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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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Stone, James M HiitL-coL 27 th Me. infantry.
Tin'* history of llir T\\Viity-seve2lth regiment Maine volunteer infantry. By Lknit. -Colonel James AT. Stone. [Portland, The Thurston print] 1895.
44 p. 231,"".
I. Maine infantry. 27th regt.. 1S62-IS6J. 2. U. S.— Hist.— Civil war— Regimental histories — Mc. inf. — 27th.
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the Cwenty-Sevemb maitte
CHIS REGIMENT was raised in the county of York and went into camp at Portland on the tenth day of Septem- ber A. D. 1862, and was organized for service on the nineteenth day of that month by the election of the following officers :
FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. Rufus P. Tapley, Saco, Colonel. Mark F. Wentworth, Kittery, Lieutenant- Colonel. James M. Stone, Kennebunk, Major. Edward M. Rand, Portland, Adjutant. Lewis O'Brien, Saco, Quartermaster. John E. L. Kimball, Saco, Surgeon. Freeman Hall, North Berwick, Assistant Surgeon. Calvin L. Hayes, Kittery. Sergeant-Major. John Hall, North Berwick, Quartermaster-Sergeant. William H. Tapley, Saco, Commissary-Sergeant. Ivory M. Hodsdon, Saco, Hospital Steward. Charles E. York, Biddeford, Drum-Major.
COMPANY OFFICERS. Company A. — George H. Ward, Saco, Captain.
Samuel H. Libby, Limerick, First Lieutenant. Frank L. Harmon, Saco, Second Lieutenant. Company B. — Isaac P. Fall, South Berwick, Captain.
Moses S. Hurd, North Berwick, First Lieuten- ant. Lysander B. Young, South Berwick, Second Lieutenant. Company C. — John D. Hill, Buxton, Captain.
John H. Came, Buxton, First Lieutenant. Joseph F. Warren, Hollis, Second Lieutenant.
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4 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
Company D. — David B. Fullerton, Berwick, Captain.
Thomas Sherman, Jr., Lebanon, First Lieu- tenant. Frederick J3. Bryant, Kennebunkport, Second Lieutenant. Company E. — John M. Getchell, Wells, Captain.
William H. Miller, Sanford, First Lieutenant. Joseph E. Chadbourne, Wells, Second Lieu- tenant. Company F. — Jeremiah Plumer, Biddeford, Captain.
Amos W. Page, Biddeford, First Lieutenant. John W. Perkins, Biddeford, Second Lieuten- ant. Company G. — Edmund A. Dixon, Eliot, Captain.
Joseph D. Parker, Kittery, First Lieutenant. Dennis M. Shapleigh, Kittery, Second Lieu- tenant. Company H. — Henry F. Snow, Cornish, Captain.
Almond O. Smart, Parsonfleld, First Lieuten- ant. Ralph R. Hussey, Acton, Second Lieutenant. Company I. — Seth E. Bryant, Kennebunk, Captain. Noah Gould, Lyman, First Lieutenant. Henry B. Osgood, Alfred, Second Lieutenant. Company K. — William H. Johnson, Waterboro, Captain. Frank A. Hutchius, Kennebunkport, First
Lieutenant. John Mcjellison, Shapleigh, Second Lieuten- ant.
On the fourth day of August, 1862, the President ordered that a draft be made of three hundred thousand militia to be imme- diately called into the service of the United States, to serve for nine months, unless sooner discharged. It was, also, at the same time ordered that if any state should not furnish its quota under the call by the fifteenth day of August, the deficiency should be made up by a special draft of the militia in that state. The quota assigned to Maine under this call was
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE. 5
nine thousand six hundred and nine, and the rendez- vous appointed for the western portion of the state was Camp Abraham Lincoln, at Portland. Most of the northern troops who first volunteered in the war enlisted for the term of three months, and the largest part of those who were engaged in the first battle at Bull Run were men whose term of service had expired, or was about expiring. The result of that action, however, was a rude but effective awakening of the loyal people of the land. Everywhere, now, the nature and magnitude of the contest began to be discerned. Maine fur- nished her entire quota under this call with volunteers and the Twenty-seventh Regiment of Infantry was raised and organ- ized under it. The regiment was mustered into service upon the thirtieth day of September A. D. 1862, by Capt. Dana of the Seventeenth United States Infantry, and left the state on Monday, the twentieth day of October, for the city of Wash- ington, where it arrived on Wednesday, the twenty-second. The next day it went into camp upon Hast Capitol Hill and was assigned to the Third Brigade of the Division of Gen. Casey, then commanding the Twenty-second Army Corps, for the defense of the national capital. Col. Francis Fessenden of the Twenty-fifth Maine Regiment was assigned to the com- mand of the brigade. Upon the twenty-sixth day of the month the regiment marched to Arlington Heights, where it went into camp upon the estate of the Confederate General, Robert E. Lee. While stationed here, the brigade for a time was com- manded by Col. Grimshaw ol the Fourth Delaware, and was assigned to picket duty in connection with that regiment and the One Hundred and Fourteenth New York. It also furnished a daily fatigue party of four hundred men, to labor upon the unfinished fortifications located in that vicinity, for the defense of the capital, and in constructing infantry epaulements. Upon the twelfth of December, the brigade moved south of Little Hunting Creek, to relieve a Vermont brigade, stationed there in the duty of guarding a picket line eight miles in length, extending for the most part through a thickly wooded and very broken country, from the Potomac River, near Mount Vernon, to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. From the organiza-
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6 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
tion of the regiment, there had been a nightly school for the instruction of officers, and constant squad, company and bat- talion drill, with frequent brigade movements, inspections and reviews, and upon several occasions the whole division was under arms.
While stationed upon the Lee estate, the regiment was for a time under orders to hold itself ready to march, at a moment's notice, and join the expedition then being fitted out at Fortress Monroe, under Gen. Banks, for the Department of the Gulf. Upon the sixteenth day of November, while six companies of the regiment were marching to Alexandria, to take transports to join that expedition, , they were met by a counter-order to return again to camp. This important change in the destina- tion of the regiment was occasioned by the want of a suitable transport to take the troops to New Orleans. The steamer Constitution had been designated for the purpose, but upon a survey subsequently ordered, she was pronounced unseaworthy, and the regiment was assigned to other duty. On the twenty-third day of January, 1S63, Col. Tapley resigned as Colonel, and on the eleventh day of February, following, Lieut. -Col. Wentworth was commissioned as Colonel, Maj. James M. Stone, as Lieutenant- Colonel, and Capt. John D. Hill, of Company C, as Major, all ranking in their new grade from January thirtieth. On the first of January, 1863, the regiment was transferred from the Third Brigade of the division, to the First, with orders to remain in its position at Camp Vermont, and to report to Col. Fessen- den, of the Twenty-fifth Maine, commanding the First Brigade. Upon the second of February, 1863, Gen. S. P. Heintzelman was placed in command of the Twenty-second Army Corps and of the Defenses of Washington, which command he held until the fifteenth of April, of that year, when Gen. John J. Aber- crombie succeeded him, in command of the department. Upon the night of the eighth of March, in that year, the Confederate partisan chief, Col. Mosby, made a raid upon Fairfax Court House, Va., capturing Col. Stoughton, in command at that post, with two Captains, and thirty men with their arms and equipments, and fifty-eight horses, passing out again unharmed, and, as he reports, within two hundred yards of the Union
I
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE,
S
fortifications at Ceuterville.. This incident, trivial in itself, had an important bearing upon our subsequent regimental history and illustrates the necessities placed upon the Union forces, then invading the .South. Gen. Grant, in his Personal Memoirs, speaking of the difference between the Confed- erate forces, acting mainly upon the defensive, and Union 'forces when invading the South, says: "Operating in 4 an enemy's country, and being supplied always from a ' distant base, large detachments had at all times to be 4 sent from the front, not only to guard the base of supplies ' and the roads to it, but all the roads leading to our flanks 4 and rear. We" were, also, operating in a country unknown 1 to us, and without competent guides or maps, showing the 4 roads accurately." And in noticing the effect of guerilla warfare, he says : " During 1862-63, John H. Morgan, a 4 partisan officer, of no military education, but possessed of ' courage and endurance, operated in the rear of the Army of 4 the Ohio in Kentucky and Tennessee. He had no base of 1 supplies to protect, but was at home wherever he went. 1 The army operating against the South, on the contrary, had 1 to protect its lines of communication with the North, from 4 which all supplies had to come to the front. Every foot of 4 road had to be guarded by troops stationed at convenient 4 distances apart. These guards could not render assistance ' beyond the points where stationed.
1 ' Morgan was foot-loose and could operate where his infor- ' ination — always correct — led him to believe he could do the 4 greatest damage. During the time he was operating in this ' way, he killed, wounded and captured several times the 1 number he ever had under his command at any one time. ' He destroyed many millions of property in addition. Places 1 he did not attack had to be guarded, as if threatened by him. ' Forrest, an abler soldier, operated farther west, and held ' from the National front quite as many men as could be spared 4 for offensive operations. It is safe to say, that more than 4 half the National army was engaged in guarding lines of 1 supplies, or were on leave, sick in hospital, or on detail, 1 which prevented their bearing arms. Then, again, large
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8 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
' ' forces were employed where no Confederate army confronted "them." In fact, the General says, that in the campaign of 1864, while his headquarters were at Culpeper, Va., Mosby at one time, while operating in the rear of his army, crossed the railroad track near Warrenton Junction just as he approached it upon a special train, and unguarded, and came near postpon- ing his (Gen. Grant's) part in that campaign altogether. And Col. Mosby himself says, in a lecture recently delivered in Boston, "My purpose was to weaken the armies invading 1 ' Virginia by harassing their rear. As a line is only as strong " as its weakest point, it was necessary for it to be stronger ' ' than I was at every point in order to resist my attack. It is "easy, therefore, to see the great results that may be accom- 1 ' plished by a small body of cavalry moving rapidly from point "to point on the communications of an army. To destroy " supply trains, to break the means of conveying intelligence, "and thus isolating an army from its base, as well as its "different corps from each other, to confuse their plans by "capturing dispatches, are the objects of partisan war. It is " just as legitimate to fight an enemy in the rear, as the front. " The only difference is the danger. Now, to prevent all these " things from being done, heavy detachments must be made to " guard against them. The military value of a partisan's work " is not measured by the amount of property destroyed, or the "number of men killed or captured, but by the number he " keeps watching. Every soldier withdrawn from the front to 1 ' guard the rear of an army is so much taken from its fighting " strength. I endeavored, as far as I was able, to diminish this 1 ' aggressive power of the Army of the Potomac by compelling " it to keep a large force on the defensive. I assailed its rear, "for there was its vulnerable point. My men had no camps. " If they had gone into camp they would soon have all been "captured. They would scatter for safety and gather at my " call, like the children of the mist. A blow would be struck " at a weak or unguarded point and then a quick retreat. The " alarm would spread through the sleeping camp, the long roll "would be beaten, or the bugles would sound to horse, there " would be mounting in hot haste and a rapid pursuit. But
5
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE. 9
I * the partisans generally got off with their prey. Their pursuers
II were striking at an invisible foe. I have often sent small " squads at night to attack and run in the pickets along a line ' ■ of several miles. Of course, these alarms were very annoy- " ing, for no human being knows how sweet sleep is, but a " soldier."
I have made these quotations as illustrating the necessity and importance of the duty assigned us, which I have frequently found so little understood. It was to prevent a repetition of such raids as this of which I have spoken upon Fairfax Court House, and to protect the rear of the army and to guard and hold the Little River turnpike, one of the principal thoroughfares of this portion of Virginia, and thus to cover the city of Washington, the basis of supplies for the army, and the national capital, that the First Brigade of CasejT's division, consisting then of the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Maine Regiments, was ordered upon the twenty-fourth of March A. D. 1863 to move to Chantilly, Va., situated upon the Little River turnpike and distant about twenty-five miles west from the city of Washington. The position it occupied is at a point about half-way between the Alexandria and Loudon and the Orange and Alexandria Railroads, and distant about five miles north from Center- ville. On the morning of the twenty-fourth of March, the regiment left Camp Casey and marched out upon the turnpike about fifteen miles, carrying shelter- tents, blankets and knap- sacks, and encamped for the night in a hardwood growth near Fairfax Court House, a locality containing, at that time, per- haps some twenty buildings, with a small brick structure known as the Court House.
Night came on with a driving rain ; but the next morning at nine o'clock the march was resumed and the brigade moved out upon the turnpike to Chantilly, and commenced picket duty on the outermost line of infantry in the Defenses of Washington. The brigade here encamped in a forest of pine and hardwood, near where the Chantilly mansion had stood before the war. There we were placed upon a picket line extending across the Little River turnpike, but running chiefly
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IO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
to the southwest of it, and connecting with the infantry pickets of Gen. Hayes' brigade at Centerville upon the left, and with the cavalry- forces of Gen. Stahl upon the right. The Bull Run Mountains lay in full view, some nine miles to the west, and farther on the peaks of the Blue Ridge appeared. The site of the Bull Run battlefield was at the southwest of us and distant about eight miles ; and the field of Chantilly was about a mile and a half at the southeast of us and in our rear, where, upon the first of September, 1862, the gallant Union Generals, Stevens and Kearney fell. The Little River turn- pike is a macadamized road and one of the best in that portion of Virginia, leading out at Aldie, through a gap in the moun- tains, to the valley of the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge beyond.
The vicinity of these gaps or passes through the mountain ranges was, through the war, the theater for guerilla opera- tions, to which, indeed, the whole country around them was admirably adapted. Sudden dashes of the enemy upon some portion of the picket line were frequent, and but few nights passed without an alarm upon it. Rebel videttes were con- stantly seen posted upon the pike in front of our cavalry line, which was uniformly drawn in at night behind the infantry. The portion of the line, however, held by the First Brigade, although constantly menaced, was never seriously attacked. On the twentieth day of May, the First Battery of Rhode Island artillery joined the brigade from Union Mills, and remained with it until we were ordered home. On one occasion, your historian was sent to Centerville, then the headquarters of Gen. Abercrombie, commanding the division, and while the fighting was going on at Aidie in our front, he asked me to be seated, saying: "We will watch the cannonading to see if it "approaches us, as if may be necessary to order the brigade "underarms; he said that he considered the position of our " brigade the most exposed and important upon his line ; that " in his opinion we were not strong enough to hold it, and that " we ought to be supported by several batteries of artillery " instead of one; that our position was the first he thought of " when his line was threatened ; and, that in case of an attack
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE. II
4 'upon his division, we might be sure we held the post of *' honor and of danger." This was the opinion of a gray- haired veteran, regular officer, who had seen service in three wars and was now fresh from fighting in the front. Upon the twenty-first of June, 1863, the Army of the Potomac, then under the command of Gen. Hooker, moved up and took position near Centerville and Fairfax Court House, and that General took command of the Twenty-second Army Corps, to which our brigade belonged, then consisting of the Twenty-fifth and the Twe nth-seventh Maine Regiments, and upon the twenty-eighth of the month, the brigade was ordered to report to Maj.-Gen. Slocum, commanding the Twelfth Army Corps, then at Lees- burg. This order was given, however, under the impression that the brigade was composed of three years' men; but when it was learned that its term of service had expired, the brigade was, on the twenty-fourth day of June, ordered to report to Gen. Heintzelman at Washington, for transportation home. The regiment left the camp at Chantilly on Thursday, the twenty-fifth of June, at six o'clock in the morning, and marched to Arlington Heights, where it arrived in the evening. At this moment, the Army of the Potomac was in motion to meet Gen. Lee, then rapidly advancing to invade Pennsylvania and the North. The whole territory in front of the fortifica- tions for the Defense of Washington lay exposed. All the veteran troops in the vicinity of the city had been sent forward to the Army of the Potomac, and the national capital was well- nigh uncovered. Clerks from the various departments in Washington were patrolling the city, and private citizens guarding Long bridge. It was the most anxious hour of the war. The intentions, too, of the rebel leaders were not yet fully known, but it was certain they were acting by advice and in concert with disloyal men in the North. These leaders, too, appeared buoyant and confident of success. A new com- mander, also, was now to be found for the Army of the Potomac ; who' should the new general be, and would he inspire confidence at such an hour? Anxiety was clouding every loyal face and doubt oppressing the national heart. It was at such a moment as this, that the men of the Twenty-seventh
12 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
Maine, were appealed to by the President and the Secretary of War, by a letter signed by them both and forwarded by the hand of a special messenger, and asked to volunteer anew, for the Defense of Washington, until the impending battle should be fought. It may be doubted if an army ever contained better material than that which was furnished by the nine months' men from Maine, and the Twenty-seventh Regiment had its full share of it. Gentlemen from each of the liberal professions entered its rank at the organization, and it was filled with well-to-do farmers, business men and mechanics' These men had been assured that they would be discharged from service on the tenth day of June, nine months from the date appointed for the draft, which they had prevented by volunteering, but this promise had not been kept and they were not satisfied. In any event, it was thought they would not be held beyond the thirtieth of the month, or nine months from the date at which they were mustered ; and in this they had again been disappointed. The government, it was said, was not acting in good faith with these men, and had no legal right thus to detain them. And besides it was now almost July, and those who were farmers, had expected and arranged to be at home at that date, to secure their hay crop, many of whom were paying several times the daily wages they were receiving from the government, for labor upon their lands, which they could have better performed themselves. It was under such circumstances, that the appeal was made to the regiment to remain yet longer, and full well these soldiers knew what results compliance with this request might involve.
If the Union army was beaten in the impending battle, it was death to them in the Defense of Washington, or untold sufferings and perhaps a fate much worse than death, in a rebel prison. And yet, when that appeal was made, three hundred and twelve officers and men of the regiment (see Appendix A.), volunteered to remain and did remain, until the battle of Gettysburg had* been fought and won, and the enemy were beaten and in full retreat, and the capital and the Union had alike been saved. The result of the battle was officially an- nounced by the President, upon the afternoon of Saturday, the
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE. 1 3
fourth of July, and there being then no further necessity for the services of the regiment, it immediately marched to Wash- ington, after having received the thanks of Gen. DeRussy, commanding the fortifications for the defense of the capital, and taking transportation for home upon the evening of the fourth, it reached Portland upon the sixth of July, where the other portion of it had previously arrived, under Maj. Hill, upon the third of the month, in company with the Twenty-fifth Maine. The nation had been saved; and how the hearts of the people went forth to greet and welcome the returning soldier! Few then, cared to ask who these men were, or where the}7 had been stationed, or to what particular duty they had been assigned. At that hour it was enough to know that they wore the uni- form of a soldier; that they had held a place somewhere in the armies of the republic; that they performed the duties assigned them, and were now returning home from the war. There were scenes which we witnessed upon our return, which I am sure none of us will forget, particularly the impromptu reception given us at Wilmington, Delaware, where we stopped for a few moments. The nation had been saved, and how the hearts of the people went out to greet and welcome these men returning from the front! There were thanks and blessings upon every lip and in every eye. Receptions were tendered the regiment by the cities of New York and Boston, and it was with some difficulty that the mayor and city authorities of Portland, were induced to relinquish the preparations they had made for a for- mal one, even after it had been repeatedly and gratefully declined. The regiment was mustered out upon the seventeenth day of July A. D. 1863, at Portland, by Lieut. Grossman, after a sendee of ten months and seven days. It left the state with nine hundred and forty -nine men, lost twenty-nine men by death, eight officers by resignation, and fifty-four men were discharged, leaving eight hundred and sixty-seven officers and men, when it reached home. At no time had it less than seven hundred and forty men for duty. It is not for the officers of a regiment in time of war to determine the position it shall occupy, or to assign its duties. It is sent where it is presumed to be needed most. The Twenty-seventh Maine Regiment was
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14 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
ordered to Chantilly immediately after the post at Fairfax Court House had been surprised and Col. Stoughton with his men and supplies had been captured as hereinbefore stated. It should be remembered that the .city of Washington was the objective point at which Gen. Lee and the Confederate authorities were aiming, as really as Richmond was ours. It is easy to see in part, at least, what would have been involved by its capture. Not only was it the capital of the nation and were the national archives and treasury there, but it was the real base of sup- plies for the Army of the Potomac, and in a certain sense, of all the Union armies, and its capture would have undoubtedly insured the recognition of the Confederate government by Eng- land and France, and probably by all the great powers of Europe. And we were placed upon that turnpike and between those two railroads to guard one of its main gateways. And this brigade of but two regiments of volunteer soldiers, and unsupported, held this position through the months of an unusually severe spring for that latitude. We were constantly told by the rebels around us, that no one brigade of two regi- ments could hold that position and that we should certainly be driven in. I have often had this said to me personally and most emphatically, thus confirming the apprehension which Gen. Abercrombie had previously expressed. Mosby was con- stantly raiding along our line, and it is said that his or other rebel forces, occupied our camp site in an hour from the time we left it.
On the eleventh day of July A. D. 1864, Lieut. Gen. Early of the Confederate Army, who had invaded Maryland earlier in the month with a force of twelve thousand men, appeared before Fort Stevens, north of the Potomac and distant some five miles from Washington. He had crossed into the state higher up the Potomac, and had defeated on the Monocacy Gen. Lew Wal- lace, who had met him there with an inferior force consisting largely of raw troops. I think it is 110 w generally believed by competent military men, that he would have captured the city if he had attacked the fort upon the night of the eleventh. Gen. Grant has expressed the opinion that if Early had arrived one day sooner he might have entered the capital. On the next
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
15
day, however, he was confronted by the Sixth and a part of the Nineteenth Corps from the Army of the Potomac, and was beaten. President Lincoln stood upon the parapet of the fort while the troops were engaged, encouraging the men by his voice and presence, until a soldier was shot within three feet of where he was standing. If it was necessary to hold Fort Stevens, north of the Potomac, and so far in our rear, in order to defend the capital, how was it about the pike at Chantilly? No competent person acquainted with the facts, and certainly no military man, will ever disparage the services of the Twenty-seventh Maine Regiment. He who should do so would in like manner, rob fully half the soldiers of the Union armies of their laurels. We do not claim for the regiment that it was subjected to the sever- est tests of war, or that it is entitled to equal honors with many others from our state. No, my comrades, we make no such claims as these, and are by no means thus to be understood. We stand only upon our record.
But I do claim for the regiment that it faithfully performed the duties to which it was assigned ; that it remained in the field and upon service beyond the term for which it was enlisted; that it held a position with the Twenty-fifth Maine, particularly at Chantilly, which it was vital to maintain, and which it is cer- tain that no smaller number of troops than those composing the First Brigade of Abercrombie's Division could have held, and one from which the rebels around us were constantlv assuring us we should be driven, and which our own division commander, even, thought we were too weak to hold unless we were differ- ently supported; and, that after we had been ordered home, at an hour when great danger was threatening the capital and the nation, at the earnest solicitation of the President and Secre- tary of War, a large number of the officers and men volun- teered anew for the defense of the national capital until the impending battle had been fought; and, finally, that we re- turned to the state, with the personal thanks (through your historian) of Gen. DeRussy, commanding the fortifications for the Defense of Washington, and with his assurance that we should receive those of the War Department, with medals of honor. Those medals we have received. They are inscribed
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16
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
from " The Congress to ," each one of those volunteers
by name. Upon the twenty-sixth of January, A. D. 1865, they were sent from the office of the Adjutant-General of the army to Gov. Cony of our state, and were by him, through Col. Went- worth, distributed to the soldiers entitled to receive them.
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Roster of Officers of Cwenty-seoentb Itlaine Regiment at Date of muster Out 3uiy 17, i$63
FIELD AND STAFF.
Colonel, Lieut. Colonel, Major, Surgeon, Asst. Surgeon,
Adjutant,
Quartermaster,
Chaplain,
M. F. Wentworth. James M. Stone. John D. Hill. John E. L. Kimball, Freeman Hall. Charles M. Cross. Edward M. Rand. Lewis O'Brion. Otis F. Russell.
NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
Sergt. Major, Drum Major Quartermaster Sergt. Commissary
Calvin L. Hayes. Charles E. York. Horace H. Burbank. Cyrus G. Marr.
COMPANY OFFICERS.
Co. Captain.
A George II . Ward,
B Isaac P. Fall,
C Joseph F. Warren,
D David B. Fullertoti,
E John M. Getchell,
F Jeremiah Plumer,
G Edmund A. Dixon,
H Almond O. Smart,
I Seth E. Bryant,
K Frank A. Ilutcliins,
ist Lieut. Samuel H. Eibby, Moses S. Hurd, Wm. Milliken jr., Frederick S. Bryant, Joseph E.Chadbourne, Amos W. Page, Joseph D. Parker, Ralph R. Hussey, Henry B. Osgood, Henry J. Goodwin,
2D Lieut. Frank E. Harmon, Joseph T. Chase, Samuel Dunnell jr., Frederick Hayes, John Hall, John W. Perkins, Dennis M. Shapleigh, Edmund Bragdon jr., Henry Littlefield, Horace E. Piper.
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Roll of Officers and men In the twenty-seventh lUaine Regiment UJbo Uolunteered in June i$6J to remain after tfceir term of Service baa expired and Assist in the Defense of Washington * « « « «
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Roll of officers ana men in the twenty-seventh Itlaine Regiment wfto volunteered, in June, i$63, to remain after their term of service bad expired, and assist in tbe Defense of Washington
FIELD AND STAFF.
Colonel, Lieut. -Col. Major, Adjutant, Qr. Master, Chaplain, Surgeon, Asst. Surgeon,
Mark F. -Wentworth, James M. Stone, John D. Hill, Edward M. Rand, Lewis O'Brion, Otis F. Russell, John E. Iy. Kimball, Freeman Hall, Charles C. Cross,
Kittery.
Kennebunk.
Buxton.
Portland.
Saco.
Leighton'sCor.
Saco.
No. Berwick.
Kittery.
N.H
NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
|
Serg't. Major, Calvin L. |
Hayes |
> |
Kittery. |
|
|
Qr. Master Serg't., Horace H |
. Burbank, |
Limerick |
||
|
Com. Sergeant, Cyrus G. |
Marr, |
Cornish. |
||
|
COMPANY A. |
||||
|
Captain, |
George H. Ward, |
Saco. |
||
|
ist Lieut. |
, Samuel H. Libbey, |
Limerick. |
||
|
2d |
Frank L. Harmon, |
Saco. |
||
|
Sergeant, |
Joseph Graffam, George H.Jordan, |
< i |
||
|
Corporal, |
William B. Barker, Charles F. Staples, |
Limerick Saco. |
||
|
Private, |
Charles P. Atkins, Eben H. C. Bradbury, Henry M. Bradbury, Cyrus E. Brown, Elisha E. Clark, |
Limerick < < |
||
|
Richard Dearborn, |
i < |
^ |
22
A*
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
Private, Daniel Floyd,
William H. Googins, Greenleaf W. Gallison,
Saco.
|
George A. Gove, |
Limerick. |
||
|
Oren F. Ham, |
Saco. |
||
|
John C. Hayes, |
Limerick. |
||
|
John F. Keay, |
< < |
||
|
Benjamin F. Libbey, |
Limington |
||
|
Charles T. Packard, |
Limerick. |
||
|
Rnfus Phillips, |
Saco. |
||
|
Roswell Prescott, |
< i |
||
|
Warren G. Sanborn, |
Newmarket, N. H |
||
|
William H. Tapley, |
Saco. |
||
|
David G. Tapley, |
t < |
||
|
* |
EHsha Wadleigh, |
i i |
|
|
• |
Daniel Watson, |
Limerick. |
|
|
COMPANY B. |
|||
|
Captain, |
Isaac P. Fall, |
South Berwick. |
|
|
i st Lieut. |
, Moses S. Hurd, |
North |
" |
|
2d |
Joseph T. Chase, |
South |
« c |
|
Sergeant, |
Jedediah Littlefield, |
< i |
i t |
|
John Gray, |
i « |
< < |
|
|
Corporal, |
Charles H. Tucker, |
< < |
< < |
|
Philander H. Libbey, |
North |
" |
|
|
John L. Dillingham, |
" |
< i |
|
|
Charles A. Harvey, |
South |
< < |
|
|
Charles A. Goodwin, |
" |
< i |
|
|
David H. Brackett, |
North |
i < |
|
|
William C. Pike, |
< < |
< t |
|
|
Private, |
George H. Abbott, |
South |
11 |
|
Frank Came, |
( « |
< i |
|
|
Reuben Dennett, |
c < |
*.! |
|
|
Ivory L. Goodwin, |
• < |
i i |
|
|
Sylvester Gray, |
North |
" |
|
|
Lorenzo S. Hanson, |
< < |
<l |
|
|
William W. Keyes, |
South |
< t |
M .ik ,„ i!ff^.^^^.T»»W»..iiMimi
. .„.:._.»'li.-.. ii*:-;.-: ...■•»■- .
—— —
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
V. 1
Private, Gilman H. Lambkin, Frank W. Martin, Albert D. Mason, John F. Neal, Luther Nason, Elwell Nason, Henry W. Shorey, Charles K. Stevens, Harrison Whitehouse, Henry Wentworth, Charles H. Wadleigh, James L. Woodsom,
North Berv South
North South
|
COMPANY C. |
||
|
Captain, |
Joseph F. Warren, |
Hollis. |
|
ist Lieut. |
, William Milliken jr., |
Buxton. |
|
2d |
Samuel Dunnell, |
i i |
|
Sergeant, |
Henry C. Thompson, |
i < |
|
Nathan P. Nason, |
Hollis. |
|
|
Daniel Hill, |
Buxton. |
|
|
Henry Leavitt, |
< < |
|
|
Corporal, |
Leonard C. Harmon, |
< < |
|
Alvan A. Dennett, |
i ( |
|
|
Simon B. Dow, |
Hollis. |
|
|
John Martin, |
Buxton. |
|
|
Private, |
Sylvester 0. Boody, |
Hollis. |
|
William Ball, |
< i |
|
|
John Berry, |
Buxton. |
|
|
Horace Cressey, |
< < |
|
|
William Dyer, |
< < |
|
|
William Duran, |
< < |
|
|
Paul C. Dearborn, |
Hollis. |
|
|
Reuben Downs, |
Lyman. |
|
|
Daniel C. Flanders, |
Buxton. |
|
|
Enos L. Foss, |
Hollis. |
|
|
Lendol N. Fairfield, |
Kennebunkport . |
|
|
James H. Gould, |
Buxton. |
fBimmwmniiiwiifiiiniBMni
24
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
Private,
|
Charles H. Harmon, |
Buxton. |
|
John Johnson jr., Eben S. Kinrick, |
Hollis. 1 < |
|
John H. Knights, George H. Libbey, |
Buxton. |
|
James S. Marriner, |
i i |
|
Frederick A. Merrill, |
i i |
|
Franklin Nichols, |
< < |
|
Eben H. Norton, |
t i |
|
James \V. Palmer, |
Hollis. |
|
Albert Ross, |
t < |
|
Joseph G. Rounds, |
Buxton. |
|
Elias Sanborn, |
< < |
|
Milbury S. Smith, George Tarbox, Thomas Walls, |
Hollis. Buxton. Biddefoi |
I
|
COMPANY D |
||
|
Captain, |
David B. Fullerton, |
Berwick. |
|
rst Lieut. |
Fred S. Bryant, |
Kennebunkport . |
|
2d Lieut. |
, Frederick Hayes, |
Berwick. |
|
Sergeant, |
Nathaniel N. Hurd, |
c i |
|
Hosea M. Quimby, |
Lebanon. |
|
|
Maverick M. Jennison, |
Kennebunkport. |
|
|
Corporal, |
John \V. Freeman, |
York. |
|
Ivory H. Nute, |
Berwick. |
|
|
Hosea B. Knox, |
Milton, N. H. |
|
|
Frank M. Davis, |
Somersworth, N |
|
|
Samuel D. Hayes, |
West Lebanon. |
|
|
Private, |
Marcus Bates, |
New Brunswick |
|
Benjamin H. Bulter, |
Berwick. |
|
|
William N. Butler, |
i < |
|
|
James H. Clements, |
< < |
|
|
Charles- Cotton, |
Stowe. |
|
|
George M. Corson, |
West Lebanon. |
|
|
Joseph B. Goodwin, |
Berwick. |
|
|
George A. Lord, |
East Lebanon. |
H.
mmaMmmitiimmi^^i^^si&i^->
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
25
Private, Aaron R. Libbey,
George F. Manning, Mark Miller, Charles MeGuire, William Perry, Pharaoh Perry, Woodbury Smith, Milton Thurston,
Kennebunkport .
Berwick. < «
Lubec. Kennebunkport.
COMPANY E.
Captain, John M. Getchell, 2d Lieut., John Hall, Sergeant, Willis H. Butler, Corporal, Alexander B. Wells,
William M. Auld, Musician, John H. Emery, Private, Charles A. Davis,
George W. Edwards, Walter Eaton, Samuel M. Getchell, George B. Pike, Robert S. Philbrook, Joseph Ridley, Adrial Thompson,
Wells.
North Berwick.
Sanford.
Wells.
Biddeford.
Sanford. Wells.
Kittery. Sanford.
|
COMPANY F. |
||
|
Captain, |
Jeremiah Plumer, |
Biddeford |
|
1st Lieut. |
, Amos W. Page, |
< < |
|
Sergeant, |
William B. Pierce, |
< t |
|
Corporal, |
Nicholas Scammon, |
i « |
|
Chase Andrews, |
< t |
|
|
Private, |
Thomas Haley, |
< « |
|
Charles N. Marston, |
i i |
|
|
Charles E. York, |
< i |
_ . — , — — , .. T1„ •—■rttnmmn ft^mrtk^kd't n n- r u rit
26
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
COMPANY G.
Captain, 1 st Lieut., 2d Lieut., Sergeant,
Private,
Edmund A. Dixon, Joseph D. Parker, Dennis M. Shapleigh, Edgar Greenleaf, Robert Briard, William W. Tobey, Corporal, William W. Chapman, George H. Hayes, Alonzo Fernald, Horace S. Kennison. William Berry, Jacob S. Blanchard, James W. Brown, William T. Carr, Sylvester Chick, Charles Decoff, Joseph H. Dixon, Simon Fernald, George W. Flanders, Isaac M. Foye, Herbert Goodsoe, John F. Hanscom, John R. Hill, Otis C. Holt, Franklin Littlefield, William M. Otis, Horace B. Parker, Elbridge R. Paul, John Roberts, Joshua Roberts, Charles H. Scriggins, Morris G. Shapleigh, Roscoe G. Shapleigh, James S. Spinney, Stephen S. Spinney, William H. Staples,
Eliot. Kittery.
Eliot.
Kittery. Eliot. Kittery. Eliot.
Kittery.
Eliot.
Kittery.
Eliot.
Wells. Kittery.
Eliot.
Kittery. Eliot.
Kittery.
Eliot.
fl
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE,
27
I
|
Private, |
Horatio W. Trefethen, |
Kittery. |
|
William H. Tucker, |
Eliot. |
|
|
Elijah Varney, |
< < |
|
|
COMPANY H. |
||
|
Captain, |
Almond O. Smart, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
1st Lieut. |
, Ralph R. Hussey, |
Acton. |
|
2d Lieut. |
Edmund Bragdon, jr., |
Limington. |
|
Sergeant, |
Harrison M. Keene, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
Ransom E. Smith, |
Hiram. |
|
|
George M. Walker, |
Limington. |
|
|
Samuel H. Garvin, |
Acton. |
|
|
Corporal, |
Charles Davis, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
Charles A. Hilton, |
K |
|
|
Alfred Small, |
Limington. |
|
|
Marshall L. Wadsworth, |
Hiram. |
|
|
Wagoner |
, Charles F. McKenney, |
Limington. |
|
Private, |
George Black, |
1 i |
|
Thatcher W. Burnham, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
|
William A. Cousins, |
< i |
|
|
Nathan Call, |
Limington. |
|
|
Frank Eastman, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
|
John M. Goodwin, |
<« |
|
|
Albert G. Hill, |
<< |
|
|
George E. Kidder, |
«( |
|
|
Edward Lord, |
t i |
|
|
Arthur Libbey, |
Limington. |
|
|
Enoch McKenney, |
< i |
|
|
Clark H. Norton, |
" |
|
|
Ira A. Philbrick, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
|
William Ridlon, |
< < |
|
|
George W. Rines, |
Acton. |
|
|
John C. Small, |
Cornish. |
|
|
Edwin A. Sadler, |
Parsonsfield. |
|
|
David W. C. Scates, |
< < |
|
|
Alexander Wadsworth, |
Hiram. |
*ja^,./rt;.mm,*M.m{ttm&^^,Ul*i*i-}d-*
28
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
|
COMPANY I. |
||
|
Captain, |
Seth E. Bryant, |
Kennebunk. |
|
1 st Lieut. |
Henry B. Osgood, |
Alfred. |
|
2d " |
Henry Littlefield, |
Kennebunk. |
|
Sergeant. |
William H. Moody, |
" |
|
William M. Staples, |
Lyman. |
|
|
Erastus Moulton, |
Alfred. |
|
|
George H. Roberts, |
Lyman. |
|
|
Isaac M. Emery, |
Kennebunk. |
|
|
Corporal, |
Luke H. Roberts, |
Alfred. |
|
John G. Cole, |
Kennebunk. |
|
|
Horace V. Robinson, |
< < |
|
|
Dimon Roberts jr., |
Lyman. |
|
|
- |
Charles D. Tripp, |
Kennebunk. |
|
Musician, |
Joseph H. White, |
Alfred. |
|
Wagoner, |
Nicholas Grant, |
Kennebunk. |
|
Private, |
George W. Adjutant, |
< < |
|
Nathaniel Butland, |
< i |
|
|
Charles L. Burnham |
i < |
|
|
George Buzzell, |
Lyman. |
|
|
John C. Buzzell, |
Biddeford. |
|
|
James H. Brown, |
Alfred. |
|
|
George W. Cluff, |
i < |
|
|
David Downs jr., |
Lyman. |
|
|
John Emmons, |
1 1 |
|
|
John G. Emmons, |
< * |
|
|
D. Taylor Emmons, |
1 1 |
|
|
George W. Emerson, |
Kennebunk. |
|
|
Charles W. Gooch, |
< < |
|
|
William H. Gooch, |
< < |
|
|
George Gordon, |
Lyman. |
|
|
Frederick M. Harmon, |
Alfred. |
|
|
Charles S. Hubbard, |
Kennebunk. |
|
|
James C. Haley, |
< < |
|
|
Barnabas P. Hill, |
Kennebunkport |
|
|
Samuel L. Hill, |
Kennebunk. |
|
|
Emerson Littlefield, |
1 1 |
Mwuu&iiirt
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
29
Private,
I
|
Charles H. Moulton, |
Alfred. |
|
Adam McCullock jr., |
Kennebunk. |
|
Jonas F. Merrill, |
« t |
|
James E. Moody, |
< < |
|
Charles H. Moody, |
Lyman. |
|
William H. Nason, |
Alfred. |
|
George W. Oakes, |
Kennebunk. |
|
Otis Perkins, |
» |
|
Oren \V. Robinson, |
< i |
|
Joseph H. Ridley, |
Alfred. |
|
Alvah Roberts, |
< < |
|
John R. Stanley, |
< < |
|
George W. Taylor, |
Kennebunk. |
|
Horace Taylor, |
< < |
|
Peletiah R. Tripp, |
Alfred. |
|
Octavius E. Wells, |
Kennebunk. |
|
Joseph A. Whitehouse, |
Lyman. |
|
John P. Wormwood, |
Alfred. |
!
COMPANY K.
Captain, Frank A. Hutchins, 1 st Lieut., Henry J. Goodwin, 2d Lieut., Horace L. Piper, Corporal, Nathan Chadbourne,
Paul W. Garvin, Private, Charles E. Abbott
Alcander M. Bradeen, John R. Carpenter, John W. Centre, Francis T. Chadbourne, James M. Chadbourne, Frank Chellis, Onsville C. Coffin, Charles I. Davis, Joseph R. Emmons, John M. Hayes, John F. Maddox,
Kennebunkport.
Biddeford.
Waterboro.
Shapleigh.
Waterboro.
York. Waterboro.
Newfield.
Shapleigh.
Kennebunkport.
Biddeford.
Newfield.
Waterboro.
*_
Mt-iflWfiriW«ntln
30
Private,
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
Charles H. Mitchell, George Pitts, Woodman Pillsbury, Phindeus H- Ricker, Amasa Smith, Rice Smith, Libby H. Smith, Simon Stone, Daniel D. Taylor,
Kennebunkport. Waterboro. Shapleigh. Waterboro.
Shapleigh.
Newfield.
Kennebunkport.
I
VOLUNTEER RECRUITS.
George Hobbs, Justin Spinney,
Wells. Kittery.
Summary
Field & Staff 9
Non-Commissioned Staff 3
Company A 29
B. 3i
C 39
D. 27
E 14
F 8
G. 39
H. 31
L. 54
.K 26
Volunteer Recruits 2
312
UiititotimY^^r^'-^^**1^^- - --^^'■■py^-^-.-- ^-^ t-:.-L--^.^<a.^^'^wAfer v-A^iMAtrfiftfeate'-iY .----t ^rn -r "% t ■ ririiii-irftg 7JhB«^htfgtf-iarBiii.v >rr*M>iajfc. ar.ia*agHM
I
Appendix B
^^^
Copy of Orders attd tetters
^.^^^^t.^,,,.^^
l
K !
I
D
Copy of Orders and tetters
Headquarters Abercrombie's Division,
June 23, 1863. Colonel : — *
The General Commanding the Div. directs that you hold your Command in readiness to move at very short notice. The number of wagons to be allowed for the transportation of bag- gage & supplies will be indicated to you later in the day. You will not draw in your pickets until further orders. Ten days subsistence must be procured at once, seven days hard bread, Coffee & Sugar. Three days pork or bacon, six days salt in regimental wagons. Five days beef Cattle. Three days rations to be carried in haversacks.
Very respectfully,
Your Obdt. Servant,
(Signed) J. H. Slipper, Official A. A. G.
(Signed) J. C. Kendall, Lieut. 6- A. D. C.
Head Quarters Abercrombie's Divn.
Centreville, June 24th, 1863. Special Orders J (Extract)
2. The First Brigade of this Division, Col. Fessenden, Commanding will report to Gen. Slocum at Leesburg.
All Camp and Garrison Equipage which is in excess of the amount allowed by Gen'l Orders No. 15, will be left under charge of a guard commanded by a Commissioned officer who will see that the property is turned over to the Quarter Master's Department.
,^^.^^w,r^f,^ — r-n-tfrhtiiifctiT ■ tiilfclrriii
34 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
This movement will be executed with as little delay as possible.
By order of Brig. Genl Abererombie,
(Signed) J. H. Slipper,
A. A. Genl.
Hd. Qrs. Army of the Potomac,
June 24, 1863.
Special Orders ) No. 171. j
9. The term of service of the 25th and 27th Maine Regi- ments being about to expire they will to-morrow march to Arlington Heights and the Commanding officer will report to Gen'l Heiutzelman by telegraph for further instructions. By Command of Major Gen'l Hooker
(Signed) Seth Williams
A. A. G.
Hd. Qrs ist Brig.
Abercrombie's Div.
June 24, 1863. Official
(Signed) J. C. Kimball,
Li. &> A. D. C.
War Department, Washington City, June 28, 1863. Hon. D. E. Somes, Dr. Sir. I am directed by the President to say that he very much desires the Maine Regiments whose term of sen-ice is about expiring to remain in the service a short time until the present emergency passes over.
They will render aid of great importance to the Union which will properly be acknowledged by the Government.
You are authorized & requested to present the matter to the
iTffilfr**^1^
rt&t.^^^L:-, :,<*<mtrti*r,i n^ ^,.,,^,' mm* >i*i-* .■ iTi' l iiirfllrtBliVtiiil f 4—
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
35
*
*
regiments in hope that their patriotic feelings will induce them to remain a short time. Yours truly
(Signed) Edwin M. Stanton
Secretary of War.
War Department
Washington City June 30, 1863.
Col. M. F. Wentworth 27th Maine Vols. Washington, D. C. Sir : —
The Secretary of War directs me to express his thanks for the offer made by a part of your regiment to remain for a few days beyond the expiration of their term of service, and to say that the offer is accepted.
You will please report with them to Maj. Gen'l. Heintzel- man, Commanding the Department of Washington. Very respectfully, Sir,
Your Obt. Servt., (Signed) Ed. M. Canby,
Br/* Gen'l. er- A. A. G.
Headquarters Department of Washington.
July 1st, i86vV Col. Wentworth,
Comdg. 27th Me. Vols. Colonel. The Major General Commanding directs that you report with those men that have volunteered their services to stay a longer time to Brig. Gen'l. DeRussy, Comdg Defenses South of the Potomac, Head Quarters, Arlington House.
I am Colonel
Very respectfully, Your Obt. Servt., (Signed) Carroll H. Putter,
Capt. 6- A. A. G.
P
i
Appendix £
tfe^ttt
Obituary notices by Eieut.-Col. 3ame$ m. Stone
Obituary notices
Col. Rufus P. Taplry was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, January 2, 1823, and died at his home in Saco, April 10, 1893. He was county attorney for the county of York when chosen Colonel of the Regiment. He was an admirable prosecuting officer, and I have long thought was just where he belonged, when he resigned that position to enter the army. While keenly alive to the need of the country for additional soldiers he was, also, undoubtedly ambitious of military distinction But he did not find his position a congenial one, and was allowed to resign it. Virgil has told us " ?ion omnia possumus omnes" and so he resigned the colonelcy of the Regiment and returned again to the profession he loved, where he, and all of us, fully realized what was so easily possible to him. He ranked among the first lawyers of Maine, and was for seven years a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of the state.
Mat. John D. Hill was born in Buxton, Maine, August 28, 1812, and died there November 20, 1868, and was a somewhat older man than the most of us when he entered the service, and had enjoyed the advantage of an early training in the militia of the state, if this can be termed an advantage. He was a robust, hardy, stalwart man, inured to out-of-door, active life, and frank and hearty in manner; a man to be depended on, and always found ready for duty ; a genuine patriot, a worthy officer, an honest man, and a Christian soldier. I have often thought there was much of the material in him of which Crom- well's Ironsides were made.
Dr. John E. L. Kimball, the surgeon of the Regiment, was born in Pembroke, New Hampshire, July 30, 18 19, and died in Saco, June 2, 1892, and was one of the best known and most
Pfc^ttfrawri! " Tf ■»l^imi^«i»^itli^lfefiW^^Mtea'. W tl-Mtmn* ..z^^^^^^^^^"*^- .. ..,,, .,..,■ '^.: ^ flfr ■ ^frftftw,
y
40 ' THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
skilful physicians of the state. Long before and after his term of service with us, he was the leading physician in Saco. He was a careful, conscientious, and, I think, rather conservative practitioner, who would take no chances in experimenting with his patients. While we were stationed at Camp Vermont, diphtheria came suddenly and fatally to prevail in the Regi- ment, and the colonel being temporarily absent on other duty, the doctor came to me and said, " I do not wish to frighten you, " but if you do not move this Regiment to some other spot, we " shall lose all our men; I have done what I could and have 11 consulted all the army surgeons around us, and have been " into Washington and seen the surgeon-general of the army, " and none of them are able to aid me." He accompanied me in selecting a new camp-site, which was apparently little better than the other ; but we did not have another case of diphtheria on the new ground. This was a slight but characteristic inci- dent ; medical prescriptions did not and would not avail, but a change of location might, and did. I called on him a short time before his death, when about to leave the state for a short time, and found him very ill and confined to his room ; but while there, a soldier called to consult him about his applica- tion for a pension then pending, and I was struck with the immediate change in his manner and his evident interest in the case. Sick as he was, he did for the man all he could do, — the very same man to the last. He asked me to bring over the regimental history and to read it to him, if I should find him there when I next came to Saco ; but he had passed onward before I returned home. He was a man whose memory I am sure we all honor and shall fondly cherish.
Capt. George H. Ward was born in Portland, April iS, 1837, and died in Saco, July 26, 1868, and was the youngest company commander in the Regiment. He was a small, com- pactly built man, apparently of a somewhat nervous organiza- tion, and yet perfectly cool and undisturbed in danger. I was once appointed Brigade officer and requested to go on duty early in the evening and to remain there for the night, when the
a
a
a
irtfcai- wr *i» '■rtww.MfuWM
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
41
Brigadier informed me that from the information received, he had reason to expect an attack. It was very dark and raining in torrents. Capt. Ward was stationed with his Company on the turnpike, upon the picket line, and before I could reach him there was rapid and continuous firing all along the line. I found him standing upon the pike with pickets posted and with the rest of his command under arms in reserve. He said the boys thought they had discovered the enemy approaching them upon the pike. I remember how calm and self-possessed he was, and have ever since held the estimate of him which I formed then and there. He requested that another company should be sent from the Regiment to support him, which was done ; he promised me that they wrould not be stampeded, and as I left him to pass along the line, I felt perfectly assured he would hold the pike, if attacked, until the Brigade could be got under arms, which was all he could do. He was one of the very best officers in the Regiment.
Capt. Jeremiah Plumer was born in Boscawen, New Hampshire, October 8, 1803, and died at Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, upon the thirteenth day of July, 1869. At the time of his death he was the superintendent of a cotton mill located there, and was killed by the explosion of its boiler. He was employed in or about cotton mills in various capacities, in the state of Massachusetts from 1836 until 1845, when he removed to. Biddeford, Maine, and commenced work for the Laconia Manufacturing Company, where he remained until he enlisted as a volunteer in our Regiment. He had much to do in his own city and Saco with recruiting soldiers for Company F, of which he was elected Captain. He was the western type of an officer rather than of the regular army pattern, and certainly was far from a martinet ; but he succeeded well with his command and no man in the Regiment, I think, ever doubted his pluck. He was the kind of a man to give a good account of himself in action. He was very firm in his opinions ; an Abolitionist in his political sentiments ; and in early life united with the Con-
42 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
gregational church in his native town. Upon leaving the army he finally resumed again his former business in a cotton mill.
Capt. Edmund A. Dixon of Company G, was born in Eliot, Maine, February 10, 1821, and died there January 13, 1888. Prior to the war of the rebellion, he was the first lieutenant of an Artillery Company, stationed at Fort Mc' Clary, Maine, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River ; but this Company was never mustered into the service of the United States. His business, both before and after his term of service in our Regi- ment, was that of a butcher, and for some years before his death, he was employed at this business at Brighton, Massa- chusetts. He was a man of an athletic make, and powerful physique, who possessed an easy and ready ascendency over his men, and who appeared to be unusually strong in their confi- dence, and was thus, of course, a successful company com- mander. I think in no Company in the Regiment was esprit de corps more marked than in this. I did not know the Captain well enough, personally, to characterize him more specifically.
Seth E. Bryant, Captain Company I (afterwards command- ing Company A., Thirty-second Maine Regiment), was born in Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, March 14, 1826, and died at his home in Kennebunk, January 26, 18SS. Pie was for many years a trusted and faithful official in various offices in the town, and prominent politically, both in the county and state ; a man of superior clerical abilities and thorough integrity. As a military officer, he was cool, cautious, and circumspect in time of danger, and though small in stature and not physically of a commanding presence, yet his men implicitly trusted and obeyed him ; he formed his opinions with great deliberation, but when he once had reached a conclusion, was as immovable as the rock-ribbed hills where he was born, — a man to cling to.
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE. 43
Samuel H. Libby, First Lieutenant Company A. (after- wards captain Company L., Second Maine Cavalry), was born in Limerick, March 16, 1S40. and died July 28, 1871. He was a tall, graceful and genial officer, to whom his men were strongly attached. He was at one time appointed acting adjutant of the regiment, during the temporary absence of Mr. Rand, the adjutant, assigned for a few days to other duty. He was a man of commanding presence and one of the best posted in tactics, I think, whom we had. He was a good soldier and a superior officer.
Lieut. John H. Came was born April 29, 1835, and died at Fairfax, Viginia, January 16, 1863, of fever contracted in the service, and before I had come to know him. But I well knew two of his older brothers and the stock of wThich he came, and had formed high expectations of him, which I have no doubt would have been fully realized, if he had lived. He gave his young life to the country as really as though he had fallen in battle.
Thomas Sherman, Jr., of Lebanon, First Lieutenant of Company D., is, as I learn, dead, but I have not learned either the date of his birth or death. He resigned and was discharged February 2, 1S63.
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Is. Lieut. Amos W. Page was born in Hollis, Maine, August
y4 8, 1823, and died at Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, August 31,
1891. I remember him as an affable officer, of pleasing address, with a strong hold upon his men, and as a good and faithful soldier, — the exact type of a man, of whom the Union armies had so many, to enlist only from a sense of duty. He was regarded as a superior business man, and before the war had been for some years employed as an overseer in one of the rooms of the Laconia Cotton Mills in Biddeford. During the
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44 THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAINE.
last few months of his term of service in the Regiment, he was assigned to the command of the Ambulance Corps of the Brigade. He is understood to have been a successful manu- facturer after he left the state.
Lieut. Joseph D. Parker, of Company G., was born at Kittery, Maine, January 20, 1S28, and died there, December 11, 1894. He was a ship and house carpenter by trade. He was long and deserved!}* prominent and popular in the town, having served it in many capacities, including two terms as its representative in the Legislature of the state. He was for many ^ years a member of the Second Christian church there. While a
marked contrast with the Captain of the Company, physically, — he being a man of a rather slender make, — yet he was equally strong in the confidence and respect of his men. Indeed, the strength and closeness of the tie between officers and men was one of the chief characteristics of this Company. But I was no more intimately acquainted with Lieut. Parker than with Capt. Dixon.
Lysander B. Young, of South Berwick, Second Lieutenant of Company B., was born June 19, 1836. He resigned his commission January 22, was discharged February 9, 1863, and died October 3, 1878.
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Raeph R. Hussey of Acton, Second Lieutenant of Company H. is reported dead, but, although I have earnestly tried, I have been unable to learn the facts in his case.
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