Dexter High School - Signet Yearbook (Dexter, ME)

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22 THE SIGNET shouting, believed that the entire Yan- kee army was upon them, and throwing down their arms, hastened toward the Union lines, where they were placed un- der guard. We nearly reached our friends when We came upon the enemy's color company, who attempted to put up a fight to save their flag. There was no stopping our wild charge, however, for they dared not fire upon us for,fear of hitting their own men, and we struck them like a whirlwind, and scattered them like chaff. I wrested the flag from-the hands of the color-bearer, af- ter a lively fist-iight, and as the arrival of reinforcements now turned the tide of battle in our favor, the six of us re- turned to our company with the captur- ed flag and several prisoners. In addition to the medal of honor which Sergt. Roberts received, he was chosen to carry the flag, which he had captured, to the headouarters of the field staff of the Union army, and was escorted by his entire company, who served him as a guard of honor. Another exhibition of personal dar- ing was the saving of a Union cannon at the battle of Cedar Mountain by a Dex- ter man, Sergt. H. J. Johnson, 6th Maine Battery, with Hve men of his de- tachment he held an entire company of rebels at bay until other Union soldiers came to his aid. Among those who were commended for, their gallantry on the field of bat- tle was Sergt. William H. Coan, Co. H. 6th Maine, likewise of this town, oblig- ed to take command of his company at the battle 'of Rappahannock Station, af- ter his captain and lieutenants had fall- en, he proved himself such an able leader that he was soon promoted to adj utant. Other Dexter men gave good service in such famous organizations as the lst. Maine Cavalry, which boasts of having -fought in more battles than any other single regiment of the army of the Potomac' and of having lost more men killed and wounded than any other cavalry regiment in the United States service. Represented by men in the lfith Me., Dexter will never forget the part played by this regiment at Gettysburg. Being ordered to hold the rebels in check while the Union men got into position on Cemetery Ridge, the brave 16th was practically annihilated, only four ofli- cers and thirty-six men surviving to surrender themselves to the combined forces of three regiments of Confeder- ates. Before laying down their arms the forty men tore their battle flags into small pieces, thus saving them from the ignominy of capture. Cther volunteers from Dexter distin- guished themselves by conspicuous bravery on the battlefields, as did also many veterans now belonging to the lo- cal G. A. R. Post, who enlisted from other towns of Maine. Inffact every man who left his home, his parents, or his wife and children, to defend his country during her hour of peril, did his full duty: and- to those who return- ed, and to the memory of those who did not return, we of this later generation should give our sincerest love and our deepest respectf

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THE SIGNET 21 CHAPTER FIVE i OMING now to the outbreak of the Civil War, we find that Dex- ter's record in this memorable ' struggle is a most honorable one, 283 of her patriotic sons offered their services to the Federal government and of this num- ber, which represented over one-half of the men available for war duty, and about one-sixth of the total male popu- lation of the town, many paid the high- est tribute of loyalty that a soldier can pay-they gave their lives that the Un- ion might be saved and that our nation- al honor might be unstained. Not only did these men of Dexter do all in their power to aid in putting down the rebellion, but the municipality itself played its part by carrying out to the letter the orders relating to the pay- ment of bounties to enlisting men. In all 340,238 was paid, at rates varying from S53 to S300 per man. The town also gave liberally to the support 65? the families of the men who went to the front. ,I Although the rosters of nearly all Maine regiments held the names of Dexter men, by far the greater number were in the 2nd, the 6th, and the 20th. These famous regiments participated in every important engagement of the army of the Potomac, including Antie- tam, Fredricksburg, Rappahannock Station, the Wilderness Campaign and Gettysburg. Innumerable acts of heroism were performed on the fields of battle by Maine men, in recognition of which thirty-nine medals were awarded dur- ing the war and many more in the two years immediately following. We should be especially proud of the fact that one of these thirty-nine was pre- sented to a Dexter boy, Otis O. Roberts, then a sergeant of Co. H., 6th Maine Vols. In telling the story of how he won this honor, Mr. Roberts says:- 'Twas late on the afternoon of Nov- ember 7, '68, while the battle of Rap- pahannock Station was at its height. My regiment, having been ordered to capture a line of rebel rifle-pits, formed for the charge and swept forward toward the rifle flashes' which marked the ene- my's line. Half-way across the field we came to a sunken road, where we stop- ped to get our breath. Hearing the or- der to charge again, I repeated it to my company, then started on the run for the enemy's trench. Reaching it, I paused, and looking back found that not one of my company had followed me. Realizing that I could not stay where I was and not wishing again to risk my life on that bullet-swept field, I leaped over the trench into the midst of the rebels, who, when they found that I was only a lone Yankee, and not a percus- sion shell, politely invited me to surren- der. ,As I sat there in the shelter of the trench suddenly the air around me was filled with flying arms and legs which resolved themselves into a squad of five blue-clad infantrymen, whom I joyfully recognized as belonging to my own com- pany. Snatching up my riHe, I joined them in a headlong rush down the line of the trench toward where other com- panies of our own regiment had suc- ceeded in breaking through. The rebs in our path, deceived by our boldness and

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THE SIGNET BEFOREO --'--0--.....,,.,,,.,,,.,' RUINS ON MAIN STREET 'AFTER FIRE OF 1907 AFTER NEW BLOCKS ON SITE OF FIRE, 1908