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The monument to the First Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment is on the Colquitt’s Salient walking trail at Stop Five on the Petersburg Eastern Front Auto Tour.
It was here the First Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment lost the greatest number of killed and mortally wounded of any regiment in the United States Army in a single day of battle. (See more of the history of the First Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment)
The monument is of Hollowell, Maine granite and stands eleven feet high. On the front is the Coat of Arms of the State of Maine. The combined trefoil and diamond symbols of the Second and Third Corps is at the bottom on the rough base. The rear of the monument holds two bronze tablets with the names of the regiment’s killed and mortally wounded in the battle on June 18.
The monument cost $2400, with half the cost being the bronze tablets. It was erected 1894 by First Maine Heavy Artillery Association, with half the cost paid for by the regiment’s survivors and half by the State of Maine.
Text from the front of the monument:
Maine
First Heavy Artillery
In memory of
604 brave members who fell
charging here
June 18, 1864
Union
Maine – Virginia
Peace
Two tablets on the back of the monument list the men who were killed or mortally wounded in the charge on June 18.
Text from the rear of the monument:
Members of the
First Maine Heavy Artillery
who were here mortally wounded
June 18, 1864
…
Members of the
First Maine Heavy Artillery
who were here killed
June 18, 1864
…
Map to the location of the monument
The monument is on the Colquitt’s Salient walking trail at Stop Five on the Auto Tour. It is about 375 yards from the parking area along a paved trail. (37°13’58.3″N 77°22’20.2″W)