Background
Francis Fessenden was the third son of William Pitt and Ellen (Deering) Fessenden of Portland, Maine.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
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Francis Fessenden was the third son of William Pitt and Ellen (Deering) Fessenden of Portland, Maine.
He attended Portland Academy and Westbrook Seminary, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1858, and studied law at Harvard and in his grandfather’s office. He went to New York in 1860 to complete his studies and was traveling in Minnesota when the Civil War began.
He at once offered his services and was commissioned captain in the regular army by Secretary Cameron. He was assigned to the 19th Infantry and spent the first part of the war in recruiting, guarding prisoners, and similar routine duties.
In March 1862 he was ordered to rejoin his regiment then under General Buell’s command in Tennessee. He arrived in time to take part in the battle of Shiloh and was badly wounded in the arm. While recovering he was placed in non-combatant service but in September 1862 was appointed colonel of the 25th Maine Infantry and assigned to the defense of Washington.
From March until July 1863, he was stationed at Centerville, Virginia, where his younger brother, Samuel, had fallen the year before. When the 25th Maine was mustered out he was placed in command of the 30th Maine Infantry, a carefully selected unit composed almost entirely of veteran soldiers.
In January 1864 the regiment was ordered to the Gulf and took part in the exhausting and bloody Red River campaign. On April 23, Colonel Fessenden led a brilliant and successful assault on Monett’s Bluff which was reported to have saved the retreating army from disaster. He was wounded a second time and lost his right leg by amputation a few days later. He was immediately recommended for the rank of brigadier-general by Secretary Stanton and the nomination was promptly confirmed by the Senate.
In September 1864 he returned to duty in Washington and in the following spring was again assigned to active service. He was engaged in various administrative duties, now that the fighting was over, in Maryland, West Virginia, and the Shenandoah Valley, and also served as a member of the commission which tried and condemned Captain Wirz, former commandant of Andersonville Prison.
On August 8 he was appointed brigadier-general in recognition of his services in the Atlanta campaign. He was then transferred to Virginia and received a command under General Sheridan. He took part in the battle of Cedar Creek and spent the last winter of the war performing administrative duties at Winchester, Virginia.
After leading a brigade in the Grand Review at Washington, May 23, 1865, he was ordered on special service in Georgia and South Carolina. In recognition of distinguished services he was brevetted major-general of volunteers and mustered out January 15, 1866.
He then resumed the practise of law in Portland and in 1868 became register of bankruptcy under the act of Congress, and served in that capacity until the repeal of the law in 1878.
He also served three terms in the legislature, 1872-74.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
He is described as a man of quiet and unassuming manner, efficient and reliable as a soldier and equally so in civil life.
His father’s letters show that he occupied a special place in the confidence and affection of the distinguished statesman.