Join Maine at War as we travel back in time to the 1860s as Fort Knox State Park hosts a Civil War Weekend Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. Fort Knox is located on Route 174 in Prospect. The two-day event will feature living history demonstrations of Civil War life, including camp life, cannon […]
Civil War buffs living in Maine know that Gettysburg’s the nearest battlefield, with Antietam a close second distance-wise. Both are 10 to 13 hours away by road, depending on who’s driving and how traffic-plugged are I-495, the Mass Pike, and I-84 (in Connecticut and Pennsylvania). Are there bonafide Civil War-related sites we can visit in […]
At Chancellorsville the 5th Maine Infantry Regiment had fought with the 2nd Brigade (Brig. Gen. Joseph J. Bartlett), 1st Division (Brig. Gen. William T. H. Brooks), VI Corps (Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick). Led by Col. Clark S. Edwards, the 5th Maine had taken and administered drubbings at Salem Church and had escaped along with VI […]
A Benjamin Butler-ordered raid cost the 12th Maine Infantry Regiment some 30 men in late summer 1862. On Saturday, September 13, “Acting General” (actually Army Major) George C. Strong (a native Vermonter) sallied forth with Union troops to attack Ponchatoula, a “village” located 48 miles from New Orleans. Strong planned to destroy a New Orleans, […]
Maine at War has unveiled a new YouTube channel, titled Maine at War: Battlefields, Monuments & More! Published as a weekly blog since March 2012, Maine at War adds a video element with Maine at War: Battlefields, Monuments & More, which will feature videos taken on Civil War battlefields or at out-of-state sites affiliated with […]
A combat veteran from the 10th Maine Infantry Regiment passed along wise advice to a Maine recruit around the time of Antietam. An unidentified officer, the hard-bitten veteran apparently shared his wisdom sometime between the battles of Cedar Mountain and Antietam. Whether or not he survived the 10th Maine’s blood-letting in the East Woods is […]
David Glasgow Farragut would be jealous! If you’re a Civil War buff who’s also “into” cruising, American Cruise Lines has got the ultimate dream excursion for you! Based in Guilford, Connecticut, ACL announced on May 22 “a new cruise that visits nearly every major battlefield of the Civil War.” The 35-day Civil War Battlefields Cruise […]
Ordered by Maj. Gen. David B. Birney to probe southern Seminary Ridge on Thursday, July 2, 1863, Col. Hiram Berdan and his green-clad sharpshooters crossed the Emmitsburg Road and advanced into Pitzer’s Woods. With Berdan came Col. Moses B. Lakeman and his 3rd Maine Infantry Regiment. You can read part 1 here. The sharpshooters took […]
Early on Thursday, July 2, 1863, Maj. Gen. Dan Sickles sent an aide to find Col. Elijah Walker and his 4th Maine Infantry Regiment, numbering “about 300 men and 18 officers” upon bivouacking near Cemetery Ridge the previous night. Sickles commanded III Corps, deployed by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade to hold the southern end […]
A day before draft riots erupted in New York City, some well-connected Maine residents took a cruise on the Kennebec River to see the latest War Department infrastructure being built on the coast. If anyone discussed Gettysburg and its aftermath that pleasant day, a newspaper correspondent invited along for the voyage didn’t mention it. Writing […]
