hearts of children, frank, 

ingenuous, and brave, yet with no more idea of discipline and a soldier's life than 

of the composition of the moon. To get them into shape seemed an almost hopeless 

task. To make them understand that I was their sincere and sympathizing friend 

while yet exercising of necessity the authority of a commander, was still more difficult; 

yet in time they made most excellent soldiers and did some very hard work for their 

country. When I have a little more leisure I will he most happy to contribute to the 

interesting data you are collecting and disseminating; perhaps a little "inside history" 

might have a spice for your reading. In the meanwhile continue to send me the 

Bl'gle. 

"it seems like meeting them." 

Mrs. Matthew W. Ellis of Searsport, writes: 

Comrade Ellis of Co. D, Eirst Maine Cavalry died 5th of June, after a long, linger- 

ing sickness. lie thought a great deal of the Bicile, and read it as long as he was 

able; after he got so low he could not read, I read it to him. I think a great deal 

of it myself and I will pay you for it as soon as I can. Continue to send the Bugle 

and I will pay you quarterly. I think a great deal of the Eirst Maine Cavalry and 

the only way I shall hear from them will be through the Bugle. My husband always 

said it seemed like meeting them to get a Bugle. 

WILL SEND something INTERESTING. 

Cornelius Harrington, Co. I, Eighth Maine, of New Bedford, Mass., writes: 

It is a pleasure to know that the history of the Eighth Maine Infantry is to be 

printed and 1 am sorry I am not capable of writing a leader for the Bugle, but if I 

can at some future time I will try and send something interesting for the Bugle. 

SHERMAN'S DAM. 

James G. Harding, Co. H, Eighth Maine, writes : 

I can give no promise of when I may be able to write something. I have thought 

I would like to give our experience in the Southern Department, building what we 

called "Sherman's Dam" (fortification at Hilton Head) and at Tybee. 

I AM ABLE TO EARN MY LIVING. 

Mrs. D. C. Huntington, of North Bradford, writes: 

I am the mother of Daniel Huntington (Hist. p. 652). I have urged him to write 

you and pay for the Bugle, but he is forgetful. He and his wife are workingjin Ban- 

gor. He was at home last week and I gave him the Bugle and papers and urged 

him to write you and pay up, but I fear he has not. I am seventy-three years old. 

My husband died twelve years ago, and I am able to earn my living, and send part 

pay for the Bugle. 

god bless the boys. 

Joseph D. Eaton, Co. I, Eirst Maine Cavalry, of Wells, writes 

I inclose $3.50 for Bugle. Its notes bring back to us the scenes of our boyhood 

days; great changes have taken place in our land, but to us the war was a reality. 

The old Eirst Maine has no apologies to make to our Southern brothers their or 

Northern allies for the part it took in the struggle for National existence. God bless 

the boys. We are getting old and many of us are poor.


THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY. 

Edward S. Frost, Co. C, First Maine Cavalry, of Pasadena, Cal., writes: 

Every time I receive the Bugle I say to myself " now I will write and remit what 

I owe to-morrow sure," but when I go to my office, I find so much to do that I don't 

think of it again until the next Buci E calls. 1 enjoyed reading the "Country for 

Which We Fought," and will say that you missed seeing the most beautiful residence 

city in the country, and an old comrade that was on the lookout for you. I was very 

much disappointed in not meeting you, for I was planning to make things pleasant 

for you even if it was hot. It was the hottest weather known in several years. 1 

trust if you come my way again, you will call on me in Pasadena. 

" I AM not ashamed TO FACE MY COMRADES." 

Daniel M. Foster, Sergt. Co. H, First Maine Cavalry, of Canaan, writes: 

I have neglected my duty in regard to Ihe Bugle, but I always tried to do my duty 

as a soldier and I am not ashamed to face my comrades in regard to my soldier life; 

I was with that curtain of cavalry at Appomattox when it stood between the rebel 

army and our colored infantry. As I look back over that life it seems like a dream 

until I look in the glass of time, where I see myself and comrades verging upon old 

age, instead of the "boys of '6i." But 1 take courage when I think and know that 

there is a life hid with Christ that never grows old. 

NOTHING GIVES ME MORE PLE^VSURE. 

William H. Kimball, (Ilist. p. 638) of Burnham, writes: 

The Buc;le has always been a welcome visitor, still, owing to the pressure of other 

business I have thus far neglected to respond, but when I received your last earnest 

appeal which spoke in words not to be mistaken, I hastened to make amends for the 

past by remitting to January, 1894, and will try to be more prompt in the future. I 

would not have you or any of the old comrades of the First Maine Cavalry think for 

a moment that I have forgotten them or the dear old regiment, to swell whose num- 

bers 1 was among the first to enroll my name. I enlisted in Co. A, First Maine Cav- 

alry September 30th, 1861, afterwards transferred to Co. L. I cannot boast any very 

eminent army service. I remained with the regiment at Augusta during the fall and 

winter. About January I was taken with a bad cold and went to Winthrop Hall 

Hospital, where 1 had a severe attack of pleurisy fever, but was able to leave Augusta 

with the boys; went to Washington, D. C, and went into hospital there, but not get- 

ting able to do duty I was discharged in May, 1862, after which I reinlisted in Co. E, 

Fourteenth Maine Infantry and served until the close of the war. But while in the 

dear old First Maine Cavalry 1 formed many pleasant acquaintances that will never 

be erased from memory. Soon we will listen to another roll call which will muster 

the last members of the First Maine into the army that shall never break up. Notii- 

jnjT gives me more pleasure than to read letters from old comrades. 

WHO REMEMBERS? 

RuFUS M. Clayton, Co. L, First Maine Cavalry, (Hist. p. 636) of LaMoure, North 

Dakota, writes: 

Inclosed find P. O. order for five dollars for the BuGLE; arrears $3.50, ahead $1.50. 

You will please pardon my negligence and I will try to be more punctual in the 

future. 1 should like to ask through the Bugle if it reaches any of the comrades of


Co. L, First Maine Cavalry who was at the battle of St. Mary's Church, June 24th, 

1864, and remained with the company for a few days after, and who can tell me who 

was in command of Co. L during those days. I had a sunstroke on the retreat about 

the 26th or 27th of June and my pension attorney asks me for the testimony of the 

commanding officer to substantiate the same. The regiment was very small at that 

time and Co. L lost by capture Capt. Carson, Lieut. Gordon, my brother Kdward B. 

Clayton, and Solomon II. Odell, and I am bewildered as to the name of the com- 

mander of the company after that, as I was soon detailed as bri


as the day was expected to be one of continued fighting. The colonel immediately 

after the forcing a passage asked each one of the companies engaged how many shots 

he had llrcd, and gave some emphatic instructions in relation to the magazine carbine 

then new in our regiment.— J. P. C. 

Capt. E. C. Bigei.ow, commissary of First Mame Cavalry, of Newton, Mass., writes: 

I am only too glad to send you the amount due for the Bugle, and can no doubt 

aid you in a measure, by paying in advance. We all should be willing to remit one 

dollar on receipt of the first number in January, which would be paying in advance 

for three numbers. 

COMPANY M COMRADE REMEMBERED. 

Y. T. Savage, Co. M, First Maine Cavalry, of Fairfield, Me., writes 

I should have paid long ago and am very sorry that I did not. I have always 

thought that you were doing more than your part. I enclose check for four dollars. 

I see that my bill is one dollar; would like the balance sent to some deserving mem- 

ber of Co. M, and, dear comrade, if that is not enough let me know and I will try to 

pay more promptly in the future. 

Note.—Two dollars were credited to Savage's account, one being for '94 Campaign, 

and the balance, two dollars, was credited to a worthy Co. M comrade whose writings 

have appeared in the Bugle. 

JUST THE THING. 

Benj. Gould, Co. D, Eleventh Maine, of Lewiston, Me., writes: 

I am glad to see that there is some one that has the will and ability to publish such 

a paper as the Maine Bugle. It is just the thing for the old soldiers to preserve fur 

coming generations, besides being interesting for us to peruse in our declining years. 

1 will do all in my power to aid it. 

WILL .SEND SOMETHING FOR PUHLICATION. 

Hiram B. King, Co. A, First Maine Cavalry, of Mechanic Falls, Me., writes 

I inclose P. O. order for two dollars and fifty cents on the Bugle account. I beg 

you to excuse me for not having attended to this sooner. I will send money in future 

for Bugles in season for each call as I do not feel like living without it. Will 

endeavor to send something for publication. 

CORRECTION. 

Hiram C. Jordan, Co. F, First Maine Cavalry, of 50 Union St., Portland, writes: 

The report in the October Bugle, page 71, that Chas. F. Dam and C. W. Skillings 

are the only surviving members of Co. F who enlisted from Portland, is not correct. 

I enlisted at Portland and was the fifth man on the roll, and I know of a number of 

others who enlisted from Portland and who are alive at the present time. 

f^TQ^K.—Who was the first man enlisting in Co. F? 

WILL PAY 1-OR ITS MUSIC. 

Sidney W. Clark, of Co. A, First Maine Cavalry, of Masardis, writes: 

I am a great sufferer from rheumatism and have but little money besides my pension. 

It is hard for me to hold my pen at present writing, but 1 wish you to know the cause 

of delay. I want tohcar the Bugle blow as long as I live, and will endeavor to pay 

for its music. I notice in the October Bugle a letter from Redmond O'Connell of


Milwaukee, which reminds me of our skirmish at Raccoon ford where he was wounded 

and Col. Doughty sent me to the rear with him, an account of which I will write soon. 

1 hope to hear the next ErcLK Call reinforced with an old Kirst Maine Cavalry yell. 

CiEOROK W. Getciif.i.I., of Co. G, First Maine Cavalry, of Brewer, Me., writes: 

I am well pleased with the Buglf. and will try to be more prompt in paying for it. 

THE BUGLE I MUST HA\F. 

William H. Luce, of C!o. A, First Maine Cavalry, of Rice Lake, Wis., writes: 

I am sorry I could not pay it before, but from this time on shall lie able to keep it 

]iaid up. Having just received an increase in my pension so that I now draw seven- 

teen dbllars per month, I am in hopes to be able to send for a First Maine Cavalry 

badge and regimental history during the winter. The Bugle I must have if I have 

to give up all other reading matter. Perhaps sometime during the winter I will write 

a description of my escape from Middletown and five days in the mountains fallowing. 

SHALL ALWAYS KE.ME.MKER. 

Col. Frederic C. Newhall, of Gen. Sheridan's staff, and now resident o{ London, 

Eng., writes 

Your name at the end of your note of October 9th, and the First Maine Bugle, of 

which you kindly sent me a copy, excite many recollections which are by no means 

dim with me, but which, owing to my residence abroad and the changes time brings, 

are not often revived. I think it very likely that I know the First Maine Cavalry a 

great deal better than I am known by them, for I was a young staff officer sent here 

and there among all the regiments. In many hard fights in which the First Maine took 

part, 'I will mention only one place, which I think I shall always remember: I was 

with your brigade along Chamberlain's bed, at the battle of Dinwiddle Court House, 

where you behaved so splendi 'ly, and all that I wrote of your command in that tight 

I was an eye-\\ itness of. 

STILL LIVE IN IIOl'ES. 

Cyrus Case, Co. C, First Maine Cavalry, of Malvern, Kan., writes: 

I was disappointed in not seeing you at the National reunion; neither did I see 

any one from the dear old First Maine Cavalry. I have seen but two comrades of 

our famous regiment since coming to Kansas in '69, and as I have a great longing in 

that direction you can probably realize how I felt. Yet 1 still live in hope. 

NEWS FROM CORP. SA.MUEL HURD, JR. UF CO. F, FIRST MAINE CAVALRY. 

Mrs. Hurd writes from Stetson : 

My husband and myself attended the reunion at Pittsfield, where he joined the 

.\ssociation and paid his dues. We also attended at Dover and Bangor, each of 

which we enjoyed very much; since that time our circumstances have not permitted 

our attendance. Fourteen years ago my husband was taken sick with erysipelas, 

which went all over him ; then sciatic rheumatism set in, and for more than a year he 

was able to work but very little, and it has troubled him more or less till within the 

last two years. F'ive years ago he went to Washington, hoping to improve his health 

and better himself financially. The climate agrees with him, his lameness does not 

trouble him any to speak of now, and for a year and a half he has been at work in a 

lumber camp, driving six horses. He took up a timber claim in the town of Buckley*


King County, got a deed of it last spring, hut times are hard now and there is no sale 

for it at present. Our family consists of four girls, one a tearher, one a dress maker, 

and the other two at school. We are all working and if God spares our lives will pay 

our debt. I have never sent the Bugle to my husband for he has no time to read. 1 

have kept them that he may have them to enjoy when he comes home, which I hope 

is not very far distant. At the reunion at Bangor we bought one of the histories. 

Six years ago I think it was we sent by a comrade who went to the reunion and got 

another which we gave to a sister as a Christmas present. 

LEGAL RIGHT TO BRAG. 

William Gardner, Sec. First Rhode Island Cavalry Association, of Providence, R. 

I, writes: 

I am waiting rather impatiently for the October number of the First Maine Bugle. 

May I inquire of you why it has not made its very welcome appearance here? I am 

an old First Rhode Island Cavalryman, and next to being a First Maine Cavalryman 

I consider connection with the First Rhode Island as great an honor as an enlisted 

Union soldier has a legal right to brag of. 

SORREL HORSE. 

Wellington P. Baker, Co. H, Chief Bugler First Maine Cavalry, of Annawan, 111., 

writes 

I am glad to get the Bi'gle that I may keep a little track of the boys who were 

once members of the First Maine Cavalry, though it is now more than twenty one 

years since I have seen a face or grasped a hand of one of those men who once 

made up our noble regiment. Though time and distance has so long separated us 

my thoughts often go back to times when we stood shoulder to shoulder in many a 

conflict. My heart grows sad when I think of the many noble young men who fell 

from the ranks of our old regiment. It seems to me now more than it did in times 

of war that indeed it was a cruel war. In all of my remembrance of our old regi- 

ment, in all of its moves and marches, nothing comes to me clearer than the picture 

of Col. Cilley riding his little sorrel horse. I looked at you though small in stature 

as great in heart for the cause for which we were contending. 

WORTHY of support. 

Lieut. James E. Shepherd, Historian of the Ninth Maine Infantry, of Lawrence, 

Mass., writes 

Thank you for a copy of the Bugle. It is an admirable production and more than 

worthy of support. 

IF one-half will subscribe. 

Wilbur F. Lane, 251 Tremont St., Boston, Mass., President of the Eighth Maine 

Regiment Association, writes: 

I regret that Colonel True has declined to contribute to the January number of the 

Maine Bu{;le, and I am surprised at his lack of judgment in suggesting my name as a 

substitute. If Col. True should fire he would aim well and hit the mark, whereas I 

could not furnish stuff for priming. I never wrot-* but one letter in my life for publication. 

That one was written under pressure of great indignation and was more 

forcible than polite. However, your generous offer to put the job in "good form"


makes one feel very small to attempt to decline. I will therefore block out some- 

thing for you to work on, if I can purloin the time to do it and you promise not to 

publish it unless you really think it possesses a fair average of merit. I ask this 

because I never did (and don't think I ever can) write an article or letter with any 

degree of satisfaction to myself. I assure you that I will do all in my power to aid 

your work on the Bugi.k, but as for literary skill from me, don't expect any. I am 

not in it. To publish a regimental roster of the survivors of our regiment would 

interest " the boys " and probably induce many to subscribe. I do not know how 

many our Association numbers, but I think it is something over four hundred, and if 

one-half of that number would subscribe you would be in shape to go ahead. I 

herewith hand you one dollar for the Broi.E for 1894, which I trust you will blow to 

the entire satisfaction of all. 

Note,—The letter referred to above as " more forcible than polite " started a feeling 

and enterprise in Boston that has been remarkable in its effects and 

President Lane is a good man to lead.— J. P. C. 

success. 

AS LONG AS I STAY UPON EARTH. 

Chari.es a. Wentworth, Co. M, First Maine Cavalry of Ontario, Iowa, writes: 

I am sorry to have caused you any inconvenience. Will try and be more prompt 

in the future. I wish the Bugle to blow quarterly as long as I stay upon earth. 

ANYTHING that COMES FROM .MAINE SOLDIERS I WISH TO REAU. 

Reuel Tho.mas, Twentieth Maine of Cambridge, Mass., writes: 

After T read your circular, it came to my mind that we had a neijjhbor, a member 

of the Kir-t Maine, by the name of Daniel \V. Gage; to hear him talk one would 

think the First Maine Cavalry did all the lighting in the late war. Thinking he 

might have the Bugle I called at his house, and found one. .After reading the Bu(;i.E 

I said to myself this Cage was not to blame for thinking the First Maine did all the 

lighting. Now Gen. Cilley we have a book in our library that reads like this : "That 

we, the Twentieth Maine Boys, did most of the fighting in the army of the Potomac." 

I well remember the morning of the fight at Aldie ; you may remember something 

about a regiment coming to help you out—that was the Twentieth Maine. If I 

remember rightly; when we got to the woods that morning we came to a halt and 

beheld the Maine Cavalry slashing right and left among the rebel hosts. Now 

general I have come to the conclusion that if the Twentieth Maine and the First 

Maine had remained at home, the war would have lasted until now. Vou may send 

me a copy of the Buglk, it makes no difference whether it is the First Maine or the 

Thirty-first Regiment; anything that comes from Maine soldiers I wish to read and 

tell our Massachusetts boys what kind of men Maine, sent to war. 

KEEP RIGHT ON. 

.\. 1*. Lewis, (Hist. p. 474), of Orono, Me., writes: 

Keep right on sentiing the BUf.LE and I will try not to forget you so long next time. 

THE HISTORY HAS KEEN MY SOLACE. 

Zebard F. Hyson, Co. K, First Maine Cavalry of Cooper's Mills, Me., writes: 

I read the history over and over every month, it seems so good to bring to memory 

the days that have passed, the hardships that we went through; and may God bless 

all of the dear Comrades that belong to that good regiment. I am confined to my 

house most of the time and the history has been my solace.


HIS HORSE BY THE TAIL. 

George W. White of Co. G, First Maine Cavalry, of 1229 Steiner St., San Fran- 

cisco, Cal., writes 

I see the Bugle states that William Maloon of Auburn was at the reunion. I 

remember him well as he was bugler on our company. I also remember the Deep 

Bottom light; how our regiment was drawn up behind a little hill with the remnants 

of a cornfield in front of us; we were mounted and not firing a shot, but the bullets 

of the Johnnies were there wounding or killing some of our boys every once in 

a while. I saw a bullet strike a man in the company in front of Company G, which 

broke his arm. The poor man howled for the pain was so great and his captain 

turned to him and said sharply, "shut up." A bullet struck a comrade next to me 

and cut his jugular vein; he was just back from a furlough from Lewiston. Another 

bullet struck another one of Co. G's men; he clapped his hand where the bullet 

struck and said "I am shot in the leg," and one of the sergeants went with him to the 

rear. He returned again in a short time, for it was a spent ball. We were ordered 

to advance across a big field and were advancing when the Rebs came out of the 

woods too many for us. They broke our lines and we fell back in disorder. Our 

captain was swinging his saber shouting, "Right about and face the enemy," but I 

noticed he was glad to get towards the rear himself. I had my horse hit twice before 

he fell and pinned me to the ground. Had not Sergeant Drake came to my rescue 

my bones would be mingled with my horse's bones to-day. He dismounted, and as 

he said himself, he thought he lifted five hundred pounds to get me from under my 

horse. Me took my carbine and saber and told me to get into the woods, as the Rebs 

were close to us. Then Sergt. George E. Jumper came along and threw his foot out 

of the slirrup and told me to take the stirrup and hang on. I did until I could not 

seem to get along very well as the trail was narrow and the trees thick, so I took his 

horse l)y the tail, but soon gave out. I never shall forget the kindness of George E. 

Jumper; he then sprang from his horse and helped me into the saddle; then he took 

the horse by the tail and said, "Use the spurs and get to the rear," as the bullets 

were coming as thick as hailstones. We soon got back to our battery and were safe. 

Only three days ago I saw George E. Jumper, hale and hearty; he holds his 

age well. 

BOTH FEET FROZEN. 

William H. McPhail, Co. C, First Maine Cavalry of Perry, writes: 

I was enrolled in Co. F, First D. C. Cavalry, the 6th of January, 1864. I was in 

the fight at Nottaway river, Va., and the battle in front of Pelersliurg about the 

14th of June, 1864, and battle of Ream's station and 1 

attle at Roanoke river, and all 

the others both great and small from the time the regiment went into service till the 

sixteenth of Sept. 1864, when I was taken prisoner near Sycamore church, Va. I 

was a prisoner until the 22(1 of Feb., 1865, at Florence, S. C. I lived on a pint of 

Indian meal for days. During that lime I had swamp fever, and my feet frozen so 

that all the toes of both fett were amputated and my feet badly injured other ways 

by freezing. I have had hard work lo walk all these years. I get a pension of seven- 

teen dollars per month only on my feet being injured, which is not near what I should 

have on that claim. The swamp fever has caused heart and liver troubles for which 

I have been trying to obtain an increase the last eight years. So you see I am badly 

used up.


DOWN IN TENNESSEE. 

James B. Welsh, Co. A, First Maine Cavalry of Rockwood, Roane Co., Tenn., writes 

I am greatly delighted with the Bl'gle and prize them very highly and wish you 

success. May the Bugle blow until we are summoned to the final reunion above, in 

the presence of the great Commander. I am a son of Moses C. and Martha R. 

(Witheg) Welsh. I was born April 22d, 1845, in Dead River Plantation, Me. 

Married Maggie E. Lacy of Villisca, Iowa, Aug. 17th, 1876. .She was born in 

Rheat Co., Tenn., May ist, 1S52. Our children, Martha E., b. Oct. 12th, 1877. 

Frank L., b. Jan. 13th, 1880, died May 27th, 1S90. Annie M., b. Dec. 28, 1881 and 

James B., Jr., b. Aug. 22d, 1887. I am a republican and belong to the Christian 

church, and am a carpenter. 

ECHO, A BANK NOTE. 

Patrick F. Shevlin, Co. C, First Maine Cavalr) of Boston, Mass., writes: 

The last Call was a " Call down " and should cause the comrades to come to atten- 

tion. Let the First Maine Bi'cle blow on until the last man of Maine gives it to 

Gabriel, to sound "Taps." Vou must make some allowance, general, in time of peace 

for the slow response of cavalrymen around turkey time. A "strong weakness" or a 

"line frenzy ' has overcome them and I don't think the Bird of Freedom on their own 

Battle Flag would appease them. After winter quarters are broken the boys will raise 

the dust off a hard road and respond to the BuGLE notes. The echoes will not 

ansiver " Where " but " Here " with a bank note that I hope will not be discordant 

to your ear. 

IN THE mountains THREE DAYS AND NIGHTS. 

Asa F. Hanson, of Co. ^L First Maine Cavalry, of Atkinson, Me., writes: 

1 can write quite a letter about that awful war from '61 to July, '65. I was in a 

good many hard scrapes with you, one at Middletown, Shenandoah Valley. They 

wrote home to my father that I v\as killed, and you were also reported killed, but 

neither of us is quite dead. I was in the mountains with fourteen comrades three 

days and nights. I was knocked senseless at the second battle of Bull Run. I was 

with Major Cen. Fitz John Porter when I was struck. Again at Malvern Hill the 

morning that Sergt. Bradman of my company was wounded I had my horse shot 

from under me and I mounted his horse. 

OKO Y PLATA, FROM MONTANA. 

ArroRNEY General H. J. H.vskell, late of Co. B, First Maine Cavalry, writes: 

By to-day's mail I received Call 4, which will compare favorably with the others, 

and I extend to you thanks for the pleasures received from a careful reading of the 

same. I observe on page 63 of the Call that on motion of Major S. W. Thaxter, it 

was voted that the association cease its pecuniary responsibility for the publication of 

the First Maine Bugle after this year. In other words, the major proposes that this 

publication, if continued, must depend upon the editor, proprietors or incorporators 

for its support. If satisfactory to you, you may charge me with five subscriptions to 

the Campaign of 94, and make such disposition of four of the subscriptions as to you 

may seem advisable. Vou may know of some old members who would be pleased to 

read it for two reasons; first, that it brings to memory the clear recollection of the 

engagements which their old regiment participated in; and, second, it is in greater


part the handiwork of your honorable self, who was so long a time regimental com- 

mander, and for which the old comrades owe a debt that cannot be repaid, except liy 

written expressions as grateful recognitions for your time and labor employed in this 

work. 

DELAYED PAYMENTS. 

Lieut. Jeff L. Coburn, late of Co. A, First Maine Cavalry, now of Coburn & Sons, 

Architects, 134 Lisbon St., Lewiston, Me., writes: 

Referring to your bill for the Buglk will say that there is nothing for you to do but 

to call out the guard and have the whole lot of delayed payments " rounded up." 1 

shall send you all dues about New Years time, also a contribution to the Buc;i,e rela- 

tive to the battle of Dinwiddle Court House. 

CHARGE THE. SAME TO ME. 

Caleb N. Lang, Co. K, First Maine Cavalry, of Portland, writes 

I am in hopes that the Buglk will continue to blow in the future as bright and 

clear as it has in the past. I shall be glad to do all I can to help it along. Have you 

been sending the Bugle to L. O. Merrill, whose address is 25 B street, San Benardino, 

Cal.? If not, please send them to him, beginning with the January. '94, num- 

ber, and charge the same to me. 

Note.—Comrade Lang has suppHed nine comrades with the Bucn.E for 1894 — 

J. P. C. 

THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND. 

W. R. Carter, First Tennessee Cavalry, of Knoxville, Tenn., writes: 

I am now preparing a history of my regiment—the First Tennessee dvalry—which 

demands all my time at present. I return thanks for the Bugle and ihe encouraging 

words you send out. The cavalry arm of the service never has had full justice done 

it, and I hope we will do our best to properly put before the American people a very 

important arm of the service. 1 know in the West we did our part .of the work in 

the great struggle in the Army of the Cumberland, in which I served for three jears. 

E. L. Shackford, of Non-commissioned Staff of First Maine Cavalry, of Minneap 

olis, Minn., writes: 

I receive the Bugle regularly every quarter and enjoy reading it very much. May 

you be spared to us many years to come, and continue in the good work. 

WILL WRITE A FEW THINGS. 

Pearl G. Ingalls, Co. B, Eighth Maine, of Razorville, Me., writes: 

Yours of the seventeenth instant is at hand and in reply will state that I would 

gladly comply with your request— not that 1 feel competent to fill the place of Col. 

True—if time and opportunity will permit. Like the colonel I fear that I cannot be 

depended upon at this period in my life. I lind myself surrounded every day of my 

life with little cares, and I also think the four and one-half years I spent at the front 

tell upon my powers, both of body and mind. I shall be glad, however, if I can give 

the time, after the fall business gets a little slack, to write a few things about the cam- 

paign of 1864, as I have a diary from May 4th to October, 1864, kept by myself. I 

had a complete one for all the time of my service but it was burned with my buildings


fifteen years ago. When visiting a sister at Lawrence last fall I found she had an 

extract fr ni that diary covering the period mentioned. In relation to my opinion 

al).iia the r islcr of the Kighth Maine, 1 judge it wouiij intlucnue its members to suh- 

sciilio lur the Hui.LK. 

don't you iûtcet it. 

Ai.viN HlNTKR. Hist. \t. 550, of Flintviile, Brown Co., Wis., writes: 

I ha\e ju-t rcciivcd the treasurer's report and have read it all. Inclosed please 

find DC di'llar uhich will p.ny for the Bih;ll 1 believe up to and for January, 1894. 

1 v\ish 1 cuuld do more to lielp you out, but can nut at present. Now, dear comrade, 

I w ish you wuuld tell me what offence the editor of the Clinton Advertiser could take 

to my letter of January i6lh, 1S9J. that is printed in the April Blgle. I can not see 

unless it is because he did not belong to the First Maine Cavalry and is ashamed to 

have them read of the big fights that he has done with his mouth w hile we did ours 

with the rit1e. It ean"t be for lack of pay for I have kept him paitl up pretty well 

and owe him nothing now, al'nough he stopped my paper as soon as he saw the letter. 

And now, dear general, I do not know but the editor of the Bugle is going to play 

me the same trick and not blow his Bugle any more for me. But if he does not, he 

will see me down there with my rifle, and don't you forget it. 

GI,AD. 

Joshua Ray, Co. H, First Maine Cavalry, of Hermon, Me., writes 

I am glad to belong to the First Maine Cavalry Association, and I appreciate the 

Bugle and will try to write something for its pages as soon as I can. 

WANTS A PASS. 

Alonzo Annis, Co. D, First Maine Cavalry, of Charlotte, says : 

You ask me to write something for the BuGLE. Now if you wanted a quarter of 

lamb or a fat chicken it would be all right; you would only have to give me a pass 

and I would see to the rest; but when it comes to writing for the Bugle I am not at 

home. 

MAINE MEN CAUSE A CHANGE OF CLIMATE. 

Charles H. Mero, Co. E, Twentieth Maine, of Minneapolis, Minn., writes: 

The First Maine Bugle carries memory back to my own old comrades from the 

dear old State, and to the record made by her different regiments. I am proud of my 

own regiment, the Twentieth Maine. I also feel honored by having my name on the 

rolls of a State that sent the best regiment of cavalry to the front during the war, of 

whose record every Maine soldier is proud. They made a name second to none in 

the history of the war, a name that will be honored by Maineites for all future time. 

I think your new departure in throwing open the coiumns of the Bugle to all Maine 

soliliers a good one, which should meet with a hearty response from all the Maine 

comrades, and be a medium through « hich the comrades can come together with their 

thoughts and experiences even though they are scattered all over this great Union 

they fought to save. The Maine soldiers are to be found in every State. Thousands 

of them have located in Minnesota. Six of my regiment are living in this city. 

Fourteen Maine comrades belong to my Post, while there are nearly as many in each 

of the other nine Posts of the city, besides having a fairly good representation in all 

of the other Posts in the State, as well as in Wisconsin. In fact there are so many


Maine people located in this part of the country that it has actually changed the cli- 

mate, so that instead of having a nice cold and dry atmosphere, we have been having 

just such weather as you have in Maine. Everybody lays it to the large number of 

Maineites who are living here, but we are not ashamed of the Stale that gave us birth. 

Later on I will try to send you a roster of the Maine comrades in this city, and no 

doubt many of them will want the Bugle, as through it they can hear from their own 

comrades. I will do all 1 can for the success of the Bui;lk. 

Note.—Comrade Mero sends a very interesting and bright poem recounting sime 

of the war experiences of the Twentieth Maine, which will appear in the Aprd issue. 

GREAT WHITE LETTERS, MAINE. 

Matthew S. Berry, of Brownville, Me , Co. H, writes 

The Eleventh Maine Volunteers arrived in Washington about one o'clock in the 

morning and went into the barracks near the capitol, called the " soldiers' rest," but 

we did not get much rest there. The place was run on contract for so much a head. 

The pork looked as though it had done duty for every regiment that had arrived for 

three months. We could not eat it so we tried to see if it would stick on the walls 

of the building by throwing it against them. We found it soft enough to stick every 

time. The old fraud that run the concern came just inside the door and began to 

threaten us, when a chunk of pork struck him square across the mouth and he turned 

and ran. I went out to explore the capitol as soon as it was light, and went all over 

the building, even climbing up among the timbers in the dome—it was not finished 

then. When I got back to the " rest " the boys had gone. I looked up my knapsack—we 

had no guns—and started down Pennsylvania avenue, enquiring for the 

regiment. I soon met an Irishman from some New York regiment, who said, " be- 

jabers " he had not seen any regiment, but if it was a squad of " greenies " I was 

looking for, with big bureaus on their backs marked with great white letters, Maine, 

they went up towards Meridian Hill, where I found them in camp. 

personals. 

Lieut. S. C". Smith, Co. L First Maine Cavalry, of Winheld, Kansas, comes to the 

rescue of the cavalry men in the January nth, 1S94, issue of the National Tribune. 

Capt. Joshua A. Fessenden, of the Fifth United States Artillery, stationed at Passa- 

dena, Cal., has been placed on the retired list of the army for physical disability. Capt. 

Fessenden will be remembered as sergeant in Co. B, First Maine Cavalry. . 

bugle i'atrons honored. 

Major Charles G. Davis, First Massachusetts Cavalry, has been appointed Assistant 

Adjutant-General on the staff of Commander-in-Chief, John G. B. Adams; Geo. 

Dcughly, Geo. H. M. Barrett, Horatio S. Libby, all of the First Maine Cavalry, and 

Geo. B. Safford, Eleventh Maine Infantry, Aides-de-camp. 

FIRST MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY REU.NION. 

The First Massachusetts Cavalry .Xssociation, to the number of seventy-five veter- 

ans, gathered at the Lancers' armory on Bullinch street, October 25tli, 1S93, the 

occasion being the twenty-eighth annual reunion of the association. Maj D. H. L.

EDWARD A. TRUE, 

Lieutenant Colonel Eighth Maine Infantry, 

Boston, Mass.


Entered at the Post Office, Rockland, Me., at Second-Class Mailer. 

Campaign I. April, 1894. Call 2. 


From sixty-one until the grand review. 

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY, JANUARY, APRIL, JULY AND OCTOBER, AND WILL BE THE 

ORGAN OF THE "MEN OK MAINE" WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OK THE 

REBELLION. NO OTHER STATE HAS A PROUDER RECORD, 



OF HISTORIC 

VALUE 

TO EACH REGI- 







REGIMENTS NORTH AND SOUTH WHICH PARTICIPATED IN THE WAR OF THE REBELUON . 

PRICE ONE DOLLAR A YEAR, OR TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A CALL 



Address, J. P. Cilley, Treasurer, RoCKI-AND, MAINE.

Save Money.— Regular Subscribers 



periodicals for which they are subscrib- 

ers, add Bugle at a greatly reduced price 


let us say, Cosmopolitan and Harper's 


office and we will add Bugle to the list 


Regular \Vith 

Price Bugle 

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Reminiscences of Prison Life and Escape. 

By ERASTUS DOBLE. 

The majority of the Eiglith Maine Infantry, of which I was 

a member, re-enlisted in January of 1864 and arrived home on 

a thirty days furlough about the first of February. The most 

of us, excepting myself, got married, had a good time generally 

and went back to Virginia instead of Port Royal. At Port 

Royal, S. C, we performed more fatigue and pig and bee-hive 

service than fighting. Virginia was a decided change. We 

found the active duties of the campaign harder. The marching 

and counter marching in the hot sun or drenching showers con- 

trasted strongly with the peaceful scenes at home. But the 

memories of home and the loved ones, and the extreme kind- 

ness manifested towards us on our way to Maine and back, 

buoyed us up, and we lived over and over again our furloughs; 

bright dreams of home strengthened and sustained us. 

Our objective point under Butler was the rebel capitol, and 

towards it we moved on the fifteenth of May. Just at dusk our 

regiment received the Massachusetts brigade on the skirmish 

line. Our orders were to commence firing on the rebel works 

as soon in the morning as we could see. Our company, B, was 

under the command of First Lieut. Luther B. Rogers. Charles 

VV. Moore of our company was not well and I asked him why 

he was not excused and at the rear. His reply was, " I'd rather 

die than ask to be excused before a battle." So he laid down 

for the night under a pine top. We were in a slashing; it was 

a thick forest and had just been cut down to obstruct our 

advance. How well we remember the morning of the sixteenth ! 

Drizzly wet, with the landscape covered by a fog so dense we 

could see only a few rods. But oh, couldn't we hear! We 

commenced firing as soon as we could sec and were answered 

by musketry and then artillery. The roaring of cannon, crack-


ling of musketry, whiz of cannon balls, zipping of the minnies 

and the shrieking of, the shells combined to make the grandest 

and most terrible noise I ever heard or probably ever shall hear. 

Then came the rebel yell ; they were charging on the right, with 

a shrill treble like a lot of school boys. I had not the least 

doubt of our ability to repulse them and experienced a sort of 

contempt for such effeminate cries, and my contempt was 

increased when I heard the answering shout of our boys in a 

deep bass. It sounded grand ; there was such determination 

in its tone, and my feelings changed from contempt for the 

baby cry of the rebels to pride and exultation. But they turned 

our right flank and Lieut. Rogers shouted for us to fall back. 

As we started to obey I espied Charley Moore. I could not 

leave him ; stories of sick and wounded being bayoneted by 

the rebels passed through my mind. I induced him to get up 

and let me help him along. Just then I saw Arthur Robinson 

and called him to help, and I got under Charley's arms and 

started. We saw three blue coated chaps coming from our 

right and I took it for granted that they were to relieve us as we 

had relieved the force the night before. These fellows called 

us to halt, but we did not though we made slow progress. 

They pointed their muskets and said emphatically, " Halt 

We did so. Said they, "What regiment do you belong to?" 

We answered, " Eighth Maine. What regiment do you belong 

Throw down your guns 

to? " " Twenty-first North Carolina ! 

and take off your equipments. Keep your haversacks and can- 

teens ; you'll want all the grub you've got, I reckon, 'fore you'll 

get any more. About face. Come along;" and away we 

started for Richmond. Charley Moore remarked, " We're in 

for it during the war, I guess." Robinson was exactly as sto- 

ical as ever. We were in a pretty hot nest. Stumps were 

being split and shivered to pieces all around us; dead and 

wounded were pretty thick, and the battle roared. Our captors 

took us out of range as soon as they could and we started for 

Richmond, but how different from the way we anticipated. On 

the way to the steamboat landing several attempts were made

PRISON LIFE AND ESCAPE. 107 

to rob us but our captors proved to be good fellows and would 

not allow it. 

We passed six lines of rebels and Robinson had a pretty 

sharp tilt of words with the rebel Gen. Gracie. Gracie 

demanded how large force we had and Robinson answered, 

" Keep on and you'll probably find out." Gracie presented a 

revolver and threatened to shoot, but finally his attention was 

attracted some other way, and we went on to the steam-boat 

landing where our North Carolina guards left us. These North 

Carolineans were just from Plymouth where they had captured 

their uniforms from our folks. 

One of our men, Lorenzo Racket, had been a prisoner of 

war for some time. I remembered hearing Racket tell of the 

refined barbarity of the rebels, how one of the squad to which 

he belonged was shot by a guard from the street, the victim 

being in the second story of Libby Prison, for no other reason 

than that the poor fellow got near enough to the window for 

the sentinel to see him. I confess to you I did not believe him 

although I did not say so. Well, we landed and were immedi- 

ately assailed by a crowd of dirty looking women who taunted 

now you've 

us with the newspaper cry, " On to Richmond ! 

got here, you black-hearted Yanks, etc." We marched to the 

door of Libby Prison, when bang went a gun, and when we got 

in we found a man had been shot and probably mortally 

wounded through a window exactly as Racket had told me ! 

I mentally begged Racket's pardon there and then. Still I 

had no idea that Racket was aware that I doubted his word till 

I told him of this event years afterwards, when he said, " You 

didn't believe me when I told you of just such a murder, did 

you? " We were soon searched and robbed of all they could 

find of value, except myself and a few others. I thought I 

would try to dodge the search, and succeeded by flanking 

Just before we were searched an officer accompanied by a dap- 

per little clerk with a great big book came in. The officer 

announced several times in a loud voice " that all prisoners 

possessing money or valuables would do well to turn them over


to him, have their name recorded with credit for whatever was 

thus turned over, the same to be returned strictly and honestly 

when we were paroled or exchanged, as it was necessary for 

them to take such things from us so we could not make use of 

them to assist us to escape." I suppose this officer was the 

notorious Dick Turner. Man)' of the boys took stock in that 

enterprise. I didn't; didn't have any money anyway and was 

obliged to miss that speculation. But Arthur had some cash 

(when did any of you know him not to have?) and he was 

considering how to save it, when a sail or formerly of theCum- 

berland till that vessel was sunk, said we could rip open the 

quarters of our army brogans and put in the greenbacks and 

then sew them up and rub dirt on them, then slash the shoes 

so no Johnnie would covet 'em, and we would be all right- 

Arthur distributed some five dollar bills among us and we tried 

it with complete success. Well, our names and the organiza- 

tion to which we belonged were all taken and then they let us 

alone for awhile ; next was the search before spoken of. We 

were in the second story in the up-river end of Libby Prison. 

There was an old sign nailed on to the corner of the prison 

reading on the down-river side E. B. Libby & Son, Ship Chan- 

dlers and Grocers ; on the upper side of the board was E. B. 

Libby & Sons, Ship Chandlers and Groceries. We had room 

enough but the room was dirty and hot. We had some of our 

rations left and did not get very hungry till the next day, but 

nothing came for us till about nine o'clock in the evening of 

the next day. Now what do you suppose the noble and chiv- 

alrous Southerners brought us ! I'll tell you ; 

it was a few tubs 

of dirty-looking swill, called bean soup. The men were half 

famished and gathered around the swill tub and squealed and 

swore and acted very much as real swine do, till finally poor 

John Maloney, an Irishman of a New York regiment, dove his 

hand into the hot stuff and began to eat, then there was a gen- 

eral rush and a few who had dippers or plates got what there 

was of the stuff. I did not get a taste, but the next morning 

got a biscuit of hard bread somehow and got along. After that


we had corn bread instead of swill. We staid in Libby Prison 

one or two weeks and then marched over to Manchester and 

took the cars for Andersonville. We went away around Petersburg 

because our folks were there, by way of Lynchburg. On 

the way we saw many evidences of war. At one station we 

saw the ruins of the depot and other buildings that were burned 

the day before by a raiding party of Yanks. Oh, how I did 

wish that party would come and recapture us, but it was not to 

be. We arrived at Danville, N. C, that night and I wrote a 

letter home which was recei\'ed by my folks in Lincoln in just 

about eight months time. It just informed them that I was 

captured alive and well, instead of being probably killed as 

Lieut. Rogers supposed I was and reported to my father. Our 

next trip was from Danville to Charlotte, N. C, a distance of 

fifteen miles or so, but we were all day working the old loco- 

motive along. We would go a piece and the old machine would 

give out. No event occurred till we arrived at Macon, Georgia, 

of any interest, except we were well fed with nice hard bread 

and bacon. There we were separated from our few officers who 

were captured with us. The next stopping place was Anderson 

station, and we got a glimpse from the cars of the prison. We 

were marched out onto a rise of ground where we could look 

into the stockade. My first mental ejaculation was " Do human 

beings live in there?" I soon found out. Our first introduc- 

tion to the demon of Andersonville, Capt. Henry Wirz, was 

here. We were again counted and searched, and I flanked as 

before and escaped being searched, though what I did it for I 

can hardly tell for all the money I had was one of Comrade 

Robinson's V's in my shoe. While we were waiting I noticed a 

few of our men who were out on parole of honor, and among 

them was a boy. Some one asked him why he didn't stay at 

home with his father and mother, when he answered distinctly, 

" General Morgan killed my father." I now suppose him to be 

" Little Red Cap," Ransom T. Powell, whose story appeared in 

the National Tribune a year or so ago. " 

" 

Attention Battalion ! 

Column Forward, 

screamed out old Wirtz, " Left Face !


March ! 

" and we were soon filing into the south gate of the 

infamous prison. The prisoners inside were eager to meet us 

and learn what had transpired since their capture and to see if 

any of their respective comrades were among the unfortunates, 

and they pressed forward and made quite a crowd. 

" Fall back 

there," shouted the sentinel from his box by the gate. Old 

VVirz yelled to the guard in a rage, " Don't speak to 'em, shoot 

'em." The sentinel did not fire on the prisoners then, but Wirz 

wanted one or more murders set down against his name there 

and then just the same. I will tell you how this prison was 

built and situated. It was built of hard pine logs sided 

with an ax and set in a trench four to six feet deep, the sided 

sides being placed together. The stockade stood about eighteen 

feet high. To hold them in place there were two tiers of poles 

trunnelled or spiked on to the outside, one near the ground, the 

other near the top. Then a little platform was put up with 

roofs and bushes over them high enough for sentry boxes, so 

the guards could shoot inside conveniently. Inside, sixteen 

feet from the stockade was a line of stakes about two and a half 

feet high, with board edgings nailed on top of them. This was 

the dead line. Sometimes if a prisoner touched the line with 

his hand bang would go a rebel bullet at him and often would 

wound or kill some one ten or fifteen feet away, while the one 

who touched the deadline was unhurt. However, it satisfied 

the rebels just as well. We found a few old acquaintances in 

the prison and they posted us up on the customs in vogue as 

well as they could, and cautioned us against " Mosby's Raid- 

ers." This was a gang of bounty jumpers and thieves and 

criminals of all sorts who had most of them deserted to the 

enemy and made so much trouble for him that they were finally 

put in with the prisoners of war. They lived well on what they 

robbed from the other prisoners, had whiskey and fights and 

enjoyed themselves generally in their way. The prison was sit- 

uated on both sides of a small brook which flowed into the 

Flint river. As we went in we filed to the right down a narrow 

path and crossed the brook, then filed to the left, clear across

PRISON LIFE AND ESCAPE. HI 

the stockade and stopped on a piece of marsh that had just 

been covered with dirt taken from the side hill. Now I must 

tell you about one of Col. Shaw's poor negro soldiers. You all 

remember Col. Shaw of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. They 

were colored troops. Col. Shaw fell while assaulting Fort 

Wagner and was buried in the trench beneath the bodies of his 

own men who fell there. We found one of his wounded heroes 

lying up in the dirt close to the bank made by taking this dirt 

out to make dry land of the marsh. Some of the Massachusetts 

boys who were captured with us were acquainted with him 

and said he was a student in one of their colleges when he 

enlisted. It was very hot weather then, which must have been 

the first part of June, and we had a heavy thunder shower every 

afternoon. After a few days I thought of this poor fellow and 

wondered what shelter he had there from these showers, and 

that afternoon when the shower commenced I left our shelter 

and went over where we had seen him. There he was under 

that bank lying on his side, a muddy stream of water running 

over him from up on the hill. He was about half buried by 

the sand that had washed over him. A stream was running 

directly across his face and sand had washed into his mouth and 

eyes and he was just gasping his last breath ; 

and 

while I stood 

looking at him, paralyzed by the horror of his situation, he vvas 

dead. Hasn't somebody suffered that we and our children and 

children's children might have a bright and pleasant and free 

country to live in? 

We were divided into detachments of two hundred and sev- 

enty, sub-divided into three squads of ninety each, and they 

into messes of forty-five men each. We were in the second 

mess, called by the rebel roll-call sergeant, " 45-2." The 

members of our regiment who staid together were Orderly 

Sergt. Wallace Smith, Co. C, Corp. Delance Young of Co. B, 

Arthur Robinson, myself, Henry L. Burnell, William H. Norris 

of Co. I. Then we took in Dennis Hagan of the Ninth Maine, 

one of Howe's comrades and two of the One Hundredth New 

York, Alexander McLain called " Sandy " for short, and Joe


Lynch, a simple but plucky true hearted Irishman. We afterwards 

added Alvah J. Rideout of Co. B, who was captured the twenty- 

ninth of June on Kautz' and Wilson's raid. I shall always 

remember when I first saw Rideout in prison. I was going 

down to the brook after water, and I saw him standing like a 

statue gazing at the prison and its scenery in a kind of mute 

horror and despair. I sung out cheerily as I could, " Hulloo, 

Rideout; when did you come?" His answer was, " For God's 

sake, do men live here?" "Oh, yes, and quite well, too," I 

answered. " Where do you stop? " " I came in last night and 

have wandered around all night and I don't know what to do." 

I took him home with me and we soon learned the news as far 

as he was posted. The war was going on all right and the 

rebels were being driven towards that " last ditch " of theirs. 

He told us how he had volunteered to go with the raid and 

drive an ambulance; was captured and robbed of everything 

wallet, money, jack-knife, testament, and even the picture of his 

wife and little children. He begged for them but was answered 

with coarse jokes and told that he and all the Yanks that were 

taken with him would be in hell in less than three hours. Pres- 

ently they were placed in line, a shooting party detailed before 

their eyes and ordered to load and shoot the damned Yankees 

through their black hearts. The shooting party were in posi- 

tion and Rideout and his comrades were informed that they 

were to be shot for being plunderers and robbers, etc. The 

men supposed their time had come and nerved themselves to 

die like men and were waiting in—I can't tell you what frame 

of mind—when the order was changed and they were sent to a 

slower death in the hands of that refined torturer of Jeft' Davis, 

Gen. John H. Winder, with such assistants as Henry Wirtz, the 

Dutch captain, and L. M. Williams, one of the Baltimore " Plug 

Uglies," who was in the Baltimore riot that assailed the Sixth 

Massachusetts. 

I have been running along so fast that I have neglected to 

describe fully the prison. The rebels told us it contained forty 

acres, and in June it became so crowded that an addition was


put on of what they called fifteen acres. It has since been 

found to contain about fifteen acres all told. A brook, as I 

said before, ran through it, and on the bank of the brook was a 

cook house where bacon was boiled for us, also stock beans or 

" cow beans " as the rebels called them, and corn bread made of 

meal, ground cobs and all, was baked there. All the greasy 

water and filth was drained into the brook and came in through 

the chinks of the stockade for us to wash in and drink, and as meat 

was cooked for the large number of prisoners, there was consid- 

erable filth. Many of the men dug little wells near the brook 

and got pretty good water. But there was a very large number 

who had no other place to get water but the brook, and as the 

only place where water obtained from the brook could possibly 

be used was close to the dead line, there was always a crowd 

there getting water. The dead line, as I have told you was 

edgings or scantlings nailed on the top of stakes. In this 

place the stakes each side of the brook were on higher ground 

than where the prisoners stood dipping up water. The guard 

from his sentry box always watched sharp there and whenever 

he could see a man or part of a man by looking under the dead line 

he would fire at him. Man}- and many a poor fellow fell dead 

or mortally wounded there by the brook. I say mortally wounded, 

for if the skin was broken it was as bad as to have the throat cut 

from ear to ear. It seemed our blood was so poisoned that 

healing even the smallest wound, was impossible. I was going 

down' to the brook one day when I heard a shot and then our 

boys yelling like angry demons. When I got to the brook I 

saw a party carrying a dead man off, and on the ground was a 

piece of his skull, blood and brains. We always yelled at the 

rebels and called them cowards and all the names men could 

think of, notwithstanding all the threats the rebels might make. 

I do not remember of their ever firing on us for it. At another time 

a man near my " shebang " put his hand on the dead line, when 

the bloodthirsty coward on guard fired and slightly wounded 

one man and killed another ten feet from the dead line. He 

was just as well satisfied as if he had hit the one aimed at. I


tell you we were crowded together about as thickly as we could 

be and all have a chance to lie down. So if any of the valiant 

Georgia militia chose to fire he was pretty sure to hit some one. 

As far as my experience goes the men who shirk danger think 

they are the bravest because the most savage. Now these regiments 

of Georgia militia were made up of rich men who 

wouldn't go to the front, and sickly and make believe sickly 

boys and men who would rather have the honor of killing 

Yankees when those Yankees were unarmed and defenseless. 

It was said that every one who shot a Yank got a furlough, but 

I do not know how true it was. We did find two good strong 

Union men among our guards but they were of the weak sort. 

Here's another incident. Whenever new prisoners arrived 

these raiders or prison robbers would watch them and almost 

always get considerable plunder from them, although the older 

prisoners always warned them to look out for the robbers and 

keep money or watches out of sight. This time the new squad 

of prisoners were from Sherman's army and among them were 

two great swarthy, broad-shouldered Indians. The rebels would 

sing out to them as they were on their way to the prison, "What 

tribe do you Indians belong to?" Their answer was, "The 

Union tribe." Well, they came in and that night laid down by 

a well near our shanty. Along in the night two of the prison 

robbers came stealthily along, and as the poor Lo appeared to 

be very sound asleep they felt his pockets and haversacks and 

were making a general examination of them, when one of them 

who was lying on his bark with his head resting on his arm, 

brought that arm out from under his head suddenly, the gleam 

of a knife was seen as he struck one of the thieves with it, and 

with a yell of pain and rage they both ran away. 

Up to this time we had been allowed to go out under guard 

after wood. I can not give you even a faint idea how pleasant 

it was outside. The air seemed sweet, it was so nice to be 

out of the misery and filth and stench of the stockade even for 

a few minutes. But there was one hardship connected with the 

pleasure of going outside: that loathsome rebel flag we could 

see plainer than in prison.

PETERSBURG TO APPOMATTOX. 115 

I wish I could skip everything else now and tell you the wild 

ecstasy of deli


Much of this hidden life and private personal history must 

remain unwritten as it is too sacred for the public gaze. These 

men, even the best of them, had their faults, but after the lapse 

of almost thirty years their \'irtues seem to me to far outshine 

their failings. I cannot write of campaigns and battles, of per- 

sonal valor and militarx- prowess. I must write from a chap- 

lain's standpoint. Lieut. Col. E. A. True was in command on 

this last campaign, and having shared the same quarters, and 

partaken of the same army fare with him, and seen him in a 

great variety of circumstances, I am prepared to say he could 

not have been more appropriately named. He was a true man, 

a true soldier, and a true patriot. 

I will not now speak of the campaign previous to that memo- 

rable Sabbath in the history of the war, April 2d, 1865. On that 

day I had witnessed the battering of the enemy's works, the 

capture of his forts and the breaking of his lines in front of 

Petersburg, the news of which reaching Jefferson Davis in 

church, interrupted his worship, and turned the city of Richmond 

into a scene of confusion and conflagration, and hastened 

the departure of the Confederate army, vainly seeking a place 

to make a successful stand against the Union forces. Blissfully 

ignorant of these scenes of terror and confusion in the rebellious 

city, we lay on our arms that night, and slept the sleep of the 

innocent. Our regiment had been in the midst of the fight 

that day and seemed to heed the command, " Stand fast, quit 

you like men, be strong ! " Some had fallen, killed or wounded, 

we scarcely knew which. One orderly sergeant was wounded 

in the abdomen. He eagerly but calmly inquired as to the 

nature of his wound, and I told him as nearly as I could. His 

reply was, " Then of course I cannot li\'e." Taking his diary 

and j)ocket book from his pocket he gave them to me, giving 

directions how to send them ; 

he then dictated a tender, verba] 

message to his widowed mother. I arranged his blanket and 

placed his knap-sack for a pillow, and when all was ready he 

lay down, " calmly as to a night's repose." He thanked me 

with his accustomed politeness, and we bade each other good-


bye, expecting that a few hours at most would end his mortal 

life. But thanks to a pure and virtuous youth and early man- 

hood, the skill and faithfulness of the army surgeons, and the 

lox'ing kindness of our Heavenly Father, he still lives in com- 

fortable health, I am told. Many such scenes I was compelled 

to witness, but ven' few with such happ\' results. 

I had waked very early Monday morning, anticipating a 

renewal of the conflict, but feelings can better be imagined than 

described when we were officially informed that Richmond had 

been evacuated in the night and that no enemy lay in our front. 

A part of our corps with others entered Richmond that day, 

but our division were ordered to fall in and march out on the 

Lynchburg turnpike, with our faces towards the great unknown. 

As we halted for further orders the question, man\- times 

repeated, fell on my ear, "Where are we going, chaplain?" 

" To Richmond," was my brief reply, although our backs were 

turned upon that rebellious city, referring siK)rtivcly to the 

familiar rallying cry " On to Richmond." But little did we 

think that we were to reach that point by so long and eventful 

a march, and that before we reached it we should participate in 

the most important event of the war. Orders came to march I 

think about lO o'clock A. M. The men looked a little disap- 

pointed, but I heard not a word of complaint. I will not 

attempt to describe the particulars of that march, for it is 

impossible. It seemed to me that the men were taxed to their 

utmost capacity, marching, not by day only, but by night as 

well, and I cannot describe the inviting look the earth gave us 

when we halted late at night, to make it our bed for a few hours. 

My readers will get some idea of the wearing effect of that 

march by an incident. A large bundle reached me when we 

halted for dinner the first day, from a ladies' benevolent society 

near Boston, (The Soldiers' Mission). Red tape would not 

allow it a place in an army wagon ; so I placed it on the pommel 

of my saddle and carried it through to Appomattox Court 

House. On opening it I found it contained more than a hun- 

dred pairs of fine, hand knit woolen stockings. I felt paid for


my labor and inconvenience of carrying that cumbersome bun- 

dle so many miles when I saw those soft, clean stockings encas- 

ing worn and bleeding feet till every pair was gone. Could the 

donors have witnessed that scene, the sight would have been 

compensation enough for them. On Thursday, April 6th, we 

met the enemy near Rice's Station and our regiment was hotly 

engaged. Several were severely wounded, but I think that 

none from our regiment were killed. One, who was danger- 

ously wounded, leaned upon my shoulder while the surgeon removed 

the ball, and there told me he was glad he enlisted 

though he might have to give up his life. Nineteen years later 

he called to see me and showed me that ball. The greatest 

loss was to the cavalry and among them Gen. Read of Ohio. 

Near High Bridge the next morning I met a Farmville lawyer 

who told me that having received his collegiate education at 

Amherst College, Mass., and spent four years at the North he 

had a peculiar regard for northern people, that personally he 

was opposed to secession ; 

but when Virginia voted itself out of 

the Union he felt compelled to go with his State. He told me 

he had volunteered to superintend the burial of the dead who 

fell the day before, both Union and Confederate, without dis- 

tinction ; that he placed boards at their heads marked with 

name, regiment and company, speaking with peculiar satisfac- 

tion of the care he had taken in the interment of Gen. Read's 

body. An hour or two later I saw that body disinterred under 

the direction of the medical directors, and there was not more 

than six or eight inches of earth over it and its only clothing 

was a flannel under shirt. It showed the haste in which the 

labor had been performed and the demoralizing effect of the 

need of clothing in the rebel army. I realized we were in an 

enemy's country who had little love for northern people, living 

or dead. Soon after meeting the lawyer I met a man who 

awakened both my curiosity and my pity. A tall, erect figure, 

dark complexion, black e\'es, and hair sprinkled with white, 

features of a decidedly intellectual cast, face haggard and pale 

and thin, the picture of despair, and might have been a model

WIL6ER F LANE 

Captain Co. G, 8ih Me. Inf.. President 8th Me. Vet. Asso. 

Boston, Mass


for one of the characters in Peel's " Court of Death." He was 

dressed in a suit of fine black, shiny with age. His whole look 

and bearing, and his command of the choicest language indi- 

cated that he had been no ordinary man. His mind had evi- 

dently been unbalanced by the events of the war; and he would 

talk of nothing else. He declared that he alone was responsible 

for the war, that he alone had brought it upon the country; 

and he alone must be held accountable for all the loss of blood 

and treasure that had come upon the land. How this was he 

could not tell, but to his wrecked and shattered intellect, and 

morbidly sensitive conscience it was a reality. Who he was or 

what his history I could not learn. We passed on, and I saw 

him no more. But a picture of wretchedness and despair was 

left on my memory that the lapse of nearly thirty years has not 

been sufficient to efface. 

April 9th, another Sabbath dawned upon us, calm and beau- 

tiful, and destined to be memorable not only in personal ex- 

perience but in our country's history, when the great Confeder- 

ate army in rebellion against the government of the United 

States surrendered to Gen. Grant and that great bubble of 

southern pride and arrogance, the Confederate States of 

America, collapsed to be seen no more. 

My first recollection of that morning is that of finding myself 

in the midst of unmanageable cavalry horses carrying hatless 

and excited riders in all directions, the din of battle drowning 

our voices, and in this scene of confusion finding Colonel Hill of 

the Eleventh Maine disabled and lying helpless on the ground, 

a fragment of shell had struck his knee rendering it useless. He 

had previously given an arm for his countr\', and had but re- 

cently returned to duty with his regiment, I think. In the absence 

of stretchers we pressed a dilapidated confederate buggy 

into service and hurrying him carefully into it, we took him to 

the nearest house and placed him under the care of the sur- 

geons. Our own regiment was in active service that day, but I 

think escaped any serious casualty. Company B under Capt. 

Walton, and Company F under Lt. Murray were deployed as


skirmishers, and were on the skirmish line at the time of the 

final surrender. I think the opinion has generally prevailed 

that there was not much fighting on the day of the surrender 

and as compared with many other days, this was true. There 

was no set battle, yet many noble lives were yielded up, and 

many were severely wounded. I remember riding along a 

short road where lay our dead in the joints of Virginia 

fence that lined the road, some with eyes wide open, still grasp- 

ing their rifles, the muzzles of which were scarcely cold. But 

the vital spark within every bosom had been quenched forever. 

Immediately after this scene I was stopped by the cry " Chap- 

lain, Chaplain ! " and on turning I was told that a soldier in a 

house close by, from the State of Maine, needed my services. 

Here I found lying on a feather bed on the floor one with the 

downy freshness of youth on his cheek and the film of death 

gathering in his eye. He had been cruelly mangled by the 

piece of shell that struck him. I told him who I was, and on 

inquiry learned from broken sentences that he belonged to the 

Eleventh Maine and was the grandson of one whom I had long 

and favorably known. He was greatly comforted when I told 

him this, and seeing that the time he had to live was only a 

question of minutes I told him I would not leave him. He at 

once clung to me as a child would cling to a mother, and I 

drew from him in those brief moments some cf the noblest sen- 

timents of patriotism I heard during the war ; 

his expressions of 

christian resignation and trust made that dingy room appear a 

spot, " Privileged above the common walks of life quite on the 

verge of heaven." He sent a loving message to his mother, ac- 

cepted the words of Jesus, " I go to prepare a place for you," 

and closed his eyes in death. I was surprised at the expres- 

sions of patriotism, faith and resignation from one so young. 

But when afterward I received a letter from his mother con- 

taining sentiments worthy of a Spartan mother, imbued with a 

true christian spirit, the mystery was solved, and I have often 

thought we made light estimate of the cost of the war when we 

computed it in gold, and added to this the sacrifice of ordinary


human lives. The sacrifice made b}' that noble mother and 

thousands of others like her, with that of wives and sisters and 

daughters swells the cost bc)'ond human computation. Later 

in the day we laid his torn body in a quiet nook, a part of our 

drum corps having been detailed for this duty. I placed at his 

head a board with his name, regiment and letter of his company 

inscribed upon it. I also put the same upon a slip of paper 

and putting it in a glass bottle with a glass stopper I placed it 

in the grave. Just as words of prayer were about to be spoken 

two gentlemen in citizens clothes approached us. When the 

services were over, they introduced themselves as pastors of two 

churches in the city of Gardiner, Maine, delegates of the Chris- 

tian Commission. I thought it quite a remarkable meeting, all 

representatives of the Pine Tree State. The young soldier in 

his earthy bed far away from home and kindred, the drum 

corps, the two pastors, and the chaplain officiating. Only a few 

rods away, in a house built of hewn timber, laid up loghouse 

fashion, we found a colored man and his wife. She was sick 

with fever and unable to be moved. As she lay upon her bed, 

a solid shot had passed through one wall of the house at just 

the right hight to strike her arm, and then passed out through 

the opposite wall. Her arm was very large and fleshy and a 

concave wound was made corresponding to the size and shape 

of the ball. I hardly knew which the more to pity, the wife in 

her intense physical pain, or the husband in his helpless sym- 

pathy, both almost dead with fear. Dr. Williams, our assistant 

surgeon, came to their relief with as much care, skill and ten- 

derness, as I had seen him display in dressing the wound of a 

major general conmianding a corps, he dressed the wound of 

this poor unknown colored woman, and with encouraging, 

cheering, hopeful words we left them. We soon learned, beyond 

doubt that Gen. Lee had asked for terms of surrender of 

Gen. Grant. Rumors like this had floated along our lines for 

the last two or three days, but when we learned that it was an 

assured fact I called upon all near me to join in the tune of 

"Old Hundred" and sine: " Praise God from whom all Blessings


Flow." And hundreds, perhaps thousands of glad hearts gave 

voice to that old doxology. 

Sweet was the rest of that historic Sabbath and at the early 

dawn of Monday the very atmosphere seemed to breath forth 

peace, with this came the most intense longings for home, and 

desire to breath again the air of the dear old Pine Tree State. 

But every thing in the movements appeared to say " Not Yet." 

Our rations were necessarily divided with the prisoners, leav- 

ing us a little short; but who murmured? the war was virtually 

over, these prisoners were no longer our foes and the most 

kindly' feelings seemed to prevail towards them among the 

"Boys in Blue." Preparations were now made for delivering up 

the rebel arms, and as column after column marched in and 

stacked guns, now^ silent and harmless, we thought of the 

promised time when "swords shall be beaten into ploughshares 

and spears into pruning hooks," and we were glad. But there 

came somewhat of a check to our joy when we saw tliat the of- 

ficers were allowed to retain their side arms ; 

and 

we did think 

that the terms of surrender, granted by our magnanimous commanding 

general, were unwarrantedly generous. Yet who shall 

say that the magnaninity that dwelt so richly in the heart of 

Gen. Grant did not infuse itself into the breasts of many of the 

ex-soldiers of the Union making them better men and better 

citizens. 

I went down into the Confederate camp on Monday or Tues- 

day, and such a picture of wretchedness among men and suffering 

among beasts I have never seen. Meeting a little company 

of North Carolina soldiers, one of them declared, " I am glad 

this thing is over." " So am I," heartily responded every one. 

They tried to depict to me the sufferings they had endured from 

hunger, cold and fatigue on that forced march, from the 2d, to 

the 9th, of April they had had nothing to eat but dry corn on 

the cob, an ear to a man, morning and night, each day, except 

two rations of corncake when they first left Richmond. Their 

emaciated form clothed in rags told more than their words 

could. And from that moment the last spark of enmity in my 

->

A REVIEW OF ALDIE. 123 

heart went out, quenched by the tears of pity, and I felt we can 

not afford to be otherwise than generous towards men who have 

suffered so much. On Tuesday after the surrender I rode with 

Lt. Col. True to the famous apple tree, and while I held his 

horse he chopped out a chip for himself and one for me which 

we brought away in our saddlebags. 

I have a small piece of mine left after many divisions among 

friends. It still retains the marks of the army axe which will re- 

mind one of that passage in Eccl. " If the iron be blunt and he 

do not whet the edge then must he put to more strength." 

What though Gen. Lee did not actually surrender under that 

tree to Gen. Grant? yet the fall of that tree was to the minds of 

hundreds of soldiers' Union and Confederate, who carried away 

pieces of it t\'pical of the fall of the most gigantic and unright- 

eous rebellion of modern times. 

A Review of Aldie. 

BY CAIT. GEORGE N. BLISS, KIRST RHODE ISLAM) CAVALRY. 

The history of the First Maine Cavalry is, in my opinion, th


The bright June sunshine was flooding the fields and woods 

as our regiment, two hundred and eighty strong, moved out of 

camp to obey this remarkable order, to march through the cen- 

ter of the rebel cavalry. At Thoroughfare Gap we struck the 

rebel pickets, and by our sudden and rapid advance cleared the 

pass before the main body of the enemy could advance to sup- 

port the picket line. After passing through the Gap we skir- 

mished with the enemy, losing a few horses by rebel bullets and 

then took the road to Middleburg fifteen miles away, leaving 

behind us some twelve hundred of the enemy under Col. J. R. 

Chambliss. At 4 P. M. our troops struck pickets and charged 

them at once, driving Stuart and his staff out of Middleburg, 

who escaped capture because their fresh horses could run faster 

than ours, weary with the long days march. We were then only 

five miles from Aldie where for two hours the battle had been 

raging between Kilpatrick's troopers and Fitz Lee's brigade, and 

had we turned the head of our column in that direction we 

would have struck the rebel rear, hurling ruin and disaster on 

their battle lines and giving the First Maine an open road 

through the pass. The glorious opportunity for such a blow 

warms an old soldiers heart, even in these piping days of peace, 

but this is imagination, not history; the order was to camp at 

Middleburg for the night and communicate with the head- 

quarters of the Second Cavalry Brigade. 

Col. Uuffic was a veteran French offtcer and went into camp 

in the center of this rebel hornets' nest as calmly as though sur- 

rounded by the Union Army, and the following report shows 

how he obeyed the second part of his order for that day. 

Camp First Rhode Island Cavalry, 

Alexander, Va., June 22d, 1863. 

Col. a. N. Duffie, 

Sir:— I have the honor to report, that about five o'clock p. 

M., on the evening of the 17th inst. I was sent from Middleburg, 

where the regiment was then engaged with the enemy, to carry 

a despatch to General Kilpatrick at Aldie, accompanied by two


men. I first attempted to proceed by the main road, but was 

halted and fired upon by a body of the enemy who said they 

were the Fourth Virginia Cavalry I tiicn returned towards 

Middleburg, and leaving the road attempted to make my way 

across the country. I found the fields and woods in every di- 

rection full of bodies of the enemy; by exercising the greatest 

care, I succeeded in making my way through them to Little 

River. Here I encountered five of the enemy, and forced them 

to give me a passage. Following the river down, I struck the 

main road about one mile from Aldie, and on inquiry learned 

that our pickets were on that road. I reached Aldie and deliv- 

ered my dispatch to Gen. Kilpatrick at 9 P. M. Gen. Kilpatrick 

informed me that his brigade was so worn out that he could not 

send any reenforcements to Middleburg, but that he would re- 

port the situation of our regiment to Gen. Gregg. Returning, 

he said that Gen. Gregg had gone to state the facts to Gen. 

rieasanton, and directed me to remain at Aldie until he heard 

from Gen. Pleasanton. I remained but received no further 

orders. Respectfully submitted, 

Frank Allen, Capt. ist, R. I. Cav. 

The rebels were gone from your front then, and an hour and 

a half march would have put the Union troops against Stuarts 

forces near Middleburg and saved many brave Rhode Island 

troopers from starving to death at Andersonville. Somebody 

blundered. The Generals are dead now and we shall never 

know why the First Rhode Island was left to its fate without 

help from brave comrades, who if they could have known the 

situation would have begged for the order to advance. The full 

story of the First Rhode Island Cavalry at Middleburg, Va., 

June 17th and i8th, 1863, is given in a paper read by me before 

the Rhode Island Soldiers' and Sailors' Historical Society and 

published by the Society, being Fourth series No. 4 and it is the 

purpose of this paper only to fully set forth the cause of. the 

rebel retreat from Aldie on the night of June 17, 1863. 

The battle of Bunker Hill was upon the 17th, and that of 

Waterloo on the i8th of June. It was the fortune of the First


Rhode Island Cavalry to be in action upon both anniversaries 

in the year 1863, and the history of the regiment for these two 

days is one of disaster, but not of dishonor. The good conduct 

of the regiment is praised by its enemies as will appear in the 

confederate documents here given. 

Lexington, Ky., July ist, 1884. 

Capt. George N. Bliss, Providence, R. I. 

My Dear Sir:— your favors of recent date are received. I 

think I can answer your questions satisfactorily, and you will 

find that the statements which I shall make are, in the main, 

verified by Gen. Stuart's report, to which you doubtless have 

access. On the morning of the 17th of June 1863, Stuart 

moved Fitz Lee's brigade, commanded by Col. T. T. Munford, 

from Piedmont to Aldie. Robertson's brigade was stationed at 

Rector's Cross Roads, and W. H. F. Lee's brigade, commanded 

by Col. Chambliss was left near Salem to picket Thoroughfare 

Gap, and to keep open communication with Hampton, who was 

still in the rear. Stuart detached from Fitz Lee's brigade two 

squadrons to accompany himself as body guard and for picket 

duty, and with these two squadrons took station at Middleburg 

as a central point of communication between his brigades. It 

was doubtless Stuart's intention to move Chambliss and Robert- 

son towards Middleburg later in the day. When Col. Dufiie 

reached Thoroughfare Gap there was no confederate force in 

his front but the picket from Chambliss command and this 

picket was no doubt instructed to report to the brigade head- 

quarters, and was not instructed to report to Stuart at Middle- 

burg. Hence Stuart was not aware of Duffie's advance until it 

encountered the picket thrown out by his body guard from 

Middleburg. The distance from Salem to Thoroughfare Gap is 

about eight miles, and from Salem to Middleburg perhaps 

twice as far; so you will readily see that unless the 

picket at the Gap had been instructed to report direct to Stuart, 

the news of Duffie's advance could not have reached Stuart in 

time to prepare him for it. Dufiie's movement was certainly a

A HE VIE IV OF ALDIE. 127 

surprise, in the sense that Stuart had no notice of it, but the 

(for him) very unusual precaution which he had taken of at- 

taching to himself a strong body guard, showed that he was 

prepared for unexpected developments, and although unable 

to dispute the road with Col. Duffie, he had sufficient time to 

notify Munford, at Aldie, of the danger in his rear, and then to 

retire in safety from Middleburg. There is no doubt whatever 

about the fact that Munford's withdrawal from Aldie Gap was 

caused by the order sent by Stuart, when he was driven out of 

Middleburg by Duffie. Munford could and would have held 

his position in spite of all his opponents could do. One of his 

best regiments had hardly fired a gun, and another had been 

but little hurt. His position was a strong, one and the fighting, 

while severe, had only served to warm up his men and give 

them confidence. But what else could Stuart do but order him 

to retire? Munford was now between two forces, and Stuart 

could not count upon the arrival of either Chambliss or Rob- 

ertson in time to relieve him. Had Duffie been aware of the 

state of affairs at Aldie, and had he moved up in Munford in- 

stead of stopping at Middleburg, your regiment would have es- 

caped the disaster which befell it, and have inflicted serious 

damage on Munford. 

In my article reviewing the Comte de Paris, I have stated the 

loss in the First Rhode Island Regiment as given by Col. Duffie 

in his official report. This, report justifies me in asserting the 

annihilation of the regiment, for Col. Duffie states the survivors 

to be " four officers and twenty-seven men." I find no subse- 

quent report contradicting this, or in any way mitigating the 

disaster to the regiment. Duffie's report was, however, written 

on the same day on which he reached his brigade, and it seems 

reasonable that others, of whom he was not at that time aware, 

might have made their escape and rejoined their friends at a 

later day. I will be glad if you can give me any exact and au- 

thorative information? Was it ever restored and did the regiment 

again come into the field? I am anxious, not only to make 

no error on this point, but also to do full justice to a gallant


body of men, who were overwhelmed by a disaster, which was 

in no sense the result of any fault of their own. 

If there are any other points upon which I can give you in- 

formation, please command me. 

I am yours, very sincerely, 

H. B. McClellan, 

General. Stuart's Chief of Staff. 

Lexington, Kv., lothjuly 1884. 

Capt. Geo. N. Bliss, R. I. 

My Dear Sir:— I thank you for your kind favor of the 5th 

inst. and for the History of the First Rhode Island Cavalry, 

which you present to me in the name of your Veteran Associa- 

tion. Please convey to the Association my thanks for this val- 

uable and highly appreciated gift. I shall not fail now that the 

facts are before me, to correct some errors into which I have 

been led by the absence of full reports in the official records. 

The force which attacked the First Rhode Island Cavalry at 

Middleburg on the 17th day of June 1863, was Robertson's 

Brigade, which consisted of the Fifty-ninth North Carolina 

State troops (Fourth Cavalry) Col. D. D. Ferrebce ; and the 

Sixty-third North Carolina State troops (Fifth Cavalry) Col. 

P. G. Evans. These two regiments were fresh from the camp 

of instruction, and on the 31st of May reported about lOOO 

aggregate present for duty. They were present, but not engaged 

at the battle of. the 9th of June near Brandy Station. They 

probably had 900 men in the saddle on the 17th of June, but 

this was the first time they came under fire. They were armed 

with Enfield rifles and sabres; they were badly cut up in the 

fight of the 19th and 21st of June, but subsequently under 

Gordon and Barringer, become veteran regiments and did ex- 

cellent service. Col. Evans was killed at Uppervillc, on the 

2 1st of June. I regret that I cannot answer your question con- 

cerning the force engaged with your regiment on the i8th of 

July, 1863. Perhaps General Stuart's report on the Gettysburg 

Campaign may throw some light on that point, see Southern 

Historical Society papers vol. 7, page 428, at the bottom of the 

page. I am, dear sir. Yours very sincerely, 

H. B. McClellan.

A HE VIE IV OF ALDIE. 129 

The following extract is from the Campaign of Stuart's Cav- 

alry, by Major H. B. McClcllan, pages 303, 304 and 305. 

Early in the morning Col. A. N. Duffie had crossed the Hull 

Run Mountain at Thoroughfare Gap. His orders directed him 

to encamp at Middleburg on the night of the 17th, and to pro- 

ceed the next day towards Nolan's Ferry, extending his march 

to the west as far as Snickersville : These orders seem to have 

contemplated a somewhat extended scout by this regiment on 

the left flank of Gen. Gregg's division, a hazardous movement 

in the presence of an enterprising enemy. Col. Duffie reached 

Thoroughfare Gap at 9.30 A. M. and was somewhat delayed in 

crossing the mountain by the picket from Chambliss command. 

By eleven o'clock however he was fairly on his way towards 

Middleburg. At four o'clock P. M.,he struck the pickets which 

Stuart had established for his own safety outside the town, and 

drove them so quickly that Stuart and his staff were compelled 

to make a retreat more rapid than was consistent with dignity 

and comfort. Having with him no force adequate to contest 

the ground with Duffie's regiment, Stuart retired towards Rec- 

tors' Cross Roads. Munford was notified of his danger and di- 

rected to withdraw from Aldie, and Robertson and Chambliss 

were ordered to move immediately upon Middleburg. The only 

hope for Duffie's regiment now lay in an immediate advance 

upon Aldie, where he might have created considerable commo- 

tion by attacking the rear of the First Virginia Cavalry on the 

Middleburg road. But he did not know this, and his orders 

were positive, requiring him to encamp for the night at Middle- 

burg. He therefore made the best of the situation by dis- 

mounting one-half of his regiment behind stone walls and barri- 

cades, hoping he might be able to hold his position until reinforced 

from Aldie, whither he sent Capt. Frank Allen to make 

known his situation at brigade headquarters. Capt. Allen 

reached Aldie, after encountering many difficulties, at nine 

o'clock P. M. He says in his report: " Gen. Kilpatrick informefl 

me that his brigade was so worn out that he could not send any 

reinforcements to Middleburg, but that he would report the sit-


uation of our regiment to General Gregg. Returning, he said 

that Gen. Gregg had gone to state the facts to Gen. Pleasanton, 

and directed me to remain at Aldie until he heard from Gen, 

Pleasanton, I remained but received no further orders." Thus 

Col. Duffie was left to meet his fate. 

At seven o'clock in the evening he was attacked by Robert- 

son's brigade. His men fought bravely, and repelled more than 

one charge before they were driven from the town, retiring by 

the same road upon which they had advanced. Unfortunately 

for Duffie this road was now closed by Chambliss brigade, 

which surrounded him during the night, and captured next 

morning the greater part of those who escaped from Robert- 

son on the previous evening. Col. Duffie himself, escaped cap- 

ture, and reached Centerville early in the afternoon with four of 

his officers and twenty-seven men. He reports the loss in his 

regiment at twenty officers and two hundred and forty-eight 

men. This however, was an exaggeration of the calamity, for 

other officers besides himself had taken to the woods, and suc- 

ceeded in making their way back to the federal lines on the 

1 8th and 19th. Major Farrington, who was separated from his 

regiment on the night of the 17th, in Middleburg, thus brought 

in two officers and twenty-three men ; Lieut. Col. Thompson 

brought in eighteen men ; Sergt. Palmer, twelve men ; and Capt. 

George N. Bliss, six men ; Col. Sergt. Robbins. who was 

wounded and captured, was left in Middleburg, and fell into 

the hands of his friends when Stuart retired from that place. 

This reduces the loss to two hundred. This regiment was com- 

posed of good materials, and it rapidly recuperated. On the 

17th of August following it assembled three hundred men at 

Warrenton, and was attached to Mcintosh's brigade, ofG regg's 

division. 

TiiK Meadows in Abington, Va., April 26th, '84. 

Gen. Thos. T. Munford; 

Dear Sir:— In reply to yours will state that the orders I car- 

ried you from Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, were delivered under diffi-


culties that vividly recall them. Heand staff were very uncere- 

moniously driven out of Middleburg by the sudden and un- 

expected ap[)roach of a lariê body of Federal Cavalry. Shortly 

afterwards Gen. Stuart called me and gave the following orders: 

"Go back and find Munford about Aldie, explain matters, and 

order him to fall back and immediately join me as best he can 

at Rector's Cross Roads tonight." Less than an hour after- 

ward these orders were given you at Aldie, and as I remember 

quite late in the evening. I found you sharply engaged, but 

recall no impression of the enemy's pressing or having anything 

to do with your falling back, which, of course, immediately 

followed my orders from Stuart, 

Yours very truly, 

Frank S. Roukrisun. 

Lynchburg, Va., April 26th, 1884. 

Major Geo. N. Bliss: 

Dear Sir:— I have your letter enclosing a copy of my letter 

to you fourth of March, 1882. I was in command of Fitz Lee's 

Brigade at Aldie, Va., June 17th, 1863. Gen. Fitz Lee had been 

kicked by a mule or horse in passing a wagon, and was compelled 

to take an ambulance until nearly at Gett)'sburg. My command 

was composed of the Second Virginia Cavalry, my own 

regiment, and the First and Third Virginia (Rosser had been 

sent off to the right, commanding his regiment, the Fifth Vir- 

ginia and Wickham with the Fourth Virginia had been sent off, 

but both were sent to report to me at Aldie.) The First, Second 

and Third Virginia were feeding their horses at Carter's about a 

mile and a half from Aldie, when I was notified of the advance of 

the enemy. Rosser arrived just before my reserve regiments 

got up and had a short skirmish. 

When I arrived I put the First Virginia on the Upperville 

Pike, with the sharpshooters dismounted behind the two stone 

walls. The triangle or V-shaped land between the two pikes 

rises to the west ; at the apex was a meadow with some stacks 

of hay; my position was a very strong one. The enemy did not


try to go up the Upperville road but once ; but they charged 

repeatedly up the Snicker's Gap road. The sharpshooters be- 

hind the stone wall with a stake fence on their right had a 

splendid position. The federals could not turn it; they would 

charge up the lane and receive a galling fire ; my mounted reg- 

iments would counter charge and drive them back down the 

lane and they would get a second volley. This was done six or 

eight times by different squadrons and regiments, but they had 

not dislodged me. I never saw men show better spirit than the 

federals did, and they would have run over me if two or three 

regiments or a brigade had been thrown in at one time. I was 

ordered to retire by a staff officer from Gen. Stuart. I would 

have preferred to attempt to hold on, to leaving, as my men had 

gained confidence and we believed we could keep them off. I 

did retire upon the Snicker's Gap road, but was not pressed. I 

never saw so many dead and wounded men and horses in the 

same space before or after as we had before us. I made a report 

at the time, and sent in the report of all the colonels. We 

captured about one hundred and thirty men and officers. 

Rosser lost heavily. I was the ranking officer. Gen. Stuart 

had been held in check and kept out of Middleburg by a very 

inferior force compared to his command, and we never had the 

credit from our side for what was done by us. My command 

was, like the Rhode Island regiment fighting with five times its 

numbers. I believe Major McClellan, who was Gen. Stuart's 

adjutant, will write a fair account of that battle in his narrative 

of Stuart's Campaigns now in progress. I do not send this as a 

report and do not care to appear in print, but I am responsible 

for the truth of what is said, and I don't care how you use it. 

I hope you will excuse a hurriedly written letter and a very slight 

sketch of Aldie as I remember it. 

Yours very truly, 

Thomas T. Munford. 

I have written this, hoping much of it might be new and in- 

teresting to those who fought so bravely in the ranks of the 

First Maine Cavalry at Aldie, Va., June 17th, 1863.

RECOLLECTIONS Of APPOMATTOX. 133 

Some RL-collections of Appomattox. 

HV MAJOR H. C. HALL, LATE OK FIRST MAINE CAVALRY. 

Un the eighth of April, Custer, with liis Third Division of the 

Cavalry Corps had the advance and at Appomattox Station, 

early in the evening, intercepted and after a short but sharp 

fight, captured four rebel railroad trains loaded with supplies 

that had been sent up from Lynchburg for Lee's suffering army 

It was late when our division, the Second, commanded by 

Gen. Crook arrived. The fighting was all over and some of the 

cars had been broken open and the men seemed to be helping 

themselves to whatever they could find that would be of use or 

service to them. They had been obliged to subsist for several 

days upon what could be picked up in a poor and impoverished 

country and their stomachs were thoroughly in need of support; 

their search, therefore for food was thorough and earnest. 

Our halt was short and when we started out again our 

division took the advance; we marched until between eight and 

nine o'clock when we went into camp with a joyous prospect of 

a much needed nights rest. After the horses were picketed and 

were enjoying the fruits of the Virginia farmer's cornfields, I 

looked for my darkey to take my honse and prepare my supper, 

but no darkey could I find nor could I hear that he had been 

seen since we left the field of Custer's capture. I thought he 

had probably got left somewhere by accident, not an uncommon 

thing on the march in the night time, and that he would 

eventually come in. In about an hour he did come, but minus 

his mule. He rode one horse and led the mule on which was 

packed mv blankets and spare clothing, provisions, cooking 

utensils and the forage for the three animals. The darkey was a 

big, black, faithful fellow and was feeling very badly. He said 

that while we were halted near the captured trains he left the 

mule in charge of another man and went up to the broken cars


to see what he could find in the line of food or forage and that 

when he returned the column had moved on and he had been 

unable to find the man or the mule I saw it would be useless 

to tax the strength of wearied horses to make further search 

that night, and as he appeared to be feeling worse than nn-self, 

I tried to console him with the thought that he would un- 

doubtedh' recover his loss as soon as it was light in the morn- 

ing. Well, the prospect for the comfort of life, even field and 

camp life, for the present and immediate future were not flatter- 

ing, nor pleasant to contemplate for I thought then, I would be 

fortunate to recover even the mule. "But a good fire of hick- 

ory rails and a saddle for a pillow made a ver)' acceptable sub- 

stitute for a bed and I was soon forgetting my discomfort and 

the displeasing suggestions of my loss. So much sleepless and 

exciting labor, with the cares and anxieties incident to such 

service, seemed to have distended every nerve and fiber of my 

body, and when I got into a restful position the internal pres- 

sure began to subside and a pleasing and most delightful sensa- 

tion came over me, which took away all thought or desire for 

sleep. While lying in this happy condition an order came, 

" Saddle up and be ready to move out immediately." The tired 

men were quickly aroused, the wearied horses once more under 

the saddle, and we were soon in column moving away again to 

the left. Only our brigade, the Third of the Second division, 

commanded by Gencr'al C. H. Smith, Colonel of the First Maine, 

and one section of artillery had been ordered out. General 

Smith's orders were to seize the Lynchburg road, the only 

avenue of escape for Lee's army and to hold it. Soon after 

midnight we reached the road, turned to the right and moved 

forward to a little eminence a short distance west of Appomat- 

tox Court House, called Clover Hill, where we encountered the 

outposts of the enemy whom we quickly drove in ; after a few 

moments surveying in the darkness, General Smith wisely de- 

termined to form his line and make his stand here. 

Accordingly a portion ot the command was dismounted and 

moved forward into line, the right of the First Maine resting on

RECOLLECTIONS OF APPOMATTOX. 135 

the road and the left in the air, the Sixth Ohio on our right the 

balance of the brigade elsewhere. The section of artillery was 

in the road to the right of the First Maine. The night was dark, 

damp and cold, and as we could have no fires our only source 

of warmth and comfort was in vigorous exercise, and that our 

exercise might profit as well as warm and comfort, we set out 

to construct some kind of works that would be at least a little 

protection to us when the attack should be made, which we 

momently expected. Some time before daylight we had, on 

my part of the line at least, quite a formidable bullet-proof 

breastwork, made of fence rails, and such dirt as could be dug up 

with pointed sticks and sharp ended rails, and were impatiently 

waiting for darkness to disappear and speculating upon the 

probable events of the coming day. Just as the glimmer of 

the new day appeared in the eastern sky, the enemy was an- 

nounced by the sharp crack of the carbines of our videts in 

front. The attacking force proved to be a strong reconnoiter- 

ing party of the enemy, that had been sent out to ascertain what 

rude force had insulted their outposts in the darkness and had 

boldly planted itself squarely across their only remaining line of 

retreat. A few rounds from our carbines and a few quick suc- 

cessive shots from our artillery, gave them the information they 

sought and sent them flying back to their lines. The firing of 

our artillery was continued some minutes, firing into the dark- 

ness, into we knew not what. The sound of those guns echoing 

over the hills on that early morning air was inspiring, and it ef- 

fected a two-fold advantage to our forces which I think has 

never been publicly reported nor fully appreciated. At that 

hour although unknown to us, Lee's whole army was in our 

front, a large part of it only a mile away resting on the hill 

slopes and in the valley before us, and the little hamlet of Appomattox 

Court House lay between us and his main force. The 

shells from our guns must have passed over the town and into 

his camps beyond. The sharp crack of our carbines and the 

quick successive shots from our artillery must have magnified 

our small force in his eyes and caused a more perfect and ex-


tended preparation for his contemplated advance, while it 

quickened the wearied pace of our brave boys of the Fifth, 

Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps ; who had marched all 

the long night that they might be with us in the contest that 

would be inevitable in the morning. Indeed, General Chamber- 

lain broke off his brigade from its division of the Fifth Corps 

and came three miles on the quick march while the Twenty- 

fourth and Birney colored boys of the Twenty-fifth Corps took 

the lively step of our artillery music and came timely into posi- 

tion, where they could be effectively used under the eye of General 

Sheridan. All this too, at this time, was unknown to us. We 

only knew that Sheridan was in command and that he never 

failed to afford us needed help. 

Full daylight appears and our line is intact and undisturbed. 

The sun comes up over the wooded hills and soon begins to 

drink up the cold dew that sparkles in its morning rays, and yet 

See! 

quiet reigns along our lines ! 7 o'clock comes and all is still 

7 : 30, silence ! 7:40, ditto! 7:50! They rome ! 

A 

As 

left front ! 

them ! And such a force ! 

On our 

force many times larger than we have to resist 

we look down on them from 

our position and see them moving slowly towards us, they ap- 

pear an unorganized mass, no military formation of any character. 

More than an army, they resemble an armed mob of mad 

men ; 

determined, desperate. When they came within range 

we opened on them with our carbines, but our fire produced 

no perceptible effect on them. Still on they come and hotter 

grows the fire from our carbines but it does not impede their 

progress nor turn them from their purpose. When they come 

so near as to threaten our capture we are ordered to fall back 

to our right and rear. They see us in retreat and still come 

howling after us. To us, weak and wearied as we were, the re- 

treat was most sad and painful. Ordinarily, cavalrymen on 

foot are but little better than loons on land, but I think after 

the first quarter of a mile we would willingly have exchanged 

our powers of locomotion for the comparative strength and 

facilities of the loon. We passed over perhaps half a mile of


open or cleared land, and a short distance to the rear of this 

point was a dense woods, to which we were directed and when we 

got there, a gladder sight never greeted waiting eyes than met 

ours. Concealed a few yards back from the front of the woods 

was a long line of troops, of colored troops, only waiting for us 

to retire behind their line that they might advance without 

bringing us between two fires. The sight was most cheering, it 

revolutionized our feelings and our hopes ! We had no idea 

that there were any infantry within twenty miles of us, and we 

wondered why Sheridan did not attack with his whole cavalry 

force and not let us be driven from the field. The mystery was 

now solved, Sheridan proposed to end the war right there and 

then ; 

and that with the least possible loss of life. The colored troops 

were in position ; 

the Twenty-fourth Corps to their left and across 

the Lynchburg road, the Fifth Corps coming into position and 

the Cavalry massing on the right for a final charge. Just as we 

got in the rear of the colored troops, sergeant Foster of Co. H. 

who had charge of the lead horses of the third battalion, came 

to inform us where our horses were and to report for orders; I 

took his horse and gave him necessary instructions. I was so 

fascinated with that splendid line of troops extending in the 

woods to the right and left farther than I could see, I could not 

leave them and, besides, I had never seen colored troops under 

fire and had a great desire to witness their bearing in action. 

Here was my opportunity. The great strain our cavalry bri- 

gade had sustained especially in the last twelve hours, I knew 

had totally unfitted both men and horse for further service un- 

til they could rest and get refreshed, so that I should run little 

risk of censure for a short absence from my command. The 

line officers of the colored troops were all worthy young white 

men who, as non-commissioned officers as privates, had been 

tested in active service in other regiments, and had been recommended 

for promotion, and who, after having passed a rigid 

examination by a board of army officers, had been com- 

missioned and assigned to duty where their services were most 

needed. I stood and watchQ


They seemed to be vying with each other to see who could in- 

and the men were as 

eagerly imbibing the ardor and the spirit of their brave young 

fuse the most enthusiam into their men ; 

officers, and each seemed to feel that he could whip twice his 

weight in angry Rebs. 

The men had not yet seen the enemy who was diagonally ap- 

proaching their line, but they had not long to wait, for in a few 

moments the welcome command was given and they sprung for- 

ward in the most perfect order I had ever seen troops move in- 

to action, and, as that long line of shining faces and bristling 

bayonets emerged from the thick woods into the open field, it 

presented a most gorgeous and thrilling spectacle ;—a memor- 

able sight,—the last line of troops I ever s.aw move into action. 

The exultant Reb's were still coming on and had already pre- 

sented a flank to this line but when their eyes met this most 

unexpected sight they seemed for an instant paralyzed, and 

then as quickly recovering their senses turned on the run to the 

rear. I have thought a thousand times how I would value a 

photograph of that scene as I saw it then and as I remember it 

still:—along line of armed men, for whose enslavement the war 

had begun and had been continued to that moment, with a back- 

ground of deep dark wood a few paces in the rear, out of which 

they had just come, and bravely marching into the open fields 

towards the east in the early morning sunlight, while the great 

army of their once proud masters, reduced to a sad remnant, 

was fleeing before them. Just then a white flag appeared before 

Custer's line; a halt was ordered; hostilities ceased. The 

War Was Over ! 

I returned to my regiment and found the men quietly rest- 

ing. I looked for my darkey and he was missing again ; pre- 

sumably looking for the mule; presumably he is looking for the 

mule yet; presumably he will return when he finds the mule. I 

have waited patiently more than a quarter of a century for his 

return. During the day some of our men had permission to go 

over the ground of our morning conflict to gratify their curiosity 

and to pick up some trophies of value or interest from that 

memorable field.


I. C. Mosher of Co. H, while prosecuting his search, discov- 

ered by the side of a dead confederate, a Hving memento, a Httle 

pup no more than four or five weeks old, crying and moaning 

piteously. It was a custom quite common among the confed- 

erate soldiers, much more so than among the Union, to keep 

pets, cats, dogs, and smaller animals, and sometimes birds in 

rude cages, and to take them along on the march and even into 

action. This little dog had undoubtedly been brought all the 

long way from Richmond or Petersburg and had endured the 

hardships of that sad march and shared the scanty rations of 

his kind master, whose life had gone out on the field in that 

last battle. Mosher took the wee little rebel along to camp, fed 

him and in a little time he was thoroughly reconstructed except 

in name. Rebel, and as happy and playful as his little doggish 

nature could be. The little dog continued with his new master, 

growing finely until sometime in the summer when we were on 

duty at Chesterfield Court House, he was sold and taken to New 

York. 

We remained in camp near by until the next morning, the loth 

when our cavalry corps set out in the return march. But before 

we set out, at the suggestion of Grant, Smith, or Sheridan, we 

were permitted a farewell look upon the brave men and the rep- 

resentatives of other brave men, who had fought us in vain so 

hard and long. As we approached their shelterless camps, 

their little fires still smoking, and unarmed men lying idly about 

them, our regimental band struck up " Yankee Doodle " and 

played it in the liveliest manner possible. Our men were cau- 

tioned, if we rode among them to make no remarks that would 

irritate or in any way injure the sensitive feelings of those erring 

men, whose cause had expired there and whose political hopes 

were being buried on that field ; 

but there was no need of such 

an order, for whatever of bitterness or of enmity we may here- 

tofore have entertained towards them was now forgotten, and 

only worthier and kindlier feelings actuated us. Close down by 

their camp stood gallant " Little Phil," our cavalry idol, who 

had contributed so much genius, wisdom, and skill to the sue-

140 ^^^ MAINE BUGLE. 

cess that had at last crowned our united efforts, and as oui regiments 

came up to him they vied with each other in giving him 

the heartiest welcome. He acknowledged the generous greet- 

ing with a genial smile and with no sign or show of selfish pride, 

but with a look and expression more forcible than words, that 

spoke "God bless you boys! You have nobly performed your 

part in accomplishing the great result before us; I have done 

no more." 

As we looked afar, on that great body of men whom we 

hoped, whom we expected to meet in arms no more forever, in 

all our joy and gladness we could not prevent a feeling of sad- 

ness as we realized their humiliating condition and thought of 

the sorrowful homes that would welcome them, of the desola- 

tion and destruction they had invited to that portion of our 

common country, and of the army of the dead that could not 

return with them. 

We camped at night at Prospect Station where Gen. Grant 

joined us. In the morning of the i ith, our brigade was de- 

tailed and escorted Gen. Grant to Burkesville, where at 4 P. M. 

we drew rations and forage. At Burkesville, General Grant 

took train for Washington, and we saw him no more in the mili- 

tary service. 

The Twentieth Maine in Rhyme. 

BY CHARLES 11. MERO, CO. E, TWENTIETH MAINE INFANTRY. 

'Twas when I was a little lad, 

Just turned nineteen years old, 

I enlisted for a soldier boy. 

Because I was so bold 

No better feeling chap, 'twas said, 

Had ever been enrolled; 

We thought to have a picnic time 

In fact we were so told. 

Our uncle Abe had sent out word 

Of trouble way down South, 

And wanted soldiers, l)rave and true. 

Who'd stand both rain and drouth.

THE TWENTIETH MAINE. 141 

And so for him we volunteered, 

But felt down in the mouth 

To leave our sweethearts here at home, 

While we fought in the South. 

We landed down in Washington 

One bright Septeml)er day. 

Resolved that we would whip those rebs 

As well as draw our pay. 

Then with our knapsacks on our backs 

We started for the fray 

The girls all flirted with us then. 

Just as they do today. 

No Johnnies had we seen as yet, 

But hoped from day to day 

To meet some of' those graybacks who 

Would dare to stop our way. 

We wanted Uncle Abe to see 

We'd fight as well as play. 

And let those Southern nabobs know 

They couldn't have their way. 

We had not many days to wait 

Before the fun begun 

We met them on Antietam fields, 

And as they wouldn't run. 

We opened fire upon them sharp 

And pounded them like fun, 

Until they did skedaddling go, 

Before the set of sun. 

At Fredericksburg again we met. 

But it was different there; 

They had those heights all fortified 

No weak place anywhere 

Their bullets, schrapnel, shot and shell 

Completely filled the air. 

So after fighting two long days, 

We quit and left them there. 

At Chancellorsville we met again— 

What shall we say of that? 

We thought old " Fighting Joseph " was 

Just "talking through his hat;" 

' Twas mystery to most of us 

To know " where we were at" 

The Johnnies made us scamper like 

A frightened Thomas cat.


At Gettysburg once more we met, 

Both armies fresh and strong, 

With open fields between us ; ah 

The fight was fierce and long; 

But when we gained those Round Tops from 

That fierce and hungry throng, 

And turned the tide against them there, 

They sang a different song. 

Down in the wilderness we met 

The brush was awful thick, 

But the Johnny Rebs were thicker still, 

And seemed inclined to stick; 

We fought them and we flanked them, too. 

And voted Grant a brick 

At changing corps from right to left 

Upon the double quick. 

At Petersburg we settled down, 

Resolved to stay right there. 

While Sherman through old Georgia marched 

And left the hen roosts bare; 

We had to live beneath the ground 

On common hard-tack fare 

While Grant was entertaining Lee 

So he could go nowhere. 

And when at Appomattox, Lee 

Surrendered all he had, 

You can your bottom dollar bet 

"That we weren't feeling bad. 

The Johnnies looked defiant, some. 

And some were awful mad 

Because Secession had gone bust. 

But the Nation's heart was glad. 

The war has long been over, and 

We boys are bald and gray. 

But closer now we'll keep our ranks 

As we march on life's highway. 

Although our steps are slower, we 

Still claim the right of way. 

For we, that dear old emblem, saved 

That floats o'er all today.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. 143 

Corrections and Additions 

To the list of losses in the First Maine Heavy Artillery, as pub- 

lished in the January number of the Bugle by Maj. Charles J. 

House, Historian F'irst Maine Heavy Artillery. 

LOSSES AT Sl'OTTSYI.VAMA, MAY 19th, 1 864. 

Co. A—Killed —Add, Pvt. Bealy Runnels. Wounded —Add, Sgt. Luther Clay. 

Omit, Pvts. Benjamin Dow, Thomas IL Griffin, Bealy Runnels. 

Co. B—Wounded—Add, Copls. Herbert Leadhetter, Isaiah B. lôlton, Willard B. 

Emery; Pvts. George Emerson, .\lphonso Fletcher, John Frazer, Charles W.Johnson, 

William W. Pomroy. Omit, Pvt. Moses H. Stewart. 

Co. C—Killed—Add, Wag. John Lynch. Wounded—Add, Pvts. William H. Stan- 

ley, Wellington Stratton, Ambrose H. Wasgatt. 

Co. D—Wounded—Add, Copl. Lorenzo D. Hoyt; Pvt. Isaac Dunning. Omit, 

PVt. David Ames. 

Co. E—Wounded—Add, Pvts. Henry A. Evans, Aaron W.Jackson, James R. Orne, 

David O. Pollard, Henry W. Stearns. 

Co. F—Killed—Omit, Pvt. Charles P. Wheeler. Wounded—Add, Pvts. Robert C. 

Dunaff, Selden Rogers, John W. Smith, Charles P. Wheeler. Omit, Pvt. Daniel P. 

Raymond. 

Co. G—Wounded—Add, Pvts. Asa Batchelder, Henry W. Casey, Charles H. Frazier, 

Floriman D. Furbish, John McLaughlin, Thornton E. Peavey, Oilman Pike. 

Co. H— Wounded—Add, Pvt. Geo. W. Low. 

Co. I—Killed — Add, Pvt. Jerome Mitchell. Wounded —Add, Capt. Andrew J. 

Jaquith; Sgt. Adelbert F. Sproule; Pvts. Ephraim L. Brawn, Charles H. Hardy, 

Upham A. Hoyt, George H. Smith. 

Co. K—Wounded—Add, Sgts. Robert Smith, Pmoch L. Hanscomb, John T. Ward; 

Corp. Abijah Ayer; Pvts. David Page, William B. Kief, Walter Owen, F^phraim W. 

Stewart. Omit, Art. Geo. W. Howe. 

Co. L—Killed —Add, Sgt. Charles C. Morse. Wounded—Add, Sgts. Cieorge E. 

Dodge, Joseph A. Burlingame; Art. John M. Hamlin; Pvts. George NL Brown, Virgil 

D. Bowley, Heman Case, Nelson W. Edwards, William King, Loomis T. Nickerson, 

Albert J. Osgood, John E. Potter. 

Co. M—Wounded—Add, Copl. William C. Bridge; Pvts. Henry G. Barlow, Charles 

G. Herrin, Charles ^L Staples, Virgil D. Sweetland, Josiah ^L Whittier. Omit Pvts. 

Isaac P. Batchelder, Charles Green, Henry O. Keith, Franklin R. Knowlton, John A. 

Mitchell, Samuel W. Moore. 

LOSSES AT MILFORD STATION, MAY 2ISt, 1864. 

Co. D—Wounded—Add, Pvt. David Ames.

144 ^^^ MAINE BUGLE. 

LOSSES AT NORTH ANNA, MAY 23d,-26th, 1 864 

Co. A— Killed— Add, Pvt. Thomas H. Griffin, 

LOSSET AT TOTOPOTOMY, MAY 30,-3 1 St, 1864. 

Co. A—Wounded—Add, Pvt. Benjamin Dow. 

Co. C—Wounded—Add, Pvt. Bloomfield T. Richardson, 

Co. D—Wounded— Add, Pvt, Ebenezer D. Harlow. 

Co. K—Wounded—Add, Pvt, Hiram Farley. 

LOSSES AT COLD HARBOR, JUNE 2d-I2th, 1 864. 

Co. A—Wounded—Add, Pvts. Nathan C. Cole, Levi D. Curtis. Prisoners— For 

Addison C. Keene read Addison C. Keen. 

Co. D—\younded—Add, Pvts. Roscoe G. Johnson, Nathan Knowlton, Edward K. 

Moulton, Theodore C. Stevens, Lorenzo Parks. 

Co. L—Wounded—Add, Pvt, Willard Page. 

Co, M—Wounded—Add, Pvts. Ferdinand Palmer, Frederick Stanhope. 

LOSSES AT PETERSBURC, JUNE 1 6th, 1 864. 

Co. K—Killed—Add, Pvt. James Sears. Wounded—Copl. Jacob Henry. 

Co. L—Wounded—Omit, Pvt. Willard Page. 

Co. M—Wounded—Add, Pvt. Thomas Leighton, 

LOSSES AT PETERSBURG, JUNE 17th, 1 864. 

Co. B—Wounded—Add, Wag. Charles W. Jones. 

Co. D—Killed—Omit Pvt. Frank W. Whittier. 

Co. K—Wounded—Omit Copl. Jacob Henry. 

Co. L—Killed—Add, Pvt. Charles E. Prescott. 

Co. M—Killed—Add, Pvt. Edwin G. Minot. Wounded—Add, Pvt. Charles Green. 

LOSSES AT PETERSBURG, JUNE 1 8th, IS64, 

P~ield and Staff—Wounded—Add, Maj. Russell B. Shepherd. 

Co. A—Wounded—Add, Lt. Charles Merrill. Omit, Pvt. Levi D. Curtis. 

Co. B—Killed—Add, Copl. Calvin R. Billington. For Daniel R. Mills read David 

R. Mills. Wounded—Add, Pvt. Moses H. Stewart. Omit, Copls. Calvin R. Billington, 

Isaiah B. Bolton. 

Co. C—Killed—Add, Pvt. Charles H. Long. Wounded—Add, Pvts. Henry A, Car- 

ter, Henry L. Lunt, Omit Pvts. Charles H. Long, Wm. H. Stanley. 

Co. D—Killed—Add, Pvt. Frank W. Whittier. Wounded—Add, Sgts. Jonathan C. 

Lane, Albert Haskell; Pvts. Albion K. V. CJrant. Edward K. Moulton, Horace A. 

Smith. Omit, Pvt. Nathan Knowlton. 

Co. Y—Wounded—Add, Pvts. Ephraim K. Drew, Daniel P. Raymond, John L. 

Robinson, Altheus O. Wing. Omit, Copl. .Samuel E. Pray. 

Co. G—Wounded—Add, Pvts. George W. Joy, George W. Kcnney, James W. Lunt. 

Co. I—Killed—Add, Pvt. Stillman Guppy. Omit, Pvt. Jerome Mitchell. Wounded 

Omit, Pvts. Stillman Guppy. 

Co. K— Killed—Omit, Pvt. James Scars. Wounded— Omit, John Rarrell, William 

B. Kief.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. 145 

Co. L—Killed—Omit, Sgt. Charles C. Morse; Pvt. Charles E. Prescott. Wounded 

Add, Pvt. James H. Stinson; Omit, Pvt. George M. Brown; for Nathan W. Pratt, read 

Nathan N. Pratt. 

Co. M— Kille


Co. F—Wounded—Add, Pvt. Martin V. Tripp. 

Co. L—Wounded—Add, Pvts. Charles R. Brown, Charles O, Cowan. 

LOSSES NEAR FIVE FORKS, MARCH 31st, 1865. 

Co. E—Wounded—Add, Pvt. Edward B. West. 

LOSSES AT SAILORS CREEK, APRIL 6th, 1865. 

Co. A—Wounded—Add, Copls. William Hr.rmon, Frederick H. Tucker; Pvt. Ben- 

jamin G. Grover. 

Co. B—Wounded—Add, Capt. Frederic C. Low; Pvt. Pâncis McKenna. 

Co. E—Wounded—Omit, Pvt. John Saul. 

Co. F—Wounded—Add, Sgt. James E. Wentworth. 

Co. G—Wounded—.\dd, Pvt. John B. Craig. 

Co. H—Wounded—Vild, Pvts. James II. Braz/.ell, Arthur D. Bumps, Timothy Cun- 

ningham. 

Co. I—Wounded—Add, Pvt. Michael Ryan. 

Co. M—Wounded—Add, Lt. Arthur P. Budge; Pvt. John Noyes. 

The above comprises all the additions and corrections I have thus far been able to 

make to my list which was printed in the January number of the Bugle. The follow- 

ing members of the regiment are still unaccounted for, that is ihey were absent at the 

muster out of the regiment and no record has been found of their discharge or death. 

I give name, residence and cause of absence. Any person who can do so will confer 

a favor by writing me what information they may possess in regard to any of Them. 

Co. A— Pvts. Michael Boucher, Calais, sick; Walter K. Kelley, Dexter, sick. 

Co. B—Pvt. Moses H. Stewart, Wellington, wounded. 

Co. C—Pvt. Owen O'Neil, Cherryfield, paroled prisoner, wounded. 

Co. D—Pvts. John H. Partridge, Hampden, sick. James A. Scullin, Bangor, sick. 

Co. E— Pvt. Peter Pelkie, Brewer, (a French Canadian) paroled prisoner, wounded. 

Co. F—Pvts. David W. Barrett, Hermon, wounded; Ambrose Nason, Bradley, 

wounded. 

Co. G—Copl. Charles L. Shaw, Orneville, sick; Pvts. Kenney Depray, J^""ksport, 

missing in action May 19th, 1864; James E. Fulton, New Brunswick, wounded. 

Co. H—Pvts. Campliell A. Fickett, Columbia, sick; Franklin Foss, Machias, sick; 

Cyrus B. Millett, Winterport, sick; Seward W. Tucker, Webster Plantation, sick; 

Benjamin Weaver, Foxcroft, wounded; George M. Willcy, Dixmont, wounded. 

Co. I— Pvt. James F. Getchell, Orono, wounded. 

Co. K— Pvt. Philander C. Brawn, Corinth, wounded. 

Co. L—Copl. James P. Newell, Bath, prisoner; Pvts. FVanklin Campbell, Calais, 

prisoner; James W. Hall, Bethel, wounded. 

Co. M — Pvts. Hiram Batchelder, Montville, wounded; Philonas K. Martin, Lewis- 

ton, wounded; David M. Morgan, Greenwood, wounded; Charles D. Robbins, Har- 

rington, wounded.

FIFTH NEW YORK IN THE VALIEY. 147 

1 he Fifth New York Cavalry in the Valley. 

liV V. S. DICKENSON, l-llTIl NEW YDKK CAVALRY. 

Recruiting for the cavalry service was commenced as early as 

the twenty-first day of April 1861, in New York city, by Au- 

gustus P. Greene, who spent much time, and a large amount of 

his own money, in enlisting and caring for his men, and the 

necessary expenses attending his efforts to get the government 

to accept them. The government persistently declining men 

for this branch of the service until the twenty-sixth day of July 

of that year, when by the efforts of Senator Ira Harris of New 

York, his son-in-law, O. D. Forest was authorized by the War 

Department to raise a regiment of cavalry called the First Regi- 

ment, Ira Harris Guards, which proved the nucleus of a fine 

cavalry brigade. The first battalion of the Ira Harris Guards, 

was recruited principally in New York City. The Second, one 

company in each of the following counties; Alleghany, Wyoming, 

Tioga, and Essex. The Third, principally in Albany and 

Troy, New York. The first rendezvous was at Camp Herndon 

near Stapleton, Statcn Island, then to Camp Scott, where the 

first lessons of the trooper dismounted, was diligently taught by 

competent drill masters. The first and second battalions re- 

ceived their horses and equipments during the. month of Octo- 

ber and the regiment moved to Baltimore on the eighteenth of 

November; during their stay of one week the Third battalion 

was mounted, and sabers were issued to all. On the twenty- 

fifth, the regiment made its first march mounted, from Balti- 

more to Annapolis, Maryland, and bivouacked in Saint Mary's 

College grounds. Moved from there to Camp about three 

miles from the city, and pitched our little A tents in a muddy 

cornfield covered with snow. 

The government furnished one of these tents for each non- 

commissioned officer and five men, crowding six men into space


barely capable of accomodating three. But a few cornstalks 

placed in them for the double purpose of beds and floor made 

things quite comfortable. Our cooks were sadly deficient in the 

culinary art, yet our rations were much superior to those re- 

ceived on Staten Island. The snow soon disappeared and the 

sun came out bright and warm, drying the sandy field in which 

we were camped and making it an excellent place for a cavalry 

camp. Thus the winter of '6i and '62 found the First Regi- 

ment, Ira Harris Guards (Fifth New York Cavalry) in camp of 

instruction under competent drill masters, and the regiment 

soon became proficient in horsemanship, the sabre drill and the 

tactical evolutions of the trooper mounted, and the foundation 

was laid for a brilliant career in a gigantic rebellion, whose 

magnitude was not dreamed of at that date. Although the men 

were attentive to instruction and subordinate, they had increas- 

ing desire to escape from the monotony of drill and put in 

practice the lessons taught in Camp Harris, before the rebellion 

was put down by the infantry troops. Early in December, Sibley 

tents were received capable of accomodating fourteen men 

comfortably and placed on stockades in nicely arranged streets 

by companies with a corresponding row of stables for the horses. 

At the head of each company street was the officers' wall 

tents, at the foot, the cook tent, occupied by a soldier detailed 

for that purpose. With a stove in each tent purchased by each 

tent squad, they were very comfortable and pleasant. On the 

first day of March orders were received to break camp. Much 

as we enjoyed our pleasant quarters these marching orders were 

received with cheers and rejoicing. The regiment moved to 

Annapolis and bivouacked in the navy yard. On the following 

month April first, we took cars for an unknown destination. But 

after a pleasant ride along the B. & O. R. R. on the tops of 

freight cars, we landed at Harper's Ferry in the evening in the 

midst of a heavy snow storm, and bivouacked in the ruins of the 

Government Arsenal, made famous as the place of refuge of 

John Brown and his party. On the following day wc occupied 

government buildings on the plateau between the Potomac and

FIFTH NEW YORK IN THE VALIEY. 149 

Shenandoah rivers. Revolvers were received and issued, and 

our saddles exchanged for the new McClelland saddle. The 

twentieth of April again set us in motion towards Winchester, 

through Halltown and Charlestown. While passing the latter 

place the boys sang "John Brown's body lies mouldering in the 

grave etc," much to the disgust of the citizen spectators, stand- 

ing in front of that old Court House where John Brown received 

his death sentence on the second day of December, 1859. 

We 

arrived in Winchester in the evening in the midst of a cold rain, 

and bivouacked two days. 

Resuming the march on the twent>'-sccond, up the Shenan- 

doah Valley, we passed the battle ground where Gen. Shields 

fought the battle of Kernstown, on the twenty-fifth of March, 

and on to Newtown, Middletown, and Strasburg, thence to 

Woodstock, Mt. Jackson and Newmarket, where a rcconnoiter- 

ing party in their hunt for game, captured four rebels, which 

was the first game of the kind caught by the regiment, and was 

considered quite a lucky thing. The remark was made, that it 

was not much of a day for rebels either. Gen. Banks forces be- 

ing at Harrisburg, Co. A of the Fifth New York Cavalry ( that 

is the number we go by now) made a reconnoisance in the di- 

rection of Fort Republic, running into a brief skirmish and los- 

ing one man captured. The first man lost in an engagement. 

The regiment moved to Harrisburg on the third of May and 

back to Newmarket on the fifth. Colonel Ashby, a brilliant 

young officer of the rebel army, who had made himself famous 

by his frequent daring and generally successful raids on the 

pickets of our forces in the valley during the previous winter 

and early spring, was now reported at Harrisburg and advanc- 

ing down the valley. Co. E and a portion of I and M were sent 

up to meet them under the command of Major Vought. When 

within five miles of Harrisburg the advance guard commanded 

by Adjutant Hasbrouck came upon the vidette outposts of the 

rebels, a charge was immediately ordered and continued the 

whole distance of five miles to Harrisburg. Up the pike like 

the wind flew this little band of eager cavalrymen through the


thick blinding, stifling dust; the dust being so dense at times as 

to completely hide the heads of our horses; yet on and on we 

went at the highest speed of our horses, following close on the 

heels of those vidcttes, who were straining every nerve of their 

horses to carry the news in advance of the approaching Yanks, 

to their own comrades. Past their line of pickets, flew the pur- 

sued and pursurers and into their reserve who were found to be 

lying on the ground and a part of them unsaddled. Our boys 

made lively work for a few minutes with their sabres killing 

three, wounding five, capturing seven, and many good horses, 

while the Johnnies were making the liveliest kind of move- 

ments to get away from such society. 

When the firing was heard in front. Major Vought ordered a 

halt, and excitedly rode up and down that little column enquir- 

ing for a fresh horse. "Who's got a fresh horse?" " Is there a 

bugler on the ground, sound the recall." While this scene was 

being enacted, the enemy's pickets were running past in the 

field on either side of us, and the advance, through lack of ex- 

perience and a knowledge of what course to pursue under such 

exciting circumstances, came back to the column, having lost 

Adjutant Hasbruck their commander, and Sergeant Whitcomb, 

captured, Ashleal A. Spencer, killed, and William Mills wounded. 

Sergeant Whitcomb however was only retained a few minutes 

as a prisoner of war. His quick perception revealed an opportu- 

nity which he improved to escape almost as soon as captured, 

and he returned to the command in time to hear the Major en- 

quire for a fresh horse and volunteered the information that a 

fresh codfish could be found as readily. The command im- 

mediately returned to camp at New Market, where they received 

the plaudits of their fellow soldiers and a grand serenade by 

Gen. Bank's headquarter band, and flattering eulogistic articles 

from the pens of the army correspondents, eager for crumbs of 

army news that one year later would not have been considered of 

sufficient magnitude to deserve a passing notice. But this little 

afi'air caused a great deal of talk in army circles, for the reason 

that little was expected of cavalry, because McClellan had said

FfF'lII NEW YORK IN THE VALLEY 151 

cavalry was needed only for escort dut\', but the truth dawned 

upon him a few weeks later, when the rebel cavalry, commanded 

by Stuart, marched all around him and broke his communications 

and burned his supplies at the White House landing. As 

has been said before, this little affair at Harrisburg, Va., 

on the sixth day of May 1862, small as it was. had a very im- 

portant bearing on the future of the cavalry, superinduced by 

the army correspondents. Here is some of their " gush" quoted 

" The brilliant charge of which you were informed by 

verbatim ; 

telegraph, has established beyond a cavil the reputation of the 

Ira Harris Guard. Hereafter the rebels will not forget that 

there is cavalry in this department, capable of driving back 

tlieir mounted guerrillas in confusion and consternation, capable 

of using the sabre, the proper instrument of the trooper in close 

hand to hand conflict. This is the first time that wj have 

heard from this bod\' of New York Cavalry, and they have made 

a good report of themselves, and done honor to their state." 

(Correspondent New York World.) 

Our pickets were constantly being annoyed by the bushwhacking 

guerrillas, who were hovering about on all sides of the 

army, watching for opportunities to kill or capture any small 

squad of men who chanced to stray a little distance from camp. 

A party of Co.'s I and L while bathing in the river near New 

Market were fired upon and two men of Co. I killed and one of 

Co. L captured. While the army was falling back, Ashby's 

caxalry followed closely on our rear, every movement of ours 

being faithfulK' reported to him b)' citizens within our lines 

whose property was being protected by our guards. They 

claimed to be good Union men, but clandestinely furnished in- 

formation to our enemies. Thus the rebel chief was always 

ready to move nearly as soon as we were. At W'oodstock on 

the twelfth he again made his appearance and attacked our rear 

guard, and again at Toms Brook. At the latter place, Gen. 

Hatch took one hundred and fifty men and sent the band flee- 

ing up the valley several miles, killing and wounding several 

and capturing three, and returning without the loss of a man.

152 7'//£: MAINE BUGLE. 

With this force driven away the army rested quietly at Stras- 

burg until the twenty-third, when messengers arrived from Co.'s 

B and D who had the day before been sent to reinforce Col. 

Kenly at Front Royal, with information that Kenly had been at- 

tacked by an overwhelming force under Stonewall Jacksofi and 

urgently calling for reinforcements. Gen. Banks did not appear 

to think that the trouble at Front Royal serious; but gave immediate 

orders for the Second Massachusetts Infantry and some 

other troops, all he could spare from his already depleted army to 

go to his assistance. Pursuant to an order dated Washington, D. 

C, May 15th, 1862, Gen. Banks had sent Gen. Shield's division 

to report to Gen. McDowell then in command of the department 

of the Rappahannock, vvhich left him only Gen. Wil- 

liam's division and some cavalry, barely seven thousand men in 

all, nine hundred of which were at Front Royal. Banks was 

aware that Jackson was within striking distance of him, for he 

had learned that there had been an engagement between him 

and Gen. Milroy in the Bull Pasture mountains on the seven- 

teenth. But Ashby's Cavalry kept Jackson's movements so 

well covered that he came down on the unsuspecting little gar- 

rison at Front Royal twenty thousand strong, with all the assur- 

ing confidence that great strength gives over the weak. 

That little band under their gallant leader, Col. Kenly, made a 

brilliant and stubborn fight as did also Co.'s B and U of the 

Pîfth New York Cavalry under their brave leader Capt. A. H. 

White, who subsequently became Col. of the regiment. As be- 

fore stated Banks had been informed of the attack at Front 

Royal by messengers, one of whom, Sergeant Greenleaf of Co. D 

asked for a fresh horse of Gen. Banks and immediately set out 

to return to his company. Before reaching them he met some 

mounted soldiers standing by the roadside, who in answer to 

his inquiries, replied that they were a part of Gen. Jackson's 

staff. As they did not halt him, he rode a short distance be- 

yond them and met another man with a nuiskct on his shoulder 

who informed him that he belonged to the ICighth Louisiana 

regiment and that Jackson was advancing on that road twenty

FIFTH NEW YORK IN THE VALLEY. 153 

thousand strong. Instantly wheeling his horse he made his es- 

cape and returned to Gen. Banks at Strasburg and gave him this 

information Banks said " You have saved the army." The 

logical conclusion was that the force at Front Royal had been an- 

nihilated, or if not, had retreated towards Winchester, and Jackson 

was moving his main force to intercept Banks at Middletown 

or Newtown. 

At this point a brief description of the principle topographical 

features of this region will the better enable the reader to more 

fully understand the critical position in which the Union army 

was placed, and the skill and promptness displayed by the commanding 

General in extricating it. The beautiful and fertile 

valley of the Shenandoah lies between the Blue Ridge and the 

Shenandoah or North mountains, which are a branch of the 

Allegheny Ridge and is drained by the Shenandoah river and 

its tributaries, rising in Augusta County near Staunton, flowing 

northeasterly and debouching its waters, between the high bluffs 

into the majestic Potomac at Harper's Ferry. Near the center 

of the valley, two ranges of high hills rise out of the nearly level 

valley, extending from Mount Jackson to Strasburg and ter- 

minating with the Massanutton mountains, which lie between 

the Shenandoah and the North Fork, which winds close around 

its bold and abrupt base to its confluence at Front Royal. Two 

great public macadamized roads extend from Staunton to Win- 

chester, one along the east fork of the Shenancjoah via Front 

Royal, and the other along the north fork via Strasburg. Each 

of these places are situated in their respective valleys where 

the\' open out into the broad open plain, traversed by good 

roads, which converge at Winchester twenty miles farther north. 

As Front Ro\al is almost due east from Strasburg and twelve 

miles away, it will be seen that to give up that position was to 

give the enemy the opportunity to place his army by an easy 

march between Banks' army and Winchester. Being thoroughly 

alive to the responsible situation. Colonel Kenly's only hope 

was to delay the enemy a sufficient length of time to enable 

Banks to retreat to Winchester. Hence the necessity of holding


the position, even at the sacrifice of his command, in that des- 

perate, hopeless fight, that delay might save the army. It was 

nine hundred against twenty thousand, yet thev succeeded in 

causing a delay of sufficient duration to enable Banks to get his 

baggage train through and nearly all of his troops. All honor 

to the gallant Kenly and the brave bo}s with him. Being overwhelmed 

by numbers and his command nearly surrounded, 

Kenly retreated across the north fork of the Shenandoah and 

attempted to burn the bridge, that it might delay the enemy 

still further, but they were so close upon him that they ex- 

tinguished the fire before any damage was done. A few miles 

farther on he was overtaken by Ashby, with eight hundred cav- 

alry, and defeated after a spirited resistance, losing his train and 

seven hundred men killed, wounded and missing. 

Bell Boyd, the famous female rebel spy, undoubtedly had 

much to do in this campaign of Jackson in his eftorts to destroy 

or capture Banks. Many years later she made this, the theme 

of an interesting lecture, telling her audience how information 

was gained and how she transmitted it. When Sergeant Green- 

leaf reported the enemy advancing on the Middletown road. 

Banks immediately recalled the troops sent to reinforce Kenly 

and set his whole army in rapid motion towards Winchester. 

The wagon train followed closely with the First Vermont and a 

part of the Fifth New York Cavalry as train guard. At Mid- 

dletown the erêmy's advance struck the train, and in spite of 

the gallant conduct of the guard succeeded in capturing and 

burning some of the wagons and dividing the train, thirty-two 

wagons escaping back to the rear guard, which was efiectually 

cut ofi" from the main column. Col. DeForest with only six 

companies of his regiment now finding himself encumbered with 

thirt}'-two heavily loaded wagons resolved to make the attempt 

to save them by taking the mountain road, the trend of which 

led through the little North mountain to the Potomac via Cherry 

Run. Co. E, being detached to cover the rear, became separated 

from the rest of the command in the darkness, and took a 

road that led to Winchester via the Moorfield Pike, where it ar-

FIFTH NEW YORK IN THE VAILEY. 155 

rived and joined Banks before daylight on the 25th. After tak- 

ing a short rest we, of Co. E, were again in the saddle and 

moved out in front of the Union Hotel, which was used as a 

storehouse for commissary supplies, and told to help ourselves 

to the extent of filling our haversacks with anything we wanted. 

While this was being done, the building was set on fire to de- 

stroy all supplies, and prevent them from falling into the enemy's 

hands, who were then planting a battery in that same street. 

Our Infantry troops were retreating through the other streets 

in good order, although there was a great tumult from the 

groans and jeers of the citizens and the firing of guns from the 

windows, on our troops as they fell back from the yelling 

exultant, victorious foe, bent on the destruction of Banks' little 

army. Again we found ourselves in the rear, and we were face 

to face with that rebel battery in the street who were beginning 

to throw their shot and shell down the street. Being ordered to 

support one of our batteries, that was then taking position, we 

moved out of the uncomfortable position to one outside of the 

city and formed for the battery's support. As the enemy's shot 

and shell began to search for victims, one of Co. E's former 

lieutenants said "Boys if you want to stay here and be killed 

you can, I'm going;" and he went. The captain who proved to 

have lots of " sand " said " There goes your sabre, bo}s." That 

was a vital thrust, for that sabre was presented to that lieutenant 

by the company, partly as a token of esteem and admiration 

and partly as a slur on the captain, whom they despised. Can 

Co. E ever forget the expression of disappointment, shame and 

regret depicted on those faces as they were turned towards that 

departing sabre ; or the exultant smile of that captain as he 

viewed the departing figure of the finest looking officer in the 

regiment, mounted, as he was, on that beautiful cream colored 

mare; or the glitter of that bright scabbard in the morning sun 

as it receded from view, in the direction of Harper's Ferry? 

Co. D joined E here and together supported the rear guard bat- 

tery as it retired from point to point to repell the enem\-'s cav- 

alry, who followed us as far as Bunker Hill. During the night

1^6 THE MAINE BUGLE. 

we reached the Potomac and crossed the following day near 

Williamsport, Md. Thus ended a very successful retreat, in 

that, the army succeeded in escaping from a superior force. 

( To be continued^ 

NoTK.— ^The encounter with the enemy on the dirt road to the Front Royal pike was 

the first real fight of the First Maine Cavalry, and a reference to some of the original 

reports will lie of interest to members of that regiment. 'Ihe return of a detachment 

of cavalry with two pieces of artillery is not mentioned in their history and it would he 

an interesting (juestion to have the names of this cavalry and artillery known. The 

United States official records show that Jackson, all of Ashby's cavalry, and most of 

his own infantry advanced on this road to Middletown with Chew's battery and two 

rified guns of Capt. Poague's battery. Had Jackson advanced towards Winchester on 

the Front Rt)yal jiike he would have caught lianks with his army ensnared with a 

wagon train; and had his cavalry in hand instead of near Middletown and Strasl)urg 

looting a few army wagons and thus useless lo him. The following official reports will 

show the events, as viewed by the parties at the time. 

KEl'ORT OK LIEUT. COL. CALVIN S. DOUTY, FIRST M.'VI.NE CAVALRY, OK OI'KKATIONS MAY 24- 

(U. S. Official Reports, Vol. XII., p. 575.) 

Hdqrs. First Battalion, First Maine Ca\ai.ky, 

Williamsport, Md., May 27th, 1862. 

CiENERAL:—On Saturday morning last I proceeded to Middletown, and left my bag- 

gage there according to orders. A detachment of cavalry with two pieces of artillery 

had just returned from a reconnoissance on the road leading across to the Winchester 

and Front Royal turnpike. They had seen nothing of the enemy. I immediately 

started across, and struck what I at first took to be their pickets, but afterward proved 

to be their advance guard. Shots were exchanged, and the enemy fell back. This 

was about a mile and a half from the Front Royal pike. I here learned from a per- 

son who had just come up from that direction that the enemy was in force upon the 

road and moving across toward Middletown. I threw out skirmishers to the right and 

left and awaited their movements, at the same time sending back intelligence of what 

had happened to the signal officer at Middletown. Seeing no signs of the enemy, 

after waiting an hour I fell back toward Providence church, leaving vedettes along the 

road and small parties at a distance each side to look out for any flank movement of 

the enemy. My object in so doing was to conceal my force and delay the enemy, in 

order to save time for the baggage trains, knowing they had a large force of infantry, 

which would render opposition on my ])art ineffectual. 

At Providence church I halted my command, expecting to be reinforced frt)m Mid- 

dletown. At about 12 o'clock, after waiting an hour or more, the most advanced 

vedettes came in and reported the enemy's cavalry and infantry advancing. Others 

coming in and confirming this statement I drew up my command in order of battle, to 

deceive the enemy and gain time. Their advance guard soon came in sight, and halted 

at a respectful distance. Their infantry soon came in sight, and also halted. I re- 

mained in position, determined to hold them in check as long as possible, at the same 

time sending intelligence of the condition of affairs to the signal ofticer, to be for- 

warded to General Hanks.

FIFTH NEW YORK' IN THE VALLEY. 157 

After a delay of half an hour the enemy opened on us with artillery, throwing shell 

into my column. 1 drew off my force, and proceeded slowly to Middletown. I there 

learned that General Banks had gone on toward Winchester, and that you were coming 

up with your command. I determined to wait for your arrival. The enemy 

quickly ajipeared and commencetl shelling the t(nvn. I was ai)out giving the oriler to 

fall back toward Strashurg when I saw you approaching. I formed my command in 

column of fours in the main street, and awaited orders. Major Collins, of the l-'irst 

Vermont Cavalry, was attached to my command, and took place with his two com- 

panies at the head of the column. After the end of five or ten minutes I saw the head 

of the column in motion, as I supposed by your order. My position was then near the 

rear of the column, looking after Captain Cilley, of Company H, who had l)een severely 

wounded I)y a shell. I rode forward as fast as possible toward the head of the column, 

which was charging up the pike amid a shower of shell and bullets. The dust was so 

thick I could neither see nor tell any thing in particular, except close by me. I passed 

over the botlies of men and horses strewn along the road till I had come up to near 

the center of Company M, the third company from the rear, where I found the bodies 

of men and horses so piled up that it was impossible to proceed. I saw they were re- 

treating, and heard the order for the same from ahead. 1 fell back, and reformed the 

remainder of my command in the street about the middle of the town. At the same 

time a company of rebel infantry, across the street at the upper end, opened fire on us. 

1 saw that a second attempt to advance was useless and fell back a few rods, when I 

made a turn to the left and struck into the fields and proceeded toward Winchester, 

falling in with your command after marching about two miles. 

(Jur loss is as follows: A, forty-four men missing; B, Captain Cilley wounded severely 

and left, and ^\\t men missing; E, Captain Putnam and forty-two men missing; II. 

one man missing; M, thirty-three men missing. It is impossible to tell how many ot 

these were killed and wounded. Probably some may yet come in who have escaped. 

Companies A, E, and M lost nearly all their horses also. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

C. S. DOUTY, 

Lieutenant-Colonel, First Maine Cavalry. 

Brig. (ien. John P. Hatch. 

Note.— ^The actual loss of the First Maine Cavalry in this engagement was three 

killed or mortally wounded; twenty-one wounded; si.\ty-one prisoners, of whom six 

died. 

KKl'ORT Ol" C.\1T. WILLIAM T. ro.\(;rE, VIK


Following with the brijâdc the next ilay, I received orders to report, w ith my ])arr()tt 

guns, to Major-deneral Jaclison, who directed me to report of Colonel Ashl)y, on the 

road leading to Middletown. I found the colonel aliout four miles from Middletown, 

driving the enemy's pickets before him. Following along with Captain Chew's Ijattcry, 

supported by a few companies of infantry, we came up with a train of the enemy's 

wagons escorted by a consideral)le l)ody of cavalry, making its way toward Winches- 

ter. A few rounds drove their cavalry in great confusion down the road. Following 

on in the pursuit, and firing as often as I could get within range, I finally came up 

with a regiment of infantry about a mile from Newtown, which seemed disposed to 

make a stand, but was soon dispersed by a few well-directed shells. 

Here I was orilered to halt until an infantry support should arrive. Proceeding with 

these, and when less than one mile from Newtown, three guns of the enemy opened fire 

upon our infantry and cavalry. This was abont five P. M. I at once took a position 

on the left of the road and opened fire upon their battery. The firing was kept up on 

both sides until al)out dusk, when the enemy's guns withdrew. In this combat three of 

my men were wounded. Two of my horses were killed by a shell. I was then ordered 

by Major-General Jackst)n to proceed in advance. Afterward a company of infatntry 

was placed on each side of the road, a little in advance of my pieces, and a company 

of cavalry in front. On arriving at Barton's Mill the enemy fired a volley into the 

cavalry, which immediately whirled and retreated in great confusion, running over and 

disabling two of my cannon-drivers. After this two of my pieces marched in rear of 

the brigade until dawn, when they were again ordered to the front. At this point 

commences my report of the operations of the battery on the twenty-fifth, which has 

been sent in. Very respectfully, yt)ur oliedient servant, 

Wm. T. PoAci i:, 

C.M'IAIN J. F. OTSkien, 

A. A. C, First Brigade, Valley District. 

Cajitain of Battery. 

RKI'URT OK COL. OTHNI'.II. HI'. I'l iRKST, KlI-TH NEW VoKK IA\ALRV, OK Ol'EKA- 

I'Ki.NS MAY 24-27. 

(U. S. Rebellion Record. Vol. XII., p. 5S1). 

Camp near Williamsport, Md., May 29, 1862. 

I have the honor to make the following report of my movements from noon of Sat- 

urday, the twenty-fourth, until evening of Tuesday, the twenty-seventh: 

Leaving camp at Tom's Brook somewhat after noon on Saturday, the twenty-fourth, 

and moving toward Strasburg, I received orders on the way to order forward I lamp- 

ton's battery and the First Vermont Cavalry, and to bring up the rear with the si.\ 

companies ( A, C, E, C, K, M,) remaining with me. Companies B and 1), under command 

of Major Vought, having gone to Front Royal to join Colonel Kenly on the 

twenty-third and companies F, H, I, and L having gone forward to Strasburg. under 

Major (Jardner, according to ])revious instructions. 

{ )n the road I received instructions from yourself to destroy the Covornnient stores 

in Strasl)urg. I lalting my command at the south end of the village, I emjitied the 

church of the ordnance stores and burned them, and then partly emptied the freight 

depot after loading a supi)ly train of thirteen wagons with clothing; but lieing jiressed

FIFTH NEW YORK' IN THE VALLEY. 159 

for time, I linally lircd the depot, as well as a large outbuilding to the south, containing 

tents, and the various jjiles of tents, poles, etc., lying near together, with some half- 

dozen vacant wall and A tents that were jiitched close l)y. 

Moving now to the summit of the hill north of Strashurg, I found that my own 

command, as well as a jjortion of the First Vermont C avalry, a portion of (ieneral 

Hanks' body guard, and Hampton's battery, were cut off from the main body by the 

rebels. Infantry, cavalry and wagons were streaming back in wild confusion along the 

road and the fields on either side as far as the eye could reach. The battery having 

been at once ordered to the summit of the hill, I supported it with my cavalry, formed 

in line of l)attle in the (ield on either side. A few shell checked the small force of 

rebels who were jiressing on us from Middletown. After a hasty consultation Colonel 

Tompkins, Captain Hamilton, and myself decided to try and rejoin the main body by a 

mountain road on the west of the pike. Colonel Tompkins stating that he had a cap- 

tain who could guide us. Colonel Tompkins, forming the advance with a portion of 

his regiment, was to move out the cross road a jiiece and halt until the column should 

be formed, the battery and my own command following. I ordered forward companies 

A and F. to support the battery. I would earnestly call your attention to the fact that 

'I have not since seen Colonel Tompkins and his command, and to the critical 

situation in which I was placed by his desertion, as he took with him the only guide 

we had, the \'ermont cajitain. I have subse(|uently learned that Colonel Tompkins 

pushed on without the battery, and that cimipanies .A. and E, of my regiment, entered 

Winchester about I A. M. on Sunday with the battery. Captain Hampton and his two 

l)altery wagons remained with me. 1 halted a few minutes for Captain Hampton to 

bring u|) tiiese two battery wagons from the rear, and llien moved rapidly on, hut could 

not overtake the battery. 

Hefore moving 1 ordered Capt. Foster, of Ct)mpany M, to bring out of the village a 

loaded supply train of thirty-live wagons that remaineil there, which he did in the face 

of a large bt)dy of rebel cavalry who ajipeared to the south of the village. I also 

i)rought up a portion of (ieneral Hank's body guard, and some of the First Maine, 

I'irst Michigan, First Maryland, First Virginia, Tenth Maine, and Fifth Connecticut, 

some telegraph operators, one of the signal corps, etc., who had been cut off near 

Midilletown. 

Now, about five 1'. M., I moved forward as rapidly as the battery wagons allowed, 

and without halting, along rough roads i)arallel with the pike, making inijuiries at 

every step. Late in the evening we reached a grade running to Winchester and join- 

ing the Strasburg pike, say one and one half miles south of Winchester. 

At one time, just before reaching this grade, we heard the beating of the enemy's 

drums, and I ascertained that they were not more than three-tiuarters of a mile from 

us. About eleven miles from Winchester 1 came upon a road runnmg westerly again 

to I'ughtown, fourteen miles, easterly six miles to Newtown. Learning that the grade 

I was on entered the Winchester and Strasburg pike, and thinking I might be com- 

]>elled to take a more westerly road, I halted here, to be sure of a way of retreat, and 

throwing out j)ickets on the Newtown road, ordered forward Captain Hammond's company 

to reconnoiter as far as the pickets of (General Hanks', if possible, and send me 

report. While standing here signaling was going on from a height many miles in our 

rear for a long lime, and two rockets, possibly in reply, were sent up from near Win- 

chester.


Standing to horse some hours about daybreak two orderlies returned to me, report 

ing that Captain Hammond had forced the enemy's pickets and entered Winchester, 

Init that they occujjied the pike near the fork of the grade and the Winchester and 

Strasburg pil

MASSACHUSETTS BRANCH ASSOCIATION. IfJl 

Chester, and thirty-seven to Cherry Run T'ord, making on Sunday forty-eight miles. 

f)n Monday we marched to Clear Si)ring, seven miles; on Tuesday to Williamsport, 

eleven miles—in all eighty-four miles. 

The number of men that came in with us was not ascertained, any further than that 

there were two hundred and lifty of the I'irst X'ermont Cavalry, sixty-five of ( General 

Bank's body guard, and some frcmi the First .Maine, I'irst Virginia, hirst Maryland, First 

Michigan, and Eighth New York Cavalry, of the Fifth Connecticut and Tenth Maine 

Infantry, four companies of the Fifth New York avalr/, some sutlers, telegrajih oper- 

ators, and wagoners, one of the Signal Corps, and some of the First Maryland Artillery. 

Three of the thirty-five wagons I was obliged to abandon on the road; the remain- 

ing thirty-two I brought in, with an unknown cjuantity of CJovernment stores. 

(lener.il Hatch. 

I have the honor to be, your most (jbedient servant, 

' ). DkFdkkst, 

Colonel I-'iflli New \'ork Cavalry, 

Massachusetts Branch Association. 

Tlie First Maine Cavalry Association of Massachusetts held 

its si.Kth annual reunion and banquet at the Hotel Bellevue 

Boston, March 27, 1894. A business nieetin


Stephen S. Goodhue, Mr. and Mrs. C. O. Stone, Mr. and Mrs. 

A. C. Souther, Mr. and Mrs. U. R Lincoln, Mr. and Mrs. G. N. 

Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Edgecomb, Miss Edgecomb, P. F. 

Shevlin and son, Russell B. Murray, Bradbury P. Doe. Horace 

Lunt of the Seventh Maine Regiment was present as a guest of 

the president. Short speeches were in order after the banquet. 

President Jewett welcomed the comrades, and he compli- 

mented all on being present. He was especially pleased to see 

so man)' ladies. Gen. J. P. Cilley was thankful he could again 

testify how bountiful and constant had been the aid given by the 

Massachusetts Branch Association to every effort to renew the 

old time friendship or preserve the records of our army life. He 

reviewed many interesting points in the association's history. 

The happiest moments of the speaker's life have been spent in 

meeting his comrades. It is one reward of the soldier to meet 

his comrades after the war. The speaker interested the party 

with several stories of humorous war experiences. Maj. S. W. 

Thaxter declared that the reunion of war associations brought 

together faces that otherwise would be separated forever. It is 

a rare privilege to meet a veteran. A cavalry soldier is made, 

he is not born. It takes time, and no more pitiful sight could 

be imagined than a new armed soldier on a horse. He would 

be a laughable subject. The speaker revived several important 

battles in the war in which the cavalry took special prominence. 

The newly elected president, Alfred Pierce was given a very 

cordial reception upon rising to his feet. " These reunions make 

a man feci as though he was growing old," said Mr. Pierce, 

" but we are all boys." The speaker spoke at some length of 

the good work of the First Maine Cavalry in the war. Among 

other speakers were Lieut. E. P. Tobic, Col. A. C. Drinkwater, 

G. N. Harris, P. F. Shevlin, and Thaddeus Little and others, all 

of whom gave evidence of the close bonds of friendship existing 

between the comrades of a regiment eminent for the number of 

its battles and also its losses in action. H. Lunt favored the 

company with a very interesting recitation from Mark Twain. 

Boston Globe.

COL. FRANK C. KNIGHT, 

Mayor of Rockland, Me.

COLONEL FRANK C. KNfGIIT. 1G8 

Colonel }^>ank C. Knii;ht. 

The presentation on the pa^ês of the FlKsr Mainh BKil.K of 

the Sons of Veterans was welcomed by all its readers. In the 

present issue, the attractive effects of such portraits are once 

more presented for approval. The first picture is that of the Mayor 

of Rockland, who was Aide-de-Canip on the Staff of Governor 

Robie and is a member of Anderson Camp, Sons of Veterans, 

His father, Cyprian M. Knight, enlisted in Co. F, h'irst 1). C. 

Cavalry, transferred to Co C. First Maine Cavalry, and served 

until the final muster of the regiment. He was an esteemed 

citizen of Camden representing his town in the legislature and 

holding various offices, till his death some years ago. 

His brother, Augustus H. Knight, enlisted at same date with 

his father and in the same C()m])an\', was taken prisoner in 1864, 

suffered in Florence, S. C. and other rebel {prisons and was dis- 

charged June 5th, 1863, fi)r disability, having been transferred to 

Co. C, First Maine Cavah)'. Was a merchant in Camden some 

years and now is a resident of W'altham, Mass. 

The Rockland Tribune, thus appropriately, speaks of Colonel 

Knight, " It was a fitting recognition of the past year's munici- 

pal administration, that h'rank C. Knight received an unanimous 

rcnomination by acclamation. 

"Mr. Knight has most worthily filled the position of our city's 

chief executive, lie has borne himself with the dignity that 

the office exacts, has given careful oversight to all the details 

of administration and manifested a conscientious regard for 

the welfare of our city. Mr. Knight brought to the office a year 

ago an excellent knowledge of its affairs, to which he has greatly 

added in the twelve months past. His able and business like 

administration of affairs has won the approval of all our citizens,"

1(34 THE MAINE BUG I.E. 

Banquet of the Somerset Braneh. 

The Somerset County Association of the First Maine Cavalry 

held its Fourth Annual meeting and banquet at Hotel Hcsclton 

Monday evening the 9th instant; the twenty-ninth anniversary 

of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and of the practical close of 

the War of the Rebellion. 

The officers of the association for the past year Cai)tain 

Zenas Vaughan, president; F. J. Savage, vice president; J. 11. 

Wyman, secretary; Llewellyn Goodwin, treasurer, were all 

present at the business meeting. Frank J. Savage of I^âirfield 

was elected president for t!ic ensuing year; A. F. Rickford, vice 

president; S. H. Wyman, Secretary; II. J. Varney, Treasurer. 

Mark Harville of Skovvhegan, a veteran, was elected an 

honorary member of the association. It was voted that the 

ladies be invited to participate in the banquet to be held Ai)ril 

9th, 1895, \\liich will mark the full thirty years since the close 

of the war. At nine o'clock, upon completion of the business of 

the association, the comrades repaired to the spacious dining 

room where " mine host" Heselton had the banquet spread in a 

style at once artistic and appetizing. 

The personnel of the company was as follows: Members of 

the association, and veterans of the First Maine Cavalry; F. I. 

Savage, Fairfield ; A. 

I*". Rickford, j. II. W\man, Geo. I^. Good- 

win, Zenas Vaughan, Sewall Smith, Dr. S. A. Patten, H. J. Var- 

ney, Charles Smith, Dennis Murph\', Llewellyn Goodwin, all of 

Skowhegan ; 

honorar\' members of the association and \eterans 

of other Maine regiments. Geo. R. Safiford, F. R. Ruck, Mark 

Harville, E. L. Walker, R. D. Savage, E. F. Fairbrother, J. O. 

Smith, all of Skowhegan; invited guests, A. G. Rlunt, J. A. 

Dealey. C. A. Marston, R. T. I'alten, Geo. D. Arnold. I'\ . 

Cairns, C. J. Dow, C. D. Miller, James Lumsden. all of Skow- 

hegan ; C. T. Walker, Lewiston ; Daniel W. Ames, Ambrose

BANQUET OP THE SOMERSET BRANCH. 165 

Lcigliton, W. l'\ Campbell all of Portland and Wellington 

Spraj^'ue of l'>ath. After the feast P/esident Savage gracefully 

discharged the duties of master of ceremonies, making hi.s de- 

tails for remarks and stories in such a manner that those called 

u[)on could not resist antl the responses were general and happy. 

In his preliminary remarks the toastmaster alluded to the fact 

that but four of the First Cavalry present, happened to be at 

Appomattox on the eventful da\', twenty-nine years ago. At a 

meeting at his own home within a few years eight men who \y.\\- 

ticipated in that event were present. These meetings of vet"rans 

are not without purpose and effect. They are enjoyable to the 

veteran himself and serve to instill in the minds of the young 

lessons of patriotism. 

George E. Goodwin was detailed to tell the story of Appo- 

mattox. He said to do justice to the subject it would take him 

nine da}'s, but, in as many miiuit >,!ie gave a graphic account of 

what he saw and experienced that eventful Sunday morning 

that was highly entertaining and differed in man\' particulars 

from book accounts. George W Safford alluded to the sacri- 

fices, hardships and dangers incident to the services of the bo)'s 

in blue and to the generous treatment accorded to the captured 

army of General Lee by the great soldier. U. S. Grant. He said 

to the rebel soldier "take your horse home with \'ou. y

166 Tf^P' MAINE BUGLE. 

thankctl Ciod and every Union soldier, lie said he did not share 

the theory, advanced by some, that our people will ever per- 

manently do injustice to veterans. The war was no ordinary 

event. Our citizenship is a far [greater honor than was that of 

the Roman citizen of old. Sewall W. Smith related an instance 

of mcetini^ a soldier of T'itz Hugh Lee's cavalry in Washington 

at the meeting of the Grand Army there in 1892 and the story 

he told him of the ice business north, but not having Brooks Sav- 

age there to prove it b)', the confederate did not get its full 

benefit. Captain Zenas Vaughan spoke with high appreciation 

of the rank and file of the First Maine Cavalry. They were 

men of character, intelligence and standing. He related an instance 

illustrating this among the first skirmishes the command 

engaged in, when a signal victory was gained largely, through 

the conduct of the men and without a casually. Charles A. 

Marston spoke of his impressions while a boy on witnessing the 

Seventeenth Maine Volunteers on their way to the tront. He 

referred to recent visits by him to some of the fortresses of the 

war and their great strength and admired the skill and tin- \alor 

by which these citadels were stormed and carried. R. T. l\it- 

ten was called upon to respond for Sons of Veterans. He said 

he always embraced every opportunity to hear from li\ing lips 

the stories of the great war and could not think of occup\-ing 

the time that veterans could so much better fill, himself. Col. 

A. G. Blunt related in a felicitious manner his remembrance oi 

the war, he was too young to participate in. F. R. Buck in his 

usual pleasing way gave some of his experiences in the western 

army. 

J. 

O. Smith spoke of the forced march made by the First di- 

vision of the twenty-fourth Army Corps of which the Eleventh 

Maine was a part, in the twenty-four hours ending about eight 

o'clock the morning of the ninth of April, 1865, when this command 

arrived upon the scene of action, just in time to reinforce 

Sheridan's Cavalry and be in at the death. To do this they 

made, during that twenty-four hours, fully thirty-fi\e miles over 

Virginia roads and through Virginia dust, from F'armville to

BANQUET OF THE SOMERSET BRANCH. 107 

Appomattox. Charles Smith recalled certain personal ex- 

periences and events that were entertaining to the company. 

George 1). Arnold answered his detail with an appropriate 

story. Conductor Sprague was only too glad to accept the in- 

vitation of the association. He had a deep interest in army af- 

fairs from a boy, when he frequented the camp of a Maine regi- 

ment that rendezvoused at Bath, and carried a peck basket full 

of doughnuts, his mother's weekly contribution, to the regi- 

ment. He lost a brother in the war. Dennis Murphy, who was 

one of the Appomattox veterans, contributed his share to the 

experiences already related. 

Brooks D. Savage responded for the Infantry arm of the ser- 

vice. K. F. Fairbrother responded happily to the call of the 

chair, alluding to former banquets of the association. H. J. 

Varney exhibited and read a message sent across a river inter- 

vening between Rebel and Union pickets, on an extemporized 

float, in which the former indulged in friendly expressions 

couched in mispelled words. C. Davis Miller related a scene in 

front of Skowhcgan post-office, when a citizen read from one of 

the few daily papers then received here, the account of the fir- 

ing upon Fort Sumter, which so thoroughly stirred the people 

of the great north. The secretary read letters from D. C. 

Mosher, Mercer, Me. ; D. N. Foster, Canaan Me. ; 

Doughty, Augusta, Me. ; 

and 

George 

H. C. Hall, Charlestown, Mass. 

Kendall's Orchestra enlivened the occasion by fitting and stirring 

music, well appreciated by the members and visitors. The 

occasion was one of the most enjoyable in the history of the 

association. Somerset Reporter.


Walter V. Hanscom, M. D. 

Dr. Hanscom well deserves a place among the Sons of Veter- 

ans. His father, Rev. Loring L. Hanscom, was a member of 

Co. F, First Maine Cavalry and served till discharged for disa- 

bility. His uncle. Rev. Sylvanus L. Hanscom, enlisted Febru- 

ary 13th, 1864, in the same company and regiment, was prisoner 

at Jeterville, April 5th, 1865, for a few hours, but escaped and 

was present at Appomattox, April 9th, 1865. Mustered out 

June 20th, 1865. Both his father and uncle, Sylvanus, occupy 

eminent positions as clergymen in the Methodist church. 

His uncle, Lieut. William Harris, enlisted September 23d, 

1 86 1, in Co. F, First Maine Cavalry, was promoted to second 

and first lieutenant and now sleeps in a soldier's grave on the 

southern bank of the Chickahominy river near Jones bridge, 

where he was killed May 17th, 1864. Another uncle was Gen. 

Benjamin F. Harris, of the gallant Sixth Maine Infantry, who 

led his regiment in its successful assault on St. Marys' Heights 

in May, 1863, and its equally renowned assault on the works at 

Rappahannock Station, November 7th, 1863. 

Dr. Hanscom was educated in the High School of Orono and 

the Methodist Seminary at Bucksport, and graduated at the 

head of his class in Hahnemann Medical College of Philadel- 

phia, Pa., in 1890. He commenced the practice of medicine 

the same year and has risen so rapidly in his profession that he 

stands near its head in Rockland, both for skill and extent. In 

1893 he organized the Surgical and P^mergency Hospital and 

has made it one of the best in this part of the State. He is 

eminent also in medical circles and holds membership in the 

Maine Homeopathic Medical Society and the American Insti- 

tute of Homeopathy, and other societies.

WALTER V. HANSCOM, M. D., 

Rockland, Maine.

HISTORY OF THE TWELFTH MAINE INFANTRY. 169 

Short History of Twelfth Maine Infantry. 

liV A. H. CIKTIS, HROOKS, ME. 

The Twelfth Regiment Maine Infantry, Col. G. Y . Shepley, 

was miLstcred into the service as a regiment November i6th, 

1 86 1, at Cape Elizabeth, Maine; left Portland for Lowell, Mass., 

November twenty-fourth. After being encamped at Camp 

Chase several weeks, they embarked at Boston on board the 

steamship Constitution January 2d, 1862, for Ship Island, 

constituting a portion of Gen. Butler's New England division, 

for the capture of New Orleans. On the twelfth disembarked 

at Eortress Monroe, and encamped on the beach, having been 

nearly three weeks on board the Constitution. On February 

fourth, proceeded on the voyage and arrived at Ship Island, 

the forenoon of the twelfth, and were assigned to Third Brigade, 

March twenty-second. Colonel and acting Brigadier General 

.Shepley commanding, luiibarkcd on board the steamer Ten- 

nessee for New Orleans, May fourth. Arrived May sixth; dis- 

embarked May seventh ; quartered at Frerets Cotton Press, removed 

to United States Branch Mint, May twelfth. On the Fifteenth 

June, the regiment, under command of Lieut. Col. Kim- 

ball, made a reconnoissance to Pass Manchac, found a rebel force 

supported by two batteries; the attack was gallantly made, and 

the enemy completely routed. We captured six pieces of ar- 

tillery, and one stand of colors ; which flag was presented to the 

regiment by Gen. Butler for their gallantry. The expedition re- 

turned June twentieth. On the thirteenth of September an ex- 

pedition of which companies C, D, and F, with volunteers from 

other companies of the regiment, under command of Major 

Strong, made a reconnoissance to Ponchatoula; found the rebels 

in force, supported by a full battery of light artillery; after a 

sharp engagement of half an hour, the enemy were driven from 

the field with heavy loss. The expedition returned the fifteenth.


On the twenty-first of October moved to Camp Parapet ; November 

twentieth, marched sixty miles up the Mississippi River, 

arrived at College Point December ninth; embarked on board 

steamer Laura Hill for Baton Rouge, December nineteenth; ar- 

rived the twentieth, and were assigned to Brig. Gen. Grover's 

division. Left this point March 25th, 1863, with the remaining 

regiments of the division for Brashear City to participate in the 

Teche Campaign under command of Gen. Banks. The regiment 

was assigned March twenty-third, to the Second Brigade, Third 

division. Colonel Kimball commanding brigade ; arrived at Bra- 

shear City after being encamped a few days, at Bayou Boeuf. 

April eighth, embarked with the Fourth Division, Gen. Grover 

commanding, on board the steamers Clifton and Arizona, April 

tenth, for Irish Bend. Met the enemy, ten thousand strong at 

this point early on the morning of the fourteenth, completely 

routing them after a heavy loss, and following up the retreating 

columns, arrived at Opelousas, April twenty-fourth. Here Gen. 

Banks issued his congratulatory order saying " in twenty days 

we had marched three hundred miles, fought five engagements, 

captured fifteen hundred prisoners with ten pieces of artillery, 

and pursued the enemy to Alexandria a distance of one hundred 

miles." Returned to Simmes Port on the Atchafalaya River, 

May seventeenth. Leaving Simmes Port the twenty-first, on 

steamer St. Maurice we landed at Bayou Sara same day, and 

moved from this point on Port Hudson, May twenty- fourth. 

During the seige of Port Hudson, which lasted forty-seven days, 

the regiment was constantly on duty and was one of the first 

regiments to enter the stronghold. For its gallantry the com- 

manding general of the department ordered to be inscribed on 

its banner, " Pass Manchac, Ponchatoula, Irish Bend. Port 

Hudson." 

X(jte.— ^The at>ove is of much value, hut the readers of the Bi'GLE realize that a 

succession of dates and names lacks life. It is a good strong skeleton but needs to he 

clothed with more meat. If the comrades of the Twelfth will write incidents that they 

saw at the many places and engagements mentioned, and reproduce the southern air 

and the I^juisiana surrounding, the picturesque and peculiar fiuality of their service 

would make enjoyable reading. It is a singular fact, that no account or mention of the


above captain of artillery and colors is mentioned in the Adjutant General's reports of 

Maine. These reports have been relied on as so eminently full and correct that the 

doubt in relation to the above statements, requires reference to the official reports 

which fully show the occurence and the estimate placed on it at the time.— J. I*. C. 

SKIRMISH AT PASS MAN'CIIAC, LA., JUNE I J, 1 862. 

RKPltRT OF MAJ. c;KN. BENJAMIN K. lilTLER, I'. S. AK.MY, a).\IMANl)IN(; THE 

DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF. 

(Official Records, Vol. XV, p. III.) 

New Orleans, La., June, 19, 1862. 

Sir:—Finding that the rebels were making some demonstra- 

tions to hold Manchac Pass, I sent Lieutenant-Colonel Kimball, 

with a portion of the Twelfth Maine Volunteers and a section of 

Manning's battery, in aid of the New London gunboat, to take 

and destroy the enem}''s work there. The affair was very gal- 

lantly done, the enemy firing a few shots from their upper bat- 

tery of two guns, thirty-two-pounders; ran from a charge upon 

their lower batteiy of four guns, thirty-two-pounders, one and 

three-fourths miles below, without firing a shot, leaving their 

guns loaded. The battery was taken by a charge. The enemy 

escaped in boats they had prepared for that purpose on the 

other side of the draw-bridge, which they drew up, burning 

bridge behind them. We took all their camp equipage, garri- 

son stores, and a stand of colors, destroyed the bridge and 

works, demolished guns and carriages. The party then pro- 

ceeded to Mandeville and Madisonville, dispersed a body of 

cavalry there, and took prisoner, Colonel Putnam, with five 

thousand dollars, recruiting funds upon his person. Not having 

any cavalry, it was impossible to pursue the runaways. In con- 

sideration of the gallant conduct of the men I have allowed the 

regiment to retain the stand of colors taken. 

(SAME, p. 529.) 

General Orders, No. 51. 

New Orleans, July 24, 1862. 

The commanding general of this department takes pleasure 

in publishing the following indorsement from Washington of 

what he has considered the useful services of Lieutenant-Colonel


Kimball, of the Twelfth Regiment Maine Volunteers, and the 

troops under his command : 

The news of the brilliant achievement of Lieutenant-Colonel 

Kimball, of the Twelfth Maine Volunteers, and the brave men 

under his command, at Manchac Pass was very gratifying to the 

department, and it entirely approves your action in allowing the 

regiment to retain the colors which they had so gallantly taken 

from the enemy. 

By command of Major-General Butler, 

R. S. Davis, 

Captain and Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 

(Idem, Vol. XV., p. 139.) 

REI'ORT OK MAJ. GEORGK C. STRONG, ASSISTANT AI)JUTANT-GKNER/\L, DEl'ARTMKNT 

OF THE GULF. 

New Orleans, La., Sept. 24, 1862. 

General:—Pursuant to your orders of the thirteenth instant 

I embarked on the afternoon of that day on board steamer 

Ceres, at Lakeport, with three companies of the Twelfth Regiment 

Maine Volunteers, commanded by Captains Thornton, 

Harrington, and Winter, and one company (Captain Picker- 

ing's) of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment. I had pre- 

viously sent one hundred men of the Thirteenth Connecticut 

Regiment on board the gunboat New London, whose com- 

mander, Captain Read, had kindly consented to co-operate with 

me. The object in view was to surprise the village of Ponchatoula, 

the headquarters of the rebel General Jeff. Thompson, 

forty-eight miles north of this city, on the line of the Jackson 

railroad. To that end the New London was to land her men at 

Manchac bridge, where at daybreak next morning they were to 

drive the enemy that might be found there northward to Pon- 

chatoula, while the remainder of the force, having found our 

way fifteen miles up to Tangipahoa river in the night, should 

have landed, marched six miles westward, and captured Poncha- 

toula in season to secure those of the enemy who had been 

driven up from Pass Manchac. The attempt at surprise failed, 

for not only was the New London unable to get over the bar in- 

to Manchac Pass in the darkness, but the Ceres, too large for


the easy navigation of the narrow and winding Tangipahoa, 

failed in each of the succeeding nights to reach her destination 

on that river in season to admit of our gaining Ponchatouhi be- 

fore daylight. I resolved therefore to go with that steamer to 

Manchac bridge, and did so on the morning of the fifteenth. 

From that point Captain Winter was sent with his company 

southward, to make the destruction of the railroad on Manchac 

Island more complete, which duty he thoroughly performed. 

Captain Pickering's company was left to guard the steamer, and 

the companies of Captains Thornton and Farrington began a 

forced march of ten miles upon Ponchatoula. A locomotive 

one mile below the village gave notice of our approach, which 

could not be concealed, and ran northward, giving the alarm at 

the village, and thence to Camp Moore, for reinforcements. We 

met, on entering Ponchatoula a discharge of canister at seventy 

yards from a light battery, in charging which Captain Thornton 

fell severely wounded. His company, then under Lieutenant 

Hight, reinforced Captain Farrington's first platoon, that had 

gained a position on the enemy's right, to which Lieutenant 

Coan, with the second platoon of that company, took a position, 

under partial cover, on the left of the enemy's line. P^rom these 

positions our men poured in so deliberate and destructive a fire 

that the enemy was driven from the field, the artillery galloping 

away, followed by the infantry, on a road through the forest, in 

a north-westerly direction. We then set fire to a train of up- 

wards of twenty cars, laden with cotton, sugar, molasses, etc., 

took the papers from the post and telegraph offices ( destroying 

the apparatus of the latter,) and General Jeff. Thompson's 

sword, spurs, bridle, etc., from his quarters in the hotel. The 

sword was presented to him by so-called " Memphis patriots." 

A written document was obtained, which showed the rebel 

force at that point to consist of three hundred troops of the 

Tenth Arkansas Regiment, one company of Home Guards, and 

one company of artillery, with six pieces. I had, however, received 

reliable information that the enemy's force was a week 

previous only two hundred infantry and no artillery. The re-

174 ?"/^^ MAINE BUGLE. 

inforccmcnt had taken place at a subsequent date. Our force 

engaged amounted to but one hundred twelve men. We left, of 

killed, wounded, and missing (exclusive of those who have since 

come in, among these last the gallant Thornton), ten men at 

Ponchatoula. Surgeon Avery, Ninth Connecticut Volunteers, 

with his attendant, voluntarily remained with the wounded, but 

the former has since returned. We brought in eleven men more 

or less severely wounded. One fatal case of sunstroke occurred 

on board the steamer. Our return from Ponchatoula was neces- 

sarily along the railroad, through a swamp, and on which there 

is no cover for troops, and it was therefore impossible to bring 

off those of our men who were most severely woundetl, as they 

would be exposed for a long distance to the fire of artillery, 

which, with horses attached, would be brought back upon the 

line of the road as soon as we should have left the village. It 

did so return at the signal of the inhabitants, but, though 

actively served, did us no harm. Surgeon Avery reports twenty 

of the enemy killed. Captains Thornton and Farrington and 

the officers and men of their respective commands, though 

nearly exhausted by the march, two miles of which was over 

an open trestle work, in the heat of the day, behaved nobly in 

the fight. Captains Pickering and Winter, after a very rapid 

march, for which they are entitled to much credit, came up 

after we had left the village, covered our rear, and assisted in 

bringing in the wounded. Lieutenants Martin, Allen and Finnegass, 

and Commander Buchanan, United States Navy, who 

accompanied the expedition, rendered important services, and 

their gallantry during the action deserves special mention.

BY GtN. J. 

REGIMENTAL IIISTORfES. 175 

Regimental Histories. 

1'. CIl.I.KY, I.ATK (W MUST MAINE CAVALRY. 

The history of the h'irst Maine Cavalry has received many 

encomiums. The reason of its excellency is due in a large de- 

gree to various articles and addresses concerning its service, 

which were prepared and read in the proceedings of the Annual 

Reunions. ,\11 the contributions and the discussions called 

forth by thcni, not only aroused interest and attention but 

awakened recollections, that reproduced the old life of the reg- 

iment accurately ; 

and 

enabled the historian to give a variety 

and freshness to his work, which could be obtained in no other 

manner. Attention is called to the fact that onl}' a few of our 

regiments have embodied their history and service in any per- 

manent or presentable form. In comparison to Massachusetts 

and New Hampshire, Maine, with a military record second to 

no other state, has done little to preserve the records of her 

soldiers. During the period of the war her records and reports 

made up by Adjutant General Hodgdon, were the best of any 

state in the entire country. Since the close of the war, most of 

the northern states have, by special grants of money, aided reg- 

imental associations in publishing the histories of their respec- 

tive regiments and in various other ways have perfected and 

published the records of their men, who served in the War of 

the Rebellion. 

Maine has done comparati\ely nothing. There are some ex- 

cellent results of her monumental work on the field of Gettys- 

burg, but even there, where so many of her regiments served 

most effectually and proudly, her efforts lag behind some of 

her smaller sister states. But in those monuments, that shall 

endure when these granite shafts shall crumble, her pecuniary 

aid has been the nearest zero of any other state north of Mason 

and Dixons' line.


Is this indifference wise? It is the intention of the BUGLE to 

sound no uncertain note on this subject. The participants of 

the War of the Rebellion have passed the half century mark. 

If their record and their service are to be completed with their 

aid and their memory, it must be done now and before the few 

remaining years of life shall have closed their mouths and 

memory forever. 

Instead of relying on the encouragement of aid from the 

State of Maine, slow to move and awkward in her efforts to do 

fair justice ; it may be better for the men of Maine, who 

served that State and the Nation, at the peril of their lives on 

land and sea, to take the burden on their own shoulders and 

write their own histories and complete their own memorable 

record. To this end and for this object the pages of the BUGLE 

are open to all comrades. 

List of regimental histories and publications pertaining to 

Maine regiments, which served in the War of the Rebellion. 

First Maine Cavalry.—Campaigns of the First Maine and the First District of Colum- 

bia Cavalry, by Chaplain Samuel H.Merrill. 12 mo., pp., xv, 436, Portland, 1S66. 

Contains three steel plate engravings. 

First Maine Cavalry.—History of the first Maine Cavalry, 1861-1865 by Lieut. Ed- 

ward P. Tobie. Royal 8vo., pp., xix, 735 (l). Boston, 1887. It contains 307 photo- 

gravure portraits and engraving of ofiiicers and men making its total of pages XIX., 823. 

First, Tenth, and Twenty-ninth Regiment, by Major John M. Gould, with history 

of the Tenth Maine Battalion, by Rev. Leonard G. Jordan. 8vo., pp. 709, Portland, 

1 87 1. Contains twenty-four pictures of officers and five maps with other cuts. Ad- 

ditions and corrections up to February 1893, by John M. Gould. 

Fifth Maine Volunteers.—History of the Fifth Regiment from 1S61-1864, by Rev. 

Geo. W. Bicknell, late First Lieutenant and Adjutant. 12 mo., pp., 404, Portland, 1871. 

Eleventh Maine Infantry Volunteers.— Roster and statisticals record of Co. I), with 

a sketch of its services in the War of the Rebellion, prepared by Albert Maxfield and 

Robert Brady, Jr., New York, 1890. 

Fifteenth Maine Infantry—The story of the Maine Fifteenth, being a l)ricf narrative 

of the more important events in the history of the P'ifteenth Maine Regiment, by 

Henry A. Shorey, Bridgton, Me., i8go. Contains photo-gravure portraits. 

Sixteenth Maine Regiment in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, by Major .\b- 

ner R. Small. Introduction by General Jas. A. Hall. 8vo., pp., iv., 323. Contains 

cuts and engravings. Portland, Maine, 1866. 

Seventeenth Maine.—Camjiaignsof the Seventeenth Maine, by Edwin 1!. Houghton. 

12 mo., pp., X (I), 333. Portland, 1866.

- ' REGIMENTAL HISTORIES. 177 

NineteenthjMaine Infantry.— Reunions of the Nineteenth Regiment Association 

First to Sixth, 8vo., pp., 143. Major Charles E. Nash, Augusta, 1878. 

Twentieth Maine Volunteers.—Reunions of the Twentieth Maine Regiment Asso- 

ciation at Portland, with a sketch of its history. 8vo., pp., 31. Waldohoro, Maine, 

1881. 

Twentieth Maine \'olunteers.— Army life; A private's reminiscences of the Civil 

War, by Rev. Theodore (lerrish. i2mo., pp., 372. Portland, (1S82.) 

Maine in the war for the Union. A history of the part borne by Maine troops, by 

W. E. S. Whitman and C. H. True. Svo., pp., vm, 867. I.ewiston, 1865. 

-1892. 

Seventh .Maine Battery, Light Artillery. A. S. Twitchell. 8vo., pp., 248. Boston, 

Eastern Maine in the Rebellion, R. H. Stanley, and Geo. O. Hall, twenty lithograph 

pictures of officers. 8vo., Bangor, 1887, pp., 392. 

Bowdoin in the War. College roll of honor. 8vo„ pp., 36, 1867. 

Bates in the War. College roll of lionor. Adjutant Cicneral report Vol. i, 1864- 

1865. pp., 520-522. 

Colby in the War. College roll of lionor. Adjutant (Jencral Report Vol. i, 1864- 

1865. pp., 522-525. 

Note.—Corrections and additions earnestly desired. 

REUNIONS OF THE FIRST MAINE CAVALRY. 

Records of the proceedings of the First Maine Reunion, held at Augusta, Sept. 

26th, 1872. 8vo., pp., 40, contains lists of members, also lists of deceased members of 

the regiment. 

Second Annual Reunion, Bangor, September 1 8th, 1873. 8vo., pp. 46. 

Third and Fourth Annual Reunion, held at Portland, September 9th, 1874, at Rock- 

land, September 15th, 1875. PP- ^^> PP- 43- 

Fifth, .Si.\th, and Seventh Reunions at Portland, August 9th and loth, 1876; Old 

Orchard Beach, August 8th, 1877; Augusta, August 7th, 1878. One pamphlet, pp. 77 

Eighth and Ninth Reunion at Lewiston, September 2d, 1879, and at Pittslield,. 

August 25th, 1880. One pamphlet, pp. 108. 

Tenth Reunion at Dover, .\ugust 31st, 188 1, pp. 80. 

Eleventh Reunion at Brunswick, 1882, pp. 52. 

The above pamphlets constitute Campaign I. They contained many addresses and 

communications of permanent historical value. The proceedings of Reunions First and 

Second are out of print. Ten dollars have been paid for copies to complete sets for 

binding. 

First Maine Bui;le, Campaign II, July 1890, Call i, contains Twelfth Reunion at 

Auburn, September I2th, 1883. Photo-gravure portraits of nine comrades, letters 

from comrades, and other historical material. 8vo., pp , 76. 

Call II, October 1S90, contains Thirteenth Reunion at Eastport, August 12th and 

13th, 1884. Photo-gravure portraits of seven comrades, letters, etc. 8vo., pp., 64. 

Call III, January 1891, contains Fourteenth Reunion at Portland, June 24th, 1885. 

Roll call, letters, etc. pp., 64.


Call IV, April 1891, contains Fifteenth Reunion at Skowhcgan, .Septeml)er I3lh, 

1886, contains Photo-gravure portraits of seven comrades, also letters, and historical 

address at the dedication at the Cavalry Shaft at Gettysburg, pp. 2-64. 

Call v., July 1891, contains Sixteenth Reunion at Bangor, October 4th, 1887; .Serv- 

ices at Dedication of the Shaft at Cettysburg; Letters from Comrades, and personal 

historical accounts, pp. 80. 

Call VI , Octol)er 1 891, contains Seventeenth Reunion at Bar Harl)or, Septeml)er 

15th, 1888; contains letters and personal historical accounts, pp. 73. 

Call VII., January 1892, contains Eighteenth Reunion at Boston, September Seven- 

teenth, 1889, (banquet at Revere House); roll call; letters and historical narrations, 

eight photo-gravure portraits, pp. 96. 

Call VIII., April, 1892, contains Nineteenth Reunion at Boston, August nth, 1890, 

(bancjuet at Lancers Hall); eight photogravure portraits; letters and personal 

accounts; genealogy, jip. 90. 

Call IX., luly, 1892, contains fwcntieth Reunion at Iloulton, Scpteml)cr loth, 1S91; 

two illustrations; Reunion of the Cavalry Society of the Armies of the United .Slates, 

held at Scranton, Pa., June 15th, 1892, with a list of meml)ers; letters from comrades; 

genealogical accounts and personal narrations, pp. 114. 

Call X., October, 1892, contains Twenty-first Reunion at Washington, I). C, Septem- 

ber 22d 1892; letters; genealogical and historical accounts; illustrations; and full 

index of contents of Campaign II. pp. 105. 

Campaign III.— Call I., January, 1893, contains xoW call, letters, historical narrations, 

map of Appomattox battlefield and picture of Court House, illustrations, pp. 104. 

Call IL, April, 1893, contains seven photo-gravure portraits, letters, geneological 

matters, historical and other narrations. 

Call HI , July, 1893, contains seven photo-gravure portraits and other illustrations; 

the Reunion of the Cavalry Society of the Armies of the United States, held at Bos- 

ton, Mass., June 27th and 28th, 1893, with a list of members, also letters, historical 

and personal contributions, pp. 98. 

Call IV., November, 1893, contains-Twenty-second Reunion at Portland, August 

23d, 1893; letters from comrades, historical and personal contri])utions, with illustra. 

ti(ms and full index of content-; of Campaign HI. pp. 102.

MIJJTARY INSTKbCTION IN SCHOOLS. 17iij work 

of inculcatinfj a s\nn\. of loyalty and devotion to (jur flaj; and country; therefore, he it 

A'fsolvi'd, That this Twenty-seventh Annual National I'.ncampment is of the opinion 

that the (jrand Army of the RepuMij takes a deep interest in all efforts to provide for 

the future defense of the country, and that it recommends an orjânized effort to imjiress 

u])on the various Municipal, State and National authorities the ailvisability of the adop- 

tion of a system by which scholars attending the public and private schools, as well as 

the high schools and colleges, shall receive instru.tion in military matters, and to 

impress u])on the rising generation of the country llu fact that, as American citizens, 

it is their duty to bring to the defense of their c uiilr . in its need, the educali.m which 

they may have received in this particular in their youthful days. 

/\'i'solvi'(/, That it is the recommendation ui this Natiwiial Kncanipment that the 

Department Commanders give especial attention to the accomplishment of this object 

through a staff officer, and that the Posts in ihc various cities, towns, and villages, by 

committees, public meetings, and other means, give their earnest co-o])eration and 

sup]')ort in securing necessary legislative, municipal, and school-l)oard action, as well 

as to obtain, where requiretl, national aid by provision of arms, eiiuipments, and 

instruct(jrs. 

E.x-President Harrison in furiher support of the proposed 

plan, in a communication to the Century, writes: 

".\ tnilitary drill develops the whole man, hea 1, chest, arms, 

and legs, proportionately; and so promotes symmetry, and 

corrects the excesses of other forms ol exercise. It teaches 

quickness of eye and ear, hand and foot; (lualifies men to step 

and act in unison ; teaches subordination ; 

and, 

best of all, 

qualifies a man to serve his country. The flag now generally 

floats abovx" the school house; and wiiat more appropriate than 

that the boys shoidd be instructed in the defense of it? It will 

not lower their grade-marks in their book recitations, I am sure. 

If rightly used, it will wake them iij), make them more healthy, 

develop their pride, and promote school order. * * * jf a]] \\^q 

school boys of the North had, from 1830 on, been instructed in


the schools of the soldier and of the company, and in the man- 

ual of arms, how much precious time would have been saved in 

organizing the Union arm}' in 1861. We were in a very low 

state, as a people, in a military knowledge and training when 

the great civil war broke out. * * * It will not be safe to allow 

war to come upon us again in that state, for war's pace has 

great!}' quickened, and the arms of precision now in use call for 

a trained soldier. Under our system we will never have a large 

standing army, and our strength and safety are in a general 

dissemination of military knowledge and training among the 

people. What the man and citizen ought to know in order to 

the full discharge of his duty to his country should be imparted 

to the boy. Nothing will so much aid to enlarge our State 

militia, and to give it efficiency and character, as the plan pro- 

posed. The military taste and training acquired in the school 

will carry our best young men into the militia organizations 

and make those organizations reliable conservators of pul)lic 

order, and ready and competent defenders of the national honor." 

Henry T. Bartlett, whom the readers of the BUGLE will 

remember from his contributions to its pages, writes: "Our 

post have made it their business to get as near as may be con- 

certed thought and action on this subject throughout the 

country. Some thirty cities have adopted it. Recent efforts in 

Rochester have been successful, and there is a fair jjrosjêct of 

the instruction being introduced in that city at an early day. 

It is to be hoped that the legislature of each State will advise 

it and i:)rovide for it; that the veterans and G. A. R. men will 

assist so far as they are able, and where the instruction is 

adopted, in any city or town, to have a fatherly oversight and 

co-operation with the boards of education. 

The census of 1880 gives a total of 12,682.577 pupils in the 

elementar}' and secondary public schools, and in priwite and 

parochial school i of the same class 1,30 [,623, a total of 13,984,- 

200. The number of boys are slightly in excess of fifty per 

cent, which would give 7,000000 boys attending school. Of 

this number forty per cent could be given calisthenics and

MILITARY INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS. 181 

marchin


book specially adapted for Memorial day and all patriotic occa- 

sions. This work has received the commendation of prominent 

educators and G. A. R. officials. 

Headquarters GKi\Ni) Akmy ok thk RKrnu.u:, 

• AdJI'TANT GeNKKAL'.S Ol-l'lLE, 

Lynn, Mass., Jan. i8, 1894. 

1 have carefully examined " Patriotic Selections for Memorial Day," comi)iletl by 

Miss Harriet L Matthews and Miss Eli/.al)cth E. Rule, and dedicated to the Grand 

Army of the Kepuhlic. I heartily a])iirove of the work and wish it could he placed in 

the hands of all the children in our i)ublic schools. In no way can future wars he 

averted better than by teaching our children patriotism. Impressions made upon their 

young minds by reading and recitation are lasting, and no better selections can be 

found than arc contained in this volume. JiiiiN G. 15. Adams, 

Commander in Chief. 

• 

IlKAI)(JlAKTEKS GEN. LaNDEK I'uST Xo. 5,(1 A. R. 

Lynn, Mass., Jan. 20, 1894. 

It gives me ])leasure to say a word in commendation of your work in ci)m]iiling the 

work entitled "Patriotic Selections." It was my good fortune to be present at the 

meeting of ( jeneral Lander Post 5, G A. R., at the time wh'jn they voted to recommend 

that the School Committee of Lynn adojjt the book entitled "Memorial Day 

Patriotic .Selections " as a book of selections for use in our public schools. 

The above was adopted by the Post after a thorough discussion of the merits of llie 

book. Very respectfully yours, 

A. J. IIollT, C'onniiander.

TAPS. 183 

Taps. 

All lights out. 

Dr. William A. lianks, for many years a leading physician in 

Rockland. Me., died at his home on Middle street. Aug. 19, 

1893, after a long illness. He was born in East Livermore in 

1 82 1, educated in the schools in that vicinity, and graduated at 

Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He began practice in 

Warren, and removed to Rockland in 1852, where he built up a 

large practice. When the Fourth Maine Regiment was or- 

ganized, he received the appointment of surgeon. He was soon 

appointed to a position of higher rank, and served in that ca- 

pacit)' with distinction. He had charge of a large hospital at 

Vicksburg. Miss., and afterward of another at Parkersburg, W. 

Va. He worked very hard, though himself suffering from ill- 

ness that at one time came near proving fatal. He never en- 

tirely recovered from the effects of the exposure and overwork 

during his army life. On his return to Rockland he resumed 

practice, and at once took a high rank in his profession, which 

he held up to the time when increasing ill health compelled his 

retirement, some two years ago. He was well known through- 

out the state, and was often called in consultation in the most 

difficult cases. His judgment was wonderfully accurate, and his 

long experience and thorough training as a physician gave him 

a great advantage. He was seldom mistaken in a diagnosis, 

and in prescribing he was very conservative and careful. And, 

in addition to his professional skill, he was possessed of a be- 

nevolent, kindly nature and a genial disposition that has brought 

help and hope to many a sick-room. He always made his patients 

his friends, and there are many in the community, now 

enjoying life and health, who feel that to him they owe in a

18-1 THE MAINE BUGLE. 

large degree those blessings. In liis long illness, he had the 

earnest sympathy of a host of friends, and his death called 

forth many tributes to his worth as a man and a physician. In 

addition to a very large practice, he was U. S. Marine Surgeon 

and member of the Pension Examining Board. He left a widow 

and two children— Mr. William T. Banks and Mrs. Wm. T. 

Cobb. He was a member of Edwin Eibby Post, G. A. R., and 

was buried with the honors of the order. 

JOHN B. DRAKE. 

With a suddenness which shocked the fruit and produce trade 

of Boston and cast a pall of gloom over the Exchange, came 

the news July i8, 1893, of the death of Mr. John B. Drake, of 

John B. Drake & Co., commission and wholesale dealers in 

foreign and domestic fruit and country produce, 94 South Mar- 

ket street. For some months Mr. Drake had not been in the 

best of health, but no one suspected or even thought that the 

end was so near. He had gone to Scythville, N. H., for a brief 

rest, and passed suddenly away at that place Tuesday morning. 

Mr. Drake was about fifty years old, and had been around the 

Boston markets over thirty years and in business for himself al- 

most twenty -five years. He had been in the present location of 

the firm, 94 South Market street, sixteen or eighteen years. 

Mr. Drake was a man greatly respected and widely known. 

His most striking trait of character was sterling integrity and 

absolute reliability. Nothing on earth swerved him from the 

course in anything which he believed to be right. He was a 

popular member of the Boston F'ruit and Produce exchange, 

and had served it in many capacities ; 

and was an ardent worker 

for its welfare, and his ability and sound judgment rendered 

him a valuable counsellor. He was a member of the Beneficiary 

Association of the Exchange. He was also a member of the 

Chamber of Commerce. He served in the War of the Rebellion 

as sergeant, Co. G, First Maine Cavalry, three years till the ex- 

piration of his enli.stment. See History of that regiment, pages 

218, 257, 259 and 561 for the facts of his military career.

TAPS. 185 

DR. JOHN P. SHEAHAN. 

All the comrades present at Houlton in the reunion of Sept. 

loth, 1891, will remember the robust and healthy appearance 

of Comrade Sheahan and recall his witty s[)eech on that oc- 

casion. At Rastport and Auburn his presence added enjoyment 

to our jâthering. He was a noble, whole hearted man and his 

sudden death is a personal loss to every member of the regi- 

mental association. He rendered efficient service in his company, 

K, First Maine Cavalry, till mustered out April 3d, 1 864, to accept 

a commission as First Lieutenant in the Thirty-first Maine In- 

fantry in which regiment he served till discharged with it July 

15th, 1865. 

After leaving the service he settled as a doctor in Dennysville, 

Maine, and filled many positions of trust and honor. The 

facts of his last sickness and some of the events of his life are 

so vividly presented in a letter from his eldest son, W. H. 

Sheahan, that a portion of the letter is here presented : 

"February 17th, 1S94, father started for Barbadocs ; 

his health 

had failed him so that he did not think he could live the winter 

out; he left New York the 23d; the long journey upset him, 

and knowing he could not live but a few days he started back, 

as soon as possible, returning on the same steamer which took 

him there. When he arrived in New York, he was very weak in- 

deed, and at Boston had to be lifted from the train; after alight- 

ing from the platform he took but one or two steps and fell 

forward, dead; his heart had failed him. This was in the New 

York and New England depot, Boston, Sunday evening, March 

1 8th. I was telegraphed and started for Boston immediately, 

made all necessary arrangements, and then continued my journey 

to our home in Dennysville, Maine, where our mother, who 

died a year and a half ago, was buried. I had her remains 

taken up and started back with them to Boston ; 

my 

brother 

John accompanied me to see father's body. I then took both 

bodies with me to Westminster, Md., for burial, arriving there 

Sunday, March 25th; the service took place immediately upon 

my arrival. Westminster was niother's old home, and it was


while my father was passing through that town on the march to 

Gettysburg, a few days before the battle, that he first met my 

mother. It was the wish of both to be buried in the old home." 

GEORGE \V. LEWIS. 

Comrade Lewis was a member of Co. K, Fourth Maine 

Infantry. He enlisted at the organization of that company and 

remained on duty with it, till injured and disabled at Bull Run 

battle, for which injuries he was discharged in September, 1861. 

His character is so attractively pictured by his wife that we pre- 

sent extracts from her letter of March 12th, 1894. 

"Perhaps you do not know that our home circle was broken 

Sept. 30th, 1892, by his removal from our midst to that higher 

circle beyond. He was a man who made many friends whereever 

he was fully known, but in no place were his virtues more 

prominent or more fully appreciated than in his own home, 

among the members of his immediate family, for here the great 

kindness of his heart was manifested by his ever pleasant words, 

his cheerfulness and sympathy which extended to his loved ones 

even to the last ; and 

the bitterness of our great bereavement is 

softened by the many pleasant memories of his unselfish kindness. 

WILBUR MCCOBB. 

August 22, 1893, Wilbur McCobb died at his residence, at 

San Felipe, Cal., from consumption. Deceased was a native of 

Lincolnville, Maine, son of the late Andrew and Elmira McCobb, 

and came to California in 1867. In 1879 hiC married Hattie 

Orr, by whom he had two children, a boy and girl, aged nine 

and thirteen respectively. He had been a sufferer from the 

malady that carried him off" for over si.x years, and was confined 

to his bed for the last three months. He was a member of 

Mound Lodge, I. O. O. F., also a charter member of Jesse L. 

Reno Post, G. A. R., having served two years, during the re- 

bellion in Co. B, First Maine Cavalry. His funeral took place 

under the auspices of the above orders, and was attended by a 

large concourse of friends and accjuaintances.—See Hist. p. 484.


Bugle Echoes. 

Sound the dear old bugle, hoys, 

Ring out the calls once more, 

Which thrilled our hearts and nerved our arms 

In hallowed days of yore. 


S. B. Williams, of Dayton, Ohio, writes : 

A MEMBER OK THE CAVALRY SOCIETY. 

I really do not know how I come to subscribe for the Bugle. I am not a Maine 

man, did not serve in any Maine Command. I was only a six months soldier and 

served in Co. B, 4th Independent Battalion O. V. C, however 1 find many interesting 

things in the Bugle and the fact that it is the organ of the Cavalry Society of the 

Annies of the U. vS. (of which I am a member) and publishes its annual proceedings 

is an interesting feature to me. 

Note:— ^'rhe4th Independent Battalion Ohio Vol. Cav. was transformed to the 13th 

Ohio Cav. which regiment and the First Maine Cav. marched antl fought together in 

the winter and spring of 1S65 and together resisted the final attack of Lee's Army 

April 9th, 1865. 

A KENNEBECKER. 

Major A. P. Davis, nth Me. Inf. of Pittsburg, Pa., writes: 

I have just received your February Circular regarding the Maine Bugle and hasten 

to respond. I inclose Si.oo for your publicatit)n for 1894. I was born at Gardiner, 

Kennelêc Co. I have served in the U. S. Navy (prior to the late War) as well as in 

the Army. I also commanded Co. F", Eleventh Maine and in the service was connected 

with the Third and Thirteenth Maine Infantry. I have lived here nearly twenty-five 

years and have been in the Fire Insurance business. Like many of us I am slipping 

down the decline of life. 

Note; —Major Davis was the founder of the Sons of Veterans. 

WE feel as IK WE WERE ACQUAINTED. 

Kendall Pollard, Co. K. 8th Me., of .Swampscott, Mass., writes : 

The January numl)er of the Bugle came all right, and was gladly welcomed. It iloes 

any one good to read what each comrade has to say; it creates a brotherly feeling to- 

wards each other, we feel as if we were acquainted, whether we have seen them or not, 

for it brings back many things which have been partly forgotten; we relive the past as 

though it were but yesterday, and many comrades would pass from our memory forever, 

did we not see and hear them in the Bugle. It should receive the support of all comrades, 

whether in the Cavalry or Infantry, and especially those now in other states, who


served in Maine rejjiments and look liack to the northern state with pride for her noble 

sons, given in defense of the nation. The Maine soldier, wherever living, is proud of 

the record made hy the Maine men. Keep sendinj^ the lUc.i.K and T will respond to 

its call. 

SOUNDINC TO-MCIIT Cl.IvVR AND DISTINCT. 

LuTHKR TiBBF/rrs, Co. I. 1st Me. Cav. of Limerick, Me. writes: 

I have just received the January number of the Bfci.i"., which I prize very much, for 

it is very interesting. The First Maine Cavalry is very dear to me and I feel proud to 

think that I belonged to so good a regiment. Now, General, I suppose you well re- 

meml)er our roll call in winter quarters; early in the morning every member of the 

company as his name was called would sing out, "Here!" quite often some of our 

tent mates would be absent at roll call, so some of the company knowing where the ab- 

sent one was would answer for him saying, "To the rear." Now I must answer the 

same for myself, 1 am to the rear and have been for a long while, but I am gaining on 

the column for I have been hearing the old First Maine bugle notes sounding tonight 

clear and distinct. Yes, I got so near that I have even heard your own voice calling 

on nie to hurry up. 

THK FIRST EXl'EKIKNCE OF A K,\W RFCRl IT. 

LirniKR TiHHKTis, Co. I, ist Me. Cav. of Limerick, Me., writes: 

Agreeable to promise, I will give you my experience as a new recruit, while on the 

transport from Boston to City Point. I was thinking how I could go into l)attle and 

stand up as a deliberate object to be shot at. I thought it all over and at last decided 

on a good way out of the dilemna, vi/. : to keep as near the captain of the company as 

I could, believing he would not expose himself to danger. The next day after joining 

the regiment we met the enemy and soon I found out that I was following the wrong 

man to escape the thickest of the fight. I kept near him until he got his revolver 

knocked out of his hand, letting one of his lingers go with it, yet after he lost his finger 

he sang out "Close up there on the left ! forward ! " that cool order gave me to under- 

stand that the man I was following was liound to win or die in the attempt. This was 

the last I saw of our brave captain until the next morning. The fight during the day I 

called a savage one, our regiment losing over eighty men in killed, wounded and miss- 

ing. Well, the next morning I met our wounded captain at or near the Weldon R. R. 

He came to me and asked nic how I liked ihc fun the day before. My answer was, " I 

said before I left home I wanted to see one good fight, and I had seen one and I was 

all ready to go home." Imagine my feelings when Corp. Webber, hearing our conver- 

sation, stepped u]) and said that was not a fight, only a skirmish. " Well," I said, " if 

that is what you call a skirmish it was only a skirmish that I wanted to see. I have no 

hankering to see a light." I thought it was rather rough on a raw recruit, putting him 

into such a skirmish, the next day after joining the regiment. The l)oys called the 

fight the " liull Pen." It was rightly named, for it seemed to me we were in the pen 

and the Johnnies all around us. Our brave Cajit. Chadbourne, or I should say major, 

has gone to join that grand army ai)ove. (iod bless him. I'.nclosed please find one 

dollar for the Maink Buci.f.. I will send you one dollar each ([uarter until I catch up 

with the column for I do not like to be at the rear. Cleneral, hold the fort for I am 

coming. Next month I will do what 1 can. 1 will also try to renienii)er something of


my own experience in Old Virginia. One thing I feel proud of, that is, I was never to 

the rear or straggled while I was with the regiment. 

ONLY AS AN ol.I) TROOI'I-.R CAN WAIT. 

RKt'Ki. W. PoKTiiK, Co. M, 1st Me. Cav., of Detroit, Me., writes: 

I have waited as only an old trooper can wait for the BrcLK. It came at last; not 

with the crack of carbines and the clang of steel scahhards, but with the heavier roll 

of muskets and the crash of artillery, and the old gladness comes over me as it did at 

Shep])ardstown when reinforcements came to the weary three hundred men who had 

fought Lee's rear guard and held the position that saved the day. You know very 

well what the sensation was as we looked back from the thin skirmish line, ammunition 

expended, and nothing left us but the oft ridiculed saber, and saw long bayonets like 

flashing ])lades of wheat. With feelings akin to those of old I have read and re-read 

the Maine Huci.k, and a quotation from the Old Book forces itself upon me, "Well 

done good and faithful servant, thou hast l)een faithful over a few things, I will make 

thee ruler over many things." I shall wait as patiently as T can to hear from Col. 

Henry Hoynton, who has been foremost in every fray where human rights were staked 

since the time of attempted i)order ruffian rule in Kansas. 

KOl'R liKOTIIK.KS IN THE SERVICE! 

CoRViKiN O. Stone, Co. I), ist I). C. Cav., and Co. F, ist Me. Cav. of Charle.slown, 

Mass., writes: 

.'\s I was away during October 1 did not hear the last Call of the First Maine 

BrcLE; it was mislaid, and when the Maine Bugle came this month I made inquiry 

and found it, so will hasten to furnish a little ammunition in the shape of a check for 

J?3.oo; $2.50 the bill calls for, the other fifty cents is for the 1894 Bugle. I shall 

attend the reunion at Skowhegan this fall if possible. Now as to writing for the 

Bugle. I am not much of a writer, being in the army when I should have l)een in 

school. Fnlisting at the age of sixteen in the First D. C. Cavalry, Co. I)., Capt. 

Howes, and going through the whole campaign with them until the transfer, and irom 

that time with the First Maine, until the morning of Lee's surrender, I was shot through 

the thigh. I think I was the last man wounded in the regiment. I was the youngest 

of four brothers in the army. Charles .S. served three years in the Ninth Maine. 

Jesse and Joseph, twins by the way, in the Eleventh Maine, enlisted before they were 

seventeen, and t)oth died in the service. Charles died the twenty-third day of Decem- 

ber, 1893, *^f heart disease. 

I WAS WriH HIM ON the SKIRMISH LINE. 

John E. Hart, Co. H, ist Me. Cav., uf Burnham, Me., writes: 

Please find one dollar for the Bu

190 77//S MAINE BUGLE. 

Call of January, 1893. I was with him on the skirmish line, next to him when he was 

struck in the left leg. There is only one memlêr of the old First Maine in my town. 

A number of Co. H have made themselves known through the Bi"(ji.K. Dan Foster, 

Plumer Butler and Dave Whittier. I saw James Reynolds at our reunion at Peakes^ 

Island at Portland; had not met him since the war. I used to say to him when we 

were on the march, " Jim, drop your legs and give your horse a rest." He was a long 

legged fellow and the tallest man in the company. Plumer Butler, have you forgotten 

the time that Col. Cilley sent us to take down that old house to build winter quarters, 

and what a good time we had getting the ridge pole off, and how some one put cart- 

ridges down Ohlsen's chimney, knocking his frying pan over and coffee pot upside 

down; how he run for Capt. Hall's tent and said some one had killed him? We were 

all asleep in our tents at the time the shell exploded. I ask Ohlsen's forgiveness if he 

is living. I have not met him since the war. Now all you comrades of Co. H, I want 

you to write for the Bugle. 

HOl'E THE FUTURE CALLS OK THE KUCILE WILL BE AS UOOIJ. 

George L. Dacy, Co. A, 8th Me., of 28 Ward St., So. Boston, writes : 

The first Call of the M.m.ne Bugle I have heard, and I am both pleased and sad- 

dened by the memories its echoes awaken. I was very glad to learn that so many of 

the comrades of the old Eighth Regiment have promised to contribute to the Bugle 

in the future, and I am sure their communications will be of interest, not only to the 

boys of the Eighth, but to other Maine soldiers as well, for we are all of the Pine Tree 

State. Did I wield the pen of a ready writer, I would gladly contril)ute something, 

for I was present with the regiment from August, '61, until January, '66, and remem- 

ber somewhat of its formation and sulisequent career, being of the first company, A, 

upon the grounds in front of the State House. I knew of its first attempts at soklier- 

ing; its ideas were very meagre, as Gen. Viele, commander of our first brigade, rightly 

says. But we learned a few things about discipline, drill, picket, provost and fighting, 

to say nothing about the use of the pick and spade, before the government relinquished 

its claim upon us in '66. I am glad to hear from the Eleventh Maine, for they, too, 

were along with us and shared in the fatigue and fights of the First Division, Twenty- 

fourth Corps, in the chase after Lee from Petersburg to Appomattox. Well, too, do I 

remember the P'irst Maine Heavy Artillery as they came filing in through the works in 

frt)nt of Petersburg, and the cpiestion was askeil, " Is there no end of ye?" there being 

more apjjarently in that regiment than in our whole lirigade, for those were the days 

of small regiments, which continued to grow smaller as did the First Heavy Artillery, a 

few days later, while "fighting it (Hit on that line." Was much pleased with Comrade 

Pollard's article on " Early Services of the Eighth Maine," but allow me to make one 

or two corrections. He says the Third New York was in our first brigade while it 

should have been the Third New Hampshire. The right wing of the regiment under 

command of Maj. Woodman was on Dawfuskie Island not Awfuskie as the Bu(iLE 

has it. The Mud islantl, the comrade refers to I presume was Jones Island, l)ut there 

was mud enough I can assure you, as all who had anything to do with building the 

batteries on the Savannah river can testify. Those were days of death from tiisease, 

more than lighting, but we found the lighting later. Should think a roster of the 

Eighth Regiment would l)e interesting antl take well among the l>oys, and shall want


one when published if not too expensive. Wishing you success, and hoping that future 

numbers of the Bi'ci.K may lie as good as number one. 

Ndtk.—The corrections above mentioned were duly made in the tal)lc of contents 

of January issue. 

Ai'Gi'srrs Lord, Co. A., ist Me Cav. of Williamsport, Pa., writes: 

Enclosed please find money order for live dollars, after my indei)tedness for the 

Bugle is satisfied, place the Ijalance to some Comrade of Co. A. Hope you will be able 

to blow the Bugle until the last Call comes from every man of the First Maine Cavalry 

and that you won't be compelled to beat taps with the tlrum entirely but let it come, be 

it either bugle or drum. Have been reading an account of the famous ride of the 

First Maine Cavalry in the October number of the Bl'CLK from Sulphur Sjjrings to 

little Washington and Sperryville and our return to a short distance east of Gaines' 

Cross Roals where we run into A. P. Hills Corps, and what I wish to state is, in refer- 

ance to the guide who took us over to or near Orleans. Old Mr. Gaines was the guide 

who took us over that distance on a horse with only a halter on and no saddle, and 

that horse was led if my memory serves me right, and I was detailed to shoot the 

guide if he took us into ambush; after passing through the woods Mr. Gaines refused 

to go any further as he did not know what was beyond Orleans, and the column 

halted until Col. Smith came up and Col. Smith and Mr. Câines had a short conversa- 

tion and Col. Smith gave Mr. Gaines some money and the horse he rode on, also provided 

him with a saddle, a dismounted man had. The country from Orleans to War- 

rington and vicinity was as well known to most of the men in the regiment as any citi- 

zen, but the heatl of the regiment did start out on Amisville Road, l)Ut this was corrected 

before the regiment had gone far, and Co. A again took the lead, almost to Warrington. 

Most officers and men except Col. Smith thought the camp forces at Warrington 

were our own men, but when Col. Smith called for volunteers and several answered 

that call, Capl. Thaxtor found out, C'ol. Smith was right in his ideas. The stone wall 

was torn down and the column passed into the field by fours and marched around Warrington; 

in making the detour we got in to a swamp; up to this time, Mr. (Jaines was 

the only guide I saw at the head of the regiment. A colored guide led us around the 

swamp and took the regiment to the Fairfax road. Colonel Smith says when he met 

Gen. Warren that we had rested twenty-four hours, if this was correct I slept the short- 

est twenty-four hours that ever passed in my life. I have written this in a hurry and 

hope it will i)ring out replies from the ofiicers and men, giving their recollections of this 

ride. 

Cyrus C. Cask, 8th Me. Inf. of Los Angeles, Cal., writes:— 

And may the Buta.K's martial strains thrill our hearts as they |thrilled in the olden 

days, as long as any of us are left to hear. N\)t a ni)te or cadence of the First C"all (for 

'94) has escaped me. Glad to note that so many of the old Kighth respond. Capt. 

Drake of Co. I (earlier Sergeant of Co. D) lives in the neighboring city of Pasadena. 

Others of the Eighth are on this coast; and very many Maine veterans are living in the 

glorious climate of California. Several are like me members of Stanton Post of this 

city; and I am quite intimate with two or three old Vets of the First Maine Cavalry and 

First Maine Heavy .\rtillery. Many times I have taken occasion to speak proudly of 

the records of those regiments. If I ever get time I want to give a little Toot through 

the Biiu.E.


NoTK:—Comrade Case wishes to know if Ceo. Mitchell of Haverhill, Mass., who was 

Adjutant Ki_i;hth Maine last of 1S64 is living. 

A (iKANI) MOVK. 

Henry E. Morrii.l, of Gardiner, Me. writes: 

I am very much pleased with the ol)ject of the Buglk. It will l)c a grand move to 

awaken that dt)rmant spirit in this little corner of our Union. It will remind us of the 

encroachments that are now being manufactured to destroy the beneficent intent of the 

pension legislation and to injure the best government on the face of the globe. We 

have done them up brown here. 

THE HIsroKY 

()!• THE TIIIRI) MAINE HAS liEEN NECEECTED. 

C. T. Watson, Third Maine Infantry of Atlanta, Ga. writes: 

Having been in Georgia ever since the close of the war with only an occasional visit 

to Maine, I have not kept very well posted as to the histories and meetings of our old 

Maine soldiers and expect to derive consideral)le information from your pulilication. 

The history of my old regiment, the Third Infantry, has been very much neglected, al- 

though it made a magnificent record during the war, and I trust you will be able to find 

some one of the survivors, who can write up its record for your pulilication. 

ONLY GUARD Dl'TY. 

John Haselton, Co. A, 25th Me., of Naples, Me., writes: 

I was one of the nine months men and you know they did not go into battle but 

were on guard duty all the time. We first went to Capitol Hill ami did guard duty 

there, then to Arlington Heights, and then to Chantilla and remained until our time 

was out; perhaps some of the comrades could tell something more than I can. 

IHE Cul.OKS (IK IliK lOth AT ( EKAK MollNTAIN. 

George S. Aykes, Co. A, loth Me., of .Saco, writes: 

The Maine Hugi.e fell into my hands this morning and I have looketl it over and find 

no word from the Tenth Maine Infantry. I was in that regiment from October 4th 

1861 and in active duty every day until August 9th, 1862, when I was wounded holding 

up the colors in full view of the Rel)S at Cedar Mountain, Virginia, where I thought at 

the time it was pretty hot. We had marched from Cul|)epper in the afternoon before, 

and many of our comrades had not arrived from their fainting and falling out, i)ut 

what there was of us commenced duty in the early morning, supporting, I think it was 

the Sixth Maine Battery or Fourth United .States, which was out to the left hand side of 

the road leading tc»vards the mountain; later we were relieved and marched back to- 

wards Culpejiper some half to three-fourths of a mile and thence across the road and 

out to the right hand side of same, ime-fourtli of a mile, and up close to some woods, 

which covered us from the minnies. We staid there and I believe our regiment must 

have i)een forgotten as we laid there until I got asleep once or twice, iiut some how the 

"one l)ig gun " on the mountain got our location'and sent a terror direct for us cutting 

off several trees near us and going over our lieads, killed both a cavalry-man and his 

horse, this I recollect and always shall as it was the first time I ever knew a cavalry-man 

to get hurt. Well, this started up the officers and they were anxious for a change, and


soon they had orders to make a chani^c, by charging through the woods out into the 

wheat field or as it may he called the slaughter pen. In going through the woods I was 

acting color sergeant, as soon as we struck the open field, Sergeant Reulien Alexander 

was down and I took his place as color liearer and carried them to the front until halted 

l)y command of Col. Heal; as we were ordered to the rear or rather right about and 

soon another rightabout, and then firing l)y our lioys commenced, many had fallen l)e- 

fore the first shot was fired l)y our l)oys, and many fell very soon so we could not have 

done very great execution, the bullets or minnies came from the left and frcmt, as well 

as from the right, and l)eing under the colors, at which il seemed to me all the relu'ls in the 

whole south were firing. I got one in the right arm then laid down and held up the 

colors until I got a worse one in my left shoulder, which completed me and I was taken 

to the prol)ing gang where the doctors tried to find the bullet, which made a hole to go 

in but none to go out; this they failed to find, but later I felt and located the bullet 

which was near my spine between ril) joints seven and a half inches from where it 

made the hole to get in, so a new hole was cut and a round one ounce ball taken out 

so it was not a minnie that hit me, and many of my comrades, who were hit, can be as- 

sured that round l)alls and buck shot were used as late as August 9th, 1862. 

TIIK KCIIi) OK MY NATIVK STATK. 

Ai.oN/.i) R. Stuart, Co. I, nth Me. Inf., of Areata, ("al., writes: 

I hope the BiT(;i,E will blow so hard it will wake the old veterans of the Eleventh 

Maine from California's golden shores to the pine clad hills of Maine. Yes, old com- 

rades, lei us rally to its support as we did in 1 861 and '62 and followed its calls to '65. 

15y so doing we will mingle in camp and battles as of yore, in mind if not in reality. 

I like to read the Huci.k for it is the echo of my native State, but oh how eagerly I 

look for and read the items from the Eleventh. I have taken the National Tribune 

for twelve years l)Ut see very little from my little regiment. Yes, I say old Eleventh, 

rally to the Buci.K's call so we can have the pleasure of talking to each other through 

its notes. I took pleasure in reading Capt. Daggett's and Sergt. Holmes' articles, for 

I was with l)oth of them in both places and recalled them well. I51ow your liiKii.K 

again Comrades Daggett and Holmes. 

DISAl'l'OINT.MKNT AI.I. ROUND. 

Major Hknry C. Ham., ist Me. Cav. of Chelsea, Mass., writes: 

I see Ijy the Boston papers that the First Maine Cavalry Association of Massaclni- 

setts, held its annual reunion on Tuesday evening of this week. I received no notice 

of the meeting and was therefore absent. I desired very much to l)e present this year 

and am consequently disappointed in not seeing you as 1 had anticipated. I moved 

from Woburn here last week. 1 am engaged in the construction of an elevated high- 

way and a vamp at Mystic wharf in Charlestown and shall probably be here during 

the balance of the year. 

ai.dkkman ikom ward o.ne. 

Charles l'\ Dam, Co. F, First Maine C"avalry has been elected alderman of Portland, 

lie has had previous experience in this office and is well ijualified, except in liodily 

configuration, for this position of responsibility in his city.


ALWAYS GL/VD TO HEAR FROM THK MEN OK MAINE. 

William H. Findal, Co. D, Eleventh Maine of Clyde River, Shelburn Co., N. S. 

writes : 

] can assure you that the BroLE receives an attentive perusal on its quarterly calls 

at my home. As I am always glad to hear from the Ijrave men of Maine especially 

those ot the Eleventh Maine Regiment with whom I regret to say my association was 

so short, though not through any fault of mine, I shall ever cherish the memory of my 

short association with those dear comrades I loved so well. 

MelvinTibbetts, Co. H, Fifteenth Maine of Seal Harbor, Maine, writes: 

I received a line from you a few days ago asking for a few words in regard to 

sketches from my army life. I was out long enough and saw enough, but to recall incidents 

of interest to outsiders perhaps will be useless, but will say, I was the first man 

who enlisted in Exeter, Maine. I was seventeen years old, enlisted the seventh of 

November, i86i,in the Fifteenth Maine Volunteers, Co. H, Colonel Dyer. Shipped on 

the ship Great Republic to Ship Island, Miss., then engaged in the capture of Fort 

Jackson and Philips and New Orleans, then went to Pensacola, Fla., where I volun- 

teered on very many skirmishes up the Black River at Milton, Bagdad, Oakfield and 

other points. Then went to New Orleans and to Texas, landed at the Island Brazos 

Santago, at the mouth of the Rio Grande and captured the line of islands—Mustang 

with Fort Lemo, then St. Josephs Island, Matagorda, where we stayed— Fort Esper- 

anza—then to De Crow's Point, then to New Orleans and fitted for the Red River cam- 

paign; took an active part in that campaign. Was in the battles of Mansfield, Sabine 

Cross Roads, Pleasant Hill where I got hit, then was in the battle of Cane River 

Crossing, Wansura Plains and the crossing of the Atchafalaya River near the mouth of 

Red River. Went into camp at Morganzia Bend and soon ordered to the Shenan- 

doah Valley where I was thrown in a hospital at Harper's F"erry, while our regiment 

went on to Frederick tJity, Md., where they got a veteran furlough to Maine, unknown 

to us. A comrade of my own company who was left in hospital at the same time and 

finding it full we were shown quarters under an oak tree, so we made our downy hos- 

pital bed on a rubber l)lankel on the wet ground; we both lay our aching bones down, 

and shook it out till early morning, when I proposed to forge a pass and I signed it 

Joseph Hooker, commander-in-chief. We packed our knapsacks and I discovered 

someone had stolen my gun from under my head in the night; however our pass proved 

good till the provost guard of the general stopped us, but we offered to step in and see 

the general, when they passed us on across the river to Pleasant Valley where we 

found the picket asleep liy the fence, I without any ceremony marched up and took a 

gun that was leaning against the fence not six feet from the sleeper. It resembled 

mine in as much as it was made in the same manufactory and of course I took it to be 

the same one I lost, so on we went to the outer picket where we soon passed and were 

out (jf sight of them in to rebeldom. We took the woods for it, but were soon discovered 

by Moseby's men where we for hours played hide and seek with them in a deep ravine, 

but by being " yankees," we outwitted them at last and as darkness overtook us we 

saved them the troulile of taking us to Richmond. We gained courage as the dark- 

ness liecame more dense and ventured up to the road where we made several miles to- 

wards Frederick City; when daylight came we took to the woods again for rest l)ut not


for food fur \vc had not had a morsel since we stopped at the hospital at Harper's 

Ferry, so ! told my chum to hold the fort, I was going after some grub. I went to 

two houses or in sight of them but as they did not look very inviting I went on till I 

come to a small hjust* ijack from the road where, after a close examination, 1 ventured 

in and found a Union woman, who gave me a loaf of bread and a jiiece of meat. I 

stole l)ack to my comi)anion in the woods, and no two ever enjoyed a meal more. We 

spent the day in the woods and the next night brought up at daylight on one of our 

out-posts at Frederick. We were arrested and put in the soldiers' rest and informed 

our regiment had gone to Maine on a furlough. We were kept a week then sent to 

the front in the valley, just in time to take in Sheridan's ride, and I will not tell about 

its horrors. We got its full effects. When Sheridan rode his twenty miles from Win- 

chester I was in the gang of retreating men. That fall and winter I was so used up as 

tj be obliged to be sent home to save my life, and received my discharge January 

30th, 1865. 

LiTHKK TiHiiKns, Co. I, First Maine Cavalry, of Limerick, Maine, writes: 

Sorry I could not send you the whole bill, but never mind I will be there as soon as 

possible, for I have received the money's worth. Some lime I will tell you my ex- 

perience at Dinwiddle, the proudest day of my life. I hope anrl trust when I receive 

the next IJuci.K I shall hear the oil First M.iine l)low "Boots and Sa


wouri'ied. After moving sufficient distance to the left they fell hack to the edge of the 

woods. Then as the rel)S were closing in towards us, we fell hack quite a distance 

through the woods, until we found the rest of the hrigade. The hrigade commander, 

as well as the division commander, was surprised to learn that we had heen so far in 

advance, as the rest of the troops had fallen i)ack as soon as they received the lire of 

the hattery. While we were lying in the advanced position the writer got where he 

coulil see, in a ravine between the regiment am! tlij l)attery, a line of rel)el infantry 

lying at rest. This was probably part of Gen. (iordon's command. The hrigade ad- 

vanced, after having re-formed, to the edge of the woods moving "left obli


(luring my stay at Petersburg and vicinity, and am writing an account of my trip (or the 

Bt'(;i,i;. I could till one Hi'ci.K with interesting matter and then not half try. While 

at Petersburg I was invited i)y the commander of A. P. Hill Camp of C"onfederate 

Veterans to visit them at a meeting of the (ami), vvhi^h I did, and received one of the 

greatest surprises of my life, receiving a general recejition and introduction to all 

the members present (forty-eight) , 

and then a general introduction to the C'amp, with 

a request to talk to the Camp. As a speech was out of the question so far as oratorical 

display was concerned, it took me quite aback, but I managed a half hour talk, which 

seems to have been favorably received, according to the Petersburg Press. Nothing 

could have been more cordial than my reception everywhere in Virginia, Petersburg, 

Dinwiddle Court House, Heams Station, Richmond, and Fredericksburg. Mrs Coburn 

accompanied me and was also 'delighted with her entertainment by the ladies of 

Virginia. 

THEY sril.L LIVE. 

There were jiresent at llu- State Encampment C. A. K. held at liangor last I'ei)- 

ruary, llfty-one members of the First Maine Cavalry as delegates and attendants. 

MAXIMS KOK TK.VININC. HORSES. 

J. Y. Mason P.lunt, Lieutenant Fifth United States Cavalry, has written an admirable 

work on training remount horses for military jiurposes Published by I). Ajipleton & 

Co., 1894. Price 50 cents. 

ADDRE-SS flN I'HII.. SHERIDAN. 

Lieutenant F. P. rol)ie has delivered an address bef 're a large auilience in Paw- 

tucket containing personal reminiscences, under that great cavalry commander, from the 

Wilderness till I>ee's surrender. 

I.IKVTENANr JA.MKS MC(U IKI-. 

Lieutenant James McCiuire, Co. V, F'irst Distritt < olumbia Cavalry and Co II, First^ 

Maine Cavalry, who was wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 1864, and a short time later 

taken prisoner while on the Wilson's Raid, it has just been learned, died in Texas 

some twenty years ago and left a w idow and one daughter, who are now living at 506 

W. 13th street, Austin, Texas 

THE PLACE OF THE NKXT ENCAMl'Mi.NT. 

Minnesiti un I.t thj 1 .'a 1 of fohnD. Stii 1 ) -pir!;.!! mt " ) n nin I ;r an 1 a ^Lîne 

man, marshalls her forces in favor of St. Paul. Major C. T. W atson of .Atlanta, Ca. 

Department Commander of the C. \. R in Georgia, also a N'aine man, is backed by 

all the Posts of his state in his efforts to have the Encampment held at Atlanta. The 

lîH.LE awaits information from Maine men, who are commanders in the departments 

of other states, concerning their efforts to secure the Encampment; for it is certain 

that th > movement to locate the Encampment, headed by some Maine soldier, must 

su::eL' 1. Mains, while in love with grand old dcvirgia, has so many blood relatives in 

Minnesota, that she wants to visit them at St. Paul.

198 'J'J/E MAINE BUGLE. 

THOMAS SOMKKS. 

'rhonias Sumers of Co. I, First District Cuhimbia Cavalry ami Co. C, I'irst Maine 

Cavalry, who was wounded on picket in January, 1864, in his left arm, and has been a 

stranger to his comrades during all the years since his discharge in the summer of 

1865, is now living in Lockhart, Texas. It is wonderful how the calls of the BU(;i,E 

wake echoes from the distant states of our Union. Numerous comrades have written 

that it was worth many times its cost in searching out forgotten comrades, and rein- 

stating them in memory and fellowship. 

THE DELAY OK THE Al'KIl, ISSIE. 

The juinters of tlie Broi.E have had too much ])ros))erity. To their regular work of 

printing two weekly newspapers of their own and several for the towns near by, in ad- 

dition to the Biroi.E, they have added the publijation of a daily j)aper. As the daily 

paper was named the Sun, it is obliged to rise every morning at six o'clock, conse- 

quently the progress on the Bl'ui.e was knocked into a pie—not a nice New Kngland 

pie, but a suttler's pie — expensive, and a most unpleasant disappointment. We are 

obliged to carry over to the July issue a small regiment of echoes and articles \\hich 

were offered for the April C all. We name a few of these contributors : — 

John V. Perry, Lieut. Co. G, Twenty-eighth Maine, Minneapolis, Minn; Matthew S. 

Berry, Eleventh Maine, Brownville, Maine; Gen. Egbert L. Viele, New York City; 

Pearl G. Ingalls, Co. B, Eighth Maine, Kazorville, Maine; Maj. II. W. C lark. One 

Hundred Eighty-fifth New York Infantry, and others. Who was he? An unknown 

Cavalryman. The last S(jldicr killed at Api)omattox. William Gardner, Sec. 1-irst 

Rhode Island Cavalry Association. An important correction; Lieut. Horatio S. I.ibby, 

Co. C, First Maine Cavalry, Melrose, Mass ; Albert H. Harris, Co. L, kirst Maine Cav- 

alry, So. Merrimac, N. H.; Major Henry C. Hall, Co L, First Maine Cavalry, Chelsea, 

Mass.; Dr. Freeman H. t hase, Co. F, Twelfth Maine, Bangor, Maine; John D. Smith, 

Co. F, Nineteenth Maine Department, Com. G. A. R., Minneapolis; Henry Y.. 

Sellers, First Maine Heavy Artillery, Bangor, Maine; S. F. Harris, Co. M, First Maine 

Cavalry, Medford, Mass ; G. E. Dillingham, Co. C. Seventeenth Maine Infantry and 

First Maine Heavy Artillery, Hesjier, Iowa; J. B. Parsons, First Maine Heavy Ar- 

tillery, Dwight, 111.; C. P. Stevens, Co E. Fifth Maine Infantry, Beloit, Kansas; < apt. 

Monroe Daggett, First Maine 

t avalry, and Eleventh Maine Infantry, St !\1a:i.s, Idaho; 

Reuel Thomas, Twentieth Maine infantry, Cambridge, Mass. ; Wellington C. Fr>_,st, First 

Maine Battery, Light Artillery, Perry, Maine; Lieut. George M. Bragg, Co F, Fourth 

Maine Infantry who was killed at (jettysburg, letters written in the field giving the en- 

vironments and atmosphere of a soldier as seen by him at the time. The necrology 

as given by C haplain Southard of the Maine Department G. A. R. for i893-'94 with 

many additions has also been crowded out, also a pleasant menn)rial ]H.em to the 

memory of Comrade George W. Lewis.

N 

Lawyers' Loyal Legion. 

A\ ASSOCIATION FOR THE COLLECTION OF DEBTS AND INTER- 

CHANGE OF LE(;aI. liCSINESS. 

For terms of atlmission, fees and charj,'cs, address 

Rockland, Maine. 

Cam]. bell, F I 

(ireeley, J H 

Clinton, Kennebec Martin, Forest ,1 

Coriniia, Penobscot "Wood, W I 

Corinth, East, Penobscot Haynes, Henry P 

Cornish, York I'erkins, Walter P 

Daniariscotta, Lincoln Hilton, Wm H 

Panforth, Washington Ilewes, B W 

Deer Isle, Hancock SpofTord, i;hner P 

Denmark, Oxford Davis, S G 

Dexter, PenobMcot Crosbv & Crosby 

Dixlield, Oxford Trask, J R 

Dover, Piscatacjuis Peaks, Jos B 

East Livermore, Androscoggin 

Whittemore, H C 

Eastport, Washington Mclîrren, 1 G 

Eden, Hancock Peters. John A, Jr 

Eddington, Penobscot Merrill, A J 

Ellsworth, Hancock Burnham, J A 

t ilky iV MacAliistcr, Managers, 

Farmington, Franklin Belcher, S (f 

Fairtiehi, Somer.-et Weeks, George G 

Falmoiiiii. West, Cumberland 

Clillord, C E 

tariningdale, Kennebec Stilli.hen, A C 

rorc Fairfield, Aroostook 

Power-, Herbert T 

tort Kent, Aroostook Keegan F W 

F'oxcrott, Piscata

Monmoutli, North, Kenin?l)e(; .IftVrcy. Jesse 

Montville, Waldo Uardet:, Jonathan 

Monson, IMsfataijiU:*, Si»raîie, J F 

Newiiort, reuoliscot Walker, Elliott 

New Vineyanl, Franklin Luce, K R 

Norridî'wock, Somerset 

Harrinjrron. Charles A 

North Herwiok, York Hohhs, Nathaniel 

Norway, Oxford Hoi , Charles E 

Oakland, KL-nnebec Field, George W 

Oldtown, I'enohscot Cushnian, 

(' A 

Orono, t'enolxiôt Dnnn, CJ 

Oxford, Oxford Hazen, George 

Paris, Oxford Wright, Jame; S 

Parknian, l'isoatatield. Somerset llovey, Frank W 

Poland, Androscoggin Dunn, Daviil 

Porter, Ke7:ar Falls, Oxford Fox \- Davis 

Portland, Cumberland Libby ,S: Hill 

Portland, Cumberlaml Seiders i^- Chase 

Presque Isle, Aroostook Madigan, E 

Readfield, Kennebec Hcan \- Hean 

Richmond, Sa'âdahoc Hall. William T 

Roeklan I. Ivnox Cillcv v-V MauMlister 

Uarrect, G H .M 

Rockpor , Knox 

Rumfor 1, Oxford Swasey iV Swasey 

Scarborough, West, Cumberlan 1 

Houlton, Augu^tu- F 

Saco, York Hurbank. H H 

Sanford, Yor'^ Hanson,

Maiok (",i;m:kai, ()i,i\i;k O. Howard


Entered at the Pout Office, (tockland. Me., an Second- C'tasa Matter. 

Campaign I. July, 1894. Call ^ 



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Wrril GENERAL SHEA'JDAN. 201 

With Sheridan in Lee's Last Campaign. 

1;Y CUI.. I'KED C. NKWIIAI.L. 

Ihc last campaiLjn against Lcc may be said to have been 

inaugurated when General Sheridan started with his cavalry 

from Winchester, Virginia, on the 27th of February, 1865, with 

a sort of carte blanche of destruction as to the enemy's supply 

dei)ots and communications. The general's instructions looked 

to his crossing the James River above Richmond, and his pos- 

sible junction with the command of General Sherman some- 

where in North Carolina; but the swollen condition of the 

James and the destruction of the bridges prevented his crossing, 

and thus were thrown in his way opportunities for distinction 

which could scarcely have been waiting for him on the other 

side of Lee's army. It is not worth while though to speculate 

as to whether the last campaign of the Army of the Potomac 

would have proved so shar[), short, and decisive without the 

cavahy in advance and General Sheridan for a pioneer, and so 

it is useless to imagine in what way he and his cavalry could 

have won glory with Sherman. The events as we find them are 

so satisfactory that it is needless to resort to the solace of dis- 

satisfaction—speculations as to what might have been. 

General Sheridan's command on this expedition consisted of 

the first cavalry division, under Brevet Major-General Wesley 

Merritt, aiul the third cavalry division, under Brevet Major- 

General George A. Custer, to whose division was added one 

brigade of the cavalry of the old army of West Virginia, under 

Colonel Capehart. The story of their successful raid is not 

imjiortant here, except to follow their trail and see where they 

join the Army of the Potomac. They left Winchester on a 

damp, disagreeable morning, all the roads but the turnpike 

being almost impassable ; 

the huge blocks with which patrician 

wisdom had paved the old Virginia town were glib as glass, and


one of the staff got a very bad fall with his horse, his own leg 

being broken and badly crushed against the enormous paving 

stones in iront of the headquarters. This drizzly promise of 

the morning was fulfilled, and rain fell heavily with the evening, 

drenching the command, swelling the streams, deepening the 

roads, etc., according to the manner of rains in Virginia. But 

the spirits of the bold dragoons were not dampened, and they 

felt lively enough to push on to Waynesborough to the camp 

of General Jubal Early, late of the Confederacy, upon whom 

the brilliant Custer fell with his division, and soon had his guns, 

and men, and materiel, and would have had him but that he 

had sufficient presence of mind to absent his person when he 

found how things were going. This was Early's last appearance 

in public life, and it seems that he did not cease to fly until he 

had crossed the ocean on wings of panic, and now takes heart 

of distance and tries to prove that he fought the campaign of 

the Shenandoah Valley, from first to last, with a few thousand 

less men than got into the hands of our provost marshal during 

some slight casualties that befell General Early in those days. 

Early's command at Waynesborough being now dispersed or 

captured, and the prisoners having been sent off to Winchester 

in charge of a trusty officer (Colonel Thompson of the First 

New Hampshire Cavalry) and a guard of some five hundred 

men, General Sheridan proceeded to occupy Charlottesville. 

The mayor brought out the keys and politely offered him the 

freedom of the city, which was accepted, and then a halt was 

called to await the transportation, for the rains had continued 

and the floods had come, but the wagons had not. Then on 

again toward Lynchburg and the James River; rapid detours 

being made in every direction by small parties striking at sup- 

plies and communications, and returning to the main column 

again in a boomerang sort of a way that was as confusing to 

the inhabitants and to the enemy as it was destructive of prop- 

erty. When it was found impossible to cross the James River, 

attention was for a while directed to the demolition of the James 

River and the Kanawha Canal, which Washington is said to

WITH GENERAL SHERIDAN. 203 

have projected for the benefit of his native State. Here State 

interest had to give way for the common cause of the Union, 

and a modern patriot had to undo the work which the patriot 

of the olden time had pro[)Osed, because the State which the 

latter would have benefited had failed to follow some other 

good advice of his, more important to its prosperity than the 

James River Canal. In a patriotic way, then, this line of supply 

was completely interrupted, and its bed was so upturned that it 

hardly yet can lie there as of old. The River James, swollen 

with the high tide of rebellion and hurrying i)roudIy down to 

its capital, was turned aside in mid-career and made an unwill- 

ing agent in destroying its innocent offspring, and then escaping 

as quickly as possible from this compulsory infanticide it dashed 

over the canal's red banks again, bearing on its bosom the stains 

which told the inhabitants of Richmond of the dark deeds 

enacting about them, and giving them warning of coming events. 

When the ingenious destruction corps could devise no further 

damage here, the command turned off to try its hand upon a 

railroad or two. All the time the rains had descended—the 

flood-gates of the clouds were up and the water kept pouring 

through ; 

the roads became dreadful, horses sank almost to their 

bellies, and wagon-wheels revolved upon the hubs. Although 

nothing short of a flotilla seemed likely to ride out the storm, 

the cavalry rode on hopefully, and came safely to harbor at the 

White House, on the Pamunkey, where supplies were furnished 

them, and where the March winds blew them dry again. But 

so much mud had been bad for the [horses, and more than 

three thousand had fallen by the roadside, or, barely reaching 

camp, had to be turned over to the fostering care of the 

quartermaster's department, on account of that dreadful scald- 

ing which swells their legs as the elephantiasis sometimes does 

the limbs of human beings. 

Immediately upon his arrival at this depot. General Sheridan 

reported to General Grant, at City Point, for orders. The 

lieutenant-general must have been pleased to receive this dis- 

patch from his enterprising coadjutor, for had General Sheridan


turned back from the impassable James and retraced his steps 

to Winchester, he could not have been blamed, and indeed it 

would probably have occurred to nobody to blame him, as 

nothing was then foreseen of what was to happen a little later. 

Mis meandering march, terminating at the White House, was 

the child of his own fertile imagination, not the offspring per- 

haps of a very clear idea in regard to what precisely would 

result from this " friendly move," but certainly the birth of a 

keen appreciation of the military status and a praiseworthy 

desire to place his command where it would be most available 

for the purposes for which he commanded it. Hy choosing this 

course he voluntarily forsook his large department of the Mitl- 

dle Military Division and put himself in the field at the head of 

two cavalry divisions, headquarters in the saddle, and, applying 

for a new situation, made no stipulations for himself, and no 

objection to going into the country. It was quite patriotic, to 

say the least of it, this eagerness to crush the unholy rebellion. 

When the cavalry had rested and refitted, and was ready to 

move, General Sheridan, leaving General Merritt to conduct the 

column from the White House to the James River, rode across 

the Peninsula and visited General Grant at City Point, where 

also he found President Lincoln, who had gone to be near the 

army in the last great effort for which all were preparing, and 

for an op[)ortunity of " communing with his captains of the 

war." The President was established on the bcautifid little 

steamer " Mary Martin," which had been tender (and no won- 

der) to a delightful party under charge of General Meade, 

whose pleasant visit had been cut short by a rude attack upon 

our lines. On the morning that the cavalry reached the James, 

Mr. Lincoln sailed up the river, in company with General Sher- 

idan and the lieutenant-general, to see our ccininiantl cross at 

the bridge below the Dutch Ga[) Canal. Looking from the 

window of the steamer's cabin, the President appeared like a 

man whose heart was sick with hope deferred, and full of anxiety 

for the coming campaign. Iwerybody felt afraid that Lee 

would steal awa}', for ever)- hour must ha\'e been full of ajjprc-

WFTH GENERAf. SHERIDAN. 205 

hcnsioii for his line of retreat, while every moment he must 

have dreaded an overwhehiiint^ attack ujx)!! his front. Uehind 

him Sherman, whom nothing could stop, was closing in ; in 

front, Sheridan had been able to roam over Virîînia and join 

the armies on the James, and nothing could be spared to hinder 

him; but, hopinc^ aL,âinst liope, like sleepy (lies Lee's army saw 

the encircling web, and still stayed on to be entrapped. Seeing 

the troubles besetting Lee, all were alarmed lest he shoidd 

pocket his [:)ride, abandon the capital, postpone his evil da)-, 

and perhaps achieve some tem[)orary advantage by rapidly 

joining Johnston in North Carolina, with whom his communica- 

tions were still intact. 

It was tlie liope of the army, as well as of the President, that 

Lee's evil day should not be thus post[)oned, but that then and 

there, in Virginia, where the struggle had been begun and been 

most fiercely maintained, it should be terminated, so far as the 

Army of the Potomac and her allies on the James were con- 

cerned. The troops demanded this in the name of poetical 

justice, and all patriots desired it with intense craving. So long 

as Lee could be kept at Petersburg by stratagem or force, or 

by his own fool-hardiness, so long the people and the army 

could hope for a decisive and brilliant campaign, and hope 

would keep alive the enthusiasm which the chances of success 

inspired ; but if he should decamp, enthusiasm would give place 

to lassitude; again the desponding would see lions in the path ; 

Lee would find hosts of believers in the bragging assertion that 

if Richmond were captured he could wage war in the moun- 

tains for twenty years; and it would seem so much like the old, 

old story, that the stoutest would despair in contemplating the 

campaign that would ensue,—transports required to ship troops 

here, railroads to be repaired to supply them there, long 

marches, long halts, bad climate, bad roads, hard fighting, and 

hard luck ; then more men and more money. On the other 

hand, there reall\' seemed a j-)ros[)ect that Lee would be 

" bagged " for positively the last time, if he should remain until 

we could get read}' to move against him. Victory was almost 

within our grasp, and " victory's daughter "— Peace.


" Longing for her, our spirits wilt 

Like shipwrecked men's, on rafts, for water. "" 

And so we almost trembled as the rumbling of the hoofs and 

the clanging of the sabers on the bridge were echoed by the 

up-river hills, for we feared the reverberation might reach the 

ears of Lee and wake him from his trance, and start him up 

crying for his horse. He slept well through it all though, and 

we camped that night on the wind}- south bank of the James. 

Next morning, March 27th, we were off bright and early for 

the left flank of the Army of the Potomac, where we found our 

old friends of Gregg's cavalry division from whom we had 

parted when ordered to the Shenandoah Valley with the other 

two divisions of the corps ; 

but we missed the golden beard of 

the imperturbable General Gregg, who had so admirably commanded 

this superb division, and who, for some pressing private 

reasons, had now resigned from the army. On the day of our 

arrival. General Crook assumed command of the division, and 

reported to General Sheridan, thus reuniting the old cavalry 

corps under its most famous commander. 

Before starting again on the war-path, it may not be amiss to 

say a few words in regard to the cavalry as it stood at this time 

in the estimation of the army and of the country, and of the 

steps by which it was brought into favor, if only as a poor trib- 

ute to the memory of a gallant few, who, ardently seeking to 

distinguish their arm of the service, lost their lives before it had 

gained its best rei)ute. 

It was quite the thing early in the war to sneer at mounted 

troops. A distinguished major-general is said to have asked, 

after an engagement, if anybody had seen a dead cavalryman 

and very likely nobody had, for in those primitive days the 

major-generals themselves had not the least idea of how to go 

to work to get cavalry killed, and when an}' did fall they fell 

through a laudable desire to do something for the country and 

for their own reputation, and not because the\' had been ordered 

to do anything hazardous. For a long while the)' had no united 

organization ; 

on 

the Peninsula, under McClellan, nobody in


particular commanded the cavalry: General Stoncman had 

some, General P. St. George Cook had considerable, General 

Averell had a little, and the corps commanders had each a sup- 

ply ; and thus it happened that we were all confused and help- 

less when- General Stuart made his raid with the muscular 

Prussian who wrote for Blackwood's Magaciue, and a few other 

troops taken for the [)urpose of admiring the Prussian's prowess ; 

we presented the lamentable spectacle in our command of graz- 

ing our horses in the finest clover, in an open country, in broad 

daylight, while Stuart rode by within a mile or two, the Prussian 

brandishing his thirsty blade, to which, by all accounts, Kxcal- 

ibur was a poor affair. After they had put many miles between 

us, one brigade went tumbling after them as far as Tunstall's 

Station, and thence one regiment was sent in pursuit, with 

orders to inflict such damage upon the enemy, when overtaken, 

as should warn him against attempting a second time to circum- 

vent the Army of the Potomac. If this lone regiment had 

overtaken the raiders, it is horrible to dwell upon the certain 

results; and it is some compensation for our disgraceful per- 

formances as a body, that, as individuals, we escaped from the 

Prussian, for he would have broken us in pieces as his ancestors 

the Kaisers broke horseshoes with their fists, as witness the 

shattered fragments in the Green Vaults at Dresden ; 

but 

we 

escaped that fate, and went slowly back to camp, and still 

struggled on in the unequal conflict. 

In the great engagements of the seven days the cavalrx' did 

nothing of signal service. One regiment charged gallantly at 

the battle of Gaines's Mills, only to be scattered and liroken 

against the solid lines of the enemy's infantry, who no more 

regarded this feeble onset than the rocks give way before the 

washing of the surf; General Stoneman, with a portion of the 

cavalry, was cut off from the main body of the arm}', and was 

ordered by I^'itz John Porter, from Gaines's Mills, to make his 

waj' to Yorktown, and thence rejoin the army as circumstances 

should permit. And this movement incidentally was of service 

in leading astray the enemy under Jackson, whose infantry


followed Stoncman's column as far as the hills overlooking the 

White House, whence they retraced their steps to pursue 

McClcllan across the Chickahoiiiiny ; but the credit to the 

cavalry would have been greater if this result had been 

designed. 

In the Maryland campaign General Pleasonton had a couple 

of good brigades, and was energetic and successful in pushing 

after the enemy toward the Antietam ; 

but during the great 

battle nothing aggressive was attempted by his cavalry, unless 

it was the gallop across the bridge on the Sharpsburg Pike, 

under a galling artillery fire, and driving away the enemy's 

guns. After that was done, the troopers went into position 

along the creek, and sat upon their horses, under shelter 

of some rising ground, until the sun went down, all kinds 

of missiles humming over them all day almost harmlessly. 

After the battle, the scattering process was again resorted to, 

and Stuart was again tempted to try a raid round our arm)'. 

It is true that he accomplished very little besides the ruin of his 

own horses. He was like the wind on a frolic, which did great 

damage to "old women's bonnets and ginger-bread stalls," but 

he did not much affect the prospects of the war, and did not 

drive the Northern army from the field. The ignominy, how- 

ever, was none the less on this account when we discovered 

that no cavalry could be concentrated to intercept him. 

On the whole, though, the mounted troops must have raised 

themselves a peg in this campaign, for we find General McClellan 

unable to move across the Potomac for want of them ; 

and it is 

a fact that they were in a very bad way just then, b}' reason 

of a terrible disease of the hoof, which affected the horses 

a disease brought about by bad feed, turnpike dust, overheating, 

and many other causes, perhaps guessed at by everybod}' ; 

the malady was remedied by none until it had run its course. 

but 

After crossing the Potomac, the cavalry, under Generals 

Pleasonton and Avercll, took the advance very creditably, 

alwaj's cncount(Ming the enemy's cavalr)' successful!)-, and 

never calling upon our infantry for support.

WlTir GENERAL SHERIDAN. 209 

At FrcdcricksbuiL,^ there was no use for horsemen, and very 

few crossed tlie Rapi)ahannock chirini^ the eniâtênient. General 

lâyard niatle a reconnoissance with his I)ri!âde on the jjlains 

where hVankhn was, on the left, but he could do no fôod where 

the enemy could sec his every movement and he could see no 

enemy ; 

and, 

after this gallant young general was killed, the 

brigade was withdrawn to the north bank of the ri\'er. 

After Fredericksburg, General Hooker lifted the cavalry over 

the stile by consolidating it. A cavalry corps was formed, and 

General Stoncman was assigned to the command ; 

and then for 

the first time it was realized what a capital mounted force there 

was. Superb regiments seemed to creep out of every defile 

within the lines of the army. Three divisions were organized 

under Generals IMcasonton, Averell, and Gregg, and General 

Huford commanded the brigade of regulars. When President 

Lincoln came down to the army for a grand review, nobody 

was more astonished than the trof)ps themselves when they 

saw the face of the country swarm with cavalry, and apparently 

an endless stream of horsemen pouring from every avenue 

leading to the parade-ground. The enemy, regarding the 

magnificent mass from the heights of St. Marie across the 

river, must have felt a slight reaction from the victorious glow 

of h'redericksburg, seeing that the Yankees were not all 

dead }et. 

Averell's division made a very handsome dash across Kelly's 

Ford on St. Patrick's day, and then came Stoneman's raid, and 

Chancellorsville. Success at the great battle was nccessar\' to 

Stoneman's success ; failure at the battle rendered .Stoncinan's 

best efforts futile; for he was dispatched to the rear of Lee 

to annoy him as he retreated, to destroy his communications, to 

block up the roads, to get bc^twc n the beaten eneni}- antl his 

capital, and, in the words of the ortlers given General .Stone- 

man, to " fight, fight, fight." Cutting loose from the arm\-, he 

followed his instructions as well as he could; but the otlur programme 

as laitl down was not enlircl)' executed, owing to unfore- 

seen circumstances, and in a week or more General Stoncman


found himself many miles from his friends, and could get no 

tidings of the defeated enemy. Then he had to get back the 

best way he could, in the most drenching weather, and over the 

most frightful roads. On his safe return, patriotic efforts were 

made to cheer up the desponding people with glowing stories 

of his achievements ; the illustrated papers had him depicted 

on a fiery charger, with his scabbard on the wrong side, point- 

ing with his sword at miles of railroad bridges wrapped in flame, 

and correspondents exhausted imagination in describing the 

ruin he had scattered broadcast. Shrewd Mr. Lincoln, however, 

saw that the raid was not a crushing blow to the rebellion, and 

had his little joke over it, sadly enough, no doubt, though it is 

probable that he did not fully comprehend how fatal to the suc- 

cess of Stoneman had been the failure at Chancellorsville. 

After Chancellorsville, there was a good deal of bad blood in 

military quarters ; great promise had been followed by but 

small fulfillment, and scapegoats were needed on whom to 

fasten blunders. Generals Stoneman and Averell figured in that 

capacity, and General IMcasanton succeeded to the command of 

the corps. At this time it was known that Stuart was getting 

ready his cavalry for a great raid into Pennsylvania, and his 

camp near Brandy Station was busy with preparation ; so Gen- 

eral rieasanton, on the 9th of June, 1863, went across the Rap- 

pahannock to look for a fight in which to cripple the enemy's 

horse and send them into hosi)ital for repairs. This was suc- 

cessfully accomplished ; from daj'light to sunset the championship 

was hotly contesteil by the rival troopers, ami our men 

won the belt, and held it against all comers from that time. 

The seeker for disabled cavalrymen could have found one thou- 

sand one hundred killed and wounded of ours on that stricken 

plain, 

"And the slooil with broken rein ran free." 

Stuart staggered under the shock, and thereby failed in his whole 

campaign ; for he was so late in starting that we got across his 

path at Aldic, when he was bound for the Potomac at lulward's 

l''err)-, ten days later, and General IMcasanton pressed him back


to Middlcburg. and drove him through Uppcrvillc to Ashby's 

Gap—a i^lorioiis serious of engagements for our cavalry—and 

wc bottled him up in the valley until we had no object in keej)- 

ing him there longer. When he got out he was much tocj late 

to do any harm, as we had got over the Potomac first; and 

General Lee's report of the Gettysburg campaign proves how 

useless to him was his mounted force. 

At Frederick City a new division joined the corjjs, antl was 

put under (xeneral Kilpatrick, with I-'arnsworth and Custer for 

brigade commanders. This division ran foul of Stuart in llan- 

overtown, Pennsylvania, and had a handsome little fight, while 

General Ikiford with his commantl, in advance of (ieneral Rey- 

nolds' corps, opened the ball at Gettysburg, and is enlitletl to 

the highest praise for his very distinguished services on that 

occasion. During the great battle of the two succeeding days 

the cavalry on both flanks fought hard, Gregg (;n the right 

repulsing Stuart's fierce assault, made with the lio[)e t)f reaching 

our rear, and Kili)atrick and Merritt on the left charging the 

enemy's infantry, and keeping a large force busy there. .Vfter 

the battle, there were raids on wagon trains and dashes at the 

rebel rear-guard. 

The cavalry was now an acknowledged element, and there 

never was any trouble in finding enough for it to do; and tiie 

mounted men were beginning to earn their rations, and enjoy 

a night's rest when they could get it. They could hold up their 

heads among their fellow-soldiers of the other arms of the serv- 

ice, for they now swept the roads clear for the infantry march 

and only drew off to the flanks when general engagements were 

to the fore, and then kept their three-inch rifled guns and their 

carbines rattling away against the ribs of the enemy's lines, get- 

ting their own saddles emptietl, antl filling the fields with dead 

nd wounded enough to satisfy anybody. 

It is not necessary to follow them through the brilliant 

encounters of this fall in Culpepper County, in the retreat to 

Centreville, and back again to the Rapidan and Mine Run, or 

through the hard picketing of the cold, wet winter, when they


did ail anion lit of work that nobody can appreciate by a home 

fireside. 

In the spring General PIcasanton was relieved of command, 

together with otiier generals of the Army of the Potomac who 

were supposed not to pull kindly with General Meade, and 

General Sheridan assumed command of the cavalry corps. 

Kilpatrick, who had made a hard an .1 unsuccessful raid during 

the winter, went to the West at tliis time and was succeeded by 

General Wilson. The brave and brilliant General l>uR)rd had 

died in the fall, and, among many others, those gallant officers 

Colonel V>. V. (Grimes) Davis and General Pârnsworth had 

given up their lives in hand-to-hand encounters at the head of 

their brigades. General Torbert now commanded the first divi- 

sion, and General Gregg still retained the second. General 

Sheridan immediately brought the cavalry into still greater favtjr 

by his engagements in the Wilderness and fighting raid to the 

James River, in which General Stuart was killed at Yellow 

Tavern. Some of the best-contested cavalry battles of the v.'ar 

foilcnved his return, Gregg at Hawes's Shop, and Torbert at Cold 

Ilaibor, winning the admiration of the army. 

Then came the long ride to Trevilian Station and back, and 

the sharp fighting there. 

Wilson's raid toward Danville was a failure in soiiu: respects, 

but General Grant sa}'s the damage indicted u[)on the enem\''s 

railroads com[)ensated for his own losses. 

At Deep Bottom, on the James, we achieved a great success, 

lighting infantry as at Cold Harbor; and all this time most of 

the engagements had been fought dismounted. " I'iei)are to 

fight on foot ! " was the usual order after a little skirmishing had 

developed the enemy, and the horses hardly knew anything of 

the battles, while their riders were following the flag through 

swamps and brakes and virgin forest,—not legitimate work for 

mounted troops, perhaps, but a good nursery for soldiers; it 

inured them to li,u-(lshi[)s, and taught tiicni that their dut\- was 

to fight the eneni)' wherever found ; 

that if the rebellion was 

not to be ridden down, it must be trampled under foot; and


tlic cavalry, with patience, iâllantry, antl devolioii, follouid this 

teacliiiiLj, ami reiulered themselves ca[)abie of prohtiiii; by the 

Ljlorious opportunities which later cainpaiiîis afforded. 

We now found that Grey;t^'s excellent divisicMi — althouj^di 

envying the iôod fortune of their old comrades who had been 

pluckiiiL; laurels on Ixuseback in the battles of the Shenandoah 

Valley— had increased the reputation ot the cavalry in some 

des})erate enL;ai!;ements, dismounted, in the woods at Deep IkH- 

tom ami on the Hoydton I'lank Road; and so, when the old 

corps was reunited, its blended honors were not surpassed in 

any corps (_)f the army. 

Now the troo[)s were spoken of always with respect, often 

with atlmiration. They had shown themseK'es the peers of the 

best of the infantry side by side with them on hard-fouL;ht fields, 

and artillery asked no better support. They had been tried in 

every jihase of warfare, and never been found wantin;j;. Their 

tlepleted ranks hatl been filled with the best of xolunleers — 

ilrafted men and substitutes beinj^ seldom put into cavalry—and 

the new men cjuickly fell into the old men's wa)'s and l)oldly 

followed their file-leaders into battle. The whole cor[)s was 

animated by the best spirit, an.Kious for victory and willin;^ to



\^L'onliiiui:J.\ 

1!Y EKASTUS DOliLK, Co. 1;, KlGIIIll MAINK. 

One day as I was going out after wood, a man came to the 

North gate and called "Sergeant of the (}ate ! 

Sergeant of the 

(lale !" We had just got outside but looked around and saw 

the man as the rebel opened the little gate. He was covered 

with blood, his clothes were nearly torn off from him, Jmd 

blood was running out of his shoes. The sergeant of the gate 

cried out, "For God's sake, what's the luatterwith you? Come 

out here." 

The man came and his story was this. I lis shebang was 

!Kar where the robbers lived but he had always intimidated 

them and kept them off by threats of his sheath knife, being a 

man of jjowerful frame. Today he took a little nap in broad 

daylight, thinking the thieves would not dare to trouble him, 

but was awakened by them just in time to catch them in the 

act of taking his shelter tent and cooking tools and all he 

possessed. lie up and at 'cm, thinking he ct)uld rescue his 

property, but they closed around him and stabbed him several 

times and finally one of them knocked him on the head with a 

club. When he regained consciousness he was lying on the 

ground, his property was gone, and it was all cjuiet around him. 

lie got up, reeled along to the gate and there we saw him. 

The rebel said in answer to him, "You're all fools to let a few 

men rob you and butcher you so! Why don't you kill 'em at 

once? we won't interfere with you! Here you men in there, 

turn out and hunt the robbers down ! 

ye come to 'em !" 

Kill 

'cm jes as fast as 

Just then our guards called to' us, "Come if ye want wood," 

and that is the last I ever saw or heard of the wounded man 

who made the complaint. We got our wood, and as wc came


back there was a wild commotion in the i)rison. Our guards 

slopped with us and we looked on. We iiad a good view and 

could see a squad of men, undoubtedly Sergeant Kocy at the 

head, rush up to a suspected shanty and in a minute it would be 

torn to [jieces, a fight would ensue, then the inmates would be 

marched to a place near the North gate, passed out and taken 

in charge by the rebels. When we got in we found a band of 

regulators had been organized, and I think they arrested twenty- 

six men. These twenty-six were taken outside of the gate and 

every one who had been robbed had a chance to go out and 

identify the robbers if they could. Six were charged with 

murdering their fellow prisoners. The remaining twenty were 

undoubtedly guilty of stealing and helping the robbers gener- 

ally, but we could not act very nice or exact. The sergeant 

of the gate opened his little door through the gate and shouted, 

"The scamps are going to be let in, and you are fools if you 

tlon't knock 'em down and kill 'em right now ! 

They're 

go'n 

ter be let in, one at a time; now form along there wi' ycr 

clubs 'n give it to them ! 

Here 

goes one! Guard, put the 

bayonet right through him if he don't go in!" 

Many men are brutal naturally. In this case we had been 

entirely without law; might was all the right known. The men 

were enraged at the rt)bbers and murderers; many had been 

brutally pounded by them ; 

and so you see there was very little 

sympathy for them. The rebels drove them in with their 

bayonets, one at a time, and I tell you, they did run till they 

were hit; then such yells of rage, such curses from both sides. 

It was a horrid sight. Several were knocked down and 

pounded all out of shape of humanity, others escaped with 

broken arms or shoulders and bruised heads. It was horrible, 

but we felt they were greater villains than common criminals, 

and I confess I did not experience any pity Un them. The six 

who were keyjt, we were told, had a regular trial for murder 

before a court selected from among the prisoners— ^judge, jury 

and lawyers, with witnesses. 

Near or under the tents where these men camped before 

arrested three or four mutilated corpses were dug up. They


were found guilty and sentenced to be hunt; in, I think, four 

weeks, which was the 1 1 th day of July, 1864. The time rolled 

around and the niorninj; of the execution arrived. The roll call 

sersiêant said that niornini;, "De cap'n says you fellers are to 

hang dem scamps ter day, 'n he says if you try to make a 

break he goin' ter open de batteries on yer, 'n he says he'll shell 

yer jes 's long der 's a lim kickin'." Immediately after rcjll 

call some paroled men came in and erected a gallows. It was 

exactly like the frame you often see over a gateway. A plat- 

form was put up for the doomed men to stand on with props to 

kick out for a trap or fall. Soon we saw over on the hill a 

small squad of men moving towards the North gate so slowly 

it was difficult to tell whether they moved at all or not. These, 

the guards told us, were the doomed murderers and the rebel 

guard escorting them. They were so manacled and chained 

together they could only move about two inches at a step. 

Sergeant Mch^lroy has given you a correct account of the 

hanging. Captain Wirtz rode through the gale with the 

prisoners' prisoners, had the fetters removed from them and 

delivered them to a s(jiiad of "regulators" uniler command 

of Limber Jim. 'ihen the rebels all withdrew to the outside 

of the gate and it was left for our vigilance committee to 

perform the closing scene in the drama. The rebel forces were 

all under arms and the batteries were manned and quite a lot 

of spectators were outside to see the " Yanks hang the Yanks." 

As the policemen formed around the murderers, one of them 

leaped out of the crowd like a tiger, aiul ran through the crowd 

and over tents down to the brook and across, but there was an 

angry merciless crowd ready with clubs to receive him. I shall 

never forget the despairing shriek he uttered as he tore olT his 

old jacket while in the water ankle deej). He yelled, "() ! my 

mother!" and gave himself up to a party who seized him and 

bound his hands behind him, and matched him back to the 

gallc)ws. On the way back I heard such expressions as these: 

"You'll never kill anybody again !" "You'll be in hell in a few 

minutes now!" "Thought you could do just as you was a

PK/SOAr LII'E AND ESCAPE. 217 

iiiiiul to licrc, didn't yc? " "Hit liini, hit him!" "You've got 

to be llUNc;! d'ye know it?" "Justice at last ole feller! 

You've got ter come in the ring bolt now !" 

Taking the whole scene togetiier, the miserable prison, the 

ragged, hungry looking crowd, their faces grim and stern 

many of them forgetting that it is not brave to strike a man 

when he is down—the angry taunts showered on the miserable 

wretches, one can imagine how horrible the death awaiting the 

wretches seemed to them. They were driven up the scaffold, 

their arms and legs were tied tight, the cords nearly cut through 

the skin, caps made of meal sacks were drawn over their heads, 

prayer by the catholic priest, then "Limber Jim" kicked away 

the l)rop and they fell ! One big, burly fellow's rope broke 

and he fell on the ground. The cap was snatched from his 

head and he gazed at the five dangling, whirling, vvriggling 

wretches and saw them die, and then a shout went up from 

some of his friends in the crowd, "Let him go, he is innocent; 

that rope wouldn't a broke if he hadn't been." Limber Jim's 

voice rang out clear abt)ve the din, "No, he shall swing with 

the rest! get up!" and they drove him up and hung him over 

again. They were cut down and carried out, and in a few 

days the gallows was taken down and piled up near the North 

gate just over the dead line, and everything went on as before 

except we kept our vigilance committee and maintained a sort 

of law and order organization. 

The street running into the prison from the South gate was 

by common consent our market street. It was there one could 

exchange his raw corn meal for a small piece of corn bread or 

trade any small bit of jewelry for bread or bacon. It was 

there we sold taffy, or anything exchangeable. You would 

hear such cries as these drawled out in a discouraged sing-song 

tone, "Who will buy my taffy?" "Who'll buy the corn 

dodger, ten cents a cut?" "Who'll give a drink of water for a 

chew of tobacco?" This was just as important a market to us 

as any city market to its citizens. 

Did I say anything about being lousy? Well, I will. We 

were very lousy. Perhaps some of you think you know what


that means, but I iinist tell you vou don't! I am not able 

with my limited knowledi;e of the lui^lisli laivûat^ê to tell you 

so you will understand it; I will say I have seen llicm on the 

ground anywhere in the prison almost as thick as the grains 

of sand, and they were, oh, so hungry. We killed them with 

our thumb nails until the aforesaid nails were too slip[)er}', then 

wc scoured our nails off with sand and at 'em again. 

Our rations were various; sometimes wc would get bread 

and a little piece of bacon about enough for a light lunch for a 

hungry man, and that was a day's rations. Sometimes it would 

be a little raw meal and boiled beef fresh, and sometimes it 

would be raw beef; sometimes a teaspoonful of salt would be 

given us to go with the beef. Salt was scarce always and 

would bring a dollar per tablespoonful. Sometimes we would 

get a little sorghum syrup. That was greedily bought up by 

the taffy makers and boiled down, made into sticks, and sold on 

the street. Occasionally I used to indulge my taste for hu.xter- 

ing by baking my ration of meal into bread and peddling it on 

the street. At such times I used to get sometimes a gutta 

percha ring and sometimes a brass one, and sometimes one 

thing and sometimes another, for a piece of bread, and then 

would come the fun of selling the guards. Polish u[) the brass 

ring and it would readily sell to the green Johnnies for gold 

and bring a good price too. Our mess had many a luncli 

bought in that way. 

There was no time that camp rumor did not have a day set 

when we were all to be exchanged ox i)arolcd, and I think that 

kept a good many men alive, for when hope was dead the 

breath did not stay much longer. I always had strong notions 

of trying to escape and to that end prepared myself with a 

pocket compass which I found a fellow i)risoner had. Then I 

went for tunnels. I was soon known to many of the prisoners 

as the man who had a compass and was most always invited to 

to join the tunnel enterprises. 

One day two men came to me and said they were going out 

through a tunnel the next morning and invited me to help

finish their tunnel. I agreed ; 

PA'/SON LIFE AND ESCAPE. 219 

I always believed in trying all 

such jsnterprises because they kept niy mind employed and 

afforded some hope. They showed me into their tent, down 

close by the brook, and pointing to a hole which was full 

of water told me this was their tunnel. They then proceeded 

to hail it out and one of tlu:m crawled into it to work. He was 

armed with an old knife and a half canteen and drew an old 

leather sack in with him to put tlirt in. We kept dipping the 

water out continually and it was cold as spring water. This 

tunnel was not over two and a half feet below the surface. 

Their idea was to dig till they struck the stockade then go 

under them and break out the other side, close to them. They 

said if we waited to dig deep and go too far we should be 

discovered and we woidd work quick and get through before 

we were suspected. I soon took my turn in the miserable mud 

hole. I worked with a will for it was so cold it nearly chilled 

one to death. I soon came plump against a pitch pine's stump 

roots and that ended that enter[)rise, but for misery and discom- 

fort it was the worst I ever tried. 

Ne.\t I was invited to join a party who had been digging a 

big deep well. I did so and found they dug well by daylight 

and tunnel by night. They had dug their well about forty 

feet deep and at a depth of about twenty-five feet struck a 

tunnel or "gopher hole." I worked in that by taking turns 

with several others for nearly a week and one night after we 

had dug forty-seven feet towards liberty wc dug upwards and 

that night we got u[) six feet, I think. The ne.xt day it was 

discovered and a trench dug from the surface down to the 

gopher hole, and that finished it. 

It may be interesting to you to know how men could dig 

deep wells without tools. We were mostly Yankees and could 

finrl a way somehow. We would make strings of bootlegs and 

ever}thing else we could make strings of, tie them together and 

lower a man down by it to the bottom of the well ; then 

he 

would attach that to an old haversack or something like it and 

nil it with dirt dug up with pointed sticks or a knife and scooped

220 THE MAIfÊ BUGLE. 

up with his hands; this would be drawn up and emptied and 

lowered attain. You know we had plenty of time and if it was 

slow Work we kept at it ; 'twas better than sitting or lying 

gnawing at our own heartstrings. 

Bye and bye an order came for -^êveral detachments to be 

ready to go out in the morning to be exchanged ! What an 

excitement ! we could almost taste the good hard-tack we used 

to have in God's country, we could almost smell the coffee. 

Wc sat round our tents and told what good things we would be 

enjoying a week hence till late in the night, and then slept and 

dreamed of fried hard bread and coffee and big rations of 

everything. In the morning my friend Rideout went to his 

detachment and I bade him good-by and sent lots of words to 

my folks at home. Poor fellow, he had a despondent nature 

and when he found it was all a heartless rebel lie about 

exchange and that he must stay yet a little longer in rebel 

prisons, his health failed and he died in Florence Prison where 

his detachment was sent. The prisoners were taken out as fast 

as transportation could be furnished to carry them, for a week, 

and that thinned out the prison considerably. Our detachment 

camped near the North gate to await our turn. There I was 

taken sick and for four days I could not rest in any position. 

It rained and was cold. October had set in, and I was wet and 

chilled to my marrow. We got the old gallows out and split it 

up and burned it and got some warmth from that. I have seen 

advertisement several times of parties who offered to sell pieces 

of that gallows to any one who would send so much money, 

but I, having helped to burn the machine, did not invest. 

We were soon taken out and loaded a train with ourselves, 

sixty men in a common freight car, and started towards Macon. 

It was dark when we went aboard. We started at a fearful rate 

of speed and soon our car began to jolt and in a minute 

broke in two and tipped up sidcwise and stopped. Then 

there was excitement. Our engine had left the track while in 

a cut and running against the bank stopped, and the cars 

smashed up behind it. None of our eight were injuretl h\\\. as

PRISON LIFE AND KSCA/'E. ±21 

I stepped tlirouL^h the bottom of our car I heard my name 

called from under the car next in rear of us. ()n examination 

we found Serjeant Mcl'îrland and Corporal Joe Downcsof Co. 

G, of our regiment, under that car. I called tiie boys and 

enough of us took hold of the car to lift that cm\ of it so we 

I)ulled the i)oor fellows out and carried them out of the wa)- of 

the wreck, gave tiiem some water and went back to try to 

recover our property, such as old black tin dip|)ers, ragged 

blankets, wooden spoons and troughs we had made to cat out 

of. Two rebels who were on top of our car were killed 

instanti)', flattened right out. Sandy McL. got their hats and 

wore one and gave the other to Ilagan of the Ninth Maine. 

Mcl^'arland soon became delirious and called me and 1 went to 

him antl found the rebels had tied his hands behind his back 

and tied his feet together, and he was frothing at the mouth 

antl raving crazy. I sternl)- told him to be still and I would 

untie him. He gave up right off, and I cut the strings, and 

gave him water and staid with him till some wagons came down 

from the station to carr)- off the killed and wounded. Me 

seemed ([uite easy then onl)' he suffered with the cold. I 

helped put him into a wagon and gave him all the blanket I 

had and the rebels carried him back to the Andersonville 

hospital. I have never been able to hear from him since, 

although I got roundly cussed for letting my only blanket go 

by the rest of my mess. As soon as possible after the train 

ran off Dave Cheeks and Jim Turner with their hounds came 

down to helj) the rebels guard us. 

In the accident the fireman, a big negro, fell off the tender 

and was caught and held under it; a jiart of the tender, resting 

on his stomach with the track under him, luld him. lie was in 

awful agony and screamed and cried for help, but no one could 

help him. The tender was heavy and could not be moved 

without some strong purchase like jackscrews or levers. It was 

dark and no pry was at hand. ( )ne rebel said " that nigger 

would have to go for it, and lie was worth thirteen or fourteen 

hundred dollars too, but then he's probably hurt so he ain't


worth savin'." lie lived till nearly mornincj, alternately pray- 

ing and c^roaning. I tell you it was slavery that made the people 

of the South so barbarous. And do we not feel a thrill of 

exultation when we remember that we, who wore the blue, 

helped to destroy it? I do. After daylight we were marched 

back into the same old stockade where we waited about two 

weeks, as near as I can remember, and then were taken out and 

sent to Savannah. We got there just after dark and were 

marched through the streets to a board stockade close to the 

old Spanish jail. On our way we heard a little girl some eight 

years old sing "The Bonny Blue Flag." How pretty her voice, 

how we thought of home and thought we'd soon be there. 

How little we knew what was in store for us and that many long 

weary months of starvation lay between us and God's country. 

During our stay here, which was I think four or six weeks, 

our rations were good for rebel rations. We had rice meal, 

salt, fresh beef from the city market and good water. We 

could hear the sunrise and sunset guns at Fort Pulaski and 

Hilton Head, fired under the old flag, " God's flag," a good 

many of the boys called it. Oh, how I wanted to escape while 

we were there. It seemed as if 1 could only get out in the 

night I could alsiost swim down to Fort Pulaski, about fifteen 

miles, or I might get a dugout. Ikit there was no opportunit)- 

whatever. We were carried back to iMillen Junction and put 

into a large new stockade with plenty of wood and large clear 

brook of good water running through it. But our rations grew 

smaller and smaller till it seemed as though we should starve to 

death. I was hungry as only a prisoner can understand. 

Now I must go back a little. When you see our beautiful 

flag's bright folds waving over us the T'ourth of Jidy I sometimes 

wonder if anybody but one of us, can think how good 

and how beautiful it looks. The Fourth of Jidy, 

i S64, I was 

obliged to look on the rebel flag and it did seem hard to have 

the day pass and not sec the Flag of our Country at all. 1 tell 

you it made my heart ache. It was the bluest day I saw during 

ni}' imprisonment. () how we hated that emblem of slavery;


2-24 THE MAINE BUGLE. 

over there, and I think a rebel doctor used to go and see them 

sometimes, though I never saw one there. One time we had a 

severe cold rain of several days duration. We had all we could 

do to keep alive in our " sheiâng," as a dwelling place was 

called in prison language. When the storm cleared off I started 

off to walk around and get warm. Happening to think of the 

hospital 1 walked over to see what care the rebels had taken of 

our sick; I had no doubt they had been taken to some build- 

ing or shelter. I crossed the bridge over the brook and walked 

into the hospital. Imagine how the blood froze in my veins 

when I saw the poor fellows. I should think there were fifty or 

more, all motionless. Some were sitting or leaning against 

trees and stumps, some lying head down hill on the banks of 

the brook, some stretched out on the wet, cold ground ; 

one in 

particular lay on his side near a stumj) with one leg and one 

arm sticking up straight. All dead, stiff and cold. I did not 

see one alive am

J-R/SON LIIE AND ESCAPE. 225 

One night while we were at Camp Lawton, the Millen prison, 

we were called up by the rebels, to come right out, for a cartel 

of exchange had been effected for all prisoners that they could 

deliver at Fort Jackson, bciovv Savannah, before dark the next 

day, and if we hurried we would all get exchanged or paroled; 

that all they (the rebels) wanted, was to get rid of us at any 

price. Well, most of us swallowed that bait quick and rushed 

out and aboard their old leaky freight cars and were soon on 

the way to Savannah. It rained hard all day and we got thf)r- 

oughly drenched through, but we were packed like sardines in 

a box and were warm enough. Arrived at Savannah a little 

before sunset. The cars stopped, and a mounted guard formed 

each side of the cars. They saluted us with expressions like 

these : 

" You'll be in your own lines in two hours, boys," " We've 

seen quite a number of you fellers off for home to-day, boys," 

" We've just come up from Fort Jackson where we took a lot 

of your fellers down and saw them aboard one of your steamers." 

Well, didn't we feel good. I rather guess we did. It would be 

hard conveying to your mind how well we did feel. I doubt if 

a believer ever experienced more ecstatic joy when he knew he 

was about to be released from a bed of pain to enter the rest, 

peace and joy of heaven than we poor wretches experienced 

then. But why don't we start? What means this delay ? Time 

seemed long, we were so eager to go to God's country and see 

God's flag again, as many earnestly expressed it. An hour 

passed. The mounted guards were relieved by infantry, and a 

train of i)latforin cars ran alongside of us on another siding. 

By and by the guards called to us, " Every man get a stick 

of that cord wood and get on this train of flats." What did it 

mean? What did we want of that wood down at Fort Jackson? 

Some of the prisoners yelled " Another bull pen," " No exchange 

this time," " More rebel lies." Our hearts sunk like lead. All 

the bright virions of liberty were gone in an instant. Jiut hope 

that can " hang men on an archer's arrow though it drop deep 

poison " whispered to us that they must be having more trouble 

with the Yankee army than they would admit. May be we will


be captured from them soon. The war must be pretty near 

over, boys. They are pretty hard up, you can see that, and 

they are dodging us around to keep us from being recaptured. 

So we consoled ourselves as well as we could. The sun set 

clear and the night was cold. We sped along as fast as they 

could drive till daylight the next morning. I curled down on 

the bottom of the car and three or four men lay across me. It 

hurt some but I soon got used to it, and if I had not lain under 

those men I guess I should have died of cold, and many were 

unable to get off without help when we dismounted at Black- 

shear Station. A great many men had only one garment, with- 

out, hat, cap or shoes, only a pair of old cotton flannel drawers. 

Can you imagine that they suffered? Faintly, I think. If we 

had not been drenched and roasted in the box cars it would not 

have been half so bad. 

We marched out into a pine barren and camped. I believe 

we got fair rations; certainly we had good water, and sweet, 

fresh air to breathe. As near as I can recollect we stayed at 

Hlackshear Station about a week. The second day of our stay 

some prisoners were paroled and sent into our lines. Sergeant 

Mcl'^lroy of the Sixteenth Connecticut was among the number. 

We were told that we were all to be paroletl there, but this we 

found to be another lie to keep us from trying to escape. I 

give you an incident or two which happened there : 

One day some uneasy Yanks saw a rebel officer outside the 

guard line and hailed him, and he called them out to see what 

tin)' wanted. They told him with a great air of secrecy that 

they had discovered a tree containing a swarm of bees, and 

asked his permission to go out and cut it down and get the 

honey. Now the idea of a taste of honey was pretty rich after 

living on the dry rations even the best Confederates could fur- 

nish, and this officer was a mean one, so he got the boys to 

show him the tree to prove they were not planning to escape 

and then he told them peremptoril)' that the}' could not have it 

and ordered them back into the prison camp. Then he summoned 

his friends and a negro with an axe and they went at


that bit^ tree, two feet aiul a half throuLih, ami after workiiiL^ 

hard nearly half a clay, cut it thnvn. They were a sweaty, 

tired lot when the tree fell. They made a rush for the top and 

hunted for the bees. At the same time th


to make i\ dead Yank sure before lie left camp. My counter- 

feiter kept dark and tlioui,dit he was all right, but a comrade 

.i,Mve him away cither through fear or in hope of reward. Then 

there were hot times for a few minutes. The rebel freed his 

mind to the counterfeiter- I did not learn his name—all the 

time pointing his cocked pistol at the man and cursing and tell- 

ing him his time was up and he would have six bullets through 

him, and then be kicked and stamped enough after he was dead 

to kill a regiment more just like him. He made so much noise 

and such a crowd jammed around that he attracted the atten- 

tion of a rebel officer, and the counterfeiter yelled to him to 

come in and prevent murder. The officer came as (juick as 

p(jssible and drove the fellow off, telling iiim it was against the 

law to trade with prisoners anyway, and if he had lost his money 

the officer was glad of it. My bold steward of Marine Artillery 

was pretty scared but said he had had nearly as narrow escapes 

before. When he sold the other bill it was when we were on 

move and he got off all right. 

Bujjlc Horn I 

[ To he L'onlinued.\ 

To a War-worn Bugle. 

r.V W. 1>. IKIUI.INC, KKNTON, O. 

Uiij^lc Iloriil sing luc a sunu sang in the midst of the fray. 

( )h, liow the sabers Hashed liriglit at your call I 

Onward the long line went, linn as a wall; 

Now they are mingling, the foenien and foe 

I'lashes tlie saber with blow after blow I 

This is a sight fur a soldier to see ! 

Bugle, oh, lUigle ! sing loud in your glee I 

Sing of the valiant who victory win. 

Sing of the heroes who died 'mid tiu- din 

These have won glory and lasting renown, 

These, fallen heir to a hero's bright crown. 

Hugle, oh, Ituglel sing honor and jiraise 

'I'o those who were brave through those sad, darkened days.

A EWE IN BATTLE. 229 

A Ride in Battle. 

ISY (Ol.. M. I. V. r.iiWMAN, I.ATE KIKSl' I.I Kf I liNAM AMI CuMMlSsAUV Isl MK. CAV. 

On Ihc afternoon of ihc third day of July, 1863, after nearly 

three days hard fiiihlinj^^ at Gettysbiir;^, the two great armies 

met in deadly conflict for victory or defeat. General Picket's 

terrible charge and (leneral Stuart's cavalry charge on our right 

Hank were nearly simultaneous. The rebel artillery all along their 

line of battle belched forth their challenge, while ours from 

Little Round Top down the line answered back with deafening 

roar. On came Picket across the wheat fiekl with his iiifaiitr)-. 

On came Stuart with his cavalry. I was with our regiment of 

cavalr)', with another sent out under command of Col. Smith to 

meet an advancing column of the enemy in the attack on the 

right flank. It was some fi>ur miles from where i'icket made 

his charge to where our cayahy was engaged with Stuart. I 

luul become greatly e.xcited, as doubtless the great majority of 

my comrades were on that eventful afternoon, and when the roar 

of cannon on our side seemetl to abate for a short time and the 

rebels poured in more furiously their shot and shell, I had such 

a desire to knt)W more of the battle that I started with my man 

Rogers for Little Round Top— I call him Comrade Rogers for 

in my mind now his name was Rogers— so many years have 

clapsetl since then that I really have forgotten his name—on we 

spurred our horses through field aiul woods, all the while close 

to the line of battle. On coming near the crest of the hill that 

extends from Little and Hig Round Top around to Wolf's hill, we 

went through an opening in the woods through which a country 

road passed, and as we came near the top of the hill we halted, 

and I said to Rogers, "When wc return \ye will go through that 

strip of woods at the right of us, for by so doing wc will save 

a mile's travel." y\s we reached the crest of the hill wc saw 

below us hundreds of men firing and falling back. I supposed


at the time tliey were our men, but later on it proved tli.it they 

were rebels. We continued on, and the farther we went, our 

ajjprehension was awakened in the belief that we were in very 

danL;erous cjuarters. Picket had reached the stone wall, or what 

is termed now the bloody an^le. In the great confusion that 

seemed all around us, we thouL^ht it best to turn back, and as we 

reached the road—v/here I said to Rogers, " We will go through 

that piece of woods to our right and save a mile's travel on our 

return"—we saw at a glance that during our absence the rail 

fence on either side of the road had l)een taken down and thrown 

crosswise into the road in such a manner as to prevent artillery 

from coming \\\> this road. The road u[) the hill was very irreg- 

ular, being for the most jKU't of the way com|)rised of slate 

rock which was quite rough. Rogers said to me as we crossed 

the road: "There is a nice blanket on the other side"— some 

one had stolen my blanket off my [)ack mule the night before 

—and as I sup[K)sed the battle would soon be over and we 

return to our camping ground, I rode back, reached down from 

my hcrse, picketl up the blanket ami rode across the road to 

where Rogers was awaiting me. My horse had just come 

abreast with his when from the wootls to our left and not five 

hundred yards away came a volley of bullets. A comi)any of 

rebels were behind an old fence in the woods, and lheyem[)tied 

their guns at us—the bidlets came thick. My horse at the time 

seemed to have more good sense than I, for instantly he wheeled 

and started on a tiead run down tlu road. Just then another 

shower of bullets came. I thrt:w myself lengthwise on my 

horse, my right arm over my horse's neck while he i)lunged 

down that Icdgy road over those rails. We were under fire of 

the rebels, wIk^ seeing that the first volley did not stop us con- 

tinued to i)oui' iiili) us. The distance of that opening in the 

woods was about an eighth of a mile, that we iiad to ride. My 

horse was running with all his might while the bullets went 

under and over him— I cvjiected every moment he or I Wf)uld 

be shot and equally did 1 e.xpect every moment that he would 

be tangled in the fence rails and thrown. We had covered about

A KIDE IN BATTLE. 231 

oiic-half the tlistancc in the opcninj^^ when I heard Rogers' 

liello behind nie aiitl I ex[)cctcd he was shot. Looking back 

over my horse's main I saw liis horse coming with all his might 

and Rogers clinging to him. I felt if he could only hang on 

to his horse he would bring him through. My horse was going 

at such si)eed down that Icdgy road and over those rails it 

would have been an impossibility for me to have stopped him. 

He seemed maddened by the zip, zip of the bullets as they 

came under and over us. I think the road had not been traveled 

much ; it seemed more of a wood road, seldom used. At 

any rate there was a big Cottonwood tree just in the edge of the 

woods, about three feet in diameter, and located, it seemed to 

me, right in the middle of the road. My horse was going at 

such speed it seemed to me that he surely must dash his brains 

out against the tree, but as we reached it he veered a little to 

one side. I threw my right leg on top of his back and his side 

just grazed it as we went on. On reaching the cover of the 

woods my horse seemed to understand and slackened his speed. 

I threw m>'self into the saddle and reined him in. I saw in the 

woods a number of our infantry sitting down by the trees eating 

hard tack. I sung out to them, "Boys, get out of here! The 

Johnnies are right onto you ! 

" and you ought to have seen 

those boys get up and get. Just then we came through the 

woods, where T met an officer with a squad of men. He called 

as I came out of the woods and asked, " What is the meaning 

of all this firing?" I replied to him that the Johnnies were 

right onto us. He said, " Why, I have orders to take a dispatch 

to the left; can I get through?" I said no, unless you want to 

get killed or captured. He replied, "I dare not go back; I 

must obey orders." I told him to send one of his men with me 

and that I would take him to Col. Smitli for orders. 

But now comes the curious part of this fearful ride—a ride 

nhich I shall never forget as long as life lasts, and a ride the like 

of which I would not take again for all the inducements man 

could offer. I attribute the saving of my life to my stopping to 

pick up that blanket. Had I not stopped for that we should


have rode tlircctly into the enemy's lines, for tliey, as I learned 

after, occupied the woods throuy;h which I had intentletl to pass; 

and furtlier, when the ride was over and 1 raised into my saddle I 

found the blanket was in my right hand, and that I had held on 

to it throu;j;h all that desperate ride. 1 then threw it down. 

On reaching; our cavalry I saw the Johnnies come out of the 

woods and plant their colors in the open field. Just then (ien. 

Gregg opened his batteries on them and they disappeared under 

cover of the woods. 

>f,,-j.|j;_ \[ " Rogers" is yet living and this sliouM toiiK- under his eye, I sliali i)e 

clad to hear from him.—M.T. V. 1!. 

Life in l.ibljy. 

I!Y C. I). FliKNAIJI, I'OUKI'll MMNK IMANIKV. 

While engaged in the first battle of Bull \^v\n, on the twenty- 

first day of July, i.SGi, my fighting was stopped by a cannon 

ball, which took the clothes clear to my breast, taking my right 

arm '^M just above the elbow, taking it all off but a little skin; 

then passing through the rear rank it struck a man 1)\' the name 

of hletcher, just the same as it struck me. After I was hit I 

got up, looked at my arm and then started for the rear, when 1 

was soon overtaken by two comrades, George Spaidding aiul 

Fred Conley, who corded my arm and stopped the flow of 

blood, after which I walked for nearly half a mile when I again 

fell from loss tjf blixxl, the cord on iii)' arm having become 

loose. I had not lain more than twenty minutes, when one of 

our ambulances came along with Metcher in it and took me up, 

carrying us back to an old house just across the stone bridge. 

We were laid under some apple trees, the house being already 

full of wounded. 

After taking us out, the}' tightened the cord on my arm and 

then went back on the field after more woundctl. While wait- 

ing for the surgeon to dress my wound I cut the skin that held 

the arm on and buried it by means of an old bayonet, imdcr 

the tree.

LIFE IM LIBBY. 233 

Just bcfurc dark the ixbs passed us in pursuit of our trooi)s 

which had passed a few minutes before. They did not stop 

even to place a guard around us then, but kept on in pursuit of 

our rctreatin

2;J4 THE MAINE BUGLE. 

mond, which took one day and iiiLjht. IûrinL; the ride the rebs 

would reverse the engine every few miles, which ])iled us u[) in 

tlic cars, one on top of the other, causing us intense suffering. 

We had nothing to cat or drink on the road, being treated by 

the citizens on the way like so many beasts of prey that they 

would like to kill. After arriving in Richmond we were 

escorted to "Hotel de Libby," with the name of Libby & Son 

over the door. When wc arrived the building was nearly 

empty, containing only a few political prisoners and a few 

officers and men who had preceded us. They crowded twenty- 

seven hundred of us into the building, which in addition to 

what was already there, filled it to the brim. 

y\bout six hours after arriving they issued to us some soft 

baker's bread and water from the James river. We began to 

think that we should not fare so very bad after all ; but how 

soon that delusion was dispelled you will see. I was placed in 

the second story, and the boards on which I lay were by the 

second rear window, with a tobacco press for a [)illow. I was 

without blanket, shirt or blouse, having lost my blanket in the 

fight and having my shirt antl blouse taken nearly off by the 

shot that took my arm. 

Just before dark one of the Fourteenth Brooklyn boys 

approached the window by which I was lying, the windows all 

being protected with iron bars. When he got within about two feet 

of the window the report of a gun was heard, and he fell dead, 

with only a groan, for he had been shot through the left breast. 

The blood from his body s[)urted in my face. The news sjjread 

through the building and the boys kept back from the windows. 

After dark the officers came into the building to inspect us and 

to take our names and regiments. We complained to them of 

the shooting and they told us to keep four feet from the windows 

and we would not be shot. We then asked for some 

supper, and were told that we would probably get some some- 

time the next day; which we did, about ten o'clock. 

Our wounds were not dressed nor cared for (only what our 

own boys could do, those who were not so badly wounded as

LIFE JN LIBBV. 235 

the rest of us) until we had been in Libby twelve days, and then 

Ur. Stewart of the Second Minnesota got permission to come 

in and see us, he being a Vxcc Mason. He spent the da}' with 

us and amputated my arm again, which had become maggoty 

on the field and had sloughed open. I had got the maggots 

about all out with a bottle of hartshorn which I picked up on 

the field. After that everything went on as usual in the build- 

ing, our rations in the meantime consisting of one cake of hanibread 

and one pint of James river water per day to a man— 

unless we could buy some or steal some from the guards, which 

we frequently did. 

On the fifteenth of August three rebel surgeons entered the 

room I was in and came to a man whose name and regiment I 

do not know. lie had a flesh wound in the calf of the leg and 

the gangrene had got into it. The leg could have been saved 

with proper care, but they cut it off square without any fiap 

just " for an experiment." The man lingered and tlied in about 

fifteen days. 

We found out about the first of August that the basement or 

cellar of Libby was filled with tobacco, so we contrived to get 

into it, and then we began to live a little better, for we could 

trade tobacco with the guards and darkeys for something to eat. 

The Johnnies did not find out our reserve store until about the 

middle of September, and then finding that they could not keep 

us out of it they hauled the tobacco away. 

In the meantime our death rate had been from six to ten per 

day in our room, from wounds and lack of food. At times 

some poor fellow would get homesick and then his days were 

numbered. I never knew a man in Libby to live more than 

fifteen days after he became homesick. After this our death 

rate increased, often towards the last numbering as many as 

twenty per day. 

I had got so that I could walk around the building. One day 

while down stairs watching the guard and trying to get a breath 

of fresh air, I discovered that he had a loaf of corn bread and 

a big piece of liver which he was eating. He had not eaten


much when an officer came along and the guard had to lay the 

food down on a box behind him to salute the officer. That 

was my chance, and grabbing the bread, and liver I went up 

stairs, and didn't I have a treat 

The last of September our boys began to tunnel out from 

the cellar where the rebs had taken out the tobacco. A large 

number got away through the tunnel. How many escaped or 

how many were recaptured 1 do not know, for not one that 

went out through the tunnel was brought back into the building 

while I was there. This escape so enraged the rebs that they 

cut our scant rations off for fi.ve days, which finished many a 

poor fellow who was nearly dead before. The fifth day an 

officer came into our room with a fine fat blood hound. When 

the dog was near me I petted him and managed to detain him 

there until the officer went up stairs. I spoke to a Fourteenth 

Ikooklyn boy who had a knife. I took the dog by the top 

of his head and yanked it up while the Fourteenth boy cut his 

throat. When the officer came down the dog was eaten up and 

there was not so much as a blood spot to show what had 

become of him. The boys had caught the blood in their cups 

and drank it as fast as it flowed. The officer raved awhile but 

soon left without bidding us good-bye. 

Matters continued thus until the tenth of October, as I recall 

it, when looking from the window, standing at the proper 

distance, I thought I saw a man that I used to go to school 

,with when a boy but who had been in the south for some 

years. I called to him from the window to attract his attention. 

He looked up, recognized me, called me by name and at the 

same time drew his revolver and fired si.x shots at me through 

the window, two of which cut the hair on my head, which con- 

vinced me that he was not shooting for a sham, but to hit. 

1 think it was the twenty-seventh of October, a day never to 

be forgotten by me, when in the afternoon an officer came into 

the builtling, called the names of some fifty of us, whom the)' did 

not think would li\'f, and told us to pick up our traps and be 

ready to go down the James river by 4 

I'. M. as we were to be

RECOLLECTIONS OL- GE/V. BERRY. 237 

[)arolctl. I was the tenth on the Hst. At three they formed us 

ami marched us to the office outsitle, where we signed the 

parole as best wc couUl and then were carried to the boat that 

was waiting for us. There were only a few of us who could 

walk that tlistance. Before leaving the building we divided our 

effects with tin- !)o)'S who were left. And so we bade good-bye 

to old Lib!))' I'rison forever. 

Recollections of General l)erry. 

I!V \l. S., (•(•. K, I7TII MK. VDI.S. 

The rendezvous at Portland, from which the Seventeenth 

Maine Regiment startetl to the front August iSth, 1S62, was 

called Camp Berry. The writer at that time did not know for 

whom it wa-; named, but subsecjucntly he became aware it was 

in honor of one of the bravest and ablest generals who liad 

gone from the old l*inc Tree State. Coincidently, General 

lliram G. Berry was the first officer who commanded the 

brigade to which the Seventeenth Maine belonged, after its 

arrival at r'almouth, Va., its last camp biTore it partici[)attHl in 

the battle of Fredericksburg. The recollection of most of the 

events associated with the general during his brief official cgn- 

ncction with the regiment are shadow}' in the memor)' of the 

writer, after so many intervening years, but there arc two or 

three that stand out in sharp relief, which will perhaps bear 

relating. 

On the thirteenth of December, '62, the regiment was astir 

as the pallid light broke over the smoky hills. A signal gun 

had been fired, the " pack up " had been sounded from regi- 

mental head(|uarters, and we were soon in line. Birnc)', the 

division general, rode by with his staff, and then came the sturdy 

General Berry at the head of the column in which we were to 

join as soon as certain regiments had passed. As he looked at 

us, standing there, from beneath his slouched hat, he seemed 

like a father to us all, and we felt that he was saying to us.


though he had not spoken the words aloud : 

" Now, my fine 

sons of Maine, you are about to receive the baptism of fire. 

Behave nobly. I am proud of you. We shall soon know what 

stuff you are made of." 

VVe did not march far before we were ordered to mass in the 

woods, near the river, where we were forced all day to inhale 

the breath of our batteries, which were trying to convince Lee's 

soldiers of their inhospitality. In the twilight we again took 

up our beds and walked two or three miles up the river, where 

we halted for the night, and made ourselves as comfortable as 

the fortunes of war would allow. Next morning " peas on a 

trencher" was only in name; a dish of coffee and some hard- 

tack constituted our morning meal, and then we " fell in " to 

form a part of the column which was to operate on the left. 

Almost before we were aware of being so near the Confederate 

front, it was plunging shells in our line. How they did sing 

their devilish songs; how they tore up the earth before us and 

flung it in our very faces. It was like stirring up a gigantic 

hornet's nest, and the air seemed full of huge infuriated insects. 

General Berry now rode rapidly along the line, and seeing that 

the regiment, which had not yet been ordered to advance, was 

unnecessarily exposed by its gaping with wonder at the strange 

sights and sounds, cried out in a loud stern voice, such as an 

anxious parent would to his imprudent boys, " Lie down, every 

one of you, or I'll skin you alive." This order we had never 

seen in the manual of tactics, but it struck us forcibly as a good 

thing to do, and down we went to the ground. 

Though the general afterward must have, often, been seen 

and felt and heard, he does not again appear in the writer's 

memory till the next spring, 1863. He had received the 

appointment of major general, and been assigned to the command 

of the second division of the Third Corps. Much 

enthusiasm then prevailed throughout the army for General 

I looker, and General Berry evidently was one of his most san- 

guine adherents. On a beautiful ^Sunday afternoon he visited 

the regimental camji, and the boys were turned out to receive

'//• 77/ NEIV YONK CAVA /.NY AT CUl.PEI'ER. 239 

him, informally, as now remembered. In front of the colonel's 

tent, his hat removed and his noble forehead c^listening in the 

sunshine, amidst the laurel scented air, he stood and greeted us 

with a short speech, filled with earnest devotion to the Union 

and priile for the State from which we came. In conclusion, he 

swung his hat and proposed "three cheers for Joe Hooker and 

the next fight," which, of course, was given with a will. It was 

a scene, one of many, in the soldier's life worthy of the artist's 

brush, but alas, how different from that in which General Berry 

was the central figure, as he lay dying on the battle-field of 

Chancellorsville on Sunday afternoon, nearly at the same hour, 

a fortniijht later. 

Fifth New York Cavalry at Ciilpcper. 

liY K. S. IUCKINSON, KIITM NKW YORK CAVAI.KV. 

Near Williamsi)ort we rested a few days and recruited our 

horses in luxurious clover fields until the thirty-first day of May, 

when an adx'ance was made across the Potomac to ascertain 

what was in our front. We surprised and drove the enemy's 

pickets through Martinsburg, capturing some plunder and a few 

of our men lost at h'ront Royal, and returned to camp on the 

north side of the Potomac, where we quietly remained until the 

fourth of June, when lânks and his whole army advanced to 

Winchester, the scene of its disaster and the insulting jeers of 

the inhabitants only a few weeks previous. The troops marched 

in with colors flying and bands playing National airs. The 

streets were deserted ; not a solitary person appeared in sight, 

but hundreds of unfriendly eyes were peering through all man- 

ner of crevices, expecting momentarily to see the torch applied 

to all i)laces whence shots had been fired and hot water thrown 

on the morning of the twenty-fifth day of May. It was known 

that there was quite a large number of good loyal people who 

would rejoice at the return of the old flag to their cit>' if the}'


dared. This knowledge accounts in a certain measure for tlic 

respect shown property. Gradually the nerve tension of the 

guilty relaxed and they began to show themselves. It was 

rather ludicrous to look at some of those trying-to-be-calm persons 

as they carried around that wish-I-hadn't looking face. The 

tables were turned. The Yanks were there and the Confederate 

army had left them to their fate. 

I'ôr a time the camp of the Fifth New York Cavalry was 

in an oak grove just to the left of the pike at Milltown, and 

comrades will remember that old mill-race just back of camp 

where we used to go down to wash our clothes, but oftencr 

to pull the shirt off over the head and search for that frolicsome 

grey-back, and with what fiendish delight we listened to that 

musical snap as a victim came in contact with two thumb nails. 

I'ôm this camp many long tedious rcconnoissances were made 

on all the roads converging at Winchester. Romney, Moorfield, 

White Sulphur Springs, Strasburg, Luray Valley and Louden 

Valley came in for their share of attention by the cavalry regi- 

ments belonging to Banks' command. The enemy's cavalry 

were often met scouting the country to annoy the Yankee pick- 

ets, capture small parties who chanced to venture outsitle of 

our videttes and to get information from their friends on the 

inside of our lines. At this stage of war citizens were at their 

homes, a[)parently conducting their own business as in times of 

peace, and were allowed to remain unmolested, guards being 

furnished to protect their persons and property from the lawless 

soldiers not imbued with the belief that conciliatory measures 

were the best to adopt towards a rebellious people who, while 

under the protecting folds of the National flag, were aiding the 

enemy as far as possible by furnishing information. The 

tmemy's cavalry were often met but nothing t^f a very serious 

nature occurred. Bushwackers being troublesome, efforts were 

made to catch them by sending out parties at night, who 

searched their homes or localities where they were harbored, 

but these expeditions were unsuccessful through the watchful- 

ness of the numerous dogs at every farmhouse barking the

J'll-Tl/ NtlV YORK CAVALRY AT CULPEPER. 241 

alarm in time for them to escape. The neirro slaves who left 

their masters seemed to know instinctively that the war was 

eventually to result in their freedom, and were always our trusted 

friends. Many arrests were made, but the secession element 

soon learned to put on a bold face and report their loyal neigh- 

bors at headcjiiarters as being connected with guerilla parties 

and thus getting them arrested, so the whole tiling was soon in a 

muddle, and about all the satisfaction derived by us was the 

pleasure of feasting on the luscious cherries near the houses 

which we surrounded. This fruit was very abundant. 

hLarly in the morning of the eighth day of July lânks' little 

army began to move out from their camps around Winchester 

in the direction of T'ront Royal, the I^'ifth being rear guard. 

The long line of tr(wps in advance of us was all that indicated 

war. The appearance of the country on all sides indicated 

{icace and prosperity. Well fenced farms and great fields ot 

wheat ready for the sickle and the workmen in the fields harvest- 

ing the crops; stalwart colored men leisurely swinging the old 

hand cradle, and the colored girls and boys taking up the grain ; 

all stopping frequently to admire the pomp and pageantry, and 

rej^l)' to the jests and friendly badinage of the passing troopers. 

This day was intensely hot, and several cases of sunstroke 

were reported, but nothing of an exciting nature occurred until 

the advance struck Front Royal, when quite a lively skirmish 

occurred, but the enemy was soon driven out in great haste and 

confusion, the Vermonters firing a few bullets at them as gentle 

persuaders to run faster, the infantry column leisurely following. 

When we of the rear guard came along the i.ihabitants had 

come out of their safe retreats where they had taken refuge to 

escape from the flying missiles, and the ladies were indidging 

freely in e.\[)letives and indignantly expressing their opinions. 

We asked if the First Vermont Cavalry had been there and 

what they did. One of them answered, with a sniff, that they 

" kept shooting at our soldiers when they were running just as 

hard as they could to get awa}'." It was ever thus with the 

h'irst Vermont Cavalry. The}' would shoot to induce the enemy 

to run and then shoot them for running;.


The column moved steadily along up the beautiful valley and 

over the Blue Ridge to Gaines's Cross Roads, and bivouacked. 

The cavalry picketed front and rear, and was so small that every 

able-bodied man was required to complete a cordon around the 

infantry. No attack, however, was made by the enemy, but a 

httle scare was occasioned by the accidental discharge of a gun 

which caused the writer to think as he sat drousing on his horse 

that he had been fired upon by a bushwhacker. The result was 

a thorough rousing of the pickets. 

As foraging in those days was strictly forbidden, we, to obe)' 

orders and please the officers, had laid in a supply of fac-simile 

confederate money. By this means we were enabled to pur- 

chase corn for our horses and warm meals for ourselves, as 

opportunity presented itself. 

On the twelfth the march was resumed in the direction of 

Culpei)er Court House where the Fifth had a skirmish. They 

charged and drove the enemy through the town, capturing 

fifteen men and a small amount of supplies left at the railroad 

depot. They succeeded in getting the train off by a margin 

of about two minutes. Among other things captured was the 

Confederate mail which had just arrived from Richmond. This 

was secured by W. G. Peckham, one of the foremost men in 

the charge, who subsequently earned and received a first 

lieutenant's commission for meritorious service and bravery. 

Among other Confederate property captured at the depot was 

a barrel of whiskey. All this property, including the whiskey, 

was stored in the Court House and a guard placed over it, the 

provost marshal's office also being in the same room with the 

barrel of whiskey. Some of the duty performed by the pro- 

vost guard was to search the house and other buildings for 

arms, rebel soldiers and contraband articles. They were suc- 

cessful in a small way in bringing to light a few small arms and 

a few soldiers. 

While we were on this duty, McClellan was retreating from 

before Richmond, and in a short time Lee would be ready to 

give his attention to the arni)^ around Culpeper. In the mail

FIFTH NFW YORK CAVALRY AT CULPEPER. 243 

captured was a letter foiiiul tlirectetl to a )'()un_i,'^ lady of Ciil- 

l)ei)er written at Kichinoiid, statiiiL^ that he, the writer, would 

be there that eveniiiLj (July I2th), giving the hour he would 

arrive and the road he would conic in on. As the youni; lady 

did not get the letter, she was not jjrepared to meet him on the 

road anil warn him of the presence of the \'ankees in Culpeuer, 

but another party was there ready to receive him. lie was at 

once taken to the provost marsiial who learned from him that 

he hail been in the battles before Richmond and followed 

McClellan's retreating army to Harrison's landing. lb: proved 

to be a scout sent from Richmond and had ridden from there 

on that day—about seventy-five miles, h^vidently he rotle a 

good horse, and was thus considered by C. W. Minor of the 

b'ifth, who rode him through several battles and skirmishes till 

the horse attracted the attention (if an officer of a Massachusetts 

regiment about to go home, when a trade was made whicii 

transferred to the Bay State the' rarer named "Old Secesh" by 

the boys. Culpcjier being the home of this gentlemanly scout 

he re(iuestetl to be allowed to \'isit his friends i)efore being sent 

away as a prisoner of war. This recpiest was granted, ami the 

writer of this article was detailetl as guard to escort him around 

among his fiientls, who were all jubilant over the success of 

their arn.y on the peninsula antl all souiuled the praise of 

McClellan. One young lady so far forgot herself as to say in 

my hearing that McClellan was worth 30.000 men to them. 

Hut I am digressing from the general trend of operations in 

and around CuIpe]K-r. I will return to the provost marshal, 

who as before stated had a barrel of whiskey under guard in his 

office. Now we had a few boys who U)ved that beverage above 

menlionctl too dearl}' for an\-thing antl would think it without 

the slightest provocation, and withal were cxceeilingly shrewd 

in devising means to obtain it ; particularly one little Irishman 

to avoid his right name we will call him Mike Maloney—whose 

fertile brain soon discovered the means and the way of access 

to the same in spite of the guard placed over the precious 

stuff. Some of his pals raided the town for a gimlet or bit,

244 THE MAINE BUG I.E. 

while he iiunle an accurate survey of the exact location of that 

barrel. A hole was made throui^h the wall on the outside 

of the buildin;^ and measurements taken on the underside of the 

floor of the Court House and a hole bored up throui,^h the floor 

and into the barrel. This incident would end here with the 

success of the thirsty soldiers but for the fact that that whiskey 

when once started throui^h the hole in tlie floor could not be 

stoi)[)ed. A plu;^ in the floor would tjnly divert the stream to 

the upi)er surface of the floor where it would cause immediate 

detection, so every canteen and canij) kettle that ctndd be 

secured was soon filled. Still the stuff kept running. There- 

fore a large cjuantity had to be drunk b}' those who k)ved it, 

while others, pressed into the service, could not well refuse to 

help save the luxury. 1 will now leave the reader to imagine 

the natural results and the look of astt)nishment and indignation 

on the face of that provost marshal when he came out of his 

office in the morning. He didn't swear, but he looked as 

though he only restrained himself for fear of lessening his 

chances of getting to heaven. It was generally thought among 

the boys that his disappointment in not getting a tlrink that 

morning, was only equalled by his astonishment at the condition 

of his company. The boys had their fun, if such i)r()ceedings 

can be classed in that categc ry, and the provost marshal and 

his guard lost their "soft snajj" and were sent back to the regi- 

ment, to meditate on the pleasures of water during the march 

on the 1 6th to Rapiv^lan k'ord in a drenching rain, where we 

remainetl over night and resumetl the march to ( )range Court 

House on the following day. 

VVc had (|uitc a lively skirmish with tlie enemy there, driving 

him from the place in the midst of a terrific thunder shower in 

which the left flanking party, under (Orderly Sergeant (W. V. 

Dye) Dye, were so blinded by the lightning flashes and sheets 

of water driv(.'n h\ the fierce gale dirt'ctly in their faces whiKmaking 

a gallant charge, that their horses ran into a ([uicksand 

hole, throwing and injuring their riders to such an extent that 

some of them fell into the enemy's hands. The rest got away

FIFTU NEW YORK' CAVALRY AT CUl.PEPER. 215 

and lliiis c.scai)cd a worse fate, for had \uA that impetuous cliart;[c 

been thus checketl, they would have been cut oil from support. 

riie rain still fell in torrents while returning to Orange Court 

House, where the regiment was reunitetl and tletails made for 

picket duty. Company A was sent to Harnett's and Company 

I'^ to take possession of and hold a bridge a few miles above, 

which sjjanncd the Rapidan. As the writer belonged to the 

latter com[)any we will follow them. it was already dark when 

we began our marcli. The sky was overcast with heavy clouds 

of an ai)proaching storm, and tlie darkness was so dense and 

black that the road could only be distinguished (.luring the fre- 

quent flashes of lightning. Silently \\>: moved along towards 

our destination. When we had gained a point near where it 

was exiêctecl to find the bridge we were to [)rotect, a sudden 

flash of lightning of more than usual brilliancy revealed to us 

a camp on either side of the roail. Sergt. Trowbridge was sent 

to ascertain who they were. The sergeant did not leturn. The 

captain still being in doubt as U) the true slate eif affairs sent 

Sergl. Sortorr to find out who they were and report back imme- 

diately. Sortore also failed lo lelurn. 

(''nr suspicions were now putty thoroughly aroused as to the 

true situation. In llie little time occ upied in waiting for Sortore 

to relui n we coidd t 

untl\' hear cummautls given in hoarse whis- 

pers to " hall in," " Right face," " I'orward march," " I'ile left," 

and we could dimly see the line forming as each lightning flash 

ilhimiii.iled the scene. It be^'an to dawn upon our minds that 

perhaps Company 1'" was in a bag, the open end of which was 

going to close. In a moment an order came to " Countermarch 

by the left flank," which we tlid as silently as possible, and stole 

awa\' just in time, as subsccpient information showed. When 

our two sergeants returned from rebel prison they explained to 

us that the enemy, when they found that a company of cavalry 

hail enteretl their camp, conceived the idea of bagging the 

whole lot, and proceeded to act in accordance with that idea, 

and had, as they thought, troops placed across our line of 

retreat and the bag closed ; but the prize had escaped in the 

darkness, being just outside the bag.


My coniradcs will rcnienibcr that in the early part of the war 

a live Yankee was considered by the Southern army as a very 

valuable thini,^ to possess, and all new rebel oriânizations just 

from their homes were anxious to tjjct some to exhibit to friends 

and relatives. All of our returned jjrisoners in the first year of 

the war reported that they were looked upon with as much curi- 

osity as some rare wild beast, and the people flocked from the 

country for miles aroimd to get a look at a real live " Yankee " 

of whom they had heard so many blood-curdliuL; tales of bar- 

barities and hideous appearance, and all expressed surprise at 

the good looks and absence of the much-dreaded horns. Well, 

we breathed more freely when we found ourselves a good dis- 

tance from the camp, although we mourned the loss of the two 

sergeants. 

At daylight in the morning we learned that nearly all of Company 

A had been captured during the night at Barnett's h'ord 

and that we were in close proximity to a large force of the 

enemy's infantry, and that we were on the wrong side of an 

angry turbulent river, whose banks were overflowing from the 

effects of the recent heavy rains, but with the help of a native 

guide a crossing was made at a ford farther down the stream 

with great difficulty; the enemy was flankeil and the march 

matle back to Culpeper. The results of this rect)nnoissance 

was against us in losses but the gain was the knowledge of the 

approach of Lee's advance and his desire to get possession 

of the fords. 

During the remainder of Jidy the regiment was almost con- 

stantly on the move, making reconnoissances in all tlirections, to 

Sperryville, Woodville and to Culpejêr Court I louse, thence 

to James Cil>\ \V'(.)lflown, antl into the Luray Valle)' b}' way 

of Swift Run Gaj) to Luray and Woodville, then back to 

Culpeper Court House, near which the camp was located in a 

pleasant oak grove. While here Gen. Hatch was removed from 

the command of the cavalry in this department, Cen. John 

lûford succeeding him. 

On the first day of August the regiment marched to Raccoon 

h\)rd where they were joined by the l-'irst Vermont Cavalry and

FIFTH NEW YORK CAVALRY AT CULPEPER. 247 

the First Michijân Cavalry. On the following day Gen. Craw- 

ford gave this force of cavalry their marching orders ; they 

moved away in the direction of Orange Court House to recon- 

noiter the force and position of the enemy supjjosed to be there. 

On api^roaching the town we could see in the distance on a 

gentle rise of ground, which partially obstructed the view of 

the little town on the road, two videttes of the enemy's outposts, 

who turned their horses and moved back as we 

approached, and were soon out of sight in the little depression 

beyond. As we gained this height, an unobstructed view of the 

single street running through the village, and the green fields 

on either side of the road, was had, but not a living thing was 

in sight. We saw, as we entered the narrow street, that the 

doors and blinds were closed and curtains drawn. All was a 

deathlike stillness. At this point a strong flanking party was 

detailed consisting of Companies G and H imder command 

of Capt. John Hammond, who dashed away with their accustomed 

gallant spirit to the left towards the Gordonsville road 

while the main column, headed by Company E of the Fifth 

New York, moved steadily along the main street. When near 

the end or its junction with the Gordpusville road the stillness 

was suddenly broken by a spirited attack by the secreted 

enemy, who appeared before us and opened a sudden fusilade 

of small-arms, accompanied by the rebel yell. The advance 

stood firm until their ammunition was exhausted ; 

then the 

whole column broke and retreated down the street, followed by 

the enemy. 

Now our flanking party got at their work in fine style. 

The main column rallied at the suburbs of the village, dashed 

back, and a spirited conflict with revolvers and carbines followed, 

while Companies G and W were having their hand-to-hand-set-to 

with sabres around the depot. A terrific fusilade was kept up 

in the main street—shots flew in every direction, killing men 

and horses to some extent though much the larger portion of 

the bullets went far above our heads, owing to the higher 

ground occupied by the enemy. Just as the enemy's front


began to waver, Capt. Hammond with his usual perception saw 

the opportune moment to inflict a telHng blow on the partially 

demoialized foe. He gave command for a charge which subse- 

quently became famous in the regiment. As he and his brave 

boys flew forward in the grand charge he cried in a clear, commanding 

voice, "Give them your hardware, boys!" The order 

was executed in the spirit in which it was given, and exhibited 

a skill that reflected credit upon their instructors and their own 

bravery. The enemy fled before these "hardware" dealers in 

confusion leaving their dead and badly wounded in our hands 

and fifty prisoners, including a major, captain and two lieuten- 

ants, who informed us that they were a part of Col. Ashby's 

old command. Owing to the near proximity of a large force 

coming from Gordonsville, it was not considered judicious to 

remain long at this point. The object of the expedition had 

been gained which was information as to the mavement of Lee's 

troops North. The cost of this encounter to the Fifth New 

York Cavalry was the loss of John Ouinn, Company G, and 

Conrad Bohrer, Company I, killed. The wounded were Corp. 

Charles A. Morris, Conipany E; Sergt. W. T. V. Low, Company 

G, and O. ^L Sergt. Archibald Fraser, Company L. 

Our cavalry now fell back across the Rapidan where we rested 

until the fourth, and then made a reconnoissance from Culpeper 

to Madison Court House, and back to the Robertson river by 

way of W'olftown and Stanards without meeting the enemy in 

force. On the seventh, formed a line of pickets along the 

Robertson river, Gen. Buford's division doing this duty above 

or west of Barnett's Ford to Robertson F"ord, while Bayard 

picketed as far below as Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan. Each 

of these cavalry generals had reported the enemy advancing 

from Orange Court House, where they had been concentrating 

for several days past. On the evening of the eighth the 

advance commenced crossing at Barnett's Ford led by Ewell's 

division. At 9.45 

.\. M. on the ninth. Gen. Banks received 

orders from Gen. Pope, then present in person, with head- 

quarters at Culpeper, to move his division to the front and

SIXTH MAINE BATTEKY BEFORE PETERSBURG. 249 

immediately assume command of all forces, attack immediately 

and be reinforced frum here (Culpeper). These orders were 

promptly executed. During the afternoon we could distinctly 

hear the heavy artillery firing with occasional intervals of quiet, 

between which the roar and rattle of musketry was terrific, 

indicating that the battle was on and that Banks' little division 

of seventy-five hundred men was hard pressed by Jackson's 

twenty-five thousand. 

[ To be Cotilinudii.^ 

The Sixth Maine Battery before Petersburg. 

HY JAMES E. RIUHiES. 

In the siege of Petersburg from June i6th, 1864, to the final 

capture, April 3d, 1865, the Sixth Maine Battery took a very 

active part, having been in some part of the line nearly all of the 

time, but mainly in two positions. The afternoon and night of 

June 1 6th we were engaged in advancing the line to near the 

O'Hare house*, and the eighteenth took position just in front 

of the house and near some outbuildings in the oak grove partly 

surrounding the house. We occupied this position about 9 .\. M. 

with no support except a skirmish line of the First United 

States Sharpshooters, and none of them in front of our guns. 

We were just to the left of the Prince George Court House road 

where the First Maine Heavies formed for the charge in the 

afternoon. The sharpshooters, with our aid, kept the enemy 

well down, behind their works and they did not develop the 

strength of their line until compelled to. We had several men 

killed and wounded during the day, as it was a very exposed 

position, and with our losses the sixteenth, and previously during 

the campaign, we were considerably short handed to man 

our four guns. However, we kept the enemy in mind that a 

twelve-pound batttery was in position there by giving them a 

round of canister and shell now and then. 

They had but one piece of artiller\- on that line that I am 

aware of, notwithstanding the published accounts that their line


" bristled with cannon every fifteen to twenty feet." Tliis piece 

they did not fire but a very few times, and not once in our 

direction durini,^ the infantry chariê, but fired canister at us 

afterwards. 

At 4 1'. M. the Third Division, Second Corps, formed in our 

rear and on our right in three hues of battle, to charge the lines 

in our front. They commenced their cheer when they started 

and before they came in sight of the enemy, who stood up in 

their works and showed themselves to u", in very heavy ranks. 

When our infantry got in line with our guns the enemy gave 

them a terrible volley which killed and wounded many of them. 

This seemed to stagger them and it was hard work to get them 

to advance in front of our position. Some of them did attempt 

it, but the most of them swarmed around our guns like a regu- 

lar mob. In the meantime the First Maine Heavy was attempt- 

ing to get across the cornfield on our right, but as they had no 

support they could not carry the line alone and were obliged to 

return the best they could, leaving about three-ciuarters of their 

number in killed and wounded. The infantry in our front made 

several attempts to advance and would make a very good start, 

but the leaders would soon find that their following was small 

and then they would run back. This continued for perhaps ten 

minutes and then they all made a bolt for the rear, leaving us 

all alone. As soon as the infantry got well out of the way the 

First United States Sharpshooters came up again and took their 

old positions and opened fire rapidly, and we opened also, which 

kept the rebels down, and they did not make any attempts to 

countercharge as we feared they would. 

We lost this day in killed Ord. Sergt. James A. Pray, who 

was acting second lieutenant and whose commission as such 

came the next day, and private Reuel W. Annis. Bugler W'm. 

G. Brown, who was assisting at the guns, was mortally wounded 

and several others seriously wounded and lost to the battery. 

E. E. Brown carries a bullet in his shoulder to this day that he 

got there. 

After our charge was repulsed about six in the afternoon four 

Cohorn mortars were brought in, to relieve us, and opened fire,

SIXTH MAINE RATTER y BE/OA'E PETERSBURG. 251 

which nuist have been new business to the rebels as the shells 

(twenty-four pounders) woukl drop behind their works and 

burst, throwin

262 "t^nk Maine bUgLK. 

A signal station was in a tall tree inside of the fort, and the 

operators were driven out of it twice while we were there by 

shots from the picket lines. They fortified the tree as well as 

possible, but even then it was too warm for them at times. A 

new negro regiment, moving down the lines, marched into the 

Jerusalem Road a short distance to the rear of Fort Hell 

and in front of Davis. As they came in sight of Fort Mahone 

it opened on them with shell, wounding a few of them. They 

were quickly demoralized and made a run for the rear, throwing 

away guns and knapsacks, which were quickly gathered in by 

the infantry and our boys. One of the negroes, who was slightly 

wounded in the ankle by a piece of shell was making a great 

fuss over it when one of the re-enlisted veterans of a Jersey 

regiment said, " Oh, shut up; Fd give a hundred dollars for 

that in a minute." 

We moved from this place (October 22d, and went around to 

the right, two guns going into Fort McGilvery and two into 

Battery No. 9. Fort McGilvery was about a half-mile from the 

Appomattox river, the extreme right of our lines fronting 

Petersburg. This fort was named for our former captain, who, 

at the time of his death was chief of artillery in the Tentii 

Corps. I was not stationed in Fort McGilvery but visited there 

often. They received no infantry fire but a plenty of mortar 

and other artillery fire and it was rather a disagreeable place at 

times as they had no bomb proofs. Battery No. 9 was about 

two hundred yards to the left of Fort McGilvery and about five 

hundred to the right of Fort Steadman. It was in an angle of 

the line and projected beyond the main line, so that the i>icket 

lines on each side of it did not connect in front except by 

videttes on very dark nights. It was feared that the enemy 

would mine this battery, and a countermine was sunk running 

under it in which an infantry guard was kept all of the time, a 

ramrod was driven into the ground and one of them would put 

his car to it occasionally, while another had a small hole fillet! 

with water, which he would measure. No attempt however 

was ever made to mine it, to my knowledge, although we had

SIXTH MAINE BATTERY BEFORE PETERSBURG. 253 

rumors often that it was minctl and would Ijc blown up at a 

certain hour. 

Our men and officers all lived in bomb proofs and I cannot 

better describe it than (juotc from "Maine in the War." 

"Battery No. 9, where was stationed the left section, an irre

254 ^^^^ MAINE BVGLt. 

lines were well studded with mortars and the shells with burnini^ 

fuse looked like sky rockets. Battery No. 5 down on the river 

tisually started the ball and then we, farther up the line, would 

get the benefit. 

Goose Neck and Chesterfield rebel batteries of twenty and 

thirty-two pounders across the river had a complete flank fire 

on our line up to Fort Steadman, and when they opened we 

usually had to hunt our holes unless we were obliged to open on 

our front, but we were not supposed to open unless Colquits Sali- 

ent opposite Fort Steadman, which we called at the time Spring 

Hill, opened on our lines. 

In the ravine of Harrison's Creek in rear of No. 9 was a large 

number of cooks for the various regiments in the line and also 

some sutlers who were doing a thriving business, skinning the 

boys, whose appetites for their goods was appeased only to the 

extent of their cash and credit for checks issued by them. One 

night a furious cannonade took place on the line and about all 

of the missiles, which passed over the front line, would find 

their way to this ravine. One of them got rattled and scooted 

for the rear. He buried some of his canned goods, etc., in the 

bank, but left his tent and balance of goods to the tender mer- 

cies of the cooks quartered there. He returned the next day 

to find everything gone but his tent. He rolled that up and 

said he would send a team after it that night. The team came 

but in the meantime the cooks had stolen the tent also. 

We remained in this place four months and twenty-three days 

and were relieved the night of March 15th, 1865, by two guns 

of the Nineteenth New York Battery, but Batteries C and I of 

the United States Artillery were there the morning of the twenty- 

fifth, when the enemy broke through between No. 9 and Fort 

Steadman and came near gaining quite a victory, but were driven 

back with a loss of about twenty-five hundred men in prisoners, 

etc., anrl the lines re-established by nine o'clock in the forenoon. 

At this time we were near the tall frame signal station, some 

seven to eight miles to the left of Petersburg, where we expected 

to join our corps, but as it happened we never saw the Second 

Corps again until the grand review in Washington.

THE HATTLF. op TI/E PINES. 255 

Wc were put into the line at Fort Welch to support a charge 

of the Sixth Corps on the south side of the railroad the morn- 

ing of April 2nd, which was successful, and it compelled the 

evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. After the line was 

broken we were ordered back to Petersburg to assist the Ninth 

Corps, who were trying to capture the entrenchments in front 

of Fort liell. We were too late to he of any assistance as the 

city was captured before we got there. Our men and horses 

were ordered into the captured lines to get the ammunition out 

of the magazines and we hauled out ten of the abandoned guns. 

None of the rebel dead had been buried ; they were scattered 

around in all directions, and every one of them had their pockets 

turned wrong side out, showing that someone had given them 

attention. 

This ended our active service as we did not follow the army 

to Appomattox, but went into camp on the City Point road, 

where we remained until we started for home May 3d, arrived 

in Augusta June 7th, and discharged the 17th. 

Note.—Comrade Rhoilcs visited the localities descril>ed in this article in the (all of 

1S92, and will, in a future issue, give the present appearance of these historic .ijrcmiKls. 

— Ei). 

The Battle of the Pines. 

Come all ye jâllant heroes who now are under arms, 

Who wore the robe of hattle, the llnion uniform, 

Come listen to my ditty while I sing you a few lines 

In jiraise of Casey's heroes at the 1 'attic of the I'ines. 

It was on the 31st of May, about the hour of one, 

The rebel force from Kichmontl came ]iroudly marching on 

With overwhelming numbers; 'twas plainly their design 

To crush the gallant Casey ami penetrate our line. 

The hilltops and the valleys with rebels seemed to swarm. 

And dashing down ujjon our camps scarce giving us time to form; 

l>ul round the lianner of the Free we rallied with three cheers, 

.\nd with blow for blow we met the foe like Yankee volunteers. 

The venerable old Casey seemed in his prime again : 

With sword in hand he faced the foe and cheered his sjallant men.

25G THE MAINE BUGLE. 

" Stand linn, my Ixiys," the veteran cries, " although they're six to one 

We'll slinw them that the N'ankte i>()ys from ilanjêr never run." 

This fjallant force was soon exposed to front and llankiiif^ lire, 

And when overwhelmed by numbers reluctantly retired. 

And uith the jjreatest valor fouf^ht desperately their {ground. 

While shot and shell around them, fast dealing death anrl wounds. 

In praise of Casey's heroes too much cannot be said 

Although it was reported that they so badly lied; 

For full four hours they fought the foe, till half their men were slain 

\\m\ held the rebel force in check till re-enforcements came. 

Long live his brave artillery; their work was nobly done. 

They neither lied nor faltered, but nobly worked their guns; 

Upon the rebel column their iron hail they poured, 

Plowing furrows through their ranks and mowing them down in scores. 

All honor to l>rave Casey, all honor to his men 

Who against a far superior force so nobly did contend; 

They bore the brunt of battle, they won for us the day, 

And million voices shout the praise of Casey's gallant men. 

A Rebuttal to Captain Bliss' Review of Aldie. 

IIY MAJOR Ill'-.NKV C. HAM., I'IRST MAINK CAVAI.KV. 

The article of Capt. Bliss in the April number of the Buc.LE 

in relation to the cavalry action at Aldie, June 17th, 1863, 

seems to call for a rejjl}' from some member of the I^îrst Maine 

Cavalry, who was present on that memorable field and had a 

part in that severe cavalry contest. Capt. l^liss be

Major j/all's reI'Iew of ai.die. 267 

siipjjort his corrected impressions. What then is the basis 

of his article? what tlie premises by which he readies liis 

strange conchisions? Why, Confederate statements made from 

recollection nearly a quarter of a century after the incidents to 

which they relate were enacted. 

Now it seems to me that if Cai)t. Bliss had designed and 

desired to write accurate and reliable history he would ha\'e 

given, at least, equal space and equal prominence to official 

Union reports of that action with Confederate statements made 

from memory so many years aftervvard, and then, if he found 

a[)parent differences or disagreements, he would have tried to 

harmonize them, and if unable to do so to have stated the 

points of difference or disagreements clearly, as he is evidently 

able to do, and let his readers decide the (juestions of fact. 

And yet I am unwilling to believe that so brave and accom- 

[ilished an officer as Ca[)t. I^liss is reputed to have been would 

willfully or designedly write and publish an article, that reflects 

so much discredit upon the honor and integrity of the officers 

who wrote the reports of that action on the Union side without 

some honorable and worthy motive, but I confess I am unable 

to divine his purpose, unless it be to provoke discussion whereby 

all the facts and incidents of that important action may be laid 

bare in tne interest of truth and impartial history. I will 

assume, for the purposes of this article, that I have guessed his 

purpose and that it is as I have indicated. 

Now he has put in his side of the case and rested, I will l)egin 

by calling a few witnesses. I will call Gen. I). McM. Gregg, 

who commanded the Second Cavalry Division on the day in 

question. Gen. Gregg says in his re[)ort of that action, " Mov- 

ing to the front I found the Second Brigade engaged with a 

superior force. The necessity for re-enforcements being appar- 

ent, the First Maine Regiment was ordered to report to Gen. 

Kilpatrick. This regiment moved to the front, charged the 

enemy at the critical moment, and in connection with the regi- 

ments of the Second l^rigade which had been charging the 

cnem}' and receiving his charges, drove the cncviy from the field

258 T^fP- MAINE BUGLE. 

(italics mine) inflicting upon him severe loss in killed, wounded 

and prisoners. The enemy, strongly posted and in superior 

force to Kilpatrick's brigade, seemed determined to repossess 

himself of the town, but the gallant charges of the Second and 

Fourth New York, the First Massachusetts, Sixth Ohio and 

First Maine and the well directed fire of Randol's Battery were 

more than enough to make him fail in this and covtfcl his flight 

to the hills beyond. 

Gen. J. Irving Gregg, commanding Second Brigade, Second 

Division, says, " About six o'clock I sent the First Maine." 

Gen. Charles H. Smith, then lieutenant-colonel of the First 

Maine, in his report says, " A portion of this regiment led by 

Col. Douty, charged, turned the enemy and (\rove hivi from the 

hill and his stronghold among the stone walls. The regiment 

rained the position, secured our wounded, collected the trophies 

of the field, and were burying the dead when relieved, just 

before dark." 

James Canwell, of Company H, First Maine Cavalry, a mod- 

est but brave and reliable soldier, was carried into the Confed- 

erate ranks on our charge by his strong-headed horse, which he 

was unable to control, and he consequently became a prisoner. 

After his exchange and return to his company he related to me 

the circumstances of his capture and voluntarily stated in rela- 

tion to the mounted force whom the First Maine charged that 

" they ran more than two miles from where we struck them," 

and " I never saw men so badly frightened as they appeared 

to be." 

It seems unnecessary for me to take the stand or to add any- 

thing to the foregoing reports and statements of men of unques- 

tioned honor and integrity, who were present on that field and 

had a part in the action which they shortly after reported to 

their superior officers. I will state, however, that I was in my 

place that day and yet retain a very vivid recollection of what 

transpired there. 1 wrote the article in our history on the First 

Maine at Aldie, attributed to me, in the winter following the 

close of the war, entirely from memor)-, and now, after so many

MAJOR HALL'S REVIEW OF ALDIE. 259 

years in whicli I have had recourse to official, reports and docu- 

ments, I have no desire to alter or amend that article in any 

important i)articular. I will also add that when we struck the 

victorious enemy, they were driving Kilpatrick's men in confu- 

sion from the field but our blow was so bold, so sudtlen and 

apparently so une\i)ected that even those brave men in the van, 

whom we hrst met, hesitated but an instant and tiien turned on 

the run to their rear. The jôint where we struck them was on 

the Snicker's Gap Road a short distance from its intersection 

with the Middlebur,!4 Pike, and we pursued them on the iâllop 

to those fatal walls where so many of our brave men had already 

fallen. Gen. Smith, who has been over the field within a few 

years, assures me that the distance from the point where we 

struck them to those walls is " a good mile." 

I am sure that no mounted Confederate was seen again that 

day after our charge on our sitle, the Aklie sitle, of those walls, 

and I am eciually sure that the dismounted C(jnfetleiates, l)chind 

the walls and fences from which they had emi)tied so many 

Union saddles during the engagement, held their position with 

a courage and tenacity worthy of men engaged in a better cause 

and were not routeil until Major Boothby, reinforced by the bat- 

talion untler Lieut. -Col. Smith, succeeded in getting on their left 

Hank and rear when they suddenly left the field. 

I might adduce other testimony to the same effect as the 

above, but, as it would be only cumulative, I desist. I desire to 

very briefly review the evidence Capt. Bliss presents to " correct 

the impression that the rebel cavalry was forced from the pass 

by the Union troops." He first presents Major McClellan who 

wasn't th«re and is, therefore, personally as ignorant of the sub- 

ject matter of which he writes as Capt. l^liss himself Indeed, 

at that very time he was being chased out of Middleburg. miles 

away, by Capt. Bliss and his gallant Rhode Islanders. He says 

Gen. Stuart sent an order to Gen. Mumford to withdraw, and 

from that fact, which no one disputes, he argues that Mumford, 

victorious, voluntarily or in pursuance of such order, retired 

from the field— a purely presumptive piece of e\'idencc which

260 TlfP- MAINE BUGLE. 

would have no weight nor place in a court of law, nut even in 

a police court, but we will admit it and let the jury, the many- 

readers of the BlKJLK, determine its relevancy and value. 

He next calls Capt. Robertson who carried the order from 

Gen. Stuart to Gen. Mumford. It will be remembered that 

Capt. Bli.ss states in his account of the action of his reiîment 

at Middleburg that "At four i-. M. our troops struck pickets 

and charged them at once, driving Stuart and his staff out of 

IMiddleburg." Capt. Robertson says, "Shortly afterwards (after 

Stuart had been driven out of Middleburg) Gen. .Stuart called 

me and gave me the following order to Mumford." And further 

on he says, "Less than an hour afterward (after he had received 

the order) these orders were given you (Mumford) at yXldic' 

and, as I remember, quite late in the evening. I found you 

(Mumford) sharply engaged but recall no impression of the 

enemy's pressing or having anything to do with your falling 

back, which of course immediately followed my order from 

Stuart." Now, at four \\ M. Stuart was driven out of Middle- 

burg and "shortly afterwards" Capt. Robertson started with the 

order to Mumford which, he says, he delivered in "less than an 

hour." "Less than an hour" added to "shortly afterwards" 

after four 1'. M.— would make the time about 5 l'. M. when 

Mumford received the order at Aldie and, "of course, imme- 

diately" retired from the field. Gen. J. L'ving (iregg says, 

"About six I'. M. I sent the 1^'irst Maine." I shoukl state the 

time wiien we charged as late as six-thirt)- 1'. M. When Gen. 

Irving Gregg says "about six l'. M. I sent the P'irsl Maine" he 

J. 

undoubtedly means to be understood that "about" that lime he 

gave the order. When we received the order we were halted 

and alone east of .\ldie and Little River. After we received 

the order we moved leisurely across the stone arch bridge, 

through Aldic and were some little distance up the left bank 

of the river when we were ordered "P'ours right about" in haste 

and moved back across the Middleburg Pike and up over the 

hill where two guns of Randol's batter)' were posted and 

engaged. We formed in column of squadrons to the left and

MAJOR IIALLS REVIEW OF A I. DIE. 261 

front of Randol's ljuiis from which jjoiiit \vc charged. Now I 

feci safe in statini; that fully thirty minutes elapsed from the 

time we left our i)osition east of Aklie to the time we set out on 

the chartê which would brin^ the latter time to six-thirty 1'. M. 

Hut Capt. Bliss and Capt. Robertson, as we have seen, make 

the time when Gen. Mumfortl "of course, immediately" left the 

field, at about five I'. M. 

Now if Capt. Bliss and Capt. Robertson are even appro.xi- 

nialely correct as to the time Mumford retiretl he must have 

been sône at least an hour when the h'irst Maine arrived on the 

field and that, consetjuently, the h'irst Maine had no part in the 

fii;ht and we have been laborini^ under a delusion all these 

years. But Capt. Robertson alst) states, "These orders were 

given you (Mumft^rtl) at Aldie and, as I remember, quite late 

in the evenini^." If "(jiiite late in the evenin^r" means about 

sunset, later than seven I'. M., the time when Mumford's dismounted 

men were fiuxetl from their stronghold of w.dls ami 

fences, the order could not have been delivered at Aldu\ for 

there had not been a mounted Confederate seen within a mile 

(;f Aldie on the .Snicker's (iap road by which Cen. Mumford 

says he retired, from the time they retired in haste before the 

I^'irst Miiine to and beyond those fatal walls which Gen. Smith 

says were ".i s^nxxl mile" from where we struck them and from 

where James Canwell says "they rcUi more than two miles." I 

think Capt. Bliss should inform the readers of the BUGLK at 

what time Gen. Mumford really received Gen. Stuart's orders 

ami "of course, immediately" retired from the held. I am 

unable to determine from his arlicle. Was it about five 1'. M., 

when, according to his and Capt. Robertson's statements, 

Stuart's order-, were delivered to Mumford at Aldie, and more 

than an hour before the First Maine reached the field? Was it 

at about si.\-thirty I'. M. when Mumford's whole mounted force, 

in niy estimation two regiments, retired in haste for "a good 

mile," and as Canwell who involuntarily went. with thinn says, 

"more than two miles," and were not seen again that day? 

Or, was it "quite late in the evening," when Maj. Boothby,

262 77/i5: MAINE BUGLE. 

reinforced by Lieut. -Col. Smith's battalion and also by a por- 

tion of the First Massachusetts that had rallied and returned to 

the flight, Lôt in on the left flank and rear of Muniford's dismounted 

men and threatened their cai)ture? If he received 

Stuart's order at Aldie, he did not "of course, immediately" 

retire for we ft)und him there in force within a few yards of the 

muzzles of Randol's iûns as late as si.x-thirty r. M. If he 

received the order at six-thirty i'. M. he only withdrew his 

mounted men, and them somewhat hastily, as we have seen, for 

we were enL;a

SOLDIERS FROM LEE. 268 

Soldiers from Lee, Penobscot County. 

I\ rilK WAR OF 'II IE KlillELLIOX. 

liV MAJiiK C. .1. HOrsK, AUGCSTA, MAINE. 

The followinj^f is a complete list of Lcc men who served in 

tlie late war. It inchules no residents of other towns who may 

have gone to fill that town's quota but docs include all who 

were actual residents of Lee at the time of their enlistment, 

whether going for Lee or some other town. Keith and Moody 

were Province men who were making their home there as labor- 

ers. The fact that King was a resident of Lee has been ques- 

tioned, but I have positive proof that he was living there with 

his family six months at least before he enlisted and the further 

fact that he was enrolled there as he was drafted from that town 

a few months after enlistment. All the others were well known 

old residents. The name, highest rank attained and the organ- 

ization or organizations in which they served are given, an-d the 

casualties, such as killed, wounded, died, prisoner or died in 

prison are all noted. This list has been made with the utmost 

care, not only by getting all the information possible from the 

records at Augusta but by personal interviews in most cases 

either with the soldier or his relatives and friends. I have been 

personally acquainted with every man on the list excepting 

Ilanscomb. Keith, Moody and Whitney. 

N'oTK..— It may be well to add, the population of Lee in i860 was 937, the number 

of polls was 231. The numher in above list is 109. Members of the P'irst Maine 

Cavalry in the above list have their full record in the pages of their history as given. 

The history is in error concerning Wni. ll. Thurlow; 

Oct. 13, 1864— grave Xo. 1 102.—Kn. 

he died in Danville prison, 

Annis, Jotham S., (orpl.Co. l>, iith Me. Inf.: wounded. 

.\verill, Nathan, Sgt. Co. H, nth Me. Inf. 

Harnes, Ira, I'vt. Co. I, i6th Me. Inf. 

Harnes, James A., I'vt. Co. K. 1st Me. Hvy. Arty.; wounded; later killed. 

Hartlett, Uartimus. I'vt. Co. I), nth Me. Inf.; died. 

Bartlett, Emerson, I'vt. Co. E, ist Me. Hvy. .Vrty.; killed.


Bartlclt, William, Pvt. Co. I), nth Mc. Inf. and Co. K, 1st Mc. Hvy. Art.; woundeil. 

Blanchard, David D., Pvt. Co. E, ist Mc. Cav. Hist. y. 532. 

Bowler, Joseph S., ist l.icul. Co. K, 22(1 Mc. Inf. ami Co. K. iilii Mc. Inf. 

Bradford, Ira, U. S. Navy. 

Burke, Charles II., Pvt. Co. I), nth Me. Inf. and Co. I), Sth Me. Inf.; wdunde.l. 

lUirke, Joseph W., ist I.ieut. 6th Me. Battery; wounded. 

Carver, .Vlonzo, Pvt. Co. I), iilh Me. Inf.; \v(ninded. 

Cleaveland. C'harles A., Pvt. Co. A, 1st Me. Cav.; died in ])rison. Hist. p. 471. 

Cleavcland, Elisha B., Sergt. Co. A, ist Me Cav. Hist, p 46S. 

Cleaveland, William H., Cor])l.Co..'\, 1st Me. Cav. ; twice ])risoner; wounded. I list. p.4(>i) 

Clifford, Benjamin ,V., Pvt. Co. D, 2d U. S. Shar])shooters; transferred to (!o. A, 

17th Me. Inf. 

Clifford. Daniel, Pvt. Co. K, 22d Me. Inf. and Co. C, 1st Me. Hvy. /\rly. 

Clifford, Robert, Pvt. Co. .V, 1st Me. Hvy. Arty. 

Cobb, Leonard, Pvt. Co. F, glh Me. Inf. 

Colli). Philip, Pvt. Co. P., nth Mc. Inf. 

Collins, Josiah C, Pvt. Co. D, nth Mc. Inf ;ind Co. I, if.th Mc. Inf. 

Crandlemire, William, Pvt. Co. K, 2d Mc Inf. also (xUas Willuun I'ilicld same Co. 

Daniels, John E., Pvt. Co. K, 1st Me. Cav. liisl. ji. 620. 

Delano, Daniel S., Pvt. Co. C, 15th Me. Inf. 

Doble, William. Pvt. C.>. I, nth Me. Inf. 

Donnell, Roland 11 , Pvt. Co. II, 1st Mc. Hvy. .Arty.; dieil. 

Douglass, Charles .\., Pvt. 61I1 Mc. P.attcry. 

Dunham, P>artimus, Pvt. Co. P., nth Me. Inf. 

Estes, Orrin C., Pvt Co. M, 2d Me. Cav.; died. 

Field, Bohan, ist Sgt. Co. F, 1st Me. Cav. Hist. p. 528. 

Field, Frank, Pvt. Co. II. 19th Me. Inf. 

Field, George E., Sgt. Co. (J, 2d Me. Inf. an.l Co. 1., 2d Mc. Cav. 

Foss, Pienjamin K , Pvt. Co. A, ist Mc Cav.; prisimcr. 

Foss, Charles M., Pvt. Co. I), nth Me. Inf.. also alun William Morrill Co. D. 

i6th Me. Inf. 

Foss, Silas S. Pvt. Co. — . 1st D.C.Cav.; transferred to Co. E, ist Me. Cav. Hist. p. 534 

Gatchell, Charles A.. Pvt. Co. !•:, 1st Me. Hvy. .\rty. 

Gatchell, Ludovic ()., Corpl. Co. K, ist Mc. Hvy. .\rty; died. 

Gilford, Thomas I!., Sgt. Co. A, 1st Me. Hvy. .\rty.; wounded and ])risoner. 

Gilman, Joseph R. M., I'nassigned Recruit fur 12th Mc. Inf. 

Green, Nathan. Pvt. Co. I. 6th Me Inf. and Co. — . — Minn. Inf. 

Green, William, PvtCn. II. nth Mc. Inf.; wouikUiI. 

Ilanscomb, .Vbner, Pvt. Co. .V, 1st Mc. Sharpshooters; transferred to Co. .A. 

20th Mc. Inf. 

Hanson, Cyrus A., Pvt. Co. G, 2d Me. Inf and I'nassigned Recnnt for 12th Me. Inf. 

Hanson, Horace F., Sgt. Co. G, 2d Me. Inf. 

Harding, Frank W., Pvt. Co. H, 3d M.. Inf.; killed. 

Harding, Joseph, Pvt. Co. I, nth Me. inf 

Harmon. Ira C, Pvt. Co. F, nth .Me. Inf. 

Hayes, Michael, Pvt. Co. H, 1st D. C. Cav. and Co. K, 1st Mc. Cav.; dicil in jirisoii. 

Hist. ]). 622.

SOLDIERS FROM LEE. 265 

House, Charles J., ist Lieut. Cos. Y., C and G, isl Me. Ilvy. Arty; twice wuundeil. 

House, (}eor{je W., I'vt.Co. I, 6lh Me. Inf. and Co. D, 8th U. S. Veteran Inf; wounded. 

House Matthew I'., I'vt. Co. I), nth ^re. Inf, and Co. I. 51I1 U. S. Veteran Inf.; 

]irisoner. 

Ininan, Horatio W., I'vt. Co. 1), i6th Me. Inf. 

Jackson, William G., I'vt. Co. H, 1st Me. Hvy. Arty.; killed. 

Johnson, Charles K., I'vt. Co. 15, 8th Me. Inf. 

Johnson, Stephen M., I'vt. 19th Co. Unassiyned Me. Inf. 

Jordan, Thomas M , I'vt. Co. I, lith Me. Inf. 

Keith, George, Pvt. Co. K, 8th Me. Inf. 

King, Sylvester, I'vt. Co. L, 1st Me. Hvy. .\rty. 

Kneeland, Charles II., Pvt. Co. D, i6th Me. Inf. 

Knights. Willard, Corpl. Co. A, Ist Me. Hvy. Arty, and Co. M. 31st Me. Inf. 

Lancaster, Henjamin, I'vt. C. .\. 1st Me. Sharpshcjotcrs ; wounded. 

Lowell, Horace II., Corpl. Co. .\, 1st Me. Cav.; twice prisoner. Hist. p. 469. 

Ludden, John K., Pvt.Co.A, 1st Me. Sharjjshooters; transferred to Co.A, 20th Me Inf. 

Mallett, Howard, Pvt. Co. D, i6th Me. Inf.; died. 

Mallett, Samuel T., Pvt. Co. G, 2d Me. Inf.; transferred to Co. C. 20tli Me. Inf. 

Merrill. Charles IL, Pvt. Co. D, nth Me. Inf. 

Moody, John I'vt. Co. — , 17th J., U. S. Inf. 

Morton. Ilosea ()., Sgt. Co. I), 6th Me. Inf. transferred to Co. K. isl Me. Vet. Inf. 

Murphy, James .\., Copl. Co. K, 2d Me. Inf. and Co. H, ist I). C. Cav.; transferred 

to Co. K, 1st Me. Cav.; died in ])rison. Hist. p. 615. 

Xealey, Charles II., I'vt. 19th Co. Unassigned Me. Inf. 

Norton, Simon L., I'vt. Co. I), 4th Me. lid;, transferred to Co. 1 ). I9lii Me. Inf.; 

wounded. 

Patterson, John .\., Pvt. Co. H, new organization, I2tli Me. Inf. 

Patterson, Kufus K., I'vt. Co. II, new organization, 12th Me. lid. 

Peacock, Jesse J , Pvt. Co. K, Ist Me. Hvy. .\rty. ; died. 

Poole, Thomas J., Pvt. Co. F, 12th Me. Inf. 

Potter, Charles .\., Pvt. Co. F, 9th Me. Inf. 

Randall, Henry F., 1st Sgt. Co. I!, nth Me. Inf. 

Keed, John P., Wagoner Co. K, nth Me. Inf.; died. 

Reed, Levi M., Pvt. Co. n, I9lh Me. Inf.; transferred to Co. II, ist Me. Hvy. 

Arty.; wounded. 

Ricker, IJrainard .\., Pvt. Co. K, nth Me. Inf. 

Ricker, Josejjh G.. Com. Sgt. nth Me. Inf. (formerly wagoner in Co. K.) 

Ricker. Moses, Pvi. Co. E, 22d Me. Inf.; died. 

Riggs, Seth IL. Pvt. Co. 15, nth Me. Inf.; wounded. 

Robinson, George S., Pvt. Co. D, nth Me. Inf.; died. 

RoUin.s, Pcnjamin W., Pvt. (a). F, Ist Me. Hvy. Arty.; wounded. 

Rollins, Richard M., Pvt. 6th Me. Battery; also alias John Hook, Co. P, 12th 

Me. Inf.; died. 

Royal, Joseph C, Pvt. Co. I, 7th Me. Inf. 

.Salter, Seth T., Corpl. Co. H. nth Me. Inf. and Co. F, I5tl) Me. Inf. 

Sprague, William, Sgl.Co.,\, 1st Me. Sharpshooters; transferred to Co.,\, 20lh Me. Inf. 

Stajdes, Ilolman, Pvt. Co. E, ist Me. Hvy. -Vrty. ; killed.


Staples, Wentworth, Pvt. Co. 1 ), iilh Me. Inf. and Co. t, 1st Mc. Ilvy. Arty ; wounded. 

Thomas, Converse, I'vl. Co. H, 1st Me. I Ivy. Arty.; twice wounded. 

Thomas, James A., I'vt. Co. C, 7th Me. Inf.; killed. 

Thomas, Oscar, Pvt. Co. K, 2d Me. Inf.; transferred to Co. I. 20lh Mu. Inf.; prisoner. 

Thomas, Samuel .\ , IVt. Co. H, ist Me. Ilvy. .\rty.; ununded. 

Thompson, Charles 1)., Pvt. Co. A, 1st Me. Cav.; died in prison. Hi.-,l p. 477. 

Thompson, Samuel A., Pvt. Co. .\, ist Me. Cav. Hist. ]>. 477. 

Thurlow, Charles, Pvt. Co. E, ist Me. Hvy. Arty; died. 

Thurlow, Henry J., Corpl. Co. E, 22d Me. Inf. and Co. — , ist 1). C. Cav.; trans- 

ferred to Co. M, 1st Me. Cav. Hist. ]>. 649. 

'Ihurlow. Jonas C., Pvt. Co. G, 8th Me. Inf. 

Thurlow, William H., Pvt. Co. — , isl I). C. Cav.; transferred to Co. M, Ist Me. 

Cav.; died in ])rison. Hist. p. 655. 

Tobin, Samuel L., Pvt. Co. C, 8th Me. Inf. 

Tuck, Charles II., Pvt. Co. K, 1st Me. Cav.; Hist. p. 627; and Co. 1", 171I1 Me. 

Inf.; wounded. 

Tuck, Enoch L., Pvt. Co. F, I2tli Me. Inf.; prisoner, exchanjêd, ilied. 

Tucker, George M., Pvt. Co. F, if>lh Me. Inf.; died in prison. 

Tucker, George P., Pvt. Co. K, 1st Me. Cav. Hist. ]>. O27. 

Tucker, Philemon, Pvt. Co. E, 22(1 Me. Inf. 

Whitney, Charles P.., Pvt. Co. II, 19th Me. Inf.; killed. 

Reunion of the Thirteenth Maine Association 

The reunion of Gen. Dow'.s old Thirteenth Maine Regiment 

Association in Bethel July 

i ith, 1894, was the largest gathering 

of the regiment since its muster out in 1865. Mighty-nine tick- 

ets were sold in the Portland office alone. Many of the boys 

took along their wives to enjoy the occasion. Judge Enoch 

Foster met the association at the depot and escorted the crowd 

to the square where ranks were broken, the ladies stopping at 

the licthel House, and the boys congregating in squads on the 

grass telling stories that brought up old associations. The 

transportation [bills were paid V)y Captain Robbins H. Grover. a 

very generous act for " Rob " to do, and the bo)'s fully ap[)re- 

ciated it. 

At about one o'clock all fell in line and proceeded to Odeon 

Hall, where tables were set to accommodate the number present, 

one hundred and seventy-nine. It is enough to say that G. D. 

Robinson of Portland was the caterer. The menu was printed 

on a common manilla tag. On one side was the following:

REUNION OF THE riURTEENTII MAINE. 267 

Rub-a-dub dub 

DINNKR CALL. 

Fall in for grub, 

We are the people I 

Don't you wish you was us? 

This tag entitles you to full rations. 

Sic Semper I'idelis Paregoric AUegator. 

Reunion Thirteenth Maine Regiment Association, I'ethel, July nth, 1S94. 

On the other side was the following: 

MKNL'. 

Haked 15eans. Brown Bread. 

Ham. Turkey. Tongue. 

Lobster Salad. Chicken Salad. Salmon Salad. 

Cucumbers. Pickles. Radishes. ( )live8. 

Cake. 

I'.ananas. Strawberries and Cream. Oranges. 

Strawb.erry Ice Cream. Vanilla Ice Cream. Chocolate Ice Cream. 

Raspiierry Sherbet. Orange Sherbet. 

Tea. Coffee. 

Judge Fo-ster footed the bills for the bountiful dinner, to which 

the- bo)'s did fidl justice. After all had satisfied the inner man, 

President Groxcr introduced Judge Foster to make an after-din- 

ner speech, which he did in his C)wn happy way, setting the 

boys into roars of laughter. He welcomed the association to 

Bethel and offered the freedom of the beautiful village to them 

during their stay. Capt. Grover then made some very interest- 

ing remarks, and was interrupted often by applause. 

Then followed others as they were called upon by the presi- 

dent. Dr. S. C. Gordon told a good story, which was one on 

" Rob." About this time a dispatch was sent to President 

Cleveland, offering the sympathy and aid, if need be, of the old 

Thirteenth Maine Regiment Association in this hour of great 

need of good judgment, etc. Then followed Col. Fred N. 

Dow, who said ho was there to represent an older and better 

man, who sent his congratidations to the old Thirteenth. Three 

rousing cheers were given for the old veteran Gen. Neal Dow. 

Short speeches followed from Capt. Goodwin, Col. Nelson How- 

ard, Capt. S. S. Andrews, M. G. Frye, Capt. Randall, Capt. 

Jordan, Comrade Ladd, Comrade Foster, Capt. Archer and 

others. Speeches being over, the business meeting was called.


Secretary Gribben read the records of the last meeting and 

they were accepted. The treasurer's report was read and 

accepted, showing a bahince in the treasury of $11.67. The 

customary collection was taken up. Capt. S. S. Andrews was 

then elected president for the ensuing year. Judge Enoch 

Foster was elected first vice president and Capt. Isaiah Randall 

second vice president. Watson R. Gribben was re-elected 

secretary and treasurer. The executive committee for the 

ensuing year was elected as follows : 

George 

F. Mariner, 

W. R. Gribben, Henry Thrasher, Ebcn Burns, Winslow Lawton. 

W. G. Merrill and Thomas H. Flaricty were elected honorary 

members of the association. Rounds and rounds of cheers 

and a tiger were given to Judge Foster and Capt. R. B. Grover 

for their very generous entertainment, also votes of thanks to 

both gentlemen. A round of cheers and a tiger was also given 

for Maj. Abernethy Grover. 

The number of members present by company was A, 5 men ; 

B, 15 men; C, 8 men; D, 4 men; E, 19 men; F, 9 men; 

G, 14 men; H, 12 men; I, 8 men; K, 9 men; Field and Staff, 

I man. Company E being the banner company, the names 

Ouinby, 

of members of Company E present are here given : 

Howard, George F. Mariner, I. Y . 

Nelson 

N. A. Swett, Rollins 

H. Swett, Joseph Hall, Edward Hall, P. T. Griffin, S. A. Ross, 

Edw. S. Pennell, Frank Perry, Clinton Webster, W. R. Gribben, 

A. B. Macomber, A. B. Coffin, James H. Banks, John F. 

Lament, C. " Foxie " Wood, David Tripp. Lunch was served 

before starting for home at 7 o'clock. It will be remembered 

that the Bethel dinner was the best banquet ever set before the 

association. Thanks to Judge Foster. The association will 

meet next year on the second Tuesday in August at Peak Island. 

Ivory R. Allen. 

It has been the editor's good fortune to meet many members 

of the Chelsea G. A. R. Post this summer and all these com- 

rades have a good word for Ivory R. Allen, Company I, First 

Maine Cavalry a member of that Post and an Alderman of 

the city of Chelsea.

WHO WAS HE? 269 

Who Was He? 

AN UNKNOWN CAVALRY MAN KILLED AT Al'l'(JMATT()X. 

Major II. W. Clarke, of Syracuse, N. Y., secretary of One 

Hundred Eighty-Fifth New York Association in a letter to the 

National Tribune of Maj^ 15th, 1890, incidentally mentioned 

that Lieut. Hiram Clark of his regiment was the last man killed 

at Appomattox. He soon after received a letter from Rev. R. E. 

McP)ride of Seneca, Kan., who was a member of the One 

Hundred Ninetieth Pennsylvania, claiming the sad distinction 

for an unknown cavalry man who fell in with his regiment, and 

was killed near the village after the white flag had appeared. 

Mr. McBride's letter has led to a very interesting correspon- 

dence. "Who was he?" Mr. McBride in one of his letters 

says: "The man belonged to a cavalry force which we found 

fighting and relieved. His comrades moved toward the right, 

but for some reason he remained with us, witnessed our attack, 

—in fact, joined in it. Col. Pattee (commanding the One Hun- 

dred and Ninetieth) informed me a few years since by letter. 

" I did not notice him until just before he was shot, nor did I 

note the regiment to which he belonged." In a subsequent 

letter Mr. McBride writes : 

" In order to fix the location of the 

occurrence I will quote from the letter written me by Col. Pattee : 

' I gained the presence of the enemy and relieved the cavalry 

(a few of whom remained with us till the close of the battle) 

before the troops on my flanks were got into position. I could 

not hesitate without giving the enemy a dangerous advantage, 

so we pushed forward and kept the lead to the close. We 

drove the infantry back upon their artillery, which lined the crest 

of the long ridge over which the Lynchburg road runs. When 

my line approached the sloping ground, which stretched a long 

way up to the battery, where the enemy were endeavoring to 

form their infantry in line, I thinned my exposed center, placing 

them on my left in the heavy timber, and pushed that flank 

of the enemy's artillery which, however, kept its position until


their commander was killed and their horses so shot down that 

they were obliged to turn back their guns by hand. They 

were soon mixed pell-mell with my charging skirmish line, 

when the flag of truce came forward from the village. This was 

a grand affair, and some of the rebel officers with whom I con- 

versed spoke in the highest terms of the splendid and reckless 

manner in which this line of skirmishers fairly rushed upon the 

masses of the enemy, composed of both artillery and infantry. 

The last man killed in our army was a cavalry man who had fol- 

lowed me through all this fight. He sat on his horse only a few 

feet from me, and was shot from the village after we had ceased 

firing, and just after the flag of truce passed through our line. 

Poor fellow ! 

it seemed hard to die so, after the war was really 

closed. The ball struck the artery of the thigh ; 

he died soon after I saw him last.' " 

so 

I suppose 

After speaking of the appearance of the white flag, Mr. 

McBride continues : " We ceased firing, when a few minutes 

later some men to the left of the village (our left) fired at us, 

and we replied and advanced toward them. Then followed the 

occurrence as narrated in my former letter. The shot was not 

fired from the village, but from the left of it. The man died in 

a few minutes, though it seems that Col. Pattee did not witness his 

death." Major Clarke further writes : " Upon a diagram of the 

field which Mr. McBride subsequently sent me, it appears that the 

cavalry referred to were relieved (I refer now to the War Depart- 

ment map of Appomattox Court House) at a point near Plain Run, 

and a little northeast of the Trent house. The man was killed just 

north of the Lynchburg road, in the west edge of the village, 

about opposite the road leading north from the J. Sears house. 

The One Hundred and Ninetieth Pennsylvania was in the Third 

]^rigadc, Second Division, Fifth Corps. Edgar Clements, of the 

Second New York Mounted Rifles, claimed that a man of his 

regiment was killed under circumstances similar to those 

described above, but further investigation establishes the fact 

that the man was wounded but not killed and is living at the 

present time. The question is still unanswered in regard to the 

name and regiment of the unknown cavalryman.

-î 

Cknkkal W. W. Avf.kkll.

THE 

CAVALRY SOCIETY 

Armies of the United States, 

CONSTITUTION, EY-LAWS 

RECORD OK PROCEEDINGS 

MEETING HELD AT CONCORD, N. H., 

June 21 and 22, 1894.


Constitution, 

I.—The name of this Association shall he "The Cavalry Society of thk 

Armies ok the United States." 

II.—Any honoralily discharged officer or soldier, who at any time has served in the 

Cavalry Corps m the said Armies, shall ])e entitled to membership in the Society. 

III.—The object of the .Society shall be the jnoniotion of kindly feeling, the revival 

of old associations, and the collection and preservation of records of the services 

rendered by this CorjJS during the "War of the Reliellion." 

IV.—The officers of the Society shall consist of a President, seven Vice-presidents, 

Secretary, Treasurer, and Historian, who shall be, with the exception of the Historian, 

elected at each meeting of the Society. 

V.—The duties of the President shall be to ]ireside at tlie annual meetings, to call 

extraordinary meetings of the Society in case of necessity, and to issue such orders as 

may be necessary for the good government and control of the Society. 

VI.—The Vice-presiilent shall exercise the powers of the President in case of the 

absence of that officer. 

VII.—The Secretary shall keep a Record of the Minutes of the .Scjciety, a Roll of 

Members, and perform all duties usually jiertaining to an office of such character. 

VIII.—The Treasurer shall have control of all funds, to be expended only on 

approval of the President, and shall render an account of all disbursements at the 

annual meeting of the Society. 

IX.—The Historian shall prepare for the use of the Secretary a History of the 

Cavalry Corjis, and of all matters connected therewith of interest to the .Society. 

X.—There shall be a Standard Bearer, who shall be an officer of the Society, and 

who shall be appointed at each annual meeting, by the President. The duties of the 

Standard l>earer shall be to have charge and custody of the I'lag of the Society, and 

carry it on all occasions of ceremony when the Society shall be present. 

XI.—There shall be elected annually an Assistant Secretary, who shall j)erform the 

duties of the Secretary at the annual meetings of the Society, in case of the absence 

of that officer, and who shall perform such other services as pertain to the office of 

Secretary as may be required of him by that officer. 

XII.—There shall be elected annually an Adjutant-(Jeneral, whose duty shall be to 

assist the President in all cases where the Society is formed for parade, and to act as 

an aide to the President and perform such services as that officer may direct. 

By-Laws. 

1.— The Entrance l-'ee of the .Society shall l)e One Dollar. 

II. — The Annual I )ues shall be One Dollar. 

III.— The {'resident shall determine the time and place of each annual meeting, 

being governed in his selection thereof as far as practicable by the lime and place 

of the meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. 273 

Officers of the Society for the Year 1894-95. 

President : 

Gen. JONATHAN P. CILLEY. 

Vice Presidents : 

Major CHARLES G. DAVIS, 

Captain ALLAN G. P. BROWN, 

Col. F. C. LOVELAND, 

Surgeon P. O'MEARA EDSON. 

Vice President of the Society in the Army of the Potomac : 

Gen. SAMUEL E. CHAMBERLAIN. 

Treasurer : 

Major GERRARD IRVINE WHITEHEAD. 

Secretary : 

Gen. LLEWELLYN G. ESTES. 

Assistant Secretary : 

Major WILLIAM H. TURNER. 

Adjutant General : 

Major HENRY C. HALL. 

Standard Bearer : 

Capt. P. M. BOEHN. 

Bugler : 

HENRY T. BARTLETT. 

Historia?i : 

Capt. E. A. PAUL.


Report of the Cavalry Reunion. 

The meeting of the Cavalry Society of the Armies of the 

United States, at Concord, N. H., was without Bugle, Banner, 

Secretary, Treasurer and President, through an unfortunate 

combination of circumstances occurring within a day or two of 

time of meeting. Had it not been for the timely presence and 

efficient sword (pen) of Vice President Major Charles G. Davis 

the cavalry would have only been distinguished from the "dough 

boys " by the " blue cotton umbrella " under their arms, after 

the manner of the picture of Daniel in the lion's den. 

Col. John C. Linehan, in memory of Montreal and other 

happy soldierly occasions, had thrown open the offices occupied 

by him as insurance commissioner of New Hampshire to the 

full use and occupation of the wearers of yellow ribbons, and 

thus the cavalry quarters in Concord were all that could be 

desired, and in return Col. Linehan ought to be mounted on 

one of our best horses, that is, if we have any horses remaining 

in the corral. As far as the weather was concerned " the smile 

of the Great Spirit " rested on Concord and the countenances 

of the veteran members of the Army of the Potomac, as well 

as on New Hampshire's lake of lakes. The citizen soldiery of 

the State, the youthful cadets of the city, marched proudly in 

review before the gray-haired veterans of the rebellion, while 

from far and near the youthful men and maidens of the Granite 

State, which breeds men as the best production of its soil, gath- 

ered in beauty and magnitude, to applaud both the war men of 

1 86 1 and 1894. 

To punish the officers of the cavalry for their untimely but 

imavoidable absence the entire board were re-elected, and the 

society adjourned with a determination to rally at New London, 

Conn., next year with Bugle and Banner, and " crossed sabres 

on sunburst " borne on many a breast.

General Jonathan P. Cilley.

REPORT OF THE REUNION. 275 

The proposition to have our banner in the custody of the 

cavahy post of Philadelphia for safe keeping, with the proviso 

that such ])t)st detail or have some member present with the 

cavalry banner at each meeting of the society, was discussed 

and will be acted upon at the New London reunion. 

The following is the rei)ort of the Treasurer for the year 

1 893 -'94: 

OkuiwVRU Irvine Whitehead, Treasurer 

1894. 

In account with TiiE Cavalry Slicikiv of riiK Akmiks of iiif U. S. 

June 20. To IJalaiicc iif cash in hand o\\ account audited Juiic 26, 

1893- 

DR. 

1893, at Boston, S283 89 

" < iasli rcc'd dues and entrance fees, see receipt stuljs 

545 to 5O1 inclusive. 

June 27. Expressage on ila^ to New York, 

Printing; hand bills, voucher No. i. 

Room at American House, Boston, for Society Head- 

(juarters, voucher No. 2, 

Cash for rihbon for hadges, 

July 27, Fxpressage on Secretary hooks, 

Aug 17. Printing Proceedings in Maine Bugle, mailing same, etc.; 

1894. 

voucher No. 3, 

June 20. Cash on hand, 

The following officers were duly elected for the ensuing year: 

President— Gen. Jonathan V. Cilley. 

Vice Prcsidoits— Major Charles G. Davis. 

Capt. Allan G. P. Brown. 

Col. F. C. Loveland. 

Surgeon 1^. O'Meara P'dson. 

Vice President of the Society in the Annj of the Potomac — 

Gen. Samuel E. Chamberlain. 

Treasurer— Major Gerrard Irvine Whitehead. 

Secretary—Gen. Llewellyn G. Estes. 

Assistant Secretary—Major William H. Turner.


Adjutant General—Major Henry C. Hall. 

Standard Bearer—Capt. Peter M. Boehn. 

Bugler— Henry T. Bartlett. 

Historian—E. A. Paul. 

It was also unanimously voted that the Cavalry Society pre- 

sent the name of Gen. David McM Gregg to the Society of the 

Army of the Potomac as its candidate for president of the soci- 

ety for the ensuing year. 

Gen. Samuel E. Chamberlain spoke at length on the matter 

of aiding in the erection of a monument to Gen. John Buford, 

which met with most favorable response but no definite action 

was taken by the society except to commend the enter[)rise and 

aid the same as far as possible. 

Minor Incidents of the Reunion. 

ONE OF THE YOUNGEST. 

George W. States, sergeant-major of the Twenty-fourth New 

York Cavalry, is one of the youngest members of the Army of 

the Potomac present this year. He entered the service with 

his picctjlo at the age of twelve years and five months. 

LOANS OF NIOHTSIIIRTS. 

Eight minutes before the train left the Lowell depot in Boston 

June 20th, General R. A. Alger strolled into Colonel Ben 

Lovell's store. " Let's go to Concord, Ben," said he. " But I 

haven't any clothes," said the colonel. " No more have I," 

replied the general, and off the two vets posted. At night 

Landlord Pelren loaned General Alger one of his nightshirts 

and Colonel Lovell borrowed one of P^dson Eastman's. Next 

morning the general bought a fresh collar and with the remark 

that a flowing necktie covers a multitude of sins started back 

again. 

COL. LL\FH.\N. 

Insurance Commissioner Linehan decorated his office for the 

meeting of the cavalry corps with placards bearing tlie names 

of the cavalry commanders and other leading generals.

MINOR INCIDENTS OF THE REUNION. 277 

OUR GENERALS. 

One of the jolliest, brightest, and best speeches of the evening 

came from General John Gibbon, who thus commented upon 

the theme, " Our Generals." 

" Max O'Rell opens his first chapter in his book on i\merica 

with these words: 'The popukition of America is sixty million 

—mostly colonels.' 

Where Mr. O'Rell got his statistics I do not know, but he has 

not done- us justice. Armies are noted generally for giving 

nick-names, and I would suggest that we dub this writer Maxi- 

mum, with the accent on the ' 

mum.' 

Our censu.-. bureau never has, I think, been in the habit of 

enumerating our colonels, but I am measurably well satisfied 

that this maximum estimate might be incorrect, if to the num- 

ber of colonels existing in the country in i86i, a proper con- 

sideration was given to the number of regiments which took 

the field during the four years of our great civil war, and count- 

ing the colonels on the staff who had no regiments at all. 

That great storehouse of information, the rebellion record 

office, discloses the fact that the regiments in the United States 

service alone numbered st)me two thousand forty-nine. Now, 

when we consider that originally each of these regiments had a 

colonel and a lieutenant-colonel, and that at the start, when the 

popular idea was that the war was going to be a picnic and that 

some of the colonels of the newly raised regiments discovered 

the fact that the state of their health would not permit them to 

undergo the hardships of the slush and mud and battles of 

actual war, and that the state of their military knowledge was 

not sufficient to enable them to drill a squad, is it any wonder 

that they should hasten to choose the halls of Congress in pref- 

erence to the heads of regiments, unmindful of the answer of 

that quick-witted private, who, being posted as a sentinel over 

the ladies' car in the Washington depot, refused to let a member 

of Congress go in because he had no lady with him. ' 

exclaimed the indignant gentleman, ' 

Hut,' 

I am a member of Con- 

gress.' ' I don't care if you are,' replied the sentinel, 'if I let

278 'THE MAINE BUGLE. 

you go in there they will put me in the guard-house, and that's 

a d d sight worse than being in Congress.' 

Many of these colonels, it must be admitted, however, pre- 

ferred the glories of the field to talking in Congress, and finding 

after a short experience that it was difficult to drill a regiment 

before going into action, and dangerous to lead it into battle, 

got Mr. Lincoln to make them brigadier-generals so they could 

remain in the rear of the line of battle, the tactical place for 

generals. It was this sort of thing which added so much to the 

General population of Washington city, and gave, point to 

Artemus Ward's wicked joke about shying a stick at a stray 

dog and hitting a general. 

But after a while the politicians disappeared and the fighting 

colonels came to the front in all senses of the word. As a rule, 

however, they did not stay there long, for a gallant colonel who 

desires to show his men how to fight, is very apt to pay the pen- 

alty and get knocked over. Many fell never to rise again. 

Many others were maimed for life, and had to retire from active 

service, or be promoted for gallantry, giving place to other 

brave fellows who had in the meantime shown not only their 

ability but their eagerness to lead American soldiers in battle. 

These vacancies continued to be made during the war, the 

places being filled by the brave and the meritorious, so that our 

two th

w 

> 

a 

lO 

c! 

>

MINOR INCIDENTS OF THE REUNION. 279 

rank and called them generally generals. For we might remind 

him that those of the first grist of colonels who escaped Congress 

and the guard-house were all made generals, and if any 

of their successors failed to gain the stars it was. by the merest 

accident in the world, and resulted generally in so much disgust 

of the party omitted, that he sometimes resigned and testified 

his preference for the walks of civil life to any longer partici- 

pating in the glories of the field. 

Several mistakes of this kind were made, and the number of 

our generals in consequence very considerably decreased, 

whereas if the disappointed ones had only possessed foresight 

equal to their hind-sight they might have known, if they had 

only held on and lived, they would have been generals, too, in 

memory of their gallantry on that bloody thirteenth of March, 

1865, when, peace having come, most everybody except the 

privates in the ranks were made generals, somewhat on the 

same plan said to prevail with certain crowned heads, who on 

occasions of great national rejoicings, are accustomed to open 

their prison doors and let loose on society all the state criminals. 

Mr. O'Rell should have loaded with more powder and called 

us all generals. Then instead of being disgusted with him we 

would have patted him on the back and told him he was right, 

that we are a nation of generals, every one of us able (in his 

own opinion) to lead an army against anybody disposed to resist 

the advance of the rights of man, and the rights of women, too, 

as now understood by this great reunited Yankee nation of ours. 

No, no ! 

Mr. O'Rell, give us our rights, our true rank, and call 

us all generals, and if you can find a larger or more varied 

assortment anywhere in the world let us know it. Moreover, if 

you succeed in finding any higher standard than ours we will 

admit it anywhere and everywhere but here." 

AN INSPIRING SCENE. 

" There are many scenes in the struggles of the Army of the 

Potomac, upon which every contemplative mind loves to dwell. 

My own cherishes with the greatest interest one of the least


bloody, but the most important of its hi^h achievements. On 

the morning of April 9th, 1865, when the van of Lee's command 

rushed, with courage and spirit momentarily revived, upon 

the dismounted cavalry of Sheridan, whose terrific energy in 

those last days was never excelled in military conflicts, and his 

forces first checked the morning attack and then withdrew to 

the right, and the rebel advance saw the infantry of Ord and 

Gibbon and Griffin, whose night's march, a terrible and almost an 

impossible one, had placed them in solid column directly across 

the rebel pathway; instantly the captains of that advance real- 

ized that the end had come; they gave their last rebel yell, and 

then up went the white flag, and the rebellion went down for- 

ever. The whole Confederate army of northern Virginia sur- 

rendered to the Union Army of the Potomac." Senator Chan- 

dler s letter. 

In Memoriam. 

CHARLES TREICIIEL. 

Charles Treichcl was born in Germantown, a suburb of I'hila- 

delphia, in 1841, his father being a very prominent physician 

and thorough student. Deep sympathy with the ills of his 

kind was a well-known family trait handed (.lown from father 

to son. 

In the summer of 1861, not yet 20 years of age, Charles 

Treichel went into the service as second lieutenant of cavalry, 

attached to Gen. Fremont's body-guard. His first engagement 

was at the battle of Springfield, in the fall of that year. The 

cavalry charge in which he then took part is known as 

"Zagonyi's ride to death." The enemy numbered five to one. 

At the word "Forward," however, the body-guard was off on a 

charge that proved irresistible; the shock was terrific, but the 

field was won by the gallant three hundred. In this charge 

three men won national fame for extraordinary bravery 

Maj. Zagonyi, Lieut. Newhall and Lieut. Treichel. He was 

discharged November 30, 1 861, and again entered service as

IN MEMORIAM. 

' 

281 

first lieutenant, Third Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, Janu- 

ary 24th, 1862, commanded at the time by Col. (afterward 

brigadier-general) W. W. Averill, and was identified with the 

magnificent record of that renowned regiment. With that 

organization Treichel led the advance of the Army of the 

Potomac in the advance to Manassas, and thereafter in the 

Peninsular campaign was engaged in the siege of Yorktown, 

the battle of Williamsburg and the seven days' fight before 

Richmond. 

On the eve of Malvern Hill Treichel and Ncwhall were 

selected by General McClellan from a number of volun- 

teers for special and hazardous duty in carrying dispatches 

through the Confederate forces, and acquitted themselves of 

this dangerous task to the satisfaction of their chief and the 

admiration of the army. On September ist, 1862, Treichel 

was promoted captain, and as such in March, 1863, took a brill- 

iant part in the battle of Kelly's P"ord, where his former colonel, 

Averill, then division commander, won the first real cavalry bat- 

tle of the war, In this engagement a shell passed through the 

body of Captain Treichel's horse, killing the animal of course, 

and severely wounding himself. His indomitable spirit hastened 

his convalescence and brought him back to the regiment in time 

for the Gettysburg campaign. In the crisis of the celebrated 

cavalry fight on the right flank on the third day of Gettysburg 

he won immortal laurels by the charge he led, side by side again 

with Captain Newhall, then brigade adjutant general, with but 

sixteen men and three other officers, on the flank of Wade 

Hampton's and Fitz Hugh Lee's brigades. In this charge 

Treichel's horse was killed, and he received a severe wound, 

which crippled his sabre arm for years. Every officer and 

nearly every man taking part in the charge was wounded, and 

Treichel, while disabled, was taken prisoner, but fortunately 

soon elTected his escape. In October, 1863, upon his recovery, 

he rejoined his regiment and was actively engaged in all the 

operations of that fall and winter. 

In February, 1864, he was appointed provost marshal of the 

Second Cavalry Division of the Army of the Potomac, com-


manded by Gen. D. McM. Gregg. He continued to serve in 

this position, and subsequently as commissary of muster on the 

division staff, until after the termination of the war, through alj 

the arduous campaigning and bloody fighting which that command 

experienced as part of the cavalry corps. It is impossi- 

ble, however, to rehearse in this brief compass the many gallant 

deeds which won him the universal admiration of his comrades 

in arms, who looked on him as the very type of what an officer 

of horse should be, not only as the beau sabreur, but the ideal 

officer as well, as wise in judgment, as skilled in preparation, as 

in the charge he was impetuous and irresistible. He was pro- 

moted major December, 1 864, and brevetted lieutenant-colonel 

for gallant services March 13th, 1865, 

'^'^^ was honorably 

mustered out with his regiment at Richmond, August 7th, 1865, 

having been transferred to the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry. 

A few years later he found a field of usefulnesss in New York, 

and in the twenty years of his life there won a host of friends. 

He was appointed auditor of the collector's office in the 

United States Custom House, port of New York. He per- 

formed the duties of that office with rare skill and fidelity until 

the failure of his health compelled him to seek the milder cli- 

mate of southern California. 

When the act authorizing the establishment on the Pacific 

slope of a branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer 

Soldiers was passed by Congress, Colonel Treichel was designated 

for its first governor, and assumed command of the home 

at Santa Monica, January 29th, 1888, which he organized and of 

which he superintended the building. It was there he ended 

his days, March 28th, 1894, far from the comrades and friends 

of his youth and of his middle age. 

He has left behind him a beautiful memory and example of 

the life of a Christian soldier. Unswerving in the performance 

of duty, his heart was softer than a girl's to every touch of 

affection or compassion. A typical cavah-yman, dashing, 

reckless of danger and bold as a lion ; with 

all the energy, 

frankness and directness which belong to the character of a

IN MEMOKIAM. 283 

trooper, yet with none of its roughness, his nature was as ten- 

der as it was true, and nowhere could be found one more abso- 

lutely and simply true as a friend and as a man than Colonel 

Charles Treichel. 

His remains were followed to the grave by many of his old 

friends and fellow-soldiers. The pall-bearers were Generals D. 

McM. Gregg, Martin T. McMahon and Charles L. Leiper; 

Messrs. S.M. Blatchford, Joseph Treloar and Dr. Morris J. Asch, 

of New York ; 

Colonel 

Francis Wister, Lieutenant-Colonels 

George Meade and William Brooke Rawle, Majors Richard 

Lewis Ashhurst and J. Edward Carpenter, Captain William 

Franklin Potter, Lieutenant Harrison L. Newhall and Mr. J. 

Alfred Kay. The services of the interment closed with the 

bugle call " Taps," the trooper's requiem. 

CHARLES G. OTIS. 

Colonel Charles G. Otis, formerly of Yonkers, died at his 

residence, 131 Pacific street, in lirooklyn, N. Y., on Monday, 

Aug. 7, 1893. He had been confined to the house since last 

December. 

Colonel Otis was born 62 years ago, in Troy. When the war 

broke out. he organized a regiment of cavalry there and became 

its colonel, serving throughout the war. He was once captured 

and spent several months in Libby prison before being released 

by exchange. History mentions that he and his troops entered 

a small town down South, and he registered at the hotel as 

"the first Yank in town." 

After the war. Colonel Otis joined his cousins, Charles R. 

and Norton P. Otis, in the manufacture of elevators, and was 

an agent of the Elevator Company at the time of his death. 

He had been in Canada during much of the last two years, 

attending to contracts for elevators, and several years previous 

he spent in Buenos Ayres. 

His wife died about three years ago. Two sons and four 

daughters survive him. Two of the daughters are married, 

being the wives of Cecil R. Lawrence of Yonkers, and Francis 

R. Thomas of Brooklyn.


FLOYD CLARKSON. 

At his home in New York City, from paralysis of the heart, 

Colonel Floyd Clarkson died, in the 63d year of his age. He 

wasa gallant soldier, and his grandfather was a signer of the 

Declaration of Independence. He was first a private in the 

Seventh Regiment, and in 1861 went to the front as a thirty-days' 

volunteer. After the expiration of his term of enlistment he was 

commissioned the army as major in the Sixth New York Cavalry. 

He resigned on Sept. 5th, 1862. In the following April he 

again enlisted as major in the Twelfth New York Cavalry, with 

which command he remained until the close of the war. For 

faithful and meritorious services he was made a brevet lieutenant- 

colonel on April 22d, 1865. After the war he went into the 

real estate business, in which he continued until his death. He 

was a member of Lafayette Post, G. A. R., and was commander 

of the New York Department, G. A. R., during the years 

i887-'88, and vice president of the Cavalry Society of the 

Armies of the United States at date of his death. 

Badge of the Society. 

The Badge of the Society is a pair of crossed sabres, accu- 

rately copied from the Regulation Cavalry Sabre, and finely 

finished in gold, upon a boldly worked "sunburst" of silver. 

It is attached to the coat or the ribbon of the Society by means 

of a brooch-pin at the back. 

Price $5.00. Send money with order to Maj. G. Irvine 

Whitehead, Treasurer, 206 Broadway, New York. 

Next Meeting. 

Place of meeting next year, as fixed by Society of the Army 

of the Potomac, is New London. Conn., date not named. 

Cavalry Headquarters. 

The Committee on Reunion, has designated Room No. i, 

Common Pleas Court, Pittsburgh, Pa., for the exclusive use 

of the Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac as its headquarters 

during the G. A. R. National Encampment.


Bugle Echoes, 

Thjs is a sight for a soldier to see 

Bugle, oh, Bugle ! 

sing loud in your glee ! 

Sing of the valiant who victory win, 

Sing of the heroes who died 'mid the din. 

LETTERS EROM THE COMRADES. 

Idaho's soldiers' home. 

Cait. Monroe DAOGErr, ist Me. Cav. and nth Me. Inf. of Saint Maries, Idaho, 

writes 

On the 2(1 inst. I received Call 1 of the Maine Bugle. Allow me to congratulate 

you. You have struck the key note at last. The Maine Bugle is eminently correct. 

Give all the old lads a chance, and you will soon learn that it is a very mistaken idea 

that the world has, that the First Maine Cavalry put down the reliellion and saved the 

Union, all by itself, single handed and alone. You will find in a very short space 

of time that there were about thirty-two infantry regiments antl seven batteries 

of light artillery had a hand in that jol), to say nothing of the heavy artillery, the 

sharpshooters, second cavalry, and other organizations. Come to the front now, you 

all day boys, and tell what we all did. The First Cavalry has been holding the fort 

long enough. While at the National Encampment last Septeml>er at Indianapolis I 

met a few of the old First Maine Cavalry boys and many more of other Maine regi- 

ments, but I noticed that there were no other comrades so universally introduced as 

members of the regiment that suppressed the Rebellion as the First Maine Cavalry. 

We were all honored with that recognition. As hinted above, my dear General, you 

will lind that we did not do it alone. No, the infantry and artillery helped, and did 

their part in right royal Ai style. Now you have placed the Bugle on a firm financial 

foundation. 1 wish to make a correction in my article in the January Bugle, 

"A Cavalry Man in the Eleventh Maine Infantry." On page 72, lines 26 and 27, the 

printer makes me say that I did not sleep for four days while on picket; such are not 

the facts, for I did sleep, but only a little, and not more than an hour or so at a time. 

There are one or two other slight mistakes, but not worthy of note. I wish to have 

the Idaho Soldiers' Home noticed by the P.ugle. The G. A. R. of this Department 

have thought that we were doing a very commendable act in establishing a Soldiers' 

Home in this State, and particularly so when we consider the fact that Idaho was not 

then a State and had but a few hundred people at the time of the war, and those few 

were men who had not lost any war, consequently were not hunting for war. We 

have thought that we deserved at least a passing notice^ inasmuch as our little State 

started us out with $250,000 worth of land and $25,000 in cash. We are constructing 

a Home of Ijrick with stone trimmings, large enough to accommodate one hundred


persons. We did not get it completed last fall owing to the fearful crisis in the money 

market, but shall complete it early this year. 

Note.—The act securing the above appropriation was secured almost alone by Comrade 

Daggett, and under his supervision is the home being built and governed. 

WAS A FIGHTINC; MAN FROM THE WORD GO. 

Reuel Thomas, 20th Me., of Cambridge, Mass., writes: 

The BuGLh has arrived; was much pleased to see our old Col. Ames's face. They 

may say what they please airaut Ames, he was a fighting man from the word go. Now- 

let the Bugle blow, so that the echoes may be heard from Maine to the Rio CJrande. 

My last Bugle the boys have at the Engine House. They may want it at the City 

Hall next. Would not be surprised if Gov. Greenhalgh should send for it at the State 

House. General, this publication is going to take in the whole of the United States 

before five years. So blow. Bugle, blow. 

Note.—Comrade Thomas's joke is largely a fact. The issues of the Bugle are in 

the Harvard University library and in the State Library at the State House. 

Din col. CHAPLIN OFFER HIS SWORD? 

Henry E. Sellers, ist Me. Hvy. Art., of Bangor, Me., writes: 

In Comrade F. C. Lowe's communication to you of December 22d, relative to the 

First Maine Heavy Artillery I think he gives the impression that the order to charge 

January i8th, 1864, came from Gen. Mott direct (see Walker's History Second Corps). 

It came from Gen. Mead direct, transmitted in regular order to Col. Chaplin and 

delivered to him by Major J. W. Starbird on Gen. Mott's staff. I was present and 

heard the order, viz. : as given to Majors Sheppard and Grossman and Capt. Clark 

commanding battalions : " We have orders to charge those works immediately. Go in 

in light marching order, with bayonets fixed." I did not see Generals Birney or Mott 

during the day. I do not think Comrade Low saw them. In his letter in the Echoes 

of January 4th, he says he had seen Joel Brown of Co, I, who corroborates the story 

that Col, Chaplin offered his sword to Gen. Birney (now says to Gen. Mott). Now 

Brown's memory, as he states himself, is hazy. Comrade Low was not present, he 

tells me, when Col. Chaplin tendered his sword to Gen. Mott; did not see it; never 

saw a man, a member of the regiment that did, I believe that facts only should be 

stated, that correct history may be developed. 

OUR FIRST taste OF MILITARY SERVICE IN VIRGINIA, 

Pearl G. Ingalls, Co. B, 8th Me., of Razorville, Me., writes 

The campaign of 1864 to participants was so full of striking incidents and varied 

scenes from beginning to end that it will remain vivid and fresh in memory through 

life. This campaign, with the Eighth Maine, virtually commenced on the fourth day 

of May, when we embarked on board the steamer Hero at (iloucester Point and 

steamed down the Pamunky, and the next morning found us at Fortress Monroe, 

whence after a few hours of anxious speculation as to our destination we commenced 

enjoying the beautiful scenery up the James river, and the conviction became settled 

that " On to Richmond " was our objective point. At 7 o'clock i'. M. we reached 

Bermuda Hundred, where under cover of the gunboats we disembarked and 

bivouacked in an open field for the night. At an early hour on the morning of the


6th, we were ordered to pack up and be in readiness to march. This order was 

promptly obeyed and when in line we were addressed by Lieutenant Colonel Boynton, 

then commanding the regiment, and given timely counsel as to our conduct in meeting 

the enemy. We supposed, from the tenor of the advice we were on the verge of a 

deadly conflict with the reiiels, but after marching in this direction, then in that, all 

that very sultry day, through woods and swamps, night overtook us ajjout three and 

one-half miles from our starting point, not having seen a reb — most of the boys 

minus overcoats and blankets. Some had abandoned knapsacks and rubber blankets 

and everything they had in the clothing line except what they wore, the heat being 

so excessive. In Company B was a soldier by the name of Gerry, tall, erect and 

of soldierly bearing, who I always thought must have given his age as forty-five with- 

out telling how long he had held that period of years, who lost his patience, with 

countermarching in the heat, and when our marching indicated that we had at last 

struck the right road, then the old man's voice rang out loud and strong, "Now we 

have got her agoing and let us keep her agoing," which sentiment was heartily 

indorsed by the company. From this time on to the battle of Drury's Bluff, May i6th, 

I forbear now to write least I occupy more space than belongs to me. We remained 

in the vicinity of Bermuda Hundred having a few slight skirmishes with the enemy 

and making several advances to the Richmond and Petersburg R. R. tearing up the 

track and giving them other annoyances. The night of May 12th will be remembered 

by our regiment as one of suffering on account of a cold rain with high wind, our 

position being in an open field facing the wind and storm, in light marching order, 

many of the boys being destitute of rubber blankets and shelter tents which were 

thrown away in our first march under a Virginia sun. Our previous service had been 

on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia, with one expedition up the 

St. Johns River to Jacksonville, Fla. Although we had done good service and suffered 

much from exposure and sickness, we had had little experience with marches or field 

service or even fighting, except the lice and flees we encountered at Hilton Head, 

Tybee Island and the Sunken Islands between Fort Pulaski and Savannah City; and 

considering that nearly half of our number were fresh from a veteran furlough, leaving 

behind wife and other kindred ties—is it a wonder that our first experiences on the 

James and in the vicinity of the rebel citadel under all these conditions should give us 

such a sweat? The conditions of the Virginia May, now proclaiming summer had 

come and then reverting to March weather, caused us to boil in sweat and then freeze 

without a shelter. 

TIME WILL RECTIFY OUR WRONGS. 

C. P. Stevens, Co. E, 5th Me. Inf., of the law firm of Stevens & Stevens, of Beloit, 

Kansas, writes 

The issue of the Maine Bugle is a step in the right direction. In a struggle of 

the magnitude of our war there are thousands of incidents valuable to history, that 

were known only to the few who were in position to know, from observation or other- 

wise, and to round out and preserve these for those who shall come after us is, I under- 

stand, your object. It was my good fortune to enter the service on the twelfth day of 

May, 1861, and remain until discharged for wounds February 17th, 1865, and during 

this period there were many brave deeds performed by men who were unconscious of 

an heroic act. I regret that in these latter days the sacrifices and privations endured


and the heroism displayed by our boys in blue is becoming less and less appreciated, 

and this, too, while these men who were then only boys, are nearing the end, a premature 

grave. " I'hieves, robbers, frauds and dishonor " are some of the epithets now 

applied to such men and are used even in the great Congress of these United States, 

and we may he led to exclaim, " Must I endure all this? " and the reply seems to come 

back, "Yea, more; go fret till your proud heart break." Patriotism pure and strong 

must now take possession of our hearts as never before, and as we glide down the hill 

of life ever keep in mind that time alone will rectify all our wrongs, and that there is a 

Ruler who will recognize the value of our services. Have you the addresses of Ll. 

John Summersides and John Robinson ? 

DONALDSONVILLE To HE IlKAKH I'Rd.M. 

John F. Perry, Lieut. Co. G, 28th Me. Inf., of Minneapolis, Minn., writes: 

I have delayed writing for the reason that I thought I might write you something 

for publication. There are proliably members of the regiment and of Co. (\ who 

could treat the subject much better than myself if they would. However, if no one 

writes on the subject in the future I may make the attempt. 

BATTLE OF THE I'lNES. 

M. S. Perry, nth Me., of Brownville, writes: 

In relation to the verses oh the Battle of the Pines, I \\ ill say that the copy I sent 

you was written while I was stopping at Gloucester Point, Va., in the winter of '63 or 

'64. I was a memi)er of the Eleventh Maine on detalched service in the Eighth 

New York Battery at that time. I afterwards re-enlisted in the battety under a special 

order from the Secretary of War and was discharged in July, 1865, at New York City. 

I joine


I LOVE HER HILLS. 

G. E. Dillingham, Co. C, 17th Me. and ist Me. My. Art., of Ilesper, Winiiesheik Co., 

Iowa, writes : 

I like to read history of Maine and her people, especially her soldiers. I was a 

member of Co. C, Seventeenth Maine Volunteer Infantry until some time in June, 

1865, then was transferred to the First Maine Heavy Artillery, headquarters at Fort 

Baker, Md. I was hospital steward of that regiment from July 1st, 1865, until 

mustered out in the autumn at Ilangor, 1865. I came to Iowa in L)eceml)er, 1865. 

I have spent the larger part of the time since in the West, yet my love for Maine and 

her people never chills. I was born in hilly, rocky St. Albans, Somerset County, in 

1844. I love her hills, her rocks, her rills, her mountains, her lakes, her valleys, her 

trees, her sunshine and shadows, and most of all her people. 

AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION. 

William Gardner, secretary ist R. I. Cav., of Providence, R. I., writes: 

It has been with mingled pleasure and regret that I have read and re-read the story 

of the brilliant cavalry engagement at Kelly's Ford, Va., March 17th, 1863, l)y Major 

Frank W. Fless, United States Army, formerly of Third Pennsylvania Cavalry (Gen. 

W. W. Averill's old and gallant regiment). With pleasure, because in the main the 

major's description is graphic, and an excellent word picture of a notalile event in 

which I, as a unit, was permitted to act my little part in that interesting scene in the 

drama of civil war which from 1861 to 1865 interested all the peoples of the civili/ed 

world. With regret, lêcause the major, (unintentionally, I am sure) on page 11, Call 

4, Campaign III, gives to the Fifth Regulars, Sixth Ohio, and Reno the credit and 

honor of the magnificent repulse, (for nothing in the annals of warfare was ever more 

glorious) of the last charge of the Confederates upon the left of our line by First not 

Second, and Fourth Virginia accompanied, if not led by Stuart himself. The Fifth 

Regulars and Reno were not on the left of the wagon road. The force consisted of 

two hundred of the First Rhode Island, about the same number of the Sixth Ohio, and 

two guns of the Sixth New York Independent Horse Battery. If the major had read 

Lieut. Jacob B. Cook's story of the engagement, "No. 19, third series, Soldiers' and 

Sailors' Historical Society of Rhode Island " he would not have committed an error liy 

which deserving veterahs are robbed of honors most gallantly earned. This error of 

the gallant major does not nullify his effort as a historian, nor spoil the picture he has 

so beautifully drawn with his pen, but has produced such heart pangs that f have Ijeen 

impelled to " ope *ny mouth and bark a little." 

INTERESTING PASTIME. 

Lieut. Horatio S. Lihhy, Co. C, ist Maine Cav. of Melrose, Mass., writes: 

It is to me an interesting pastime to look over the roster of the dear old regiment. 

Of the many times it has been my pleasure to do so, I have never before noticed, until 

recently, the sad frequency of the remark opposite the name of such a large number of 

comrades " Died at Andersonville," " Died in Southern prisons," etc. How pathetic. 

On counting them up I find that one hundred and sixty-three had there died—several 

more than were killed in battle ! I have just been reading again some old and inter- 

esting letters that I received from our loved and honored Gen. Smith, in one of which


he writes that he and Thaxtcr had lieen over the old battlefields at Aldie, Middleliurg 

and Upperville. In writing of the charge at Aldie he says that the distance we cov- 

ered was a full mile. His letter has recalled to my memory a little episode in connec- 

tion with this fight. C company charged out into the open field on our right and up the 

hill until we came to an orchard enclosed by a rail fence. An opening was quickly 

made, and as we passed through we were greeted with a heavy volley, but it was inef- 

fectual, every shot went over our heads. We rushed on and reached a stone wall at 

the further side of the orchard, when we quickly dismounted. We had not been long 

here before the enemy made the mounted charge to dislodge us liut without success. 

They met with such a reception from the contents of our carbines that they did not 

make a second attempt. I wondered why they gave up the position, a fine one, so 

readily. It was from this position they gave us the volley spoken of and then retired. 

Afterwards they thought to regain it, but it was too late. Company C was there to 

stay ! I remember that, just before we reached the orchard spoken of I observed Gen. 

Kilpatrick across the field on our right flank coming through an opening in the fence. 

He did not appear to have any force with him. I also noticed in this direction, iieyond 

Kilpatrick, on the distant hil tops, that these points were active with mounted men. 

I wonder if it was our forces so far in that direction. We were relieved liy K company. 

As the columns passed each other, I distinctly recall the kindly greeting of good old 

Sgt, Reuel B, Stinson—I had known him many years before the war^—who said to me, 

«* Brother Libby, 1 am glad to see you are safe," I have been in the clutches of the 

grip for a fortnight. I am strangely weak when I attempt to move about. I hope to 

get out very soon. 

Note.— Fox's Regimental Losses, p. 124, report : That 

one hundred and forty-live of 

our regiment died in Southern prisons — excluding evidently some of the First District of 

Columbia Cavalry that died i)efore transfer. This same authority reports our killed 

and died of wounds as fifteen officers and one hundred and fifty-nine men—a total of 

one hundred and seventy-four. This account is more reliable as I have found some 

mistakes in our roster.— J. P. C. 

I HAVE READ THE BUGLE. 

Albert II. Harris, Co. L, First Maine Cav., of .So. Merrimack, N. H., writes: 

Please forward the History at earliest date. I have read the Bugles you have so 

kindly sent me with great interest, and trust no obstacle will intrude itself in the way 

of its continued publication. I cherish an unflagging love for the old organization 

though I have never been al)le to attend any of the annual meetings, and seldom meet 

one of the old comrades. 

ONE MAN ONLY LOST ON PICKET. 

Major Henry C. Hall, ist Me, Cav,, of Woburn, Mass,, writes: 

At our regimental reunion at Eastport I think (ieneral Smith, in recounting the mil- 

itary virtues of the First Maine Cavalry, stated that we had never lost a man on picket, 

I thought then that had I been personally charged with that crime I should have been 

compelled to plead guilty, i)ut not until to-day, while looking over some old letters I 

wrote home during the war and which my mofher carefully preserved, could I recall 

the fact and circumstances. I find that I wrote from Light House Point, Va., July 

i8th, 1864: "We went on picket beyond the Gurley House on Monday, the nth inst. 

and were on duty four days and four nights. I had command of the outposts, which


comprised about half of the regiment. The first day we picketed against infantry, but 

at evening they were relieved by cavalry, and in the morning we found in our front 

the Fifth and Ninth Virginia and the F'ifth and Sixteenth North Carolina Cavalry, 

The infantry annoyed us the first day by firing on our pickets, also the Sixteenth North 

Carolina on the second day. The other regiments behaved like soldiers. They were 

very eager for news from Washington as they expectetl that Early on his daring raid 

would capture that city, and they were very willing to exchange j)apers with us, and in 

other ways made themselves social and friendly. Towards evening of the second day 

a Confederate came out towards our lines waving a paper and handed to one of our 

men sent out to meet him a note, of which the following is a copy 

Dear Sir—I understood that i^)ne of our infantry fired on your pickets yesterday. 

Finally, it is positively against (jur orders to step up and shoot a picket, and no gentleman 

will do it. I hope I shall not hear of the case again, especially among brothers 

of the South. So mote it be. Amen. 

(Signed) II. A. Bland, 5th N. C. Cav , Co. E. 

The next day a captain of the Sixteenth North Carolina came out to the pickets of 

the Pennsylvania regiment on our right and requested them to say to the officer in 

command of the Maine Cavalry that three of his men who fired on mine the day before 

were under arrest for so doing. We had no more trouble from them until Friday, 

the 15th, at daylight, when about twenty men of the Sixteenth North Carolina Cavalry 

made a dash on our line and captured one man of Co. G, Private James Burns, and 

shot the horse of another man. Later in the morning we were relieved by the Fourth 

Pennsylvania Cavalry and returned to our Division, which, ni our absence, had moved to 

Warwick Swamps, l)ut at evening we were all relieved by the First Division and returned 

to this ])lace where we are encamped in a nice, clean grove of pines." Poor Jimmy 

Burns, our only lost picket, made an unwilling tour of the Confederacy, but he finally 

effected his escape and joined Sherman's army on its march to the sea. He returned 

to the regiment the latter part of January, '65, filled with feelings of resentment 

towards the heartless Confederates for the inhuman treatment he had received at their 

hands, but the brave boy was unable to be wholly avenged for the sufferings he 

endured during his incarceration and escape, for he was mortally wounded at Dinwiddie. 

ONLY ONE OF THE SEKCEANTS LEFT OF COMl'ANY F, 1 2th ME. INFANTRY. 

Dr. Freeman H. Chase, of Bangor, Me., writes: 

Company F, Twelfth Maine, was raised in the town of Urono, the town voting 

money for that purpose and all uniting in the effort. It left Orono for Portland in the 

fall of i86l, a full company of loo men. The officers had been commissioned by 

Benjamin F. Butler by special authority of the President, for special duty, the taking 

of New Orleans, as was also one regiment from each New England State. We left 

Bangor on the old well remembered steamer, which was bought by the United States 

Government, the City of Richmond. We were organized and mustered in at Portland. 

Our captain, Seth Farringlcjn, was six feet four, handsome, and a fine officer, so fine 

that he was generally detailed. The first lieutenant, Coan, a l)raver or l)etter officer 

never drew sword than he. The second lieutenant proved wanting, and left the serv- 

ice. I was elected first sergeant of the company and appointed l)y the captain, as were 

the rest of the sergeants. While we were drilling in Lowell, Camp Chase, under General


Butler, a jihrenolojjiist came into camp tu examine humps, etc., especially uf the sergeants 

to pronounce on their bravery in battle. \ certain captain was full uf faith in the 

matter, and through his influence we were examined, perha])s more for fun than other- 

wise. The first four sergeants oi our com])aiiy jiassed favorably, while the lifth ser- 

geant, who proved in the end the bravest of the brave, was set aside, but retained his 

place until he lost his life pierced to the earth by a rebel bayonet because he would 

not surrender. So much for the science or nonsense of phrenology. What became of 

these officers and sergeants of Company F, Twelfth Maine, will be related further 

on, for many of the boys of Maine regiments live in this vicinity and will read this with 

interest. It was a great fad in the army to nickname each other, even more so in the 

western regiments. Hardly a man was called by his best mates by his own name. As 

a reminder t the old comrades I will give the names of the officers aiid sergeants of 

Company F, Twelfth Maine, to which this article is particularly devDted. ( »ur captain 

was called "Cog." ( )ur first lieutenant was called " Ma fiog." All wlm are familiar 

with Holy Writ kiinw what those names meant. The first sergeant, " Hur up," because 

he was in the habit of singing out, "hurry u|i." The second sergeant, " I'aws," for in 

trying to catch a prisoner he exclaimed: " If I get my paws on you." The third ser- 

geant was called " Entrails," for he ate uj) the orderly's turnips, who made the remark, 

" I hope, Ches, that you will sometime get yourself full." The fourth sergeant was 

" Yardstick," for he was a handsome fellow and came from a dry gootls store, while 

the fifth sergeant was called " Mohawk " from his resemblance to a Mohawk Indian. 

Second Lieutenant Wilson, whom I ninitted, was calletl " Ijilly Boy." Now, where are 

the three ofiicers an


it as one of the best regimental histories I have ever read. But tlien he hail one of 

the best regiments of the army to write about. 

HAVE RKAI) TIIKM LiVER AM> OVER. 

James K. Reynolds, Co. I), ist Me. ("av., of Ilallowell, Me., writes: 

1 enclose three dollars; if any more is due, will send the balance next time. Please 

e.xcuse me for not answering before this date. Have enjoyed the IU'ci.es very much; 

have read them over and over. It dues a comrade gooil to recall those instances of 

by-gone days. Who would not feci prcuid to hfive been one of that vast number who 

went forth to save our country in its days of jieril. 

NoTiiiNi; 1 prize more highly. 

Ali'.frt J. Small, Co. II, ist Me. Cav., of Woodburn, Ind., writes: 

I will answer to Roll Call and will say there is nothing 1 prize more highly than the 

Maine Bugle. I should like to take it all my life. My health is very yynn and I am 

not able to work much and do not draw a jjension. 

"WHO i;K()r


few rods ahead tempted me to it, and I let myself rest against its trunk. The ambu- 

lance train was in sight and soon the doctor was probing the wound, a bandage was 

put on the arm wet with cold water, and I was crowded between two comrades who 

were suffering intensely. By consent of the driver I took a seat with him, and thus 

made more room for my comrades. This seat gave me, boys, the first real view of a 

grand contest— three bayonet charges in an open field and a contest occupying about 

two hours of time. The last charge came near dark. I was thinking I might have to 

stay there, but God was on our side and that night we were taken from what the boys 

called the bull pen. Oh, how well do I remember the groans of those two comrades 

inside as we were driven over those rough roads all night. I want to thank the com- 

rade who came to me during the afternoon, while in the ambulance, with my overcoat. 

I cannot recall his name, but if he is alive and sees this letter let him accept my hearty 

thanks. It did me so much good that chilly night, when the cold winds blew with 

painful sensation on my body, weakened by the loss of so much warm blood. The 

morning of the twenty-eighth found us in a long open field, where I wailed my turn 

through the whole tiay to have, as I desired then, my arm amputated. Help among 

doctors was not plenty and they did not reach me that day. The next day we were 

loaded on an old freight train and forwarded to the hospital. Comrades of the army, 

you all well know about what that meant to me when I tell you I was there eight long 

months before I was considered able to go home ! I want to close this letter by say- 

ing that many of us who are now living can but think that it is due largely to the will 

of God, who may have some little work yet for the old gray-haired veterans to do, if 

nothing more than speaking a kind word by way of cheer to those more unfortunate 

than ourselves. 

Edward Trenchard, of New York, writes: 

Tn the issue of the Maine Bugle of January, 1894, appears a poem entitled "An 

Old Blue Cap," by Kendall Pollard of Company K. Now this pt)em, the true title 

being "Company K " was written during the early part of the rebellion, 1862 or '63, by 

Mrs. E. L. Beers; the well known poetess, Ethel Lynn, being her nom de plume. At 

that time the boys in l)luc of Maine were too l)usy in the field of reality to indulge in 

poetic fancy, and I am sure you and your gallant comrades will in justice to one of 

the fair sex, (departed this life). be pleased to make this correction in your valuable 

journal. The original and only is to be found on page twenty in the volume "All 

Quiet Along the Pnti-mac " and other poems, by Ethel Lynn Beers, ? rter & Ctates, 

Publishers, Philadelphia. 

Note. — The correctivn is made with the consent of Kendall P. Hard. It was a 

misunderstanding on the part of the edit

Lawyers' Loyal League. 

AN ASSOCIATIOX FOR THE COLI.ECTION OF DEBTS AND INTER- 

CHANGE OF LEGAL BUSINESS. 

Fur terms of admission, fees ami charges, address Cilley «.K; MacAllislcr, Managers, 


Auburn, Andri ;uin I'nlsifcr. James A 

Ashland. Aroostook 

Augusta. Kennebec 

Alfred, York 

Anson, Somerset 

Athens, Somerset 

Bangor, Penobscot 

Bath, Sagadahoc 

Belfast, Waldo 

Bethel, Oxford 

Biddeford, Y'ork 

Bingham, Somerset 

Blaine. Aroostook 

Dunn, Fred (t 

lilanelianl, II F 

DoiKivan, .Toliii 1! 

Ailanis, lU'uiamin 

Holman, .T F 

Mitchell, H L 

Hughes, George E 

Brown, F W 

H^rrick, A E 

(Joiild, .Jesse 

.Jordan, AVilliam 15 

SalVord, H W 

Boothliay Ilarlior, I.iueoln Kenniston, (i 15 

Bluehill, Hancock Bunker. .J E, .Ir 

Bcjwdoinhaui, Sagadahoc Bogers. (Trant 

Bradford, Penobscot 'NVentworth, Tlios H 

Brewer, I'enobscot Hutchins, .Jasjier 

Bridgeton, Cumberland Walker, AH&EC 

Browntield, Oxforil Frink J I- 

Brunswick, ('und)erland Potter, Barrett 

Buckfield, Oxford Bridgham, Thos S 

Bucksi)ort, Hancock Fellows, O F 

Buxton. York 

Blancliard, J*iscatar 

Cherryheld. Washington Caui]diel!. F I 

China, Kennebec (ireeley, ,) H 

Clinton. Kennebec Martin. Forest J 

Corinna. Penobscot Wood, W I 

Corinth, Jâst, Penobscot Haynes. Htuirv P 

Cornish, York Perliius. Walter P 

Cauiden, Knox 

Calais. Washingt(ui 

Canaan, Somerset 

Canton. Oxford 

Caribou, Aroostook 

Casco, Cumberland 

Pamariscotta, Lincoln 

Panforth, Washington 

Deer Jsle, Hancock 

Denmark, Oxford 

Dexter, Penobscot 

Dixfield, Oxford 

Dover, Piscata(iuis 

East Livermore, Audro; 

Eastport, AVashingtoii 

Eden. Hancock 

Eddington, Penobscot 

Ellsworth, Hancock 

Hilton, Wm H 

Hewcs, B W 

Si>olTord. Elmer P 

Da\ is, S G 

Crosbv & Crosbv 

Trask. .J K 

Peaks, Jos B 

coggin 


;\IcEarren, 1 (! 

Peters, ,lohn A, Jr 

Burnham, J A 

Farnnngton, Franklin Belcher, S (r 

Fairfield, Simierset Wi-eks, George G 

Falmouth, AVest, Cumberland Clitford, C E 

Farniingdale, Kennebec Stillpheu, A C 

Fort Fairfield, Aroostook Powers, Herbert T 

Fort Kent, Aroostook Keegan, F W 

Foxcroft, I'iscataquis Parsons, W E 

Freedom. AValdo Keen, O H 

Freeport, Cund)crlaml Mitchell, E W 

Fryeburg, Oxford Fife, Seth W 

Gardiner, Kennebec Clason, O B 

Gorhani, ("umberland 

AVaterman, John A, Jr 

Gonldsborough, Winter Harbor, Hancock 

Tracy, Bedford E 

Guilford, Piscataquis Hudson, Henry 

Gray, Cumberland Aînton, AA"" H 

Hallowell, Kennebec 

Hamiiden. Penobscot 

Hanover, Oxford 

Harrison, Cumberland 

Hartland. Somerset 

Hersey, Aroostook 

Hiram, Oxford 

HoUis, York 

.Alayo, H AV 

Putnam, Sohm A 

Warren, Jesse W 

Thompson, D E 

Smith, B L 

I'ike, J F 

Bradbury, H K 

Houlton, Aroostook Burleigh, Parker C 

.Jay, Franklin 

Kennebunk, A'ork 

Kingman, Penobscot 

Kittery, A'ork 

Thompson, Roscoe H 

Haley, A E 

Estes, jcre E 

Safford, Moses A 

Iêban(ui, A"ork 

.Jones, S W 

lA^wiston, Androscogf iggin Knowlton, A K P 

Iêwiston. Androscog; iggin Drew, FM 

I>il.crty, Waldo 

Knowlton, J W 

Limerick, Y'ork 

lliggins, Frank M 

Limington, Y'ork McArthnr, AVilliam M 

Lincoln, Penobscot Clark, Hugo 

Lisbon, Androscoggin Coolidge. H E 

I>ovell. Oxford " Hobbs, J F 

Iûbec, AVashington Gray, James H 

Machias, AVashington AIcFaul, A D 

^Madison, Somerset Small, C O 

Manchester, Kennebec Farr, Loring 

>techanic Falls, Androscoggin 

Purrington, F O 

Mercer, Somerset 

Croswell, H T 

Mexico, Oxford 

Trask. John R 

:\Ullbridge, Washington Gray, H H 

Milo, Piscataquis 

Durgin, M L 

In corresjiondiug with these attorneys please mention that you found their names here.

Moiiiiiontli. Nrirth. Kcimelioc Jeirrev.,Tosso 

Montvillc, \V:ilil() Itartlett, .lonatlmn 

Monôn. riscaliKiuis, Si)rat;tic, J i 

Newport, I'enobscot Walker, Elliot. 

New Vineyard, Franklin Luce, E U 

Norridgewock, Somerset 

North Rerwick, York 

Norway, Oxford 

Oakland, Kennebec 

Oldtowii, I'enobscot 

Orono, Tenobscot 

Oxford, Oxford 

Paris, Oxford 

Farknian, I'iscataqnis 

I'arsonsfield, York 

Patten, Penobscot 

Pembroke, Wasliinjiton 

Phillips, Franklin 

Pittsheld. Somerset 

Poland, .Vndroscofifi'iii 

Porter, Kezar Falls, Oxfi 

Portland, Cnndierland 

Portland. Cumberland 

Presque Isle, Aroostook 

Harrington, Cliarles A 

Hobbs, Nathaniel 

Holt, Charles E 

Field, GeorjiC AV 

Ciishinan, C A 

Dunn, C J 

Hazen, (Jeoroe 

AVrifiht, James S 

Harvey, E F 

Davis, C.eor};e E 

Smith, Bertram L 

Smart. E K 

Morrison, .lames 

Hovey, Frank \V 

Dunn, David 

)rd Fox A' Da\is 

Libby \- Hill 

Seiders »V Chase 

Madiii'an, E 

Keadfield, Kennebec Bean cV' Bean 

Richmond, Sagadahoc Hall, "William T 

Rockland. Knox t'illev iS: MacAllister 

Rockport. Knox Barrett, C H -M 

Rumford, Oxford Swasey cV Svvasey 

Scarborough, West, Cumberland 

Moulton, Augustus F 

Saco, York Burbank, H H 

Sanford, York Hanson, (ieorgeAV 

Sebago, Cumberland 

Poor, E L 

So\itli I'.orwick, York 

Siiriiiiilicld. Penobscot 

Si>liin, Somerset 

Stand ish, Cnnd>erland 

St Albans, Somerset 

SteidxMi, Washiiii;ton 

Veaton, Ooorfre V 

Hider, E C 

IJrown, William 1! 

Swasev, (icorîo W 

Stewart, I) I) 

Kytl'i-r. David i! 

Stockton Sprin.ns, AValdo " Small, Win C 

Sullivan, llan(o


Entered at the Post Office, Rockland, Me., as Second-Class Matter. 

Campaign I. October, 1894. Call 4 



PUBLISHED QUARTERLY, JANUARY, APRIL, JULY AND OCTOBER, AND WILL BE THE 

ORGAN OF THE " MEN OF MAINE " WHO SERVED IN THE WAR OF THE 

REBELLION. NO OTHER STATE HAS A PROUDER RECORD. 



OF HISTORIC 

VALUE 

TO EACH REGI- 







REGIMENTS NORTH AND SOUTH WHICH PARTICIPATED IN THE WAR OF THE RBBEiLLION 

PRICE ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. OR TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A CALL 



Address, J. P. Chxey, Treasurer, Rockuvnd, Maine.




periodicals for which they are subscrib- 

ers, add Bugle at a greatly reduced price 


let us say, Cosmopoliiaji and Harper's 


office and we will add Bugle to the list 


Arena, 

Regular With 

Price Bugle

With Sheridan in Lee's Last Campaign. 

( Contimied.) 

At the head of a most magnificent command of cavalry and 

possessing the entire confidence of every man who followed, 

General Sheridan rode out from his camp on the morning of the 

29th of March, 1865, bound for Dinwiddie Court House, on the 

Boydton Plank Road, and bound to crush the rebellion, so far 

as one man by precept and example could effect that desired 

consummation. He was under the immediate orders of Lieu- 

tenant-General Grant, and commanded the cavalry as a separate 

army, as General Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac 

and General Ord the Army of the James. His subordinate 

commanders were General Merritt, commanding the first and 

third cavalry divisions from the Shenandoah Valley—General 

Devin commanding the former, and General Custer the latter 

and General Crook, commanding the second division (Gregg's 

old). In the first division the brigades were commanded by 

General Gibbs, Colonel Stagg, and Colonel Fitzhugh ; in the 

second division, by Generals Davies, Irvine Gregg, and Smith 

and in the third division, by Colonels Pennington, Wells, and 

Capehart. 

General Sheridan had been ordered to get out toward 

Dinwiddie Court House, and the enemy's left and rear, as best 

he could. General Grant wrote: "Move your cavalry at as 

early an hour as you can, and without being confined to any 

particular road or roads." The avowed object of the movement 

of the armies was to get the enemy out of his intrenched 

works, where he could be attacked with some chance of success. 

If the enemy should come out. General Sheridan was to "go in," 

and was assured that he would be properly supported; if the 

enemy should not come out, the general was to go on a raid, 

and cry havoc along the enemy's Southside and Danville Rail-


roads. It was a Micawber-like move at first, partly to help 

along the cavalry, partly in expectation that something would 

turn up. The Confederacy was upturned shortly, but just on 

this particular morning nobody had a very clear idea of what 

was going to happen, and General Grant himself apparently 

did not come to a realizing sense of the possibilities within 

reach, and did not feel grasping, until he got well out into the 

country that night, when he was seized with a desire of "ending 

the matter." 

Meanwhile, General Sheridan, keeping to himself his reflec- 

tions and hopes, whatever they might be, was carrying out his 

original orders in a literal manner ; 

and 

getting up very early 

in the morning (as early as he can being a good deal earlier 

than anybody else wants to), had crossed the Jerusalem Plank 

Road, and was exercising his topographical genius in finding 

roads in general and not particular, leading in the direction in 

which his face was set. 

Whoever has traveled the highways of Dinwiddie County, 

Virginia, in the melting days of spring, has probably recollec- 

tions of black soil appearing here and there, islands in ponds 

of black water fringed with green ; whoever has left the high- 

ways for a short-cut will remember how his horse broke through 

the upper crust and found apparently nothing below but space. 

We all drew sanguine auguries from this, and wished that the 

soil might be emblematical of the cause, since in Virginia the 

soil and the cause were almost synonymous ; and so we labored 

on hopefully, every man for himself and his horse, across the 

Weldon Railroad at Reims's Station, where twisted rails and 

strong lines of earthworks told of the old moves and the old 

hard fights. But somehow this place is unpleasant, for it 

reminds us all of how our present expedition may be nothing 

more than the old story of flanks extended, attacked, defended, 

and intrenched ; something gained of course, a pawn moved 

up into a good place, shutting up a little of the scope the 

adversary had, but not a checkmate, which we are after tJii^ 

time, and are therefore rather easier in our minds when we have


passed out beyond the old lines, sent out our advance-guard, 

and got into the undiscovered country. 

At Rovvanty Creek, or Run, as Virginians commonly call 

their little streams, we found the bridge down, and it was 

necessary to rebuild it. Experience teaches, and our command 

had had much experience in bridge-building. The First Maine 

Cavalry, lumbermen and rail-splitters, could knock up a bridge 

over an ordinary stream while the horses were being watered, 

and plenty of other regiments could swing an awful axe, and 

we soon had this bridge up and were crossing the Rowanty by 

fours. The field-report of effective strength was verified here 

by actual count, and the command was found to number 

General Merritt's command 5700; Crook's 3300; total—9000 

effective men and horses. 

On the other side of the Rowanty our advance caught sight 

of a small picket-force of the enemy's cavalry, and, giving 

chase rapidly, captured a few of them ; and meanwhile our 

scout were out after information in all directions, and we were 

constantly getting news of the enemy's movements. 

These scouts were a fine body of some sixty men selected 

from the whole cavalry corps, and commanded by Major H. H. 

Young, of the Second Rhode Island Infantry, an excellent 

officer, fond of adventure, brave, and a good disciplinarian ; he 

had attracted the attention of General Sheridan by his gallantry 

in the Shenandoah Valley, and was assigned to duty on his 

staff, and ordered to organize his present command. As a 

general thing, scouts are perfectly worthless. They are usually 

plausible fellows who go out to the picket-line and lie on the 

ground all night under a tree, and come back to headquarters 

in the morning and lie there, giving wonderful reports about 

the enemy, fearing no contradiction. They swagger frightfully 

when small towns are occupied and there are any natives to 

astonish; then they turn out in the full uniform of the enemy, 

being surrounded by friends, and, with two pistols in the belt 

and one in each boot, these walking arsenals walk into every- 

thing that does not belong to them and help themselves.


Young's men were differently managed, and were of great 

service. They were much more afraid of the general and of 

the major than they were of the enemy, for the general has a 

way of cross-examining that is fatal to a lie, and as Young was 

constantly off in the enemy's country himself, his men never 

knew but that he had been following their trail, so there was no 

use trying to shut up his eye, as a scout would say. These 

men had been with the major on several successful expeditions 

and in some desperate fights. They had taken Harry Gilmor 

out of his bed and confiscated the pistols on his pillow, without 

disturbing his command ; in the Shenandoah Valley they had 

swept the picket-line of the enemy and cut their way through 

the reserves, losing several killed and wounded in the attempt. 

They knew the major and each other, and Young knew them, 

and they had that mutual confidence which is vital to a party 

of this sort. They were like what romance tells us of Marion's 

men ; but after the experience of the late war an impression 

steals over the mind that Marion's men were really bushwhack- 

ers—hard names to call revolutionary heroes, but their Southern 

compatriots throw suspicion upon them by an aptitude that 

must have been " bred in the bone." Young's men dressed in 

the Confederate uniform habitually ; mingled 

with the people, 

told them the news and got the news of them in return ; cursed 

the Yankees, and drank stirrup-cups of apple-jack to their dis- 

comfiture ; 

warned the host against their coming, and then rode 

away, while one of their number quickly slipped back through 

unfrequented paths and communicated the latest from the front 

to the general commanding. At night, while the troops rested, 

Young and his men would be miles away in every direction, 

and during the day we would pick them up at every cross-road 

with the best intelligence from right and left. The men were 

well paid for this hazardous work, and often received a bonus 

for special acts of daring and good service ; and the major was 

compensated by his chances of distinction and the general's 

good opinion. He came to be well known in the sections where 

we campaigned, and those people who would acknowledge to a


curiosity to see anything in the shape of a Yankee would ask 

to have Young pointed out. 

At the Rowanty we learned from the prisoners and the scouts 

that a considerable body of the enemy's cavalry was marching 

on roads parallel with us on the other side of Stony Creek, 

pushing apparently for Dinwiddle Court House, to intercept us ; 

so we moved on rapidly and gained that point, and the rebellious 

column let us alone when the uncaptured portion of their pick- 

ets galloped away from the court-house, and, dashing across the 

Stony Creek by the Boydton Plank Road bridge, informed 

their friends on the other side that Sheridan's cavalry was there. 

A party of our men quickly secured the bridge, tore up the 

planks, and made other arrangements for disputing the passage ; 

but no attempt to cross was made by the enemy, who accepted 

the situation and hurried on to secure their connection with 

their own army, and to get between us and the Southside Rail- 

road. Meanwhile we peacefully occupied Dinwiddle Court 

House, and went into camp in that vicinity. 

In Virginia court-houses mean towns, and the towns are prin- 

cipally court-houses ; here, however, there was a hotel thrown 

in, and a couple of cottages by way of outskirts. Perhaps 

there were three ; 

there is no intention to be unjust to Dinwiddle, 

and it is more than a year since we were there. Yes, there 

were three. There was the long, low mansion with a leaky 

piazza, in the hollow on the right ; the little house on the hill, 

where we all took breakfast, for which the man took a dollar a 

head ; 

and the brick house by the temple of justice, which 

looked like a school house, but probably was not. We estab- 

lished ourselves at the Dinwiddle Hotel,— hotel no longer 

except in name and in legend, for nobody ever passed by now 

but straggling cavalrymen, and cooking for them was reported 

to be not remunerative. Some of the pickets had slept there, 

though, for all the beds in the unoccupied rooms of the house 

were topsy-turvy,—and such beds ! 

the 

feelings of the Northern 

matron would have been too great for utterance in contemplat- 

ing them, and as for sleeping in them — even v/e were not


reduced to that extremity: so we wrapped ourselves up in our 

martial cloaks and lay down, supperless, upon the floor, with 

chairs for pillows ; supperless, because far away toward the 

Weldon Railroad our wagons were toiling painfully through the 

mud, getting out of one hole only to find another, while the 

quartermasters and Custer's division manfully endeavored to 

bring them on by putting the shoulder to the wheel, by calling 

on Jupiter, and by corduroying. 

During the evening, to help matters along and give affairs a 

cheerful aspect, it began to rain : first a Scotch mist, then 

unsteady showers, and then a pour, as if the equinox, hurrying 

through the elements, had kicked over the water-buckets. 

About this time General Grant was seized with the desire 

"to end the matter before going back." His illogical mind 

failed to be affected by the logic of events, failed to perceive 

that things were looking about as badly as they could for 

accomplishing anything, and so he sent a dispatch to General 

Sheridan countermanding his conditional orders in regard to 

the raid upon the Southside and Danville Railroads, and direct- 

ing him to find the enemy's right and rear as soon as possible. 

Wishing to have a perfectly clear idea of General Grant's pro- 

posed plan of ending the matter, General Sheridan, soon after 

daylight on the 30th, mounted his gray pacer (captured from 

Breckenridge's adjutant-general at Missionary Ridge), and 

paced rapidly over to the headquarters of the lieutenant- 

general, taking two or three staff officers, with a dozen men for 

an escort. This little party raised an immense commotion on 

the picket-line of the army, and only after such persevering 

dumb-show as the friendly Friday made to Robinson Crusoe 

was it permitted to approach. Once inside, the pacer was let 

out again, and rein was drawn only when the horses slumped 

to their bellies in the quicksand-field where General Grant had 

pitched his tent, from which he regarded the tempest with 

derision. 

About this time things certainly looked rather blue to a 

superficial observer; the troops, just out of comfortable winter


quarters, cowered under their scant shelters, or dragged them- 

selves slowly along to their place in line, clogged with mud and 

weighed down with the drenching rain. In every by-way and 

in every field wagons were hopelessly imbedded in the glutinous 

soil. Drivers and mules had given it up, and the former 

smoked their pipes calmly under the wagons, while the latter 

turned tail to the storm and clustered around the feed-box, 

where they had put their heads together from habit, for there 

was nothing in the box to eat, and they must have been asses 

if they hoped the forage-wagons would get to the front that 

day. General Sheridan, water dripping from every angle of his 

face and clothes, was ushered into the presence and councils 

of the lieutenant-general, and between them they soon settled 

that, as it was within the limits of horse possibility for cavalry 

to move, they would move a little and see what came of it, 

if only to pass the time, for on a day like this the most ardent 

man must find employment or he will begin to think that he is 

a helpless party to a fiasco, which it must be acknowledged we 

all appeared to be just then. The only thing probably that 

could have amused the company on that inauspicious morning 

would have been an excited horseman straining through the 

treacherous soil, waving his hat, and crying out that Lee would 

surrender to Grant one hundred miles from there in ten days 

from date. That would have been extremely amusing, and the 

toughest veteran would have smiled grimly. 

Very hopeful, but somewhat incredulous, were the veterans, 

and it was rather their fashion to scoff in the last year of the 

war. There were precedents for all sorts of campaigns except 

"the last," and the old troops were somewhat skeptical when 

that was predicted. They had something of the feeling of the 

man in " Used Up," who has been everywhere and seen every- 

thing—been up Mount Vesuvius, looked down the crater and 

found nothing in it. Lee had escaped them by only so much 

as Tam O'Shanter's mare escaped at the bridge, and possibly 

for the reason that armies like witches are balked by streams, 

as the Potomac and Rappahannock would seem to testify.


They had been in Burnside's " mud movement," and looking on 

this picture and on that they discovered the counterfeit present- 

ment of two brothers, so far as it was given to them to see ; but 

the hcutenant-general and General Sheridan had not been in the 

other mud movement, and they are not men of routine to care 

for precedent, so the latter got into his wet saddle again, said 

good morning to the lieutenant-general as chirpily as if the ele- 

ments were smiling, and sent off a staff officer by a short-cut 

to find General Merritt, on the road from Dinwiddle to Five 

Forks, and tell him to move out a little farther and stir up the 

animals. 

The enemy's cavalry, which had been marching parallel with 

us the day before, had kept along the right bank of Stony 

Creek until they had passed beyond the Boydton Plank Road, 

and then had crossed over to the White Oak Road by the near- 

est route, in order to place themselves between us and the 

Southside Railroad, to which there is a direct road leading from 

Dinwiddle Court House through Five Forks and across Hatch- 

er's Run. The White Oak Road was the prolongation of the 

right flank of the enemy's line protecting Petersburg, and was 

important to be guarded by them on that account also. 

On this morning, as stated, General Merritt was posted on 

the Five Forks Road, and was about midway between that point 

anrl Dinwiddle Court House ; General Gibbes, with the reserve 

brigade, had the advance, and was immediately moved out in 

obedience to General Sheridan's order. The leading regiments. 

Sixth Pennsylvania and Second Massachusetts Cavalry, had 

hardly passed through their picket-line when they became 

engaged with the enemy's cavalry, and a sharp skirmish ensued, 

in which Colonel Leiper, Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanding 

these two regiments, drove the enemy handsomely 

nearly to Five Forks, carrying a line of temporary breastworks, 

and developed a heavy force too strong for his command. 

This reconnoissance was deemed satisfactory, as demonstrat- 

ing the intention of the enemy to hold the White Oak Road, 

and a general engagement being impracticable and useless.


owing to the condition of the weather and roads rendering 

co-operation by the infantry impossible, General Gibbes's brig- 

ade was slowly withdrawn to its original position, and the enemy^ 

satisfied to be let alone, remained quiet for the rest of the day. 

At dark we all sought the shelter of the Dinwiddie Hotel 

again, and the wagons still being reported far off in the slough, 

betook our hungry selves to music to while away the dreary 

hours. For the hotel had a piano, a relic of better days, rather 

unstrung, and a little off in tone perhaps, but good enough to 

sound chords for a chorus, for voices are full when other things 

are empty. Lovely ladies assisted too—ladies who had fled 

from Charleston to Petersburg, and from Petersburg to Dinwid- 

die, to keep out of harm's way, and who now particularly 

requested us not to fight a battle near the Coat House, as they 

called it. Their gentlemen who had been on picket there had 

promised them not to fight where they could see the carnage, 

and had kept their word; our gentlemen ought to do the same. 

Virginians always speak of their soldiers and of ours (when 

within our lines) as gentlemen. We say men, sometimes in the 

country regiments " boys," and it has a curious effect to hear a 

lady say, " That gentleman has killed one of my sheep " ; the 

property claim makes the title paradoxical. When we were not 

near, in the freedom of the social circle we were commonly 

called " Yanks," and the smallest children have confessed that 

their infant tongues were taught to prefix naughty words to that 

contemptuous title. But on this occasion circumstances had 

made us gentlemen -pro tern., so we gave our knightly words of 

honor not to bring red war to the door-step of the Dinwiddie 

Hotel, and then betook ourselves to merry song, and harmony 

ruled the hour. 

During the night the rain gave out, doubtless fatigued with 

constant falling, and very early on the thirty-first we were in the 

saddle, riding along the lines to learn if the enemy was making 

any demonstration, and to send out reconnoissances if all was 

quiet. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Dinwiddie Court House was 

not a paying locality for a hotel, and of no great account as a


town, it was of considerable importance in a military point of 

view. It is a hub from which no end of roads diverge. The 

Boydton Plank Road passes by on the way to Petersburg, and 

led to the left flank of the Army of the Potomac, which 

stretched across it trying to reach the White Oak Road ; then 

there is the Five Forks Road, with its ramifications, and a 

smaller road to the left of that which crosses Chamberlaine's 

Bed or Run, and runs on in the direction of the White Oak 

Road. On the other hand, there are as many avenues leading 

away toward the James River, which we were compelled to 

cover and protect. The suddenness of our first move had 

given us possession of Dinwiddie Court House, and now the 

enemy, appreciating the importance of the position, evidently 

proposed to secure the advantages which we were enjoying 

there ; that is the military advantages—not the piano and the 

ladies. We have done with them for the present. But 

" If our voices come back, and we don't get shot. 

We'll come back with them—otherwise not." 

It soon became evident that the enemy was restless, from the 

pattering shot dropping here and there on the dull, damp air of 

the morning, and we had not long to wait before he determined 

as to our weak point, and came down upon it like a battering- 

ram, according to his headlong habit. 

Beyond Dinwiddie Court House, looking north, the ground 

is high, and tolerably clear and level for a hundred yards or 

more, and then slopes down toward Chamberlaine's Bed, which 

is curtained with woods. The road that crosses the bed was 

held by Smith's brigade, of Crook's division, on the extreme 

left of our line, and here the enemy made their first assault, 

about ten o'clock in the morning. They came on fiercely, and 

some of them got on to our side of the water, but the brigade 

met them with a very determined resistance, and they were 

slowly driven back across the run, our men halting only when 

they had reached the bank. Meanwhile our bands played 

on the hill, and entertained the combatants with gay and 

patriotic airs.


To the right of Smith General Irvine Gregg was posted, in 

the low ground along the bed, and on his right was General 

Davies's brigade, with his right flank joining the left of the first 

division, which had already moved out as far as Five Forks, but, 

encountering a strong body of infantry, had been forced to 

retire, and now circled across the Five Forks Road toward the 

Boydton Plank. Somewhere in this line the enemy's cavalry 

hoped to find a gap or make one ; and 

after wasting the better 

half of the morning in the vain assault on Smith, and in illtempered 

firing across the bed alter their repulse, they moved 

slowly up the run, looked in upon Irvine Gregg, whose fine 

brigade, protected by a marsh, could laugh at them, and pass- 

ing him, found both a better piece of country for their designs, 

and prospect of success, in front of General Davies. Heavily 

reinforced by infantry from the White Oak Road, they attacked 

him fiercely, and elbowed him out ot his place in line, and 

crowded him back upon the two brigades of the first division 

under Devin, upon his right. Mounted and dismounted, as the 

ground permitted, these troops then together contested every 

grove and every knoll, and fell back slowly toward the Boydton 

Plank Road before the overpowering force of the enemy. 

If this has been clearly understood, it will be seen that our 

line was now broken in two, all on the right of the Five Forks 

Road (looking toward that point) having been swept off in the 

direction of the Army of the Potomac, with the enemy between 

them and our troops on the left of that road ; and now, in 

following the retiring lines of Davies and Devin, the enemy 

bore to the right, with the double object of entirely cutting 

off all communication between the divided sections of our 

command, and thus, while gaining possession of the Boydton 

Plank Road, force the troops on the left of our line to abandon 

Dinwiddle Court House. 

Fortunately General Gibbes, with the reserve brigade which 

had been held in hand for emergencies, was standing to horse 

where the Five Forks Road is intersected by a dirt road that 

runs off to the Boydton Plank, about a mile above Dinwiddle.


As the marching flank of the enemy in pursuit of Davics and 

Devin, wheeling toward the Plank Road, came crashing through 

the woods, General Gibbes was ordered to attack, and his 

gallant brigade had hardly started before they struck the enemy 

in flank and rear. Almost simultaneously with General Gibbes's 

assault. General Irvine Gregg vvas ordered to leave his position 

on Chamberlaine's Run, move rapidly by his right flank, 

mounted, and taking a wood-path leading over to the Five 

Forks Road, fall upon the enemy's rear on the left of General 

Gibbes. This order was promptly executed, and the sudden 

and combined attack thus made by these brigades caused the 

enemy to face about by the rear rank and look to his own 

defense. Davies and Devin were thus at once relieved of the 

pressure of the enemy's pursuit, and the trouble was averted 

that must have resulted from the appearance of this force in 

rear of the left flank of the Army of the Potomac, toward 

which they had been retreating. 

The result of the movements just described having been 

anticipated, General Davies had been already instructed, 

through General Merritt, to bring his command, with Devin's 

division, to Dinwiddie Court House, by way of the Boydton 

Plank Road, which had not yet fallen into possession of the 

enemy. 

It would have been possible at this time, as the enemy turned 

to meet the attack of Gibbes and Irvine Gregg, for Davies and 

Devin to have complicated his affairs somewhat by advancing 

upon his line as soon as he ceased to follow them ; but it is 

easy to imagine that their commands were in rather an unavail- 

able shape for offensive purposes after the severe retreating 

fight in which they had borne themselves so gallantly. Owing 

to the woody nature of the country, too, it was impossible for 

them to comprehend the exact position of the enemy in rela- 

tion to our troops upon the left, and they could not therefore, 

perhaps, have been expected to do more than get together their 

men and horses and march to Dinwiddie Court House as rapidly 

as possible. This they did, but only rejoined the command


after the fighting was over for the day. No disaster resulted 

from want of their troops, however, as our men upon the left 

proved equal to the emergency which they were compelled to 

meet, when the enemy, quickly recovering from the shock of 

the unexpected attack in rear, assumed the offensive in that 

direction, and, with their largely superior forre, pressed back 

the brigades of Gibbes and Gregg toward Dinwiddle Court 

House. 

It was evident now that we had a difficult matter in hand, 

requiring the most careful attention and delicate management 

if we proposed to quarter in the Dinwiddle Hotel that evening. 

General Sheridan did so propose ; 

and 

while throwing into the 

conflict in front all his energies, roused now to the highest pitch 

by the enemy's success, he sent off rapid riders to General 

Custer, in rear, who had been laboring all this time with the 

wagons and had not reached Dinwiddie, and [ordered him to 

bring two of his brigades quickly to the front. Custer never 

required more than simple orders on such an occasion, for he 

had in himself the vim which insured a prompt response to the 

wishes of the commanding general; and so, forsaking the 

uncongenial task to which he had been a martyr, he hurried 

forward at the head of these brigades, and reported to General 

Sheridan at a critical moment when this excellent reinforcement 

was sorely needed. 

The enemy, in attacking Gibbes and Gregg, had not only 

reversed their ranks, but, in order to protect themselves from 

troops that we might have on the left of Gregg, Had necessarily 

changed the direction of their march, and now the fight gradu- 

ally crept along toward Chamberlaine's Bed, on which they 

sought to rest their right flank, to secure themselves from 

further surprise. This backward movement delayed them 

somewhat, of course, and favored us also, in the fact that, by 

swinging round in that direction they relieved both Gibbes and 

Gregg, who had been hard pushed, and found fresh opponents 

in the fine brigade of General Smith, which now disputed 

warmly their approach along the bed. It was just as the car-


bines of Smith began to rattle in the woods below that the head 

of Custer's column reached the high ground in front of Din- 

widdle Court House. 

On the right of this open ridge the brigades of Gibbes and 

Gregg were seen slowly retiring and forming in line again, covering 

the Boydton Plank Road. Along the edge of the woods 

in their front, the gray uniforms of the rebel infantry could be 

distinguished moving off toward Smith, and evidently bent upon 

ousting him from his position on the bed before they attempted 

anything further. Seeing this, Gibbes's brigade, on our extreme 

right, moved forward again with spirit, and kept the enemy in 

its front diverted, while Smith continued his splendid effort 

against the large force now attacking him. General Sheridan 

instructed General Smith that when compelled to retire, as every 

one saw he must do, he should fall back to the high, open 

ground in rear, and go into. position on the extreme left of the 

line, which we were now preparing to defend to the last. The 

first brigade of Custer's division was dismounted on the hill, 

and immediately set to work with a will to throw up a breastwork 

of rails, and the neighboring fences were rapidly sacrificed 

for the purpose. 

Now, for almost the first time during this hard day's fight, 

could artillery be used, and the horse batteries went quickly 

into position and awaited the coming enemy. Smith held onto 

the bed with tight-clinched hands, and only let go his hold when 

he had hardly a round of ammunition left; then, abandoning 

the road on which he had been fighting, he took to the woods 

in front of our left, and trudged up the hill toward Dinwiddle, 

followed by the enemy, unmolested. 

At this moment the enemy's cavalry appeared on the stage 

in one short act. Apparently they had been formed on the 

west bank of the bed, and now, as Smith abandoned the road, 

these fiery cavaliers dashed over the bed, and galloped wildly 

up the slope to cut off Smith, to get possession of the Court 

House, to salute the ladies, and be patted on the back ; 

and as 

a staff officer, who had just left General Smith, was telling


General Sheridan that he was taking to the woods on our left 

and front, the enemy's cavalry rode suddenly into the open 

ground below us. But by this time Irvine Gregg and Custer's 

brigade were snugly fortified on the crest, calmly awaiting the 

progress of events. It seemed impossible that the enemy should 

have so soon gained the road from which the smoke of Smith's 

carbines had not yet cleared away, and for a moment our troops 

hesitated to fire, but only for an instant, and then they poured 

in a scathing volley upon the astonished column, which had 

staggered with surprise when it first emerged from the woods, 

and had halted in a mass, huddled together by the weight of 

its own impetus. The hot fire that burst out now from our 

breastworks seemed to wither this rash cavalry, for it vanished 

from sight, and was seen no more that day. 

The sun was nearly down now, but one more effort of the 

enemy was yet to be made to get possession of Dinwiddie Court 

House, and win some fruits of the hard day's work, which, so 

far, had borne but barren honor. The thundering salute to their 

cavalry had hardly ceased to echo through the woods when the 

long line of their infantry slowly debouched on the plain 

infantry that was hard to beat. We used to think that living 

was such a poor life with them that they did not much care to 

continue it. They had an air of abandon, a sort of devil-may- 

care swing in their long stride as they advanced over a field, 

that was rather disheartening to men that did not want to get 

shot. And these were some of their best — parts or all of 

Pickett's and Johnson's divisions of Anderson's corps. While 

they were still deploying, Pennington's brigade of Custer's 

division reached the field, and was immediately ordered to the 

right, to the support of Gibbes. Catching sight of the enemy, 

Pennington's men burst into a glorious cheer as they splashed 

through the miry road behind the rails, and from left to right 

the shout was passed along, while General Sheridan, cap in 

hand, galloped up the line with some of his staff and Generals 

Merritt and Custer, who were with him at the moment, and 

drew the first fire of the now advancing enemy. Mud and bul-


lets flew, and an enthusiastic reporter of the Nezv York Herald, 

who was carried away by his feeHngs at this juncture, was shot 

in the shoulder following the general. Our artillery now opened, 

and at such short range could not fail to be destructive, and a 

moment later the carbines of five brigades were blazing in the 

twilight, the repeating Spensers puffing out their cartridges like 

Roman candles. The heavy fire from both sides continued for 

a few minutes, and, meanwlpiile, darkness settled down upon us. 

Gradually the fire from the enemy became fitful and irregular, 

and soon ceased altogether, for, as they advanced across the 

open ground, they seemed to count the cost ol carrying our 

line, and weigh the advantages of holding the Court House by 

such uncertain tenure as theirs would be, separated by miles 

from their own army, and liable to be annihilated before they 

could rejoin it. Acting on the conclusion of this sober second 

thought, they contented themselves with such glory as the day 

had brought, and, wrapping themselves up in it, lay down in 

their tracks to rest as soon as the slacking of our fire permitted. 

Thus closed one of the severest and best of our cavalry 

fights ; one that tested to the extreme the endurance and the 

spirit of the command, and proved again its gallantry and 

steadfastness. The fight did not close with a grand feii de-joie 

or a blaze of glory. It flickered, and then went out, because 

the enemy, who might have made it dramatic, decided to have 

it commonplace, and we appreciated his motives too well to 

attempt to have it otherwise, for we would, unquestionably, 

have been roughly handled had we mistaken his hesitancy and 

sallied out of our breast-works to attack him. We felt entitled 

to some glory, too, at nightfall, for if the enemy's object was to 

gain possession of Dinwiddie Court House, we had foiled him 

in that; if he had intended to cripple our cavalry and prevent 

our acting against his right and rear, he had failed in that, as he 

discovered next morning; and if his only object was a fight, 

he had got a Roland for his Oliver, and he had captured no 

prisoners and no material of war. It was hard to see wherein 

he had bettered himself, or disproportionately damaged us, so


we did not feel downhearted ; though we had lost some ground 

we still held the key that opened the way to the enemy's right 

and rear, and our own communications were all intact, and we 

still kept the Dinwiddle Hotel. 

In his official report General Grant says that in this battle of 

Dinwiddle Court House General Sheridan displayed great gen- 

eralship, and the lieutenant-general is good authority. It is 

hoped that the reader has been able to see how the general dis- 

played generalship : in extricating his command from the com- 

plications in which it was involved by the difficult nature of the 

country and the superior strength of the enemy ; in keeping 

employed this formidable force, which might have caused 

infinite annoyance to the left flank of the Army of the Potomac ; 

and at the same time retaining his hold of the strategic point 

from which new efl'orts could best be made, and where his 

presence was a standing threat to the enemy's communications. 

When it became evident that the enemy had no intention 

of making any further demonstration, General Sheridan retired 

to a small house in rear of our lines, and sent off a dispatch to 

the lieutenant-general briefly narrating the events of the day, 

and adding, for his information, that the force of the enemy 

was too strong for us, left him to take such action as he might 

deem proper, while assuring him that our command would not 

leave Dinwiddle until compelled to do so. The dispatch reads 

as follows 

Lieutenant-General Grant, 

Commanding Armies of the United States: 

Cavalry Headquarters, 

DiNWiDDiE Court House, 

March 31st, 1865. 

The enemy's cavalry attacked me about ten o'clock to-day, 

on the road coming in from the west, and a little north of 

Dinwiddle Court House. This attack was handsomely repulsed 

by General Smith's brigade, of Crook's division, and the enemy 

was driven across Chamberlaine's Creek. Shortly afterward the 

enemy's infantry attacked on the same creek in heavy force, and


drove in General Davies's brigade, and advancing rapidly, 

gained the forks of the road at J. Boisseau's. This forced 

Devin, who was in advance, and Davies to cross to the Boydton 

Road. General Gregg's brigade and General Gibbes's brigade, 

which had been toward Dinwiddle, then attacked the enemy in 

the rear very handsomely. This stopped the march toward the 

left of our infantry, and finally caused them to turn toward Din- 

widdle and attack us in heavy force. The enemy then again 

attacked at Chamberlaine's Creek, and forced Smith's position. 

At this time Capehart's and Pennington's brigades, of Custer's 

division, came up, and a very handsome fight occurred. The 

enemy have gained some ground, but we still hold in front of 

Dinwiddie, and Davies and Devin are coming down the Boydton 

Road to join us. The opposing force was Pickett's division 

Wise's independent brigade of infantry, and Fitzhugh Lee's, 

Rosser's, and W. H. Lee's cavalry commands. The men 

behaved splendidly. Our loss in killed and wounded will probably 

number four hundred and fifty men ; very few were lost as 

prisoners. We have of the enemy a number of prisoners. This 

force is too strong for us. I will hold out at Dinwiddie Court 

House until I am compelled to leave. Our fighting to-day was 

all dismounted. 

(Signed) P. H. SHERIDAN, 

Major- Genc7'al. 

The house where this was written was a poor frame affair, 

inhabited by a woman and a half-dozen little children, who were 

living on Heaven knows what in that desert land ; 

their house 

filled with wounded, and a fear of having it riddled with shot in 

the morning. It was a relief to get away from it and put 

Davies's and Devin's troops into camp behind Dinwiddie Court 

House as they marched into our lines by way of the Boydton 

Plank Road. By midnight every preparation for the morning 

was completed : 

ammunition 

was brought up and distributed; 

wagons were parked at the point they had reached, some three 

or four miles still short of Dinwiddie ; the wounded were all


cared for and moved to the rear; and then we betook ourselves 

again to the hotel, where we fell down on the sofest board that 

offered, and were asleep. 

Meanwhile the lieutenant-general seems to have been awake, 

as we find that he immediately acted upon General Sheridan's 

report of the fight at Dinwiddle by ordering to his support 

MacKenzie's division of cavalry from the Army of the James, 

and first one division and then the whole of the Fifth Corps. 

General Grant evidently deemed it important that General 

Sheridan should not be foiled in his effort to break through the 

enemy's right flank, and therefore sent to him a force sufficient 

to accomplish that end— a judicious reinforcement, that led to 

the best results. 

Unfortunately, however, there is associated with the brilliant 

operations which followed an unpleasant personal matter, which 

ought perhaps to be noticed here. Everybody will remember 

that at the battle of Five Forks, on April ist, Major-General 

Warren was relieved from the command of the Fifth Army 

Corps by General Sheridan, and ordered to report to General 

Grant, and as we are on the eve of that engagement, it seems 

proper to speak of this incident now, because General Sheridan 

was undoubtedly influenced to his action in regard to General 

Warren partially by events preceding the battle. At the time 

much interest was felt in the community to learn the real causes 

of General Warren's removal, for he was an officer of promi- 

nence in the Army of the Potomac, and his record and reputa- 

tion were such that it is a question whether this personal affair 

did not cause as much discussion in the North as the important 

battle of which it was an incident. This interest has been kept 

alive by supporters of the two officers concerned ; and lately, 

if the circumstance was in danger of being forgotten, attention 

has again been called to it by the pamphlet of General Warren, 

giving his version of the difficulty, interwoven with a sketch 

of the operations of his corps. In view of these circumstances 

it would be idle to ignore this subject in a narrative purporting 

to follow General Sheridan through this campaign, and as the


steps by which he finally reached his determination to relieve 

General Warren lead through the whole of this day's operations, 

the reader will doubtless prefer to take them in turn, as thus he 

will be better able to decide whether General Sheridan was 

justified in this summary action toward a fellow-officer at the 

close of a successful day. In discussing this question a sincere 

endeavor will be made to treat it fairly and impartially ; because, 

in the first place, General Sheridan does not need to have his 

reputation upheld at the expense of any other officer, and 

because good taste and truth would alike condemn a blind 

panegyric which facts do not support. No reader can fail to 

appreciate General Warren's delicate position ; but in General 

Sheridan's behalf it is needful to discuss some portions of 

General Warren's pamphlet, and the reader is only asked to 

draw his own conclusions from the records from which we 

quote. Some influential newspapers have decided this case 

already in favor of General Warren without hearing the other 

side, looking at the controversy from his stand-point; but it is 

believed that the facts can be shown to sustain General Sheridan, 

looking at the matter from neutral ground. It may be well to 

add, that if #iis sketch here and there smacks of defense, it is 

only because in some points at issue General Sheridan cannot 

well make himself heard, and therefore it seems simple justice 

to lay before the reader what can with propriety be advanced 

in his behalf; and as the events which we are describing will 

some day be studied by the historian, whose task is an unenvi- 

able one at best, the testimony of eye-witnesses will always be 

valuable provided it be true. 

We have seen that General Grant acted at once upon General 

Sheridan's dispatch from Dinwiddie, and then he wrote a note 

to him as follows : 

Dabney Mills, 

March 31st, 1865, 10.05 

''• ^*' 

Major-General Sheridan : 

The Fifth Corps has been ordered to your support. Two 

divisions will go by J. Boisseau's and one down the Boydton 

Road. In addition to this I have sent MacKenzic's cavalry,


which will reach you by the Vaughan Road. All these forces, 

except the cavalry, should reach you by twelve o'clock to-night. 

You will assume command of the whole force sent to operate 

with you, and use it to the best of your ability to destroy the 

force which your command has fought so gallantly to-day. 

(Signed) U. S. GRANT, 

Lieutenant- General. 

This is all that passed on the subject between General 

Sheridan and the lieutenant-general. It is short and to the 

point on both sides, especially that part regarding reinforce- 

ments— quite a model of military correspondence ; and 

the 

action of the lieutenant-general, unquestioning and uncomplain- 

ing, evinces a confidence that must have been gratifying to his 

lieutenant at Dinwiddle. General Grant says, speaking of the 

Fifth Corps, "Two divisions will go by J. Boisseau's and one 

down the Boydton Road, and should reach you by twelve 

o'clock to-night." Here begins the association of General 

Warren with General Sheridan, and so, with the reader's per- 

mission, we will now change the scene to the camp of the 

Fifth Corps, on the left of the Army of the Potomac. 

[ To be continued. ~\ 


[ Con/tf!ued.~\ 

One day my own prison family got a chance to go outside 

the guard line and get a pine tree for wood and to build us a 

house. We got a good tree and got it cut, split and lugged 

into camp and our house just completed. One of our boys, 

A. T. Robinson, of my company and regiment, fell forward on 

to a stick of wood, hurting him so as to cause a rupture for the 

rest of his life. Our house was completed and we were proud 

enough of it. It was made of flat stakes or stockades driven 

into the ground as closely as possible, and a roof made of the


same materials only split thinner and battened and held in place 

by poles tied on to the top. Just as we were cutting our tree 

down one of the guards shot one of our men in the bowels, 

cutting across the abdomen so as to let his entrails run out in 

two places. The man in going after water had stepped across 

a corner of the sentry beat. The man lived two or tliree hours 

in great agony. 

Another man was killed by a tree falling on him. A number 

of men cut a tree down inside of our camp, felling it directly 

into a crowd of men, and seemed as reckless and indifferent as 

the rebels themselves. We were huddled together as closely as 

possible, and our whole camp was a solid crowd. This man's 

leg bones stuck through the flesh several inches and I believe 

he was killed almost instantly. Well, we had finished our house 

and were about to move into it when we got order to "Fall in," 

and march to the station. We left our house just as we built 

it and marched aboard the cars and went down to Thomasville 

instead of towards Savannah. We got off the cars at Thomas- 

ville and were marched through the streets of the town and 

down back of the town, and went into camp near the edge of 

a pine forest. On our way through the town the people came 

out of their houses and stood on their verandas and reviled us, 

and they got as good as they sent. We had in our crowd a 

large number of graduates from schools of profanity and bad 

language and they let their tongues loose on the inhabitants of 

Thomasville in defiance of the guards, and in fact the guards 

didn't seem only half-hearted in their orders to our fellows to 

" shut up." One honorable exception : an old lady came out 

and looked at the line of haggard, starving skeletons a few 

minutes, then raised her hands and said in a loud distinct voice, 

" I'm sorry for ye, boys; it's a shame, a disgrace to our people 

to use ye so." The rebel guards and officers yelled, " Shut up, 

old woman. Go in your house, God damn ye ! 

" Then our 

boys yelled back to the rebs, " Shut up yourselves, you yallarbellied 

corn-crackers ! You don't know anything. That's the 

only white woman in the whole South ! 

" Then went up a


cheer for the old lady. We drowned the voices of the guards 

and amid cheers and expressions of gratitude to the good 

woman and jawing with the guards we had a little pandemonium. 

She kept up her expressions of sympathy till we were out of 

hearing. I should think she must have been sixty years old 

and is probably not living now. How many times I have 

thought of her since. Her courage to stand alone in that 

crowded rebel town and amid threats, jeers and insults of her 

neighbors, offer to us all that was in her power to offer—her 

sympathy for us, and express her sorrow for our misery. 

We passed on through the town, down to the edge of a pine 

forest perhaps a mile from the city of Thomasville. I recollect 

of seeing a white negro child in the edge of the town, an albino, 

I suppose. A child perhaps ten years old, with full African 

features but as white as chalk. We went into camp as I said 

before by the side of a pine forest, and in a few days the rebels 

began a deep trench around us to set up stockades in, but we 

were not destined to stay there long enough to have prison walls 

erected around us. It was evident to us that our forces were 

troubling the rebels considerably for we were ordered to march 

to the Blue Springs, on the Flint River, a distance of sixty- 

three miles by the guide board at a cross road we passed. 

During my stay in Andersonville I obtained a copy of one of 

Lloyds maps of the State of Georgia from an artist comrade of 

the One Hundredth New York named James Hoffman. I always 

meant to try to escape, and for that reason I studied the map a 

good deal, and so when we were ordered to march to the Flint 

River I remembered that it was near Albany and that Albany 

was either on the Georgia Central Railroador a branch of it, on 

which that dread old prison, Andersonville, was situated. I sus- 

pectected then that we were to be sent back to Andersonville. 

I got it out of one of the more intelligent guards one day on the 

march by careful questioning that Andersonville was our des- 

tination. Then I determined to try to escape right off. But 

the day we started two men with six or more hounds came 

along and marched behind us, and before long we heard the


baying of the hounds after some poor fellow who tried to escape, 

and shortly after he was captured and brought in. I had to 

give up my plans for immediate escape then thinking I would 

try it if I could when we got to the Flint River ; then I might 

float down the river and the hounds could not track me. I 

think we were three days on this march, and considering our 

reduced condition I think it was done quickly. 

To illustrate how thin we were, I will tell you that my average 

weight before being in rebel prisons was about one hundred and 

fifty pounds and I was pretty plump. Well, I was so reduced 

that I could easily count every bone in my body, and the two 

cartilages which form my nose with the skin and bone were all 

I had for a nose. There was a deep crease in the end of my 

nose, and I do not think I weighed more than fifty pounds. 

The most of my comrades were as poor as I, and you can 

understand why we were not strong. About the second day we 

had accomplished our day's march and were building our fire 

and preparing to rest for the night when an order came to move 

across a brook on to a little hill. We dragged ourselves across 

the brook, getting all wet, and had to fix up for the night again. 

This was in the first of December, and although it was not a 

cold climate we had a little snow and quite a hard frost the 

night before. However, that night we had a cold rain storm. 

I do not expect you to imagine our sufferings, but when one of 

our cold, raw October or November rain storms mixed with 

snow are prevailing, and the cattle and sheep come to the barn 

or stand in the fence corners shivering, then imagine if you can 

how you would like to camp out on some cold hillside without 

the ghost of a shelter, in the scantiest of summer suits, and 

you may get some idea of how we fared that night. Several 

graves or whitened skeletons, I do not know which, are there to 

mark the spot. True we got a few fires started but we had no 

axes to cut wood and the rain soon put out our fires and all we 

could do was to lay down on the wet ground with the pitiless 

storm beating upon us, and huddle together as closely as we 

could and wait for morning. I walked around trying to keep


warm until tired out, then I lay down beside some men more 

fortunate than myself and one of them said to me, " Lay up 

close to me ; 

God 

knows you won't be any too warm then." I 

did so and he put his blanket over me and I slept and rested 

some that night, thanks to the kindness of a stranger. I shall 

never forget him though I never knew his name or face. Some 

of our prisoners had blankets but the most of us were entirely 

destitute. That was one night of suffering out of very many 

we experienced while in captivity. 

I will mention one more incident of our march. Heretofore 

our guards had been Georgia Militia. For some unknown 

reason there were some old rebel soldiers who had been to the 

front, guarded us at least part of the way on this march and 

their treatment of us was kind and manly. One day we passed 

a house in front of which was a field of peanuts not all har- 

vested and I with several others was allowed to go in and dig 

ome, and we pawed the sand lively. The planter came out 

and ordered the guards to take us out of his garden or he 

would shoot some of us. The guard told him to " go back 

into his house." " I might fall into you 'uns hands some time 

and I don't believe you would refuse me a few ground peas." 

I always noticed that those who were brave enough to fight 

were generally manly in their treatment of prisoners. Well, 

we arrived at Blue Springs, though I did not see them, and 

bivouacked beside the Flint River. There we were organized 

into twenty-fives, fifties, hundreds and thousands. I do not 

know how many thousands there were of us. Commissary Ser- 

geant Whittlesy of one of our Western regiments was in command 

of the hundred and thousand to which I belonged, a 

bright manly young man he was. I think we staid there sev- 

eral days. We had little fires of pitch pine wood to cook our 

scanty rations and also to warm us and the smoke soon begrimmed 

our faces so we looked as black as any of the negroes. We 

had no soap so it was impossible to wash the soot off. One 

morning a rebel officer came and called all the sergeants of 

thousands to him and said he wanted one thousand to go aboard


the cars that evening to go somewhere to be exchanged. That 

was what they always told us when they wanted to move us. 

He said the sergeants could draw lots to see whose squad should 

go first if they wished. Well, we got the second or third 

chance and when our turn came marched across the river and 

went aboard the cars. I had noticed that a train went up 

towards Andersonville at about four o'clock every morning and 

I was perfectly sure in my own mind that was where we were 

going. I was just beginning to have the scurvy and I was well 

satisfied that if I went back to Andersonville to spend the winter 

I should die there. I did not mean to go. Well, they drove us 

into those freight cars, one hundred in a car, as though we were 

sheep or swine, and packed us as closely. Then the guards were 

posted around us and we had the night before us, " packed like 

sardines in a box." The guards built some fires so they could 

see the doors of our movable prison and made themselves ready 

for the night. Our door was about half-way open. We had a 

garrulous old fellow named Joe Hammer, who had amused 

himself by telling the rebels stories about that mythical country 

called the North—stories that rivaled the Arabian Nights for 

marvelousness—and they wanted him to come out of the car 

and tell them some more stories. Joe went out and soon the 

two rebels set to guard our door were listening to him with 

mouths wide open utterly oblivious to everything on earth 

except the wonderful stor}'. I came to the door of the car and 

took in the situation and determined then and there to try to 

escape. Bidding one of our family a hasty good by I dropped 

down on to the ground and scrambled along under the edge of 

the car, past the tender and locomotive, then dodged behind the 

corner of the depot or freight house and I was clear from the rebels. 

Recollect, this was at night, the train would not start until 

morning and the engineer and firemen were not on the engines. 

Another thing favored me : it was dark as Egypt and a cold 

drizzling rain was falling. 

It didn't cost the Southern Confederacy anything to guard or 

feed me any more after that night, the twenty-fourth of Decem-


ber, 1864. Then commenced my experience life as a fugitive 

slave for I lived with them and fared the same as they did. 

When I found myself clear from the rebels and was satisfied 

they had not missed me, I thought I would take a westward 

course as near as I could tell or guess, and did so. The first I 

brought up against was a picket fence. I stopped a minute 

and discovered a light away in the distance which I took for a 

light in a negro hut outside of the city. Then I decided to 

climb every obstacle, fence or what not, and go straight to that 

light ; accordingly I climbed the picket fence and walked eight 

or ten feet and came to another picket fence at about right 

angles with the first. I climbed that also and soon found myself 

in a "wood pasture" as it was called in Southern dialect. Four 

months later I came back and saw the city of Albany, Ga., 

under the old flag and looked up my escape route and found I 

had climbed over the corner of a man's front yard when by 

deviating a little from my course I might have gone around it 

in half the time it took me to do the climbing, but I still think 

I did right in keeping my course. I soon found myself outside 

of the city and could hear the roosters crowing and another 

sound that I paid more attention to, the yelping of hounds ! 

I 

struggled along as fast as my feeble condition would allow till I 

came to a fence. I followed the fence till I found a tree I 

thought I could climb and then sat down on the fence and 

waited for the hounds and hunters, for I certainly thought they 

wcie after me. After a short time I concluded they were only 

the dogs in the city having a concert, and as the sounds did not 

conic nearer to me I started on towards the light. After I got 

over the fence I found myself in a newly ploughed field, and it 

was muddy and oh, so hard for me to make any progress, and 

yet I was cold all through. I did not have enough blood to 

keep me warm. What little clothing I had was all drenched 

through. For clothing I had an unlined blouse of blue flannel 

for a shirt with a big hole on each shoulder and a similar outlet 

for the elbows ; the wrists of the sleeves were worn and ragged 

half way to the elbows too, with only one button left, but I


pinned it together with sHvers of wood. My pants were those 

I had on when captured, only some the worse for wear. I had 

mended them all I could but the holes in the knees would grow 

larger and the seams around the bottoms of the legs were worn 

off and the holes in the knees had torn downward but I pinned 

or sewed the bottoms together and got along that way. I 

mended the holes over the pockets by sewing the pocket to the 

cloth where the cloth would reach, and where it would not I had 

to leave a hole. I had quite a decent pair of stockings which 

I had bought in prison, but my shoes I had to mend to keep 

them on my feet. How do you suppose we could mend shoes 

in a rebel prison? I will tell you. I cut strings (5fT the tops of 

the quarters and bored holes through the soles and uppers and 

tied the soles on in that way, and as fast as the strings wore out 

put in new ones ; 

by 

that means some of us had exceedingly 

low quartered shoes. I had an old regulation hat or a skeleton 

of one and this hat completed my entire stock of clothing. I 

was cold that night—chilled as I hope never to be again. 

After a long time I arrived near the light and found it was a 

fire out door instead of in a negro hut. Now when I got away 

from the guards I had no idea that it would be possible for me 

to elude the hounds if once they got after me and I did not doubt 

they would, for every morning they used to circle around our 

camp and if anyone had escaped they would take his track as 

quickly as though he was a wild beast and soon run him down. 

I hoped to stay out long enough to get all I wanted to eat once 

more and get some other simple necessaries, such as possibly 

an old rug or piece of a quilt or some rags I could patch my 

clothes with, a spoon, dipper or knife of some kind. I had 

traded while in Andersonville or Millen for what, I think, was a 

cavalryman's saddlebag and I had made some preparation to 

escape by trading for and obtaining some extra rations. I had 

one and a half large round hard tack and a piece of boiled beef 

and a wooden spoon in this haversack or saddlebag. Well, I 

wanted to know what this fire was. It would flash up brightly 

for a minute and then die down. I watched it, looking all the


time to see if there wasn't a rebel picket guard near it, and one 

time I thought I saw a stack of muskets, but creeping nearer I 

found there was no one near and that it was a pitch pine stump 

burning out. Then I went up to it and sat down on the ground 

and began to get warm. The ground was quite hot around it. 

I thought I would eat what I had and then sleep and rest and 

then I should have as much strength as I could hope to muster 

for a march of as far as I could possibly get from rebels or 

prisons. I curled around that fire and slept very comfortably 

and woke up just as day was breaking. I started, as my com- 

pass said, westward, and in about twenty rods came to a turn- 

pike and followed it a mile, I guess; came to a swamp with a 

causeway across and over it. I went around a bend and came 

to a big plantation with cornfields on each side of the road. I 

went over the high " zigzag " or " Virginia " fence and found a 

few ears of corn that had been overlooked in harvesting. This 

was just what I wanted, and I gathered them greedily. 

While in the cornfield I heard a sound that startled me, a 

horse galloping. I instantly dropped down and tried to hide 

but it was too late. I saw approaching at a good gallop a 

nigger on a big yellow mule and he was looking right at me. I 

went up to the fence and motioned him to stop, which he did, 

jumped off his mule and respectfully pulled off his hat and 

raised his hand to his head, saluted, bowed and dragged one big 

foot backwards as obsequiously as if I had been his master. 

Then a short talk something like this: " Hello, where are you 

going?" Another bow and salute with a rolling up of his eyes, 

" I's gwine to Albany to get some dram, dis Christmas morning, 

sah, and we has a holiday, sah, 'n' I hopes to see oT Mis' and 

she'll gib me drink of whiskey, sah." " Do you know who I 

am? " I asked him, looking shar[jly at him. " Yes, sah, tinks I 

does, sah ; I s'pose you is a Yankee," said he, dropping his voice 

almost to a whisper. " Who will you tell first that you have 

seen a Yankee?" "Won't tell noboddy sah, never, sah." 

" Why? " " Cos," said he, " Bruh Benjerman, he been work on 

de forts fur de gubment up to Ansonville and he say wen you'ns


all comes," dropping his voice and 

" 

looking around cautiously, 

" we's be free ! 

That was enough, I thought I could trust him. I showed 

him my pocket compass and told him if he could hide me two 

months that it should be his. He said he could and would, and 

would ask me " nuffin." Then he declared he had seen me 

before and knew me. Said he, " I'se seen you in de ' circus ' 

las' yeah." I told him no, never. " What, wan't you been in 

de circus? Thought I'd seen yer. Well, come right way; I'll 

hide yer wher no buddy won't nebber find yer, ober in de back 

lots. I's de hog minder 'n' I's logging of some new Ian' ol' 

Mis' a clearin' an' ye can keep all de fire ye want an' no buddy'll 

eber find ye." I went over the fence again and he directed me 

to the fodder stacks, saying he didn't want no dram and would 

go round and come in by the gate. Just as I landed on the 

other side of the fence he told me to lie down. I heard another 

hoof beat and down I went. Another nig rode up and they 

talked a minute, when I heard a loud laugh and then nig num- 

ber two rode on and was soon out of sight. I went up to the 

fodder stacks and waited a few minutes when my new friend 

came with about half a dozen of his dusky friends of both 

sexes, each bearing me a Christmas present. One gave me a 

big piece of corn bread, another a big wad of molasses candy 

made of sorghum syrup with pork fat in it for flavoring. Still 

others gave me a piece of tobacco, none of them neglecting to 

wish me a merry Christmas. I took their presents and told 

them I felt very thankful to them. I haven't got over feeling 

thankful to them yet, and don't ever expect to. No Christmas 

ever goes by without my thinking of those simple-minded people 

and their kindly gifts. I do not know what saved my life for I ate 

everything they gave me but the tobacco right there and then 

Then a committee of " cullud pussuns," Brer Matt, Brer Benja- 

min, Prince, Abe, John and William took me into a house and 

brought soft soap and warm water and stripped my (clothes?) 

rags off and scrubbed me white. I thought they would scour 

the skin off, part of the time. Then they each contributed a


part and got me up a nice suit of clothes, consisting of a hat 

made of bulrushes, cotton shirt and an old frock coat, but I was 

still minus pants. Two or three went out and skirmished around 

for a pair for me and came back reporting a complete failure. 

It began to look as though I should have to do without that 

part of the outfit when Brer Benjamin got up, and swelling up 

in a very important manner, strutted around the room and 

delivered himself thusly : " Once when de Lord was here on 

dis yer erth, he wuz 'er trabbilin' erlong, un He got hongry 'n' 

he wer orful hongry 'n' He coll on der rich man 'n' de rich man 

he woodn' gib 'im nufifin' ter eat ; 'n' der He call on der pore 

widder woman 'n' He ax her ter gib 'im sumfin' 'n' she only had 

flour nuff ter make one little hoe cake er bread, but she make 

dat up 'n' set it afore Him 'n' He sat down 'n' eat, 'n' when He 

got up der was er plenty left ! " I could not think what the 

poor nig was driving at. He went out and brought me in his 

new breeches, his next year's ration of pants, as it were, and 

remarking that the Lord would probably " gib him nudder pair," 

gave them to me. Then I ate another large lunch and my first 

acquaintance. Matt, conducted me out into the back lots and left 

me in a thicket for the day. I ate till I positively could not hold 

any more roasted sweet potatoes, fresh pork, and corn bread. 

Then I slept, sitting before my little fire and leaning back against 

a gum tree. 

The rain storm had not cleared off and towards night it began 

to pour pretty hard and I began to feel chilly and so I went into 

the quarters. There was no white man there owing to a scarcity 

of that article, and the plantation was managed by an overseer 

on another plantation some five miles distant. So I was com- 

paratively safe going in before dark. They took me into an 

unoccupied tenement, built me a good fire and I took solid com- 

fort resting that night. Then Prince and Abe told me I could 

have their house all to myself, as they did not use it, their wives 

being owned on another plantation. I staid in this house alone 

about a week, when one day one of the negroes brought in 

another escaped prisoner, Livingston Saylor, of a Pennsylvania


regiment, who was my companion during my stay with the 

negroes. The door of our house was kept locked and we kept 

very still and were quite safe till one day Mrs. Davis Pace, 

the owner of the plantation, came out from town (Albany) 

where she lived, to give the slaves their yearly allowance of 

clothing. I was not aware that she was there and came out of 

my house as coolly and leisurely as if I was the owner. Then 

the darkies were frightened, but their quick wit saved me and 

them. A lot of the women huddled around their mistress and 

one of the " boys," " Tweedie " by name, came towards me saying 

in a terrified stage whisper, " Go down in 'e pond " ! mean- 

Quick ing a little swamp near by. " Quick I tell yer ! 

down in de pond ! Outen sight ! Go ! Go ! 

get 

" and I went and 

staid till Ole Mis' was gone. 

They did not dare to let us stay any longer in the house, so 

we went into the gin house and staid till sometime in February. 

This gin house was about forty feet square with no posts inside 

of the sills or under the center, and no boards on the lower 

eight feet. Above this eight feet was a floor for the raw or seed 

cotton, as brought from the fields. This floor rested on immense 

pine timbers to keep the floor from sagging any or springing. 

The object in having no inside posts below, was to admit a team 

to travel round with a sweep to carry the cotton gin. There 

was a stairway outside, up to the second story and the seed 

cotton was about four or five feet deep on the floor except the 

corner where the gin was. On the north side was a room about 

twelve feet wide extending across the end of the building from 

the eaves to the ground, this was the " lint room" where the 

"lint" or cleaned cotton was thrown from the gin. This was 

also boarded overhead and a large lot of cotton seed was 

heaped up on top of this lint room. The gable end was 

boarded like many of our barns with wide cracks between the 

boards. Well, we climbed up on to this pile of cotton seed and 

made us a bed by digging a hole down into the seed so we 

could be all out of sight. anytime we wanted to hide, and there 

we staid day after day waiting, waiting, waiting, for what we


hardly knew. Some days the monotony was broken by an old 

gray-headed slave named Nelson with three or four boys, who 

came and ran the cotton gin. The mill was carried by four 

mules hitched to the sweeps below. Over the horses and below 

the floor, was a large wooden horizontal face wheel with cogs 

which mashed into a vertical cog wheel on a shaft, extending 

from the center of the room to the side of it, and near the wall 

on this shaft was a wheel carrying a belt to the machine. This 

machine, cotton-gin, consisted of twenty-four little steel saws. 

A steel plate with slots large enough to let the saws ruu 

through but not leaving room enough for cotton seed to go 

through was placed over the saws. The fiber was drawn 

through the slots by the saw teeth and taken off by a large 

cyhndrical brush which ran very much faster than the saws. 

The cotton seed fell to the floor and was shoveled out of a window 

where it rotted and was used to manure the gardens. Com- 

rade Saylor and I used to feed the machine sometimes for 

amusement, while old Nelson looked on and showed us how. 

One day while in this gin house we were startled by hearing 

shots near by, but they proved to be only a rebel soldier on 

furlough out bird shooting. We kept still and he soon went 

away. 

One night it was suggested that we go hog hunting with Brer 

Prince and Abe, so about ten o'clock that night we started. 

The darkies had pitch pine torches when we should need them, 

butcher knives, a hatchet and a Scotch bull dog, named Juno. 

We went into the woods and found some hogs, when Abe sang 

out to his dog, " Whoop Juno, catch 'em ! " The dog neither 

barked nor growled but sprang forward like a panther and we 

knew she had her prey by the squeal. Abe rushed forward and 

seized the dog while the rest of us tackled the swine and held 

it. Abe choked the dog off and thumped the hog on the 

head and all was still, then we built a fire, singed off the bristles 

and dressed the hog. It was done very quickly and was 

dressed as nicely as though scalded. Then we took another 

porker the same way and went home. There was a supply of

330 I'fJ^ MAINE BUGLE. 

sweet potatoes in pits near by and we helped ourselves to them 

whenever we wanted them. When I first escaped from the 

rebels at Albany, I do not think I weighed more than forty 

pounds, I could easily count every bone in my body. I was 

just a skeleton with the skin drawn very tightly over the bones. 

On this diet of fresh pork and sweet potatoes I soon fatted up 

and when I reported to Gen. McCook at Albany the following 

April I looked as well as ever. 

Sundays we used to teach the negroes to read, they had 

Methodist hymn books and the Bible for books. The " preachers 

" were most anxious to learn to read " coz" they said "we 

has all dese pore souls on our hans an' we's 'sponsible for 'em." 

One preacher, the leading hog stealer, couldn't stop to learn the 

letters, he must learn quicker. So I used to point out the 

words of a certain chapter in Revelation till he knew all the 

words whenever he saw them but he didn't know a letter. 

Then he would try another chapter till he came to a word he 

had not learned. I would tell him what it was, and so on. 

Others were anxious to begin with the letters and learn "de 

whole ting." Their singing was very good. I used to try to 

prepare them for their freedom by telling them how they would 

have to be saving and prudent with their earnings and not drink 

whiskey. 

When I was about ten years old I read " Uncle Tom's Cabin " 

" Inside of Slavery," " Carry Moore," and some other works 

exposing the barbarity of the slavery days. It did not seem 

possible for such tales to be true, but being with the slaves who 

were then serving their masters and hearing them speak of the 

time Mars Culbreath " wipped ole Pomp to deff" and other 

such incidents soon convinced me that Mrs. Stowe did not 

color her story of " Uncle Tom " any too black. I heard the 

negroes speak one day of the time " when ole Aunty Jane's 

baby was killed." I inquired about it and they told me of a 

very smart boy that was too young to work in the field but 

could trap birds. " He was a orful cruel buoy;" used to tor- 

ture the birds to death in difi'erent ways. As he grew older the


driver used to make him take care of the field women's babies 

they would be carried to the field and all left together under a 

tree where they would have a fire to cook their dinners. One 

day old Aunty heard her baby scream and broke away from the 

field work and ran to see what was the matter. She arrived to 

see this boy put a shovel of hot embers into the child's face, 

eyes and mouth. She went at the boy with a wild yell ; he ran 

away and she caught the child up but it was too late to save it. 

It died sometime in the night in horrible agony. The boy 

laughed about it. He had to be sold and sent away or the infu- 

riated mother would surely have killed him. So much for the 

result of the " Divine Institution." I heard many such stories 

of barbarity but this is enough. According to the negroes' 

stories and the subsequent Ku Klux atrocities it seems that the 

white people were about as barbarous as it is possible for 

humans to be, and their savage cruelty was of every day occurrence 

and caused no great excitement, it was so common. 

One night while we were in a swamp called the " Colawakee " 

one of our colored friends came to us and said : 

" Dey say dis 

yere Confederacy is done bust up 'n' ole Mis' has had all de 

bacon 'n' all de corn hauled out in de woods 'n' hid, 'n' dey say 

de Yankees'll be here right off." We doubted it but thought 

something had happened. We were staying with a runaway 

slave who had been " runaway " about two years. He said his 

father was an Indian. His hair stood out straight from his head 

about eight inches, and he was a wild looking specimen of 

humanity. He and I went out that night after a pig and he 

said there was corn under a persimon tree in a four hundred 

acre field called the old ocean. We went to the tree and found 

corn as he said all scattered around. Then I realized that our 

time in prisons or swamps was about over. We took corn and 

caught our porker and went into camp. My comrade Saylor 

and I held a consultation right off and decided to go to Albany 

and find out what was up. We started the next night and 

arrived at the Pace plantation within two or three miles of the' 

city. We camped in a swamp in the back lots during the fol-


lowing day, and at night went in to the city, found the Yankees 

were there, and reported to Gen. McCook. I can not describe 

the thrill I experienced when I saw the old flag and a sentinel 

in blue on duty for the first time. We were happy. The 

Rebellion was crushed. Our homes were almost in sight. We 

stayed with some loyal white people Saylor had become 

acquainted with when he escaped ; had a good time talking 

with the general's staff officers about the wind-up of the war. 

Then we went to Macon ; Saylor found some friends in a Penn- 

sylvania regiment and left me. I soon got transportation North 

and started for home. 

Reunions of the Regiments from Maine. 

Never during the War of the Rebellion were the Maine regi- 

ments ever paraded together, neither did they meet on the same 

field ; nor since that memorable struggle have they ever met 

together as regimental associations except once at Portland in 

1876, though again at Portland, during the G. A. R. Encampment 

of 1885, the Eastern Promenade was white with the tents 

of the survivors of the war; but such survivors assembled as 

G. A. R. Posts and not as representatives of the army organi- 

zations. 

It may happen that never, or until the survivors of each reg- 

iment shall have been reduced to a mere fragment, will the 

veterans of Maine assemble at one place and at one time. One 

other truth should be stated, that at the annual reunions of the 

various regiments from Maine, all of which are most happy and 

entirely enjoyable, most of the survivors are unable to attend on 

account of business and work, or from the disabilities of their 

service in the field or from financial considerations. Now to 

obviate these hardships and to provide a field where all the men 

of Maine who participated in that great struggle can in spirit 

assemble and enjoy what was said and enacted at each of the 

various reunions, the pages of the Maine Bugle will present as

REUNION OF THE FIRST MAINE CAVAIRY. 333 

full accounts as could be obtained from all the regimental and 

other organizations who assembled in reunion during the year 

1894. It is hoped that this endeavor to preserve the records of 

such meetings, and to make the joy of those who were able to 

attend the enjoyment of all who may read these accounts, will 

meet a suitable response from all the old comrades in arms. 

Finally the stragetic point to which all the gatherings of these 

regimental reunions tend, is the securing of a full and accurate 

compilation of the life and service of each regiment which went 

forth to war from the good old State of Maine. Will you give 

both your financial aid and literary endeavor to secure this most 

desirable object? 

1 wenty-third Reunion of the First Maine Cavalry 

AT SKOWHEGAN, AUGUST QTH, 1 894. 

The day was by no means an ideal one for a reunion of vet- 

erans. It was decidedly moist—wet—but veterans of the First 

Maine Cavalry do not mind the wet. They enjoy meeting com- 

rades, grasping their hands and recounting the incidents and 

scenes through which they passed in the eventful days of 1 861-5 

which tested the patriotism and endurance of the people of 

this great country. 

General J. P. Cilley and four others arrived Wednesday even- 

ing, and a dozen or more on the 7 A. M. train, Thursday morn- 

ing, but the greater number arrived on the 10.38 A. M. train, 

Thursday, and members residing in surrounding towns arrived 

by private conveyance or by stage during the early part of the 

day notwithstanding the heavy rain of the morning. Head- 

quarters were established at Hotel Heselton and the business 

meeting of the association was held there at 1 1 o'clock A. M. 

The officers were: Geo. E. Goodwin, Skowhegan, president; 

Albert Edgecomb, Boston, vice president; C. A. F. Emery, 

Boston, secretary ; Orin S. Haskell, Pittsfield, corresponding 

secretary; J. P. Cilley, Rockland, treasurer. The session was


a short one presided over by Dr. S. A. Patten, by request of 

President George E. Goodwin, who was busy with the local 

committee in looking out for arrivals and providing for their 

comfort while there. C. A. F. Emery of Boston, the secretary 

of the association, not being present Capt. O. S. Haskell of 

Pittsfield, the corresponding secretary, officiated in his stead. 

Gen. J. P. Cilley who had been treasurer of the association for 

many years reported and his report was accepted. A committee 

raised at the last annual meeting, consisting of Sidney W. Thax- 

ter, C. W. Skillings and Charles F. Dam, reported that they had 

made arrangements with Gen. J. P. Cilley whereby he takes the 

property and accounts of the Regimental History and the BuGLE 

and assumes therefor the balance of Habilities of the association 

on their account. This report was unanimously accepted. 

Comrades Monson, Tobie, Savage, Cilley, Drinkwater and Tilton 

were chosen a committee to name to the association a place of 

meeting for 1895. 

This committee reported invitations received 

from Augusta, Castine and Newport, and the association voted 

in favor of holding the reunion at Camp Benson, Newport, Me. 

A committee consisting of Col. S. H. Allen for the field and 

staff and one from each company was raised to nominate officers 

for the ensuing year. This committee subsequently reported, 

for president, Orin S. Haskell, Pittsfield ; vice president, Henry 

F. Tilton, Newport; secretary, Milton F. Ricker, Auburn; 

treasurer, Charles F. Dam, Portland ; corresponding secretary, 

O. S. Haskell, Pittsfield. These gentlemen were unanimously 

elected in accordance with the report. 

On motion of M. F. Ricker, eloquently seconded by Col. 

Drinkwater, the hearty thanks of the association were unani- 

mously voted to Gen. Cilley, the retiring treasurer, for the faith- 

ful and efficient manner in which he performed the duties of 

that office during his long service. A vote of thanks was also 

tendered the other retiring officers, after which the business 

meeting dissolved and the members gathered in groups tn the 

hotel offices, upon the hotel piazzas or strolled or rode about 

town, enjoying themselves as only veterans can.

REUNION OF THE FIRST MAINE CAVALRY. 335 

The banquet in Hotel Heselton in the evening, tendered to 

the association by the Somerset County organization of the 

First Cavalry, was an occasion of rare enjoyment. Tables had 

been laid for one hundred and fifty visitors and citizens but it 

was found that one hundred and seventy-five tickets had been 

disposed of, which necessitated re-arranging tables, causing 

unavoidable delay so that it was nearly ten o'clock before the 

large company filed into the artistically arranged and decorated 

dining hall of " Mine Host" Heselton. 

President Goodwin called the guests to order and after Divine 

blessing was invoked by Comrade G. W. Nash, Chaplain of 

Russell Post, G. A. R., two hours were devoted to discussion of 

the following 

MENU. 

Mock Bisque Soup 

Fried Brook Trout 

Lettuce Celery Olives Cucumbers 

Transparent Fritters—Suet Sauce Compote of Rice with Cherries 

Young Turkey with Dressing 

String Beans Mashed Potatoes 

Celery Salad 

Blanc Mange and Cream 

Vanilla Ice Cream 

Sliced Pineapple 

Fruit Nuts Dates Figs 

Assorted Cake 

Cantelope Watermelon 

Bent's Water Crackers 

Coffee 

During the repast and earlier in the evening Kendall's orches- 

tra at intervals discoursed sweet music, and Miss Agnes Safford 

sang the patriotic song " Glory, Glory Hallelujah " and, in 

response to a vigorous encore, sang " Marching Through 

Georgia," the "boys" coming in on the chorus with old-time 

fervor. Mrs. W. H. Emery accompanied the singing on the 

piano. 

After the menu had been satisfactorily discussed, Dr. S, A. 

Patten, for the local branch and the citizens of Skowhegan, 

greeted his visiting comrades and their wives and daughters with 

warm words of welcome and patriotic remarks.


George B. Safford of the Eleventh Maine Infantry Association 

was detailed by President Goodwin as toastmaster and officiated 

as such gracefully with well chosen words. 

Gen. J. P. Cilley responded to the sentiment " The First Maine 

Cavalry" with his usual pleasing earnestness. The First Maine, 

he said, lost more men during the war than any other cavalry 

regiment in the service and was in more fights than any other 

regiment. The love of members of the association was strong. 

They have expended $5,500 in the publication of the regimental 

history and were proud of that history. No other regiment has 

its history so grandly written. The annual reunions are of 

great interest and enjoyment. 

Charles W. Skillings of Company F entertained the audience 

in a disquisition upon the " Grand Army Button " and its sig- 

nificance. John A. Logan said, "one button for all, regardless of 

position or rank." 

Hon. C. A. Marston of Skowhegan responded ably to the 

" Sons of Maine as Soldiers and Civilians." He knew, he said, 

nothing by actual experience of Sons of Maine as soldiers but 

their record is made up and it is a bright one. He spoke of 

meeting three thousand sons and daughters of Maine in one 

grand meeting in California at the annual meeting of the Maine 

association, and alluded to Maine's crop of brainy men. 

A. C. Drinkwater of Braintree, Mass., graphically related an 

incident in the military career of Gen. B. F. Butler, indicating 

his methods of punishing traitors and his later efforts, while a 

congressman, to alleviate the effect of that punishment upon 

the wife and children of the traitor executed in the interest of 

law and order in New Orleans. 

Letters of regret were read from Governor Cleaves, Senators 

Hale and Frye, Congressman Milliken, Gen. C. H. Smith of 

Eastport, Major H. C. Hall of Chelsea, Mass. These let- 

ters were filled with patriotic sentiments, appreciative of the 

work of the veteran soldier and of the First Maine Cavalry. 

At the close of the banquet M. F. Ricker moved a vote of 

thanks to the local branch of the cavalry association and to cit-


izens of Skowhegan for their very effective efforts for the good 

of the association while there. This motion was seconded by 

Gen. Cilley and enthusiastically passed. Thus closed an occa- 

sion which appeared to be much enjoyed by the veterans. 

Their entertainment certainly was an event attended with satis- 

faction to the people. 

Names of members of the First Maine Cavalry Association 

present during the reunion, with residences, follow, viz. 

Col. S. H. Allen, Thomaston; Thara S. Adams, Solon; Lewis Anderson, Skowhegan 

(honorary); Perry Arnold, Bangor; A. F. Bickford, Skowhegan; M. M. Branch, 

Waterville; Plummer H. Butler, Norridgewock; Capt. J. P. Carson, Mt. Vernon; 

Gen. J. P. Cilley, Rockland; A. H. Clement, Waterville; William W, Cole, Fairfield; 

L. Copeland, Corinna; M. B. Cook, Friendship; Capt. L. H. Daggett, Boston, Mass.; 

Chas. F. Dam, Portland; R. M. Daniels, Pittsfield; A. C. Drinkwater, Braintree, 

Mass.; Albert Edgecomb, Boston, Mass.; N. S. Emery, Waterville; John Emery, Jr., 

Hampden; Frank B. Foss, Harmony; Volney H. Foss, Bangor; Chas. H. Foster, 

Canaan; Daniel M. Foster, Canaan; D. W Gage, Cambridge, Mass.; Geo. W. 

Gatchell, Brewer; Elijah Gay, Ctr. Montville; Charles B. Gilman, Solon; L. Good- 

win, Skowhegan; George E.Goodwin, Skowhegan; G.N.Harris, Melrose, Mass. 

John E. Hart, Burnham; Ira B. Harvey, Lewiston; Lieut. Orin S. Haskell, Pittsfield; 

S. C. Hastings, Sidney; Albert H. Higgins, Readfield; S. A. Holway, Solon; E. B. 

Humphrey, Canaan; Sylvanus Judkins, Athens; A. J. Kimball, Hermon; Seth 

Knight, So. Waterboro; Caleb N. Lang, Portland; Silas Leach, N. Castine; Frank 

Lewis, Orono; A. O. Libby, Waterville; Frank B. Lowe, Waterville; L. Manson, 

Houlton; Chas. H. Miller, Lincoln; B. C. Mosher, Mercer; Dennis Murphy, Skow 

began; S. B. Newbegin, Oldtown; Chas. F. Nichols, Augusta; Asst. Surgeon A. M. 

Parker, M. D., Deering; Asst. Surg. S. A. Patten, M. D., Skowhegan; Alfred Pierce> 

Arlington, Mass.; A. A. Richardson, E. Vassalboro; S. R. Richards, Belfast; Milton 

T. Ricker, Auburn; F. J. Savage, Fairfield; G. A. Savage, F"airfield; Chas. W. Skil- 

ings, Portland; Sewell W. Smith, Skowhegan; Asa M. .Stevens, Fxeter; C.O.Stone, 

Boston; Leonard Stone, Monson; Geo. B. Safford, Skowhegan (honorary); C. A. 

Thoms, Augusta; Henry F. Tilton, Newport; Leroy H, Tobie, Portland; H. J. Varney, 

Skowhegan; Capt. Zenas Vaughan, Skowhegan; Converse L. Webb, Skowhegan; 

Lieut. John R. Webb, Skowhegan; Chas. H. Whitney, Mercer; Fred A, Wilson, 

Augusta; J. H. Wyman, Skowhegan. 

The wives and daughters of members who were present were : 

Mrs. Elijah Gay, Center Montville, Me.; Mrs. Frank Lowe, Waterville; Mrs. N. S. 

Emery, Waterville; Mrs. O. S. Haskell, Pittsfield; Mrs. L. Monson, Houlton; Mrs. 

J. C. Edwards, Chelsea, Mass.; Mrs. P. H. Butler, So. Norridgewock; Miss Edith 

Savage, Fairfield; Mrs. John E. Hart, Burnham; Miss Winnifred Foss, Bangor; Miss 

Gertrude Foss, Bangor; Mrs. A. F. Lewis, Orono; Mrs, A, O. Libby, Waterville; 

Mrs. V. H. Foss, Bangor; Mrs. T. Foss, Harmony; Mrs. A. H. Clement, Waterville;


Mrs. E. B. Humphrey, Canaan; Mrs. F. A. Wilson, Augusta; Mrs. Llewellyn Cope- 

land, Corinna; Mrs. Richard M. Daniels, Pittsfield; Mrs. A. C. Drinkwater, Braintree, 

Mass.; Mrs. C. N. Lang, Portland; Mrs. C. B. Oilman, Bingham; Miss Lizzie F. Gil- 

man, Bingham; Miss Marguerite Libby, Melrose, Mass.; Mrs. Llewellyn Goodwin, 

Mrs. A. F. Bickford, Mrs. Zenas Vaughan, Mrs. M. J. Allen, Mrs. John R. Wel)b, Mrs- 

Sewall Smith, Mrs. C. L. Webb, Mrs. James Ilerrin, Mrs. Geo. E. Goodwin, Mrs. J. 

H. Wyman, Misses Gertrude Goodwin, Lillian Smith and Bessie Allen, all of 

Skowhegan. 

About fifty of the Skowhegan ladies and gentlemen, aside 

from those enumerated above, and among whom were a number 

of veterans of other Maine regiments, participated in the ban- 

quet and greatly enjoyed the occasion. 

The following comrades answered on reply postal cards and 

expressed their inability to attend: John Ames, Searsport; 

Hosea P. Bump, Farmington ; R. R. Bangs, Wescott, Neb. 

Major G. M. Brown, Bangor, writes: " Expect to leave last of 

August for a voyage to the Azores for my health, sail from Bos- 

ton. Wish I could see the boys every year, but I am in rather 

poor shape to go about." Henry S. Barker, Oak Hill, Fla., 

writes : " Nothing would please me more than to attend the 

reunion of the First Maine Cavalry and see some of the boys I 

love so well." G. W. Bryant, West Paris, writes : " It would 

give me great pleasure to meet the comrades at your place on 

the Twenty-third Annual Reunion did I have the health and 

means to enable me to do so." Levi G. Brown, Farmington 

A. J. Burbank, Chicago, 111., writes: " I have never forgotten 

a remark to me of President Lincoln in October, 1864, ' Honor 

enough to any man to have belonged to the First Maine Cav- 

alry.' " S. M. Clark, Masardis, writes: "Let my dream be the 

answer. Last night I was with you and I saw your old faces in 

dreamland again. There was Thaxter and Estes, Beede and 

Burrill and others, as natural as ever. I saw them again at our 

picket fire out on the old Rappahannock." J. L. Colcord, Boston, 

Mass.; E. A. Clifford, Bangor; E. H. Colman, Searsport; M. 

G. Chapman, Gallon, Ohio, writes: " I would have the pleasure 

of meeting many comrades that I have not seen in a long time 

but I am superintendent of Gallon Water Works Company and


my services are very much needed here at present." Cyrus 

Case, Malvern, Kan., writes: "As I can not be with you in the 

body I certainly shall be in spirit—in the loyal spirit of '6i-'65. 

Wishing^ you a royal good time, as I know you will have, I 

shall await anxiously the report in the BuGLE." E. F. Cornell, 

Port Alleghany, Pa., writes: " Nothing would give me greater 

pleasure than to meet my comrades in arms, as I never have 

been able to meet them since '65." Isaac Chamberlain, Plain- 

view, Neb., writes : " I want to see the old regiment once more ; 

it would be the greatest treat I could have. I think of them 

often and wish I could meet with them." J. 

F. Drake, Topcka, 

Kan., writes: " Nothing would afford me greater pleasure than 

to meet with the boys of the old First Maine on my forty-ninth 

birthday, I have long looked forward to the time when I could 

be in Maine at time of reunion. May the day be one of glad 

' reunion, and the last song When the roll is called up yonder, 

ril be there.' " William H. Daniels, Exeter Mills, writes: " I 

have lost the use of my right hand and arm and am not able to 

ride so far." E. A. Doe, Bridgeton, writes: "Nothing would 

give me greater pleasure than to be with you at the reunion of 

the old regiment but the distance and the state of my health 

Fred forbid." J. ; 

Hudson, Mass. ; William Elliot, Indianapolis, Ind., writes : " I 

C. Decker, North Waterford 

S. Dawes, 

was sorry you did not send me notice of the reunion by the first 

of last month ; I might have made arrangements to have met 

yuu and my old comrades, God bless them, but my partner has 

gone to California so I cannot leave. Give my best wishes to 

those brave companions of my youth. God bless you all." E. 

M. Esterbrooke, Elizabeth, N. J. ; Edwin T. Edgecomb, Kezar 

Falls; T. S. Esterbrooke, Houlton ; 

" Best wishes for a grand reunion ; 

J. 

my 

D. Eaton, Wells, writes: 

we 

love to all ; hope 

may all meet next year." C. A. F. Emery, Boston, Mass., 

writes: "Hope you will have a glorious reunion, as I know 

the boys in Skowhegan can make it so." M. W. Farr, Lewis- 

ton, writes: "I am a letter-carrier and can not get away." 

Wellington Frost, Pembroke; C. H. Fergusen, Boston, Mass.;


Albert P. Friend, Brooksville ; E. C. Fuller, North Livermore ; 

Arad E. Gilbert, Leeds; S. E. Griffin, West Pembroke; S. Garvin, 

Mapleton, Minn., writes: "Nothing would give me more 

pleasure, but this is a very busy time, therefore I shall have to 

decline. I sincerely hope you will have a good time." Orrin L. 

Garrett, Carmel ; W. W. Gilbert, Vassalboro ; Harrison Goding, 

Newport, Vt. ; William H. Harriman, Brockton, Mass. ; J. A. 

Hutchins, Eustes, Fla., writes: " Would like very much to see 

Hutch- 

Hanson all the boys." G. E. Hunton, Abilene, Kan. ; 

ings, Etna; James W. Harriman, Neceedah, Wis., writes: "God 

bless you all ; I hope you will have a good time. Remember 

me to the dear old boys of Company E." Frank G. Haynes, 

New Haven, Conn., writes : " I long to meet the old boys espe- 

cially B Company of '6i and '62, but am obliged to wait for 

more energetic time in the industrial world." James F. Howard, 

Hallowell, writes: " No one would enjoy meeting the com- 

rades more than myself but sickness prevents." S. B. Jones, 

West Auburn ; D. W. Lowell, Astabula, Lake Co., Fla. ; Lyman 

P. Leighton, 5 Bloomfield street, Lynn, Mass. ; 

Mrs. 

A. E. Lit- 

tlefield of East Brownfield, writes: "My husband, Jonathan 

Littlefield, died September i6th, 1891, after years of suffering 

from injuries received in the service, but never regretting that 

he answered his country's call, and always proud that he was a 

member of the First Maine Cavalry. He always held the mem- 

ory of his comrades with the warmest emotions of respect and 

affection. Is there a regimental association of which I, as a 

comrade's widow, can become a member?" 

S. C. Lovejoy, Washington, D. C. ; 

H. 

H. Lowell. Pcnfield, 

Pa., writes : "I hope to see many of your dear faces at the next 

encampment at Pittsburg next month. Should any of you 

come on the Alleghany Valley Railroad don't forget to drop off 

at Penfield ; my latch string hangs out for you." Henry Little, 

Dearborn Sta., Chicago, 111., writes: "Though absent in the 

body I shall be with you in spirit. I hope when another year 

rolls around and I am alive and well to meet with the comrades 

of the dear old regiment. I regret very much missing this

REUNION- OF THE FIRST MAINE CAVALRY. 341 

reunion for it's been my misfortune not to be able to be with 

them at former reunions held in Skowhegan. I desire verymuch 

to participate in your hospitality, for we all know Skow- 

hegan ' takes the cake.' Kindly remember me to all the ' old 

boys.' The date reminds me of thirty-two years ago, our 

maiden battle with the whole regiment." A. Lord, Jr., Williams- 

port, Pa., writes: " Hope you will have a large attendance 

and the boys will have a glorious good time." J. S. Mansur, 

Houlton, writes: "My best wishes to each and every one." 

Charles H. Marston, Portland ; 

A. D. McGuire, Freland, Mich., 

writes: "You can hardly imagine what pleasure it would give 

me to be with you and the boys on the twenty-third, as I have 

not seen one of them since 1866, but it is not possible for me 

to go, so please accept my sincere regrets. I belong to the 

Stephen Munger Post of Freland and our relief corps presented 

us with a splendid flag last evening. There are but a very few 

of us old soldiers here but we are comrades in every sense of 

the word." George J. Northrop, Marquette, Mich.; Robert 

Nutter, Port Caledonia, C. B. Canada, writes: "I assure you if 

I am absent in person I shall be there in heart. William A. 

Osborn, Mt. Pleasant, Mich., writes: " It has been twenty-three 

years since I saw a man that belonged to the First Maine Cav- 

alry but I am glad to know that the boys get together." George 

E. Perkins, Parsonsfield, writes : " I would be very much pleased 

to be with the 'old boys' and shall remember them that day." 

John M. Perkins, editor Grand Army Record, 31 Cornhill, Bos- 

ton, Mass., writes: " I am exceedingly busy. I have never yet 

attended a reunion in Maine." A. B. Pater.son, Dexter; J. B. 

Perry, Northampton, Mass. ; George 

Prince, Boston, Mass., 

writes : " My spirit and kind wishes will be with you all the day 

long and at your banquet in the evening, and listen to all the 

bright words and kind sentiments that will be spoken there." 

Almon N. Ricker, Belleville, New Jersey; George S. Royal, 

Freeport; A. P. Rogers, M. D., Canon City, Col., writes: 

" Although many years have passed since then my heart has 

remains true to the old flag for which we then fought. During


the late demonstration of anarchy had the call been made I 

would gladly have marched again to the tune of the fife and 

drum. Please let the boys of Company E know that I am still 

above ground and although I am away out here in this land of 

sage brush and cactus yet in spirit I shall be with them on this 

occasion." Isaiah O. Richardson, West Ellsworth; J. W. Rus- 

sell, St. John, N. B. ; S. K. Stetson, Houlton. 

S. C. Smith, Winfield, Kan., writes: "Nothing would afford 

me more pleasure than to meet ' ' the boys once more, but I am 

too far away to do so now. In these times of faltering patriot- 

ism in high places it is well for those who defended the nation's 

life and honor in times of peril to stand by each other now, 

determined that what we saved shall not now be lost." T. J. San- 

ford, Marlboro, Mass., writes : " I should enjoy it right royally. 

Remember me to the boys." Theodore M. Southard, Vassalboro 

; F. E. Saunders, Lowell, Mass. ; Luther Tibbetts, New- 

field, writes : " It would give me pleasure to meet with the old 

' boys ' 

of the grand old regiment once more. My thoughts 

and good wishes will be with you but myself must be at home." 

John F. Tolman, Six Mile Falls; J. P. Thompson, Duluth, 

Minn.; Cyrus W. Twitchell, So. Paris; Major S. W. Thaxter, 

Portland ; Francis L. Town, East Dover ; Francis E. Towle, 

6 Lincoln Square, Worcester, Mass. ; C. E. York, The Forks 

W. A. Vinal, West Upton, Mass. ; J. B. Welch, Rockwood, 

Tenn. ; L. W. Wheeler, Paw Paw, 111., writes: " I can not grasp 

the hand and recall the stirring days of '62 once more with the 

• ' boys 

of the old First Maine Regiment but remember I am 

with you in spirit." T. M. Williams, Milltown, N. B. ; Richard 

Webb, Brunswick; Capt. T. C. Webber, Boston, Mass.; J. M. 

Warren, Northampton, Mass., writes : " The nearest I can come 

to attending is to have my son, who is visiting his uncle Charles 

G. Tilton of your town, try to make the acquaintance of the 

old regiment. He is but six years old but he will be glad to 

see men who were comrades of his ' ' papa 

in the war of '61." 

D. J. Wells. Greenville; R. E. Whiteley, Bradford, Pa.

THE SECOND MAINE CAVALRY REUNION. 343 

The Second Maine Cavalry Reunion. 

SOME OF THE BOYS WHO WERE PRESENT AT ROLL CALL. 

Wednesday, September nineteenth, the Second Maine Cavalry- 

Association held its annual reunion at G. A. R. hall, Gardiner. 

About one hundred and fifty survivors of those who went to 

the front during the winter of '63 and '64 were present. Among 

them Charles E. Wilson, attorney for the Central Pacific Rail- 

D. Moore and wife, Philadel- 

road, San Francisco, Cal. ; Henry 

phia ; S. C. Small, furniture manufacturer in Boston; G. F. 

Tyler and wife, G. R. Smith, register of deeds, and wife, of 

Augusta ; 

Capt. 

C. S. Paine, New Sharon. Among the enlist- 

ments from Gardiner and Pittston, who served with the regiment, 

were John Edgecomb, M. S. Hutchinson, C. O. Knox, Frank 

Gilbert, Joseph M. Fuller, Arthur B. Andrews, Daniel Black, 

Calvin Brown, Gideon Bowley, Reuel M. Dunlap, Thomas Doug- 

lass, J. H. Goodwin, F. E. Gowell, Rutus C. Geary, Chas. E. 

Hutchinson, David Haines, Loring Mariner, J. H. Morang, John 

F. Merrill, Amasa Meader, Luther Oliver, W. S. Peacock, W. 

E. Stackpole, T. A. Brann, Ellis W. Ayer, S. W. Dana, G. W. 

Cross, J. C. Dill, J. R. Dill, Augustus Dudley, Charles F. Gray, 

Charles F. Lawrence, B. A. Newell, C. D. Meader, A. L. Meader, 

Edward Peacock, Eugene Smith, Emerson Turner, Chester 

Whitney, Thomas B. Whitney and James S. Jeck. The local 

committee was composed of G. W. Cross, J. S. Jeck and Reuel 

Dunlap. The hall was decorated with numerous flags, and over 

the entrance was the word "Welcome." The meeting was 

called to order by S. C. Small of Boston, president of the asso- 

ciation, who, in a few short and pleasing remarks, introduced 

Mayor Clason, who extended a warm greeting and welcomed 

the comrades to the city, to which President Small responded 

in an appropriate manner. The first business was the election 

of officers, which resulted as follows : S. C. Small, Boston,


president; Henry D. Moore, Philadelphia, first vice president; 

S. J. Crockett, Winterport, second vice president; Charles E. 

Wilson, San Francisco, third vice president; L. R. Litchfield, 

Litchfield, fourth vice president; G. R. Smith, Augusta, secre- 

tary and treasurer, A very harmonious meeting followed. 

Hon. O. B. Clason of Gardiner was made an honorary member 

of the association. It was voted to hold the next reunion at 

Camp Benson, Newport, after which the meeting adjourned for 

dinner. 

At 1.30 P. M. a large number of the members went to the 

National Home at Togus. At 6.30 r. M. the members of the 

association and invited guests sat down at the banquet in G. A. 

R. Hall. An hour later President Small called the crowded 

assemblage to order. Letters of regret were read from Gen. 

Spurling, Elgin, 111. ; Comrade Moses D. Freeman, Utah ; Lieut. 

Gillespie, Boston, and Comrade A. J. Woodman, Maryland. 

President Small, in a neat little speech, introduced Capt. 

French of Solon, who was followed by Hon. O. B. Clason of 

Gardiner, and Comrade Daniel W. Robinson. An original poem, 

entitled, " Memories of the War," by Comrade Henry D. Moore 

of Philadelphia, was followed by a neat little speech. He was 

followed by Major J. W. Berry of Gardiner. Sergeant Billings 

then called the roll of Company B, and only five answered to 

their names. 

The vote to hold the next reunion at Newport was rescinded 

and it was voted to hold the reunion of the association at Lewiston 

at the time of the State Fair. Short addresses were made 

by Rev. E. B. Barber of Gardiner, Comrade C. S. Wilson, San 

Francisco, Cal., and Hon. J. M. Larrabee. At the close all sung 

" Auld Lang Syne." A vote of thanks was extended to Heath 

Post. 

At this reunion the strength of the affection and interest of 

those who stood shoulder to shoulder in the days of the 

rebellion have for each other was fully illustrated. Think of a 

man traveling from San Francisco to far off Maine to meet the 

surviving comrades who were near and dear to him thirty years

iSbs—SEPTEMBER ig—i8g4. 345 

ago. Yet this is what Charles E. Wilson, a prominent lawyer 

of San Francisco, did, and he said he was amply repaid. 

It was quite a notable gathering: H. D. Moore of Philadel- 

phia, whose business interests represent over $3,000,000; S. C. 

Small of Boston, manufacturer and dealer in church and lodge 

room furniture ; Geo. F. Tyler, another prominent furniture 

manufacturer of Cambridge, Mass. ; Capt. Moses French, one 

of Maine's most successful farmers, tilling about six hundred 

acres, and others of equal note. And do you know, those men 

were just as glad, apparently, to meet the writer, who is rich 

only in memories of the past, as they were to meet those who 

are wealthy in this world's goods. 

1863—September 19— 1894. 

BY JULIA S. WARDEN. 

The following beautiful poem was read at the reunion of the 

Second Maine Cavalry, at Gardiner 

Comrades, list to the music ringing, 

An echo from the voice of Time, 

Call back the days of sixty-three, 

But excuse my halting rhyme. 

Strong the memories throng upon us, 

As the years come back agam, 

Crowded full of wide experience, 

Some of joy and some of pain. 

Afar in the misty distance, 

Like a mirage from the sea, 

Come scenes that glow and fade. 

Come the days of sixty-three. 

'Tis thirty years, my comrades, 

Since the note of War's alarm, 

Roused every patriot soldier. 

To raise his strong right arm. 

To defend our blessed Country, 

To keep Old Glory and her Stars, 

To crush the great Rebellion, 

To do battle under Mars

346 I'H^ MAINE BUGLE. 

For war with wild confusion, 

Prevailed on every hand, 

And Cavalry and Infantry 

Were mustering through the land. 

We draw the veil of Memory 

O'er the wrecks of war to-day, 

For thrilled with recollections, 

We haven't a word to say. 

The changes that Time has brought us. 

The joys, the sorrows, as well. 

We've gathered to-day to share them. 

Under Memory's magic spell. 

Hand in hand, once more united, 

Comrades of sLxty-three, 

Friendship's vow anew is plighted. 

As we think of our Country, free 

Sing it high, sing it loud. 

Sing it out very strong 

Hurrah ! hurrah ! a three times three, 

A chorus of glad song 

The cheering changes to sighing. 

Our hearts grow tender then. 

The tented field, the bivouac lone, 

Our brave true-hearted men ! 

Of the boys in blue who went to the war, 

To fight for liberty, 

Some gave their lives to overthrow 

The cause of Slavery. 

We can live in blest communion 

With our loved ones at our will. 

We can listen for their voices. 

And believe them with us still. 

Now Peace with folded pinion. 

Broods over the land and sea. 

And 'neath her wings, we cherish 

Our glorious Country, free ! 

Hopes, fears, ambitions, all are laid aside, 

And in this quiet hour, 

'Neath the sweet influence of this day, 

Faith blossoms into flower 

And the years pass like cloud shadows. 

That float o'er the mountain glen. 

And we part, with a pledge, God willing. 

Sometime to meet again.

FOURTH INFANTRY AND SECOND BATTERY. 347 

Fourth Maine Infantry and Second Maine Battery 

AT THEIR REUNION IN ROCKLAND. 

The annual reunion of the Fourth Maine Regiment and 

Second Maine Battery Association took place in Rockland, Sep- 

tember eighteenth. Since the war the members of this associ- 

ation have become somewhat widely scattered, some living even 

beyond the borders of the State. 

The members of Edwin Libby Post, G. A. R., were early at 

their hall which was thrown open to the members of the asso- 

ciation. An excursion to Crescent Beach having been laid 

down as a part of the program, the members of the post under 

the lead of Commander William H. Simmons met such of the 

visiting comrades as came by rail on the arrival of the morning 

train and together proceeded in an informal manner to Tillson's 

wharf where they took the steamer Silver Star for the beach. 

The hour of departure was 11.30. The fog was thick, but the 

steamer made good time and landed her passengers about noon. 

Covers had been laid by Fred Smith for one hundred and fifty, 

and every seat was occupied. It goes without saying that the 

dinner was a good one and was greatly enjoyed by the guests, 

especially by those from the interior, who seldom get a chance 

at a regular shore dinner. 

After dinner as many as wished partook of an old fashioned 

clam bake on the pebbled beach. The bake, however, didn't 

suffer much, as nearly all present had fully satisfied themselves 

at the tables. The majority enjoyed a good stroll and an after- 

dinner cigar a great deal better. 

This over, a business meeting of the association was held in 

the pavilion. Gen. Davis Tillson presided, and E. G. F. Ingraham 

of West Rockport was chosen secretary. By suggestion 

of the chairman, Robert Anderson, secretary for last year, read 

the records of the last meeting, which was in Atlantic hall,


Hurricane, on September i6th, 

1893. The election of officers 

for the ensuing year was next 

in order, and the following is the 

list of those who were chosen : 

President, John H. Thomas of 

South Union ; 

vice presidents, 

Col. Elijah Walker of Somer- 

ville, Mass., for the Fourth 

Maine Regiment, and Gen. 

Davis Tillson of Rockland, for 

the Second Maine Battery. 

The temporary secretary was 

elected for the year. He is 

also treasurer. Secretaries 

were then chosen for the Sec- 

ond Maine Battery, and for 

CAPT. w. N. ULMER. gach company of the Fourth 

Maine Regiment as follows : Second Maine Battery, John Turner; 

Company A, Fourth Maine, Fred D. Alders, Camden 

Company B, J. W. Packard, Rockland ; Company C, O. J. 

Conant, Rockland ; Company D, Edward Hall, Rockland ; Company 

E, John E. Mears, Thomaston ; Company F, John O. Johnson, 

Brooks ; Company G, Zela B. Young, Owl's Head ; Company 

H, Jesse Drake, South Union ; Company I, Clifton Witham ; 

Company K, A. B. Chase, Belfast. Upon motion it was voted 

that the officers select the date for the next annual meeting. 

A report of the financial standing of the association was read 

and it was disclosed that Robert Anderson, the faithful secretary 

and treasurer, had expended for the association several dollars 

more than he had received. A collection was subsequently 

taken on the boat which made Mr. Anderson whole. The col- 

lection amounted to $9.25. John H. Thomas said he was 

authorized to extend an invitation to the association to hold its 

next annual meeting at Union Common. It was unanimously 

voted to accept the invitation.

FOURTH IFANTRV AMD SECOND BATTERY. 349 

The business having been disposed of, General Tillson called 

upon Rev. W. O. Holman, who was present as the guest of the 

association, to make some remarks. Mr. Holman said that 

though taken by surprise he was glad to be present and would 

cheerfully respond. At the outbreak of the war he had just 

begun his first pastorate at Poughkeepsie on the Hudson. He 

never should forget Abraham Lincoln's passage through the 

city on his way to be inaugurated president. It was his privi- 

lege to stand near the platform of the train when Mr. Lincoln 

appeared to bow his acknowledgments to the thousands who 

had thronged about the train to extend their greeting. It was 

impossible then to anticipate the long and dreadful civil war 

that was to follow. He described the excitement awakened by 

the firing on the old Massachusetts Sixth as it forced its way 

through the streets of Baltimore, and other events of the sub- 

sequent war. From '6i to the close of the struggle in the 

spring of '65 he was pastor of a church in Ballston Spa, where 

more than half of the male members of his parish were opposed 

to the war, and where he had to fight for it in the rear as hard 

as the soldiers fought for it at the front, though perhaps with 

less danger. He facetiously alluded to the scare and flight to 

Canada of many of his parishioners on the approach of the first 

draft when several who had not liked his preaching came to him 

for letters of introduction to friends in Montreal. They returned 

after the draft but made no further opposition to his Union 

sentiments. He reminded the older ones of his coming to 

Rockland in the spring of '65, and his Lincoln Memorial Sermon, 

and appealed to them that he had always been in sympa- 

thy with the veterans of the war. 

Commander Simmons was next called upon. He said : " Of 

all the days of the year I look forward with anticipation to this 

the day of our annual reunion. I look forward to it with 

mingled feelings of pleasure and sadness—with feelings of pleas- 

ure at the thought of greeting once more so many of my old 

comrades, with feelings of sadness at the thought of ' faces I 

shall see no more.' I am also deeply affected as I look round


upon you here and note the furrows time is making .on your 

brows and as I think how soon we shall all be gone. However 

we may have differed in the past, it is time we laid aside our 

differences. The cords that bind us to each other should and 

do strengthen with each pass- 

COL. KLlfAH WALKER. 

ing year. I am glad to see so 

many of you here to-day, 

though I miss many who have 

been wont to meet with us. I 

hope to live to meet you many 

times in the near future, though 

conscious that you will be fewer 

still in number every time we 

come together. And now 

good bye till we meet again." 

It was expected that there 

would be other speakers, but 

at this point the whistle of the 

Silver Star warned all present 

that the time had come to leave, 

and the meeting adjourned. 

The campfire in the G. A. R. hall was well attended ; Col. L. 

D. Carver presided. He was glad to be present. He felt that 

some words from comrades on their army experience would be 

desirable. " We have been together in many tight places. It 

is pleasant to take each other by the hand under more favorable 

circumstances. The fraternity learned in the army is with us 

still." He called on Dr. Benj. Williams, assistant surgeon of 

the Eighth Maine, who said he didn't belong to the Fourth 

Maine or Second Maine Battery, but gave a few of his army 

experiences, especially with poor, worn, discouraged stragglers 

in the rear who were by no means cowards, but sometimes 

needed a little whiskey and oftener a word of cheer. Col. 

Carver feelingly said, " We are growing old and soon shall 

pass away, but we shall leave behind us an ocean-bound Amer- 

ican Republic without a serf or slave, with one flag and a

FOURTH INFANTRY AND SECOND BATTERY. 351 

great destiny, a destiny we helped to make by our sufferings 

and our sacrifices." 

Comrade Greenhaigh said he regretted his army experience 

was somewhat limited. It seemed a dream that so many were 

yet left. The memories of camp life and the field were precious 

MONUMENT TO THE FOURTH MAINE AT GETTYSBURG IN THE DEVIL'S DEN. 

to him. We are indeed growing old. Let us enjoy tnese rela- 

tions while we may, and, when we are through here may we be 

mustered together above. 

Col. Walker was greeted with applause. He had not come 

to speak, but he had been flattered by the reception he had met 

from those who had served so long and faithfully under his


command. He had been made sad by the memory of those 

they lett to moulder on the soil of Virginia, and those who had 

passed away since, eleven from his own company, Capt. Barker 

among the rest. He was pleased that all who served under him 

were now his friends, though they may sometimes have thought 

him hard. He related several incidents in the history of the 

Fourth Maine that illustrated their unflinching courage and 

their devotion to the cause they fought for, and he recalled their 

sufferings when, barefooted, scantily clothed, poorly fed and 

often without shelter they marched weary marches, fought ter- 

rific battles, hungry, cold and often without sleep for days and 

nights together, and yet without murmuring. In over forty 

engagements the Fourth Maine never faltered, was commonly 

sent to protect the rear in retreat and always sent to the front 

in the hottest engagements. Long as he was able he should 

come to meet his old comrades. 

The monument to the Fourth Maine was designed by Colonel 

Elijah Walker and cut in Knox County granite, by the Hurri- 

cane Granite Company, under the supervision of Gen. Tillson. 

It is unique and handsome, and differs from all others in being 

five sided, with an inscription on every side. It stands in what 

has always been known as " The Devil's Den," from its rocki- 

ness and roughness, on the lowest land of the field of Gettys- 

burg. Here the Fourth Maine suffered its worst decimation. 

Knox and Lincoln Veterans. 

WARRIORS-OF-OLD ENTERTAINED IN ROCKLAND. 

The Knox and Lincoln Veteran Association held its annual 

reunion in Rockland, September nineteenth. This association 

was organized seven years ago. The membership consists 

chiefly of soldiers of the Fourth Maine Regiment and Second 

Maine Battery although it includes all veterans of the army and 

navy living within the limits of the two counties. The object

KNOX AND LINCOLN VETERANS. 353 

of the association is purely fraternal. The reunions have hith- 

erto been held by permission on the Nobleboro camp ground 

but last year it was deemed best to have a change and Rockland 

was selected for this year's meeting. 

The members of Edwin 

Libby Post, the Ladies' Relief 

Corps and the Sons of Veter- 

ans were invited to participate, 

Oakland was chosen by the 

committee of arrangements for 

the morning gathering and the 

clam bake. As early as nine 

o'clock the cars began to be 

crowded with passengers, but 

the great body of guests left (jj 

on extras provided by the elec- 

tric railroad company about 

half-past eleven. 

At Oakland the large dance 

hall was thrown open, with 

tables for all that the hall would accommodate well provided with 

dishes. The pavilion was also opened with tables laid in the 

dining room. Tables were also spread in the open air. While 

the bake was preparing Meservey's Quintet discoursed stirring 

music to all who chose to listen to it, and large numbers went 

strolling along the shore and over the spacious and beautiful 

grounds. About one o'clock the bake was opened and for 

about an hour, clams, green corn, lobsters, pilot bread and tea 

and coffee occupied the attention of those present. Had the 

day been pleasant the attendance would have been something 

surprising. As it was there could not have been less than one 

thousand to twelve hundred on the grounds. The service was 

largely voluntary, the gentlemen generally attending to the 

wants of the ladies. Judge Haskell, members of the Knox 

County bar and some of the clergy of the city were served in 

^he pavilion dining room. 

COL. L. D. CARVER.


After the clam bake there was more music and an hour of 

social converse, and many were the stories told, the reminis- 

cences rehearsed and the jokes cracked, but the heavy mist and 

at length the gently falling rain caused an early breaking up of 

the company. There was, however, a business meeting of the 

association, which occupied a few minutes. Col. Carver called 

the meeting to order and the following committee on resolutions 

was appointed: S. L. Miller, Waldoboro ; 

J. 

H. H. Hewett, 

Thomaston, and Col. William H. Fogler, Rockland, to report at 

the evening camp fire. A committee on nominations to report 

at the same time was also appointed, consisting of the followlowing 

: S. J. Treat, Camden ; W. F. Gay, Thomaston, and A. 

L. Hilton, Waldoboro. A financial statement was made by the 

secretary and treasurer, showing a balance of cash on hand of 

$4.33. Adjourned till 6.30 P. M. 

At 6.30 there was the usual camp fire. It was held in Farwell 

opera house. Considering the weather there was a large attendance. 

Col. L. D. Carver presided. He called on Rev. C. W. 

Bradlee to offer prayer. He then said the association was 

deeply indebted to the citizens of Rockland for their generous 

hospitality. In their behalf he could say that it was hearty. 

" We are glad you came. Come again. You will always be 

welcome." He added a few remarks to the association which 

were really impressive and eloquent. He then introduced 

Department Commander Oilman. 

Mr. Oilman said he was glad to come to this city by the sea. 

He said a generation ago you were holding meetings under different 

auspices. Sumter had fallen and the war was on. Then 

came the first Bull Run. It was a disaster in name only. In 

fact it was the greatest blessing that could have happened at 

that time to our country. It taught us a lesson that we needed 

to learn. Col. Carver here called upon the Rockland quartet 

fora song, which was given. The quartet consists of Mrs. F. 

R. Spear, Miss Julia Spear, Oeorge Torrey and W. F. Tibbetts. 

They were loudly applauded. 

H. R. Closson of Munroe, was the next speaker. He said 

there were those who seemed to forget the services of the boys

KNOX AND LINCOLN VETERANS. 355 

in blue, who called them thieves, pension looters and other 

opprobrious epithets. The boys in blue were not indebted to 

the nation, the nation was indebted to them. It owed them a 

debt it would never be able to pay. In 1861 the nation was 

bankrupt. An order was issued to .pay those who volunteered 

to save it, in greenbacks, always to be as good as gold. In 1862 

gold went to $1.42, then to $1.84 and so on up, till in '64 it was 

worth $2.02. At last it took $2.85 in greenbacks to buy one 

gold dollar, and the soldiers were paid not in gold but green- 

backs, and the difference before the war was over to the soldiers 

was $2,400,000,000. The nation really owed this to the soldiers, 

or would to redeem its promise, enough to pay all reasonable 

pensions for a generation to come. It would take thirty-eight 

years to pay it. Again during the war those at home could 

earn from two dollars to six dollars a day. Those who fought 

and suffered at the front got thirteen dollars a month. The 

difference in wages, counting the number of our soldiers would 

be something enormous. That difference was really the soldier's 

due. We took the country in its throes, and in 1864 a party 

plank declared the war a failure ; while another party plank 

declared that it must be fought to a successful issue. We voted 

for the latter plank thirteen to one, and we fought it to that 

successful issue. Patriotism is above everything. Our boys 

should be taught to admire heroism, not the heroism of antiquity 

or foreign soldiers, but of Grant and Sherman, Sheridan and 

Farragut. 

Gen. Davis Tillson was next introduced. He followed the 

fortunes of the Second Maine Battery and pronounced it the 

best in his belief in the army. He first trained it to shoot with 

precision and was always proud of it. It turned the tide of 

battle at Cedar Mountain and saved our army. It was equally 

effective at Fredericksburg, at least in sharp and exact shooting, 

and agam at Gettysburg. He went into the army in command 

of one hundred and fifty men and came out in command of 

fifteen thousand, but nothing he did was ever of more value 

than his organization and training of the Second Maine Battery.


Rev. J. H Parshley was next called upon as a man who did 

not belong to the Grand Army, but possessed a great, noble 

Grand Army heart. As well follow a whirlwind as report his 

impetuous, brainy and matchless speech. It was eloquence on 

fire. He named three classes—those who saw actual service, 

those who had youthful memories of the war, and those who 

knew it only from history. He belonged to the middle class. 

We had not yet come to an appreciation of the results of the 

civil war or even of its true significance. No man can measure 

the services of our citizen soldiery in that war to a saved repub- 

lic. Even the soldiers themselves can't measure the value of 

their services. 

Col. Elijah Walker was called upon to close. He gave a 

simple, stirring, but superb description of the awful struggles, 

the matchless bravery and the conspicuous services of the 

Fourth Maine Regiment, especially at Gettysburg. Gen. Davis 

Tillson paid a high but merited compliment to the military rec- 

ord of Col. Walker, and the seventh reunion of the Knox and 

Lincoln Veteran Association ended. 

Col. Carver made a most admirable presiding officer. Dig- 

nified without being stiff, genial and witty without frivolity, 

happy in introducing his speakers without being fulsome, and 

sensible in never obtruding himself to weariness upon the audi- 

ence. The following resolutions were passed 

Resolved, That we, the veteran soldiers and sailors of Knox and Lincoln counties, 

reaffirm our loyalty to the principles for which we fought, and renew our devotion to 

the flag as the emblem of the union of the States of the American Republic; that 

while we revere the memory of our comrades dead, we will loyally stand up for the 

interest of our comrades living. 

Resolved, That the Knox and Lincoln Veteran Association condemns the course of 

the national government which has confined its reduction of expenditures to the depart- 

ment of the interior, thus depriving the needy and destitute survivors of the war of 

pensions to the amount of nearly ^20,000,000; that we indorse the action of the com- 

mander-in-chief and the national encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in 

the matter of pensions. 

Resolved, That we recall with gratitude the untiring efforts of the senators and rep- 

resentatives of Maine in behalf of the soldiers of the republic and for their faithful 

and able services we tender to each of them the hearty thanks of this association.

REUNION OF THE FIFTH MAINE INFANTRY. 357 

Resolved, That the thanks of the association are due and are heartily extended to 

Edwin Libby Post and the citizens of Rockland for their cordial reception and for the 

hospitality afforded us at this reunion. 

Resolved, That we fully appreciate the efforts of the officers of this association and 

especially the president for the past year and pledge the incoming board our cordial 

support. 

Reunion of the F'ifth Maine Infantry. 

The meeting of the association was held at their magnificent 

memorial building, Peaks' Island, Portland harbor, August 

eighth, and the following officers were elected 

President—N. R. Lougee, Nashua, N. H. 

Vice Presidents—Capt. H. T. Bucknam, Mechanic Falls; Frank F. Goss, Auburn; 

James H. Taylor, Pleasantdale. 

Secretary and Treasurer— Capt. George E. Brown, Portland. 

Chaplain—Rev. George Bicknell, Cambridge, Mass. 

Committee of Arrangements — H. T. Bucknam, James G. Sanborn, George E. Brown, 

H. R. Millett, John C. Summersides. 

After the business meeting the members sat down to an excel- 

lent dinner at the Peaks' Island house. 

A delightful camp fire was held in the evening; Gen. Cilley, 

Col. Millett and Adjutant Bicknell spoke; Mrs. Pike, Misses 

Titcomb and Harmon gave recitations and Capt. Bucknam's 

choir rendered fine music. Mrs. Capt. Goodwin of Buxton, 

presented a handsome camp flag and staff, the flag of white 

with a red Sixth Corps cross in the centre, with Camp Goodwin 

above and the Fifth Maine Regiment below in blue letters. The 

staff is thirty feet high and surmounted by a gilt ball. 

Gen. M. C. Wentworth of VVentworth hall fame, paid all the 

expenses of the camp fire, and Mr. T. R. Harris of New York 

sent his annual contribution of two barrels of hard bread.


Reunion of Sixth and Ninth Maine Associations 

In accordance with the announcement previously made, the 

reunion of the Sixth and Ninth Regimental Associations was 

held at Machias, August twenty-second and twenty-third. The 

weather was fine, and a comparatively large number was present 

from the above organizations. There were sixty-six members 

of the Sixth Maine and thirty-five from the Ninth who were 

present and joined in the festivities of the occasion. We regret 

to say that a few were deprived of the pleasures at the banquet 

by having failed to make connections, and barely arrived in 

season to join their comrades in the clam bake at Roque Bluffs. 

The visiting comrades were the guests of Bradbury Post No. 15, 

G. A. R. At five o'clock A. M., the command to " fall in " was 

given by Post Commander A. M. Longfellow. The order was 

obeyed by about fifty members of the post, who led the march, 

" band in front," to Libby hall, which was elaborately and tastily 

decorated with flags, bunting, etc. Opposite the entrance 

to the hall large flags were draped on the wall, beneath which 

was a portrait of Gen. Strong, who commanded the storming 

brigade on Fort Wagner, and was killed in the engagement, and 

the following motto, " Welcome veterans Ninth Maine in the 

front line at Fort Wagner." 

The decorations of the Sixth Maine, placed upon the wall 

over the stage, consisted of the old battle flags which were 

given to this company by the ladies of this section and were 

carried from the battle of St. Mary's Height to the close of the 

war, arranged artistically with a large portrait of Colonel Hiram 

Bridgham in the center, and surmounted by the badge of the 

Light Division. 

Upon the stage was pitched a tent, such as was used in the 

war, furnished with all the accoutrements of war, and scattered 

about suitably were muskets, swords, canteens, etc., all of which

THE SIXTH AND NINTH MAINE. 359 

gave a very lifelike and appropriate appearance. Among these 

relics was a box of souvenirs containing a pair of spurs of the 

late Major C. F. Stone of this place, also several swords used 

in the war, a pair of spurs taken from a dead artillery man of 

the Fifth Maine Battery, at Chancellorsville, a Bible carried 

through the war and stained with blood at Spottsylvania, a Con- 

federate officer's sword and a carbine picked up at Gettysburg, 

and a flintlock musket carried through the Mexican war. 

About the hall were arranged badges representing the twenty- 

four army corps. 

The Ladies' Relief Corps were found stationed behind tables 

in the hall in position to serve the bountiful repast which had 

been furnished by a loyal populace. Grace was invoked by 

Rev. T. J. Wright, after which, a lively manipulation of knives 

and forks, while the band discoursed sweet musii., was the 

principal feature of the occasion for the time being. 

After the " inner man " had been satiated, order was called 

by the toast master, A. M. Longfellow. H. R. Taylor, Esq., 

was introduced and gave an address of welcome to the asso- 

ciations. 

The vocal selection which followed consisted of solo and 

chorus, and was greatly enjoyed. The solo was by Miss Addie 

M. Pennell, who sang with her accustomed volume and sweet- 

ness. The toast, " Sixth Maine Veteran Association," was 

responded to by Wainwright Gushing of Foxcroft, who gave a 

condensed account of the Sixth Maine in its movements and 

fights during the war. Mr. Gushing also told a story highly 

illustrative of the outward makeup of that noble old hero, 

Golonel Burnham, who commanded the Sixth until he received 

a higher rank, and entered a larger field for usefulness to his 

country. Mr. C. spoke as follows: " In due time after arriving 

at the front, a brigade drill was ordered by the general in com- 

mand. Golonel Burnham, who as yet was ignorant of the 

movement of large organizations, and the necessary commands 

to execute them, marched his regiment upon the drill ground 

and took position in the line. The preparatory command for


the first movement was as follows : 

' Movement by battalion, in 

eschelon 20 paces! A puzzled look overspread the countenance 

of the colonel. He scratched his head, moved uneasily in his 

saddle, and slowly repeated the order, ' Movement by battalion, 

in eschelon twenty paces.' What in h does he mean? " 

A poem was read by Master Hector McLean. Dr. H. H. 

Smith responded for the " Ninth Maine." His statement of the 

charge on Fort Wagner, Morris Island, by this regiment was 

highly complimentary to that organization and very descriptive 

of the event. He also gave an account of the part taken, and 

losses sustained by the regiment in subsequent engagements. 

The doctor stated that by reason of excessive claims of other 

organizations, in the past, the boys of the Ninth had almost 

been made to believe that they had not fought at all. Be that 

as it may, when the doctor was through with them, the applause 

which he received was indicative that his eloquence had con- 

vinced them that they really had been "in it" after all. 

A reading by Miss Nellie Reynolds, entitled, " I marched 

with Sherman from Atlanta to the Sea," was very pathetic, and 

touched every heart. At its close there were many damp eyes, 

especially among the old soldiers. Miss Reynolds was encored 

until she returned and responded by reciting " We have drunk 

from the same canteen." 

The next toast, " The Grand Army of the Republic," was 

responded to by Post Department Commander J.Wesley Oilman 

of Oakland, who gave a description of the organization from 

its inception to the present time, and thought the country could 

ill afford to part with its influence, which was always cast for 

patriotism, right and justice. 

Mrs. Helen DeCamp, an army nurse, gave an interesting 

description of transpiring events during the war period, and the 

sacrifices made by the mothers of that time, and declared that 

if necessary they were as ready now to offer their husbands and 

sons for the salvation of the country as they then were. Com- 

rade L. A. Albee, being called upon, made talk in advocacy of 

the service of the Ninth Maine, and discoursed upon various

THE SIXTH AND NINTH MAINE. 361 

subjects in connection with the service. He was followed by 

E. W. Brown, Esq., of Lubec, who feelingly spoke to add inter- 

est to the occasion. Rev. T. J. Wright of Machias, and Rev. 

Mr. Leonard of Maiden, Mass., were vociferously applauded by 

citizens and soldiers as they boldly spoke of abuses, and elo- 

quently pointed the way to a better use of the franchise, by 

voting for principle rather than party. Space will not allow of 

a full description of the many happy events observed during 

this reunion, but, suffice it to say that the old soldiers met and 

grasped the hands of comrades, and they departed with a feel- 

ing that the program arranged for their entertainment had been 

more than a success ; and the youth, who listened to the story 

of patriotism and valor, learned a lesson in loyalty which will 

be remembered, and whose influence will be felt throughout the 

coming ages. The exercises closed with singing "Marching 

through Georgia." 

The second day the veterans and citizens of Machias partici- 

pated in a very enjoyable picnic at Roque Bluffs, where a fish 

chowder, prepared by skillful hands, together with a large sup- 

ply of cakes, pies, and other delicacies that go to make up a 

bounteous repast, was served to about six hundred people. The 

weather was all that could be desired, and the afternoon was 

very enjoyably spent in strolling along the beach or listening to 

the music furnished by the band. The party returned in the 

latter part of the afternoon, greatly pleased with the day's enter- 

tainment. 

During the forenoon of the first day the association met at 

their respective quarters and transacted their usual annual business, 

of which we give a brief outline : The meeting of the 

Ninth was held at the Grand Jury room. Reports of the differ- 

ent officers were read and accepted. The officers elected for 

the ensuing year are as follows 

President—Harry R. Hopkins, Augusta. 

Vice President— E. H. Bryant, Machias. 

Secretary— J. E. Shepard, Lawrence, Mass. 

Treasurer— John H. Lowell, Hallowell. 

Executive Committee—Edward Boyd, Somerville, Mass.; E. H. Bryant, Machias; 

Volney A. Gray, Dover.


The next place of meeting is to be at Peaks' Island, Portland 

Harbor; the place and date to be determined by the executive 

committee. A vote of thanks was extended to E. H. Bryant, 

Bradbury Post, G. A. R., P. H. Longfellow, Esq., and the citi- 

zens of Machias for favors and hospitality shown the associa- 

tion during their reunion, A telegram of greeting from Col. 

Geo. B. Dyer of Boston, Mass., was received ; 

also a letter from 

Adjutant Jas. E. Shepard of Lawrence, Mass. Following is a 

list of the members of the association who were present 

Company A—W. A. Babcock, Holyoke, Mass.; Edward Boyd, East Somerville, 

Mass.; Henry H. Ellis, Cooper; John Harper, Levviston; Samuel C. Howe, Calais; 

H. R. Hopkins, Augusta;- Joseph Kidder, Princeton; Thomas McCleod, St. Stephen, 

N. B.; Stephen E. Phipps, Epping; D, A. Smith, East Machias; John H. Whitman, 

Lewiston. Company B—Asa Alexander, Brunswick; D. E. Coombs, Brunswick; Roswell 

Dunton, Lewiston. Company E-—V. A. Gray, Dover, Company G—Geo. W, 

Harris, Orono; Edward W, Smith, Northtield. Company H—Thomas Black, Whit- 

ing; E. H. Bryant, Machias; John W. Clark, West Pembroke; John W. Foss, 

ISIachias; I. P. Foss, Machias; Geo. H. Kenniston, Machias; WiUiam A, Kilton, 

Machias; Isaac W. Leighton, Machias; James E, Ly>>n, Dennysville; James McCabe, 

Machias; Henry O, Morse, Cherryfield; Warren T, Noyes, Jonesboro ; W.F.Pike, 

Princeton; Abial E. Preble, Machias; S. G. Spooner, Princeton. Company I—^John 

A. Chadwick, Rockland; W. E. Jordan, Corinth; John H. Lowell, Hallowell, Q. IVL 

MEDALS OF HONOR. 

On August 23d, 1863, Gen. O. A. Gilmore presented one man 

in each company of the brigade which formed the storming 

party on Fort Wagner, Morris Island, with a bronze medal for 

meritorious conduct on that occasion. We have seen one of 

those medals and it bears the name of E. H. Bryant, Company H, 

Ninth Maine Infantry Volunteers, together with a picture of 

Fort Sumter as it appeared on the above date. Mr. Bryant, 

who is very modest, has never before exhibited this memento 

of the past, which speaks so loudly of valiant deeds never to be 

forgotten. 

MONUMENT TO GEO. W. TUPPER. 

Mrs. John Kennedy and Miss Macale, of Providence, R. I., 

came on Thursday's boat. Mrs. K. is a former resident of 

Jonesboro and the only remaining member of the family of the

THE SEVENTH MAINE. 363 

late George W. Tupper of Company H, Twenty-eighth Maine, 

who served the country during the late rebellion, was honorably 

discharged, but died while on his way home. Much credit is 

due to Mrs. K. for the monumental stone which she had erected 

to the memory of her parents and sister. 

WHITE WINGS. 

N. C, Wallace and wife and Chas. W. Hopkins and wife have 

been camping out on Ray's Point, a most lovely local resort 

readily accessible by carriage. Mr. Wallace made a trip to 

Machias to attend the reunion of the Sixth Maine Regiment, 

with which he fought in the war for the Union. He went in his 

yacht " White Wings." 

Reunion of the Seventh Maine Infantry, 

AT THEIR HEADQUARTERS IN PORTLAND HARBOR. 

August twenty-second, the white cross flag of the Sixth Army 

Corps and the flag of the association showed to old soldiers 

that the veterans of the Seventh Maine Regimental Association 

were in session. There are but few of the veterans of that asso- 

ciation left, but they gathered fairly well, considering the cir- 

cumstances, and when Secretary W. D. Hatch called the roll at 

the business meeting, over which President Waterhouse presided, 

the following answered to their names 

George F. Himt of Westbrook; W. D. Hatch, Portland; C. H. Waterhouse, Cape 

Ehzabeth; John Oakes, Portland; Eben True, East Deering; George R. Boyer, Som- 

erville, Mass.; J. E. Foster, Portland; William Pool, U. S. N., Lynn, Mass.; Melvin 

Curtis, Whitman, Mass.; F. L. Oakes, Portland; John Curtis, Whitman, Mass.; Lieu- 

tenant William H. Motley, Deering; James S. Connor, Fairfield; Nathaniel Young, 

West Paris; Charles W. Jones, Barre, Vt.; James H. Goss, Brookline, Mass.; William 

Rowe, Vassalboro; James Williams, South Paris; Hiram Elliott, South Portland; 

J. 

Dr. S. C. Norcross, Lewiston; John Mullen, Portland; Jabez Eveleth, Portland; 

Lieutenant John H. Fogg, Portland; A. A. Stevens, Deering; Robert A. Downing, 

Brunswick; Dr. J. H. Syphers, Cape Elizabeth; Samuel Morrison, Mount Pleasant, 

Mich.; Lieutenant George B. Knight, Portland; Frank Haynes, Passadumkeag; L. 

L. Thurston, Portland.

364 '^HE MAINE BUGLE. 

The thanks of the association were returned to Mrs. A. H. 

Lindsey of Portland for a copy of the large engraving, " Sher- 

man's March to the Sea," now in the hall of the association. 

Remarks were then made by Dr. Norcross of Lewiston, and 

Charles W. Jones of Vermont, and John H. Fogg, Esq., of 

Portland, talked in an interesting way of war times and referred 

feelingly to the comrades who will no more answer to their 

names. Letters were then read from several members of the 

association who were unable to be present. Brevet Brigadier 

General Edwin C. Mason, colonel of the Third Infantry, U. S. A., 

with headquarters at Fort Snelling, Minn., regretted that he was 

unable to visit Maine this year and expressed his continued 

interest in the association and in all the members of the old 

regiment. General Mason was formerly colonel of the Seventh 

Maine. Dr. H. P. Fernald wrote from Chelesthen, England, 

where he is now in business as a dentist, and John R. Anthoine 

of New York, sent a pleasant note of regret at being unable to 

be present at the annual meeting. The following were then 

elected officers of the association 

President—Dr. S. C. Norcross, Lewiston, 

Vice Presidents—George R. Boyer, Somerville, Mass.; John H. Fogg, Portland. 

Secretary and Treasurer—W. D. Hatch, Portland. 

Quartermaster—George F. Hunt, Westbrook. 

Chaplain—A. A. Nickerson, Portland. 

Surgeon— Dr. J. H. Syphers, Cape Elizabeth. 

Poet and Historian—W. D. Hatch, Portland. 

President Waterhouse then gracefully returned thanks to the 

association for the manner in which he had been supported 

while discharging the duties of his office, and asked for the 

same cordial support for his successor. Dr. Norcross. A meet- 

ing of the building association, having in charge the building 

and other property of the association, was then held, and the 

following officers were elected : 

Treasurer—A. A. Stevens. 

Secretary—Hiram Ellis. 

Directors—W. D. Hatch, Eben True, John Oakes and George F. Hunt.

THE EIGHTH MAINE. 365 

A president of the association will be chosen by the directors. 

The real camp fire of the reunion was held August twenty- 

third. The ladies were present in force, and the after-dinner 

speeches were most bright and enjoyable. The poet of the 

association, Mr. Woodbury D. Hatch, had written, and all pres- 

ent united in singing the annual hymn, a never omitted feature 

of the reunion. 

The Eighth Maine Infantry Reunion. 

The annual reunion of the Eighth Maine Regimental Asso- 

ciation was held August twenty-ninth at their headquarters at 

Peaks' Island, a building provided for the association by Gen. 

W. M. McArthur. Among the comrades present were 

Gen. Henry Boynton, Augusta; Capt. W. S. Lane, Boston; Lieut.-Col. E. A. True, 

Boston; Capt. Hillman Smith, Auburn; Capt. L. B. Rogers, Patten; Lieut. H. B. 

Sawyer, Auburn; George F. Dodge, North Berwick; O. P. Richardson, Waterville; 

E. P. Woodward, Lisbon; Wallace Smith, Auburn; W. C. Taylor, Alfred; George 

Perry, Portland; O. B. Canwell, Boston; Lieut. S. D. Shurtle, South Livermore; 

T. F. Ingraham, Roxbury, Mass.; O. L. Richardson, Waterville; H. Dennis Adams, 

Jay; J. C. Cotton, Boston; Miles Rhoades, North Berwick; John Treadwell, Kennebunk; 

W. B. Goodwin, Brunswick; Maj. J. H. H. Hewett, Thomaston; Jethro Swett, 

Kittery; W. C. Cross, Natick, Mass. ; J. C. Littlefield, Boston; David S. Austin, North 

Berwick; G. W. Lord, Natick, Mass.; E. C. Spearin, Auburn; George L. Dacy, Boston; 

T. S. Brown, Belmont; W. E. Jones, Salem, Mass.; C. W. Bracy, Alfred; C. H. 

Burke, East Winn; F. D. Larrabee, New Gloucester; Edward Hanson, Biddeford; 

Gideon L. Littlefield, Wells; J. A. Littlefield, Wells. 

Dinner was served at twelve o'clock, and the business meeting 

was held immediately after the comrades adjourned from the 

tables. Capt. W. S. Lane, president of the association, pre- 

sided. Reference was made by the treasurer to a balance due 

for repairs and improvements made on the headquarters during 

the year, and the comrades present promptly and generously 

responded to the suggestion that it might be well to wipe out 

that debt. 

W. G. Soule of Portland, was introduced by President 

Lane and gave some bright recollections of the time when


the Eighth Maine was taken to Port Royal. Mr. Soule was 

purser aboard the transport that took them out, and by mistake 

was once ordered under arrest by Gen. Boynton. This brought 

Gen. Boynton to his feet, and he told how the arrest came to be 

made. He was looking for another man, and his general resem- 

blance to Mr. Soule, led to the arrest, and prompt discharge of 

that gentleman. 

Rev. H. A. Philbrook of Watertown, Mass., chaplain of the 

regiment, moved the appointment of a committee of three to 

bring to the attention of the members of the next Maine legis- 

lature the matter of assisting in the publication of histories of 

the different Maine regiments. He suggested that it might be 

well to ask the State to buy a certain number of copies to be 

placed in public libraries, and otherwise distributed through the 

State. Mr. Philbrook said that in his opinion this was the only 

way by which there could be saved to the State much valuable 

historical material. He would have the histories largely the 

work of the comrades themselves, and to render the work of 

the editorial committee just what the term would imply. He 

thought that one great fault common to many of the regimental 

histories should be avoided. There would seem to be no neces- 

sity for the giving of a long preliminary sketch of the causes 

that led up to the war. Mr. Philbrook also referred to the 

Maine Bugle as a most appropriate organ, showing the actual 

life of the soldier, and remarked that the articles in the BuGLE 

from Chaplain Wright and the story of Erastus Doble's capture, 

prison life and escape were worth many times the subscription 

price of that magazine. 

Gen. Boynton said that was his idea exactly. He would 

make the histories to be written just what a regimental history 

should be, a sketch of what the different members saw ot the 

war and the part they took in it. There would occur to every 

man present special acts of bravery on the part of comrades 

living and dead that should find a place in such a history. 

Don't make it too formal. Gen. Boynton said there was no 

doubt that the State ousht to assist in the work. It had been


done in Massachusetts and in some of the other States, and 

should be done in Maine. 

Capt. Sawyer spoke earnestly in the same Hne. It seemed to 

him that a letter from every member of a regiment would have 

weight with some member of the legislature. He would have 

it understood that nothing would be asked for on the part of 

the Eighth Maine that would prejudice the interest of any other 

Maine regiment. Mr. Philbrook said that it would be well to 

have it generally understood by members of the regiment that 

the editorial committee would like every possible incident to be 

recalled. " Of course some legends will work in," he said, "but 

that is to be expected. Give all you can. Give incidents 

comic and pathetic. Tell about scrapes you got in and out of. 

Let us have the story of the real life of the regiment." 

Gen. J. P. Cilley, a guest of the association, was invited to 

speak, and made a bright address, dwelling largely on regimental 

history writing at this late day. One book only leads to a 

desire to revise and rewrite it, so much new matter comes to 

light. He was warmly in favor of asking for State aid in the 

publication of historical matter connected with the great war, 

and the part played therein by the soldiers from Maine. Col. 

E. A. True of Boston, Mass., Pearl G. Ingalls of Washington, 

and Capt. H. B. Sawyer of Auburn, were appointed to act as 

a committee to bring the matter to the attention of the legis- 

lature. The following officers were then elected 

President—Gen. Henry Boynton, Augusta. 

Vice Presidents—A. R. Millett, P. G. Ingalls and G. L. Dacy. 

Secretary and Treasurer—Hon. Hillman Smith, Auburn. 

Executive Committee—Fred Larrabee, New Gloucester; G. .S. Dutch, North Ber- 

wick; P. R. Woodward, Lisbon Falls. 

Gen. Boynton declined to serve as president of the associa- 

tion because he expects to be in Europe next year, but he was 

not excused, the general sentiment of the association being 

voiced by a comrade who said, " And then we shall be pleased 

to be represented in Europe by our president. Gen. Boynton, 

It will carry the name of the Eighth Regiment so much farther,"


The thanks of the association were then returned to the retiring 

president, Hon. Hillman Smith. The secretary asked that if 

any comrade heard of the death of a member of the regiment, 

or of the association, that he would notify him. 

A Ladies' Auxihary was organized with twenty-five members, 

the following being chosen officers 

President—Mrs. Maria Rhodes, Berwick. 

Vice President—Mrs. Sarah L. Larrabee, New Gloucester. 

Secretary and Treasurer—Mrs. Vina Richardson, Waterville. 

Executive Committee—Mrs. Hillman Smith, Auburn; Mrs. H. B. Sawyer, Auburn; 

Mrs. E. C. Spearin, Auburn. 

In the evening the comrades of the Eighth Maine gathered 

around a fire kindled in the big fire place and told stories and 

sung old army songs until a late, or rather early hour. 

EIGHTH MAINE MEMORIAL BUILDING. 

No description of the reunion would be complete without 

calling attention to the beautiful and spacious structure which 

the " vets " of the old Eighth call their summer home, and the 

man to whom they are indebted for it, Gen. William M.


McArthur, of Limington, who gave this beautiful structure to 

the association at a personal cost of $8,000. The association 

will long revere the name of Gen. McArthur. 

The Eighth Maine was a credit to this State. It was recruited 

from nearly all parts of the State. Some came from Ellsworth 

and vicinity, others from Aroostook, Kennebec and York coun- 

ties. The regiment went out in 1861 and was not mustered out 

of the service until 1866. From 1861 to 1864 they served in 

the department of the South, after that mostly in Virginia, first 

under Butler and then under Grant. The Eighth Maine saw a 

great deal of hard service, being in many of the most important 

battles of the war. They were under fire before Petersburg for 

a hundred days. Their record is most honorable and the veter- 

ans are reasonably proud of what they went through and what 

they accomplished. 

After so long and so valuable service, it is eminently proper 

that the regiment should have a fitting regimental home, where 

the members can gather and talk over their campaigns and the 

hardships and triumphs incident thereto. Such a home has 

been provided for them by General McArthur, The structure 

is of noble proportions, built in cottage style, with a sightly 

tower on the easterly corner. It stands in the most picturesque 

spot on Peaks' Island, directly opposite White Head. From 

the easterly verandas one can look far out to sea and inhale the 

" salt breezes in all their freshness." The first story is a large 

assembly hall, with a fine hard wood floor, the walls finished in 

cottage style. In the basement, in the seaward end, are dining 

room and kitchen. On the second floor are sleeping rooms, 

arrangedon either side of a broad corridor, at the end of which 

is a veranda, from which rare views of old ocean delight the 

veterans, as they gather there by moonlight, before retiring to 

rest. It is intended, before long, to have a collection of relics 

of the war, which shall equal in interest any in the State.

370 


First, Tenth and Twenty-ninth Maine Regiments 

HAVE THEIR ANNUAL REUNION. 

The survivors of the First, Tenth and Twenty-ninth Maine 

Volunteers wound up their annual outing in their attractive 

association building at Long Island, Portland Harbor, August 

eighth and ninth, with their annual business meeting and a 

review of personal war experiences. Hardly a man in that 

building but was wounded in some form by the rebels in our 

late war. The struggles of the color guard in some of the battles 

to keep the colors flying at the front laid many a Maine boy 

low and sent many another to the hospital. The names of those 

who so fell, as well as others, were once more recalled by their 

former comrades in arms. Dr. D. VV. Bland of Pottsville, Penn., 

who went to the front with the Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania Reg- 

iment, and whose position under various general officers brought 

him in close contact with Maine regiments, where he made many 

friends, was by invitation of this regiment present at their 

annual dinner. 

Maj.-Gen. Schuyler Hamilton of New York, was another 

notable guest of this organization. Among other officers pres- 

ent were Gen. George L. Beale of Norway, Gen. George H. 

Nye of Natick, Mass., George W. West of Washington, D. C, 

Dr. H. N. Howard of Washington, D. C, Capt. E. M. Shaw of 

Nashua, N. H., Maj. John M. Gould and Maj. W. P. Jordan of 

Portland, Maj. Alpheus Green of Providence, R. I., Adj. Chas. 

W. Roberts of Portland, Captains C. C Graham and Hebron 

Mayhew of Westbrook, E. Nelson Greeley and Herbert R. 

Spencer of Portland, Harry R. Willett of Boston, Charles H. 

Pettingill of New York City, Lieuts. Harry McKeen of South 

Paris, and Benj. F. Whitney of Gorham. The following other 

members of the association were also present:

FIRST, TENTH AND TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 371 

George E.Andrews, Portland; George S. Ayer, Saco; Frank J. Bradbury, Norway; 

Frank G. Boody, Portland; John J. Bagley, Lowell, Mass.; Lucius L Bartlett, Nor- 

way; Gilman Brackett, Peaks' Island; Merrilt W. Bickford, Maiden, Mass.; Gladden 

Bonney, Boston; Houghton Bond, Auburn; George H. Bailey, Woodfords; John W. 

Chase, Portland; Joe C. Colesworthy, Woodfords; Henry R. Colesworthy, Portland; 

Wm. C. Cole, Norway; Zimri Carleton, Campello, Mass.; James Donovan, Lewiston; 

Edmund W. Dyer, South Portland; Daniel Davis, Portland; Jere S. Douglass, Port- 

land; George B. Day, Gorham; Charles S. Emerson, Auburn; Stillman H. Emerson, 

Biddeford; Hezekiah Elwell, Westbrook; Charles H. Frost, Portland; Freeman Farrar, 

West Sumner; Albert R. Fogg, Cumberland Mills; Hartwell S. French, Lynn, Mass.; 

David P. Field, Auburn; John M. Gould, Portland; Ed. Nelson Greeley, Portland; 

Renselear Greeley, Portland; George IL Gill, Portland; Charles C. Graham, West- 

brook; Lewis E. Goodridge, Cumberland Mills; Levi Alonzo Guptill, Belgrade; 

George Guptill, Readfield; Sylvanus W. Giles, Readfield; Joshua Bailey (joodwin. 

Auburn; Alpheus L. Greene, Providence, R. L; Frederick Greene, Saco; Frederick 

S.Greene, Portland; Charles R. Greene, Portland; Henry H. Greene, Woodfords; 

Almon L. Goss, Auburn; Ezekiel H. Hanson, Deering; Edward K. Hanson, East 

Hiram; George W. Harradon, Auburn; Charles Harris, Saco; Mahlon S. Hodgdon, 

Portland; Ithamar Houston, Westbrook; Alfred C. Hicks, Boston; Charles W. 

Heney, Oakland; Horatio H. Howard, Washington; William A. Huff, Saco; Hebron 

S. Mayhew, Westbrook; Henry R. Millett, Boston; Amos G. Merrill, New Gloucester; 

John E. Mountfort, Knightville; Ben C. Miles, James Milligan, Matthias Moulton, 

Portland; Thomas Marriner, West Baldwin; Harry H. McKeen, South Paris; Alonzo 

Morrill, Auburn; George H. Nye, Natick; Lanty O'Neil, Maiden, Mass ; Charles H. 

Pettingill, New York ; Aretas Penney, Auburn ; Tobias Pillsbury, Willard ; Samuel T. 

Quint, West Buxton; Roland W. Randall, Auburn; J. Frank Raynes, Auburn; Joseph 

Raynes, Yarmouthville ; John S. Richardson, Deering Center; Charles F. Roberts, 

Portland; Benjamin M. Redlon, Herbert R. Sargent, Albert S. Spaulding, James M. 

Safford, Peter Willis Stoneham, Wm. N. Sewell, Charles W. Stevens, PVancis Skillings, 

Portland; George W. Smith, Chesterville; Edgar W. Small, Woodfords; Edward H. 

Sawyer, Auburn; Josiah Smith, Saco; Charles H. Smith, Porter; Elijah M. Shaw, 

Nashua, N. H.; Moses Simpson, New Castle; Dexter D. Skinner, Mechanic Falls; 

John F. Totman, Leroy H Tobie, Portland; Ira Frank Tibbetts, Deering Centre; 

Daniel L. Verrill, Auburn; William Waddell, Edwin C. Webb, Portland; George W. 

West, New York City; Marcus Wight, Lowell, Mass.; John C. Willey, Wakefield, 

Mass.; Benj. F. Whitney, Gorham; Azra B. Webber, West Auburn; Murray B. Wat- 

son, Auburn; George W. Warren, Freeport. 

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: 

President—Major A. L. Greene, Providence, R. I. 

Vice Presidents—Daniel P. Field, Auburn; Charles C. Graham, Westbrook; S. H- 

Emerson, E'ddeford; Lucius I. Bartlett, Norway. 

Secretary and Treasurer—Major John M. Gould, Portland. 

Surgeon— Dr. Horatio N. Howard, Washington, D. C. 

Chaplain—Rev. Frelon Starbird, East Dixfield. 

Commissar} — R. L. Greeley, Portland. 

Executive Committee—B. M. Ridlon, Charles H. Frost, and Charles R. Berry, 

Portland.


It was voted to allow the ladies to build a hall, and the date 

of the next reunion was fixed. The Ladies' Auxiliary of the 

First, Tenth and Twenty-ninth held a meeting Wednesday 

afternoon, August eighth, and elected for officers: 

President—Mrs. C. H. Frost, Portland. 

Vice President—Mrs. A'. S. Spaulding, Portland. 

Secretary—Mrs. M. R. Weeman, Portland. 

Treasurer—Miss Mamie Annie Colesworthy, Portland. 

The ladies turned out in large numbers, and crowded the 

large banquet hall to overflowing, and after finishing their 

routine business they discussed the question of building a hall 

of their own. It was voted that a hall suitable for the purpose 

be erected near the association building. 

TWO WAR STORIES. 

The air of Portland harbor has been fairly teeming with the 

tales of the great rebellion from the reminiscent lips of the old 

veterans who have gathered at their annual reunions in their 

regimental club houses. What a pity that all these stories as 

they issue forth in select circles of old comrades and pass out 

into the surrounding atmosphere in ever diminishing waves of 

sound couldn't be somehow preserved in some great phonograph 

of nature to be given forth hereafter for the benefit and amusement 

of posterity. In one circle of story telling veterans were 

General George L. Beal of Norway, state treasurer. Dr. D. W. 

Bland of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, General Schuyler Hamilton 

of New York, and others. They were talking about the intense 

hostility displayed by the southern women towards the federal 

troops, and General Hamilton told the following story: 

It was when he was in command in Mississippi that he saw 

this singular instance of the feminine hatred for a northern man. 

He was invited to call at a wealthy southern home, and noticed 

that the daughter of the house was a singularly beautiful girl of 

about eighteen years of age. He was accompanied by a young 

man, one of his staff, who was soon talking with the young girl. 

Later the young man came to the general and whispered, "That

FIRST, TENTH AND TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 373 

girl has a ring on her finger that she says was made from the 

thigh bone of a Yankee killed at Bull Run. The ring is cer- 

tainly made of bone," he added. General Hamilton called the 

girl's mother immediately and told her to shut that girl up or 

get her out of the way quick, for if she was inclined to talk 

about that ring and if his soldiers knew that she was wearing 

such a ring they wouldn't leave one stone of the house standing 

upon another. Later General Hamilton asked the girl's mother 

to send a servant to get him a drink of water. The woman 

looked at him and said: "I cannot understand how a federal 

officer can ask a southern woman to get him a drink of water 

and not expect it to be poisoned." Again she made this remark- 

able statement, and she meant it. The general replied 

" Madam, if you were to get the water for me I might not 

expect to drink it with impunity; but no woman of that race 

(pointing to the colored servant) will ever do harm to a federal 

officer." The southern woman was silenced. 

But how did it happen that General Schuyler Hamilton of 

New York was at Long Island? He had been stopping at Old 

Orchard and the veterans learned of it and went out and brought 

him over. He is a grandson of Alexander Hamilton, is a retired 

officer of the regular army, and served through the war with a 

distinguished record, rising to the rank of major general. He 

was born in New York city in 1822, graduated at West Point in 

1 841, was on duty on the western plains, served with honor in 

the Mexican war, being brevetted for gallantry at Monterey, as 

aide-de-camp to General Winneld Scott from '47 to '54, volun- 

teered as a private in the Seventh New York at the beginning of 

the civil war, and was made a major general in September, 1862. 

Dr. D. W. Bland was at Long Island because he had been 

stopping at the Ottawa House for a week previous. He was a 

famous army surgeon through the war, and his Pennsylvania 

regiment was brigaded with the Fifth Maine. He became 

acquainted with many Maine officers. He told the following 

anecdote of Colonel Jackson of the Fifth Maine. The colonel 

was a very rough, loud-spoken and profane man. In fact he


was so profane that he was somewhat notorious, and the chap- 

lain of the regiment and others desired to do something to 

combat the influence of his profanity and call his attention to 

the undesirability of it. But no one dared approach him on 

the subject. At last the chaplain of the Sixteenth New York 

undertook the fearsome task. He went to the colonel's tent 

and scratched on the canvas. He heard a stentorian voice 

exclaim, "Who the h— 1 is there now?" The orderly replied 

that it was a stranger who wanted to see him. " Show him in," 

roared the colonel. The chaplain entered, and noting his dress 

the colonel said, " D—d glad to see you, chaplain; sit down." 

The chaplain sat down, cleared his throat, and said that the 

chaplains of the regiments were trying to push forward a 

movement for the moral uplifting of the soldiers, and wanted 

to know if there was any objection to their laboring among those 

of the Fifth Maine. " Well, I don't know, as there is," said the 

colonel, " preach as much as you d—n please." The chaplain 

continued that they had been very successful and had already 

baptised five soldiers of the Sixteenth New York. " Corporal," 

roared the colonel so loudly and suddenly that the chaplain 

jumped, " Detail twenty-seven men to be baptised as quick as 

God will let yer. I'll be d—d if any New York regiment gets 

ahead of the Fifth Maine." 

The delay in the issue of the October BUGLE has been caused 

by a sad act of Providence. A number of articles have been 

carried over to the January issue. The continued history of 

the Fifth New York Cavalry must go over. The reunions of the 

Maine regimental associations have only been given in part and 

reference must be had to the January BUGLE for the remainder. 

Lieut. Jefferson L. Coburn has a very interesting account of the 

battle of Dinwiddie Court House verified by a visit to the loca- 

tion in company with Confederate soldiers who participated in 

that contest. He will also present letters from the opposing side, 

which will add new light to that comparatively unwritten but 

important battle. The BuGLE for 1895 will be better than ever.

IN MEMORIAM. 375 

In Memoriam. 

ALEXANDER BENNER. 

At Liberty, Maine, November 19th, 1893, Alexander Banner, 

Company B, First Maine Cavalry, died, aged fifty-two years, 

four months, sixteen days. He also served one year in the 

navy. He was a member of the Bradstreet Post, and was a 

man of good standing and highly respected by all who knew 

him. He was a pensioner, and died of disease contracted while 

in the service. He left surviving a widow and three sons. 

GERSHOM F. BURGESS. 

Hon. Gershom F. Burgess of Rockport, died September ist, 

1894. He was born at Hartland, Me., sixty-five years ago, and 

was educated at Kent's Hill and Coburn Classical Institute, 

Waterville, where he was a classmate of C. F. Richards of 

Rockport, and Nelson Dingley, besides other notable men. 

After graduating he came to Rockland and taught school sev- 

eral years, also at Rockport and other towns in Knox county. 

For a time he was engaged in the stable business at Rockland 

and studied law, where he met and married his first wife, Mrs. 

John White. After her death he went to Rockport and associ- 

ated himself in business with David Talbot. In a few years he 

married Mrs. Christiana Young and assumed the management 

of the lime business of her late husband. In 1883 Mrs. Bur- 

gess died leaving two children, Gershom L. and Ardella C. 

Several years later Mr. Burgess married Miss Lotta Gould who 

died at the end of about two years. In 1890 Miss Julia Knight 

of Camden, became his wife and now survives him. 

Mr. Burgess all through his life has been prominent in busi- 

ness and social circles. He served in the late war as first lieutenant 

of Co. I, Nineteenth Maine Infantry, under Capt. Edward 

A. Snow. In that regiment it will be remembered were such


men as George D. Smith, Edgar A. Burpee of Rockland, Rev. 

George R. Palmer of Saco, Lafayette Carver of Vinalhaven, 

and Col. W. H. Fogler of Rockland. The regiment occupied 

at Bristoe Station the most advantageous position and did effective 

service in repelling the enemy's attack at that place. At 

Gettysburg the regiment's position was near that now designated 

as the high water mark of the rebellion, one of the proudest 

positions on the field. 

As a public spirited man Mr. Burgess will long be remem- 

bered. He always took an interested and active part in town 

affairs. For a number of years he held the office of town treas- 

urer for Rockport. In the years of 'qo-'qi he represented the 

county in the state senate, acquitting himself with honor. He 

was a generous man, as many of his friends can testify, and the 

G. F. Burgess Engine Company will stand as a living evidence. 

High up in Masonry, he belonged to the Blue Lodge, Chapter, 

and Commandery. At the time of his death he held the posi- 

tion of school supervisor for Rockport and was stockholder and 

director in two of the woolen mills at Camden. 

The funeral was held September fourth, at the Burgess home- 

stead. Rev. W. W. Ogier officiated and paid a fitting tribute 

to his memory. He spoke of his generosity, public spiritedness, 

his kindness to his employees, and told of the important posi- 

tions he has always held in town and state affairs. The house 

and grounds were filled with friends. The procession to the 

cemetery was composed of a delegation of Sir Knights, fol- 

lowed by the G. F. Burgess Fire Company in uniform, the Fred 

A. Norwood Post, and a long line of Master Masons from Cam- 

den and Rockport. 

HARRISON B. ROWLEY. 

Harrison B. Bowley of West Rockport, died at his home 

August thirtieth. He was corporal of Co. I, Nineteenth Maine 

Regiment, which was the same to which G. F. Burgess belonged. 

He was buried by the George S. Cobb Post, of which he was a 

member.


JONATHAN P. CILLEY, JR. 

Jonathan Prince Cilley, Jr., seemed endowed with the quali- 

ties of manhood that proceed from noble ancestry and the cul- 

ture of modern educational processes to achieve a name and 

place among the great men of this generation. Why he should 

die within the very doorway of his opportunities is one of the 

mysteries before which the inquiring mind stands, unanswered. 

His great-great-grandfather, Joseph Cilley, colonel of 'the First 

New Hampshire Line in the Revolutionary War ; 

Jonathan Cilley, 

his grandfather, the statesman who was stricken down by the 

bullet of the Southerner Graves; Jonathan Prince Cilley, his 

father, whose record in the civil war is among the brightest on 

the nation's roll of soldiers ; contributed to young Jonathan 

through the processes of heredity a combination of manly and 

heroic qualities such as we rarely find a young man endowed 

with. He was born in 1868, his mother dying three years later, 

leaving the child, together with a sister, Grace, a year older, to 

the care of Miss Fanny Lazell, Mrs. Cilley's sister. The sister, 

now Mrs. Walter G. Tibbetts, is with her husband en route from 

San Jose, Guatemala, to Port Townsend, leaving San Jose before 

a cablegram announcing her brother's death could reach her. 

Young Cilley grew up in Rockland and graduated in 1887 

from our public schools, entering directly upon a collegiate 

course at Bowdoin. He was a marked man from the beginning 

of his four years there, was president of his class in the Freshman 

year, commodore of the college " eight " when they made 

their gallant fight with Harvard, one of the crew that rowed in 

the Charles river and also in the race with Cornell at Ithaca in 

1890, an athlete in the gymnasium, a member of the tug of war 

teams in the victories over Colby and Bates, president of the 

college Y. M. C. A., and intensely loved and honored by faculty 

and collegemates. It was said by President Hyde that young 

Cilley was the finest endowed young man, mentally, physically 

and morally, who had been in Bowdoin during his presidency. 

At the conclusion of his collegiate course he was one of the

378 'J^HE MAINE BUGLE. 

foremost spirits in the famous Bowdoin College expedition to 

Labrador, and his published account thereof indicated something 

of the high literary qualities of the young man. A 

bicycle tour over a portion of Europe made two years later 

afforded another opportunity to exhibit his taste as a writer. 

There is every reason to believe that had young Cilley lived he 

would have won high places in the fields of literature. 

From Bowdoin, Cilley took the three years' course at the 

Harvard Law School in two years' time, and then began his work 

as a lawyer with the leading law firm of Butler, Stillman & Hub- 

bard, New York. He instantly commanded attention by the 

thoroughness ot his methods, his intense devotion to the matter 

in hand and a quick grasp of all its salient features. In his new 

home in Brooklyn he made friends as usual and was a marked 

man. Always keenly interested in military affairs, he became 

a member of Co. I, Twenty-third New York National Guards. 

Last year he won a gold medal as a sharpshooter. 

Important law cases were early entrusted to him, and it was 

while looking after an admiralty case of considerable magnitude 

at Savannah, Ga., last June, that he fell sick. Returning to 

Brooklyn he underwent a hospital operation for appendicitis, 

and in July returned to his Rockland home for recuperation. 

He had always been a boy and man of extraordinary good 

health and powerful physique ; and 

it was in an over-estimation 

of strength that he started to resume his work in September. 

Reaching Boston he fell sick of typhoid fever, and five weeks 

later he died, at the home of his cousin, George E. Cilley, Octo- 

ber nineteenth. 

Gen. Cilley proceeded to Boston and was with his son during 

his sickness. Miss Fanny Lazell was summoned at his son's 

early request from her present home in Saxton's River, Vt., and 

her devotion was ceaseless through the closing weeks. But 

there was no help for the sufferer. 

The funeral was held in the First Baptist church, Rockland, of 

which young Cilley was an honored member. The choir of the 

church sang two selections. The house was filled with mourning


friends. The Y. M. C. A. to which deceased belonged was pres- 

ent in a body, and marched at the head of the funeral procession 

as far as Park street. Rev. J. H. Parshley, pastor of the church, 

delivered a most just and eloquent eulogy of the young man, 

drawing many high and noble lessons from his character and 

career. The casket, which rested in front of the pulpit plat- 

form, was covered with flowers and floral pieces, there being a 

wreath of yellow roses and white pinks from the Brooklyn, N. 

Y., Sunday school, beautiful star of white pinks, roses and 

smilax from the Rockland Y. M. C. A., cluster of cream roses 

from F. J. Simonton, Jr., and a lovely pillow, yellow roses and 

white pinks, from his cousins in Brooklyn, also flowers from 

Mrs. H. C. Clapp of Boston, Miss C. S. Lazell of Saxton's 

River, Miss Jennie Burleigh of Epping, N. H., Mrs. H. W. 

Wight and daughter Martha, and others. After the services the 

remains were taken to Thomaston and interred beside the ashes 

of his lamented grandfather, Jonathan. The pall bearers were 

F. J. Simonton, Jr., A. L. Torrey, M. A. Rice, John Bird, E. B. 

McAlister, S. T. Kimball, W. O. Fuller, Jr., and A. W. Butler. 

Among those present at the funeral were Mrs. Julia D. Lazell, 

an aunt who came on from her home in Roanoke, Va., and was 

in Boston with her nephew some weeks previous to his decease, 

James D. Lazell, also of Roanoke, Lewis Lazell, an uncle, of 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

We cannot designate the equal of Jonathan Prince Cilley, Jr., 

as an " all around " young man, who from inherited qualities of 

head and heart, from a remarkable physique, a trained mind, 

a wholesome, elevated Christian character, a personality that 

charmed and won him powerful friends, a heart devoid of guile, 

ideals that stopped nowhere short of the farthest heights attain- 

able, seemed destined to win renown such as men strive after 

but few attain. 

One of the members of the law firm writes Gen. Cilley regard- 

ing his son a letter from which we are permitted to make the 

following extract: " During your son's association with my firm 

he endeared himself to all of us by his kindliness, courtesy,


industry and amiable temper—and, beyond that, his clear mind 

and remarkable insight into legal principles and questions 

caused us to consider him as one of the most promising young 

men of our acquaintance. Personally, I found it a pleasure to 

have him undertake any work for me. Whenever it came within 

his province to examine for me any question of law, or any 

matters of fact, he invariably went to the bottom of anything, 

not contenting himself with a merely superficial investigation 

and always going about it in the right way, something altogether 

unusual in young lawyers of his age and experience. This 

opinion of him was not mine alone— it was shared by all in the 

office." W. O. Fu/ler, Jr., tn the Rockland Tribune. 

The announcement of the death of Jonathan P. Cilley, Jr., 

which occurred in Boston, Friday night, October nineteenth, 

was everywhere received with profound regret. He was a brill- 

iant and accomplished young man, and his strong, noble and 

manly character inspired respect and esteem in the minds of all 

who knew him. And the sympathy of every heart went out to 

the father and sister, and to those who were privileged to call 

him kinsman or friend. His death, at the outset of a career 

that promised to be brilliant, honorable and useful, is a loss to 

this community and to humanity; to those who were bound to 

him by ties of relationship and personal friendship, those whose 

hope, inspiration and loved one he was, the blow must be terri- 

ble indeed. * * * — Oliver Otis in the Rockland Opinion.


Bugle Echoes. 

" There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours, 

Fetters of Friendship and ties of flowers, 

And true lovers' knots I ween; 

The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss, 

But there's never a bond like this, 

We drank from the same canteen.^'' 


DINWIDDIE COURT HOUSE. 

Geo. S. Bernard of Petersburg, Va., writes 

Thanks for the kind words expressed in your last letter concerning the old Confed- 

erate soldiers, and I further thank you for the extra copy of the Bugle you sent me. 

I find myself much interested in reading the pages of this magazine. It is an excellent 

idea that it has been made the organ of all the ex-soldiers of your State. A 

member of the First Maine Cavalry, Mr. Jeff L. Coburn, of Lewiston, Me., made a 

visit to our city and to Chamberlin's Run, near Dinwiddle Court House, on the thirty- 

first of March last, the twenty-ninth anniversary of the action at that place on the 

thirty-first of March, 1865, in which his command participated, and while in our 

city attended the meeting of A. P. Hill Camp of Confederate Veterans. Bemg intro- 

duced to the camp and called upon to make a speech, he read a paper which created 

much enthusiasm. He was warmly greeted by the old soldiers present. His appear- 

ance in the camp was a pleasant incident. 

MILITARY PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS FOR THE LIBRARY OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT AT 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

Gen. a. W. Greely, Chief Signal Officer, U. S. A., in behalf of library of the War 

Department at Washington, writes 

This library is making an earnest effort to bring to its shelves the most valual:>le lit- 

erature pertaining to the late Civil War—that contained in pamphlets written by the 

prrticipants in the war for the Union. In this connection an order was made for the 

Maine Bugle, which, as received, I presume, contains all the numbers at your disposal. 

The pamphlets received include the third and eleventh reunions of the First Maine 

Cavalry. The First Maine Bugle was also received from July, 1890, to include 

April, 1894. There was also received the Battle Order of the Army of the Potomac. 

Is it not possible to obtain the first and second reunions in some manner? I hope so, 

for I am sure the First Maine Cavalry Association deserves to be represented on the 

shelves of the library of the War Department, towards which historical students are 

turning more and more for military literature. I should be under obligations to you if


in the next reunion of the First Maine Cavalry, and indeed at any other reunions, you 

would ask whether there was not some member who would donate these pamphlets to 

the library. I should further be very much gratified if you would blow a blast on your 

Bugle inviting attention to the fact that this library will be greatly pleased if the 

author of any military pamphlet will send a copy here, where it will be gladly received, 

promptly acknowledged, and put on our card catalogue, so that its existence will be 

known and its contents available to every student. On receipt of a postal card from 

any individual having military literature to donate, a penalty frank will be forwarded so 

as to save expense of postage. Among Maine war papers in this library not mentioned 

in your list are " East Maine Conference Seminary, War Record; pp. 54, Boston, 

1877 " : and " Portland Soldiers and Sailors; pp. 56. Portland, 1884." 

MORE TO FOLLOW. EXPECT A BIG TIME AND A GOOD FIGHT. 

Sidney W. Clark, Sergt. Co. A, First Maine Cavalry, of Masardis, Me., writes 

I forward you to-day a sketch of my early service during the rebellion. I will soon 

send something more, in regard to the Racoon Ford affair, also the hrst guide which 

took us from Gaines' Cross Roads to Kee's Mills, seven miles, which has not been cor- 

rectly represented. I secured the first guide myself, by order of Lieut. -Col. Boothby, 

and know the facts on that particular point. Comrade Augustus Lord, in the April 

Call, 1894, gives the impression that old man Gaines was our first guide, but it was a 

colored man, as I will fully state in my next communication, which I will furnish soon, 

as I wish to give in proper sequence what I write in regard to Company A. I am very 

busy at present, as I am with my other work drilling a company of comrades for the 

sham battle at our G. A. R. reunion at Ashland, the last of August. We expect a big 

time and a good fight. 

MILITARY INSTRUCTION IN OUR SCHOOLS. 

Henry T. Bartlett, First Mass. Cav., of New York City, writes 

Like yourself I was prevented at the last moment from attending Concord reunion, 

but not on account of sickness. Bugler C. F. Dam of Portland, Me., informs me that 

he has succeeded in getting an appropriation to equip one hundred and fifty High 

School boys, to begin with, and I learned last evening that the city of Bennington, Vt., 

had adopted military instruction in her school. My friends in Scranton, Pa., are about 

to petition the " Board of Education " to the same purpose. 

always GOT there. 

Luther Tibbetts, Co. I, First Me. Cav., of Limerick, Me., writes 

I thought that the last Bugle was never coming, but it got here at last— just the 

same as the old regiment, for you well know that the First Maine always did " get 

there " when it started out. So did the Bugle. I accepted its apology for being late. 

the air of MAINE WOODS. 

Rev. James F. Smith, of Co. K, Ninth Maine, of Lowell, Ind., writes 

To-day I am almost longing for a breath of the air of Maine woods. But as I can 

not get that I enclose a money order to pay for the Maine Bugle for 1894 and the 

back numbers of the Bugle for 1893.


DEATH IN ANDERSONVILLE PRISON. 

F. E. Jewett, of 6700 Glades Ave., St. Louis, Mo., Co. K, First Me. Cav., writes 

On page one hundred and forty-six of the April number of the Bugle I notice 

among others unaccounted for the name of James P. Newell. I met Newell in Ander- 

sonville in' June or July, 1864, and for a short time he and I camped together, he hav- 

ing part of a blanket which we used for a shelter, I furnishing the stakes and pole for 

the tent (?). He afterwards met a friend who had a tent, and they consolidated, 

leaving me out. I saw him several times after that, and some time during the summer 

I learned that he had died. 1 don't know the date, but think it was in September. 

Since looking over my old diary I think that Newell died in August, 1864, as I have 

a memoranda that J. Dyer of Company E, First Maine Cavalry, died August eighteenth, 

and B. F. Fogg of same regiment died August twenty-sixth. My recollection is that 

Newell died before they did. If you will kindly convey this information to Col. House 

of the First Maine Heav^ Artillery, it may be of some interest to him. 

UNION ARMY BEATEN AT ALL POINTS. 

Silas Leach, Co. D, First Maine Cavalry, of Castine, Me., writes 

In June, 1864, about the time we returned from the raid with Sheridan, towards 

Trevellian Station, I was calling on the natives, seeking something to devour. Coming 

to a large plantation with fine buildings I interviewed an intelligent contraband, a 

house servant, who told me that a rebel colonel, a friend of his master, had taken din- 

ner and spent most of the day there a short time before. Hearing their conversation 

the darkey got the impression that the Union army had been badly beaten at all points 

since the campaign opened. Later, finding the colonel alone, he proceeded to question 

him as follows : " VVhar you say you find Massa Grant's company in the spring? " 

"Up in the Wilderness," was the answer. "An' you beat him thar? " " Yes, we 

beat him there." " Whar you find him next? " " At Spottsylvania." " An' you beat 

him thar?" "Yes, we beat him there." "An' Cold Harbor, you drove him thar, 

too?" "Yes, we drove him there." "Whar is Massa Grant's company now?" 

" Over in front of Petersburg." " Then I axed him," continued the old darkey, 

" 

" whar he was trying to drive Massa Grant's company to ! 

AN incident. 

Albert P. Friend of Co. G. First Maine Cavalry, Brooksville, Me., writes 

I will tell a little incident that happened to me and Madison Libby, while doing 

picket duty in Virginia. I am not good at remembering places and dates, so I will 

pass them by. The post that we were guarding was rather a dangerous one, being a 

public road, and we were ordered to keep a sharp lookout. About fifty yards from 

our post, the road turned short to the left. In the corner of this road was a small 

growth of wood, which cut off the view of the main road. It was about seven o'clock 

in the morning, and we were sitting on our horses eating some corn that we had 

roasted the night before, enjoying ourselves as best we could, when suddenly we heard 

the clatter of horses' feet on the left hand road. We dropped our corn, got our car- 

bines ready for use and awaited further developments. We had not long to wait. 

They soon showed themselves around the corner of the road, about fifty yards away 

four mounted rebels. I instantly shouted " Halt ! " My challenge took them a little


by surprise, as probably they were not looking for Yankee pickets just then. They 

halted and the two foremost raised their guns and fired. I tried to return the compli- 

ment but my carbine misfired, owing to the charge being wet. I tried my revolver 

with the same result, while Libby got a little nervous or lost control of his horse, went 

for the picket reserve, which was but a short distance in our rear; but the Johnnies 

left full as quick as they came. In a very few moments Libby came back and with 

him came a party of the boys from the reserve. They went outside and searched 

awhile for Johnnies, but not finding any they returned, and we were relieved and went 

to camp and drew a fresh stock of dry cartridges and went back to our post again. 

Madison Libby was transferred from Company I, First District Columbia -Cavalry to 

Company G, First Maine Cavalry, and in the end showed himself a brave man. He 

was killed at Boydton Plank Road facing the enemy. I was beside him when he was 

shot. 

THE DAY-AND-NIGHT RIDE. 

Alfred D. McGuire, Co. B, First Maine Cav., of Freeland, Mich., writes 

I am very glad to hear from the " boys," especially those of the First Maine Cavalry. 

Having just read Augustus Lord's letter of our ride from Sulphur Springs to Little 

Washington, it brings that day-and-night ride very vividly to mind, and how Major 

Thaxter rode into the camp as cool as if he were on dress parade. I thought it about 

as nervy as any man could do. I had to walk, as my horse was so tired, I led him 

the rest of the way. I think there never was another regiment blessed with a better 

set of officers than the old First Maine Cavalry. Smith was a brave man with the best 

of judgment. I well remember when he was wounded in the hip at St. Mary's church 

I was one of the men who let down his stirrup so his leg could hang down. Although 

very pale he sat on his horse and gave orders just the same as though we were at play, 

and when he saw the regiment was getting a little out of line, called to Capt. Tucker, 

saying, " Can you about face and give them a volley?" Tucker's answer was, "Yes, 

I can about face my men anywhere, colonel, on earth; " and it was about face and 

fire from that time until we were across a field into some timber, where we made a 

stand. Will some of the comrades tell me what was the name of this action, as I have 

forgotten. 

Note.— ^The name of the action was St. Mary's church, June 24, 1864. 

Arthur S. Palmer, First Lieut, of Co. C, First Va. Cav., of Reno, Ind., writes 

Have received the numbers of the Bugle; will not be so far behind in the future. 

Let her blow; she is A No. I. I shall never forget a headquarters bugler in the war. 

I knew him first when a boy. His name was Detreitch. He was a German; had 

been a bugler in German wars, and was a townsman of mine; some sixty years of age 

when the war commenced. He enlisted as bugler and took three sons as soldiers. I 

have often listened at night to Detreitch. He would wait until all of the regimental 

l)uglers would finish blowing " Put out the lights," when over the hills far away, he 

would fairly make his bugle talk. I could hear the words as well as the melody. It 

would be a delight to agam hear Detreitch blow, but he died long ago. Peace to his 

ashes and long life to his sons. A great many things I could write concerning him.

BUGLE ECHOES, 385 

but space forbids. Julius D. Rhodes, in a late letter in the Bugle, speaks very highly of 

the First West Virginia Cavalry. He can not think better of my regiment than I do of 

the Fifth New York Cavalry. Great big double-fisted fellows, like Rhodes, could and 

did go in and knock down and drag out, and win commissions for gallant conduct, as 

also did your humble servant. I read in the Bugle a piece of poetry by Edward P. 

Tobie, " To His Old Army Horse," that just hit me. I rode some of the best, and not 

less than fifteen horses. I do not see how one could stand Tobie all the way through. 

I will tell you of one old horse of mine for which I traded a much finer looking horse. 

The boys called him Bob Ridley or old Bob. He was a dark brown, and rather heavy 

for a cavalry horse, and had broad feet, but he was a trotter and no mistake. You 

should see him go. General, you remember Chantilly, on the pike leading to Aldie? 

Well, I was on picket with twenty-five men in a grove on the right, in front of Chan- 

tilly mansion, three hundred yards, in a meadow, in the spring of 1863, in February, I 

believe. My boys had all been in the army from 1861 and we looked hard, and some 

new recruits, who came to the First Vermont Cavalry, were sent to my post to reheve 

me. I was dressed rough and my horse looked bad with a common cavalry saddle on 

him. I wore a blouse with no shoulder straps and was making coffee in a black quart 

cup when the relief was seen coming over the meadow, and soon up dashed a new lieutenant 

on a fine bright sorrel horse with yellow trimmings and fine saddle, with his new 

recruits mounted on fat horses and dressed in new uniforms, with feathers in their hats. 

The lieutenant brought them " front into line " and came up within forty feet of the 

grove where I had just boiled the coffee. He enquired for the officer in command. 

I was forthcoming but still held on to my quart cup of coffee, which was too hot to 

drink in a hurry. General, you- have tried to drink hot coffee quick and you know 

how it is yourself. Well, I came armed with the black quart cup and introduced 

myself to the new lieutenant. I told one of the boys to give my horse an ear of corn 

while the new lieutenant and I drank the coffee. One or two of the soldiers in line 

snickered and laughed as they beheld old Bob, and one said, " What a poor horse that 

lieutenant rides." Thinks I to myself, " I'll take the conceit out of you fellows." I 

told the lieutenant I would go the rounds with him and he could leave his men two on 

each post and I would bring mine in to the reserve picket. It was a bare pasture field 

and three hundred yards or more to the pike. We started, the heutenant and I, at the 

head of the column. We rode at a slow trot and the lieutenant's horse broke into a 

gallop in the first seventy-five yards. He remarked to me, " You have a good trotter.'' 

I told him he was not trotting, but as soon as we got to the pike I would let him out. 

So I stood up in the stirrups and old Bob trotted. By the time we got to the pike I 

had the lieutenant's iiorse and the whole party on the run attempting to keep up with 

old Bob. " Now," says I, " if you will send a sergeant to the rear to keep the men 

closed up I will show you a trotter." We went about one and one-half miles out on 

the pike and they all acknowledged old Bob was a daisy. They never laughed at my 

horse afterwards. The First Vermont was a good regiment. Did you see where Col. 

H. C. Parsons of the First Vermont, was assassinated at Natural Bridge, Va., where he 

has lived ever since the war in the hotel business? As Tobie says, if there is a Heaven 

for horses I will ride old Bob, for I do think all good, vahant soldiers will get to 

Heaven, sure. I have ridden old Bob one hundred miles in twenty-four hours, and 

no man but a cavalryman knows just what a good sound horse can stand. The boys


told me they could always tell when there was going to be a fight, they would see 

Lieut. Palmer skipping around here, there and everywhere, and laughing and in good 

humor. That is about the truth. I did not put on much style but I showed the boys 

who the officer was as soon as the fighting commenced—always in front 

ROYAL VOLUNTEERS. 

H. M. Williams, Capt. First Bucks R. V., The Square, Wolverton, Bucks, Eng., writes 

In the copy of the Maine Bugle just received, to which I have the honor of being 

a subscriber, I found the enclosed coupon. I am very much interested in the Bugle 

and should like to become a subscriber to the Pictorial History of the War. I 

enclosed Post Office Order 13 S, (;^2.92), and shall be glad if you will kindly send me 

the six parts already issued, and the remainder as published. I send you by the same 

post a copy of the calendar issued by the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, to which regi- 

ment the volunteer battalion to which I belong is linked. I thought this might be of 

interest to you, and beg that you will please accept it from me. The representa- 

tive group of Bucks Volunteers consists of members of my company. 

camp PENOBSCOT, 

C. P. Clayton, of Taopi, Mower Co., Minn., Co. L, First Maine Cav., writes 

I enclose two dollars to pay for the Bugle what 1 am in arrears, and the balance in 

advance. I would like to have met with the comrades at their annual reunion, but I 

am a great distance off. Tell any of the members of the old regiment that I often 

recall them and the times we had in Camp Penobscot when we were raw soldiers, and 

if any of them think I did not jump the fence around the old camp as many times that 

winter as any other man in the First Maine, let them ask Capt. Vaughan, as he was in 

our company. 

the pride of my heart. 

Isaac Shields, of Hodgdon, Me., Co. E, First Maine Cav., writes 

I wish to say to you that the Bugle is the pride of my heart and I hope to receive 

them just as often as I can, and I will pay for them. I am broken down and can do 

but little work 

all right. 

Lieut. H. B. Sawyer, Auburn, Me., Co. K., and G, Eighth Me. Inf., writes: 

The Bugles come along all right; am very much pleased with them. Please find 

enclosed one dollar for payment of same. • 

first under fire. 

M. S. Berry, of Co. H, Eleventh Maine Inf., of Brownville, Me. writes 

I claim Company H was the first company of the Eleventh Maine to be under fire 

from rebel guns. It was while on picket at Mcintosh's Landing, James River, in 

April, 1862. It was a pretty warm day, and the tide being out most of the boys were 

out on the flats digging shell fish. The writer was back a few rods from the river try- 

ing to replenish his commissary department by getting a " cullord lady " to hake him 

some biscuits, while Lieut. S., in command of the company, was lying in the shade


trying to keep cool, minus his cap, coat and sword, when down came a rebel gunboat 

opposite our position on a bluff near the landing. Some of the boys, thinking to have 

some fun, double-shotted their rifles and commenced firing at her. They soon had 

more fun than they wanted, for the gunboat swung around and opened fire on us from 

her big guns. The first notice I received was from a shell that came screaming over 

the house, making me think they were firing steam whistles. I ran out to see what 

the rumpus meant— saw the lieutenant standing on the bluff, bareheaded and coatless, 

swinging his arms and crying out to the boys, " Gee hornet "—his ! 

favorite cuss word 

— "boys, come up out of that or you will get hurt." He thought more of the safety 

of his men than he did of the rebel shells or his military appearance. I have to laugh 

now as I think how the boys looked as they scrambled up that sand bank and made 

for the woods. I did not stop to see who came in ahead, but think the lieutenant led 

his company. As the darkey population had all taken to the woods at the first shot, 

and of course the biscuit had to be looked after, the hottest time I had was in trans- 

ferring them to my haversack. I then executed a Hank movement, came in on the rear 

and joined the company in good order, baggage all safe. I found some of the boys 

without caps who claimed the wind from the shells blew them away as they came over 

the bank. 

COUNT ON ME. 

E. W. ScHU'iTE, 437 East 22d street. New York City, writes: 

I find each and every number of very deep interest to me as an old soldier. You 

can count on me to follow the Bugle through all the calls and right up to the time 

when the publisher sounds " Taps," which I hope is a long time away still. 

A CORRECTION. 

Capt. Francis Haviland, of National Military Home, Ohio, writes: 

I wish to correct the statement of Col. Fred C. Newhall on the cavalry charge over 

the stone bridge at Antietam. It was made by the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, our 

Colonel James M. Childs was our brigade commander that day. We got the battery 

over the bridge under the enemy's fire. Col. Childs was killed by a cannon ball. We 

got our horses down in a ravine out of the range of the enemy's guns. We repulsed 

the enemy three times. We were dismounted all day. 

SOLID COMFORT. 

Preston L. Bennett, Co. D, First D. C. Cav., transferred to Co. F, First Me. Cav., 

of Newport, Me., writes: 

Enclosed you will please find five dollars to pay for the Bugle. I am not going to 

make any excuses for not paying before, for in tmie of war there was no excuse for a 

soldier, but one thing I must say, and that is, I take solid comfort reading the Bugle. 

May it always blow.


Contents of Campaign I. 

...... Page 

ALDIE, A Review Of, 123-132 

Capt George N. Buss. 

ALDIE, A Rebuttal to Capt. Bliss' Review Of, - - - - 256-262 

Major Henry C. Hall, First Maine Cavalry. 

ALLEN, IVORY R., 

APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, Eleventh Maine At, 

Thomas J. Holmes, Sergeant of Co. C. 

APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, From Petersburg To, 

Rev. J. E. M. Wrk^ht. 

APPOMATTOX, Some Recollections Of, 

... 

Major Henry C. Hall. 

APPOMAITOX, An Unknown Cavalryman Killed At—Who Was He? 

BAITLE, A Ride In, 

Colonel M. T. V. Bowman, First Maine Cavalry. 

BATTLE OF THE PINES -Poem, - - - - 

BERRY, General, Recollections of, - - - - 

BUGLE, To a 

H. S., Co. K, Seventeenth Maine. 

War-worn—Poem, . - - 

W. D. Bowling. 

. . 

CAVALIERS AT CEDAR MOUNTAIN—Poem, 

Rev Frederic Denison, Chaplain First R. I. Cav. 

CAVALRY SOCIETY, Armies of the United States, 

Constitution, By-Laws, Officers for i894-'95, Report of Annual Meet- 

ing, Concord, N. H., June 21, 1894, One of the Youngest, Loans of 

Night Shirts, Col. Linehan, Our Generals—by Gen. John Gibbon, An 

Inspiring Scene (Secretary Chandler's letter). In Memoriam—Col. 

Charles Treichel, Col. Charles G. Otis, Col. Floyd Clarkson, Badge, 

Next Meeting, Cavalry Headquarters, 

CORRECTIONS AND AN IMPORTANT SUGGESTION, A Few, - 82-84 

Maj. Charles J. House and Capt. Fred C. Low. 

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS—Heavy Artillery Losses, - 143-146 

Maj. Charles J. House. 

EIGHTH MAINE, Early Service of the, .... 

23-26 

Kendall Pollard. 

ELEVENTH MAINE INFANTRY, A Cavalryman in the, - - 71-76 

Capt. Monroe Daggett. 

ELEVENTH MAINE AT APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, - 76-79 

Thomas J. Holmes, Sergeant Co, C.

ECHOES, 

CONTENTS OF CAMPAIGN I. 389 

Capt. Henry C. Adams, 195; Alonzo Annis, 99; Mrs. Perry Arnold, 

87; George S. Ayers, 192; Wellington P. Baker, 94; G. H. M. Bar- 

rett, 100 ; Henry T. Bartlett, 382; Preston L. Bennett, 387; George 

S. Bernard, 381 ; Matthew S. Berry, 100, 288, 386-387; Capt. 

E. C. Bigelow, 92; Gen. Henry Boynton, 87; J. W. Caldwell, 

85; W, R. Carter, 98; Cyrus Case, 93, 191 ; Geo. H. Cavanaugh, loi 

Dr. Freeman H. Chase, 291; Sidney W. Clark, 92, 382; Rufus M. 

Clayton, 90; C. P. Clayton, 386; Lieut. J. L. Colburn, 98, 196; Rev. 

O. M. Cousens, 90; Capt. Lewis O. Cowan, loi; George L. Dacy, 

190; Capt. Monroe Daggett, 285 ; Charles F. Dam, 193; Major A. P. 

Davis, 187; Maj. Charles B. Davis, 100; G. E. Dillingham, 289; 

Erastus Doble, 88; George Doughty, lOO; A. F. Eaton, 195; Joseph 

D. Eaton, 89; Mrs. Matthew W. Ellis, 89; Capt. J. A. Fessenden, 

100; William H. Findal, 194; Daniel M. Poster, 90; Albert P. Friend, 

86,383-384; Edward S. Frost, 90; William Gardner, 94, 289; Geo. 

W. Getchell, 93; Dr. Locero J. Gibbs, 87; Maj. D. H. L. Gleason, 

100; Benj. Gould, 92; Gen. A. W. Greely, 381-382; Maj. Henry C. 

Hall, 193, 290; James G. Harding, 89; Hon. Henri J. Haskell, 97, 

196; John Haselton, 192; Asa P\ Hanson, 97; Cornelius Harring- 

ton, 89; Albert H. Harris, 290; S. F. Harris, 293; John E. Hart, 189; 

Capt. Francis Haviland, 387; Mrs. D. C. Huntington, 89; Mrs. Sam- 

uel Hurd, 93 ; Zebard F. Hyson, 95 ; Pearl G. Ingalls, 98, 286 ; F. E. 

Jewett, 383; Hiram C. Jordan, 92; William H. Kimball, 90; Hiram 

B. King, 92; Wilbur F. Lane, 94; Caleb N. Lang, 98; Silas Leach, 

383; A. F. Lewis, 95 ; Horatio S. Libby, 100, 289; Augustus Lord, 191 

William H. Luce, 93; Alex. D. Lunt, loi ; Alfred D. McGuire, 384 

William H. McPhail, 96; Charles H. Mero, 99; Henry E. Morrill 

192; Col. Frederic C. Newhall, 93; Lieut. Arthur S. Palmer, 384-386 

Gustavus Pease, 85 ; John F. Perry, 288; Rev. H. A. Philbrook, 86 

Kendall Pollard, 85, 187; Reuel W. Porter, 189; Joshua Ray, 99 

James K. Reynolds, 293; Isaac Shields, 386; George B. Safford, 100 

F. J. Savage, 92; Lieut. H. B. Sawyer, 386; Henry E. Sellers, 286 

E. W. Schutte, 387; E. L. Shackford, 97; Lieut. J. E. Shepard, 94 

Patrick F. Shevlin, 97; Albert J. Small, 293; E. A. Smith, loi ; John 

Day Smith, 292; Rev. James F. Smith, 382; Lieut. S C. Smith, 100; 

C. P. Stevens, 287; Corydon O. Stone, 189; Alonzo R. Stuart, 193; 

Reuel Thomas, 95, 286; Luther Tibbetts, 188, 382; Melvin Tibbetts, 

194; Edward P. Tobie, Jr., loi; Leroy H. Tobie, loi ; Edward Trench- 

ard, 294; Hiram S. Tuttle, 88; Joseph F. Twitchell, ; 85 C. T. Watson, 

192; Charles A. Wentworth, 95; James B. Welsh, 97; George W. 

White, 96; S. B. Williams, 187; Capt. H. M. Williams, 386; Gen. 

Egbert L. Viele, 88, 288. 

FIFTH NEW YORK CAVALRY IN THE VALLEY, 

F. S. Dickinson, Fifth New York Cavalry. 

FIFTH NEW YORK CAVALRY AT CULPEPER, 

F. S. Dickinson, Fifth New York Cavalry. 

147-161 

239-249


FIRST MAINE CAVALRY—Campaigns of the Bugle, - - 177-178 

FORT FISHER, A True History of the Army At,— Illustrated, - - 29-71 

HANSCOM, M. D., WALTER V, - - - - - 168 

HEAVY ARTILLERY, Losses of the First Maine, - - - 13 

HEAV\' ARTILLERY, The Charge of the First Maine, - - 4-8 

Joel F. Brown, Co. I. 

HEAVY ARTILLERY, Killed and Wounded of the First Mame, - 8-19 

HEAVY ARTILLERY, May 19th, Side Lights on the Battle of the ist Me. 20-22 

HEAVY ARTILLERY, A Few Corrections and an Important Suggestion, 82-84 

Maj, Charles J. House and Capt. Fred C. Low. 

HEAVY ARTILLERY LOSSES, Corrections and Additions, - 143-146 

Major Charles J. House. 

IN MEMORIAM, 

Dr. WilHam A. Banks, 183-184; Alexander Benner, 375; Lieut Gershom 

F. Burgess, 375-376; Harrison B. Bowley, 376; Jonathan P. 

Cilley, Jr., 377-380; Col. Charles G. Otis, 283; Col. Floyd Clarkson, 

----- 

284; John B. Drake, 184; George W. Lewis, 186; Wilbur McCobb, 

186; Dr. John P. Sheahan, 185-186; Col. Charles Treichel, 280-283. 

- 

KNIGHT, COL. FRANK C, 

LEE, Penobscot County, Soldiers from, .... 

Major C. House. 

J. 

LIFE IN LIBBY, 

C. O. Fernald, Fourth Maine Infantry. 

MAINE, A Man From—A True History of the Army at Fort Fisher. lUust'd 

Col. Henry C. Lockwood. 

MASSACHUSETTS, Branch Association of the First Maine Cavalry, 

MILITARY INSTRUCTIONS IN OUR SCHOOLS, 

Resolutions of the Twenty-seventh National Encampment, G. A. R., 

Ex-President Harrison, Henry T. Bartlett, Editor; Patriotic Selec- 

....... ...... tions for Memorial Day. 

OLD BLUE CAP, An—Poem, 

PERSONAL, 

They Still Live, Maxims for Training Horses, Address of Lieut. Edward 

19 

197-198 

P. Tobie, Lieut. James McGuire, Place of Next Encampment, Thomas 

Somers, Delay of the April Issue, long list of Echoes and articles car- 

ried over to the July issue. Lawyers' Loyal League. 

PETERSBURG TO APPOMATrOX COURT HOUSE, From - - 1 15-123 

Re\-. J. E. M. Wright. 

PETERSBURG, Sixth Maine Battery Before, - - - 249-255 

James E. Rhodes, Sixth Maine Battery. 

PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 

General Adelbert Ames, frontispiece; General W. W. Averell, 271; 

Colonel Lorenzo D. Carver, 353; General J. P. Cilley, 274; Eighth 

Maine Memorial Building, 368; Fort Fisher, Map of the Military 

Assault on, 52; Fort Fisher, Plan and Section of, 51; Fort Fisher, 

Interior View of, 49; Fort Fisher, The Great Mound, 38; Walter V. 

Hanscom, M. D., 168; Headquarters Building, TheWeirs, 278; Major

CONTENTS OF CAMPAIGN I. 391 

PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, (Continued.) 

James H. H, Hewett, 88; General Oliver O. Howard, 199; Colonel 

Frank C. Knight, 1 63 ; Captain Wilbur F. Lane, 118; Henry C. Lev- 

ensaler, M. D., 23; Colonel Henry C. Lockwood, 29; Monument to 

Fourth Maine at Gettysburg, 351 ; Colonel Edward A. True, 103; Cap- 

tain William N. Ulmer, 348; Horace C. White, M. D., 80; Colonel 

Elijah Walker, 350. 

PRISON LIFE AND ESCAPE, Reminiscences of, - - - 105-115 

Erastus Doble, Eighth Maine Infantry. 

PRISON LIFE AND ESCAPE, Reminiscences of, Continued, - - 214-228 

PRISON LIFE AND ESCAPE, Reminiscences of, Continued, 

REGIMENTAL HISTORIES, 

- 317-332 

175-176 

Gen. J. P. CiLLEY. 

REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND PUBLICATIONS, List of, 

REUNION OF THE REGIMENTS FROM MAINE, - 

REUNION FIRST MAINE CAVALRY, - . . 

- 

- 

. 

- 

176-177 

332-333 

333-342 

REUNION SECOND MAINE CAVALRY, ... - 

343-346 

REUNION FOURTH MAINE INFANTRY AND SECOND BATTERY, 347-352 

REUNION KNOX ANl3 LINCOLN VETERANS, - - - 352-357 

REUNION FIFTH MAINE INFANTRY, - - - - 

REUNION SIXTH AND NINTH MAINE INFANTRY, - - 358-363 

REUNION SEVENTH MAINE INFANTRY, - - - 363-365 

REUNION EIGHTH MAINE INFANTRY, . . . . 365-369 

REUNION FIRST, TENTH AND TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY, 370-374 

REUNION THIRTEENTH MAINE INFANTRY, - - 266-268 

REVEILLE, 

357 

-......- 80-82 

SHERIDAN IN LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGN, With, - - - ' 201-213 

Colonel Fred C. Newhall. 

SHERIDAN IN LEE'S LAST CAMPAIGN, With, - - - 297-317 

Colonel Fred C. Newhall. 

SIXTH MAINE BATFERY BEP"ORE PETERSBURG, - - 249-255 

James E. Rhodes, Sixth Maine Battery. 

SOMERSET BRANCH, Banquet of the, - - - . - 164-167 

TWELFTH MAINE INFANTRY, Short History Of, - - 169-174 

A. H. Curtis. 

THE TWENTIETH MAINE IN RHYME, - - - - 140-142 

Charles H. Mero. 

THE COMIC MILITARY ALPHABET. 

Army, Navy, National Guard. By De Witt C. Falls. Illustrated, Full Page Pictures 

in Colors. Bound in Red,- White and Blue, $1.25. New York: Frederick A. 

Stokes Company. 

A book made in the best style and illustrated with decided ability. It is quite dif- 

ferent from anything we have before seen and it is full of fun from A to Z.

Lawyers' Loyal League. 

AN ASSOCIATION FOR THE COLLECTION OF DEBTS AND INTER- 

CHANGE OF LEGAL BUSINESS. 

For terms of admission, fees and charges, address Cilley & MacAllister, Managers, 


Auburn, Androscoggin Pulsifer, .Tames A 

Ashland, Aroostook Dunn, Fred G 

Augusta, Kennebec Blanchard, H F 

Alfred, York Donovan, John B 

Anson, Somerset Adams, Benjamin 

Athens, Somerset Holman, J F 

Bangor, Penobscot 

Bath, Sagadahoc 

Belfast, Waldo 

Bethel, Oxford 

Biddeford, York 

Bingham, Somerset 

Blaine, Aroostook 

Mitchell, H L 

Hughes, George E 

]?rown, F W 

Herrick, A E 

Gould, Jesse 

Jordan, William B 

Safford, H AV 

Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln Kenniston, G B 

Bluehill," Hancock Bunker. J E, Jr 

Bowdoinham, Sagadahoc Rogers. Grant 

Bradford, Penobscot Wentworth, Thos H 

Brewer, Penobscot Hutchins, ,Tasi)er 

Bridgeton, Cumberland Walker, AH&EC 

Browniield, Oxford Frink J L 

Brunswi('k, Cumberland Potter, Barrett 

Buoktield, ( )xford Bridgham, Thos S 

Bucksport, Hancock Fellows, O F 

Buxton, York 

Blanchard, Piscataquis Packard, Cyrus A 

Brownville, Piscataquis Mcintosh, M W 

Camden, Knox 

Crawford, M T 

Calais, Washington Hanson, George M 

Canaan, Somerset 

Barrett, T B 

Canton, Oxford Swasey, J P & J C 

Caribou, Aroostook 

Fletcher, B L 

Casco, Cumberland Tolman, James H 

Castine, Hancock Warren, George M 

Cherryfleld, Washington Cami)bell, F I 

China', Kennebec 

Greeley, J H 

Clinton, Kennebec Martin. Forest J 

Corinna, Penobscot AVood, AV I 

Corinth, East, Penobscot Haynes, Henry P 

Cornish, York Perkins, AValter P 

Damariscotta, Lincoln Hilton, AVm H 

Danforlb, AVasliington Hewes, B W 

Deer Isle, Hancock Spofford, Elmer P 

Denmark, Oxford 

Davis, S G 

Dexter, Penobscot Crosbv & Crosby 

Dixfield, Oxford 

Trask, J R 

Dover, Piscataquis 

Peaks, Jos B 

East Livermore, Androscoggin 


EastiKirt, AVasliington McLarren, I G 

Eden, Hancock Peters, John A, Jr 

Eddington, Penobscot 

Ellsworth, Hancock Burnham, J A 

Farmington, Franklin Belcher, S G 

Fairfield, Somerset Weeks, George G 

Falmouth, West, Cumberland Clifford, C E 

Farmingdale, Kennebec Stillphen, A C 

Fort Fairfield, Aroostook 

Powers, Herbert T 

Fort Kent, Aroostook Keegan, F W 

Foxcroft, Piscataquis Parsons, AY E 

Freedom, Waldo Keen, O H 

Freeport, Cumberland Mitchell, E AY 

Fryeburg, Oxford Fife, Seth W 

Gardiner, Kennebec Clason, O B 

Gorham, Cumberland AYaterman, John A, Jr 

Gouldsborough, AYiuter Harbor, Hancock 

Tracy, Bedford E 

Guilford, Piscataquis Hudson, Henry 

Gray, Cumberland A'înton, AY H 

Hallowell, Kennebec 

Hampden, Penobscot 

Hanover, Oxford 

Harrison, Cumberland 

Hartland. Somerset 

Herscy, Aroostook 

Hiranl, Oxford 

Mayo, H AY 

Putnam, Solon A 

AYarren , Jesse W 

Hollis, York 

Houlton, Aroostook 

Smith, B L 

Pike, J F 

Burleigh, Parker C 

Jay, Franklin Thompson, Roscoe H 

Kennebunk, A'ork 

Kingman, Penobscot 

Kittery, York 

Haley, A E 

Estes, Jere E 

Safford, Moses A 

Lebanon, York Jones, S W 

Lewist(m, Androscoggin Knowlton, A K P 

Lewiston, Androscoggin Drew, F M 

Liberty, AValdo Knowlton, .T W 

Limerick, York Higgins Frank M 

Limington, York McArthur, AVilliam M 

Lincoln, Penobscot Clark, Hugo 

Lisbon, Androscoggin Coolidge, H E 

Lovell, Oxford Hoblis, J F 

Lubec, AVasliington Gray, .Tames H 

Machias, Washington McFaul, A D 

Madison, Somerset Small, C O 

Manchester, Kennebec Farr, Loring 

Mechanic Falls, Androscoggin 

Purrington, F O 

Mercer, Somerset Croswell, H T 

Mexico, Oxford 

Trask, John R 

Millbridge, AVashington Gray, H H 

Milo, Piscata

Monmouth, North, Kennebec Jeff rev..Jesse 

Montville, Waldo Bartlett, Jonathan 

Monson, Piscataquis, Sprague, J I 

Newport, Penobscot 

Walker, Elllotv 

New Vineyard, Franklin Luce, E K 

Norridgewock, Somerset 

Harrington, Charles A 

North Berwick, York 

Norway, Oxford 

Oakland, Kennebec 

Oldtown, Penobscot 

Orono, Penobscot 

Oxford, Oxford 

Berlin Falls, Coos 

Bristol, Grafton 

Holt, Charles E 

Field, George W 

Cushman, C A 

Dunn, CJ 

Hazen, (ieorge 

Stone, George AV 

Drew, Asa W 

Twitchell & Libby 

Chase, Ira A 

Holt, Herman 

Dudley, J H 

Donovan, Daniel B 

Dudlev, D F 

Wood, J C L 

Bartlett, G K 

Hall, Daniel 

South Berwifk, York Yeaton, George C 

Sprint;tielcl, Penobscot Rider, E C 

Solon, Somerset Brown, William B 

Standish, Cumberland Swasey, George W 

St Albans, Somerset 

Stewart, D D 

Steuben, Washington Bytber, David B 

Stockton Springs, Waldo Small, Wm C 

Sullivan, Hancock Boynton, Henry 

Strong, Franklin Stubbs, Phillip H 

Thomaston, Knox Hewett, J H H 

Topsham, Sagadahoc Barron, George 

Tremont, S W Harbor, Hancock 

Fuller, George R 

Paris, Oxford 

Wright, James S 

Parkman, Piscataquis Harvey, E F 

Parsonsfield, York Davis, George E 

Patten, Penobscot Smith, Bertram L 

Pembroke, Washington Smart, E K 

Phillips, Franklin Morrison, James 

Pittsfield, Somerset Hovey, Frank W 

Poland, Androscoggin Dunn, David 

Porter, Kezar Falls, Oxford Fox iS Davis 

Portland, Cumberland Libbv & Hill 

I'ortland, Cumberland Seiders & Chase 

Presque Isle, Aroostook Madigan, E 

Readlield, Kennebec Bean & Bean 

Richmond, Sagadahoc Hall, William T 

Rockland, Knox Cilley & MacAllister 

Rockport, Knox Barrett, G H M 

Rumford, Oxford Swasey & Swasey 

Scarborough, West, Cumberland 

Moulton, Augustus F 

Saco, York 

Burbank, H H 

Sanford, York Hanson, George W 

Sebago, Cumberland 

Poor, E L 

Sherman, Sherman Mills, Aroostook 

Skowhegan, Somerset Goodwin, Forest 

Somerville, Lincoln 

Soule, A L 

Union, Knox 

Unity, Waldo 

Libby, James, Jr 

Van Buren, Aroostook Keegan, P C 

Vassalboro, East, Kennebec Priest, H A 

Vinalhaven, Knox 

Walls, F S 

Waldoboro, Lincoln 

Castner, O D 

Washington, Knox Bliss, Hiram, Jr 

Waterville, Kennebec 

Webster, Sabattus, Androscoggin 

Hill, S L 

Wellington, Piscataquis Andrews, Ezra 

Wells, York 

Tripp, A K 

Westbrook, Cumberland Tolman, J H 

Whitefield, North, Lincoln Partridge, R S 

Windham, South, Cumberland 

Webb, Lindley M 

Winn, Penobscot 

Estes, J E 

Winslow, Kennebec 

Paine, G S 

Wilton, Franklin 

Small, Bvron M 

Winterport, Waldo 

Kellv, F W 

Winthrop, Kennebec 

Carlton, L T 

Wiscasset, Lincoln Sewall, Rufus K 

Yarmouth, Cumbefland 

Freeman, Barnabus 

York Village, York Stewart, John C 

Andover, Merrimack 

Ashland, Grafton 

NEW HARirSHIRE. 

Lancaster, Coos Drew, Jordan & Buckley 

Lebanon, Grafton 

Dole, C A 

Littleton, Grafton 

Bingham, Mitchells & Batchellor 

Manchester, Hillsborough, Gage, John 

Claremont, Sullivan 

Meredith Village, Belknap Rollins, J W 

Colebrook, Coos 

Millford, Hillsboro Kendall, Edgar I 

Concord, Merrimack 

Concord, Merrimack 

Nashua, Hillsboro McKay, William J 

Conway, Carroll 

New Ipswich, Hillsboro Preston, Wm.A 

New Market, Rockingham Mellens, A L 

Derry, Rockingham 

Newport, Sullivan 

Waite, A b 

Dover, Strafford 

North Conway, Carroll Osgood, Fred B 

Epping, Rockingham Drury, W H Orford, Grafton Chapman & Lang 

Exeter, Rockinguiam 

Penacook, Merrimack Dudley, David F 

Fitzwilliam, Cheshire Blake, Amos J Peterborough, Hillsboro Clark, F & 

Franklin, Merrimack Barnard, James E Pittsfleld, Merrimack, 

Lane, L A 

Plymouth, Grafton Burleigh & Adams 

Gorham, Coos Twitchell & Libby Portsmouth, Rockingham 

Page, C 

Great Falls, Strafford Russel & Boyer 

Greenville, Hillsborough Taft, H J Somersworth, Strafford Russell & Boyer 

Haverhill, Grafton 

Suncook, Merrimack Hasleton, John B 

Hillsborough Bridge, Hillsborough 

Webber, Brooks K Tilton, Belknap 

Fellows, W B 

Hinsdale, Cheshire Temple, E J Walpole, Cheshire 

Bellows, J G 

Keene, Cheshire Batchelder & Faulkner Wilton, Hillsboro 

Bales, George E 

Winchester, Cheshire Brigham, H W 

Lakeport, Belknap 

Owen, A S Wolfboro, Carroll Abbott, Sewell \V 

Laconia, Belknap 

Clark, S C Woodsville, Stratford Smith & Sloane 

In corresponding with these attorneys please mention that you found their names here.

RKVKRK HOUSB, 

BOWDOIN SQUARE, BOSTON. 

Earopean Plan, Geiitralj Gomementj Attractive 

2\< iJ. Merroco ^ (so,, propriefor;^. 

(This is Uic way it is done. You can easily learn.) 

WE WANT MEN 

TO SELL OUR 

APPLE TREES AND OTHER NURSERY STOCK 

WRITE FOR TERMS TO i— 

HOMER N. CHASE & CO., 

AUBURN^ MAINE.

i 

Order Coupon : HARPER'S WAR HISTORY: Cut this out. 

y. p. alley ^ Treasurer^ Rocklatid^ Maine 

EiicloscdJind% or 

Parts 

NaJtic 

cettts. Send 

(111 line iibove write th- nuinher of each purt witnted, or lull Bet 26 parts. Bend 

10 cents for each part, or $2.60 for complete set. 

This coupon is not only a convenience to you as it saves you writing a letter, hut it 

is valuable, for WITHOUT the coupon the price of the parts is 25 cents eich. 

WRITE PLA.NLY 

A WW 9Uk ^^. r^\ 

P. O. Address 

State.. 

Send the above coupon with cash to our 

office and get any or all parts that are ready of 

Harper's Pictorial History 

CIVIL WAR. 

Over 830 mamtnoth pages, 16x11^ in-i and 

over 1000 famous Harper war illustrations. 

Fine paper, large type, colored map; the 

unabridged original Harper's historj', as 

always sold from $16.00 to $30.00. 26 parts, 

32 pages each part, 10 cents for any one part. 

Now ready, parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 aiid 6. 

J. P. CILLEY, 

CAVEATS, 

TRADE MARKS, 

DESIGN PATENTS, 

COPYRIGHTS, etc. 

For information and free Handbook write to 

MUNN & CO., 361 Broadway, New York. 

Oldest bureau for securing patents in America. 

Every patent taken out by us is brought before 

the public by a notice given free of charge in the 

Largest circulation of any scientific paper In the 

world. Splendidly illustrated. No intelligent 

man should We without it. Weekly, ^3.00 a 

year; $1.50 six months. Address MUNN & CO., 

PuBiiiSBEBS, 361 Broadway, New York City. 

•Â our)êllor ab IvaiAT^^ 

ROCKLAND, MAI]tÊ. 

Prosecutes claims before Congress, all the departments at Washington and the 

United States Court of Claims. 

Has complete copies of the monthly reports of the First Maine Cavalry, i86i 

to 1865, and is fully equipped to aid any member of the old regiment in securing 

pensions or other claims against the United States.

Rockland and Her Ocean Outlook 

Vinalhaven & Rockland Steamboat Company. 

TWO TRIPS DAILY 

Between Vinalhaven and Rockland. Commencing Monday, April 2, 1894, the 

STEAMER GOV. BODWELL, 

Caff. Wm. R. CREED, 

Will leave Vinalhaven for Rockland, every week-day at 7 A. M. and 2 P. M. Return- 

ing, leave Rockland, (Tillson's Whaif,) for Vinalhaven, at 9.30 A. M. and 4 p. M., 

landing at Hurricane Isle, each trip both ways. 

By taking the 9.30 A. M. boat the above service gives three hours at Vinalhaven 

or three and one-halt hours at Hurricane Island. 

W. S. WHITE, General Manager. 

Rockland and Friendship Line. 

STEAMER SILVER STAR, 

Cait. I. E. ARCHIBALD, 

Will leave Tillson's Wharf at 7.30 A. M., weather permitting, on Mondays, Wednesdays 

and Saturdays, for High Island, Spruce Head, Tenant's Harbor, Clark Island, 

Port Clyde and Friendship. 

Returning, leave Friendship for above named landings and Rockland, connecting 

with boats to and from Boston. 

Round trip tickets from Friendship and Port Clyde to Rockland and return, $1.50 

Smgle tickets, 85c. From Tenant's Harbor to Rockland and return, î.oo; single 

tickets, 75c. .Spruce Head to Rockland and return, 75c; single tickets, 50c, 

Attention given to all orders and freight. 

Vinalhaven Steamboat Company. 

STEAMER VINALHAVEN, 

Weather permitting, will leave S.van's Island every week day at 6 a. m.; Green's 

Landing at 7.10 A. M.; Vinalhaven at 8.30 A. M.; arrive at Rockland about 9.45 \. M. 

Returning, will leave Rockland at 2 P. M.; Vinalhaven at 3.30 p. M.; Green's 

Landing at 5 p. M.; arrive at Swan's Island at 6 p. M. 

Connections: At Rockland wita 1.35 p. M. train of M. C R. R., arriving at Portland 

5.20 V. M. and Boston 9.30 p. M. same day; at Swan's Island with steamer Electa 

for Black Island. R,- R. Tickets sold at reluced rates to Portland and Boston from 

all landings. Round trip tickets between Rockland and Vinalhaven, 25c. 

H. P. JONES, Manager, Rockland. 

Bluehill & Ellswoth Steamboat Line. 

Consisting of the new and favorite 

STR. CATHERINE, STR. JULIETTE, 

OSCAR A. CROCKErr, Captain. RALPH H. CROCKETT, Captain. 

Leaving Rockland on arrival of steamers from Boston about 6 a. m. daily (except 

Monday) for Dark Harbor and Hewes Point* (Islesboro),Castine, Blake's Point, Little 

Deer Isle, Herrick's Landing,* Sargentville, Deer Isle, Sedgwick, Brooklin, South 

Bluehill,* Parker's Point,* Bluehill, Surry and Ellsworth. 

Returning, leave Ellsworth at 7 A. m., Surry 7.45 A. M. daily (except Sunday), 

making the above named landings, arriving at Rockland about 5 p. m. in season to 

connect with steamers for Boston. Tickets sold on board. Baggage checked through. 

These steamers connect at Cascine with steamer Welcome for West Brooksville and 

Penobscot daily. O. A. CROCKETT, Manager. 

""Flag landings.

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nONARCH CYCLE CO., 

Lake & lialsted Sts., 

Retail Salesroom No. 280 Wabash Ave. Chicago.

The Maine bugle ... campaign; 1-5 Jan. 1894-Oct. 1898 - Maine.gov

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