Description:

(GETTYSBURG) EDWIN DOW REPORTS ON 6TH MAINE BATTERY
EDWIN DOW (1835-1917) Civil War Union Army Officer. He served during the Civil War as commander of Battery C, 6th Maine Volunteer Light Artillery. He was in command of the battery during the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where on the second day of the battle his artillery helped stem the tide of oncoming Confederate forces who had smashed through the Union lines along Emmitsburg Road, and threatened to overwhelm the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. Fine content war-date D.S., 1p. legal folio, Brandy Station, Jan. 21, 1864, submitting a list of equipment lost in action at Gettysburg during his unit's hasty relocation to engage the rapidly-advancing enemy on July 2nd. In part: '...I certify on my honor that on the second day of July, 1863 the stores below were lost under the following circumstances...while on the evening of the 2nd while hotly engaged with enemy's artillery at the battle of Gettysburg in which we lost some 10 wounded and twelve horses killed we were compelled by a flank movement of the enemy's infantry to change position under fire and being dark we were unable to bring these items off the field...'. He proceeds to list artillery equipment such as tar and sponge buckets, gunners' haversacks, sponges and rammers, priming wires, axes, gutta percha watering bottles, fuse gauges, whips, horse brushes, etc. and signed adding rank. Very good. At Gettysburg Dow commanded Dow's 6th Maine Battery. Dow's Battery was Battery F of the 6th Maine Light Artillery and was part of the 4th Volunteer Brigade, Artillery Reserve. Thrown into action on July 2 as the Federal Third Corps withdrew, the battery fought east of the Trostle Farm. Later it relocated to Cemetery Ridge, where it participated in the actions of July 3. The battery brought four 12-pounder Napoleon guns into the battle, and lost none. In the 1867, U.S. adjunct general's report on Gettysburg stated that Dow's Battery indeed played a pivotal role in the outcome of the war: 'At Gettysburg, under the command of Lt. Dow, the battery won an enviable reputation...It stemmed the Rebel onset when the 3rd Corps fell back. Success was due to the fact that the battery was well directed and produced rapid fire, which both broke the Rebel column and also prevented the Confederates from securing the guns of two batteries they had previously captured...'. Many of the other units in the area had run short of ammunition, but Dow's Battery had been held back as a reserve unit and had plenty of ammunition. His battery was one of the four that riddled Pickett's Charge on July 3rd, 1863.

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January 18, 2024 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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