Beschreibung:

Comprising three regular cartes, plus two mounted tintypes and a post-war military view. Pvt. Burton A. Beal/Co K 1st M. Cav. is signed in red ink on verso. Beal joined 1/64; discharged 5/13/65. Private SUMNER A. HOLWAY/CO. H. 1st MAINE CAVALRY is ink signed on verso in stylized fashion with Filley & Gilbert, New Haven imprint. Holway enlisted as Private, 11/61; WIA Aldie, VA 6/17/63; m/o 11/25/64. Presumably, Elbridge Burton wearing an unusual braided cavalry shell jacket having sergeant chevrons, with G.W. Tuttle, Thomaston, Me. imprint. The 35-year-old Burton enlisted as Corporal, Co. B, 11/61; promoted Sergeant; re-enlisted 12/63; promoted Veterinary Surgeon ?/65; m/o 8/1/65. The mounted tintypes include pencil signed Henri Haskell/Bugler Co. B. 1st /Me. Cav., by N.S. Bennett, Alexandria, Va., wearing civilian overcoat. Haskell entered service as Private, 9/62; promoted Bugler; reduced to Private ?/63; promoted Corporal ?/65; discharged 7/12/65. Jonn Gilley is identified in old pencil on verso. He enlisted as Sergeant, Co. D, 10/61; re-enlisted 12/63; WIA & POW Spotsylvania 5/12/64; discharged for wounds 8/20/64. The post-war view is ink signed Lieut. David H. Whittier/Co. E. (?) Battalion Res., with C.A. Paul, Skowhegen back mark. Whittier served in the 1st ME Cavalry As Private, Co. H, 11/61; promoted Corporal; re-enlisted 1/64; discharged 6/5/65. 1st Maine Cavalry The illustrious 1st Maine Cavalry rightfully earned a reputation as one of the premier cavalry regiments in the Army of the Potomac Cavalry Corps. Organized at Augusta and mustered in November 5, 1861, the regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and took the field by battalion serving with various commands engaged in railroad guard duty, scouting and reconnaissance work. The command’s first significant action came at Middleton, VA, on May 24, 1862, where 53 casualties were incurred including a number of men taken prisoners. Some portion of the 1st Maine Cavalry was present at every major battle and engagement fought by the Army of the Potomac, engaged in 29 major fights and over 50 smaller skirmishes. During the early summer of 1863, the 1st Maine fought successive cavalry actions at Brandy Station, Aldie, and Middleburg leading up to the crescendo at Gettysburg. From the rout at Chancellorsville in May through the end of the year the regiment suffered an appalling 155 men killed and wounded. The tempo of 1864 was to prove just as deadly. Following heavy losses during the March Raid on Richmond, the 1st Maine became Grant’s “eyes and hears” during the summer Overland Campaign in which another 140 cavalrymen became casualties at Spotsylvania, Saint Mary’s Church, and the Boydton Plank Road. The hard fought regiment mustered out on November 25, 1864. Amazingly, a stalwart core of veterans together with new recruits incorporated the remnants of the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry to form a new 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment. The resurrected 1st Maine rode at Appomattox with the same élan of its predecessor and sustained a further 43 battle casualties hot on Lee’s heals before finally mustering out on August 1, 1865. Fox’s Regimental Losses notes that “this regiment lost the greatest number killed in action of any Cavalry Regiment in the entire army,” a hallowed epitaph. Provenance: The Tom MacDonald Maine Civil War CDV Collection Condition: Images are all at least G+. with moderate wear and soiling. Holway carte with heavier soiling.