Maine at War: July 2021

by Brian Swartz

Posted on August 1, 2021

Here’s what Maine at War was up to in July:

July 7, 2021: What good are Union monuments at Gettysburg (part 3)?

In this time of competing voices concerning the past, anecdotal evidence suggests that this summer some parents are introducing their children to American history — and to their American heritage.

Kennebunk, Maine-born Emily Bliss Souders passed through Hanover Junction, Pa. in July 1863 while en route to Gettysburg. Married and living in Philadelphia, she volunteered as a nurse and spent some time caring for wounded Yankees and Confederates. Now a York County park, the original train station stands within the wye where the railroad to Gettysburg swung to the west (left). A hotel during the 1860s, the three-story brick building on the left is now privately owned. (BFS)

July 14, 2021: Death surrounded the nurses at Gettysburg, part 1

Born and raised in Maine, middle-aged Philadelphian Emily Bliss Souder left her husband and home to help care for the wounded at Gettysburg. The observant Souder recorded her experiences and the sights, sounds, and smells in letters sent to family and friends.

July 21, 2021: Death surrounded the nurses at Gettysburg, part 2

Hard work wore out the nurses and other medical personnel caring for Getttysburg’s wounded, but Philadelphia nurse Emily Bliss Souder remained on the job until Letterman Hospital started receiving patients.

July 28, 2021: Andersonville POW got the ol’ heave-ho at sea

A farmer from northern Maine, Pvt. Doane Baker was captured at Mechanicsville, Va. on May 31, 1864. Confederates sent him to Andersonville prison and then to Charleston, S.C. Paroled and shipped north on a hospital transport, landlubber Baker met his fate at sea.

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