Tag Archives: George Alexander McCluskey

A Brit rides with the 1st Maine Cavalry: Part III — hell on earth at Andersonville

For a dead man, Pvt. George F. Alexander certainly was a lively corpse. Alexander actually was George Alexander McCluskey, born in Westfield, New Brunswick in August 1846. The 5-4½ , blue-eyed British subject had lied about his age to enlist in the Co. K, 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment in January 1864. The regiment lost 68 […]

A Brit rides with the 1st Maine Cav: Part II — for Queen, Country, and Andersonville!

George Alexander McCluskey (dba with the United States Army as George F. Alexander) probably rode out with Co. K, 1st Maine Cavalry on Sunday, Feb. 28, 1864 to participate in the disastrous raid that Col. Ulric Dahlgren envisioned reaching Richmond, capturing senior Confederate politicians, and releasing Union prisoners of war. Among other cavalrymen, about 500 […]

A Brit rides with the 1st Maine Cavalry: Part I — fibbing to fit in

  The young recruit so assiduously trying to enlist in the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment on January 4, 1864 looked suspiciously young, hardly needing to shave yet. The kid swore up and down — and officially on his enlistment papers — that he was of legal age to fight for the United States. Angus P. […]