WRITTEN BY ANNE GABBIANELLI
When strolling through Bangor’s Mount Hope Cemetery, there is a monument that at first glance looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. No, perhaps it has Gothic overtones, or maybe it’s something that stepped out of Greek literature. But upon further inspection, you learn the bronze and granite monument recognizes the Union Army’s Second Maine Infantry Regiment that fought in several momentous battles in the Civil War.
“Curiosity is usually the first reaction followed by awe and amazement,” said Matthew Bishop, curator of the Bangor Historical Society. He agrees the 15-foot-tall monument is a “head turner” as you drive along the Penobscot River passing Mount Hope Cemetery.
The non-traditional monument, designed by O.V. “Verne” Shaffer of Wisconsin, was dedicated in the early 1960s. It features a bronze sculpture of a faceless angel carrying a wounded soldier. It bears the inscription: “Not painlessly doth God recast and mold anew the nation.” The line is from John Greenleaf Whittier’s anti-slavery poem.
Shaffer, who also had ties to Castine, was quoted in the Bangor Daily News at the time, saying, “I tried in this sculpture not to design just another heroic war memorial, but at the same time wanted to show that heroism existed but not without pain. The face and the figure show pain and yet the wings express glory. I hope I have succeeded.”
The Second Maine Regiment of Volunteers, also known as the Bangor Regiment, comprised over 1,000 soldiers who marched out of the state in May 1861. As documented in the book “Maine in the War for the Union,” this regiment engaged in “11 bloody and hard-fought battles” including the First Battle of Bull Run, where it was the last regiment to leave the field, and Fredericksburg, where it took its greatest number of casualties.
“Bangor made quite a large contribution to the war just being a central point with train access and mustering grounds,” said Bangor historian Richard Shaw.
He added Bangor also had connections in the political world. “Of course we had Hannibal Hamlin who was an attention getter.” Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln’s first vice president, is also buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
Mount Hope Cemetery is home to many prominent people including the man who donated the funds for the Second Regiment monument and much more throughout the Queen City. Bangor native Colonel Luther H. Peirce served with the Second Regiment. He built his wealth through real estate in Chicago, which he bequeathed to the City of Bangor in a trust. The funds were subsequently used for various projects.
The Second Regiment of Maine monument is actually the newest of the three Civil War monuments in the cemetery.
“It’s my understanding the Soldier’s Memorial was erected before the Civil War ever ended, and the citizens of Bangor raised the funds for that memorial,” said Stephen Burrell, Mount Hope Cemetery superintendent. That granite obelisk shaped monument bears the date 1864.
Then in 1907, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) fort was dedicated to those who served in the Civil War. Funds were raised by patriotic donors and it was rebuilt in 1985 with funds from Peirce’s trust. The masonry tower is half circled with soldiers’ markers and houses a cannon from the Civil War.
While the GAR monument immediately speaks of war, the Second Regiment memorial can be puzzling at first glance.
“The craftsmanship of seeing the figure carrying a person begs for you to stop and learn more. When you read the list of battles that the Second Maine participated in, you see how they were involved in some of the most intense fighting in the Civil War,” Bishop said.
