208 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



acknowledged or considered by the belligerents in the 

 wars of the Revolution and 1812 as a neutral, yet in 

 both of these wars, and later in the Rebellion, Nan- 

 tucket showed she was in no way lacking in courage or 

 patriotism. The monument' which stands at the head 

 of Main Street attests the truth of this. Seventy-four 

 names cut into the granite shaft speak silently yet 

 eloquently of the bravery and patriotism of her sons, 

 who, believing that the Union must be preserved at all 

 hazards, left the peaceful pursuits of their dear island 

 home and yielded up their lives or received honor- 

 able wounds in the battles of Fredericksburg, Ball'a 

 Bluff, Antietam, Fair Oaks, Spottsylvania, Kingston, 

 Petersburg, Cold Harbor, and Mobile, or slowly starved 

 to death in the prisons of Libby, Andersons ville, and 

 Salisbury. 



Nantucket during the Rebellion sent into the army 

 two hundred and thirteen men, and into the navy one 

 hundred and twenty-six, making fifty-six more than 

 her quota, and gaining for herself the proud distinction 

 of " banner town " of this Commonwealth, 



And let it be writ in letters of gold on the pages of his- 

 tory that Nantucket sent her own sons. Each and every 

 man whom she gave to the country was a native of 

 this little heap of sand-drift, and they entered the ser- 

 vice of their country, not for big bounties, but from 

 pure patriotism. This is a case unparalleled in the 

 history of the Rebellion. Many of these men highly 

 distinguished themselves. One of them (Gen. G. N. 

 Macy, page 119) roso to the rank of brigadier-general, 

 received a brevet of major-general for meritorious 

 services, and was provost-marshal-general of the army 



