Beschreibung:

Seven regimental officers and enlisted men, including one in civilian attire. Identified in modern pencil is William E. Donnell, as Lieut. or Captain with imprint of A. M. McKenney, Portland, Donnell’s residence. Donnell enlisted as 1st Lieut. & Adjutant 9/63; twice brevetted, Captain (7/6/64) for gallantry at North Anna River, VA, and Major (4/1/65) for Five Forks; m/o 7/65. A vignette with G.W. Tuttle imprint is identified in modern pen as Capt. Samuel T. Keene, Co. I. Keene joined as 1st Lieut. 8/62; promoted Captain Co. F, in command of company at Gettysburg; later KIA Petersburg (6/22/64). Enlisted men include ink signed Corporal Henry A. Dorr/Co. C, 16th Me. Vols./1864 with P.L. Perkins back mark having blue-green two cent revenue stamp. Perkins was drafted into the 16th Maine before transferring to the 20th Maine 6/64, serving in Co. E. Private Charles E. Moore Co. G, is signed in period pencil over L. V. Newell imprint. Moore joined as Private 1/64; WIA Wilderness (5/5/64); absent at m/o 7/65. Private Job S. Bearce, Co. B, addressed his carte by L.V. Newell to a relative named Mr. Yale S. Bearce. Bearce enlisted as Private 8/62; WIA Fredericksburg (12/13/62), still reported hospitalized in 1863; discharged 6/64. Ned W. Ludwig/Co. E/20th Regt/Maine Vols. is pencil signed over Evans & Prince, York, Pa. imprint. Ludwig entered 8/62; died of disease 11/64. The last image is an oval albumen applied to stock with the name Chas. H. Gammon, 1861, likely Private Charles Gammon, Co. C. 20th Maine, 3rd Brigade, First Division, 5th Corps The 20th Maine was organized at Augusta in August 1862 and was immediately assigned to the 5th Corps serving in that organization for the duration. The regiment first saw action at Antietam and was not heavily engaged at Fredericksburg. On Little Round Top, the exploits of the tenacious 20th Maine under the much heralded Joshua Chamberlain (awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor) require no embellishment. The regiment held the extreme left flank of the Union line anchored on a promontory ideally suited for defense, a strategic position that absolutely had to remain in Union hands to ensure the survival of the rest of the army of the Potomac. During the late afternoon of July 2nd General Hood sensed an opportunity to capture the southern crest and aggressively probed the position in brigade strength finally sweeping over the slope of Big Round Top. Clusters and waves of butternuts were repelled by the men of the 20th Maine, formed in an irregular line of battle among the stone crags and boulders of the crest. As ammunition ran low and another Confederate attack seemed imminent, Chamberlain ordered his regiment to fix bayonets “and on command, the attacked became the attackers.” With a mighty yell the men of the 20th Maine hurled themselves down the sloop and through the little valley driving the bewildered Confederates and securing the flank of the Union army. The immortal defense of Little Round Top cost the regiment 130 killed and wounded out of 358 men engaged, but assured that its stalwart participants—the dead and the survivors—would forever be enshrined in the pantheon of American heroes. In 1864, the 20th Maine fought in Grant’s Overland Campaign suffering terribly at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and at Peebles’ Farm in September. The regiment was in the thick of combat until the bitter end, suffering its last fatalities at Five Forks just days before Lee’s surrender. The 20th Maine mustered out on July 16, 1865 recording 147 killed and mortally wounded during its term of service. Provenance: The Tom MacDonald Maine Civil War CDV Collection Condition: CDVs at least G+., undamaged with varying wear and soiling.