USA > Maine > Knox County > Union > A history of the town of Union, in the county of Lincoln, Maine : to the middle of the nineteenth century, with a family register of the settlers before the year 1800, and of their descendants > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
OFFICERS. - Nathan Williams, captain, May 22, 1806.
Joseph Morse, lieutenant, May 22, 1806 ; discharged Feb. 20, 1812.
Micajah Gleason, ensign, May 22, 1806 ; resigned Feb. 28, 1809.
Edmund Mallard, ensign, Aug. 24, 1809.
Herman Hawes, the second person born in Union who did military duty, was elected captain, April 23, 1811; major, May 7, 1814; breveted lieutenant-colo- nel, July 1, 1816, according to an Act of the Legis- lature, passed June 20, 1816; discharged April 9, 1818.ª
John W. Lindley, lieutenant, May 11, 1812; cap- tain, Aug. 25, 1813; discharged April 9, 1818.
341
RIFLE COMPANY.
Hervey Maxcy, ensign, May 11, 1812; lieutenant, Aug. 25, 1814; discharged April 9, 1818.
Samuel Stone, ensign, Aug. 25, 1814; captain, May 19, 1818; discharged and company disbanded, June 14, 1819.
Eben Stone, lieutenant, May 19, 1818; discharged and company disbanded, June 14, 1819.
RIFLE COMPANY.
ORGANIZATION. - Nathan Bachelder and forty-one others petitioned the Governor and Council that the light-infantry, commanded by Capt. Samuel Stone, might be disbanded, and that they might be formed into a rifle-company. The measure was approved by the officers commanding the regiment, brigade, and division, and by Capt. Stone, most of whose men were among the petitioners. It was alleged, that the light-infantry was small in number, and not fully officered and not easily recruited. The committee of the council reported favorably June 12, 1819, and the report was accepted by the Governor on the same day. June 14, the adjutant-general issued his orders ac- cordingly. They passed down from the major-general, June 21; from the brigadier-general, July 6; and from Col. Isaac G. Reed, Aug. 9. The meeting for election of officers and organization was held Aug. 23. The company was recruited by voluntary enlistment within the regiment.
DRESS. - The dress consisted of short, blue round- jackets, single-breasted, trimmed with yellow ferret and ball-buttons ; of pantaloons with a row of ball- buttons down each leg on the outside seam, with three rows at the bottom, six buttons high; and of thin half-boots, and of white neck-handkerchiefs and white vests. The leather caps had a yellow strap painted round them, and a strip of bear-skin, about three inches wide, running from the brow, over the head, to the back of the neck.
The rifles, about forty in number, were purchased in 1820, for fifteen dollars each, with merchantable boards
342
MILITARY HISTORY.
at nine dollars per thousand. Upon each of them were stamped the words, " Union Rifle Company."
OFFICERS. - John Bachelder, captain, Aug. 23, 1819; lieutenant-colonel, March 3, 1823; discharged Aug. 27, 1825. Lewis Bachelder, lieutenant, Aug. 23, 1819; captain, May 24, 1823; removed. Spen- cer Mero, ensign, Aug. 23, 1819; resigned. Ebenezer Cobb, lieutenant, May 24, 1823 ; resigned Feb. 3, 1829. William Shepherd (or Shepard), lieutenant, Dec. 27, 1823 ; discharged Dec. 6,1825. Marcus Gill- mor, ensign, May 24, 1823; discharged. Nathan Bachelder, captain, Sept. 24, 1825; discharged and company disbanded, July 2, 1831. Lemuel S. Rice, lieutenant, Aug. 19, 1830 ; discharged and company disbanded, July 2, 1831. Cyrus Gale Bachelder, en- sign, Aug. 19, 1830 ; discharged and company dis- banded, July 2, 1831.
DISBANDMENT. - June 28, 1831, the Standing Com- mittee on Military Affairs reported to the Governor's Council that there was no evidence in the office of the adjutant-general to show that the company had done any duty since 1824; and that the last inspection- return was handed in by the officers, "without a non- commissioned officer, musician, or private ; and that the company ought to be disbanded." A vote for disbanding it was passed the same day. The general order to carry it into effect was dated July 2; the division-order, July 5; brigade-order, July 25; and regimental order, Aug. 5, 1831. The officers were discharged ; and the members of the company, liable to do military duty, were ordered to be enrolled in the standing companies of infantry within whose bounds they respectively resided.
343
COMPANIES CALLED OUT.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
MILITARY HISTORY.
(Continued.)
War of 1812. - Pay voted by the Town. - Drafts. - Alarm. - Companies ordered out. - Parade on Sunday. - March to Cam- den. - Peace. - Soldiers from Union in the Army. - Texan War. - Mexican War.
WAR OF 1812.
AFTER the declaration of war in 1812, the first move- ment of the town on military affairs was, July 16 of the same year, upon an article " to see if the town will consider the state of the militia who are detached, and hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning, and act or do any thing relative thereto." It was " voted that the militia of the town drafted for the service of the United States shall, in addition to the pay they receive from the United States and individual States, be entitled to so much money, to be paid out of the treasury of this town, as shall make the whole sum of their pay received from all the above sources to amount to ten dollars for each month which they shall serve as aforesaid ; provided, nevertheless, that no soldier shall be entitled to any pay from the town, unless he shall be honorably discharged."
There were occasionally drafts of a few persons du- ring the first two years ; but, in Sept. 1814, the appre- hension of an attack on Camden was so strong that orders came for every man to turn out. British armed vessels were occasionally seen along the coast. " A body of men, despatched in barges from two armed ships lying at the mouth of St. George's River, entered in the night-time, without opposition, the fort below Thomaston, spiked the guns, destroyed the munitions of war and buildings, set fire to one vessel, and towed
344
MILITARY HISTORY.
away two others. It is said the barges ventured within a mile of Knox's Wharf, near the Old Fort, and were only hastened back by the appearance of day-light. So bold was this adventure that it excited a general and extensive alarm. Col. Foote, of Camden, ordered out a great part of his regiment to guard and defend the neighboring coast and country." 1
To Union orders came on Saturday to be ready to march on Sunday morning. At the appointed time, the members of the military companies assembled on the Common; though the light-infantry did not march till Monday. 'To many the call occasioned great in- convenience. Farmers were summoned away, not knowing how long they might be absent, and with the expectation that what of harvesting remained must be done by the women and the children, or not done at all. Besides, - let people say what they may, - the prospect of facing bullets backed with gunpowder is not agreeable. There was a general sadness. Women and children assembled to witness the military move- ments. In thoughtlessness or with anticipations of various evils, boys of all ages were running about among the men. A lad, nine or ten years old, was greatly distressed about a favorite fife, which he had lent to one of the musicians, whose intention evidently was to carry it with him. " It would be taken by the enemy." The answer to his reluctant application for it was insufficient to quiet him.
With the uncomfortable feelings of the occasion were mingled those of regret at the profanation of the Lord's Day, for which in many minds there was a deep reverence. When the hour for worship came, several of the soldiers wished to attend the service. As the arrangements for marching were not com- pleted, permission was given, on condition that the men would come together again at the beat of the drum. They went to the meeting-house in their military accoutrements. Before Mr. True had finished the sermon, the summoning sound was heard. The
Williamson's Hist. of Maine, ii. 641-2.
345
EXCURSION TO CANADA.
men simultaneously rose, and went out of the meet- ing-house. The novel movement, at such a solemn time, awakened deep emotion; and many of the re- maining members of the congregation could not refrain from tears.
The soldiers immediately repaired to their posts, and marched away, to the solemn music, either of Roslin Castle or Boyne Water, in the playing of which the boy had the melancholy satisfaction of hearing his fife. Upon arriving at South Union, they paraded before the store of Major Robert Foster, partook of refreshments, and were met by the selectmen, who provided fresh cartridges. They marched through Warren and Tho- maston to Camden, there not being any road then between Camden and Union. Sadness, ere long, gave place to merriment. Fun and frolic and wit abounded. Long faces were not tolerated. The only drawback on the enjoyment was that the selectmen were not very good quarter-masters. Each person was ordered to carry three days' provisions ; but, after that, there was not the variety of food which might have been expected, if the military had had more experience as cooks, or the selectmen as providers.
When the few days of service were over, the com- panies moved homeward. The sound of the martial music gave notice of their approach, before it was gene- rally known that they were coming. The women and children were delighted. To the little boy, it seemed as if his fife had never before sounded so loud or so well. The soldiers were welcomed to the houses and fields, which were deserted and almost desolate during the absence of nearly every able-bodied man in the town. When the boy went for his fife, he found that it had not been " taken by the enemy," and that the welcome sounds, which fell so delightfully on his ear, came not from his instrument, but from a D fife, one having been furnished by the government to each com- pany of the regiment.1
.
1 Two or three years afterward, the boy was provided with a suit of the uniform worn by the light-infantry ; and, at the head of the
30
346
MILITARY HISTORY.
In November, the companies were again ordered out, and went through Warren and Thomaston to Camden, and were absent about as long as before. A sloop, containing a cargo of bale-goods, invoiced at forty thousand dollars, bound from Halifax to Castine, was captured by Major Noah Miller, deputy-collector, and an armed crew from Lincolnville. The deputy- collector was to retain ten thousand dollars of it as his portion. The cargo was carried to Warren for the pur- pose of having it immediately sent to Boston. The vessel was in the St. George's. Capt. Mountjoy, in the " Furieuse," of thirty-eight guns, sailed from Cas- tine to Camden, and, supposing the vessel and cargo to be there, demanded them, and threatened, in case of non-compliance, to lay Camden and Lincolnville in ashes. Two of the selectmen went off with a flag of truce. They were detained, and threatened with imprisonment till the vessel and cargo should be given up; though they were subsequently released.1
Nov. 28, 1814, after the last turn-out of the com- panies, the town "voted that the selectmen, with the assistance of Major Gillmor, should procure twenty barrels of good beef, on a credit of six months, for the use of the militia when marched out of town." The news of peace came in February, 1815. For two days a long white streamer, upon which were sewed an eagle
company, he marched and played his fife at trainings. These were his happiest days. At the age of thirteen, he ended his military career, by going to Waldoborough, "playing the fife all day on the muster-field," and exhibiting his red coat and military cap before Governor Brooks, when he made his eastern tour in the year 1818.
On training-days, the small boys were generally attracted to the light-infantry, on account of its showy uniform. A very few of them marched behind it. The officers were always pleasant to them. Ere long, they put themselves at the head of the company ; and, tak- ing hold of each other's hands, and stretching their little legs, in order " to keep step with the music," they preceded the captain. Then, if they could get two or three little red feathers which had dropped from some one's plume, and stick them under their hatbands, they were in the ne plus ultra of happiness. On such occasions, the large boys always amused themselves in playing ball on the west side of the ledge on the Common.
1 Williamson's Hist. of Maine, ii. 643; C. Eaton, Esq., of Warren.
347
SOLDIERS IN THE ARMY.
and stars of red cloth, ingeniously cut by Sarah Bunt- ing, floated from a flag-staff, temporarily erected near Major Gillmor's door. During the first of the two days, the swivel,1 which had been substituted for the old cannon, was made to speak as loud and as often as practicable. The beef was not wanted; and, by a vote of the town, April 3, 1815, the selectmen were instructed to dispose of it "to the best advantage which they can find." There is also a memorandum, dated April 15, 1815, which shows, that, however im- perfectly supplied with food, the soldiers were provided with another article, which, in those days as well as in the days of the Revolution, was considered quite as important : " Received of the inhabitants of Union $14.24, in full for spirits furnished Capts. J. W. Lind- ley and David Grafton, in November last, for use of troops from Union. JNO. NICHOLSON."
Jonathan Brown was in the military movement down the St. Lawrence River, and in a severe fight in the regiment of Col. Eleazar W. Ripley. Ebenezer Robbins and Richard Cummings, jun., entered the army. The latter was wounded at the battle of Bridgewater, and draws a pension. Daniel Jacobs and James Gay also went into the army, and never returned. Jeremiah Stubbs enlisted, and deserted three times, the penalty for which was to be shot; then went to the British Provinces, where he remained till the war was over. Jonas Stone was with Commodore Perry in the action on Lake Erie, and helped to row the boat
1 The cannon was unearthed in digging the cellar to the house of Mrs. Hastings, near Green's Wharf, in Thomaston, where it may have been brought in the Old French War, or in the time of General Wads- worth. It was purchased by Mallard and Chase, about 1809 or 1810, brought to Union, and kept in the middle of the Common, on the ledge which has since been removed. It went into the possession of Major Gillmor, who exchanged it for the swivel ; and it was used for privateering in the war of 1812. The swivel was also sold and car- ried to Thomaston. Subsequently, another swivel was obtained by subscription. It was carried in 1847 to the summit of the hill, about midnight, filled with powder, plugged, fired, and burst ; and one piece, weighing several pounds, was thrown to within a few rods of Seven Brook.
348
MILITARY HISTORY.
which bore him in the heat of the battle to the vessel, of which, after his own was crippled, he took com- mand. Perry stood up in the boat, exposed to the enemy's fire; and Stone pulled his coat to haul him down.
TEXAN WAR.
MILTON IRISH was in several slight skirmishes ; also in a sharp one, Nov. 26, in the vicinity of San Anto- nio de Bexar. He took part in the siege which termi- nated in the capitulation of that place, Nov. 11, 1835, and was slightly wounded in the neck by a musket- ball. He was one of the party which, in March, 1836, capitulated to the enemy about twenty miles from Victoria; on the Warlope [Guadaloupe], and was con- ducted to Labadea. April 2, they were marched out into an enclosure to be shot. They had no intimation of the purpose till they were on the ground, and con- jectured it from the manœuvres. After the discharge of the musketry, and amid the death-shrieks which, in his letter,1 he says still ring in his ears, hastily glancing his eyes around, he discovered on his "left about a dozen men, who had made their way over the brush- fence," near to which they had been drawn up. He " sprang for the fence as springing for his life," and " was soon on the other side." He was pursued by an officer with a drawn sword, and then by a horseman ; but he changed his route, and attention was diverted from him to some of the others who were going in a different direction. He succeeded in reaching some bushes; "bent his course for the river, which he crossed ; and proceeded some distance on the bank." He again swam the river, and concealed himself till dark, and then proceeded towards the American settlements. After ten days, he reached the Colorado. May 18, after six weeks' concealment, he learned that Santa Anna was a prisoner; and, in two days afterward, upon the arrival of the Texan army, he joined it, and
1 Long extracts from this letter to his father were published in the Lincoln Telegraph, at Waldoborough, Feb. 10, 1837.
349
TEXAN AND MEXICAN WARS.
went to Labadea, where he " witnessed the funeral services of his former companions, whose remains after the massacre had been partly burned." He continues : " This was the most trying scene through which I ever passed. I continued in the army till June 2, when I procured my discharge, and reached San Augustine the 25th of the same month."
ANDREW BENNER, of Waldoborough, now resident in Union, entered the Texan army in 1838. When Texas, under Lamar's administration, declared war against the Indians, he was brought into several skir- mishes. Nov. 1, 1839, he was wounded in the hand, in a skirmish with the Camanche Indians, about sixty miles east of Austin.
MEXICAN WAR.
ABNER BILLS was a private, and afterwards a war- rant-officer and clerk under Capt. Bodfish, in the Ninth or New England Regiment. Aug. 12, 1847, he joined the army of Gen. Scott at Puebla. He was in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, and, with the army, entered the city of Mexico. After being there about three months, the regiment went to Pachuca, near the head-quarters of the English silver mining company of Rio del Monte. May 4, 1848, after re- maining here about five months, the regiment took up the line of march for home by the way of Vera Cruz.
OREN ROBBINS enlisted in the army against Mexico, and died in that country, Nov. 20, 1847.
30*
350
MILITARY HISTORY.
CHAPTER XXXIX. MILITARY HISTORY. (Continued.)
Difficulty with the Waldonian Officers. - The Dinner. - Waldonian Influence in the Field. - Election of Lieut .- Col. Bachelder. - Precedence of Rank on the Field. - Remoteness of Musters. - Pe- cuniary Considerations. - Indignation at a Military Election. - Acts of the Legislature. - Excitement.
SOON after the conclusion of the war of 1812, there commenced between some of the inhabitants of Union and of Waldoborough a state of unfriendly feeling, which led to one of the most important events in the history of the town. It ended in the entire overthrow of all military organization. At first the incidents were trifling. It was not long, however, before the difficulty began to assume a serious aspect. The first open expression of the state of feeling was at a mili- tary muster. The officers were in the habit, such as chose, of going to a tavern and dining together; each one paying his own bill. On the present occasion, one of the Waldoborough officers invited the others to dine in his marquee. They supposed the entertainment was meant as an act of courtesy, and would be gratuitous. The surprise may be imagined, when the officer, just be- fore they dispersed, observed to them, in a manner not to be misunderstood, that he trusted no one would go away without leaving a dollar. Rumor said that the compensation was enough to provide the dinner, and purchase the table-furniture; and that the officer took what remained, carried home the knives, forks, and dishes, and made a speculation. The story was pro- bably exaggerated; but there was enough truth in it to make the Union officers think that an imposition had been practised on them. The next year they manifested their indignation by not presenting them- selves at the marquee.
351
WALDONIAN INFLUENCE.
About the time when the Union Rifle Company was formed, the Waldonians were divided into one independent and three infantry-companies. This ar- rangement gave a great portion of the officers to the Waldonians, and nearly enabled them to control the elections. In addition to this, it was conjectured that the commissions of officers who had been elected were kept back till after a succeeding election, so that the Waldonians carried the day in the choice of officers.
March 3, 1823, Capt. John Bachelder, of Union, was elected lieutenant-colonel over Major Gorham Parks, then of Waldoborough. There was a violent snow- storm on that day, and the roads were almost impas- sable. Several of the captains and subalterns remon- strated against the result. They stated that the major, on " whose courage and conduct they could rely," and whose rank and date of commission would have point- ed him out for promotion, was superseded. They addressed the commander-in-chief, stating that they should have voted for the major; and requested him " to set aside the proceedings of the third of March, and issue orders for a new choice of lieutenant-colonel ; which request they conceived themselves in honor bound to" make. This movement of the Waldonians did nothing toward a reconciliation of the Unionites, who naturally said that these remonstrants might have attended the election as well as themselves.
On one occasion, a dispute arose between the Union and the Waldoborough officers respecting precedence in rank. According to military rule, companies, when formed into line on parade, take places according to the date of the captains' commissions, the oldest on the right. At one of the musters, a field-officer being sick, the senior captain, who belonged to Waldoborough, was called to do duty on horseback. His company, commanded by a lieutenant, was placed on the right. Thus, a Waldoborough lieutenant had, to all appear- ance, command over the captains; and the Union officers could not take their proper place in the line.
352
MILITARY HISTORY.
For many years, the complaints of the Union people had been on the increase, because they were always required to go to Waldoborough, or to a part of War- ren near to Waldoborough, to attend the annual mus- ter. The inhabitants living near Mount Pleasant were obliged to parade beyond Waldoborough Bridge, and not far from the Nobleborough line, a distance of nearly eighteen miles ; whereas, on the other side of the muster-field, there was not probably half of one com- pany belonging to the regiment. Previously, the regi- ment had occasionally mustered in Warren, not very far from the village. The inhabitants of Union naturally said, " Let us sometimes have the muster here." And it is a remarkable fact that there never was a general muster in Union.1
Pecuniary considerations also may have had some weight. The money which is spent by the crowd of people on a day of military parade is not unimportant to a small town. The Waldoborough officers may not have been indifferent to this; and the Unionites may have thought it would not be amiss occasionally to reap the benefit of it. Generally some person was sent each year to the vicinity of the muster-field, a short time before the day of parade, to make arrangements for entertainment. The charges for refreshments be- came very high. Most of the Union people accordingly concluded to take the matter into their hands, and provide for themselves. And when, at the time of the explosion, some of the militia carried hay and pro- vender, and tied their horses by the fences, instead of pasturing and stabling them, there was said to be at least one of the officers whose notice it did not escape; and he exclaimed with an oath, that the peo- ple of Union would not leave money enough in town to pay for their horse-keeping.
Feb. 23, 1824, there was an election of officers. According to the best information which has been ob-
1 There was once, and onee only, a sham-fight. It was on the Philip Robbins Place, south or south-east of the present residence of Mr. S. C. Hawes, and west or south-west of the island.
353
RAWSON'S ELECTION .- UNION LAWS.
tained, parties were for a time equally divided. The Union and Warren officers united, and chose William Ludwig colonel. He declined. They were called on to bring in their votes again. The Union officers had gone from the hall. One of the Waldoborough officers mentioned the fact that they had not voted. His observation elicited from some one the remark, "D-n the Union officers ! who cares for them ?" The votes were counted, and Avery Rawson was declared colonel. He accepted the appointment, thanked his friends for the honor which they had conferred on him, and assured others that they should not want a colonel so long as he could ride a horse. At that time or subsequently, it is said he observed, referring to the Union people, that he should " hold their faces to the grindstone."
Within two years after Colonel Bachelder's elec- tion, probably through the Waldoborough influence, the Legislature passed a law that " no election for the choice of brigadier-general or field-officer should be valid, unless a majority of all the electors qualified to vote in such choice (including all existing vacancies in the offices of such electors) should be present at such election." This was one of the legislative acts, passed from time to time, particularly to meet the emergencies in Union, and commonly known in Union and the vicinity by the name of "The Union Laws." Of course the Unionites were provoked, and were inclined either to show their defiance of such acts, or to exercise their ingenuity in evading them.1
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.