[3] The 2nd Maine was the first Civil War regiment to march out of the state, and was greeted with accolades by civilians as it made its way to Washington, D.C.[4] It engaged in "eleven bloody and hard-fought battles" including the First Battle of Bull Run, where it was the last regiment to leave the field, and Fredericksburg, where it took its greatest number of casualties.

[4] When the regiment was mustered out in Bangor, huge crowds gathered to celebrate its return on Broadway, and a ceremony was held at Norumbega Hall downtown.

[4] Those soldiers who had enlisted for three years, rather than two, were transferred to the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment under protest.

Col. Keyes, who commanded the brigade which included the 2nd Me., says in his official report of the battle: "The gallantry with which the 2nd regiment of Maine volunteers charged up the hill upon the enemy's artillery and infantry, was never in my opinion surpassed."

On July 28, 1862, the effective strength of the 2nd became reduced to 257 rifles and came out of the battle of Second Bull Run with only 137 men able to carry arms.

[1] The first commander of the 2nd Maine was Col. Charles Davis Jameson, a lumber merchant from Old Town, who later became a brigadier general, was wounded in battle, and died of camp fever.

Jameson's successor was Col. Charles W. Roberts of Bangor, who had a horse shot out from under him at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

Quartermaster Sergeant Luther H. Peirce became a wealthy Bangor lumber merchant and funded a monument to the 2nd Maine at Mount Hope Cemetery.

[7] According to the History of Penobscot County, Maine, the regiment suffered 47 killed or wounded in the First Battle of Bull Run and over 100 missing in action (presumably including those taken prisoner).