1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment

Last updated
1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment
Flag of Maine.svg
ActiveAugust 21, 1862 – September 20, 1865
DisbandedSeptember 20, 1865
CountryFlag of the United States (1865-1867).svg  United States
Allegiance Union
Branch Artillery
Size Regiment
Engagements American Civil War

The 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment was a regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It suffered more casualties in an ill-fated charge during the Second Battle of Petersburg than any Union regiment lost in a single day of combat throughout the war. It was also the Union regiment with the highest number of officers killed (23). [1]

Contents

The regiment was mustered in Bangor, Maine, in 1862 as the 18th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment and consisted mostly of men and officers from the Penobscot River Valley (the area around Bangor and points east). It was commanded by Col. Daniel Chaplin, a Bangor merchant. Charles Hamlin, son of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, was originally an officer in this regiment, but was promoted to a position on the staff of Maj. Gen. Hiram G. Berry before it saw significant action.[ citation needed ]

The regiment's name was changed in 1863 to the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment, and it served in the defenses of Washington, D.C. before being reassigned to the Army of the Potomac during the Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864. At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the regiment took its first heavy casualties6 officers and 76 men killed, and another 6 officers and 388 men wounded. At the Second Battle of Petersburg, however, an ill-advised charge across an open field toward Confederate breastworks on June 18, 1864, ordered by Chaplin, resulted in the greatest single loss of life in a Union regiment to occur in the war, with 7 officers and 108 men killed, and another 25 officers and 464 men wounded. These casualties constituted 67% of the strength of the 900-man force. Chaplin survived the action but was later killed by a sharpshooter. [2] The regiment was commanded by Russell Benjamin Shepherd for the remainder of the war.

All in all, the 1st Maine sustained one of the highest casualty rates in the war, with 423 killed, and another 260 died of disease. [3] A monument to the 1st Maine stands on the former battlefield at Petersburg. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Chamberlain</span> Union Army general and Medal of Honor recipient

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American college professor from Maine who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a highly respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He is best known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment was a Union infantry regiment active during the American Civil War. The 1st Minnesota participated in the battles of First Bull Run, Antietam and the Battle of Gettysburg. The regiment's most famous action occurred on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg when Major General Winfield Scott Hancock ordered the 1st Minnesota to charge into a brigade of 1200 Confederate soldiers. This action blunted the Confederate attack and helped preserve the Union's precarious position on Cemetery Ridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">II Corps (Union Army)</span> Military unit

There were five corps in the Union Army designated as II Corps during the American Civil War. These formations were the Army of the Cumberland II Corps commanded by Thomas L. Crittenden from October 24, 1862, to November 5, 1862, later renumbered XXI Corps; the Army of the Mississippi II corps led by William T. Sherman from January 4, 1863, to January 12, 1863, renumbered XV Corps; Army of the Ohio II Corps commanded by Thomas L. Crittenden from September 29, 1862, to October 24, 1862, transferred to Army of the Cumberland; Army of Virginia II Corps led by Nathaniel P. Banks from June 26, 1862, to September 4, 1862, and Alpheus S. Williams from September 4, 1862, to September 12, 1862, renumbered XII Corps; and the Army of the Potomac II Corps from March 13, 1862, to June 28, 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Maine Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 2nd Maine Infantry Regiment was a Union Army unit during the American Civil War. It was mustered in Bangor, Maine, for two years' service on May 28, 1861, and mustered out in the same place on June 9, 1863.

The 142nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment that fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment primarily served in the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater and was heavily engaged in the first day of fighting at Gettysburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment</span> Military unit

The 9th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment, U.S. Volunteers was a regiment in the American Civil War. It was one of the nine Heavy Artillery regiments to suffer over 200 killed. It is also mentioned as one of Fox's 300 Fighting Regiments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Brigade</span> Military unit

The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought entirely in the Eastern Theater, it was composed of regiments from three Western states that are now within the region of the Midwest. Noted for its strong discipline, its unique uniform appearance and its tenacious fighting ability, the Iron Brigade suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine in the American Civil War</span> Union state in the American Civil War

As a fervently abolitionist and strongly Republican state, Maine contributed a higher proportion of its citizens to the Union armies than any other, as well as supplying money, equipment and stores. No land battles were fought in Maine. The only episode was the Battle of Portland Harbor (1863) that saw a Confederate raiding party thwarted in its attempt to capture a revenue cutter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">140th New York Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 140th New York Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that was created on September 13, 1862, for the Union Army during the American Civil War. From January 1864 they wore a Zouave uniform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlief T. Stevens</span> American lawyer

Greenlief Thurlow Stevens (1831–1918) commanded the 5th Maine Battery in the American Civil War. His battery is commemorated by a monument on Stevens' Knoll, named for him, on the Gettysburg Battlefield. It was among the first parts of the battlefield purchased for preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Chaplin</span>

Daniel Chaplin was a Union army officer in the American Civil War. Under Chaplin's command, the ill-fated charge of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment against Confederate breastworks during Siege of Petersburg resulted on the greatest single loss of life by a Union Regiment in a single action. A total of 7 officers and 108 men were killed, and another 25 officers and 464 men wounded. These casualties constituted 67% of the strength of the 900-man force. Chaplin survived the action but while supervising pickets on August 17, 1864, the day after the Battle of Deep Bottom, he was shot by a Confederate sharpshooter, and he died four days later in a Philadelphia hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus Wade Dwight</span> American lawyer

Augustus Wade Dwight was a lawyer who became an officer in the American Civil War. He served in 21 battles and was wounded three times, the last wound being fatal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">45th New York Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 45th New York Infantry Regiment, also known as the 5th German Rifles, was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was composed almost entirely of German immigrants. Formed approximately five months after the start of hostilities, the unit's service spanned almost the entirety of the war, and it saw action in several of the war's noteworthy battles, in both the Eastern and Western Theaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment</span> Military unit

The 6th Regiment New York Heavy Artillery, U.S. Volunteers, the "Anthony Wayne Guard", was an artillery regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was originally mustered in as the 135th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and served as both artillery and infantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">100th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment</span> Union Army volunteer infantry regiment

The 100th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Texas Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 4th Texas Infantry Regiment was a unit of Confederate States Army infantry volunteers that was created in 1861 and fought in the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War. As part of the famous Texas Brigade, the regiment fought at Eltham's Landing, Seven Pines, Gaines's Mill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862. It fought at Suffolk, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Wauhatchie in 1863 and the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. The regiment surrendered to Federal forces on 9 April 1865 after the Battle of Appomattox Court House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Texas Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 9th Texas Infantry Regiment was a unit of Confederate States Army infantry volunteers organized in December 1861 that fought during the American Civil War. The regiment fought at Shiloh, Perryville, and Stones River in 1862, Chickamauga in 1863, the Atlanta Campaign, Allatoona, and Nashville in 1864, and Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley in 1865. The remaining 87 officers and men surrendered to Federal forces in May 1865. Two of the regiment's commanding officers were promoted brigadier general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">56th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 56th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was a regiment of infantry that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the four "Veteran Regiments" raised in the winter of 1863–64. Recruits of these regiments were required to have served at least nine months in a prior unit. The regiment was attached to the IX Corps of the Army of the Potomac and took part in Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864. They were in extremely heavy combat during the campaign, suffering great casualties during engagements which included the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, and the Battle of the Crater. They were involved in several assaults during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864 and participated in the spring 1865 battles which finally drove General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army from their entrenchments in Petersburg, leading to the end of the war at Appomattox Courthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment (Confederate)</span> Military unit

The 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in April 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Joining a brigade of Louisiana regiments, it fought at Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862, at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, Gettysburg, and Mine Run in 1863, and at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Monocacy, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg in 1864, and at Appomattox in 1865. At Appomattox, the regiment was only a shadow of its former self.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Louisiana Infantry Regiment (Confederate)</span> Military unit

The 2nd Louisiana Infantry Regiment was a unit of volunteers recruited in Louisiana that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in May 1861, the regiment was sent to fight in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Its first action took place during the Siege of Yorktown. The regiment suffered very heavy losses at Malvern Hill. After joining an all-Louisiana brigade, it fought at Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862, at Chancellorsville, Second Winchester, Gettysburg, and Mine Run in 1863, and at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Monocacy, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and Petersburg in 1864, and at Appomattox in 1865. The regiment lost over 100 men at both Second Bull Run and Chancellorsville. A company-sized remnant surrendered at Appomattox.

References

  1. Cartmell, Donald, Civil War Book of Lists (2001), p. 81.
  2. Whitman, William E.S. and Turner, Charles H., Maine in the War for the Union (Lewiston, Me.: 1865), pp. 458-471.
  3. Dyer (1959), Volume 3. p. 1,216.
  4. U.S. National Park Service, Petersburg National Battlefield, 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Monument, Retrieved March 6, 2015.