The Civil War in Maine

Maine was a hot-bed and fomenter of the abolitionist movement. During the early part of the war, several vocal abolitionist organizations kept the issue of slavery in the public eye. Lincoln commented when meeting Harriet Beecher Store "so this is the little lady who made this big war". Most people do not realize today that "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was entirely a work of fiction and that Stowe had absolutely no first hand knowledge of the plight of the American Negro in the south.

Our index contains 83,000 names of men from Maine served in the U.S. military as soldiers. Many men from Maine particularly served as sailors. Generally the sailor records have not been indexed. The soldiers were organized into 32 infantry, 2 cavalry regiments, 7 light Artillery batteries and 1 heavy artillery regiment. Hundreds of civilians served as nurses, doctors, relief workers, and agents at home and on the field of battle. Many served in the United States Sanitary Commission or United States Christian Commission, as well as similar organizations.

No Civil War battles were fought in Maine, but Southern Raiders triggered the Battle of Portland Harbor in 1863 after seizing a pair of non-military vessels.