Camp Abraham Lincoln, Cape Elizabeth
The 25th Maine had already marched out on Thursday, the 16th of October, 1862, followed two days later by the 23rd Maine, who were escorted into Portland by the men of the 27th Reg't and the Portland Band. The Seventh Maine Infantry, who had returned from the war front for furlough and recruiting, took over the quarters that formerly housed the 25th Maine.

This would be the last weekend in Maine for the 27th Infantry, as they had received their marching orders - they'd be leaving on Monday morning. Rumor had it that they would be heading to New Orleans. The First Baptist Society, with a church on Federal Street, invited the men from the Twenty-Seventh to attend their Sunday service at 10:30 in the morning, the Rev Dr. [William Hosmer] Shailer to "preach a sermon appropriate for the occasion" [Portland Daily Press, 10/18/62].

Sunday morning came, and a crowd gathered at the church to watch the men march in for the service. They never showed, so the congregation was admitted inside their church.

It was later learned that an incident occurred at Camp Lincoln on Saturday night, where troops had lit the sutler's tent on fire. As reported in the Portland Daily Press on Monday, the 20th, there had been word of the upcoming torching, so the goods stored there had been removed.

Seth Bryant, captain of Company I, wrote in his diary about Oct 18th:

With extra guards put on duty, the restless troops got quiet and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

It is not known if the soldiers were restricted from leaving camp on Sunday due to the fire, or perhaps it was due to all of the last minute packing that needed to be done before the 3 a.m. reveille on Monday morning would send them off on their nine month tour of duty in Virginia.

Notes:
Capt Bryant, in his diary, said the troops had attempted to set the sutler tent of the 25th on fire as well. As this regiment had already left two days prior to this, had their sutler not joined them in their trek southward? Maybe he was still in the process of packing up his goods, and would meet up with them later. The Portland Daily Press, on 10/17/62, did mention in their news article about the 25th 's departure, that some 70 men were left behind, as some were still out on furlough, and others were sick. The sutler likely had remained behind, and would take the train with the remaining troops.

In 1862, the First Baptist Church on Federal Street was located where the rear side of the Portland Fire Station on Congress St now stands. It would have been a 2.4 mile march had the 27th Maine Volunteers gone to the Sunday service.

JOSEPH PORTER was the first man of the Twenty-Seventh Maine to die, succumbing to a "congestion of the lungs" on Tuesday, October 7th, 1862, in the hospital at Camp Abraham Lincoln in Cape Elizabeth. 

Other reports would list his death date as the 8th, so perhaps he passed away some time during the night. He was buried in Portland in the afternoon on the 8th, with his company in attendance.  ​But, where was he buried?

The Portland city records were checked, and the following entry for Joseph Porter was found [Vol. 6, pg 17-18]:

The date of death written into the book was "November 5", with a burial on 7 Nov 1862. The cause of death was correct, though his age here was listed as "27 years" (the news article had said 'aged about 30', while his enlistments papers claim he was 24 years of age). This entry may be a reinterment from another burial place, thus the differing dates. The only one of his name in the books, I don't believe this is a different person, just errors in recording the event.

Sadly, his burial plot in the Forest City Cemetery was "No. 22, S. Ground". This was the Strangers Ground*, where those without families or friends to claim them or purchase their plot were laid to rest. Though the strangers ground is marked on a map* of the cemetery, the actual plots inside this section are not, and the cemetery does not have records as to where this particular plot #22 would have been located. 

​JOSEPH PORTER was a sailor, and was from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (the Descriptive Roll says New Brunswick), enlisting on behalf of the quota of the town of York, Maine. It is not known if he enlisted while in town, or may have signed up later in Portland when town agents needed to fill their quotas (there were several sailors from the area outside of York County who ended up in Company D). As the 27th ME was raised without there being a draft, the above news article erred in saying Mr Porter was a sub was a drafted man. He MAY have subbed for someone that was rejected from the company enlistment or, most likely, accepted a town bounty and just signed up. There were a few of this name in the Yarmouth area in the 1851 and 1861 Canada censuses, and it is not possible (at this time) to determine which one, if any, might be him.

​An unknown soldier, in an unmarked grave.

Notes:
​*In later entries, the "Soldiers Lot" or "S. Lot", would at times be called the "Soldiers Ground" (or S. Ground), but the burials in this plot were numbered in order of their burials, so #22 would not have been used in 1862.
* The map of the cemetery was done during the WPA of the 1930's (they can be found here: WPA Maps), with the strangers ground being on the eastern side of the cemetery.  
Sources for images:
Portland, ME Records of Deaths: Vol 6, pg 19 (on Family Search)
Portland Daily Press, 9 Oct 1862 (on Chronicling America)