Military formations and units out of Maine during the Civil War

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The military units and units from Maine took part in the American Civil War on the Union side .

background

Civil War

On April 15, 1861, just days after the attack on Fort Sumter , Abraham Lincoln called on the states remaining in the Union to set up volunteer associations of 75,000 soldiers for three months. Until the takeover in the US Army , these associations remained in the militia organization of the states. Therefore the recruiting and arming of the volunteers was the task of the individual states. As early as May 3, 1861, Lincoln, as Supreme Commander, again requested 42,000 three-year volunteers from the states and at the same time ordered the US Army to be reinforced by 23,000 men. It was not until July 22, 1861, that Congress authorized President Lincoln to raise a volunteer army of 1,000,000 volunteers.

The state of Maine

There was also great enthusiasm for the fight against the South in Maine. More than 10,000 men immediately volunteered. Due to the President's first request - 75,000 soldiers from across the Union - this large number of volunteers could not be put into service by the US Army. The regiments set up with these volunteers therefore remained in the militia organization until they were commissioned.

In the regiments, officers were mostly elected until the end of 1861; however, the regimental commander is always appointed by the governor. From 1862 this practice faded into the background. After the intervention of professional soldiers, the War Ministry considered many of these "hobby" officers unsuitable and deposed them.

In total, Maine set up 32 infantry and two cavalry regiments, as well as an independent infantry battalion and some special units. Seven field artillery batteries and seven companies of Coast Guard artillery were set up as support weapons. Maine provided the US Army with the regiments from Maine during the Civil War 65,077 soldiers.

Voluntary associations and units

infantry

1st Maine Infantry Regiment

This regiment was taken over as the only regiment from an existing militia regiment that had been set up in July 1854 from volunteers from the Portland , Maine area. The militiamen were called up on April 28, 1861 and committed for three months. The US Army put the regiment into service on May 3, 1861. The formation strength was 877 men.

The regiment was transferred to Washington, DC on June 1, 1861 and used in the defensive positions of the capital. On August 1, it was embarked again for Portland and there after the end of three months of service on August 5, 1861 decommissioned.

The regiment had no losses. Soldiers who wanted to continue to sign up were first transferred to the 10th and later to the 29th Maine Infantry Regiment.

2nd Maine Infantry Regiment

The regiment was set up in Bangor on May 28, 1861 ; the soldiers were mainly from Bangor. The state of Maine signed the soldiers for two years. The US Army put the regiment into service on the same day.

The regiment took part in all major battles in the eastern theater of war; it was part of the Army in northeast Virginia and then the Potomac Army .

On May 20, 1863, the regiment was transferred to Maine and decommissioned on June 9, 1863. The soldiers who had not yet expired were transferred to the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment.

69 soldiers died in the battle. 70 soldiers died as a result of wounds or illness and 15 were executed for desertion.

3rd Maine Infantry Regiment

The regiment was formed on May 28, 1861 in Augusta , Maine from three year old volunteers and placed under the US Army on June 4, 1861. First in command was Colonel Oliver Otis Howard . The soldiers came mainly from what is now Androscoggin and Kennebec Counties . At the time of formation the regiment was 1024 men strong.

The regiment took part in all major battles in the eastern theater of war; it was always part of the Potomac Army. Particularly high losses suffered the regiment during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, when it was in Major General Daniel E. Sickles III. Corps was deployed in Peach Orchard. The number of fallen soldiers was 30 soldiers and thus more than 14% of all soldiers deployed. The percentage of all losses, that is, plus the wounded and missing, was 58%.

The regiment was detached from the Potomac Army after the end of the commitment period on June 3, 1864 before the Battle of Cold Harbor and moved to Maine. 64 soldiers continued to sign up, 65 more had not yet expired. These soldiers were transferred to the 17th Maine Infantry Regiment.

A total of 1586 soldiers served in the regiment. Of these, 134 were killed in action and 140 as a result of wounds or illnesses. 33 soldiers died in Confederate captivity. On June 28, 1864, the regiment was decommissioned by the US Army.

7th Maine Infantry Regiment

The regiment was formed on August 21, 1861 in Augusta , Maine from three year old volunteers and then placed under the US Army.

The regiment took part in all major battles in the eastern theater of war; it was always part of the Potomac Army. It suffered particularly high losses during the Battle of the Antietam . The regiment took part in the attack on Bloody Angle during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House . After the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road , it was subordinated to the Shenandoah Army and took part in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley.

The regiment was decommissioned on August 21, 1864 in Charlestown , Virginia and disbanded on September 5 in Augusta, Maine. The under-serving soldiers and recruits were transferred to the Maine 1st Veterans Infantry Regiment.

A total of 1505 soldiers served in the regiment. 128 of them died in combat or as a result of wounds; 403 were wounded and 212 soldiers died as a result of illnesses. 19 soldiers died in Confederate captivity.

18th Maine Infantry Regiment

The regiment was set up on August 21, 1862 in Bangor, Maine from three year old volunteers and placed under the US Army on August 24, 1862.

It was used in the field fortifications south of Washington, DC in Virginia. On December 19, 1862, the War Department decreed that it was reclassified to the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment.

20th Maine Infantry Regiment

The regiment was set up on August 29, 1862 in Portland, Maine from three year old volunteers and placed under the US Army on September 3, 1862. Colonel Adelbert Ames was appointed commander, and his deputy was Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain .

The regiment took part in all major battles in the eastern theater of war; it was always part of the Potomac Army. A special mission was that during the Battle of Gettysburg . The regiment was deployed under the leadership of Chamberlains as the extreme left regiment of the front of the Potomac Army and held against several attacks by the Confederate the positions at the Little Round Top on the second day of the battle and thereby contributed to the victory of the Potomac Army in Gettysburg. During that day the regiment lost three officers and 134 men.

On June 5, 1865, the men and most of the officers whose service ended on October 1, 1865, dismissed. The regiment remained in service and reorganized itself after taking up the remnants of the 16th Maine Infantry and the 1st Maine Sniper Regiments and remained in service until July 16, 1865. In Washington, DC, it was decommissioned on that date.

The regiment had 147 casualties during the battles and skirmishes in which it was involved and 146 officers and men died as a result of wounds or illnesses. 15 soldiers died in Confederate captivity.

cavalry

1st Maine Cavalry Regiment

The regiment of three-year-old volunteers was set up in Augusta on October 31, 1861 and put into service on November 5, 1861. It consisted of 13 companies.

The regiment took part in all major battles in the eastern theater of war; it was always part of the Potomac Army. Until the cavalry division was created, the regiment was subordinated to various corps in battalions.

After the service period of the first volunteers ran out, the regiment was replenished by seven companies of the 1st DC Cavalry Regiment. The regiment received 28 Battle Honors and suffered the greatest losses of any cavalry regiment in the US Army during the Civil War. 145 soldiers died in Confederate captivity.

A total of 4,227 soldiers served in the regiment. On August 1, 1865, the regiment in Petersburg , Virginia was decommissioned and the relatives released on August 9, 1865 in Augusta.

artillery

1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment

The regiment was set up on January 6, 1863 because of a relocation from the 18th Maine Infantry Regiment ordered by the War Department on December 19, 1862. By 1864, the regiment's batteries were deployed in the Washington, DC field fortifications. In March 1863 the 3rd battery of Maine Mounted Artillery reinforced the regiment for nine months. The regiment was completed by 1,800 soldiers in February 1864.

On May 15, 1864, the regiment left the positions around Washington, was subordinated to the Potomac Army and initially used to protect the supply lines of the overland campaign. In repelling a Confederate attack on the supply lines on May 19, 1864, the regiment lost 476 soldiers. The regiment was used purely as an infantry during the siege of Petersburg and lost 604 soldiers in the second battle for Petersburg. Deployed both north of the James and south of the river, the regiment took part in many battles of the siege. The regiment took part in the Appomattox campaign until the Northern Virginia Army surrendered and paraded at the victory ceremony in Washington. Most of the members of the regiment were demobilized on June 6, 1865, the remaining soldiers remained in Washington's field fortifications until the end of the commitment period on September 11, 1865. On September 20, 1865, the Bangor regiment was disbanded with the release of the remaining soldiers.

The regiment suffered the greatest losses of all regiments of the army in battles - 423 soldiers were killed or died as a result of injuries, 260 died of epidemics. A total of 4,714 soldiers served in the regiment.

Remarks

  1. ↑ James M. McPherson, Battle Cry for Freedom , p. 322.
  2. ↑ 1850-1870: The Civil War. Maine Historical Society - Maine History Online, accessed February 20, 2013 (Maine Volunteers; 2000-2013).
  3. ↑ Maine Regiments in the Civil War. Ancestry.com Inc. Corporate Headquarters, 2012, accessed February 16, 2013 (Maine Associations and Units).
  4. ^ The Civil War in the East. Civil War in the East, 2016, accessed July 21, 2016 (scope of soldiers from Maine).
  5. ^ National Park Service - The Civil War. National Park Service, February 20, 2013, accessed February 20, 2013 (1st Regiment Sample Roll).
  6. ^ Maine State Archives. Department of the Secretary of State, 2012, accessed February 20, 2013 (continued use of volunteers).
  7. ^ Second Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry. 2005, accessed May 12, 2013 (History of the 2nd Regiment).
  8. ^ Fox's Regimental Losses Chapter III. civilwarhome.com, November 17, 2002, accessed July 20, 2016 (14% dead).
  9. ^ Third Maine Regiment Volunteer Infantry: Time-Line with Historical Information. (PDF; 442 kB) (No longer available online.) 3rd Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, Inc., February 2, 2013, archived from the original on August 5, 2016 ; Retrieved February 19, 2013 (History of the 3rd Regiment). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thirdmaine.org
  10. ^ Third Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry. Department of the Secretary of State. Maine State Archives, 2015, accessed July 20, 2015 (3rd Regiment History).
  11. ^ Fox's Regimental Losses Chapter III. civilwarhome.com, November 17, 2002, accessed December 5, 2013 (13% dead).
  12. ^ 7th Regiment, Maine Infantry. November 23, 2013, accessed December 5, 2013 (History of the 7th Regiment).
  13. ^ Maine State Archives. Department of the Secretary of State, 2005, accessed November 9, 2013 (losses).
  14. ^ National Park Service - The Civil War. National Park Service, October 25, 2013, accessed November 9, 2013 (Regiment casualties).
  15. ^ National Park Service - The Civil War. National Park Service, October 25, 2013, accessed November 9, 2013 (Regiment casualties).
  16. ^ First Maine Cavalry. Department of the Secretary of State, 2005, accessed February 25, 2013 (Participation in engagements and battles).
  17. ^ Union Main Volunteers 1st Regiment, Maine Cavalry. National Park Service, February 22, 2013, retrieved February 25, 2013 (1st Cavalry Regiment casualties).
  18. ^ Fox's Regimental Losses Chapter XII. civilwarhome.com, January 26, 2002; accessed December 5, 2013 (Confederate Captivity Deceased).
  19. ^ Soldiers and Sailors Database. National Park Service, February 22, 2013, accessed February 25, 2013 (absolute strength of the 1st Cavalry Regiment).
  20. ^ Maine State Archives. Department of the Secretary of State, 2005, accessed March 9, 2014 (regiment reclassification).
  21. ↑ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/. ancestry.com, 2014, accessed March 9, 2014 (casualties while first serving as infantry).
  22. ↑ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/. ancestry.com, 2014, accessed March 9, 2014 (casualties during the Second Battle of Petersburg).
  23. ^ Civilwararchive.com/. ancestry.com, January 17, 2009, accessed March 9, 2014 (Regiment losses).
  24. ^ Soldiers and Sailors Database. National Park Service, February 22, 2013, accessed March 9, 2014 (absolute strength of the 1st Heavy Artillery Regiment).