Maine at War posts for January 2026

Maine at War opened 2026 with four January posts involving the 4th Maine Battery at the Antietam, learning about monuments vandalized at Gettysburg in early 2026, finding out why the Army “fired” a captain while he was a POW, and attending the ceremony dedicating a Civil War monument just two blocks from the L.L. Bean flagship store.

January 7, 2026: 4th Maine Battery: Witness to Antietam

Deployed near the Upper Bridge, the 4th Maine Battery’s gunners witnessed the battle of Antietam from far and then experienced its carnage while moving up to the Dunker Church two days later.

January 14, 2026: Maine monument is among several vandalized Gettysburg monuments

A vandal or vandals damaged several Union monuments at Gettysburg National Military Park in early January, and among the damaged monuments is one from Maine. The vandalism dishonored the heroic Union soldiers who fought here in the particular units.

January 21, 2026: The army sacks a 5th Maine Infantry officer while he’s a Confederate prisoner

Captain Samuel Pilsbury thought he had permission to leave the 5th Maine Infantry Regiment’s camp in northern Virginia. Some Mosby men scarfed him up, and the War Department promptly cashiered him for “being absent without leave.” Pilsbury was a prisoner of war when the orders came through.

January 28, 2026: A Civil War soldier guards Freeport and nearby L.L. Bean

An aging Civil War legend delivered the keynote address when the Town of Freeport, Maine dedicated its Civil War monument in 1906. No one then could imagine the shopping mecca that would developed only two blocks away.