Mainers in the Civil War
by Harry Gratwick ’55
The History Press, April 2011
Early on the morning of April 12, 1861, a mortar shell arched across the sky and exploded over Fort Sumter in the middle of Charleston Harbor. For the next 34 hours, Confederate artillery pounded Federal troops with shot and shell until the fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered and agreed to evacuate his men.
Far to the north, the great state of Maine did not witness any Civil War battles. Mainers, however, contributed to the war in many important ways. Hailing from the mainland to the islands, soldiers bravely fought to preserve the United States in most major battles. Men like General Joshua Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top, proudly returned home to serve as governor. Maine native Hannibal Hamlin was Abraham Lincoln’s first vice president. Maine’s women sacrificed and struggled to maintain their communities and support the men who had left to fight. In his book, Harry Gratwick documents the stories of these and other Mainers who preserved “The Way Life Should Be” for their state and their country.