Son of Lincoln Cabinet Secretary, William Pitt Fessenden and brother to Generals James Deering Fessenden & Francis Fessenden, young 1st Lt. Samuel
Fessenden was mortally wounded at 2nd Bull Run, 31 Aug.,1862. His inscribed Colt Mod. 1849 revolver, a gift from family friend and recent Mayor of
Portland, Maine, Jedediah Jewett would be returned to the family upon his death.
Born in Portland, Maine in 1841, Senator Fessenden’s youngest son would, in his short lifetime, become a source of much concern to his father. Difficult
to control and unwilling to stay at home and study Samuel ran away to parts unknown as a mere boy. When word finally came that Sam was seeking
adventure in the lawless territory known in that time as Bleeding Kansas, Senator Fessenden enlisted the aid of a western friend. The boy was eventually
induced to return to Maine where he became a student at Bowdoin College. Upon graduation in 1861 the adventurous twenty year old almost immediately
entered the military. He would carry his prize Colt revolver from friend Jewett off to war on April 1, 1862 when the soon to be hard fought 2nd Maine
Battery left it’s local garrison at Ft. Preble for the seat of war. On the afternoon of Saturday, August 30, 1862, while in the advance of his command, Lt.
Samuel Fessenden’s mount was killed under him and the Lieutenant was mortally wounded in the abdomen. He would cling to life for thirty-eight hours
until he passed at seven o’clock in the morning on Monday Sept. 1, 1862. His body was buried soon after his death but as the son of one of the Union’s
more prominent figures was exhumed under flag of truce to be returned to Portland, Maine for services at his father’s home and final internment in the
family plot.