History buff solves Civil War mystery
By Mary Anderson
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
STAR - One hundred and forty years ago today, a young Confederate ship's boy was buried in Wells, Maine, under a gravestone that reads "Unknown but to God. Prisoner of War. 1863."
His identity was researched locally, but the clues never came together.
After a year's research, John Callicutt and his son, Johnny, are certain the young sailor was an English boy called "Buttons."
They also have turned up evidence that Buttons, who would have been between 12-14 years old, was flogged for being "sassy" prior to the capture.
"Most likely," Callicutt said, "the boy died from injuries that were not treated after the flogging. Flogging was a ship's punishment for adults and he was just a young boy who would have been seriously injured by a flogging. They used rawhide strips with knots tied on the ends."
Callicutt, a retired law enforcement officer from the town of Star in Montgomery County, is also an avid Civil War buff known for his meticulous research that has explained many area historical events and verified - and corrected - just as many stories that have come down through area families.
Whether the people of Wells knew or speculated on the circumstances of the boy's death has been lost in time, but he was never forgotten. According to the local history book, when the Women's Relief Corps placed flags on the graves of veterans on Memorial Day, his grave in Elm Brook Cemetery was always included.
Callicutt learned about the grave in the early summer of 2003 when he and Johnny were on a combination business trip and vacation in Maine.
"We were in Wells, a little coastal town with a population of about 1,500 people," Callicutt said. "Johnny and his Aunt Sandra took a walk and found this little gift shop where Johnny bought a local history book, "My Name is Wells"."
Callicutt added that, personally, he wouldn't have paid $21 for a locally published history book, but changed his mind when Johnny said, "Dad, did you know there is a Civil War sailor buried here?"
The story was less than two pages, recounting the research of local historians to identify the prisoner of war who was on a train to a prison in Boston.
The train stopped at High Pine, a small community near Wells, and the members of the High Pine Baptist Church buried him on or around July 30, 1863, in the Elm Brook Cemetery near the depot.
Mention a mystery, especially a Civil War mystery, and Callicutt's old detective antennae go on alert.
The Callicutt's met David Sinclair, Scoutmaster of Wells Boy Scout Troop 356. Several years ago, Phillip Kilbride took the Confederate's grave as his Eagle Scout project, cleaned the site and a local funeral home donated the permanent marker.
According to the Wells history, the local historians and local and state Civil War historians had put together the scenario of how the prisoners were on that particular train.
The prisoners were likely Confederate raiders who had arrived in Portland Harbor on Friday, June 26, 1863, aboard the "Archer," a vessel they had previously captured. On Saturday morning, they captured the armed revenue cutter "Caleb Cushing" and hoped to escape with it. However, they were becalmed. When the Union ships approached, the Confederates set fire to the Caleb Cushing and escaped to the lifeboats, but were captured and taken to Fort Preble in Portland Harbor.
There were 23 rebel prisoners, including their leader, 2nd Lt. C.W. Reed, who had graduated from Annapolis in 1860.
One of the prisoners had a log that stated that they were 47 days out of Florida and, in that time, had captured 21 vessels of all classes, not counting the brig "Clarence," which Callicutt found they had renamed the "Florida."
They had heard that federal cruisers were after them in the "Tacony" and had captured and burned the "Tacony" when they boarded the "Archer."
The commander's notes stated the Confederates were going to Portland to burn shipping and destroy two gunboats under construction as well as the steamer "Forest City."
New England newspapers had dubbed them "the Tacony pirates," and named the four "turncoats" who had joined the pirates after their vessels were captured, but never published the names of the prisoners.
On July 29, the Portland Daily Press reported that the Tacony pirates were being taken to Fort Warren in Boston on the train under guard from a detachment of 50 men from the 17th Regulars. That train would make a stop at High Pines.
The Boston Post reported on July 30 that 26 pirates, including the four turncoats, had arrived. The original crew was 23, so one was missing from the day before.
The Boston Post described the pirates as fashionably well dressed and somewhat arrogant. Callicutt said the Confederates were well treated by their captors and none were injured.
This is where Callicutt's research takes up the story:
When they sailed from Florida, Callicutt learned, several ship's boys were on board.
"It was common to have boys on ships. A ship's boy, usually a runaway who wanted to go to sea, was usually 12-14 years old and was given the worst clean up jobs," Callicutt explained. "They could work themselves up to Cabin Boy and by about age 16 could be a First Class Boy."
Callicutt is satisfied the grave is that of Buttons, since the other prisoners, all older teens and adults, were exchanged for Union prisoners of war in Boston. In a bit of trivia, Callicutt also learned that Lt. Reed had a dog named Sally and two of the Union soldiers in that exchange survived the war and settled in Salisbury, N.C.
"Maine was not really involved in the fighting in that war," Callicutt said, "so they were not hostile to anyone. The had respect for humanity and believed a person deserved a decent burial."
This past June, Callicutt and his brother, Joe, returned to Wells with dirt sent to them from friends in seven Confederate states - North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas - and placed the soil, along with a Iron Southern Cross of honor, on Buttons' grave.
"He couldn't be returned to his native soil, but his native soil could be brought to him," Callicutt said.
The people of Wells had always had two mysteries - the Confederate soldier and sea serpent that has been reported in their waters for years. The city fathers asked Callicutt if he wanted to take on their sea serpent next.
"No. They can keep their sea serpent mystery," Callicutt said, laughing. "I told them I couldn't help them with that."
©2002, Stephens Media Group