The following letter was written by John Glover, a private in Co. D, 6th Maine Infantry. The 6th Maine Infantry was organized in Portland, Maine, mustered in on July 15, 1861 and mustered out of service August 15, 1864. Veterans and recruits were transferred to the 7th Maine Infantry and soon consolidated to become the 1st Maine Veteran Infantry. The regiment lost a total of 255 men during service; 12 officers and 141 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 2 officers and 100 enlisted men died of disease.

Glover’s letter summarizes the movements and engagements of the 6th Maine Infantry for the first six weeks of Grant’s Overland Campaign in 1864 fighting in the 3rd Brigade of Gen. Horatio Wright’s 1st Division of Gen. John Sedgwick’s VI Corps. They were brigaded with the 49th and 119th Pennsylvania, and the 5th Wisconsin. Glover informs us that the most of the casualties suffered by his regiment occurred on 10 May when their brigade was called upon to participate in Col. Emory Upton’s assault on the rebel works known as the Muleshoe—a salient in the rebel defenses near Spotsylvania Court House. They joined with 11 other regiments, “some 5,000 men whom Upton declared the best of the army” to charge upon the rebel works with fixed bayonets, not stopping to fire until they had breached the Muleshoe.

Transcription

Camp of the 6th Maine Volunteers
Near Petersburg, Virginia
June 21st 1864

Friend George,

I once more resume the pen for the purpose of writing you a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and well. It has been some time since we had any correspondence and as times were rather dull and lonesome, I thought that I could not better improve my time than by writing to you. I have no news of importance to tell you—only that there is plenty of fighting here and not a great deal of rest.

Now I will try and give you a sketch of the present campaign. We broke camp on the 3rd of May about 4 o’clock in the morning and after a very hard day’s march lay down for the night. The next day about noon we marched down into a piece of woods and lay there all day and all that night and the next day threw up rifle pits and held them all that day and part of that night when we marched to the left and left our pits altogether.

After that, nothing took place of any importance until we discovered the enemy again at Spotsylvania Court House. There we had one of the hardest battles of the war. On the 10th of May our Division made a charge and was repulsed with very heavy loss. Our regiment lost 140 men killed, wounded and taken prisoners. Moses Babcock was wounded very bad. The ball passed through his breast and came out of his back so they say—I did not see him after he was wounded and have not heard from him since he went to the hospital, only by reports. The last report that I had, he was getting along very well and I understand that he is doing well.

Since the 10th, we have had some hard times but no such fighting as we had the 10th. We have lost a number of our regiment on the picket and skirmish line but it is useless for me to try to describe the whole scene of the campaign. I have given you an insight of the fighting and hardships of the last forty days and now, after a few lines more, I will close.

The Rebs are throwing a few shell over this way but none of them has come very near here yet but I expect they will soon throw some here and disturb my writing. There is already batteries of our own [responding] and every time they fire a shot, it disturbs my writing a little. And just now there was a rebel shot came very near me.

Now I have nothing more of importance to tell you. You will please tell Henry and family that I am well and [I] should write to them but it is very difficult to write here but I should like to hear from him if it is convenient. No more this time.

Please excuse poor writing and mistakes and write soon. Yours truly, — John Glover

P. S. Please tell me in your first letter if you received thirty dollars that was expressed on the 20th of September 1863.

Please direct to Co. D, 6th Maine Volunteers, Washington D. C.