Five members of the 6th Battery Maine Artillery Volunteers who enlisted together in 1864. From left to right are: Daniel Dolloff Jr., Samuel Morrill, Gancelo Safford, George P. Toward, and Henry L. Wood. Dexter contributed heavily during the Civil War, with 235 men from town enlisting to serve the Union. Thirty-eight men died or were killed in action. Thirty-six men from Dexter served in the 6th Maine Infantry Volunteers alone, the most in any one unit. One individual who seemed to illustrate the feeling of patriotism of the day was Simon A. Abbott. A grandson of Dexter's first settler, Ebenezer Small, Simon enlisted in the 12th Maine Infantry on December 15, 1861, but by December became severely ill and was discharged as disabled. He returned to Dexter to convalesce, and it seemed the war was over for him. He had volunteered to serve, but his service had been cut short by circumstances beyond his control. Simon apparently had time to reflect on his circumstances and felt he had not done enough, for on February 29, 1864, he reenlisted, this time in the 6th Maine Artillery Volunteers. Whether he was fully recovered from his illness is unknown, but he may have felt that his debt to his nation was unfulfilled and there was a strong need or feeling of duty to prove his patriotism. Whatever drove Simon Abbott to reenlist may never be known, but it cost him his life, as he was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and died on June 5, 1864.

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