BATH

The Bath Historical Society will continue its commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a lecture focusing on the wartime experiences of Thomas W. Hyde, and his subsequent career as founder of Bath Iron Works and the Hyde Windlass Company in Bath.

Earle “Bud” Warren will present the program on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room of the Patten Free Library.

Thomas Worcester Hyde was born in 1841, raised in Bath, and attended Bowdoin College and the University of Chicago.

Commissioned as a major in the 7th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment in April, 1861, he participated in many of the key Civil War battles, including Second Bull Run, Antietam and Gettysburg. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1863, colonel in 1864, and was brevetted brigadier general as of April, 1865.

Hyde received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Antietam, where he had three horses shot from under him.

Returning to Bath after the war, he purchased a local iron foundry, and expanded its business to include manufacture of his Hyde windlass and other maritime machinery and then to include steel shipbuilding. His Bath Iron Works shipyard became, and continues to be, one of the leading shipbuilders in the nation.

Hyde served three terms in the Maine Senate, two as its president, and also was mayor of Bath. He wrote a book about his Civil War experiences, “Following the Greek Cross or Memories of the 6th Army Corps.”

His death in 1899 caused great mourning in Bath.

Warren was also raised in Bath. After graduating from Yale, he taught in Hawaii, Massachusetts and Maine schools, including the Hyde School in Bath.

Warren worked for many years at Bath Iron Works and the Maine Maritime Museum, and also is former president of Maine’s First Ship.

The Library opens at 10, and refreshments will be available before the program at 10:30.

For more information, call the History Room at 443-5141, ext. 8.