Stories of Civil War veterans rich with heroism

When thinking about civil wars, division is a primary theme that arises. Within the whole of the story of the Civil War in the U.S. and the fight between the Union and the Confederacy, however, are individual pieces bound by unifying threads.
Virtually every individual life in the United States was impacted by the Civil War, which saw the nation lose 2.5% of its population in combat alone. For some, including local figures Horatio Nelson Young, Isabella Fogg and Charles H. Smith, the war was a call to rise above the horrific conflict to perform heroic and compassionate deeds that would have dramatic repercussions on the lives around them. Their actions, and those of all U.S. and Canadian veterans, are remembered during Veterans Day and Remembrance Day this year.

Freeing the USS Lehigh
In the St. Croix Valley, the Revolutionary War 80 years prior to the Civil War had done little to weaken the community bonds divided by the international border. Residents of New Brunswick were deeply concerned about the war's development, and some -- such as Horatio Nelson Young --took direct action.
Born just outside of St. Stephen in Dufferin Parish on July 19, 1845, Young spent much of his life between Calais and St. Stephen working odd jobs along the waterfront. As soon as he was able to -- in late 1862, with his 18th birthday coming up -- Young enlisted in the Navy in Boston to fight for the Union side.
During the first year of his service, Young quickly gained his footing in the military. He completed his training and served aboard the USS Lehigh, a monitor class ship armored in heavy iron that was engaged in the steady bombardment of Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
On the morning of November 16, 1863, the Lehigh ran into sudden trouble near Sullivan's Island in Charleston, S.C. The shallow waters and sandy terrain combined to lodge the ship in place, making it an easy target for the soldiers of nearby Fort Moultrie, who soon realized it was stuck.
The commander of the vessel, Andrew Bryson, wrote: "As soon as they perceived that the ship was ashore, they opened on me from nine different batteries, striking twenty two times, nine of which are wounds on the deck plating, and these are the most serious of all the wounds received." More than 300 shots and shells were launched at the Lehigh over the next several hours from Fort Moultrie and Battery Rutledge.
As night fell, and the need to free the ship from the ongoing heavy fire became increasingly dire, a dramatic solution emerged. Three crewmen, Young among them, rowed out into the bay in a small boat with a tow line from the Lehigh to be attached to the USS Nahant. It took numerous attempts, with the first two lines snapped by Confederate fire, but they finally succeeded, and the Nahant pulled the Lehigh free.
For his bravery, Young was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration granted by the military, making him one of 61 Canadians to date who have received the distinction.
After the war, Young went on to serve as the chief engineer of the Mutual Life Insurance Co. in New York. Eventually he returned to the Calais area, dying in Red Beach on July 3, 1913. He is buried in St. Stephen.

Bringing compassion to the wounded
While combat presents ample opportunity for acute heroism, much of the suffering and need caused by war comes after the immediate conflict. This is where Isabella Fogg came in, being one of approximately 10,000 women who offered invaluable nursing services during the war.
Born in Scotch Ridge near St. Stephen as Isabella Morrison in 1823, she was married before the age of 14 and moved across the river to Calais, her husband William's hometown. She gave birth to a son, Hugh, and became the family's sole provider after William either died or left her.
In the spring of 1861, just after the declaration of war, Hugh signed up to fight for Capt. Joel Haycock's Company D 6th Maine. Rather than remaining idle on the fringes of the country, Isabella decided to collect supplies from the Downeast area and travel to Maryland herself to work in the Army hospital. Once there, Isabella agreed to do what many nurses wouldn't – to provide care for the soldiers in the contagious spotted fever ward.
Later, Isabella traveled with her son to visit the 6th Maine on the frontlines, meeting hundreds of sick and wounded men along the way. The camp itself was grossly unsanitary, with untrained medical staff in charge of caring for the men, and Isabella soon went to work distributing medical supplies and improving the safety conditions of the relief tent.
As a direct result of what she saw, Isabella knew more supplies were needed. She contacted the Ladies Committee of the Free Street Baptist Church, who had been collecting supplies from across the state but lacked a method of getting them to the camps, and together they developed a vital supply network that would become the Maine Camp Hospital Association.
Isabella continued to serve near the frontlines of the conflict until receiving a spinal injury when she fell through an open hatch on a hospital boat in Kentucky in 1865. Paralyzed and bed bound, she became the only woman in the country to receive a pension from the federal government for serving in the Civil War. Among those who lobbied for the pension was General Joseph Hooker, who said of her services that they were "indeed precious, and, in my estimation, deserve the highest reward and consideration in the power of the government to bestow."

General Smith helps end the war
Maine was tightly embroiled in the political and moral implications of the Civil War and would send a total of 73,000 soldiers to fight for the Union over the course of the war -- more per capita than any other state.
Among those who responded to the call to service was Charles H. Smith. Born in Hollis, Maine, in 1827, he was a resident of Eastport when the Civil War began. He left his career as a reportedly inspiring and popular high school teacher to join the 1st Maine Cavalry, becoming captain in command of Company D in November of 1861.
He was tall in the saddle and luminous as a lighthouse, according to General Joshua Chamberlain, and Smith's fervor and ability to lead quickly gained renown, particularly with the vitally important role of the cavalry in the Civil War. According to Eastport historian John Raye, Smith made an appearance in nearly every battle of the war and his cavalry "played a big part in the successful Union victory."
During one battle, General Hugh Kilpatrick ordered Smith to take a village surrounded by walls with artillery in the center. "Smith drew up several lines of his horsemen with sabers extended and personally led the charge into town," Raye says. "General Kilpatrick stated, 'Those Maine boys would charge straight into hell if so ordered!'
In June 1864, Smith led the fight at the Battle of St. Mary's Church, a cavalry conflict that saw him and his men once again charging into artillery. Even after being shot and having two horses shot from under him, and then being shot again while on a third horse, Smith pressed on in leading his men, and the battle was eventually won. For retaining command at St. Mary's in spite of his severe wounds, Smith received the Medal of Honor.
At Appomattox, one of the last battles of the war, Smith led his men to ride all night to circumvent the Confederate Army and cut off their escape. As a result, according to Raye, General Philip Sheridan breveted Smith to major general "for his role in ending the Civil War."
Major General Smith remained in the Army, eventually retiring from active service in November 1891. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.