Text by Tom Brown, vice president of the Pittsfield Historical Society; and Jane Woodruff, member of the Heart of Pittsfield
Images from Pittsfield Historical Society, Maine Central Institute, Maine Historical Society, and Maine State Archives
News of the Confederate firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 burst over the state of Maine much as the shells burst over that fort. "In less than twenty-four hours after the tidings of the revolt were received, full companies of volunteers were formed, ready to march," John S. C. Abbott wrote in his 1892 History of Maine.
For many years, Maine men between 18 and 45 had been required to join local militias, but these militias were not, for the most part, ready to engage in war.
Only about 1,200 Mainers were "in any condition to respond to a call of military duty," Abbott wrote.
They had not drilled as part of larger regiments and knew little of military maneuvers. In addition, they lacked equipment.
With a standing army of only 16,000 career soldiers, the Union had to assemble additional forces to put down the rebellion. Initially President Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers, assigning each state a quota. The state then assigned each community a quota.
Pittsfield, like other towns, received General Orders that explained how the enlistment process was to take place. Recruits signed the enlistment form, which specified which town got "credit" for the enlistment. Many companies – 100 men – were formed primarily from one community. Regiments, made up of 10 companies, might include men from many parts of the state.
The first enlistments in 1861 – and some later ones – were for nine months. Soon, most of those were converted to three-years as were most future enlistments or conscriptions. Recruiters received $3 for each volunteer they enlisted. Volunteers received a premium, advance pay, and a bounty.
John Millett on Pittsfield Civil War enlistment quotas, Pittsfield, 1862
Item Contributed by
Maine State Archives
In 1862, twenty men from Pittsfield signed an enrollment list in response to President Lincoln's call of August 11, 1862 for volunteers to serve in the war. Five of them were rejected for service but the majority of the men went on to serve in the 24th Regiment.
George Whitney letter to Gov. Washburn about Civil War quotas, Pittsfield, 1862
Item Contributed by
Maine State Archives
Apparently the number of men volunteering slowed in the summer of 1862 as John W. Millett, Recruiting Officer, sought clarity on recruitment with a series of questions such as, whether underage men could enlist without parental approval, or could previously discharged men who are recovered from disability re-enlist. Millett also wondered whether he and his men could have their choice of regiments.
Millett had enlisted in 1861 into the 2nd Maine Regiment, but was discharged due to consumption at Fort Corcoran. His question regarding being able to re-enlist after a prior discharge for medical reasons was quite personal. Three months after he wrote this letter to Hodsdon, he re-enlisted and mustered into Company C of the 24th Maine Regiment as a Sergeant in October of 1862.
As the Civil War continued into 1862, longer than most people expected, Pittsfield officials began to feel the burden of filling quotas for soldiers. At the beginning of the war, the state determined the number of men in each community who might be of military age. Those lists determined the quotas at each call for soldiers.
If towns could not meet their quotas, they were instructed to draft members of enrolled militias. Pittsfield's Co. A was not called into service when the war started, but its members were subject to the draft according to a General Order issued in 1862.
Pittsfield held a draft lottery for members of Militia Co. A at Isaac Lancey's tavern on September 9, 1862 at 9 a.m. The men drew draft numbers. They could choose either to enlist, or not enlist and wait to be drafted – if the town did not meet its enlistment quotas. There were 67 names on the list.
Ten men of this 67 member militia went on to serve in 7 different regiments. A separate document listing 45 men with their lottery numbers show one name crossed out: the man with the draft number 1, Willard Cross.
Cross's draft notice from A Company of Enrolled Militia in Pittsfield under its quota ordered him to appear at the Pittsfield Railroad Depot at 8 a.m. on September 16, 1862, ready to leave for rendezvous at Camp E. D. Keys, Augusta. He was warned, "Hereof Fail Not, At Your Peril." It is unknown as to what happened to Cross as records do not show that he ever served in the war.
In 1861, Pittsfield had 762 male residents. Of those, 341 were under age 17 and 100 over age 50. That left roughly 321 men of an age to serve. Pittsfield was asked in November of 1862 to raise 34 troops.
J.C. Connor letter about Civil War enlistments, Pittsfield, 1864
Item Contributed by
Maine State Archives
George Whitney, representing the Pittsfield board of selectmen, wrote to Gov. Israel Washburn in November 1862 complaining that the quota was too high. While Pittsfield recruited the correct number, several were discounted, and the town was three short.
After the federally ordered draft was held in 1863, 74 names of Pittsfield men appeared on the list. Of those, only three actually entered the service, according to Adjutant General's reports. Seventeen of the group paid commutations – fees in lieu of service. Two, Joseph M. Nye and Franklin D. Jenkins, furnished substitutes. Nineteen were exempted for physical reasons.
In September 1864, again concerned about its quota, Pittsfield's Postmaster, Jesse C. Connor wrote to General John L. Hodsdon requesting that he not mention to the Selectmen of Pittsfield that the coming draft might be delayed for months, as Connor was concerned that information would stop enlistments.
Connor informed him that the town's selectmen were going to Augusta to correct the militia rolls and to ask for a reduction in the town's quota. Connor agreed that the quota was too high, but noted that the selectmen were Copperheads – Democrats who wanted a peace treaty to end the war.
As the war continued into 1864 and 1865, some communities found it difficult to meet the continuing quotas. One recruiter, C. A. Farwell, reported in December 1864 that he had recruited only one soldier. He reported that Pittsfield had already sent about 100 soldiers to the war.
By war's end, however, more than 200 men from Pittsfield -- more than 60 percent of those eligible -- had served in Union regiments.
Some men never returned home as they did not survive the war. Some moved on to other towns having seen the larger world, but many returned. Many of those who returned bonded together to form a Grand Army of the Republic post that would influence their community, then and into the future.
Members of the Stephen Davis Grand Army of the Republic Post #11 in Pittsfield left a legacy for Pittsfield that continues into the 21st century with monuments, the annual Memorial Day parade, and the Manson Essay for high school juniors.
The GAR post disbanded in 1926. The GAR hall on Park Street was torn down as part of urban renewal in June 1970. The group's cabin at Camp Benson in Newport, where they held a number of large encampments, is privately owned has been modernized beyond recognition. The concrete steps and flag pole the GAR post had erected in Hathorn Park were removed to provide handicapped access to the park.
Several prominent monuments and the Memorial Day parade remain reminders of the soldiers' commitment to the Union. The Davis Post along with the Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) worked for a number of years to secure funds for the Civil War Monument, which was dedicated along with the opening of the Pittsfield Public Library in a special Memorial Day observance in 1904.
The 7 1/2 -foot bronze statue of a Civil War soldier at parade rest atop a decorative base made from Hallowell granite graces the grounds of the library and serves as a place of commemoration along the Memorial Day parade route.
At the end of the route in the Pittsfield Village Cemetery on Peltoma Avenue is a bronze urn placed near many of the Civil War veterans' graves. Dedicated in a Memorial Day ceremony in 1913, this urn was donated by the Davis Post and the WRC.
In 1868, in Decatur, Illinois, Benjamin F. Stephenson gathered veteran soldiers and sailors into the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The organization was structured with a Commander-in-Chief at the national level, Departments at the state level, and posts numbered in the order they were organized within each state. The GAR Department of Maine was organized January 10, 1868. Most posts took a name which had to be unique within a department and honored a deceased person.
In 1879, returning Pittsfield area veterans formed the local GAR post, which took the name of a 19-year-old member of the 1st Maine Cavalry, Stephen Davis of Stetson. His brother Daniel Davis was governor of Maine from 1880-1881. There were 1st Maine Cavalry fatalities from Pittsfield –– 20- year-old Leonard Small who died of wounds at Salisbury Prison in North Carolina where Davis died; and 24-year-old Madison Libby, who was killed in action –– and the reasoning has been lost for naming the post after a Stetson man.
An entry from the group's journal noted: "A few of the old soldiers of the late rebellion being desirous of perpetuating the remembrance of our hardships, sufferings, and struggles for union, law, and liberty and for our mutual benefit and protection petition for a charter for a post of the Grand Army of the Republic to be established in Pittsfield, Somerset County, Maine."
The group wanted "peace and harmony." They worked to get government aid for the wounded, widows, and orphans and to build retirement homes – and to remember the service of Civil War soldiers.
The Stephen Davis Post #11 served veterans of the area from many regiments, who had to apply to join and had to receive unanimous approval from other members. The GAR used a ballot box patterned after those used by lodges of the fraternal order of Freemasonry. Even one black marble "blackballed" or rejected the applicant.
Enoch Carr, Orin S. Haskell, and Richard Daniels, all from the 1st Cavalry, served as leaders in the Davis GAR post or encampments. Several community and state leaders also belonged to this post, including Dr. John C. Manson and Medal of Honor winner Colonel Walter G. Morrill.
Haskell (1836-1910) served in the 1st Maine Cavalry for nearly four years and rose to the rank of lieutenant. After the war he moved to Pittsfield where he was private secretary and adviser to Going Hathorn, a founder of Maine Central Institute (MCI), started by Free Will Baptists in 1866 to serve as a feeder school to Bates College.
After Hathorn's death, Haskell was co-executor of the estate and served in a number of capacities in the community in helping establish MCI, the first woolen mill in town, and the Pittsfield Advertiser, which he and his son Charles founded in 1882.
He was a charter member of the First Universalist Church and the Stephen Davis GAR Post #11, of which he was the first commander.
John Colby Manson, M.D. (1831-1885), the first regular physician to locate in Pittsfield, enlisted as surgeon for the 24th Maine Infantry Regiment on September 29, 1862 and was honorably discharged for medical reasons on November 22, 1862.
In his years in Pittsfield Dr. Manson served as a town selectman, state representative, executive board member at MCI and originator of the Manson Essay, which he established in 1871 to promote writing and speaking skills. Juniors at MCI are still required to write and orally present an essay.
At the time of Manson's funeral, there was a "long procession embracing a full delegation of students of the MCI .... to follow the remains to their last resting place." This path from the Universalist Church to the Pittsfield Village Cemetery closely approximates the 21st century Memorial Day parade route.
Walter G. Morrill (1840-1935), a native of Williamsburg, enlisted at age 20 as a sergeant in Co. A of the 6th Maine Infantry. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in Co. B of the 20th Maine Infantry on October 8, 1862 and to captain and commander of the company on July 1, 1863.
He received the U.S. military's highest award, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at Rappahannock Station, Virginia, on November 7, 1863.
His citation stated, "Learning that an assault was to be made upon enemy's works by other troops, this officer voluntarily joined the storming party with about 50 men of his regiment, and by his dash and gallantry rendered effective service in the assault."
He was in many skirmishes and key battles, the most famous being Gettysburg where Colonel Joshua Chamberlain led a bayonet charge down Little Round Top against the enemy while Morrill and his Company B skirmishers mounted a surprise attack to the enemy's rear.
With Chamberlain's promotion, Walter Morrill became the commander of the 20th Maine until the end of the war. Morrill was promoted to Lt. Colonel on March 13, 1865.
After the war, Morrill tried a variety of business ventures until he moved and settled in Pittsfield in 1885 to own a livery business and operate the Union Trotting Park. He became famous statewide in harness racing circles as a race promoter offering large purses and the unheard of practice of including women drivers.
He was a member of the Stephen Davis GAR Post #11 and often led the Memorial Day parade.
During his funeral at the Universalist Church in 1935, businesses closed and students in grammar school stood in silent respect at 2:30 P.M. Maine Central Institute was represented by the class presidents and Principal Purinton. Walter Morrill's life was the basis for a historical novel, Yankee Warrior, by Robert L. Haskell.
Over the course of the war, Pittsfield recruits served in 27 different regiments as well as some in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Many veterans returned to Pittsfield, participated in the GAR – and served their community.
