Tag Archives: American Battlefield Trust

Gardiner teen-ager in the 2nd Maine Battery exemplified Maine’s best

His hometown newspaper thought Charles T. Sprague “would … have made an excellent soldier.” Boy, did the press ever get that wrong. According to the 1860 U.S. Census for Gardiner, Josiah L. W. Sprague (the “W” was for “Winter”) was a 44-year-old “house carpenter” with real estate worth $2,600. He and his wife, Melinda Joy […]

Fathers from Gardiner sought the 16th Maine’s dead at Fredericksburg

New Year’s 1863 proved bitter for Gardiner resident John Berry. He was a lumber dealer, with real estate worth $2,800 and a personal estate worth $2,500, according to the 1860 U.S. census. Four sons lived with Berry and his same-age wife, Mary; the oldest boy, 17-year-old George H. Berry, worked as a clerk, possibly in […]

Efforts are under way to preserve a 5th Maine Battery site at Gettysburg

If American Battlefield Trust fund-raising efforts succeed, the late (and great) 5th Maine Battery gunners could return to Gettysburg and recognize the terrain across which they maneuvered late on Wednesday, July 1, 1863. The ABT wants to buy the four acres and buildings affiliated with the Battlefield Military Museum, located at 900 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg. […]