Walter Goodale Morrill

Morrill entered the service at Brownville, Maine, and was Private, 2nd Maine Infantry; 2nd Lieutenant, Company A, 6th Maine Infantry; and Captain, Company B, 20th Maine Infantry.

He is perhaps best known for leading Company B at the leftmost flank of the 20th Maine - itself at the extreme left of the Federal Army - on Little Round Top at Gettysburg on 2 July 1862. He later received the Medal of Honor for heroism at Rappahannock Station, Virginia (7 November 1863). He was wounded through the face at the Wilderness, but recovered to return to duty. By the end of the War, at Appomattox Courthouse, he was Lieutenant Colonel and in command of the 20 Maine.

He was the proprietor of the Exchange Hotel, in Dexter, Maine, from 1876-86. He was famous for his race horses, was a harness racing promoter, and established a racing track in Pittsfield. He was also a member of Penobscot Masonic Lodge No. 39, Dexter, ME.

Sources: Donald Hollenbeck, Pittsfield (ME) Historical Society, cited online in Pittsfield on the Sebasticook by Lois Labbe;
A Biographical sketch from the Maine State Archives - also the source of the portrait photo above;
Dexter History, part IX, an online article by James Wintle from his Daily ME; and
His gravesite online from FInd-a-Grave.

11/30/1840; Williamsburg, ME

3/3/1935; in ME; burial in Pittsfield Cemetery, Pittsfield, ME