Documents to Maine State Senator KIA at the Battle of Spotsylvania

Documents to Maine State Senator KIA at the Battle of Spotsylvania - Commission Document to the Rank of Captain (dated March 8, 1864, featuring three vignetted battle scenes and an ornate border, marked "REGISTERED Vol. A", numbered "No. 3039" and inscribed "STATE OF MAINE BY THE GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF To Albion K.P. Wallace of Millbridge GREETING. Reposing special trust and confidence in your ability courage and loyalty I Samuel Cony Governor of the State of Maine do by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, appoint and constitute you Captain of the B Company in the Thirty First REGIMENT Infantry MAINE Volunteers with rank from the with rank from the _ day of _ A.D. 186_. You will therefore, with honor and fidelity discharge the duties of said office & observe & follow such orders and directions, as you shall from time to time receive from your Superior Officers, according to the Rules and Discipline of War, and for so doing, this shall be your Commission. Given under my hand and the Seal of the State, the Eighth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Sixty Four and in the Eighty Eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America. By His Excellency the Governor", signed by "Lewis D. Moore", Secretary of State for the State of Maine and by "John L. Hudsden", Adjutant General, embossed with a seal with the coat-of-arms of the State of Maine, signed by the Governor of Maine, Samuel Cony. Printed in black ink on an off-white paper stock, the three signatures in black ink pen, the "A" and "3039" in red pen ink, Lithographer marked "Lith. by J.H. Bufford, 313 Washington St. Boston, Mass.", 353 mm x 446 mm, board mounted, fold marks, printed on the reverse by illegible due to the board mounting); and State of Maine Legislature Senatorial Request for Attendance at the Session of the Legislature at Augusta Document (dated December 1, 1856, inscribed "To Albion K.P. Wallace of Milbridge in the County of Washington Esquire, GREETING. Whereas, it appears by the returns duly made into the Office of the Secretary of State, and which have been examined in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution, that you are elected a Senator, by a majority of votes in the Seventh Senatorial District for this State: You are hereby summoned to attend and assist at a session of the Legislature, to be begun and holden at Augusta, on the first Wednesday of January next, being the Seventh day of said month, in order that there may be a due convention of the Senators on the day aforesaid, for the transaction of the Legislature business of the State. Given at AUGUSTA, this first day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six and in the eighty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America. By the Governor.", signed by "Caleb R. Ayer", Secretary of State for Maine, large red seal under a sunburst paper overlay and embossed with a seal with the the coat-of-arms of the State of Maine, signed by the Governor of Maine, Samuel Wells. Printed in black ink on a blueish-white paper stock, both signatures in black ink pen, folded to 197 mm x 251 mm, fold marks, soiling evident on the folded over reverse but does affect the obverse). Accompanied by assorted research papers. Near extremely fine.   Footnote: Albion Keith Parris Wallace was born on April 24, 1824 in Milbridge, Washington County, Maine. He was married to Maria S. Wallace (September 16, 1825 - September 19, 1901), the couple having four sons: Edward EWallace (1850 - 1899), Henry A Wallace (1854 - 1930), Willey S Wallace (1858 - 1905) and John Sanborn Wallace (1861 - 1940). He was elected to the Maine State Legislature as a Senator in the Seventh Senatorial District in 1856. He was a resident of Milbridge when he enlisted and was commissioned as a Captain, with the 31st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, B Company, on March 8, 1864. Company B had three officers: Captain Albion K.P. Wallace of Milbridge, First Lieutenant William H. Shoppee of Machias and Second Lieutenant Voranus L. Coffin of Harrington. It was one of ten companies (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K) of the 31st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Hight. The 31st Maine Regiment was organized at Augusta, Maine in March and April 1864 and mustered into service on April 17, 1864 for a three year enlistment. The regiment left Maine for Washington, D.C. on April 18, 1864 and was attached to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac, in which it served for the remainder of the war. It marched to Bristol Station and remained for a few days before braking camp on the morning of May 4, 1864. The 31st commenced active campaigning that day and took its first battle casualties two days later at the Battle of the Wilderness, on May 6th, where it suffered heavy losses. Two days later, it marched to Chancellorsville and encountered a skirmish with the enemy at Nye Run on May 10th. The regiment fought again at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, often referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania (or the 19th-century spelling Spottsylvania), the second major battle in Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged from Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army and moved to the southeast, attempting to lure Lee into battle under more favorable conditions. Elements of Lee's army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21, 1864, as Grant tried various schemes to break the Confederate line. In the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but with almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, making it the costliest battle of the campaign. The 31st Regiment took heavy casualties: 12 killed, 75 wounded and 108 missing in action. One of those Killed in Action on May 12, 1864 at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was Captain Albion K.P. Wallace. 1,595 men served in the 31st Maine Infantry Regiment at one point or another during its service. It lost 183 enlisted men killed in action or having died of wounds. 491 men were wounded in action, 176 died of disease and 34 died in Confederate prisons. It suffered 18 officer deaths, including Wallace, for a total of 411 fatalities from all causes. A memorial was erected in Evergreen Cemetery, Milbridge, Washington County, Maine, indicating that Captain Wallace was buried at Fredericksburg, Virginia and that his wife, Maria, was later buried at Milbridge thirty-seven years later. First Lieutenant William H. Shoppee of Machias was appointed to Captain upon the death of Wallace, he himself dying two months later, on July 12, 1864 during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Second Lieutenant Voranus L. Coffin of Harrington survived the war and was mustered out on July 15, 1865. In all, the Army of the Potomac lost 18,399 men out of 100,000.