The Maine bugle ... campaign; 1-5 Jan. 1894-Oct. 1898 - Maine.gov

BY GtN. J.
REGIMENTAL IIISTORfES. 175
Regimental Histories.
1'. CIl.I.KY, I.ATK (W MUST MAINE CAVALRY.
The history of the h'irst Maine Cavalry has received many
encomiums. The reason of its excellency is due in a large de-
gree to various articles and addresses concerning its service,
which were prepared and read in the proceedings of the Annual
Reunions. ,\11 the contributions and the discussions called
forth by thcni, not only aroused interest and attention but
awakened recollections, that reproduced the old life of the reg-
iment accurately ;
and
enabled the historian to give a variety
and freshness to his work, which could be obtained in no other
manner. Attention is called to the fact that onl}' a few of our
regiments have embodied their history and service in any per-
manent or presentable form. In comparison to Massachusetts
and New Hampshire, Maine, with a military record second to
no other state, has done little to preserve the records of her
soldiers. During the period of the war her records and reports
made up by Adjutant General Hodgdon, were the best of any
state in the entire country. Since the close of the war, most of
the northern states have, by special grants of money, aided reg-
imental associations in publishing the histories of their respec-
tive regiments and in various other ways have perfected and
published the records of their men, who served in the War of
the Rebellion.
Maine has done comparati\ely nothing. There are some ex-
cellent results of her monumental work on the field of Gettys-
burg, but even there, where so many of her regiments served
most effectually and proudly, her efforts lag behind some of
her smaller sister states. But in those monuments, that shall
endure when these granite shafts shall crumble, her pecuniary
aid has been the nearest zero of any other state north of Mason
and Dixons' line.