April 2024 Maine at War blog posts
In April 2024 my Maine at War blog examined why a state’s adjutant general equated nine-month recruits with cash and reported on the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment participating in Stoneman’s Raid. We also met a young Mainer “discovered” by Sarah Kay Bierle!
April 3, 2024: Maine adjutant general mistakes recruits for dollar bills
Possibly ticked off because Maine suddenly had to recruit 9,609 soldiers for nine months’ service — and this after the state had just recruited five three-year regiments — Adjutant General John L. Hodsdon really unloaded about the bounties paid to find the nine-month men.
April 10, 2024: 1st Maine Cavalry raids with George Stoneman, part 1
Fourteen months after arriving in Virginia, the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment had not fought as an intact entity. That all changed when Joe Hooker ordered Maj. Gen. George Stoneman to raid deep behind enemy lines prior to the Chancellorsville Campaign.
April 17, 2024: 1st Maine Cavalry raids with George Stoneman, part 2
After crossing the Rappahannock River on April 29, 1863, the 1st Maine Cavalry rode into its own perceived regimental glory during Stoneman’s Raid. Hard riding, some fighting, and productive pillaging convinced the Mainers that they had “arrived” as cavalrymen.
April 24, 2024: Remembering the 1st Maine Cavalry at a Virginia winery
Civil War historian and author Sarah Kay Bierle “discovers” a 1st Maine Cavalry trooper while visiting a winery near the Manassas battlefield. The young soldier hailed from Houlton in Aroostook County.
