The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-11-24
CETTYS BURG.
What the Maine Legislature Should
Do.


The Boston Globe speaks as follows Of the
duty of the Maine Legislature:
"The legislatures Of every New England
State, except Maine, have now made appro-
priati0ns towards the purchase Of the inn
portant parts Of that extensive battlefield,
and to mark the positions of their troops up
on 1t. 1t Is, however, no fault Of the Maine
Legislature that her commands are not rep
resented, the subject never having been in
troduced; but the present indications are
that Maine will soon follow, as IL Is being
agitated throughout the State, not only by
veterans engaged, but by the citizens. Sew
eral distinguished citizens recently paid
visit TO that field, and were somewhat chag-
rined to find that there were no indications
TO show that Maine troops participated in
the battle Of Gettysburg, except a monu-
ment erected by private subscription to mark
one OF the positions of the Twentieth Regi-
ment), and as matters now stand the tourist
would naturally conclude that Maine troops
had but little to do with the battle, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and Connecticut monuments are seen on
every part Of the field. 1t would be per-
petual injnstice to the veterans Of as brave
troops as the Army Of the Potomac possess
ed should this state Of affairs continue. An
examination Of the facts will show that on
every part Of that great field where the bat
tie ragged fiercest, there the sons of Maine
performed their whole duty. The history of
tnc ufot udy Ddltlt WOuiQ DC incomplete
without an account OF the movements Of
Halls Second Maine Battery, which dashed
into the fight at the very opening of the en-
gagement; or without description Of the
stubborn resistance of Stevens Fifth Bat
tery ter y,nd later odI1,,o IN the day. or Of the
Regiment, Col: Tilden, which received the
great honor Of being selected to cover the re-
treat OF our troops when the position was
found to be untenable, and which held the
enemy at bay while their comrades retired
through the town, and until nearly every
man fell dead, wounded or prisoner, the
brave colonel languishing in Libby Prison,
until with others he burr0wed his way out
and escaped. Maine cannot afford to leave
the positions of such commands unmarked.
A monument representing the color-bearer
of the Thirteenth Massachusetts,, (brigaded
with the Sixteenth Maine) OF heroic size,
costing S23, ,000, marks the position Of that reg
iment. On the succeeding days Maine troops
were equally conspicuous. Was it not the
Third Maine, Colonel Moses b. Lake.
man, which advanced on the morn
ing Of the second day, and developed the
presence and movements of the enemy?
And was it not the Fourth Maine, Colonel
Walker, which held the left Of the Third
Corps line, at the Devils den, amid some of
the most desperate fighting of the battle?
Did not the Fifth Maine, Colonel Edwards :;
the Sixth Maine, Colonel Burnham, and the
Seventh Maine. Lieutenant Colonel Conner,
miles after the battle opened to meet the
foe, arriving just ''in the nick of time," and
by their presence contributing to his re-
pulse? And when the Third Corps line was
severed on the second day by the fearful
onslaught of Barksdale's Mississippians did
not Colonel McGilvery, a son Of Maine
bring up Dow's Sixth Battery, which, by
repeated charges Of 'sdouble-shotted' canis-
ter broke their charge and sent them howl
ing back? Was it not detachment Of the
Tenth Maine, Captain Beardsley, that Gen.
eral Slocum commanding the right wing of
the army selected as headquarter guard?
And has not the unexampled bravery Of the
Seventeenth Maine, in its fight in the fam
GUS wheat field, become identified with that
whirlpool of the battle? And did not the
Nineteenth Maine perform distinguished
services on the second day, and when Pick
etts division broke through our lines on the
third, did ii not move rapidly to the threat
ened point and attack him in flank.
"Vincents Spur" between the Round
Tops, was made famous by its gallant de-
fence by the Twentieth Maine. That spot is
suitably marked by private subscription, but
the summit of Round Top has no tablet to
show that the Twentieth Maine climbed up
among the crags on the night of the second,
and held 1t to the close Of the battle. Hence
1t will be seen that one of the most import
ant pages of Gettysburg's history Is yet to be
carved on tablets of granite by the Pine
Tree State; and then New England's story
will be told and illustrated on that field"