November 2023 Maine at War blog posts
In November 2023 my Maine at War blog reported on five men who came from Maine’s last frontier — the deep woods of Aroostook County — to help save the United States. They left parents, wives, and children to do so, and not all of them returned home.
November 1: A soldier named America
Despite his patriotic name, America F. Bartlett likely showed little enthusiasm for military service. He went and did his duty anyways.
November 8: A soldier named Moses
After surviving an Indian attack on a wagon train out West, a young Mainer moved to the quieter wilds of Aroostook County and set about clearing the forest so he could build a log cabin. Patriotic duty called, however, and he soon arrived at a place called Gettysburg.
November 15: A soldier named Milo
After spending three years in Minnesota, Milo Keech joined his family in the remote northern Maine township where they were making a new home. He enlisted in the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment on Christmas Eve 1863. That was a mistake.
November 22: A soldier named Benn, Benj, or whatever
The official records often identified a 7th Maine Infantry Regiment recruit as other than who he actually was: Benjamin P. Webb. He left a wife and young child at home to join the hard-fighting 7th Maine Infantry Regiment.
November 29: The son of “Stuttering Pat”
Of the five Patrick Kelleys who enlisted in the army in Maine during the Civil War, four were born in Ireland. The fifth Pat Kelley was born in northern Maine to “Stuttering Pat,” a pioneer with a particular speech impediment.
