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Seventeenth Maine Regiment
GETTYSBURG
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NKTIONKL. CETUHeTERV JvtONUTVT ENT — GETT VSBU RC
THE BATTLE OF GETTTSBUEG.
BY BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL CHARLES HAMLIN,
LATE ASSISTANT ADJUTANT GENERAL,
SECOND DITI8I0N THIRD AEMT CORPS, ARHT OF POTOMAC.
A BRIEF sketch of this battle will enable the reader to under-
stand the operations of both Union and Confederate
troops given in detail, as they appear in the various
accounts of the battle, hereafter in this volume. Such a sketch,
indeed, is necessary for the general reader who desires a con-
nected account, because the main purpose of this volume is to
give a particular account of the various regiments and batteries
of the State of Maine, rather than a single and connected ^^ew.
An invasion of the North was determined upon by the Con-
federate authorities soon after the battle of Chancellorsville in
May, 1863. It seems evident now that the causes which led
to this invasion were, that the term of many of the Union sol-
diers was expiring ; the late defeat at Chancellorsville ; and
the hope and expectation to capture Pliiladelphia, Baltimore,
and Washington, which might end the war through a recogni-
tion of the Confederacy by foreign governments, followed by
their intervention.
On the second of June, Lee began his movement north
with the withdrawal of his army from Fredericksburg. On
the eighth, Eu-eJl and LonyMreet an-ived at Culpeper, to
which place Stuart had already advanced his cavalry. General
Hooker, on June 5th, ordered a reconnaissance below Freder-
icksburg, suspecting some important movement by General
Lee. On the eighth, Pleasonton's cavalry and two brigades
of infantry were ordered across the Rappahannock. On the
morning of the ninth these forces crossed the river and attacked
Stuart's cavalry at Brandy Station. Here occurred the first
4 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
Gettysburg. He bombarded Carlisle with shell, burned the
government barracks, and then moved south, via Mount Holly
Gap, and did not arrive on the battletield until the afternoon
of July 2d, having been separated seven days from General
Lee. The absence of Stuart's cavalry proved to lie disadvan-
tageous to General Lee, who did not know until the evening of
the twenty-eighth, while at Chambersburg, that Hooker had
crossed the Potomac into Maryland. Lee still lielieved that
Hooker was in Virginia, held there in check by Stuart.
Lee at once began to concentrate his ai-my, sent EweU
orders to retire from Carlisle and to recall his troops near Har-
risburg. Bodes' and Earhfs divisions were ordered to join
HilVs corps in the vicinity of Gettysburg, while JoJmsoiis divis-
ion with the artillery and trains approached the Chambersburg
Pike via Shippensl)urg and Fayetteville. IlilVs and Eu-elVs
corps, on the thirtieth, advanced towards Gettysburg. Petti-
greic's brigade, on the same day, was ordered with several
wagons to Gettysburg to secure clothing and shoes.
POSITION OF THE UNION ARMY,
ON THB EVENING OF JUNK 30, 1863, TO THE SOUTH AND BAST,
AND DISTANT FROM GETTTSBUEG.
First Corps, Doubleday (Second and Fifth Maine Batteries
and Sixteenth Maine Regiment with this Corps), Marsh Creek,
5 1-2 miles south. Second Corps, Hancock (Nineteenth Maine
Regiment with this Coi-ps) , Uniontown, 20 miles south. Third
Corps, Sickles (Thii-d, Fourth, and Seventeenth Maine Regi-
ments with this Corps), Bridgcpoi-t, 12 miles .south. Fifth
Corps, Sj'kes (Twentieth Maine Regiment with this Corps),
Union Mills, 16 miles southeast. Sixth Corps, Sedgwick
(Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Maine Regiments with this Corps) ,
Manchester, 34 miles southeast. Eleventh Corps, Howard,
Emmitsburg, 10 miles south. Twelfth Corps, Slocum (Tenth
Maine Battalion at Corps headquarters), Littlestown, 10 miles
southeast. Buford's cavalry, two brigades, Gamble's and
Devin's, at Gettysburg. Men-itt's (Regular) Brigade, Mechan-
icstown, 18 miles south. Gregg's cavalry (First Maine
Regiment with Gregg) , Westminster, 34 miles southeast. Kil-
patrick's cavalry, Hanover, 14 miles east.
MOVING TOWARDS GETTYSBURG. 5
Dow's Sixth Maine Battery was with the Fourth Brigade
of the reserve artillery, at Tanej-town, 12 miles south. Co. D,
2d U. S. Sharpshooters was with the Third Coi-ps.
General Meade's orders for July 1st were, for the First and
Eleventh corps to move to Gettysburg, the Third to Emmits-
burg, the Second to Taneytown, the Fifth to Hanover, and the
Twelfth to Two Taverns ; the Sixth was left at Manchester.
POSITION OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMY,
ON THB EVENING OF JUNE 30, 18G3, NORTH AND WEST, AND
DISTANT FROM OETTYSBURQ.
First Corps, Longstreefs, at Chambersburg, 25 miles
northwest. Second Corps, EwelVs: divisions, Early's, near
Heidlersburg, 12 miles northeast ; Bodes', Heidlersbui-g, 10
miles northeast ; Johnson's, yicimtj of Fayetteville, 21 miles
northwest. Third Corps, Hill's: divisions, Andersoii's, Fay-
ette\dlle, 18 miles northwest ; Pender's, near Cashtown, 10
miles northwest ; Heth's, at Cashtown, 8 miles northwest ;
Pettigrevj's brigade, at Marsh Creek, 3 1-2 miles noi'thwest ;
Stuart's cavalrj^ near Dover, 21 miles northeast.
General Lee's orders to Hill and Longstreet, for July 1st,
were, for Heth's division with eight batteries to occupy Gettys-
burg, Pender's division to move promptly to Heth's support.
Longstreet was to follow this movement with JSIcLaws' and
Hood's divisions.
Buford's cavalry division, on the left of the Union army,
was, approaching Gettysburg June 30th, on the Emmitslnirg
Road, and encountered Pettigrew's brigade entering the town
from the west. Pettigrew fell back towards Cashtown to a
position on Marsh Run, where he notified Heth, to whose
division he belonged, that Gettj'sburg was occupied by the
Union forces. Buford's cavalry passed through the town of
Gettysburg about half-past eleven o'clock in the forenoon.
Halting west of Seminary ridge he went into camp, with
Gamble's brigade south of the railroad to cover the approaches
from Chambersburg and Hagerstown. Devin's brigade went
to the north of the railroad, posting his videttes on all the
roads north and northwest. Buford sent information to Rey-
nolds of the presence of the enemy ; and Reynolds, who was
b MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
instructed to occupy Gettysburg, advanced the First Corps
from Emmitsburg to ilarsh Creek, about five and one-half
miles from Gettysburg. !Meade moved his right wing forward
to Manchester. On the night of the thirtieth, Buford held a
conference with Reynolds at Marsh Creek, and returned, during
the night, to his headquarters in Gettysburg with one of Rey-
nolds' staff, who was to report to his chief early in the morning
of the next day.
At this time, Lee appears to have been fearful that his
communications might be interrupted, and he was troubled by
the naked defenses of Richmond. Lee, therefore, determined
to draw back and make a diversion east of the South Mountain
range to engage ^leade's attention. Although Lee's plan of
invasion had been thwarted, he determined to defeat Meade's
army. On the other hand, Meade, having selected the general
line of Pipe Creek for his defense, had thi'own his left wing,
preceded by Buford's cavalry, forward to Gettysburg as a
mask. Both generals aimed to secure Gettysburg for the
reason that it controlled the roads towards the Potomac. Its
occupation bj- the Union army proved to be of gi'eat impor-
tance when we consider the subsequent events.
FIRST DAY.
The first day's battle was fought on the west and north of
Gettysburg. It began with Buford's cavalry holding back the
enemy's infantiy beyond and along Willoughby Run until the
arrival of the Fu'st Corps, followed by the Eleventh Corps.
A severe engagement, especially along the front of the First
Corps, ensued, in which Reynolds lost his life ; and the Union
forces, under Howard, were driven from the field after Eivell
came from the north. Hall's Second Maine Battery opened
the infantry fight as soon as it an-ived on the ground and was
placed in position north of the Chambersburg Pike. The prin-
cipal fighting by the Confederates along the front of the First
Corps was by two divisions of ^(7?'* corps, who did not
succeed after several attacks until reinforced 1)y EiceJJ. It
was then that the Sixteenth Maine Regiment was ordered to
FIRST DAY OF BATTLE. 7
take position on the extreme right of the First Corps, at the
Mummasburg Road, and to hold the enemy in check so that
the remnant of the division might fall back ; and thus, under
imperative orders to stay there at all hazards, it was delivered
to the enemy by relentless capture.
Stevens' Fifth Maine Battery, which occupied a position
near the Lutheran Seminary, was sharply engaged during Hill's
final assault, and aided by its rapid and severe fire in checking
the enemy. The two corps of the Union army fell back
through the town of Gettysburg, with heavy loss, but were
not vigorously pursued by the enemy. The check given to
the enemy's advance by the hard and desperate fighting of the
First Corps led to results worth all the sacrifice ; but to this
day full credit has hardly been given to the great services
rendered by that corps, familiar as we all are with the feai-ful
losses inflicted upon it. The remnants of the two corps fell
back upon Cemetery Hill, which lies to the south of the village
of Gettysburg, and there awaited the arrival of the remainder
of our army.
The chief features of the gi'ound occupied by the Union
army during the remainder of the battle, July 2d and 3d, may
be descriljed briefly as follows : South of Gettysburg there is
a chain of hills and bluffs shaped like a fish-hook. At the
east, which we will call the barb of the hook, is Gulp's Hill ;
and turning to the west is Cemetery Hill, which we will call
the shank, running north and south until it terminates near a
slope in a rocky, wooded peak called Round Top, having Little
Round Top as a spur. The credit of selecting this position
has been e(]ually claimed by both Hancock and Howard. At
Hancock's suggestion Meade brought the army forward from
Pipe Creek to secure it.
Lee, having arrived at Seminary Ridge with his troops near
the close of the first day's battle, made an examination of the
field and left Eivell to decide for himself how far he should
follow up the attack upon the Union army at the east of the
town at the close of the first day's battle. At this time Ewell,
observing the strong position occupied by the Union forces
upon Gulp's Hill by the arrival of the Twelfth Corps under
8 >IAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
Slocum, decided not to make an attack. Cemetery Hill at the
same time was well occupied by infantry and artillery.
On the second day Lee determined to assume the offensive
and resolved to give battle, although it seems that when he
opened his campaign he had declared that it should be an
offensive-defensive one. Probably his success on the first day
may have induced the belief that a change from his original
plan was well wan'anted. He was also influenced by the belief
that the attacking party has the moral advantage, and in the
light of his experience at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville
he thought he could succeed. Longstreet urged him to move
around the Union left, and manceuvi-e Meade out of liis posi-
tion by threatening liis communications with AVasliington ; but
he declined to accept the advice.
SECOND DAY.
On the morning of the second, Lee's general line was in
concave order of battle, fronting the Union army, parallel to
Cemetery Hill, and about a mile distant, with his left thrown
to the east and through the town to a point opposite Culp's
HUl. Longstreet was on his right, occupying Seminary Ridge,
and about a mile distant from Cemetery Hill, with Hill in the
centi-e and Ev:ell on the left.
The Union position was in the following order, beginning
on the right : Slocum on Culp's Hill : Howard on Cemetery
Hill ; Newton, who succeeded Doubleday, commanding the
Fu'st Corps ; Hancock ; and Sickles ; the latter occupying the
low OTOund between Hancock on his right and Little Round
Top on his left. The Twelfth Corps had come upon the
gi'ound after the fighting of the first day. The Second Corps
aiTived on the morning of the second day. Graham's and
Ward's brigades of the First Division of the Third Corps came
upon the ground about seven o'clock on the night of the fii-st
day, followed l\v two brigades of the Second Division late in
the night. One brigade from each division, left at Emmits-
burg with artillery to guard the mountain pass, came up to
Gettysburg in the forenoon of the second. The Fifth and
and Sixth corps, by a hard night's march, arrived upon the
SECOND DAY OF BATTLE. V
ground the second day. The morning of the second day was
occupied by Meade in strengthening his position and watching
for Lee's attack. He believed that iee would attack him on
the right of our line, and prepared to move against Lee from
that point. He finally decided to remain on the defensive.
Lee having perfected his plans, directed Longstreet, with
his two divisions, then upon the field, consisting of more than
15,000 men, to attack a salient thrown out by Sickles from the
general line on our left at the Emmitsburg Road. Neither army
then occupied Round Top and Longstreet endeavored to capture
it by extending his right in that direction. Sickles' thin line,
of less than 10,000 men, resisted Longstreet for thi-ee hours
along the front of the Third Corps position ; the main fighting
of the Fii'st Division being from 4 : 15 to 0 : 30 p. m., and of the
Second Division from 6 to 8 p. m. Towards the last of it, on
both fronts, other troops came to the assistance of the Third
Corps. A portion of the Fifth Corps, thrown into the support
of Sickles, after a desperate struggle, secured Round Top ; and
though Longstreet forced Sickles back from his salient rein-
forced by troops from the Second, Fifth, Sixth, and Twelfth
corps, he secured only a small benefit commensurate with his
loss after a long and bloody engagement lasting from 4 o'clock
p. M. until it was dark and late in the night.
The centre of the Union line was occupied by the Second
Corps, under Hancock, who assumed command of the left soon
after Sickles was wounded. The Nineteenth Maine Regiment,
under Colonel Heath, assisted in repulsing the attack of Hill
at the close of the day, and made a charge di'iving the enemy
beyond the Emmitsburg Road, recapturing the guns of one of
our batteries wliich had been abandoned. The casualties of the
regiment in killed and wounded exceed those of any other
Maine regiment on this field.
In the Third Corps position between Round Top and the
Peach Orchard on the Emmitsburg Road, the Fourth Maine
Regiment, Col. Elijah Walker, was in the Devil's Den ; the
Seventeenth, Lieut. -Col. Charles B. MeiTiU, was in the Wheat-
field ; and the Third Maine, Col. Moses B. Lakeman, was in
the angle of the salient at the Peach Orchard.
10 MAINE AT GETTYSBlTtG.
The Fourth Maine, with gi'eat sacrifice, successfully repelled
a determined attempt of Law to gain the rear of Birney, and
by counter charges was largely instrumental in holding back
the overwhelming forces brought against Devil's Den until our
lines were established farther ba<3k. The Seventeenth Maine,
substantiallv alone, held the Wheatfield against successive
onslaughts of thrice its numbers of the veterans of Longstreet
until it was relieved by Hancock's ti'oops, after more than two
hours of righting, in which it sustained a loss of one-third of
its strength in killed and wounded. The Third Maine with
two other regiments in the Peach Orchard defeated the fierce
attacks of Jiershaw's South Carolinians upon the south front
of that position, and held the ground until the enemy gained
the rear of the Orchard, nearly surrounding the small remnant
of the command.
When Longstreet, late in the day, was forcing the Union
troops back upon our main line with the help of HiU, who
aided to dislodge the Second Division of the Third Corps from
the Emmitsburg Road, the reserve artillery under Major
McGilvery assisted in repelling the enemy's final attack. The
Sixth Battery, under Lieut. E. B. Dow, took pait in the stand
then made and enabled our infantry to re-form.
On the extreme left of the Union line was the Twentieth
Maine Regiment, under Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain. His
regiment was on the left of the Fifth Coqis troops that took
possession of Little Round Top and prevented the enemy, after
desperate fighting, from turning our left. After expending all
his ammunition. Colonel Chamberlain, by a timely charge,
drove his opponents down the west side of the hill and capt-
ured many prisoners. After dark the regiment seized and held
Big Round Top.
The Seventh Maine Regiment, Lieut.-Col. Selden Connor,
took position on high gi'ound east of Rock Creek, the extreme
right of the Union infantry line, where it protected our flank,
but was not severely engaged after having driven the enemy's
skiiTuishers out along its front.
Capt. Jacob McClure, Co. D, 2d U. S. Sharpshooters, was
out on the skirmish line in front of the First Di\asion of the
Vnwfi. CcfHfetieriite
Ath'ance *— —
THIRD DAY OF BATTLE. 11
Third Corps, between Round Top and the Emmitsburg Road,
and was under constant tire from morning until the general
advance of Longstreet in the afternoon. When the company
fell back, some of the men remained in line of battle and filled
vacant places in the thin line of the division. Others came
under the command of Colonel Chamberlain on Little Round
Top and assisted his company under Captain Morrill, who had
command of a skirmish line on the left, where both delivered a
flank tire upon the enemy at a critical moment.
On the right of the Union army Eioell gained after dark a
foothold on Culp's Hill, where a portion of the Twelfth Corps
had vacated its gi-ound when ordered near night to other parts
of the Union army.
During the movement against Culp's Hill, Early's division
was directed to carrj- Cemetery Hill by a charge, preceded by
an artillery fire from Benner's Hill from four Confederate
batteries. These batteries, however, were silenced by our bat-
teries on Cemetery Hill and Stevens' Fifth Maine Battery in
position between Cemetery and Culp's Hill. Then Early's
infantry moved out, but were handsomely repulsed, suffering
severe loss, especially from the enfilading fire on their left
flank by the Fifth Maine Battery.
THIRD DAY.
At the close of the second day, Lee believed that he had
effected a lodgment in both flanks of the Union army. Meade
called a council of his corps commanders and decided to remain
and hold his position, and at daylight attacked Ewell in force
and compelled him to give up the ground that he had occupied
the night before that had been left vacant by a portion of the
Twelfth Corps. Then Lee detemiined to attack the centre of
the Union line held by the Second Corps. He accordingly
ordered Longstreet, who was opposed to the movement, to
make this assault which is generally called "Pickett's Charge."
Lee massed nearly one hundred and fifty guns of liis artillery
along Seminary Ridge and the Emmitsburg Road and opened
fire against the Union line. Barely eighty guns from our side
12 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
could be put in position to reply, and a tremendous artillery
duel followed that lasted for tvro hours. Then Pickett, Petti-
grev, and Trimble, under order of General Longstreet, with a
column of about fifteen thousand men, made a charge into the
centre of the Union line ; but the charge failed, although some
of PicA'etfs men broke thi'ough a portion of Hancock's first
line, where they were met, in front and flank, by other forces
of the Second Corps, including the Nineteenth Maine Regiment,
and some of the First Corps, which rolled them back with
gi-eat losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners. This ended
the fighting along the infantrj' line of the Union army. The
farthest point reached by the Confederates in this charge is
marked by the "High- Water Mark" monument.
After the repulse of Pickett Kilpatrick made a charge from
the extreme Union left without accomplishing much success.
This was succeeded by an infantrj^ reconnaissance composed of
portions of the Fifth and Sixth corps — in the latter a part
of the Fifth Maine Ecgiment participated — in the direction of
the Peach Orchard, which resulted in the retirement of the
enemy fi-om nearly the entire front of the left of the Union
lines to and beyond the Emmitsburg Road, the capture of a
batch of prisoners, and the re-capture of a piece of artUlery
from the enemj\ This successful and promising movement,
however, was not followed up. There was a sharp and hard
cavalry battle between Gregg, in conjunction with Custer, and
Stuart, when the latter endeavored with his cavalry to pass
around the Union right flank on the third day. Charges and
counter charges were made there, and the Confederates, being
defeated, withdrew from the field.
Lee spent all of the fourtli day and untU daylight on the
fifth preparing for retreat, but in the meantime intrencliing for
any attack that might be made. But Meade did not attack ;
nor would he adventure anj-thing. He permitted Lee to fall
back to the Potomac without following up the advantage that
he had gained. Lee crossed the Potomac at Williamsport and
was followed some days after by Meade.
Of the forces actually engaged, the Union loss in the battle
of Gettysburg was twenty-three thousand out of seventy-eight
MAINE TROOPS ENGAGED. 13
thousand ; the Confederate was twenty-three thousand out of
seventy thousand, — al)f>ut one-third of the entire number
enjjaffcd.
14 MAIXE AT GETTYSBURG.
MONUMENT
OF
SEVENTEENTH MAINE REGIMENT.
This monument, of Hallovvell granite, stands at the south edge of the
Wheat-field, between the Peach Orchard and Devil's Den, by the stone fence,
where its colors were July 2, 1863, at the position where the regiment suc-
cessfully resisted all assaults of the enemy upon it. Two square bases of
single blocks support a four-sided shaft or die, which, inlaid with diamond-
shaped blocks of red granite, rises to the capital with a projecting cornice.
This forms a platform on which is a sculptured group, chiseled from a block
of white granite, representing a section of stone-wall, with wheat, and the
statue of a typical soldier of 1863, true in every detail, posed alert, resting
upon one knee in the wheat, holding his rifle, at the " ready," across the wall.
Adsieasurements: ist base, 8 feet by 8 feet by 2 feet 3 inches; 2d base,
6 feet by 6 feet by 2 feet 8 inches; shaft, tapering from 4 feet 3 inches to 3 feet
8 inches, each side, by 9 feet; cap, 4 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 9 inches by 2 feet;
statue, 4 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 6 inches. Total height, 20
feet 5 inches. '
Upon two sides are the following inscriptions: —
130 Killed and Wounded, 350 Engaged.
July 2, 1863.
17th Maine
Infantry.
Lt. Col. Chas. B. Merrill,
Commanding.
;)i!D Brigade,
1st Divi.sion,
;)RD Corps.
AVheat-Field,
July 2, 1863:
Pickett's Repulse,
Ji-LY 3, 1863.
I
-See page 15 for legend upon the monument.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT MONUMENT. 15
LEGEND.
Upon a bronze pane! set into the north side of the
second base is this learend: —
The Seventeenth M.m.ne fought here in the
V\'HEATFIELD 2 1-2 HOIKS, AND AT THIS POSITION FROM
4:10 TO 5:45 P. M., Jllv 2, 1863. On July 3, .\t time
OF THE enemy's .•\SS.\11.T. IT REINFORCED THE CENTRE
and supported artii-i.er\'. i.oss, i32. killed or
mortally wounded, 3 offickks, 37 me.\. vvounded, 5
officers, 87 men.
This regi.me.vt of noi.unteers from western
.Maine was mustered into the United States ser-
viCK at Portland, August iS, 1S62, for three years.
It took part in the b.\ttles of Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wapping Heights,
.A^UBURN, Kelly's Ford, Locust Groye, .Mine Run,
Wilderness, Po River, Spottsylx'a.nia, Fredericks-
burg Road, North Anna, Totopoto.my, Cold Harbor,
Petersburg, Jerusalem Road, Deep Bottom, Peeble's
Farm, Fort Hell, Boydton Ro.\d, Siege of Peters-
burg, Hatcher's Run, Fall of Petersburg, Detons-
\iLLE, S.\iLOR's Creek, F.\r.myille, .A.ppomattox.
Aggregate actual strength i.n service, 91 offi-
cers, 1,475 men. Killed and died of wounds, 12 offi-
cers, 195 MEN. Died of disease, 4 officers, 128 men.
Died i.\ Co.nfederate prisons, 31 .men. Wounded, not
mortally, 33 officers, 519 men. Missing in action,
fate unknown, 35 men. Total loss, 957. Mustered
OUT June 4, 1865.
SEVENTEENTH MALNE REGIMENT,
THIRD BRIGADE. FIRST DIVISION, THIRD ARMY CORPS,
AT THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBPRG.
WE have followed the fortunes of the Third and Fourth
ilaine regiments, the one upon the right and the other
upon the left of Birney's line. At a point near the
centi-e of this line another Maine regiment, the Seventeenth
infantry, of de Trolniands l)rigade. defended a no less impor-
tant position. Tliis was one of the two lu-igades which Sickles
left iieai' Emmitshurg to guard the mountain passes while he
pressed on to Gettysburg, eleven miles away, with the rest of
the corps, in response to Howard's call for assistance. But
before daybreak of July 2d Colonel de Trobriand received orders
to come up to Gettysburg. The brigade maiched rapidly, but
cautiously, up the Ennnitsburg road, aiTiving near Gettysburg
late in the forenoon. The regiment was under command of
Lieut. -Colonel Merrill, ably seconded by ilajor West. As it
passed northerly along the road bej'ond the Peach Orchard it
received a lire from the Confederate sku-mishers, screened by
the woods in which they were posted, west of the road. The
regiment filed off the road to the east and, passing thi'ough
grass fields and across lots, halted near a growth, where the
hungry boys made a hasty luncheon of hard tack and coffee.
In the line, which Sickles was forming, de Trobriand first
occupied the ridgy, wooded ground between the Peach Orchard
a'iid the AVheatfield. The Wheatfield was of triangular shape,
about 400 yards each side : the highest portion was bounded
by a cross road running along by the Peach Orchard and east-
erly across the north slope of Little Round Top. The Wheat-
field sloped down southerly from this road, and along its
westerly side by a wood, to quite low ground, making a corner
near a branch of Plum Run, with a thick alder growth on the
1/
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT ENGAGED. 17
west ; the tliird or southerl}^ side was bounded by an open
growth of sizable trees, a stone-wall intervening, and this wood
separated the Wheatfield from Devil's Den.
The Seventeenth was at first placed south of the Peach
Orchai'd, supporting the skirmish line of the 3d Mich. De
Trobriand had two regiments at the front, to the left of the
latter, — the 5th Mich., whose skirmishers connected to the 3d,
near the Rose barn, also the 110th Penn., a small regiment.
The largest regiment in the brigade, the 40th N. Y., was in
the wood, in reseiwe, behind these.
The ball opened by a shot from a battery at the Peach
Orchard, soon taken up by Smith's battery at Devil's Den, the
latter drawing fire from the enemy's batteries near the Emmits-
burg road farther south. Ward's brigade extended from Devil's
Den, through the wood, nearly to the Wheatfield. The advance
of the enemy's line of battle was such that Ward received the
first contact, on an attempt by the enemy to capture Smith's
battery. There was a gap between Ward and de Trobriand at
the south corner of the Wheatfield. To occupy this gap the
Seventeenth Maine was hastened upon the double-quick by
the left, taking up its position at the stone-wall, the right of
the regiment extending beyond the wall to the alders. Some
time after, the 40th N. Y. was also taken from de Trobriand
and sent to Ward's left rear, in the Plum Run valley.
Shortly after 4 p. m. the Seventeenth planted its colors at
the stone-wall on the southern edge of the historic Wheat-
field (a). There were no immediately connecting troops upon
its left or right. The regiment took position just in time to
receive the first and furious attack made by the enemy on that
part of the line. This was made by Robertson's brigade of
Hood's division, and the first struggle of the Seventeenth was
with the 3d Ark. regiment. The latter, advancing towards
the l)attery, struck the line of the Seventeenth obliquely ; the
Seventeenth ovcrlapj)ing its left fiank, threw it into confusion
by a spirited enfilading fire. Their line recoiled. After a short
delay they made a change of front, and brought in some of the
(a) Tlie authority for tliis account of the Seventeenth's battle is Captain George
W. VerriU, a participant in the battle as Second Lieutenant of company C. He is
also the author of all that part relating to the battle in the Wheatfield
18
MAINE AT GETTTSBUKG.
1st Texas from their right. Advancing again they made an
effort to dislodge the Seventeenth from its position, but without
avail. Their lines were again broken, causing a partial with-
drawal of their attacking forces here, and likewise at that part
of the line whore they had previously pressed hard upon Ward's
brigade (b).
DIAGRAM 1. Drawn by G. W. VeniU.
SEVENTEENTH MAINE IN THE WHEATFIELD.
The enemy re-formed his lines and brought in Anderson's
Georgia brigade with these scattered portions of Robei'tson's,
making another determined assault. As this developed an
attack extending from Little Round Top westward, and beyond
the right of the Seventeenth, it brought into action the 5th Mich,
and 110th Penn. regiments, which were posted on the wooded
ground west of the Wheatfield, as well as some regiments
of the Fifth corps, posted on the right of these. As the
(b) General Ward said in his official report, '*The valuable services rendered by
Col. T. W. Egan, Lieut-Col. Merrill and their noble regiments (40th N. Y. and Seven-
teenth Maine), at an opportune moment, cannot be over-estimated. Also see Rebel-
lion Records, Vol. 27, part 2, page 408, reports of 3d Ark. and 1st Texas.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT ENGAGED. 19
right wing of the Seventeenth, prolonging the course of the
stone-wall beyond its west end, extended obliquely towards
the enemy, in advance of the general position, and was thus
in the air, the Georgians outflanked it when they advanced.
Perceiving this, the Seventeenth promptly took measures to
avert disaster. One-third of the regiment from its right was
swung back to a slight rail fence which, starting from the stone-
wall at nearly a right angle, formed the boundary of the real
wheat field. Thus two fronts were presented by the regiment,
forming a salient angle at the stone-wall. The movement was
accomplished, although with considerable loss, so quietly that
the rest of the regiment, engaged as they were with the enemy,
were not aware of it, a steady fire being kept up. The tables
were turned. As the veterans of Georgia moved directly for-
ward upon the 5th Mich, and 110th Penn., who received
them face to face, this new line of the right wing of the Seven-
teenth took them in flank. They changed front to match the
flank line of the Seventeenth and again advanced, and thus
exposed their left to the reliable men of the 5th Mich. Mean-
while the enemy, that was not affected bj^ this flanking fire,
pressed forward, even up to the stone-wall, and a desperate
struggle at close quarters ensued for this coveted position. At
the salient angle was company B, with H, K and C at the
right ; at the left of B was G the color company, and on its
left, along the stone-wall, were D, I, F, A and E. All received
a raking fire, particularly G, B and H, but all remained stead-
fast, and routed the enemy, some of whom were taken prisoners,
their color-bearer, who had advanced nearly to our line, nar-
rowly escaping capture. On that portion of the line the enemy
had made no impression, and Anderson's l^rigade retired out of
range. The fight had continued over an hour ; many had fallen,
but success inspired confidence.
To complete his line so as to attack the Peach Orchard in
reverse, Longstreet now brought in Kershaw's South Carolina
brigade of McLaws' division, which advanced, holding its left
upon the Emmitsburg road and pushing forward its right to
sain irround to the east, so as to assault the Orchard from the
south, as it advanced, and at the same time secure a foothold
20 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
at the Wheatfield, thus taking de Trobriand in the right flank
and rear. Semmes' brigade, on the right of Kershaw, was ex-
pected to assist Kershaw and connect with Anderson's brigade.
The troops of Barnes' division of the Fifth corps that had
taken an excellent position on the right of de Trobriand, and
had assisted in repulsing the last previous assault, were in a
situation to receive a part of Kershaw's force in line. Ker-
shaw's advance, at about 5 : 30 p. m. could be plainly seen as his
regiments gained the Rose building ; as they advanced, Ander-
son's brigade also made another attack. The assault was most
desperate, with a strength at least double that of ours ; if suc-
cessful it would sweep directly across the Wheatfield, converg-
ing as it advanced. Again the Seventeenth at the stone-wall
held the enemy at bay ; at its angle it repelled the attempts of
Anderson after a long and persistent struggle ; but Kershaw
forced back the Fifth corps forces at the " loop " and struck the
flank of de Trobriand's brigade in the woods. Pushing ahead
for a junction with Anderson, a portion of the assailants made
for the west corner of the Wheatfield through the thick alder
gi-owth, happily there, which both impeded their rush and broke
the solidity of their ranks ; they emerged through the alders
within fifty paces of the flanking right wing of the Seventeenth,
which awaited them at the rail fence. Here were a hundred
muskets, in the hands of steady veterans, to receive them :
" Aim low, boys ! make every shot tell I " With the most
frantic efforts to re-form his lines for a charge, the enemy was
unsuccessful ; the men dropped as they emerged from the
alders ; in a few minutes they gave it up and retreated out of
sight. The Seventeenth breathed easier. But the attack of
Kershaw, forcing Barnes away, in turn compelled the 5th Mich,
and 110th Penn. to move rearward. Kershaw thus gained
lodgment in the woods west of the Wheatfield, considerably in
rear of the position of the Seventeenth. Winslow's battery,
posted at the noiih side of the field, withdrew from its posi-
tion. The Seventeenth was thus left alone, far in advance of
its brother regiments and well outflanked upon its right by
Kershaw. It was ordei'ed back across the field in line of battle
to the cross road before spoken of. Another attack followed
before a new general line could be arranged.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT ENGAGED.
21
The enemy seeins the retrograde movement across the
Wheatfield, at once moved up to the abandoned stone-wall and
over it, and also to the edge of the woods west of the Wheat-
field. General Birney rode up, saw the desperate situation,
and also saw the Seventeenth Maine near him, which had just
squatted down in the cross road and had sent for ammunition.
It had expended already over forty of the sixty rounds with
which it was provided (a) . Birney called upon the Seventeenth
for a charge. He placed himself at the head of the regiment,
DIAGRAM 2. Drawn by G. W. VeiriU.
SEVENTEENTH MAINE IN THE WHEATFIELD.
and with a cheer and a rush it moved down into the Wheat-
field. The enemy disappeared over the stone-wall and into the
(a) Sergeant Pratt of company C (afterwards a captain), and some
others, carried 80 rounds into the fig;ht. Captain Pratt has positive knowl-
edge that he fired 60 rounds from the stone-wall position, although there were
lulls in the battle, a change of position by the company, and a slight wound-
ing, to interrupt him in his work. This proves the time that the regiment
remained at the wall to have been nearly two hours. The Sergeant did not
quit the field until he received his third wound, after the charge under Birney.
22 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
woods. Placing the Seventeenth about midway of the "Wheat-
field he ordered it to remain there and keep back the enemy, (a)
The Seventeenth took upon itself without flinching this task
of a forlorn hope. It was past 6 o'clock. General Sickles had
just been wounded. Birney was notified and took command
of the corps. Leaving the Seventeenth, he went to another
part of the field, but he was not unmindful of the situation he
left ; (b) the gallant .5th Mich, was brought up and extended
the line of the Seventeenth to the right ; the two small brigades
of Barnes, who had retired from the front woods, were now
resting in the woods one hundred yards in rear of the Wheat-
field, but not engaged (c) ; General Birney had sent to Hancock
for Second corps troops. Meanwhile the raking musketry fire
of the enemy at short range, both from the stone-wall in front
and the wood nearer and to the right, was making sad inroads
upon the attenuated ranks of the Seventeenth and its brother
regiment, as there was no protection of any sort ; occasionally
the enemy would form a line and emerge from the woods as
for a charge, ))ut the firmness and confidence displayed by the
Seventeenth and the .5th Mich., ready to meet him with the
bayonet, apparently disheartened him.
The cartridges were giving out ; every box of a dead or
wounded comrade was appropriated to eke out the supply.
Twenty minutes, — a half-hour, — passed, and still no signs of
help ; the last cartridge was gone and the men were gi-imly
told by the commanding oflScer that the Seventeenth would
stay there and hold the ground with the bayonet until the last
man had fallen ! (d) This small l)and of Third corps men suc-
cessfully held the line at this critical time without assistance
(a) Of this Gettysburg charge General Birney said in his official report, concern-
ing the Seventeenth : " This regiment behaved most gallantly, and evinced a high
state of discipline. Their enthusiasm was cheering, and the assistance rendered by
their charge most important."
As accounts of various military writers have iujected several regiments into this
charge led by General Birney. it is desired to emphasize the fact, that no other regi-
ment took part in it, and no troops were brought up to aid the Seventeenth except
as here narrated.— G. w. v.
(b) See de Trobriand's report,— Rebellion Records, serial no. 43, page 520.
(c) See Birney 's report,— Rebellion Records, serial no. 43, page 483; also Sweit-
ler's report,— Ibid., page till.
(d) See Lieut.-Col. Merrill's official report,— Rebellion Records, serial no. 43, p. 522.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT ENGAGED. 23
from other infantry. The batteries in and to the east of the
Peach Orchard nobly performed their work and helped to keep
Kershaw's men under cover by their rapid and well-aimed fire.
At last, at just about (! : 40 o'clock, deliverance came.
Caldwell's division of the Second corps readily assimied the
battle on that portion of the line. Cross' brigade went in
where Ward's right had rested ; after this, Kelly's brigade
advanced, in line of battle, through and beyond the small rem-
nant of the Seventeenth Maine and 5th Mich., into the edge of
the wood, with a rush ujion Kershaw's troops, with whom the
Maine and Michigan veterans had been contending.
The Seventeenth, thus relieved, collected and took along
its wounded who were disabled on the field, and then, in good
order, finally left the Wheatfield, handing it over, still intact,
into the keeping of other Union troops.
[It may not be amiss to state briefly the events of that
evening, on this pai't of the field, after the Seventeenth was
relieved. Cross' brigade advanced upon the enemy posted
behind the west end of the Wheatfield stone-fence, and the wall
running westerly from Devil's Den. A hot contest ensued for
thirty or forty minutes, the enemy holding his ground, when
the regulars of Ayres' division. Fifth corps, came in up to the
east side of the Wheatfield and relieved Cross' brigade. Kelly's
brigade, with that of Zook upon its right, fought fiercely with
Kershaw in the woods where we left Mm, finally driving the
latter out. About this time Brooke, with his brigade of Cald-
well's division, charged across the Wheatfield, almost unre-
sisted by the used-up and disconnected troops of Anderson,
Kershaw and Semmes. Bv these three brigades of C'aldwell
the line was advanced to the faithest point held by the Third
corps and extended farther south. This was about 7 p. M.,
when, Bai"ksdale having pushed ])ack our regiments and bat-
teries just north of the Peach Orchard, Longstrect brought up
Wofford's fresh brigade, which advanced thi'ough the Orchard
and easterly on the cross road. There was nothing to resist
him ; Tilton's brigade of Barnes' division had been resting in
Trostle's grove, in an excellent position to defend from Wof-
ford, but had retired. Kershaw joined to Wofford, and taking
24 MAFNE AT GETTTSBUHG.
our lines about the "Wheatfield in the right flank and rear,
easily whirled out the three brigades of the Second corps,
Sweitzers brigade of the Fifth corps which was then in the
^Vheatfield, also the regulars of A^tcs, causing heavA" loss,
and advanced the Confederate line to the Plum Run valley,
west of Little Round Top. Here it was met by a charge of
about three brigades of the Sixth and Fifth corps. These with
the timely aid rendered at this point by McGilven.-'s batteries,
in driving back Barksdale's troops, not far distant, north of
the cross road, turned the tide of battle. This was about 7 : 30
p. M. The Confederates retired to the southerh* and westei'ly
sides of the Wheatfield, about where they were when the Sev-
enteenth was relieved, nearly an hour before.]
On July 3d, when Longstreet's assault was made upon the
centre of Hancock's line, the Seventeenth was brought into the
general line to receive it, at a point where Wilcox's column
would have struck, had it got so far. but our batteries pounded
this column to pieces before it reached our infantry line ; h"ing
there, supporting the batteries, the regiment was exposed to a
severe artillerA- fire, losing in it two killed and ten wounded, —
small loss compared to that of the day before.
A >L\RKER
located upon the ground held by the regiment July 3d, during the charge,
stands upon the west side of Hancock Avenue, near the monument of the
9th Mich. batter>' and to its right. This marker, cut from Maine granite,
assumes the size and appearance of a small monument. The upper portion
of the die shows rather more than the half of a square block, with one of
its angles making the apex. Upon the face, matching the angles of the top,
a red granite diamond, or lozenge, is inlaid, beneath which is the following
inscription:
Position" of the 17th Maixe Ixttt. Jult 3, 1863.
LosLNG Hebe Killed 2, Wocntjed, 10.
This Regt. Fought July 2, ix the Wheatfield,
As SHO^^'x BY MoMUMEXT Theee, Losixg 120.
SEVENTEENTH KEGIMENT PARTICIPANTS. 25
PAETICIPANTS.
FIELD, STAFF AND NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
Lieutenant-Colonel, Charles B. Merrill, Portland, commanding regiment.
Major, George W. West, Somerville, Mass.
Adjutant, First Lieutenant Charles W. Roberts, Portland.
Quartermaster, First Lieutenant Josiah Remick, Portland.
Surgeon, Nahum A. Hersom, Sanford.
Assistant Surgeon, William Wescott, Standish.
Chaplain, Jeremiah Hayden, Raymond.
Sergeant-Major, Henry L. Bartels, Portland, acting 2d Lieut., see company F.
[Acting Sergeant-Major, Frederick W. Bosworth, Portland, Private co. A.]
Quartermaster-Sergeant, John Yeaton, Jr., Portland.
Commissary-Sergeant, John F. Putnam, Lewiston.
Hospital Steward, Nathaniel B. Coleman, Portland.
Company A.
Captain, Charles P. Mattocks, Portland.
istSergt., act'g 2d Lieut. Grenville F. Sparrow, Portland (com., notmust'd).
SERGEANTS.
AlvinF. Blake,Portland,act'gistSerg. Fayette M. Paine, New Vineyard,
Benjamin Doe, So. Berwick, Edward H. Crie, Portland.
CORPORALS.
Jesse A. Stone, Portland, Robert M. Low, Pownal,
Joseph F. Lake, Portland, color-bearer, George T. Jones, Richmond.
PRIVATES.
Andrews, Albert H., Jr., Portland, Armstrong, Jacob L., Portland,
Barker, Alonzo J., New Vineyard, Bodkin, Peter P., Portland,
Brown, Daniel W., Baldwin, Brown, Jacob C, Portland,
Burns, Michael, Portland, Chick, William H., So. Berwick,
Delihanty, Thomas, Portland, Dresser, Albion K. P., Pownal,
Goodenow, Charles, Gray, Herrick, Ira J., New Vineyard,
Hodsdon, Joseph A., Falmouth, Ingraham, Octavius C, Portland,
James, John W., Portland, Joy, Granville W., So. Berwick,
Marston, Edward H., Falmouth, Marston, Horace G., Falmouth,
Marston, Joseph S., Falmouth, McDonald, Peter, Compton, Can.,
Miller, Alonzo, Portland, Milliken, Charles, Portland,
Pettengill, Albion C, Portland, Pratt, Jeremiah L., New Vineyard,
Pray, Ivory, So. Berwick, Sawyer, Alonzo W., Westbrook,
Sawyer Henry H., New Gloucester, Spaulding, David M., New Vineyard,
Skillings, Franklin, Pordand, Totman, John F., Portland,
Tuttle, John F., Freeman, Waterhouse, Robert, Portland,
Wilkinson, Frederick N., So. Berwick.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: 2d Lieut. Edwin B. Hough-
ton, Portland, act'g A. D. C. brig, staff, commiss'd ist Lieut., not mustered.
Corporal Anson F. Ward, Portland, div. provo. guard. Privates: Frederick
W. Bosworth, Portland, act'g Sergt. -Major, see Field and Staff; Robert Ham-
ilton, Portland, corps provo. guard; Samuel D. Roberts, Portland, 4th N. Y.
batt'y; Henry C. Allen, New Gloucester, corps amm'n train; Edward Fabyan,
26 MAIXK AT GETTYSBURG.
Portland, teamster; Cornelius Boyle, Portland, regt'l pioneer; John B. Miles,
New Vineyard, cattle gtiard; Obed W. Paine, New Vineyard, blacksmith;
Jonas Reynolds, So. Berwick, cook; Mark H. Sawyer, Portland, and George
H. M. Taylor, Portland, div. supply train; James S. Spaulding, Anson, Oliver
Waite, Anson, and Oliver Walker, So. Berwick, brig. amb. train. Musicians:
Henrj- B. Berry, Portland, and Augustus Vaughn, New \'ineyard, hosp. dept.
Wagoner Charles R. Hale, Portland, div. supply train.
CoMP.\NY B.
First Lieutenant, Benjamin C. Pennell, Portland, commanding company.
Second Lieutenant, William H. Green, Portland.
SERGE.\NTS.
Horace A. Smith, Portland, acting First Sergeant,
Edwin J. Hawkes, Portland, Daniel Gookin, Portland,
Cyrus M. Hall, Portland.
CORPORALS.
David C. Saunders, Sweden, color gd., George W. Jones, Portland,
Edward A. Roberts, Portland, Charles H. Merrill, Portland,
George W. H. Roach, Portland, Aaron Hubbard, So. Berwick.
PRIVATES.
Brackett, Byron, Sweden, Carruthers, Charles E., Portland,
Charles, Frank C, Fryeburg, Davis, Samuel C, Portland,
Doughty, John, Jr., Portland, Duran, George E. H., Portland,
Elliot, William S., Portland, Emery, Moses D., Stowe,
Fabyan, Charles H., Portland, Flannagan, James, Portland,
Foster, R. G. W., Albany, Grover, Alpheus, Portland,
Holt, James G., Fryeburg, Lehane, John, Portland,
Libby, Seth B., Portland, McKeen, James, Stowe,
McKenzie, Matthew, Portland, Morton, Sidney G., Fr>'eburg,
Morton, William B., Fryeburg, Norton, George L., Portland,
Noyes, Alvin A., Portland, Quint, Monroe, Stowe,
Smith, Daniel, Jr., Frj-eburg, Walker, Alden B., Fr\-eburg,
Wiley, Gardner B., Stowe, Wiley Joseph, Fryeburg,
Winn, Andrew, Portland.
On Special DtTV or Detached Service: Corporal John Witham,
Portland, provo. guard. Privates: Augustus A. Kimball, Portland, 6th R.
L batt'y; Edwin G. Thome, Portland, Smith's 4th N. Y. batt'y; Samuel
Buxton, Portland, amm'n train; Samuel C. Holden, Fryeburg, surgeon's
detail; Orlando Hooper, Portland, George F. Moulton, Portland, and Joseph
Wescott, Windham, brig. amb. corps; Edward Kelly, Portland, cook. Musi-
cians: James F. Bartlett, Portland, and William H. Colby, Portland, assisting
wounded. Wagoner Samuel E. Silsby, Portland, tools wagon.
Company C.
First Lieutenant, Edward Moore, Portland, commanding company.
Second Lieutenant, George W. Verrill, Norway.
sergeants.
First Sergeant, Jordan M. Hall, Casco, Asa L. Downs, Minot,
William F. Morrill, Durham, Gustavus C. Pratt, Oxford.
CORPORALS.
Josiah G. M. Spiller, Casco, Cyrus T. Pratt, Poland,
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT PARTICIPANTS.
27
Allen, Joseph A., Raymond,
Black, Lawson S., Bethel,
Campbell, Alexander, Minot,
Dean, Abraham, Jr., Oxford,
Durgin, George A., Minot,
Graffam, Henry, Casco,
Hawley, John, Farmington,
Mills, Fessenden M., Norway,
Perkins, George F., Minot, in part,
Ricker, Wentworth P., Poland,
Strout, Charles W., Minot,
Welch, Stephen S., Casco,
Jas. F. Strout, Raymond, color guard, James L. Fuller, Minot,
George B. Dunn, Poland.
PRIVATES.
Berrj-, James, Naples,
Brown, Horace J., Poland, in part,
Churchill, Allen M., Poland,
Duran, Josiah, Poland,
Faunce, William, O.xford,
Haskell, Samuel F., Poland,
Maybury, Enoch, Naples,
Pattee, Andrew J., Poland,
Pratt, Addison B., Minot,
Strout, Albert, Raymond,
Verrill, Richard, Raymond,
Witham, Henr>-, Casco.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Privates: Preble Soper,
Hebron, in provo. guard; George G. Bridgham, Poland, hostler brig, h'dqrs;
Orrin Downs, Oxford, teamster supply train; Chester J. Dunn, New Glouces-
ter, assist, to wounded; John B. Evans, Raymond, cook; D. S. N. Thurlow,
Raymond, regt'l pioneer. Musician Stephen W. Gammon, Poland, in charge
of stretcher bearers. Wagoner James E. Fulton, Raymond, supply train.
Company D.
Captain, John C. Perry, Portland.
First Lieutenant, Newton Whitten, Portland.
Second Lieutenant, Stephen Graffam, Portland.
SERGE.\NTS.
First Sergeant, Franklin I. Whittemore, Portland,
Daniel J. Chandler, Lewiston, Newton W. Parker, Lewiston.
CORPORALS.
Bernard Hogan, Lewiston, color guard, George A. Parker, Lewiston,
Melvin Davis, Lewiston, George F. Hanna, Portland.
PRIVATES.
Austin, Joseph, Lewiston,
Bickford, Nathaniel G., Lewiston,
Cobb, Daniel, Windham,
Dwelley, Samuel L., Lewiston,
Faunce, Oilman, Lewiston,
Gammon, Samuel H., Portland,
Groves, Laphorest, Lewiston,
Holt, John, Lewiston,
Lane, William N., Lewiston,
Parker, George I., Lewiston,
Rogers, Ezra P., Lewiston,
Skillin, Hiram B., Portland,
Toole, Thomas, Lewiston,
Baker, Edwin G., Lewiston,
Chadderton, Joseph, Lewiston,
Currier, George O., Lewiston,
Fall, Melvin, Lebanon,
Fowler, Levi, Lewiston,
Goodwin, Henry G., So. Berwick,
Hays, Charles H., Portland,
Hulme, James, Lewiston,
Mills, Joseph N., Portland,
Penley, Henr>' H., Lewiston,
Rounds, Isaac, Lewiston,
Sweeney, Michael, Lewiston,
Winter, Amos G., Lewiston.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Privates: Charles H. Pink-
ham, Lebanon, Livingston's N. Y. battery; Charles W. Peasley, Lewiston,
div. provo. guard; William Bodge, Lewiston, orderly div. h'dqrs; Warren
S. Butler, Lewiston, regt'l hosp. nurse; Thomas ^L Dennett, Portland,
28 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
hostler; Edmund D. Field, Portland, in amb. corps, stretcher bearer; John
Hogan, Lewiston, regt'l pioneer, stretcher bearer; Thomas C. Haley, Lew-
iston, and John E. Newman, Portland, div. supply train; Elijah P. Harmon,
Lewiston, hostler div. h'dqrs; Frank A. McDonald, Lewiston, and Bradford
Stevens, Lewiston, div. amb. train; Charles McCarty, Portland, guard at
hospital; Isaiah G. Mason, Lewiston, brig, blacksmith. Wagoner Frank C.
Houghton, Lewiston.
Company E.
Captain, Ellis M. Sawyer, Cape Elizabeth.
Second Lieutenant, Frederick A. Sawyer, Portland.
SERGEANTS.
First Sergeant, Herman Q. Mason, Portland.
Charles F. Vanhorn, Portland, Oliver E. Jordan, Cape Elizabeth.
CORPORALS.
George F. Small, Cape Elizabeth, William M. Loring, Yarmouth,
Herbert Soule, Yarmouth, Albert O. Baker, Yarmouth, color gd.
PRIVATES.
Adderton, JosiahM., No. Yarmouth, Allen, Albion S.,Freeport,(part July 2).
Anthoine, Edwin D., Cape Elizabeth, Baker, Charles W., Yarmouth,
Barstow, Jeremiah R., Cumberland, Blackstone, Jordan, Pownal,
Blake, Elijah, No. Yarmouth, Brown, John N., Cape Elizabeth,
Bruce, Rufus S., Yarmouth, Colley, Charles L., No. Yarmouth,
Doughty, George W., Cape Elizabeth, Goff, Lucius S., Gray,
Hall, James H., Yarmouth, Harmon, Arthur A., Cape Elizabeth,
Hayes, David P., No. Yarmouth, Hayes, Francis E., No. Yarmouth,
Holyoke, Charles G., Yarmouth, Huff, Samuel, Jr., Portland,
Johnson, Albert A., Freeport, Jordan, Simon, Cape Elizabeth,
King, William H., Woolwich, Eng., Lombard, John T., Cape Elizabeth,
Loring, Joseph H., Yarmouth, Marston, E, Greeley, Yarmouth,
Milliken, Samuel, Cape Elizabeth, Mitchell, Tristram P., Yarmouth,
Pargade, Cheri, No. Yarmouth, Plowman, Oliver, Scarborough,
Rideout, Joseph M., Cumberland, Ross, George E., Gray,
Seabury, Ammi D., Yarmouth, Soule, George O. D., Yarmouth,
Sparks, James E., Yarmouth, Thompson, Charles H., Gray,
True, Hollis, Pownal, Whitney, William J., No. Yarmouth.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Privates; Standish P.
Reed, Yarmouth, R. I. battery; Aaron Hodgdon, Pownal, cook; Francis H.
Hale, Paris, and Moses McKenny, Cape Elizabeth, div. provo. guard; Will-
iam H. Gore, Gray, and Lewis A. Simpson, Gray, amb. corps; David V.
Lovell, Pownal, and William F. Roberts, Cape Elizabeth, teamsters. Wag-
oner Lewis W. Lombard, Portland, with trains.
Company F.
First Lieutenant, Joseph A. Perr>', Portland, commanding.
[Act'g Second Lieut., Serg.-Major Henry L. Bartels, cont'd, not mustered.]
First Sergeant, Hannibal S. Warren, Norway.
Sergeant, Charles P. Jackson, Woodstock.
corporals.
Zephaniah E. Sawtelle, Paris, Asa G. Charles, Norway,
George R. Fickett, Portland, William D. Merrill, Norway, color gd.,
Albert C. Gammon, Norway, Austin Hanson, Hiram,
Otis H. Dyer, Paris.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT PARTICIPANTS.
29
Allen, George H., Shapleigh,
Burgess, Joseph P., Brovvnfield,
Day, Henry, Jr., Brownfield,
Farnham, Luther B., Woodstock,
Gannon, William, Greenwood,
Kenniston, George G., Brownfield,
Libby, Richard L., Windham,
Morse, Moses H., Paris,
Newcomb, Charles A., Sebago,
Parker, Isaac, Hiram,
Stone, Henry F., Lebanon,
Thome, Edgecomb N., Brownfield,
Washburn, Almon T., Paris,
Whitman, George W., Woodstock,
PRIVATES.
Ames, Willard O., Greenwood,
Curtis, Oliver G., Paris,
Estes, Joshua P., Bethel,
Farr, Solomon, Greenwood,
Holt, Calvin, Norway,
Knapp, James H. S., Paris,
Morse, Edward F., Norway,
Morton, Melville, Westbrook,
Newhall, Eugene P., Paris,
Pratt, Levi A., Paris,
Thome, Barnett, Woodstock,
Twitchell, Charles H., Paris,
Washburn, Linas G., Paris, July 2,
Woodman, John M., Hiram.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Sergeant Frank L. Berry,
Paris, amb. corps; Privates: Hosea R. Allen, Hiram, and William Spencer,
Baldwin, hospital nurses; William H. Day, Brownfield, in 4th N. Y. battery;
Ephraim H. Brown, Norway, corps provo. guard; Lemuel B. Carter, Paris,
and William H. Gray, Brownfield, amb. corps; William H. Downs, Paris,
teamster supply train; Isaac E. Osgood, Hiram, guard to convalescents;
William H. Thorne, Bridgton, amb. train; Cyrus S. Tucker, Norway, brig,
saddler; Wentworth H. Shaw, Bridgton, provo. guard; Seth Wadsworth,
Hiram, surgeon's detail. Musician John C. McArdle, Paris, assistant for
wounded. Wagoner Nathaniel LeBarron, Greenwood, quartermaster's dept.
Company G.
Second Lieutenant, Hiram R. Dyar, Farmington, commanding company.
SERGEANTS.
First Sergeant, John N. Morrill, Strong,
Walter F. Noyes, Jay, James Snowman, Weld,
Stephen H. Roberts, Berwick, Lloyd W. Lamos, Berwick.
corporals.
Johiel B. Blethen, Madrid, Albert L. Bradbury, Avon,
Jeremy P. Wyman, Strong, Benjamin F. Huff, Buxton, color guard.
privates.
Arnold, Edgar W., Farmington, Bean, Nelson O., Industry (July 3d),
Butterfield, Augustus F., Farmington, Colomy, Elbridge, Berwick,
Dunnell, Alvah L., Bu.xton,
Frederic, George A., Temple,
Ham, Charles H., Berwick,
Houston, Elbridge L., Weld,
Kannady, George H., Phillips,
Kimball, John H., Jay,
Manson, John S., Bu.xton,
Pinkham, Francis, Berwick,
Rollins, Albert G., New Sharon,
Stearns, Albert M., Weld,
Vaughan, Sylvester, New Vineyard,
Wentworth, Henry R., Berwick,
Wilder, Silas, Temple.
Eastman, George A., Berwick,
Hackett, Sumner S., Strong,
Hanscomb, Eben B., Buxton,
Hurd, Francis E., Berwick,
Kannady, Warren, Avon,
Lawrence, James B., Weld,
Norton, Oliver D., Industry,
Roberts, James A., Berwick,
Sawyer, Isaac D., Buxton,
Thompson, John, Madrid,
Wallingford, George, Berwick,
Whitehouse, Charles T., Berwick,
30 MAINE AT GETTTSBUKG.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Corporal John W. Cope-
land, Worcester, Mass., provo. guard. Privates; Francis O. Bean, Industry,
teamster div. train; Luther Childs, Salem, R. I. batt'y; George L. Hosmer,
Farmington, regt'l detail; Asa Jennings, Farmington, hosp. nurse; Joseph
L. McLaughlin, Weld, 4th N. Y. batt'y; John Plaisted, Temple, stretcher
bearer; James E. S. Pray, Berwick, field hosp. ass't; Charles M. Rand, Weld,
cook; Ebenezer Roberts, Berwick, div. provo. guard; John Vaughan, Ber-
wick, hosp. attend't. Wagoner Leonard T. Vosmos, New Sharon, with trains.
Company H.
Captain, Almon L. Fogg, Westbrook.
Act'g 2d Lieut., istSergt. George A. Whidden, Westbrook; com'd not must'd.
SERGEANTS.
Stephen P. Hart, Westbrook, acting First Sergeant,
William H. Sturgis, Standish, Charles J. Bond, Windham,
James H. Loring, Westbrook, color bearer.
CORPOR.\LS.
Sumner Winslow, Westbrook, James M. Webb, Westbrook,
George Barrows, Harrison, Robert B. Whitcomb, Standish,
Charles R. Meserve, Hallowell.
PRIVATES.
Adams, Frank, Westbrook, Barber, William, Westbrook,
Bond, Benjamin F., Gorham, Brackett, Horace N., Harrison,
Chute, Charles A., Westbrook, Cobb, Solomon, Westbrook,
Cobb, Uriah, Windham, Crosby, Leonard E., Westbrook,
Davis, Albert S., Standish, Davis, John S., Hollis,
Dow, Benjamin A., Standish, Dyer, Roscoe G., Sebago,
Hatch, Royal S., Westbrook, Hicks, Ephraim, Gorham,
Jones, Edward H., Westbrook, Libby, Darius S., Falmouth,
Martin, Ira L., Sebago, Plaisted, Trafton S., Westbrook,
Rand, Royal, Windham, Sanborn, Charles W., Otisfield,
Scribner, Bourdon, Harrison, Small, Oliver F., Limington,
Spurr, Llewellyn, Otisfield, Thomas, Charles W., Westbrook,
Thomas, Manuel, Windham, Winslow, Nathaniel P., Westbrook.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Corporal Albion P. Stiles,
Gorham, corps postmaster. Privates: Andrew Saunders. Sebago, 3d R. I.
batt'y (wounded July 2d); John G. Scott, Westbrook, Smith's 4th N. Y.
batt'y; Franklin E. Morse, Otisfield, battalion of convalescents; Cyrus Chap-
lin, Naples, and Luther E. Hall, Harrison, stretcher bearers; William S.
Hanscomb, Windham, div. hosp. nurse; Andrew J. Larrabee, Westbrook,
and Mesach P. Larrj', Windham, surgeon's detail; Charles A.Warren, Stan-
dish, amb. corps; Leonard Pride, Westbrook, cook; James G. Sturgis, Stan-
dish, hosp. ass't; Daniel W. Haskell, Harrison, and Van R. Morton, West-
brook, div. provo. guard; Horace B. Cummings, Portland, and Thomas D.
Emery, Standish, quarterm'r dept.; Jabez Marriner, Westbrook, commiss'y
dept. ; Alonzo Moses, Standish, hostler; Thomas Sands, Standish, brig,
h'dqrs; Alphonzo A. Spear, Standish, teamster; Henrjf C. Hatch, Sebago.
Company I.
Captain, William Hobson, Saco.
First Lieutenant, James O. Thompson, Portland.
SEVENTEENTH REGISIENT PARTICIPANTS.
31
SERGEANTS.
ist Sergeant, Frank C. Adams, Saco, Charles C. Cole, Hiram,
Oliver D. Blake, Biddeford, Charles J. Goodwin, Saco.
CORPORALS.
Samuel E. Jenness, Biddeford, Charles H. Parcher, Biddeford,
Aurelius A. Robertson, Bethel, Owen Stacy, Saco,
Frederick A. Mitchell, Saco, color guard.
PRIVATES.
Bradburj', Thomas C, Biddeford,
Brown, James B., Gorham,
Haley, John, Saco,
Hill, Joseph, Saco,
Irish, Melville, Gorham,
Jose, James W., Saco,
Libby, Henry H., Scarborough,
Roberts, John H., Gorham,
Sawyer, Charles F., Baldwin,
Small, Edwin, Limington,
Tasker, George F., Saco,
Wentworth, David A., Brownfield,
Benson, Robert, Saco,
Brand, Thomas, Saco,
Goodwin, Charles E., Saco,
Harmon, Andrew J., Saco,
Holmes, Hiram G., Biddeford,
Jordan, Charles A., Saco,
Kimball, George, Saco,
Richardson, George A., Limington,
Rounds, Walter, Scarborough,
Simpson, John H., Scarborough,
Sweetsir, James F., Biddeford,
Waterhouse, Winfield S., Scarboro',
White, Charles M., Standish.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Musician William H. Atkin-
son, Limington, clerk brig, h'dqrs. Privates: Allen H. Abbott, Saco, brig,
h'dqrs; James C. Blaisdell, Lebanon, amb. corps; Thomas Clark, Saco,
hostler; Alvin Hodge, Biddeford, 4th N. Y. batt'y; John A. Kilham, Saco,
amm'n train guard; Michael McGrath, Biddeford, teamster; William H. H.
Pillsbur>', Shapleigh, regt'l surgeon's clerk; Thomas F. Perkins, Biddeford,
at corps h'dqrs; Benjamin P. Ross, Biddeford, brig, quartern!' r dept.; Eli-
phaz Ripley, Buckfield, blacksmith div. h'dqrs.
COMP.\NY K.
Captain, Milton M. Young, Lewiston.
First Lieutenant, Putnam S. Boothby, Biddeford.
First Sergeant, Isaac O. Parker, Kittery.
Sergeant, Harr>' Crosby, Kitter>-.
corporals.
William H. Neal, Kitter>',
N. H., Edwin A. Duncan, Kitten,', color guard,
George J. Strout, Auburn.
PRIVATES.
Austin, Robert W. , Gardiner,
Bunker, Daniel B., Kitterj-,
Butland, F. Augustus, Kittery,
Cotton, John H., Auburn,
Grace, Andrew J., Jr., Kittery,
Hatch, Samuel O., Auburn,
Keith, Augustus H., Auburn,
Lunt, Horace, Kittery-,
Phillips, Hiram B., Kitter\-,
Wardwell, Cyrus T., Oxford,
Andrew J. Miller, Auburn,
Robert H. Mathes, Durham,
James A. Bennett, Auburn,
Achom, Casper, Kitterj-,
Beals, Charles A., Auburn,
Burnham, John C, Kitter>',
Churchill, Robert J., Kittery,
Goodwin, Valentia H., Kittery,
Hall, Silas P., Oxford,
Hussey, Daniel H., Kittery,
Lord, Oren, Waterford,
Lyon, George W., Auburn,
Remick. John H., Kitter\',
Young, Augustine, Auburn.
32 MAINE AT GETTYSBUBG.
On Special Duty or Detached Service: Privates: John M. Crocker,
Auburn, div. prove, guard; George H Holt, Albany, at corps h'dqrs; John
Holden, Kitterj-, corps provo. guard; Elisha Hall, Auburn, amm'n train
guard; John F. Hewey, Auburn, and Nathan B. Lord, Abbott, teamsters;
Addison A. Miller, Auburn, cook. Musician Wesley D. Rowell, Kittery,
ass't to wounded.
REVISED REPORT OF CASUALTIES.
field and staff.
Adjutant Charles W. Roberts, right leg, amputated.
Company A.
Acting First Sergeant Alvin F. Blake, wounded, died Aug. 2.
Sergeant Fayette M. Paine, wounded, both legs.
Corporal George T. Jones, wounded, leg.
PRIVATES.
Brown, Jacob C, killed. Hodsdon, Joseph A., killed.
Marston, Horace G., wounded, foot. Milliken, Charles, wounded, arm.
Skillings, Franklin, wounded, thigh. Spaulding, David M., wounded, leg.
Tucker, George W., missing, fell out before battle.
Company B.
Second Lieut. William H. Green, July 3, shell concussion; resumed duties.
sergeants.
Horace A. Smith, wounded, leg. Cyrus M. Hall, July 3, killed.
Corporal George W. Jones, wounded, leg; died July 23.
privates.
Brackett, Byron, wounded, head. Carmthers, Charles E.,w'd; died July 9.
Davis, Samuel C, w'd; died July 4. Duran, George E. H., July 3, w'd.
Elliot, William S., wounded, shoulder. Emery, Moses D.,w'd, hip; died July 9.
Flannagan, James, wounded. Lehane, John, wounded, leg.
McKeen, James, July 3, w'd, head. McKenzie, Matthew, wounded, arm.
Morton, Sidney G., wounded, foot. Norton, George L., July 3, w'dsh'lder.
Noyes, Alvin A., wounded, groin. Quint, Monroe, killed July 3.
Walker, Alden B., wounded, groin. Wiley, Joseph, wounded, leg.
Company C.
Second Lieutenant George W. Verrill, wounded, thigh.
sergeants.
William F. Morrill, wounded, leg. Gustavus C. Pratt, three wounds, arm.
corporals.
James F. Strout, color guard, w'd, thigh. George B. Dunn, wounded, shoulder.
privates.
Black, Lawson S. , wounded. Dean, Abraham, Jr., wounded, thigh.
Faunce, William, wounded, side. Mills, Fessenden M., w'd; died July 3.
Pattee, Andrew J., w'd; died July 9. Pratt, Addison B., wounded, thigh.
Strout, Charles W., July 3, w'd, neck. Witham, Henry, killed.
Company D.
First Lieutenant Newton Whitten, July 3, wounded, foot.
Second Lieutenant Stephen Grafiam, wounded, arm.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT CASUALTIES. 33
CORPORALS.
Bernard Hogan, color guard, w'd; died July i8. Hanna, George F., vv'd, leg.
PRIVATES.
Bickford, Nathaniel G., wounded, leg. Cobb, Daniel, wounded, head.
Dwelly, Samuel L., w'd; died July 8. Fowler, Levi, killed.
Hulme, James, wounded, leg. Hays, Charles H., wounded.
Company E.
Sergeant Oliver E. Jordan, wounded, leg.
CORPORALS.
George F. Small, wounded, thigh. Albert O. Baker, color guard, w'd, hand.
PRIVATES.
Baker, Charles W., wounded. Brown, John N., July 3, wounded, leg.
Goff, Lucius F., wounded, hand. Harmon, Arthur A., killed.
Hayes, Francis E., wounded, breast. Johnson, Albert A., wounded, arm.
Sparks, James E., wounded. Whitney, William J., wounded, side.
Company F.
Sergeant Charles P. Jackson, killed; first man hit; reported w'd and missing.
CORPORALS.
Zephaniah E.Sawtelle, wounded, hand. William D. Merrill, color g'd,w'd,hand.
Austin Hanson, killed.
PRIVATES.
Ames, Willard O., w'd; died July 24. Day, Henry, Jr., wounded, leg.
Day, William H., w'd; died Aug. 31. Farr, Solomon, wounded, head.
Holt, Calvin, w'd; died Jan. 6, 1864. Kenniston, George G., w'd, bowels.
Libby, Richard L., wounded, arm. Morse, Moses H., wounded, hand.
Twitchell, Charles H., w'd, arm and leg. Washburn, Almon T., wounded, side.
Company G.
Second Lieutenant Hiram R. Dyar, killed.
Sergeant James Snowman, July 3, wounded, hip.
Corporal Benjamin F. Huff, color guard, wounded.
PRIV.\TES.
Arnold, Edgar W., wounded, arm. Childs, Luther, det'd R. I. batt'y, w'd.
Colomy Elbridge, wounded. Eastman, George A., wounded.
Hackett, Sumner S., wounded, arm. Hanscomb, Eben B., wounded, hand.
Houston, Elbridge L., wounded. Hurd, Francis E., killed.
Lawrence, James B., w'd and prisoner. Rollins, Albert G., killed.
Sawyer, Isaac D., killed. Thompson, John, wounded.
Company H.
Captain Almon L. Fogg, wounded, abdomen; died July 4.
SERGEANTS.
Stephen P. Hart, acting First Sergeant, wounded, leg.
Charles J. Bond, wounded, leg. James H. Loring, color bearer, killed.
CORPORALS.
George Barrows, killed. Robert B. Whitcomb, wounded, leg.
Sumner Winslow, killed.
PRIVATES.
Cobb, Solomon, wounded, arm. Dyer, Roscoe G., killed.
Hicks, Ephraim, killed. Jones, Edward H., wounded, breast.
Martin, Ira L., wounded; died Aug. 9. Rand, Royal, w'd July 2; died July 3.
Sanborn, Charles W., wounded, foot. Saunders, Andrew, det'd R. I. batt'y,
Spurr, Llewellyn, wounded, leg. wounded.
34 MAINE AT GETTYSBUEG.
Company I.
First Sergeant, Franklin C. Adams, wounded, liand.
CORPORALS.
Aurelius A. Robertson, w'd; died July 5. Owen Stacy, wounded.
Frederick A. Mitcliell, on color guard, wounded, leg amputated; died July 10,
PRIVATES.
Brand, Thomas, wounded, leg. Jordan, Charles A., wounded, leg.
Kimball, George, wounded, leg. Small, Edwin, wounded, shoulder.
Wentworth, David A., wounded, leg. White, Charles M., wounded, arm.
Company K.
Captain Milton M. Young, wounded July 2; died Aug. 13.
SERGEANTS.
First Sergeant Isaac O. Parker, wounded; died July 7.
F. Augustus Butland, w'd; died Sept. 6. Harry Crosby, wounded, left leg.
CORPORALS.
William H. Neal, killed. James A. Bennett, wounded, hand.
PRIVATES.
Austin, Robert W., wounded. Beals, Charles A., July 3, wounded.
Bunker, Daniel B., killed; Grace, Andrew J., Jr., July 3, w'd, hip.
reported wounded and missing. j^^,,^ sjj^^g p _ mounded, hand.
Hatch, Samuel O., w'd; died July 5. Hussey, Daniel H., wounded, leg.
Lord, Oren, wounded, chest.
REGIMENTAL DEDICATION OF MONUMENT,
October 10, 1888.
Brevet Lieut.-Col. Edward Moore, President of the Seven-
teenth Maine Regiment Association, called the large assembly
to order at the monument in the Wheatfield and introduced
Rev. Charles G. Holyoke, late Sergeant-IMajor of the regiment,
who offered the following
PRAYER.
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we have reason to thank thee that
thou hast spared our lives until this day. We thank thee that in thy good
providence we are permitted to gather here to pay this tribute of respect to
the memory of our departed comrades. O God, we thank thee for our land,
the land bequeathed to us by our forefathers, the land of liberty and freedom.
We thank thee that when war broke forth upon our land, with all its ruin,
terror and woe, and there were those who would gladly have torn asunder
our country-, that there came forth from their homes and firesides friends and
dear ones, those who were loyal and true, to defend our beloved land. And
we are here to-day to dedicate this monument to the memory of those who
on this sacred spot shed their blood and laid down their lives in defending
our flag and nation. We would remember what they endured and suffered
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT MONUMENT DEDICATION. 35
for the cause of freedom. Grant that, as in time to come, to all who shall
visit this ground and this region made sacred by the blood of patriots shed,
they shall remember at what cost and sacrifice our Union, our Country, was
preserved. God bless our land, and may peace evermore prevail throughout
all our borders, for thy name's sake. Amen.
ADDRESS BY BREVET LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MOORE.
Comrades : —
A quarter of a century has passed by since you were upon
this field, a field which you helped to make historic by your
deeds of valor on July 2 and 3, 1863. You visit this field
to-day for the purpose of dedicating this beautiful monument,
erected by our state to commemorate the gallant deeds of her
sons, and to perpetuate the memory of those of the Seventeenth
Maine regiment who fell upon this decisive battlefield of the war.
You will pardon me if, on this occasion, I refer briefly to
the war record of the regiment, aside from the part it took in
the battle of Gettj'sburg. During its term of service the regi-
ment took part in twenty-seven battles, besides doing duty in
petty engagements and on the picket line during one-fifth of
the whole term of enlistment. In the statistical tables by W.
F. Fox of losses in battles, we find a list of "300 fightino; reari-
ments," comprising those who.se aggregate deaths by battle
amounted to 130 or more ; we also find his list of 45 infantry
regiments that lo.st over 200, killed or died from wounds in
battles ; we also find a list of 22 regiments out of all the regi-
ments of the Union armies whose mortality by battle exceeded
fifteen per cent of their enrolment. In regard to the last list
he says : " The regiments in tliis list can fairly claim the honor
of having encountered the hardest fighting in the war. They
may not have done the most effective fighting, but they evi-
dently stood where the danger was thickest, and were the ones
which faced the hottest musketiy. They were all well-known,
reliable commands, and served with unblemished records. The
maximum of loss is reached in this table." We find the Seven-
teenth Maine in all these lists.
Your connection with the battle of Gettysburg dates back
to June 11, 1863, when you left "Camp Sickles," Va. After
tedious marches, covering over 200 miles, you arrived at the
36 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
college near Emmitsburg, the afternoon of July 1st. On the
morning of July 2d, at 1 : 30 o'clock, the regiment received
orders to assemble for a march. At 4 : 30 a. m. it started for
Gettysburg, and at 10 o'clock arrived on the field of battle,
having marched thirteen miles in five and a half hours. Lee
was just extending his lines to his right, his skirmishers threat-
ening the Emmitsburg road. A little after noon the regiment
was placed at the left of the Peach Orchard to support the brig-
ade sldrmish line, where it remained until the battle began.
A few minutes after the first shot was fired, at about 4 o'clock
p. M., we entered this Wheatfield with 3.50 rifles, 20 ofiicers
and 3 acting as ofiicers, commissioned but not mustered, and
became actively engaged with the troops of Hood's division of
Longstreet's corps. We moved at double-quick across this
Wheatfield under fire, until we gained jiossession of this stone-
wall in our front. Our right extended some distance beyond
the rivulet, our colors resting on the spot where this monument
stands, our left along the wall as far as a large bowlder.
The contest for this wall became very severe along our
whole front, the lines of battle being not over one hundred
yai'ds apai't, and a number of times during the contest the
enemy were upon one side while the Seventeenth was upon the
other. AVinslow's batter}', which was located in rear of our
left flank, on the ridge up there, did splendid service, and
assisted the regiment to drive the enemy back. Shortly after
the regiment became engaged, a small command, said to be the
rallied portions of two regiments, was brought up in rear of
the right flank of the Seventeenth, with the evident intention of
placing them in line, connecting on our right ; but while they
were yet some seventy-five yards in our rear, the juounted
officer leading them fell from his horse, wounded, and these
troops disappeared from our sight without delay. Our right
flank lieing unprotected, the enemy attempted to gain our rear,
but his movements were discovered, and our right wing was
refused to nearly a right angle with this wall. Those of the
enemy who attempted to gain our rear were exposed to a mur-
derous fire from our right wing, and they retired. After every
repulse the enemy would re-form, bringing up fresh troops and
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT : MOORE'S ADDRESS. 37
extending his lines for fresh assaults, and so the fight continued
along this wall until about (5 o'clock, when we received orders
to fall back across this field to the cross road on the ridgre, and
replenish our ammunition. Our boys left this position, which
they had so long and successfully defended, with reluctance,
but the enemy had gained ground on both our right and left,
and Winslow's battery had been withdrawn. The enemy fol-
lowed up and attempted to gain our flanks. His movements
were noticed, just as we reached the road, Ijyour gallant divis-
ion commander, Gen. David Bell Birney, who rode up, took
the Seventeenth, and led it in a charge. With cheers the regi-
ment, in line of battle, came down this Wheattield and forced
the enemy back over this wall. Although our ammunition was
low, the fighting was continuous and of a most deadly character.
The loss in officers and men was very severe in this part of the
fight. After a contest prolonged until about dusk, our men
being in the open field without shelter, but yielding no ground,
the regiment was finally relieved by other troops, and was
ordered to withdraw from the Wheatfield.
The colors of the regiment, our two flags, had their stand
in two places in this field, as the manoeuvres of the battle car-
ried the regiment. First, here at the wall, where this monu-
ment stands ; later on, after our upheld standards advanced,
at the centre of the reoimental line, in that glorious charge
under Birney, they found their stationary place to be nearly in
the centre of this field, aliout 100 yards east of the woods
which yet bounds it on the west. The colors of the regiment,
— the national and the state, — our glory and our pride I em-
blems of progress and of achievements ! And the Color-Guard !
let us recall our Color-Guard : National Color-Bearer, Cor-
poral Lake of A ; State Color-Bearer, Sergeant Loiing of H ;
the others were Corporals Saunders of B, Strout of C, Hogan
of D, Baker of E, Merrill of F, Huff of G, Mitchell of I and
Duncan of K, — ten in all, counting the bearers. The first to
be hit was Strout, almost as soon as we reached this wall, —
wounded, and left for dead on the field ; here he lay, part of
the time unconscious, as the lines and missiles of warfai'e passed
back and forth over Mm ; at length, on Jul}' 4th, to be restored
38 MAltfE AT GETTYSBURG.
to US, not mortally wounded. Then Baker's turn came, and he
lost a portion of his hand ; then Mitchell, mortally wounded.
And so the guard grew less, the casualties being about equally
divided between the two positions. At the second position.
Sergeant Loring was instantly killed. The color, crimsoned
with the blood of his fallen companion, was seized liy Lake,
who for a minute held both standards in his grasp, and then
handed Loring's over to Coi-poral Merrill ; the latter was
wounded, and he in turn passed the color over to Corporal
Duncan, who got it safely into bivouac that night. Corporals
Huff and Hogan were wounded, the latter mortally ; only three
of the ten were unscathed. Lake and Duncan were promoted
to Serjeants on the field. This is what it meant to belong to
the Color-Guard at Gettysburg.
On the morning of July 3d the regiment was moved to
the right, and asseml)led with the division in reserve. It so
remained until noon, when we were startled by two signal guns
from the Confederate side, which were the prelude to the most
terrific cannonading our army ever experienced. For nearly
two hours 1(30 guns sent shot and shell into our ranks, prepar-
atory to Longstreet's assault upon the centre of the Union line.
During this artillery duel we received orders to move to the
right and reinforce the lines of General Doubleday. Proceed-
ing at double-quick, we were soon at the front in position to
aid in repelling the assault generally known as Pickett's charge.
The regiment was formed in line supporting the 9th Mich, bat-
tery. Throughout the assault the regiment was exposed to a
severe artillery fire, and suffered a loss in ])oth ofiicers and men.
At 9 p. M. you were sent to the front to pertorm jiicket
duty, where you remained for the night. On the morning of
the 4th the regiment, relieved from picket, was set to work
throwing up earthworks. On the morning of July 5th, the
Confederate army was on the retreat, and the battle of Gettys-
burg was at an end.
The list of casualties in the regiment during the engage-
ments of July 2d and 3d numbered 132 killed and wounded.
I deem it appropriate to read this roll of honor. [The killed
and mortally wounded appear in the whole nominal list of cas-
ualties following the list of "participants," on another page.]
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT : VERKILL'S POEM. 39
With justice to tlie memory of those heroes of the Seven-
teenth Elaine who here laid down their lives, defending this
position as if ittj^i^ified their country ; and speaking for it.s sur-
vivors, sixty of whom, participants in this battle, lieing now
present and ready to Ijear witness to the truth, I cannot close
without stating that no circumstance, condition or act occurred
on this "Wheattield July 2, 1863, that would warrant the plac-
ing of that monument where it now stands, a few paces to the
west of this of the Seventeenth Maine, as marking a place in
line of battle ; for upon that very spot the ranks of the Seven-
teenth stood July 2d, and fought from the opening of the con-
test until nearly G o'clock that afternoon. We protest against
the placing of that monument of the 115th Penn. on that spot,
or within 200 feet of it. We also protest against the inscrip-
tion upon that monument which, without justitication, recites
that July 2d "this regiment" [115th Penn.] "engaged the
enemy here at 4.30 p. m."
POEM.
THE SEVENTEENTH MAINE IN THE WHEATFIELD.
BY CAPTAIN GEORGE W. TERRILL.
The foe! the foe advances! Mark you now his course,
Straight for the Union left, where half-formed Hues are seen.
He aims to hurl his columns with resistless force
Upon and through the Orchard, blushing with its fruit,
The Hillock, slumbering in the shadow of its trees.
Across the Wheatfield, happy with its ripening grain.
Over the crags and pits and sloughs of Devil's Den,
Around and up the steeps of Round Top's rugged sides;
To smite, to pierce and crush, to tear and sweep away.
The slender thread of Blue stretched out to bar his way!
This only done, yea less, for at the Wheatfield's verge
The thread its centre finds; — unchecked even here the surge.
And on and through will pour the torrent of the foe,
To wreck the Union lines, engulf and overthrow.
The foe comes on! and now the Wheatfield bare of troops!
Haste, Birney and de Trobriand! fill up the gap —
This open gateway — quick! or you will be too late!
Even now the skirmish challenge rings through rifle tube,
And spatters of the coming storm fall here and there!
Nearer the Southron comes, — a mighty wave of Gray!
No line of Blue, no Northern breasts his course to stay!
40 MAINE AT GETTTSBURG.
Up now, ye sons of Maine! — in double-quick go in
And fill the gap! — though thin your line, stretch out and fill! —
Ah, none too soon! for even while the bending grain
Still kisses Northern feet that press it as they speed,
The angrj- Southern missiles clip its nodding plumes!
Stand firm, O Pine Tree Sons; — upon you now is laid
The safety of the whole! — Guard well the Wheatfield gate,
You boys with Diamond Red and " 17 " shining there,
Laughing in face of foe! — Can you be brave as gay ?
To stand, though comrades none, on right or left, are nigh ?
To stand, till succor comes ? If so it chance, to die ?
Breaks now the storm! the iron bolts of war fly free!
Mercy affrighted flies to Heaven! — but leaves a wall, —
Blest wall of precious stones, with sparkling jets of fire! —
Fierce flashes gleam; the leaden hail pours in;
Thunder of guns, shrieking of shell, and hissing ball!
Death and Destruction rampant in the sulphurous air;
The Rebel yell, the Union cheer; and face to face
The bayonet! — This is the hour that calls for manhood's best!
And is the Seventeenth Maine still there? — It wavers not;
Its colors still, though rent in shreds, defiant float.
Its veterans firm! the earth beneath them quakes with dread!
Hearts strong, nerves tempered in the flame of battle, theirs;
Their true aim reaps its harvest; death and crippling wounds
They deal to foe. But what they give, they take.
Alas! by ones and tens our noble lads go down.
The weeping grain wraps its soft mantle round the slain,
And tenderly supports the wounded on its breast.
No succor yet! — and thin and thinner are the ranks,
And fast the lessening store of cartridge goes —
No aid! though eager thousands wait the word to come! —
But more the honor due, as aid is less, in strife.
Still there, our boys! Though foiled, recoiling from the shock,
The foe, persistent, gathers up his scattered strength.
Compact, full four to one, determined now to gain
The field still firmly held by sturdy boys from Maine!
Still held as if each stalk of grain with life-blood red,
Were precious as the living hearts this life-blood shed.
Again the yell! More withering now the battle blast!
Lead to the tender flesh, iron to the brittle bone!
Foes at the front charge in, and from the left and right
Focus their fury here; — rages and roars the fight!
By ones and tens and scores our best and bravest fall.
Yet still undaunted there the rest! — Secession's wave
Breaks on the Northern rocks! Disaster here is curbed
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT MONUMENT DEDICATION. 41
In mid career! — hurled back the foe! — the Wheatfield saved! —
Your duty done, O Seventeenth! here come two lines of Blue
To guard and keep the ground, thus long hours held by you,
The red-stained Wheatfield at immortal Gettysburg!
Upon the spot where these men fought, to manhood true,
Raise high the granite shaft, nor art nor treasure spare.
To evidence, in lasting stone, the honor due
To them, who battled thus, for love of country there; —
And register the debt of gratitude, anew.
ORATION.
BY BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL WILLIAM HOBSON.
Comrades and Fellow Citizens :
If a stranger from foreign lands should finish his inspection of our famous
battlefields of the late war by a visit to Gettysburg, he might ask why this
only of those many fields is covered with monuments of various designs, but
all tasteful and elegant, and why this field in special manner is the Mecca of
pilgrimage to all lovers of our Constitution and Union. The answer is not
far to seek. The battle of Gettysburg enjoys a distinction which cannot be
accorded to any other of the great conflicts of which the history of the war is
full. It has been well said that it marks the high water of the tide of rebel-
lion. The waves of fire which surged around these heights on the first three
days of July, 1863, ever after receded until they sank into an eternal calm at
Appomatto.x. Again, it was the only battle of magnitude which was fought
on distinctively free soil, never again to be vexed by the tread of hostile
armies. It was fought, too, at a point not far distant, at that time, from the
centre of population of the United States, and at a time not far away from the
middle of the four years' conflict. All previous battles led up to Gettysburg;
all subsequent battles led away from it.
Still further, the fighting of the battle at this point was not the work of
human design. Neither General Meade nor General Lee had the least inten-
tion or idea of making this the scene of conflict. As the meeting in the sum-
mer sky of two little clouds differently charged with electricity' calls in all the
neighboring forces of nature on either side until earth and heaven resound
with the roar of nature's artillery, so the accidental meeting on the first day
of July, 1S63, of Buford's cavalry with the forces of the enemy naturally and
irresistibly drew to the conflict on both sides all the powers of the oppos-
ing armies.
As to no General belongs the credit of causing the battle to be fought
here, so to no one in particular more than another belongs the credit of con-
ducting it to a successful issue. General Reynolds' orders on the first of
July were not to bring on a general engagement. He did not know when he
moved to Buford's assistance that he was bringing on a general engagement,
and, unfortunately for him and his country, he never knew it. Whether, if
he had known it, he would have done differently, we never learned from him.
This much we do know, that he was not a man to march away from the sound
of the enemy's guns, or to remain quiet when his comrades needed his
assistance.
42 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
To General Howard, when he arrived upon the field, a serious problem
was presented, the preservation of the shattered remnants of Reynolds' corps,
and the selection of a position where that corps, united with his own, could
make a stand against the forces of the rebels already flushed with victory.
His keen, practised military- eye rested upon Cemetery Hill, and to him
belongs the credit of first placing our forces in position there. The arrival
of the Twelfth corps, which was stationed on his right on Gulp's Hill and
Rock Greek, the arrival of the Third corps which was put in position on his
left, only later to be moved further to the left to let its first position be occu-
pied by the Second corps, put our army in array for the movements of the
second day.
Of those movements it is liardly necessary to say to any one who is at
all conversant with strategy, and has studied the topography of the country,
that the action of Major-General Sickles, our gallant and beloved corps com-
mander, in advancing a portion of his forces to the Emmitsburg road, and
there meeting the first brunt of the rebel attack, was the salvation of our
army in that second day's fight. It shattered their lines in the first onset; it
retarded their advance, and when they finally swung around and met our
obstinate resistance here, in the Wheatfield, and that of the 124th N. Y.,
the Fourth Maine, the 40th N. Y. and other regiments on our left, by the
" Devil's Den " and in the "Valley of Death," time had been gained for the
Fifth corps to come up, hold and successfully defend the " Round Tops "
and other points on our left. If Sickles had formed his line on the prolonga-
tion of the line of the Second corps, in the depression of the land which you
see, and had there awaited the rebel attack, with their outnumbering forces
they would have gained possession of the " Round Tops," and our left flank
would have been irretrievably turned. So, too, is due to the gallant and
accomplished General Warren the credit of seeing the strategic importance
of the "Round Tops," and of ordering them to be occupied by the Fifth
corps, which, after as brave and desperate fighting as was ever seen on any
field, completed the repulse of the rebels on our left. On our right, the
morning of the 3d, by attacking and driving back Ewell's corps, General
Slocum made amends for his still unexplained failure to come to the help of
Reynolds and Howard on the afternoon of the ist, while General Hancock's
magnificent repulse of Pickett's charge in the afternoon is too well known to
need praise or comment here. Each of these general officers, with the pos-
sible exception hinted at, did the right thing at the right time. Together,
but not simultaneously, they forged a chain of defense in which the breaking
of any link would have been disastrous to the Union cause.
As to no general officer belongs the special credit for what was accom-
plished here, so no particular corps, division, brigade or regiment can claim
precedence of its fellows in contributing to the successful result. There was,
probably, no battle in the war where the fighting was more evenly distributed
among the troops engaged. With the exception of the Sixth corps, which,
through no fault of its own, did not arrive on the field until late in the after-
noon of the second day, and was only partially engaged on our left, every
corps in all its parts was actively engaged at some period of the battle, as
the official reports of losses show. It is worthy of note, too, in the light of
the subsequent history of the war, that this battle was fought entirely by
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT : HOBSON'S ORATION. 43
troops who had voluntarily enlisted for the defense of their country. No
conscript nor bounty jumper aimed here his unwilling musket at his country's
foes. The cohorts of the lame, the halt, the deaf, the blind, and the aged,
with their gray hair dyed to the semblance of youth, who, from the follow-
ing fall to the close of the war, filled our ambulances and hospitals, and
obstructed the prosecution of the war, had not then made their appearance.
The rapacious and unscrupulous recruiting officer had not then sent forward
his levies from the slums of the cities and the jails of the counties. None of
these can claim any share in this glorious victory. It was won by men who
had a personal interest in the issue, who knew what that interest was, and
were willing to risk their lives for the success of the cause for which they
fought. For this reason, and because they recognized the supreme impor-
tance of the crisis, I think there was no battle in the war where it was so
little necessary for officers to look out for, or watch over, their men. Every
man was an officer to himself. So it can be said, in all truth, and must be
said that to the humblest rear rank private, who fought here, is due as much
honor and reverence for what he did, as even to the commander-in-chief.
In addition to the special characteristics of the battle heretofore men-
tioned, it may also be said that, if we consider the extent of territory covered
by the conflict, the number of troops engaged, the proportion of losses to the
number engaged in the action, the length of time the contest continued, the
skill and bravery and even the desperation shown on both sides, and last
and greatest of all, the magnitude of the issues involved, it must be reckoned
as one of the greatest and most important battles ever fought upon the face
of the globe. I said the magnitude of the issues involved. The other ele-
ments to be considered can be weighed with almost mathematical accuracy,
but no human scales can determine the weight and value of the victory at
Gettysburg. Fortunately for us, fortunately for the world, we shall never
know what the result would have been if victory had perched on the other
banners. We only know that the hands on the dial which mark the progress
of civilization would have been turned back for an indefinite period.
The history of that one word, civilization, in its primary and derived
meanings, would give a more complete idea of the world's progress than
all the histories that have ever been written. In its primary, active sense it
denotes simply the making a man a citizen. In its later, derived and passive
sense it includes all those advances and improvements in the arts, sciences,
literature and morals which entitle a nation to call itself civilized. That word
civilized has no synonyms, nor does it need any. You all know what
it means.
Now, I undertake to say, that there is a logical and historical connection
between the active and the passive sense of this word; that in all ages and in
all nations the development and advance of what we call civilization, in its
ordinary sense, has been in direct ratio to the exercises of the rights, duties
and powers of a citizen on the part of all the inhabitants of the different
nations. And as, in a democracy only, does a citizen obtain the full exer-
cise of his rights, duties and powers, so only in a democracy can be found
the highest development of civilization.
All the forms of government which have ever existed may be brought
under one of three classes, a theocracy, an aristocracy, or a democracy. Of
44 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
these three forms theocracy is suited to man's lowest, and democracy to
his highest, development. The failure of the republics of Greece and Rome
was owing to the fact that they did not recognize the vital principles of
democracy, the equality of all people before the law'. They undertook to
reconcile liberty and slavery under the same form of government, a mis-
take which must always prove fatal to a democracy. It was the same
mistake which came so near proving fatal to our form of government, and
which culminated in the war of the rebellion. The founders of our government
saw this danger, and. if they had forecast the future, would undoubtedly have
made the abolition of slavery one of the conditions of the formation of the
Federal Union. They knew perfectly well, from the logic of ethics and from
the lessons of history-, that liberty and slavery could not co-exist for any length
of time under the same form of government. But the necessity of superseding
the old confederation, which was a mere rope of sand, by a Union which
should create a Nation, and the fact that slavery was dying out from natural
causes, and at that time bade fair to be eliminated before many years, led to
a compromise in the formation of the Constitution which flatly contradicted
the first clause of the Declaration of Independence, the foundation principle
of the Revolutionarj' struggle, by recognizing the institution of slavery,
and throwing certain safeguards around it, without even mentioning the
word slave.
It is needless to recount how the hopes and expectations of the founders
of the Constitution were disappointed. The history of the country from 1789
to 1861 is familiar to you all. as also that slavery, from being regarded as an
institution merely to be tolerated for a limited time, came to claim, and did
actually obtain, a dominant influence in national politics, as a matter of right.
The history of the compromise in the formation of the Constitution was the
same as the history- of all compromises between right and wrong. It merely
postponed the evil day. Wrong intrenched itself, and only made it more
difficult for right to prevail, when it was finally forced to the conflict, as it
always must be.
The inevitable tendency of the existence of slavery, in the midst of insti-
tutions otherwise free, had not been unobserved. More than fifty years ago,
De Tocqueville, the eminent French statesman, visited this country and spent
two years in the careful study of the working of our institutions. He seems
to have been the only foreigner who ever thoroughly understood them, and
in his famous book, "Democracy in America." published after his return,
he pointed out slaven,- as the chief source of our danger, and foretold the
troubles to which it would give rise. He could only foretell, however, nor
could any one prevent. Moral laws work as certainly and as remorselessly
in the domain of politics as do the laws which govern the operations of nature.
"Mute thought has a sonorous echo," says an eminent French writer.
He might have added that the reverberations of the echo are proportioned
to the moral power of the thought. The thunders of the artillery at Gettys-
burg, louder than had ever before been heard on an open field of battle, were
the echoes of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. They pro-
claimed that none but free men should live in a free country, and that they
all should have equal rights and power under the laws. Only in this way
can a free government exist, as the framers and signers of the Declaration
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT : HOBSON'S ORATION. 45
well understood. The war of the rebellion was, then, a contest on the part
of the government for self-preservation, a duty as incumbent on a democracy
as upon an individual.
The nation had shown its power to resist foreign foes; would it be able
to overcome those of its own household? Should the balance between the
centripetal and centrifugal forces, under which it had been intended that the
members of our political system should move in harmony around a common
centre, be disturbed, and these members be allowed to drift off into space at
their own will, perhaps hereafter to be constantly coming into collision with
one another? These questions were decisively ansv\ered at Gettysburg. The
end did not come then, but it was made certain. No rational person doubted
the outcome after Gettysburg. The red-handed perjurer and usurper who
then sat on the throne of France, waiting and wishing and plotting, but not
daring to interpose for the destruction of a government which his own nation
had helped to establish, concealed more carefully, if he did not cease, his
machinations. The tories of England, the enemies of everybody but them-
selves, confined their assistance to the Confederates to such acts as could
not be made the pretext for war. Thenceforward to a much greater extent
than before, the sympathies and the moral support of the civilized world were
on the side of the Union. The battle of Gettj-sburg had shown the possi-
bility and the probability, ay, the certaintj', of the fulfillment of Bishop Berke-
ley's famous prophecy:
"Westward the course of empire takes its way,
The four first acts already past;
A fifth shall close the drama with the day.
Time's noblest offspring is the last."
The fulfillment of this prophecy will result from the lessons taught by the
war, lessons which ought to be self-evident, that a democratic form of gov-
ernment can be permanent only when all men living within it have equal
rights under the laws, and have sufficient intelligence and moral sense to
exercise those rights and discharge the duties arising from them. The gov-
ernment being under obligation to prolong its own existence, as the expressed
wish of the people, has the right and the power to enforce the performance
of these conditions. An education sufficient to enable a man to transact the
ordinarj- business of life, which shall include those principles of morals which
underlie all religions, should be made compulsor)- upon those who hereafter
may aspire to the privilege of suffrage. Intelligence and morality are the
foundation of republican institutions. Beyond that every man may safely
exercise his own belief, be he heathen or Christian, Hebrew or Mohamme-
dan, or, to speak in a paradox, even have no religious belief at all. Recent
developments seem to make plain also that it is the duty of the government
in the exercise of the insdnct of self-preservation to prevent the immigration
of those misguided people who are hostile to all forms of government. Their
belief may be due to the unfortunate conditions under which they were born
and bred in foreign lands, but it is clearly not the duty of this countrj- to
harbor those who confess allegiance to none.
In considering the supreme importance of the victory at Gettysburg, I
could not help making these suggestions. They seem naturally to arise from
the subject. They might be expanded into volumes, but I can trust the
46 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
common sense of this audience to take them and work them out to their
proper conclusion.
One more pecuHaritj- of the victor>- at Gettj'sburg, considered as the
turning point of the war. Although only twenty-five years have elapsed, yet
already, both victors and vanquished unite in expressions of satisfaction at
the result. Nowhere else in the past history of the world can this be paral-
leled. It was hundreds of years after the conquest of England by William
the Conqueror before Anglo Saxon and Norman grew together into a homo-
geneous nation, and the Frenchman of to-day has still an antipathy to "per-
fidious Albin," because it humbled the eagles of Napoleon at Waterloo.
This heretofore has always been the case between conquerors and con-
quered. Family quarrels have ever been proverbial for their bitterness, and
this was bitter enough while it lasted. The era of fraternal feelings between
north and south, which has already arrived, is an auspicious omen for the
future.
And here let me say, we could take no credit for what we did on this
field if we had not been confronted by men as brave as ourselves. I saw the
famous charge of Pickett's division on the third day. A more magnificent
sight I never saw than when, after forming, they advanced across the fields
towards the Emmitsburg road. I have read the history- of many famous
charges, but never of one that marched so far and so steadily into the very
jaws of hell. No straggling, no falling out, except by those disabled by our
merciless fire, they advanced till further advance was an impossibilitj'. As
the Seventeenth Maine lay on picket that night on the ground over which
they advanced, and I saw, the next morning, eight or ten files front lying on
their faces, side by side, as evenly as if placed by hand, where our canister
had swept through them, ending their forward movement and their lives at
the same time, I realized more than ever the horrors of war and the bravery
of the men we had been fighting.
So, with all honor to the men we fought here, and with no desire for
self-laudation, we have come to dedicate this monument, set up in the interest
of history to mark the spot where the Seventeenth Maine regiment, the first
in the famous " Wheatfield," the "Whirlpool," as it has been aptly called,
did its duty to the best of its abilit)-. We should be doing injustice to them
and to ourselves did not those monuments do honor also to the brave men
who here gave up their lives. The pathetic and eloquent words of our mar-
tyred President, chiseled upon the stone in yonder cemetery, immortal as
the deeds they commemorate, will never be equalled; but it is a question
whether those who die for their country, even as he also died, are not rather
to be congratulated. " Duke et decorum est pro pa/iia mori" " It is pleas-
ant and honorable to die for one's country," said the Latin poet, 2,000 years
ago, and modem sentiment echoes his words:
"Come to the bridal chamber, death!
Come to the mother when she feels.
For the first time, her first-born's breath;
Come when the blessed seals
That close the pestilence are broke.
And crowded cities wail its stroke;
Come in consumption's ghastly form.
The earthquake shock, the ocean storm;
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 47
Come where the heart beats high and warm,
With banquet song, and dance, and wine;
And thou art terrible — the tear,
The groan, the knell; the pall, the bier,
And all we know, or dream, or fear,
Of agony are thine.
" But to the hero, when his sword
Has won the battle for the free,
Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word,
And in its hollow tones are heard
The thanks of millions yet to be."
After the oration was concluded remarks were made by
Colonel Bachelder, in which he highl_y complimented the Sev-
enteenth regiment.
Brevet Brig. -Gen. George W. West, formerly Major and
Colonel of the Seventeenth, also made a few remarks, describing
the movements of the regiment in the Wheatfield, and his great
gratification that this worthy memorial had been erected to
commemorate the services of those who fell here, and likewise
of those who survived.
Lieutenant-Colonel ^lerrill, the representative of the Seven-
teenth as one of the ^Nlaine Commissioners, sent a letter of
regret that illness prevented his attendance.
The monument was then turned over to the Gettysburg
Memorial Association by Colonel Moore, to be cared for until
such time as the State of Maine should present this and the
monuments of the other organizations in a more formal manner.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
BY CAPTAIN GEORGE AV. VERRILL.
(NECROLOGIST OF SEVENTEETH MAINE REGIMENT ASSOCIATION.)
The Seventeenth Maine Regiment of Volunteers was raised
Ijy voluntary enlistments under President Lincoln's call of July
2, 18t)2, for three hundred thousand for three years' service.
Those in the most western part of the state naturally gravitated
to an appointed rendezvous at Portland, Me. The ranks were
full and overflowing within about thirty days after the procla^
mation went forth. The following counties contributed to
make up the thousand strong which formed the organization :
48 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
Androscoggin, 152; Cumberland, 398 ; Franklin, 84 ; Kenne-
bec, 6 ; Knox, 17 ; Oxford, 168 ; Sagadahoc, 2 ; Somerset, 3 ;
York, 178 ; Aroostook, Lincoln, Penobscot and Piscataquis, 1
each ; 7 were residents of other states and 3 out of the country.
Few had seen service ; some had belonged to military com-
panies. All were anxious to learn and the "awkward squad"
was apparent about " Camp King," our rendezvous, across Fore
River from Portland. Some of the officers had been selected
in advance — Thomas A. Roberts, for our Colonel, had been
Captain of an independent military company of Portland ; his
son, Charles W., a Lieutenant serving in the Tenth Maine, for
our Adjutant. We were also fortunate in securing Captain
George Warren West from the Tenth Maine, for our jNIajor, a
strict disciplinarian and a thorough military man. Charles B.
Merrill, a lawyer of Portland, for our Lieutenant-Colonel ; liis
patriotic fervor impelled him into the service. As was cus-
tomary, the line officers were mostly selected in recognition of
recruiting services. By the time the regiment was mustered
into the United States service it could perform some simple
evolutions ; with its long line formed in dress parade it greatly
edified the ladies who graciously attended the function. The
muster-in occurred August 18, 18G2. The following was the
original organization : —
FIELD, STAFF, AND NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
Colonel, Thomas A. Roberts, Portland.
Lieutenant-Colonel, Charles B. Merrill, Portland.
Major, George W. West, .Somerville, Mass.
Adjutant, First Lieutenant Charles W. Roberts, Portland.
Quartermaster, J. T. Waterhouse, Portland.
Surgeon, H. L. K. Wiggin, Auburn.
Assistant Surgeon, William Wescott, Standish.
Chaplain, Harvey Hersey, Calais, Vt.
Sergeant-Major, Henry L. Bartels, Portland.
Quartermaster-Sergeant, Charles W. Richardson, Portland.
Commissary-Sergeant, Josiah Remick, Portland.
Hospital Steward, Nathaniel B. Coleman, Portland.
Drum-Major, John C. McArdle, Paris.
COMPANY OFFICERS.
Co. A. Captain, William H. Savage, Portland.
First Lieutenant, Charles P. Mattocks, Portland.
Second Lieutenant, James M. Brown, Portland.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 49
Co. B. Captain, George W. Martin, Portland.
First Lieutenant, Willard M. Jenkins, Fr>'eburg.
Second Lieutenant, Benjamin C. Pennell, Portland.
Co. C. Captain, Augustus Goldermann, Minot.
First Lieutenant, Otlio \V. Burnham, Poland.
Second Lieutenant, Joseph A. Perr\-, Portland.
Co. D. Captain, Isaac S. Faunce, Lewiston.
First Lieutenant, Milton M. Young, Lewiston.
Second Lieutenant, John C. Perr>', Portland.
Co. E. Captain, Ellis M. Sawyer, Cape Elizabeth.
First Lieutenant, George W. S. Fickett, Cape Elizabeth.
Second Lieutenant, William Roberts, Yarmouth.
Co. F. Captain, Albion Hersey, Paris.
First Lieutenant, LJriah \V. Briggs, Norway.
Second Lieutenant, James M. Safford, Portland.
Co. G. Captain, Edward L Merrill, Farmington.
First Lieutenant, Benjamin G. Ames, Phillips.
Second Lieutenant, Prescott Newman, Phillips.
Co. H. Captain, Almon L. Fogg, Westbrook.
First Lieutenant, Dudley H. Johnson, Presque Isle.
Second Lieutenant, Edward Moore, Portland.
Co. I. Captain, William Hobson, Saco.
First Lieutenant, Putnam S. Boothby, Biddeford.
Second Lieutenant, James O. Thompson, Portland.
Co. K. Captain, Andrew J. Stinson, Kittery.
First Lieutenant, John P. Swasey, Canton.
Second Lieutenant, Madison K. Mabry, Hiram.
The new regiment made a brave show when on August 21st
it broke camp, marched through the streets of Portland lined
with enthusiastic people, and started south " for three years or
the war." We journeyed to Washington by rail and boat
without interruption or accident, except the shock occasioned
by finding ourselves packed into box cars at Baltimore instead
of ordinary passenger cars as previously. We survived the
shock, however, as we did man}' others afterwards, common to
a soldiers life. August 23d relieved the Oth K. I. in a line
of forts on east branch of the Potomac, running up from the
main river. The situation was admirable, — an ideal camping
ground. Sickness, however, incident to change of climate,
prevailed. We drilled with the heavy ordnance, as well as in
infantry tactics. While we were here the battles of Second
Bull Run and Antietam both occurred. The boom of cannon
and steady roll of small arms in lioth engagements were plainly
50 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
heard, although in a direct line they were distant from us
thirty-five and fifty miles respectively.
Joining the Army. — October 7th we bade adieu to fort
life to join the Army of the Potomac in the field. On the cap-
itol steps we rested three hours before crossing Long bridge.
Our course was up the Potomac. At Upton's Hill joined
Berry's Ijrigade, Birney's (First) division, Third corps. The
brigade was then composed of 1st, 37th, 55th N. Y., 2d, 5th
Mich, and Seventeenth Maine, regiments. The square, red
patch marking Kearny's men was proudly worn by the veterans.
Raw troops were not allowed them until proof of worthiness
in battle was shown.
October 11th crossed into Maryland over Chain bridge, and
arrived two days later near Edward's Ferry, where we remained
picketing the river and canal until October 28th. Our regiment
had not been supplied with tents or " shelter pieces " until Octo-
ber 26th, although the weather all along was cold and rainy.
The hardships endured thus far doulitless lessened the effective
strength of the regiment l)y more than 100 men, equivalent to
a large battle loss, many being permanently used uj). Thus
we became soldiers. A remaining badge of our rawness, how-
ever, was the knapsack, bloated with relics of a past refinement,
weighing from twenty pounds upwards. The knapsack became
obsolete in our division in the 1864 campaign.
October 28th forded the Potomac at White's Ford, where
the river was waist-deep and al)out one-third mile wide. The
army, under McClellan, moved along the foot-hills, keeping
pace with Lee, who moved up the Shenandoah valley beyond
the Blue Ridge. We marched via Middleburg, White Plains
and Salem to Waterloo on the north fork of the Rappahannock,
and we remained in this vicinity several days, during which
time Burnside succeeded McClellan in command of the army.
Here a new plan of operations was made, with Falmouth, on the
Rappahannock, as a point for concentration. Accordingly,
on November 16th the march began; on the 2 2d we went into
camp around Falmouth. The time in camp was fully occupied
in drills, inspections and ineffectual attempts to keep comfort-
able and in health, during a very cold spell in a bleak situation,
until December 11th.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 51
Battle of Fredericksburg. — Early on December 11th
the regiment, under Col. Thomas A. Roberts, numbering 628
men and officers, broke camp and marched towards Fredericks-
burg, remaining on the north side of the river that night.
Next morning we moved down the river to the left of our lines.
Crossed the Rappahannock on Saturday, December 13th, at
noon, on a pontoon bridge, and marched to our allotted place
under shelling from the enemy's guns. Soon the enemy made
an advance of infantry to turn Birney's left or seize his batteries
posted in our front. To repel this attack General Berry threw
out the Seventeenth to the left of the batteries in line of battle,
speedily checking the onset with a few rounds. We lay on the
field subjected to frequent shelling until our army retired on
the night of December 15th. Our loss was three killed and
mortally wounded, and seventeen wounded.
Next day returned to our camp, when General Birney
declared in orders that the new regiments had shown themselves
"fully worthy of the 'Red Patch,' and I, in the name of the
division, acknowledge them as members in full standing."
General Berry also complimented the Seventeenth in his official
report. Nevertheless, there was a feeling of disappointment
in the air ; visions of valiant deeds and fierce personal encoun-
ters faded unrealized. A soldier appreciates his individualitj^
never so much as in his first battle. The regiment changed camp
ground twice during the succeeding inactivity of the army.
January 20, 1863, Burnside's second campaign began. His
general order was read to each regiment announcing that we
" were about to meet the enemy again." Fortified with this
assurance we started out, and at night brought up at Scott's
Mill, near the Rappahannock, where we went into bivouac with-
out any fires or loud sounds, for it was intended to surprise the
enemy, and next morning our brigade was to lead and force the
crossing. With this pleasing anticipation, and a drizzlino; rain,
and no coffee, we slept the sleep of the just. The rain con-
tinued, and it is matter of history that we did not meet the
enemy ; but we could read the derisive placard of the Johnnies
across the river : " Stuck in the mud."
General Hooker succeeded Burnside January 26th in com-
52 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
mand of the army. Improvement in rations and morale followed
the change. We lost General Berry by his promotion to Major-
General and command of the Second division of our corps.
Before the spring campaign opened many deaths occurred,
and many were discharged for "disability," including several
officers who resigned. Promotions followed, to fill vacancies,
and the Seventeenth was "boiled down," well-seasoned and pro-
ficient in drill.
The Cedars and Chancellorsville. — April 28th the
Thii-d corps, under General Sickles, moved down the river as
a feint : thence on the 30th we marched rapidly up river, in a
tortuous course, to United States Ford, arriving after midnight,
and crossed the river early on May 1st. The men carried on
the person eight days" rations and sixty rounds of annnunition.
May 1st the regiment numbered nearly 500, rank and file, under
command of Lieut. -Colonel Merrill (Colonel Roberts being
absent on sick leave) . The brigade was under Colonel Hay-
man, a regular army officer. The day passed in manceuvring,
and that night we lay upon the Plank Road, connecting to left
of Eleventh corps. May 2d Sickles pushed forward several
miles on a reconnaissance in force ; a lively and successful skir-
mish with the enemj' ensued until sundown, taking prisoners.
At dusk word came of the crushing attack of Jackson upon the
Eleventh corps, reporting the latter to be destroyed, and that
we were cut off l)y Jackson from the rest of our army. We
silently and gloomily retraced our steps to Hazel Grove, an open
plateau about a half mile from the Chancellor House. From
this plateau our division made a night attack, known as the
" midnight charge," upon Jackson's troops lying between us
and the Plank road. The operations of Sickles' corps May 2d
were known as the battle of The Cedars. Stonewall Jackson
was mortally wounded in the evening, and this great loss to
the Confederate cause is directly traceable to General Sickles'
operations. Sunday, May 3d, about 5 o'clock. General Stuart,
who succeeded Jackson, resumed the ))attle, the weight of it
falling upon Sickles' corps and a division of the Twelfth, the
Eleventh corps infantry having been re-formed near the river.
The battle raged furiously and incessantly until about noon. The
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 53
Seventeenth, with its Ijrigade, was phiced south of the Chan-
cellor House, in an advanced position, lying flat on the ground,
supporting a battery, when the onslaught was made. The enemy's
artillery played upon and over us from many cannon at Hazel
Grove, and our own artillery tii-ed over us in reply. Musketry
fu-e from two directions also came into us from beyond our
infantry lines. The enemy at one time broke through in front,
and came for the battery. Our brigade at once, under the lead
of General Birney, made a counter-charge, putting them to rout
and taking a batch of prisoners. We then took up a new position,
as the battery was withdrawn. The Seventeenth was the last
infantry to go from the field south of the Chancellor House.
Later in the day it was placed in a line of works at the White
House. Except by heavy shelling we were not greatly molested
there. At 4 p. ji. our brigade was advanced outside the breast-
works, prepared to charge if the enemy broke our skirmish line
in the woods ; but the l)attle in that vicinity was over.
]May .5th Colonel Roberts returned. ^lay (ith we recrossed
the river, our division being the last withdrawn from the front
lines, and thence returned to our camp, as likewise did all others
to their own. The loss in the Seventeenth in this battle was :
killed and mortally wounded, 1 officer (1st Lieut. Dudley H.
Johnson) and 10 enlisted men ; wounded, o officers (Capt.
Augustus Goldermann, acting as field officer, Capt. Edward I.
Merrill, 1st Lieuts. James M. Brown, Putnam S. Boothby ; 2d
Lieut. Thomas W. Lord) and .54 men ; also 41 taken prisoners.
Total, 111.
June 11th broke camp and began the march northward
which culminated in the battle of Gettvsburu:, our route taking
us to Manassas Junction, Centreville and Gum Springs, Va.,
from thence, on June 25th, to the Potomac, which we crossed
at Edwards Ferry, on a pontoon bridge, continuing along the
canal towpath to the Monocacy, where we bivouacked for the
night. This day's march of thirty miles was the highest record
of the regiment. Next day proceeded to Point of Rocks ; thence
to Jefferson Village, Middletown, Frederick City, Taneytown,
Emmitsbui-g and Gettysburg. The regiment took an active
part in the battle of Gettysburg ; engaged in the Wheatfield
54 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
July 2d for two hours and a half ; July 3d supported Daniel's
9th Mich, battery, under severe shelling. A narration of this
battle is given on another page, with an account of our losses.
In the pursuit of Lee's army after Gettysl:)urg the Third
corps started from the field July 7th. The regiment was
reduced, through casualties and sickness, to about 150 men.
The march was through Emmitsburg, Frederick City, Middle-
town and South Mountain Pass, reaching Antietam battlefield
on the 10th. The enemy made a stand, covering Williamsport,
which nearly paralyzed Meade, and caused a halt. It was a
question whether to attack or not. The rank and file were eager
to pitch in, but uncertainty or timidity at headquarters lasted
several days, during which time Lee decamped across the Poto-
mac into the Shenandoah Valley.
Our arm}' crossed the river on the 17th and marched on
east side of Blue Ridge, reaching Manassas Gap July 22d.
Wapping Heights. — July 23d we ran into the rear guard
of Lee. The Seventeenth was in the second line, supporting
the skirmishers. Our only casualty was the mortal wounding
of Sergt.-Major Fred "W. Bosworth by a shell.
Resuming the march the army passed through Salem and
Warrenton, and on July 31st went into camp at Sulphur Springs,
on the north fork of the Rappahannock. The Confederate army
encamped beyond Culpeper ; ours around Warrenton. Both
settled down to rest and recuperate. To fill our ranks three
officers, Capt. Charles P. Mattocks, Lieuts. J. A. Perry and
W. H. Green, with a recruiting squad, had been sent to Poit-
land for recruits July 24th.
September 15th our army advanced down to Culpeper ; Sep-
tember 23d we received 160 recruits from Maine. They proved
to be of good material. October 11th General Lee took the
bit in his teeth. Very adroitly deceiving INIcade, he got a good
start upon the right flank of the latter, and a complicated race
began for Centreville or some intermediate point.
Auburn. — In a blind fashion both Union and Confederate
columns occasionally attempted to march on the same road at
the same time. This occurred on October 13th, when Stuart's
cavalry got upon our road at Auburn on Cedar Run. Our
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 55
brigade ran into a brigade of this cavalry and a brisk skirmish
ensued for a couple of hours, engaging both arms of the service.
The enemy was routed, leaving his dead and some prisoners and
horses behind. The Seventeenth had one man wounded and
three missing. This astounding retrogi-ade movement ended
when our troops reached Fairfax Court House on the 15th of
October. Lee did not attack our forces, but spent a couple of
days destroying the railroad track. On the 19th he disappeared,
and Meade moved forward. Our division went into camp near
Catlett's. Maj. George W. AVcst, having been commissioned as
Colonel, was mustered to that grade October 22d, and assumed
command of the regiment, which had now acquired a strength
of about 375, rank and file.
Kelly's Ford. — November 7th our army advanced across
the Rappahannock, the Seventeenth crossing at Kelly's Ford
where, beliind works, some resistance was made and a few hun-
dred prisoners secured who appeared glad to be taken in out of
the cold. Next day pushed forward in line of battle to Brandy
Station, from wliich our southern neighbors tied at our approach.
We prepared comfortable quarters and enjoyed them until
Meade, doubtless rememljering the ides of October, attempted
a countei'-stroke upon Lee's right, beyond the Rapidan.
Locust Grove and Mizra; Run. — We crossed the Rapidan
at Jacob's Ford in the evening of November 26th, and stopped
for the night about a mile farther on. Next day, November
27tli, the Third division took the lead and struck the enemy.
Our (First) division moved forward, formed, and was held in
support. Those in front gave way. Advancing in line beyond
these men, new to battle, we met the enemy, and a tierce mus-
ketry conflict ensued, until every round of our ammunition was
expended. Just at this moment a brigade of the Sixth corps
(in which was the Sixth Maine regiment) came up, moved
bej'ond our right flank, turned that of the enemy, gave him
some volleys routing him, and the field was ours. This action
occurred at a villa called Locust Grove. This stand-up fight
caused us a grievous loss, inflicted unnecessarilj^ through the
incompetency or recklessness of some ofiicer, superior to the
regimental, who directed the Seventeenth to take the place of
56 MAINE AT GETTYSBUEG.
the regiment it relieved ; thus bringing the line of the regiment
nearly perpendicular to, and in front of, that of the enemy,
who, at short range, made great havoc with our right compa^
nies, while the left of the regiment was untouched. Our loss
was : killed or mortally wounded, eleven, of whom were Capt.
Ellis M. Sawyer (acting as Major) and 1st Lieut. James M.
Brown; and thirty-nine wounded, of whom was 1st Lieut. F.
A. Sawj-er. Our picket, under Lieut. ^Y. H. Green, scooped
in about a dozen prisoners the next morning.
On the 28th we moved some miles and came to our o-eneral
line, confronting the enemy posted and waiting for us on the
heights, in his works, beyond the Mine Run, a stream of some
width but generally fordable. Remained here the 29th and
30th ready to assault the works, which were of a most formid-
able character, at sound of a signal gun. We formed on both
days to make this hopeless sacrifice, momentarily expecting the
signal to advance. It did not sound, and the enterprise was
abandoned. We marched all night, from dusk to sunrise, and
recrossed the river without molestation ; many stragglers
doubtless fell into the enemy's hands. We lost one, taken
prisoner. Returned to encampment at Brandy Station and
went into winter quarters.
A new stand of colors, in silk. National and State, with
eagles, presented by the merchants of Portland to the Seven-
teenth, was received February 22d. These were safely borne
through the campaigns of 1864. March 24th the unwelcome
order of consolidation was received. The Third corps was
merged into the Second, under command of General Hancock ;
the First and Second divisions becoming the Third and Fourth
divisions of the Second corps. General Birney retained com-
mand of our division. The veterans of the Third corps
retained their diamond patches. Brigades were also consoli-
dated. Ours, to be commanded by Gen. Alexander Hays,
thus became the Second brigade of Third division, Second
corps, and was composed of the Fourth and Seventeenth Maine,
3d and 5th Mich., (33d, 57th and 105th Penn., 93d N. Y. and
1st U. S. Sharpshooters.
Lieutenant-General Grant joined the army in Apiil. We
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 57
vacated the winter huts on the 26th of that month, encamping
in shelter tents in open fields. We lay here until the general
movement began on May 3d.
Grant's Campaign. — The Seventeenth Maine began this
campaign with 21 officers, 5 acting officers (commissioned but
not mustered) and 439 enlisted men in the ranks. The officers
were : Colonel, George W. West ; Captains, John C. Perry (act-
ing as Field officer), Joseph A. Perry, Benjamin C. Pennell,
William H. Green, Isaac S. Faunce, Sumner S. Richards,
George W. Verrill ; First Lieutenants, Frederick A. Sawyer,
John N. Morrill, James S. Roberts, Grenville F. Sparrow,
George A. Whidden, Henry L. Bartels, Wellington Hobbs ;
Second Lieutenants, Stephen Graffam, Franklin C. Adams,
Gustavus C. Pratt, Robert H. Mathes, William H. Sturgis,
Benjamin Doe. Acting officers : Sergeant-Major, Edward H.
Crie ; Sei'geants, Charles C. Cole, Jordan M. Hall, Joseph S.
Hobbs, and Newton W. Parker. In addition to these the fol-
lowing combatant officers of the regiment were on detailed duty
in the division : Maj. Charles P. Mattocks, commanding 1st
U. S. Sharpshooters ; Capt. Edwin B. Houghton, acting A. I.
G. on Fii-st brigade staff; Second Lieut. Walter F. Noyes,
commanding brigade pioneers (these went into action) .
Taking up the line of march at midnight. May 3d, we
crossed the Rapidan on morning of the 4th at Ely's Ford ;
proceeded thence to the battle gi'ound of Chancellorsville,
remaining there during the day and night.
Battle of the Wilderness. — May 5, 1864, marched and
reached Todd's Tavern about noon. The enemy — Hill's corps
— having struck the Sixth corps, marching on the Brock road,
we were turned upon that road and marched northward to the
point where it crosses the Orange Plank road. The Seven-
teenth was on the right of the Second corps. About 4 p. m.
we advanced in line of battle, parallel with the Brock road
through thick undergrowth, until we felt the enemy. In an
unsuccessful effort to find connections upon our I'ight, as
ordered, the regiment became separated from the troops on our
left, but advanced upon Hill and forced him back at his left
flank, after a fierce stand-up fight, lasting until dark, taking
about thirty prisoners.
58 MAINE AT GETTYSBUKG.
May 6th, at 5 o'clock a. m., in the same formation, we
advanced again, in a general attack in line of battle, capturing
a line of breastworks, routing the enemy and driving him
before us a mile and a half. The Seventeenth and Fourth
Maine, side by side, pushing forward, had become the point of
a wedge, well driven through the enemy's lines. Arriving at
an opening, crossed by the Plank road, we halted under a sharp
infantry fire, and that of a couple of unfriendly field pieces, for
our connections to come up. The broken lines of the enemy
on our right rear, finding we had outflanked them, retreated in
a mob, hundreds of them falling into our hands as prisoners,
whom we directed to the rear, as we had directed those taken
in the advance. Doubtless all of them were claimed by troops
at our rear as their captures. Colonel West, who had already
lost his horse, — shot under him, — was severely wounded and
helped to the rear. Longstreet, having made dispositions, put
in his corps. We successfull}^ resisted liis attack in front, but
he forced an opening somewhere on the left and towards our
rear, which caused our line to fall back, under orders of Colonel
Walker of Fourth Maine, then commanding the brigade. Thus
a glorious victory was allowed to slip which we had held firmly
in our gi-asp ; a single brigade at the front, with us, could have
secured the harvest. At noontime our whole line, thus out-
generaled, retired, fighting, in good order to the Brock road,
along which breastworks were built. Later in the day we
received an assault upon this line by Longstreet's corps, which
was repulsed.
May 7th advanced with the division, massed bj^ brigades in
columns of regiments, to find the enemy, — and we found him,
lively enough with his buck shot and artillery, behind works.
The regiment lost in the thi-ee days 201. Of this number
62 were killed outright or died of their wounds. The loss of
officers was : killed, 2d Lieut. Benjamin Doe and acting 2d
Lieut. Newton W. Parker ; wounded. Col. George W. West,
Capt. Joseph A. Perry, 1st Lieuts. George A. Whidden (re-
joined for duty May 16th), Wellington Hobbs (rejoined for
duty June 28th), Henry L. Bartels, Frederick A. Sawyer,
2d Lieut. Franklin C. Adams and acting 2d Lieut. Joseph S.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 59
Hobbs (rejoined for duty May 11th). Major Mattocks was
captured on the skirmish out-posts, May 5th, at the first col-
lision ; had this not occurred the reoiment might have regained
this field officer, after the loss of Colonel West. Owing to
our lack of ofiicers, Major Moore of the 99th Penn. was tem-
porarily assigned to command the Seventeenth, the w6rd coming
from General Birney that he had so high a regard for the Sev-
enteenth that he gave us the best available field officer in the
division. Major Moore gallantly led us until May 16th.
May 8th moved towards Spotsylvania as far as Todd's Tav-
ern, where we built works ; not engaged, although under fire.
May 9th marched southward towards the Po river. The greater
portion of the regiment was sent on picket across the river
under Capt. W. H. Green, senior of the regimental detail.
Po River. — May 10th the picket line with some supports
advanced as skirmishers and drove the enemy's cavalry a long
distance, Ijack upon their infantry supports. A lai"ge force of
the latter ra})idly advanced upon our scattered line and upon
its flanks, intending to capture the whole. Our detachments
and the Fom-th Maine, the whole under command of Col. Elijah
Walker of that regiment, were skillfully, although with difli-
culty and some loss, withdrawn, rejoining the brigade on north
side of the stream. The remainder of the 10th and the 11th
was employed in supporting charging columns, batteries and
skirmishers. Loss in the two days was one moi'tally wounded,
seven wounded (including Capt. S. S. Kichards), and two miss-
ing (never heard from and probably killed).
Spotsylvania. — Roused from sleep at 10 o'clock in the
evening of May 11th, we silently moved out of our works on
the right of the line, and marched away in the darkness and rain.
The regiment reached its destination just before daybreak May
12th, and was immediately placed in the column already formed
to charge the enemy's works at the " Salient." A short rest
while waiting for the heavy fog to clear. About daybreak the
charging column, composed of Barlow's (First) division and our
own division, moved forward side by side, without noise until
the picket line was reached and captured, when some shots were
fired. Then with loud chcerins: we rushed forward for the
60 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
works, through the obstructions and up over the steep glacis,
without a halt. The Seventeenth entered in the tirst line at the
very angle of the Salient, on the inner side of which were deep
traverses, a long line of hitched-up artiller}', and a mass of
Confederates paralyzed with consternation, probably both at
our appearance and the previous disappearance of most of their
comrades into our protection. Gen. Edward Johnson's division
was extinguished ; about 5,000 men of it captured and he liim-
self and Ms sul)ordinate, General Steuait, prisoners of war in
our hands. General Johnson was taken by Sergeant S. Frank
Haskell and Private J. F. Totman of the Seventeenth Maine,
and escorted by them to General Hancock. The six battei'ies
and horses fell into our hands. Without stopping to re-form
we pushed forward for an inner line of works, but were met
by a wide-awake enemy defending it, and by the advance of
converging formations. We retired, lighting, back to the cap-
tured works, and from the outside used them as a breastwork.
One of the bloodiest encounters of the war, in a hand-to-hand
struggle, ensued across the works, continuing all day and untU
nearly midnight, when the determined foe gave it up, leaving
eighteen cannon and the whole Salient in our possession.
A pai-t of the Sixth corps at the proper moment came in on
our right at the west angle of the Salient, and gallantlj' took
and carried on the tierce battle. To these heroic veterans an
equal share of glory and credit is due for holding fast the cap-
tured position and artillery.
We took into the battle 225 muskets, with 13 officers and
4 acting officers . Our loss : 1 2 men killed or mortally wounded ;
41 wounded, of whom were 1st Lieut. John X. Morrill and 2d
Lieut. Stephen Graffam ; 5 taken prisoners ; 1 missing, prob-
ably killed ; Captain Houghton, detailed on First brigade staff,
also wounded. Sergt. Edward G. Parker, carrying our national
color, was killed, and Sergt. Edwin Emery, bearing the state
color, was badly disabled by two M'ounds, the Coloi'-guard nearly
annihilated. Acting Sergt. -Major G. A. Parker was wounded.
Maine was well represented here : the Third, Seventeenth,
Fifth, Sixth and Seventh regiments all fought at the Salient.
The Sixteenth, Nineteenth, Thirty-first and Thirty-second also
co-operated by assaults upon the works near by.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 61
From the 13th to 19th not engaged, except on picket. On
the 16th Lieut. -Colonel Merrill returned to duty, taking com-
mand. Capt. Edward Moore also returned from a leave of
absence.
Fredericksburg Eoad. — On the 19th, at 2 a. m., the divis-
ion marched about five miles to the Anderson House, on the
Fredericksljurg road. The army supplies came this way.
Ewell circled our right to strike tliis road in oui- rear. Near
the trains he ran against the First Maine heavy artillery regi-
ment, used as infantry, and another of same kind, who fought
with steadiness, holding the enemy. Our division went at
double-quick to the rescue, supporting the line and advancing
the battle. The Seventeenth relieved the First Maine, that had
lost heavily, and advanced upon the enemy, who fell liack.
Next morning advanced again, and the enemy fled. The regi-
ment secured 47 pi-isoners (the division 500), with a loss of
only one wounded and one missing.
North Anna. — May 21st, at 1 a. m., with 184 muskets,
we took the Guiney Station road, passed thi-ough Bowling
Green, crossed the Mattapony, beyond which we bivouacked,
— a twenty miles march ; 22d built Itreastworks ; 23d marched
at 5 A. M. southward, approaching the North Anna. The enemy
held a redoubt near the bridge on the north side, with llankinff
lines to the river. Our division charged in line of battle ; our
brigade, under Col. B. R. Pierce, advancing, met a fusilade, and
was raked by artillery from across the river, but carried every-
thing handsomely to the river. Next day intrenched under fire
on the south side. Remained here until the 27th. Loss : killed
and mortally wounded, four (of whom were 1st Lieut. James
S. Roberts and 2d Lieut. Walter F. Noyes), and seventeen
wounded.
Totopotomy. — At midnight. May 26th, recrossed river
and marched to the Pamunkey, crossing it on the 28th, near
Newcastle. Several positions and advances were made in the
ensuing four days. On June 1st the enemy's line at the Toto-
potomy Creek, which flows into the river, was assailed with suc-
cess l)y our division, the First l)rigade leading, supported by
ours — our regimental loss being slight. The Seventeenth was
62 MAINE AT GETTYSBUKG.
this day transferred to the First lirigade, commanded by Colonel
Egan, and served with it until March 15, 1865. The Third
Maine belonged to this brigade. Marched at midnight with-
out halting, passing Salem church and around our army towards
the left until, at 6 a. m., we halted for breakfast, after wliich,
to the left until we joined Barlow's (First) division at the front.
Cold Harbor. — June 3d a general assault was made upon
the enemy's strong works, ending in failure and a fearful loss ;
we were held as a support to the First division and suffered
slightly. Remained in this vicinity until June 12th. On June
4th the re-enlisted men and recruits of the Third Maine were
transferred to the Seventeenth. Many names were on the trans-
fer rolls, but we received only 129 men carrying muskets ; these
were sterling men, many of them being non-commissioned
officers, for whom we found places.
The vigor of our men, which had kept up remarkably until
this time, suddenly collapsed. We had nearly fifty prostrated
in one day. A portion of them recovered before the 12th.
Losses since May 24th : one killed, four wounded, five captured.
The sergeants remaining to us, who had served as officers since
the campaign opened, were here mustered according to their
commissions.
June 12th left the works at Cold Harbor, and on the 13th
marched to the James river, crossing next day at Windmill
Point, and remained on the south side waiting for rations that
day and night. June 15th marched to the line in front of
Petersburg and bivouacked behind captured earthworks. Our
strength was 16 officers and 224 enlisted men.
Petersburg Assaults. — June 16th, while the roll was
being called, a well-aimed shell burst in our ranks, injuring
several, among them Capt. John C. Perry, commanding the
regiment, — Lieut. -Col. Merrill being off duty, — and the com-
mand devolved upon Capt. Benj. C. Pennell. Soon the Seven-
teenth Maine and 20th Ind. were moved out and formed in line
of battle without supports ; the orders were to advance and take
the enemy's intrenchments and batteiy about lifty rods distant.
We moved forward in line of battle, over stuljby but level
ground, under a storm of bullets, shell and solid shot, poured
SEVENTEENTH REGIjVIENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 63
into US as we advanced, cominij from the veterans of Lee's
army. Our line shriveled and the alignment was broken.
We failed to reach the main line, but took and held an out-
work about midway the lines. A short time elapsed when we
re-formed the two regiments at this point, expecting to have a
support, but none came, and we moved forward a second time,
gaining some ground, but with no better success ; holding the
advanced position, however, under a murderous tire until we
were withdrawn towards night. Colonel Egan was wounded.
The whole First division charged at sunset upon the same line,
and were likewise repulsed. Our loss was : killed and mortallj^
wounded, 1(3 (amongst them one of the color-bearers. Corporal
Leonard Pride) ; wounded, 2 officers, Capt. John C.Perry and
2d Lieut. Jordan M. Hall, and 37 enlisted men. Ne.xt day the
Seventeenth occupied a portion of the advanced line used for
skirmishing, keeping up a galling tire which drove the opposing
skirmishers from their pits. Captain Pennell was instantly
killed while attcm[)ting to living down with a Sharp's rifle the
" stars and bars " planted on their works opposite our colors.
The command of the regiment then devolved upon Capt. Edward
Moore, who was succeeded the same evening by Major Gil-
braith, of the 20th Ind., detailed temporarily by General Birney
to this special duty with our regiment, whicii he well performed
until July 10th, when relieved by return of Lieut. -Colonel
Merrill to duty.
June 18th a general assault on the enemy's works was
made, with very small success but with frightful casualties.
We charged at the Hare House along a ridge (overlooking the
plain where the First Maine Heavy charged) . The small ad-
vancement of our lines was secured by earthworks thrown up in
the night in close contact with the enemy. Here we remained
in the works until relieved on the 20th Ity the Ninth corps.
Loss since June Kith, killed and mortally M'ounded, one
officer and 13 enlisted men ; wounded, 18 enlisted men.
Jerusalem Road. — June 21st the Second corps extended
the lines to the left beyond Jerusalem Road. Next day a por-
tion of our division in this movement was outflanked and cap-
tured in the new breastworks. Our brigade was ordered to
64 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
charge and retake these works at dayljreak of the 22d. As we
were drawn up in an open field to undertake this task each man
nerved himself and prepared for the worst, in many instances
leaving valualiles and messages with the surgeon. The word
was given ; the line moved forward in splendid style. Before
half the distance was gained the enemy gave a feeble volley
and left the work, which we occupied without trouble, with
loss of one killed, two wounded and three missing. The
regiment lay behind works after this, not engaged although at
the front.
July 12th the corps moved from the front and encamped,
doing dail)' fatigue duty, levelling old works, etc. An official
nominal list of our casualties for May and June was compiled,
showing the number to have been 376, of whom only 32 were
missing, which included those taken prisoners. Five officers
were killed and fifteen wounded, being a much higher percent-
age than that of the enlisted men.
July 26th marched to the James, crossing at Jones' Point.
First Deep Bottom. — Moved forward about two miles
and performed picket duty until relieved on 28th, when at dusk
we recrossed the river and marched in rear of the investing
lines until morning ; next evening after dark we marched to
the Hare House and quietly relieved Hicks' troops of the Ninth
corps in the intrenchments. This was in preparation for the
famous Mine Explosion which occurred next morning, July
30th, near by us. Returned at nightfall to our camp in
reserve, where we stayed until August 12th.
Second Deep Bottom. — August 12th marched to City
Point and emiiarked on steamers. At 10 p. M. steamed uji the
James to Deep Bottom, where we landed in the morning.
Advancing on the 14th, the enemy fell back into his strong
works. We were estal)lished on the picket line at a large corn-
field, doing that duty until the 19th. The main attack was
made on the right, by the Tenth corps and a portion of the
Second corps, all under General Birney. Failure followed
temporary success. Skirmishing was continuous on the picket
line, punctuated with artillery fire. Colonel Chaplin of the
First Maine H. A., in command of the picket, was killed quite
near the Seventeenth. Our loss was only four, wounded.
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 65
Returning to the Petersburg lines we were put into the
trenches, relieving the Thirty-second Maine and another regi-
ment.' The opposing works were about 500 yards away ; with
us was Ames' N. Y. liattery, relieved by Wliite's Fourth Maine
battery. One-third of our men were held constantly under
arms in the works, with pickets in front. This was north of
Fort "Hell" in an ordinarily healthy location; many deserters
came in. The opposing pickets were at lirst peaceable, with
commercial dealings ; September 10th our picket line was
advanced, which brought on a scrimmage. The brigade Officer
of the Day was Capt. Edward Moore, whose duties brought
him into this affair. We had a few wounded, amongst them
Lieut. Joseph S. Hobbs at the main works. Then there began
constant picket tiring, day and night, except for a half hour at
sunset, each day, by consent, when pickets were changed on
both sides. We suffered a useless loss from this picket tiring.
Peebles' Farm and Fort Hell. — October 1st moved from
the trenches, making a movement " to the left," to extend our
lines and establish them with earthworks, which being accom-
plished we returned on the 5th and were placed in Fort Sedg-
wick (known as Fort " Hell ") . Mortar shelling was frequent,
and on the evening of the 11th a concentrated tire from many
came into our fort-, descending all around and causing some loss.
October 15th were withdrawn and encamped back from the
works. Colonel West, who had been absent, wounded, since
May Gth, returned to duty. Lieut. -Colonel Merrill resigned,
and took his leave of us. The regiment furnished picket details
for the front. October 24th Lieut. Wellington Hobbs was
killed and Lieut. George A. Whidden permanently disabled by
the same bullet ; Lieut. George B. Dunn also slightly wounded,
same night.
BoYDTON Road. — October 26th the Second and Third divis-
ions, under Hancock, marched to the left, crossing Hatcher's
Run on the 27th, and pushed to the Boydton Road. The enemy
nearly surrounded us. The Seventeenth was finally posted to
guard our line of retreat, and constructed a barricade which
General Hancock commended, adding," fix them so that you can
fight on either side." The regiment was selected to escort the
66 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
ambulances, filled with wounded, liack to the works, in advance
of the troops, after nightfall. An all-night march. October
30th we were placed in Fort Rice, remaining until November
29th, when we moved again to the left near the Peebles' House,
at the southerly turn of our lines. December 7th the Fifth
corps and our division, with some cavalry, all under General
Warren, made an infantry raid, marching beyond the Nottaway
River to Jarrett's Station on the Weldon railroad, and then
destroying the railroad in a most thorough manner. Twenty
miles of it was put "ho7:s de C07nbat" from the Nottaway to
Belfield. Our troops liurned many buildings on the return,
as revenge upon inhabitants who had murdered men that fell
out. No encounter with the enemy. After this we encamped,
out of the works, near Fort Dushane, as in winter quarters.
1865.
Colonel West, who had been appointed to Brevet Brigadier-
General for his conduct at battle of the Wilderness, arrived at
the front January 8th and was placed temporarily in command
of the brigade. General de Trol)riand being absent, and later
was assigned to command another brigade. He did not return
to duty with the regiment. Captain William Hobson, in
command by seniority, was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel
of the regiment January 18th.
Hatcher's Run. — February 5th our division, under Gen-
eral Mott, followed by the Second division, marched to Hatch-
ers Run, and our Ijrigade forced the passage of the stream
under fire. The crossing was secured by forming the brigade
in a crescent, one flank resting upon the south bank. The
object being an extension of our works to the left, the line was
established and intrenchments built, when we encamped near
the Smith house, resuming camp duties, picketing, etc., and
the usual routine. February 22d the 2d U. S. Sharpshooters
was disljanded and its company D was transfeiTed to the Sev-
enteenth ; by this we gained about a dozen fine soldiers. March
15th the regiment was re-transferred to the Second brigade,
now commanded by Brig. -Gen. B>Ton R. Pierce, formerly
Colonel of the 3d Mich, regiment, an ideal leader.
SEVENTEENTH REGIifENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 67
March 25tli a demonstration was made against the enemy's
picket lines in our corps front, as a diversion to aid in the
recovery of Fort Steadman, wliich the enemy had captured
from the Ninth corps. Our move was successful, provoking
an attack upon our corps that we repulsed, and captured pris-
oners. The loss of the regiment was small.
Counting up the regimental casualties from August 19,
1864, to March 26, 1865, we found them to be one officer and
eleven enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and three
officers and twenty-five enlisted men wounded.
March 29th broke camp at 6 a. m., marched on theVaughan
road, crossed Hatcher's Kun and advancing towards Boyd-
ton Road, made connection on our left with the Fifth corps.
Next morning advanced in line about a mile and found the
enemy's skirmishers, in view of his main line of works, from
which his artillery opened. Our lines were strengthened with
breastworks.
At this time the strength of the regiment was about 300,
rank and file. The following officers were on duty with the
regiment : Lieutenant-Colonel William Hobson, commanding ;
Major, Charles P. Mattocks (rejoined for duty ilarch 31st
from prisoner of war since ilay 5, 1864) ; Adjutant, George
A. Pai'ker ; Captains, William H. Green, Isaac S. Faunce,
Gustavus C. Pratt, Chai'les C. Cole, George B. Dunn; Fu'st
Lieutenants, Rol)ert H. Mathes, William H. Sturgis command-
ing company B, Parlin Crawford commanding company F,
Joseph S. Hobbs commanding company H, James M. AVebb
commanding company C, Schollay G. Usher, Dexter W. How-
ard commanding company E, William H. Copp ; Second
Lieutenants, Fayette ]\L Paine, Albert L. Bradbury, Edwin
A. Duncan, Asa G. Cliai-les, Charles H. Parcher, Sumner W.
Burnham, Edwin W. Sanborn, Thomas Snowman. Other line
officers, on detailed dut}' in the field, were Capt. Joseph
A. Perry, at division hospital ; Capt. George W. Verrill,
A. A. D. C. on staff of General Pierce ; 1st Lieut. Edward
H. Cric, acting regimental quartermaster ; 2d Lieut. Edwin
Emery, lirigade ambulance officer ; quartermaster Josiah Remick,
as 1st brigade quartermaster.
68 JIAIXE AT GETTVSBUEG.
Fall of PEXERSBrEG. — The general assault upon the defen-
sive works was ordered for 4.30 a. m. April 2d, to commence
on right of our army, after a night of cannonading. Eai'ly in
the morning General Pierce sent two regiments, with an aide, to
"feel" the works in front, which we found nearly evacuated,
and they were secured by these, being the first from the divis-
ion ; the remainder of the brigade then advanced to the works.
Without delay the brigade marched towards Petersljurg upon
the Boydton Plank Road, sending in advance an aide and orderly
to scout the way ; the enemy had fallen back to the outskirts of
Petersburg, where Lee had stretched a breastwork across to the
Appomattox. Approaching this line we found resistance, also
an artilleiy tire from across the river. The Ninth and Sixth
corps had carried theh* front, except a couple of forts. We
formed, connecting with the troops of the latter on our right.
It is related that wliile the Seventeenth was thi'owing up a
breastwork here, about twilight, two strangers came along and
stopped on the line of work, conversing together, peering and
pointing in a peculiar manner. Colonel Hobson ordered them
to " get out of the way," which they did without any " back
talk." The storangers were afterwards discovered to be Lieut.-
General Grant and ^laj. -General Wright.
Lee evacuated that night. In the morning the pursuit
began, and we marched twenty miles. Stragglers from Lee
were plenty. The pursuit continued energetically, and on the
5th we came up with his rear guard.
Deatoxsville and Sailor Creek. — April 6th the First
brigade had the lead. Lee had changed his course. About 2
p. M., when the enemy made a stand, the Seventeenth, with an-
other of our regiments, was lent to the First brigade, to prolong
its line, which at once formed and impetuously charged under
a hot musket and artilleiy fire. The Seventeenth, after break-
ing their line, wheeled to the left and charged upon those Con-
federates who still held to their works, capturing about seventy-
five prisoners, including several oflicers, and the battle-flag of
the 21st N. C. Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson was wounded
in the fii'st advance. The command of the regiment then
devolved upon Major Mattocks, who detailed Captain Green to
SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT HISTORICAL SKETCH. 69
act as a field officer. The division then, in line of battle,
advanced about two miles, where the enemj^ was again found.
Then the Seventeenth was returned to its own brigade, which
in turn took the advance to charge. Moving forward under
musketry and artillery fire, we crossed a small stream, where
we routed a skirmish linej|^d kept on up a ridge ; the rest of
the brigade separated and aHved to the left, while the Seven-
teenth alone n\ade connection with the First division on our
right, as planned. General Humphreys, the corps commander,
was present, who at once ordered another charge, when we
pressed on, completely routing the enemy, who had made a
stand at some buildings, and driving him across and beyond
Sailor Creek. His wagon train fell into our hands with a large
batch of prisoners. It was a headquarters train, and proved
rich plunder. Six barrels of whiskey was the load of one wagon,
which was wisely poured into the brook. The loss was : killed
and mortally wounded, seven, including 1st Lieut. Schollay G.
Usher ; wounded, twenty-seven, including Lieut-Colonel Hob-
son, Captain Dunn, 1st Lieut. Webb, 2d Lieut. Duncan; 1st
Lieut. Hobbs was slightly wounded, but not disabled from duty.
The pursuit continued next day, the Second division in the
lead ; crossed the Appomattox at High Bridge, then on fire,
where the enemy made some resistance, but gave way, leaving
eighteen guns behind. In the afternoon came up with him,
strongly intrenched, in a strong position at Farmville. Skir-
mishing followed, and feints of attack, the object being to
detain them. In the night our foe decamped, and on the 8th
the hunt began again, passing through New Store. Late at
night, or rather at daylight of the 9th, got witliin striking dis-
tance. Sunday, April 9th, we continued the march until about
noon and halted, about two miles from Appomattox C. H.
The Surrender. — About four o'clock in the afternoon
General Meade, coming from the front, announced the surren-
der of General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, at
Appomattox Court House.
April 11th marched for Burkesville Junction, remaining
there until May 2d, when the long march began for Wash-
ington ; on the way passing through Richmond, Fredericksburg,
70 MAINE AT GETTYSBURG.
and other places memorable in the lonsj strife ; finally reaching
Bailey's Cross Roads, near Washington, where we encamped
and remained until mustered out of service, June 4, 1865.
The regiment, under Colonel Mattocks, took part in the
Grand Review in Washington on May 23d.
The men whose terms of service held beyond September
30, 1865, were transferred to the First Maine Heavy Artillery
regiment : this transfer also included three officers. About 300
enlisted men and thirty officers were present June 4, 1865,
to be mustered out, and these came back to Maine with the
organization. A large number of our comrades were absent,
wounded and sick in hospital, who were thus dejirived of the
great joy of returning home under the colors.
The Seventeenth, returning to iVIaine, arrived in Portland
June 8th, where it, and the Twentieth regiment, were received
with enthusiasm and were highly honored by a puljlic recep-
tion. June 10, 1865, the organization was disbanded.
ROSTER.
The following information relating to officers of the Sev-
enteenth Maine regiment is obtained from the Volunteer Army
Register (pai-t 1), 1865, and other reliable sources.
Officers at Muster-out, June 4, 1865.
Colonel: Charles P. MaUocks, May 15, 1865, — brevet Colonel from
Major, April 9, 1S65; brevet Brigadier-General from Colonel, May 13, 1865.
Lieutenant-Colonel: William Hobson, Jan. 18, 1S65, mustered out
June 6, 1S65, — brevet Brigadier-General, April 6, 1S65.
Adjutant: ist Lieut. George A. Parker, Jan. 18, 1865.
Quartermaster: 1st Lieut. Josiah Remick, Nov. S, 1862.
Captains: Joseph A. Perry, Nov. i, 1863; Edward Moore, Nov. 16,
1863, — brevet Lieut.-Col., March 13, 1865; Edwin B. Houghton, Nov. 16, 1863,
mustered out June 11, 1865, — commissioned Major, not mustered; William
H. Green, Dec. 22, 1863, — brevet Major, April 9, 1865; George W. Verrill,
March 14, 1864, — after Feb. 3, 1865, detached, on brigade staff, acting as Asst.
Adjt.-Gen., Asst. Insp. Gen., and Aide-de-Camp, also served on Military
Commission to examine officers; Grenville F. Sparrow, July 4, 1864; Gus-
tavus C. Pratt, Jan. 18, 1S65; Charles C. Cole, Jan. 31, 1865.
First Lieutenants: Edward H. Crie, June 5, 1864, — corrtmissioned
Captain, not mustered; Robert H. Mathes, July 4, 1864, — brevet Captain,
April 9, 1865; William H. Sturgis, July 4, 1864, — brevet Captain April 9, 1865;
ROSTER OF THE SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT. 71
Parlin Crawford, Nov. 4, 1864, — formerly of Third Maine; Lloyd W. Lamos,
Nov. 5, 1864; Joseph S. Hobbs, Nov. 17, 1864; James M. Webb, Jan. 18,
1S65; William H. Copp, Feb. 12, 1865, formerly of Third Maine.
Second Lieutenants: Albert L. Bradbury, Jan. 16, 1865; Asa G.
Charles, Jan. 18, 1865; Edwin A. Duncan, Jan. 18, 1865. — brevet ist Lieut.,
April 9, 1S65, commiss'd ist Lieut., not mustered; Charles H. Parcher, Jan.
iS, 1865; Edwin Emery, Jan. 20, 1S65; Sumner W. Burnham, Jan 26, 1865;
Thomas Snowman, Jan. 31, 1865; Horace B. Cummings, Feb. 12, 1865;
Charles G. Holyoke, Sergeant-Major, — commiss'd 2d Lieut., not mustered.
Surgeon: Nahum A. Hersom, April 11, 1863. Assistant Surgeons:
Nathaniel B. Coleman, Nov. 21, 1863; James G. Sturgis, Nov. 3, 1864.
Chaplain: Joseph F. Levering. Dec. 7, 1863.
(Dates given above refer to rank or commission, those given hereafter
refer to date of the event. )
Died.
Captains: Almon L. Fogg, July 4, 1863, of wounds at battle of Gettys-
burg; Milton M. Young, Aug 13, 1S63, of wounds at battle of Gettysburg;
Ellis M. Sawyer, Nov. 28, 1863, of wounds at battle of Locust Grove, — com-
missioned Major, not mustered; Benjamin C. Pennell, June 17, 1864, killed
in battle of Petersburg.
First Lieutenants: G. W. S. Fickett, Sept. 24, 1862, of disease;
Willard M. Jenkins, Nov. 18, 1862, of disease; Dudley H. Johnson, May 3,
1863, killed in battle of Chancellorsville; James M. Brown, Nov. 27, 1863,
killed in battle of Locust Grove; James S. Roberts, May 23, 1864, killed in
battle of North Anna; Wellington Hobbs, Oct. 24, 1864, killed in action at
Petersburg, — commissioned Captain, not mustered; Schollay G. Usher, April
6, 1865, killed in battle of Deatonsville or Sailor Creek.
Second Lieutenants: William C. Winter, Jan. 25, 1S63, of disease;
Hiram R. Dyar, July 2, 1863, killed in battle of Gettysburg; Benjamin Doe,
May 6, 1864, killed in battle of Wilderness; Walter F. Noyes, May 24, 1864,
killed in battle of North Anna; Newton W. Parker, — commis'd 2d Lieut.,
not mustered, killed in battle May 6, 1864; Edward G. Parker, — commis'd
2d Lieut., not mustered, killed in battle May 12, 1864.
Quartermaster: ist Lieut. Jacob T. Waterhouse, Oct. 23, 1862, of
disease.
Transferred and Promoted out of Regiment.
Captains: Edward I. Merrill, Dec. 11, 1863, to Inv. corps as Captain, —
brevet Major, March 13, 1S65; Isaac S. Faunce, June 4, 1865, to First Maine
H. A. First Lieutenants: Newton Whitten, Dec. 28, 1S63, to Inv. corps;
Dexter W. Howard, May 6, 1865, app't'd Captain in i2Sth U. S. Col. Troops,
— formerly of Third Maine; Fayette M. Paine, June 4, 1S65, to First Maine
H. A. Second Lieutenants: Edwin W. Sanborn, May 6, 1865, app't'd
ist Lieut, in 128th U. S. Col. Troops, — formerly of Third Maine; Daniel J.
Chandler, June 4, 1865, to First Maine H. A.
Discharged on Account of Wounds.
Colonel: George W. West, April 27, 1865,— brevet Brigadier-General,
Dec. 2, 1864.
Adjutant: ist Lieut. Charles W. Roberts, Dec. 16, 1863.
72 MAINE AT GETTYSBtTRG.
Captains: Augustus Goldermann, Aug. 19, 1863; John C. Perry, Sept.
14, 1864; Sumner S. Richards, Oct. i, 1864; George B. Dunn, June 3, 1865.
First Lieutenants: Frederick A. Sawyer, Sept. 24, 1864; Henry L. Bat-
tels, Oct. 3, 1S64; John N. Morrill, Oct. 20, 1864; George A. Whidden, Feb.
4, 1S65, — commissioned as Captain, not mustered. Second Lieutenants:
Thomas W. Lord, Sept. 20, 1863, — afterwards in U. S. Army, retired as Cap-
tain; Franklin C. Adams, Oct. i, 1864, — promoted to ist Lieut., not mustered;
Jordan M. Hall, Oct. 3, 1864.
Resigned and Discharged.
Colonel: Thomas A. Roberts, June 2, 1863.
Lieutenant-Colonel: Charles B. Merrill, Oct. 7, 1864.
Adjutant: ist Lieut. Putnam S. Boothby, Oct. 31, 1S64, — previously
resigned as ist Lieut., Dec. 2. 1862; re-commissioned.
Captains: Andrew J. Stinson, Oct. 5, 1862; William H. Savage, Dec.
4, 1862; Albion Hersey, Dec. 21, 1S62; Isaac S. Faunce, Jan. i, 1863, re-com-
missioned as Captain, Jan. 23, 1864; Uriah VV. Briggs, March 21, 1863; George
W. Martin, March 26, 1863. First Lieutenants: John P. Swasey, Nov.
19. 1862; Benjamin G. Ames, Nov. 20, 1862; Otho W. Bumham, Feb. 3, 1863;
William Roberts, August 5, 1863; Charles E. Hubbard, August 28, 1863.
Second Lieutenants: Madison K. Mabr>', Dec. 10, 1862; Prescott New-
man, Dec. 29, 1862; James M. Safford, Dec. 31, 1862; Danville B. Stevens,
May 20, 1863; Ralph H. Day, May 21, 1S63.
Surgeon: Henry L. K. Wiggin, Jan. 31, 1863. Assistant Surgeons:
Paschal P. Ingalls, March 2, 1863; Louis E. Norris, Oct. i, 1863; William
Wescott, Dec. 11, 1863.
Chaplains: Harvey Hersey, Oct. 27, 1862; Jeremiah Hayden, Aug.
29, 1863.
Otherwise Left the Service.
Capt. James O. Thompson, Feb. 23, 1S64; 2d Lieut. Stephen Graffam,
Nov. 25, 1864.
i
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