January 2023 Maine at War posts
In January 2023 my Maine at War blog examined topics ranging from the “Johnny Comes Marching Home” welcome extended a returning regiment to how federal and state bureaucratic bungling affected a particular shot-up colonel.
January 4, 2023: The 7th Maine Infantry’s “gallant remnant” goes home
After the 7th Maine Infantry Regiment was shot to pieces during a suicidal charge at Antietam, Maj. Gen. George McClellan sent the unit home to recruit. A heroes’ welcome awaited the soldiers at Portland.
January 11, 2023: Confederates raid Portland Harbor, and Edwin Stanton does not care
After Confederate sailors captured a Revenue Service cutter at Portland, Maine politicians lobbied the Lincoln Administration for help in protecting the coast. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton pooh-poohed any assistance that his department could provide.
January 18, 2023: The army bungles discharging two 4th Maine heroes
The War Department decided that two 4th Maine Infantry officers shot and wounded at Gettysburg were not fit for service in early November 1863 and discharged them for disability. There was a peculiar problem involving one officer, however.
January 25, 1863: Bugged by bureaucracy as the 4th Maine’s war winds down
Long after Col. Elijah Walker returned home from serving three years with the 4th Maine Infantry Regiment, bureaucrats kept bugging him about paperwork, reports, and other mundane issues.
