Would Not Surrender The Symbols of Pride

The 16^th Maine Infantry was organized in Augusta, Maine and was mustered into service August 14^th 1862, for a term of three years.

The 16^th Maine Infantry was organized with Colonel Charles W Tilden as its commander.  They were mustered into Union service August 14^th 1862 and arrived in Washington, DC a few days later.  They went into active duty immediately in Maryland.  The 16^th was assigned to General John Gibbon’s Division of the First Corps. 

The first action for this regiment was at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where they had 427 men present, losing 27 killed, 170 wounded and 34 missing.  The next time the men of the 16^th saw heavy fighting as the Battle of Gettysburg, where the 16^th went in with 248 officers and men and ended the battle with 2 officers and 15 men able to report for duty.  They saved their flags as the Confederates closed in on the men on July 1^st 1863 by tearing up the colors into small pieces.  As Abner Small of the 16^th said, “For a few last moments our little regiment defended angrily its hopeless challenge, but it was useless to fight longer.  We looked at our colors, and our faces burned. We must not surrender those symbols of our pride and our faith."  The men hid the pieces on their person there by depriving the Confederates of capturing the flags.  In March 1864 the 16^th was transferred to the Union Fifth Corps, serving in General Samuel W Crawford’s Division.  The men would see hard fighting at the Battles of Spotsylvania, Hatcher’s Run and others.

During the three years of service 1,907 men served in the 16^th Maine.  They had 181 killed in battle or die of wounds.  578 men were wounded in action.  259 of the 16^th died from disease.  76 good men of Maine would die in Confederate prison of war camps.

Only Married Aout Three Weeks

The first former United States officer to be captured as a Confederate; Brigadier General John Pegram was killed February 6th 1865.

John Pegram was born January 24th 1832 in Petersburg, Virginia the son of John West and Virginia [Johnson] Pegram. His father died when he was still young, and his mother supported the family by running a girls school. Pegram received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1854, and was assigned to the United State dragoons as a Second Lieutenant. After three years of garrison duty in the West, Pegram was appointed as Assistant Instructor of Cavalry at West Point. He took a leave in 1858-59 to go to Europe and observe the Austro - Sardinian War. After returning from Europe in 1860 Pegram was assigned on the frontier in New Mexico Territory.

Pegram received news in May 1861 that his home state of Virginia had seceded. He resigned his Untied State Lieutenant commission. In July of 1861 Pegram was assigned to the 20th Virginia Infantry and commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. The 20th Virginia was part of Brigadier General Robert Selden Garnett’s brigade serving in western Virginia. In August 1861 Pegrem’s men were cut off from the brigade during the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11th 1861, and Pegram surrendered his men to the Union forces. Making Pegram the first former United States Army officer to be captured as a Confederate, he spent six months imprisoned in Fort Monroe. Paroled on January 1862, Pegram was prompted to Colonel and made the Chief Engineer of the army of General Braxton Bragg. In November 1862 Pegram was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of a Cavalry Brigade. In November 1862 he reported to the Army of Northern Virginia, where he was given command of a brigade in Jubal A Early’s division. Pegram was wounded during the Battle of the Wilderness, but was back in time for Early’s Valley Campaign.

Pegram married Hetty Cary January 19th 1865 in Richmond, Virginia. The wedding was attended by Confederate President and Mrs Jefferson Davis. Pegram was killed in action February 6th 1865 at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run. His funeral would be held in the same church he was just married in. Pegram is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Turn The Right Flank

The Battle of Hatcher’s Run, part of the Siege of Petersburg was fought February 5th 1865.

Union Brigadier General David M Gregg’s Cavalry traveled west to Dinwiddie Court House on the Malone Road on February 5th 1865, looking to intercept Confederate supplies. The V Corps under command of Major General Gouverneur K Warren took a position to protect Gregg’s right flank on the Vaughen Road. Two divisions of the Second Corps under command of Major General Andrew A Humphreys moved from Hatcher’s Run to Armstrong’s Mill to cover Warren’s right flank. In the late afternoon Confederate Major General John B Gordon attacked Humphrey’s men near the Mill planning to turn their right flank. The Union troops held their line and repulsed Gordon’s men. During the night the Union Second Corps was reinforced by two divisions, extending the line south of Hatcher’s Run.

The movements here continued for two more days, with the line moving back and forth. On February 6th 1865 Confederate Brigadier General John Pegram was killed taking Hatcher’s Run. The next day February 7th 1865 Union forces recaptured the lines lost the day before. The two sides saw about 2,700 casualties in the three days of fighting.