Tuesday, April 16, 4:00 p.m.
Word about the town meeting spread further and faster than I’d imagined possible.
By three-thirty Wawenock Hall was more than half full. By three forty-five the news that a meeting was about to be held was ringing from the church steeple. That bell was the object of local pride, as it had been made by Paul Revere, who’d earned recognition for actions other than his casting of bells. What would old Paul think of the situation our country had gotten itself into today?
Charlie and I perched on the edge of our seats in the first row of the balcony, where we could see everyone who came in. Ma and Pa had closed our store for the occasion. Owen and his parents were in the second row, and Charlie’s father was there, too. I saw Miss Averill from the telegraph office, and old Mrs. Sayward hobbling in on two canes. Everyone in town seemed to have come.
To no one’s surprise, Captain Tucker and Reverend Merrill took seats on the dais, which was hung with five of the largest Stars and Stripes I’d ever seen. Perhaps they’d been used for Fourth of July celebrations and tucked away in private attics. The room practically smelled of patriotism.
You understand, I suppose, that Wiscasset doesn’t have a mayor. Decisions about town matters are made, as in most New England communities, based on majority votes at town meetings, or by the selectmen, who are elected at those town meetings. Special meetings like this one are chaired either by the reverend, by virtue of his relationship with the Almighty, or by Captain Tucker, because he was chairman of the selectmen, or, as some would say behind his back, by virtue of his relationship with the almighty dollar. They were both present this afternoon, as was the county clerk, since Wiscasset held the distinction of being the seat of Lincoln County.
I pulled out my notebook.
At 4 p.m. Captain Tucker stood and gave a spirited and patriotic speech to give expression to Wiscasset’s loyalty and attachment to the Constitution and the Union. He then announced that 2,500 volunteers from Massachusetts were already quartered in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, awaiting orders.
The crowd murmured, loudly. Captain Tucker certainly had their attention with that news. Maine had been part of Massachusetts until 1820, and competition was still high between our two states. How had Massachusetts managed to organize their volunteers so quickly?
“Our country stands tonight in an awful dilemma, and what the result will be, to us and to our country’s future, only God can tell. President Lincoln has asked for our help. You’ve probably also heard that our great State of Maine has no money to raise or pay troops. Well, I’m here to share the good news—that several of the largest banks in Portland have offered to fund our soldiers, and General Samuel Veazie, patriot, decorated veteran of the War of 1812, one of Maine’s staunchest abolitionists, and owner of several lumber mills, as well as the Bangor and Old Town Railroad, has given $50,000 from his own pockets to aid in the efforts to raise volunteers. So, although the funding problem is not solved, it is well on its way to being settled.” [Cheers from the audience!]
Tonight we welcome Mr. Edmund Bowman, Lincoln County clerk of courts, to explain what is being asked of us, as citizens of Maine, and of this great and free country of ours.”
Mr. Bowman rose, cleared his throat, and read what I immediately realized must be the document he’d asked me to print. The Act to Raise Volunteers authorized the State of Maine to enlist, enroll, and muster ten regular regiments and three regiments of militia, each of up to a thousand men, into the service of the State of Maine, for two years.
I touched Charlie’s arm and whispered, “Not three months, like Lincoln said, Charlie. Two years!” Charlie shook off my hand. He was listening to every word as if he were memorizing it.
When Mr. Bowman read that you had to be eighteen years old to volunteer, Charlie groaned softly.
Most of the rest of the document was clearly meant to reassure mothers and wives that their men would be in good hands away from home. Rules which stated that every soldier must attend divine services; could not use profanities; must not duel; could not sleep or drink while on duty; could not plunder; could not mutiny or desert; and could not leave his unit without permission, were all met by nods of approval throughout the hall.
After Mr. Bowman finished reading the document—which didn’t sound as long as twenty pages, I thought; some of the pages must be very short—Captain Tucker rose again.
“Twenty-three hundred of us, from the youngest babe to the oldest great-grandmother, live here within the boundaries of Wiscasset. Among our number we hope to raise enough volunteers for one company—one hundred volunteers, within the next week—to leave immediately. Mr. Edwin Smith”—Captain Tucker gestured at Edwin, who was sitting in the front row—“has already agreed to head such a company. He’ll take charge of recruiting men to serve with him in defense of our beloved country. As soon as he has his quota, he and his company will report to Rockland. From there, they will go wherever they are called to ensure that the Union we all so love shall be preserved.”
There was great applause and cheering for Edwin Smith.
“Since only the good Lord knows where the fighting will be,” Captain Tucker continued, “we will also be establishing a Home Guard, to consist of men too old and boys too young to be soldiers in the army, but who can defend us here at home. Plans for such a Home Guard are still being developed, but I plan to lead this effort, and have already applied to Augusta for cannons to defend Wiscasset, to be strategically placed in old Fort Edgecomb on Davis Island, which we will repair and make usable again.”
Captain Tucker paused a moment. “This is a dark day in the history of our country. Only God knows what the future will bring, so it is most fitting that Reverend Merrill end this meeting with a prayer.”
While Reverend Merrill was asking for divine guidance for the men of Wiscasset in making their decision about volunteering to defend the Stars and Stripes, and the freedom of us all, I couldn’t help looking down at my friends and neighbors, most of whom had their heads bowed.
Who would be leaving and going to war?
Who would be coming back?
The world outside Wiscasset seemed all too near.