Tag Archives: Charles Clark

Gaines Mill: Part I — “The nearest run thing you ever saw”

  Looking from Maine in 2016 to Virginia in 1862, we cannot appreciate how, in the words of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, in speaking about Waterloo, the Battle of Gaines Mill was “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life, by God!” George Brinton McClellan had split his Army of the Potomac […]

Washington County will bleed at Rappahannock Station, part 2

Ordered to charge Confederate defenses at Rappahannock Station, Va. after dark on Saturday, Nov. 7, 1863, the men of the 6th Maine Infantry Regiment believe they are going in alone. “Probably so small a number of men never before made such an uproar,” Adjutant Charles Clark will comment long afterwards. But behind him (and probably […]

Washington County will bleed at Rappahannock Station, part 1

Washington County will bleed this Saturday, Nov. 7, 1863. Partially concealed in a thick forest just north of the Rappahannock River, the men of Co. D, 6th Maine Infantry Regiment, check their gear as Capt. Reuel Furlong awaits the signal to form his company into line and advance toward the enemy. Wherever Furlong stands, his […]