Item 6704
Chapter 6, page 173-177.
A recruiting broadside from Scarborough, dated October 1861.
Recruitment in the north emphasized fighting to preserve a united union versus fighting to end slavery, which was a more controversial issue.
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Item 5187
Chapter 6, page 174.
Joshua L. Chamberlain, a former Bowdoin College professor, joined the army as the Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Volunteer Regiment. He was later promoted to colonel, and eventually to general.
Chamberlin is celebrated for leading the charge at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Item 4162
Chapter 6, 173-177.
The 32nd Maine Infantry.
Maine volunteered 73,000 troops to fight in the Civil War. 1/3 of those sent, died in battle.
Item 6952
Chapter 6, page 175-177.
This poem, written by Joseph Bradford of the 32nd Maine Regiment, is about a brigade of Irishmen from Maine at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Many recent immigrants and freed slaves enlisted to fight in the Civil War.
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Item 5183
Chapter 6, page 175-177.
This is a photograph, or cartes de visite, of Maine Civil War soldier, George W. Edwards. Edwards was a member of the 16th Maine, and died at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Edwards is wearing a Union Army uniform.
Item 4264
Chapter 6, page 173-181.
A mess kit that was used by a Civil War soldier.
Item 5223
Chapter 6, page 173-180.
This display of American Civil War equipment and supplies illustrates the types of items that Maine soldiers would have been using the field.
Item 5715
Chapter 6, page 173-181.
A letter from a Maine Civil War soldier, Abner Small, to the Luther Emerson of Waterville.
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Item 5716
Chapter 6, page 173-181.
Abner Small, a Maine Civil War soldier, describes his Thanksgiving dinner at his Virginia encampment.
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Item 5504
Chapter 6, page 173-181.
Union soldier, Mesach P. Larry, describes his experience in the Battle of Antietam.
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Item 9276
Chapter 6, page 177.
In this letter home, Union Soldier John Sheahan, writes of General Burnside and the Battle of Fredericksburg. Sheahan notes that nothing was gained by the slaughter of "our men."
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Item 9283
Chapter 6, page 177.
Soldier John Sheahan writes a vivid description of conditions in the field a few days before the start of the "Mud March." Sheahan mentions the large number of Confederate soldiers stationed across the river from the Union camp.
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Item 9284
Chapter 6, page 177-178.
This 1863 letter describes the consequences of Gen. Burnside's decision to try to cross the Rappahannock River and catch the rebels off-guard with a surprise attack. The weather was poor, and the rain and snow created treacherous marching conditions. In his letter, Sheahan writes that in some places the mud was "over my head."
This event later came to be known as the "Mud March."
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Item 9282
Chapter 6, page 173-180.
This emotional letter, also written by John Sheahan, exhibits the psychological effects of witnessing death and destruction on the battlefield.
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Item 9281
Chapter 6, page 179-180.
John Sheahan documents the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg.
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Item 9274
Chapter 6, page 184-185.
Willis M. Porter of Old Town, describes his regiment's reaction to the news of General Lee's surrender.
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Item 4330
Chapter 6, page 174-185.
Joshua Chamberlain commanded the 20th Maine Volunteers during the Civil War.
After the war, Chamberlin served Governor of Maine, and then resumed his post as a professor at Bowdoin College.
