Honoring Our Civil War Heroes

April 23, of this year was the 150^th anniversary of the
 4^th Maine Infantry Regiment. 

Here are some of our local heroes of that war.

This monument to General H.G. Berry, of Rockland, stands in Achorn Cemetery at the corner of Lake Avenue and Old County Road. It was sculpted by Franklin Simmons and dedicated in October 31, 1855. (Photo by Enoch C. Fernald, about 1870) The main inscription reads: Maj. Gen./H.G. Berry/killed at Chan/cellorsville, Va.,/May 3, 1863/Born at Rockland, Me./Aug. 27, 1824/AE 39 yrs. He was a young general and he died young.

   Aldabert Ames, born in Rockland in 1835, was a sailor, soldier and politician. He served as a Union Army general in the American Civil War and as a general in the Spanish-American War. He was a carpetbagger, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi. He was the last general of the Civil War from either side to die, dying at age 97 in 1933. That was way beyond the ordinary life span at that time.

General Jonathan Prince Cilley, of Thomaston was a Union Brevet Brigadier General. He was the son of a Congressman, Jonathan Cilley. In 1861, he enlisted in the 1^st Maine Cavalry and was made Captain of Company B, later on promoted to Major. He was severely wounded in the Shenandoah Valley Battle. He returned to action as Lieutenant Colonel in command of the 1^st Regiment Maine Volunteer Cavalry and served with his men till the end of the war. Returning to Maine after the war, he married and resumed his law practice. He served in the Maine legislature in 1867 and held several other political posts during his lifetime. He died in 1920, at age 85 while visiting his daughter in California.

This picture was submitted to the Rockland History Facebook page by Carolyn Meserve Philbrook. This is her great-grandfather, Parker B. Miller, of Rockland, who served in the 4^th Regiment Maine Infantry. He died in his home town in 1908.

Benjamin Chase, of Unity, served as chaplain of the 4^th Maine Infantry Regiment, which left from Rockland for Washington DC in 1861.

(These pictures of our Civil War Heroes all came from the Rockland History Facebook Page)

Turn of the Century Veterans Day parade on Lincoln Street (at the corner with Beech Street). It is likely there are Civil War heroes aboard.. Submitted by Glenn Billington. 

We had more than one flag during the Civil War.

 Men on both sides served under these battle flags.

The Union flag of the Civil War period had 35 stars in the field of blue with 

West Virginia being the 35^th state.

The Confederate States of America had several different flags. This one was finally chosen as the Confederate Battle Flag and can still be seen flying in several places in the South. In recent years there was a big controversy about displaying this flag as part of the Georgia State Flag. (see story below) A compromise was finally made, but not everyone supports the present flag.

This familiar confederate battle flag was designed to look very different from the Union “stars and bars” motif by Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. The flag was never adopted by the Confederate Congress even though it has become a symbol of the conflict in the South. It was adopted by the Confederate War Department on October 1, 1862. Western armies of the Confederacy had flags of their own.

This particular Confederate flag became a symbol of bigotry during the reign of the Klu Klux Klan, which first formed after the Civil War.

With that thought in mind, modern Georgians set out to change their flag, which until recently, contained elements of that hated flag.

Here’s what google said about the present flag now in use in Georgia:

“On May 8, 2003, Governor Sonny Perdue signed H.B. 380 creating a new state flag for Georgia. The act became effective immediately, giving Georgia its third state flag in a period of 27 months. Support for the new flag came from critics of the 2001 flag and those who felt there should be a public referendum on the state flag. The legislation also provided for a statewide advisory referendum on March 2, 2004, at which time voters will choose between the 2001 and 2003 flags. However, results of the referendum are not binding, and any future flag change will require an act of the General Assembly.

“Georgia's new state flag is based on the first national flag of the Confederacy (the "Stars and Bars") and consists of a field of three horizontal bars of equal width, two red separated by a white bar in the center. In the upper left corner is a square blue canton the width of two bars. In the center of the canton is a circle of 13 white stars, symbolizing Georgia and the other 12 original states that formed the United States of America. Within the circle of stars is Georgia's coat of arms (the central design on the state seal) immediately above the words "In God We Trust" -- both in gold.”

One wonders what our beloved President Abraham Lincoln would have to say about the resulting history of the United States of America after that great Civil War. I have kept an analysis of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which I believe appeared in Life magazine in the 1960s. The piece was entitled “Lincoln’s Failure at Gettysburg.” A copy of his speech appeared in the article in his own hand and which is now kept in the Library of Congress.