Maine sent 70,000 of its people to fight in the Great Rebellion, to restore the Union and to free the slaves. This was more per capita then any other state in the Union. 10,000 of these perished; many more were wounded or traumatized. Maine units fought in every theater of the war, from Virginia to Texas. The war is sometimes called the Boys War. An astonishing number of soldiers and sailors were under the age of 18 and even under16. An "army of women" from Maine joined the war effort, serving as nurses in hospitals or following their menfolk in the regiments. The great majority of these men, women, boys and girls had hardly ever left their home communities before. Their travels, adventures and hardships transformed their lives and expanded their horizons. For those left behind the war created shortages of goods and labor, impoverishment and suffering. Women, children and the elderly struggled to tend farms, maintain communities and help relief efforts to support the "boys in blues". Maine and Freedom explores the lives of young people growing up in the 1850s in a small farming community in fictional Norumbega County, Maine's 17th county. We will see the world through their perspectives and experiences as they come of age in the 1860s and join the war to preserve the Union. We will release the stories in serial form on our blog, Reading Maine. Watch for the release date and visit to read trailers, source notes and character profiles beforehand.
This is the flag of the 13th Maine Infantry Regiment, Neal Dow's Temperance Regiment, one of the few regiments recruited throughout the entire state. Image courtesy of http://maine13th.com/
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