Tag Archives: 11th Maine Infantry Regiment

Split in two

Did what happen to Ariel Tolman Carver in death reflect something that happened in life? He may have been split in two, in more ways than one. Born in 1843 in Paris in Oxford County, Ariel is one of those mid-19th century people who’s simply “there,” whose background requires some digging. He was one of […]

A legal beagle recruits for the wrong regiment

Did a Bangor attorney recruit a company for the wrong regiment? In late summer 1861 Gen. Benjamin F. Butler convinced President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that they needed more pro-war Democrats commanding volunteer regiments. Loyal state governors (mostly Republicans after the 1860 election) overwhelmingly commissioned Republican officers, and War Democrats needed […]

General Grinch ruins a Charleston Christmas

Maine soldiers stationed on Folly and Morris islands listened on Christmas 1863 as, to paraphrase a familiar Christmas song, “it came upon the midnight clear, that glorious old cannon blast of old …” Like Ebeneezer Scrooge, Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore had little use for Christmas, at least for Charleston, South Carolina, still defying his […]

Mainers meet the Swamp Angel, part 1

While that weren’t no angel the 11th Maine boys aimed at Charleston, Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore certainly thought it was. Few individual artillery pieces drew acclaim during the Civil War. For the Confederacy, there was the 12-pounder bronze Napoleon that Maj. John Pelham and his gunners from the Virginia Horse Artillery maneuvered at Fredericksburg […]

Brownfield monument depicts a particular young hero

His right hand held palm outward, the soldier looks incredibly young. Turns out he’s just a kid. The designation of November 11 as Veterans Day lay decades in the future as Pvt. Daniel Augustus Bean and Co. A, 11th Maine Infantry Regiment, mustered into the United States Army on Monday, November 11, 1861. Along with […]

Emancipation: An opportunity for promotion

The Emancipation Proclamation turned on the manpower spigot for the new black regiments forming at various locations in the United States. Since only whites could serve as officers in those regiments, many white soldiers sought higher status and pay by lobbying for commissions in the new units. Even discharged soldiers got in on the act. […]

Eastport editor liked a correspondent’s rah-rah-sis-boom-bah attitude

Noel B. Nutt knew a good letter-to-the-editor when it crossed his desk — and this particular letter from Corp. Philip H. Andrews of Co. B, 11th Maine Infantry Regiment certainly fit the bill: • Addressed to the correct newspaper (The Sentinel), check; • Addressed to the right person (“Mr. Editor”), check; • Espoused the Republican […]

Cemetery of Flies — Part II

The stench grew as Col. Harris Plaisted and an 11th Maine Infantry companion known only as “S” approached the front lines west of Seven Pines, Va. on Friday, June 19, 1862.* Here, on Saturday, May 31, Maj. Robert F. Campbell of Cherryfield had brought companies A, C, and F out of the 11th Maine camp […]

Cemetery of Flies — Part I

So big they all but clogged his horse’s nostrils, the swarming flies also targeted Col. Harris Plaisted as his nervous horse clopped across a sloppy Virginia field on Friday, June 19, 1862. Beside him a mounted 11th Maine Infantry Regiment officer — Plaisted commanded the battle- and disease-shredded unit — waved a hand at the […]

Tomatoes, green corn, and apples made for a good meal at Yorktown

Food: Maine soldiers accustomed to the bountiful harvests and diverse crops of the Pine Tree State dreamed about food, salivated about food, and stole it when- and wherever they could while escaping the Peninsula of Virginia. When all the army could serve up was rancid pork and weevil-ridden hard tack, even a green ear of […]