11th Maine Infantry - NEW

Item CDV-11825

Description

Harris Merrill Plaisted (November 2, 1828 – January 31, 1898) was an attorney, politician, and Union Army officer from Maine. As colonel, he commanded the 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as Maine Attorney General, a U.S. representative, and the 38th governor of Maine.
 
Plaisted was born and raised in Jefferson, New Hampshire. He graduated from Waterville College (1853) and Albany Law School (1855), and practiced law in Bangor. In 1861, he was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army and named second in command of the 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In 1862 he was promoted to colonel and assigned as the regimental commander. He took part in numerous engagements in South Carolina and Virginia, including the Siege of Petersburg. In February 1865 he was appointed brevet brigadier general of volunteers and in 1867 was appointed brevet major general of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services during the war.
 
Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Plaisted enlisted in the Union Army and was commissioned as the lieutenant colonel of the 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment on October 30, 1861. He was promoted to colonel on May 12, 1862, and led the regiment in several campaigns in the Eastern Theater. He commanded during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and participated in the Siege of Yorktown and the subsequent Battle of Williamsburg. Later in the campaign, he fought at the Battle of Seven Pines and in the Seven Days Battles.
 
In 1863, he and his men were involved in the Siege of Charleston. Plaisted advanced to command of a brigade which included the 11th Maine, 10th Connecticut, 24th Massachusetts, 100th New York, and 206th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments. In 1864, he participated in the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg.
 
On February 22, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln nominated Plaisted for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from February 21, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 3, 1865. On February 28, 1867, President Andrew Johnson nominated Plaisted for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 2, 1867.
 
In his later years, Plaisted suffered from Bright's disease. He died in Bangor on January 31, 1898, and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor.
 
Source:  Wikipedia