This action was intended to be the final Union offensive on the Mississippi River. Grant’s assault on Vicksburg, just up the river. Banks directing his army, including the 21 st Maine, to advance towards the heavily fortified port to prepare for an attack concurrent with General Ulysses S. That order would come on May 20 th, with General Nathaniel P. On March 20 th, the regiment returned to Baton Rouge where it remained in the coming months, awaiting the likely order to begin assaults against Port Hudson. On March 7 th, the regiment would “see the elephant,” conducting actions against Port Hudson along the Mississippi River. No doubt feeling warmer than he was used to in Maine, William Halloway spent the remainder of the month of February in Louisiana, peacefully serving in Company E as a private. Shortly after they had disembarked, the 21 st Maine proceeded to march in the direction of Baton Rouge, arriving on February 3 rd, 1863. The Confederate city had fallen into Union hands the previous May. After mustering at Augusta, the regiment marched to New Jersey and would eventually arrive by transport ship in New Orleans on January 31 st, 1863. On October 13, 1862, William Halloway enlisted for a nine-month term in the 21 st Maine Infantry regiment at age 34. Many thanks to Ray Richie, President of the Texas Civil War Museum, for his generosity in sharing these fascinating items from the museum’s collection with our students! Halloway’s identification ring on display at the Texas Civil War Museum For a short history of military identification tags, or “dog tags,” check out Savannah Labbe’s (’18) 2016 article on the evolution of the dog tag. This post is the third in a short series highlighting the stories of the men who wore these unique identification tags into battle. to conduct primary source research into a group of Civil War soldiers whose “dog tags” now reside in the collections of the Texas Civil War Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. During the Fall of 2019, a handful of first-year Gettysburg College students traveled down to the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
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