Uncertain Glory (20 page)

Not all fighting was in the Southern and middle states. In June of 1863, Confederates seized the
Caleb Cushing,
a Union ship in Portland Harbor, and sailed it out to sea before being caught. (The Confederates were captured, but the
Caleb Cushing
was a total loss.) In 1864, Confederate agents held up a bank in Calais, Maine, but they also were captured.

Concerned by these activities, new fortifications were added to protect Portland Harbor. Fort Knox was built to protect the Penobscot River region; Fort Popham was built at the mouth of the Kennebec River; and Fort Edgecomb (near Wiscasset) and Fort McClary (at the mouth of the Piscataqua River in Kittery) were re-garrisoned. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, who had enlisted as a private in the Maine Home Guard when the war began in 1861, was called to active duty in 1864, and reported at Fort McClary in July of 1864—the only time a president or vice president of the United States has served in active military duty while in office. (Hamlin served as a cook for six months.)

In
Chapter 28
of
Uncertain Glory
, Mr. Bascomb mentions the trial of Nathaniel Gordon. Captain Gordon (1834–62), a Portland, Maine, man, was the only American slave trader to be tried, convicted, and executed for being engaged in the slave trade. He was hung in New York City in 1862.

Bibliography

This list does not begin to fully represent the sources consulted in writing
Uncertain Glory,
but does suggest some resources for anyone interested in information about the Civil War and, particularly, its effect on children and young people in both the North and the South. I have also included several books on the fascinating subject of spiritualism in nineteenth-century American history and culture.

Beattie, Donald, Rodney M. Cole, and Charles G. Waugh (eds.).
A Distant War Comes Home: Maine in the Civil War Era
. Camden, ME: Down East Books, 1996.

Braude, Ann.
Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America
. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989 (second edition).

Chambers II, John Whiteclay (ed.).
The Oxford Companion to American Military History
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Hoar, Jay S.
Callow, Brave and True: A Gospel of Civil War Youth
. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1999.

Marten, James.
The Children's Civil War
. Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Murphy, Jim.
The Boys' War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War
. New York: Clarion Books, 1990.

Podmore, Frank.
Mediums of the Nineteenth Century
(volumes 1 and 2). New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, Inc., 1963 (reprint of 1902 book).

Sears, Stephen W., Aaron Sheehan-Dean, and Brooks D. Simpson (eds.).
The Civil War: The First Year Told By Those Who Lived It
. New York: Penguin Group, The Library of America, 2011.

Soodalter, Ron.
Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader.
New York: Atria Books, 2006.

Stuart, Nancy Rubin.
The Reluctant Spiritualist: The Life of Maggie Fox
. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2005.

Weisberg, Barbara.
Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism
. San Francisco: Harper, 2004.

Williams, David
. A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom
. New York: The New Press, 2005.

About the Author

Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine, where she writes both historical novels for eight- to fourteen-year-olds, and mysteries for adult readers. Lea grew up in Maine and New Jersey, graduated from Chatham College, earned graduate degrees from New York University, and worked for AT&T while she was raising the four daughters she adopted as a single parent. She is now the grandmother of eight and is married to artist Bob Thomas. She invites readers to visit her website (
www.leawait.com
) for a teachers' guide and discussion questions for
Uncertain Glory,
as well as information about her other books. She welcomes readers of all ages to friend her on Facebook, where she posts frequently about reading, writing, and living in Maine.

Also by Lea Wait