12th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment

12th Regiment Maine Volunteer Infantry
Active November 16, 1862, to April 18, 1866
Country United States
Allegiance Union
Branch Infantry
Engagements Siege of Port Hudson
Battle of Opequan
Battle of Cedar Creek

The 12th Regiment Maine Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Formation

[1] The 12th Maine Regiment, formed in November 1861, was one of the 10 regiments Major General Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts received permission to form.

George F. Shepley, a Democrat and a noted Portland lawyer and U.S. Attorney for Maine, headed the new regiment.

On Oct. 1, 1861, Shepley wrote to Maine Gov. Israel Washburn to report that he expected the new 12th Maine Regiment to be filled soon "with the very best men in the State."

Shepley also reported, "I have abandoned every other thought and pursuit, and have embarked in this movement all my hopes energies and efforts and, if need be my fortune and my life."

Accounts of Engagements

DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.; Capture of the Town of Madisonville—The Eighth of January—Cotton and Sugar.[2]

NEW-ORLEANS, Tuesday, Jan. 12.

The town of Madisonville, La., on the other side of Lake Ponchartrain, has been captured without resistance and is now garrisoned by our forces. The expedition consisted of a portion of the Maine Twelfth. the Connecticut Ninth, two battalions from the convalescent camp of the Thirteenth corps, the Massachusetts Fifteenth battery, battery of the United States artillery and a company of the Louisiana Second cavalry, the whole under the command of Col. KIMRALL, of the Maine Twelfth.

The 8th of January was observed by a salute at meridian by order of Gen. BANKS.

The great Union mass meeting was held here the same night at the St. Charles Theatre, which was crowded from pit to dome, including a large number of planters from up and down the river. Speeches were made by Messrs. FLANDERS, L. MADISON DAY and THOS. J. DURANT.

The Free State policy received a unanimous endorsement.

The favorable news by the Creole, which arrived from New-York to-day, has stimulated the cotton market half a cent better on bright and showy lots.

There has been an advance of 1/4 c. per pound on sugars of all grades, and 1 cent per gallon on prime and choice molasses, the lower grades remaining unchanged.

Significant Events

1861[3][4]

1862

1863

1864

1865

1866

Total strength and casualties

The regiment lost 3 officers and 49 enlisted men killed in action or died of wounds. 2 officers and 237 died of disease for a total of 291 fatalities from all causes.[5]

Officers

[6]

Mascots

“The oddest pets we have yet seen were two bears, which the 12th Maine regiment of the 19th Corps, led through the city recently. These bears were brought all the way from Louisiana, and have been in: several fights. They have become perfectly tame and tractable, and march along at the head of the band, with an air that indicates they feel themselves veteran soldiers of the bruin order, and that they have a character to sustain."[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.mainememory.net "The 12th Maine in Louisiana"
  2. ↑ NY TIMES 21 JAN 1864 https://www.nytimes.com/1864/01/21/news/department-gulf-capture-town-madisonville-eighth-january-cotton-sugar.html
  3. ↑ "Civil War In The East" @2014 Stephen Hawks
  4. ↑ http://www.civilwarintheeast.com/USA/ME/12ME.php
  5. ↑ http://www.state.me.us/sos/arc/archives/military/civilwar/12meinf.htm State of Maine Civil War Website Page on the 12th Maine
  6. ↑ http://www.mainememory.net "The 12th Maine in Louisiana"
  7. ↑ Janesville Gazette, August 31, 1864
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