Maine Memory Network

This cavalry revolver belonged to Lt. Ephram H. Taylor of the 1st Maine Cavalry in the Civil War. Taylor, of Lisbon Falls, fought near the Rappahannock River, and was killed near Middleburg, Virginia, in 1863.

This sword belonged to John Marshall Brown of Portland. He may have used it during the Civil War.

Brown graduated from Bowdoin College in 1860. He studied law, but was commissioned as First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 20th Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry, in 1862 before he was admitted to the bar.

In June 1863, Brown was named Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers with the First Brigade, 11th Corps.

He returned to Portland and became a prominent businessman and civic leader.

This sword belonged to William Albert Turner.

This sword belonged to Captain James Alden, USN of Portland. The fish skin on the handle is decorative and also might aid in ensuring a secure grip.

Lt. Ephraim H. Taylor of the 1st Maine Cavalry to the Civil War used this cavalry sword and scabbard.

Taylor, of Lisbon Falls, fought near the Rappahannock River, and was killed near Middlebury, Virginia, in 1863.

The top sword's blade is inscribed Howard Russell Hickok, U.S. Army, Springfield, Mass., and etched in filgree floral pattern. Calvary or Staff and Field Officer's sword ca. 1860.

The middle sword's blade etched with "U.S., US. Amory, Springfield, Mass." It is believed to be an 1860 infantry sword.

The bottom sword etched "Kenzie W. Walker", floral filigree, and "The Warnock Co., New York, N.Y." Calvary or Staff and Field Officer's sword ca. 1840-60.

In the fall of 1861, Captain Black Hawk Putnam of Houlton raised and commanded Company E of the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment. The regiment was mustered into service on October 31, 1861. He was wounded at the Battle of Middletown, Virginia.

Putnam was a farmer and merchant in Houlton.

This saber bayonet, looking more like a short sword, added considerable weight to a Civil War soldier's rifle.

In the fall of 1861, Captain Black Hawk Putnam raised and commanded Company E of the First Maine Cavalry Regiment. He was wounded at the Battle of Middletown, Virginia.

This saber was introduced to the light cavalry during the Civil War. Light cavalry troops were mostly engaged in scouting, raiding, and skirmishing.

This saber belonged to Colonel Josiah Merrow, (1794-1888) of Bowdoinham.

This saber was made by the Ames Manufacturing Company. Markings on the blade are "US/DR/1863 Ames Mfg Co/Chicopee/Mass."

This dagger was made in the Libby Prison, Richmond, Virginia, by an unknown Maine man. The handle is too small for this dagger to be used as a weapon.

Hollis True, who was mustered into U.S. service as a member of Company D of the 17th Regiment Infantry, Maine Volunteers, in Portland, on August 18, 1862, owned this bullet case with a "PMB" brass monogram on front. It held 12 bullets.

True, of Pownal, was single and 23 years old when he enlisted.

True maintained a diary of his time during the Civil War, and recounts fighting at Chancellorsville during May 1863 and in the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign. On June 16, 1864, not far from Petersburg, Corporal True was hit by a minie ball that broke his thigh.

After some time in a field hospital, True arrived in a Washington hospital on June 28, where he stayed recovering at least through September 27, 1864.

The 17th Regiment was mustered out of U.S. service near Washington, D. C., on June 4, 1865. Hollis True died in Cumberland on December 23, 1910, at the age of 71 years, six months and 23 days.

This small case contained the percussion caps Capt. Lawrence needed to fire his musket. The caps looked like tiny top hats and were filled with fulminate of mercury which, when struck by the hammer, would spark and set fire to the powder into the musket barrel. The case was likely carried by Capt. Lawrence when he was killed in battle.

This saber is etched with floral and military designs. Markings include "Derr A Andlaw" engraved on the edge of the sword.

An unidentified Maine soldier made this dagger while he was a prisoner at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War.

The Confederates often sent captured Union officers to Libby Prison, so they would be close to the seat of government of the Confederacy and available for questioning about troops and the Union war effort.

James Alden, a native of Portland, spent his career at sea. He had participated in hydrographic surveys on the West Coast and for the U.S. Boundary Commission before the Civil War.

During the war, he commanded ships involved in the Union blockade of the Gulf ports and, in 1864, led Admiral David Farragut's fleet at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

When he stopped his ship to clear mines that had just blown up another Union ship, Farragut reportedly yelled at him, "Damn the torpedoes, four bells." "Four bells" meant "full speed ahead."

Alden received the presentation sword at the National Sailors Fair in Boston in 1864.

This bayonet, which appears to have been intentionally bent at the end, was found at Petersburg, Virginia, in April 1865.

It may have been modified for use in removing bodies from the battlefield. "U.S." is stamped just below the blade.

Mjr. Sidney Warren Thaxter of the 1st Maine Cavalry collected this rifle-bore Confederate Lorenz musket and gave it to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S., a veterans' organization. These imported rifled muskets were commonly used during the war.

Lorenz muskets were made in Austria and imported.

John W. Day of Berwick, a native of England, was 24 when he enlisted as a musician in Co. K of the 14th Maine Infantry as a drummer.

The cartridge case was among his possessions. It has a divided tin liner that held the musket cartridges.

When the original 14th Maine, which served primarily in Louisiana, finished its three-year term, Day rejoined the re-formed 14th as a musician in Co. C. He served from Dec. 17, 1861 to August 28, 1865.

Granville Sparrow of Portland, who served as a sergeant, then 2nd and 1st lieutenant, and finally as captain in the 17th Maine Infantry, carried this army-issued field sword during his time as a commissioned officer during the Civil War.

Officers rarely used the swords in battle.

Lt. Charles A. Longfellow owned and used this cavalry saber when he was a member of the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry in the Army of the Potomac during the U.S. Civil War.

This saber was made by the W. Clauberg firm of Solingen, Prussia (Germany), whose products were widely regarded as among the best available at the time.

Longfellow's saber was almost certainly privately purchased, and has his name, "C.A. Longfellow," engraved on the hand guard.