The Portland daily press., 1888-08-22

Celebration of the Twenty-SIxth An
niversary of "Muster In.''se
Arrangements Completed for the
Dedication OF Their Monument.

The brave 18th, true and tried among the
many gallant and dauntless regiments of
Maine, that battled with the rebels in the
late civil war, ended its last engagement at
Appomattox, and was mustered out on the
10th day of June. 1865, laden with honors,
such as are shared only by those that,
like itself, won immortal renown by years Of
unremitting bravery and bloody contest in
behalf of their country at time OF very i'm
minent peril. Yesterday the 18th Maine
Regiment Association met at Long Island to
celebrate the 26th anniversary of its muster
in" All of the surviving members who
possibly could assembled at Bosworth Post
Hall in the morning. and from that place,
escorted by the Maine State Fife and Drum
Corps, they marched to Custom Horse
wharf and at $50 embarked in the steamer
Emita for Long Island They numbered in
all about 125, and with them they carried the
red diamond of the 1st Division of the army
corps to which the 18th was attached. and
the old, tattered blood stained, regimental
flags. The day was as pleasant as could be
desired, and everything proved favorable
for the occasion.
West, Gen. William Hobson, Boston; Col.
Edward Moore. Portland; Major VIM H.
Green. Portland; Adj. G. w. Roberts, Port
land Capt. John G. Perry, Portland. Capt.
L. S. Ponse, Lewiston; Cap. Geo. w. Verrill.
Portland; Capt. James Webb, Saccarappa; !;
Lieut. d. B. Stevens, Lewiston; Lieut.. j. S.
Hobbs, Falmouth; Lieut.. j. w. Stafford
Portland; Capt. S. c. Paine, New Sharon !;
Capt. G. f. Sparrow, Portland Among the
invited guests present were Col Elijah ].
Walker. of the 4th Maine Infantry, and Col
H. r. Millett, of the 9TH Maine.
Letters of regret were received from Gen.
C. p. Mattocks, Col. Chas B. Merrill, Com
mander Horace Burbank, of the Maine
Division of the Grand Army of the Republic; I;
Col. Fl. S. Melcher, of the Goth Maine; Col
f. E. Heath, of the 10th Maine. and others.
Immediately upon arriving at the island
breakfast was partaken of in Ponee's cafe,
and after that there was social reunion of
comrades and rifle practice Here and there
were seen groups of veterans talking over
old war times, and many were the reminis-
cences, some sad, some pleasing, related of
those memorable days. The target shoe ting
for silver division badge was participated
in by many of the comrades, the victorious
contestant being Oliver Stacy of Co. l., Of
Saco.
As soon as the rifle shooting was finished
the comrades assembled in front of Ponce's
cafe, and at 2 o'clock p. M, marched in to
dinner. The dining hall was adorned with
bunting and flags, on the table were vases of
ferns and wild flowers, and the dinner was
indeed an excellent one
After dinner Col. Edward Moore called
the Association to order and said: Com
rades, am very happy to see so many of
you present here today. / hope that at the
next reunion the same interest will be man
ifested. Thinking it would interest you l
have compiled some facts concerning our
own regiment which will read. 1t was 26
years ago today that our regiment started
for the South with 1910 officers and men to
take part in the late war for the preserva-
tion of the Union, and during our three
years service we bad assigned to our regi-
ments 1915 recruits, 1876 of this number failed
to join the regiment. During our three
years of service Co. A, had 0 n its rolls 40
men Co. B., 1888; Co. c., 217; Co, d., 176;
Co. E., 1876; Co. F., 17S; Co. G., 1877; Co. H.,
1893; Co. T.. 199; Co. K, 206: making total
of 1925 men and "a officers. OF this number
207 officers and men were killed or died of
wounds received in battle, making
the regiment the thirty fourth on the list of
over 1000 regiments engaged in service in the
Union Army. During our terms of service
we lost 128 officers and men from disease, 6S
were taken prisoners and over 700 were
wounded Our first engagement, as you
will all remember, was at Fred
ericksburg, Virginia, December 18th /,
1862, In which we met with loss of 16
killed and wounded. Our next engagement
was at Charlottesville on May I'd, Sd and
4th, where we met with loss of four killed,
60 wounded, and AZ were taken prisoners.
On June IL. 1868, we started for Gettysburg,
where we arrived at 8 a. m. on July I'd, and
became engaged with Longstreets's Corps of
the Confederate army In the Wheat Field,
and on the Sd took part in the repulse of
battle of Gettysburg was 2S killed and 1O5
wounded.
November 27, 1868, we were engaged at
Lincoln Green, Virginia, where we had s
killed and 6S wounded; May 5, 1864, at Todd's
Tavern, where we lost II men and had 6S
wounded.
May 6, 1864, at the Wilderness we
lost IA men, having so wounded and 10 taken
prisoners; May II, 1864, at Spottylyania,
we had 8 killed, 43 wounded and taken
prisoners; May "a, 1864, at Taylor's Ridge,
were killed and II wounded. During
Grants campaign, before Petersburg, lis
were killed in our regiment, and 24S were
wounded.
We took part In 27 battles during our term
of service, besides doing duty on the picket
line, where we lost number of officers and
men, making our loss something over 60 per
cent OF the whole number of men engaged in
service.
Col. Moore, president of the association,
then introduced Col. Elijah j. Walker, of
the gallant 4th Maine Regiment. Col. Walk
er was received with great applause, and
three ringing cheers were given for the regi-
rades Of the 18th Maine Regiment, ladies and
gentlemen,-I thank you very kindly for the
Invitation to be present here today. / did
not expect to be called upon today to address
you, for it is well known that / am not a
public speaker. can lead you into an en-
gagement with the enemy with less diffidence
than can speak to you here today. [Cheersl
Some of you may remember me as having
been at the Wilderness. [Cheers. think
from what some of you have told me today
that such is the fact. In closing will thank
you for this kind reception"
Col. ii. r. Millett of the 9TH Maine regi-
ment was the next speaker introduced and
he was greeted with three hearty cheers.
He said: Comrades and ladies, am In a
worse fix than Your gallant Colonel of the
4th. | didn't have the pleasure of serving
with you during the war, but did have the
pleasure Of once visiting you, and on that oc-
casion L was handsomely received. l am
certainly very glad to meet you and would
like to see you all at the 5ths cottage ON
Peaks Island. We think we have a very
good home there.
s'There are great many interesting things
that come up at such time as this, and /
must say that was astopished at the figures
your president has given today in speak
ing of the 18th regiment. We know your
history is glorious one. In fact, when any
thing desperate was needed the Maine regi-
ments were always at the front. Applause
hope we shall meet at the old battle ground
at Gettysburg in October"
Adjutant Roberts, on behalf of the COM
mittee on excursion, then submitted the fol.
lowing report which was accepted
To the Seceateenth Maine Regiment association.
Comrades:--The committee appointed June ~,
1885, to ascertain the cost Of transportation, sub
excursion to Gettysburg, Pa, October 10th, the
time fixed by the State Commission for the dedica
tion OF the Maine monuments would respectfully
report as follows:
TRANSPORTATION.
Proposals for transportation by two routes have
under consideration by the committee on trans
portation appointed by the Maine commission.