On December 9th, 1862, John H. Came wrote home to his sister, Miss Eliza C. Came, of West Buxton, Maine. He was a 1st Lieut. in Company C, 27th Maine. He died while serving in this regiment, on 16 Jan 1863, from typhoid fever. His body was returned home, and buried in the family cemetery in Buxton. He didn't marry.

Above is an 1861 map of Washington and Alexandria. Lieut Came wrote from Camp Seward, which was located somewhere along Arlington Heights. Bailey's Crossroads and Munson's Hill, where Co. C had done picket duty, is highlighted to the left of map. Camp Casey, where Lt Came would pass away in Jan 1863, was located south of Fairfax Seminary, northwest of Alexandria. Camp Vermont, where the regiment had spent the latter part of December '62, was just south of red arrow marked at bottom of map.

NOTES:
Page 1
Sister Eliza C Came, daughter of Abraham L and Annis (Green) Came, was born 1833 in Buxton. She never married, and died in 1885. She is buried in the Came family cemetery. 
Page 2
"Warren" is referring to Joseph F Warren, also of Co C, who was 2nd Lt. at the time of this letter writing. Following John Came's death, he became 1st Lt (and later captain, when John Hill was promoted to major).
Page 4
"Sam Davis" - I believe this is Samuel L Davis of Standish, Maine, who was captain of Co K, 25th Maine Infantry. He was "discharged for incompetency" on Dec 8th 1862 [according to ME archives index card].
There is also has some newer writing along the top that erroneously listed John's death as "Dec 16th", instead of Jan 16th.
Page 1 (closing part of letter)
​Frank C Came, of Co B, the fellow from York, was indeed Charles Came's son. I haven't trace their ancestry to see if or how closely related they may have been.

The Find a Grave entry for: John H Came (with grave photo):

The following is a letter written by Horace Pennell, who was a private in Company C. At first I thought it was addressed to a "Brother Danl (for Daniel)", but now believe the name is Darl, short for Darling [Huntress Chadbourne], his brother-in-law. Darling's brother Francis T Chadbourne, and a first cousin James M Chadbourne, were also in the 27th Maine, but in a different company than Horace, and may be those mentioned in the letter.  In the closing, respects to "Mother", "Lizzy" and "Mellie" are written, and are likely referring to Darling's mother, wife and his sister Melvina. A Sam and David are also mentioned, but I didn't see any close family relations with those names.

There was no puncuation throughout the letter, and I didn't add any to the transcription. It is interesting that there is a piece cut off from page three, removing about three lines of writing. Was this done by someone who inspected the outgoing mail, perhaps an officer within the 27th Maine? Maybe Lieut Warren himself! 

   Horace Pennell, the son of James and Jane (Berry) Pennell, was born 27 May 1819 in Buxton, Maine. He enlisted from Hollis at age 43, his occupation listed as a michanic(sic), though he usually worked as a carpenter. Some time after the war, he moved out west, settling in Meeker County, Minnesota. In 1901, just a few months prior to his death, he moved to Flint, Michigan, to live with his daughter Clara. He died on 10 Aug 1901 in Flint, and was buried there in Avondale Cemetery.
   He was married to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Ann Chadbourne in 1852, and they had two children, Clara E Pennell (who married John E Andrews), and Horace E Pennell (who was married to Mary Nye).

While nearly 900 of the volunteers raised to fill the regiment that became the 27th Maine were residents of York County, only 676 (data from the descriptive rolls) were actually born there. 26 were foreign born, over half of those had come from neighboring Canada. Eight of the men in the unit were from Ireland and, with today being Saint Patrick's Day, I thought I'd write a bit about them.

PHILIP BANFIELD was from Cork, Ireland, immigrating here in 1852 or 1856. His residence was listed as Sanford, Maine when he enlisted in 1862. Following his service with the 27th ME, he re-enlisted with the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry and, after the war, also served in the 1st US Cavalry and the 4th US Infantry, leaving in 1871. He may have lived in New York for a short time, but was admitted into the National Soldiers Home system in 1881, transferring between their several branches. He was last at Togus, Maine by 1911, but died while in Boston, MA on 31 Oct 1912. Perhaps he was absent from the Soldiers Home at this time, as he wasn't buried back there, but instead at Tewksbury, MA. I have yet to find his grave location. All records (except for the death rec) show him as single.

JAMES BURNES (BURNS, BYRNES) was born in Ireland, circa 1844-1847. He was living in Biddeford, Maine when he enlisted but, the city having more volunteers than required of their quota, joined on behalf of Kennebunkport. The Veteran Schedule puts him at Boston, MA in 1890, and he filed for a pension from Mass the following year (it was never certified). Considering his address of "36 Northfield St" in 1890, the Boston street directories show a "James F Byrnes" at this location, a plasterer in 1880, and listed from 1882 to 1894 as a mason. A man of that name died in Boston at that same address, on 13 Nov 1893, aged 46 yrs, a plasterer. I believe this is the correct man. His burial place was not listed.

MICHAEL CARY (CAREY), born in County Galway in 1843, arrived in Boston, MA in 1855, and was living in Biddeford by the 1860 census. Following his time with the 27th Maine, he reenlisted with the 20th Maine, serving from 30 Aug 1864 to 15 June 1865. He was an inmate of the Togus Soldiers Home from 1879 to 1892, when he was discharged at his own request. He may be the Michael Carrey boarding in Augusta in 1900, and could be the Michael J Carey who died in Sidney on 23 July 1901, aged 54, as it says (in error) that he was born in Biddeford, the son of John. The WPA Maine Veterans Cemetery Records says he was the one who died in 1920 and was buried in Portland, but I believe that to be in error.  

PATRICK CRANN (CRAM, CRAMM) was from County Roscommon, Ireland, born in 1829. He arrived in New York City on 15 June 1846, moved soon after to Biddeford, Maine, and became naturalized in 1858. His wife was Catherine Connelly, who he married ca 1858. After his service, he moved with his wife and several children to Fall River, MA, where he worked in a cotton mill. He may have separated from his wife, or went elsewhere for work, as he is not seen with his family in Fall River after the 1870 census (wife Catherine was listed in street directories there until her death in Apr 1889). Patrick filed for a pension in Sept of 1889, from New York state, and is seen in Waterford, NY in the 1892 NY State census and the 1900 census. He died 11 Nov 1906 and is buried in the Waterford Rural Cemetery, with a veteran stone (Find a Grave).

JAMES KERWIN (KIRWAN) was born ca Sept 1845, immigrating here in 1862 (according to the 1900 census). He seemed to only live in Biddeford, ME a short time, as he moved to Lawrence, MA following his return from his 27th Maine service. He reenlisted with the 2nd Mass Heavy Artillery in Nov '63, but deserted a month later while in Providence. He may have just remained in state, as he was living in Lincoln, RI by 1880. He later lived in Central Falls and Pawtucket, the latter place where he died on 15 Sept 1911. He was buried in Mt St Mary Cemetery in Pawtucket. His wife was Bridget Maloney, who he married ca 1867 (33 yrs in 1900). They had nine children.   

JOHN MEALY (MALEY, MALIA), though the 27th Maine Descriptive Rolls list him as being born "at sea", was probably born in Ireland, as all other records state. The 1900 census lists his immigration as 1853, and he was in Portland, Maine by 1860. He enlisted from there for the quota of Eliot, Maine and, after returning from his nine-month service, would reenlist with the 32nd Maine Infantry in Feb 1864. He was wounded that summer at Petersburg, VA, but was not discharged until March of 1865. 
Census records seem to show that he had a first wife Hannah and several children (the 1910 census does say he was married twice) while in Portland, but he was in Lewiston by 1880 with a wife Bridget (Pendergrast), whom he married ca 1870 and had four children with. They returned to Portland by 1890, and he was living there when he died on 7 Sept 1910. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, South Portland.

THOMAS STEADFAST was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland ca 1836, and arrived at New York in April 1843. He was living in Biddeford, ME when he became a citizen of the US in 1858. He moved to Portland by 1862, and was working there as a barber when he enlisted on 14 Oct as a substitute for a Limington, Maine "volunteer". After the war, he moved with his wife Eliza Ann (who was previously married and had a daughter Harriet) and son Thomas to Boston, MA. He died there from heart disease on 25 July 1882, aged 45 yrs. His death was also recorded in Portland, where it said he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Deering. Records of that cemetery do not list him (or any other Steadfast).  

On 8 Feb 1864, General Order No 12 required that two regiments of infantry (the 31st and 32nd Maine Volunteers) be raised in Maine and organized by the first of March, in Augusta. Col Mark F. Wentworth, former commander of the 27th Maine, was chosen to lead the 32nd. Of the 1000 men being raised for this unit, 300 were to be raised from York County. Also, it was "suggested" that 2/3 of the commissioned officers be veterans who had seen previous service.

From the list of the field and staff, the following were veterans from the 27th Maine:
Col Mark F Wentworth of Kittery
Adjutant Calvin L Hayes of Kittery
Quartermaster John Hall of North Berwick
Sgt-Maj William B Barker of Limerick

Other 27th ME veterans filled the ranks as officers in the 3 York companies:
Company A
Capt Seth E Bryant
2nd Lieut William B Pierce (promoted from 1st Sergt)
Sergt's Daniel Watson, William P Carr
Corpls William H Staples, Frank E Lawry (prom to Sgt), Cyrus E Brown, Joseph W Bartlett, Hiram M Grace
Company F
Capt Isaac P Fall of South Berwick
1st Lieut Fred S Gurney
2nd Lieut John G Whitten (promoted to 1st Lieut)
1st Sgt Albion L Durgin
Sgts William B Barker (promoted to Sgt-Maj), Adrial Thompson Jr, Nathan Chadbourne (prom from cpl)
Cpls Gardiner L Patterson, James H Smith
Company K
Capt Horace H Burbank (prev 1st Lieut of Co A)
Sgts George W Damon, Charles S Hubbard, Charles H Wadleigh, Hiram Hodgdon
Cpls George A Taylor, George Gordon

The regiment, though mustered in to serve for three years, only survived until December of 1864. Participating in numerous battles and engagements, including the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Battle of the Crater (aka Burnside's Mine), their numbers were greatly reduced by death, injury, and sickness. On 12 Dec, the remaining members of the regiment were transferred into the 31st Maine, with any excess officers discharged. The veterans would continue to serve until 15 July 1865, when the 31st Maine was mustered out of service.

The following is an alphabetical list of those men from the 27th Maine who reenlisted with the 32nd Maine:

William B Barker Co S     - trans to 31st ME 12/12/64
Joseph W Bartlett Co A   - Wounded 6/18/64 Petersburg
William Berry Co H          - disab disch 1/3/1865 (died 3/1/65)
James A Bragdon Co K   - to 31st ME 12/12/64
Cyrus Brown Co A           -  wounded 5/18/1864 Spottsylvania; disch 4/10/1865
John W Brown Co F        -  Killed 6/18/1864 Petersburg
Seth E Bryant Co A         - Relieved 11/5/1864 on acct of disab, resigned 11/25
Horace H Burbank Co K  - POW 7/30/1864, escaped 3/15/65, disch 5/15
George Buzzell Co K       - trans to 31st ME
Nathan Call Co C             - trans to 31st ME; disch 06/16/65
William T Carr Co A         - must out 12/12/64 when consol w/ 31st ME
Nathan Chadbourne Co F - died as POW @ Salisbury, NC 1/21/1865
George W Clough Co F - trans to 31st ME; POW 5/19/64, rel and returned to regt
George W Damon Co K  - POW, exchanged; disch 05/19/65
Thomas Doieg/Doig Co F - trans to 31st ME
Albion L Durgin Co F         - trans to 31st ME
Walter Eaton Co A - POW 9/30/64 Pegram Farm; believed to have died in prison
Edwd/Edwin W Eldridge Co K - Died from disease  8/22/64 City Point hospital
George W Emmons Co K - POW 7/30/65 Petersburg, released and ret to regt
Isaac P Fall Co F             - POW 6/30/64 Petersburg, released and ret to regt
George Gordon Co K      - must out 12/12/64 when consol w/ 31st ME
Hiram M Grace Co A       - trans to 31st ME 12/12/64
Fred S Gurney Co F        - KIA 6/24/64 Battle of Wilderness
Calvin L Hayes Co S       - must out 12/12/64 at consolidation
Hiram Hodgdon Co K       - trans to 31st ME
Charles S Hubbard Co K  - Died of wounds 7/31/1864
William Kerr Co A             - trans to 31st ME
Franklin E Lawry Co A      - must out 12/12/64 on consolidation w/ 31st Me
Thaddeus Littlefield Co K  - trans to 31st ME
Charles McGuire Co C      - Died of wounds 5/20/1864
John Mealy (Maley) Co C  - Disch 3/23/1865 (wounded 7/18/64)
Charles H Merrill Co F       - must out 12/12/64
Gardiner Patterson Co F   - POW 9/30/64; died in prison 1/7/1865
William B Pierce Co A       - drowned while escaping prison, 10/2/1864
Wallace Prescott Co F      - trans to 31st ME
John W Sanborn Co K      - trans to 31st ME; wd 30 Sept '64 Pegram Farm
James H Smith Co F        - trans to 31st ME
William H Staples Co A   - Wounded 5/12/64 Spottsylvania; disch 04/10/65
Charles E Stevens Co A   - 9/30/64, released, rejoin regt; disch 06/20/65
William Stevenson Co H  - trans to 31st ME
George A Taylor Co K      - trans to 31st ME
Adrial Thompson Co F      -  must out at consol w/ 31st, 12/12/64
David Thorn Co F             - trans to 31st ME
Osborn Trafton Co F        - 5/29/1864 died of wounds
Daniel Watson Co A         - disch 03/14/65
Mark F Wentworth Co S  - resigned due to wounds Oct 64;
John G Whitten Co F        -  KIA 7/30/1864 Burnsides Mine
Charles H Wadleigh Co K  - disch 06/08/65

For more about the 32nd Maine, their history is available online for reading:
Houston, Henry C. The Thirty-second Maine regiment of infantry volunteers; an historical sketch. Portland, Maine: Southworth Press, 1903.

The majority of my research on the men of the 27th Maine having been "complete" for some time now, I occasionally return to those handful that I have failed to find very little (or no) information on. One of these soldiers was Otis C Holt, a private in Company G. He was the last to sign the enlistment sheet for the quota of Eliot, and was mustered in on 15 Oct 1862. 

Following his service, I had difficulty finding any more information on Otis C. There was no pension filed, at least not under the 27th Maine, and he was not seen in the 1890 Veteran Schedule. There WAS an Otis C Holt from Peru, Maine, but he had served in the 23rd Maine (under an alias) at the same time his namesake had been with the 27th ME.

Looking into the 1850 census for Peru (and the surrounding communities), only one Otis Holt was found, with Erastus and Lucinda Holt in Peru. The 1860 census shows two of this name in Peru, both of them age 17, one with Erastus, and the other a farm laborer in the William Irish household. I suspected those were the same person, enumerated at different times.  

Checking into the History of Peru book (available on archive.org), I found the family entry:

So, apparently, it was Artemas Cooper Holt who had enlisted with the 27th Maine, using his younger brother's name (and age, at first). Further research shows that Otis' middle name was actually Charles, not Chandler. The above history goes on to write about Otis' service with Co K, 5th Maine, and later with the 23rd ME and the 30th Maine. 

Actually, both Holt brothers had enlisted with the 5th Maine: Artemas C with Co E on 2 May 1861 (res: Peru, b.Weld, ME; 5' 4", blue eyes, dark hair, Lt complexion), and Otis C with Co K on 28 May '61 (res+ b.Peru, ME; 6', blue eyes, Lt hair and comp.). Both were listed as age 19. Though seen on the muster-in roll, Artemas was not mustered in, as noted in a later adjutant report. Otis was must-in on 24 June, and received a disability discharge on 22 May 1862.

In the summer of 1862,  both Artemas Cooper Holt and Otis Charles Holt enlisted for the quota of Canton, Maine when a company of nine-month troops were being raised. Neither of them used their given names, however, they reversed them. Below are their signatures on the enlistment sheet for the town, which was dated 25 August 1862.

"Cooper A" Holt was mustered in on 29 Sept 1862, the Descriptive Roll showing him as age 23, b.Peru, 5' 11", blue eyes, brown hair, dark complex, a mechanic. "Charles O" was never mustered, the muster-in roll stating "absent, was he mustered". The troops raised from Oxford County (23rd ME), along with those from Cumberland (25th ME) and York (27th ME), were all encamped at Camp Abraham Lincoln in Cape Elizabeth. It HAS been mentioned that agents of other towns, still in need to fill their own quotas, were also at the camps, offering better bounties than originally offered to the enlistees. Is this why "Charles O" wasn't mustered in with the 23rd, 'cause he went with the 27th for Eliot's quota as Otis C? So, was it really Otis who was with the 27th, and not older brother Artemas, as the History of Peru states?

So, according to his pension file, Charles O Holt of Co G, 30th Maine, was the same person as Otis C Holt of Co K, 5th Maine, as well as Cooper A Holt of Co C, 23rd Maine. This suggests that, not only did the two brothers reverse their names when signing up for the 23rd Maine, they also switched places! I wonder what the reasoning was behind this?

Thanks to the availability of most of the company enlistment sheets, where the volunteers would sign their names (unless unable to, when an X and "his mark" would instead be written), a comparison of the names can be made. Though I am no expert, it certainly looks like the "Otis C" and "Cooper A" in the left column have similarities, particularly in the 'H' of Holt. The same seems true of "Charles O" and "Otis C" on the right. Unfortunately, the letter 'C' on both sides do look alike! The "A G Holt" signature is almost surely not written by the same person whose signatures are below it.  

Artemas Cooper Holt, after the war, moved first to Buckfield, Maine, then to Walpole, MA, where he went to work as a railroad station agent. On 28 Mar 1904, he was killed in a railroad accident at Highland Lake, MA. His age at death was 64 yrs, 10 mos, 15 das, calculating a birth date as 13 July 1839, two months shy of the date given in the History of Peru.

Perhaps by ordering the pension file for Otis Charles (aka Charles Otis), it may give me more information about why these aliases were used.

Reveille was sounded at 3 am, and the volunteers of the 27th Maine Infantry began striking their tents and loading them onto teams to be sent to Portland. At 6:00 am, lines were formed, and the troops began their march into Portland towards the railroad depot, arriving there about 7:30. The train started its journey south at 8:30 am.

Arrived in Boston, Massachusetts at 2:00 pm over the Boston and Maine Railroad. The men disembarked from the cars, and had to march across the city to the Boston & Providence Depot, where another train was waiting. They did not leave until 5:30 pm, as they had to wait for their baggage to be transferred from one train and reloaded onto the other. From Boston, they rode to the coastal town of Stonington, CT [Gooch and Doe; Bryant's journal says Groton, while Pvt Davis wrote Fall River (which also ran a steamboat line to New York City)].

At Stonington, CT, the steamer 'Metropolis' was waiting to carry the soldiers to Jersey City, NY, a 100-mile journey [Sgt Doe wrote in his diary that the name of the steamer was the 'Commonwealth', so perhaps the regiment was loaded onto more than one ship]. The ship left port at 12 midnight, and would arrive at Jersey City at 6 am [Doe] or 10 am [Bryant] (perhaps at the wharf of the New Jersey Railroad Transportation Co, where other reg'ts were offloaded). The men were given some soup and hot coffee and proceeded to board the cars (of the Camden & Amboy RR) for the trip to Philadelphia.

The train arrived at Camden about 4:30 pm, the men being transported across the river via ferry into Philadelphia. By 1864 (as seen on map at right), the rail cars were driven directly onto the ferry, as was done in Perryville. It is currently unknown whether this was operational at the time the 27th ME men passed through. They marched a short distance to the famous Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon, where they were all served meals of bread, meat and coffee. After supper, they marched 2 to 3 miles [according to Bryant] across the city, where cattle cars awaited at the depot of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore RR. They left the depot about 10 or 11 pm. 

At Perryville, PA, the train rolled onto the deck of the ferry there, carrying it across the Susquehanna River, and rolling back onto the track on the opposite shore at Havre De Grace. They arrived in Baltimore at 7 am [Bryant and Davis] or 8 am [Gooch]. They again had to offload from one train, then marched across the city to the Washington Depot of the Baltimore & Ohio RR (on Camden St), having breakfast before boarding another set of cars. These cattle cars were in worse run-down shape as the ones from the previous trip. The troops had to wait at the Relay House until about noon, when the train was ready to leave for Washington.

Notes: Some of the information on times and places came from the following sources:

• Captain Seth Bryant, Company I - kept a journal while serving with the 27th Maine
  
• Private Benjamin F Davis, Co B, in a 24 Oct 1862 letter home to his father
  
• Sgt Joseph Doe, Co B - kept a diary, some of which was mentioned in "A Shower of Stars" on pages 38-39
• Pvt Charles Gooch, Co I, wrote about the trip south in a letter home to his wife, on 23 Oct '62

Map Sources:

• E. Sachse, & Co.'s bird's eye view of the city of Baltimore, 1869
  
• Maps of the Washington Aqueduct, Md. and Washington D.C.: to accompany supplemental report of Chief Engineer dated Feb. 22nd 1864 
• View of Boston, July 4th 1870. F. Fuchs, del. & lith. New Eng. Lith. Co.
  
• Map of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore Railroad shewing [sic] its connections (ca 1850's)
  
• Military map of Philadelphia 1861-1865 Drawn by Frank H. Taylor