The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-05-05

and enormous sacrifices of one such regi.
/ ment is "a page from official records
The Thirty first Maine volunteers march
| ed out Of Augusta to the tune of "The
Girl Left Behind Me- on April Is, 1864
1t was oihcered 10y soldiers who had scrv-
ed from one to shree years at the front,
and as for the ranks, had the raw recruits
all repented of their war enthusiasm at
the last moment aud fiuuked, there would
have still remained in line body Of men,
all veteraps, equal in mum bers to the aver
age field regiment ON going into battle. 1t
was next to impossible in 1864 to enlist
fresh volunteers unless they knew they
were to be led by veterans, and every vet
eran officer appointed in new organiza-
tion rallied around him scores Of former
comrades ready to try 1t over again under
leadership which had been tested
There were ~ field and line officers in
the Thirty-frst when it entered the vii
derness, April &, 1864, and in less than 90
days, or before the close of July, II Of
them We're struck dead in battle. The
strength of the ranks was gO5. Out Of that
identical roster 1853 were killed aud over
400 wounded before their one year Of field
service ended, and nearly SO per cent of
those casualties were made in the first
about this record is that it is that of
Ninth corps regiment, not of the solid
Sixth, not Of the brilliant Fifth nor the
fighting Second, but of the Ninth At the
Wilderness on the morning Of May 6,
when General Warren, with the Fifth and
Sixth corps, and Hancock, with the Sec
ond, Were struggling ahead on the Orange
Plank road and Turnpike, the Thirty-first
marched out in General : G.. Grifln's
brigade, Of General X. b. Potter's Second
division. Potter had been ordered to cut
through the encmy's line between those
two roads. They continued on until they
ran into force of the enemy posted across
their pathway, with guns in position.
General Potter was preparing to lead
the Thirty first and two companion rcgi-
ments in charge upon the battery when
he was oVertaken by an aid with imprra-
tive orders to move his whole division to
the left and support Haucock's Second
corps on the Plank road As soon as the
new field was reached the column charged
through the derse swampy thckct up
and over the Confederate rife pits They
were driven out, but twice renewed the
attack with the same result. The battle
of the Wilderness was decided on that
ground Hancock tried to open the Plank
road again and again and failed, yet the
glory of IL all is given to his corps, and of
the shame Of failure and of the losses the
men of the Ninth received moro than
share. The Thirty. first got out with n loss Of
29,among them Captain a. II. Packard and
Lieutenant \. J. Snow, killed outright.
General Potter's division marched from
the Wilderness to Spottsylvania on route
opened up by the Ninth corps, but on ar
riN al
only an attenuation of Huucock's Second
corps line. On the morning Of the l2th of
May, when Hancock assaulted the famous
bloody angle, the Thrty-frst entered the
charge at o'clock a. m. The enemy met
the shock in n ravine on de of his in
trenchmcnts, but was driN hnck beyond
his hrcastwOrks, which were entered and
held guns and ALL until General Han
cocks line on the right gave way, allow
ing the COnfedcrates to flank potter's
men. The Thirty-tirst retired few rods,
intrenchcd II line close to the enemy's
works, and held on under fire for six days
On the 18th the assaults were taken up
again and repeated three times with aw-
full slaughter and without result The
regiment lost lO5, killed and wounded
Captain 4. X. +. Wallace and 10 men were
killed outright, and Is men died of wounds
The last charge at Spottsylvania, which
was on the line at the McCool house, was
made just one month after the regiment
marched out Of Augusta. During that
month over one-seventh of its men had
fallen in battle. On the march from
Spottsylyania toward Richmond the reg
iment fought at the North Anna and at
Topotsmoy. Lieutenant w. O. Tibbetts
and four men were killed.
The day which the survivors of the Thir-
ty-first recall with deepest pride is June 3.
1t was then that they won their first com
plimentary order in the field, in section
of the Cold Ilerbor battle known as BE.
thesda Church. The Ninth corps was de