Roster of Company I, 17 Maine Regiment

John West Haley

From the Journal of John West Haley:

Roster of Company I,
17th Maine Regiment

This roster of Company I from Haley's journal includes candid comments on many of the men who served with him.

Below are the names of the original members of the company and their military standing:

*Captain William Hobson		Successively promoted to Brev. Brigadier General. Wounded April 6th, 1865.
*First Lieutenant P. S. Boothby		Didn't see much service. Promoted as adjutant of regiment. Dead.
*Second Lieutenant J. O. Thompson		Promoted captain of Company K. Resigned at or near Brandy Station, latter part of 1863, on account of conscientious scruples -- alleged.

Sergeants
*S. S. Richards		First Sergeant. Wounded at Po River, May 11th, 1864. From Saco. Promoted Captain.
*F. C. Adams		Second Sergeant. Wounded at Gettysburg and Wilderness. From Saco. Promoted captain.
*J. C. Libby		Third Sergeant. Mortally wounded December 13th, 1862. Died a few days after. From Biddeford.
*C. C. Cole		Fourth Sergeant. From Oxford. Promoted captain. Very fine soldier.
*O. D. Blake		Fifth Sergeant. Retired to hospital and was returned later, reduced to the ranks. From Biddeford.

Corporals
*C. J. Goodwin		First Corporal. Promoted to first sergeant.
*S. C. Jenness		Second Corporal. Reduced to ranks.
*A. C. Parkhurst		Third Corporal. Remained in field short time.
*C. H. Parcher		Fourth Corporal. Promoted lieutenant, Company K.
*J. Boothby		Fifth Corporal. Died from homesickness.
*E. F. Tibbetts		Sixth Corporal. Not with us after Chancellorsville.
*A. A. Robertson		Seventh Corporal. Killed at Gettysburg.
*T. M. Paine		Eighth Corporal. Reduced for desertion.

Musicians
*J. P. Atkinson		Died at Fort Stanton.
*W. H. Atkinson		Remained till term expired.

Teamster
*Edward Sweetser		Died at Fort Stanton.

Privates
*Allen H. Abbott		With provost guard most of the time.
*Levi D. Allen		Deserted in Virginia, from Fort Stanton. Not recovered.
*Robert Benson		Wounded at Locust Grove. Company cook, generally, when not employed as officer's cook.
*Thomas Brand		Wounded at Gettysburg. Promoted to sergeant. Away sick considerable.
*T. C. Bradbury		Rheumatic. Promoted to sergeant. Present about all the time.
*Aug F. Bradbury		Rheumatic. Present or accounted for most of the time.
*Stephen Bradbury		Wounded in Wilderness. Sick considerable.
*Cyrus Buker		Company cook, generally. Fell over a shadow and was disabled.
*James M. Brown		Away much. Loved rum more than country.
*James B. Brown		Died at Sandy Hook, Md. June 1863.
*I.M. Boothby		Discharged without seeing much service.
*J. C. Blaisdell		Present most of the time. Had an uncommonly brave appetite.
*Thomas Blaisdell		Away much after the first year.
*Thomas S. Clark		Hostler, also great facial contortionist and whisky guzzler.
*James S. Clark		Noted only for gluttony. Could eat four men's rations.
*Zenas Chase		Officer's cook. Also proprietor of "Zena's Spoon."
*F. S. Deland		Brought away but few scalps. No active service.
*T. W. Emerson		A bloodthirsty brave -- in his mind.
*Daniel Foss		Discharged at Camp Pitcher on account of sickness.
*Charles E. Goodwin		Rheumatic. Killed in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
*J. H. Goodrich		Well. Killed at Chancellorsville, May 3rd, 1863.
*Newhall Guptill		Well. Died at Camp Pitcher.
*Isaac Grant		Strong aversion to fighting. Face indicated conviviality.
*John Grant		Did better. Stayed nearly all the time. Killed in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
*Joseph Hill		Wounded at Locust Grove, November 1863. Didn't return.
*Daniel Hill		Died of fever at Camp Pitcher, January 1863.
*John Haley		Below criticism. Poor fighter. Attained successful mediocrity as a soldier. Present all the time.
*W. S. Hodston		Rheumatic. Wounded April 6th, 1865. Good soldier. Shot in the lungs.
*S. J. Harmon		Stout. Very noisy, ignorant and absent-minded. Wounded in the Wilderness. Died at Fredericksburg, May 1864.
*A. J. Hodge		Transferred to battery. A notoriously coarse person. Good riddance.
*H. G. Holmes		Away about half the time. Always had a spasm of virtue when under fire.
*Mell Irish		Rupture and varicose veins. Better mimic than soldier. Clever person. The poor farms are filled with them.
*Ed Jaques		Discharged on account of sickness from Fort Pitcher. Very free and easy at expense of others.
*C. A. Jordan		Wounded at Gettysburg in leg. Did no further service.
*I.W. Jose		Wounded at Petersburg. An excellent soldier. None better or braver.
*Ambrose Kenney		Deserted on the "Mud March", January 20th, 1863.
*J. W. Kendrick		Wounded twice. Promoted twice. A great sufferer, in his mind.
*J. A. Kilham		Varicose veins. With the teams and provost much of the time. Killed at the North Anna, May 23rd, 1864.
*George Kimball		Wounded at Gettysburg. Present most of the time thereafter.
*J. E. Leach		Rheumatic. Pig with the same snout as Kenney. They took flight together and were seen no more.
*George W. Libby		Discharged early in the term. Don't know any cause.
*John G. Libby		Killed at Chancellorsville, May 3rd, 1863. Good fellow and good soldier.
*H. H. Libby		Alias "Hardbread." Had an insatiable appetite for hard-bread. Sick much but showed excellent grit.
*F. A. Mitchell		Mortally wounded at Gettysburg. A good soldier and a good man.
*M. McGrath		Teamster, with all the instincts of the craft, including great piety when near the front.
*J. McKenny		Played out years "before the war, sah." Put in Ambulance Corps and hit in the toe.
*Moses Moody		Died of smallpox and came near to scaring another man to death with it.
*Hiram Patterson		Varicose veins. Promoted to corporal, for reasons best known to officers.
*William Perry		Varicose veins. Hostler for doctor. Was himself a pack mule when on the march.
*T. Perkins		Very shaky in action. At some other times very drunk. Wasn't built right inside for a soldier.
*W.H. Pillsbury		A prodigious eater. And not very well most of the time but very religious.
*Ben Ross		Teamster. Not violent as a patriot, except at the mess table.
*Walt Rounds		Met with various and sundry ills. A very good soldier. Promoted twice.
*G. S. Richardson		Piles. A great wit, and aggravator of simple ones Would make a mule whicker.
*Eliphaz Ripley		Died from an excess of green peaches and other causes known to himself.
*John H. Roberts		Mortally wounded at Spotsylvania, May 12th, 1864. A good soldier.
*Charles F. Sawyer		Another good one. Slightly wounded at Locust Grove, November 29th, 1863.
*John H. Simpson		A most eccentric person. Dirty as he was brave.
*Jarry F. Smith		Company cook. Died at Camp Pitcher, January 1862.
*Owen Stacy		Promoted sergeant. Hit in the heel at Gettysburg. An excellent soldier, very odd.
*Al Smith		Good record, Killed in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
*T. B. Sanders		Fought two battles and then hunted a soft place for the rest of his term.
*J. F. Sweetset		A good fellow and soldier. Killed in the Wilderness, May 5th, 1864.
*Benjamin F. Small		Discharged with very limited experience as a soldier.
*Josh W. Small		Most always sick. Suspected of eating soap and other choice edibles.
*Edwin Small		Most nerve of any man in the company. Didn't know fear, or had a great facility for concealing it.
*W. A. Small		Last and least of the Smalls. Liver all bleached out. Had "left his girl behind him."
*W. E. Strout		Good man. Died young, before eating many rations.
*Josiah H. Sturtevant		An ornament to any company. Was transferred to colored regiment as an officer.
*George Tasker		Killed in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864. Not especially energetic.
*S. G. Usher		Promoted lieutenant. A very mysterious person. Mortally wounded April 6th, 1865. Died whispering.
*W. S. Waterhouse		Promoted corporal. A good soldier. Wounded in the lip at Spotsylvania, May 12th, 1864.
*George Whitten		Rheumatic. Taken prisoner at Chancellorsville. Away two or three times.
*Lewis G. Whitney		Killed in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
*C. M. White		Served about half his time and then procured a discharge.
*David A. Wentworth		Killed in the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
*John Wentworth		Didn't stop with us long, or take many chances.
*Thomas R. Warren		An old man and a tough one. Served long and well. Knocked out lots of boys.
*John Wildes		Consumptive. A scrawny old maid. Looked like an Egyptian mummy. Tough as a boiled owl. Discharged.
*William Lamberton		If he was good for anything but lying and swearing, there is a gross omission in the records.
*Nahum Pillsbury		A remarkably good feeder and somewhat given to piety.

The Maine Reader, edited by Charles and Samuella Shain, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, 1991, pp. 177-181.

Image of John West Haley care of The Rebel Yell and the Yankee Hurrah: The Civil War Journal of a Maine Volunteer, edited by Ruth Silliker, Down East Books, Camden, NJ, 1985.

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