Tag Archives: Cuvier Grover

A Maine angel of mercy completed his mission at Port Hudson

Playing “angel of mercy” briefly cost Charlie Blake his freedom at Port Hudson, La. in late spring 1863. Hailing from Portland, 21-year-old Charles H. Blake had enlisted in Co. B, 12th Maine Infantry Regiment as a corporal in November 1861. The regiment accompanied Ben Butler’s New Orleans expedition in early 1862. Within 12 months, Union […]

A nurse goes to war, Part 4: “We finished our rounds in double quick time”

On Wednesday, June 25, 1862 Union troops fought their last offensive action of the Peninsula Campaign at the Battle of Oak Grove. Federal regiments racked up casualties and accomplished precious little in the swamps west and southwest of Seven Pines, Va. “We had heard firing all the morning and knew what must follow,” said Bath […]

A brother dead, a brother dying, and a Mainer’s promise kept at Cedar Creek: Part II

Did a letter written by a Bangor lieutenant at least partially heal the broken heart of a Georgia father? Launching a successful early morning surprise attack on the Union Army of the Shenandoah on Oct. 19, 1864, Confederate troops initially routed the Union divisions camped near the meandering Cedar Creek some 20 miles south of […]

A brother dead, a brother dying, and a Mainer’s promise kept at Cedar Creek: Part I

Approximately 18 months after two sons vanished during the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley, William H. Rogers of Quitman in Brooks County in Georgia received a letter from Maine. The letter was from a Yankee lieutenant, Lagrange Severance, not someone upon whom Rogers could look favorably. After reading the letter, Rogers may […]

I beg to differ

A war of words erupted in a Bangor newspaper in spring 1863 after an Army chaplain allegedly insulted the 26th Maine Infantry Regiment. For the use of one word in a letter written to the Daily Whig & Courier, the Rev. John K. Lincoln earned righteous indignation from a Castine resident. A Bangor Theological Seminary […]