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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.
>rarv ot Congress
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1
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
«*»**. -i, i iwniTniiwuiiimM mh , ,nf,Mtmuum
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-
V
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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
"-"-•* — ■'-• )trm»rim
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
L ,Mktaf*^.;iiaM«^ "-•-'•-
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
.saasaiaa^^^
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
■««^^aiMJtt». .,. ]f, titinp^
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
1
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j
I
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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I
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
iaMfln i .itW^tfiaiimwHW.1 >._- ■.-.
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
■
ilMviiilff^^"^^^
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
.■ .ay.:/^^. 'VMm& sm&iMWm '*^.*^^^,*±z*i<&&«^
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.
tfctvffc
ftl^i.a^fe.f^fra^aaa^ mum*®*
.'l.UMBIB
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.
IwBltiiifriT. -^^-^^- ' y "'»' fWlYniii i .11 iT-H-ii-ir-" tf" fBBWBWWWIllWIMr rtrnmiirr-nmf Trwrti
Jlppettdix JI
^^^
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 * « « « «
MirtMiWli^ffi-rT m*^**^**"**********:
.-, ,^::. ^/^■it^.^^.^M^^ jjamam^ «m>i ^*»»
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
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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.
I
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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.
1
t*
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.
i
4
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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