This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Unit name | 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment |
| Dates | May 1861 – July 1861 |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Notable commanders | Charles D. Jameson; Oliver O. Howard |
1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a three-month volunteer regiment raised in Maine at the outset of the American Civil War in 1861. Composed of companies recruited from Portland, Augusta, Bangor and other Maine communities, the regiment served in the early defensive operations around Washington, D.C. and in the campaign leading to the First Battle of Bull Run before mustering out in mid-1861.
Organized under state authority in Portland during April–May 1861, the regiment assembled volunteers responding to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops after the surrender of Fort Sumter. Companies were mustered into federal service at Camp Lincoln and mustered by officers commissioned under Governor Israel Washburn Jr. and state adjutant commands. The regiment's muster rolls recorded men from Cumberland County, Penobscot County, and other districts, with enlistment papers processed through the War Department bureaucracy in Washington, D.C..
After training and organization, the regiment was ordered to the defenses of Washington, D.C. where it joined other short-term volunteer units such as the 4th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 5th New York, and 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia. Attached to garrison and picket duties, the 1st Maine occupied posts on the approaches to Alexandria and along the Potomac River. As part of the early Army of Northeastern Virginia deployments under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, the regiment marched as federal commanders mobilized for an advance toward the Confederate field forces gathering near Manassas.
The 1st Maine participated in the preliminary maneuvers and march that culminated in the First Battle of Bull Run, where elements held defensive positions and served on the picket line and supporting flanks. Engaged alongside units from New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, the regiment encountered Confederate formations including brigades under P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston. During the chaotic rout and subsequent retreat to Washington, D.C., the regiment covered withdrawals, assisted with casualty evacuation toward Chain Bridge, and aided the reorganization of militia and volunteer formations at Camp Cameron and other assembly points.
At full muster the regiment fielded approximately regimental strength typical of three-month organizations, with companies organized to federal table of organization levels of the era. Casualties from combat at First Battle of Bull Run included killed, wounded, and missing, and disease and exposure during mobilization accounted for additional losses recorded on regimental rolls. Detailed muster-out returns filed with the Adjutant General documented the strength reduction prior to the unit's discharge in July 1861.
Command leadership included Colonel Charles D. Jameson and subordinate officers who later served in other formations or state positions. Prominent figures associated with the regiment went on to civil and military careers in Maine politics, Congressional service, and veteran organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic. Officers and noncommissioned officers who later joined long-term regiments or staff assignments carried experiences from the 1st Maine into later campaigns in the Peninsula Campaign and Antietam Campaign theaters.
Equipped according to early-war federal provisioning, the regiment's armament included smoothbore muskets and rifled muskets supplied through the Ordnance Department and state purchases. Uniforms reflected prewar militia patterns and federal regulation shirts, with headgear ranging from kepi-style caps to state militia forage caps. Training emphasized close-order maneuvers prescribed in manuals by Winfield Scott's influence on army drill, and practical drills for marksmanship, brigade countermarch, and picket deployment were conducted under field officers prior to entering active operations.
Although brief in service, the 1st Maine's early wartime role is commemorated in Maine regimental histories, local memorials in Portland and Augusta, and by entries in state archives and veteran records maintained by the Maine State Archives and historical societies. Its veterans participated in reunions, Memorial Day observances, and contributed affidavits to postwar compilations such as the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. The regiment's service is noted in histories of the First Battle of Bull Run and in studies of the Union's initial mobilization and volunteer experience.
Category:Maine Civil War regiments