Maine at War May 2024 blog posts
In May 2024 my Maine at War blog reported on topics ranging from the new Gettysburg “beaver deceiver” to a Little Round Top hero lost at Andersonville and 15 other captured Mainers who reportedly died at Columbus, Georgia.
May 1, 2024: Fifteen Mainers appear on Confederate-supplied death list
In early June 1864, Confederate officials identified 370 Union prisoners who had died at the Columbus, Georgia POW camp in late winter. The names of 15 Mainers appeared on that list. There was a problem, however.
May 8, 2024: Gunboats provide covering fire for 28th Maine funerals at Donaldsonville
Some 180 Union soldiers beat off several hundred Confederates who attacked Donaldsonville, Louisiana early on Sunday, June 18, 1863. The Johnnies hung so close to Fort Butler afterwards that when the defending 28th Maine Infantry lads buried their dead that evening, Navy gunboats kept hurling shells over the burial parties to pin the Southerners in their hiding places not far from the fort.
May 15, 2024: Did the 4th Maine lads build a beaver deceiver at Gettysburg?
With eager beavers damming Plum Run in the Valley of Death, National Park Service officials needed to protect the downstream 40th New York Infantry monument and Warren Avenue bridge. A “beaver deceiver” was one solution.
May 22, 2024: The 20th Maine’s Tommy Welch lies at Andersonville
A Houlton man who enlisted in the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment survived Gettysburg, only to die far from home at Camp Sumter, the Confederate prison camp established at Andersonville, Georgia. His grave is properly identified thanks to the diligence of a fellow prisoner of war.
May 29, 2024: The 4th Maine soldier with a shifting middle initial fights at Fredericksburg
Charles Knight had an identity that shifted with the historical source, but every source agreed that he fought heroically at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.
When I look at the picture associated with this article, I can only say, “What a beaver!”