Personal correspondence of Amos E. Hardy, chiefly to his parents during the Civil War.

Amos Everett Hardy (1843-1922), hailed from Hampden, Penobscot County, Me., son of Abel and Rebecca Presby Edgerly. Hardy left home at the age of sixteen to sail to Guyana and Martinique onboard of a merchant vessel. On July 19,1862 , he enlisted in Co. F of the 18th Regiment of Main Infantry. The regiment was directed to the defenses of Washington,D.C. On January 6, 1863, the 18th Maine changed its designation to the 1st Regiment of Maine Heavy artillery. With his regiment, Hardy remained on duty on the defenses of Washington, D.C., engaged in building and garrisoning batteries and forts. In August, 1863, he was admitted to the hospital with typhoid fever and "rheumatics." On May 15,1864, the regiment was ordered to Virginia as part of Grant's Overland Virginia Campaign. Four days later, during the battle of the Spotsylvania Court House, Hardy took a minie ball in the right thigh and was sent to Washington,D.C., to the Columbian Hospital. Hardy arrived to Washington shortly before Jubal Early's raid on the capital; because the nurses had been sent to the defenses of the city, he was assigned to take care of the patients. He remained on nurse's duty until he was discharged at the end of August. Hardy rejoined his regiment that by then had been directed to Petersburg, Va. on September 5,1864. On October 2,1864, he was gravely wounded by a shell that tore his shoulder "all to pieces." His right arm was amputated in a field hospital; he was then transported to City Point, and on to Beverly Hospital in New Jersey. Hardy was discharged in September 1865 and soon left for Tillsonburg, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada where he had found work at an oil well belonging to a Mrs. Ames. He later returned home and married Edith Maria Morison; the couple had two sons Robert Samuel Hardy (b. 1873) and George Bradley Hardy (b. 1880). Amos E. Hardy served as the register of deeds and probate for Penobscot County. He died in Bangor in 1922.

61 items

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please go to following web site.