John Darling Huntress was born on October 4, 1838 at Shapleigh, Maine. John, a farmer in Hiram, Maine, was baptized with the name Major John Darling Huntress.   His soldier's card, however, states that he was born in Hiram Maine and was a resident of Hiram and a farmer at the time of his enlistment. He personally choose to change his name to simply John Darling Huntress when he enlisted in Company H, 27^th Maine Infantry, to avoid being referred to as Private Major Huntress. Initially it caused confusion with his service record and that of his cousin’s, John Varney Huntress a shoemaker, who enlisted in the 2^nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. John enlisted in the 27^th Maine, a nine month regiment, originally organized for militia duties on September 10, 1862 at Portland, Maine as a private and was mustered into the Company on September 30; present at all times for duty until he mustered out in 1863.

According to a history compiled by Lt. Col. James M. Stone, the 27th Maine  was organized at Portland  on September 30th and left for Washington on October 20th.

Information acquired from York, Maine indicates that John L. Huntress a relative from Hiram, Maine was also a member of Company H, 27th Maine Volunteer Infantry, and enlisted on September 30, 1862 at 24 years of age and  mustered out on July 17, 1863.

Once the Company had been drilled and trained they left Portland on October 20, 1862, passing through Philadelphia and Baltimore on their way to Washington DC. There they were outfitted with old-fashioned flint-lock  rifles that had been altered to percussion muskets. Afterwards, marching across the bridge from Washington to Arlington, they made camp on property originally owned by Robert E. Lee. Later, in October, they moved about half a mile south of Arlington Heights to Camp Seward and in December to a camp south of Hunting Creek, Virginia. There they were assigned to a portion of a picket line that extended from the Potomac near Mount Vernon to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Because of their picket line duties, the 27^th Maine missed any involvement in the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, but did make contact with Union Army stragglers and deserters who kept them informed of battle reports.

They were ordered moved to a new location, towards the end of March 1863, along the Little River Turnpike, where they took up a position at Chantilly, some twenty-five miles west of Washington itself. There they guarded against a possible invasion by Confederates almost up until they were to be mustered out, on June 10, 1863. A definite threat by Lee’s Army being imminent, however, Lincoln depended upon those guard troops, reaching the point of returning home, for the defense of Washington. Then an unexpected visit by a representative of the Government to the camp of the 27^th, led to the formation of the regiment on June 30^th, when Lincoln made a formal request. Men of the 27^th could either accept their discharges and be transported home, or in the event they decided to remain they would be given the Congressional Medal of Honor. Some 555 men decided to go ahead and take their discharge and return home, while 309 decided to remain and reenlist for the duration of the emergency; looking forward to receiving the nations highest award.

The Record and Pension Office of the War Department, in 1892, began compiling a list of the men of the 27^th who remained in Washington and were deserving of the Medal of Honor. Over the next several years the compiling of the names and the clarification of the necessary qualifications for the medal continued; suggesting a deception by the government towards the remaining soldiers. Lincoln’s review board after considering all past Medal of Honor recipients concluded, by stating that the 309 men who had remained behind had done nothing of an heroic nature and were therefore undeserving of the nations highest honor; totally contradicting what had been promised them by President Lincoln. The award of the medals was rescinded in 1917, ending a fifty year controversy. Another fraud had been successfully perpetrated on Union troops by their commander in Chief.

Upon leaving the army after the war, Huntress was soon on his way to Australia. Arriving in New South Wales he quickly found himself work as a carpenter with the Department of Roads, building bridges; some of which remain today. On December 8, 1868 Huntress married Mary Ann Gray at Goulburn, New South Wales and they had several children. John Darling Huntress never returned to his native country and died of “consumption” at Dubbo, New South Wales on January 10, 1902. He was buried in the Old Dubbo Cemetery, grave number H12, Presbyterian Section. In 1987 a marble headstone was made available by the American Veterans Administration in Washington DC to be placed on his grave.

Dubbo Cemetery Records

 Maine Infantry Regimental Histories

 Maine State Archives, Augusta, Maine

 National Archives, Washington, D.C.

 Pension Records

 Royal Australian Historical Society

U.S. Census Records

Anthony Douin, Maine State Archives