Bath has two major cemeteries and each one boasts a Medal of Honor recipient from the Civil War. Thomas Hyde lies in Oak Grove Cemetery in a large, elegant, neoclassical crypt. He was awarded his medal for bravery at Antietam, and after the war, he made his fortune as the founder of Bath Iron Works. Much has been written about him.

William Talbot, on the other hand, has had little written about him. Owen’s “History of Bath” book only mentions that his son, Frank Talbot, died as a member of the famous USS Maine when it exploded in Havana Harbor, an incident that started the Spanish-American war. 

William Talbot’s grave lies in an obscure section of Maple Grove Cemetery. I’ve seen it before, but when I looked for it to take a picture of the gravestone, I could not find it again. A sad fate for one of only 3,440 men who have been given the nation’s top honor for bravery in combat.

Talbot was born in England in 1812 at a time when England was an enemy of the United States. Bath, Maine, and England had a rather special relationship during the war of 1812, however, and perhaps that is part of why he immigrated here. He joined up to fight for the United States when the Civil War started, and he would eventually serve onboard one of the early ironclad ships.

On the USS Louisville, Talbot was captain of the Forecastle and captain of one of the ship’s 9-inch Dahlgren guns. The Louisville was one of the large slope-sided ironclads, rather than the smaller Monitor-type.  It served mainly on the Mississippi River and was part of the Union’s plan to divide the east and west parts of the Confederacy. During an attack on Fort Donelson in Tennessee, the Louisville was hit 36 times with cannonballs.  Though the rudder was smashed and five men were killed, the boat did not sink.

Talbot’s Medal of Honor was awarded for action in Arkansas during an attack on Fort Hindman. The Louisville and two other gunboats shelled the fort for two hours in early January. The Louisville attacked again the following day, forcing the defenders of the fort to surrender.

One can only imagine the noise of cannons firing, the smoke, the darkness, the cries of the wounded and the loud pounding of iron cannonballs against an iron hull. Talbot was one of three crewmen awarded the Medal of Honor for their bravery aboard the Louisville that day.

After the war, Talbot came back to Bath and presumably lived a much quieter life. He died in 1899.

Source:  www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net