** ** 2nd Maine Artillery, Battery B
Posted to the Project on 07 Mar 08
2nd Maine Light Battery B was also known as the 2nd Maine Artillery. The unit was organized at Augusta in November 1861. The men came from the state at large, but the biggest contingent hailed from Knox county.
The battery consisted of 6 Ordnance Rifles and 127 men. Their commander was Capt. James A. Hall (1835-1893), a merchant from Damariscotta.
The unit’s white granite monument is located on the Chambersburg Pike, near the monuments to Generals Buford and Reynolds. This is where the regiment fought on July 1. Four highly polished granite cannon balls top the memorial.
Maine Light Battery B (2nd Maine Artillery)
1st Corps Artillery Brigade
Engaged: 6 Ordnance Rifles and 127 men; 18 wounded
Monument: Chambersburg Pike. Marker in National Cemetery.
Monument Specifications: Tapered, rectangular shaft stands on a hammer-finished, ogee base. The shaft has an apexed top and is castellated at the corners. Atop the apex and each corner are polished spheres. There is a bust in relief of a uniformed artilleryman on the front face. The bust is set in a concave surface in the die. Monument indicates the position held by the 2nd Maine Battery on the late morning and afternoon of July 1, 1863 when it engaged Confederate artillery.
Dedication Date: Oct. 3, 1889.
Other Monuments & Markers: Simple stone marker denotes July 2nd and 3rd position in the National Cemetery on West Cemetery Hill. Located near the Lincoln Speech Monument.
Regimental History ~ Dyer’s Compendium of the War of the Rebellion
Organized at Augusta and mustered in November 20, 1861. Duty at Augusta until March 10, 1862, and at Fort Preble, Portland, Me., until April 2. Ordered to Washington, D.C., April 2, and camp at Capital Hill until April 20. Attached to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division (McDowell’s), Dept. of the Rappahannock, to June, 1862. Artillery, 2nd Division, 3rd Army Corps. Army of Virginia, to September. 1862. Artillery, 2nd Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1863. Artillery Brigade, 1st Army Corps, to November, 1863. Camp Barry, Defences of Washington, D.C., 22nd Army Corps, to April, 1864. Artillery, 1st Division, 9th Army Corps, Army Potomac, to July, 1864. Artillery Brigade, 9th Army Corps, to August, 1864. Artillery Reserve, Army Potomac, to May, 1865.
SERVICE—Moved to Potomac Creek, Va., thence to Belie Plains April 20-27, 1862. Moved to Falmouth May 9, thence to Manassas and Front Royal May 25-30. Moved to Manassas June 16, to Warrenton July 5, to Waterloo July 9, thence to Culpeper C. H. August 5. Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9, Pope’s Campaign in Northern Virginia August 16-September 2. Fords of the Rappahannock August 21-23. Plains of Manassas August 25-27. Thoroughfare Gap August 28. Battle of Groveton August 29. Bull Run August 30. Centreville September 1. Duty in the Defences of Washington September 11-October 13. Operations in Maryland and Virginia October 13-November 23. Camp at Brooks Station November 23-December 9. Battle of Fredericksburg December 12-15. “Mud March” January 20-24, 1863. Camp near Fletcher’s Chapel until April 28. Chancellorsville Campaign April 28-May 8. Operations at Fitzhugh’s Crossing April 29-May 2. Battle of Chancellorsville May 2-5. Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3. At Norman’s Ford August 2-September 16. Moved to Culpeper, thence to the Rapidan River. Ordered to Camp Barry, Washington, D.C., November 5, and duty there until April 25, 1864. Joined 9th Army Corps April 25. Rapidan Campaign May 3-June 15. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7. Spottsylvania May 8-12. Ny River May 10. Spottsylvania C. H. May 12-21. North Anna River May 23-26. On line of the Pamunkey River May 26-28. Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Bethesda Church June 1-3. Before Petersburg June 15-September 17, 1864. Mine Explosion, Petersburg, July 30. Moved to City Point September 17, and duty in the defences at that point until May 3, 1865. Defence of City Point September 18, 1864, and April 2, 1865. Moved to Alexandria, Va., May 3, thence to Augusta May 31. Mustered out June 16, 1865. Battery lost during service 1 Officer and 4 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 26 Enlisted men by disease. Total 31.