Maine at War February 2025 blog posts
In February, Maine at War took a photographic tour through Fort Donelson, updated the mule-borne hurricane-relief efforts in the Blue Ridge, and rode along with Ben Butler as he crisscrossed New England while recruiting regiments for his planned New Orleans expedition.
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February 5, 2025: Fort Donelson photo album
Fort Donelson’s a battlefield not that often visited by Maine-based Civil War buffs. Maine at War readers are invited to take a photographic tour through Fort Donelson National Battlefield.
February 12, 2025: Hurricane Helene-relief mules meet their fate in North Carolina
In early October 2024, Maine at War wrote about the mules being used to transport food and supplies into remote Blue Ridge regions badly damaged by Hurricane Helene. Those mule-borne efforts have continued since then. Unfortunately, tragedy struck on February 9, 2025.
February 19, 2025: Ben Butler recruits his way through Portland, part 1
Ben Butler convinces President Abraham Lincoln to let him recruit Democrat-officered regiments in New England states for a planned spring 1862 attack on New Orleans. The future “Beast” chats up the governors of Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts before boarding a train to meet Maine’s governor.
February 26, 2025: Ben Butler recruits his way through Portland, part 2
Arriving in Portland, Ben Butler makes a speech at the train station, and a newspaper reporter makes a pleasant comment about the future “Beast.” Butler is recruiting Democrat-officered regiments in New England, and he wants a Portland attorney to command one such regiment raised in Maine.
