Tag Archives: Fernandina

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 […]

A deserter’s fate, Part II: A firing squad delivered the verdict

  After deserter Albert H. Lunt of the 9th Maine Infantry Regiment was convicted of various crimes by a court martial convened at St. Augustine, Fla., he was sentenced to death. President Abraham Lincoln upheld the sentence in mid-November 1862; Army officers scheduled the execution for Dec. 1. Lunt was transferred to Hilton Head, S.C., […]

A deserter’s fate, Part I: Even the Confederates didn’t want him

  Bad boy Albert H. Lunt could do no good, so 12 Union soldiers shot him dead at Hilton Head on Monday, Dec. 1, 1862. And in case they missed, another dozen armed soldiers waited to use Lunt for target practice. Assigned to Co. I, 9th Maine Infantry Regiment, Lunt seemed destined to pay for […]

Life in the Florida swamps

For the 11th Maine Infantry boys accustomed to relatively tame reptiles and bugs back home in the Pine Tree State, duty in the northeastern Florida swamps proved eye-opening. Boarding the steamer “Boston” at Beaufort, S.C. on Thursday, June 4, 1863, soldiers assigned to the 11th Maine headed south to Florida. “Daylight of the 5th found […]