Maine at War December 2024 blog posts

In December, Maine at War examined frenzied recruiting efforts in Maine’s largest city and met a Confederate general who hardly ever set foot in Maine, except to die there. And then there were the Confederates who could not hit the broadside of a Church …

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December 4, 2024: Have you heard the one about the Church and the sharpshooters?

Aroostook County farmer Hiram Church enlisted in the 7th Maine Infantry Regiment and fought in the Peninsula Campaign. He stood 6-0, and six Confederate sharpshooters used him for target practice one day along the banks of the Warwick River.

December 11, 2024: Bronze infantryman guards Claremont, N.H. against attacking Confederates

Residents of Claremont, N.H. dedicated their Civil War monument five years to the day after the battle of Cedar Creek. The bronze infantryman guards their city to this day.

December 18, 1864: Recruiting efforts turn serious in Portland, Maine

Recruiters worked overtime while searching for warm bodies in Maine’s largest city in late August 1862. Ringing the church bells and hiring a marching band helped get attention for particular recruiters.

December 26, 2024: A blue-and-gray officer dies in Bar Harbor, Maine

A veteran of Pea Ridge, Chickamauga, and the Atlanta Campaign, Confederate Gen. Frank C. Armstrong had absolutely no connection to Maine. Yet he died in an up-and-coming coastal Maine resort. How did this come to be?