The Portland daily press., 1889-10-09

Maine in the greatest battle Of the war In
proportion to the number Of her troops in
the action no one of the eighteen states
whose regiments flew the stars and stripes
on this hard-f0ught field, contributed more
than Maine to the victory. 1t Is somewhat
remarkable that seven Of her nine infantry
regiments in the army. and all three batter
les, were in the front line and that the ser
vice of so many Of them was Of unique
character having an important bearing upon
the grand result. AT whatever point the
battle ragged, sons Of the Pine Tree State
were in the melee. The sad measure Of
their services is the loss they suffered. In
military parlance the word cOnventlonally
used to express severity Of loss Is de
clmated" When one-tenth OF battalion
is struck down it implies bloody work. Col;
Fox, in his valuable work on Reglmental
Losses, gives the percentage OF loss In Killed
and mortally wounded at Gettysburg OF the
Sixteenth and Twentieth Maine as ten per
cent, each: Of the Fourth. thirteen per cent.
OF the Third, fourteen per cent, and OF the
Nineteenth, fifteen per cent. The cores
ponding percentage of loss Of the Seven
teenth, derived from other sources, was
twelve per cent. The entire loss to Maine
was one thousand and twenty-three.
Oh this number three hundred and two were
reported captured or missing and Of these
al but nineteen were reported by the Third,
Fourth and Sixteenth; and their loss under
this head testifes to the good conduct of
those regiments and proves how tenaciously
they chung to their difficult and exposed
posts the Sixteenth, as we have seen, was
sacrificed almost to man while holding the
right of the line on the first day; the Third
was at the Peach Orchard angle where, says
Fox, "The tenacity with which the Third
Maine held the skirmish line is worthy Of
note;' the Fourth was for time In an isolat-
ed position occupying the ravine between
DEVILS Den and Little Round Top, and was
the left Of the line until the Twentieth stood
on Little Round Top. The Maine regiment
Whlch suffered most in killed and wounded
was,as might be expected from its share In
meeting the attacks IN the centre on the sec
ond and third days, the Nineteenth. OF the
four hundred and forty taken into engage
ment 1t lost one hundred and ninety nine,
only seven OF which number were reported
as captured or missing. The percentage Of
entire loss was forty-four. To show Dy
comparison the severity of such losses as
this Col, Fox cites the Light Brigade whose
loss in its famous charge at Balaclava was
which the Nineteenth belonged suffered the
severest loss in this battle that any brigade
of the Union armies incurred in any one
action Of the war. The percentage OF loss
was sixty-one. The highest percentage oil
loss Of any German regiment In the Franco
Prussian war was f0rty-nlne.
Names contribution to the Army Of the
Potomac at Gettysburg in general officers
was a notable one. Gen. Seth Williams,
Adjutant General, and Rufus ingalls,, Quar-
termaster General, were so identified with
that army, while commanding officers came
and went as to seem inseparable from it.
Howard, an officer of the regular army, at
the OUT break of the war went to the front
from his native state as Colonel OF the Third
Maine. The duty that here deyolyed upon
him was an extremely trying one. At the
moment Of his arrival he found himself in
command at the height OF serious engage
ment with constantly increasing force OF
the enemy, Whatever claims may be urged
for credit in selecting Cemetery Hill as the
main position OF the army, the fact remains
that Howard took possession of the hill with
a division OF MS corps and made such prepa-
rations for defending it that the First and
Eleventh coIps found 1t a secure rallying
point,so formidable as to cause the victorious
enemy to pause even in the full flush Of their
advantage. This height, the head and front
OF the Union position, Howard bravely and
skillfully kept throughout the battle. Cald-
well, first colonel of the Eleventh Maine,
commanded the first division Of the Second
corps. The assistance his four brigades
gave the left when Birney had been driven
back, was among the most prominent events
Of the battle. A. p. Howe, Of the regular
service and Adelbert Ames, first colonel Of
the Twentieth Maine, commanded divisions.
Colonel McGllvery handled his artillery
brigade in conspicuously brilliant and eff
fective manner. Gen. Lys lnder Cutler,
whose brigade Of the First corps fought so
long on the first day, passed so many years
of his life in active business in our state as
to give her strong claim to him. If Maine
could appropriate to her own nonor the
soldiers Of Gettysburg who had their birth
and breeding on her soil, and were s3hooled
at her homes In the hardy virtues that glorify
American manhood; il she could call to her
own standard her stalwart sons who went
So. IL - H. ~.
Kennebec and the Androscoggin to the
pineries Of Pennsylvania, Michigan. Wiscon-
sin and Minnesota; and from her ragged
hillside farms to the prairies of the West
and those who had sought to better their
fortunes In the cities and towns of her sister
states of New England-all who were enrolled
in the organizations of their adopted states
and fought under the same broad banner of
the Union, how long her line would stretch
and what increased splendor of achievement
and sacrifice would flash from her scutcheon
Cut from the granite of our native hills we
bring hither memorials of valor and patriot
ism and implant them on the soil-thank
God! Of our common country. Each marks
a spot where sons Of Maine stood shoulder
to shoulder facing the enemy, their misguided
countrymen, ranged in arms to destroy the
country won by the blood Of their fathers,
and proved by the test Of well nigh hundred
years to be the best hope of mankind. Pillar
and shaft and blocks, so long as time shall
spare them they will bear mute but inn
pressive witness Of the glorious fall of those
who died the thrice-blessed death of the
patriot, before the faces OF their fathers and
under the walls Of their country's capital.
lnwrought with legends and with the knight
ly emblems that were prou .ly worn by the
soldiers Of the Army Of the Potomac and
graced the fluttering pennons of its great
leaders, they are instinct foreyermore with
honor to the brave, and tribute to the chival-
hat
marched to battle. But they will fail to
breathe the spirit Of our higher intent il they
stand merely as the chronicles of battle
won; Of heroes slain; of a noble armament I;
Of country saved. We dedicate them to
the past in the fervid hope that the memories
they evoke may have immortal power to keep
alive and strengthen whatever tends to main
tain this precious, blood bought country one,
free, strong and pure. With joy and thank
fulness we hail these peaceful, prosperous,
happy days. Reunited in stronger bond by
the memories OF common suffering and
heroism, the late foemen now face the same
way and move forward together for the glory
OF common country. Everywhere through
out the land there is growth, development,
energy, promise and hopefulness. But per-
feet harmony, untroubled ease, progress
without check, can never rule In great
country with widespread millions of people,
among complex interests and various and
constantly varying conditions. At each re-
move OF free peoples onward course new
dangers, hardships and difficulties stimulate
to renewed effort and deeper thought, test
the quality of the manhood and citizenship
Of each generation, and thus lead on to higher
states and nobler ideals. o, troubled Patriot,
If, In the years to come, fear and foreboding
Cypress your spirit, and the burden Is heavy
and the way Is dark, and dangers threaten,
come to this field and stand among these
silent monitors and learn that resolved hearts,
fired by deathless purpose, can make a way
through the heaviest gloom to the fair sun
light beyond.