Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-08-12
PecksniH Plais:ed.


Z yCRy CvSTlrrs mn oF FEASD Avn Ms
HEFKksESTATIuS
When the late war "a. we'll under way.
Harms VI. Plais,cd took It into hls head that
military commissions we're more profitable
than scattering lawyers briefs. With hi. usu-
A. ability a. bcggar and his m as,erl, ACTIVITY
IN the line Of tall elimination, he pre-, allied
upon the Governor 10 commission HIM Colo
mel Of the ll,h Regiment.
Blu, Il anybod, supposed tina; Piaisied
was 10 be satisfied with the bare aud hom.ly
rraliiie, Of regimea,al life, Why. that body
dsdn', know Paisted- The new Colonel ~as
very large man. IN hi. own esteem, and
the ll,h Regiment must be 50 equipped a.
10 advertise his importance its face
Among the requisites IN this line the Col
onel reckoncd first class band. There was
one in Gardiner. and .,raxhtway our Plals-
ted vent to engage IT, There va. one OBJ
staclc in the way, however; the band could
not 10 At the public expense eIoep, the men
enlisted a. prisat liable To do soldiers
duty. This they were not disposed TO do.
But finally Plaisted prev allied upon them to
enlist upon his promise-~hi ch, although
fraudulent, he convinced them vas legal
that they should EereE be called laio ser
rice.
They went to the front, and served as per
agreement until the battle OF Fair Oaks.
Then the division with which they we're con-
nected ~er. routed. and lost all their equip
meais, among which were the valuable in
s,ruments Of the 18th Maine band Then
the members Of the band desired 10 be dis
charged from service. Plaisted desired or
pretended TO desire them TO remain, and he
gave them to understand that if so dispos.si
he could nov ask them 10 shoulder muskets,
in violation Of his own pledge Finally,
taking advantage Of their anxiety TO 20
home, he told the boys they should be dis
charged provided they would pay for the
lost instrumeuts He made this proposition
in face Of knowledge a, every intelligent
mans command, that the government alone
was liable for such property so lost.
Inspired by the cupidity and contemptibly
small ingenuity that have characterized him
through life Harris N. Piaisted deliberately
resotred to effort money from those men IN
consideration Of their discharge, but such
an &C, plainly expressed, would Law him lia-
BILE To court martial and punishment, he
sought the object BY an indirect course,
namely, pretending to collee, pay for prop
er,y captured by the enemy, not as a consid-
Grafton for discharge. but to hold him harm
less eAere there could be no liability.
The boys. tired Of Plaisted's double deal
ing. at last agreed to his terms. They paid
him part Of the money. and signed him
Joint note for the balance, the whole amount
being some 81 800.
After the war, the band members were
called upon by Plaisted TO pay the note. But
they had some new lights. They had the
best legal advice to the effect that the note
vas invalid, the consideration being of no
raiue and fraudulent.
Our Plaisted was not thus easily to be |
deprived of his little extortion. He sued, |
and IN April, 1868, the case came to trial in
Bangor.
There were some rich developments in |
the trial. which somebody may sometime |
perhaps think it worth while to elaborate up |
on. In brief, they consisted Of glowing &C |
counts Of Plaisted's superior talent for exc
cutting individual movements to the rear and |
his Peck sniffian qualities as a dealer with |
men.
The defence Of the band men was that:
First. The note and suit were without |
valid consideration.
Second. That the note rds procured by
fraud and interpretation on Plaisted's
part.
On this defence Plsisted was beaten. He
was convicted BY jury Of twelve men in his
oxn town, Of FRAUD and MISREPRE-
SENTATION praoticed deliberately upon
soldiers rho Cere in kis porer and at his
miserable mercy.
Il there any reason to suppose that Har-
Tis NJ Plaisted, thus convicted, would hesi-
tate to repeat the frauds and thefts Of the
late Garcelon gang il be ever got The
chance?
NI s6 Sot to giss I'm As easaes. !