Beschreibung:

Four military views including a mounted tintype, plus two civilian views, one post-war. The postage stamp-size tintype is pencil identified E.C. Bowker/1st Me. Cav. Co. G. Bowker joined as Private, 10/61; re-enlisted 12/63; discharged 6/20/65. A vignette is ink signed on verso, C.H. Brown/Palmyra, Me., with J. Beaumont, Chester, Pa. back mark. Calvin Brown enlisted as Wagoner, 11/61; transferred to VRC 6/15/63; date and method of discharge not given. Henry Childs/Sgt. 1st Me. Cav./Go G is ink signed with Chas. H. Danforth, Cambridgeport, Mass. imprint. Childs entered service as Bugler, 10/61; re-enlisted 2/64; promoted Corporal ?/64; promoted Sergeant ?/65; discharged 6/20/65. Aesthetically, the best photograph is that of a forty -year old Private identified as James C. Huntington, Co. F. The pensive veteran wearing a regulation shell jacket is seated in a chair, holding a rough wooden walking stick with a well-worn slouch hat over his knee. The lighting and clarity are superb with the raised veins in his lower arm visible. The verso bears a lightly penciled inscription that appears to read, Portsmouth, Va./A present from/a father to his/Daughter/Annie (sic) Huntington/Abbot/Maine/July 7th/64. Huntington had prior service in the 1st D.C. Cavalry before transferring to the 1st ME Cavalry, Co. F, 10/63. Listed “absent, sick," place and dated not stated, 1864; m/o 8/1/65. A post-war view thought to be Sumner B. Newbegin in civilian dress, ca 1880s. Newbegin joined as Private, Co. K, 2/64; m/o 8/1/65. A small oval albumen applied to paper stock is ink identified as Melvin N. Eveleth 1861. Eveleth was Private, Co. F. 7/62; discharged 5/8/65. 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: CDVs are G+. with modern edge wear and light soiling.