Billy Boy
Page 26
The original transcript of Laird’s court-martial, which convened at Camp Keyes in Augusta, Maine, on July 2, 1863, is held at the National Archives. The transcript notes that Laird had a gun in his hand when confronted by Lieutenant Walker but that he threw it down. Found guilty of desertion and sentenced to death by firing squad, he was transferred to Fort Preble, located in what is now South Portland, Maine.
In their writings, Jordan and Colonel Stillings suggest that Major General John E. Wool, Department of the East, issued a stay of execution for Laird pending an appeal to President Lincoln for clemency. Town lore also alludes to a presidential pardon. Ultimately, I found no documentation for a pardon from President Lincoln. However, during the Draft Riots in New York City, which began on July 13, 1863, and continued for over three days, rioters seized military and governmental buildings, including telegraph offices. It is conceivable that during these few riotous days the alleged pardon became irretrievably lost.
Billy Laird was executed on July 15, 1863, and is buried just east of Cranberry Meadow Road in a small wooded plot near the Little River in Berwick, Maine.
Billy Laird was one of approximately 73,000 from Maine who enlisted to fight in the Civil War, and the state suffered over 18,000 casualties. According to Colonel Stillings’s research, Laird was the only Maine soldier in the Civil War to be executed for desertion. With regard to the 17th Maine Regiment, Jordan writes in The Red Diamond Regiment, “The 17th Maine may not have always fought the most effectively nor the most savagely, but they frequently stood where the fighting was the fiercest and faced the heaviest fire. They suffered more casualties than any other infantry regiment from Maine. The 17th easily laid claim to the honor of being one of the best combat units in the Union army.” Of the 1,371 soldiers of the 17th Maine Regiment, 207 were killed, 552 wounded, and 163 died of disease.
For information specifically dealing with the 17th Maine Regiment, beginning at Camp King and then through their movements along the Potomac River, I relied extensively on the day-to-day accounts of Private John Haly in his published diary, The Rebel Yell and the Yankee Hurrah: A Civil War Journal of a Maine Volunteer. For accuracy of the battles referenced in my novel, I relied on numerous authenicated historical records. Haley’s diary, however, was a wonderful source for the 17th’s role in the Battle of Fredericksburg as seen through the eyes of a private.
In my novel, the slave runaway, Elijah, is fictitious. However, I wanted to balance Elijah’s story with perhaps some lesser-known historical facts about William Still and the Underground Railroad. I’ve had a lifelong fascination with William Still, a free black man who has often been called the Father of the Underground Railroad. Elijah was the means through which I could offer an authentic glimpse of Philadelphia’s Anti-Slavery Society’s Vigilance Committee, in which William Still was chairman and recording secretary. Many of the questions asked of Elijah by the members of the Vigilance Committee were taken directly from Still’s book, The Underground Railroad, in which Still recorded interviews of so many fugitives from slavery before they were assisted to Canada.
My husband and I tracked Billy’s and Elijah’s escape route beginning at Edward’s Ferry, Maryland, the site of Billy’s desertion. From there we traveled to Sandy Spring, Maryland, and gathered information on the early Quaker settlers at the Sandy Spring Museum, some of whom are mentioned in my novel, and on to the train station at Ellicotts Mills, Maryland. The train route that Billy traveled from Ellicotts Mills and ultimately to Boston, Massachusetts, was authenticated with assistance from the National Railroad Historical Society.
The U.S. Civil War is only the backdrop to this story, which explores the reccurring themes of duty, loyalty, injustice, and the human condition. Throughout the history of warfare, we have been witness to man’s inhumanity against man, and yet we are also touched by the better angels of human nature. The Quakers in my novel are examples of those angels. While Johanna Samson is fictitious, Anna Dickinson was a young Quaker from Philadelphia who spoke publicly against the evils of slavery. Her relationship with Billy and Elijah is my creation.
A few final notes: In developing this story, the symbiotic relationship between Billy and Elijah became an important theme; when one stumbled, the other carried. Both young men are challenged mentally; Billy, by his simplemindedness, and Elijah, by his view of the world shaped by the brutality and confinements of slavery. Finally, it is important to recognize that Billy’s Laird’s desertion was not unique in and of itself. It was a tragedy played out at home. For me, the collective belief that Laird was of limited intelligence only made his story more poignant.
About the Author
Jean Mary Flahive has always had a keen interest in American history. Born in Maine to a military family, she grew up all over the United States, lived for a while in Canada, and spent her childhood summers in New England.
She received a degree in political science from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in public administration from Pepperdine University. Her career includes owning a store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, teaching at the college level as well as serving as a dean of student services, and working as a grant writer, fundraiser, and project developer. She has worked closely with the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System and has won numerous awards for her work and community service.
She enjoys hiking, kayaking, orienteering, reading, and writing. She and her husband live in Falmouth and Eastport, Maine.
Billy Boy is her first novel.