The Civil War veterans of the 27th Maine (with their honored guests and family) held an annual reunion on the 27th of August (unless it fell on a Sunday), beginning in 1882. This recent purchase brought to light the fact that Company C, which had been raised in Buxton and Hollis, also held their own reunions.

Their first meeting was held on Saturday, Jan. 14th, 1893, at the Knights of Pythias Hall in Buxton Center, where a permanent organization was formed. Captain Joseph F. Warren was elected President, Henry A. Chadbourne, Vice-Pres., James M. Hopkinson, Secretary, and John Martin, treasurer. 17 former members of the Company were present during the afternoon business meeting.
[see write-up in the Biddeford Weekly Journal, Jan. 20, 1893, pg 2] 

The above postcard was addressed to "B A Dow" of Standish Maine. The postmark is smudged, but was in Sept. 1899, and would have been for the seventh annual reunion. This man, Benjamin Ayer Dow, was not a 27th Maine veteran, but belonged to the 17th Maine Infantry, and apparently was an invited guest.

The Biddeford Weekly Journal, at times, would mention these reunions in their Buxton notes. They were still active in 1907, when a meeting was written about in the Sept. 20th issue of the newspaper. It was noted that, out of 100 men in Company C, 30 were left, and 11 were present at the annual reunion.

It was June, 1863. General Lee and his rebel forces had invaded Pennsylvania, and the Army of the Potomac was marching to intercept them, clearing the land around Washington, D.C. of troops. The 27th Maine, their nine-months of service expiring on the 30th, were anxiously awaiting orders to head north for home.

The following morning, Col Wentworth formed his regiment together in a square around him and read the request. Capt. Bryant, Co. I, wrote in his journal that they "formed in line, and all willing to stay were requested to step out in front". At first count, 176 men stepped forward. Throughout the day, others would change their mind, until there were 300 volunteers. That evening, the others began packing up and Major Hill, who had volunteered his services, was instead asked to lead the rest of the regiment to the train station. Col Fessenden and his 25th Regiment, who had chosen not to stay behind, left for home as well.

On Wednesday, 1 July 1863, Col Wentworth and his volunteers reported to Brig Gen'l DeRussey, who was commanding the defenses around Washington, at his headquarters in the Arlington House. Where they encamped for the next three days is unknown, but was somewhere along the Arlington Heights.

On the afternoon of Saturday, the 4th, the results of the Battle of Gettysburg were announced, and the order received to march for Washington. That evening, the train left for Portland, Maine. They arrived there on the 6th, and went back into camp. They would be mustered out over a week later, on the 17th of July.

It was not until the following Sept that Secretary Stanton began the process of preparing the medals for the 27th Maine men. E. D. Townsend, the Ass't Adjutant General, instead of procuring a list of the 300 volunteers who actually stayed behind, had created one from the muster out rolls, a list containing 864 men! He sent it along to clerk John Potts of the War Dep't, who sent it to Wm Wilson & Son, the manufacturers of the medal.  

On 26 Jan 1865, the office of the Adjutant General sent the medals to Gov. Cony of Maine. He wrote to Mark Wentworth on the 30th, inquiring what all the medals were about. The colonel replied on Feb 2nd, explaining the situation, and asked the governor to forward them to Kittery, and he would take charge in distributing them to his former soldiers.

The medals were sent out, or hand delivered, to the volunteers who were on Wentworth's list, through (at least) May of 1865. An article printed in the May 24th Lewiston Evening Journal wrote that "they have just been distributed", the author stating they had just seen the one awarded to Capt. Jeremiah Plumer of Co. F. The over five hundred "extra" medals not meant for distribution were supposedly sent back to Augusta, but were again returned to Wentworth, who stored them away. The whereabouts of those unawarded medals...well, that's for another entry.

See also (pages on this site):
312 (pages from the History of the Twenty-Seventh Maine)
Medal of Honor List (comparing the 312 list with the 299 one)
Blog: A Medal Found (One of the undistributed medals found on a Wells beach)

On Family Search: a checklist, from the Maine State Archives, likely the one Wentworth used in distributing the medals to the volunteers: the 299 list
​

DECORATION DAY, the 30th of May, was originally a day set aside to honor those soldiers who died during the Civil War, to visit and decorate their graves with flags, flowers and wreaths. Now MEMORIAL DAY, it includes all of those who died while serving this country.

Twenty men of the 27th Maine Infantry died while serving their country, all but one from sickness. Nearly all were returned home and buried back in their home state.

I have been to a dozen of their burial places, the photos of their graves below: 

To read more about the 27th Maine Volunteers who died, please see the DECORATION DAY blog I wrote back in 2013.

The SONS OF VETERANS (later renamed the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War) is a fraternal organization, the legal successor to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), with a dedication to preserving the history and legacy of those soldiers who fought to save the Union. First organized in 1881, its membership formed Camps within their communities, in most cases choosing names of local Civil War veterans or fallen heroes, in a way of honoring the men who had served.

One of these Camps, instituted in Kittery on the evening of Thurs., 5 March 1903, with 21 charter members [Ports. Herald, 6 Mar 1903, pg 8], was named for the late colonel of the 27th Maine, Mark F. Wentworth. It was originally given the Camp number #20, though in later years (prior to 1919, perhaps by a charter surrender and reorganization) it had been renumbered to #105. It was active through 1932. 

The above clipping is a notice printed in the Biddeford Weekly Journal on Fri., 14 Jan 1921, covering the annual installation of officers of the Wentworth Camp. Among them were several "Sons" of the Kittery men who served with Col. Wentworth, in the 27th and the 32nd Maine. The elected officers in 1921 were:

Manning Lawry, son of Franklin E, 27th Maine
E.M. (Everett M) Moore, son of Moses D, Co. D, 1st Maine Cavalry
Leonard McCloud, son of James A, whose step-father since birth was George W. Remick, 32nd Maine
A. H. (Albert Henry) Cruse, son of William H., 32nd Mass Inf
J. L. (Jesse Lincoln) Philbrick, s/o Charles L and Emily (Jordan), her father Robert having served in the 24th Mass Inf
M. L. (Maurice L) Duncan, s/o Edwin A, 17th Maine
E. F. (Eugene F) Hayes, s/o Alfred C, gr-son of George H, 27th Maine
Clarence Chick, s/o Sylvester, 27th Maine
E. W. (Edward W) Hunting, s/o Israel, 44th Mass Inf

Other SUVCW Camps that were organized in the state of Maine that took the names of 27th Maine Volunteers included:

Horace H. Burbank Camp, No. 20, Saco (Qrmtr Sgt)
Lt. William H. Miller Camp, No. 44, Sanford (Lt, Co. E)
Seth E. Bryant Camp, No. 59, Kennebunk  (Capt, Co. I)
Maj. John D. Hill Camp, No. 75, Bar Mills (Buxton)
Capt. Frank A. Hutchins Camp, No. 89, Waldoboro (of Kennebunkport, Co. K)

Are you a "SON" of a Civil War veteran, or someone who is interested in Civil War history and wants to be part of preserving their history? Join the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War today!

For those living in Maine, please check out the Maine SUVCW. For those in New Hampshire, please visit the NHSUVCW.org website for more information. The National organization's website, www.suvcw.org, includes a listing of all other Departments throughout the United States.

The President's call of October 17, 1863 called for 300,000 volunteers. For Maine's part in this fulfillment, 7,581 men needed to be raised [App. A, pg 17, 1863 Rep't]. Two new regiments of infantry (the 29th and 30th) and one of cavalry (the 2nd) were to be formed, while remaining recruits were needed to join the old organizations already in the field.

The above advertisement, which ran in York County newspapers (the above clipped from the Maine Democrat on Dec 1st, 1863) called for veterans who had previously served nine months (they had been mustered out in July) to reenlist and claim a $502 bounty. $402 of this was federal money, while the state paid out $100. This was in addition to the bounties being paid out by the towns or cities, which was around $200-300. When mustered into service, $175. of the bounty would be paid in advance [see General Order No. 22 in Appendix A, of the 1863 Maine Adjutant General's Report].

George H. Ward, previously the captain of Co. A, 27th Maine, apparently was being considered to again be captain at the time of this ad. By the end of the year, however, his name had been removed from print.

From 30 Nov to the first week of Jan. '64, the twelve companies of the Second Cavalry were mustered into service. The majority of Company L was mustered in on the 24th of Dec, 1863. Samuel H. Libby, formerly 1st Lieut. of Co. A, 27th Maine, was commissioned as captain. Under him, his former comrades from the 27th Maine filled the majority of the officer positions. They were:

2nd Lieut. William H Moody of Kennebunk
Com. Sgt. William M Staples of Lyman
1st Sgt. Elisha E Clark of Limerick
2nd Sgt. James E Moody of Kennebunk
3rd Sgt. Moses T Sampson of Biddeford
Cpl. Charles F McKenney of Limington
Cpl. George W Oakes of Kennebunk
Cpl. Adam McCulloch of Kennebunk (later transferred to the Navy)
Cpl. George W Wakefield of Kennebunk
Cpl Orrin F Ham of Saco
Bugler Charles E York of Biddeford
​Wagoner Albra Garland of Kennebunk

There were also 27th Maine veterans who served as privates (there were a few others who served in other companies within the 2nd Cavalry):
James H Brown of Alfred (later transferred to the Navy)
Charles H Clough of Biddeford
Charles Cobb of Limerick
John Conner of Limerick
​Almon C Durgin of Biddeford (promoted corporal)
Edward Lord of Parsonsfield
Edwin R Manson of Limerick
​Alonzo P Moulton of Parsonsfield
James W Palmer of Hollis
Chandler Peavey of Lyman
Lewis G Stone of Parsonsfield
Horace Taylor of Kennebunk

The regiment was mustered into federal service on 12 Jan 1864 and left the state on 15 March, and were shipped straight to the Department of the Gulf and stationed in Louisiana. They later served in Florida and Alabama. Sickness overtook many of them, where 334 died of disease [ME State Archives; 1865 Adj Rep't shows 325], compared to the 10 killed or mortally wounded [Archives; Adj Rep't lists 6] in the few engagements they participated in. They were mustered out of service on 6 Dec 1865.

Of the 27th Maine veterans in Co. L, Orrin Ham and Adam McCulloch did not survive the war.

Links:
Muster-In Roll of Company L, Second Maine Cavalry: on Family Search
Muster-out Roll of Co. L, 2nd Maine Cavalry: on Family Search​
Second Maine Cavalry page on: Maine State Archives
Digital Maine Depository: CDV of William H Moody
Digital Maine Depository: CDV of Samuel H Libby