5th Maine Battery

The 5th Maine Battery lost 2 officers and 16 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 15 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. It is honored by a monument at Gettysburg.

1861
December 4 Organized at Augusta and mustered in
1862
March 10 Duty at Fort Preble, Portland, Me.
April 1-3 Moved to Washington, D.C. and Camp on Capital Hill. Attached to the Military District of Washington
May 19 – 22 Moved to Aquia Creek, thence to Fredericksburg, Va. Attached to 2nd Division, Dept. of the Rappahannock
May 25 Moved to Front Royal, Va.
June Assigned to 2nd Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of Virginia
June 17 To Manassas
July 4-22 At Warrenton
July 22 March to Waterloo
August 4 To Culpeper
August 9
Battle of Cedar Mountain
August 16-
September 2		 Pope’s Campaign in Northern Virginia
August 20-23 Fords of the Rappahannock
August 28 Thoroughfare Gap
August 29 Battle of Groveton
August 30
Second Battle of Bull Run

The battery was under the command of Lieutenant William F. Twitchell. Its five guns were thrown into the path of Longstreet’s attack, and although it was overrun, it delayed the attack long enough for a last ditch Union defensive line to form. The battery lost 1 officer and 3 enlisted men killed, 8 men wounded and 6 men missing. The 5th Maine Battery’s fight is featured on a wayside marker on the Manassas battlefield.
September 7 Ordered to Washington to refit and assigned to 2nd Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac
October 24 Moved to Berlin
October 30 To Lovettsville
November 9 Reconnoissance from Bolivar Heights to Rippen, W. Va.
December 12-15
Battle of Fredericksburg
1863
January 20-24 “Mud March”
February – April At Fletcher’s Chapel
April 28-May 6 Chancellorsville Campaign
April 29-May 2 Operations at Fitzhugh’s Crossing
May 2-5
Battle of Chancellorsville

The battery lost 6 enlisted men killed, and 3 officers and 19 men wounded.
May Assigned to Artillery Brigade, 1st Army Corps
July 1-3
Battle of Gettysburg

The battery was commanded by Captain Greenlief Thurlow Stevens. On July 1 the battery fought near the Seminary, falling back to Cemetery Hill with the collapse of the Union position. It was directed to Steven’s Knoll, a small hill between Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill. The position allowed the battery to pour deadly flanking fire at close range into the Confederate attack on the evening of July 2. Stevens was wounded on July 2nd, and Lieutenant Edward N. Whittier took command. In the three days of the battle the battery lost 2 enlisted men killed, 2 officers and 11 enlisted men wounded, and 6 enlisted men missing.

From the monument on Steven’s Knoll at Gettysburg:

Stevens’ Battery 5th Maine, 1st Corps. Fought here July 1,2,3, 1863. Also engaged July 1st north of the Seminary. Ammunition expended 979 rounds.

In the assault upon East Cemetery Hill in the evening of July 2nd, the enemy, (Hays’ and Hoke’s Brigades) exposed their left flank to Stevens’ Battery which poured a terrible fire of double canister into their ranks
October 9-22 Bristoe Campaign
November 7-8 Advance to line of the Rappahannock
November 26-
December 2		 Mine Run Campaign
1864
April Assigned to Artillery Brigade, 5th Army Corps
May 4-June 15 Rapidan Campaign
May 5-7
Battle of the Wilderness
May 8-21
Battle of Spottsylvania Court House
May 10 Ny River
May 23-26 North Anna River
May 26-28 Line of the Pamunkey
May 28-31 Totopotomoy
June 1-12
Battle of Cold Harbor
June 17-19 Before Petersburg. Assigned to Artillery Brigade, 6th Army Corps
June 17 Siege of Petersburg
July 9 Ordered to Washington, D.C.
August 7-
November 28		 Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign
September 19
Third Battle of Winchester (Battle of Opequan)

The battery lost 6 enlisted men wounded
September 22
Battle of Fisher’s Hill

First Lieutenant Edward Newton Whittier was awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism on 22 September 1864. “While acting as assistant adjutant general, Artillery Brigade, 6th Army Corps, First Lieutenant Whittier went over the enemy’s works, mounted, with the assaulting column, to gain quicker possession of the guns and to turn them upon the enemy.”
October 19
Battle of Cedar Creek

The battery lost 2 enlisted men killed and 16 enlisted men wounded.
October Duty at Strasburg
November 10 Near Winchester
December 28 At Stevenson’s Depot. Assigned to Artillery Brigade, Army of the Shenandoah
1865
January 10 At Frederick, Md.
April 4 At Winchester
June 21 Ordered to Augusta, Me.
July 6 Mustered out