Robert Williamson Brokaw iOVERNOK OF VERMONT. 185;; -/i. iSGO I VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. A HISTORY OF THE PART TAKEN BY THE VERMONT SOLDIERS AND SAILORS IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861-5. o<>' /e ' By G G A BENEDICT. A VOLUME 1. BURLINGTON, VT. : THE FREE PRESS ASSOCIATION. 1886. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, By G. G. BENEDICT, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. STATE OF VERMONT. NO. 146. 1878. JOINT RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR A STATE HISTORIAN FOR A SPECIAL PURPOSE. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives : That the Gov- ernor is hereby authorized and instructed to appoint a suitable person as State Historian, whose duty shall be, in a reasonable time, to collect and compile, ready for publication, a History of the part taken by the Vermont soldiers and sailors in the War of the Rebellion : Provided, such persons as shall, upon application of said historian, furnish him with items of history, memoranda or dates, shall do so free of charge. PEEFACE. The State of Vermont delayed too long to make provision for a history of the part taken by her troops in the great civil war. During the years thus lost, the grave closed over many who helped to make the history and who could have furnished valuable information to the historian. When, at last, the legislature acted on the subject, the labor of preparing the history was committed to one whose other exacting duties might well have excused him from this task. The work of preparation was then suspended for two years in consequence of a defect in the legislation upon the subject. It has been further delayed by the unfortunate provision forbidding any outlay from the State treasury for information and historical materials, and by prolonged delays (and some absolute fail- ures) to contribute indispensable information, on the part of many of those best qualified to furnish facts and describe events. As a class, it must be said, the Yermont soldiers have not been eager to recite their deeds. This fact was noticeable during the war, especially so far as the members of the First Brigade were concerned ; and their reluctance to tell their own story seems not to have lessened much as time has gone on. Some, however, have rendered important aid to the historian. My acknowledgments are especially due to Colonel William C. Holbrook of the Seventh regi- ment, Captain George N. Carpenter and Herbert E. Hill of the Eighth, Captain Charles F. Branch of the Ninth, Lieut. Colonel Aldace F. Walker of the Eleventh ; Captain H. K. Ide of the First Vermont cavalry and Lieut. Colonel W. Y. W. Kipley of the First U. S. Sharpshooters, for their YI PREFACE. laborious and valuable contributions. Others have aided in other ways or in less degree. The regimental history of the Tenth Yermont by Chaplain Haynes and Walker's spirited history of the Vermont brigade in the Shenandoah Valley have been freely drawn on. Adjutant General Peter T. Washburn's War Keports have of course been a mine of in- dispensable facts and statistics. To Colonel Eobert N. Scott,. TJ. S. A., in charge of the exhaustive compilation of the Official Eecords of the civil war ; to Major Merritt Barber, Assistant Adjutant General, U. S. A., and to Adjutant General T. S. Peck of Vermont, my thanks are due for valuable assist- ance and numerous official courtesies. The materials thus obtained have been supplemented by various special contributions, relating to particular battles or events ; by personal recollections ; diaries of soldiers in the field ; army letters to friends ; and war correspondence in the newspapers. No available source of information has been intentionally neglected, and to the knowledge thus obtained I have added considerable study of the official reports and records of both the Union and Confederate armies, and of the works of historians on both sides. The task assigned to me, was not to make an entertain- ing description of war scenes and army life ; but to record facts. The space occupied by the records of the service of twenty-four different organizations of infantry, cavalry, artil- lery and sharpshooters, comprising over thirty thousand men, has largely forbidden extended descriptions, and compelled the omission of many interesting personal incidents. But it will be found, I trust, that the essential facts have been given. I have endeavored, throughout, to sift fact from fancy, and from the numerous and inevitable contradictions in the recollections and testimony of even honest witnesses, to separate the important from the trivial ; and to set down the noble record of the Vermont troops in such connection with the general history of the campaigns in which they were PREFACE. VII engaged, as to show what they accomplished and the relation of their service to that of the larger organizations to which they belonged. Few will understand the amount of labor expended in the work ; but I may be permitted to express the hope that many will recognize the controlling desire of the historian to do justice to all, within the limits im- posed, and to be everywhere truthful and impartial. G. G. B. BURLINGTON, 1886. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. CHAPTER I. North and South on the eve of War The Early Days of 1861 Reluctance of the Vermonters to believe in the possibility of War Governor Fair- banks's Apprehensions A Warning from Governor Andrews Salutes to the Union Governor Fairbanks Pledges the Support of Vermont to the Government 4 CHAPTER II. The State Unprepared for War Decadence of the Militia Efforts to Revive the Militia in 1856 The Brandon and Montpelier Musters of 1858 and 1860 The Militia in 1860 Military Property of the State, January, 1861 Secession Movements Judge Smalley's Charge to a New York Grand Jury Senator Collamer's Bill to Close Southern Ports Attitude of Representatives of Vermont in Congress Prepara- tions for War General Order No. 10 The Peace Conference Acces- sion of Abraham Lincoln 8 CHAPTER III. The Call to Arms The Governor's First War Proclamation Detail of Militia for the First Regiment Procurement of Arms A Notable War Meeting Popular Feeling in the State Special Session of the Legis- latureAppropriation of a Million Dollars Other War Measures Unanimity of Legislature and People 17 CHAPTER IV. Organization of the First Regiment Sketches of the Field Officers Camp Fairbanks Delays in Mustering in Off at last for the War General Scott's Opinion of the Vermonters Reception at Troy and in New York Voyage to Fortress Monroe Quarters in the Hygeia Hotel Expe- dition to Hampton Occupation of Newport News 28 CHAPTER V. Organization of the Second Regiment Sketches of its Field and Staff Departure for the War Receptions on the Way Arrival in Washing- ton Movement into Virginia Brigaded under Colonel Howard Campaign and Battle of Bull Run List of Killed and Wounded Part Taken by other Vermonters Return to Bush Hill Disaffection towards Colonel Whiting A Case of Discipline Removal to Camp Lyon 62 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. The Second Regiment continued Controversy between Colonel Whiting and the State Authorities The Peninsula Campaign Promotions and Changes of Officers The Seven Days' Retreat Maryland Campaign of 1862 First Fredericksburg Resignation of Colonel Whiting Sketch of Colonel Walbridge Second Fredericksburg and Salem Heights Second Maryland Campaign A Month in New York Re- turn to Virginia Capture of Quartermaster Stone Execution of Deserters Winter at Brandy Station Resignation of Colonel Wai- bridge Sketch of Colonel Stone The Wilderness Campaign Death of Colonels Stone and Tyler Losses of Officers and Men End of Three Years' Term General Neill's Farewell Order In the Shenandoah Valley Back to Petersburg Final Campaign Return Home. 98 CHAPTER VII. Organization of the Third Regiment Rendezvous at St. Johnsbury Departure from the State Arrival at Washington Sketch of Colonel William F. Smith Changes Among the Officers Fatigue Duty in Virginia Pardon of William Scott Under Fire at Lewinsville Ar- rival of other Vermont Regiments Sickness in the Regiment The Peninsular Campaign Action at Lee's Mill List of Killed The Seven Days' Retreat The Drummer-boy, Willie Johnson First Fredericks- burg Resignation of Colonel Hyde Changes in the Roster Marye's Heights and Banks's Ford Service at Newark, N. J. Winter at Brandy Station Losses in the Wilderness Campaign Skirmish at Fort Stevens End of Three Years' Term Shenandoah Campaign Peters- burgReturn Home 126 CHAPTER VIII. Organization of the Fourth Regiment Its Field and Staff Camp Hoi- brook Delays in Equipment Journey to Washington Arrival at Camp Advance Brigaded at Camp Griffin Remarkable Period of Sickness The Spring Campaign of 1862 March to Cloud's Mills The Peninsula Action and Losses at Lee's Mill Service at Williamsburg and in front of Richmond Crampton's Gap and Antietam Arrival of Recruits Promotion of Colonel Stoughton and Changes of Officers- First Fredericksburg Winter Quarters at Belle Plain Marye's Heights and Banks's Ford March to Gettysburg Casualties at Funkstown Winter at Brandy Station Losses in the Wilderness and tho Overland Campaign Misfortune at the Weldon Railroad Action at Charlestown Expiration of Three Years' Term The Shenandoah Campaign In the Lines of Petersburg The Final Assault Last Marching and Re- turn Home CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER IX. Organization of the Fifth Regiment Rendezvous at St. Albans Field and Staff Departure for Washington March to Chain Bridge Sickness at Cauip Griffin The Spring Campaign of '62 Lee's Mill Golding's Farm Hard Fighting and Terrible Loss at Savage's Station Resigna- tion of Colonel Smalley and Changes of Field Officers The Maryland Campaign Back to Virginia First Fredericksburg Marye's Height and Banks's Ford Crossing the Rappahannock and Capturing Missis- sippians Funkstown Rappahannock Station Re-enlisting for the War Furlough and Visit to Vermont Losses in the Wilderness and in the Lines of Spottsylvania Death and Sketch of Major Dudley Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Charlestown Expiration of Three Years* Term The Shenandoah Campaign Final Assault at Petersburg End of Fighting and Return Home 180 CHAPTER X. Organization of the Sixth Regiment Departure for Washington Sickness and Mortality at Camp Griffin The Spring of 1863 The Sixth at Lee's Mill, Golding's Farm and Savage's Station Sickness at Har- rison's Landing Crampton's Gap and Antietam Changes of Field Officers Winter of 1862-3 Fighting at Fredericksburg Funkstown Service in New York Winter at Brandy Station Losses in the Wil- derness Death and Sketch of Colonel Barney Personal Incidents The Shenandoah Campaign Expiration of Three Years' Term Service in front of Petersburg Final Marches and Return Home 208 CHAPTER XI. Organization of the First Vermont Brigade Its first Commander, General Brooks Winter at Camp Griffin Remarkable period of Sickness Opening of the Spring Campaign of 1862 Movement to Fortress Mon- roe The March up the Peninsula Baptism of Blood at Lee's Mill Care of the Wounded The Battle of Williamsburg March to the White House on the Pamunkey 235 CHAPTER XII. The First Brigade, continued Organization of the Sixth Corps Move- ment to the Front of Richmond Battle of Fair Oaks Crossing the Chickahominy Swamp Fever and Hard Duty Gaines's Mill and Golding's Farm The Retreat from Richmond Stand of the rear Guard at Savage's Station Fighting of the Vermont Brigade The Fifth sustains the heaviest loss in killed and wounded ever suffered by a Vermont regiment Casualties of the Brigade The retreat resumed Affair at White Oak Swamp Terrific Confederate cannonade Firm- ness of the Vermont troops The brigade at Malvern Hill Terrible march to Harrison's Landing Bivouac in the mud Return to Fortress Monroe and to Alexandria. . 276 XH CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. The First Brigade, continued The situation, September 1, 1862 The part of the Sixth corps in Pope's Campaign The march into Maryland Storming of Crampton's Gap Brilliant action of the Fourth Vermont The battle of Antietam A quiet time at Hagerstown Stuart's second raid Accession of the Twenty-Sixth New Jersey to the brigade Re- tirement of General Brooks from the command Return to Virginia Changes of army, corps, division and brigade commanders McClel- lan's farewell review March to the Rappahannock Burnside's bloody failure Howe's division and the Vermont brigade at the First Fred- ericksburg Casualties of the brigade Winter quarters at White Oak Church Burnside's mud campaign and retirement from com- mand 315 CHAPTER XIV. The First brigade, continued General Hooker in command of the army Sedgwick succeeds Smith as commander of the Sixth corps The new brigade commander, Colonel Grant The Chancellorsville campaign The Sixth corps crosses the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg Storm- ing of Marye's Heights Brilliant part of the Vermont brigade Salem Heights and Bank's Ford Details of the fighting of the Vermonters The brigade covers the recrossing of the Sixth corps Losses of the Vermont troops Return to White Oak Church 350 CHAPTER XV. The First brigade, continued Preliminary movements of the Gettysburg campaign The Fifth Vermont crosses the Rappahannock and captures the Confederate pickets The rest of the brigade follows Sharp skir- mishing on the south bank The march to the north Meeting of the First and Second Vermont brigades Hard marching in Maryland "Put the Vermonters ahead and keep the column closed up." General Meade succeeds Hooker Arrival on the field of Gettysburg Engage- ment at Funkstown Recrossing the Potomac The brigade goes to New York city to sustain the drafts Return to and reception by the Sixth corps Marching and counter marching Battle of Rap- pahannock Station The Mine Run campaign Winter at Brandy Station 379 CHAPTER XVI. The First brigade, continued General U. S. Grant, Commander-in-Chief Consolidation of the corps Getty takes command of the division Changes in the brigade Review of he situation Campaign of the Wilderness The service of Getty's division The part of the Vermont brigade Terrific fighting A thousand Vermonters killed and wounded CONTENTS. YTTJ the first day ; two hundred the second day Heavy losses of officers March to Spottsylvania The Yermonters cheered by the Sixth corps- Death of General Sedgwick General Wright succeeds to command of corps Fighting in the lines of Spottsylvania Charge on the Salient The struggle at the Bloody Angle Losses of the Vermont regiments The Eleventh regiment joins the brigade Picket duty between the lines Movement to the North Anna March to Cold Harbor. ... 412 CHAPTER XVII. The First brigade, continued Cold Harbor Part taken by the brigade the first day Assault of the second day Gallant part of Stannard's brigade Unsuccessful attack of the third day The army in trenches Expos- ures and sufferings of the troops Movement of the army to the James Investment of Petersburg Movement of the Sixth and Second corps against the Weldon Railroad Heavy loss of the brigade Over 400 Vermonters captured Over half of them die in rebel prisons Expedi- tion against the Danville and Lynchburg Railroad Back again to Washington Early's raid Th6 Sixth corps sent to meet him Presi- dent Lincoln wants to see the Vermont brigade Engagement in front of Fort Stevens Hard marching in Maryland and Virginia First sight of the Shenandoah Valley Return to Washington A hot day at Harper's Ferry and march to Frederick, Md. Results of Halleck's strategy in chasing cavalry with infantry Change of commanders Sketch of General Sheridan Return of the Sixth corps to the Valley 461 CHAPTER XVIII. The First Brigade, continued Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley Strength and situation of the opposing armies Movement to the South Early reinforced Sheridan retires down the Valley Engagement at Charlestown The Vermont brigade holds the skirmish line against a Confederate division Casualties in the V* miont regiments Recon- noissance to Gilbert's Ford Visit from Gene al Grant The battle of the Opequon Part of the Vermont brigade The grand charge upon Winchester Losses of the brigade Battle of Fisher's Hill Colonel Warner carries Flint's Hill Crook's flank mov< ment Charge of Getty's and Ricketts's divisions, and flight of Early Thr-'e weeks of marching and mano3uvring The Sixth corps starts for Washington but returns to Cedar Creek Battle of Cedar Creek The surprise in the morning Gallant stand of Colonel Thomas and the Eighth Vermont Action of the Tenth Vermont The part of Getty's division and the Vermont brigade Arrival of Sheridan The grand advance of the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, and final charge of the cavalry Casualties of the Vermont brigade Close of the campaign Voting for President A month of rest at Kernstown Departure from the Valley. . . . 500 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIX. The First Brigade, concluded Return to Petersburg The Winter of 1864-5 in the Trenches Capture of the Enemy's Intrenched Picket Line by the Sixth Corps Action and Casualties of the Vermont Brigade Arduous Picket Duty The Final Grand Assault The Vermont Brigade heads the Entering Wedge of the Sixth Corps The Vermonters storm the Works in their Front, capture Nineteen Guns and Many Prisoners, and push in to Lee's Headquarters The Sixth corps takes Three miles of Works Casualties of the Vermont Regiments Fall of Richmond and Closing Scenes of the War Pursuit of Lee Last Skir- mish at Sailor's Creek The Surrender at Appomattox Last Marches and Reviews of the Brigade General Grant's Farewell Address The Final Muster Out 569 CHAPTER XX. Final Statement of the First Brigade Some suggestive statistics Testi mony of its commanders to the quality of the troops of the Brigade. End of Vol. 1 617 POETEAITS ILLUSTBATING YOLUME I. GOVEENOE EEASTUS FAIEBANKS Frontispiece. ADJT. GENEEAL P. T. WASHBUEN Opposite page 28 MAJ. GENEEAL WILLIAM F. SMITH " "136 BEIG. GENEEAL W. T. H. BROOKS " " 236 BVT. MAJ. GENERAL L. A. GRANT " "352 MAJ. GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK . " " 440 MAPS AND SKETCHES. Sketch of battlefield of Big Bethel Opposite page 52 Sketch of the First Bull Run page 73 Map of the line of the Warwick River Opposite page 243 Map of the Peninsula " "280 Sketch of battlefield of Savage's Station page 294 Sketch of battlefield of Crampton's Gap "321 Battlefield of the First Fredericksburg Opposite page 338 Battlefield of Marye's and Salem Heights ..--. " "368 Battlefield of the Wilderness " "417 Battlefield of the Opequon " "512 Battlefields of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek " "544 Battlefield of Petersburg, April 2d, '65 . " " 600 INTRODUCTION. The story of the part taken by Vermont in the great civil strife of 1861-5, if it can be fully and fairly told, will need little garnish for its facts, in order to command atten- tion and respect. It is the war record of a small and rural commonwealth, heavily drained of its able-bodied men oy emigration, without large towns or floating population, and having thus much less than the average proportion of the material out of which modern armies are made but which nevertheless sent to the war ten men for every one hundred of its population, and out of a total enrollment of thirty- seven thousand men liable to do military duty, stood credited at last with nearly thirty-four thousand volunteers. The Vermonters were eminently men of peace; but they won honorable distinction as soldiers. The history of the war cannot be written without frequent and honorable mention of them. A Vermont regiment was the first to throw up the sacred soil of Virginia into Union intrenchments. Vermont troops made the first assault upon a Confederate fortification. In almost every great battle fought in the succeeding years by the Army of the Potomac, Vermonters took an honorable part. In the turning point of the turning struggle of the war on the red and slippery slopes of Gettysburg, in the 2 INTRODUCTION. dark jungle of the Wilderness, and in the final piercing of the defences of Kichmond, they took a decisive part. Ver- monters led the blue column which bore the stars and stripes through the blazing streets of the Confederate Capitol, in the closing scenes of the bloody drama, and Vermont soldiers were in motion upon the last charge of the war, at Appo- mattox, when it was arrested by the surrender of Lee. The war ended, and the enemies of the Union could point to the colors of no Vermont organization that had been yielded to them in action, while the troops of no other State could claim more rebel colors taken in battle, in proportion to their total numbers, than stood credited to the troops of Vermont. In proportion to population, Vermont had more of her sons killed in battle than any other Northern State, and gave to the cause of the Union more lives lost from all causes than any other State. It is the task of the writer of these pages to set down the portion of this noteworthy record which relates especially to the service of the Vermont troops in the field. As pre- liminary to this it will be well to note some connected facts which form a part of the general history of the State and of the period. CHAPTEE I. North and South on the eve of War The Early Days of 1861 Reluctance of the Vermonters to believe In the possibility of War Governor Fairbanks's Apprehensions A Warning from Governor Andrew Salutes to the Union Governor Fairbanks pledges the Support of Vermont to the Government. To one who looks back to the events preceding the first call of President Lincoln for volunteers, nothing seems stranger than the unwillingness of the men of the Northern States to believe in the possibility of civil war. Leading men of the South had meditated and threatened secession for years. In furtherance of their purpose of rebellion, which as one of the chief actors in the secession of South Carolina avowed, " had been gathering head for thirty years," the military spirit had been kept alive in the South, while it had languished and well nigh disappeared in the North. The most ominous signs of the coming trouble failed to alarm the people of the Northern States. The rumble of the wagons which took 130,000 stand of arms from the United States Arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts, on their way to Southern depots, had resounded day after day in the streets of that city, and no one had lifted voice or finger to stop the transfer. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas adopted ordi- nances of secession, and their Senators and Representa- tives withdrew from the national Congress. Actual war was levied upon the United States Government by the seizure 4 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of forts and arsenals by Southern State militiamen. A pro- visional Confederate Congress of the seceding States assem- bled, and a Confederate Government was organized and still the people of Vermont, like those of other Northern States, believed that there was to be no fighting and did nothing to prepare for it. This inaction was not the apathy of fear or stupidity. It was owing rather to a devotion to the Union, so absolute that those who held it could not bring themselves to believe that any large share of the people of the United States did not share it ; to a belief that the bet- ter impulses of the Southern masses would yet counteract the schemes of the traitors and hotheads among them ; and in part also to the advice of optimists at Washington and elsewhere, who insisted that the storm was going to blow over, and deprecated all preparations and demonstrations looking towards forcible support of the national authority, as tending to stir up strife and defeat a peaceable solution of the difficulty. At the opening of the year 1861, Erastus Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, was Governor of Vermont. A staid and stable citizen, a successful man of business, a dignified and courte- ous Christian gentleman, he was also an upright and faithful public servant and a true patriot. Levi Underwood, of Bur- lington, a leading lawyer, a man of marked independence and ability, was Lieutenant Governor; Solomon Foot and Jacob Collamer, trusted and honored by all, represented Vermont in the United States Senate; Justin S. Morrill, Eliakim P. Walton and Homer E. Royce, were her worthy representatives in the lower House of Congress. The early days of 1861, were anxious days for public men, and evidence is not wanting that the authorities of "V ermont appreciated to some extent the national emergency. On the 5th of January, 1861, Governor Fairbanks wrote to Governor Buckingham of Connecticut as follows: "I am " desirous to learn your views as to the expediency of legis- ' THE EYE OF WAK. " lation in the Free States at the present time touching the "affairs of the General Government and the action of certain "Southern States. * * * Should the plans of the " Secessionists in South Carolina and other cotton States be "persevered in and culminate in the design to seize upon "the National Capital, will it be prudent to delay a demon- "stration on the part of the Free States assuring the "General Government of their united co-operation in put- "ting down rebellion and sustaining the Constitution and "the dignity of the United States Government?" Before he had closed this letter he received a startling message from another New England governor, who had passed the point of doubt as to the designs of the secessionists, and reached the point of action. John A. Andrew was inaugurated as Governor of Massa- chusetts, Saturday, January 5th, and that very evening he despatched messengers to the governors of the other New England States, bearing letters in which he informed them that he had information which satisfied him that the seces- sionists had determined to take Washington before the 4th of March, and perhaps within thirty da}'S, and that he was about to put a portion of the Massachusetts militia in readi- ness for active service, and urged them to make similar preparation for defence of the National Capital. The messenger despatched to Governor Fairbanks was a Colo- nel "Wardrop, of New Bedford, commanding the Third Regiment of Massachusetts Militia. He went first to Mont- pelier, supposing that he would find the Governor at the State Capital; arrived there Sunday morning, and thence drove across to St. Johnsbury, which town he reached that evening. He was a pretty leaky vessel to hold communica- tions of such importance, and made little secret of his errand. The consequence was the appearance of paragraphs in the Montpelier, St. Johnsbury and New Bedford papers, announcing that Colonel Wardrop was the bearer of de- 6 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. spatches from Governor Andrew to the Governor of Vermont, urging the enlistment and equipment of the militia in antici- pation of a requisition from the President. These reports caused no little stir, and it was deemed expedient to con- tradict them. A Boston paper accordingly denied that there was any truth in them. The denial was generally accepted, and the matter passed out of the public attention for the time being. The statements, however, were true. Governor Andrew added, in his message to the gov- ernors, the suggestion that the 8th of January, being the anniversary of General Jackson's victory at New Orleans in 1815, should be made an occasion for demonstrations of loyalty by the firing of national salutes in the cities and larger towns. The idea of this came, as it is now known, from Hon. Charles Francis Adams, then a [Representa- tive of Massachusetts in Congress. The suggestion was adopted by Governor Fairbanks. He despatched telegrams and messengers to Montpelier, Burlington, St. Albans, Rut- land, Brattleboro, Bennington, Woodstock, Windsor and other towns, in all or most of which, salutes of 100 guns were fired at noon of the 8th "in honor of the Union of States, and of Major Anderson, the gallant defender of the country's honor," whose occupation of Fort Sumter, two weeks previous, had been hailed throughout the North with the liveliest satisfaction as evidence of a determination to resist the surrender of Charleston harbor to the secessionists. Governor Andrew's advice to convene the Legislature and equip the Vermont militia for active service, was more cautiously received. Governor Fairbanks at once wrote to the Vermont Senators and Representatives at Washington, announcing the information and advice he had received, and requesting their views upon the subject. He added that if the information was confirmed he should not hesitate to call a special session of the Legislature. But if the revolu- tionists had actually planned to take Washington, in his THE EVE OF WAR. 7 opinion they would not wait even thirty days, and he hoped that the Secretary of "War and General Scott were preparing for the worst. He communicated also with Governor Morgan, of New York, and with some or all of the New England Gov- ernors, requesting their views upon the emergency, and suggesting concert of action in preparing for the contingency of a call for troops to defend the Capital. To Governor Andrew he replied that he deemed it desirable that provisional measures be adopted by the legislatures of the Free States to resist the treasonable designs of the Secessionists ; that he was awaiting advices from the Eepresentatives of Vermont in Congress, and that he should call a special session of the Yermont Legislature if it was recommended by them, or if the Governors of the New England States should concur in such action. The information he received in reply to his letters proved to be of such a character that he did not deem it best to call the Legislature together in advance of a requisition from Washington. But he authorized the Yermont Senators to inform President Buchanan that he stood ready to respond to any requisition for troops, by calling into the service the uniformed militia of Yermont, and by accepting the services of volunteers to any extent needed. The remaining days of the winter wore away, with accumulating evidence of the purpose of the South to divide the Union, with rising indignation on the part of the Yer- monters without distinction of party, and stern resolve that the Union should not be divided; with abundant conscious and unconscious nerving of purpose to sustain the Govern- ment and the flag ; but with little open or actual preparation for fighting, and with a lingering hope that the dread altern- ative of war might yet be averted, growing fainter daily till it was blown to the winds by the hot breath of the guns that opened upon Sumter. CHAPTEE II. The State unprepared for War Decadence of the Militia Efforts to Revive the Militia in 1856 The Brandon and Montpelier Musters of 1858 and 1860 The Militia in 1860 Military Property of the State, January, 1861 Secession Movements Judge Smalley's Charge to a New York Grand Jury Senator Collamer's Bill to Close Southern Ports Attitude of Representatives of Vermont in Congress Prepara- tions for War General Order No. 10 The Peace Conference Acces- sion of Abraham Lincoln. If it be true, as has been said, " that when the war did actually come no people on earth were less prepared for it than those of the United States," 1 it is also true that the people of no State of the Union were less prepared for it than those of Vermont. The tide of emigration to the great West and the Pacific slope had kept the State stationary in population and well nigh stationary in means. The Yermonters were the heirs of a rich inheritance of military glory, for they were the lineal descendants of the men who, fourteen years before their Commonwealth was admitted to the Union, and while it was as yet an unorganized community, pledged to the Continental Congress the service of "more than five thousand hardy soldiers, capable of bearing arms in defence of American Liberty." 2 This amounted to an offer of the 1 Address of General W. T. Sherman at the meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, Hartford, Ct., June, 1881. 8 Declaration of Jonas Fay, Thomas Chittenden, Heman Allen and Reuben Jones, to Congress, in behalf of the inhabitants of the New Hamp- shire Grants, Jan. 15, 1777. REVIVAL OF THE MILITIA. 9 service of almost the entire fighting population of the infant State ; and they also offered that the quota of Vermont in the war with Great Britain, should be "clothed, quartered and paid by the State of Vermont." Their pledge was fulfilled, the world knows how, at Ticonderoga and Ben- nington and on many a battlefield of the Revolution. But the military spirit had become dormant among the Ver- monters. The time had passed away when every Vermonter was as handy with the rifle as with the axe. The State had ceased to make appropriations for the support of the militia. The " June trainings" had become a joke, and most of the people believed that all need of military arts and munitions was soon to be ended by the approaching end of wars and fighting among civilized nations. More than fifteen years before the outbreak of the Civil War, all State laws requir- ing the enrolled militia to do military duty, except in cases of insurrection, war, invasion, or to suppress riots, had been repealed. The effort to provide a limited active militia force by " uniform companies," raised at large, had failed. The uniformed companies had one by one disbanded ; and in 1856 there was not, and had not been for ten years, even the semblance of a military organization. This was a condition of affairs which was a source of serious disquiet to far-seeing citizens, who did not believe that the millennium had yet come, or that it was impossible that law and right should again need the support of force; and between the years 1855 and 1861, considerable effort had been made to revive the militia. In 1856 a law was passed, designed to encourage the formation of military companies, giving three dollars a year to each member of such a company, who should be armed and uniformed and should drill not less than three days during the year. Under such slight stimulus every dollar so earned requiring the expenditure of ten dollars on the part of the militia-man a few companies were organized in 10 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. the years 1857 and 1858. They were small, numbering generally less than fifty men to a company. The members procured their own uniforms, and arms were supplied by the State. There were then no regimental organizations. In the summer of 1858, Governor Byland Fletcher, who had been a militia officer under the old regime and who felt a strong interest in the revival of the militia, invited it was an invitation and not an order the various companies in the State to muster at Brandon for inspection and review. To this invitation nine companies responded. They were the Woodstock Light Infantry, Captain P. T. Washburn; the Green Mountain Eangers, of Granville, Captain J. B. Richardson; the Allen Greys, of Brandon, Captain Joseph Bush; the Howard Guard, of Burlington, Lieutenant Com- manding Edward Lyman; the Middlebury Light Guard, Captain E. S. Hayward; the Swanton Guards, Captain George M. Hall; the Hansom Guard, of St. Albans, Captain T. F. House; the Green Mountain Guard, of Bellows Falls, Captain S. G. Haskins; and the Cavendish Light Infantry, (just organized and not appearing on parade), Captain John F. Deane. They mustered on this occasion about 450 muskets. They had no tents and were quartered in the halls and houses in the village. There were present as guests, upon the invitation of Governor Fletcher, Adjutant General Ebenezer W. Stone, of Massachusetts, and Colonel Robert Cowdin, of the Second Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, with his staff. There being no Yermonter present capable of instructing the companies in battalion drill, at the request of Governor Fletcher, Adjutant General Stone took command, and gave the militia-men their first instruction in battalion movements. There was a large attendance of spectators, a torch-light procession and public meeting with speeches by prominent citizens on the evening of the first day, and an inspection and review on the second day, at the close of which the Governor took command, and forming the KEYIVAL OF THE MILITIA. 11 battalion in column by company, stormed a rocky hill on one side of the parade ground, amid the applause of thousands. This muster had its intended effect in a very general increase of public interest in the militia. New companies were formed, in different parts of the State, and during the next year the companies were organized into four regiments, constituting a brigade, which was placed under the command of Brigadier General Alonzo Jackman, Professor in the Norwich Military Academy. On the 30th of August, 1860, by order of Governor Hiland Hall, a brigade muster took place at Montpelier. In this, fourteen out of seventeen organized companies which drew pay that year from the State, took part, mustering, with field and staff officers and music, not far from 900 men. The First Begiment, Colonel J. Bush, consisted on this occasion of four companies; the Second Regiment, Colonel W. W. Cochran, of five companies, to which was added the only company of the Third Eegiment present, and the Fourth Eegiment, Colonel George J. Stannard, of four companies all under command of Brigadier General Jackman. The brigade went regularly into camp in tents provided by the State, and during the muster the men had their first instruc- tion and experience in camp life, with which many of them were soon to become so familiar. At the close of the year 1860, the books of the Adjutant General's office bore the names of twenty-two organized companies ; but of these five had little more than a nominal existence. The other seventeen were uniformed according to the varying taste and means of the several companies, but without overcoats, and most of them were armed with smooth- bore percussion muskets, one or two companies, however, having only old flint-locks. These were nominally organized into a brigade of four regiments, under command of Brigadier General Alonzo Jackman. The regimental commanders in February, 1861, were: First Eegiment, Colonel C. H. 12 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Joyce, of Nortlifield ; Second Kegiment, Colonel W. W. Cochran, of Bellows Falls ; Third Kegiment, Colonel D. W. Blanchard, of Coventry; Fourth Eegiment, Colonel George J. Stannard, of St. Albans. The regimental organization, was, however, in each case, little more than a list on paper. The military property of the State, in January, 1861, consisted of 957 muskets; seven six pounder field pieces, three of brass and four of iron ; 503 Colt's pistols, described by the Quartermaster General as "of no practical use what- ever ;" and 104 tents. In other words the State had arms to arm a single army regiment, no more. During the winter and spring of 1861, acts of rebellion in the Southern States followed rapidly. The transport Star of the West, laden with troops for the reinforcement of Fort Sumter, was fired upon and driven from Charleston Harbor by the South Carolina batteries. State after State passed ordinances of Secession. Fort after fort in the South was occupied by Southern State Militia. A rapid recruiting of military companies was going on at the South, and the seceding States were providing themselves with arms and munitions of war, a considerable portion of which were sup- plied from New York city. The attitude of the State of Yermont, as represented by her public men at this time, was not equivocal. On the 14th of January, Hon. D. A. Smalley, United States District Judge for the District of Yermont, sit- ting for the time being in the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, delivered to the Grand Jury a memorable charge, in which he defined the seizures of Federal forts and property by the Southern Militia to be acts of treason, and declared that "any individual owing allegiance to the United States who shall furnish these Southern traitors with arms or munitions of war, vessels, or means of transportation, or materials which will aid the traitors in carrying out their traitorous purpose, is clearly liable to be indicted, tried, convicted and executed as a THE EVE OF WAR. 13 traitor for death is the penalty of treason !" On the 23d of January, Senator Collamer introduced in the United States Senate the only practical measure of resistance proposed in that Congress a bill authorizing the President to close the ports of the seceded States, and suspending the United States mail service in those States. A few days later, Hon. E. P. Walton, of Vermont, declared in a speech upon the floor of the House of Representatives, that "to compromise with Secession was to license rebellion for all future time, and that it would be more dangerous to surrender to rebellion than to resist it." Hon. Justin S. Merrill, of Vermont, at the same time avowed his opinion that no compromise was pos- sible, and declared that for one he would do nothing to admit the right of secession, or to commit the Republic "to the crumbling processes of mutiny and decay." On the 26th of January, the first open note of prepara- tion for the impending conflict on the part of the State of Vermont, appeared in the publication of an executive order, dated January 21st, directing the Adjutant and Inspector General to issue notices to the town clerks and listers who had failed as most of them had done to make returns of the number of persons liable to do service in the militia in their respective towns, requiring their immediate compliance with the statute on that subject. This was followed by an order General Order No. 10 to the officers of the various companies of uniformed militia, directing them to ascertain at once whether any men in their commands were unable or indisposed to respond to the orders of the Commander in Chief, made upon any requisition of the President of the United States to aid in the maintenance of the laws and the peace of the Union, in order that they might be discharged and their places filled by men ready for any public exigency that might arise. The captains were directed in the same order to make proper exertions to have all 14 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. vacancies in the ranks of their companies filled, and the men properly drilled and uniformed. Compliance with the first of these orders was very slow on the part of the listers, and the enrollment of the Militia was still so imperfect when the call for troops came, that the number of men liable to do military duty in the State could not be determined with even an approximation to correctness ' To General Order No. 10, the captains of ten companies made written response, reporting an aggregate of 376 men armed, partly equipped, and willing to respond to a call to active service. 2 The largest company numbered but seventy- five officers and men, and the average of the rest was less than fifty. The companies generally began to brush up in drill; but very little progress was made towards filling their ranks. Meantime the possibility of a peaceful solution of the national problem was kept alive by fresh schemes of com- promise proposed in Congress, and by negotiations between the Southern leaders and the administration at Washington. The famous Peace Conference had also been called by the Legislature of Virginia, and Governor Fairbanks had ap- pointed five prominent citizens Ex-Governor Hiland Hall, Lieutenant Governor Underwood, Hon. L. E. Chittenden, 1 Adjutant General's Report, 1862, p. 6. 2 The commanders of other companies probably made verbal response to the order. Replies from only ten captains are on file in the Adjutant General's Office. One captain replied that as his company had had nothing but old flint-lock muskets, and the State had refused or delayed to supply them proper guns and equipments, they "were not disposed to respond. Another captain asked to be excused from acting under General Order No. 10, on the ground that the order was not in accordance with any law of the State of Vermont or other authority. He added, however, that his men were "ready to do their duty at all times under the laws of the State or of the United States." And the event proved that he knew his men; for when the call came the company was one of the first to respond. It inarched with full ranks, and no company rendered better service. THE EVE OF WAR. 15 Adjutant General H. H. Baxter, and Hon B. D. Harris as commissioners to represent Yermont in the Conference. During the session of the Conference, protracted with closed doors for twenty-four days, the Confederate Govern- ment had organized at Montgomery, Alabama, with Jefferson Davis as its president. Yet the hope that Virginia and the other border slave States might be held back from Seces- sion, 1 and that in that or some other way the impending collision might be averted, though faint at strongest, was sufficient to hold in abeyance all active preparations for war in the Green Mountain State. The 4th of March came and went without an outbreak. The schemes of the hot-heads for the capture of Washington had been held in check by the more cautious Southern leaders; and a President committed to the pusillanimous doctrine of "non-coercion," had given place to Abraham Lincoln, who in his inaugural pronounced the Union to be still unbroken and announced his purpose to "hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the Govern- 1 The attitude of Virginia, as the representative and most powerful of the border States, was aptly set forth in the following lines, contributed to the New York Commercial Advertiser: VIRGINIA TO THE NORTH. Thus speaks the Sovereign Old Dominion To Northern States her frank opinion, FIRST. Move not a flnger ; 't is coercion, The signal for our prompt dispersion. SECOND. Walt till I make my full decision, Be it for union or division. If I declare my ultimatum Accept my terms as I shall state 'em. Then I'll remain while I'm Inclined to, Seceding when 1 have a mind to. 16 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. m3nt." Yet Mr. Lincoln still held out the olive branch to the secessionists ; and the people of Vermont, who had followed his leadership with a greater approach to unanimity than any other community of equal numbers, were willing to share his hope that the madness of rebellion would yet give way to reason and patriotism. CHAPTEE III. The Call to Arms The Governor's First "War Proclamation Detail of Militia for the First Regiment Procurement of Arms A Notable War Meeting Popular Feeling in the State Special Session of the Legis- lature Appropriation of a Million Dollars Other War Measures . Unanimity of the Legislature and People. The roar of the cannon which echoed from Charleston Harbor throughout the land on the 12th of April, 1861, awoke the soundest sleeper from his dream of peace. The people of Vermont rose with the grand uprising of the North ; and thenceforward for four years the main thought of the people of the State, without distinction of party, sex or condition, was how they should do the most to aid the Government in its task of quelling rebellion, and preserving the union of the States. The news of the surrender of Fort Sumter and Presi- dent Lincoln's first call for 75,000 troops reached Vermont on the 14th of April. The first was received with most intense indignation; the latter with inexpressible satisfac- tion. There had been so much talk by public men of want of constitutional power to compel a seceding State to remain in the Union, and of absence of authority to enforce the laws of the United States except through the formal pro- cess of the issuing of writs from a United States Court, to be executed by a United States Marshal, and Mr. Lincoln's own spirit and utterances had been so conciliatory and peaceable that the people had come almost to doubt the Government's power of self preservation, and at least to wonder at what 18 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. stage of rebellion it could be and would be exerted. The President's call to arms "by virtue of powers in me vested by the Constitution and the laws," his announcement that the first duty of the troops would be " to repossess the forts, places and property " which had been seized from the Union, and his appeal to all loyal citizens to " maintain the honor, the integrity and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough endured," settled all such doubts and were hailed with a feeling of relief and joy past all ex- pression. The response of the State in its organic capacity was prompt. Governor Fairbanks at once issued a proclamation announcing the outbreak of armed robellion, the receipt of a requisition from the President of the United States, calling for a regiment for immediate service, and the issuance of the necessary orders for immediate response thereto; and calling a special session of the Legislature, to organize, arm and equip the militia, and to co-operate with the general Government in the suppression of the Southern insurrection. This proclamation bore even date with President Lincoln's proclamation, and is believed to have antedated by at least a day all similar proclamations issued by the Governors of the other Free States. The circular of the Secretary of War, accompanying the President's requisition, called for one regiment of infantry, of 780 men, from Yermont. The State, as we have shown, had not a regiment in readiness to march. Colonel Stannard, of the Fourth Militia Regiment, indeed notified Adjutant General Baxter that his regiment would be ready to march at twelve hours notice ; l but it consisted of but four com- panies, numbering all told less than 200 men, and these were really in no condition to take the field, though they would 1 Colonel Stannard is believed to have been the first Vermonter to volunteer, after the call for troops. RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO ARMS. 19 have gone as they were if the offer had been accepted. Several companies in other regiments indicated their readi- ness to march at a day's notice. Governor Fairbanks replied to the Secretary of War that he would place a regiment at his disposal as soon as it could be equipped ; and gave immediate orders to Adjutant General Baxter for the detailing of ten companies of the Uniform Militia, and to Quartermaster General Davis to procure the necessary knap- sacks, overcoats, blankets, and camp equipage. General Davis went at once to the Springfield (Mass.) armory for rifled muskets to fully arm the regiment, the State having then but 500 rifled muskets. Colonel Ingersoll, in command of the armory, would not deliver the arms without an order from the Ordnance Department at Washington, or from Governor Andrew of Massachusetts. General Davis there- upon hastened to Boston, procured an order from Governor Andrew for 300 rifled muskets, and an hour later they were on board the cars for Rutland, Vermont. General Davis obtained overcoats and blankets for the regiment, such as were being procured for the Massachusetts volunteers, in Boston. The more spirited of the company commanders had at the first n3ws of the call for troops abandoned their customary business, thrown open the armories of the com- panies and commenced recruiting, with prompt and ample response from the young men of their respective towns. On the evening of April 19th the field officers of the several Militia regiments met at Burlington, by order of Adjutant General Baxter, to consult with him and General Jackman and to select the companies which were to form the First Eegiment of Vermont Volunteers. Eight companies the Bradford, Brandon, Burlington, Northfield, Rutland, St. Albans, Swanton and Woodstock companies were reported as substantially full and in efficient condition. From the several other companies reported as less fully prepared, the Middlebury and Cavendish companies were 20 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. selected to make up the quota for the " Vermont Contingent." The companies all commenced active drill, and put them- selves in readiness to obey marching orders. While the State officers were thus giving their utmost energies to secure prompt response to the President's call the people of Vermont were seconding their efforts in all pos- sible ways. Public meetings were held in every considerable town and village in the State to express the loyal sentiments of the people, to encourage volunteers, to pledge men for the Union, and money to equip them and to support their families in their absence. One of the first of these may be briefly described as a sample of all. It was called in Bur- lington by a number of leading citizens on the 17th of April, and met on the evening of the 18th. The town hall, holding over a thousand persons, was filled to overflowing and hun- dreds went away from the doors unable to gain entrance. The meeting was called to order by Hon. George W. Bene- dict, and President Calvin Pease of the University of Vermont, was made Chairman. Hon. George P. Marsh, then on the eve of his departure as United States Minister to Italy, was the principal speaker. He said: "Our people, slow to move, are now roused, and are swayed by a spirit mightier than any that has stirred them since Bunker Hill. Party distinctions are dropped, millions of money are offered to the Government, and volunteers to any number needed are pouring to the rendezvous. They will before long meet the Southrons face to face, and I venture to predict will make good General Washington's description, when he gave it as the result of his observations, that the Northern soldiers if not in as great a hurry as some others to get into battle, were also not in so great a hurry to get out of it. From the scenes and labors of this time of trial, I, in the discharge of the duties to which I have been called, must go. It is for you to remain and like our ancestors of revolutionary memory to pledge your lives, your fortunes and your sacred honor RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO AEMS. 21 to the Constitution we have sworn to maintain. The Legis- lature has been called to meet in special session. If you would give your representative his instructions tell him to advocate the appropriation by the State of half a million of dollars in money, and the raising not of one regiment "but of four, six, ten or twenty regiments if necessary, for the support of the Government." As Mr. Marsh spoke a large United States flag was flung from one of the galleries in the hall, and as the eyes of the audience fell on the broad folds of red, white and blue, they sprang to their feet, cheering with contagious and electric enthusiasm, till many of them burst into tears and cried like children, with overpowering emotion. Stirring speeches were made by Hon George F. Edmunds, J. S. Adams, and other citizens. A leading dem- ocrat, I. B. Bowdish, said he had been one of the hardest of hardshell democrats ; he had believed as well as he could that the negro was born to servitude and that his con- dition was improved by it in this country; but having stood up for the rights of the South, he now stood up for the North and for the flag. Civil war had begun, and he knew of no polite way of carrying it on. He was for appro- priating every dollar and for sending every available man if necessary to settle this question. Eesolutions were unani- mously adopted instructing the representative of Burlington in the Legislature to vote for a war appropriation of $500,000, and in favor of pledging the entire military force of the State for the support of the Federal Government. Sub- scription lists for men and money were opened ; twenty-one volunteers (in addition to a number already enlisted) enrolled their names on the spot, and several thousand dollars were pledged for the support of the families of volunteers during their absence. Similar scenes were witnessed all over the State. The public meetings and flag-raisings were so numerous that the newspapers could not chronicle them and noticed only the 22 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. larger and more notable of them. The stars and stripes flew from almost every public building and from thousands of private ones, to an extent limited only by the supply of red, white and blue bunting, which fell far short of the demand. The offers of money for the equipment of volun- teers and for the support of their families during their absence in the army aggregated hundreds of thousands of dollars. The two Montpelier banks each placed $25,000 at the disposal of Governor Fairbanks for the equipment of troops. The Bank of Burlington tendered ten per cent, of its capital for the same purpose and more if needed. The Bank of St. Albans made a similar offer. James E. Langdon, of Montpelier, offered to the State $20,000 from his private fortune. Thomas McDaniels, at a war meeting held in Ben- nington, tendered $10,000 to the State authorities. At a meeting in St. Johnsbury, the firm of E. & T. Fairbanks pledged $2,000 to a fund for the support of families of volun- teers. At a meeting in Winooski, William C. Harding headed a similar paper with $1,000, and offered to make it $10,000 if needed. T. W. Park, Esq., of San Francisco, California, sent to Governor Fairbanks his check for $1,000 to help fit out the sons of his native State for battle, or to support the families of those who should fall in defence of the flag. F. P. Fletcher of Bridport, pledged $1,000 a year during the war to assist the families of volunteers. Many towns voted considerable sums to be raised on the Grand List, and still larger amounts were pledged on subscription papers for the equipment of the Militia and for the support of the families of volunteers. Men and money were thus tendered all over the State. The students of the University of Yermont and of Middlebury College organized themselves into military companies and began drilling. The services of every man in the State capable of drilling a squad of recruits were called into use. All the railroad and transportation com- panies tendered their lines and boats to the Governor, free, RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO ARMS. 23 for the transportation of troops and munitions of war. The women of the towns from which companies were chosen assembled daily and labored industriously in the making of uniforms for the recruits, and a resolution adopted by an association of 200 ladies of Burlington saying: "We further resolve that we will consider all our time and all our energies sacred to this object [the restoration of the authority of the Government] until it shall be accomplished, and if need be until the end of the war," expressed the devotion of their sex. The State was in a blaze of patriotic feeling which melted all barriers of party, sect or station. Those who did not share it probably did not number one in a thousand of the population. They preserved for the most part a judicious silence. The community was fused into a compact and har- monious mass, instinct with a single purpose to stand by the Government and to crush the rebellion at whatever cost. The Legislature met in special session on the 25th of April, with full houses and a numerous attendance of lead- ing ?itizens, outside of its number. The trains which brought the members to the capital were greeted with a national salute of thirty-four guns from the two brass field pieces captured by General Stark at the battle of Bennington. At the hour Lieutenant Governor Underwood took the chair of the Senate, and Speaker Hunton that of the House. On motion of a leading Democrat, Stephen Thomas of West Fairlee, 1 the oath of allegiance to the United States Gov- 1 The political classification of the two Houses was : Senate, Repub- licans, 29; Democrats, 1; House, Republicans, 211 ; Democrats, 25. . The Democrats in the Legislature and in attendance upon the session held a private meeting the evening before to decide upon their course. Several were in favor of resisting all war measures from the start. Hon. Paul Dillingham, of Waterbury, told them that would never do. "If the Republicans propose to raise five regiments'" said he to Mr. Thomas, who was to be the leader of the Democrats on the floor of the House, " do you go for raising ten. If they want half a million for troops, do you move to make it a million." Mr. Thomas's own feeling was in hearty 24 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. ernment was administered to the members, in addition to the usual oath, which then contained no allusion to the General Government, and after prayer and the usual pre- liminaries the two Houses met in joint assembly to hear the Governor's message. In this Governor Fairbanks announced that he had already called into the service ten companies of the Militia to form a regiment in response to the requisition of the President, and that the Quartermaster General had procured for them the necessary outfit of overcoats, blankets and camp equipage. In anticipation of further calls for troops for the defence of the National Capital, then in immi- nent peril from an imposing military force, he urged immediate and efficient action for the organizing of the militia, and ample appropriations for military purposes. Within twenty-four hours thereafter a bill appropriating one million dollars for war expenses, had passed both Houses by unanimous votes; and in forty-two hours from the time it met the Legislature had completed its work and adjourned, having also passed acts providing for the organizing, arming and equipment of six more regiments (in addition to the one already called for), for two years service ; giving to each pri- vate seven dollars a month of State pay, in addition to the thirteen dollars offered by the Government ; providing for the relief of the families of volunteers at State expense in cases of destitution ; committing to the Governor the duty of organiz- ing the regiments and appointing the field officers thereof; and laying the first war tax of ten cents on the dollar of the Grand List. This rapid despatch of business showed the intense desire of the people for immediate action. In the appropriation of a million dollars a much larger sum than had as yet been voted by any State in proportion to popula- accord with this advice. Other patriots present supported this view of their duty, and from that time on there was no distinction of parties in the Legislature on any war question. RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO ARMS. 25 ' and in the provisions for recruiting volunteers for two years, while as yet the Government had called for only three months' troops, and for adding to the quota called for six more regiments which would be Vermont's share of an army of 600,000 men the Legislature expressed the general con- viction of the members that the war was not to be one of short duration or small dimensions and in these respects as well as in the unanimity and stern resolution which char- acterized all the action and utterances of the session, the legislature well represented the people of Vermont 2 . There were sharp discussions over the size of the war appropria- tion, and over the question whether the regimental officers should be elected or appointed, but in these the side which was for the larger service and most effective organization, easily carried the day. The unique provision for the families of the volunteers especially entitles this Legislature to last- ing honor. Under this, in no case could the needy families of soldiers in the field be deemed or become town paupers. If in want they were to be, and in practice thereafter were, treated as the beneficiaries of the State, and were supplied, under the care of State agents, with all that they required. This provision and that for giving State pay to the soldiers, which eventually took about four millions of dollars from the 1 "Vermont has a population of but about 300,000, mostly farmers, and yet has made an appropriation of $1,000,000 to aid in maintaining the stars and stripes. Many have done nobly; but none, resources considered, have equalled this." JV. Y. World, April 28, 1861. 2 At the close of one of the sessions of the House on the first day, a member proposed that the representatives rise and sing "The Star Spangled Banner." The members rose, but no one could start the tune and they had to sit down without singing. At the close of the evening session, however, another effort was made with better success. A choir of twenty-five singers, each provided with a small national flag, occupied one of the gal- leries and sang the patriotic anthem with great spirit and much waving of banners, the members and spectators joining in the refrain with the utmost enthusiasm. 26 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. State treasury, were without precedent, and had few if any parallels in other States. By the energetic efforts of the State officers and of the patriotic women who assisted in the making of the uniforms (which were of gray cloth) the first regiment was armed and equipped in a marvelously short time, considering that every State was then in the market as a purchaser of arms and munitions, and that of various essential articles there was a very scant supply in the country. By the 30th day of April everything needed was provided, and the companies received orders to rendezvous at Rutland. "While the organization and equipment of the First Regiment was in progress, the informal enrollment of volun- teers by recruiting officers, self-appointed or selected by the citizens, had been going on all over the State with great activity ; ' and before the regiment was mustered into the United States service the State authorities began prepara- tions for the organization of two more regiments. Commis- sions for the recruiting of troops for these were issued by Governor Fairbanks on the 7th of May ; and within three days the services of fifty-six full companies were tendered to the Adjutant-General. Of these only twenty could be then accepted, but the turn of each and all came in due time. 2 1 Charles M. Bliss, then of Woodford, Vermont, claims to have been the first volunteer who put his name to an agreement to serve for the war. On the 19th of April, 1861, upon learning of President Lincoln's first call for troops, Mr. Bliss drew up a paper which he signed and offered to others to sign, pledging his services as a soldier for the war. Mr. Bliss enlisted in the Second Regiment, and served till discharged after the Peninsula campaign, on account of disability resulting from Chickahominy fever. 1 The spirit of these early volunteers may be inferred from incidents similar to the following, which were occurring all over the State : A young man working in a saw-mill in Jericho, decided to volunteer. Thereupon, by working all night he got a free day, in the forenoon of which he rode twenty miles to Burlington to engage a man to take his place in the mill. He returned to Jericho in the afternoon and evening ; started his saw at 11 P. M., and sawed all night ; next morning walked five miles to take the RESPONSE TO THE CALL TO ARMS. 27 Under the act of the Legislature, the regiments sub- sequent to the First were to be enlisted for two years. Be- fore any organization under this statute had taken place, President Lincoln's second call for 42,000 volunteers for three years was issued. Official notice immediately followed from Washington, that volunteers could now only be received by the General Government for three years, or during the war if it should end in less time. Under these circumstances the two years' limit fixed by the Yermont act was ignored, and the second and all subsequent regiments were enlisted for three years. train for Burlington ; enlisted in the company forming there, drilled three hours and took the train back; worked all that night and next day appeared again in the ranks at Burlington, having worked and ridden three days and nights with but an hour or two of rest and less of sleep. CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST REGIMENT. Organization of the First Regiment Sketches of the Field Officers Camp Fairbanks Delays in Mustering in Off at Last for the War General Scott's opinion of the Vermonters Reception at Troy and in New York Voyage to Fortress Monroe Quarters in the Hygeia Hotel Expedition to Hampton Occupation of Newport News. The First Regiment of Vermont Volunteers, as lias been stated, consisted of the Brandon, Middlebury, Rutland, Northfield, "Woodstock, Bradford, Cavendish, Burlington, St. Albans, and Swanton companies, of the Militia, desig- nated by an executive order dated April 27th, 1861. The commissions of its field and staff officers bore date of the day previous, April 26th. The wisdom with which this regiment was officered has never been questioned. The general desire that it should be placed under the command of an experienced soldier, was met by the appointment, as Colonel, of Captain John "W. Phelps of Brattleboro. A native Vermonter, a graduate of the United States Military Academy (of the class of 1836), with a record of twenty-three years of constant and capable service as Lieutenant and Captain of the Fourth Artillery in Texas, on the Plains and in Mexico, where he was severely wounded ; with abilities which caused him to be selected as one of a commission of three officers, to whom was entrusted the preparation of the manual for the artillery service of the United States army, which was in use for many years and n Headquarters Second Brigade, Feb. 2, 1863. j SIR, Having esteemed it my duty on account of having received a mili- tary education, to offer my services in this war, and having found that 106 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Colonel Whiting retired to his home in Michigan with the reputation of a careful and conscientious officer, who looked faithfully to the welfare of his men and meant to do his duty. He had survived the early prejudice against him among his men and carried with him the friendship and best wishes of many of the officers who at one time signed a peti- tion requesting him to resign. On his part he held the Yer- monters under him, with a few individual exceptions, in high esteem, and never lost his regard for them. 1 Lieutenant Colonel James H. Walbridge succeeded to the colonelcy. He was of patriotic lineage, being the grand- son of General Ebenezer Walbridge, who was one of the pioneers in the settlement of Bennington County, active in the early struggles of Vermont for independence, an officer of Seth Warner's regiment of Green Mountain Boys in the campaign against Quebec in 1776, adjutant of the regiment in the battle of Bennington, and subsequently a colonel and general of militia, during and after the War of the Revolu- tion. He followed the sea for several years in his youth and then went to California, and was employed in the State though the regiment which I have had the honor to command is admitted to be one of the best in the service, it having at all times performed all that has been asked of it, as well as the Second Brigade since I have commanded it; it is therefore believed by me that my undertaking has not been a failure, in point of a full, hearty and effectual service. Still I now find myself at that point where I have no doubt that it is my duty to resign. I do therefore hereby resign my commission as Colonel Second Vermont Infantry, and consequently the command of the Second Brigade. Though the first colonel mustered into service in the first five Vermont regiments, I am the only one now holding that office, and of the field and staff of the first three Vermont regiments I am the only one. I have served an age and am entitled to an honorable discharge. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully your obedient servant, H. WHITING. Lieut. Col. E. Mattocks, A. A. G. , 2d Div. , 6th Corps. 1 "With regard to the Vermont troops, I feel like the boy who was directed to skim the milk, put up the cream and take the milk for his dinner. He said the cream was good enough for him. So I say the Ver- mont troops are good enough for me." Letter of Colonel Whiting. THE SECOND REGIMENT. 107 printing office in San Francisco, when, in 1856, the famous Yigilance Committee was organized to put down ruffianism and maintain order in that city. Of this he was an active member, and received his first military training in the drills by which the committee prepared itself to use arms if neces- sary. At the outbreak of the civil war, he was at his former home in Bennington ; was among the first to respond to the call for three years' men, was chosen captain of his company, and received the first commission issued in Vermont to an .officer of a three years' regiment. He had shown himself cool and efficient in action, and capable in command in the intermediate grades of rank, and now brought to the colonelcy, experience, fidelity, and recognized ability. Major Newton Stone succeeded him as lieutenant colonel and Captain John S. Tyler, of Co. C., was appointed major. No other changes of field officers took place till the vacancies made by the slaughter in the Wilderness, more than a year later, were filled. The Winter of 1862-3 and the Spring were occupied in picket and guard duty and drill, till May brought a resump- tion of active hostilities, in the Chancellorsville campaign. In the storming of the heights of Fredericksburg, on the 3d of May, by Howe's Division, which was so glorious a feature of that inglorious campaign, the Second, under Colonel Wai- bridge, was distinguished by its gallantry and its loss. Though forming part of the second line in the assault, it was one of the first regiments which gained the crest of Marye's famous heights and drove the enemy from his works, captur- ing three guns, and, supported by the Thirty-Third New York and Seventh Maine, it held the position, with a loss of 11 men killed and 94 wounded, five of them mortally, 1 1 The killed were Josiah W. Norcross of Company A ; Robert P. Lord and George A. Rice of Company C ; Frederick W. Chamberla.u and Thomas R. Williams of Company E ; Amos N. Bennett, Harry Hall and Franklin E. Minard of Company F; Sumner E. Parker of 108 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. the entire loss of the rest of the brigade being one killed and 15 wounded. Among the severely wounded were Captain Horace F. Grossman, of Montpelier, Company F, who lost a leg, 1 and Captain A. S. Tracy, of Middlebury, Company H. In the battle near Banks' Ford, next day, when the Vermont brigade repulsed superior numbers and covered the crossing of the Sixth corps, the regiment was again sharply engaged, and held its ground against repeated assaults, with a loss of six killed and 20 wounded, 2 four of whom died of their wounds. Among the latter was First Lieutenant F. A. Gleason of Company C, who died of his wounds May 30th. Colonel Walbridge and Lieutenant John J. Bain, acting Aide-de-Camp on Colonel Grant's staff, were especially men- tioned for gallantry, in Colonel L. A. Grant's official report. The regiment remained in camp with the brigade at White Oak Church, for a month, till on the 5th of Juno Howe's division was again thrown across the Kappahannock in order to ascertain whether or no General Lee, whose northern march for the invasion of Pennsylvania had now begun, had withdrawn the division which had been stationed around Fredericksburg. The Second crossed the river in pontoon boats, and advanced with the brigade half a mile beyond the river, pushing back the enemy ; the latter was found to be there in force, and the brigade re-crossed the river 48 hours later, and remained in camp on the eastern side till the 13th, of Company H ; Philip W. Crosby of Company I ; and Daniel McKinn of Company K. C. S. Samson of Company A; Patrick Burgin of Company D ; Truman O. Brown of Company E ; L. K. Harris of Company F ; and R. M. Worthing of Company H died of their wounds. 1 Captain Crossman's leg was amputated a few days after the engage- ment. He was honorably discharged, for disability resulting from this wound, October 30th, 1863. 2 The killed were Madison Cook, Warren Houghton and John M. Lamphear, of Co. C ; Chauncey L. Church, of Co. G ; William Higgins and John P. Perry, of Co. K ; D. Hazelton and J. Ryan of Co. G, and H. E. Soule of Co. H. died of their wounds. THE SECOND REGIMENT. 109 when it started for the north with the Sixth corps. It shared in the toilsome march over the familiar route through Fairfax and Centreville, and on through Maryland and to Gettysburg. In the famous affair with Anderson's Georgia brigade at Funkstown, Md., on the 10th of July, described in a subse- quent chapter, the Second took an honorable part and had one man killed. 1 On the 1st of August, the regiment being then in camp with the brigade near Warrenton, Va., the morning report showed an aggregate of 801 men, of whom 141 were sick. The health of the regiment improved rapidly during its stay at Warrenton. On August 14th the regiment went with the brigade to New York, to maintain order during the draft, and after a stay of two weeks in the city was sent by steamer to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where it remained eight days. It won high praise from the press and people of both those cities, for its discipline and good conduct. 2 A number of the officers and men took advantage of their nearness to home at Poughkeepsie, to send for their wives and families, and many pleasant family reunions marked their stay in that city. On the 13th of September the regiment returned to New York, went thence to Alexandria, where the brigade concentrated on the 16th, next day marched out to Fair- fax Court House, and on the 22d joined the Sixth corps encamped near Culpepper Court House. The Second ac- companied the brigade in the various marchings and counter- marchings of the Sixth corps in the region between Bull 1 Corporal Walter J. Kurd, Company K. 2 The appearance of the rank and file of these war-scarred veterans [of the Second Vermont] as they marched up the street with heavy tread in the dead of night, was grand and imposing. * * * They have been on duty in the city of New York during the draft in that district, and their presence in that city was marked by politeness and orderly conduct. The citizens among whom they were quartered speak highly of their character as a regiment, and regret that they left so soon. Poughkeepsie JSagle, Sept. 6th, 1863. 110 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Eun and the Kappahannock during the month of October. On the 18th of October, it was marching from Centreville to Gainesville over the turnpike across which it made its first advance into battle, and in sight of the slope on which it met the enemy at the first Bull Kun. On the 26th, the regiment being then in camp with the brigade at Warrenton, it had the misfortune to lose its quar- termaster, who was captured by Mosby, the guerrilla chief- tain. Quartermaster Stone was near New Baltimore, Va., five miles northwest of Warrenton, on his way to camp with a supply train of twenty wagons, when he was overtaken by Colonel Mosby with a hundred men of his irregular cavalry. These were dressed in the Federal army blue, and at first represented themselves to be a squadron of the Eighteenth Pennsylvania cavalry. Soon announcing himself, Mosby made Stone a prisoner, together with his brother, J. P. Stone, who accompanied him, 1 his cook, trainmaster, blacksmith, and twenty teamsters. The mules were run off, the train plundered and destroyed, and a considerable sum in money belonging to the government, in the quartermaster's posses- sion, was confiscated by his captor. The regiment was under artillery fire at Eappahannock Station on the 7th of November, without loss, and had a similar experience on the 27th of November, during General Meade's advance to Mine Eun, south of the Eapidan. On the 28th, a large part of the regiment was on picket on the right of the army, near Mine Eun, and all suffered severely from a cold rain storm. The next night men froze at their posts. 2 The men suffered from exposure, and occasionally 1 Sons of Rev. L. H, Stone of Northfield, the chaplain of the First Ver- mont. Lieutenant Stone was a prisoner for over 13 months, being finally exchanged at Charleston, S. C., December 4th, 1864. 2 "Many of the men who were on the picket line that day, [November 30th] and the night before, were found when the relief came around, dead at their posts, frozen. Surgeon Stevens, Three Years in the Sixth Corps, p. 297. THE SECOND REGIMENT. HI from hunger during this, the last offensive movement of the Army of the Potomac in the fall campaign of 1863 ; but came out of it in better condition than might have been expected. On the 1st of December the sick numbered 124 in an aggregate of 934 officers and men, and on the 1st of January, 1864, 110 were on the sick list in an aggregate of 931. On the 18th of December, the regiment had the novel and painful experience of witnessing the execution of one of their number for desertion. He was a young recruit, named George E. Blowers, who had enlisted three months previously and had been assigned to Co. A., of the Second regiment. He and a man of the Fifth Vermont named John Tague, had been convicted by a General Court Mar- tial of desertion under aggravated circumstances. That military crime was becoming frequent and the army authorities had decided that some examples must be made. The men were sentenced to be shot to death by musketry, and the sentence was executed in the presence of the entire division. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Gen. Howe's divi- sion was formed in three sides of a hollow square, enclosing the commanding general and his staff. The prisoners were brought in in ambulances, guarded by 24 men of the Provost guard, to whom was entrusted the execution of the sentence. After the reading by the Asst. Adjutant General of the division of the findings and sentences of the court martial, prayer was offered by Chaplain Mack of the Third Vermont ; the men knelt on their coffins ; and each placing his right hand over his heart as a signal that he was ready for death, the muskets rang out at the word of command, and both fell forward and expired instantly. It was a solemn transaction and made a deep sensation in the regiment. Blowers was the only man of the Second Vermont executed for desertion during the war, though several members of the regiment were sent to the Dry Tortugas and otherwise punished for the same offence. 112 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. During the month of December 167 men of the Second re-enlisted, under an order of the War Department author- izing (and paying a bounty of $402 for) the re-enlistment of men having less than one year of the original term of enlist- ment to serve ; and in the following months of January and February, 14 more re-enlisted, making a total of 181. The regiment was in camp with the brigade and the corps, at Brandy Station, during the winter of 1863-4, with the exception of five days, from February 27th to March 2d, during which the Sixth corps w r as sent to Madison Court House, to support General Ouster's cavalry expedition to Charlottesville, Ya. There was no fighting, but the march back from Madison Court House in the mud was a trying one. The winter was on the whole a cheerful and comfortable one, and the health of the regiment improved, till on the 30th of April, 1864, but 77 men were reported sick, in an aggregate of 941 the smallest proportion of sick men ever reported while the regiment was in the field. On the 1st of April, Colonel Walbridge, who had been for some time a sufferer from chronic rheumatism affecting his lower limbs, resigned, and Lieut. Colonel Newton Stone suc- ceeded him as colonel. Colonel Stone was the son of Rev. Ambrose Stone of Eeadsboro. He had selected the law as his profession and Bennington as his place of residence and business, and had before him the prospect of a successful professional career, when, at the age of 23, he enlisted and went out as First Lieutenant of Co. A. of the Second Vermont. He had repeatedly distinguished himself in battle, and reached the colonelcy by successive promotions through all the interme- diate ranks. His term of command was brief but glorious, ending a month later in the murderous Wilderness. On the 4th of May, 1864, the regiment marched with the Sixth corps and the army, to take its share of the perils and glory of General Grant's overland campaign. In the battles of THE SECOND REGIMENT. 113 the Wilderness, May 5th and 6th, the Second fought with the old brigade on the left of the Orange Plank-road. It was on the first day placed in the second line, its right resting on the Plank-road, but moved forward into the front line, after the fighting became severe, and did some of the hardest and best fighting that was done in those two bloody days, at a fearful cost. Its gallant young commander was killed on the 5th. About five o'clock in the afternoon Colonel Stone re- ceived a flesh wound in the leg, and was taken to the rear. As soon as the wound was dressed he called for his horse, and rode back to the front. The men greeted him with cheers, as he rejoined his command, which was sturdily holding its ground under a fearful fire of musketry. He addressed them as follows : " Well, boys, this is rough work : but I have done as I told you I wished you to do, not to leave for a slight wound, but to remain just as long as you can do any good. I am here to stay as long as I can do any good." He then rode along the line, speaking a word of cheer to every company. As he halted to address Company B, a musket ball entered his head, and he fell from his horse a corpse. When the regiment was withdrawn to the rear, the enemy pressed forward over the ground it had held, and Colonel Stone's body fell into their hands. The enemy again falling back, it was soon after recovered, and was finally taken to Bennington for burial. 1 After Colonel Stone's death the command devolved upon Lieutenant Colonel Tyler, a boy in years, but a brave and capable officer. He did not hold it long, for just before dark, as he was directing the movement of the regiment to the position on the Brock Koad which it held at nightfall, a musket ball passed through his thigh, inflicting a wound which proved mortal. Though conscious that it was a very 1 General L. A. Grant in his report said of Colonel Stone : " He was a good officer, gallant by nature, prompt in his duties, and urbane in his man- ners. He was beloved by his command, and by all who knew him." 114 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. dangerous injury he ordered the men who ran to nelp him back to the ranks, telling them that every musket was needed in the line. He was assisted to the rear and taken to Fredericks burg ; and thence, at his own desire, was removed to his home in Yermont ; but did not reach it alive. In recognition of his services and merit a commission as colonel was issued to him by Governor Smith after his death, and his name thus stands enrolled among the colonels of the Second. Colonel Tyler was the son of Eev. Pitman Tyler of Brattleboro. He enlisted at the age of nineteen years, and went out as first lieutenant of Company C. He showed especial gallantry and aptitude for command, and was ad- vanced as vacancies occurred, through the successive grades of captain, major and lieutenant colonel. He was barely cf age at his death. He died in the Metropolitan Hotel in New York city, May 21st, sixteen days after he was wounded. He was buried at Brattleboro with military honors. 1 In the second day of the battle of the "Wilderness, the regiment having no field officer left, Major Tracy having been disabled by injuries received May 3d by a fall from his horse, it was placed under the capable command of Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree of the Third Yermont, and fought under him with unabated resolution. The losses of the regi- 1 General L. A. Grant in reporting Colonel Tyler's death said: "He was an officer of great promise. Always cool, especially in battle, he could be relied upon. His loss is deeply felt." In a letter addressed to Hon. Royal Tyler of Brattleboro, Governor John Gregory Smith said : "As a slight testimonial of my high appreciation of the services rendered by your nephew, the late John S. Tyler, Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, I have directed a commission to be issued, dating the same at a period prior to his death, and promoting him to the colonelcy of his regiment, a position which by his valor he had so gallantly won, and to which he was justly entitled. The tribute to his memory thus conferred, while it cannot reach him or add to his laurels, may be a source of gratification to his numerous friends, as it is of pleasure to me, and is but a fitting recognition of the noble sacrifice which he made for his country." THE SECOND KEGIMENT. 115 ment in this battle, were greater than in any other battle of the war, and showed both the desperate character of the service required of it, and the spirit with which it stood up to its work. Its casualties exceeded those of any other re- giment in the brigade. They numbered but three less than 300, in a total of about 800 present for duty, or about 37 per cent. Of these 57 were killed and mortally wounded, 208 less severely wounded, and 32 missing total 297. Hardly any unwounded men were taken prisoners, and most of the " missing" belong in the lists of killed and wounded. Among the killed were Captain Orville Bixby and Sergeant-Major Z. Ufford, and among the wounded were ten line officers, viz : Captains E. Wales, P. E. Chase, D. S. White, E. G. Ballou and W. H. Cady, and Lieutenants J. P. Sawyer, James Allen, George Bridgman, E. M. Drury and John J. Bain, the latter being acting Aid-de-Camp to the Brigade Commander. Among those captured was Lieut- enant Henry Carroll, of Co. K. Lieutenant Carroll re- mained for six months in the enemy's hands till, on the 1st of November 1864, he escaped from the prison at Columbia, S. C., and made his way to the Union lines at Nashville, Tenn., after a toilsome foot journey of two months' duration. 1 In the twelve trying days before the lines of Spottsylva- nia, the Second participated in the hard fighting and almost harder night and day marching of the old brigade. On the 10th of May it formed a part of the storming column of twelve picked regiments, which, under Colonel Upton, charged the enemy's centre, carried the works in front of them for a quarter of a mile, and captured a brigade of over a thousand men and a battery. Some of the men of the Second remained in the works till late in 1 Captain Wales was bre vetted major for gallantry in this battle. Private Thomas J. Colby, Co. F., served as mounted orderly and re- ceived honorable mention in General L. A. Grant's official report. 116 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. the evening, long after the column had fallen back. It fought at the famous " bloody angle" on the 12th of May, under the command of Captain Dayton P. Clarke 1 the regiment having no field officer of its own, and Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pin- gree, its temporary commander, being then in command of the picket line on the right and sustained losses which increased the total of its casualties in the campaign to 440, or over one half of its aggregate for duty when it crossed the Eapidan. Among the wounded in this affair were Captain Ward of Co. B. and Lieutenants Estes, Co. A., Worcester, Co. F., and Priest, Co. I. During the last day of severe fighting at Spottsylvania on the 18th, the regiment was under sharp artillery fire, south of Spottsylvania Court House, and had ten men killed and wounded by the explosion of a single shell, 2 besides other casualties. At Cold Harbor, June 1st, the regiment again distin- guished itself, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Pin- gree, charging the enemy's works under heavy fire, and es- tablishing itself within speaking distance of the enemy ; and during the ten days of constant and active hostilities which followed, the Second took its turns in the front line, with the other regiments of the Old Brigade. In the assault of June 3d, Lieutenant Hiram Bailey, of Brandon, Co. B., was killed ; and when the fighting of Grant's Overland Compaign ended on the 12th of June, the casualties of the regiment 1 Captain Clarke is mentioned by General L. A. Grant in his report, as having specially distinguished himself on that occasion. Quartermaster A. J. Bobbins is also specially mentioned. He was seriously wounded in the engagement of May 12th. 2 Two killed, H. P. Ford and Joseph Kehoe, and eight wounded. One of the latter, Henry Amblow, of Co. G, lay on the field with a shattered ankle for eight days, before he was found, sustained during the time only by the small amount of food in his haversack. When found by the enemy mortification had set in, and he died, after amputation, a week later. THE SECOND BEGIMENT. 117 aggregated 47782 killed, 359 wounded, 50 of whom died of their wounds, and 40 missing. 1 In the action of the 18th of June in front of Petersburg the regiment was on the skirmish line, with the Fifth regi- ment, and had two men wounded. On the 19th of June 1864 the term of service of the original members of the regiment expired, and as many of them as had not re-enlisted being 19 officers and 200 men were relieved from duty, and started next day for Vermont, where they were mustered out, at Brattleboro, on the 29th of June. The officers so retiring from the service were Adjutant Edgerton, Surgeon Sawin, Captains W. H. Cady, D. P. Clark, and P. E. Chase ; First Lieutenants E. O. Cole, J. P. Sawyer, James Allen, J. J. Bain, A. Worcester, E. A. Priest, and E. N. Drury; and Second Lieutenants O. Y. Estes, A. J. Robbing, B. W. Hight, E. A. Tilden, H. E. Hayward, G. W. Bridgman, and O. G. Howe. Most of these officers, and many of the men, bore the scars of honorable wounds, some not yet healed ; and their departure took some of the best soldiers in the regiment. The general regret felt thereat not only in 1 The list of rank and file who were killed or died of wounds received in the campaign from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, is as follows : Co. A. J. Alsop, Ira Allen, W. E. Barrows, E. Grace, H. S. Hill, W. C. Jackson, S. Matteson, J. W. Niles, John Powers, H. A. Richardson, D. Ryan, A. J. Vorce, H. A. Fuller. 13, Co. B. C. Bailey, C. S. Barber, B. Cargill, T. P. Dunham, J. McKean D. A. Patch, M. P. Wood. 7. Co. C. G. N. Beckwith, W. Cole, J. Donohue, A. R. Doyon, J. Fannef, E. B. Fisher, L. Goodell, G. S. Gray, A. Guiette, F. M. Miller, N. A. Peck, I. 8. Scott. 12. Co. D. A. Bean, V. F. Crane, J. D. Cummins, W. S. George, O. Gil- man, J. K. Hall, R. Hawkins, C. L. Holmes, D. A. Houghton, G. Hubbard, W. G. Kelly, C. Nye, I. Piper, C. Saunders, N. E. Scribner, H. Stone, W. S. Stone, T. Wood, L. Woodward. 19. Co. E. W. Clark, D. N. Cushman, G. W. Durrell, F. P. Ellsworth, P. Emery, J. E. Foster, E. Goodwin, A. M. Magoon, G. H. Noyes, W. M. Noyes, A. Rust, W. H. Sanborn, N. F. Smith, Edward H. Smith, Charles Tillison. 15. Co. F. B. L. Fortin, I. J. Hargin, C. B. Jacko, M. Johnson, W. A. 118 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAB. the Vermont brigade, but throughout the Second division, and indeed throughout the Sixth corps, was expressed in the following handsome order from their division commander : HEADQUARTERS SECOND DIVISION, SIXTH CORPS,) June 20th, 1864. ) GENERAL ORDER No. 36 It is not necessary that any regiment of the Vermont brigade should have their deeds recounted, or their praises sung in general orders. How many well fought and bloody fields bear witness to their bravery! Least of all do you, the soldiers of the Second Ver- mont, the veterans of the brigade, who have shed your blood on almost every field from the first Bull Run, need a panegyrist. Your deeds speak for themselves, and will keep your memory green, while courage, steadi- ness and devotion to duty are honored among men. But that you may know how your general and your comrades regret and mourn your de- parture, and to bid you farewell and Godspeed, this order is written. Again farewell, brave and noble men. For three years you have borne the brunt of battle, and now returning home with scarce a tithe of your original numbers, with just pride you can proclaim that you have done your duty. You have fulfilled your compact. History will record your services. Let this order express the feelings of those you leave behind. By order of Brig. General Neill. HAZARD STEVENS, A. A. G. The end of the three years' term, found but 370 of the 866 original members of the regiment left. The rest, 496 in number, had been killed or had died of disease, been dis- charged, or had deserted. The re-enlisted veterans, origin- ally 181 in number, but now reduced by death to 150, some thirty of them having been killed since their re-enlist- Kelton, W. Labounty, G. Lawrence, S. D. Mahoney, J. Mitchell, E Shorey, H. Stoddard, Wm. Stone. 12. Co. G. H. Amblow, H. J. Bass, E. C. Bragg, F. Cook, C. E. Day, H. Dickinson, H. P. Ford, E. P. Gibbs, D. Hanly, J. Kehoe, P. W. Reed, H. Reed, F. Salters, W. S. Smith, T. Train, G. H. Wilder. 16. Co. H. L. Brooks, J. C. Felton, H. Howe, G. A. Kneeland, J. Laird, F. Marshall, B. McLeod, W. Minogue, M. Pelka, E. W. Squires, G. A. White. 11. Co. I. J. W. Adams, J. E. Butterfield, I. D. Clark, G. A. French, S. B. Gleason, C. C. Grant, M. E. Grover, P. Halpin, E. G. Holmes, G. W. Parker, D. A. Scofield, J. Story, P. Swazy, J. Sweeny, A. Sweetland, O. K. Ward. 16. Co. K. J. Bovia, E. Brooks, T. G. Gardner, J. W. Grant, J. Kelley, C. L. Norton, G. W. York. 7. THE SECOND REGIMENT. merit, with the recruits, 410 in number who had been added from time to time, made a regiment of 560 men, which re- mained in the field. 1 Its field and staff officers were Lieut. Colonel Amasa S. Tracy and Major Enoch E. Johnson, who had been promoted to those positions on the 17th of June ; Surgeon Melvin J. Hyde, Assistant Surgeon E. R. Brush, and Quartermaster L. L. Stone. Four captains remained, viz : Eollin C. Ward, Elijah Wales, John T. Bass, and Daniel S. White. As Captain White had been disabled by a wound in the Wilderness, no less than seven of the companies were commanded at this time by lieutenants or sergeants. The companies did not average over 25 rank and file for duty, and some of them had but about half that number of mus- kets in line. 2 It was the lowest period, as regarded numbers present for duty, in the entire history of the regiment. On the 19th of June, the regiment, what was left of it, was under an active but ineffective artillery fire, in front of Petersburg. On the 23d it participated in the movement of the Sixth corps against the Weldon Kailroad, in which, the Fourth and Eleventh Vermont suffered so severely. It was at Eeam's Station, with the Sixth corps, on the 29th, and when the corps was detached from the army on the 10th of July, to protect Washington from capture by General Early, it marched with the Vermont brigade to City Point, went thence by transport to Washington ; assisted in driving the enemy from before the defences of the national Capital, and shared the fatigues of the next month of hard marching 1 Of this number, however, only 273 were present for duty. 2 Co. G. crossed the Kapidan May 4th, with 64 men. On the 7th of June, first Sergeant Aldrich, commanding company, reported ten men present for duty. In this one company in five weeks the casualties were ; killed and mortally wounded, 7; severely wounded, 30, of whom 7 sub- sequently died ; slightly wounded, 9 ; missing, 5, of whom 2 were sup- posed to be killed, and 3 prisoners. Co. H. had 68 men for duty May 4th . after Spottsylvania it had 14. Its killed and wounded numbered 42, and missing, 6. Co. D. lost still more'heavily. So of other companies. 120 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. to Snicker's Gap, Harper's Ferry, into Maryland and in the Shenandoah Valley. Near Strasburg, Virginia, on the 14th of August, the Second formed part of the force with which General Sheridan was feeling the enemy on Fisher's Hill, and lost two men, wounded, on the skirmish line. In the notable engagement of the 21st of August, at Charlestown, Va., the regiment, under command of Lieut. Colonel Tracy, was sharply engaged and lost five men killed and 11 wounded. In the battle of Winchester, on the 19th of September, the regiment distinguished itself and lost five men killed and mortally wounded 1 and 29 wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Tracy superintended for a time a portion of the line, though suffering from a disability, which shortly compelled him to re- linquish the command to Major Enoch Johnson, by whom it was gallantly led. a It participated with the brigade in the battle of Fisher's Hill, and though suffering no loss earned its fair share of the glory of that splendid victory. At Cedar Creek, on the 19th of October, the regiment, under command of Captain Elijah "Wales, Lieut. Colonel Tracy being for the time in command of the brigade, held the skirmish line in front of Getty's division of the Sixth corps, when it made its final stand and checked Early's advance. During the rest of the day it marched and fought, in retreat and in advance, with the brigade, losing three men killed, 31 wounded and four missing. Among the wounded was Lieut. Colonel Tracy, whose services are especi- ally mentioned in General L. A. Grant's report. While inspecting the skirmish line after General Sheridan's arrival on the field he received a serious wound from a fragment 1 Co. A J. Camp, M. M. Clough, C. Curtice. Co. E J. A. Walcott. Co. H -J. C. Hutchinson. 8 Major Johnson's services on this occasion were especially recognized in the report of the brigade commander, as were those of Lieut. Colonel Tracy. THE SECOND REGIMENT. 121 of a shell in his left hip, previously injured by a fall from his horse. His wound disabled him for several months, during which the command of the regiment devolved on Major Enoch E. Johnson, who was bre vetted lieutenant colonel for his gallantry at Cedar Creek. The morning report of October 31st, at Strasburg, Ya., showed an aggregate of 560 men, of whom 227 were sick and 19 prisoners. 1 The regiment remained in the Shenandoah Yalley till December 9th, when with the rest of the Sixth corps the brigade was removed by rail and transports to Petersburg, and went into winter quarters on the lines on the south side of Petersburg, near the Weldon Eailroad, the Second hold- ing the right of the brigade. The rest of the winter was spent in severe picket service and fatigue duty on the forts. In February, Lieut. Colonel Tracy sent in his resignation on account of disability from his wound received at Cedar Creek, but withdrew it at the request of his superior officers. On the 25th of March, 1865, the regiment (with the brigade), charged and carried and held the enemy's en- trenched picket line in front of Fort Fisher, with a loss of two men killed and 10 wounded. In the repulse of the enemy's attempt to retake this line on the 27th, five men of the Second were wounded. In the final victorious assault on the defences of Peters- burg on the 2d of April, the Second once more distinguished itself and lost eight men killed and 33 wounded. Among many individual instances of gallantry, that of Captain Wales in capturing, with two men, a field piece which they 1 The killed and those who died of wounds in the Shenandoah Cam- paign under Sheridan, were as follows : Co. A., L. Wyman; Co. B., H. M. Clark; Co. C., M. Lynch; Co. D., D Crossman, Z. Hatch; Co. E., W. J. Foster, H. G. Hill, H. H. Lyman, W. Reed, J. E. Tupper; Co. F., J. B. Lute; Co. H., W. Howard, B. F. Hulburd, C. H. Stowe ; Co. K., A. H. Fields, T. McGilley, J. S. Sweeter, A. Ward, L. H. Welcome. 122 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. turned and discharged upon the enemy, was conspicuous. 1 The regiment joined in the pursuit of Lee's army after the fall of Richmond, and had a skirmish with the rear guard of the enemy in the evening of April 6th, at Sailor's Creek, Va., in which the last shot discharged in action by the Sixth corps is claimed, and so far as known without dispute, to have been fired by the Second Yermont. Lieut Colonel Tracy was commissioned as colonel on the 7th of June, Major Johnson being promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy and Captain E. G. Ballou to be major. 3 The regiment participated in the review of the Yermont troops, by Governor Smith, at Bailey's Cross Roads, Ya., on the 7th, and in the review of the Sixth corps by the Presi- dent of the United States on the 8th of June, 1865. The regiment then had an aggregate of 495 men, 149 of whom were on the sick list, and 312 present for duty. On the 19th of June, the recruits whose terms of service were to expire previous to October 1, 1865, about 300 in number, were mustered out. The remainder of the regiment remained at Ball's Cross Eoads, Ya., near Washington, till the 15th of July, when it was mustered out of the U. S. ser- vice. On the 16th the regiment left Washington for home. It arrived at Burlington on the morning of July 19th, with 20 officers and 213 men, 60 of whom were original members of the regiment. The field and staff officers so returning were : Colonel A. S. Tracy, who went out with the regiment as first lieutenant of Co. K. ; Lieut. Colonel E. Johnson, who went out as second lieutenant of Co. B. ; Major E. E. Ballou, 1 The killed and those who died of wounds in front of Petersburg in March and April, 1865, were as follows : Co. A., L. Carpenter, L. L. Jack- son; Co. B., J. W. Bromley, H. G. Ross; Co. D., T. Gormand; Co. E., W. Hurlburt, C. C. Morey, A. D. Spaulding ; Co. G., G. W. Sharpley ; Co. I., A. L. Benson, Albert Hathorn. 2 Under the rules prescribed by the War Department, however, these officers were mustered out with the rank respectively, of lieutenant colonel, major, and captain. THE SECOND REGIMENT. who went out as first sergeant of Co. I.; Surgeon M. J. Hyde, who joined the regiment as assistant surgeon in September, 1863 ; and Assistant Surgeon E. A. Brush, who went out as a drafted man in July, 1863, and was appointed assistant surgeon in October, 1863. The line officers return- ing were: Captain and Bvt. Major Elijah Wales, Captain and Bvt. Major E. W. Harrington, Captains William Bond, H. H. Prouty, W. B. Hurlbut, D. C. Dunham, and H. F. Taylor, and First Lieutenants James Howard, E. H. Fifielcl, A. Lessor, N. Fassett, G. W. Flagg, George Buck, and A. D. Beckwith. The regiment was met at the railroad station in Bur- lington, on its arrival, by a committee of citizens with the old band of the First brigade, N. D. Adams, leader, which though it had been mustered out of the service had retained its organization till now. At the city hall the veterans were received by Mayor Albert L. Catlin and welcomed home by Hon. George F. Edmunds in an eloquent address. After a breakfast, served by ladies and citizens in the hall, the regi- ment marched to its quarters at the U. S. Marine Hospital, where on the 25th and 26th the men were paid off for the last time, were mustered out, and then separated to their homes. A list of names, a list of battles and a table of significant figures, will close this regimental record.' The following men, in addition to those who died of wounds in Confederate prisons or hospitals, whose names have been included in previous lists of mortally wounded, are known to have died in the enemy's hands : DIED IN CONFEDERATE PRISONS. Company A James Bailey, captured May, '64, died at Andersonville, July 11, '64; Enos Blair, captured May 21, '64; George A. Shumacker, captured May 26, '64. Company B Silas L. Hart, captured May 5, '64, died at Andersonville, October 12, '64; David B. Bateinan, died at Andersonville, July 15, '64; Giovanni Arbitraca, captured May 21, '64. 124 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Company D Nelson E. Dodge, captured May 10, '64, died at Ander- sonville ; William Cooley, captured May 12, '64, died at Andersonville, November 23, '64 ; Oren Bickley, Jr., captured May 10, '64, died at Ander- ville. Company G Myron C. Palmer, captured May 21, '64, died at Savannah, October, '64 ; James McGuire, captured May 21, '64, died at Andersonville, September 20, '64. Company E Azro Buzzell, captured October 19, '64, died February 27, '65; Charles C. Richardson, captured May 12, '64, supposed dead. Company K John Skiddy, captured, May '64, died in Georgia, Oc- tober, '64; Thomas Simpson, captured May, '64, died at Florence, Ga.; Thomas Witham, captured May '64, died at Florence, Ga.; Patrick Marlow, captured May, '64 ; Willard Woods, taken by guerrillas. The battles and engagements in which the Second regi- ment participated, as officially recorded, were as follows : THE BATTLES OF THE SECOND VERMONT. Bull Run, July 21, 1861 Lee's Mill, April 16, 1862 Williamsburg, May 5, 1862 Golding's Farm, June 26, 1862 Savage's Station, June 29, 1862 White Oak Swamp, June 30, 1862 Crampton's Gap, Sept. 14, 1862 Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862 Fredericksburg, . - Dec. 13, 1862 Marye's Heights, May 3, 1863 Salem Heights, May 4, 1863 Fredericksburg, June 5, 1863 Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 Funkstown, July 10, 1863 Rappahannock Station, ....... Nov. 7, 1863 Wilderness, May 5th to 10th, 1864 Spottsylvania, May 10th to 18th, 1864 Cold Harbor, June 1st to 12th, 1864 Petersburg, June 18, 1864 Charlestown, Aug. 21, 1864 Opequan, . Sept. 13, 1864 Winchester, ........ Sept. 19, 1864 Fisher's Hill, Sept. 21st, 1864 Mount Jackson, Sept. 24, 1864 Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864 Petersburg, . March 25, 1865 Petersburg, April 2, 1865 Sailor's Creek April 6, 1865 THE SECOND REGIMENT. 125 FINAL STATEMENT. The final statement of the Second Vermont is as follows : Original members officers, 38 ; enlisted men, 828; total 866 Gain recruits, 984; transferred from other regiments, 8 ; total 992 Aggregate 1,858 LOSSES. Killed in action officers, 4; enlisted men, 134; total 138 Died of wounds officers, 2; enlisted men, 80; total 82 Died of disease enlisted men 139 Died in Confederate prisons, not of wounds 22 Died from accidents, (enlisted men), 3; executed, 1; total 4 Total of deaths 385 Promoted to other regiments officers, 6 ; enlisted men, 2; total 8 Honorably discharged officers, 35 ; enlisted men, 399 ; total 434 Dishonorably discharged officers, 5; enlisted men, 19; total 24 Deserted enlisted men 178 Dropped from roll, 2 ; finally unaccounted for, 5; total 7 Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps and other organizations 120 Total loss 1,156 Mustered out, at various times officers, 55; men, 647; total 702 Aggregate 1,858 Total wounded 613 CHAPTEE TIL THE THIRD REGIMENT. Organization of the Regiment Rendezvous at St. Johnsbury Departure from the State Arrival at Washington Sketch of Colonel Wm. F. Smith Colonel Smith made Brig. General Changes among the Offi- cers Fatigue Duty in Virginia Pardon of William Scott Under Fire at Lewinsville Casualties Arrival of other Vermont Regiments Sickness in the Regiment The Peninsular Campaign Action at Lee's Mill List of Killed The Seven Days Retreat Willie Johnson First Fredericksburg Resignation of Colonel Hyde Numerous Changes in the Roster Marye's Heights, and Banks' s Ford Service at Newark, N. J. Winter at Brandy Station Losses in the Wilderness Campaign Skirmish at Fort Stevens End of Three Years' Term Shenandoah Campaign Petersburg Return Home. The organization of the Third regiment began at the same time with that of the Second, but was not as quickly completed. The twenty companies comprising the two regi- ments were selected, by Adj't and Insp. General Baxter, from the much larger number whose services were ten- dered to the State in the first week in May 1861. The companies assigned to the Third regiment were recruited in the towns of Springfield, Coventry, Newbury ("Wells River) Charleston, Johnson, Hartford, St. Johnsbury, St. Albans, Guildhall, and East Montpelier and Calais. The rendezvous was fixed at St. Johnsbury, the grounds of the Caledonia County Agricultural Society being selected for the camp, which was designated as " Camp Baxter," in honor of Adj't. and Insp. General Baxter. The St. Johnsbury and Hartford companies went into camp on the 7th of June 1861. The THE THIKD REGIMENT. 127 Charleston and Springfield companies arrived next day, and the remaining companies on various dates during the four weeks following, the last company arriving on the 3d of July.' The battalion and the regiment after its completion, was under the command of Lieut. Colonel Breed N. Hyde, dur- ing its stay in Camp Baxter. The regiment was physically, as well as in other respects, an unusually fine body of troops, the average height of the men being five feet ten and a half inches, 2 and the average weight 161 Ibs. They were quartered, at Camp Baxter, in the main building of the Caledonia County Agricultural Society. Several weeks elapsed before the regiment was uniformed, armed and officered. Meantime the measles ran through the ranks, prostrating one man in every three. Many men ob- tained leave of absence. Owing to these and other causes the discipline of the camp was somewhat lax, and the six weeks' sojourn of the regiment at St. Johnsbury, was diversi- fied by more than the usual amount of running of the guards, raiding of sutlers' shanties and other riotous proceedings. One of these had a serious termination. In resisting an at- tack on Pike's refreshment saloon, in the camp, on the even- ing of the 20th of July, one of the guard that had been stationed inside the shanty, in the discharge of his duty fired into the crowd of soldiers who were battering in the door, in- stantly killing one man, Sergeant John Terrill, of Co. I., and wounding another. The regiment was supplied with uniforms of gray cloth, which looked well at first but soon faded under the Virginia sun. Tents and camp equipage were distributed 1 A Vergennes company, under Captain Solon Eaton, was one of the original companies assigned to the Third ; but was subsequently assigned to the Second regiment, just before the latter left the State. 2 The tallest man in the regiment measured six feet five and a half in- ches in his stocking feet. 128 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAK. during the first week in July. A supply of Enfield rifled muskets was secured in New York, a little later. The procuring of an officer of sufficient military training and experience to command the regiment was a matter of some difficulty. Governor Fairbanks at first hoped to place the regiment under the command of Colonel J. W. Phelps, of the First regiment, whose term of service would soon ex- pire ; but Colonel Phelps's services as commandant of the post at Newport News, were of too much value to the government to be spared, and his promotion to a brigadier generalship soon removed him from the immediate service of the State. Governor Fairbanks then endeavored to obtain from the War Department the detail of Captain Truman Sey- mour, 4th U. S. Artillery, a native Yermonter who had distin- guished himself in the Mexican War and was one of the de- fenders of Fort Sumter, to command the regiment ; but the application was declined. A like application for permission for Captain A. V. Colburn, U. S. A., afterward Asst. Adj't General of the Army of the Potomac on General McClellan's staff, to accept the colonelcy, met a similar response to the effect that his services could not be spared. Weeks passed during the pendency of these and similar applications, and it was not till after the regiment had left the State, that a colonel was secured for it. Meantime the following field and staff officers had been appointed: Lieut. Colonel, Breed N. Hyde, Hydepark; Major, Walter W. Cochran, Bellows Falls; Adjutant, Asa P. Blunt, St. Johnsbury ; Quartermaster, Kedfield Proctor, Cavendish ; Surgeon, Henry Janes, Waterbury ; Asst. Surgeon, David M. Goodwin, Cabot; Chaplain, Moses P. Parmelee, Underhill. Lieut. Colonel Hyde was of military parentage, his grandfather having fought at Bunker Hill, while his father served in the war of 1812 and was for twenty-five years an officer in the regular army. He had received a military education at West Point. Major Cochran had been active in THE THIRD REGIMENT. 129 the reorganization of the militia and was colonel of the Sec- ond regiment of militia when the war broke out. The others, though without special military training, were well quali- fied by character and education for their respective positions. Mr. Parmelee was a Congregational minister, who had just left the theological seminary and was ordained about the time of his appointment as chaplain. On the 16th of July, the regiment, numbering 882 officers and men, was mustered into the U. S. service by Lieut. Colonel Eains, U. S. A., and on the 18th, orders were received from Washington directing the regiment to report as soon as ready, to General Banks at Baltimore, Md. Its departure was hastened by the news of the Union defeat at Bull Run, in the first pitched battle of the war ; and on the morning of July 24th it started for the South in a train of twenty-two cars. It was fully provided with tents, baggage wagons and camp furniture, and was accompanied by an ex- cellent regimental band of 24 pieces. An immense throng of spectators witnessed and cheered its departure, and wherever the train stopped on the way down the Connecticut Yalley, it was greeted with cheers and salutes. At Bellows Falls and Brattleboro the citizens supplied refreshments ; at Holyoke, Mass., a thousand factory girls from the mills formed in line beside the track, and waved the regiment on as the train whirled by. At Springfield, Mass., it was received with a salute of artillery ; Mayor Bemis and the city authorities pro- vided a substantial collation, which was served to the troops by the firemen of the city, and a crowd of five or six thou- sand people cheered the regiment off. At Hartford, the association of Sons of Vermont of that city and a large con- course of citizens received the regiment. A beautiful flag of white silk, bearing the arms of Yermont and of the citj of Hartford, was presented by the Sons of Vermont, and re- ceived with an appropriate response by Lieut. Colonel Hyde. At New Haven, at midnight, the regiment took the steamer 9 130 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Elm City, arrived at Jersey City at six o'clock the next morning, and at three o'clock p. M. took train for Washing- ton. At Philadelphia it had a genuine Philadelphia welcome and supper, provided by the Union Defence Committee. It did not stop at Baltimore as originally directed; but was ordered directly to Washington, where it arrived on the morning of July 26th. It was quartered in a public hall for the day and following night, and on Saturday the 27th, marched to Georgetown Heights, and went into camp at Camp Lyon named after the gallant General Nathaniel Lyon, of Missouri at the head of the "Chain Bridge," 1 across the Potomac, six miles above the capitol. Here it was joined about the time of its arrival by its colonel, just appointed. For this position Captain William F. Smith, U. S. A., afterwards a major general and a distinguished corps commander, had been selected. Captain Smith was a native Yermonter, a cousin of Hon. John Gregory Smith of St. Albans, subsequently the last war governor of Vermont. He graduated with credit from the U. S. Military Academy in 1845> and was appointed a lieutenant of Topographical Engineers. He had served in surveys of the northern States, of the Mex- ican boundary, and in Texas ; had been assistant professor of mathematics in the U. S. Military Academy ; had in 1859, superintended the construction of a light-house and harbor improvements at Chicago, where he formed an acquaintance with Captain George B. McClellan, then vice-president of the Illinois Central Eailroad, which afterwards stood him in good stead. When the war broke out he was the Engineer secretary of the Light House Board at Washington. He had been serving during June and July 1861, under General Butler, as engineer with the forces at Fortress Monroe. Soon after the attack on Fort Sumter Captain Smith had signified to Governor Fairbanks his willingness to take 1 The bridge was a substantial arched structure which two years pre- viously had replaced the old chain bridge. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 131 command of a regiment from his native State ; but it was not an easy matter to secure the necessary consent of the War Department. This, however, after repeated requests and refusals, was at last obtained by the aid of General Scott, who had before this shown a distinct interest in the Vermont troops, and who specially requested the detail of Captain Smith to command the Third Yermont. 1 The appointment of Captain Smith as colonel was received with general satis- faction by the regiment and the people of Yermont. His commission reached him the last week in July, 2 and he immediately joined his regiment, at Chain Bridge, and was assigned to the command of the forces stationed at that point. These consisted of the Third Yermont ; the Sixth Maine ; an artillery company which manned two field pieces at the end of the bridge and two 68 pounders on the bluffs above ; and a cavalry company. To these were soon added the Second Yermont, the Thirty-Third New York, and other troops. The camp was high and pleasant. The position was an important one, as it guarded not only the bridge, but the reservoir which supplied Washington with water. The regiment was occupied in drill and picket duty. There was a Confederate out-post at Falls Church, Ya., seven miles west, and a larger rebel force at Yienna, three miles beyond Tails Church, and frequent rumors of coming attacks kept all alert. The night of August 7th was spent in the rifle pits, in consequence of a false report of an advance of the enemy. In the first three weeks of its service in the field, impor- tant changes took place among the field officers of the. regi- ment. Major Cochran, who had been incapacitated for service by a severe attack of fever and ague, resigned his commission on the 6th of August, and Captain Wheelock G. Yeazey, of 1 Letter of Hon. E. P. Walton, to Walton's Journal 2 Col. Smith's commission was dated back by the State authorities to April 27th, 1861, the day after the date of Col. Phelps's commission, en- abling him thus to rank Col. Whiting of the Second. 132 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Co. A., was promoted to be major in his place. A week later, August 13th, Colonel Smith was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. Lieut. Colonel Hyde was thereupon promoted to the colonelcy, Major Veazey was appointed lieut. colonel, and Captain Thomas O. Seaver, of Co. F., was made major. On the 22d the regiment was reviewed, with the other troops on Georgetown Heights, by President Lincoln, accompanied by General McClellan and Secretaries Seward and Chase, and was complimented for its efficient appearance. In the night of the 3d of September, the regiment moved with General Smith's brigade, across Chain Bridge into Vir- ginia, and bivouacked by the side of the turnpike a mile beyond the bridge. For several weeks after, it was occupied chiefly in fatigue duty, felling trees and throwing up fortifications for the defence of Washington, principally on the fort at first named Fort Smith, in honor of General William F. Smith, but afterwards known as Fort Marcy. While here, an in- cident occurred which created no small sensation in the army, was widely published in the newspapers and became a fruit- ful theme for poetry and romance. William Scott, a private in Co. K, of the Third Vermont, was found asleep on his post, while on picket duty ; was tried by court martial for the crime, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot the first sentence of the kind on record in the army. Scott was only twenty-two years of age, of good character, and had been on picket duty two nights in succession, having voluntarily taken the place of a sick comrade the night before. His case aroused great sympathy. A petition for his pardon was signed by hundreds, from privates of the various regiments of the brigade up to General Smith, and was taken to Washington by Chaplain Parmelee. The sentence was promulgated on the 5th of September, and was to be executed on the morning of the 8th. In the evening of the 7th, the matter came to the knowl- edge of President Lincoln, and he at once granted a respite of the sentence. His order for a stay of the execution was THE THIRD REGIMENT. 133 telegraphed to Camp Advance ; but hearing nothing from it, and fearing it might have miscarried, Mr. Lincoln ordered his carriage, and a little before midnight, after a drive of near- ly ten miles, made his appearance at the brigade headquar- ters, to reiterate his order in person, and make sure of the life of the young Vermonter. Next morning the arrange- ments for the execution went on. The brigade was drawn up in hollow square, a shooting party detailed, and Scott was brought out, as if for death. He was deadly pale, and an oc- casional shudder shook his exhausted frame, but he asked for no mercy. The following order was then read : HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,) Washington, September 8. ) Private William Scott, of Company K. of the Third regiment of Vermont volunteers, having been found guilty by court martial of sleeping on his post while a sentinel on picket guard, has been sentenced to be shot, and the sentence has been approved and ordered to be executed. The com- manding officers of the brigade, the regiment and the company, of the command, together with many other privates and officers of his regiment, have earnestly appealed to the Major-General commanding, to spare the life of the offender, and the President of the United States has expressed a wish that as this is the first condemnation to death in this army for this crime, mercy may be extended to the criminal. This fact, viewed in con- nection with the inexperience of the condemned as a soldier, his previous good conduct and general good character, and the urgent entreaties made in his behalf, have determined the Major-General commanding to grant the pardon so earnestly prayed for. This act of clemency must not be under- stood as affording a precedent for any future case. The duty of a sentinel is of such a nature, that its neglect by sleeping upon or deserting his post may endanger the safety of a command, or even of the whole army, and all nations affix to the offence the penalty of death. Private William Scott of Co. K. of the Third regiment of Vermont volunteers, will be released from confinement and returned to duty. By command of Maj. -General McClellan, S. WILLIAMS, Asst. Ad jt. -General. The camp rang with cheers for President Lincoln after the dismissal of the parade, and Scott returned to his com- pany, to do good service as a soldier, and to give his life 134 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. seven months later, while gallantly charging the rebel rifle pits at Lee's Mill. On the llth of September, the Third had its first ex- perience under fire, and suffered its first loss of men killed and wounded by hostile bullets. The regiment formed part of a column of 2,000 men, comprising four infantry regi- ments, two companies of the Second Vermont, four guns of Griffin's Battery and two companies of cavalry, which under command of Colonel Isaac Stevens of the 79th New York, made a reconnoissance to and beyond Lewinsville, Va. Three companies of the Third were thrown out as skirmishers on the roads to Yienna and Falls Church, beyond Lewinsville, and drove in the enemy's skirmishers, at a point a mile and a half beyond Lewinsville, having one man wounded, Sergeant Farnham of Co. C., shot in the ankle. While on its return, after having occupied the village and its approaches for two or three hours, the column was attacked by a section of Rosser's battery, which had been sent out with an infantry support from Munson's Hill, under command of Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, the subsequently famous and dashing confe- derate cavalry General. One of the first shells fired exploded in the ranks of Company C. of the Third, killing one man, Amos Meserve, outright, mortally wounding another, William H. Colbnrn, and injuring four or five others more or less se- riously. Griffin's guns replied, and an artillery duel of an hour's duration followed, at the end of which the enemy was no longer to be seen, and the Union column, now commanded by General Smith, who had ridden out from Camp Advance on hearing the firing, continued its march, in good order, back to camp. The Third Yermont and the two companies of the Second present, were detached from the main force, during the action, as a support to Griffin's Battery ; and conducted themselves in a way to merit high praise, 1 though muck 1 Captain Griffin says, in his report of this action: " It affords me much gratification to testify to the coolness and handsome deportment of the THE THIKD REGIMENT. 135 disgusted that they could not do some shooting, as well as standing to be shot at. The casualties of the regiment in the entire affair were- one killed, one mortally wounded, one seriously and seven slightly wounded. The loss fell chiefly on Company C. The killed and wounded were all brought from the field. The mortally wounded man, "William H. Colburn, was placed by Surgeon Janes in a house on the road, and as nothing could be done for him he was left there in charge of a comrade. Next morning Lieutenant E. M. Noyes of Company C. with twenty men went back within the confederate picket line to the house where Colburn was left, found that he had died during the night, and brought his body, together with the body of a man of the Nineteenth Indiana, killed upon the field, back to Camp Advance. Colburn was a son of Prof. Zerah Colburn, who was noted as a mathematical prodigy in his early life, and was subsequently Professor of Mathematics in Norwich University. He was a brave man and good soldier. In the absence of more important matters, this affair made no little sensation on both sides. On the confederate side it won for Stuart his promotion to a brigadiership, and formed the subject of reports by Generals Longstreet and Joseph E. Johnston, and of a congratulatory order by the latter, as General of the Confederate Army, in which it was described as the routing of a large Union force by a small Confederate battalion, without loss to the latter. On the 18th, a battalion of three companies of the Third, under Colonel Hyde, acted as a guard of honor to the colors of the 79th New York, known as " The Highlanders," Vermont Third and some 80 men of the Second Vermont, who were or- dered to support the battery. They were for about an hour under a very warm fire from the enemy's artillery." Lieutenant W. Borrowe, of Colonel Stevens's staff, says: "I must in conclusion speak of the splendid behavior of the Third Vermont, who stood the fire with the greatest coolness * * obeying all orders with a promptness that was extraordinary." 136 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. when they were restored to that regiment, from which they had been taken several weeks previous by General McClellan as a punishment for insubordination and disorderly conduct. On the 25th of September, the regiment formed part of a force of 5,000 men of all arms, with which General Smith made a second reconnoissance to Lewinsville. There w r as a slight artillery skirmish but no casualties. About this time Quartermaster Proctor, who had been a capable and excellent quartermaster, resigned, having been appointed Major of the Fifth Vermont. In his place Lieutenant Frederick Grain, of Company A., was appointed quartermaster, September 25th. During the next two weeks the prevailing quiet was broken only by the arrivals of new regiments attached to General Smith's command, which was now taking on the pro- portions of a division. Among these were the Fourth and Fifth Yermont regiments. The fall rains, frequent fogs and cold nights began about this time to tell severely on the health of the men. On the 8th of October, over 200 men were on the sick list, not a quarter of whom could be accom- modated in the camp hospital the rest being sent to Georgetown, Annapolis and Baltimore. Typhus fever pre- vailed to some extent, and occasioned several deaths. October 9th, the regiment moved out with the other Ver- mont regiments to Camp Griffin, about four miles from Chain Bridge. The location was a more wholesome one, and the health of the regiment improved somewhat ; but there was a good deal of suffering from want of suitable and sufficient clothing. The tents were thin and leaky, the gray uniforms in which the men left the State had become faded, worn and thin, and there was a lack of drawers and blankets, which was seriously felt in the cold and damp nights. The needs of the regiment were so pressing, in these respects, as to form the subject of petitions from the commissioned officers to the Legislature, and of communications from General Smith to the governor, calling the attention of the State MAJ.GEN.WIF. SMITH. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 137 authorities to the subject. Tt was not easy, however, to pro- vide supplies upon the instant ; and though the suffering of the men was in part alleviated by private supplies of com- forters, underclothing and warm stockings sent by their friends at home, it was nearly the middle of November before the regiment was comfortably clothed. By that time the men were in new uniforms of army blue, and provided with drawers and blankets by the government, and a week or two later were supplied with new tents of the "James patent," large, tight and of heavy duck. The general health of the men improved under these provisions for their health and comfort, till in a weekly report in January, but 84 were reported on the sick list, being but about a third of the average proportion of sick in the Yermont brigade. The winter passed uneventfully at Camp Griffin, the men being employed in regular drill, camp guard and picket duty. On the 10th of March, 1862, orders came to break camp, and the regiment moved with the brigade and with the army. It remained in camp near Alexandria till the 23d, when it marched to Alexandria and took transports down the Poto- mac, arriving at Fortress Monroe on the 24th. The next day the regiment landed and went into camp -with the brigade near Hampton, Ya. On the 4th of April, it moved up the Peninsula in the general advance of the army, till it was brought to a standstill in front of the Confederate lines below Yorktown. On the 16th of April, at Lee's Mill, Ya., the first assault upon the enemy's works made by General McClellan's army in the Peninsula campaign of 1862 was made by the Third regiment; and in that sanguinary and desperate action, elsewhere more fully described, the regi- ment had the most prominent part. A reconnoissance made by Lieutenant Noyes of the Third, of General Brooks's staff won him high commendation; and the dash through and across Warwick Creek by the four companies of the Third which assaulted and carried the enemy's riflepits, has been 138 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. recognized in many histories as one of the most daring ex- ploits of the campaign. A curious commentary on the uncer- tainty of history and the value of military glory is afforded by the fact that the man who was mentioned in the reports of Colonel Hyde and General Brooks as commanding the bat- talion, and who appears in General Webb's History of the Peninsula Campaign, and in other histories, as the leader of the charge across Warwick River, really exercised no command of the battalion, and probably did not even accompany it across the river ; while the actual commander and leader of the charge, which left him mutilated for life and well nigh cost him his life, was wholly overlooked in the official reports and barely alluded to in the newspaper accounts of the fight, and now first receives the credit that is his due. The four companies were commanded, Company D. by Captain F. C. Harrington ; Company E. by First Lieutenant Robert D. Whittemore j 1 Company F. by Captain Samuel E. Pingree ; Company K. by Captain Leonard E. Bennett. Harrington was the ranking captain and made a report of the action, as the commanding officer of the detachment. There is, however, much ground for doubt whether he crossed Warwick Eiver that day. His own statement is that he crossed the creek with his command ; that he personally rescued the colors of the regiment, which had been abandoned in the stream by the color guard ; and that he staid with his men till he received the order to retire, which he gave to the command. On the other hand there is positive evidence, that soon after receiving the order to cross Captain Harring- ton turned the command of the battalion over to Captain S. E. Pingree, next in rank, sa}dng that his (Harrington's) phy- sical condition was such that it was not prudent for him to go into the water. Various eye witnesses in the ranks of his 1 Whittemore had been commissioned as captain, in place of Captain B] an chard, who had resigned six months previous ; but his appointment had not reached him. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 139 own and other companies declare that they did not see him across the creek, and do not believe he crossed the stream. The incident of the rescue of the colors rests only on his own testimony. Ordinarily the colors would not be sent out with a detachment of four companies ; and truthful and responsi- ble officers, who could not have failed to see the colors if they were there, say that they do not believe that the colors were taken under fire that day. 1 The actual commander, so far as the detachment had any after it left the left bank, was Captain Samuel E. Pingree, who led the assault with the ut- most gallantry, and held his men to their work till he was dis- abled by two serious wounds, one of which took off the thumb of his right hand, and till the order to fall back came, when he repeated the order and was helped, fainting from loss of blood, to the rear. He was taken to the camp hospital and thence via Fortress Monroe to Philadelphia, where he was placed in a hospital by Quartermaster General Davis, who was looking after the wounded Yermonters. Typhoid pneu- monia supervened before his wounds were healed, and brought him to death's door. No man was ever nearer death and survived. His surgeons and friends gave him up. His death was reported in the Vermont papers, and his obituary written ; but he rallied on the very edge of the grave, and lived to fight through the war ; and to become the Governor of the State ; and to serve the public in civil life with the modesty, efficiency and fidelity which characterized his mili- tary service. The loss of the regiment was 26 killed and 63 wounded, nine of whom died of their wounds. Of 52 officers and men 1 Captain Harrington was dismissed the service a few weeks later (on the 23d of July, 1862) under charges of disobedience of orders and ab- sence without leave, during the six days of fighting on the Peninsula, in the change of base. After the end of the war, the order of dismissal was in 1870, revoked, and the record changed to one of honorable discharge, upon Captain Harrington's petition, backed by a number of field and line officers of the brigade. 140 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of Co. F. who went into the fight, 27, or 52 per cent., were killed or wounded. Of these nine were killed outright and three mortally wounded. Co. D. had eight men killed and one mortally wounded. Five men of Co. K. were killed and three died of their wounds. Co. E. had four killed. The battalion numbered 192 officers and men, and its loss in killed and wounded was 45 per cent. In the previous skirmishing one man of Co. A. was killed, and five of Companies A., B. and H., were wounded. 1 The regiment was with the First Vermont brigade du- ring the stay of the army before Yorktown ; in the march up the Peninsula ; in the battle of Williamsburg where it was sent to the right to reinforce General Hancock and joined Hancock's command in its advanced position ; in the month of picket and fatigue duty in front of Kichmond ; and on the Seven Days' Hetreat. In these trying days, the regiment was commanded by Lieut. Colonel Yeazey, Colonel Hyde being absent on sick leave. The regiment was engaged at Savage's Station, June 29th, and, lost six killed and 18 woun- ded. Among the killed was Second Lieutenant John "W. Ramsay, Co. C., and among the wounded were Captain D. T. Corbin, Co. C., who was left on the field and captured, and Captain Nelson, Co. I., who lost three toes by a musket shot. When General Smith's division was paraded at Harri- son's Landing, after the " change of base," it was found that 'The killed were; E. Briggs, D. Campbell, Jr., J. Cookman, 8. Dan- forth, J. Lebay, J. Neal, O. C. Stevens, S. Sweetland, Co. D. ; F. J. Thomas, 8. Thompson, W. P. Vance, E. W. Wells, Co. E. ; A. Boynton, W. H. Downer, W. S. Kurd, G. Kibble, F. Morrill, D. M. Morse, J. F. Perry, D* Wilson, R. Wilson, Co. F. ; A. J, Batten, F. Cenneville, P. Devine, E. D. Waterman, A. F. Willey, Co. K. 26. Those who died of their wounds were; A. A. Bailey, Co. A. ; H. C. Hill, A. Hutchinson, Co. D.; J. Butter- field, J. M. Smith, W. Whitcomb, Co. F. ; T. Connell, A. J. Hoyt, W. Scott, Co. K. 9. 2 The killed were : A. C. Armington and E. P. Howard of Co. C.; G. W. Fletcher of Co. F.; H. W. Jones of Co. I.; and A. B. Russell of Co. K. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 141 but one drummer of the entire division had brought his drum with him through the Seven Days' Eetreat. This was a St. Johnsbury lad of 14 years, named "Willie Johnson, who was the drummer boy of Co. D. of the Third Vermont. While many strong men threw away their arms and everything but the clothing on their persons, Willie clung to his drum and carried it through with him, and at Harrison's Landing he had the honor of drumming for division parade. These facts were reported by General Smith to the War Department, and several months later Willie was summoned to Wash- ington and received from Secretary Stanton the star medal of honor, for his fidelity and pluck. 1 The regiment was with the Vermont Brigade during the Summer and Fall of 1862, and took part, without serious loss, in the forcing of Crampton's Gap, September 14th ; at Antietam, where it lost one man killed 1 and three wounded, September 17th, and at the first Fredericksburg, December 13th, where it had two killed and eight wounded. 3 On the 27th of September j Lieut. Colonel Veazey was appointed to the Colonelcy of the Sixteenth regiment. Major Seaver was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy in his place ; and Captain Samuel E. Pingree succeeded him as Major. Lieut. Colonel Veazey was a thoroughly brave and uncom- monly capable officer, and his departure was a serious loss to the regiment. The opening of the year 1863, found the regiment in camp at Belle Plain Landing, and its morning report' of January 7th, showed an aggregate of 791 men, of whom 573 were present for duty and 204 on the sick list. On the 15th of January, Colonel Hyde resigned the 1 Young Johnson re-enlisted at the end of three years, and served through the war. 2 J. Stanton, Co. D. 3 The killed were B. Farwell and J. Whipple, Co. G. 8. C. Boynton, Co. E., died of his wounds. 142 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. colonelcy, under circumstances not altogether creditable. He had been ordered before a court martial, on a charge of cowardice exhibited at Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. He alleged in his defence, physical weakness from tempo- rary illness ; but the circumstances altogether were such, and the unfavorable result of the court martial so probable, that he was advised to resign, and did so, and his resignation was accepted. Truth compels the historian to say that he had not been a popular or successful commander ; and the re- giment welcomed the change which gave Lieut. Colonel Seaver the colonelcy and command. 1 Major S. E. Pingree was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy, and Captain Thomas Nelson of Co. I, was appointed major. The changes in the roster of the regiment which had thus far occurred were frequent and great. In the eighteen months of its service the regiment had seen its field officers thrice changed. Adjutant Blunt had been promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy of the Sixth, and had been succeeded by Lieutenant W. F. Corey of Co. H, who resigned in July, 1862, and was succeeded as adjutant by Serg't Major Edward Mattocks. Quartermaster Proctor had been promoted and succeeded by Lieutenant Frederick Grain. Chaplain Par- melee had resigned and was suceeded in January, 1862, by Rev. Daniel A. Mack, a Methodist Episcopal Clergyman of Boyalton, leaving Surgeon Janes and Ass't Surgeon Good- win the only members of the original field and staff remain- ing. In the line Captains Yeazey, Seaver, Pingree and Nelson liad been promoted ; Captains Corbin, Allen and Hammond had been honorably discharged for wounds and disabilities 1 Lieut. Colonel Seaver had been, during the month previous, in com- mand of the Twenty Sixth New Jersey, a new regiment which had been brigaded for three months with the First Vermont brigade. Its colonel being ill, and its only remaining field officer having seen no previous ser- service, Lieut. Colonel Seaver was assigned to the command of the regi- ment ; and under his capable command it rapidly improved in drill and discipline. New Jersey and The Rebellion, p. 543. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 143 incurred in the service ; Captains West, Blanchard and House had resigned, and Captain Harrington had been cashiered, leaving not one of the original company com- manders ; and as many or more changes had taken place in the various lieutenantcies. No other Vermont regiment the First Vermont cavalry excepted was subjected to such sweeping changes of officers during the first year and a half of its service. Colonel Seaver, its new commander, was a young man of high intelligence and spirit. He had enlisted from the town of Pomfret, at the age of 27, in response to the first call for three year s troops, and was chosen captain of his company at its organization in May, 1861. He had reached the colonelcy through all the successive grades of promotion, and had shown himself cool and brave in action, and faithful to every duty. He had the confidence and respect of the regiment, and under his command it won some of its brightest laurels. At the famous storming of Marye's Heights, at Fred- cricksburg, May 3d, 1863, the regiment formed part of the third storming column which, under command of Colonel Seaver, gallantly carried a portion of the crest, with the loss of one killed l and six wounded. Next day, Colonel Seaver was detailed as division officer of the day for General Howe's division, leaving the command of the Third to Lieut. Colonel Pingree. In the engagement of that day, designated in Adj't General Washburn's list of battles as Salem Heights but perhaps better known as that of Banks's Ford, the regiment rendered gallant and very important service in the repulse of the Confederate brigades of Hoke and Hays, and in the covering of the withdrawal of Howe's division and of the Sixth corps across the Eappahannock. Its loss was two killed and mortally wounded, 2 24 wounded and 13 missing. 1 S. M. Whitman, Co. E. 2 J. C. Crossam, Co. C, and O. Farnsworth, Co. G. 144 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Among the wounded were Lieutenant E. P. Goodell, of Co. G. and Lieutenant E. A. Kennedy, of Co D. Colonel Seaver was specially mentioned in the reports of the brigade and division commanders, and in his report he commends Lieut. Colonel Pingree and Major Nelson for gallant and. efficient service that day. 1 The Third crossed the Eappahannock with the brigade on the 5th of June ; shared the hard march to Gettysburg ; and in the engagement at Funkstown, Md. on the 10th of July, it lost one man killed and several wounded, 2 of whom one died of his wounds. During the last two weeks of August and first two of September, the regiment was maintaining order and supporting the laws, in and near New York city. This service was not entirely confined to moral suasion. Among other duties, the Third regiment was sent to Newark, N. J., September 5th, to mount guard over a New Jersey re- giment, which had been recruited from rather poor material by means of large bounties, and was now in danger of entire dissolution from the numbers who were deserting. A guard of U. S. regulars had been stationed there to maintain dis- cipline and stop the escape of deserters ; but with so little success, that General Dix relieved them and put the Third Vermont in their place. On the night of the 7th a number of the Jerseymen undertook to rush past the guard, who, after due warning, used their arms with fatal effect. Three of the "bounty jumpers" were killed and four wounded; and there was no more attempting to run guard while the Yermonters were on duty. The New Jersey roughs of course hated as well as feared the Yermonters, and their malice sometimes found ugly expression. On one occasion as a guard, Alvah T. Bell of Co, H, was leaning for a minute on 1 Lieut. Horace French, acting provost marshal, is also favorably men- tioned in the report of Col. L. A. Grant, commanding the brigade. 5 J. Cuthbert, Co. F, killed. A. G. Page, Co. F, died of his wounds. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 145 his gun, with his hand over the muzzle, a Jersey man crept up slyly and pulled the trigger, discharging the musket and shattering Bell's hand for life. During the withdrawal of the Army of the Potomac from the front of Mine Run, on the 1st and 2d of December, 1863, the Third with the Seventy Seventh New York and a battery guarded the Germania Ford and covered the rear, while the army marched back to its old camp, near Brandy Station. On the 3d the regiment followed the rest of the army, and went into winter quarters near Brandy Station, Va. Here it remained for five months. In December, 204 of the men re- enlisted for the war. Successive additions of recruits brought up the aggregate of the regiment on the 1st of February to 800. The health of the regiment at this time was remarkable, the sick list averaging but 83, for four months. About 600 effective men of the Third marched into the Wilderness under General U. S. Grant on the 4th of May, 1864, and a third of them fell in the battles of the 5th and 6th. The regiment, under Colonel Seaver, fought in the front line on the left of the Orange Plank road, and its loss on those two bloody days was 40 killed, 184 wounded, 25 of whom died of their wounds, and 15 missing. Among the killed were Adjutant Abel Morrill and Captain E. H. Bart- lett, Co. B., and among the wounded were Captain Erastus Buck, who died of his wounds, Captain H. W. Floyd, and Lieutenants H. C. Miller, C. E. Osgood and E. P. Goodall. Lieutenant Horace French, acting aid on the staff of Gene- ral L. A. Grant, had his horse shot under him and was taken prisoner, at the close of the battle of the 4th. Corporal Thomas J. Miller, Co. K., who served as mounted orderly, received honorable mention in General L. A. Grant's report. 1 1 The killed of the rank and file were : J. H. Clark, C. A. Cook, E. B. Felcher, Co. A.; C. S. Blood, J. Dunn, L. G. Flood, Co. B.; C. H. Bur- bank, Co. C.; J. H. Allen, N. Drown, J. Petre Jr., G. Roberts, F. D. Spicer, Co. D.; E. B. Burnham, O. M. Tillotson, Co. E.; F. Boyd, D. 10 146 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. At Spotfcsylvania, on the 10th of May, four companies of the Third, under Captain Kenesson, shared the glory of Upton's famous charge and a portion of them remained in the enemy's works until the last. On the 12th the regiment was in the thickest of the fight at the " Bloody Angle." The loss of the regiment on those two days was 19 killed and 75 wounded, of whom seven died, 1 the loss falling heaviest on compan- ies C. and G. Among the wounded on the 12th was Captain John F. Cook of Co. E., who received a severe wound in the breast which occasioned his honorable discharge eleven months later. On the 16th, Colonel Seaver with the Third Yermont and a Massachusetts regiment made a reconnois- sance towards Spottsylvania Court-house, driving in the ene- my's skirmishers to their main line of works. On the 21st, the Sixth corps being then a little south of Spottsylvania, the enemy broke through the skirmish line, which was covering the withdrawal of the corps, and Colonel Seaver was sent out with the Third Yermont to re-establish the line. This was promptly done and several prisoners taken. Huse, J. L. Marsh, R. M. McGibbon, Co. F. ; D. Connell, M. W. Gray, H. B. Hooker, G. Newton, M. G. Paige, D. Rattray, Co. G.; R. Goodwin, D. Parker, G. W. Pryor, Co. H.; F. F. England, G. Hendrick, R. H. Langdon, L. Morse, J. Shattuck, E. B. Smith, J. A. Tabor, J. Weeks, Co. I.; P. Haggerty, J. McCarty, J. Welch, Co. K. The mortally wounded were: R. N. Bullard, Co. B. ; G. F. Sawtelle, Co. C.; W. Hammett, J. Wilson, Co. D.; S. L. Kemp, A. White, Co. E.; G. F. Bemis, R. B. Carlton, E. Doyle, T. S. Hodson, M. Morain, J. Sabine, Co. F.; H. C. Thompson, G. W. Wright, Co. G.; E. M. Allison, O. Hoga- boom, M. C. Page, H. Rumrill, J. E. Searle, Co. H. ; F. Baker, J. Hinman, W. Whipple, Co. I., J. A. Fales, G. D. Taft, Co. K. 1 The killed were E. A. Boynton, W. H. Bugbee, Co. A ; J. N. Flanders, G. N. Gardner, W. Morris, H. B. Williams, Co. C.; W. H. Colley, B. A. Hoag, A. S. Judd, J. Morse, Co. D.; F. Gallagher, S. Q. Farnsworth, C. W. Hill, C. H. Northrop, E. H. Scott, J.T. Simpson, Co. G.; C. C. Cobb, J. Ryan, Co. I.; W. J. McMannis, Co. K. L. P. Leland, Co. A.; J. C. Doyle, S. G., Heaton, A. B. Jones. Co. D.; E. Ordway, L. A. Ryder, Co. F. and H. Crow, Co. G., died of wounds. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 147 In the bloody battle of Cold Harbor, on the 3d of June, the Third formed for a time a portion of the front line, and suffered severely, having 13 killed, 17 mortally wounded, 1 and 53 more or less severely wounded. Among the mortally wounded was Lieutenant Henry C. Miller, of Co. A., a brave and capable young officer, who died next day. Captain Kenesson, of Co. D. was among the wounded. On the night of the 3d the brigade was temporarily divided, and Colonel Seaver was sent with the Third and Fifth and two battalions of the Eleventh, to relieve and support a portion of the Third division of the Sixth corps. They were placed in the front line, relieving General Eussell's brigade, and were detached from the rest of the brigade for a week of almost constant skirmishing. During the night of June 12th Colonel Seaver's command rejoined the brigade, and the Third started, with the brigade, on the march for Petersburg. The regiment had thus far since it crossed the Rapidan, had about 300 men killed and wounded, and 20 captured, and was thus reduced to about half its effective force of five weeks previous. June 20th the regiment was under heavy artillery fire, in the lines in front of Petersburg, and lost one man killed. 8 In the movement of the Sixth corps against the Weldon Eailroad, June 22d, the Third, with other Yermont troops, was on picket, guarding the left flank of the corps. The next day the picket line of the Second division of the 'The killed were : E. J. Flanders, Co. A.; N. A. Brink, P. Dolan, Co. B.; J. F. Wheelock, Co.E.; W. W. Page, Co. G.; H. M. Hogaboom, J. Popple, Co. H. ; G. F. England, G. W. Harvey, J. B. Percival, W. Rob- bins, Co. I.; H. Plumb, O. Whitcomb, Co. K. Those dying of their wounds were: W. O. Messenger, Co. A.; E. S. Nye, Co. B., J. Flaherty, Co. C.; A. White, Co. E.; A. L. Bartholomew, O. Davis, Co. F.; A. S. Writer, Co. G.; J. H. Frisbie, J. Blanshaw, Co. H.; B. A. Hutchins, J. C. Stone, A. A. C. Symes, Co. L; J. Arnold, J. Hen- derson, W". Henderson, C. H. Leavitt, Co. K. 8 William Belcer, Co. F. 148 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Sixth corps was composed chiefly of Vermont troops, and was under the charge of Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree, as Division Officer of the Day. Captain Beattie of the Third, with nine- ty men, reached the Weldon road, accompanied by a party of pioneers who commenced the destruction of the track. Later in the day, the enemy assaulted the skirmish line, and captured four hundred men of the Fourth and Eleventh Vermont regiments. Colonel Pingree was not held respon- sible for this disaster ; but on the contrary won high praise for his efficiency and bravery. 1 On the 29th of June, on the advance of the Sixth corps to Beam's Station, the Third was deployed on the skirmish line, and drove in the enemy's skirmishers. On the 30th of June the regiment had 340 men present for duty. July 9th the regiment went with the brigade and the Sixth corps to Washington, to repel Early's demonstration against the Capital. In the skirmish in front of Fort Stevens, July 12th, some twenty men of the Third, who were in a company of about seventy-five picked men, organized as sharpshooters under command of Captain A. M. Beattie, par- ticipated in the sally of General Bidwell's brigade, and in the sharp skirmish which drove the enemy out of sight. One man of the Third 2 was killed and one wounded in the action. 1 Gen. L. A. Grant, in his report of this action, says : " Although Lieut. Colonel 8. E. Pingree, 3d Vermont, was not under my command that day, but was acting as Officer of the day in charge of the whole picket or skir- mish line, I bear willing testimony to his coolness and bravery, and almost superhuman efforts. He had a difficult and extended line, and his atten- tion was called to different points almost at the same time. He performed his duties in a manner entitling him to great praise." The army correspondent of the N. Y. World, describing the first as- saults of the enemy on the skirmish line, said : " The enemy, though at- tacking in two strong lines, were effectually thwarted by ,our skirmish- ers for the skillful manoeuvering of which too much praise cannot be bestowed on Colonel Pingree, of the Third Vermont, who commanded them. Special mention will be made of Colonel Pingree and of Captain Beattie, for the efficiency and bravery displayed by them on this occasion." 9 Russell L. Stevens, Co. D. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 149 On the 16th of July, the brigade being then near Lees- burg, Va., the three years' term of the original members of the regiment expired. They had become reduced, chiefly by death and discharge, from 881 to 335. Of these 179, having re-enlisted for the war, remained in the field. 1 Over 50 were in hospital suffering from wounds or severe sickness. The remainder, 104 in number, under command of Colonel Seaver, left on the 17th, passed through New York on the 20th, and arrived at Burlington in the evening of the 21st. They were received and escorted by a procession of firemen and citizens to the town hall, where they were welcomed home in an ad- dress by Hon. L. B. Englesby, which was fittingly responded to by Lieut. Colonel Pingree, Colonel Seaver not being present. A supper was tendered to the veterans by the citi- zens of Burlington at the American Hotel that evening, at which speeches were made by Adj't General P. T. Washburn, Colonel Seaver, Professor C. W. Thompson of the University, and others, after which the regiment marched to its quarters in barracks on the Fair ground. The men were paid off by the U. S. Paymaster and State Treasurer, and mustered out of the service by Captain Murray, U. S. A., on the 27th. The officers so mustered out were Colonel T. O. Seaver, who went out as captain of Co. F. ; Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree, who went out as first lieutenant of Co. F.; Major Thomas Nelson, who was the first captain of Co. I.; Surgeon D. M. Goodwin, who was the first assistant surgeon of the regiment ; Chaplain D. A. Mack ; Captains D. A. Kenesson, A. M. Beattie, W. A. Pierce, Leo Hyde, and Sidney H. Brigham ; First Lieutenants F. E. Hew, Wm. H. Bowker, E. A. Chandler, W. M. Currier, H. H. Phillips and James Fletcher; and Second Lieutenants C. E. Osgood, C. F. Bailey, E. P. Goodall Jr., D. B. Yeazey, and Alvin Jones. Most of these company officers went out as privates. 1 The number who re-enlisted originally was 204. Of these some 20 had been killed, and several had deserted, subsequent to re-enlistment. 150 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The departure of the officers and men whose three years' term had expired, took from the regiment all its field officers and over half of its company commanders ; but more veter- ans and recruits remained in the field than had been mustered out. On the 25th of July they were consolidated into a battalion of six companies the members of Companies D., F., G. and H. being distributed among the other companies under command of Captain Horace W. Floyd, who was soon after commissioned as major. The morning report of July 31, showed an aggregate of 483, with 218 present for duty, and 242 on the sick list, the larger part of whom were wounded men. In the notable engagement at Charlestown, Ya., August 21, 1864, the Third had three men killed and 15 wounded. 1 In the opening battle of General Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign, known as that of the Opequan, or Winchester, September 19th, 1864, the Third, under Major Floyd, who was also in command of the Fourth, was sharply engaged and lost 30 men, two being killed, 26 wounded, of whom three died of their wounds, and two missing. 2 It took part again, two days later, in the battle of Fisher's Hill. It lost one man, T. J. Miller of Company K., who was the brigade color bearer, killed on the 21st. At Cedar Creek, October 19th, about 200 men of the Third went into the battle, and the loss of the regiment was three killed, 38 wounded, three of whom died of wounds, and one missing. 3 Captain W. H. Hubbard and Lieutenant 1 The killed were A. Goodell, J. J. Rich and D. E. Smith of Co. I. A. E. Fales, of Co. K., died of his wounds. 2 The killed were W. E. Crowell, Co. E., and C. H. Sanborn, Co. F. J. Deady, andE. B. Cram, Co. E., and J. S. Kelley, Co. C., died of their wounds. 3 The killed were: James Greig, Co. C., E. G. Thompson, Co. F., H. C. Voodry, Co. K. M. E. Parker, Co. A., J. E. Page, Co. C., and A. Pierce, Co. E., died of their wounds. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 151 A. H. Lyon, were among the wounded. Major Floyd was mentioned in General Grant's report for " truly conspicuous and gallant conduct." He had been appointed lieutenant colonel on the 18th, but did not receive his commission till after the battle of Cedar Creek. He was brevetted colonel for gallantry and good conduct in the battles of the Shenan- doah Valley. Upon Major Floyd's promotion to the lieuten- ant colonelcy, Captain John F. Cook was appointed major, October 18th, 1864. Returning to Petersburg with the Sixth corps after the close of the Shenandoah campaign, the regiment went into winter quarters with the Yermont brigade, on the " Squirrel Level Road," on the southwest of Petersburg. The men were occupied during the winter and early spring in severe picket service along the lines, and in hard fatigue duty on the forts which were constructed by the Sixth corps. On the 25th of March 1865, the regiment, with the brigade, assaulted the enemy's entrenched picket line, taking many prisoners, and held the captured works, having three men wounded. On the morning of the 27th, it aided in the repulse of the enemy's assault on the captured line, and had one man wounded. The last fighting done by the Third was in the final assault of the Sixth corps on the Confederate lines on the south of Petersburg, April 2d, which resulted in the fall of that stronghold and of Richmond. In the storming of the enemy's works, and in the subsequent fighting of the brigade, the Third had an honorable share, and Lieut. Colonel Floyd and a portion of his command distinguished themselves in the capture of a Confederate battery, in the last stand made by the enemy in front of Petersburg. The loss of the regiment was four killed and 19 wounded, two of whom died. 1 Among 'The killed were: H. J. Stephens, Co. A.; S. C. Ingleston, Co. E.; J. H. Hastings, Co. I., and W. Harvey, Jr., Co. K. N. Gould, Co. A., and G. Peach, Co. C., died of their wounds. 152 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. the latter was Lieutenant Gardner t). Hawkins, who was act- ing as adjutant of the Fourth Vermont. The regiment accompanied the brigade and the Sixth corps in the final hard marching of the campaign, and of the war, and went into its last camp in the field, at Munson's Hill, June 1st, with about 300 men. The morning report of June 7th showed an aggregate of 466, of whom 320 were on duty, 128 sick and 18 reported absent with or without leave. On the 4th of June, in recognition of their meritorious services, Lieut. Colonel Floyd was promoted to the colonelcy, Major "William H. Hubbard, 1 to thelieut. colonelcy, and Cap- tain A. H. Newt of Company B. was appointed major. These promotions, however, were not recognized by the War Depart- ment ; and under its rules these officers were subsequently mustered out as of the ranks previously held by them. On the 7th and 8th of June, the regiment participated in the review of the Vermont troops by Governor Smith, at Bailey's Cross Roads, near Alexandria, and in the review of the Sixth corps by President Johnson, at Washington. On the 19th, the men, numbering about 100, whose terms of service were to expire before the 1st of October, were mustered out ; and on the llth of July, the remainder, numbering 22 officers and about 300 men, were mustered out, at Bailey's Cross Roads, and started at once for home. The officers so nmstered out were Colonel Floyd, Lieut. Colonel "W. H. Hubbard, Major A. H. Newt, Adjutant A. H. Hall, Quartermaster G. F. Brown, Surgeon J. J. Meigs, Chaplain P. A. Mack, Captains George W. Bonett, B. H. Fuller, L. B. Fairbanks, J. S. Thompson, T. F. Leonard and Horace French; First Lieutenants J. S. Tupper, 6. B. Robinson, A. C. Wakefield, A. W. Lyon, and O. H. Thompson ; and Second Lieutenants W. W. Woods, E. E. Cushman, C. B. Guyer and ,-% *> 1 He had been appointed Major on the discharge of Major Cook, who received an honorable discharge, April 8th, for disability resulting from his wounds. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 153 A. J. Locke. They reached New York on the 13th, and ar- rived at Burlington in the afternoon of the 14th. They were received with a salute of cannon, were escorted to the city hall by a mounted escort of citizens ; were welcomed in an address by Rev. George B. Safford, and entertained at a din- ner in the city hall, served by the ladies of Burlington, after which the veterans marched to their quarters at the Marine Hospital, where they were paid off, a day or two later, and dispersed to their homes. The names of 200 officers and men of the Third who were killed or died of wounds received in action, have been already given in this regimental record. To these may pro- perly be added the names of the martyrs who died of disease or starvation in the enemy's hands. These were as follows ; DIED IN CONFEDERATE PRISONS. Company B Aiken Giloe, captured May, '64, died at Anderson ville, Ga., June 8, '64; Goodwin W. Stevens, wounded and captured May 6, '64, died in prison ; Oel Wardner, died at Andersonville, November 5, '64. Company C Frederick B. Avery, died at Andersonville, March 13, '65. Company I William Coville, captured June 2, '64, died at Anderson- ville, August 12, '64; Silas Forrest, captured June 2, '64, died at Ander- sonville, August 29, '64; William B. McCollister, captured June 2, '64, died at Andersonville, October 20, '64 ; William O'Brien, captured June 2, '64, died at Andersonville, April 23, '65 ; Frank Papineau, captured June 2, '64, died at Andersonville, August 14, '64. 154 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The battles in which the Third had honorable part, as officially recorded, were as follows : BATTLES OF THE THIED KEGIMENT. Lewinsville, Sept, 11, 1861. Lee's Mill, April 16, 1862. Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. Golding's Farm, June 26, 1862. Savage's Station, June 29, 1362. White Oak Swamp, June 30 1862. Crampton's Gap, Sept. 14, 1862. Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. First Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. Marye's Heights, May 3, 1863. Salem Heights, May 4, 1863. Fredericksburg, June 5, 1863. Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Funkstown, July 10, 1863. Rappahannock Station, -...-.. Nov. 7, 1863. Wilderness, May 5 to 10, 1864. Spottsylvania, May 10 to 18, 1864. Cold Harbor, June 1 to 12, 1864. Petersburg, June 18, 1864. Ream's Station, June 29, 1864. Washington, July 11, 1864. Charlestown, Aug. 21, 1864. Opequan, Sept. 13, 1864. Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864 Fisher's Hill, Sept. 21 and 22, 1864. Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864. Petersburg, March 25 and 27, 1865. Petersburg, April 2, 1865. THE THIRD REGIMENT. 155 The final statement of the Third Vermont is as follows : FINAL STATEMENT. Original members com. officers 33, enlisted men 843, total 881 Gain: recruits 919; transferred from other regiments 9, total 928 Aggregate 1,809 LOSSES. Killed in action com. officers 3, enlisted men 127, total 130 Died of wounds com. officers 2, enlisted men 68, total 70 Died of disease- com. officers 1, enlisted men 143, total 144 Died, not of wounds, in Confederate prisons enlisted men 9 Died from accidents enlisted men 4 Total of deaths 357 Promoted to other regiments or to U. S. Army, officers 6, men 5, total... .11 Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps and other organizations com. officers 3, enlisted men 106, total 109 Honorably discharged, Com. officers, resigned 24 ; for disabilities 10, total. 34 Enlisted men honorably discharged, for disabilities 368, for wounds, 38. ..406 Dishonorably discharged Com. officers 2, enlisted men 12, total 14 Paroled prisoners discharged enlisted men 3 Total by discharge 457 Deserted 285, dropped from roll 1, unaccounted for 8, total 294 Mustered out com officers 45, enlisted men 536, total 581 Aggregate 1,809 Total wounded 426 Re-enlisted... 204 CHAPTEE VIII. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. Call for more Troops in August, 1861 Organization of the Regiment Its Field and Staff Camp Holbrook Delays in Equipment and of De- parture Journey to Washington Arrival at Camp Advance Joins First Brigade at Camp Griffin Remarkable Period of Sickness The Spring Campaign of 1862 March to Flint Hill and Cloud's Mills The Peninsula First shot at Lee's Mill Losses at Lee's Mill Service at Williamsburg and in front of Richmond Changes of Officers Cramp- ton's Gap and Antietam Arrival of Recruits Promotion of Colonel Stoughton and Changes of Officers - First Fredericksburg Winter Quarters at Belle Plain Marye's Heights and Banks's Ford March to Gettysburg Loss at Funkstown Winter at Brandy Station- Resignation of Colonel C. B. Stoughton Sketch of Colonel George P. Foster Losses in the Wilderness and the Overland Campaign Misfor- tune at Weldon Railroad Action at Charlestown Expiration of Three Years' Term The Shenandoah Campaign In the Lines of Petersburg The Final Assault End of the War and Return Home. The response of Yermont to the news of the disastrous battle of the first Bull Run was a proclamation by Governor Fairbanks, dated July 30th, 1861, calling for the immediate enlistment of two more three years' regiments of volunteers, in addition to the two already sent forward. In this procla- mation he anticipated the coming call for troops from Wash- ington. He said in it : " The events of the 21st instant and " the retreat of the United States Army from the field near " Manassas Junction, demonstrated the necessity of a greatly "increased national force, and although no formal requisi- " tion has been made upon me by the secretary of war, nor "any apportionment of troops as the quota for this State THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 157 c communicated, yet the events referred to indicate clearly " the necessity of exercising the discretionary power conferred " on me by the aforesaid act for raising and organizing addi- tional regiments. Orders will therefore be issued imme- " diately to the adjutant and inspector general for enlisting " the Fourth and Fifth regiments of volunteers for three "years or during the war, to be tendered to the general " government as soon as it may be practicable to arm, equip " and discipline the troops for service." Commissions were at once issued to twenty recruiting officers in different parts of the State, and the work of enlistment of men began. A despatch received at this time from the secretary of war, urging the governor to send on any more troops at his dis- posal " in view of imminent danger," showed that the gov- ernor had not been hasty in anticipating the action of the authorities at Washington. In order to hasten recruiting he thereupon commissioned twenty more recruiting officers on the 19th of August ; and in a second proclamation, dated August 20th, he earnestly called upon the citizens, "espe- cially the young men of the State, to enroll their names at the several recruiting stations for the service of their coun- try." Within thirty days after the governor's proclamation of July 30th, men enough to fill two full regiments had been recruited, and most of the companies composing them or- ganized. The men of the Fourth were enlisted for the most part in towns in the southern part of the State. The colo- nelcy was offered to Lieut. Colonel Washburn of the First re- giment, who declined it on account of the precarious condi- tion of his health. Lieutenant Edwin H. Stoughton, U. S. A., was then appointed colonel. He was a native of Bellows Falls ; a graduate of West Point, of the class of 1859 ; and a second lieutenant in the Sixth U. S. Infantry. He resigned his com- mission in December, 1860, when many regular army officers resigned, the resignation to take effect on the 4th of March 158 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. 1861, when the term of Abraham Lincoln as President was to begin ; but he subsequently reconsidered his determination and withdrew his resignation with a view of entering the volunteer service. He was but twenty three years of age when appointed colonel of the Fourth, and was said to be the youngest colonel in the army at that time. Colonel Stoughton's commission bore date of August 1st, 1861, The other field and staff officers were appointed about two weeks later. Major Harry N. Worthen of Bradford, lately of the First regiment was appointed lieutenant colonel. John C. Tyler of Brattleboro, a young man of 22, was appointed major ; Charles B. Stoughton of Bellows Falls, a younger brother of the colonel, a youth of nineteen years, was appointed adjut- ant ; the regimental staff were John Halsey Cushman of Bennington, quartermaster ; Dr. Samuel J. Allen of Hartford, surgeon; Dr. Willard A. Child of Pittsford, asst. surgeon; and Kev. Salem M. Plympton, a Congregational clergyman of West Haven, Conn., chaplain. The rendezvous was fixed at Brattleboro, and as fast as the companies were organized they went into camp there, the first arriving September 12th, and the last September 14th. The camp was named " Camp Holbrook," in honor of Hon. Frederick Holbrook of Brattleboro, who had just been elected Governor. The preceding regiments had been uni- formed by the State, in gray ; but the uniforms of the Fourth were furnished by the General Government, and were of army blue (dark blue blouses and light blue pantaloons,) with hats of black felt, similar to those worn by the U. S. regular troops. The arms were Enfield rifles. The regiment com- pared favorably in material and personal appearance with those that had already gone from Vermont. The standard- bearer was six feet seven and a half inches tall. Most of the field and staff officers were young, much younger than those of the other regiments, but some of them, as well as a number THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 159 of the company officers, had had some experience in the First regiment. On the 14th of September, before the regiment was fairly full, or any uniforms and equipments had been received, Governor Fairbanks received directions from the War De- partment to send forward the Fourth and Fifth Vermont regiments at once, the Department giving assurance that any deficiencies in the outfit of the regiments would be sup- plied upon their arrival at "Washington. The Governor accordingly ordered the regiments forward ; but the officers strongly objected to leaving the State until the men were fully equipped, representing that by such a move the dis- cipline of the regiment would be seriously impaired. In consideration of all the circumstances the Governor consented that the departure should be delayed until the men could be properly equipped, and it was a week later before the regi- ment started for the war. Camp life was a new experience to the men, and during the rainy week at Camp Holbrook, nearly 300 men were sick from change of diet and unwonted exposure. On the 20th, overcoats and pantaloons were dis- tributed among the men, and on the 21st of September, the Fourth regiment, numbering 1,042 officers and men, was mustered into the service of the United States. A regi- mental band of 24 pieces was organized with and accom- panied the regiment. The regiment left Brattleboro for Washington on the evening of the 21st, and arrived at Jersey City, by steamer from New Haven, on the morning of the 23d. The New York newspapers, as usual, praised its appear- ance and discipline, as well as the completeness of its equip- ment, in all which respects, they said, it rivaled the best troops in the field. At Philadelphia an excellent supper was served by the citizens and was appreciated by the men, who had had little or nothing but dry bread since leaving Camp Holbrook. The regiment reached Washington Monday evening, September 23d, having had on the whole a comfortable 160 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL \VAK. journey from Vermont, and the next morning went into camp on Capitol Hill, where it remained four days. On Saturday morning, the 28th, an order came to strike tents and march to Chain Bridge, where the Second, Third and Fifth regi- ments were now encamped, the last of these having arrived at Camp Advance the day before, though it left Vermont a day or two later than the Fourth. Here the men had their first experience in picket duty. For the ten days following nothing occurred of more conse- quence than the wounding of a man by the accidental dis- charge of a musket in the hands of a comrade with whom he was sparring bayonets. On the 9th of October the regiment moved with General Smith's division to Lewinsville, Va., where the men lay on their arms all night, and suffered much from cold. Next day they received their tents and went into camp on Smoot's Hill, at Camp Griffin, the camp of the First Vermont brigade which was organized about this time. October 19th, seven companies of the Fourth accompa- nied the Fifth regiment on a reconnoissance to Vienna, and on the 24th the regiment participated in a Division review. While the weather remained fine the health of the regi- ment continued good ; but as the period of cold nights and fall rains came on, the men began to sicken. On the 9th of November, Surgeon Allen reported 200 men sick in hos- pital, and within a month this number nearly doubled. A more definite cause was assignable in the case of the the Fourth, for the sickness then prevailing throughout the Vermont brigade, than in the cases of some of the other regiments. The water for the camp was supplied by a brook, which received the surface water from a slope on which a thousand cavalry horses had stood for two months previous. That malarial epidemics should have been developed under such circumstances was not surprising. Moreover some of the men still lacked overcoats, and suffered from exposure. The moving of the camp, about the middle of December, to a THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 161 pine grove on higher ground, together with an ample supply of clothing received from Vermont, effected an immediate change for the better. On the 13th of December there were 360 men of the Fourth in hospital. Two weeks later, on the 27th, there were but 60. Surgeons Allen and Child were untiring in their labors, during this period of sickness, and their skill and care is attested by the fact that of some 2,000 cases of sickness in two months many of the men suffering repeated attacks but 26 proved fatal. The regiment remained at Camp Griffin through the winter, taking its turn once in five days on picket. In January, 1862, owing, as it was reported, to some mis- understanding with General Smith, Colonel Stoughton sent in his resignation ; but subsequently withdrew it. On the 17th of January, Major Tyler resigned, and Adjutant Charles B. Stoughton, who had shown decided aptitude for military duties, was promoted to the vacancy. On the 10th of March, the Fourth left Camp Griffin, in the movement of the Army of the Potomac towards Manas- sas. It camped that night at Flint Hill, north of Fairfax Court House, where it remained until the 15th, and thence marched to Cloud's Mills, four miles northwest of Alexandria. On the 23d, it marched with the brigade to Alexandria and embarked on transports for Fortress Monroe, arriving there early on the morning of the 25th, and going into camp in a grove of pines, about half way between Hampton and New- port News. On the 27th the regiment went out with the division, on a reconnoissance in force, bivouacking near Big Bethel that night and returning next day to the camp near Newport News. A week later, on the 4th of April, the regi- ment marched in the grand advance of General McClellan's army up the Peninsula, and bivouacked that night at Young's Mills, near a Confederate earthwork which had been evac- uated the day previous. Next day it marched through War- wick Court House, and halted with the army before the 11 162 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. enemy's fortified line along Warwick Creek. Picket duty was now performed in much closer proximity to the Confederate pickets than heretofore; and on the 7th of April, private Madison M. Myrick, of Co. C., a youth of 19, was shot through the leg, by the enemy's pickets, being the first man of the regiment hurt by a Confederate bullet. On the 16th of April, the regiment went into its first action, in the memorable engagement at Lee's Mill. It was the first regiment of the brigade to move in the morning, and the first shot was fired by Colonel St ought on. 1 He had deployed Companies B., Captain Platt, and G., Captain Foster, as skirmishers, and accompanied them in person through the woods to the edge of Warwick Creek, above the dam. As they arrived in sight of the earthwork on the other side, Colonel Stoughton took a musket from a man and dis- charged it at the works, within which the morning ceremony of guard-mounting was in progress. His men followed his example, and drew from the enemy a brisk response, both of small arms and artillery, till the latter was silenced by the fire of the Vermonters, and by the Union batteries. At noon Companies E. and K. relieved Companies B. and G., and later in the day Companies D. and H. were sent to strengthen the skirmish line. In the afternoon, after the failure of the first assault, the remaining four companies, A., F., I. and C., advanced to the end of the dam to take part in the second attempt to carry the Confederate works, but were withdrawn by General Smith's order, before crossing the creek. The loss of the regiment was two killed, David J. Dibble, and Stephen B. Niles, both of Co. I. each shot through the head and 10 wounded, one of whom, Franklin N. Grimes, of Co. C., died of his wounds two weeks after. Among the severely wounded was Captain H. B. Atherton, Company C, who re- ceived a bullet in the groin, which passed into the pelvic 1 Letter of Assistant Surgeon Child to the Rutland Herald. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 163 cavity and occasioned his honorable discharge four months later. In the two weeks following, the regiment was chiefly occupied in picket service and fatigue duty on the fortifica- tions along Warwick Creek. In the battle of Williamsburg, May 5th, an important reconnoissance of the road by which General Hancock's brigade afterward turned the enemy's left, was made by four companies of the left wing of the regiment. Of the subse- quent marching to and fatigue duty in front of Richmond the regiment had its share ; and in the engagements at Gold- ing's Farm, Savage's Station, and White Oak Swamp, on the Seven Days' Eetreat, the Fourth had an honorable part, else- where related. The regiment had one man killed May 23d, 1 and five sick and three wounded men of the Fourth were among the 2,500 sick and wounded Union soldiers who fell into the hands of the enemy at Savage's Station, June 29th. Lieut. Colonel Worthen, after an absence of several weeks from the regiment, on sick leave his illness dating from the extraordinary fatigue of the march up the Peninsula resigned July 17th, on account of ill health. Major Charles B. Stoughton was thereupon promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy, and Captain George P. Foster of Company G., suc- ceeded him as major. The regiment remained at Harrison's Landing until August 16th. The weather was hot, and the men had no shelter from sun or rain the tents of the brigade having been left behind on the retreat. On the 16th of August it moved with the Sixth corps down the Peninsula, reaching Fortress Monroe, by easy marches, on the 22d, and leaving next daj 7 by transports for Acquia Creek. The regiment shared the labors and the triumphs of the First brigade in the Antietam campaign, during which it was 1 Sergeant Charles Whit well, Co ; B. 164 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL AVAR. commanded by Lieut. Colonel Stoughton, Colonel Stoughton being absent. It distinguished itself especially in the storming of Crampton's Gap, September 14th, when it captured on the crest of the mountain a Confederate major, five line officers, 115 men and the colors of the Sixteenth Virginia, which are preserved among the trophies of the Civil "War, in the War Department at "Washington. The loss of the regiment that day was one killed and 14 wounded, two of whom died of their wounds. 1 In the battle of Antietam, September 17th, the Fourth had six men wounded, three of whom died of their wounds. 9 Among the wounded was Second Lieutenant W. H. Martin, of Company A. During the thirty three days' stay of the Yermont brigade at Hagerstown, Md., after Antietam, the Fourth received 109 recruits a welcome accession, as its ranks had been much reduced by death, wounds and sickness. The morning report of September 20th, showed an aggregate of 798 officers and men. Thirty-seven men of the Fourth were reported in the hospitals in Philadelphia, October 7th, and many more were in other hospitals or at home on sick leave. On the 5th of November, Colonel E. H. Stoughton was appointed Brigadier General of Yolunteers and assigned to the command of the Second Yermont brigade, and his brother, Lieut. Colonel Charles B. Stoughton, succeeded to the colo- nelcy. He had shown coolness and capacity in action, and was respected by his command as a brave soldier. Major George P. Foster was thereupon appointed lieutenant colonel and Captain Stephen M. Pingree, of Co. K., was promoted to the majority. About this time, Chaplain Plympton re- signed, and Eev. John L. Eoberts, a Methodist Episcopal clergyman of Chelsea, was appointed chaplain in his place. 1 M. F. Murray, Co. C., was killed, and D. C. Adams, and M. B. John- son, Co. G., died of wounds. 5 C. Stockdale, Co. C.; V. W. Mayott, Co. G. and J. P. Harris, Co. H. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 165 The first week in November found the regiment back near the Kappahannock, with the rest of the Sixth corps and the army ; and there was little excitement till, on the llth of December, Burn side made his disastrous attempt to force the heights of Fredericksburg. On the 13th the Fourth was sent out under command of Lieut. Colonel Foster (who is mentioned as deserving of special praise in Colonel Stoughton's report of the affair) on the skirmish line, in front of General Howe's division of the Sixth corps, and suffered severely, losing 11 killed and 45 wounded, three of whom died of their wounds. 1 Four men in one company, Co. B., were killed, and 14 wounded, by a single discharge of canis- ter, and the regimental colors were riddled with canister shot and musket balls. The color bearer was wounded, and the colors were afterwards carried by Corporal Shay, of Co. B. Among the killed was Captain George "W. Quimby, of Co. D., who was acting as major. While bravely discharging his duties he was struck in the neck by a ball which cut the jugular vein. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, was Principal of Barton Academy previous to his enlistment, and was a young man of fine abilities and estimable character. His loss was deeply felt in the regiment. On the 1st of January, 1863, the regiment being then in camp at Belle Plain Ya., the morning report showed an aggregate of 793 men, of whom 457 were present for duty. Between the 17th and 22d of January it participated in Gen- eral Burnside's " Mud Campaign." The regiment passed the rest of the winter in camp, doing light guard and picket duty, and giving some attention to drill. In the storming of Marye's Heights at the Second Fred- 'The killed were : L. A. Davis, John H. Minott, Co. A.; R. A. Brock, C. Cleveland, H. H. Johnson, E.M. Sprout, Co. B.,K R. Moulton, Co. D.; J. Bruce, R. H. Dearborn, Co. G., and S. B. Ray, Co. I. Those who died of wounds were : T. H. Joy, O. Pease, Co. F., and H. O. Kent, Co. G. 166 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. ericksburg, May 3d, 1863, the Fourth was in the third line of the assaulting column, and scaled the heights with the loss of only one man wounded. In the engagement in front of Banks's Ford, next day, the Fourth fought on fche extreme left of the brigade, and lost one man killed, 1 22 wounded and seven missing. Among the wounded was Lieutenant Thomas Ensworth, of Co. C. Colonel Stoughton. and Captain Addi- son Brown, who was acting as inspector general on General L. A. Grant's staff, were specially mentioned for gallantry in this action, in the report of the brigade commander. Notable among the many individual exploits in this battle, was the capture, by Sergeant Eobert J. Coffey of Company K., single handed, of a captain and lieutenant of the Twenty-First North Carolina, and five privates of the Eighth Louisiana. These, after the repulse of Hoke's and Hays's brigades by the Vermont brigade, had sought shelter in a ravine in front of the Fourth Vermont. Sergeant Coffey who was among the skirmishers, came suddenly upon them, ordered them to surrender, and when they complied, threw their mueliets into the stream and secured the swords of the officers before they discovered that he was alone, and then, aided by some men of Company A., who came to his assist- ance, secured and marched them all in, to their intense morti- fication. The regiment marched with the Sixth corps to Gettys- burg, and was the only regiment of the old brigade actually engaged on that field this was on the skirmish line on the extreme left, at the close of the third day. Its loss was one man severely wounded. In the famous affair at Funkstown, July 10th, Colonel C. B. Stoughton received a severe wound from a bullet which entered his forehead just above the right eye, causing the loss of the eye, and his resignation six months later. The 1 Henry J. Bush, Co. F. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 167 regiment here lost one man killed ' and 23 wounded, one of them mortally. The Fourth went to New York city with the brigade in August, to maintain order during the drafts. On the passage seven companies, which were on the transport Illinois, nar- rowly escaped shipwreck by a collision of the steamer with a schooner laden with stone. On the 24th of September, at Culpepper Court House, Va., the regiment received an accession of nearly 200 recruits and conscripts, which increased by a third the number pres- ent for duty, and on the 1st of October the morning report showed an aggregate of 774, of which number 649 were present for duty. On the llth of October, Commissary Sergeant H. W. Spafford was captured by guerrillas near Brandy Station and taken to Eichmond, where he was a prisoner for five months* till paroled March 21st, 1864. The Fourth spent the winter with the Sixth corps at Brandy Station, Va., its numbers increasing slightly by the addition of recruits, and its sick list diminishing, till on the 1st of May, at the opening of the Spring Campaign, the number present for duty was 719, out of an aggregate of 839, being the largest return of men present for duty known in the history of the regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Foster was in command of the regiment during the winter, Colonel Stoughton being on leave and on special duty in New York city. On the 2d of February, Colonel Stoughton resigned in consequence of his wound, and Lieut. Colonel Foster be- came colonel. On the 30th of April, Major Stephen M. Pingree was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy, and Captain John E. Pratt of Company A. was appointed major. The new commander, Colonel Foster, was a native of Walden. i G. W. Ball, Co. C. was killed, and M. H. Bartlett, Co. C. mortally wounded. 168 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. He had had an academic education in his youth, and the subsequent training of a district school teacher in his open- ing manhood. He enlisted in September, 1861, at the age of 25, and was chosen captain of his company. In the field he soon won distinction as one of the coolest and most capable of the line officers, and, though not the ranking captain, was appointed major, for merit, upon the promotion of Major Stoughton, in July, 1862. He had been lieutenant colonel for fifteen months, and much of the time in command of the regiment. Of stalwart proportions, and handsome face and figure, he was one of the finest looking officers in the brigade. He was a favorite with his men, distinguished himself as em- phatically a fighting colonel, and won a brevet as brigadier general, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Shenan- doah Campaign, and before Petersburg. 1 During the winter, 210 men of the original members of the Fourth re-enlisted for the war. On the 4th of May the brigade crossed the Eapidan at Germania Ford, with about 600 muskets, and on the three days following the regiment had its share in the battles of the Wilderness, in which it suffered the greatest loss of offi- cers of any regiment in the brigade, having 16 killed and wounded, being over two-thirds of the number present for duty. Colonel Foster was severely w r ounded in the thigh in the battle of the 5th, and during the remainder of the battle the regiment was commanded by Major Pratt. Captains W. D. Carpenter, Dennis W. Farr and Daniel Lillie, and Lieute- nants L. A. Putnam, T. Ensworth, W. L. Wooster and W. H. Martin were killed or mortally wounded. Captains George H. Amidon and A. W. Fisher, Adjutant G. B. French and 1 General Foster returned to Vermont with his regiment at the close of the war, and afterwards, for nine years, from 1870 until his death, March 19th, 1879, held the office of U. S. Marshal of the District of Vermont. In this he won additional distinction by his bold arrest of the Fenian com- mander, General O'Neill, in the midst of his army, during the Fenian in- vasion of Canada, in 1870. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 169 Lieutenants E. W. Carter, J. B. Brooks, L. B. Scott, W. C. Tracy, H. W. Morton and L. F. Richardson were wounded, and the casualties of the regiment reached the mournful total of 257, or over forty per cent of its effective force. Of these 34 were killed, 194 wounded, of whom 45 died of their wounds, and 29 missing, some of whom were probably killed. 1 Among the officers specially mentioned for gallantry by the Brigade commander was Captain A. Brown of the Fourth w r ho was on the General's staff and for some time the only staff officer fit for duty, the two other aids having been wounded and captured during the first day's battle. Quarter- master Henry T. Cushman is also mentioned as having ren- dered efficient service on the staff of the brigade commander. The regiment marched during the night of May 7th, to Chancellorsville, where the brigade was detached to guard the train of the Sixth corps. In the morning of the 9th the Fourth under Major Pratt, was deployed on the skirmish line while the brigade fortified its position, and lost several men. Among the killed was Sergeant William Cunningham, Co. D., who was one of the most brave and zealous men in 1 The rank and file killed in the Wilderness were: Co. A-O. H. Barnes, G. Bracy, J. Leazer ; Co. C L. A. Bryant, A. Burt ; Co. D J. Streeter; Co. E F. Eastman, L. Spencer; Co. F M. C. Chapman, W. H. Haraden, L. W. Kendall, W. H. Roberts; Co. G H. H. Dun. ton, E. W. Ormsby 3d, P. Sullivan, S. Webber ; Co. H W. S. Aiken, W. W. Heath, L. B. Paquette, D. O. Perry, A. Snow, B. B. Wilson ; Co. I .J. R. Campbell, D. H. Jones, J. Streeter, J. B. Webster; Co. K J. J. Chadwick, A. Eastman, T. Lowler, A. D. Smith. The following died of their wounds : Co. A S. A. Capron, H. Fales, H.N. Woodworth, H. York; Co. B H. M. Smith; Co. C J. W. Blanchard, L. Carpenter, T. Eagan, L. W. Griswold, J. B. H. Larrabee, J. A. Miller, E. Robinson, R. Wickware ; Co. D J. Ball, W. J. Cutting ; J. Edson, T W. Griffin, J. H. Hulburt, R. Rodger, N. P. Walker ; Co. E S. Barnard, T. S. Grover, W. H. Jones, I. A. Stevens; Co. F G. W. Hill, J. Huutington; Co. G H. C. Magoon, W. H. H. Marsh, W. E. Parrish; Co. H N. Bailey, F. Cudworth, S. W. Leighton, E. Robinson, J. F. Ryder, D. F. Skinner, J. Wilmot; Co. I G. T. Abbott,* N. Amlaw, E. G. Carpen. ter, L. G. Kellogg; Co. K H. Amidon, J. M. Montgomery, P. F. Pierce. * " Severely wounded " May 5 not heard of after. 170 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAK. the regiment. The regiment held the skirmish line until the afternoon of the next day, during which the Union line was advanced and the enemy's skirmishers driven back to his line of works, for which the Fourth received high commend- ation. On the 12th, at Spottsylvania, the Fourth fought in the front line, and its losses in that week of almost constant fighting were four killed and 44 wounded, 13 of whom died of their wounds. 1 At Cold Harbor it was again engaged, losing one man killed on the skirmish line and seven wounded, six of whom died of their wounds. 2 Lieutenant A. K. Par- sons of Co. A., detailed as aide-de-camp on the staff of General "W. T. H. Brooks, commanding the First division of the Eighteenth Army Corps, was killed while gallantly dis- charging his duties during the charge of Brooks's division in the morning of the 3d. On the 16th the regiment crossed the James with the brigade, in the movement of the division to Petersburg, where on the 23d, the regiment suffered the greatest loss of men by capture it ever experienced. It was engaged with the brigade and the Sixth corps in a movement against the Weldon Railroad, and was thrown out in front under command of Major Pratt, with a battalion of the Eleventh. The enemy broke through the line with a strong force, and surrounded and captured seven officers and 137 men of the Fourth, as well as almost the entire battalion of the Eleventh. The colors of the Fourth were saved by the activity and 1 The killed at Spottsylvania were ; O. Burt, W. Cunningham, Co. D.j S. H. Thompson, Co. H. ; C. M. Landers, Co. I. Those dying of their wounds were : J. Hofnagle, E. Knapp, Co. A.; S. C. Edwards, Co. C. ; T. R. Boutwell, E. E. Hartson, M. McGuire, E. M. Robbins, Co. D. ; J. Kelly, T. W. Hall, Co. E.; H. O. Marsh, G. E. Stone, Co. G. ; T. \V. Hall, Co. I., and C. E. Prouty, Co. H. 2 A. M. Ford, Co. K., was killed at Cold Harbor and C. H. Perry, W. B. Stevens, J. P. Woodbury, Co. G.; D. Barton, P. [Smith, and L. Stearns Co. K., died of wounds. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 171 coolness of the color guard. The officers so captured were Major Pratt, Captains Chapin and Bontin, and Lieutenants Carr, Fisher, Needham and Pierce. Among the killed was Captain William C. Tracy, of Co. G. His dead body was found on the field next day, stripped of arms, watch, money and boots, and surrounded by the muskets of his men, showing that he had rallied his company around him, and that they threw down their arms only when their gallant leader had fallen. Captain Tracy was a son of the late E. C. Tracy, of Windsor, long editor of the Vermont Chronicle, and a great grandson of Roger Sher- man. He was a remarkably brave, modest, intelligent and capable officer. He entered the service as second lieutenant in Co. K., was made first lieutenant of Co. H., in November, 1862, and had been recently promoted to a captaincy for meritorious service in the Wilderness. He was acting adjut- ant of the regiment after the Wilderness, carrying the while, imbedded in his face, a buckshot received in that battle. His death was a severe loss to the command. Three men of the Fourth were killed, and several wound- ed, three of them mortally, this day. 1 Among the wounded was Captain Charles G. Fisher, of Co. I. The aggregate loss of the regiment in this affair was 153 men, out of about 200 taken out to the skirmish line. One company, Co. E., escaped entire. The roll call next morning showed but 67 muskets left in line, with three commissioned officers, lieutenants, present for duty, and the regiment was consolidated into a little battalion of two companies, the men left of companies E., K. and G., forming one, and those of the seven other companies, another ; all under the temporary command of Captain Addison Brown, Jr. 'C. A. Smith, Co. C., G. H. Cushman, Co. G., O. W. Payne, Co. K., were killed. Those dying of their wounds were J. Minott, Co. A., J. N. Lease. Co. D., W. J. Sly, Co. H. 172 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. It is one of the sad duties of the historian to mention the mournful fact, that of the men so captured, no less than sixty-five, being nearly one half of the number, died in Con- federate prisons. The names of these martyrs, with the dates of their deaths, so far as known, are as follows. Most of them died in the prison pen of Andersonville, Ga. DIED IN OONFEDEEATE PRISONS. [Captured June 23, 1864.] Company A. G. Baxter, died Jan. 6, '65; C. B. Buxton, Oct. 6, '64; A. Ranney, Oct. 24, '64 ; W. A Webster, Oct. 9, '64 ; S. F. Dunbar, (at Wil- mington, N. C.,) Mar. 18, '65; P. Bemis, J. Blair, C. Burnham, H. L. Veber, N. Mann, Dec. 31, '64; N. L. Webster, Dec. 23, '64. 11. Company C.E. S. Palmer, Aug. 23, '64; B. H. Patch, Oct. 20, '64; F. Pillsbury, Sept. 29, '64 ; C. F. Hatch. 4. Company D. E. Bailey, Feb. 3, '65 ; C. Bunker, Oct. 11, '64 ; F. F. Dewey, Aug. 25, '64 ; P. H. Farrell, Oct. 22, '64 ; C. E. Lumsden, Feb. 8, '65 ; C. O. Blodgett, H. W. Varney, Dec. 20, '64. 7. Company F. A. L. Bontell, Oct. 1, '64; J. Clifford, C. W. Elliott, Oct., '64; C. A. Ferguson, Oct., '64, J. A. Ingraham, Oct., '64; F. W. Rice, Oct. 31, '64; We Ryerson, Oct. 31, '64; Royal O. Scott, Dec. 12, '64; T. B. Sexton, Sept. 11, '64; G. A. Wells, Sept., '64; J. M. Woods, Oct., '64; T. Young, Feb. 25, '65 ; A. F. Bailey, Jan. 22, 65, (at Salisbury, N. C.); J. F. Drury, Feb. 11, '65; W. C. Stevens. 15. Company G.J. E. Paul, Oct. 2, '64; H. M. Sanborn, Oct. 11, '64; W. Twaddle, Oct. 26, '64; E. G. Williams, Nov. 24, '64, at Florence, S. C. ; S. W. Rollins, Jan. 14, '65 ; O. Nelson. 6. Company H. E. P. Gerry, Jan. 26, '65; A. B. Perry, Mar. 3, '65; F. A. Skinner, Aug., '64; W. A- Smith, Aug., '64; J. H. Wakefield, Oct. 21, '64; J. H. Eaton, E. H. Preston, (at Millen, Ga.) ; J. M. Hibbard. 8. Company I. S. H. Nelson, Dec. 13, '64; E. W. Paige, Oct. 17, '64; N. T. Pike, Nov. 30, '64 ; W. A. Thompson, Oct. 20, '64 ; N. J. Howard, Oct. 23, '64, (Millen) ; J. C. Hogan. 6. Company K. W. P. Fisk, Oct. 14, '64; C. V. Flint, Oct. 23, '64. A. B. Stile, Oct. 12, '64. 3. J. Smith, Co. A., and R. J. Round, Co. H., were captured that day, and not heard from after. They probably died in the enemy's hands. Zclotes Drown and S. B. Rogers, Co. D., and G. H. Esterbrooks, Co. I., who died in March, '65, are believed to have died from the results of their imprisonment, if not actually in prison. On the 30th of June, the morning report showed 282 men present for duty, out of an aggregate of 716. The list of sick and wounded numbered 275. The Fourth, what was THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 173 left of it, went with the Sixth corps to Washington, in July, to head off Early's raid, shared the hard marching in Mary- land and the Shenandoah Valley which followed; and on the 21st of August, at Charlestown, Ya., formed part of the skirmish line which drove the enemy's skirmishers for a mile, and held its ground all day, in front of a hostile line of battle with artillery. Its loss this day was one officer killed, Lieu- tenant Luther B. Scott, of Co. E., a brave young soldier who went out from Cabot as a private and 10 men wounded, one fatally. 1 The Fourth had an honorable part in Sheridan's cam- paign in the Shenandoah Valley, and lost at Winchester, September 19th, Lieutenant Ransom W. Towle 2 of Company E. mortally wounded, and two men killed 3 and 14 wounded. Next day, September 20th, 1864, the three years' term of the original members of the regiment expired. Of these 210 had re-enlisted. The surviving remainder, numbering 10 officers viz : Lieut. Colonel S. M. Pingree, Adjutant G. B. French, Quartermaster H. T. Cushman, Surgeon S. J. Allen, Ass't Surgeon A. B. Bixby, Captain A. W. Fisher, First Lieutenants A. K. Nichols and W. W. Morton ; Second Lieutenants F. Hastings and W. E. Eussell and 136 men, started for Vermont, September 21st. They arrived at Brat- tleboro, September 29th, when they were received by the citizens with an address of welcome by Hon. S. M. Waite, and next day were honorably mustered out of the service, and dispersed to their homes. The regiment after the departure of those whose time 1 Joseph Marson, Co. H. 2 Lieutenant Towle enlisted as a private, from Rochester, Vt. , at the age of 25, was promoted sergeant September 21, 1861; was wounded at Savage's Station, Ya. June 29th, 1862, and was promoted second lieu- tenant Co. A. May 17, 1864. He was a hrave and meritorious officer. 3 Zacheus Blood and C. A. Blanchard, Co. C. The latter is recorded as killed near Winchester, September 13, 1864. 174 YERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. had expired, still had an aggregate of 550 men, of which number, however, only about 200 were present for duty 144 being still in the hands of the enemy, and 200 sick. The regiment fought at Fisher's Hill, September 21st and 22d, and at Cedar Creek, October 19th, where it lost six men killed and 20 wounded, two of whom died of their wounds. Among the wounded was Captain George H. Amidon of Com- pany E., detailed on General Grant's staff, and Captain Aikens of Company A., who received a wound which occasioned his honorable discharge five months later. 1 At Cedar Creek, Colonel Foster being in command of the picket line, the regi- ment was placed with the Third under command of Major Floyd of the Third. The vote of the men of the Fourth in the field, for Presi- dent, in the national election of November, 1864, was notice- able as giving a democratic majority. It stood, for McClellan 74 ; for Lincoln 64. The regiment remained with the Sixth corps in the Shenandoah Valley for six weeks after the close of Sheridan's victorious campaign, until the 9th of December, when it re- turned, with the brigade, to the lines of the Army of the Potomac before Petersburg, and went into camp and winter quarters near the " Squirrel Level Koad " on the south of the city. The men had severe picket service through the winter, besides doing a good deal of fatigue duty on the fortifications. On the 25th of February 1865, the ten existing compa- nies of the regiment were consolidated under the orders of the War Department into eight, the men of companies I. and K. being distributed among the other companies. The Se- cond and Third Vermont companies of Sharp-shooters, num- 1 The rank and file killed at Cedar Creek were C. Camp, Co. A.; J. Gill, Co. C.; N. B. Hudson, Co. D. ; L. Edwards, Co. G.; T. J. Burnham, Co. I.; K. Badger, Co. K. Those who died of wounds were C. O. Gibson, Co. H.: R F. Rich, Co. K. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 175 bering 166 men, were at the same time transferred to the Fourth regiment, increasing its aggregate to 757, of which number, however, but 365 were present for duty, the sick list comprising 250 men. In March, 40 of the men captured in the affair on the Weldon Railroad in June 1864, having been exchanged, rejoined the command. The Fourth had an honorable share in the important and successful assault on the entrenched picket line in front of Fort Fisher, March 25th, and in the repulse of the enemy's attempt to retake a portion of the line on the 27th. In this last skirmish, Lieutenant Charles H. Carlton and five men were wounded. Two men of the Fourth were wounded on the 25th. In the final triumphant assault of April 2d on tho de- fences of Petersburg, which resulted in the fall of Richmond, the Fourth was commanded by Captain Geo. H. Amidon, no field officer being present. 1 The regiment was actively engaged and lost one man killed and two officers, Lieute- nants "W. H. Humphrey and W. T. Tilson, and nine men wounded, one of whom died of his wounds. 2 Fuller details of this and the other battles in which the regiment took part, will be found in the history of the First brigade, in subse- quent chapters of this history. The regiment was at Sailor's Creek, with the Sixth corps ; guarded army supplies at Farmville, Ya., after the sur- render of Lee's army ; marched with the brigade to Danville, Ya., and thence May 24th, to the camp at Munson's Hill, near "Washington, where it remained till mustered out of service. It participated in the review of the First Yermont brigade and other Yermont regiments by Governor Smith and Adj't. 1 Col. Foster was in Vermont on an 18 days' leave of absence. Lieut. Colonel Pratt was a paroled prisoner, on leave of absence. The regiment had no major, at this time. H. G. Fillebrown, Co. C., was killed, and D. Mahoney, Co. A., died of his wounds. 176 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. General Washburn, at Bailey's Cross Roads, Va., June 7th, and in the review of the Sixth corps by the President of the United States, at Washington, June 8th. The morning report of the 6th of June, 1865, showed an aggregate of 693 men, with a sick list of 230, and 47 men still reported as "prisoners," being men of whom the last known was that they were in Confederate prisons. The re- cruits of the Fourth, 154 in number, whose terms of service were to expire previous to October 1, 1865, were mustered out of the U. S. Service, June 19, 1865. The remainder were mustered out July 13, 1865 ; and all who were able to travel departed at once for Vermont, under command of General Foster. They arrived, 300 in number, at New York, July 14th, and at Burlington, July 16th, where they had a cordial reception with an address of welcome by Rev. A. L. Cooper of the Pine Street M. E. Church, and a collation provided by the ladies of Burlington, in the town hall. Flowers and waving handkerchiefs and songs of glad greet- ing expressed the cordial welcome accorded to the veterans, and General Foster, as he entered the hall with the slio!:-torn headquarters flag of the old Vermont brigade, had a special greeting of enthusiastic cheers from the assembly. From the town hall the regiment marched to its quarters at the Marine Hospital, where the men were paid off during the week following. The field and staff officers returning with the regiment were Colonel and Bvt. Brig. General George P. Foster, Lieut. Colonel John E. Pratt, Major Charles W. Bontin, Adjutant James Gallagher, Quartermaster H. AV. Spafford, Surgeon E. M. Curtis, and Chaplain John L. Roberts. Of these, all but the chaplain and quartermaster went out with the regi- ment in 1 861 the colonel and lieutenant colonel as captains of Companies G. and A., and Major Bontin as first lieutenant of Company B. Surgeon Curtis went out as hospital steward, was appointed assistant surgeon of the Sixth regiment in THE FOUKTH KEGIMENT. 177 January, 1863, and returned to the Fourth as surgeon in October, 1864. Quartermaster Spafford enlisted as a private, was appointed commissary sergeant in October, 1864, and was promoted quartermaster on the 4th of November following. The line officers returning were Captains L. W. Fisher, A. K. Nichols, Howard C. Chapin, W. TV. Pierce, George H. Amidon, Charles G. Fisher, S. F. Norton and TV. TV. Smith ; and Lieutenants B. TV. Chamberlain, George P. Spaulding, C. C. Chapin, Charles A. Dam, Charles H. Newton, Joseph B. Needham and Curtis Abbott. All of these, except Captain Nichols who was appointed early in 1865, enlisted as privates in the summer and fall of 1861. Captains Norton and Smith and Lieutenant Abbott, after having served for over three years in the Second U. S. Sharp- shooters, were transferred without change of rank to the Fourth regiment, in February, 1865. The names of 65 men of the Fourth have been hereto- fore printed, who died in Confederate prison pens. To them are to be added the following : DIED IN CONFEDEEATE PEI8ONS. W. A. Comar, L. H. Bowles, Co. A., died Aug. 26, '64; Reuben Ladd, Co. C., died Dec. 8, '63; W. C. Stevens and O. A. Wilson, Co. F.; J. Boyce, Co. I. 178 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The battles in which the Fourth regiment took part were as follows : THE BATTLES OF THE FOTTETH VERMONT. Lee's Mill, April 16, 1862. Wiiliamsburg, May 5, 1862. Golding's Farm, June 26, 1862. Savage's Station, June 29, 1862. White Oak Swamp, - - June 30, 1862. Crampton's Gap. Sept. 14, 1862. Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862. Fredericksburg, Dec. 13. 1882. Marye's Heights, May 3, 1863. Salem Heights, May 4, 1863. Fredericksburg, - - ' - - - - - - . June 5, 1863. Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Funkstown, July 10. 1863. Rappahannock Station, Nov. 7, 1863. Wilderness, May 5 to 10, 1864. Spottsylvania, May 10 to 18, 1864. Cold Harbor, June 1 to 12, 1864. Petersburg, June 18, 1864. Weldon Railroad, June 23, 1864. Charlestown, August 21, 1864. Opequan, Sept. 13, 1864. Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864. Fisher's Hill, Sept. 21 and 22, 1864. Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864. Petersburg, March 25 and 27, 1865. Petersburg, ......... April 2, 1865. THE FOURTH REGIMENT. 179 The final statement of the Fourth regiment is as follows : FINAL STATEMENT. Original members com. officers 38 ; enlisted men 1010, total, 1048 Gain recruits 602, transfers from other regiments 203, total, 805 Aggregate, 1853 LOSSES. Killed in action com. officers 8; enlisted men 66, total, 74 Died of wounds com. officers 4; enlisted men 83, total, 87 Died of disease enlisted men, 195 Died (unwounded) in Confederate prisons, enlisted men, 71 Died from accidents, enlisted men, 2 Total of deaths, 429 Promoted to other regiments officers 6 ; enlisted men 8, total, 14 Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, Navy, Regular Army, etc., 93 Honorably discharged com. officers resigned 22 , for wounds and disability 7; enlisted men, for wounds 69; for disability 373, total, 471 Dishonorably discharged com. officers 1 ; enlisted men 5, 6 Total discharged, 477 Deserted 118 ; unaccounted for 5, 123 Mustered out com. officers 39 ; enlisted men 678, total 717 Aggregate, 1853 Total wounded, 414 Total re-enlisted... 210 CHAPTEK IX. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. Composition of the Regiment Rendezvous at St. Albans Field and Staff Departure for Washington March to Chain Bridge Sickness at Camp Griffin The Spring Campaign of '62 Lee's Mill Golding's Farm Hard Fighting and Terrible Loss at Savage's Station Resigna- tion of Colonel Smalley and Changes of field Officers The Maryland Campaign Back to Virginia First Fredericksburg Marye's Height and Banks's Ford Crossing the Rappahannock and Capturing Missis- sippians Gettysburg and Funkstown Rappahannock Station Re- enlisting for the War Furlough and Visit to Vermont Return to Virginia Losses in the Wilderness and in the Lines of Spottsylvania Death and Sketch of Major Dudley Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Charlestown Expiration of Three Years' Term The Shenandoah Campaign Final Assault at Petersburg End of the War and Return Home. The Fifth regiment, like the Fourth, was raised in obe- dience to Governor Fairbanks's proclamation of July 21st, 1861. It was composed of companies recruited in the towns of Hyde Park, Manchester, Cornwall, Eutland, St. Albans, Brandon, Middlebury, Swanton, Kichmond and Burlington, and towns adjoining those. So fully had the citizens re- sponded to the Governor's appeal that in six weeks two hun- dred and fifty more men had enlisted than were needed to fill the two regiments. The Fifth was ordered to rendez- vous at St. Albans, and by the llth of September, the com- panies began to arrive there. The 14th of September saw the whole regiment in camp a mile north of the village on land belonging to Henry Seymour, Esq. The camp was THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 181 named Camp Holbrook in honor of the newly elected Gover- nor. The regiment was mustered in on the 16th and 17th of September, by Lieutenant Geo. H. Higbee, of the llth U. S. Infantry, with 1006 officers and men. Thirty recruits were added in the two weeks following. A regimental band of twenty pieces, under the leadership of J. Bice, of Montpelier, was mustered with the regiment. Governor Fairbanks considered himself fortunate in securing for colonel of the Fifth, an officer of the regular army, in the person of Lieutenant Henry A. Smalley, Second U. S. Artillery. Lieutenant Smalley was a native of Bur- lington, the eldest son of U. S. Judge David A. Smalley, and was now in his twenty-eighth year. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854, was brevetted as second lieutenant of the First Artillery ; and on the 25th of April 1861, was appointed first lieutenant in the Second Artillery. He was detailed from his regiment at this time as aid-de-camp on the staff of General Dix, at Baltimore, and had been recommended for the command of a regiment by General Scott. His commission as colonel of the Fifth Yermont bore date of July 30th, 1861, ante-dating his ap- pointment by several weeks. He was mustered in and assumed command of the regiment on the 15th of September. Captain Nathan Lord, Jr., youngest son of President Lord of Dartmouth College, who had seen some service under General McClellan in West Yirginia, was appointed lieu- tenant colonel, but had hardly accepted the position when he was taken from it to command the Sixth regiment, then about to be organized. Lewis A. Grant, Esq., of Eocking- ham, who had been selected for major, was thereupon ap- pointed lieutenant colonel, and Kedfield Proctor, recently the quartermaster of the Third regiment, was appointed major. The regimental staff was as follows : Adjutant Edward M. Brown, of Montpelier ; Quartermaster Aldis O. Brainerd, of St. Albans; Surgeon Wm. P. Ptussell, of Middlebury; As- 182 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. sistant Surgeon Henry C. Shaw, of Waitsfield ; Chaplain, Rev. Volney M. Simons, a Methodist clergyman of Swanton. Of the line officers, a number had seen service in the First regiment, six of the captains, Captains Chandler, Cook, Sheridan, Lewis, Seagar and Dudley, and several lieutenants, having been members of that regiment. On the 17th of September, under urgent directions from the Secretary of War to forward all available troops at once, with assurances that any deficiencies in arms and equip- ments would be supplied at Washington, Governor Fair- banks ordered the regiment to move to Washington at once ; but upon the earnest representation of its officers that the regiment was in no condition to take the field, he changed his order to one to move as soon as possible, leaving the precise time subject to Colonel Smalley's discretion. On the 18th and 19th of September, the regiment was armed with the guns brought home by the First regiment, as far as they would go the armament being completed by a supply of 250 Enfield rifles, after the arrival of the regiment at Wash- ington. On the 20th and 21st the uniforms blouses and pants, of army blue were distributed, 1 and Monday morn- ing, September 23d, the regiment started for Washington. Before leaving, a paper signed by the Colonel and most of the officers, was addressed to Governor Fairbanks, express- ing appreciation of his untiring efforts to forward the de- parture of the command, and regret that " circumstances had been such as to imperatively forbid an earlier departure." The regiment went by rail, over the Yermont Central Railroad, filling two trains. It arrived at New Haven, Conn., Tuesday morning ; embarked at once on the Sound steamer " Elm City," reached Jersey City at noon, and thence pro- ceeded by rail to Washington, arriving there on the evening of September 25th. 1 Coats and overcoats were supplied later at Washington. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 183 The weather was fine throughout the whole trip, and all the way to Baltimore the regiment met an enthusiastic recep- tion. Kefreshments were sent on board the trains at Bellows Falls, by the citizens of that village ; at Jersey City the people turned out in thousands to greet the troops ; and a hearty meal was furnished at Philadelphia by the citizens of that patriotic city, who allowed no regiment to leave their city hungry. On its arrival at Washington, the regiment was quartered for the night in the large building known as the " Soldier's Best," where, however, the only inducements to rest were close quarters, bare planks, and the fatigue of the long journey. The next day the regiment marched out to Camp Casey, on Capitol Hill, then covered with the tents of the army as far as the eye could reach. On the 27th the regiment had a tedious march of seven hours in a driving rain, to Chain Bridge. The distance was only eight miles ; but the guide, becoming confused in the darkness, led the regiment out of its way, and it was after ten o'clock at night when the men lay down to rest on the wet ground with- out supper or shelter. The regiment went into camp the next day at Camp Advance, on the Virginia side of the river, close by the camps of the Second and Third regiments. Here it remained ten days, devoted chiefly to drill and fell- ing of the woods near the camps. On the 9th of October, the Fifth moved out to Smoot's Hill, so called from its former secessionist owner ; and went into camp at " Camp Griffin," surrounded by the camps of the Second, Third and Fourth regiments, and with the camps of nearly the whole of General Smith's division, of some twenty thousand men, in sight from the top of the hill. Not a little impatience and anxiety prevailed at this time in the regiment over the delay in the clothing and equipment. Three companies were as yet without muskets, and all without overcoats. The weather, fortunately, was not severe; and during the last half of October, coats, overcoats and under- 184 VEEMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. clothing were received and distributed, and the deficiency in arms supplied. During the fine October weather, the men were exercised in frequent drills and, largely by the efforts of Lieut. Colonel Grant, Colonel Smalley being indisposed and absent most of the fall, the regiment was brought into an ex- cellent condition of drill and discipline. With November came cold nights and frequent rains which soon affected the health of the command. On the 10th of November, the morning report showed 250 men, or nearly a third of the regiment, excused from duty on account of sickness, seventy of them being in hospital with typhoid and other fevers, and measles. Several deaths occurred. The hospital tents were overcrowded with patients, and the sicker men were removed to a deserted mansion, two miles from camp. The picket duty was lessened ; and untiring efforts and care were exercised by the surgeons and officers to promote the health of the men ; but the illness and mor- tality continued to be alarming. Up to the 23d of November the deaths numbered seventeen. On the 2d of January, Dr. E. E. Phelps of Windsor, who had been sent from Vermont by Governor Holbrook to investigate the condition of the Vermont troops, reported a larger number of sick in the Fifth and Sixth regiments than in the other regiments of the brigade, from 220 to 250 in each being excused from duty, and over 60 of the Fifth being in hospital. From that time on, however, the health of the men gradually improved, and though there were occasional relaps- es, in times of exceptionally bad weather, the remainder of the winter was passed in comparative health and comfort, and with no harder service than occasional picket duty. Colonel Smalley rejoined the command in improved health, during the latter part of January. On the 22d of February, after listening, with the rest of the brigade, stand- ing in the mud, to the reading of Washington's Farewell Address, the regiment further celebrated the birthday of the THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 185 Father of his Country by foot and sack races, scrambling for a greased pig, and a rousing game of foot ball. On the 10th of March the Fifth left Camp Griffin with the Vermont brigade, moving with it to Flint Hill, Cloud's Mills and Alexandria, where it spent the night of March 15th in the market house, and was quartered the next day in a church. Thence it went to Fortress Monroe by transports, and marched up the Peninsula with the army. At Young's Mills, where the first hostile fortifications were struck, the Fifth charged a stockaded work, which, however, proved to have been abandoned by the enemy. Here a shot fired by a rebel cavalry picket, retiring before the advance of the regi- ment, took effect in the shoulder of private Peter Brady of Company G. the first man of the Fifth hurt by a hostile bullet. In the action at Lee's Mill, six companies of the Fifth, under Colonel Smalley, the other four being out on picket, were stationed in the rear of the batteries in the woods. During the forenoon 60 men, 10 from each company, under command of Captain Dudley, assisted by Lieutenant William P. Spaulding of Company I., were taken to act as sharp- shooters, to silence the "one gun battery" which commanded the causeway across the creek. They went down under a sharp fire of shell and canister, to the edge of the river below the dam, where they took position, and by picking off the enemy's cannoneers kept the gun silent for hours. About four o'clock, having exhausted their ammunition, the detach- ment was relieved by an equal number selected in like man- ner. In the performance of this service privates James W. Russell of Company K. and William Henry of Company C. were killed the first men of the regiment killed in action and seven were wounded, four of them severely. In the final assault on the enemy's works the Fifth moved to the support of the Sixth ; but did not become engaged, and at ten o'clock 186 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. in the evening was withdrawn to its camp. 1 Lieutenant Colonel L. A. Grant was brigade field officer of the day, and as such had general supervision of the skirmish line of the brigade till the close of the fighting. "When the enemy evacuated the line of Warwick Creek, the Fifth was the first regiment of General Smith's division sent across the creek to occupy the abandoned works. The return of the regiment to the adjutant general, April 30th, 1862, showed an aggregate of 830 officers and men, of whom 729 were reported present for duty. Of the remainder, 96 were sick and five disabled by wounds. The Fifth was at Williamsburg with the brigade May 5th. The regiment had its share of the fatigue and exposure of the march up the Peninsula. Colonel Smalley and Lieut. Colonel Grant were both disabled by illness during the last half of May, and the regiment was for several weeks ably commanded by Lieut. Colonel Yeazey of the Third. Quarter- master Brainerd was compelled to resign in May on account of ill health, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Adoniram Austin of Company K. who had been for some months ac- ting as assistant quartermaster. On the 24th of May, Rev. Charles S. Hale of Brandon, a young Episcopal clergyman, was appointed chaplain, in place of Chaplain Simons who had resigned in March, having been selected for the office by 'The staff and line officers of the regiment in March, 1862, procured and tendered to Colonel Smalley, as a token of their regard, a handsome sabre, belt and sash. He declined to receive it at that time, saying: "After any action with the enemy in which we may be engaged, should you then preserve the same high opinion of me you now entertain, I shall be proud and happy to accept any evidence of it." After the action at Lee's Mill, the tender of the testimonial was renewed by the committee of the officers having it In charge, and it was accepted by Colonel Smalley. In his reply to a highly complimentary letter of presentation, he said: " I feel that I may now accept the very handsome present which you have brought. Our regiment has been twice face to face with the enemy, and officers and men have more than justified my hopes. That I have in the open field added to your confidence is gratifying." THE FIFTH KEGIMENT. 187 formal vote of the line officers. On the 30th of May the re- giment was sent out from its camp near the new bridge on the Chickahominy river for four or five miles up the river to Mechanicsville, as guard to a party of engineers. They were shelled for two hours by a rebel battery, but only one man was wounded, 1 and that slightly. Colonel Yeazey had a narrow escape, his cap being struck from his head by a piece of a shell. The regiment marched back to camp in a fearful thunder storm ; and the experience was quite an exci- ting one. The Fifth was in camp near Gaines's Mill and Cold Harbor on the left bank of the Chickahominy, while the battle of Fair Oaks w r as fought, four miles away across the river, on the 31st of May and 1st of June. On the 5th of June the regiment crossed the Chicka- hominy with the brigade, and camped in a pleasant spot on the right bank, near the river. The Fifth was in camp with the brigade at Golding's farm, when the seven days of fighting and retreat commenced. On the 27th it was one of the regiments brought up to support Hancock's brigade during the assault on the line of the division at Golding's farm ; but only two companies, I. and C., became engaged. The regiment lay on its arms all that night, two companies being thrown out into the swamp on picket. The next day it was under sharp artillery fire and lost one man killed. 2 At Savage's Station, June 29th, the regiment rendered important and memorable service, elsewhere more fully described, and in the course of half an hour suffered the greatest loss of men killed and wounded ever endured by any Vermont regiment in a single action. The regiment was com- manded by Lieut. Colonel Grant, who was the only field officer present, Colonel Smalley being absent and Major 1 Orderly Sergeant O. B. Reynolds of Co. B. 2 Andrew Laffie, Co. H. 188 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Proctor seriously ill and absent on sick leave. The regiment took into the battle not over 400 muskets, and lost 45 offi- cers and men killed and 143 wounded, of whom 27 died of their wounds. Company E. lost no less than 44 men, 25 of whom were killed or mortally wounded, out of 59 in line the most remarkable proportion of killed to wounded recorded in this history and Company H. lost 36 killed and wounded. Among the killed were Second Lieutenants Olney A. Corn- stock of Company B., and Samuel Sumner, Jr. of Company D. 1 Among the wounded were Captains C. TV. Eose, Com- pany B.; B. E. Jenne, Company G.; C. TV. Seagar, Company H. and E. C. Benton, Company D.; and Lieutenants Louis McD. Smith, Company A.; Wilson D. "Wright, Company B.; W. H. H. Peck, Company E.; and B. M. Barber, Company K. Captain Jenne was shot in the hand and groin, and taken prisoner. Lieutenants Smith, Wright and Barber, having serious buck shot wounds in the legs, also fell into the ene- my's hands. They were taken first to a blacksmith's shop near the field, which was filled with Federal wounded, and 1 Lieut. Comstock enlisted from Middlebury. He was an unusually athletic man, a vigorous wrestler, and a stout and brave soldier. He fell in the courageous and active discharge of his duty. Lieut. Sumner had been a school teacher in the South for some time previous to the war, and on the outbreak of hostilities came home 1o enlist in the Union army. He enlisted from Troy, Vt., in August, 1861, at the age of 21, and was chosen second lieutenant at the organization of the company. One who knew him in the army, says : " He was as brave as a man could possibly be." The killed of the rank and file were as follows : Company B. E. Dorsey, L. S. Evarts. Company C. B. Finnegan, J. Fiske, C. Lozmen, M. Mills. Company D. H. A. Davis. J. T. Davis, J. Estus, I. S. Gray, A. P. Steenburg. Company E. O. J. Barton, W. K. Bennett, J. Bolster, N. Burnham, L. Campeau, H. C. Clayton, S. A. Cummings, E. J. Fisher, G. Fleming, J. Lassard, D. F. Mattison, C. H. Rideout, T. M. Waite, A. Waters, W. Whitman, H. E. Wiley. 16. Company F. H. H. Wilder, T. D. Peck THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 189 thence to McClellan's great field hospital, which had been left by him intact and was taken possession of by the enemy. When able to travel they were removed to Richmond. Lieutenant Wright was honorably discharged on account of disability from his wounds, in August 1862. Lieutenant Smith was paroled July 21st, and mustered out in December following. He returned to the service in March 1863, as captain of Company E. Lieutenant Peck was struck in the face by a musket ball which, entering below the cheek bone, glanced down- ward, passed under his chin, beneath the skin, across his neck, and up and out at the other side of his face. Though nearly crazed by the pain, he made out to stagger along with the column, on the retreat to Harrison's Landing, whence he was removed to the IT. S. Naval Hospital at Annapolis. He suffered from the effects of his wound for a year, and was then transferred to the Invalid Corps. Lieutenant Barber was dangerously wounded in the hip ; was taken to Richmond, where he suffered greatly from neg- Company G P. H. Bowline, H. Lewis, A. H. Mitchell, J. Q. A. Rhodes. Company H. H. Hooker, J. J. Huit, V. D. Sails. Company I. H. C. Allen, J. Bodfish, J. W. Monroe, H. W. Rowe, 8. E. Spauldiug, M. B. Warner. Company K. T Kennedy, D. Wells. Total, 45. Those who died of their wounds were : Company B. L. W. Merrill, M. M. Reynolds. Company C. E. Banyea, J. Catury, W. L. Micha. Company D. B. Draper, E. H. Marcy. Company E. A. A. Barker, W. G. Brown, E. M. Cummings, H. P. Cummings, W. Cummings, W. H. H. Cummings, F. D. Goldthwaite, H. J. Heald, J. Meerworth. 9. Company G. T. W. Taylor. Company H. J. Maguire, P. Maloney, F. Merchant, M. Mulcahy, E. H. Smith, E. P. West. Company K. W. Church, D. Story, J. P. Ware. Total, 27. It was a very common statement, during the war and after, that Co. E. of the Fifth had 33 men killed and mortally wounded at Savage's Station. The nominal list, however, does not bear out the statement. 190 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. lect on the part of the Confederate surgeons, was soon paroled and taken to Fortress Monroe, where he died from his wound, July 20th, on board the transport Louisiana. He was a capable officer, though less than 21 years of age, and was sincerely mourned in the command. Seventy-five wounded men of the Fifth were left on the field and, with three sick men left in hospital at Savage's Station, fell into the hands of the enemy. Surgeon Kussell, with three nurses of the hospital staff, remained with them, and rendered them all possible care till they were released by death or were paroled a few weeks later. The regiment what was left of it remained with the ^brigade at Harrison's Landing after the change of base of the army, from the 2d of July till the 16th of August. Its number of effective men was greatly reduced, not only by death and wounds, but by sickness consequent upon the fatigues and exposures of the retreat ; and on the 13th of July the regiment Jiad only thirteen officers and 371 men fit for duty. 1 Major Proctor resigned July llth on account of contin- ued sickness, and Captain John K. Lewis of Co. I. was ap- pointed major in his place a fit recognition of his gallant and efficient service. During the last week in August, Ass't Surgeon Shaw, who had been untiring in his devotion to the sick and wounded, yielded, like many others, to the malaria of the Yirginia swamps, and after an illness of two weeks died September 7th, of typhoid fever in the hospital at Alex- andria. He was educated at Dartmouth College and ranked high in his profession ; and his loss was severely felt in the regiment. His remains were removed to his home in Waits- field for interment. Dr. Arthur F. Burdick of Underhill was 1 One field officer, 3 regimental staff, 1 Captain, 4 First Lieutenants, 4 Second Lieutenants; 16 musicians; 6 wagoners, 349 non-commissioned officers and privates. Statement by Sergeant L. Bigelow, in Burlington Times, July 19, 1862, THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 191 appointed assistant surgeon in his place, and a second assist- ant surgeon was appointed at the same time, in the person of Dr. Alwyn H. Chesmore of Huntington. On the 16th of August the regiment started with the brigade on the march down the Peninsula, and participated in the movements of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia and Maryland during the next month. Some of the march- ing was severe, and 24 men of the Fifth were taken to Har- wood Hospital at "Washington, sick from exhaustion, when the regiment passed through that city on the way to Mary- land. On the 10th of September, Colonel Smalley retired from the colonelcy, his leave of absence from the regular army being revoked, and Lieut. Colonel Grant, who had com- manded the regiment through much of its service, succeeded to the colonelcy. Major Lewis was thereupon promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy, and Captain Charles P. Dudley of Company E., was appointed major. The Fifth participated in the storming of Crampton's Gap, September 14th, and stood on the field of Antietam, though without serious loss, having two men wounded by shells. After the Antietam campaign the regiment went into camp on the 26th of September, with the brigade, at Hagers- town, Md., where the troops were allowed a month of much needed rest, and where the Fifth received 90 recruits. Surgeon Eussell was honorably discharged in October, on account of ill health, and in December following, Dr. P. D. Bradford, a well known physician of Northfield, was ap- pointed surgeon. On the llth of October, the Fifth was sent with the Second Vermont, by rail, to Chambersburg, Pa., to check Stuart's cavalry raid, returning to Hagerstown on the 16th. In the first half of November it marched with the brigade down to the lower Potomac, and on the 1st of December was stationed near Stafford Court House, Va., on Acquia 192 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Creek, a few miles from the rest of the brigade, to guard the roads above Acquia. In the first battle of Fredericksburg, December llth to 14th, the Fifth was under fire to a greater or less extent for four days. On the 14th it was on the skirmish line, and lost one man killed l and 13 wounded. Among the injured were Colonel Grant, who received a sharp blow on the leg from a spent bullet, and Lieutenant Warren R. Dunton of Company D., who received a serious wound in the foot, which occa- sioned his honorable discharge three months after. On the 1st of January, 1863, the regiment was at Fal- mouth, Ya., the rest of the brigade being at Belle Plain. The morning report for that day gave an aggregate of 694, with 457 present for duty, and 224 on the sick list. This aggregate was diminished by 100, by discharges and transfers to the invalid corps during the first three months of the year. The resignation, in February, 1863, of Colonel Whiting of the Second regiment, who had been in command of the brigade since October previous, left Colonel Grant the rank- ing colonel and he accordingly succeeded to the command of the First brigade, which he held thereafter through the war. He had been a careful and efficient colonel, and the regiment was sorry to lose him. On his part he was proud of the regiment, and he never lost his interest in the Fifth. Upon Grant's promotion, Lieut. Colonel Lewis succeeded to the command of the regiment, and brought to the position every quality of a capable and popular commander. In the Second Fredericksburg, the Fifth took an honor- able part. At the storming of Marye's Heights on the 3d of May, it was kept back by General Howe's order to sup- port a battery, but subsequently advanced to the top of the Heights without loss. The next day, in the battle on Salem Heights, back of Fredericksburg, the Fifth was on the ex- J James O. Gilbert, of Co. I. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 193 treme right of the brigade, and was the first to receive Early's main attack on Howe's division of the Sixth corps. The regiment, under Lieut. Colonel Lewis, rendered gallant and efficient service in the repulse of the enemy during the afternoon of the 4th, as well as in the sharp fighting at Banks's Ford, later in the day, which will be found elsewhere de- scribed more in detail. The loss of the regiment was three killed, 11 wounded, of whom one died, and nine taken pris- oners on the skirmish line. 1 Among the wounded was Second Lieutenant Lyman F. Loomis of Company G. Lieut. Colonel Lewis, and Lieutenant C. H. Forbes, acting assistant adjutant general on Colonel Grant's staff, are mentioned in his report as worthy of the highest praise, as is also Lieutenant A. Austin, acting quartermaster of the brigade. On the 5th of June, the Fifth was again sent across the Eappahannock below Fredericksburg. It crossed in pontoon boats under heavy fire, attacked the enemy's pickets in the rifle pits on the opposite bank, capturing most of them, and drove the remainder across the plain to the woods, thus clear- ing the way, with the support of other regiments of the brigade, for the crossing of Howe's division, which went over to feel of the enemy and ascertain if Hill's corps had left its position south of the Eappahannock. Seven men of the Fifth were wounded in the affair, and the Fifth sent in 90 prisoners six officers and 84 men including an entire com- pany of the Eighteenth Mississippi which came into the lines of the Fifth after dark. On the evening of ihe 7th the regi- ment marched back with the brigade to the north side of the river, and a week later started with the corps on the hard northern march which ended at Gettysburg. The only man of the First brigade killed at Gettysburg was a man of the Fifth regiment Luther Hurlburt of Com- 1 W. H. Button, Co. A. ; C. Montgomery, Co. B., and M. Keirigan, Co. I. , were killed ; and P. King, Co. B. , died of his wounds. 13 194 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. pany D. reported at the time as having deserted, but sub- sequently found to have been killed on the 3d of July. The regiment was not actively engaged on that field. At Funkstown, Md., on the 10th of July, the regiment, under Lieut. Colonel Lewis, held the left of the skirmish line and repulsed repeated attacks of the Confederate lines with a loss of three men killed 1 and seven wounded. After the return to Virginia, the regiment was for three weeks in a pleasant camp near Warrenton, Va., doing picket duty for the division, till ordered with the brigade to New York city on the llth of August. It was sent thence, with the Sixth Yermont, to Kingston, N. Y., where a draft was in progress. Its service there was pleasant, and the episode of maintaining the authority of the government at the North, amounted to an agreeable vacation of three weeks. The regiment was next under fire on the 7th of No- vrember, when the Fifth and Sixth corps assaulted and earned the enemy's entrenchments at Eappahannock Station. The regiment was deployed on the skirmish line near the river, and had two or three men wounded by artillery fire ; but was not actively engaged. In General Meade's next unsuccessful attempt to force General Lee's lines south of the Rapidan, in the last week in November, the Fifth had its share of marching, severe picket service and suffering from cold and hunger. Active campaigning being for the most part brought to a close by the advent of winter, the regiment went into winter quarters with the brigade near Brandy Station, Va. The Fifth was the first of the Vermont regiments, and one of the first if not the first of the New England regiments, to re-enlist for the war, under the provisions of the order of the war department which offered a special bounty to every three years' man re-enlisting for the war and permit- 1 N. S. Cross, Co. A.; J. W. Leonard, F. Murray, Co. E. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 195 ted regiments three-fourths of whose members should so re-enlist to retain their regimental organizations and to add the title of " Veteran Volunteers " to their regimental name ; also granting to every such regiment a furlough of thirty days. Two hundred and fifty-five officers and men of the Fifth, having re-enlisted on the 15th of December, left Brandy Station on the morning of December 27th for Vermont, and arrived at Burlington on the 30th. Governor Smith, Adj't. General Washburn and Surgeon General Thayer, with the Third Vermont Battery, Captain Start, then in camp at Bur- lington, and a numerous concourse of citizens, met the veterans on their arrival and escorted them to the city hall, where Hon.- George F. Edmunds, in behalf of the citizens of Burlington, and General Washburn, on the part of the State, bade them welcome back to Vermont. After a brief response from Lieut. Colonel Lewis, a dinner, provided by the citizens of Burlington, was served in the town hall, and in the afternoon and evening of the same day the veterans dispersed to their homes to spend the new year anniversary in comfort and happiness by their own firesides. On the expiration of its furlough the regiment rendez- voused at Burlington on the 4th of February, 1864, and went into camp in comfortable quarters on the fair ground north of the city. On the 6th it was reviewed by Governor Smith, accompanied by Adj't. General Washburn and Q. M. General Davis, and received a handsome new stand of colors from the hands of the governor, who in appropriate remarks ex- pressed the pride of the State in the record of the regiment, and the thanks of the people for its services. Lieut. Colonel Lewis responded briefly, pledging anew the loyalty of the regiment to the cause of the Union and faithful regard for the honor of Vermont. On Monday morning, February 8th, the Fifth Vermont regiment veteran volunteers, left the snow-covered hills of Vermont to rejoin their comrades at the front. Their return 196 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. and an addition of about 40 new recruits, gave on the 29th of February an aggregate of 650, of whom 562 were reported on duty. The regiment remained in camp at Brandy Station with the Vermont brigade through the remainder of the winter until it crossed the Eapidan on the 4th of May to take its part in the terrible campaign of the Wilderness. The part taken by the regiment in this campaign will appear more fully in connection with the history of the brigade. In proportion to its numbers it was the smallest regiment in the brigade no regiment in the brigade accom- plished more or suffered more. It went into the first day's fight of the "Wilderness with about 500 muskets, and its losses in killed, wounded, and missing, most of the latter being either killed or desperately wounded, during the month fol- lowing, aggregated 349, being two men killed or wounded out of every three in the ranks. The losses of officers in the same period were also fearful, the list of killed and wounded comprising both of the field officers, seven of the ten com- pany commanders, four lieutenants and the sergeant major. Lieut. Colonel John R. Lewis fell early in the first day's fight, May 5th, with his left arm shattered by a musket ball, which entered just below the shoulder. In the evening of the same day he underwent the operation of exsection of the humerus in the division hospital on the field. The next day he was taken to Fredericksburg, the journey occupying three days and three nights, forty-six hours of terrible suf- fering being spent by him in the ambulance on the road. At Fredericksburg he was joined by his devoted wife, under whose care he steadily progressed towards convalescence. Four months later, his wound being not yet healed, he received an honorable discharge, to accept an appointment as colonel in the Veteran Reserve Corps. Though the rule of the war department forbade the muster in of a colonel for a regiment having less than 500 men, the rule was waived by the Secretary of War in the case of Lieut. Colonel Lewis, THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 197 in consideration of his gallantry, and lie was mustered as colonel of the Fifth Vermont on the 5th of June, his appoint- ment by the governor dating from the 6th of May, and he was subsequently brevetted brigadier general for " gallant service in the battle of the Wilderness." The loss of the regiment in the Wilderness, May 6th, was 34 killed ; 179 wounded, of whom 23 died of their wounds, and 31 missing. 1 Among the killed were Captain George D. Davenport of Company B., Captain Charles J. Ormsbee of Company D., and Lieutenant Watson O. Beach of Company F. Captain Alonzo R. Hurlbut of Company A. was wounded in the left ankle, suffered amputation of the leg, and died the 9th of June in Armory Square Hospital, Washington; and Lieu- tenant Orvis H. Sweet of Company A., was shot through the lungs and died May 17th. Among the wounded were: Captain F. H. Barney of 1 The rank and file killed in the Wilderness were as follows : Company A. J. Fenix, L. Gilder, L. Gommon, J. Hamel, J. E. Puffer, E. Reynolds, J. M. Thomas, D. Traxian, N. Troyon. 9 Company B. F. Daniels, S. J. Hawley, P. Lander, J. St. Marie. Company C. A. Mason. Company D.J. Brown, E. E. Houston, J. LaFleur, Jr., E. LeBru, S. S. Marshall, G. H. Porter. 6. Company E. J. O. Benson, D. F. Kidder, G. H. Lyon, H. Smith, C. H. Walker. Company F. J. Gillespie, C. Grimes, R. Hudson, T. J. Lane. Company I. G. Collins, W. H. Isham. Total, 31. Those who died of wounds were : Company A. A. M. Alexander, R. Robinson. Company B. R. L. Barnes, H. Bowers, R. L. Downer, A. Sorrell, H. Sayles. Company C. M. Raymond. Jr, Company E. H. G. Taft. Company G. H. Moren. Company H. E. Keenan. Company L G. P. Bixby, R. Cornish, W. W. Douglass, J. R. Martin, J. F. Preston. Company K. B. Haskins, B. B. Hatch, E. W. Hill, J. Lyons, A. Plant. Total, 21. 198 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Company C.; Captain William B. Robinson of Company H.,, who was honorably discharged the August following for his wounds; Lieutenant Miner E. Fish of Company D.; Lieu- tenant W. G. Davenport of Company H.; and Lieutenant L. G. Brownson of Company K. Honorable mention is made in General L. A. Grant's report of Sergeant Isaac M. Burton, Company E., for seizing and safely carrying the colors of the regiment, after they had been shot from the hands of the color bearer. In the battles at Spottsylvania, May 10th to 21st, the Fifth lost 15 killed ; 50 wounded, of whom 12 died of their wounds ; and 20 missing a total of 85. 1 A portion of these casualties occurred in Upton's mag- nificent charge on the enemy's salient, on the 10th of May ;. and most serious among them was the fatal wounding of the only remaining field officer of the regiment, the gallant Major Dudley, who had succeeded to the command of the Fifth upon the fall of Lieut. Colonel Lewis. Though he was. ill with a fever when the regiment was ordered forward as one of the twelve picked regiments selected for Upton's assault, he promptly placed himself at its head, and while 1 The killed at Spottsylvania were : Company C. M. M. Lafayette, L. Martin. Company D. A. Schoolcraft. Company E. F. De Hosiers, L. Morse. Company F. R. W. Champlin, C. M. Crane, J. Duquette, C. P. Good- rich, J. Hale, C. A. Walker, R. Wright. Company I. B. F. Isham. Company K. E. Chamberlin, R. M. Rogers. Total, 15. Those who died of their wounds were : Company A. H. C. Bailey, H. H. Clement. Company B. E. W. Sager. Company C. J. H. Sturtevant. Company D. H. D. Hagar, J. Houston, Jr. Company E. N. C. Bostwick. Company F. S. Jenney. Company G. R. J. Fletcher, J. Hunter. Company K. A. J. Lessor. Total, 11. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 1S9 cheering on his men, received a musket ball through his uplifted right arm. No bone was broken, and the wound was no more severe than thousands from which men speedily recovered. But with his nervous temperament and with vital powers depressed by disease, it proved a mortal injury. He never rallied from the shock, and died in the arms of his young wife, who arrived at Fredericksburg, whither he was carried, but a few hours before his death. He was one of the bravest of Yermont's brave ; had notably distinguished himself on several occasions and especially at Banks's Ford r and at the crossing of the Eappahannock, June 5th, 1863 ; and few deaths in the whole course of the war occasioned deeper sorrow among the Yermont troops. 1 After Major Dudley fell, the regiment was commanded by Captain E. A. Hamilton of Company F., who had dis- tinguished himself at Spottsylvania, and received mention for good conduct in the brigade commander's report. Quar- termaster Eells is also mentioned as one of those who ren- dered special service on the staff of the general, after the brigade staff officers had been wounded or captured. The Fifth regiment was in the front line at Cold Harbor on the 3d of June, and suffered severely, losing eight killed 1 Charles P. Dudley was born in Manchester, Vt., January 24, 1836. He spent his early manhood in his trade as a marble cutter, and in teaching in Vermont and in Kentucky, where his outspoken expression of his opinions on the great issues which divided the sections before the war, placed his life repeatedly in danger. He was studying law in the office of an uncle, in Johnstown, N. Y. , when the war broke out. The firt train leaving that town after President's Lincoln's first call for troops took him to Vermont, to join his brother Vermonters in sustaining the flag. He at once enlisted at Rutland, in Co. K. of the First regiment. A commission in the regular army was tendered to him about this time ; but he declined it, preferring to serve with the troops of his native State, though as a private in the ranks. On the expiration of the three months term of the First regiment he re- enlisted in the Manchester company of the Fifth, of which he was elected captain. He was promoted to be major, October 6th, 1862, and was ap- pointed lieutenant colonel, May 6th, 1864 ; but his commission had not reached him at the time of his death. 200 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. and 22 wounded, three of whom died of their wounds. 1 Among the killed was Captain Merrill T. Samson of Com- pany I, a meritorious young officer. From the 4th to the 10th of June, the regiment was frequently under fire, and lost three men wounded. On the 13th, the Fifth moved with the brigade to the James, and crossed it on the 16th. At Petersburg in the operations of June 17th, the Fifth was deployed on the skirmish line. The next day, with the rest of the brigade, it was placed in the front line under a heavy artillery fire, by which, however, it lost but one man. 2 The morning report of the regiment, June 30th, gave an aggregate of 587, with only 280 on duty, 303 being on the list of sick and wounded. The regiment moved to the north with the Sixth corps in July ; and in the engagement at Fort Stevens, in front of "Washington, July 12th, one man of the Fifth, who had been detailed as a sharp shooter, was wounded. At Charlestown, Va., August 21st, the regiment was again engaged, and lost two men killed and four wounded, one of whom died of his wounds. 3 On the 15th of September, 1864, the original members of the regiment who had not re-enlisted and whose time had ex- pired, 107 in number, were mustered out of the service and returned to Vermont. This number included Adjutant C H. Forbes, who had been on General Grant's staff as A. A. G. of the brigade for over a year and a half; Surgeon A. H. Chesmore, Chaplain Hale, Captains F. H. Barney, L. McD. 1 The men killed at Cold Harbor, were : M. H. Keefe, Co. A.; J. C. Hunt and J. H. Varney, Co. C.; L. B. Graham and C. E. Stearns, Co. F.; M. Courtney, Co. H. ; and P. Tomlinson, Co. K. Those who died of wounds were : M. W. Lamed, H. Safford of Com- pany A.; and L. Crady of Company B. * G. H. St. Louis, Co. K. 3 J. Lewis, Co. I, and W. Jackman, Co. K. were killed. P. Ladam, Co. A. died of his wounds. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 201 Smith, E. A. Hamilton, B. K. Jenne, L. D. Tice and C. H. Williamson ; and Lieutenants C. H. Benton, E. P. Russell, O. L. Spencer, W. G. Davenport, E. S. Leach, L. F. Loomis, W. H. Cheney, and J. A. Bixby. There were left no field officers ; of the staff only Quartermaster Eells and Asst. Sur- geon Colburn, and of line officers only five lieutenants. It amounted in effect to the breaking up of the regiment ; and though its name remained, and it did a good deal more of good fighting, it existed thenceforward as a battalion, entitled at most to a lieutenant colonel. In the lack of officers of its own, the battalion was commanded for a time by Captain Addison Brown of the Fourth. Captain Brown was soon after appointed lieutenant colonel of the Fifth, his commis- sion dating September 18th. The vacancies in the line were partially filled by promotions and transfers from other regi- ments ; and early in October Lieutenant Eugene O. Cole of Bennington, who had served three years in the Second and had been mustered out, was appointed major. The total losses during the year previous to October 1st, 1864, other than by expiration of term of service, were 264 ; of which number 89 had died, 30 deserted, 21 had been discharged, and 22 transferred to the Veteran Eeserve Corps. The morning report for October 31st, showed 288 officers and men present for duty out of an aggregate of 516. The Fifth served with the brigade in Sheridan's Shenandoah campaign, and at Winchester, September 19th, lost six killed 1 and 22 wounded. In the battle of Cedar Creek, October 19th, the Fifth, under command of Major Enoch Johnson of the Second Yermont, Lieut. Colonel Brown being disabled by illness, took an active part, and lost two killed, 17 wounded, one of whom died, and three missing.' Captain 1 L. Bovatt, W. P. Valentine, Co. C.; J. Belair, Co. E.; J. J. Davis, C. Lucas, J. Naylor, Co. G. were killed at Winchester. 2 J. M. Farnam, Co. E. and G. E. Davis, Co. I. were killed. M. Smith, Co. H., was wounded and died November llth. 202 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Thomas Kavaney of Company A. was among the severely wounded. Lieutenant George H. Sessions, A. D. C. to the brigade commander, is mentioned in his report for " truly conspicuous and gallant conduct." The regiment went into winter quarters with the brigade on the 13th of December, in the lines on the south of Peters- burg. In January and February 50 recruits swelled the aggregate to 574, with 403 present for duty and 148 sick on the 16th of February. The sick list diminished steadily during the winter, in spite of the severe picket and fatigue duty to which the men were subjected. Lieut. Colonel Brown resigned in December on account of continued ill health. 1 In February, Captain Eonald A. Kennedy of the Third Vermont was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Fifth, and commanded the regiment during the remainder of its ser- vice. In the charge on the picket line of the enemy in front of Fort Fisher, March 25th, the regiment entered the works with the brigade and took a number of prisoners. During the final attempt of the enemy to retake the line, about sunset, 150 men of the Fifth, under Major Cole, were sent to the left to support a battery and dislodge a body of the enemy in and about a house from which their sharp- shooters enfiladed and annoyed the line of the Sixth corps. This was successfully accomplished. The Fifth lost one man killed and seven wounded, two of whom died of their wounds. 2 In repulsing an attack of the enemy on the picket line, March 27th, seven men of the Fifth were wounded and four reported missing. In the final attack, when the Sixth corps broke through the enemy's lines in front of Petersburg, 'After leaving the service, Colonel Brown went to Illinois to visit friends, and died a few weeks after at Harrisburg, Pa., while on his way to his home in Vermont, at the age of 28 years. Though young in years, he was old in experience, and had proved himself a brave and trusty soldier. 2 S. Bernheim, Co. B., was killed. W. Oliver, Co. C., and J. Bailey, Co. G., died of wounds. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 203 on the 2d of April, the Fifth, under command of Lieut. Colonel Kennedy, had the honor of leading the storming column, and its colors were the first planted by the Sixth corps on the enemy's works. It is believed that Captain Charles G. Gould of Company H., was the first man of the Sixth corps to mount the hostile works. Among the many feats of bravery performed by men of the Fifth that day, may be mentioned that of Sergeant Lester G. Hack of Company F., who seized a Confederate battle flag, knocked down the color bearer, though surrounded by a squad of his comrades, and secured the flag, which is now among the war trophies preserved at the war department at Washington. The casualties in the regiment on that glorious day were five killed, 34 wounded, two of whom died of their wounds, and seven missing; 1 total, 47 a larger number than in any other regiment of the brigade except the Eleventh, which was twice as large as the Fifth. The seven men reported missing were taken prisoners, but were all recaptured. Among the killed was Second Lieutenant J. Smith of Com- pany A., and among the wounded were Captain Charles G. Gould, who received a severe bayonet wound in the face and was struck by clubbed muskets as he sprang over the rebel intrenchments, and Captain Edson M. Kaymond of Company D. Captain Gould was afterwards brevetted major for gallant service on that occasion, and Captain Raymond was honorably discharged, on the 2d of June following, on account of his wounds. This was the last severe fighting done by the battalion. After the surrender of Lee, it marched with the brigade to the vicinity of Washington to await the final muster out. The recruits, 86 in number, whose term of service would expire previous to October 1st, were mustered out of the 1 The killed of the rank and file were : H. C. Pike, Co. C.; J. Baker, L. Young, Co. F.; E. Brownlee, C. A. Ford, Co. H. J. Jabott, Co. C., and G. J. Howard, Co, G., died of their wounds. 204 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. service June 19th, and returned to Vermont as part of a de- tachment of 661 men of the Vermont brigade, all of whom were mustered out at that time. The only officer of the Fifth returning with them was Captain Gould. The re- mainder of the regiment, 333 in number, 1 of whom 124 were veterans, were mustered out on the 29th of June, and started at once for Vermont under command of Colonel Kennedy. They arrived in Burlington at five o'clock in the morning of July 4th. Owing to some accident the citizens had not been notified of their coming and were not awaiting them at the station. Notice of their arrival was however soon given, and the welcome accorded them was none the less cordial for being a little tardy. They marched to the city hall, where they were welcomed home by Rev. Elbridge Mix. A boun- tiful breakfast was served in the hall by the ladies, after which the veterans marched to their quarters at the U. S Marine Hospital, where they were paid off, and dispersed to their homes to learn war no more. The officers of the regiment at the time of its return were as follows : Lieut. Colonel Ronald A. Kennedy, who went out in September, 1861, as a private in the Third re- giment, was wounded at Fredericksburg in May, 1863, was appointed captain in January following and transferred to the Fifth as Lieut. Colonel in February, 1865 ; was appointed colonel by the governor in June, 1865, but was mustered out, in accordance with the rule of War Department, as lieutenant colonel. Major Eugene A. Cole, who went out as a pri- vate in the Second regiment, and served three years, was mustered out with the rank of first lieutenant, returned to the service as major of the Fifth, December 26, 1864, and was brevetted lieutenant colonel for gallantry in the last as- sault at Petersburg. He was commissioned as lieutenant 1 This number does not include quite all who were members of the regiment at that time. A few were absent on furlough or sick in hos- pitals, and 18 men remained on special duty a week longer. THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 205 colonel by the governor; but was mustered out as major. Surgeon C. H. Allen, who went out as assistant surgeon of the Eighth in October, 1862, and was transferred to the Fifth in October, 1864. Asst. Surgeon Dan L. C. Colburn, who had been with the regiment since August, 1863. Quarter- master Isaac L. Eells, who went out as a private in 1861, re- ceived a second lieutenant's commission in April, 1864, and was appointed quartermaster in May. Adjutant Charles F. Leonard, who was appointed in October, 1864 ; and Chaplain John D. Cargill, who enlisted as private, was made sergeant in June, 1863, was wounded at Fredericksburg, June 5th, 1863, re-enlisted in December of that year, and received his appointment as chaplain in September, 1864. Captain Thomas Kavaney of Company A. was promoted major by the governor, June 9, 1865, but was mustered out as captain. The line officers mustered out as such, June 29, 1865, were fourteen in number, as follows : Captains Thomas Kavaney, Hiram Cook, "William H. Wright, George H. Ses- sions, Daniel E. Barrett, Samuel F. Kilborn and Myron S. Dudley, and First Lieutenants Frederick C. Davis, Charles Y. Cool, Wallace E. Baldwin, Edward C. Warner, Joseph M. Foster, James Grace and Jackson Sargent. All of these enlisted as privates. It is a noticeable circumstance that the Fifth during the larger part of its service, was commanded by officers below the rank of colonel. Its first colonel was absent from his command during the larger part of the year he was con- nected with it ; its second colonel had held the rank but five months when he was taken to command the brigade, and thenceforward the regiment was commanded by lieutenant colonels, majors and captains. 206 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The following men of the Fifth are known to have died in Anderson ville prison : DIED IN CONFEDERATE PRISONS. Company A- H. Laraway, died August 3, 1864. Company B H. Crow, died August 6, 1864. Company C O. Seward, died August 2, 1864. Company D D. Crocker, died July 22, 1864. Company F A. B. Wilson, died February 21, 1865. Company G C. S. Monroe, * The battles in which the Fifth took an honorable part, were as follows : BATTLES OF THE FIFTH VERMONT. Lee's Mill, April 16, 1862 Williamsburg, May 5, 1862 Golding's Farm, June 26, 1862 Savage's Station, - -'- - - - - - June 29, 1862 White Oak Swamp, June 30, 1862 Crampton's Gap, Sept. 14, 1862 Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862 Fredericksburg Dec. 13, 1862 Marye's Heights, May 3, 1863 Salem Heights, May 4, 1863 Fredericksburg, ........ June 5, 1863 Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 Funkstown, July 10, 1863 Rappahannock Station, Nov. 7, 1863 Wilderness, May 5 to 10, 1864 Spottsylvania, May 10 to 38, 1864 Cold Harbor, June 1 to 12, 1864 Petersburg, June 18, 1864 Charlestown, Aug. 21, 1864 Opequan, Sept. 13, 1864 Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864 Fisher's Hill, Sept. 21 and 22, 1864 Cedar Creek, . Oct. 19, 1864 Petersburg, March 25 and 27, 1865 Petersburg, April 2, 1865 "Captured May 10, 1863, supposed dead. ' THE FIFTH REGIMENT. 207 The final statement of the Eegiment, given below, shows a larger percentage of killed and mortally wounded in action than that of any other Vermont regiment : FINAL STATEMENT. Original members com. officers 38, enlisted men 948, total 986 Gain; recruits 588; transferred from other regiments 43, total 631 Aggregate 1,617 LOSSES. Killed in action com. officers 5, enlisted men 128, total...'. 133 Died of wounds com. officers 4, enlisted men 68, total 72 Died of disease- com. officers 1, enlisted men 113, total 114 Died, (unwounded,) in Confederate prisons 11 Died from accidents; enlisted men 4; executed 1 5 Total of deaths 335 Honorably discharged com. officers, resigned 24, for wounds and dis- abilities 12; enlisted men discharged for wounds, 99, for disabilities, 298, total, 434 Dishonorably discharged com. officers 4, enlisted men 9, total 13 Total by discharge 447 Promoted to U. S. Army and to other regiments, officers 8, men 2, total. ..10 Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, U. S. Navy and Army, etc., officers 2, enlisted men 90, total 92 Deserted 109, unaccounted for 6, total 115 Mustered out com officers 53, enlisted men 565, total .618 Aggregate 1,617 Total wounded 473 Total re-enlisted... 256 CHAPTER X. THE SIXTH REGIMENT. Its Organization Departure for Washington Sickness and Mortality at Camp Griffin The Spring of 1862 The Sixth at Lee's Mill Golding's Farm and Savage's Station Sickness at Harrison's Landing Cramp- ton's Gap and Antietam Changes of Field Officers Winter of 1862-3 Fighting at Fredericksburg Funkstown Service in New York- Winter at Brandy Station Losses in the Wilderness Death and Sketch of Colonel Barney Personal Incidents The Shenandoah Cam- paign Expiration of Three Years' Term Service in front of Peters, burg End of the War and Return Home. On the day on which the Fifth regiment was mustered into the service, Governor Fairbanks received a communica- tion from the war department, urging him to raise another regiment of three years' troops as soon as possible. He accordingly, at once, September 16th, 1861, appointed the following recruiting officers for the Sixth regiment : Wm. H. Harris, Danville; C. H. Davis, Wheelock; W. E. Lewis, Norwich ; W. Hazelton, Essex ; W. B. Keynolds, Burlington ; George Parker, Jr., Yergennes; William Skinner, Eoyalton; D. B. Davenport, Eoxbury; A. J. Mower, Calais; D. K. Andros, Bradford; A. J. Dyke, Woodstock; L. M. Grout, Elmore ; John S. Campbell, Waitsfield. In twelve days 900 men had been enlisted. They were ordered to rendezvous at Montpelier ; and on the second day of October the Eoxbury company arrived and went into camp at the county fair ground, to which the title of "Camp Smith" was given in honor of Hon. John Gregory Smith of St. Alhans. During THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 209 the four days following the rest of the men arrived, for the most part in squads, which were organized into companies after their arrival in camp, not without some friction in settling the conflicting preferences of the men for company officers. The field officers had been already selected. The colonelcy was offered to and accepted by Lieut. Colonel Nathan Lord, Jr., of the Fifth. Colonel Lord was a native of New Hampshire, and was the youngest son of President Nathan Lord of Dartmouth College. He was a graduate of Dartmouth, and had been for a short time principal of the Montpelier academy. He was now thirty years old, of fine figure and good presence, and had had some military experi- ence, having been a captain in a three months regiment, the Seventh Indiana, and having seen some service under McClellan in Western Virginia. He was recommended by his Indiana colonel as being " as kind and merciful as he was brave and heroic." Adjutant Asa P. Blunt of the Third Vermont, who had had four months service in that regiment and shown himself a bright and competent officer, was appointed lieutenant colonel. Captain Oscar S. Tuttle of Cavendish, who had been Captain of Company. E. of the First regiment, and served with credit during its short term of service, was appointed major. The regimental staff were as follows : Adjutant E. B. Crandall, of Berlin; Quartermaster John W. Clark, of Mont- pelier; Surgeon K. C. M. Woodward, M. D., of St. Albans; Ass't. Surgeon Charles M. Chandler, M. D., of Montpelier; Chaplain, Eev. Edward P. Stone of Berlin. The latter was a Congregational minister just ordained. Surgeon Woo - ward was obliged by the condition of his health to resign a few days after his appointment, and was succeeded by Ass't Surgeon Chandler ; and Dr. Lyman Tuttle of Vernon, was appointed assistant surgeon. The State and Government officials had learned by this time a good deal in the business of equipping troops, and 14 210 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. from the ampler supplies of army clothing now available the men were uniformed as fast as they arrived. On the 15th of October the arms, Enfield rifles, procured in New York, were distributed, and on the same day the regiment was mustered into the service of the United States by Lieutenant J. W. Jones, U. S. A., mustering officer. On Saturday morning, October 19th, thirty-three days from the receipt of the request of the war department for another Vermont regiment, the Sixth Vermont, 971 strong, took its departure for the field. It was a rainy morning ; but the w r hole popu- lation of Montpelier, and hundreds of fathers, mothers, wives and friends from the neighboring towns, turned out to see the boys off and bid them Godspeed. Not a man was left behind. The usual patriotic demonstrations greeted the regiment all along the route through Vermont and down the Connecticut Valley. At Springfield, Mass., refreshments were provided for the men by the mayor and citizens. Early Sunday morning the Sixth reached New Haven, where the steamer Elm City was waiting to take the regiment to Jersey City. There it took train, and at eleven in the evening arrived at Philadelphia, where it was received with the proverbial Philadelphia hospitality, and spent the night in a Baptist chapel. Taking train next morning the regiment had at Baltimore a lunch of bread and cheese, supplied by loyal citizens, and arrived at Washington at nine P. M. The night was spent at the "Soldiers' Kest," and next day the regiment moved to the general camping ground on Capitol Hill. On October 24th, the Sixth took its first march worthy of the name, to Camp Griffin, doing the twelve miles in three hours and a half. It arrived just after dark, and was received with cheers by the other regiments of the Vermont brigade as it marched past their camps to its camping ground. The regiment was now occupied in drill and picket duty, which was the chief business of the brigade, and did its share of both in spite of the alarming amount of sickness which soon THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 211 prevailed in the ranks. Before the end of November ,nearly a third of the men were unfit for duty, and they were falling sick at the rate of forty a day. At one time Company B. had but 22 men fit for duty out of 85. Surgeon Chandler was one of those prostrated by fevers ; and in the first two months in Virginia 27 men died from disease. The frequent deaths and prevailing sickness caused a general seriousness and much religious reflection among the men, and the prayer- meetings, held every evening, were numerously attended. Every care possible was taken of the sick. The more dan- gerously ill were removed to the brigade hospital near Chain Bridge. The regimental hospital tent was replaced by a substantial log house ; and during January the general health of the regiment began to improve. When the brigade moved with the army toward Manassas, March 10th, the sick list had been reduced to about 100. Up to that date, the deaths numbered 47, among the saddest of which was that of Lieutenant George H. Phelps, of Company D., a favorite young officer, who died of typhoid fever, January 2d, 1862. The regiment participated in the movements of the brigade in the spring of 1862, and was first under fire April 6th, in front of the Confederate entrenchments on "Warwick Creek. On that day it supported one of the batteries sta- tioned in the edge of the woods during the first demonstra- tion made by General Smith's division, and though covered from the sight of the enemy by a curtain of growing timber, was subjected to a random shelling from the Confederate batteries, both by day and night, without loss. After two days and nights spent under arms, the Sixth was relieved, marched three miles to the right, and encamped, cold, wet and hun- gry, in the woods, not far from Lee's Mill, where it remained for nine days, and until the exciting day of April 16th. During the larger part of that day, and while the men of the Third Vermont were making, their desperate assault on the 212 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. enemy's rifle pits at Lee's Mill, the Sixth was held in reserve in the woods southeast of "the chimneys" of the burned Garrow house. About five o'clock in the afternoon the second attack was ordered, the plan being that four com- panies of the Fourth should cross by the dam, and an equal number of the Sixth below the dam, and that the two bat- talions should attack the enemy's works in concert. The Sixth accordingly advanced, partly covered by the woods, nearly to the edge of the stream. The right wing, consisting of Company A., Captain Parker; Company F., Captain E. F. Eeynolds; Company D., Captain Hale; Company I., Lien- tenant Kinney, (Captain W. B. Reynolds being ill), and Com- pany C., Captain Spaulding, was then ordered to cross the creek. 1 The order was promptly obeyed. The spot selected for the crossing was eight or ten rods below the dam. The companies marched by the flank to the river. This had been widened and deepened by another dam below, and the water before them was about twenty rods wide, extending nearly up to the enemy's rifle pits. As the battalion entered the water the enemy opened a severe musketry fire. Without return- ing a shot the men pushed on, forded the channel of the creek, the water coming up waist high ; and as they came into the shallower water beyond, fronted into line and charged the works before them. A portion had hardly reached the rifle pits when the order to retire was given. The men fell back, carrying with them their wounded, some of whom re- ceived additional and fatal wounds in the arms of their comrades. The scene is thus described by Corporal A. W. Davis: "We started to the rear to find the water almost up "to where we stood, and over all the interval between us and "the opposite shore. In the turbid current was a mass of " men, struggling to the rear. Such a sight never again met 1 General Brooks says Colonel Lord was ordered to throw four com. panics across the creek ; but Jive were thrown across, and two more at- tempted the crossing. THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 213 " my gaze during the war. Wounded men, on reaching the "old bed of the stream sank with cries of despair, to be "found later in the swamps down the stream, where their " bodies had lodged. I saw two men ahead of me carrying a "wounded man, when they were struck by rebel bullets and "one or both sank. I saw two others assisting a wounded " man, when a bullet passed through the latter's head and he "pitched forward and was gone. The muddy water liter- " ally boiled with bullets." Some of the instances of indivi- dual heroism, of which there were so many in this memora- ble engagement, will be found narrated in the fuller account given in subsequent pages in connection with the history of the Vermont brigade. The loss of the regiment at Lee's Mill was 13 killed and 67 wounded, of whom 10 died of their wounds. 1 Among the killed was Captain E. F. Keynolds of Com- pany F., who received a serious wound in the hip, in spite of which he pressed on at the head of his company, when a bullet pierced his breast, killing him instantly. 2 Among the wounded were Captain David B. Davenport of Company H., who received a flesh wound in the thigh from a musket ball; First Lieutenant Edwin E. Kinney, Company I., seriously wounded in the leg ; and Second 1 The men killed were: W. M. Gibson, A. C. Noyes, Co. C.; C. E. Colburn, Co. D.; M. Barney, Co. E.; C. Axtell, R. Blakely, P.Connell, W. W. Godfrey, Co. F. ; M. Basconer, T. Daniels, E. R. Dodge, L. W. Wales, Co. H. Those who died of their wounds were : J. Oakes, E. C. Wright, Co. A.; L. Graves, A. Grant, J. E. Wilson, J. E. Wyman, Co. C.; L. Talbot, Co. D.; J. Connery, Co. F.; R. L. Bellows, Co. I. 5 Captain Reynolds was a member of the Rutland company of the First regiment. He re-enlisted in the Sixth, and was chosen captain of his com- pany at its organization. He was a brave and patriotic soldier, and his loss was deeply felt in the regiment. His body was sent to Vermont, and was interred, at Rutland, April 23, 1862, with military and masonic honors. 214 VEEMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Lieutenant Charles F. Bailey, Company D., who received a wound in the leg, from which he died a fortnight after. 1 The official reports mention as deserving of especial credit for good conduct in the engagement, Colonel Lord, Sur- geons Chandler and Tuttle, Captains E. F. Reynolds and Davenport, Lieutenants Bailey and Kinney, Sergeant Holton of Company I., who was also mentioned with special credit in a general order, for securing and bringing back the colors, Sergeant Porter Crane of Company H., Sergeant W. B. Dun- shee, Company A., and Corporals A. L. Cox and P. H. Duggan. On the 29th of April, the regiment was sent out to the left to make a reconnoissance along the bank of Warwick Creek. Company G., Lieutenant Nevins, and Company K., Captain Barney, were thrown out in front as skirmishers, and advanced till they came under tire from the enemy's pickets by which a man in Company K. was wounded. Lieutenant Nevins advanced to examine the enemy's position, and while so doing received a ball in the knee, which shattered the joint. He was taken to the brigade hospital, where amputa- tion was performed by Surgeon Chandler, and on the 3d of May he died." The Sixth marched up the Peninsula to the front of Richmond with the brigade ; and on the 27th of June, acted as support to the picket line of General Smith's division at Golding's Farm in repulsing an attack of the enemy after sundown ; and took the place of the Forty Third New York, 1 Lieutenant Bailey went from Troy, Vt., as orderly sergeant of Com- pany D., and at the death of Lieutenant Phelps in January, 1862, and promotion of 2d Lieutenant Dwinell, was promoted to the vacancy. He was a man of strong will, and thorough integrity and courage. 2 Lieutenant Nevins was a substantial and leading citizen of Moretown. He stood high as a soldier, and his death occasioned especial demonstra- tions of respect and sorrow, on the part of his comrades. His body was sent home to Vermont, and was interred, at Moretown, June 9th, with civic and military honors. THE SIXTH REGIMENT. in front, for a while. Six men of the Sixth were wounded,, in this affair, and one reported missing. 2 In the battle at Savage's Station, on the 29th, the Sixth was deployed on the left in the advance of the brigade, and lost 15 killed; 51 wounded, of whom six died of their wounds,. and three missing. 2 The casualties were distributed with much impartiality among the companies. Among those reported missing was Captain William B. Reynolds of Com- pany I., who was ill with typhoid fever in the hospital at Savage's Station and fell into the enemy's hands, as did nine other sick men of the Sixth, who were left there, with 3,000 other sick and wounded, when the army retreated. He was taken thence to Richmond, and three weeks later was paroled and sent north. Lieutenant George E. Wood of Company B., Sergeant major Boyden, and 28 other wounded men, were left on the field and were captured, together with seven men who were detailed to stay with them as nurses. Most of these were paroled and discharged as soon as they were able to travel. Among the wounded men so captured was Corporal Alexander W. Davis, of Company D. While confined in Libby Prison, a few days later, he learned through one of the guards, a private of the 7th Louisiana, that his cousin Dr. James B. Davis, (a son of Hon. Bliss N. Davis, of Dan- ville, Vt.,) who was residing in Louisiana when the war broke 1 Colonel Lord in his report of this skirmish, written two weeks after, alludes to it as occurring on the 29th of June. The date was that given above. 2 The rank and file killed weret D. Moulton, O. S. Pinney, Co. B.; W. E. Caffrin, J. M. Green, Co. C.; J. Farnam, Co. D.; T. L. Bailey, G. F. Hazelton, Co. E.; E. D. Buzzell, Co. G.; J. M. Putnam, Co. H.; G. Mar. tin, E. McGlaughlin, G. Stark, Jr.. Co. L; R. Columb, R. Magoon, M. Mason, Co. K. Those dying of their wounds were : J. Clark, J. Scarborough, Co. A.; L. O'Connell, Co. D.; O. G. Kelsey, J. R. Murray, Co. G.; W. Cheney, Co. K. 216 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. out, was the surgeon of the Seventh Louisiana regiment, then stationed near Eichmond. He wrote to Dr. Davis, and as a result of the latter's kind offices, was not only soon exchanged but furnished with a horse to ride from Eichmond to Aiken's Landing, where the prisoners were transferred to transports being the only man in a cartel of 1800 exchanged prisoners who was so favored. 1 A period of unusual sickness prevailed in the regiment during the six weeks stay at Harrison's Landing due to the excessive fatigue of the campaign, the loss of their shelter tents, most of which had been left behind by the men, and consequent exposure to the hot sun and heavy mid -summer showers, and to severe fatigue duty in felling timber and building earthworks for the protection of the army in its new position on the James. At battalion drill on the last day of July less than 200 men appeared in line ; and the effective force of the regiment did not exceed 250 bayonets. The health of the regiment, however, improved steadily after leaving the Peninsula ; and during the succeeding campaign in Maryland, it was generally in an excellent condition. In the storming of Crampton's Gap, on the 14th of September, the Sixth had one officer, Captain E. L. Barney, and two men wounded. At Antietam, three days later, the Sixth was for a short time under a sharp artillery fire and had 8 men wounded. During the last half of September 77 recruits joined the regiment and on the 1st of October it had an aggregate of 838 officers and men. Discharges for disability were fre- quent, and reduced the aggregate during the next two months to 779. On the 8th of December, the regiment being then in 1 After the battle of Antietam, Dr. Davis was left in charge of the con- federate wounded within the Union lines, and there met Colonel Geo. P. Foster of the Fourth Vermont, and others of his former school mates. General Truman Seymour gave Dr. Davis a guard at that time and showed him kindnesses, which Dr. Davis was subsequently able to reciprocate, when General Seymour was a prisoner, after the battle of the Wilderness. THE SIXTH KEGIMENT. 217 Camp at Belle Plain, on the lower Potomac, the weather cold and tents and blankets not too plenty, the sick list numbered 218, and but 483 officers and men were reported present for duty. In the first battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13th, the Sixth was not actively engaged and suffered little, having but one man killed 1 and one wounded by artillery fire. The closing months of 1862, saw almost an entire change of field officers. In the latter part of September, Lieut. Colonel Blunt was promoted to the colonelcy of the Twelfth regiment. Major Tuttle succeeded him in the due order of promotion, and Captain E. L. Barney of Company K., was appointed major. On the 18th of December, Colonel Lord resigned on account of prolonged ill health, and Lieut. Colo- nel Tuttle was appointed to the vacancy. Colonel Tuttle was an experienced and capable soldier. Originally trained under Colonel Phelps in the First regiment, in which he commanded the Cavendish company, he had been steadily with the Sixth in all its vicissitudes, had been much in com- mand of it during the absences of Colonel Lord, and had the entire confidence of officers and men. Major Barney was thereupon advanced to the lieutenant colonelcy, and Captain Oscar A. Hale of Company D. was appointed major. Four months of comparative quiet folio wed the First Fre- dericksburg, during which the regiment was in winter quar- ters, with the brigade, near White Oak Church, a few miles east of Fredericksburg. Among the episodes of this period, were a share in Burnside's abortive campaign in Janu- ary, in which the chief duty of the regiment was marching in the rain and helping to boost the batteries out of the mud, and the presentation to the regiment of a new State flag a New Year's gift from the State authorities to replace their shot-torn and tattered colors. The receiving of the ! A. Miller of Company E. 218 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. colors was made the occasion of a special parade, at which Colonel Tuttle made a little speech and placed the new colors in the hands of the color, bearer amid the cheers of the regi- ment. No regiment excelled the Sixth in patriotic feeling, and when, in March, 1863, intelligence came of certain dis- loyal utterances on the part of a few individuals in Yer- mont the news aroused strong feeling in the regiment, and occasioned the unanimous adoption by the men of a series of resolutions, which were signed by every commis- sioned officer present with the command, and sent to Ver- mont. In these they denounced as traitors those who en- couraged the enemy by unpatriotic utterances, expressed their entire confidence in President Lincoln and willingness to support any measures he might see fit to adopfc for the suppression of the rebellion, and pledged on their own part every possible effort and sacrifice in furtherance of a vigorous prosecution of the war. The general health of the regiment improved during the winter. The sick list, which numbered 212 on the 1st of January, had fallen to 125 on the 7th of March, and to 97 on the 27th of April, 1863. In the latter part of March, Colonel Tuttle resigned in consequence of serious illness. He was succeeded in the colonelcy by Lieut. Colonel Barney ; Major Hale was ap- pointed lieutenant colonel, and Captain Richard B. Crandall, the first adjutant of the regiment, subsequently promoted to the captaincy of Company K., was appointed major. On the 1st of May, 1863, the regiment left its winter quarters, with the brigade and the army, under General Hooker, for the Chancellorsville campaign. At the Second Fredericksburg in the storming of Marye's Heights, May 3d, the Sixth, under command of Colonel Barney, was the second regiment to enter the enemy's works, passing two regi- ments in its charge ; and in the fighting on Salem Heights THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 219 and at Banks's Ford, next day, it especially distinguished itself, taking over 200 prisoners in the latter part of the afternoon, and winning the enthusiastic praise of its com- manders. Colonel Lewis of the Seventh Louisiana surren- dered his sword to Colonel Barney at this time. The loss of the regiment in the storming of Marye's Heights was one killed and eight wounded. On the 4th it lost four killed ; 46 wounded, six of whom died of their wounds, and 15 missing. The latter were mostly wounded men, some of whom after they had been carried back a mile from the front by their comrades, were left under the charge of Sur- geon Chandler and Sergeant S. W. Fletcher of Company I, in a barn near Banks's Ford, and fell into the enemy's hands after the retirement of the corps. Two of them died there, and were buried near the barn. The rest were paroled a week after and sent into the Union lines. Among the killed on the 4th was Captain Luther Ainsworth (of Waitsfield) of Company H., a reliable, unselfish, and valuable officer, who was much respected and much missed in the regiment. Among the wounded were Captain A. B. Hutchinson of Company B., hit in the arm; Lieutenant Porter Crane of Company H., in the neck; and Lieutenant F. M. Kimball of Company G., in the arm. 1 Colonel Barney, Captain Ainsworth, and Lieutenant F. J. Butterfield, acting aid on Colonel Grant's staff, were mentioned for gallant service on these two arduous days, in in the report of the brigade commander. The following regimental order was read on dress parade, 1 The men killed May 3d and 4th, were: F. Doyle, Co. B.; Warren Henry, Co. E.; H. F. Dike,* Co. H.; A. St. George, Co. I. Those who died of wounds were : G. Fisher, H. Marsh, Co. B.; W. IS. S. Claflin, Co. G.; G. W. Monger, E. L. Reynolds, Co. I.j L. Sherbut, Co. I * Missing supposed dead. 220 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. in the camp of the Sixth, on the north side of the river, two days after : HEADQUARTERS SIXTH REGIMENT VERMONT VOLS., > May 6th, 1863. j It is with a feeling of pride and pleasure that the colonel commanding reviews the action of the Sixth Vermont, from the crossing of the river to the time when companies A., D. and I., the very last of the corps, recrossed. The gallantry with which you charged across the plain and over the heights of Fredericksburg has been noticed by the general com- manding. The coolness exhibited by you while under fire awaiting the enemy's assault ; the gallant manner in which you repulsed the enemy and in turn charged him ; the number of prisoners you captured all are proof of your unexampled bravery and intrepidity. Do as well in the future, and your colonel and State may well be proud of you. By command of E. L. Barney, Colonel commanding S. H. LINCOLN, Adjutant. On the 5th of June, when General Howe's division was thrown across the Eappahannock, the Sixth and Fourth regi- ments were held back while the rest of the brigade crossed in boats, and crossed the river about dark, on a pontoon bridge. Next morning the Sixth was on the skirmish line, on the south side of the river, and for three hours was engaged in very spirited skirmishing, during which it held its ground against a superior force. The skirmishers were also engaged more or less during the afternoon. During the day the Sixth lost four men killed l and 13 wounded, among the latter be- ing Lieutenant Eaistrick of Company C. On the 13th of June, the regiment marched for the north with the Sixth corps, and saw its next serious fighting at Funkstown, Md., on the 10th of July. In that famous affair the Sixth was among the first to be engaged, and held its ground with a loss of three killed and 18 wounded, four of them fatally. 8 Among the wounded was Second Lieutenant Fred M. Kimball of Company G., whom Colonel Grant mentions in 1 J. Hines, A. Jeffts, Co. E., D. Jesmer, Co. L; N. Potter, Co. K. 2 The killed were M. Abbott, G. M. Patridge, Co. D.; W. P. Craig, Co. G.; and N. Hennon, Co. F.; F. Gaboree, W. A. Green and M. H. Lackie, Co. K., died of their wounds. THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 221 his report as "a gallant officer." He had been wounded seriously at Banks's Ford, and after this second injury was obliged to resign, and received an honorable discharge in October following. When the Vermont brigade was ordered to New York to maintain order during the draft, the Sixth left Alexandria for New York, on the 18th of August, embarking with the Third and part of the Fourth on the steamer Illinois, which nar- rowly escaped wreck by collision with a schooner in Chesa- peake Bay. One man, Truman W. Blood of Company I was lost overboard in this collision and drowned, and several others were slightly injured. Arriving in New York on the 21st, the regiment was stationed with the Third in Tompkins Square, and afterwards went to Kingston, N. Y., where it re- mained from the 6th to the 13th of September. Its duty there ended, it joined the brigade at Alexandria, September 16th. A sad event at this time was the death of Asst. Surgeon Cornelius A. Chapin, who died in New York of typhoid fever, on the 14th of September. 1 The beginning of the third year of its service, October 16th, 1863, found but 322 of the thousand men who originally composed the regiment remaining in its ranks. Kecruits received at different times, however, had kept its aggregate above 500, a the limit of numbers below which regiments were liable to consolidation, under the rules of the War Depart- ment. During the month of October, the subject of re-enlist- ing for the war was much discussed by officers and men, resulting in a formal offer to the War Department, in which 1 Dr. Chapin was a Williston boy, a graduate of both the classical and medical departments of the University of Vermont, an estimable young man, and of high promise in his profession. His remains were taken to Williston for interment. 2 The morning report of October 7th, showed an aggregate of 534, with 417 on duty and 110 sick. 222 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. all but three officers and 75 men joined, to re-enlist as a veteran cavalry regiment, provided the regiment should be permitted to go home on furlough and recruit its ranks to the maximum. This proposition was not accepted by the War Department, and nothing came of it. Two months later 191 men re-enlisted for the war without conditions. During this month, the regiment received a new chaplain, Rev. Alonzo "Webster of Windsor, who had been chaplain of the Sixteenth during its nine months term of service, who took the place of Chaplain Stone, resigned ; and a new surgeon, in place of Surgeon Chandler, resigned, in the person of Dr. Edwin Phillips, of Tinmouth, who went out with the Sixth as a private, was detailed as hospital steward, subsequently was appointed assistant surgeon of the Fourth, and now returned to the Sixth as surgeon. On the 15th of October, the regiment being then near Centreville, Lieutenant Henry Jones of Company C, while going to Fairfax with a mess team and guard, was captured by guerrillas. On the 19th of October, the Sixth was marching with the Sixth corps, across Bull Run and past Sudley Church, over what the boys called "Meade and Lee's through Express line between Alexandria and Culpepper," and on the afternoon of that day had a lively skirmish at Gainesville with Stuart's cavalry. Stuart, with superior numbers, was pressing back General Custer, with whom was the First Yermont cavalry, and had got him under pretty good headway, when the Con- federate troops found themselves confronted by the Sixth Ver- mont and Seventh Maine ; and a volley from the infantry brought the pursuit to an end. The Sixth was on picket that night, and next day was in the advance of the divi- sion, and drove back the Confederate cavalry to New Balti- more. The regiment was under fire with the brigade and other troops of Howe's Division, in the engagement at Rappahan- THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 223 nock Station on the 7th of November, and again on the 27th, when the Division supported the Third Corps at the battle of Locust Grove ; but it was not actively engaged and suffered no loss on either day. The Sixth remained with the Brigade at Brandy Station through the winter, and took part in the reconnoissance made by the Sixth Corps to Orange Court House during the last week in February. The winter was marked by an unu- sual degree of religious interest in the regiment. Prayer meetings conducted by the chaplain were held almost every evening in the chapel tent, and a small regimental church was organized, which was the only such church in the brigade. Some two hundred recruits joined the regiment during the winter months, and on the opening of the Spring campaign of 1864 against Richmond, its aggregate was about 600, of whom nearly 550 marched into the Wilderness. In April 1864, the regiment lost its trusty and capable Quartermaster, John W. Clark, by his appointment as cap- tain and A. Q. M. of volunteers and his removal to a more responsible position. He was succeeded as quartermaster by Lieutenant Charles J. S. Randall, who had been quarter- master-sergeant and subsequently Lieutenant of Company A. To say that the Sixth fought with desperate bravery, and suffered fearfully in the battles of the Wilderness, is the same as saying that it was a regiment of the old First bri- gade. In the bloody fighting of May 5th and 6th, the Sixth had 35 men killed outright, and 169 wounded, 26 of whom died of their wounds. The casualties were distributed very evenly through the line, no company having less than three killed or mortally wounded, or less than twelve wounded. Among the officers killed was Colonel Barney. While hold- ing his men to their work on the left of the Orange Plank road, in the first day's battle, he was struck in the temple by a partially spent musket ball which entered the head but did not kill him outright. He was, taken to the rear and thence 224 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. by ambulance to Fredericksburg, where lie died on the 10th. Colonel Elislia L. Barney was a member of a Swanton family which furnished six soldiers of his name to the war for the Union. He was the son of Mr. George Barney, two of whose sons were field officers of Vermont regiments. 1 He was a merchant in Swanton, when he enlisted in Oct. 1861. He was mustered into the service as captain of Com- pany K., of the Sixth ; narrowly escaped with his life at the storming of Crampton's Gap, Sept. 14, 1862, when he was dangerously wounded in the same temple in which he after- wards received his mortal wound ; was promoted major in October 1862 ; distinguished himself in various battles and especially at the Second Fredericksburg ; and was promoted to the colonelcy, March 18th, 1863. He was a man of high Christian character, brave to a fault, a faithful and respected commander, a good disciplinarian, and a gallant leader. His death caused a deep sensation in his regiment, in the bri- gade, and at his home. His remains were taken to Vermont and were interred at Swanton with extraordinary marks of respect. A concourse of some 2,000 people assembled at his funeral. The places of business were closed. On his coffin was laid, as a trophy, the sword of the colonel of the Seventh Louisiana, who surrendered to Colonel Barney at Fredericks- burg in May 1863. All mourned for him, as for a brother. Captain Kiley A. Bird (of Bristol) of Company A., a soldier of rare merit, especially distinguished himself on the first day, and died before its close. He was first wounded in the head, and advised to go to the rear, but with the blood streaming down his face he sternly and even angrily refused, saying that it was " the business of no live man to go to the rear at such a time." Soon a second musket ball struck him in the thigh. He retired a few steps, sat down, took off his 'A younger son, Valentine G. Barney named after Capt. Valentine Goodrich, who commanded a Swanton company in the war of 1812 and fell at Lundy's Lane was Lieut. Colonel of the Ninth Vermont. THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 225 sash, bound it round his leg, and then resumed his place in the line. A third bullet pierced his heart, and he fell dead with the word with which he was cheering on his men cut short upon his lips. Captain George C. Randall, (of Wood- stock) of Company F.; First Lieutenant George C. Babcock, (of Poultney) of Company F., and First Lieutenant John G. Macomber, (of Westford) of Company C., all brave and meritorious officers, were also among the killed. Adjutant Sumner H. Lincoln, Captain Carlos W. Dwinell, Company C., and Lieutenant E. A. Holton, Company I., were among the wounded, the latter receiving a wound in the leg, which occasioned his honorable discharge three months after. 1 1 The rank and file killed in the Wilderness were : Company A. W. Greenwood, D. Hill, M. E. Rider. Company B. M. C. Martin, A. Whitcomb. Company C. J. Burnham, S. Davis. Company D. W. A. Cook, S. Forsyth, Lewis La Bounty,* W. L. Livingston, H. Tilden, H. C. Welsh. Company E. W. Graves, J. W. Page, H. C. Wright. Company F. J. Conner. Company G. G. C. Boyce. Company H. A. C. Little, L. M. Spaulding, H. H. Whitney. Company L D. M. Holton, J. B. Nichols, T. Russell, E. D. Sands, O. A. Scribner, H. C. Vantyne. Company K. H. Hutchins, P. Morgan. Those who died of their wounds were : Company A. M. Mancy, W. W. Wheeler. Company B. M. C. Stratton.f Company C. W. E. Anderson, M. Cummings, H. Durphy, J. H. Eaton. Company D. L. C. Allen, J. LaMarsh, E. J. Williams. Company E. H. Greeley, N. F. Scott. Company F. P. N. Bates. Company G. W. Cleveland, C. P. Divoll, B. Ricker. Company H. G. C. Bliss, L. W. Blodgett, G. P. Whitney. Company I. J. J. LaMarsh, W. Shackett, H. O. Snow, N. Woodworth. Company K. R. Maine, B. Sherbut. William Cox, Co. F. , and I. Ramo, Co. K. , were not seen after the battle of the Wildnerness and were probably killed. * Missing supposed dead. t Wounded and prisoner not heard of after. 15 226 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. After the mortal wounding of Colonel Barney, the com- mand of the regiment devolved on Lieut. Colonel Hale. The Sixth shared the forced march of the brigade to Spottsylvania, on the 8th of May ; and was one of the regiments honored by being selected to help form the column which, under Colonel Upton, carried the enemy's salient on the 10th. Among the wounded in that famous charge was Captain A. H. Keith (of Sheldon) of Company K., who received a musket ball through the shoulder, inflicting an injury from which he never fully recovered and which occasioned his honorable discharge in September following. On the 15th of May, the thinned ranks of the regiment were strengthened by the addition of two companies of draft- ed men, 149 in number, who had been on detached duty for over a year at Brattleboro. They were a welcome addition, and raised the effective force of the regiment to 450 men. The losses of the regiment in the almost continuous fighting from the 8th to the 21st of May, were four killed ; 29 wounded, five of whom died of their wounds, and three miss- ing. Most of these casualties occurred on the 10th. In the next two weeks the regiment lost four men killed and 18 wounded, of whom three died of wounds. 1 On the 7th of June, when the brigade was holding a portion of the entrenched line of the Sixth corps at Cold Harbor, the regiment suffered the loss of another field officer, Major Eichard B. Crandall, who received a mortal wound in the abdomen and died the same day. Major Crandall went out as adjutant of the regi- ment, was subsequently captain of Company K., and was appointed major in March, 1863. He was a gallant young officer, and was deeply mourned by the command. His body 'The men killed at Spottsylvania were: C. G. McAllister, Co. A.; T. O. Barber, G. S. Pratt, Co. C.; S. P. Perkins, Co. D.; H. T. Mosely, C. C. Cleveland, Co. I. Those who died of their wounds were: S. Stebbins, Co. A.; C. A. Knapp, Co. B.; M. H. Barker, K Smith, J. A. Scabie, Co. C.; D. C. Bab- cock, Co. D.; J. E. Averill, J. Campbell, Co. K. THE SIXTH BEGIMENT. 227 was sent to his home in Berlin, for interment. Two men killed and four wounded were added to the list of casualties between the 4th and 10th of June. 1 The regiment crossed the James on the 16th of June with the brigade. In the assault on the defences of Petersburg, June 18th, the Sixth was held in reserve. The next day it was under fire in the front line, and had a man mortally wounded. On the 20th it was again under sharp fire and lost another man mortally wounded. 2 In the disastrous affair at the Weldon railroad, June 23, the regiment was more fortunate than some others of the brigade, and lost only one man, - wounded. An incident of the siege of Petersburg is worthy of re- lation here, though not strictly part of the service of the Sixth. During the spring of 1864, Dan Mason, the tall orderly sergeant of Company D., and Sergeant Alexander W. Davis of the same company, of the Sixth, were promoted to positions in colored regiments, Mason being appointed Captain in the 19th and Davis in the 39th U. S. C. T., of the Fourth division of the Ninth Army Corps. On the 30th of July, 1864, these regiments took part in the assault on the enemy's works near the "crater" made by the explosion of the Petersburg mine. In the rout of the division which followed, Lieutenant Davis came back to the Union lines, with the mass of the brigade of which his regiment was a part, while Captain Mason took shelter with others in a bomb-proof within the enemy's lines. When they were driven out by the enemy, Captain Mason made a home run for the Federal lines, passed untouched through a shower of bullets, and sprang over the sandbags of the Union lines, to fall in- 1 The men killed at Cold Harbor were: B. M. Ware, Co. E.; E. M. Farr, Co. F.; G. F. Wilson, Co. G. Those who died of wounds were: F. W. Sprague, Co. A.; H. J. Baker, Co. F. ; E. E. Burroughs, I. 8. Gove, Co. G. 8 These were : William Lane, Co. I.: and W. Gardner, Co. F. 228 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. sensible from an apoplectic attack brought on by excitement and over exertion. As it happened he fe]l at the feet of his old tent-mate, Lieutenant Davis, whe was able to render him assistance which restored him to consciousness and probably saved his life. 1 In July the Sixth went with the Sixth corps to Washing- ton to repel Early's raid. In the sharp engagement at Charlestown, Ya., on the 21st of August, the regiment, under Lieut. Colonel Hale, held the centre of the skirmish line, and suffered more severely than any other regiment of the brigade, losing eight killed ; 31 wounded, two of whom died of wounds, and one missing. Both its field officers, Lieut. Colonel Hale and Major Dwinell, were severely wounded ; and the latter died of his wounds, three days after, in a hospital at Balti- more. 9 After the loss of its field officers the command of the regiment fell for six weeks upon Captain M. Warner Davis of Company D. The regiment entered on the Shenandoah campaign, under General Sheridan, with an effective force of 385 officers and men, out of an aggregate of 658. In the battle of the Opequan, September 19th, the Sixth was on the 1 Captain Mason lived to see Petersburg taken, and died at Browns- ville, Texas, where he was on duty with his regiment, in December, 1865. His remains were taken to his former home in Glover, for interment, and a post of the Grand Army of the Republic, in that town, bears his name. 2 Major Carlos W. Dwinell was a native of Calais, Vt. He enlisted at the age of 23, from the town of Glover, was elected second lieutenant of Co. D. at its organization in October, 1861, was subsequently adjutant of the regiment, and reached the rank of major by successive promotions. He was a quiet, painstaking and valuable officer, and a favorite in the regiment and the brigade. The men killed at Charlestown were S. Spooner, Co. A.; A. Whitcomb, Co. B.; H. S. Foster, A. Thomas, Co. C.; L. B. Cook, Co. D.; W. H. Ing. leston,* Co. E. ; E. R. Richardson, Co. H.; L. Poquet, Co. I. Those who died of their wounds were S. P. Dean, Co. C., and A. M. Gray, Co. D. * Reported missing in action and supposed dead. THE SIXTH KEGIMENT. 229 skirmish line in the forenoon, and becoming accidentally separated from the brigade and the second division, fought during the latter half of the day with the third division, General Eicketts's, of the Sixth corps, and gained especial credit. Its loss was five killed outright and 46 wounded, of whom six died of their wounds. 1 Among the wounded were Adjutant Sumner H. Lincoln, who was hit in the head early in the day; and Captain C. E. Joslyn of Company A., severely wounded in the head, creating a disability which occasioned his honorable discharge several months after. The Sixth took an honorable part in the battle of Fisher's Hill, without loss. The three }-ears' term of the original members of the Sixth expired October 16th, and on that day, as many as had not re-enlisted, being 14 officers and 120 men, left the regiment, then in camp at Cedar Creek, and returned to Vermont. They arrived at Brattleboro in the evening of the 20th, and were mustered out October 28th. Among the officers so retiring were Lieut. Colonel Hale, still suffering from his recent wound ; Chaplain Webster ; Captains M. W. Davis, B. D. Fabyan, Thomas E. Clark, Porter Crane, Jr., and Frank D. Butterfield, and Lieutenants W. W. Carey, C. C. Backus, George H. Hatch, Matthew Hurry, George Neddo, E. H. Nye, and Thomas Murphy. The battalion of about 320 effective men remaining in the field was consolidated into six companies, Company B. being consolidated with Company H., Company D. with I., Company E. with K., and Company F. with A. The battalion was under the command of Capt. E. E. Kinney, until, on the 21st of October, Adjutant Sumner H. Lincoln was promoted to the command with the rank of major, a fit recognition of his gallantry and fitness for command. 1 The killed September 19th were : A. A. Spaulding, Co. C.; C. Blake, . P. Upham, Co. D.; S. Leazer, Co. E.; D. Colt, Co. H. Those who died of their wounds were: L. A. Tyler, C. B.; S. P. White, J. Vondal, Co. C.: E. S. Gray, Co. D.; John Fitzsimmons, Co. F.; T. S. Barney, Co. I. 230 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. At Cedar Creek, Oct 19th, the regiment was commanded by Captain Kinney until he was wounded, when he was suc- ceeded in the command by Captain William J. Sperry of Company C. The regiment lost four men killed, 32 wounded, six of whom died of their wounds, and eight missing. 1 The Sixth left the Shenandoah Yalley with the Sixth corps on the 9th of December, and on the 13th of that month went into winter quarters between the camps of the Third and Fifth regiments on the south of Petersburg. The picket and fatigue duty were severe ; but the health of the regiment improved during the winter. The morning report of the 1st of January, 1865, showed an aggregate of 555, with 347 on duty and 195 on the sick list. Major Lincoln was promoted to be lieutenant colonel in January, and Captain Sperry was appointed major. In the assault on the enemy's entrenched picket line in front of Fort Fisher, on the 25th of March, the Sixth had the left of the front line, and was under artillery fire for hours, with, however, the loss of but one man wounded. In the final assault on the defences of Petersburg, the regiment was commanded by Major Sperry, Colonel Lincoln being laid up with intermittent fever. The Sixth entered the enemy's works among the foremost, was in the front line during the subsequent movement, and men of the Sixth assisted in the capture of a battery near the Turnbull house, elsewhere narrated. The regiment lost two men killed and 19 wounded, of whom one died of his wounds.* The regiment shared in the pursuit of Lee's army after 'The killed at Cedar Creek were: C. Parmenter, Co. C.; W. H. Chapman, Co. E.; J. P. Horr, J. Kelley, Company F. Those who died of their wounds were : A. L. Cox, Co. A.; C. H. Hardy, Co. C.; E. Morse, Co. H.; W. D. Mather, Co. I.; J. Betney, W. O'Hara, Co. K. 2 S. P. Peck, Co. L; and M. Green, Co. K., were killed, and N. H. Atwood, Co. C., died of his wounds. THE SIXTH EEGIMENT. 231 the fall of Kichmond, rested with the brigade at Danville, visited the fallen capital, and early in June went into camp near Munson's Hill, about three miles from its first camp in- Virginia in 1861. On the 19th of June the recruits, whose terms of service would expire before October 1st, 1865, were mustered out of the service. Their number included one commissioned officer, Adjutant English, and 140 enlisted men. The re- mainder of the Sixth, numbering 398 officers and men, were mustered out on the 26th of June. Those of them who were able to travel, 297 in number, left camp next day for Ver- mont. Of the officers of the regiment at the close of its service, Lieut. Colonel Sumner H. Lincoln went out with the regiment as private in 1861, was appointed adjutant in February 1863, was wounded in the "Wilderness and again at Winchester, was appointed major in October 1864, and lieutenant colonel in January 1865. He was commissioned as colonel by the governor June 4th, 1865, but was mustered out as lieutenant colonel. Major William J. Sperry enlisted as a private in September 1861, and was promoted succes- sively through all the grades to the majority. He was bre- vetted lieutenant colonel for gallantry in the assault on Peters- burg, April 2d, and received a commission as lieutenant colonel from the governor, but was mustered out as major. Quartermaster Charles J. S. Randall went out with the regiment as private in 1861, was appointed quartermaster- sergeant, and subsequently first lieutenant of Company A. Surgeon Edwin Phillips also went out at the beginning as a private ; he was appointed assistant surgeon of the Fourth regiment in August 1862, and became surgeon of the Sixth in October 1863. Chaplain Harvey Webster had served in that capacity since November 1864. Captain Edwin E. Kinney of Company G., was commissioned major in June, but was mustered out as captain. Seventeen other line officers returned with the regiment, viz. : Captains George E. 232 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Wood, George W. Burleson, Henry N. Bushnell, Lyman S. Williams and Sanford G. Gray ; Lieutenants Patrick H. Murphy, (commissioned as captain but mustered out as first lieutenant), Edwin A. Barney, Harry B. Pettingill, Frank A. Trask, Eri L. Ditty, George W. Flanders, William Raycroft, Herman L. Small, Horace W. Brownell, Winslow S. Moore, Edgar E. Herrick, and Silas O. Dwinnell. Sergeant Henry Martin of Company G., was appointed adjutant in June, and Sergeant Peter Begor of Company A., second lieute- nant; but both were mustered out as sergeants. The regiment arrived at Burlington at midnight of the 29th of June, 1865, and like all the returning regiments was received by a numerous concourse of citizens. Marching to the city hall the veterans were welcomed home by William G. Shaw, Esq., in fitting terms. The ladies of Burlington served a supper for them in the hall in the small hours of the morn- ing, and sang songs of welcome, and gave them three cheers and a "tiger," all to the immense entertainment and pleasure of the soldiers. The latter were furloughed for a week, to await the arrival of the U. S. paymaster. Reassembling at Burlington on the 8th of July, they were paid off by Major Wadleigh, U. S. A., and then finally dispersed to their homes. Among the men of the Sixth who returned not from the war, the names of the following are recorded as having given up their lives in Confederate prisons : DIED IN CONFEDERATE PRISONS. M. W. Bentley, Co. A., died at Anderson ville, August 7, 1864. C. Chamberlin, Co. A., died at Anderson ville, July 29, 1864. A. K. Wilson. Co. A., died at Andersonville, July 31, 1864. G. W. Whitehill, Co. B., captured May 5, 1864, died at Andersonville. H. L. Jones, Co. C., died at Andersonville, July 14, 1864. I. T. Maxham, Co. C., died at Andersonville, September 11, 1864. P. A. Whitney, Co. C., captured July 1, 1862, supposed to have died in Richmond, Va. J. M. Green, Co. D., died in Richmond, 1862. G.L. Marble, Co. G., captured October 19, 1864, died at Richmond, December, 1864. THE SIXTH REGIMENT. 233 M. C. Chase, Co. H. , captured in the Wilderness, died at Andersonville, July 3, 1864. M. Lester, Co. L, died at Salisbury, N. C., December 11, 1864. The battles in which the Sixth Yermont volunteers took honorable part, as officially recorded, were as follows : THE BATTLES OF THE SIXTH VERMONT. Lee's Mill, April 16, 1863 Williamsburg, May 5, 1862 Golding's Farm, June 26, 1862 Savage's Station, June 29, 1862 White Oak Swamp, June 30, 1862 Crampton's Gap Sept. 14, 1862 Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862 Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862 Marye's Heights, May 3, 1863 Salem Heights, May 4, 1863 Fredericksburg, June 5, 1863 Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 Funkstown, July 10, 1863 Rappahannock Station, Nov. 7, 1863 Wilderness, - May 5 to 10, 1864 Spottsylvania, May 10 to 18, 1864 Cold Harbor, June 1 to 12, 1864 Petersburg, June 18, 1864 Charlestown, August 21, 1864 Opequan, Sept. 13, 1864 Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864 Fisher's Hill, Sept. 21 and 22, 1864 Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864 Petersburg, March 25 and 27, 1865 Petersburg, April 2. 1865 234 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAK. The final statement of the Sixth regiment is as follows : FINAL STATEMENT. Original members com. officers 36 ; enlisted men 930, total, 966 Gain recruits 703, transfers from other regiments 7, total, 710 Aggregate, 1680 LOSSES. Killed in action com. officers 8; enlisted men 95, total, 103 Died of wounds com. officers 4; enlisted men 80, total, 84 Died of disease com. officers 2 ; enlisted men 180, total, 182 Died (unwounded) in Confederate prisons 22 ; from accident 2, 24 Total of deaths, 393 Honorably discharged com. officers, resigned 22 , for wounds and disability 10 ; enlisted men, for wounds 66 ; for disability 339, total, 437 Dishonorably discharged com. officers 1 ; enlisted men 7, 8 Total discharged, 445 Promoted to U. S. A. and other regiments officers 5 ; enlisted men 13, total, IS Transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, Navy, Regular Army, etc., 126 Deserted 83; unaccounted for 4, 87 Mustered out com. officers 40 ; enlisted men 571, total 611 Aggregate, 1680 Total wounded 397 Total re-enlisted... 197 CHAPTER XI. THE FIRST BRIGADE. Organization of the Vermont brigade Its first commander, General Brooks- Winter at Camp Griffin Remarkable period of sickness Opening of the Spring campaign of 1862 Movement to Fortress Monroe The march up the Peninsula Brought to a halt at Warwick River Baptism of blood at Lee's Mill Incidents of the action Care of the wounded The battle of Williamsburg Fighting of Smith's division March to the White House on the Pamunkey. The only brigade in the Army of the Potomac, distinc- tively and permanently known by the name of its State, was the First Vermont brigade. The title of "The Vermont Brigade" attached to it chiefly, no doubt, because during most of its history it was the only Vermont brigade ; but perhaps also in part because the Vermonters were recognized as good fighters and because the men of this brigade illustrated the qualities which gave to their ancestors their distinctive title of " Green Mountain Boys " in the War of the ^Revolution. The first suggestion of the formation of a brigade of Vermont regiments was made by General William F. Smith in the fall of 1861. Up to that time, and for some time after, it was not the policy of the government to brigade regiments of the same State together, the theory of the army authorities being that losses falling on brigades would be less felt if dis- tributed over several States and that rivalry between regi- ments of different States in the same brigade would conduce to the efficiency of all. General Smith was allowed, however, by General McClellan, to organize his Vermont brigade ; and the success of the experiment \?as complete, as it was in the 236 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. case of the similar State brigades of "Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and other troops. In General McClellan's report of the organization of the Army of the Potomac, October 15th, 1861, the Vermont regi- ments appear as constituting the first 1 brigade of General Smith's division, the other brigades of that division be- ing Stevens's, Hancock's and Casey's. The brigade at that date consisted of the Second, Third, Fourth arid Fifth Ver- mont regiments, then encamped between Chain Bridge and Lewinsville, Va. The brigade was completed by the arrival of the Sixth, October 24; and Captain and Bvt. Major W. T. H. Brooks, of the Third infantry, U. S. A., who had been serving on General McClellan's staff and had just been appointed brigadier general of volunteers, was assigned to its command. He was of Vermont lineage, his father having been a native of Montpelier. He was born in Ohio, and appointed from that State to the U. S. military academy, from which he graduated in 1841, in the class of which Don Carlos Buell, John F. Reynolds, and other prominent general officers, were members. He had seen active service in the M exican war, and on the frontier, and had established his reputation as a brave, experienced and capable soldier. As was the case with most officers of the regular army at that time, he had little sympathy with the anti-slavery sentiment which animated the soldiers and people of Vermont, and gave no welcome to an " abolition war ;" but he proposed to do his duty to the government and to the flag he had sworn to serve ; and if the brigade which he commanded for a year and a half had a noteworthy share in the overthrow of the Rebel- lion, it was due in large part to the thorough training and soldierly example of its first brigade commander. General Brooks was in his forty-second year, tall and erect of figure, unostentatious and soldierly in bearing, and from the first 1 First, that is, in order. The brigades were not then formally num- bered. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 237 made a favorable impression on his command, which strengthened with time and better knowledge. Camp Griffin, the camp of the brigade for five months, and for a longer period than was spent by it in any other spot, always had a distinct place in the memory of the Vermonters who there saw their first campaigning. It was in a fine roll- ing country, of varied open fields and magnificent woodlands, many acres of which fell under the axes of the Vermont boys. The knolls around had been dotted with mansions, many of which were already in ruins under the ruthless touch of war. The soil was, the red Virginia clay, so unlike that of New England. The camp was on the road from Chain Bridge to Lewinsville, a mile and a half from the latter hamlet, and on and around Smoot's Hill, from the top of which the camps of most of the twenty-five regiments and batteries of General Smith's division could be seen covering the country round, a part of the constantly increasing army, which stretched for five miles up and down the Potomac in front of Washing- ton. The Confederate outposts were five or six miles away, and the mass of the Confederate army, under General Joe Johnston, lay at Centreville and Manassas, fifteen miles to the southwest. The thing which chiefly gave the brigade distinction during the fall of 1861, was the extraordinary amount of sick- ness which prevailed in the regiments. This began to be remarkable in November, and soon attracted anxious atten- tion in Vermont, and wide notice throughout the army. On the 12th of December, Dr. Edward E. Phelps, one of the fore- most physicians in Vermont, who had been sent by the governor to investigate the subject on the ground, reported that of the men of the five regiments, numbering 4,939 on the ground, no less than 1,086, or about one-fourth, were excused from duty in consequence of sickness. Of these, 201 were sick in hospital, 245 sick in their tents, and 550 able to be up and about though unfit for duty. The prevailing dis- 238 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. eases were remittent and intermittent fevers, typhoid pneu- monia and diarrhoea. The only cause Dr. Phelps could assign for this condition of things, was that the regiments had been too long stationary in their camps, on soil which had became saturated with noxious elements. But why these conditions affected the Yermonters, above all others similarly situated, was not explained. In the general report of the Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, Surgeon Charles S. Tripler, upon the sanitary condition of the army from March, 1861, to August, 1862, he said : " In November, 1861, with a mean ratio of "6.6 per cent, sick in the whole army, twelve Massachusetts "regiments gave an average of 50 sick each; five Vermont, " an average of 144 each ; and thirty-five Pennsylvania, an "average of 61 each. In January, 1862, the Twelfth Mas- '"sachusetts, 1,005 strong, had but four sick ; the Thirteenth, "1,OC3 strong, but 11 ; while the Fifteenth, 809 strong had "68. In the same month the Fifth Vermont, 1,000 strong, "had 271 sick ; the Fourth, 1,047 strong, had 244 sick ; while "the Second, 1,021 strong, had but 87, and the Third, 900 "strong, had but 84. All these regiments were in the same " brigade and encamped side by side." Among the causes of disease, Surgeon Tripler mentioned severe fatigue duty on the field works, exposure on picket duty, and frequent alarms in some portions of the lines. This last cause, he says, " was particularly the case in front of some of the Vermont troops in Brooks's brigade," and he thinks it may have had an unfavorable effect on men predisposed to disease from other causes. If so, it was not, however, because the Vermonters scared easily. The night alarms which deprived them of needed rest, came invariably from the other troops around them. In a special report of January 28th, 1862, Medical Director Tripler says : " The Vermont regiments in Brooks's " brigade give us the largest ratio of sick, of all the troops in THE FIKST BRIGADE. 239 "this army, and that ratio has not essentially varied for "the last three months. They suffered in the first place from "measles. In this they simply shared the lot of all irregular "troops. Since then they have been and are the subjects of " fevers, remittent and typhoid. The inspector of hospitals, " (Surgeon Keeney) reports the police 1 of all these regiments " as good, their clothing good, their tents good, with the ex- " ception of the Second and Third regiments, and, strange to "say, those two regiments are in decidedly the best sanitary "condition. The locations of the camps of the Fifth and " Sixth are reported as bad, but that of the Third is also bad. tt # # "\yhile writing I have received another weekly re- 41 port from the Vermont brigade, which shows a large increase "of sick over that of the preceding week. * * * The "food of our men is now good and they are gradually im- " proving in their cooking. The clothing of the men is gen- " erally good. I do not think any deficiency in this respect " has anything to do with the fevers that scourge our Vermont " troops. * * * I believe there is a nostalgic element in " those regiments affecting them unfavorably." On the 6th of February, 1862, Surgeon Tripler reported that he had sent a large detachment of convalescents to Phila- delphia, in order to make room for the sick of the Vermont brigade in the general hospitals, " in hopes that some bene- ficial effect might result to the well from removing the sick from their sight, and thus avoiding the depressing influence of so much sickness among their comrades." Among the other special measures taken by the State and government authorities to care for the sick, five additional assistant surgeons were detailed for service in the brigade ; 2 log houses 1 Unmilitary readers will understand that this term in the army has sole reference to cleanliness. To "police" a camp is to clear it of dirt and noxious deposits. 2 Three of them Asst. Surgeons Porter, Phillips and D. W. Hazelton, were sent out by the governor, and two, Asst. Surgeons Shaw and Good- win by the U. S. surgeon general. 240 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. were substituted for hospital tents, care was taken by the regimental officers to remove causes of disease from the camps, and deficiencies in clothing were supplied. These means and precautions had their effect, and as the winter drew to a close the health of the regiments improved, and the spirits of the men, who had been much depressed by the mortality in the ranks, rose correspondingly. The work of the winter was drill though the deep mud in January and February made necessary a suspension of battalion and brigade drills ; picket duty, each regiment taking its turn on picket once in five days ; and fatigue duty on the forts near the camps. The officers generally built comfortable log cabins for their quarters, and many of them had their wives with them in camp. The picket duty, in the cold rains and frequent storms of snow and sleet, was severe, but not very dangerous, one man (of the Second regiment) killed on picket being the extent of the casualties. The occasional reconnoissances, heretofore described in the regi- mental histories, afforded excitement for the time being. Contrabands frequently came into the lines and always found a safe refuge in the camps. One night in February, twenty- seven colored fugitives came in, were fed, and sent to Wash- ington by General Brooks. During the last half of February the weather became much milder. The mud dried so that battalion drills were resumed ; and Washington's birthday was celebrated by a brigade dress parade. The cheerful news of the captures of Forts Henry and Donelson, received about this time, raised the spirits of all : the desire to be led against the enemy be- came strong among the troops, and by none was the pros- pect of active operations more eagerly welcomed than by the Vermonters. In the organization, in March, 1862, of the vast army with which McClellan was now about to take the field, Brooks's Vermont brigade formed a part of General Wm. F. Smith's THE FIRST BRIGADE. 241 division of the Fourth Corps, General Keyes. The division was one of the best in the army. Its commander, General " Baldy" Smith, was recognized as one of the most valuable officers in the service ; its three brigade commanders, Gen- erals Hancock, Brooks and Davidson, were trained soldiers who subsequently won high distinction ; and their brigades comprised the Thirty-third and Forty-ninth New York, Seventh Maine, Fifth Wisconsin, and others subsequently famous as fighting regiments. Four light batteries, Ayres's, Mott's, Wheeler's and Kennedy's, were attached to the divi- sion. At midnight on the 9th of March came the order to have two days' rations cooked and to march at 3 o'clock in the morning. It was received with cheers and rejoicing through- out the brigade. Bonfires of combustibles which the men could not carry and would rather burn than leave, began to blaze in the company streets. The packing of knapsacks, writing letters to friends at home and other preparations oc- cupied the short hours of the night ; and before dawn the brigade was marshaled, with the division, on the open plain. At sunrise it moved off through Lewinsville and past Vienna, to the southwest, the men not doubting that they were to meet the enemy, perhaps on the plains of Manassas ; and rejoicing with an eagerness which the drizzling rain could not dampen, in the prospect of an opportunity to wipe out, on the same field, the disgrace of Bull Run, and to end the war in a great pitched battle. The troops marched for the most part through the fields, the roads being left to the long trains of army wagons ; and the march presented to the men the striking sights and scenes, new to most of them, which mark the movement of a great army. Shortly after noon the bri- gade halted at Flint Hill, north of Fairfax Court House. It remained halted during the afternoon. Something evi- dently had arrested the movement of the division, and toward night came the explanation, in a whispered rumor that there 16 242 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. was no enemy in front to be attacked. The night was spent under shelter-tents 1 the first experience of the men under such scanty shelter. Next morning the rumor was confirmed, and it became known that General Joe Johnston who, with an army which at no time numbered fifty thousand men for duty, had for six months kept the Confederate flag flying within sight of the National capital had now, at his own time and on his own motion, evacuated Centreville, and taking with him his guns and material, had retired beyond the Kappahannock. General McClellan had ably organized an army of 175,000 men ; had instilled into it absolute con- fidence in himself ; had communicated to it with a few ex- ceptions 2 his own delusion that the rebel army in front of Washington exceeded a hundred thousand me a ; had held them inactive during precious weeks, some of them quite favorable for military movements and this against constant pressure and even orders to move from the President and now found himself confronted, not by a powerful enemy but by empty camps and a new situation. The brigade remained at Flint Hill for four days, during which McClellan and his generals were maturing plans for a change of base and campaign against Kichniond by way of the Peninsula between the York and James Kivers. On the 12th the division was reviewed by General McClellan. On Saturday the 15th, in a drenching rain, the brigade moved with the division to Alexandria a march of over Strips of 'cotton cloth, two of which, buttoned together, made a low shelter for two men. The tents occupied by the brigade during the win- ter had been left standing at Camp Griffin. 2 General Wadsworth, who was stationed near Ball's Cross roads, told Mr. Greeley, in January, that the testimony of numerous deserters had sat- isfied him that the rebels had " but fifty or sixty regiments certainly not over 50,000 men." General Johnston's aggregate present for duty in February was 47,306. General McClellan's aggregate present for duty at that time was 150,000. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 243 twenty miles by the route taken and the hardest march the men (except those of the Second) had experienced. The transports were not ready, and on Monday the brigade marched back four miles to Cloud's Mills, where it re- mained a week. On Sunday, March 23d, it marched to Alexandria again and embarked. The spirits of the men were high, and the moving of the division, of 13,000 men, with bands playing and colors flying, on board of the large steamers waiting with steam up to take them to some des- tination as yet unknown but concerning which it was enough to know that it was some point in the South, where they would meet the enemy was an imposing spectacle and not soon forgotten by those who witnessed it. The fleet of transports bearing the Fourth Corps an- chored for the night opposite Mount Yernon, and next day steamed down the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay, past shores of historic interest, now first seen by most of the Yermonters, and arrived off Fortress Monroe during the night. The next morning's light presented to their wondering gaze the frown- ing battlements of Fortress Monroe ; the little Monitor, already world-famous from her encounter with the Merrimac two weeks before 5* the waters of Hampton Hoads, black with steamers, ships of war and craft of all sizes, by hundreds ? and the beach and shores covered with masses of infantry, trains of artillery and lines of army wagons. The brigade debarked, and at 10 A. M. took up its line of march past the fort, across the Hampton Kiver, past the naked chimneys and charred ruins of what was once the ancient and beautiful village of Hampton, and out three or four miles toward Newport News, over ground familiar to those who had been 1 It may be noted here, that John F. Winslow, one of the two men who backed Ericsson with money and powerful influence, secured the con- tract for the Monitor from the government, and crowded the work of con- struction to completion in a hundred and one days, was a native Vermonter, born in Bennington. 244 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAB. members of the First Yermont, halting and camping in the grain fields and pine groves of a plantation near the banks of the James Eiver. Here it remained for two days. The army taken by General McClellan to the Peninsula and now gathering in bivouacs on the roads leading out from Hampton, consisted of the Second Corps, General Sumner ; the Third, General Heintzleman, and the Fourth, General Keyes comprising eight divisions, each from 12,000 to 15,000 strong, and 31 batteries ; and forming, with the reserve artil- lery, cavalry, and regulars, an army of about 120,000 men and 44 batteries. Of the two corps left behind, the Fifth, General Banks, was for the immediate protection of Wash- ington; while the First, General McDowell, was expected by General McClellan though his expectation was disap- pointed to co-operate with the main army by a movement from the right bank of the York River. As the troops landed on the Peninsula and moved out into the open country, they were arranged in two columns, one of which was to march on the right direct to Yorktown, and the other to to move on the left along the James Eiver by way of War- wick Court House to Williamsburg. General Smith's division headed the second column. Before the army moved as a whole, strong reconnois- sances were pushed up the Peninsula from each column. That on the west side of the Peninsula was conducted by Smith's division, and that on the east by Fitz John Porter's. These started at sunrise on the 27th, marching over the same road for five miles, and then diverging, Smith's division bore to the left toward Warwick Court House, and Porter's towards Big Bethel. The day was fine, the roads dry, and the country delightful. Eows of locust trees lined the roads, rich groves of oak and peach orchards in full bloom diversified the scene, and the long lines of troops, extending for miles, their mus- kets glittering in the sunlight, made an inspiring spectacle. After a march of about ten miles, Hancock's brigade, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 245 which was leading the division, came upon the enemy's pick- ets near Deep Creek. Smith halted, and prepared to en- counter the enemy, supposed to be in force. The fences were levelled, and artillery thrown into battery. The Vermont brigade was deployed in front of the woods through which the Confederate pickets had disappeared. The right wing of the Second regiment, under Colonel Whiting, was sent by General Brooks a mile to the right to hold the road towards Big Bethel ; and the left wing under Lieut. Colonel Stannard was thrown forward as skirmishers. 1 But as after advancing for a mile no enemy was found, the brigade was halted, marched back a mile and bivouacked for the night. Next day the division returned down the Peninsula and the brigade went into camp about two miles above Newport News. Here it. remained a week, during which time some heavy rains set the camps afloat. The weather, however, was warm and the men made ample use of their opportunities for bathing in the river, and feasting on Virginia oysters, gathered from the shoals. The events of the week were the appearance, on the 31st, of the Confederate gunboat Teazer, which came down from Eichmond and threw several shells into the oamps, and a grand review by General Keyes. By the 2d of April, five divisions of the army, making, with the artillery reserve, fifty-eight thousand men and one hundred guns, had arrived ; and on the 4th, the grand ad- vance up the Peninsula began. The army moved in two columns, General Keyes's corps on the left, with Smith's division in advance. The day was clear and warm, and the roadsides were soon strewn with discarded blankets and superfluous clothing. A march of ten miles to the north brought the division to Young's Mill, and 1 About this time, the First U. S. Sharpshooters, under Lieut. Colonel W. Y. W. Ripley, which led the advance of Porter's division, was engaged with the Confederate outpost at Big Bethel. As that regiment comprised a Vermont company, Vermonters were at the front of both columns. 246 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. in front of some apparently formidable earthworks crowning the crest of a hill, the approach to which was in part barred by a mill pond and obstructed by felled trees. The Vermont brigade was ordered forward and moved upon and entered the works, to find them tenantless, the only hostile force seen being a cavalry picket, which exchanged shots with the skirmishers by one of which a private of the Fifth Vermont was wounded in the shoulder. An orderly sergeant of the Second Virginia who had straggled from his regiment was captured here by some men of the Third Vermont. The enemy had been there in force the night previous, and his camp fires were still burning. The brigade camped in and about the earthworks and some extensive barracks near it. 1 Next morning it resumed the march in a violent thunder storm. Warwick Court House, consisting of a dilapidated brick court house and jail, a store and two dwellings, was passed about noon. Three miles further brought the division to a standstill, at the Warwick Kiver, at Lee's Mill a name memorable in the history of the campaign and of the brigade, and sadly remembered by many a Vermont widow and orphan. The advance of the division had here come upon the enemy, and found him evidently disposed to dispute the passage of the river. The stream showed a considerable stretch of water, fringed with swamps, and beyond it were formidable earthworks. The Confederate pickets, instead of retreating as heretofore, now held their ground on the op- posite shore and fired viciously at everything within and beyond range ; hostile artillery opened with 12-pound shells upon any body of troops that came in sight of them, and wounded men began to be taken to the rear. A battery was ordered forward and returned the fire ; and the division and the corps stopped to consider. Meanwhile, Fitz John 1 "The enemy's works at Young's Mill are so strong that with 5,000 men he might have stopped my two divisions there a week." General Keyes's Report. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 247 Porter's division was in like manner brought to a stand in front of Yorktown ; and the grand advance became a grand halt of the army. The barrier before McClellan's army was the Warwick river, which rises within a mile of Yorktown and runs across the Peninsula to the James, and a formidable line of redoubts- and breastworks along its right, or western bank, which the Confederate General Magruder had been for two months industriously constructing, in part by the labor of 1,000 slaves^ The "Warwick road, over which General Keyes's column was- marching up the Peninsula, crossed the river by a bridge at Lee's Mill. Below that point the river was deep and wide enough, and its borders sufficiently swampy, to be practically impassable. Above Lee's Mill it ran for miles through forests thickest on the eastern bank. It had been previously dammed for water-power at Lee's Mill and at Wynn's Mill, three miles above, and between these points Magruder had built three additional dams, for military purposes. The dams were guarded by redoubts, and the redoubts connected by a double and in some places treble line of breastworks. Magruder's force on the 5th of April was 11,000 men, of whom 6,000 were stationed at Yorktown and at Gloucester Point, across the York river, leaving but 5,000 for manning the eight or nine miles of works along the line of Warwick River. The obstruction was undoubtedly a serious one ; but if Gen- eral Keyes had at once, or within two or three days, made a serious effort to push through the line, few can doubt that he would have done it with comparative ease, and that the result would have been the evacuation of Yorktown and of the Peninsula by the enemy. But the Warwick Eiver line was a wholly unexpected obstacle to the Union generals, whose want of information concerning the defences of York- town was as remarkable as their misconception of the strength of their opponents. It disarranged McClellan's calculations, and he characteristically preferred to wait, rather than to 248 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. strike. 1 President Lincoln urged him, April 6th, to "break the enemy's line at once ;" but General McClellan replied that he was convinced that the great battle that was to decide the existing contest was to be fought there, and that he would commence the attack as soon as he could get up his siege train, and have McDowell's corps for a flank movement from York river. With an opponent of this temper, Magru- der's bold front answered every purpose, and the Union army, with five men on the ground for every man opposed to them, sat down to wait for siege guns and reinforcements. In the deployment of General Smith's division along the Warwick River, the Vermont brigade was sent to the right of the Warwick road through the woods and swamps. The men slept on their arms that night, well to the front, and those were fortunate who found a dry place to sit or lie on. General Smith bivouacked at the foot of a pine tree, near the line of his division. Some buildings near the fort in front, across the river, took fire and burned brightly during a good part of the night ; and there was little sleep in the ranks. Before dawn the men could hear distinctly the reveille in the enemy's camps; and some of the pickets could even dis- tinguish the roll calls of the Confederate companies. During the next day, Sunday, April 6th, the skirmishers were blaz- ing away at each other, the Confederates in rifle pits and the Federals in the edge of the woods, and occasional shots from the Confederate artillery crashed through the tree tops over the heads of the troops; but no Vermonters were hurt. Fatigue duty, in corduroying roads over the spongy soil, in which water was found anywhere at the depth of a foot or two and on which it was well nigh impossible to move artil- lery, now began and formed a good share of the work of the army for weeks. On Monday the brigade, having been under arms for two days and nights, was moved to the rear and 1 "To my utter surprise he (McCleilan) permitted day after day to elapse without an assault." General Magruder, in his report. ' . YORK RIVER mam x. yy>9&*fr'*la ' WARWICK COURT HOUSE - 'imciPw ,.. , asvf ';:-** f :- f , -*\, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 249 right to a position near the Garrow farm. Here they re- mained encamped in the woods, with a few unimportant changes of position, for a month, doing their share of picket service * and fatigue duty in building roads and batteries, and doing also the first serious fighting of the Peninsular cam- paign on the Union side. LEE'S MILL. The engagement known as that of Lee's Mill, was a notable one, as being the first assault on an entrenched line made by the army of the Potomac, as an exhibition of re- markable bravery in the troops engaged, and as one of the bloodiest actions, in proportion to numbers engaged, in which the Vermont troops took part during the war. It was also one of the most useless wastes of life and most lamentable of unimproved opportunities recorded in this history. The scene of the action was the Garrow farm, about half way between Lee's Mill and Wynn's Mill. Here an extensive cleared field, bordered by woods on the right and left and rear, opened to the river from the highway leading to York- town. In the centre of this open ground stood the three chimneys of Mrs. Garrow's house, which had been burned by 1 The pickets on the opposite sides of the river were at some points within speaking distance of each other, keeping themselves sheltered by stumps and trees, and sharp words as well as bullets often passed between them. The author of "Three Years in the Sixth Corps," tells the follow- ing incident of this time i "A good deal of hard talk had passed between one of our pickets and one of the 'Johnnies.' Finally the rebel thrust his hand beyond his tree, holding in it a bottle; and shaking it challenged the Yankee to come and take it. Crack went the Yankee's rifle at the hand. 'Ha, ha, why don't you hit it?' Say, what do you think of Bull Bun ?' ' How do you like Fort Donelson ?' responded the Yankee. While this colloquy was going on, a Yankee number two crept around behind a log, and drawing OD the Southerner blazed away at him. The son of chivalry clapped his hand to his shoulder and ran off howling. * There, you fool,' shouted Yankee number one, I told you that blind man would be shooting you, pretty soon.' " 250 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. +- ' Magruder two weeks before, and the engagement is known in some of the earlier accounts as that of " the Burned Chim- neys." From a low ridge through the centre of the opening, the ground descended by an easy slope to the sluggish stream of Warwick River, running through low and marshy ground. At this point Magruder had built one of his dams, styled in the Confederate reports " Dam No. 1." It formed a narrow causeway across the stream and morass, setting back the water for a considerable distance, and was guarded by exten- sive intrenchments. Below the dam and near the river's edge, on the right bank, ran a line of deep rifle pits. At the northern end of the dam was an earthwork, armed with a 24: pound howitzer, described in General Smith's reports as " the one gun battery." Two hundred yards to the rear of this was a redoubt and epaulemsnt, with two guns, a twelve and a six pounder, of the Troup artillery, attached to General Howell Cobb's command. From the front of the redoubt to the river the ground had been cleared ; but woods extended behind and on each side of the works. During the week preceding the 15th of April, large numbers of men were seen strengthening the works, and building breastworks to the right and left of them. General McClellan did not like this ; and before daylight on the morning of April 16th an order was despatched by him to General Keyes, directing the latter to " stop the enemy's working " at that point. 1 General Keyes passed this order along to General Smith, who made extensive disposi- tions for the purpose. He decided to use some of his Vermont troops to drive away the working parties, with Mott's (Third New York) battery. Hancock's brigade, with Ayres's and "Wheeler's batteries, he stationed along the road to Lee's Mill ; and he held Davidson's brigade in reserve at " the Four Corners " in the rear. * l General Keyes's report. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 251 The Vermont regiments moved to the scene of action at six o'clock in the morning, General Smith accompanying Gen- eral Brooks and directing the dispositions of the troops. Gen- eral Brooks sent forward the Third Vermont, Colonel Hyde, through the woods on the lower side of the opening, and the Fourth Vermont, Colonel Stoughton, through the woods on the upper or eastern side, with orders to throw out skirmishers to the water's edge below and above the dam, and open fire on any working parties of the enemy in sight about their works. Mott's battery was posted in the edge of the wooJs along the road in the rear of the field, supported by the other Vermont regiments, held in reserve a short distance farther to the rear. The Fourth regiment was the first to get posi- tion. It halted a few rods from the river in the woods, and Companies B. and G. were deployed as skirmishers and advanced to the swampy edge of the pond above the dam, keeping themselves covered by the bushes. It was now about half past seven o'clock, and guard-mounting was in progress behind the works across the creek, to the tune of " Kosa Lee." Colonel Stoughton accompanied the skirmish- ers and opened the ball by taking a musket from a man and firing it into the nearest embrasure. This action was followed by his men, and the enemy returned the fire with artillery, the first shell passing over the line of the Fourth, and striking a pine tree under which Surgeon Child and Chaplain Plympton were sitting, cutting off its top and covering them with frag- ments of bark. A section of Mott's battery at once went into the open ground and replied vigorously. In the meantime the Third had got into position on the left of the field. Having a longer front to cover, six companies were deployed by Colonel Hyde as skirmishers, and advanced to the edge of the morass. The skirmishers, with such protection as they could get from logs and stumps, opened fire briskly on the enemy in the rifle pits across the creek, and received a sharp 252 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. return, by which several men of the Third were wounded. During the hour which followed a sensible diminution of the enemy's musketry fire was noticed ; but his artillery was still actively served from the upper earthworks. A shell struck the wheel of one of Mott's pieces, and exploding killed three of the cannoneers and wounded more. About this time Colonel Smalley of the Fifth regiment was ordered to send a detach- ment, composed of the best marksmen in his command, to the river front, whence the enemy's guns could be reached at shorter range. For this duty ten of the best shots in each company were selected, making, with the non-commissioned officers who accompanied them, a company of 65 men. Captain Dudley of Company E. was placed in command, assisted by Lieutenant Spaulding, The detachment, de- ployed at five paces, marched down through the open field, having two men wounded by fragments of shells as they started. After passing the chimneys they received a mus- ketry volley from the rifle pits across the creek. Dropping to the ground they crept on down the slope to the edge, and securing shelter behind inequalities in the ground opened a galling fire on the Confederate artillerymen, and on any of the enemy who showed themselves above the rifle pits. During the forenoon the 24-pounder near the end of the dam was disabled by a shot from one of Mott's guns. The other rebel guns were kept silent by the sharpshooters. The enemy's musketry fire ceased with the exception of an oc- casional scattering shot; and General Smith ordered the firing on his side to cease. The first stage of the action was over. The object indi- cated by General McClellan had been accomplished for the time being ; and the affair, unless a good deal more was to be attempted, might well have ended there. But it was not so to end. General Smith, sweeping the enemy's works with his glass, discovered, as he thought, that the gun in the upper angle of the main redoubt had been replaced by a wooden gun, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 253 and he could perceive hardly any heads above the parapets. About the same time, eleven A. M., Lieutenant B. M. Noyes, 1 aid-de-camp on General Brooks's staff, came to General Brooks to say that he had been reconnoitring on his own hook; had crossed the creek below the dam, finding the water only about waist deep at the deepest ; and had been unmolested within 25 or 50 yards of the enemy's works. Furthermore, some wagons had been seen in the rear of his works, a circumstance taken to indicate that he was remov- ing his stores. Altogether it was not doubted that the Con- federates were badly demoralized and preparing to vacate their position. Shortly before noon General McClellan appeared on the ground with an imposing array of staff officers, among whom were the two French princes, the CoiLte de Paris and Prince de Joinville, and held a conference with General Smith. 2 Lieutenant Noyes was sent for and reported his observations. General McClellan thereupon directed General Smith to occupy the opposing works, but by no means to bring on a general engagement, and to withdraw his troops if serious resistance was encountered. As to details, it was decided, upon General Smith's suggestion, that he should place three batteries in the open ground at the head of the slope to the river, supported by the Yermont brigade in the woods on each flank and by Hancock's brigade in the rear, and that under the fire of the guns a small force should be thrown across the river below the dam to feel of the enemy; and that if the works were found empty or slightly defended, a 1 First Lieutenant, Co. C. , Third Vermont. 2 "I heard General Smith ask General McClellan what he had better do give up the job and go back to camp, or what ? General McClellan answered in so low a voice that I did not hear his reply." Statement of Colonel Whiting. 254 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. strong column should be pushed across to effect a permanent lodgment. 1 In carrying out this plan Dudley's skirmishers were withdrawn into the woods on the left, their withdrawal being hastened by a sharp fire from the rebel rifle pits, which indi- cated with sufficient distinctness that they were still manned. Companies K. and E. of the Fourth relieved Companies B. and G. on the skirmish line above the dam. A skirmish line of men of the Third, under command of Major Seaver, was maintained in the edge of the woods on the river bank below the clearing. The Second regiment was sent into the woods on the right, in the rear of the Fourth, and the Fifth and Sixth regiments were stationed in the woods on the left and rear. Colonel Hyde was directed to send two companies of the Third regiment, to be supported by two more com- panies, across the river, to assault and drive the enemy out of the nearest rifle pits. If they succeeded in carrying these, they were to announce the fact by cheers and waving a white handkerchief, when more troops were to be sent to support them, and to attack the earthworks beyond. Colonel Hyde took for the attack the four companies, D., F., E. and K., not on duty on the skirmish line, and gave the company commanders their instructions in the presence of General Brooks. Company D., Captain Harrington, and F., Cap- tain Pingree, were to lead, and were formed in line near the river bank. The men were ordered to unclasp their waist belts and hold their cartridge boxes out of the water with one hand, and their rifles with the other. All understood that it was a doubtful, if not desperate undertaking that was before 1 General McClellan returned to his headquarters to telegraph to Wash- ington, that General Smith had "handsomely silenced the fire of the so- called one-gun battery, and forced the enemy to suspend work." To which Secretary Stan ton replied : " Good for the first lick. Hurrah for Smith and the one-gun battery ! Let us have Yorktown with Magruder and his gang, before the 1st of May, and the job will be over." But the " job " did not prove to be over. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 255 them ; but the duty and its possible consequences were ac- cepted with the stern resolution of brave men, determined to improve to the utmost the first opportunity that had been offered to them to show whether or no the men of the North could stand fire. About three o'clock, the guns of Mott's, Wheeler's and Kennedy's batteries opened a vigorous cannonade from the crest of the slope. The enemy's artillery responded, but his fire soon slackened under the storm of shot and shell, and the moment arrived for the infantry to advance. Harring- ton, who was the ranking captain, having announced to Captain Pingree that a physical infirmity from which he was suffering would not permit him to cross the river, Pingree promptly gave the order "Forward!" and led the way. The men pushed across the stream in good shape, though they were under sharp musketry fire from the start and though the bottom was in many places covered with a network of felled trees, over which many tripped and fell, wetting both guns and ammunition. Floundering along in spite of all obstacles, however, the two companies reached the opposite bank, and dashed straight for the rifle pits, driving out of them a force about equal in number to their own. 1 The Confed- erates beat a hasty retreat to their works beyond, and the Yernionters, cheering loudly, started after them for the next parallel; but they were ordered back by Captain Pingree, whose orders were to occupy the rifle pits and wait there for reinforcements. They accordingly fell back behind the scarp of the captured breastwork; and were soon joined by Com- panies E. and K., which had followed them at a short interval. Corporal Hutchinson of Company D., who had been selected to signal the occupancy of the work, by waving a handkerchief attached to his bayonet, had fallen, mortally 1 The rifle pits were occupied at the time by a picket, guard of the Fif- teenth North Carolina, and a company^Co. D.) of the Sixteenth Georgia. 256 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAK. wounded; but the men shouted lustily back across the stream, handkerchiefs were waved by several hands, and officers and men looked with anxiety for the promised sup- ports. Their situation was a precarious one. The enemy was visibly rallying, and with no lack of troops. His first counter-attack was made by the Fifteenth North Carolina, which came down on the double quick from its camp over the crest, and charged the rifle pits. It was met by the men of the Third with a fire by which its commander, Colonel McKinney, was killed, and some forty of his men killed and wounded, and retired in extreme disorder. General Cobb states that this " confusion " extended down the line of two Georgia regiments which had advanced on the right of the Fifteenth North Carolina; and had the rest of the Vermont brigade now been promptly thrown across the river a per- manent occupation of the enemy's works would probably have been effected. The rest of Smith's division could then have crossed without opposition, and the line of "Warwick River would have been pierced. But no supports followed the detachment of the Third Vermont. It held its position along the breastwork for about half an hour, keeping down by a well directed fire the fire from the works on the right and front, and at one time, by a gallant dash from the left of the line, made by a few men under Lieutenant Buck of Com- pany D., once more scattering their assailants. 1 Meanwhile the enemy, whose troops had been under arms all day for miles along the western side of the river, gathered in heavy force. By the exertions of General Howell 1 In a letter written at the time, describing this action, Lieutenant Buck said: " We were bound to die rather than retreat without orders. Some- thing desperate had got to be done. A charge was our only show, and charge we did. We jumped the works and gave a loud yelL The rebels supposed a brigade was charging them and ran like sheep. But when they saw it was only a ruse, they rallied. I saw whole regiments marching against us, and we retreated, never expecting to recross the fatal stream." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 257 Cobb and Colonel Anderson, 1 the demoralized regiments of their commands were rallied and others brought up, till no less than seven regiments 2 hemmed in the little band of Yer- monters. Musketry and artillery now re-opened heavily on Pingree at short range from the works on his right and front, and two Confederate regiments came down on his left and opened a far more fatal tire, from which the scarp of the rifle pits afforded no protection. Captain Pingree sent back two successive messengers to Colonel Hyde, asking either for reinforcements or for permission to retire ; but neither came. Later in the service, under similar circumstances, he would have exercised the discretion which such a desperate strait confers on a commander, and have withdrawn his detach- ment ; but now he and his men only knew that their orders were to occupy the works and wait for reinforcements ; and they waited, though officers and men were dropping by scores. Captain Pingree was wounded in the haunch by a musket ball early in the fight ; but, though bleeding freely, he remained at his post. Soon after Lieutenant Chandler of company F. was struck by a ball which cut off three of the bones of his hand, and then passed through his thigh. Fifteen minutes later, Captain Pingree received a second wound from a ball which took off the entire thumb, with the metacarpal bone, of his right hand. He was urged by officers and men to retire while retreat was possible ; but he refused to go till at last a messenger returned with the welcome direction from Colonel Hyde to withdraw when he gave the order to fall back, and, himself too faint .to walk alone, allowed his men to help him back across the 1 Colonel G. T. Anderson of Georgia, whose brigade subsequently, to its sorrow, met the Vermont brigade at Funkstown, Md. 2 These were the Fifteenth North Carolina, Seventh Georgia, Eighth Georgia, Eleventh Georgia, Cobb's (Georgia) Legion, Sixteenth Georgia, and Secotid Louisiana. Confederate Reports. 17 258 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. stream. 1 The rattle of musketry and roar of artillery was too continuous at this time to permit orders to be heard for any distance ; but those who did not hear saw that a retreat was ordered, and in five minutes the line had scattered back across the creek, through a shower of musket balls which made the water boil as in a hailstorm. Of the 192 brave men who crossed the stream, about 100 came back unharmed, bearing with them as many as they could of their wounded comrades. 2 General Magruder states that the four companies of Yermonters were driven out of the rifle pits at the point of the bayonet by four Confederate regiments ; 3 but the men of the Third saw no hostile bayonets, nor were the rifle pits re- occupied for some little time after they left them. They were driven out by musketry fire from the front and flank. They had made as gallant a dash as was ever attempted ; had fairly carried a line of rifle pits ; had dispersed with serious loss a Confederate regiment, 500 strong ; 4 and had held their position in front of two Confederate brigades for forty minutes, and till they were ordered back. More could not have been asked of or done by mortal men. 1 The remarkable fact that Pingree received no mention in the official reports, and the almost fatal result of his injuries, have been heretofore mentioned, in the regimental history of the Third regiment. 2 Surgeon E. E. Phelps, in his report to Governor Holbrook, said: "The usual percentage of loss in battle is one in every 40; but in this action, out of 198 men engaged three in every four were killed or wounded." This was putting it rather strong. Co. F., which suffered worst, had 27 killed and wounded out of 52 engaged; and the loss of the detachment was 45 per cent a sufficiently sad proportion. 3 "At this moment the Seventh and Eighth Georgia, under Colonels Wilson and Lamar ; the left wing of the Sixteenth Georgia under Colonel Goode Bryan, and two companies of the Second Louisiana under Colonel J. T. Norwood, accompanied by the Fifteenth North Carolina, with fixed bayonets charged the rifle pits and drove the enemy from them with great slaughter." Report of General J. B. Magruder. 4 "The regiment [Fifteenth North Carolina] had about 500 men en- gaged." Report of Lieutenant Colonel Ihrie, Fifteenth North Carolina. THE FIKST BRIGADE. 259 The affair again might well have ended here. The recon- noissance had been made and had shown that the enemy had two or three lines of works and plenty of men to defend them. The river was now a greater obstacle than before ; for by the closing of dams below or opening sluices above, the depth of water had been increased so that the men who returned found the water considerably deeper than when they went over. The firing, which had now been going on, at times with great severity, for about nine hours, had of course fully aroused the enemy, and there was every reason to sup- pose that he would be massing troops to oppose any further demonstration. Such was the fact. Within half an hour after the repulse of Pingree's battalion, the three Confederate brigades of Cobb, Anderson and Toombs were in position behind the screen of woods beyond the river, and General McLaws had his entire division under arms within support- ing distance. Yet at five o'clock the attack was renewed. General Smith speaks of it as another " reconnoissance ;" but it was really a fresh attempt to effect a lodgment on the right bank of the Warwick. That the Union generals should have been unwilling to give the matter up so, is not surpris- ing ; but that they should have still sent companies against regiments, and battalions against brigades, is astonishing. In the new dispositions, a section of a battery was placed in the right of the open field, where it could enfilade the rifle pits on the other bank, which ran at an angle with the shore, and a general cannonade was opened by General McClellan's orders all along the front from Lee's Mill to Yorktown, to distract the attention of the enemy. Colonel Stoughton of the Fourth was then ordered to send four companies across the dam to storm the one-gun battery, and Colonel Lord to throw four companies of the Sixth across below the dam, where the Third had crossed, and again assault the rifle pits. Colonel Stoughton selected Companies A., Captain Pratt ; F., Captain Brown ; L, Lieutenant Lillie ; and C., Captain 260 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Atherton, for his storming party and formed them in the edge of the woods. He also strengthened his skirmish line along the edge of the swamp by two companies, and ordered the skirmishers to keep up an incessant fire on the works opposite ; and when the seventeen guns of Mott's, Wheeler's and Kennedy's batteries again opened from the crest, the detachment fixed bayonets and started for the dam, led by Colonel Stoughton. But a tremendous outburst of artillery and musketry from the earthworks opposite, which met them as soon as they came out into the open ground and under which men began to fall rapidly, warned General Smith that the effort was madness. He despatched Lieutenant Bowen of his staff to order Stoughton to withdraw the battalion, and it retired, left in front, in good order, with a loss of two men killed and twelve wounded, among the latter being Captain Atherton, who received a ball in the groin which occasioned his retirement from the service. Colonel Stoughton and Lieutenant Bowen brought up the rear, carrying between them a wounded man, and all the wounded were brought back to the woods. The movement of the Sixth was more persistent and in- volved more serious loss. The regiment moved at double quick down through the open field into the timber on the left, at the head of the slope to the river. Here the duty of charging the rifle pits was committed by Colonel Lord to the right wing of his regiment, and he accompanied it to the river bank. The battalion, led by Company A., Captain George Parker, marched down by the flank through the swampy borders of the stream, coming under a sharp fire of mus- ketry as soon as it appeared in the open ; and pushed across the overflowed bottom land, and through the channel of the river, the men holding their cartridge boxes and rifles above their heads. As they reached the opposite shore the leading companies fronted into line, within twenty yards of the rifle pits. The fire from them was incessant ; but the Confederates THE FIRST BRIGADE. 261 kept themselves so well covered and held their guns at so high an angle, that their shots for the most part passed over the heads of the men of the Sixth, or few would have returned to tell the tale of their charge. As it was, officers and men were dropping fast, Captain Reynolds of Company F. fell, shot through the body, as he was bringing his company into line in the shallow water in front of the breastwork. Cap- tain Davenport of Company H. was disabled by a ball through the thigh. Lieutenant Bailey of Company D., re- ceived a fatal wound. Lieutenant Kinney, commanding Com- pany I., was seriously wounded. Three of the five company, commanders and some 40 men had fallen ; but the rest pressed on. A few had reached the opposing breastwork, when the order to fall back came. Colonel Lord, perceiving that the advance of the Fourth had failed and that it was annihilation for his men to advance or remain under the tremendous cross-fire now concentrated on them, gave the order to retreat. It was obeyed with a deliberation which enabled the survivors to bring off their wounded comrades, and rescue the colors of the regiment, which had fallen from the hand of the fainting color-bearer. The return was as dangerous as the advance ; and before the battalion reached cover on the left bank, it had suffered a loss of 23 men killed or mortally wounded and 57 others more or less severely wounded. It was now near nightfall. The enemy, content with the repulse of the troops which had been dashed by handsful against his works, and deterred by the fire of the batteries which were still booming from the Garrow clearing, made no counter demonstration, and the affair of Lee's Mill was over. General Smith says in his report: "Among the four companies of skirmishers of the Third Vermont who crossed the creek, there were more individual acts of heroism per- formed than I ever read of in a great battle." Such acts were not confined to any one regiment. A few of them may be re- 262 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. counted here. Among the men of the Third who charged the rifle pits was William Scott, the young man who was sentenced to death for sleeping on his post soon after the regiment went out, and was pardoned by the President. Scott pressed forward where the balls were flying thickest and fell with several mortal wounds. His comrades raised him up, and heard him with his dying breath amid the shouting and din of the fight, lift a prayer for God's blessing on President Lincoln, who had given him a chance to show that he was no coward or sneak, and not afraid to die. 1 There were not many more touching incidents than this, in the war. Corporal Hutchinson, to whom Colonel Hyde had handed his handkerchief to be waved as a signal when the rifle pits were gained, fell mortally wounded half way across the river, the ball that killed him passing through the handkerchief. Ilis thoughts were solely .on his duty, and exclaiming sadly : "I cannot wave the flag after all," he handed the bloody handkerchief to a comrade, to do it for him. A man of the Third stood in the farther edge of the water with a broken thigh, leaning on his gun, and distribut- ing his ammunition, which he had kept dry, to those whose cartridges had got wet in crossing. The wounded men who were able to heJp themselves, almost invariably declined help in retiring, and brought back their rifles with them. Corporal James Fletcher of Company E., of the Third, was on the sick list with a fever, but insisted on going out 1 Scott was buried in a little grove of holly and wild cherry trees on the Garrow Farm, in a spot where some Revolutionary soldier, who fell in the siege of Yorktown nearly 80 years before, had found burial, as shown by buttons and a belt clasp thrown up in digging Scott's* grave. The chaplain prayed earnestly for the President, and on the calm face of the dead his comrades thought they saw a look of satisfaction and peace, which would have richly rewarded the kind heart of Abraham Lincoln if he could have seen it, for his act of mercy. The incident was made known to Mr. Lincoln, and in an interview with Adjutant General P. T. Washburn sub- sequently, Mr. Lincoln alluded to it with emotion, speaking also in terms of high praise of the bravery shown by the Vennonters at Lee's Mill. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 263 with his company, went through the fight, went back into the creek, after recrossing it, to rescue some of the wounded men, and then went into hospital "to resume his fever with aggra- vation," in the words of an army letter. Julian A. Scott, the drummer boy of the same com- pany, 1 a lad of 16, went twice across the creek to rescue wounded men. Aided by Ephraim Brown he was carrying: Private John Backum, who was shot through the lungs, away from the scarp of the rifle pits when Brown was disabled by a shot through the thigh. Young Scott carried Backum across the river on his back, and returning helped Brown over, each of them being men larger than himself. Eight bullets passed through the clothing of Captain Bennett of Company K, of the Third, without making a scratch on his skin. Lieutenant Whittemore of Company E., took a gun from a disabled soldier and did some effective shooting in the rifle pits. Captain D. B. Davenport of Company H., of the Sixth, was wounded. His son Henry, drummer boy, a youngster of but 11 years, helped his father out of the water and to a place of safety, and returning to the stream to get some water for him, had the filled cup knocked out of his hand by a bullet. Sergeant B. G. Bellows bore the colors of the Sixth regiment nearly to the rifle pits. The order to fall back had come and had been obeyed by the rest of the color guard, when he received a fatal wound. 2 As the colors fell from his fainting grasp into the water, they caught the eye of Sergeant Edward A. Holton. Shouting to some men of his company who were near him to rally on the 'Subsequently an artist of some name, and the painter of the large picture of the battle of Cedar Creek in the Vermont State House. 2 The case of Sergeant Bellows was one of those not uncommon ones, in which almost bloodless injuries proved fatal. The ball struck him in the knee, carrying into the joint the cloth of his pantaloons without passing through the fabric. He died of this wound in hospital at Burling- ton, a month after. He was one of the finest-looking men in the regiment, and as brave as he was handsome. 264 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. colors, Holton ran back, rescued the flag, and carried it safely back across the stream, while others of the men bore the color-bearer back to the southern bank. Holton's act was noticed in a general order, and won him a commission. The loss of the brigade at Lee's Mill was as follows : KILLED. WOUNDED. DIED OF WOUNDS, Second Regiment, 1 1 1 Third 26 63 9 Fourth " 2 10 1 Fifth " 2 7 Sixth " 13 67 10 Total, 44 148 21 Of the wounded seven fell into the hands of the enemy. General Magruder, in his report, states that his loss " did not exceed 75 killed and wounded." His troops fought almost entirely under cover, and their loss may not have largely exceeded that figure. 1 The conduct of this engagement on the Union side was a mystery to the troops engaged in it, at the time, as it has been to many students of the war. The Comte de Paris says, that the generals who organized the demonstration, failed to agree beforehand on the importance it was to assume. But as regards the course of the general of the army there is no mystery. General McClellan had selected Yorktown (where the Confederate works were strongest) as the point of main attack. He had in his mind a grand scientific siege operation, which should rival some of the scenes in the Crimean war, to observe which he was sent abroad by Jeffer- son Davis when the latter was secretary of war. He was digging parallels and building earthworks, and intended, when he got ready, to overwhelm the Confederate forts by a grand feu d'enfer, a la Sebastopol, from his 100 and 200 pounders, *A nominal list attached to the report of Lieut. Colonel Ihrie, Fifteenth North Carolina, shows 12 killed and 31 wounded of that regi- ment. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 265 which had been dragged with infinite labor from City Point. It was not his plan to pierce the "Warwick line and turn Yorktown, and he did not wish or expect to do more at Lee's Mill than to occupy some works from which it was supposed the enemy had been driven. " The moment," says General Smith, "I found resistance serious and the numbers opposed great, I acted in obedience to the warning instructions of the general-in-chief, and withdrew the small numbers of troops exposed from under fire." General McClellan, after it was over, affected to consider the information gained worth more than it cost. That it was so may well be doubted ; yet it is certain that the daring shown by the Yermonters was not without value to the army l or without effect on the enemy. Colonel Levy, of the Second Louisiana, who came to the Union lines with a flag of truce on an errand relating to the burial of the Union dead, two days after, asked what regiment it was that first assaulted the rifle pits. He was told that it was a detachment of the Third Vermont. "It was lucky for us," he replied, "that you did not send over many such detachments." Among the various explanations imagined and suggested at the time, for the failure to push over supports to the Ver- mont troops after they had effected a lodgment across the river, was one, which gained wide currency, to the effect that General Smith was drunk. A report that he was too much intoxicated to ride his horse during the engagement was made the subject of a resolution offered in Congress, and of a court of inquiry thereupon called for by General Smith. It was contradicted by a statement, addressed to the Vermont delegation in Congress and signed by most of the field officers of the Vermont brigade, including all the colonels, in which they pronounced the report "unequivocally false." The 1 The army correspondents generally agreed with the correspondent of the New York World that " the fighting and the bravery of the Vermont boys covered the arms of their State with glory." 266 VEKMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. court of inquiry was dismissed by General McClellan after the first day, on the ground that the evidence offered was sufficient to exonerate General Smith without further pro- ceedings. The military committee of the U. S. Senate visited the camps near Lee's Mill, to investigate the matter, and re- ported the charge against General Smith to be without foundation ; and the matter passed from the public mind. During the night of the 16th of April and nights follow- ing, strong earthworks to shelter the Union batteries were thrown up on the Garrow farm, in part by the work of the Ver- mont troops ; but beyond occasional artillery firing by night and day, and frequent exchange of shots across the creek by the skirmishers and sharp shooters on the two sides, no further hostilities followed at that point. Had Magruder had more men there would probably have been some fighting on the south side of Warwick River. 1 On Saturday, the 19th, a flag of truce was hoisted by the Confederates, and Colonel Levy of the Second Louisiana, met Captain Currie of General Smith's staff on the dam, with a proposal to arrange for the removal of the "Union dead, which was gladly accepted, and the Confederates soon brought over 29 dead bodies, blackened by decay and de- spoiled of shoes, buttons and valuables. 9 The remainder of the dead Vermonters they said, had been buried with their own, by mistake, in the night. The bodies received were buried among the pines on the Garrow farm. During the four days after the 16th, the seriously wounded 1 "All the reinforcements which were on the way to me had not yet joined me, so that I was unable to follow up the action of April 16th by any decisive step." General Magruder's report. 2 " I recovered to-day the bodies of our men killed on the 16th 29 in number. The enemy have four wounded in their hands, whom 1 will endeavor to recover to-morrow by offering four well men in exchange. The officer bearing the flag acknowledged a severe loss on their part, and spoke in high terms of the conduct of our men." McClellan to Secretary Stanton, April 19, 1862. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 267 Vermonters were taken in ambulances to Cheeseman's Landing and Ship Point on the York River, and thence by boats to Fortress Monroe. Their condition aroused re- markable concern on the part of both the National and State authorities. Secretary Stanton telegraphed Governor Hoi- brook that they would be sent home if suitable hospital accommodations could be provided for them in Vermont. The only hospital building in the State at that time, was the U. S. Marine hospital at Burlington, built by the Government in President Pierce's administration, which had stood empty since it was erected. Adj't General Washburn went to Washington and arranged to have this building turned over to the State for an army hospital, and to have the wounded Yermonters sent thither. General Washburn and Quarter- master General Davis thereupon went to Fortress Monroe, and brought thence 115 wounded men to New York. They were met there by ex- Adj't General Baxter and Colonels S. M. Waite and B. B. Smalley of the governor's staff, and a corps of five surgeons, and, with the exception of twelve who were left in hospital at New York, too dangerously hurt to bear further transportation, were brought with the tenderest care to Yermont. Twenty-four were taken to Brattleboro and the rest to Burlington, where under the skillful care of Dr. S. W. Thayer, who had been appointed hospital surgeon, most of them rapidly gained strength and health. This arrangement was expanded into a general one, under which many wounded and sick Yermonters were taken to Yermont; and, under the superior professional treatment they received, and in the good air of their native State, a remarkably high ratio of recoveries was established; but though this arrangement worked well in Yermont, it was found to occasion some friction when adopted, as it was subsequently, by some other States, and it was rescinded by the government. Frequent night alarms which called the regiments into line ; constant sharp shooting on the picket line ; plenty of 268 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. fatigue duty on the breastworks ; and two reconnoissances, in one of which the Second lost three men killed, and in the other Lieutenant Nevins of the Sixth received a wound from which he died, were the chief events and occupations of the last two weeks of April. A general cannonade from the enemy's works on the night of the 3d of May, called the brigade and the army to arms, in anticipation of an attack. The shells flew thickly over and into the camps ; but no serious damage was done and no attack was received. The morning disclosed the meaning of the proceeding. General McClellan having almost made ready to open his siege batteries, the enemy was quite ready to leave the line of the Warwick. Having secured a month of most valuable time, during which the defences of Richmond were vastly strengthened and the first conscription act, which heavily increased the military strength of the Confederacy, was passed, General Johnston once more sur- prised the Union generals by a sudden and successful retreat. Two contrabands brought the first word of it, at daylight on the 4th, into the Union lines. The Fifth Vermont was at once sent across the dam, to occupy the abandoned works ; and at eight o'clock the brigade, in place of the usual Sunday morning inspections, was in motion to the front, with two day's rations in the haversacks. Smith's division crossed on the dam and pushed forward by the road from Lee's Mill to Williamsburg, while Hooker's division marched on the right by the nearly parallel road from Yorktown to the same point. Hancock led the column of Smith's division and Brook's Vermont brigade marched next. The two columns rather curiously changed roads during the day. Though Hooker had the shorter road, Smith moved fastest. About noon Hancock's advance was stopped by the burning of a bridge over a branch of Skiff Creek, across which his road lay. Having halted, General Hancock sent forward four companies of the Second Vermont, under Lieut. Colonel Stannard, which THE FIRST BRIGADE. 269 extinguished the fire. 1 But the bridge was not passable for artillery, and the division, by order of General Sumner, com- manding both columns, crossed through the intervening fields to the road on the right. Smith reached this road before Hooker had come up, and, keeping on, obliged the latter to halt, while he (Smith) filed into the road in advance of him. The Yermonters were now leading, and gave a specimen of the marching quality by which they came to be distinguished in after days. The column was to halt near the Halfway House, but the head of it had passed that point some three miles, when General Keyes, who was following Smith with his two other divisions, learned the fact. Calling an orderly he said : " If your horse has bottom enough to catch ur> with that Vermont brigade, I want you to overtake them and order a halt. Tell them we are not going to Bichrnond to- day." Hooker followed Smith for two or three miles and then, impatient at having to follow where he expected to lead, he obtained permission to cross to the left road and went for- ward by that. Smith's advance overtook the cavalry who were pressing the enemy's rear, and sunset found his division halted in front of the line of redoubts 2 southeast of Wil- liamsburg, which had been built for a defensive line by Magruder some months before. The rear guard of Johnston's 1 " Finding the enemy had fired a bridge on Skiff Creek, on the direct road to Williamsburg, I sent first a party of cavalry to extinguish the fire if possible. They were fired upon by the enemy and retired after exchanging shots. I then ordered four companies of the Second Vermont, under Lieut. Colonel Stannard, to the burning bridge, and to extinguish the flames, which duty they performed, first driving the enemy away, and saving the sleepers of the bridge." Report of General HancocK. The other six companies of the Second, under Colonel Whiting, had been detached from the brigade in the forenoon, to reconnoitre along a road leading to the left, and did not rejoin the brigade till the next morning. 8 There were ten of these, with four epaulements and other minor works, extending across the Peninsula, here contracted to a width of about five miles. 270 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. army occupied some of these, while the main body kept on to Richmond. In front of two of these redoubts, command- ing the approach to Williamsburg by the Yorktown road, General Smith, under the orders of General Sumner, formed his command for an assault, with Hancock's brigade de- ployed in front and the Vermont brigade in double column for support. But the lateness of the hour and the character of the ground, which was covered with a tangled undergrowth between the trees, made an advance well nigh impossible, and the troops bivouacked where they stood. Hooker marched till eleven o'clock, and then halted for the night, half a mile from the enemy's line. The night was rainy, and sleep contended with serious discomforts and anxieties for possession of the weary soldiers. WILLIAMSBURG. Next day, May 5th, the planless and unsatisfactory battle of Williamsburg was fought. It opened in front of Fort Magruder the strongest of the Confederate works on the left, where General Hooker, without specific orders and without concert with the other generals, attacked at seven in the morning. He silenced Fort Magruder, but soon found himself on the defensive. Johnston, fairly overhauled and in danger of losing his trains, had turned to fight. He sent back Longstreet to help his rear guard, and by nine o'clock Longstreet's division was pressing in masses on Hooker's line. It became very warm for Hooker ; but he fought till noon without the reinforcements which he had called for, and without any effective diversion in any other part of the field. 1 General Smith had expected to attack the works before 1 ' ' The fact is that when Hooker began his attack, Sumner, Heintzle- man and Keyes had adopted another plan of action, irrespective of Hooker. There was no concerted movement." General A. S. Webb. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 271 him at daylight and had his division in line as soon as it was light enough to move ; but he was held back by General Sumner, and the occupation of the division during the fore- noon, was to stand in the rain, which poured heavily, and listen to the battle which Hooker was fighting hardly half a mile away. Yet all of the Yermonters were not idle ; and an important bit of service performed by some of them led to Hancock's movement on the right, which proved the de- cisive movement of the battle. General Smith in the morn- ing had sent Captain Stewart of the U. S. Engineers, to reconnoitre the works in front of his position. Stewart found them protected by a ravine and offering no practicable point of attack ; but he learned from a colored man that two miles to the right there was a road, crossing by a dam ' the stream which flowed through the ravine, and leading to the rear of the redoubts. He reported this to General Smith, who sent Captain Currie of his staff with four companies of the Fourth Vermont to verify the information. At half past ten o'clock Captain Currie returned and reported that they had not only found a practicable crossing for artillery ; but that a re- doubt on the other side, built to command the crossing, was to all appearance unoccupied. Smith sent Currie to report these facts to General Sumner, who could hardly believe the latter circumstance ; but decided to take advantage of it. By his order General Smith sent Hancock, who held the right of his division, to occupy the undefended works and advance from them if he thought prudent. Hancock started at once with three regiments of his own brigade and two of Davidson's, Wheeler's battery and a company of cavalry ; crossed the dam ; and at noon had reached and occupied, un- molested, not only the work nearest the dam but a stronger redoubt half a mile in advance of it, 2 from which open ground 1 Known as "Cub Dam." 3 Mr. Swinton, the historian, says that General Johnston informed him after the close of the war, that neither he or any of the generals with him 272 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. extended to the redoubt in front of Smith's position. Hancock had in fact turned the flank of the enemy's line, and had a fine position from which to attack the two redoubts between him and Fort Magruder. Sending to General Smith for a brigade to protect his rear, he prepared to assault these redoubts, which were occupied in force by the enemy. In the meantime, General Smith had been directed by General Sumner to send one of his brigades to the assistance of General Hooker on the left, and had ordered the Yermont brigade forward for the purpose; but receiving Hancock's report of the state of things on the right, and deeming that an attack upon the enemy's left would be the most effectual means of helping Hooker, General Smith procured a change of the order and permission to take his two remaining brigades to reinforce Hancock. He had drawn them out into the road and was just starting with them, when General Sumner, becoming apprehensive for his centre, reversed the order, and called Smith back into line to resist an appre- hended attack on the ground he then occupied. From their position in the edge of the woods, some of the Vermonters could see the operations to their right and front across the ravine. They saw Hancock's skirmishers, aided by a few- shells from Wheeler's battery, drive the enemy from the re- doubt nearest him, which, however, he hesitated to occupy till his supports should arrive. They saw, too, that Hancock was in some danger. General Johnston, alarmed at finding a formidable force on his flank, had sent thither Generals Early and D. H. Hill, with two brigades. These could be plainly seen reoccupying the works in front of Hancock, and then deploying for an assault on his position. Some of the enemy were aware of the existence of these redoubts on his extreme left, till after Hancock had occupied them. Replying in 1885 to a similar statement made by Jefferson Davis in his ''Rise and Fall of the Confederacy," General Johnston says that "the positions of the redoubts, were all known;" but that "a rear guard distributed in all of them, could have held none of them." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 273 were massed so near Smith that four guns of Mott's battery were ordered forward, and opened fire on them with obvious effect. Again and again General Smith asked permission to go to Hancock's aid. Twice General Brooks was directed to take his brigade to support Hancock, and once the brigade reached Cub Dam on the way thither, only to be ordered back. General Brooks swore vigorously at being sent back from the right where they were most wanted to the centre where they were not needed at all ; but had no option but to obey. Sumner finally not only refused to permit Smith to send any more troops to the right, but ordered Hancock back to his " first position." The latter chose to understand this to mean the works he had first occupied across the dam. He took his time about retiring, and turned before he had gone far, to await Early's attack. This was made while the Vermont brigade was marching back from Cub Dam, and made unwel- come music in the ears of the Vermonters, who were burning for a chance to avenge Lee's Mill. Early threw forward four regiments, numbering about 2,000 men, against Hancock who had 1,500 in line on the crest. The latter waited till Early's lines were within short range, and then received them with a savage fire, under which they recoiled in confusion, leaving a row of dead and dying men which marked the limit of their advance. Early was wounded, and his repulse was completed by a charge in which a Confederate colonel and 150 of his men were taken prisoners. Hill endeavored to support Early ; but his men would not face the fire from the crest, and the whole force fell back, having lost 500 men. As Hill's regiments were forming for the second attack, General Hancock, not knowing how serious it might prove, despatched Captain Currie, who had remained with him, to hurry up the reinforcements he had been waiting for. Currie overtook the rear of Brooks's brigade, marching back instead of forward. The Third Yermont was at the rear of the column, and Colonel Hyde, at Currie's request, faced his 18 274 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. regiment about and took it back to help Hancock, while Currie dashed on to find General Smith and get more rein- forcements. The cheering from the front told the men of the Third that something had happened there and they hurried up, at double quick, to find that Hancock had repulsed his assailants, and that the enemy in front of him had retired to the cover of the woods. It was now six o'clock. Meantime Kearney's division of the Third corps had relieved Hooker on the left. General McClellan had arrived on the field, and General Smith by his order joined Hancock with most of his division. There was no more fighting, however. After nightfall Johnston withdrew and continued his retreat to Richmond. In this battle of Williamsburg, Hooker and Kearney lost 2,200 men, killed, wounded and missing, and five guns, while Longstreet reported his loss at 1,560 killed, wounded and captured. Had Sumner permitted Smith to take his division, or even to send the Yermont brigade, to the support of Han- cock, the latter would have moved up to the Confederate centre, taken Fort Magruder in the reverse, and changed the preponderance of loss heavily to the other side. Though the shells from a Confederate battery, replying to Mott's guns, flew over and around the lines of the Vermont brigade in the afternoon, it sustained no loss. The Yermont troops, with the exception of the Third regiment, which was with Hancock, remained in their lines on the centre that night drenched with rain and without fires. Next morning the sun rose clear and bright ; the rain and the rebels had gone ; and the brigade, in pursuance of orders received the night before, marched round to the scene of Hancock's fight, pass- ing on the way one of the forts he had taken, now filled with Confederate prisoners, many of them wounded. The Yermont surgeons busied themselves in the care of these, and performed most, of the amputations required, as the Confederate surgeons sent back to care for their men were THE FIRST BRIGADE. 275 comparatively inexperienced practitioners. The Yermont boys built fires for their foes, dried their clothes, covered them with U. S. blankets, and would have shared rations with them if they had had any. The battle of Williamsburg was fought on Monday. How tardily the pursuit of the enemy was conducted by Mc- Clellan, is matter of history. It was not till Friday that Smith's division started on up the Peninsula. The Yermont brigade marched 14 miles that day and 12 the next. On Sun- day, the llth, the brigade rested near New Kent Court House, and next day marched to the Pamunkey River at Cumberland Landing. It moved thence next day to White House, the head of navigation on the river and base of supply for the army. Here the brigade remained four days, encamped on the ancient Custis Plantation, the property of General Fitzhugh Lee, near the mansion, from which the place takes its name, in which General Washington was married to Mrs. Custis. Moving thence on the 19th, it marched by way of Tunstall's Station to the left bank of the Chickahominy near New Bridge, ten miles from Richmond to the northeast. The march from Williamsburg was much of it through a fine country, now beautiful in the luxuriant growth of early sum- mer. The weather was warm, though much of it was rainy. The march was made by easy stages of from five to eight miles a day. The long columns of infantry and artillery, the endless trains of army wagons, the camps covering all the country where the army halted, the waters of the Pamunkey packed with steamers and other vessels laden with army stores, offered an imposing spectacle. Strict orders to res- pect private property were given on the march ; and they were obeyed to the extent of permitting a Yirginia farmer to station his negro servant at a well and sell water to tho thirsty soldiers at two cents a glass ! Later in the war they did things somewhat differently. CHAPTEE XII. THE FIRST BRIGADE CONTINUED. Organization of the Sixth Corps Movement to the front of Richmond Battle of Fair Oaks Crossing the Chickahominy to Golding's Farm Swamp fever and hard duty Gaines's Mill and Golding's Farm Retreat of the Army from Richmond The stand of the rear guard at Savage's Station Fighting of the Vermont brigade The Fifth sustains the heaviest loss in killed and wounded ever suffered by a Vermont regiment Casualties of the brigade The retreat resumed Affair at White Oak Swamp Terrific Confederate cannonade Firmness of the Vermont troops The brigade at Malvern Hill The terrible march to Harrison's Landing The bivouac in the mud Return to Fortress Monroe and to Alexandria. At White House the Sixth corps of the Army of the Potomac, with which the Vermont brigade was thencefor- ward connected, and to whose fame the Ver- May 16, 1862. monters have been wont to flatter themselves that they contributed something, was organized. It was formed from Franklin's division of McDowell's corps, which joined the army at White House, having come up by water from Yorktown, and Smith's division of Keyes's (Fourth) corps. 1 General Franklin was placed in command of it, General Slocum succeeding Franklin in command of the First division. It was a notably good body of troops, from the first. Its first division consisted of General Phil Kear- ney's old brigade of New Jersey troops, now commanded 'The Fifth corps was organized at the same time, and Fitz John Porter assigned to its command. These were at first styled " Provisional" corps. THE FIEST BRIGADE. 277 by Colonel George W. Taylor ; Slocum's brigade, now com- manded by Colonel J. J. Bartlett ; and Newton's brigade. 1 The Second division consisted of Hancock's brigade, Brooks's Vermont brigade, and Davidson's brigade. 3 The division and brigade commanders were almost all West Point gradu- ates and accomplished soldiers, and no less than five of them rose to be corps commanders. It has bean said of the Sixth corps that " no other body of troops ever made for itself so proud a record. No corps, either in our own army or in any other, ever met the enemy so frequently in general bat- tle. Never were either of its two divisions put to rout ; and in almost all its encounters the corps held the field as victors." 3 On the 22d of May the Sixth corps was holding the right of the army, and the Vermont brigade was encamped on a low pine ridge near Gaines's Mill, 4 about eight miles in a straight line from Richmond. The country about them was diver- sified with woodland and open fields around the houses of Virginia farmers and the mansions of planters, who were still holding their slaves in considerable numbers, and were enjoying the protection of Union guards stationed around their houses while they were asserting the right of secession and predicting the success of the Confederate arms. Many of these houses, however, were soon taken 1 Kearney's brigade consisted of the First, Second, Third and Fourth New Jersey; Slocum's of the Sixteenth and Twenty-seventh New York, Fifth Maine and Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania ; Newton's of the Eighteenth, Thirty-first and Thirty-second New York and Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania. 2 Hancock's brigade consisted of the Fifth Wisconsin, Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania, Forty-third New York and Sixth Maine ; Davidson's, of the Thirty -third, Seventy-seventh and Forty-ninth New York and Seventh Maine. 3 Surgeon Stevens's " Three Years in the Sixth Corps." 4 A Vermont soldier was running the mill, and grinding wheat brought in by the foragers, for the troops. 278 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. for hospitals, and filled with sick and wounded soldiers of both armies. Among those so used was "Liberty Hall," the birthplace of Patrick Henry, which stood in the rear of the position of Franklin's corps. The health of the com- mand was better than it had been in the swampy camps on Warwick River, and the spirits of the men were high. Things generally seemed to be looking well for the cause of the government. Since the first of the year Burnside had occupied Eoanoke Island and Newbern, N. C., on the coast. The battle of Shiloh had been fought and was claimed as a Union victory. New Orleans and Island No. 10 had been taken, and the control of the Mississippi was lost to the Confederacy. Norfolk the original evacuation of which remains the most astonishing and unnecessary event of the war, in the view of both North and South had been reoc- cupied by the forces of the Union. In various minor encounters the advantage was claimed for the Federals. General Banks's troubles in the Shenandoah Valley, which afforded such solemn experience for our Vermont cavalry, were impending, but had not yet begun. The confidence of the troops in McClellan and in themselves was unbounded. They were before Eichmond with an army which seemed to them irresistible; and for them it was a mere question of time whether they should march into the rebel capital and end the war now, or a few days later. For the Vermont troops, moreover, the paymaster, Major Freeman, was on hand, and money plenty. Altogether it was a cheerful time. On the 24th the brigade was moved forward a mile or more, and encamped on the farm of Dr. Gaines, about three quarters of a mile from the Chickahominy, on the opposite shore of which the videttes of the enemy were visible with a glass. The river and the streams running into it were rising with recent heavy thunder showers, and the fatigue duty, in making roads, at which many of the troops were set, was THE FIRST BRIGADE. 279 pretty arduous. 1 The booming of artillery, used in the skir- mishes at the front as McClellan was advancing his lines- toward Richmond, was a frequent sound, and on the 31st it deepened into a steady roar, heard from ten o'clock till dark,, from the field, four to five miles away across the Chicka- hominy, where the first general engagement of the Peninsular campaign, called by northern historians the battle of Fair Oaks, and by the southerners Seven Pines, was fought. In this battle the Third and Fourth corps of the Army of the Potomac, which had crossed the Chickahominy several days before and advanced within six miles of Richmond, were attacked by General Joe Johnston, with the larger part of his army, in a sturdy effort to cut them to pieces while separated by the river from the rest of the army. But Keyes and Heintzleman, whose men " rose from beds of mud to fight amid the pelting of the storm," 2 reinforced by Sumner, made a good fight against superior numbers, and at nightfall still held their ground on the right bank of the Chickahominy. The battle was renewed the next morning, and after two or three hours ended in the withdrawal of the Confederates into their lines around Eichmond, while the Union commanders re-established the portions of their lines that had been lost the previous day. The attempt to drive the left wing of the army into the river had failed, and had cost the Confederates over 5,000 men killed and wounded, among the latter being General J. E. Johnston, who was wounded in the shoulder 1 "A marked evidence of the spirit of our volunteer free soldiery was offered yesterday. Part of our regiment was sent out to bridge over water courses and corduroy the road to prepare it for the passage of artillery. Long pine sticks had to be carried by hand many of them over half a mile, and then floated to where needed. Many stripped off their clothes ; others plunged in with them on ; all working nobly, till three deep and swift channels were spanned and the low places corduroyed. Others labored still more severely and did not come in till midnight. Things now seem nearly ready for our passage over the river, so that we may move "on ta Richmond." Letter from the camp of the Second Vermont. 2 General Keyes's report. 280 VEKMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. by a Union bullet and struck from his horse by a shell. The Union loss was nearly as great. While this struggle of the 31st was in progress, the Vermonters, with the rest of General Smith's division, were under orders to be ready to take arms at a moment's notice. With intensest interest they watched the signs of the con- flict. The roar of artillery drew nearer till during the afternoon the added roll of musketry could be distinguished and for a while after dark the flashes of cannon and explod- ing shells were visible. There was little sleep for any of the troops that night. The men of the Vermont brigade were under arms most of the night, and before light next morning they started with three days' rations and sixty rounds of am- munition, to cross the river at New Bridge, and take part in that day's fight. But the high water in the river interfered with the construction of the pontoon bridge which was to replace one burned by the enemy, and the brigade waited on the bank till ten o'clock A. M., when word came that its help was not needed, and it marched back to camp, leaving the Sixth regiment to guard the bridge. An hour later the regiments were called into line without arms, to hear the news of the repulse of the enemy, which was announced by the colonels and received by the men with rousing cheers. Accounts from the other side show that there was no cheer- ing in Richmond that day; and that as the extent of the Confederate losses became known a feeling of apprehension deepened almost into panic that night in the Confederate capital. The pause of fighting following the battle of Fair Oaks, was improved by McClellan to push his lines still nearer to Richmond. As part of this movement, Franklin's corps crossed the river and was posted on the right of the Union lines, leaving only Porter's corps on the left bank. Moving with the Sixth corps, Smith's division packed knapsacks at three o'clock on the morning of June 5th, and THE FIRST BRIGADE. 281 marching down the river four miles, crossed at Sumner's upper bridge, known as the " Grapevine Bridge," and moved up on the right bank to a hill near Golding's house, about a mile north of Pair Oaks, and half a mile south of the river. Here the Vermont brigade remained for nineteen days. It was its nearest approach to Richmond in a body, though a number of its members entered the city later, without arms, at vari- ous times during the war. The situation was an exciting one, and the duty severe. Stray shots and shells from the Confederate batteries on the hills in front often fell near the camps ; and the opposing lines were so near that one day two men were wounded while buying things at a sutler's cart, in the camp of the Fifth Vermont, by a Confederate sharpshooter perched in a tree top. 1 There was a good deal of digging going on, much of it at night, in the construction of breastworks and redoubts, of which the Vermonters had all they wanted. The picket duty was severe ; and the appre- hensions of attack such that the regiments stood to arms at three o'clock every morning, remaining in line till after sun- rise. This continued till it became evident from the increas- ing sick list that want of sufficient rest was telling on the health of the men, when orders were so changed that but one regiment in each brigade took arms before daylight. Still the sickness increased, due to the drenching of clothing, blankets and provisions by the frequent rains, and the malaria from the swamps and overflowed bottom lands, which grew more deadly as the hot season advanced. The camps and hospitals became filled with sick men, and the hospital steamers plied constantly from the White House to Wash- ington and Philadelphia, bearing thousands of victims of " Chickahominy fever." This prevailed in both armies, though the Northerners naturally suffered most. 1 One of these, Sergeant Bartholomew, Co. E., Fourth Vermont, was dangerously wounded in the abdomen. The man who shot him was dropped later in the day by a marksman of the Fourth Vermont. 282 YERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. For three weeks the two armies now looked each other in the face. General R. E. Lee had succeeded to the com- mand of the Confederate army, and it was reinforced till it numbered upwards of eighty thousand men. General McClellan was telegraphing daily to Washington that he was almost ready to take Richmond ; but it was the Confederate commander who forced the fighting, when it was renewed. General J. E. B. Stuart was first sent out with his troopers to operate on McClellan's communications, and by his fam- ous raid around the Union army, contributed to delay action on the part of the latter, while Stonewall Jackson with his army of 20,000 men, was brought down from the Shenandoah Valley with the utmost secrecy and despatch. On the 25th of June, McClellan advanced his left wing, which pressed back the Confederate lines for nearly a mile. This was McClellan's last offensive movement. On that day Jackson was but 12 miles from Richmond, and General Lee and he had met in person and arranged for a heavy blow for the relief of Richmond by a concerted attack on the Fifth corps, still on the north bank of the Chickahominy. Jackson expected to be within striking distance of Porter the next day. He did not get along as fast as he intended to, how- ever, and did no fighting that day. But A. P. Hill, who was to co-operate with him, marching from Richmond with his division, crossed the Chickahominy that day, the 26th, at Meadow Bridge, above Mechanicsville, and attacked the portion of Porter's command (McCall's division) which was guarding the left bank and bridges below. Hill was driven back by McCall, with a loss, as stated by General Long- street, of 3,000 or 4,000 men, while McCall's loss was but as many hundreds. A considerable part of this day's fighting was visible from the position of Smith's division, and the Yermonters, who had for a day or two worn their equipments constantly and kept their arms stacked in readiness for a sud- den call, were put under arms with the rest of the division THE FIRST BRIGADE. 283 in expectation of a movement. That night, in anticipation of the arrival of Lieut. Colonel Getty l with some reserve batteries of 30-pound Parrotts and siege guns which had been attached to Smith's division, General Smith threw up a redoubt, known as "Fort Lincoln," on a crest in front of his position. The Second Vermont was on duty all night, as a guard to the working parties ; and next day the heavy guns were mounted in the work, under the direction of Captain E. K. Platt, General Franklin's chief of artillery. That night, the arrival of Jackson's army on his right and rear having been fully learned by General McClellan, he decided to retreat to the James Eiver, leaving Porter one day more on the north bank to hold back Jackson and cover the start of the Union army. Next day, Friday, June 27th, the bloody and memorable battle of Gaines's Mill was fought. The story of that day, on which, through six hours of desperate fighting and at fear- ful cost, the Fifth corps, of 17,000 men, reinforced late in the afternoon by Slocum's division of Franklin's corps, held the position on the north bank against the Confederate divisions of Jackson, Longstreet, the two Hills and Whiting, 2 55,000 strong, cannot be told here. In this battle General Smith took a direct part with his heavy artillery. From Fort Lincoln the Confederate columns advancing over Gaines's Hill across the river two miles away, to attack Porter's left, were distinctly visible, and Smith opened and maintained for several hours a fire on them, which though at long range, was a serious annoyance and damage to the enemy, General Pryor's brigade of Longstreet's division especially suffering 1 Afterwards the gallant division commander under whom the Vermont brigade won some of its brightest laurels. 2 This Whiting was a cousin of Colonel Whiting of the Second Ver- mont. He was a Northern man and a graduate of West Point, who, having married a Southern wife, took his sword to the service of the Confederacy. 284 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. under it. 1 Of this first of the seven day's battles, the engage- ment inscribed on the Vermont standards under the title of "Golding's Farm," 3 was an episode. GOLDING'S FARM. To understand this action, it is to be noted that while two thirds of the Confederate army assaulted Porter on the north side of the river, it was the part of the other third, under Magruder, to distract the attention of the greater part of the Union army, on the south side, and thus to prevent the sending of help to Porter. To this end, Magruder made successive demonstrations against the Union lines in front of him, with ostentatious movements of troops and frequent furious cannonades. A considerable portion of these demon- strations were made against the position of Franklin's corps, whose lines were held throughout the day by Smith's divi- sion, the other division (Slocum's) having been sent across the river. Magruder's batteries opened from the crests in front of Smith about noon, and Smith's guns replied. The cannonading was kept up during the afternoon, and at times the shells fell pretty thickly in the camps of the Vermont regiments, killing a man of the Fifth, and wounding three others. In the latter part of the afternoon, having discovered, probably, that half of Franklin's corps had been sent across the river, General Magruder ordered General Jones, com- manding a division, to " feel of the enemy " in his front with strong pickets, and to " follow up any advantage that might offer." General Robert Toombs was directed by Jones to do the " feeling," with his brigade of Georgia troops. The 1 General Pryor says in his Report that he deployed his brigade "under a galling tire from the enemy's battery over the river;" and that his troops 'suffered severely from the battery across the Chickahominy." 3 Erroneously dated in the lists of battles in Adj't General Washburn's Report for 1866, as occurring on the 26th. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 285 pressure came on Hancock's brigade, which was manning the lines in front, supported by a portion of the Yermont brigade ; and a sharp engagement, lasting two hours, follow- ed. Toombs did not find his task a pleasant one, nor did he obtain any advantage to follow up, and with the repulse of his demonstration the operations of the day on the south side of the Chickahominy ended. Taking up this affair in detail, with reference to the part taken in it by Vermont troops, it was about three o'clock in the afternoon when the enemy's movements in front of Smith became threatening. General Brooks, whose brigade was under arms near its camp, was thereupon ordered to send a regiment to strengthen Hancock's line, in the skirts of the woods in front of Garnett's house. He sent the Fourth Vermont, and it was deployed between the Fifth Wisconsin and Forty-Third New York. Eight opposite, a hundred yards away, across an open field, in the edge of some timber, was the skirmish line of the enemy supported by several Georgia regiments. The same troops had faced each other at that point for some days pre- vious, and the men on the two sides had met in truces of their own arrangement, to exchange newspapers and trade coffee for tobacco, and a mutual understanding had been established that there should be no shooting on either side, without notice. This little arrangement came to an end that afternoon. Shortly after sundown, the enemy advanced in line of battle, drove in the Union pickets some of whom fell back while others took shelter in a hollow, over which the bullets soon flew thickly in both directions and advanc- ing half way across the field to the top of a low ridge, fired a volley. The Fourth Vermont, with the other regiments on its right and left, returned the fire so warmly that the enemy fell back to cover. They returned a while after, and partially sheltered by the ridge, kept up a sharp musketry fire, which 286 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. was returned by Hancock's men and the Vermonters, till some time after dark. During this affair the Sixth Yermont was also brought up to support the right of Hancock's line ; and the pickets, of the Forty-Third New York, having exhausted their am- munition, a portion of the Sixth Vermont took their places on the skirmish line, while two companies, under Major Tuttle, were sent some distance to the right, to take the enemy on the flank. Still later the Sixth relieved the Fifth Maine and Forty-Ninth Pennsylvania, and held the picket line on the centre through the night. Two companies of the Fifth Yermont J were also on the picket line, in the low ground on the right. The rest of the brigade lay on their arms within supporting distance, through the night, the Fourth regiment having been withdrawn from the front before midnight. The brigade commanders on each side considered this an affair of some consequence. General Toornbs, in his report of it, says : " The action now raged with great violence "for an hour and a half, the enemy exhibiting a determined "purpose to drive us out of the ravine; but finding them- " selves incapable of wrenching it from the heroic grasp of "the Second and Fifteenth Georgia volunteers, were driven "back and repulsed after two hours of fierce and determined "conflict." In fact, however, the repulse was wholly on the other side. General Hancock says : " The contest of "musketry continued until long after dark, when the enemy "was repulsed with serious loss. The cartridges of our "troops were nearly exhausted at the close of the contest. " The action of itself had its greatest importance from the "fact that the enemy had just gained a success on the other " bank of the Chickahominy, and from the fact that had he "been able to force his way through our lines, at the point 1 Companies I and C. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 287 "held by me, he would have been able to separate the two " portions of our army on either bank of the stream." Gen- eral Hancock further alludes to the " valuable assistance " rendered by General Brooks with the Fourth and Sixth Vermont. The Fourth Vermont had eight men wounded in this action, and the Sixth lost one killed, six wounded and one missing. Hancock's command (including the Vermonters) had seven men killed and 111 wounded and missing. The regiments opposed to them were the Second, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Georgia, of Toombs's brigade, and the Seventh Georgia of Anderson's brigade. General Toombs does not state his total loss ; but he admits a loss of about 200 men killed and wounded in two of his regi- ments/ and his aggregate loss was probably at least twice that of the Union troops opposed to him. It has long been known that if General McClellan had that day resolutely thrown forward his left wing he could have marched into Richmond; for Magruder had but 25,000 men with which to oppose him, while McClellan had 60,000 men on the south side of the Chickahominy. " Had McClel- "lan," says General Magruder, in his report, "massed his *' force in column and advanced against any point in our "line of battle, though the head of his column would have " suffered severely, its momentum would have insured its " success, and the occupation of our works about Richmond, "and consequently of the city, might have been his reward.' But General McClellan was thinking this day not of advance but of retreat. During that night the unwelcome intelligence General Toombs states that the Second Georgia "lost in killed and wounded about one-half of the men carried into action " having previously stated that seven companies of the Second Georgia took about 250 muskets into action and that the Fifteenth Georgia lost its commander, Colonel Mclntosh, mortally wounded, and 71 men killed and wounded. He adds that many other valuable officers and men were killed or wounded. 288 VEllMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. spread rapidly through the army that the siege of Richmond was to be abandoned, and that the retreat of the army had in fact begun. Long wagon trains and lines of artillery and troops were already moving toward White Oak Swamp ; and bonfires of the new tents, supplied a few days before, and of commissary stores and clothing which could not be "carried, began to light up the wide spread sites of the army camps. It was a time of general gloom, relieved in part by the uni- versal conviction that immense superiority in numbers on the part of the enemy alone had compelled the retreat ; and the equally universal confidence, among the troops, that the genius and ability of their general-in-chief would bring them out all right in the not distant end. 1 Next day Franklin's corps was withdrawn a short dis- tance toward Fair Oaks ; the movement of the Vermont brigade being accelerated by a furious shelling opened on its camps in the forenoon by rebel batteries posted on Gaines's Hill across the river, and on Garnett's Hill in front. The shells flew thick and fast, crossing each other at right angles over and around the tents, killing two men and wound- ing six before the column started. But the men had their knapsacks already packed, and the brigade moved off to the left for half a mile through the woods between the river and Fair Oaks, whither the rest of the division followed. On the way the rear guard, of Davidson's brigade, turned to meet Anderson's Georgia brigade, which crowded on its rear, and gave the latter a rebuff in which the Seventh and Eighth Georgia lost by their own account 150 men, including Colonel Lamar of the Eighth Georgia, who was severely wounded '"That we are any of us saved, is the result only of McClellan's genius." Army letter. It was this night that McClellan sent his famous letter to Secretary Stanton, in which he said : " The government has not sustained the army. If you do not do so now the game is lost. * * You have done your best to sacrifice this army." When he was writing this McClellan had 20,000 more men than were opposed to Mm. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 289 and taken prisoner ; Lieut. Colonel White, commanding the Third Georgia, also captured ; and Lieut. Colonel Tower, Eighth Georgia, Major Magruder, and a dozen commissioned officers wounded. Starting before daylight next morning, Sunday, June 29th, while a thin picket line (withdrawn at sunrise) kept up a show of strength in front of Magruder's lines, General Smith's division moved to the east, along the highlands skirt- ing the Chickahominy, halting and forming line near Dr. Trent's house, to cover the rear of the wagon trains. Then turning to the southwest it marched to Savage's Station. The scene of destruction and apparent confusion prevailing there was one not soon to be forgotten by any eye witness. To this point a large share of the immense stores gathered at the White House had been brought by railroad, and what could not now be loaded into the wagons was destroyed. Piles of hard bread as large as houses, and immense quanti- ties of flour, sugar, coffee and pork, in barrels, were consigned to the flames, and were made unfit for use by the smoke when not utterly consumed. Boxes of clothing and shoes were knocked open and every man helped himself to what he wanted, while enough was left to clothe and shoe the in- habitants of the region for two years after. A long train of cars was loaded with powder and shells, the cars set on fire, and the train started down grade to the river, filling the air with exploding shells and fragments of shattered cars as it held its fiery way, till it crashed through the blazing railroad bridge, when, with a grand explosion, train and bridge dis- appeared together. Here too were the large army hospitals, in which over 2,500 sick and wounded men, and several hun- dred surgeons and nurses, were left to fall into the enemy's hands. The battle of Savage's Station was fought in the after- noon and evening of this day. In estimating its importance it is to be remembered that the success of General McClellan's 290 VEKMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. change of base to the James, depended first on his successful passage of the great natural barrier of White Oak Swamp, which, extending over half-way across the Peninsula south of Richmond, lay squarely across his line of retreat. To with- draw an army of 115,000 fighting men from the face of an eager and victorious foe, and to move it with its immense army train of 5,000 wagons through the narrow funnel which afforded the only practicable passage through the swamp, was no child's play. Its accomplishment was perhaps the greatest achievement of McClellan's military career. SAVAGE'S STATION. The duty of making a stand in front of the road leading from Savage's Station to the swamp, was undertaken by the faithful Sumner, who was to be (but was not) supported by Heintzleman. If Sumner could hold his ground June 29, 1862. at the Station the success of the grand move- ment was largely assured ; for the swamp, once passed, would guard the retreat as much as it had hindered the march of the army. Sumner, after giving Magruder's a sharp repulse at Allen's Farm, two miles up the railroad toward Rich- mond, during the forenoon, fell back and formed his corps in front of Savage's Station, supposing that Heintzleman was taking position on his left. But to his surprise he learned, after the fighting began in the afternoon, that the latter had moved off to the swamp. 1 Slocum's division, of Franklin's corps, had been sent forward to the swamp by General McClellan. General Smith also expected to move his division to and through the swamp that day; but finding in the morning, when he rode with 1 Heintzleman's excuse for this was that he considered the open ground around Savage's Station too narrow to permit him to deploy his corps, in addition to the other troops thronging into it ; and he thought it best to take advantage of the only road leading direct from Savage's Station to White Oak Swamp, while it was open to him. The discovery that he had gone was made by Generals Franklin and Sedgwick, who rode out to the left to find Heintzleman, and were fired on by the enemy's artillery. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 291 General Franklin to the Station to look the ground over, that the position there was insufficiently guarded, he, by General Franklin's direction, disposed his division for a time in front of the Station. This point was guarded by him for two hours. After Sumner arrived with his corps, shortly after noon, Smith started on with his division for White Oak Swamp ; but had not gone over two miles on the way when he was recalled by General Sumner, who, left in the lurch by Heintzleman's departure, was glad to make the most of Smith's support. The rear guard at Savage's Station thus consisted of Sumner's corps and Smith's division ; and as it happened, all the fighting there done by that division fell to the lot of the Vermont brigade. The stand of the rear guard at Savage's Station was a notable passage in the history of the Peninsular campaign, v and the battle will be ever memorable to Yermonters as that in which one of our regiments, the Fifth, suffered the greatest loss in killed and wounded ever sustained by a Vermont regiment in action. Fully aware at last of McClellan's purpose and line of retreat, the Confederate commanders had been all day of Sunday, June 29th, hurrying forward their forces to strike the portion of his army which should be found on the north side of the swamp. This must fight alone, for the roads from Savage's Station into the swamp were packed with troops, artillery wagons, and herds of cattle, till not another man or animal could be added. Any attack upon or panic in this immense procession would have involved tremendous losses of guns and material. As has been stated, Smith's division arrived first at Savage's Station, and formed line of battle there about one o'clock. Some two hours later, Sumner's corps having arrived and taken position, Smith started for White Oak Swamp. He had proceeded about two miles when the engagement opened at the Station, and he was ordered back by Sumner. Sumner had stationed 292 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAK. one of his two divisions, Richardson's, along the railroad at the Station and to the right of it, and the other, Sedgwick's, in open ground between the railroad and the Williamsburg road. When Smith's division arrived he sent Hancock's brigade to support Richardson on the right, and Brooks's brigade to the left to prolong Sedgwick's line and hold the ground which Heintzleman had been expected to occupy. The Third brigade, commanded by Colonel Taylor, its com- mander, General Davidson, having had a sunstroke that day, was held in reserve. All the fighting of the battle of Savage's Station was done on the left of the railroad. Rich- ardson's front was threatened but not assaulted, and Han- cock for once had nothing to do. On the left, Sedgwick and Brooks repulsed and drove from their front two of Ma- gruder's three divisions; secured the position of Savage's Station for four hours, during which the last of McClellan's army, save the rear guard, made good its retreat into the swamp; and held the ground till they themselves, under cover of the darkness, could follow the rest of the army. Had the Vermont brigade failed to do its duty, Sedgwick would have been flanked and probably cut to pieces, and Richardson and Hancock, taken in detail, might have been destroyed or captured. The columns pouring into White Oak Swamp would have been stampeded ; White Oak Bridge would have been seized by the enemy ; and the story of the grand change of base would in all human probability have had a very different ending. The details of this service are full of interest. General Magruder's lorce in this battle consisted of his own division and the divisions of McLaw's and Jones ; and in addition to his field batteries, he had a 32-lb rifled gun, mounted on a railroad platform car, and protected by an iron plated shield. Upon the performance of this " Railroad Merrimac," as the Richmond papers called it, the Confede- rates had counted not a little ; and it did them good service THE FIEST BRIGADE. 293 that day. The battle opened about half past four o'clock P. M., by Magruder's artillery, to which Sedgwick's guns re- plied. To the roar of these, Smith's division returned to the field. The day was very hot, and the men had been march- ing or standing under arms all day ; but they hurried back at double quick, conscious that they were wanted. General Brooks halted the brigade something over a mile from the field, on the Williamsburg road. His orders were to advance into the woods on the left of the road and push back the enemy, now swarming into the woods in front, in strong force, and threatening to envelop Sedgwick's left. General Brooks formed his command with a line of battle in front, composed of the Fifth Yermont, Lieut. Colonel Grant, 1 on the right, and the Sixth, Colonel Lord, on the left. Sup- porting these were the Second, Colonel Whiting, and Third, Lieut. Colonel Yeazey, 2 each in column by division. Two companies (A. and K.) of the Second Yermont were thrown forward as skirmishers, under command of Lieut. Colonel Walbridge. The Fourth regiment, Colonel Stoughton, was held in reserve, and did not become engaged. General Brooks had little or no aid from the artillery, the Union batteries engaged being all posted on the north of the Williamsburg road. The four regiments first named entered the woods in the order above described, and advanced about half a mile, when the skirmishers engaged the enemy's skirmishers, and drove them back upon their main line. The skirmishers then drew off to the left, and the battle on the south of the Williamsburg road opened in deadly earnest. When it closed each of the Yermont regiments 1 Colonel Smalley was not with the brigade during this campaign, and at this time was absent on sick leave. 2 Colonel Hyde was taken sick a day or two before ; and Lieut. Colonel Veazey, who had been for a time in command of the Seventy-seventh New York, of Davidson's brigade, was the day previous, at the close of the action at Golding's farm, placed in command of the Third Vermont. 294 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. actively engaged had cleared its front of the enemy, and the brigade held its ground till it was withdrawn to join the division on the night march to White Oak Swamp. As the density of the woods and the shadows of the evening, which were already falling as the brigade entered the timber, hid the regiments from each other and to a great extent from the eye of the brigade commander, the fighting was necessarily of a somewhat disconnected and desultory sort. General Brooks Battle-neld of Savage's Station, June 29, 1862. was there and did his duty and received a painful wound but from the nature of the case he could not direct to any considerable extent the details of the fighting of his brigade. Each regimental commander had his order to advance and engage any opposing force ; and each the final order to re- tire. Between these orders, each colonel largely fought his regiment on his own hook ; and the work of the brigade can be best described by describing the actions of the several regi- THE FIRST BRIGADE. 295 ments. These will be taken up in the order in which they became engaged. The Fifth regiment had the right of the line, and at the order to advance pushed into the woods in good shape, its right resting on and directing its course by the Williams- burg road. Soon after entering the woods it marched straight over a Union regiment which had been ordered in shortly before, but had halted in the woods and refused to advance. This was a large regiment, which had joined Smith's division several weeks before from General Wool's command. Its men, mostly recruited in the saloons and beer gardens of New York city, made a fine appearance on parade, but proved to be of poor fighting quality. This was their first experience under fire, and they had thrown themselves upon the ground and utterly refused to move. Stepping over them the men of the Fifth marched straight on. 1 The enemy's battery and the railroad monitor were raking the woods through which they must advance with a terrible fire of shell and grape. As they neared the open ground in front they came up with the line of skirmishers, who now withdrew, and in a moment more the line of the Fifth came out into an open field, and confronted the hitherto unseen enemy. In the open ground on the right of the road, Burns's brigade, supported on its left by the First Minnesota, was actively engaged with Kershaw's brigade. In front of the Fifth was Semmes's brigade in a hollow which almost hid it from view. On a crest beyond, on the Williamsburg road, were Kemper's guns. In later days and with added experience, Colonel Grant, 1 " I remember as if it was yesterday the way we tramped over that line of cringing men, cursing them soundly for their cowardice. The same regiment the next day broke at White Oak Swamp, and ran away, and had our brigade not been made of better stuff, Jackson would have forced the crossing at White Oak Bridge. General McClellan had the whole regiment put under guard, and punished officers and men severely." Statement of Sergeant Lucius Bigelow. 296 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. in such a situation, would have halted his regiment in the protection of the woods, thrown out skirmishers, and either awaited the enemy's attack, or at least postponed his own advance till the battery in front had been flanked and dis- lodged. But it was his first battle, and he did not intend to do any less than he was ordered to do. His order was to advance and push back the enemy, and he obeyed it even too literally. As the regiment pressed straight on, its right soon crossed the Williamsburg road, which here bends a little to- wards the south, the right company lapping the left of the First Minnesota. 1 It advanced till the enemy was visible in the hollow in front. Colonel Grant now ordered a bayonet charge. The Fifth charged on the double quick ; and the opposing line broke into the woods on its right and left. Another Confederate infantry line remained beyond the hollow, and, halting his regiment, Grant opened fire upon it. Two volleys were returned, from as many regiments, while Kemper's battery opened with grape and canister, and from the edge of the woods to the left came a cross fire of mus- ketry. The storm of death swept through the ranks of the Fifth with murderous effect. In less time than it takes to tell it, the ground was strewn with fallen Yermonters. In twenty minutes every other man in the line of the Fifth was killed or wounded. None but heroes of the stoutest mettle would have held their ground under such circumstances ; but refusing its left to avoid the enfilading fire from the woods, and taking advantage of a slight swell of ground and a few scattered trees in front, the Fifth maintained its advanced position, silenced the enemy in its front, and did not fall back till ordered to the rear with the brigade, hours after. The men had sixty rounds of cartridges, and many of them used them all, exchanging their guns as they became heated 1 Some of the men of the First Minnesota fought for a time in the ranks of the Fifth Vermont. THE FIKST BRIGADE. 297 for those of their fallen comrades. Soon after dark, the fire of the enemy wholly ceased, and the Fifth was in undisputed possession of its position. No Vermont regiment ever made a braver fight, or at such fearful cost. The Fifth had in line on that field probably not over 400 muskets. Its loss in killed and wounded was 206 most of whom fell in the first half hour. 1 The larger portion of the casualties were inflicted by Kemper's battery. Asst. Surgeon Sawin of the Second Yermout, who visited the field next day, says in a letter writ- ten soon after : " Thirty men of the Fifth Vermont were found lying side by side, dressed in as perfect a line as for a dress parade, who were all stricken down by one discharge of grape and canister from the enemy's battery." '* Com- panies E. and H. suffered especially from the artillery fire. Company E. had three commissioned officers and 56 men in line, of whom but seven came out unharmed and of the others twenty-five lacking one of one-half were killed or mortally wounded. In the ranks of that company that day stood five brothers, from Manchester, Henry, Hiram, Silas, William and Edward Cummings, with a cousin of the same surname, William H. Cummings, and a brother-in-law, Horace Clayton. Of these seven men six were killed and 1 We could not, allowing for shirks and feeble men, blown by double- quicking, have carried more than 400 muskets into battle. We lost in twenty minutes 206 men, killed and wounded. In spite of this awful loss the regiment held its ground and quelled the fire of the enemy ; and it was difficult to make the men understand why they should retreat after dark; for they felt that they had held their ground and won the day." Statement of Sergeant Lucius Bigelow. 2 This scene, so sad to Union eyes, was visited, and of course viewed with different feelings, by many Confederate officers. In his article on McClellan's Change of Base, in the Century Magazine for July, 1885, Gen- eral D. H. Hill says of it : "About half a mile from the Station (Savage's) we saw what seemed to be an entire regiment of Federals cold in death, and learned that a Vermont regiment had made a desperate charge upon the division of McLaw's, and had been almost annihilated." 298 VEBMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. one severely wounded. 1 Such fatality in one family in one battle, was probably without a parallel in the war. Kemper's battery had fired three rounds before the Fifth could reply. Two companies then gave their attention especially to the battery, which about this time, being threat- ened by the advance of the rest of the Yermont brigade and left unsupported by the retreat of the Confederate infantry, ceased firing and withdrew, and was not heard from again that night. The experience of the other three regiments was less severe. All advanced together, but found it difficult to keep their lines dressed in the woods, or to hold their direction. The Sixth started forward with the Fifth, but bore more to the left. It was at one time in great danger, as the enemy lapped its line, and a Confederate regiment moved in the twilight to its left and rear ; but this retreated after firing a volley. Musket balls and grapeshot flew thickly through the woods, and over sixty of the men fell without seeing their opponents. The Sixth held its position in the woods till the enemy retired from its front, and till the brigade was with- drawn. The Second regiment was still moving in column by division, when, its front having been uncovered by the divergence of the regiments in front, it suddenly came under fire from the enemy's batteries in front and halted. Colonel Whiting's order at this juncture, was to "charge bayonets!" * This being a movement not known to the tactics, as the regi- ment was then closed in mass, the men stood still. His next 1 The survivor was the oldest of the brothers, Henry. He had a seri- ous wound in the thigh, and was discharged six months after by special order of the Secretary of War. William Cummings suffered amputation of the thigh, and did not survive the operation. 2 Statement of Colonel "Whiting, who frankly admits that for the moment he was "at his wits end." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 299 command was to cheer, and this was lustily obeyed. 1 The regiment was then partially deployed, and the front line re- turned the enemy's fire coming from the woods in front. The regiment was subsequently withdrawn to a cross road, where it remained till the brigade retired. Of the casualties in the Second regiment about half took place among the skirmishers. The Third regiment started forward in rear of the Sixth in column by division ; but in marching through the woods, as was the case with each regiment, lost sight of the other regi- ments. It probably bore to the left of the Sixth till its front was uncovered. As it advanced it came under a lively artillery fire which, however, damaged the trees more than the men. In accordance with his orders, Lieut. Colonel Yeazey now deployed the regiment into line and kept on till suddenly from the thick woods in front, about forty yards away, came a challenge : "Who are you?" Some one in the line of the Third answered, "The Third Vermont." The prompt reply to this was a volley of musketry, which took effect principally on the left of the Third, cutting down Captain Corbin commanding the left company, Company C., and nearly half of the men of that company in the line. The Third returned the fire, at the same time, by Colonel Veazey's order, cheering loudly, and the opposing regiment, which was the Fifth Louisiana, of Semmes's brigade, unable to see what force was before it, and fearing, as some of the rebels were heard to say to each other, that it would be flanked or cut off, retreated without staying upon the order of its going, and was seen and heard no more that night. The Third maintained its position till ordered back, an hour later. After the enemy's fire in front had slackened, and it was be- 1 ' ' That command to cheer I lay up as the best act performed by me during my service. Only soldiers can estimate what a cheer may accom- plish, when matters seem to be on the balance." Statement of Colonel Whiting. 300 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. coming dark in the woods, Major Walbridge, who, with a por- tion of the skirmishers, was at the extreme left of the liae of the brigade, heard troops moving still farther to the left. Surmising that it might be a Union regiment coming up to extend the line, he rode out towards them and hailed them with the question : " What troops are those ?" They at once halted, and a voice replied : " Who are you ?" Walbridge repeated: "What regiment is that?" Again the voice replied: "You tell!" followed by the order : "Keady!" Be- fore the order to fire, which followed, came, Walbridge had wheeled his horse, put spurs to him, and with his head bent down to his saddlebow, was dashing away through the under- brush. The bullets rattled around him ; but he was not hurt. General Brooks, however, who was also riding to the left at the time to learn what was going on there, was wounded in the calf of the right leg by this volley. The Confederate regiment fell back at once after firing. The loss of the brigade at Savage's Station was 358, as follows : Killed. Wounded. Missing. Died of wounds. Total. Second Vermont, 5 43 3 48 Third " 6 18 24 Fourth "00 5 sick in hosp. 5 Fifth " 45 158 3 " " " 27 206 Sixth " 15 51 9 " " " 6 75 71 270 17 36 358 A number of additional " missing " were reported at the time ; but included among them were 14 men detailed to remain as nurses with the sick and wounded. The rest, for the most part belonged in the list of killed. Three brave young officers, Lieutenants Sumner and Comstock of the Fifth and Kamsay of the Third, were among the killed ; and the list of wounded comprised eleven commissioned officers. 1 The 1 Captains Corbin and Nelson of the Third, Captains Benton, Jenne and Seager, and Lieutenants Barber, Peck, Smith, Wilson and Wright of the Fifth, and Lieutenant Wood of the Sixth. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 301 loss was not all on one side. Kershaw lost 290 men, some of whom, no doubt, fell from the fire of the Vermont troops. General Semmes, who, as his report shows, had four regi- ments, the Tenth and Fifty-third Georgia, Fifth Louisiana, and Thirty-second Virginia, (with two more, Fifteenth Vir- ginia and Tenth Louisiana, in reserve) opposed to the Third and Sixth Vermont, admits severe loss in the Tenth Georgia. Sernmes says that "no less than four hundred of the enemy's dead were found on the field the next morning," in front of three regiments of his brigade ; and that " more than one hundred of the dead enemy " were counted on the field im- mediately in front of the Fifth Louisiana. How wild these assertions are may be seen from the fact that the Fifth Louisiana, by Semmes's account, was engaged with no regi- ment but the Third Vermont, 1 and the killed of the Third were five ! A like discount of ninety-five per cent, must be made in his statement of the number of Union dead in front of his brigade. This did not hold its position ; but, as his report shows, marched back to its camp an hour and a half before the Vermont brigade left the field. If General Sem- mes's statement of his own loss is as wide of the truth, a con- siderable addition may be made to the Confederate loss in his brigade. 3 It may be mentioned here that the Union soldiers wounded and captured at Savage's Station suffered much from want of care, though the less severely wounded did their 1 ''Discovering troops not more than forty yards in front, I directed Private Maddox, Co. K., Fifth Louisiana, to advance and challenge "Who are you ?" to which the reply was " Friends." Hearing this I demanded : " What regiment?" and was answered : " Third Vermont." Whereupon the order was given to commence firing." Semmes's report. 2 As the aggregates of casualties in the seven days battles, on both sides, generally comprise several engagements, it is difficult to allot the losses accurately. Confederate reports seem to admit a loss of about 1,000 more than the Union losses in the action at Savage's Station. 302 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. best to relieve the more helpless sufferers. "We were obliged to neglect many," says P. H. Taylor, a member of the First Minnesota, who, himself wounded, acted as a volunteer nurse, " and maggots filled nearly every wound that came under my observation." 1 " You must do the best you can for your wounded," said Stonewall Jackson to Mr. Taylor: "we've got all we want to do to follow up your army." A number of Vermonters died in the field hospitals at Savage's Station. The survivors were sent to Richmond. " This day's operations," says the Comte de Paris, "were a great success for McClellan. The first and most difficult step in his retreat movement was taken and with fortunate results. He had succeeded in placing White Oak Swamp between his army and the main body of his adversaries, and in surmounting this serious obstacle without losing either a cannon or a vehicle. 3 All the efforts of the enemy to effect a rout in his rear-guard had been repulsed with loss." Sedg- wick and Brooks did the fighting by which this result was secured. Magruder and his division generals evidently realized the importance of those closing hours of the 29th of June. Their attempt to destroy Sumner was pressed with ardor and high hope ; and but for the steadiness of the Ver- mont brigade, which for four hours held back double its numbers, without yielding to them a foot of ground, it would have been successful. General Sumner wa for staying at Savage's. " No, General," he said to General Franklin, " you 1 " In spite of all my precautions, my wound became maggotty; and there is no describing the misery I was in. How to remove them was a puzzle ; but I obtained some spirits of turpentine, which others were using for the same purpose, and placing my leg in the right position I turned in the turpentine, letting it pass entirely through the wound, which had the effect of clearing out the wound and the rnaggots also." Dia-y of Lucius D. Savage, Company F., Second Vermont, wounded in the leg at Savage's Station. 2 This is not quite correct. Mott lost a gun at White Oak Bridge, and the batteries attached to McCall's division lost fourteen guns at Glendale. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 303 shall not go, nor will I go. I never leave a victorious field. Why, if I had 20,000 more men I would crush this rebel- lion!" x But he was finally convinced by Franklin and Smith and by Lieutenant Berry of Smith's staff, who had seen General McClellan but a short time before, that the latter expected all of his army to cross the swamp that night, and he reluctantly permitted the division commanders to give the necessary orders. WHITE OAK SWAMP. About ten o'clock that evening, Smith's division resumed the retreat. Leaving the dead on the field and the wounded who were not able to march, some in a blacksmith's shop and others under rude shelters of boughs, in charge of Sur- geons Kussell of the Fifth and Sawin of the Second, who, with several hospital attendants were left to care for them and share their captivity, the brigade marched with the divi- sion for White Oak Swamp. The night was dark ; but numer- ous fires, built by teamsters and stragglers in the pine woods along the road, lit up the line of march. Sick and wounded men, many using their guns as crutches, staggered in long procession after the column. The road was filled with wagons, ambulances and artillery, mingled with the troops. Throngs of stragglers, of other organizations, hung upon the rear of the brigade, and pressed into the ranks of the regi- ments when they halted ; and it was with difficulty that any organization was preserved. All night long the march con- tinued. Shortly after daylight, on the 30th, the division crossed White Oak Bridge and halted on the other side of the creek, where it was to make a second stand, to cover the retreat of the army. The bridge was destroyed in the morn- ing after the last trains and troops had crossed. Ayres's, Mott's and Wheeler's batteries were posted to command the 1 Century Magazine, Vol. XXX., p. 463. 304 * VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. crossing, and the division was stationed in the woods and open ground near by. The Vermont brigade, after several changes of position, halted in an open field, skirted by a belt of trees, near the bridge. Hundreds of army wagons were parked in the field. Officers and men, exhausted by the ex- citement and fatigue of the previous day and night, stretched themselves on the grass, and sank into sleep. They had slept for several hours when their rest was rudely broken. Stonewall Jackson, having effected a crossing of the Chicka- hominy the evening previous, at the Grapevine Bridge, which he had to rebuild, had pushed on in pursuit of the Union column till, about the middle of the forenoon, his advance was checked at White Oak Bridge, by finding the bridge gone, and Smith's division posted on the opposite bank. The inequalities of the ground on the north side enabled him to approach without discovery within easy artillery range, and he quietly brought forward seven field batteries to the brow of the hill, which commanded the field in which the Vermont troops lay and most of the ground around. The guns were hidden by the underbrush, and their presence was not dis- covered by a man of Smith's command. Accounts differ as to the number of Jackson's guns in battery. Colonel Crutch- field, his chief of artillery, says, in his report of the affair : " I found it possible with a little work, to open a way " through the woods to the right of the road on which we " advanced, by which our guns could be brought, unseen by "the enemy, in position behind the crest of the hill on "this side, about one thousand yards from the enemy's "batteries. Seven batteries, in all 23 guns, were accordingly " ordered up. * * * About fifteen minutes of two P. M., " we opened on the enemy, who had no previous intimation "of our position and intention." General Jackson in his report says the number of guns so used was twenty-eight. General D. H. Hill says there were thirty-one guns upon the bluff 26 from his division and five from Whiting's division. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 305 Either number was quite enough to satisfy the troops exposed to their fire. For these, the opening bellow of the cannon- ade was the first note of warning, and before they realized what it meant the air was full of whizzing missiles which plunged with exceeding carelessness among the troops, knocking mules and wagons to pieces, and making bad work among the battery men and horses. 1 General Franklin says of this bombardment : " It commenced with a severity which I never heard equalled in the field." The scene presented for a few moments after, is thus described by Surgeon Stevens of the Seventy -seventh New York : " Unutterable confusion "prevailed for a time ; riderless horses galloped madly to the " rear ; officers wandered without commands, and men were "left without directions how to act. Generals Smith and " Davidson occupied an old fashioned wooden house, which "stood upon the brow of the elevation above and facing the " bridge. About it were many orderlies, holding their horses. '* The first volley riddled the house with shells. The gray- " haired owner of the house (Mr. Britton) was cut in two as "he stood in the door, and several other persons were injured. " General Smith, at the moment the cannonade opened, was " engaged at his rude toilet ; his departure from the house " was so hasty that he left his watch, which he did not re- " cover. He coolly walked to a less exposed position and "devoted himself to restoring order." In this confusion the Vermont regiments shared to the extent of breaking for the nearest shelter. But they rallied at once behind the screen of timber, under the efforts of some of the regimental and staff officers who retained their coolness, at a time when some undeniably brave officers entirely lost their self-possession. And when General Brooks rode slowly up on his iron-gray horse, and came out through the skirt of the woods into 1 Wheeler's battery suffered severely, four of his guns being disabled by loss of artillerymen and horses ; and one of Mott's guns was left behind when the division moved on. 20 306 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. sight of his men. they welcomed him with a cheer and fell into line with a degree of promptness which was remarkable proof of their courage and discipline. Brooks threw out a line of skirmishers into the clearing, and a firm front, which was not again broken that day, was soon presented to the enemy. Soon after the rally of the brigade in the pine timber, through which the hostile shells still flew thickly, the Third Vermont, Lieut. Colonel Yeazey, was ordered to the left, to reinforce the Third brigade, and was warmly welcomed by General Davidson, who posted it to cover his right flank. Next it on the left, was a large and fine looking regiment. The little episode which followed is best told in Colonel Yeazey's words : " The enemy was shelling the woods " severely but harmlessly in the main. I went to our right "to deploy one or two companies to cover my right flank, "there being no troops beyond us. When I rode back, I "found the regiment on our left had disappeared. Upon "inquiry of my men there, they said: 'Oh, they all ran "away. They could not stand the shelling of the pine "trees.' 1 Instead of feeling alarm at being left alone, in " expectation of a rebel attack, the men of the Third treated "the running away of that regiment as a joke on them ; and " seemed to feel perfectly competent to take care of all the "rebels in the Confederacy. I don't think it occurred to any " man in the line to leave because others had left. When I "reported the situation to General Davidson, who was a "nervous, outspoken Yirginian, a regular army officer, his " disgust at the conduct of his own men was only equalled by "his admiration of the conduct of the Third ; and the com- " pliments he passed upon Yermont troops were too vehement "to bear repeating. These and other things showed that 1 "My troops formed on the new line well, except the Twentieth New York, who lost their formation." Report of General John W. Davidson & very mild description of the conduct of the regiment named. THE FIKST BRIGADE. 307 "even at that early day the Vermont troops were highly "regarded by other commanders." Jackson's attempt to stampede the rear guard at White Oak Bridge thus failed. His artillery kept up its firing at intervals all day ; but his cavalry and skirmishers were driven back whenever they appeared, and he was compelled to halt for the day on the north side of the creek, though he was greatly needed at Glendale, but three miles away to the south- west, where Longstreet and A. P. Hill were making a desper- ate effort to cut in two the retreating Union column. Jackson has been much blamed by writers on both sides for remaining comparatively quiet all that day, in plain hearing of Long- street's guns. He said, in his report, that he was " eager to press forward ;" but that the destruction of the bridge and the strong position of the enemy prevented his advancing till next morning. It was the firm front held by Smith's division which deterred him ; and largely in consequence of the service thus rendered, the mass of the Army of the Poto- mac was able to reach Malvern Hill, without serious stoppage or disaster. The brigade resumed its march to the James that (Mon- day) night, about eleven o'clock. 1 At that hour General Smith drew his division out quietly from its lines, without the knowledge of the enemy, the Confederate pickets being deceived by false orders, shouted within their hearing by the Union officers. In this march the Sixth corps moved by a comparatively unused road, two miles south of the Quaker road over which the main portion of the army moved. This road had been explored by a member of General Smith's staff during the day previous, and found to be practicable. 1 In the official lists of battles and engagements of the Vermont troops, printed by Adjt. General Washburn in his report for 1866, the date attached to White Oak Swamp is " June 30th to July 3d." This is partly incorrect. The brigade moved through White Oak Swamp in the night of the 30th, and no fighting was done by any troops in White Oak Swamp on the 1st and 2d of July. 308 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. " The discovery of this road," says General Franklin, 1 " made the concentration of the troops at Malvern Hill a completed manoeuvre by noon of the 1st of July, and was due to the fertile brain of General Smith, who ordered the exploration." " That night," says General D. H. Hill, " Franklin glided silently by Longstreet and A. P. Hill. He had to pass with- in easy range of their artillery ; but they did not know he was there." The troops of Smith's division, exhausted as- they were by want of rest and food, pushed on through the night hours, till soon after daylight Tuesday morning their eyes were gladdened by the sight of the main army, not retreating but faced about and taking position for a final stand on the slopes of Malvern Hill. The route they had come by brought the corps out on the right of the army, as the lines faced the enemy, and it was posted on the east and south of the hill, and on the right of the semicircle of bayonets which encircled Malvern Hill from Turkey Island Creek on the south round to the James on the west. The left of Smith's division rested on the southern side of the hill, with Richardson's division of Sumner's corps on its left, and Slocum's division on its right. The men sank in their tracks when finally halted, and were allowed to sleep for three hours ; when they were again aroused, and after some changes of position, in the arrange- ment of the lines, were faced into line of battle for the final conflict of the seven days of fighting, now gathering on the left and front. The tides of Confederate valor which surged that afternoon up the slopes of Malvern Hill, to be swept back by the resistless fire of the Union artillery and infantry, though rolling heavily against the left and centre, did not reach the front of the Vermont brigade, or of any portion of the Sixth corps ; and the part of the brigade in the victory of Malvern Hill, was confined to standing wearily in the lines from ten. 1 Century Magazine, Vol. XXX, p. 467. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 309 in the morning till eleven at night. With senses partially dulled by the exhaustion following the fatigues and excite- ments of the preceding six days and nights * the men listened to the thunder of the strife upon their left, and wondered dreamily what the result was to be. At nine o'clock in the evening Lee withdrew his shattered divisions, and soon after General McClellan rode down the lines amid the cheers of the men, and the cheerful word was passed along that the enemy had been beaten back at all points with tremendous slaughter. Yet the night brought little rest for the troops. Strong as was the position at Malvern Hill and Turkey Bend, the naval officers decided that the James was not wide enough there to allow them to protect the supply transports from attack from the opposite bank, and McClellan ordered a further withdrawal of the army to Harrison's Landing, seven miles to the south. Smith's division was to bring up the rear, and was drawn out from its lines during the night ? moving only enough to prevent sleep for the men. Having to wait for the other troops to pass, it did not fairly take up its line of march for Harrison's Landing till nearly dawn. The division pickets during the day previous had been de- tailed from the Third Yermont, and at nightfall General Smith informed Colonel Yeazey of the Third that he was to hold the picket line during the night with a few cavalry videttes on the roads in his front. His orders were to stand fast and fight anything and everything that appeared till the division had been gone for two hours. He was then to draw in his men and follow the column, driving up all the strag- glers, and destroying any abandoned arms found along the route. It was a responsible duty, and became somewhat '"In General Smith's division every march [of the Seven Days] was made at night. The nervous excitement of being under fire every day for nearly a week, often without an opportunity of returning the fire, has caused a prostration, from which in many cases the men have not yet recovered." General Franklin's Report, July 17th. 310 VEKMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. trying in the course of the night, when the cavalry videttes came tearing in and reported the enemy advancing in force. This, however, proved to be a false report. The Confederate generals were, in fact, thinking that night of measures to protect Richmond, in case McClellan should resume the offensive, rather than of further pursuit, and the retreat of the division and of the army was unmolested. That march from Malvern Hill to Harrison's Landing was the saddest and weariest march of its length in the his- tory of the brigade. The rain poured in torrents ; the wagons and artillery had poached the roads into canals of mud; the stouter men could hardly drag one foot after another; and the weaker fell out by hundreds, some to die of ex- haustion, and others to join the long caravan of stragglers. Colonel Yeazey, describing this march, says: "No person " can give any conception of the wake of a retreating army " after such a campaign in such a country. It simply beg- gared description. Stragglers sick and dying, arms of "every description, stores of all kinds, abandoned wagons, "broken down horses and mules, mud so deep that no bot- " torn could be reached. All these at every step ; and then "add the sickening feeling of defeat and retreat, and the " momentary expectation of a rear attack, and no help within " reach. Weary, hungry, exhausted, sick, what torment "could be added, except the loss of honor? Such was our " dreary march as a rear guard to Harrison's Landing. But ' fortunately everything has an end; and more dead than " alive we found the end of that march at last. But it was " only to find a bivouac in water and mud, without fire or " rations until the next day ; and even then, early in the "morning the Third regiment was ordered out to repel an "attack upon the picket line, and went with scarcely a "murmur." The Vermont troops marched in better order than many others; but endurance had nearly reached its limit, when, in the afternoon of July 2d, they moved through THE FIRST BRIGADE. 311 the last piece of woods skirting the plateau about Harrison's Landing, and came out in sight of the river. It was a glad sight, for its surface was covered with gunboats and trans- ports, whose presence meant rest and rations. The men dropped on the soaked ground, at the first halt, and sank to sleep. The Fourth regiment was sent out that night to- picket the line in front of the division ; and the rest of the brigade bivouacked for the night in the mud without food or fires. 1 Next morning a few shells were thrown into the camp of the division by General "Jeb" Stuart, who with his cavalry and a light battery had followed on the rear of the army. He was speedily driven away; but it was thought best to move the division a short distance to a less exposed position ; and it went into camp during the forenoon on Euffin's farm, two miles north of Harrison's Landing. Here it remained during the six weeks of sickly, dreary and monotonous camp life, which characterized the stay of the army at Harrison's Landing. On the 4th of July not an altogether cheerful anniver- sary of the nation's birthday the brigade was reviewed, with the division, by General McClellan ; and on the 8th was again paraded to receive President Lincoln. It was about dark before he reached the Vermont brigade, which had been in line, awaiting him, for hours ; but the men had voice and spirit enough to give him three cheers and a " tiger." Extensive earthworks were now thrown up to guard the position ; the woods were slashed and cleared for many acres in front, and lines of abbatis were constructed. The camp hospitals were soon overcrowded with sick men. Many 1 " We lost our knapsacks and clothing and tents, and we have to sleep without any covering at night, in a wet open field, and mud, mud, up to our knees. If we lie down in it, we can hardly get up again. The d n cusses got my prayer-book ; but I don't care for that. May it con- vert the fellow that got it. The rebel capital must be ours, cost what it may." Letter of an Irish soldier, in a Vermont regiment, from Harrison's Landing. 312 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. died in camp. Hundreds languished in the government hos- pitals. Other hundreds were discharged with broken con- stitutions. Many received leaves of absence and went home to recruit their health. The rest remained and made their condition as tolerable as possible, by digging wells to give them better water than that of the streams and swamps, and providing shades of pine trees for their shelter tents. So they patiently awaited the next movement. General McClellan, having been heavily reinforced, was now contemplating, among other things, a crossing of the James and a fresh movement on Richmond by the way of Petersburg, when he was ordered by the authorities at Wash- ington to withdraw from the Peninsula, and to come up near Washington to co-operate with General Pope's command. The army thereupon marched to Fortress Monroe, whence it was to be taken by water to Alexandria. The Sixth corps remained in its lines at Harrison's Landing for two days after the movement commenced, while the rest of the army, with a wagon train twenty-five miles long, was filing out for the march down the Peninsula, and then brought up the rear. 1 In this march the Yermont brigade started with Smith's division, on the 16th of August, with six days cooked rations; bivouacked near Charles City Court House that night, and after two pretty hard days march in the hot sun reached the Chickahominy about sundown of the 17th. It crossed at Barrett's Perry, a mile above its mouth, by the long pon- toon bridge over which the army had been streaming for two days, and halted for the night on the left bank. Another day's march, still under a burning sun, brought the division to Williamsburg, once the capital of the Old Dominion. Passing through its street, past the old build- ings of William and Mary College at one end, and the ruins of the old capitol at the other, the division halted for the 1 " It was forty-five hours after the first team passed, till our brigade, next to the last, passed out." Colonel Whiting's Statement. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 313 night on the battlefield of three months before. The next day's march brought it to Yorktown, where it encamped near the York river on the lines which Porter's division had fortified during the thirty days siege. Another clear, hot, dusty day, during which many tired men fell out of the ranks, and the brigade reached Big Bethel. Another hard march on the 21st, brought the brigade back, after five months absence, to the vicinity of the desolated village of Hampton, and the next day, after seven hours of waiting on the beach of Fortress Monroe, the brigade embarked on transports with the Sixth corps, and steamed for Alexandria. The voyage up the river was a pleasant change, in spite of the crowded condition of the transports. The tired men became rested ; the health of the command had improved on the march down the Peninsula, under the addition of fruit, principally of green plums and peaches, to their army diet ; and while their thin and bronzed faces and ragged clothing told of hard service, and the campaign had left little of the exultant feeling with which they entered upon it five months before, the spirit of the Vermonters was good. They were conscious that they had fought well, in advance and in retreat, and that no part of the reverses of the army could be laid at their door ; and they were about as ready as ever to march or fight, when the order should come, though they understood better than before what marching and fighting meant. The brigade disembarked at Alexandria in the afternoon of Sunday, August 24th, marched through the city to a field a mile to the west, near Fort Ellsworth, and remained there till August 29th. CHAPTEE XIH. THE FIRST BRIGADE CONTINUED. The situation, September 1, 1862 The part of the Sixth corps in Pope's Campaign The march into Maryland Storming of Crampton's Gap Brillant action of the Fourth Vermont The battle of Antietam Part taken by the Vermont Brigade A quiet time at Hagerstown Stuart's second raid Accession of the Twenty-Sixth New Jersey to the brigade Retirement of General Brooks from the command Return to Vir- ginia Changes of army, corps, division and brigade commanders McClellan's farewell review March to the Rappahannock Burnside's bloody failure Howe's division and the Vermont brigade at the First Fredericksburg Casualties of the brigade Winter quarters at White Oak Church Burnside's mud campaign and retirement from command. A glance at the general situation throughout the field of war, as affairs stood on the 1st of September, 1862, will show that important changes had taken place in the past three months, and that the outlook for the Union cause was not satisfactory. At the west the siege of Yicksburg had been abandoned, and the Confederates were conducting an offensive campaign in Tennessee and Kentucky. At the east, the campaign against Kichmond had failed ; McClellan had lost the con- fidence of the administration and had been virtually reduced to a subordinate position. General Halleck had been brought from the west and made general in chief of the army to direct operations from his headquarters at Washington, generally to the obstruction and disgust of the generals in the field. The fragmentary commands of McDowell, Banks and Sigel had been consolidated into the "Army of Virginia." Of this, General Pope had assumed command, handicapped by his presumptuous announcements that he had come to THE FIRST BRIGADE. 315 introduce the ways of the west, where they did not bother their heads about lines of retreat or bases of supply, and that his headquarters were to be in the saddle ; and by the disaffection of many of his subordinate generals. He had, with commendable activity, made menacing demonstra- tions along the Eapidan, which had kept Lee from interfering with McClellan while he was withdrawing the army of the Potomac from the Peninsula if indeed the Confederate commander cared to prevent that withdrawal. General Banks had fought the sanguinary, unnecessary and inconsequential battle of Cedar Mountain achieving a technical victory, but failing to cripple Jackson or to prevent his joining Lee. Lee, all menace to Eichmond from the south removed by the departure of McClellan, was arranging to strike and destroy Pope before he should be reinforced from McClellan's army. Pope, perceiving Lee's design, had withdrawn to the Kappahannock, defending the fords with his artillery for two days during which the force in his front was hourly increasing, and had then fallen back, with almost constant fighting and an infinite amount of marching and manoeuvring, to Gainesville. Here the battle known by that name was fought on the 29th ; and the next day the second disastrous Battle of Bull Eun, which finished Pope's cam- paign and career as an army commander, took place on the plains of Manassas. The questions, still mooted after con- stant discussion for twenty years, who was chiefly responsible for Pope's defeat ; whether or not Fitz John Porter was to blame for rendering such tardy and ineffective assistance to General Pope ; why the two corps of Franklin and Sumner, comprising 20,000 or 30,000 of the best fighting material in the Union army, were held within hearing of the battle of the 29th and 30th without rendering any effective assistance, and how much McClellan meant by his suggestion to the President to " leave Pope to get out of his scrape," need not be debated here. 316 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. It will be enough to remember that the commander of the Sixth corps was a loyal lieutenant to McClellan ; and that while he was perhaps in no more of a hurry to move than the latter was to have him, he would undoubtedly have gone, if he had been sent. That the corps had no part in the fighting and did nothing of importance to arrest the national disaster of the second Bull Run was certainly not the fault of the troops, so far at least as the Vermonters were concerned. They heard the booming of the cannon coming nearer day by day. They saw the stragglers coming in and heard their stories of terrible fighting beyond Manassas. They packed knapsacks and hourly expected to move, and they wondered sorely as time went on, why they were not ordered forward. On Wednesday, after General Halleck had telegraphed that Franklin must move out " at once by forced marches," the men of the corps were ordered to have three days rations in their haversacks ; but they received no further order. On Thursday, again the order was to be ready with two days rations, and they were ready; but sunset came without any order to march. On Friday, while Pope was fighting at Gainesville, Franklin started ; but halted and camp- ed at Annandale, after a march of seven miles. On Saturday, while the desperate and bloody Second Bull Eun was in progress within plain hearing, the corps moved on, making scarce a mile an hour, through Fairfax Court House to Centreville, and thence to Cub Eun, meeting by the way toward nightfall, wounded men and stragglers and paroled prisoners streaming in by hundreds. General Pope's army was then in full, though not disorderly retreat ; and his rear guard, of Sykes's division, was making the stout and final stand to cover the withdrawal of the main body across Bull Eun, as Sykes with his battalion of regulars and the Second Vermont stood on Bald Hill, to cover McDowell's army, thirteen months before. At nightfall the issue of the battle in front being known, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 317 Franklin moved the Sixth corps back to Centreville, where it lay through the next day, a rainy and gloomy Sunday. On Monday evening it retired to Fairfax Court House. Early the next morning it returned toward Centreville, and lay in line of battle on the heights till three p. M., expecting an attack, which did not come. It then started for Alexandria, the Vermont brigade bringing up the rear, and reached camp near Fort Ellsworth and Fairfax Seminary, between nine and ten o'clock that evening, having covered in seven hours the distance which it used fifty hours in traversing when going, out. While on this march, a little before dark, the sound of the fight at Chantilly a sequel of the Second Bull Run in which the gallant General Philip Kearney and General Israel Stevens, who commanded the Vermont troops in the first reconnoisance to Lewinsville, Va., a year before, were killed was heard a short distance to the rear ; but it did not interrupt the march. The brigade remained in camp near Alexandria three days, and then started with the corps on the first campaign in Maryland. The first week of September, 1862, was one of active re- organization in the army around Washington. Pope's luckless campaign had ended, and his army and the Army of the Potomac were united within the defenses of Washington. Pope had resigned and General McClellan had been reinstated in the command, to the relief and delight of the army. Gen- eral Banks, with three army corps, was placed in command of the defences of Washington, and McClellan with five corps, of which the Sixth was one, marched slowly up the Potomac, disposing his army so as to cover both Washington and Baltimore. Lee had disappeared from the front of Washing- ton, and, as it was soon discovered, was marching to the north on his first invasion of a northern State. On Saturday, the 6th of September, the brigade broke camp and marched across Long Bridge, through Washington and Georgetown, to Tenallytown, three miles north of George- 318 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. town, where the Sixth corps halted that night. Next day, the brigade lay in the woods all day till evening, when it marched three or four miles to the north towards Kockville, Md., where McClellan's headquarters were that night. In the next three days it moved through Eockville and Darnes- town to Barnesville, Md. Here, at the foot of Sugar Loaf Mountain, on the llth, distinct proof of the presence of the enemy in the vicinity was afforded by a skirmish in front with a reconnoitring force of Confederate cavalry and in- fantry, which retired before the Union advance. The brigade was ordered into line but was not engaged. Next day the brigade marched over the mountain and camped that night near the Baltimore & Ohio E. E. On the 13th, it moved to Adamstown, on the railroad, eight miles south of Frederick City. That day a copy of an important order issued by General Lee, which had been by a piece of rare good fortune found in the abandoned camp of General D. H. Hill, near that city, was placed in McClellan's hands. This told the Federal commander that Lee had divided his army, and sent four divisions under Generals Jackson and McLaws, to surround and capture the Federal garrison of 11,000 men, under Col- onel Miles, at Harper's Ferry. 1 McClellan thereupon des- patched Franklin, whose corps was on the left of his army, with directions to pass over the South Mountain through Crampton's Gap, cut off McLaws who was marching down upon Harper's Ferry from the Maryland side, while Jackson, crossing the Potomac, approached it from the "Virginia side and relieve Miles. This was clearly the thing to be done. Unfortunately it was not done quickly enough. Had Mc- Clellan started Franklin (whose corps lay near Buckeyston) 1 ' ' The God of battles alone knows what would have occurred but for that singular accident. Certainly the loss of this battle-order constitutes one of the pivots on which turned the event of the war." Colonel W. H. Taylor, C. S. A., in " Four years with General Lee." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 319 that night, Franklin could have reached the mountain by midnight, moved through the pass the next morning, relieved Harper's Ferry, and made much trouble for McLaws. Two other corps, making a night march, such as Jackson was mak- ing, to Turner's Gap, six miles north of Crampton's, that night, could the next day have placed themselves between the wings of Lee's army. If Lee had not learned to count on McClellan's tardiness, he would never have taken so peril- ous a risk. He took it, as the event proved, with impunity. McClellan, it is true, at once ordered General Franklin to move ; but he did not order him to move at once. The order was "to move at daybreak next morning." He was directed to carry the pass of Crampton's Gap ; move through it on to the Rohrersville road in Pleasant Valley, where he would be over against Maryland Heights, and within five miles of Harper's Ferry ; cut off and destroy McLaws, relieve Miles, add Miles's disposable troops to the Sixth corps, and then occupy a position to prevent the return of Jackson to Lee. "My general plan," said McClellan to Franklin, " is to cut the enemy in two and beat him in detail. I ask of you all your intellect and the utmost activity that a general can exercise." The plan was good, the injunction admirable; but the activity was to begm the next day, whereas Jackson and McLaws were active through that night. They thus gained the decisive hours which McClellan and Franklin lost. Franklin marched at daylight. Pushing ahead rapidly he reached Burkittsville, at the opening of the Gap, about noon, and during the afternoon stormed and carried the pass, in spite of the stout opposition of General Howell Cobb, who with three brigades his own, Semmes's and Mahone's had been detached by General McLaws to hold the pass. This engagement and that at Turner's Gap to the north, which was carried by the First and Ninth corps at the same time, having a common object and occurring on 320 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. the same day, though separated by five miles of mountain ridge, are known in history as the Battle of South Mountain. In the storming of Crampton's Gap, the Vermont brigade had a prominent part, to be now related. CKAMPTON'S GAP. The village of Burkittsville, a thriving Maryland village of a single street half a mile long, lies at the eastern foot of the South Mountain range. This is there divided by a narrow defile, through which winds the main road across the Mountain, bearing to the north and rising sharply as soon as it leaves the village. A country road comes into the main road from the north, at right angles, half way up the slope at the entrance of the defile. This road with its- stone fences afforded an admirable line of defence. Cross roads, meeting in the throat of the defile, offered additional facilities for posting troops and artillery. The sides of the gorge were wooded, and the steep ascents and rocky ledges afforded remarkable advantages to the defenders of the pass. Of these, General Cobb had taken full advantage. Eight guns were posted by him in the roads and on the sides and rounded summit of the crest, commanding the approaches to the pass. Cobb's orders from his superior were to "hold the Gap if he lost his last man in doing it." 1 But he did not hold it, though he lost almost a third of his command. Franklin made his dispositions for the assault with ex- cellent judgment. The attack was commenced about three o'clock in the afternoon by Slocum's division, while Ayres's and Wolcott's batteries replied to the Confederate guns. Slocum's first line, consisting of Bartlett's brigade, advanced through the village, driving out the enemy's skirmishers, and up the ascent on the right of the main road, till brought to a stand in front of the stone wall on the right, which was 1 General McLaws's report. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 321 lined with several Georgia regiments. These kept up a severe fire, while other Confederate troops opened a cross fire from the left, which threatened to compel Bartlett to retire. The other two brigades of Slocum's division (New- ton's and Torbert's) were accordingly ordered forward to sup- port Bartlett, while to the Vermont brigade was committed Engagement at Crampton's Gap, Sept. 14, 1862. the important task of carrying the enemy's position on the left by direct assault, and dislodging him from the woods on Slocum's flank. Brooks sent forward the Fourth Ver- mont, Lieut. Colonel Stoughton, and the Second, Major Walbridge, in two lines, the ground not admitting a wider front than that of a regiment, and held the rest of his 21 322 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. brigade for support, in the edge of the village. Cheered . on as they passed through the street by a number of loyal women who had not left their homes in the village, the two regiments deployed under a plunging artillery fire from the heights they were to scale. The Fourth moved steadily up the ascent in face of sharp musketry firing from behind a stone fence in front, and dashed squarely at this, driving the Confederates from it, and taking twenty prisoners who had sought shelter behind a haystack. It was followed closely by the Second, and both regiments pushed on up the rocky side of the mountain, climbing the ledges and struggling through the bushes, till they reached the crest. Here the Fourth was sent to the left, to attack the battery whose fire from the summit had been so annoying, while the Second kept on over the crest and down the opposite side of the moun- tain. The Sixth Yirginia, Major Holliday, was cut off from the rest of Mahone's brigade by the promptness of the move- ment, and Major Holliday with five commissioned officers and 115 men surrendered to Colonel Stoughton on the crest. Leaving two companies to guard the prisoners, Stoughton went after the battery ; but before he could reach it, it had limbered up and made its escape by a wood road leading down the mountain. The Second regiment pressed on after the flying enemy to the base of the mountain, as Slocum, re- lieved by Brook's movement from resistance on his flank* gallantly carried the position on the right of the road. Thus driven from his positions on right and left, the enemy fell back through the defile and down the mountain in great con- fusion. The way through the Gap being left clear by these operations, the Third, Fifth and Sixth regiments followed the other two regiments by the road, without opposition. Perceiving how things were going in the Gap, General Cobb sent forward his reserve on the double quick ; but it arrived only in time to participate in the rout ; and his entire command, less some 700 men killed, wounded and captured, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 323 made a rapid retreat, till he was halted in the Yalley, by General McLaws, who had been hurrying up with Wilcox's brigade from Maryland Heights but only arrived in time to cover Cobb's retreat. At the base of the mountain the skirmishers of the Ver- mont brigade found a 12-lb. howitzer, partially disabled, and brought it in, with the horses attached to it. McLaws rallied the retreating Confederates, and with what was left of Cobb, Semmes and Mahone, and other troops of his division, formed a defensive line across Pleasant Yalley a mile and a half below the Gap ; while Franklin halted at the western foot of it. In this affair, which the Comte de Paris calls the " bril- liant combat of Crampton's Gap", Franklin lost 110 offi- cers and men killed, and 420 wounded, the severest loss being in Bartlett's brigade. The promptness and unexpected character of the movement of the Vermont regiments saved them from serious loss, and the Fourth Vermont had but one man killed and 14 wounded ; the Second Vermont five men wounded ; and the Sixth Vermont one officer, Captain Barney, and two men wounded ; total, 23. General Franklin states that he buried 150 of the enemy and took charge of over 300 of their wounded left on the field ; and that he captured in all 400 prisoners, from 17 different organizations, with one piece of artillery, 700 muskets and three stands of colors. General McLaws says in his report: "The loss in the brigades engaged was, in killed, wounded and missing, very large, and the remnant collected to make front across the valley, very small ;" and a month later he speaks of Cobb's, Semmes's and Mahone's brigades as having been "badly crippled at Crampton's Gap." The other results of this success were by no means what they might have been. It was perhaps too near dark when the Gap was carried, to have accomplished much more that night ; but in the evening Franklin was joined by Couch's divi- 324 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. sion of the Fourth corps, giving him a force decidedly superior to that of McLaws ; and had he attacked the latter at day- light he might even then have prevented the fall of Harper's Ferry, or if that were not possible could have offset the loss of Miles's command by the destruction or capture of Mc- Laws's. But though McClellan had sent him distinct orders during the night to attack and destroy such of the enemy as he found before him in Pleasant Yalley, and if possible to relieve Miles, Franklin did nothing on the 15th. At half-past eight o'clock that morning the white flag was raised by Miles at Harper's Ferry ; but the surrender was not complete till an hour later. At nine o'clock, Colonel Stannard and the Ninth Vermont, of the garrison, were still seeking for a chance to cut their way out, while three strong Union divi- sions had been standing since daylight in Pleasant Yalley, but six miles away, in full hearing of Jackson's artillery. The cessation of the cannonading, and the cheering of the Confederates on Maryland Heights, told these, about nine o'clock, that Harper's Ferry had surrendered. Franklin did nothing that day* but to move down the Valley a mile or two, and occupy the Brownsville Gap, a mile below Crampton's, to which the Sixth Maine and the left wing of the Fourth Vermont, under Major Foster, were sent in the morning. These drove back the enemy's pickets and guarded the lower pass for that day and night. During the day Franklin received directions from McClellan, after the latter had learned of Miles's surrender, to remain where he was and "watch the large force in front" of him. But the watch maintained by Franklin did not prevent McLaws from withdrawing his division across the Potomac that day, or from marching the next night to join Lee on the battle- field of the Antietam. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 325 ANTIETAM. During the first day of this battle, a terribly hot day, the Vermont brigade lay, with the rest of Franklin's command, in Pleasant Valley, listening to the booming of artillery which came from the northwest, over the mountain ridge in front, beginning in the forenoon, and increasing heavily the latter part of the afternoon, as Hooker with the First corps moved across the Antietam and attacked the left of Lee's line in front of Sharpsburg. The next day was the main day of the battle. The story ot it has been admirably told by Colonel Palfrey of Massa- chusetts, and other historians ; and only a few Sept. 17, 1862. J of the more important points of it need be noted here. The opposing armies numbered, in round num- bers, 40,000 under Lee, and 80,000 under McClellan. Lee used every man he could bring into line. 1 McClellan fought the battle with 50,000 men two corps, numbering 30,000, being hardly used at all by him. Lee fought a defensive battle, greatly favored by the strength of his position, in which his flanks were protected by the bends of the Potomac and his front covered by the stream and valley of the Antietam. On McClellan's part, the fighting was not the simultaneous assault which he had planned, and which would probably have made his victory far more decisive; but a series of attacks bravely, often desperately, made, yet with such want of concert between the several corps that Lee, having the inner side of the curve, was able to reinforce in turn his hardly pressed lines at the points where they were assailed, and to prevent a serious break in them anywhere. The battle was opened on the right, as soon as the early morning mists had risen, by Hooker, who had crossed the Antietam and had done some indecisive fighting the afternoon 1 "Every man was engaged we had no reserve." Colonel Walter H. Taylor, of Lee's staff. 326 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. before. He was now opposed by Jackson's two divisions his own "Stonewall" division and Swell's with six bat- teries, aided later by several batteries and brigades of other divisions. It was Greek meeting Greek, and the carnage was terrible on each side. In the words of Colonel Palfrey, "the two lines almost tore each other to pieces." The contest raged most hotly around a certain cornfield on the east side of the Hagerstown pike, and the woods between it and the Dunker chapel. Over this part of the field the tides of battle swept to and fro in successive waves. Before nine o'clock, Hooker had been wounded and his corps cut pretty much to pieces, and it had been reinforced and its place sub- stantially taken by the Twelfth corps, whose commander, General Mansfield, was killed as he was deploying his lines. In the course of an hour or two of bloody fighting the Twelfth corps, though it gained some ground, had been brought to a stand; and Sumner advanced to relieve it with the Second corps. Sedgwick's division led the assault, and swept forward over the cornfield. He was attacked in turn by Jackson and McLaws with ten Confederate brig- ades, and driven back with frightful loss. The other two divisions of the corps, French's and Richardson's, had mean- time become engaged and suffered severely the latter losing its gallant comAander, General Israel B. Richardson one of Vermont's bravest sons and one of the best soldiers in the army mortally wounded. Three of the six corps of Mc- Clellan's army had thus in turn attacked on the right ; but while inflicting tremendous losses upon the enemy they had failed to permanently dislodge Lee's left ; and at noon were merely holding their own. In the next and last stage of the battle on the right, Franklin's corps, and Smith's division, and the Yermont brigade, took part. To go back to the morning and to Pleasant Valley, Gen- eral Franklin, first sending Couch's division to Harper's Ferry THE FIRST BRIGADE. 327 to lock the stable door after the horse had been stolen, start- ed at half past five A. M., under McClellan's orders, toward the battlefield, six miles away. Smith's division led the column, and arrived on the field a little before ten o'clock. It took position at first in a piece of woods on the left of the stone bridge, known as the " Burnside Bridge," to the left of the centre of McClellan's line. It was soon hurried farther on, and across the river and round to the right to the assistance of Sumner. The time was a critical one. Sedgwick had made a gallant advance ; but being unsupported on either right or left and taken on each flank and even in the rear by superior numbers massed against him, had narrowly escaped utter annihilation. Sumner's other two divisions had attacked the Confederate centre ; but striking it at some distance to the left of Sedgwick, had not made any effective diversion in his favor, or secured any important advantage, though they had done some severe fighting. Eichardson and Crawford had fallen. Sedgwick had been thrice wounded and obliged to leave the field. His division had partially given way, with a loss of over 2,500 men, and Jackson was preparing to push his advantage by striking again his undefended left flank, when Smith came to his relief. Smith's leading brigade, Hancock's, approached within canister distance of the enemy, broke the lines and silenced the Confederate batteries in front of it, and held its ground. Brooks's Vermont brigade came next, and was at first hurried to Sumner's right ; but was presently brought back to the assistance of French's division. Smith's third brigade, Irwin's, was placed by him on the left of Hancock's, and advanced, driving back the opposing lines, till it came abreast of the Dunker Church, which marked the line of Sumner's advance. The Vermont brigade was sent to the left of Irwin, where it joined on to the right of French, whose division, thus reinforced, filled the gap through which McLaws and Early had previously pressed, to Sedgwick's sorrow. Smith intended that the 328 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Vermont brigade should support Irwin, in his advanced posi- tion, and had such support been rendered, a decisive ad- vantage might have been gained at that point. Brooks, how- ever, had been withdrawn by Sumner 1 and posted, with a portion of French's command, behind a low crest. The brigade made a handsome advance and came under a sharp fire of artillery, as it moved into position on French's right ; but the enemy's lines in its front having fallen back, it had little fighting to do and suffered comparatively little loss. 3 The Vermont regiments stood in line all that afternoon, while Burnside with the Ninth corps, after hours of most unfortu- nate and unaccountable delay, was forcing the passage of the stone bridge, and making the final indecisive assault on Lee's right. Night fell on them, in this position. The ground in front of McClellan's right and centre was so much fought over by different brigades and divisions that it has been found difficult to locate beyond dispute the point reached by Brooks's brigade. But it advanced in line of battle over a cornfield, strewn with dead and there is little doubt that it was "the historic cornfield" of Antietam. Mr. George W Smalley, the N. Y. Tribune's army correspondent, writing from 1 General Smith complains of this warmly, in his report, saying : "It is not the first or the second time during a battle that my command has been dispersed by orders from an officer superior in rank to the general commanding this corps, and I must assert that I have never known any good to arise from such a method of fighting a battle, and think the con- trary rule should be adopted of keeping commands intact." The first time probably was at Williamsburg, when Sumner refused to let Smith send his second and third brigades to join Hancock ; and the second at Savage's Station, where the division was divided and sent in on the two extremes of Sumner's line. 2 " The Vermont brigade was sent to the assistance of French's divi- sion, who having expended their ammunition, were making feeble resistance to the enemy. The Vermonters behaved with their usual gallantry, resisting the advance of the enemy, and although frequently subjected to the fire of artillery, they held their ground bravely. The brigade was composed of men who could always be depended on to do what they were ordered to do." Three Tears in the Sixth Corps. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 329 the field, says : "At this crisis, when all we had gained upon our right had been wrested from us, Franklin came up with fresh troops. * * * Smith was ordered to retake the cornfields and woods which had been so hotly contested. It was done in the handsomest style. His Maine and Vermont regiments and the rest went forward on the run, and, cheer- ing as they went, swept like an avalanche through the corn- field, fell upon the woods, cleared them in ten minutes, and held them. They were not again retaken. The field and its ghastly harvest remained finally with us. Four times it had been lost and won. The dead are strewn so thickly that as you ride over it you cannot guide your horse's steps too carefully. * * * Smith's attack was so sudden that his success was accomplished with no great loss." The loss in the Vermont brigade was indeed surprisingly small, aggregating but 25 killed and wounded. The Second Vermont had five men wounded. The Third, one officer and three men wounded. The Fourth, one man killed and five wounded. The Fifth, two men wounded; and the Sixth, eight men wounded. This though the men were for some time under what General Brooks who does not use big words calls "a galling fire of both artillery and sharp- shooters ;" but they were kept close to the ground when not moving, and the shell and grape flew over them without doing much damage. General Brooks himself would not lie down, but moved to and fro on foot along his lines, a constant mark for the enemy's sharpshooters. In the course of the afternoon a bullet struck him in the mouth, knocking out two teeth. A man ran to him and asked if he was wounded. "No," replied the gruff old soldier, spitting out a molar, "had a tooth pulled." Though in serious pain, he did not leave the lines till after dark. At sundown the roar of battle ceased, and the heated cannon were allowed to cool, and the wounded were gathered from the field and the unwounded sought food and rest. 330 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. "The blessed night came and brought with it sleep and re- freshment to many; but the murmur of the night wind breathing over fields of wheat and clover, was mingled with the groans of the countless sufferers of both armies." * All that night the Vermonters lay on their arms in the front line. They had little sleep, for the skirmishers in front were firing at every moving form, and they fully expected a renewal of the battle in the morning. They remained all the next day in the same place, while burying parties, under a flag of truce asked for by Lee, were burying the dead. In not renewing the contest on Thursday morning General McClellan made the mistake of his life-time. He had lost 11,500 men killed and wounded and 1,000 missing; but he had inflicted equal or greater loss on the enemy ; and Lee could far less afford the loss. McClellan had two corps substantially intact. He had over 60,000 men upon the ground against 30,000 the latter the more hardly marched and fought, and most ex- hausted. He waited a day and night, during which Hum- phrey's and Couch's divisions arrived, and then gave orders to attack at daylight on the 19th ; but at daylight Lee was gone. His invasion of the North had come to an end, on the very banks of the Potomac ; and he postponed to a later day the assistance to the people of Maryland in throwing off "the foreign yoke" of the national government, which, on his entrance of the State, he had proclaimed his purpose to render. On the 19th, the Sixth corps moved forward over the field, on which hundreds of dead still lay blackening in the sun and tainting all the air with sickening stench, through the streets of Sharpsburg, filled with disabled wagons and strewn with knapsacks and guns, past houses riddled by shell and churches filled with rebel wounded ; and bivouacked for the night between the village and the Poto- mac. Next day, marching back through Sharpsburg and Colonel Palfrey. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 331 again over the battlefield, it turned to the north and moved up the river, twelve miles, to Williamsport. On the 23d, the Sixth corps moved out to Bakersville on the Hagerstown pike, and thence on the 26th to Hagerstown. Here it remained a month, while McClellan was reorganizing his army and Lee was holding the Shenandoah Valley and destroying railroads in that region. General Brooks was ap- pointed military governor of Hagerstown a thriving city of 5,000 inhabitants and his regiments did duty as provost guard. It was a quiet time at Hagerstown. No enemy was near. The inhabitants of the region were at least nominally friendly, and had plenty of poultry and fresh vegetables to sell. The camps were pleasant. No weary searches at the end of hard marches were needed to find wood and water. The men resumed their long interrupted occupations of drilling and loafing, the latter varied by earnest discussions of the probable effect of the Emancipation Proclamation, just issued by President Lincoln, to take effect on the first of January following. On the 10th of October, the army received a sensation, from Stuart's second raid. Lee, as much puzzled as the authorities at Washington to divine what was keeping the Army of the Potomac so long in Maryland, sent out Stuart with 1,500 cavalry, and orders to "ascertain the position and designs of the enemy." He crossed the Potomac above "Williamsport, penetrated to Chambersburg, Pa., where he destroyed a good deal of government property; and while General McClellan was telegraphing to Washington that none of the rebels should return to Virginia, and was sending troops here and there in Maryland to points where Stuart had been, the latter completed his second ride entirely round the Union army, and returned to Virginia, well supplied with new clothing and shoes, and with fresh horses found in the stables of the Pennsylvania farmers. During the stir oc- 332 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. casioned by this episode the Second and Fifth regiments were hastily loaded into cars and sent to Chambersburg on the llth. But Stuart had departed before they started, and they returned to Hagerstown on the 16th. While in camp at Hagerstown, the Yermont brigade received an accession of 250 recruits, sent down from Ver- mont ; and the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, Colonel Morrison, a new nine months regiment, 1,000 strong, was attached to the brigade the first and only mixture of troops of any other State, during its existence. The Jerseymen were not altogether a congenial element in the brigade; but they looked up to the Yermonters as veterans, and profited by their association with them. 1 At Hagerstown the brigade lost by his promotion the blunt, brave and trusty commander, under whom it had thus far marched and fought, and to whose soldierly example and instruction its officers and men owed so much. General Brooks was assigned to the command of the First division of the Sixth corps, upon General Slocum's appointment to the command of the Twelfth corps, and took his leave of the brigade with mutual reluctance and respect, which found 1 " We were emphatically a green regiment," says an officer of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, quoted in New Jersey in the Rebellion, p. 540, " when we entered on active service. But we had one great advantage. We were brigaded with veterans, and with veterans, too, who had won a high reputation in the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns. Their example was our real teacher in the Art of War." The lessons taught the Jerseymen were not confined to the art of war. On one occasion, some men of the Second Vermont, having repeatedly lost some of their fresh meat, which they had reason to believe went into the camp of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, killed and dressed Colonel Morrison's fat New Foundland dog and hung his carcass in the quartermaster's store tent. As they expected, it was purloined that night by some of the New Jersey boys, who took it for fat mutton. The Vermonters were on the watch, tracked the dog-meat into the camp of the Twenty-sixth, and ascertained that it was served next day on the tables of several messes of the New Jersey officers. Of course the story soon ran through the brigade, and the New Jersey boys visiting the other camps for some time after were greeted with numerous bow wows "by way of friendly salutation. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 333 expression on the part of General Brooks, in the following general order : HEADQUARTERS SECOND BRIGADE, | Smith's Division, Oct. 21, 1862. j The brigadier general commanding this brigade hereby relinquishes its command. In thus terminating an official connection which has existed for precisely a year, the general commanding experiences much regret. He is not unmindful that his own reputation has been identified with and dependent upon that of those who have served under him ; and it is with great gratification that he thanks them for the noble manner in which they have sustained him, in the performance of his arduous duties in camp and field. He will watch their future career with deep interest, and trusts he will ever have occasion to feel proud that his name has been associated with the Vermont brigade. By order of Brig. General Brooks. THEODORE READ, Captain and A. A. G. A meeting of the officers of the brigade was held to arrange to present to General Brooks a testimonial of their regard. It was proposed among other things that a fine horse and equipments be purchased for him. An officer rose and said it was very well to talk about buying a horse for General Brooks ; but he would like to know who was bold enough to undertake the task of presenting it to him. It was thereupon suggested that the horse might be fastened in front of the general's quarters at night, with a note attached to the bridle, stating for whom it was designed and from whom it came. A beautiful table service of solid silver was subsequently procured by the officers of the brigade and pre- sented to the general, who received it with tears standing on his cheeks and a voice too much choked by emotion to permit him to make formal reply. 1 1 General Brooks resigned from the army, July 14, 1864. He resided in Hunts ville, Ala., after the close of the war, and died there in 1870. He always retained and often expressed his high opinion of the Vermont troops, and he is remembered with respect and affection by all who served under him. He was alluded to, by a speaker, at one of the army reunions, as "the author, foander and finisher of the Old Brigade," and the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers, at its meeting in 1872, adopted resolutions of high respect for his memory, declaring that the reputation of the First 334 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The ostensible and to some extent real cause of the delay of the Army of the Potomac in Maryland, for six weeks after Lee had returned to Virginia, was lack of supplies of clothing and shoes. But as the needs of the Sixth corps, which were as great as those of any part of the army, were not supplied in these respects when they finally marched, it was plain that the army could have moved in its old clothing. The Vermont brigade especially was much in need of undercloth- ing, overcoats and blankets. At last, in the last week of October, the army began to move ,the advance crossing the Potomac on the 26th. On the 28th, the Sixth co$ps received marching orders ; and on the 29th broke camp and moved to Williamsport, camping for the night in the oak groves where it had camped five weeks before. Next day it marched down through Boonsboro to Pleasant Valley, and the next filed through Crampton's Gap and Burkittsville, halting and spending Sunday, November 1st, in a charming valley near Berlin, Md. Here the next morning it crossed the Potomac on pontoon bridges, marched through Lovettsville, and on to the south along the base of the Blue Eidge, and then across the Valley to White Plains east of Thoroughfare Gap, where it remained during a storm of sleet and snow, which lasted all day of the 7th, and the 8th. On the 9th, it moved to New Baltimore on the Warrenton pike, in the southernmost gap of the Bull Eun Mountains, the general headquarters of the army being at Warrenton. Here the corps and the army rested a week, during which important changes in the commands of both took place. General McClellan, the popular idol of 1861, and still the idol of most of the army, was relieved of the command, and was succeeded by General Burnside. The army was divided into three grand divisions. Franklin was appointed to the Vermont brigade "was largely the fruit of the vigorous instruction, the impartial discipline, the soldierly example, and the inspiring patriotism of General Brooks." THE FIKST BRIGADE. 335 command of the Left Grand Division, and Sumner and Hooker to the commands of the other two grand divisions. Maj. General William F. Smith succeeded Franklin in the command of the Sixth corps, and Brig. General A. P. Howe was appointed to the command of the Second division, of which the Vermont brigade was a part General Brooks remaining in command of the First division. Colonel Whiting of the Second Vermont, the ranking colonel of the Vermont brigade, succeeded to the command thereof, on the promotion of General Brooks. None of these changes were particularly gratifying at the time to the Vermont troops. In common with a large portion of the army, they as a body retained confidence in General McClellan (though some of the best soldiers in the brigade had ceased to share it,) and somehow could not feel it to be a serious crime that he had not marched them harder and fought them more desperately. They knew nothing of the neglect, not to say disobedience, of orders, on his part, which had so sorely tried the much enduring President ; and they thought it "hard lines" that he should be superseded so soon after he had beaten Lee and driven him out of Mary- land. They had nothing against Burnside, for he was known as the friend and admirer of McClellan, and a frank, generous and patriotic soldier. The army did not know how much he distrusted his own ability for the chief command, though some of those highest in rank did, and shared his distrust; but whatever he was he could not take McClellan's place in the confidence and affection of the army. The new division commander, General Howe, had commanded the second brigade of Couch's division, which was attached to the Sixth corps during the Maryland campaign. Howe was a New Englander, a native of Maine, a West Point graduate, a good disciplinarian and brave soldier, who earned the respect of his troops during the year or more in which he commanded the division, and who came to hold the highest opinion of the 336 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Vermont troops. But he was nqw to them at this time, and could not have been expected at once to fill the place of General Smith in their regard. Neither could Colonel Whiting fill the place of General Brooks. The officers and men pretty generally approved of him in camp ; for he un- derstood his business, took good care of his troops, and insisted on the regular order of promotions in the regiments ; but all knew that fighting was not congenial business to him ; and that he could not be relied on for presence of mind, nor indeed always for presence of body, in emergencies. General McClellan gave the Sixth corps and the army a farewell review, at New Baltimore, on the 10th, when his fare- well address was read, and he was greeted with hearty cheers, as, accompanied by General Burnside and an impos- ing cavalcade, he rode along the lines, while the batteries fired salutes and the bands played "Hail to the Chief." On the 15th of November, Burnside, having completed the reorganization of the army, which was now a well equipped body of 125,000 men, and secured the reluctant assent of the administration to a movement on Richmond by the way of Fredericksburg, began his march for the Rappa- hannock. Whiting's brigade at this time numbered about 3,200 officers and men, the Vermont regiments having about 500 each, present for duty, and the New Jersey regiment about 700. On the morning of the 16th, the Sixth corps broke camp, moved out through the desolate and deserted village of New Baltimore, crossed the Orange and Alexandria Rail- road at Catlett's Station, and camped two miles beyond near the Virginia "village" of Weaverville, consisting of a mill and a blacksmith shop. The next two days' marches, of about ten miles each, through the pine and oak barrens, brought the corps to the banks of Acquia Creek, four miles north of Stafford Court House, around which General Frank- lin concentrated his grand division, while Sumner took his THE FIRST BRIGADE. 337 grand division to the Bappahannock at Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, and Hooker was held a few miles back. Here the army remained for eight days, while Burnside was waiting for pontoons the delay of which, through fault of General Halleck or some subordinate, cost Burnside the op- portunity to occupy Fredericksburg unopposed and making preparations to force the passage after it had become plain that Lee was in force on the opposite bank. During this quiet week the troops stockaded their tents, built fire places* and had made themselves very comfortable in camp by Thanksgiving Day, November 27th. This was a clear and pleasant day; and though no "boxes " from home could come to help out the army rations, the men were not altogether destitute or unhappy, and were preparing to celebrate the day, when marching orders interfered. The Second and Fifth regiments were left to guard the telegraph lines and roads above Acquia Creek Landing, while the other four regi- ments packed knapsacks, pulled the tents off from the stock- ades, and starting in the forenoon, marched five or six miles to the south, halting and pitching their tents by moonlight, south of Potomac Creek. Here they remained several days. The first week in December gave the troops some arduous ex- perience of cold rains, mud and snow, during which the inevitable picket duty became at times a service of severe exposure. On the 6th of December, the brigade moved again with the division, some six miles, over ground frozen hard enough to bear the army wagons, halting four or five miles from Belle Plain, and five or six miles north of Skinker's Neck, where Burnside at first contemplated making his crossing of the Bappahannock. The weather was severely cold. The brigade trains did not get along till the next morning. The men huddled under their shelter tents with two inches of snow for bedding, and the tentless officers crouched around camp fires in the woods. Six sick soldiers, in another brigade of the corps, died in the ambulances that bitter 338 YEEMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. night. 1 On the 10th, the Second and Fifth regiments joined the brigade ; and on the llth the whole army was in motion for the Rappahannock. THE FIRST FREDERICKSBURG. The fortnight's delay had given Lee all the time he needed for preparation to meet the movement. He had concentrated his army of about 80,000 men 2 about Freder- icksburg, and had strongly fortified the heights which encircle the town. His army occupied Fredericksburg and the ridge or brow, with a higher ridge behind it, which begins at the river bank above the Falmouth Ford, and extends behind the town nearly parallel to the river for six miles, to the Massaponax, a tributary of the Kappahannock, emptying into it about five miles below the town. On the plain, three quarters of a mile to a mile and a half wide, between the ridge and the river, here from three hundred to four hun- dred yards wide, stood and stands the quaint old town of Fredericksburg, the place of the death and burial of the mother of "Washington, and a town of 4,000 inhabitants before the war. The ground on the north bank is of some- what similar formation to that on the south, though the heights are lower, and much nearer the river. The ground on the north side favored a crossing, for it was easy to post batteries enough to command the points selected for the bridges. But the crossing effected, Burnside was just where Lee wanted him ; and the latter must have witnessed with a stern pleasure the preparations which were made by the Federal commander to dash his army against the terraced heights along which lay the Confederate lines. The Union generals, on their part, were not blind to the hazards of the effort, and many of them viewed it with 1 Surgeon Stevens, Seventy-seventh New York. 8 His aggregate present for duty December 10th, was 78,228. DEC 13 TN 1862 THE FIRST BRIGADE. 339 strong forebodings of disaster. Hooker strongly advised Burnside not to attack. The vagueness and fluctuations of Burnside's plan, the confusion and contradictions of orders, the want of concert of action, and other causes of his failure, have long been fruitful subjects of discussion ; but they need not be discussed here. The battle was chiefly fought on the 13th of December, though the various movements of advance and retreat occu- pied five days. On the llth, the pontoon bridges, five in number, were laid, not without serious annoyance, delay and loss from the enemy's sharpshooters, especially at the bridges opposite the town. A striking feature of this day was a bombardment of the city by a hundred guns, posted on the crests on the north bank. This fired the town in various places, but had little other effect. The 12th was consumed in marching the various corps across the bridges, taking position on the south bank, and reconnoitring the the enemy's position in front. The 13th was occupied from eleven o'clock in the forenoon till night with successive attacks on the enemy's positions, made from the right, under Sumner, against the Confederate left and centre, held by Longstreet, and from the Union left, under Franklin, against the Confederate right, held by Jackson's corps. These attacks had one fate. The Union columns all suffered severely from the fire of the Confederate batteries, while advancing across the plain, but pushed forward to the foot of the heights and to the stone walls which sheltered the enemy's infantry ; and then fell back in shattered masses, without anywhere estab- lishing a permanent lodgment. " Six times," says General Lee, " did the enemy, notwithstanding the havoc caused by our batteries, press on with great determination to within one hundred yards of the foot of the hill ; but here encountering the deadly fire of our infantry his columns were broken and fled in confusion." There was not, in point of fact, so much of this fleeing "in confusion" as may be supposed; but 340 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. division after division was driven back with heavy loss. Hancock lost in round numbers 2,000 men, French 1,200, Sturgis 1,000, Humphreys 1,000, and so on through a terribly bloody list. No assault was made by any division of the Sixth corps > and grave fault was found with General Franklin because he did not use that corps and the rest of the 50,000 men under his command, in a much more formidable attack from the Union left, than was made. Franklin was even charged by Burnside and the charge was sustained by a report of the Com- mittee on the Conduct of the War with causing the defeat of the army by his failure to attack with all the force he could use ; and for this he was soon after relieved of his command, with very serious detriment to his reputation as a soldier. But his reply to the charge, and the facts and orders in the case, have left it to this day an open question, whether or no Burnside meant at the time, as he subsequently said he meant that the main assault on Lee's position should be made by Franklin. The latter averred most earnestly that he did not so understand his orders ; and the orders were so confused and contradictory as not to compel such an under- standing of them. Whether the general result would have been different if Burnside had dashed twice as many men against the heights is doubtful, in view of the immense strength of the enemy's position, and of the character of the commander and troops Stonewall Jackson and his corps opposed to Franklin. One thing is pretty certain that if the main attack had been made by Franklin, the Sixth corps would have had a prominent share in it ; and the Vermont colonels, in common with the rest, would have had to report far longer lists of killed and wounded. As it was, the Sixth corps and Howe's division and the Vermont brigade were by no means idle or out of danger. Of the four corps arrayed by Burnside on the plain of Fredericksburg, the Sixth was placed on the left centre, the THE FIRST BRIGADE. 341 order of battle being, from right to left, Second, Ninth, Sixth and First corps. The position of the Sixth corps was along the Old Richmond Stage road, otherwise known as the Bowling Green road, on both sides of Deep Eun, over against, and half a mile from Franklin's bridges. " The divisions of Howe and Brooks," says General Franklin in his reply to the report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, "were the two divisions on which I had to rely, to protect my right, centre, and bridges." These were posted on Friday, the 12th, Brooks on the right, holding a portion of the Stage road, with a line in front of Deep Eun, and Howe on his left along the crest of a hill, with his right at a sharp turn of Deep Eun. A skirmish line was thrown out in front nearly to the Eichmond and Fredericksburg railroad, which runs about half way between the Eichmond Stage road and the heights. The orders to Howe and Brooks were to hold the position and not to advance unless it became necessary, in a general attack. Under these orders they remained for the most part stationary, while the advances and heavy fighting and useless sacrifices of life took place to the right and left of them, on Saturday. Their skirmish lines in front, however, were con- stantly and often sharply engaged, both on Saturday and Sunday ; and it was on the skirmish line that the Vermont regiments were employed, and suffered such loss as they received. Describing their part in the battle more in detail, the brigade marched in the morning of Thursday, the llth, from its camp, five miles back from the river, with Howe's divi- sion, which reached the bank of the Eappahannock in the forenoon. As they passed over Stafford Heights, its brow grim with batteries at points stretching for three miles to the right, the valley opened before them. Fog and the smoke from the Confederate batteries hid most of the opposite bank till noon. On the left bank the engineers and working parties were laying the bridges, and hard at work 342 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. in spite of the rebel sharpshooters and occasional artillery fire from across the river. About noon the bombardment of the city, before mentioned, opened from over a Dec. 11, 1862. J ' hundred guns; and the roar of artillery and screaming of the shells, the rising clouds of white smoke from the guns, and the dense pillars of darker smoke defined against the background of fog across the river, as the fires kindled by the shells gained headway in the city, offered stirring sounds and sights. At four o'clock p. M., the construction of Frank- lin's bridges, three in number, was so far advanced that the Sixth corps was ordered to cross, and marched down to the plain ; but the hour was too late to effect a crossing and to occupy a defensive position on the other bank before dark, and the corps was ordered back to the hills and bivouacked there on the frozen ground. At daylight next morning the crossing was effected, Howe following Brooks and taking position on his left. When formed on the right bank the Sixth corps advanced half a mile and took position on the old Richmond stage road, Brooks and Howe in front and Newton's division in reserve. From the heights, some 1,500 yards away, the enemy's bat- teries, as soon as the fog lifted sufficiently to disclose the movement, opened a spasmodic fire. Howe's division was formed in three lines, its right rest- ing on the ravine of Deep Run, Pratt's brigade in front, with two batteries in its line and two more on its right and left, Vinton's brigade next, and the Vermont brigade forming the third line. The division held this position during the after- noon of Friday and the next two days and nights, the positions of the brigades being interchanged, however, each brigade in turn taking the front for a day and night. During Friday night the enemy, in addition to his batteries on the heights, brought down 21 guns to the sloping edge of the plain, near "the Bernard cabins," to the front and left of Howe's division, and some sharp artillery duels were main- THE FIRST BRIGADE. 343 tainecl between them and the Union batteries during the day on Saturday and on Sunday morning. The fighting on the skirmish line was continuous and active. General Franklin says: "Smith's line of skirmishers was nearly constantly engaged." General Smith says: "Our skirmish line was engaged nearly all the time." General Howe calls the skirmish line of his division " an angry skirmish line," and elsewhere mentions the "sharp clashes of the skirmish lines/* and the " constant activity " of the skirmishers. In this skirmishing all of the Vermont regiments but the Sixth took active part. The Second Vermont, under Lieut. Colonel Joyce, was sent forward on Friday to the skirmish line, which was advanced, the Confederate skirmishers being driven back for some distance. An effort of the enemy to restore his line, just before night, was repulsed. The Con- federates advanced confidently, but were received by the Second, whose picket reserve was partially sheltered by a ditch, with a volley, which sent them back, leaving several prisoners in the hands of the Second. On Saturday morn- ing, the enemy, of Fender's brigade, having strengthened his skirmish line, again endeavored to drive back the skirmish line of Howe's division; "bufc," says General Howe, "they immediately came into collision with those hardy veterans of the Vermont brigade, under Lieut. Colonel Joyce of the Second Vermont, and were handsomely repulsed, and them- selves driven back." 1 A more formidable attack was made on Howe's line, on Saturday afternoon, immediately after the repulse of Frank- lin's main assault from the left. The attacking force was Law's brigade (of North Carolina and Alabama troops) of Hood's division, and a portion of Fender's brigade. It was repulsed chiefly by the Vermonters, the Third Vermont hav- 1 While this skirmish was in progress, General Vinton, commanding The Third brigade, rode up to the skirmish line and was severely wounded in the abdomen. 344 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. ing a specially prominent part. While the preparations for the attack were in visible progress in front, the Third, which was on the right of the brigade, was ordered forward to a point near the railroad, on the edge of the ravine of Deep Bun. The regiment was taken thither by Lieut. Colonel Seaver ', who led it up through the ravine, and deployed it along the edge, which was fringed at that point with growing timber. It came out right on the flank of Law's brigade, which was then charging Howe's line, to the left, and opened on it a raking fire, under which it broke and retired with heavy loss. Law reported a loss of 214 men killed and wounded in this operation, and the Sixteenth North Carolina, of Fender's brigade, which participated in the movement, lost 54 officers and men killed and wounded, and a number of prisoners. General Fender's account of this affair is as follows : " After the heat of the action on the right, the "enemy advanced a brigade up Deep Bun, throwing one " regiment somewhat in advance, which so sheltered itself "behind the trees, as to get near enough to take an officer " and fifteen men of the Sixteenth North Carolina prisoners, " who were protecting the left flank of their regiment. This "left the regiment to be raked by a fire down the railroad " track. The Colonel (McElroy) drew his regiment back to " the ditch and held his ground until General Law sent for- "ward two regiments to its assistance. These three then "charged the enemy, driving them from the railroad cut "and across the fields to within a short distance of their "batteries." Nothing like the operation described in this last sentence took place ; a and the statement is in effect con- 1 Colonel Hyde being considerably prostrated at the time, by physical disability, as he claimed. 4 " Howe's division on the left of Smith's corps, being more advanced than the others, fronted the Heights of Bernard's Cabin, and the adjoin- ing woods, which were occupied by Hood's right and the left of A. P. Hill. About three o'clock, (of the 13th) Law's brigade attacked the left of Howe along the railroad, and was speedily repulsed with loss." Comte de Paris. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 345 tradicted by General Law, who does not claim that his regi- ments did more at that time than to check the fire from their left, and says he then withdrew them. The Fourth regiment tinder Lieut. Colonel Foster 1 was actively engaged on the skirmish line on Saturday. It was on the extreme left of the division skirmish line, and when Gibbon's division advanced to the railroad, in support of Meade's assault, the Fourth was advanced sufficiently to maintain a connection with Gibbon's line, on its left. The regiment distinguished itself by its steadiness and efficiency, and lost more men killed than any regiment of the brigade, suffering especially from canister. The Fifth, Colonel Grant, was on the skirmish line on Saturday, on the right of the Fourth, and was again engaged on the skirmish line on Sunday, during which day most of the casualties in the regiment occurred. While looking after the skirmishers, Colonel Grant received a painful blow on the leg from a spent ball. The regiment, as usual, behaved well. The night of the 13th of December, 1862, has been called " probably the most painful ever experienced by the Army of the Potomac during its whole existence." 2 But the Vermonters, though they knew that the fighting had been heavy, realized little of the frightful carnage that had taken place in other corps. They brought in their wounded and sent them across the river, and buried their dead ; and only learned on the day following that 12,000 men had been sacri- ficed in this fruitless battle. The casualties of the brigade were 148 in number, divided as follows : Killed. Wounded. Died of wounds. Second Vermont Regiment, 5 59 Third " " 28 1 Fourth " " 12 45 2 Fifth, " 1 12 Sixth, " " 11 Twenty-sixth New Jersey, 02 Total, 21 127 3 1 Colonel Stoughton being absent, at Washington. 2 Comte de Paris. 346 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. This was a slight loss as compared with that of some of Hancock's brigades which were pushed against Marye's Heights and lost over half their number. Yet the battle was no boy's play for the Vermont troops, who had to stand under frequent artillery fire, when not busy on the skirmish line, by day, and could sleep only by snatches on their arms by night, for sixty hours ; and they were not sorry, on Mon- day morning, to be relieved by General Newton's division, and to be marched back near the river out of fire. General Howe's report makes more prominent mention of the Ver- mont troops than of any others on his skirmish line, and when he says that his line was "gallantly maintained at all points," and that his infantry lines stood ''unmoved for three days and nights under the direct and enfilading fire of the enemy's batteries, and at all times exhibited a discipline and soldiership worthy of veterans of the first class," the Vermonters are entitled to their share of the praise. They in fact established in this battle the reputation, which they never lost, of especial efficiency and steadiness as skirmishers. Burnside, rendered desperate by his defeat, proposed to renew the battle on Sunday, and to head his old corps, the Ninth, in person, in another mad attempt to storm the heights; but he was dissuaded by his corps commanders. Lee, on his part, did not venture to take the offensive, and on Monday night, in a storm of wind and rain, the Army of the Potomac marched back across the bridges, and re- turned to its camps. The Sixth corps went into camp near White Oak Church a little white-washed meeting-house standing in a clump of oaks about four miles from the Kappahannock and the same distance from Belle Plain, on Potomac Creek, now the base of supply. Here were three extensive landings, one for the receipt of commissary stores, another for the shipping and discharging of troops, ordnance and quartermaster's stores, and another for forage, at which a million pounds of THE FIRST BRIGADE. 347 hay and grain were handled daily. This immense supply station was under the capable charge of Captain and A. Q. M. Perley P. Pitkin, of Vermont, the former quartermaster of the Second Vermont. A month of uniform and quiet life followed the First Fredericksburg. The troops built shanties and made them- selves comfortable in camp. The weather was generally mild and much of it pleasant ; and the health of the older soldiers was pretty good, though there was a good deal of sickness among the recruits. The morning report of the first of January, 1863, showed an aggregate of 3,933 men in the five Vermont regiments, with 2,760 present for duty. The days passed in the usual routine of picket and guard duty, battalion and skirmish drills, and inspections, with one or two brigade drills and reviews, till on the 19th of January, marching orders were once more received, and in the forenoon of the 20th, the brigade started, with the Sixth corps, with three days rations, over frozen ground and good roads, for some unknown destination. Three or four miles from camp the columns were halted and an order from General Burnside was read, announcing that the army was again to meet the enemy, and calling for the best efforts of officers and men. Burnside's present plan was to cross the Eappahannock at Banks's Ford, about six miles above Fred- ericksburg, turn the left of Lee's position, and fight a decisive battle on Salem Heights. This purpose was defeated by the elements. The corps marched that day about 12 miles. That night a terrific rain storm set in. The bottom dropped out of the roads; and the march of the army next day became an exhausting flounder in the mud. Another day of rain followed; the army made no progress; and mired ammunition wagons, stalled artillery, pontoon trains, supply wagons and ambulances, all at a standstill and in almost inextricable confusion, filled the roads. Sixteen horses tug- ged in vain on a single field piece. The men were set to 348 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. corduroying roads. To the Vermont brigade, which was well to the front of the column, and had camped about a mile from Banks's Ford, was given the task of helping the ex- hausted horses and mules pull through the pontoon train and artillery. The men had a hard day's work. It took a hundred men on the drag ropes to furnish the motive power for a single pontoon, in mud through which it was not easy for an unburdened man to make his way. General Burnside was active in encouraging the men. 1 But it soon became plain to him and to all, that the movement, concealment of which from the enemy was essential to its success, was a failure. The rations were exhausted ; the order to return was given that night, and the next morning the troops floundered back to their camps, weary, footsore, and scarcely recognizable among themselves from the coating of Virginia mud which covered them. So ended the famous " Mud March," which was the closing movement of General Burnside's short career as army commander. General Burnside had learned from President Lincoln, after the failure of the attempt against Fredericksburg, that a number of his corps and division generals considered him incompetent to command and had no faith that any enter- prise under him could succeed. He had hoped to remove this want of confidence by a successful movement. The effort had failed through the interference of the elements. The condition of mind in which it left Burnside can be inferred from his action. He made out an order dismissing from the service Generals Hooker, Brooks, Newton and Cochrane and sending away from the army of the Potomac 1 "As he [Burnside] rode through our division in the afternoon, with only two staff officers, himself and horse covered with mud, his hat rim turned down to shed the rain, his face careworn with this sudden disar- rangement of his plans, we could but think that the soldier on foot, oppressed with the weight of kuapsack> haversack and gun, bore an easy load compared with that of the commander of the army." Surgeon Ste vens. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 349 i Generals Franklin, Smith, Sturgis and Ferrero; took it to Washington, and demanded either its approval by the Presi- dent, or the acceptance of his own resignation. Mr. Lincoln thought it better that the army be deprived of an unsuccess- ful though honest and patriotic chief, than of most of its corps and division generals. So General Burnside's resigna- tion was accepted, and General Joseph Hooker, instead of being dismissed the service, was made commander of the army in his stead. CHAPTEE XIY. THE FIRST BRIGADE CONTINUED. General Hooker takes command Reorganization of the army Sedgwick succeeds Smith as commander of the Sixth corps The new brigade commander, Colonel Grant The Chancellorsville campaign The Sixth corps crosses the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg Marye's Heights Brilliant part of the Vermont brigade Salem Heights and Bank's Ford Details of the fighting of the Vermont regiments The brigade covers the recrossing of the Sixth corps Losses of the Vermont troops Return to White Oak Church. General Hooker's first work, as commander of the army, was reorganization. The grand divisions, which had proved unwieldly and useless, were abolished. The corps organiza- tions remained ; but new corps commanders were assigned to all of them except the First and Second, which retained their old commanders, Reynolds and Couch. The Ninth corps was detached from the army and sent to North Carolina, and General William F. Smith was assigned to its command. Division commanders, selected for their fighting qualities, were advanced to the commands of the other corps. The Eleventh and Twelfth corps, which had been detached under Burnside, were brought back to the Army of the Potomac. As thus reorganized the army consisted of the First corps, Eeynolds ; Second, Couch ; Third, Sickles ; Fifth, Meade ; Sixth, Sedgwick ; Eleventh, Howard ; and Twelfth, Slocum. General Howe remained in the command of the Second division, Sixth corps, of which the Yermont brigade was a part. This period was one of rapid improvement in the tone and condition of the army. The depression which followed THE FIRST BRIGADE. 351 the useless slaughter of Fredericksburg, soon passed away. General Hooker almost stopped desertions, which had become fearfully numerous, improved the efficiency of the staff and administrative service, consolidated and reorganized the cavalry arm, which now began to show its value ; adopted the system of corps badges ; brought up the medical, quarter- master and commissary departments to a wonderful pitch of efficiency, and adopted an improved ambulance system, which has been a model for the armies of other nations. 1 In these and other ways he showed the army that it had at its head a man of more than common energy and administrative abilities. His courage and fighting qualities had been de- monstrated at Williamsburg, Glendale, Malvern Hill, the Second Bull Bun, and Antietam. The defects in his character and insufficiency for chief command were unknown. His appearance and bearing were prepossessing ; and as he rode along the lines on his splendid white horse, about the hand- somest as he was the most conspicuous soldier in the army, every man in the ranks felt sure that the army now had a commander who would lead it to victory. The Sixth corps was sorry to lose General Smith ; but it soon learned to consider itself fortunate in his successor. Bred to arms, John Sedgwick had served with distinction in the Mexican war, had been placed in responsible commands by McClellan, had won for his division the reputation of being the best division in Sumner's corps, and had especially distinguished himself by his sturdy fight against heavy odds at Antietam. Bluff, reticent, utterly without ostentation, the officers and men under him came to realize that his blue blouse and coarse army pantaloons covered a true man and a brave soldier who knew his business and cared to know no more ; who meant to do his duty and expected those under him to do theirs. Under him the Sixth corps won its rank 1 Originated by Dr. Letterman, medical director of the Army of the Potoirac. 352 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. as the best corps in the army a title so often given to it by others, that it is not surprising that its members came to accept it as a true one. General Howe, as has been said, was an excellent division commander, and was growing in the respect and confidence of his command. A good many changes of command had been taking place in the Yermont brigade. Within the six weeks between December 18th, 1862, and February 9th, 1863, the remaining three of the original colonels of the brigade, Whiting, Hyde and Lord, together with Lieut. Colonel Joyce, command- ing the Second regiment, had resigned and retired to private life ; and before the resumption of active operations in the spring, Colonel Tut tie of the Sixth resigned. The removals of subordinate officers by death, disease and discharge had been so numerous that at the end of the first fifteen months of the existence of the brigade, on the 1st of March, 1863, there had been an entire change of the field and staff of every regiment, while of the fifty original cap- tains in the line, but six remained. 1 On the retirement of Colonel Whiting, which took place February 9th, 1863, Colonel Lewis A. Grant of the Fifth, as the ranking colonel, succeeded to the co mmand of the brigade. Colonel Grant had as yet his mark to make as a brigade commander. Entering the service with no military train- ing or experience, he had by diligent study thoroughly mastered the Regulations, and gave a degree of attention to details which some thought excessive, though by others it was considered worthy of praise. He had shown courage, energy and industry in the command of the Fifth regiment. With his accession to the command of the brigade regular and reasonably full reports of engagements and movements began to be made ; and he took hold of the duties of his new 1 Captains Pratt, Platt, Addison Brown, and Laird of the Fourth Ver- mont; Captain Jenne of the Fifth, and Captain Hutchinson of the Sixth. Engraved for Termo; THE FIRST BRIGADE. 353 position in a way that gave promise which his career ful- filled that the brigade would have in him, if not a highly popular commander, a vigilant, trusty and capable one, in camp and on the battlefield. The commanders of the regiments were, of the Second, Colonel James H. Walbridge; Third, Colonel Thomas O. Seaver ; Fourth, Colonel Charles B. Stoughton ; Fifth, Lieut. CoJonel John It. Lewis; Sixth, Colonel Elisha L. Barney. All of these had risen, by successive promotions, from the line. Each had shown bravery and capacity in subordinate commands, and each had the respect and confidence of the officers and men under him. The later months of the winter of 1862-3 were passed by the brigade in the camp near White Oak Church. There was abundance of cold weather with occasional snow storms up to the end of March and even into April, and at times considerable sickness prevailed, as shown by the long lists of Vermont soldiers in the regimental and Philadelphia hos- pitals. But the health of the brigade improved steadily through the winter months, and was rarely better than it was when the spring campaign of 1863 began. One of the chief events of the winter was a notable snow-ball battle. The Third and Fourth Yermont regiments were challenged by the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, which numbered as many men as both the others, to meet them on the mimic battlefield. Snow-balling was a favorite amuse- ment with the Jerseymen, and they had become especially proficient in it; but their challenge was accepted by the Vermont boys, and the contest took place on the 25th of February. An immense multitude of spectators gathered to witness it from the camps around. The opposing lines were marshalled by their line and field officers, the latter mounted. Skirmishers were thrown out, followed by attacks and counter attacks in line. The game ended in the capture by the Ver- mont boys of the colonel, adjutant and quartermaster of 23 354 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL AVAR. the New Jersey regiment, all finely mounted, and the utter rout of the Jersey men. It was a piece of boy's play ; but it made about as much stir, at the time, as a serious battle. The five Yermont regiments, on the 15th of April, 1863, aggregated 3,343 officers and men, with 2,796 present for duty. The Army of the Potomac, on the same date, num- bered 113,000 infantry and artillery and 12,000 cavalry; and perhaps General Hooker was not far out of the way when he called it "the finest army on the planet." General Lee's army was less numerous. The rolls of the army of Northern Virginia on the 30th of March, 1863, showed an aggregate of 60,298 men. It is to be noted, however, in regard to all statements of numbers on the Southern side, that it is known that in special emergencies occurring on Southern soil, in addition to the numbers officially reported by the Confederate commanders, considerable numbers of irregular troops and volunteers for temporary service took part, which do not appear on the army rolls. There is little doubt, also, that the statements of losses on the Confederate side, in battles fought on Southern soil, were often under the truth, even in cases where there was any intention to state it, owing to the facts that losses among such temporary volunteers were not reported, and that many wounded Confederates wan- dered off and sought shelter and perhaps died in the houses of friendly inhabitants of the country around the battlefields, and were never reported in any lists of casualties. Intelli- gent residents in Virginia since the war, state their belief that in many cases a considerable percentage should be added to the official statements of Confederate numbers and losses, on these accounts. On the 3d of April the brigade was reviewed with the Sixth corps by General Hooker, and on the 8th, President Lincoln, accompanied by General Hooker and a great caval- cade of generals and staff officers, reviewed the Third, Fifth and Sixth corps. The other three corps were reviewed the THE FIRST BRIGADE. 355 next day. The paymasters paid off the regiments about this time. The weather became warm and the roads more pass- able ; and orders to send all extra clothing and camp equipage to Alexandria, in the first week in April, indicated that the spring campaign was at hand. Yet the men were busy in grading their camps and shading the company streets with evergreens as if for a long stay, when, on the 14th of April, the orders came to make ready to move. These orders had some new features ; officers were allowed one valise apiece and shelter tents, to be carried on pack mules, instead of un- limited baggage and A tents carried in wagons ; and the men were to carry eight day's rations three in their haversacks, and five in their knapsacks leaving little room for anything else. Something more than a holiday excursion was evidently on foot, and the prospect of active operations was welcomed by most of the army. A long storm delayed the proposed movement for two weeks. The Chancellorsville campaign began in earnest on the 27th of April. Hooker's plan was to move against Lee's left with four corps, 1 by a wide detour, crossing the Rappahan- nock at Kelley's Fords, twenty-seven miles above Fredericks- burg, and passing around Lee's flank to Chancellorsville, in the edge of the Wilderness, twelve miles west of Fredericks- burg ; while Sedgwick with two corps, 2 was to force a crossing at Fredericksburg, and make a demonstration against the Confederate position along the Heights. The crossing and march of the main column were effected with surprising celerity ; and on the night of Thursday, April 30th, Hooker's headquarters were at Chancellorsville a single brick house at a cross-roads and he had taken 50,000 men with him to the rear of the very centre of Lee's fortified 1 These in the course of the movement and battle were followed by two more corps. * Reduced afterwards to one. 356 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. line. Meantime pontoon bridges had been thrown across the river below Fredericksburg, at the point where Franklin crossed in December, and a mile below. The First and Sixth corps had marched to the river ; and a division of each corps Brooks's of the Sixth and Wadsworth's of the First crossed to guard the bridge heads. The other divisions of both corps remained on the northern bank, where they lay on Friday while Hooker was pushing reconnoitring columns out towards Fredericksburg. On Saturday, Hooker having by this time discovered that Lee had no intention of retreating, the First corps was withdrawn and moved to Chancellorsville, leaving Sedgwick with only his own corps to operate against the enemy's right. Between six and seven o'clock that evening. Stonewall Jackson, making a circuit to the west, struck and stampeded the Eleventh . corps, on the extreme right of Hooker's line, and an hour later fell mortally wounded in the dusk of the evening, with three bullet holes through him. 1 That evening Howe's division of the Sixth corps crossed to the south bank. On Sunday morning Sedgwick stormed Marye's Heights, in which brilliant achievement the Vermont brigade won immortal fame ; and in the afternoon marched out to Salem Heights, back of Fredericksburg, to menace General Lee's rear. Lee, in the meantime, had been forcing the fighting at Chancellorsville, and had taken the cross-roads,, pushing Hooker's lines back to the north. Hooker had been stunned by the concussion of a cannon ball, which struck a pillar of the Chancellorsville house against which he was leaning, and the Union army was for a time without a head, In general, affairs were in such a condition that Lee could afford to, and did, detach a strong force from his front to meet Sedgwick Sunday afternoon. Sedgwick carried the crest at Salem Church but could not hold it ; and the next day, Lee 1 It will never be known whether he was wounded by his own men or by the Union troops. He was between the lines, and both were firing. The Union fire killed one of the men who bore him away. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 357 having further strengthened the force opposed to him, he was forced back, though resisting obstinately, to the river, at Banks's Ford, four miles above Fredericksburg. But he gave his assailants a bloody recoil at the close of the day, and that night the Sixth corps re-crossed the Eappahannock The next night, Hooker, who had been doing no fighting since Sunday noon, though he had with him more men who had not drawn a trigger than there were in Lee's entire army, and though he ought to have been glad to be attacked in the impregnable position he had taken, also re-crossed the river, leaving his 12,000 killed and wounded, 14 guns and nearly 20,000 small arms to the enemy. It is not necessary to the purpose of this history to describe the portion of this famous double battle that was conducted under Hooker's immediate command, or near his headquarters. The mysterious strategy therein displayed has raised the questions, why a soldier of Hooker's energy waited for two days to be attacked on the tangled and un- favorable ground of Chancellorsville, thus losing all he had gained by the celerity of his movement across the Eappahan- nock ; why he did not occupy, as he could easily have done the favorable ground commanding Banks's Ford, thus bringing his wings twelve miles nearer to each other, and almost unit- ing them ; why he permitted half of his force in the field at Chancellorsville to be worsted on Sunday, while the other half stood by unemployed ; why he allowed Sedgwick to be outnumbered and enveloped without the slightest diversion in his favor or attempt to reinforce him ; why, when physical incapacity was added to mental, he did not relinquish the command to some one else. These are questions which have perplexed far abler military critics than the writer of this history, and he is glad not to be called on to explain or discuss them. His task is the simpler one of telling what was done by and happened to the Sixth corps, with especial reference to the part taken by the Yermont troops. To go back a 358 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. little, the Sixth corps left its camp near White Oak Church in the afternoon of the 28th, and bivouacked that night, with- out fires, about a mile back from the river, the regiments of the Yermont brigade being crowded together in the woods, on ground so low and wet that the soldier thought himself lucky who could lie on a brush-heap instead of in a puddle. In the early morning a force crossed the river in boats and captured the enemy's picket line on the south bank ; and pontoon bridges were laid at Franklin's crossing. Brooks's division then crossed the river, and Howe's division moved down near the bridges. These divisions remained thus during Thursday and Friday. A good deal of rain fell, and the mud was deep ; but the spirits of the troops and their faith in General Hooker were high. Brooks's skirmishers on Thursday unmasked to some extent the enemy's force, which, under General Early, occupied the heights, with a line along the railroad on the plain in front. Early made a formidable show of strength, and at times moved troops to and fro in masses large enough to give the impression that he was holding the position with a very strong force. There were some artillery duels to the left; but no other fighting. Friday morning, General Hooker's order, announc- ing that he had gained the enemy's rear and that Lee must fly or come out and give battle where certain destruction awaited him, was published to the troops. The day passed quietly in front of Fredericksburg ; but the sound of artillery came in the afternoon from the west, where the columns which Hooker had pushed out, only to withdraw them, were meet- ing some resistance. Friday night was quiet and even de- lightful along the Eappahannock. The moon was nearly full and its light glistened broad and bright on the river, the intervale between the river and the hills was spangled with the lights of the Union army, while the Confederate camp fires gleamed and their signal lights flashed along the semicircle of the heights. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 359 Saturday morning, the First corps was withdrawn from its position on the left of the Sixth and sent around to strengthen Hooker at Chancellorsville, though it was not used after it got there. There were some exchanges of com- pliments between Sedgwick's batteries and skirmishers and the enemy's this day; but neither side took the offensive in earnest. The heavy firing and clouds of rising smoke beyond Fredericksburg to the west, however, told of serious work in progress there, and the occasional visible hurrying of troops in that direction from the enemy's lines in front indicated that his left was being reinforced from his right. Brooks ad- vanced to the stage road, Saturday, pushing the enemy back to the woods; in the evening Howe's division crossed the river, and the Sixth corps was concentrated on the right bank. The men lay on their arms that night. At eleven o'clock that evening, General Sedgwick received from Hooker orders, sent after the disaster to his right wing had occurred, to put the Sixth corps in motion, seize Eredericksburg and the heights, move out toward Chancellorsville, destroying any force that blocked the way, and to get into the vicinity of the main army by daylight. General Sedgwick was severely blamed by various gen- erals, from General Hooker down to one of his own division commanders, 1 for not obeying this order with more prompt- ness and energy. Sedgwick's reply to the charge of inaction was that he did all that was practicable ; that the order was given upon the assumption that there was a very small rebel force to oppose him, whereas he knew that the heights were defended by a large force; and that the distance between him and Chancellorsville was so great, being fourteen miles, that he could not have reached Hooker by daybreak even if there had not been an armed rebel in the way. It is to be said on Sedgwick's side of the case, that there is no doubt 1 General Howe. 360 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. that Hooker supposed that Sedgwick had less ground to cover, in order to join him, than was the case. He did not seem to realize that Sedgwick was not at or opposite Fred- ericksburg, but three miles below. Furthermore, General Hooker and those about his headquarters believed that Lee had withdrawn troops from his right till not over a brigade was left to make a show of opposition to Sedgwick ; whereas in fact Lee had left an entire division, Early's, 1 and two brigades Barksdale's, of McLaws's division, and Wilcox's, of Anderson's division to guard his lines about Fredericks- burg. Early had at his disposal a force of 10,000 men not much short of the number that had beaten back Burnside's army from those heights and 50 guns, all so strongly posted that one defender was worth two or three assailants. Of course General Sedgwick could not forget that the task assigned to him was to carry with his single corps a position from which four months before full half of the army of the Potomac had been beaten back with terrible loss. He cannot be blamed for acting with considerable caution under all the circumstances. And yet, with all allowances, it must be admitted that it was a great pity that he should not have pushed his columns along somewhat more vigorously that night, carried the heights at an earlier hour next morning, and hurried out toward Chancellorsville in the forenoon. The two or three hours thus gained, might, and probably would, have made all the difference in the result of the battle of Chancellorsville. But even this mild suggestion seems hardly generous in view of what was actually accomplished by Sedgwick. For it has been truly said that his "brilliant exploit in carrying the Fredericksburg Heights, and his sub- sequent fortitude in a trying situation, shine out as the one relieving brightness amid the gloom of that hapless battle." a 1 The Confederate divisions comprised from four to six brigades, and contained nearly double the numbers of the Union divisions. 8 William Swinton. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 361 THE STORMING OF MARYE'S HEIGHTS. On receiving the order above mentioned, an hour before midnight, Sedgwick put his corps in motion for Fredericks- burg. The head of Newton's division, which was May 3, 1863. . ' in advance, was harassed and delayed by the enemy's skirmishers, all the way, and it was daylight before Howe's division, which came next, filed into the Bowling Green road. Howe advanced to Hazel Run, on the south of Fredericksburg and took position facing Marye's Hill. Here he lay for four or five hours, while other troops were getting into position, and while the enemy's lines were felt by Gibbon, whose division occupied the town, and by Brooks, whose division was on the left, along Deep Run. Sedg- wick decided on a general assault on the works square in his front, to be made by Newton's and Howe's divisions. Howe got his order at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and at once formed three storming columns, two of which, it will be noticed, were commanded by Vermonters, and were com- posed in part of Vermont regiments. Before describing their brillant and successful assault, some additional description of the ground may be of service. The plain of Fredericksburg, as the reader already knows, is encircled by a rim of highlands, rising in terraces to an elevated plain back of the city. On the edge of this table ground, where it is nearest to the city, is the famous Marye house and hill. Below this was a stone wall, built to face and support a terrace, and forming a parapet along its front. An extension of Marye's Hill to the south is known as " Cemetery Hill." South of this and about half a mile from Marye's, a higher eminence, called " Lee's Hill " after General Lee oc- cupied it as his headquarters at the First Fredericksburg, pushes out its bluffs to the plain ; and between these run the valley and stream of Hazel Run, breaking from the plain above and running easterly to the river. The heights of Lee's Hill stretch southward a mile and a half, to the valley of 3G2 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Beep Run. In front of these the track of the Eichmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad, and the highway (variously called the Old Kichmond Stage road, the Bowling Green road and the Port Royal road,) divide the plain by nearly parallel lines. The heights were crowned at every commanding point with earthworks and batteries. Con- federate infantry lined the stone wall, and other lines of infantry lay in rifle pits at the foot of the heights. The enemy's skirmishers occupied the railroad track. Howe formed his troops along the Stage road for the assault, the storming columns being composed as follows: first column, General T. H. Neill commanding, Seventh Maine, Seventy-seventh New York, Thirty-third New York, and half of the Twenty-first New Jersey ; second column, Colonel L. A. Grant commanding, Second Vermont, Sixth Vermont, and Twenty-sixth New Jersey ; third column, Colonel T. O. Seaver commanding, Third Vermont, Fourth Vermont, and the other half of the Twenty-first New Jersey. Two columns of attack were formed at the same time from Newton's division, in the streets of Fredericksburg. These were to assault the works on the right of Hazel Run, while Howe's columns were to attack on the left of the run. A more or less continuous artillery fire had been kept up on the enemy's position during the forenoon, by batteries of rifled guns on the north bank, and by some of Sedgwick's light batteries along his line. This lulled for a time, but opened again about noon, with redoubled energy, in prepara- tion for the assault. At this signal the storming columns started together. The order was to move at double quick across the plain, push straight up the heights, and carry the works at the point of the bayonet. This involved an advance over three quarters of a mile of perfectly open ground, com- manded at every point by the enemy's batteries ; the driving of the enemy's infantry from their breastworks at the base of the hills ; the ascent of heights too steep for a horse to THE FIRST BRIGADE. 363 climb ; J and the storming of a double line of redoubts and breastworks at the top ; nor would the work be ended when these were carried, for the batteries on Lee's Hill commanded the position of Marye's Hill. The time for preparation was short ; knapsacks were quickly unslung and piled by the road, and in five minutes the lines were in order for the advance. In five minutes more they swept out across the plain in splendid style, forming a spectacle which none who witnessed it on either side ever forgot. Each pushed rapidly forward, with- out firing a shot. Early's batteries opened on them fiercely, and with some effect ; but they moved too quickly to be kept in range and suffered less than might have been expected. The two storming parties of Newton's division, having less distance to go, first reached the opposing works, drove two regiments of Barksdale's brigade 2 from their lower line, pressed on to the crest, and carried the works to the right of Marye's. They lost both their commanders 3 and a good many men ; but took all the guns in the works in their front, and many prisoners. Neill's and Grant's columns moved on the left of Hazel Eun, driving the enemy from the railroad cut and rifle pits beyond ; then bearing to the right crossed the ravine of Hazel Eun, waded the stream, there two or three feet deep, and moved up the southern slope of Cemetery Hill, to the left of the stone wail. In the latter part of the charge, the front lines became somewhat divided and mixed, owing to the circumstance that the New Jersey regiments in each line held back, while the two Vermont regiments, the Second 1 The commanders of the columns of Howe's division and the regimental field officers of the Vermont regiments all left their horses, and went for- ward on foot, in the belief that horses could not climb where they were going. 2 The Eighteenth and Twenty-first Mississippi. 3 Colonel Spear of the Sixty-first Pennsylvania, killed, and Colonel Johns of the Seventh Massachusetts, severely wounded. 364 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. and Sixth, pushed on. The skirmishers (of the Seventy- seventh New York) the Thirty-third New York, and the Sixth Vermont, which passed two regiments whose place was in front of it, entered the first line of works on the Heights about together, the enemy falling back before them to their second line. Marye's Hill, in front of which a few months before Hancock, French and Howard lost 4,000 men without fairly reaching the stone wall, was thus carried; but the assail- ants did not rest there, for the Confederate guns on Lee's Hill to the left, and on the second crest in front which Wilcox had just occupied with his brigade and Lewis's bat- tery, were throwing shell and grape ; and there was plainly work still to be done. The Sixth Yermont was accordingly deployed as skirmishers, by order of General Newton, and sent forward for the guns in front, which were about 600 yards away. In this the Sixth was efficiently aided by Martin's battery. 1 Martin had closely followed the infantry lines, and ascending by the road to the crest, went at once into battery near Marye's house, and began to make it warm for Wilcox, at the same time that his right was attacked by the Second Yermont. This had started across the plain below with the Twenty-sixth New Jersey on its left. Coming under an enfilading fire from the batteries on Lee's Hill, as well as from the front, the New Jersey regiment first crowded to the right, its line lapping that of the Second, and then halted near the foot of the slope and opened a scattering and harmless fire upon the works and batteries above. March- ing the Second Yermont to the right a short distance by the flank, to disentangle its line, Colonel Grant faced it to the front and led it forward alone. The regiment was halted for five minutes, to take breath, under the cover of the bank, which was steep enough to afford protection from the showers 1 Battery F., Fifth U. S. Artillery. THE FIRST BRIGADE. . 365 of grape and canister, and then pushed forward up the hill, till it gained a line of rifle pits on the first crest, which, with a brass field piece, had just been abandoned by the enemy. 1 The regiment here halted and dressed its lines for the charge on the second crest. Colonel Grant had meantime dis- covered the Thirty-third New York back near the Eun, and having ordered it up within supporting distance, the Second again started forward, with two companies in front as skirm- ishers. The enemy at this time showed no intention of leav- ing the second crest ; but on the contrary opened a hot fire, from which the Second suffered severely. Finding that his men were dropping rapidly, and perceiving that the works in front were strongly manned, Colonel Walbridge halted his regiment, which vigorously returned the enemy's fire, till the Thirty-third New York and Seventh Maine came up on its right and left, when the line again advanced. Under the combined assault, Wilcox, who had his entire brigade there, with such of Barksdale's troops as had escaped from Marye's Hill, gave way. The Union standards were planted in the Confederate works, and Early's position on the right of Hazel Eun was fully carried. While these events were in progress, Seaver's column had made an equally gallant advance across the plain, and bearing to the left assaulted the works on Lee's Hill, which were held by three Mississippi regiments of Barksdale's brigade, 2 and a regiment of Hays's brigade, with Frazer's and 1 An officer of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey thus describes this move- ment : "As we approached the foot of the hills, we could see the rebel gunners limbering up their pieces. The Second Vermont, which had got a little ahead of us, were now moving up the steep slope on our right, in beautiful line; and presently we also commenced the ascent. A terrible volley thinned the ranks of the Vermonters; but they pressed on, and the enemy began to give away. As we reached the top of the hill we could see the flying foe, crossing through a gully and ascending the rise of ground opposite. The terrible Fredericksburg Heights had been captured." 2 Barksdale had divided his brigade, stationing two regiments on Marye's Hill and sending three to Lee's Hill. 366 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Carlton's batteries. The Third Vermont was the first to gain the crest, and at once engaged the enemy. The Fourth and Fifth came up immediately. The enemy withdrew after a short resistance and the position was carried. All this was accomplished so speedily that Early, who had the bigger part of his division within supporting distance, could not reinforce his lines on the heights in time to save them. He lost eight guns, three on Marye's Hill and the second crest, and five on Lee's Hill. His loss of men was serious, Barks- dale alone losing 606 men from his brigade, of whom 327 were reported missing, most of them having been captured on Marye's Hill. Moreover Early was fairly cut off from the rest of Lee's army ; and he would have been in serious trouble if Sedgwick's orders had not been peremptory to march toward Chancellorsville. The reader will understand that it is not claimed that the Sixth corps carried the heights of Fredericksburg in the face of as many men and guns as those which threw Burn- side back from their front. Early was not expecting Sedg- wick's attack, and was not fully prepared to meet it. But the heights were carried against heavy opposition. No similar assault on the Southern side during the war equalled this in brilliancy and success ; and in these respects it was surpassed, on the Northern side, if at all, only by Lookout Mountain and the final storming of Lee's lines at Petersburg. The loss of the Sixth corps, in this brilliant passage of arms, was little greater than that of the enemy though the latter fought with great advantages of position. The casu- alties in the Yermont regiments were 132, of which number 105 were in the Second Vermont. Almost all of these occurred in its assault on the second crest. The whole affair did not occupy an hour. The brigade held the captured works, till relieved, an hour later, by Brooks's division. The Vermont regiments then returned to the plain to get their knapsacks and some coffee, but soon hurried back, marching THE FIKST BKIGADE. 367 through the outskirts of Fredericksburg, and went out over the plank road with the rest of Howe's division. The Sixth corps was now marching toward Chancel- lorsville; Brooks had the advance and in his front was Wilcox's Confederate brigade, which had fallen back from the heights as far as Salem Church, four miles from Fred- ericksburg. General Lee, having received the startling news of the loss of the heights of Fredericksburg, and having struck Hooker a stunning blow in the forenoon, at once de- tached McLaws's division and a brigade of Anderson's divi- sion to reinforce Wilcox and ward off the danger to his rear. McLaws joined Wilcox at Salem Church, and Brooks soon not only found his efforts to push forward resisted, but was himself forced back by the constantly increasing numbers in his front. He was having hot work, as Howe's division marched out over the plank road; and a sorry stream of wounded men was passing to the rear. 1 The first hours of daylight next morning disclosed a serious condition of affairs. Early, having discovered that Sedgwick's movement had left the heights of Fredericksburg substantially undefended, at daylight re-occupied the line along the heights, from which he had been driven the day before. Sedgwick was thus cut off from Fredericksburg, and to the dangers on his front and left was added a new peril in his rear. General Lee had, in fact, decided to make an end of Sedgwick, before giving any more attention to Hooker. He went to superintend the affair in person, taking with him Anderson's division, and not doubting that with three divi- sions, outnumbering the Sixth corps by four or five thousand men, he could drive it into the river. Sedgwick, on his part, supposed that he was even more heavily outnumbered ; but 'Among them, many Vermonters noticed, in an ambulance, Captain Theodore Read, of General Brooks's staff, formerly the assistant adjutant general of the Vermont brigade. 368 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. he prepared to make the stoutest resistance possible. Howe's division was faced about to the rear, that is to the east, to receive Early. Brooks's division was placed at right angles with Howe, facing south, and confronting Anderson. Newton, facing west and with his right on the river at Banks's Ford was opposed to McLaws. In other words the lines of the Sixth corps formed three sides of a hollow square, enveloped by the enemy. Howe, with but two brigades, numbering all told less than 6,000 men, had a line of two miles long to hold, extend- ing from the turnpike or plank road, 1 on which they had marched out from Fredericksburg, nearly to the river. The Vermont brigade held the right of the line, its own right resting on the road and connecting at an angle with the left of Brooks's division. Lee spent most of the day in getting his troops into position, reconnoitring, and feeling of his enemy, in one of which operations Early felt a point on Howe's line, and lost 200 men and a battle flag, of the Fifty-eighth Virginia. He finally decided to make his main attack on the right and centre of Howe's line, intending to break through, take Sedg- wick's lines in reverse on right and left, and cut off and capture as much of the Sixth corps as he did not destroy. His preparations were not completed till five o'clock in the afternoon. A few minutes after that hour the right and centre of Howe's line were attacked, " with a violence," says that general, "that I had never before encountered." Early 's assault was made by the brigades of Hays, Hoke and Gordon, moving en echelon. In preparation for it Howe had formed his division in a double line. The front line con- sisted of Neill's brigade and the Fifth Vermont, with a line of skirmishers in front, consisting in part of two com- 1 This plank road became a common turnpike two or three miles out from the city. MARYE'S AND SALEM HEIGHTS MAY 3 r - d & 4 1 -" 1863. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 369 panies of the Fifth under Major Dudley. The other regi- ments of the Yermont brigade and a battery formed the second line, arranged as follows from right to left : Third Yermont, Rigby's battery, Sixth Yermont, Second Yermont, Twenty-sixth New Jersey, and Fourth Yermont. The last named regiment was posted well to the front in the edge of a piece of pine woods, with a ravine and open field in front of it. The line of the other regiments extended along a slight swell of ground, the crest of which afforded partial protection to the guns, and to the infantry when lying down. In this order Early's assault was awaited. As it developed, battery after battery came into position on the crests in front of Howe, and the shells began to whiz and crack along his lines. Heavy masses of Confederate infantry next appeared, moving down the slopes in successive lines. Their onset grazed Brooks's skirmish line, and then fell heavily on Howe's right and centre. Dudley's skirmishers received the advance, fall- ing back inch by inch, and resisting the enemy's skirmishers till his front line of battle came up. As this crossed a swell in front of the Fifth Yermont, it bore to its own right to strike Neill's front. Seizing the opportunity thus offered, Lieut. Colonel Lewis at once swung forward the right of his regiment and poured into the gray ranks sweeping past his front a terrible enfilading fire, which, in the opinion of Colonel Grant, disabled a much greater number of the enemy than there were men in the regiment. The Fifth kept this up till the second Confederate line came up. As this extended be- yond his right, to prevent it from enfilading him and reaching his rear, Colonel Lewis now drew off his regiment by the flank, through a depression of the ground behind him, and passing in the rear of the Third, took position in the second line. Neill's line to the left had in the meantime been as- sailed with great fury, and began to give way after heavy loss. 1 The second line must now receive the stress of the 1 Neill lost in all, that evening, About 1,000 men. 24 370 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. assault, and on its steadiness depended the maintenance of Howe's position, and the life of the corps. Some fresh dis- positions were hastily made by Colonel Grant to meet the emergency. The Twenty-sixth New Jersey was moved to the right and a little forward, to present a front from that quarter, and to leave the veteran regiments of the brigade together where the brunt of the rebel assault was likely to fall. The Second Vermont was moved to the left into the place vacated by the New Jersey regiment, and the Third Vermont took the place of the Second, leaving the Sixth on the extreme right of the brigade line. Flushed with their success thus far and sweeping before them a portion of Neill's brigade like froth on the crest of the wave, with the "rebel yell" rising shrill above the din of the strife, the Confederate lines now came in on the charge. The New Jersey regiment received Hoke with a volley, which stag- gered but did not stop him, and as he pressed on the Jersey- men broke and fell back in extreme disorder. 1 The surge of attack now struck the Second Vermont with even added impetus; but it had met a different obstacle. The men of the Second, who had been kept down, rose, and opened a fire which from its rapidity and intensity seemed like a continu- ous volley, and the Confederate line quailed. As soon as the demoralized Jerseymen, passing through to the rear, had got away from its front, the Third Vermont took part in the music, and added a hot fire to that of the Second, under which Hoke's lines halted and broke. Hays's brigade on his right, however, still pressed on, obliquely, till it met the Fourth Vermont, whose position, as has been mentioned, was somewhat in front of the general line of the brigade. Colonel 1 "We were not the only regiment that was broken on that fearful Monday night ; and when veterans were compelled to give way we might be pardoned for doing the same ; but many look back on that moment with regret. Reaching a brush fence the Twenty-sixth rallied." Notes of an officer of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, quoted in New Jersey and the Rebellion. THE FIRST BEIGADE. 371 Stoughton threw back the right wing of his regiment so as to oppose a squarer front to the enemy, and received Hays with a fire which cleared the slope of the ravine in Stough- ton's front ; and the tide passed along it to his left. To pre- vent being flanked from that quarter, he again changed front, refusing his left, and held the masses in front of him in check, till the Fifth Vermont arrived from the right and took position on his left. The Fifth here commanded the ravine and the crest on the left of it, and made the left of the brigade line secure for the time. The assault now lulled for a few moments, only to rage with fresh fury. Hoke and Hays rallied their men and renewed the attack with great vigor. They met at every point a wall of fire, and could nowhere break through the line of the Vermont brigade. But on its right a gap in the lines had been opened by the gradual moving of the regiments to the left. Perceiving this, Early now tried to push into this opening and turn the right of the brigade. The Sixth Vermont here held a low crest, behind which they were lying down. Colonel Barney kept his men down, as several Confederate regiments ad- vanced, shouting and shaking their battle flags. They came on at double quick to within twenty feet of the line of the Sixth, when, at the word, the regiment rose, fired a volley full in their faces, then charged in turn and drove them at the point of the bayonet down the slope and to the crest beyond. The Sixth took in this counter charge, a colonel, 1 a lieutenant colonel, a major and 17 other officers, and 237 enlisted men. A portion of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, who had been rallied by Colonel Martindale, advanced with the Sixth Vermont and took part in this splendid charge. 2 1 Colonel Stafford of the Ninth Louisana. 2 A member of the New Jersey regiment describes the transaction as follows : "The Sixth Vermont lay behind a little rise of ground, awaiting the onset of the rebel hosts. Although the enemy was at least three times their number, for there was a whole brigade of them, the gallant Vermonters 372 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The Confederate lines now fell back from the entire front of the Vermont brigade, leaving the ground strewn with their dead and wounded, while among the prisoners taken by the Vermonters were men of seven Confederate regiments the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Louisiana, and the Sixth, Twenty- first, Twenty-fourth and Fifty-seventh North Carolina. Early was thus fairly repulsed on the right and centre of Howe's division. But the left of the division, consisting of a portion of Neill's brigade, after contesting its position against heavy odds, had been pushed back far enough to endanger the left of the Vermont brigade, and Colonel Grant had withdrawn the Fourth Vermont a short distance, when a battery and two regiments 1 sent over from Newton's division by General Sedgwick arrived, and extended Grant's line to the left. The battery rendered good service ; and Early's progress was soon checked. General Howe says of this portion of the action : "The enemy, apparently thinking our left was giving way,, "rallied and confidently advanced until they brought their "flank opposite the woods in which was placed those sterling "soldiers of the Vermont brigade. At the favorable moment "this brigade opened its fire on the flank of the enemy's " columns, and immediately the batteries in front opened a " direct fire. The effect of this flank and direct fire on the "enemy was most marked. In a short time not a hostile "shot came into our lines. Darkness now came on. Soon "the moon rose and lighted up the field; but not a rebel "could be seen between our lines and the Heights of Freder- "icksburg." let them come on until they were actually within a few feet of them, and then, rising, poured in a volley which literally decimated the foe. They fled hastily, and the Sixth corps was saved. It was now our turn and the Vermonters, followed by the Twenty-sixth, pressed forward on the flying foe, until we reached the brow of the hill from which they had come. As we went we took a great many prisoners." 1 Battery G., Second U. S. Artillery, Lieutenant Butler; Ninety-eighth Pennsylvania and Sixty-second New York. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 373 As General Lee waited till Early should secure a positive advantage before he pushed in at any other point, the other divisions of the Sixth corps were not assaulted in any force, and the contest of Monday evening was the last serious fighting of the Chancellorsville campaign. General Sedgwick, having received no help or encourage- ment to expect help from General Hooker, and believing that he had in his front two-thirds as he actually had a majority of Lee's army, decided to fall back that night to Banks's Ford, where a pontoon bridge had been laid, and to cross the river, leaving Howe's division to the last to cover the move-- ment. The division accordingly faced the enemy till half- past ten o'clock, when Howe began to withdraw, his rear being guarded by the Vermont brigade. This held the front till midnight, when it was withdrawn. The order to retire was received with some astonishment by the men, as they had fully repulsed the enemy and knew of no reason why they should leave the field. But it was of course obeyed. The brigade fell back slowly over the two miles of ground between it and Banks's Ford, halting frequently, and finally forming a new line of battle, in the small hours, to guard the bridge head while the rest of the corps was crossing. A strong skirmish line, supported by the Second, Third and Sixth Yermont regiments, under the command of Colonel T. O. Seaver, acting division officer of the day, screened the movement. The skirmishers repulsed a slight attack and held their ground till the corps had crossed the bridge, which a Confederate battery up the river was now shelling. About three o'clock in the morning the three regi- ments withdrew across the river, and lastly the skirmishers were safely brought off by Major Dudley, reaching the river just before daylight, in a dense fog, to find the bridge on which they had expected to cross, cut loose from the south- ern bank and swinging down stream. All, however, save a few severely wounded men who had been left in a barn 374 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. half a mile back, made out to get across, some in toon boats, and some by a bridge lower down the stream \ and as the daylight crept over the eastern hills the last of the brigade marched wearily np the heights on the northern shore. They dropped as soon as they were halted and slept till noon, their rest hardly broken even by the sheila from the enemy's batteries across the river, which fell along the lines of sleeping soldiers. The next night Hooker, against the wish and advice of some of his best generals, returned to his former camp on the north side of the Kappahannock. The campaign cost him his reputation as commander-in-chief ; and Lee the life of his best lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson. 1 As for the Army of the Potomac, none of its members, except those of the Eleventh corps, felt any of the disgrace of defeat. They knew that the army had been beaten only by its own commander or by the lack of a commander. In the Sixth corps, and especially in Howe's division and in the Vermont brigade, the feeling of the troops approached exulta- tion. Of the thirteen guns lost by the Army of the Potomac not one belonged to the Sixth corps ; while Sedgwick was able to say in his report, that his corps " captured 15 pieces of artillery, nine of which were brought off, five battle flags, and 1,400 prisoners, including many officers of rank;" and that "no material of any kind belonging to the corps fell into the hands of the enemy, except several wagons and a forge, that were passing through Fredericksburg at the time 1 The following grim interchange of wit between Union and Confed- erate pickets took place shortly after Hooker's failure and Stoneman's cavalry raid: Rebel picket Where's Hooker gone ? Union picket Gone to attend Stonewall Jackson's funeral. Rebel Say, has the Eleventh corps stopped running yet ? Union Oh, yes, they stopped soon after taking down your Stone wall. By the way don't you want our Stone-man to set him up again ? Rebel No, Jackson don't need any Yankee raid-iating, where he's gone. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 375 of its re-occupation by the enemy." General Howe and the men under him could claim that the Second division stormed five of the works on Marye's Heights, assisted in carrying Cemetery Hill, took six of the eight guns captured on the heights, all of which were brought off; and did substantially all the fighting of May 4th, "without losing a gun or a prisoner to the enemy." 1 The rest of the army appreciated these facts, and from this time on, the white cross of the division became a badge of high honor, and was worn with; especial pride by those who bore it. Colonel Grant issued an order to his brigade, in which he said: "You stormed and took the heights of Fredericks- "burg, which it is believed was one of the most brilliant feats " of the war. You took three pieces of artillery and many " prisoners. And although you are not in possession of those "heights, you were not driven from them; but left them to " advance on a retreating enemy. At the battle near Banks's "Ford, you sustained the attack of a vastly superior force, " no less than three brigades, and repulsed the enemy with "great slaughter, taking many prisoners, among them several "colonels, majors and line officers. Your undaunted courage, "unbroken front, steady aim and brilliant charge, give you "title to the highest praise. The thanks of the colonel com- " manding are freely given. In you he has the fullest con- "fidence and the greatest pride." Such praise of the Vermont regiments was not confined to their brigade commander. General Sedgwick said in his report : " It is no disparagement to the other regiments of corps, to say that the steadiness and valor of the Sixth Maine, Fifth Wisconsin, Seventh Massachusetts, and the Vermont brigade, could not be excelled ;" and he included Colonel L. A. Grant, among the brigade commanders whom he com- mended to the special notice of the commanding general for 1 General Howe's Report. 376 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. their "skill and personal gallantry." General Howe said: "I desire especially to mention General Neill and Colonels Grant and Seaver, for the gallant and intrepid manner in which they led the storming columns to the assault [on the heights.] Nothing has been more handsomely or success- fully done." He also mentions the "important and efficient" services rendered by Colonel Grant and his brigade in main- taining his line against heavy odds, in the battle of the next day. Colonel Grant, in his report, mentions as deserving the highest praise, Colonels Walbridge, Seaver, Stoughton Barney and Lewis ; and specially commends Colonel Seaver, for his services as division officer of the day ; Lieut. Colonel Pingree, commanding the Third, while Colonel Seaver was so detached; Major C. P. Dudley of the Fifth Vermont for services in bringing off the skirmish line at the Ford ; Acting Quartermaster A. Austin ; and Captain A. Brown, and Lieutenants Forbes, Bain, Butterfield and French of his staff. Of the line officers and rank and file he says : "Too much praise cannot be awarded to the officers *.nd men for their steady, brave and gallant conduct. The men did their duty, and the officers were there to direct and encourage. With the exception of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, 1 not an officer failed to come to time ; not a man straggled from the ranks. When a regiment moved it did it almost with the precision of ordinary drill. All did their best. None left their ranks to dash forward, none to fall to the rear. They could not have done better." This was high praise. Beyond doubt the part taken by the Vermont brigade in this campaign and battle did more to establish its reputation as a fighting brigade, than any previous passage of its history. 1 Colonel Grant adds later, that the Twenty-sixth New Jersey "re- deemed itself and left the contest a victorious and compact regiment." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 377 The losses of the Vermont regiments were as follows : MAT 3d. Killed. Wounded. Died of wounds. Second Vermont Regiment, 11 94 7 Third " 16 Fourth " " 01 Sixth, " " 18 Total, 13 109 7 MAY 4th. Second Vermont regiment, 6 20 4 Third, " " 2 24 1 Fourth, " " 1 22 Fifth, " " 3 11 1 Sixth, " " 4 46 6 Total, 16 123 12 The aggregate of the losses of the two days was 29 killed and 232 wounded, of whom 19 died of their w r ounds. A few were reported missing at the time, but as usual they came in later, or were accounted for among the killed and wounded. Captain Luther Ainsworth of the Sixth was among the killed, and 11 line officers were wounded, one of them, Lieutenant Gleason of the Second, mortally. What proportion of the loss inflicted on the enemy may be credited to the Yermont brigade, cannot of course be ac- curately determined. Early reported his loss at 136 killed, 838 wounded, and "some 500" missing these figures not including the loss in Barksdale's brigade or in the artillery. The missing must have been more numerous than he states by several hundred ; for of the 1,400 prisoners captured by the Sixth corps, almost all were from Early 's command. Adding Barksdale's loss of 600, Early's loss could not have been less than 2500, killed, wounded and captured ; and of this number a very large proportion were killed, wounded and taken by the Vermonters. Colonel Grant estimated the prisoners taken by the Vermont brigade in the repulse of Early at " at least 1,500 ;" but owing to the withdrawal of the brigade, and the darkness which prevailed at the close 378 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of the engagement only about 400 were actually brought in. "Many prisoners," says Colonel Grant, "were sent to the rear as fast as captured, sometimes with one man as guard, and sometimes with none ; and after dark they managed to remain behind, when our line was shortened." Among the Confederate officers who fell in front of the position of the Vermont brigade was Brig. General Hoke, who received a "painful" wound. Colonel Grant's estimate that his brigade inflicted five times the loss it suffered was probably within bounds. In the afternoon of May 5th, the Sixth corps moved three or four miles toward Falmouth, and lay there two days while the army marched by on its return to its old lines. On the 8th the corps marched back to White Oak Church and went into camp, the Yermont brigade camping about a mile back of its former camp, near Belle Plain. The Sixth corps was now on the left of the army, and the Vermont brigade on the left of the corps. Here a month was spent, while Lee was preparing for his second invasion of the North; and Hooker, his army reduced to 80,000 men by the expiration of the terms of nine months troops and the losses of the last campaign, was waiting he knew not for what. It was a pleasant month for the troops. The forests assumed their summer dress. The weather was delightful. The camps were shaded with pines, and rustic halls with vestibules and arches and alcoves of evergreen, rose at the headquarters of the generals. Many ladies, wives and relatives of officers, visited the camps. There were balls, and "sounds of revelry by night," in these rustic palaces. The Vermonters rebuilt their brigade bakery; rations were good and ample; the health of the regiments was excellent; and the men made themselves comfortable for the day and the hour, with the soldier's lack of care for the morrow. CHAPTEE XV. THE FIRST BRIGADE CONTINUED. Preliminary movements of the Gettysburg campaign Preparing to cross the Rappahannock The Fifth Vermont crosses in boats and captures the Confederate pickets The rest of the brigade follows Sharp skir- mishing on the south bank The march to the north Meeting of the- First and Second Vermont brigades Hard marching in Maryland " Put the Vermonters ahead and keep the column closed up." Gen- eral Meade succeeds Hooker Arrival on the field of Gettysburg The part taken by the brigade in the battle Engagement at Funks- town Recrossing the Potomac The brigade goes to New York city Services in sustaining the drafts Return to and reception by the Sixth corps Marching and counter marching Battle of Rappahannock Station The Mine Run campaign Winter at Brandy Station. General Lee began his march to the north with great secrecy on the 3d of June, leaving the corps of A. P. Hill in the lines of Fredericksburg to mask the movement. General Hooker, who was expecting some hostile develop- ment, was not slow to discover that Lee had an expedition of some sort on foot ; and on the 4th orders to be ready to march at a moment's notice with three day's rations, warned the army that its time of quiet was about over. Sedgwick was at the same time directed to march his corps to the river below Fredericksburg and to throw a division across, to feel of the enemy's lines and discover if any considerable portion of Lee's army remained in them. For this service he selected Howe's division, and on Friday, June 5th, it broke camp and marched to the river at Franklin's crossing. As it reached the ridge above the river at four p. M., several batteries were taking 380 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. position along the brow, and the pontoon trains were moving down to the river bank. On the other bank the enemy had a strong intrenched picket line, from which an annoying fire was kept up on the pontoniers, as soon as the latter began work. It soon became plain that the Confederates must be cleared out of their rifle pits, if the bridges were to be laid without serious loss. Four or five batteries were accordingly advanced, and shell and grape began to plow the rebel breast- works into ridges, almost hiding them in clouds of dust. Sheltered in their pits, however, the Confederates kept their place, and half an hour of vigorous artillery practice appar- ently made no impression on them. General Howe thereupon decided to try another plan and called on Colonel Grant for two regiments to cross the river in pontoon boats, and drive the Confederate pickets from their rifle pits. Grant sent the Fifth Vermont and Twenty-sixth New Jersey. It did not look like an agreeable errand, and a number of the Jerseymen, whose time was about to expire, and, as they claimed, dating their nine months from the date of their enlistment instead of from their muster in, had expired, refused to start at the order. The rest accompanied the Vermont boys, as at the word of command they ran rapidly to the river, under a sharp fire from the opposite shore, launched the boats with the aid of the engineers, and piling into them pulled with a will across the stream. Two boats, bearing as many companies of the New Jersey troops, first reached the opposite shore. Two companies of the Fifth, G., Captain Jenne and C., Captain Barney, with Major Dudley, always foremost in duty or dan- ger, followed close behind them. The Jerseymen, however, on landing, halted under the shelter of the bank, while the Vermonters as soon as they struck the shore, dashed up the hill and pushed straight for the breastwork in front. Dudley and Private Henry Moren of Company G., were the first to spring into the rifle pits. The rest were close behind them, and at Dudley's summons the Confederate outpost, consisting THE FIRST BRIGADE. 381 of six officers and 84 men, threw down their arms and sur- rendered without attempt at resistance. The other companies followed as fast as boats could be procured; and it was a lively scene for a time, as the men, cheering loudly, pulled across the river, the boats returning laden with prisoners. As fast as the troops crossed they were ordered forward by Colonel Lewis, deploying as they advanced, till the line was halted along the stage road, half a mile from the river. Seven men of the Fifth were wounded during the crossing It was a gallant and successful little affair. The bridges could now be laid without hindrance. While the work was in progress, the Second and Third regiments crossed in boats, and were stationed on the opposite bank, the Fourth and Sixth remaining till a bridge was completed, when they marched across. The brigade was then deployed, encircling the bridge head on the southern bank, with a picket line thrown out for nearly a mile, confronting the enemy's pickets a few rods beyond. That night a company of the Eighteenth Mississippi, two officers and 34 men, on outpost duty in the ravine of Deep Bun, came in and surrendered to the Union picket reserve consisting of two Yermont companies, 1 saying that they supposed they were surrounded, and besides they had "got enough of the war." Next morning the enemy's skirmishers attacked the skirmish line on the left, held by the Sixth Yermont. The firing was very sharp for two hours, and there was more or less shooting all day. The enemy to all appearance had two men to the Yermonters' one; but the latter yielded no ground, and the enemy's stretcher- bearers were kept pretty busy during the forenoon. By noon a fresh supply of ammunition was called for, many of the men having fired over thirty rounds apiece. In this skirm- ishing the Sixth regiment lost four men killed and 13 wounded. 1 Company D. of the Fourth, and B. of the Fifth Vermont. 382 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. During Friday night and half of Saturday the Vermont brigade was the only Union force on the south side of the Rappahannock with an entire Confederate corps posted along the heights above them. Saturday afternoon another brigade marched over, and shovels were called into play, and rifle pits and breastworks made the position more secure. It was not Lee's policy, however, to permit a serious en- gagement at that time and place. On the other hand Sedgwick found convincing indications that the heights were still held in force; and he accordingly attempted no form- idable demonstration. On the 8th, letters and orders cap- tured in a cavalry engagement between almost the entire mounted forces of both armies, at Brandy Station, revealed the fact of Lee's presence at Culpepper, and his design of invasion of the North. Then came the news that Lee's ad- vance had pushed across the Blue Ridge into the Shenan- doah Valley and was threatening Winchester. Hooker's plan in this juncture was to attack and destroy Hill, and to call Lee back by placing the army of the Potomac between him and Richmond, and cutting off his communications. It was a good plan ; but it found no favor at Washington. Mr. Lincoln's quaint advice to Hooker was " not to take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other." The alternative plan, to fall back on Washington by the interior line, was consequently adopted; and the Army of the Potomac was at once put in motion to the north. The Vermont brigade moved with the Sixth corps at nine o'clock on Saturday evening, June 13th. The men had had eight days of almost constant marching, skirmishing and intrenching, by night and day; but they started without com- plaint. The night was dark; the roads, made slippery by thunder showers, ran for miles through thick woods, and the troops plunged on in the darkness, a long invisible pro- THE FIRST BRIGADE. 383 cession of laughing, singing, swearing, and stumbling soldiers. At two o'clock next morning the corps halted north of Poto- mac Creek ; and remained there that day, while the immense army trains moved by, three or four wagons abreast, hurried forward by voice and lash. Starting at nine that evening, the corps had another night march, the way lit for miles by the fires in the abandoned camps of the troops which had been stationed there. After a short halt at Stafford Court House, at daylight, the column moved on toward Dumfries. The day was terribly hot, and the dust, stirred by tens of thousands of hoofs and feet, rolled up in suffocating clouds. Hundreds of men fell out ; many were sunstruck, and some died by the roadside ; but the column pushed on, reaching the depopulated old town of Dumfries at three o'clock, when the exhausted men were permitted to throw themselves down in the fields, rest their blistered feet, and apply the internal remedies of " hard tack " and coffee. The brigade had perhaps no more trying march, in all its history. Here at Dumfries the Yermont brigade was drawn up in hollow square to hear the sentence imposed on forty men of the Twenty-sixth New Jersey, who had been court-martialed for refusing to obey orders at the last crossing of the Kappahan- nock, and to see part of it inflicted. The culprits were drummed out of camp to the tune of the Rogue's March, and were further ordered to be sent to hard service on the public works; but this portion of the sentence was subsequently remitted. On the 18th the New Jersey regiment was mus- tered out, and the brigade thenceforth consisted of Yermont- ers only. The grateful sleep of the men that night was broken at two A. M. by the order to fall in ; and at four the corps was again in motion. In the afternoon it reached and forded the Occoquan at Wolf Eun Shoals, where it crossed the outer lines about Washington, there held by the Second Yermont brigade. A rest of two hours, a chance to bathe, and a visit 384 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. with the Fourteenth Vermont, whose camp was at the Shoals, refreshed officers and men after another hard and dusty day's march; and they moved on cheerily six miles, to Fairfax Station, having made about twenty miles in fourteen hours. Here the corps halted for a day, which was made the most of in resting and visiting with the men of the Second Ver- mont brigade and First Vermont Cavalry, who came in large numbers to see the veterans whose praise was in the mouths of all. The two brigades fraternized cordially on this their first meeting, and parted with mutual good wishes. While here the news came to the army that Ewell had overwhelmed Milroy, at Winchester, and that Lee was push- ing unopposed for Maryland ; and the halt was improved to overhaul the corps trains, reduce officers' baggage, and make other preparations for the hard marching and fighting likely to come. On the 18th, the brigade moved to Fairfax Court House. On the 20th, the Sixth corps was sent to the southwest ten miles, by the well worn way of Centreville, Bull Run and Manassas Junction, to Bristoe's Station. Here it lay, picket- ing a wide circuit, for three days, on two of which the artillery duels in the fights between Pleasanton's and Stuart's cavalry, near Snicker's and Ashby's Gaps, were plainly audi- ble. On the rainy night of the 25th, the brigade returned with the corps to Centreville, where the Second Vermont brigade, which had now joined the army of the Potomac, was found, and the two brigades marched near each other from there to Maryland. Passing through Drainsville on the 27th, the corps crossed the Potomac on pontoons, and bivouacked that night near Edwards Ferry, once more on northern soil, where crops of corn and ripening wheat told of undisturbed cultivation, and made a landscape strongly in constrast with the war-scathed region in which the troops had been for eight months. The army was doing some pretty good marching at this THE FIRST BRIGADE. 385 time; and the corps made its twenty miles a day through Poolesville, New Market and Westminster, reaching Man- chester, Md., on the 30th, thirty miles southeast of Gettys- burg, Pa., whither Lee was moving. The Army of the Potomac now once more changed com- manders. On the 27th, Hooker, provoked by the refusal of General Halleck to permit the garrison of Harper's Ferry to be attached to his army, resigned the command ; and on the 28th, Major General George G. Meade, the quiet, undemon- strative, self-contained and efficient commander of the Fifth corps, was placed at the head of the army. MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. During the 1st of July, the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, the Sixth corps lay quietly at Manchester, un- aware that the great battle which all expected had already begun. At night, however, came orders to move to Gettys- burg. Howe's division started at once, but was delayed by the moving of other troops, and made but four or five miles before daylight. It then struck the Baltimore and Gettys- burg turnpike, and the corps moved off freely on the longest, most rapid and most exciting day's march in its history. It was thirty miles to the field, and it was on this march, when the fate of the army and the issue of the war might depend on the presence of the corps, that General Sedgwick compli- mented the Yermont brigade by his famous order : " Put the Vermonters ahead and keep the column well closed up." 1 As the brigade crossed the State line into Pennsylvania, at eleven 1 " It was during this time that Sedgwick directed me ' to put the Ver- monters ahead, and keep everything well closed up.' It was not the only time he complimented the soldiers from Vermont. His compliments many times cost them very dear ; for they were the high compliments of placing them > on many battlefields, in the foremost position of danger." Colonel M. T. McMahon, Adjutant General Sixth Army corps. 386 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. A. M., the first shadow of the great battle-cloud reached it, in a rumor, floating back along the road, that there was heavy fighting in front, and that General Reynolds of the First corps had been killed. About midday the regiments filed into the fields beside the road and the men sank upon the ground. " Make no fires, for there will be no time to cook anything only a fsw minutes for rest," was the instruction as the line halted. All too soon came the summons to fall in again, and the column started on. At Littletown, Pa., ten miles from the field, the signs of strife became unmistakable in carriages bearing wounded officers, and soldiers limping into the village the first of the " red rays " streaming from the battle field, so soon to crimson earth and air and sky, over all the country round. 1 Pressing forward at a rapid rate, and nearing the field, the sound of the battle, like a mighty pounding echoing among the hills, became more distinct ; and the battle clouds rising at the front and frequent puffs of white smoke appearing suddenly high in air, told of showers of bursting shells and shrapnel, raining upon serried ranks. The sun was scalding hot, and the men, each loaded with gun, blanket, haversack, cartridge box, five days' rations and forty rounds of cartridges, had made already more than a long day's march ; but they hurried on. The farmers' wives and daughters along the way, brought water for the thirsty defenders of the Union. The stragglers multiplied ; but few of the Vermonters fell out, for every man felt that he was needed, and wanted a hand in the battle that they hoped would end the war. 1 "Already the corps was meeting the tide of wounded hastening with desperate energy to the rear that most demoralizing experience to a body of troops approaching a battlefield. With scarcely any exception the tale they told was one of disaster to the Federal army. ' You fellows will catch it ; the whole army is smashed to pieces !' said more than one brawny fugitive with a bleeding arm or a bandaged head, glancing over his shoulder as though fearing the pursuit of a rebel column." Army Letter. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 387 The roar of the combat grew louder and louder, and filled the air with almost deafening volume, as between, five and six o'clock, Howe's division, approaching the field from the southeast by the Baltimore pike, crossed Eock Creek, and halted, about a mile in the rear of General Meade's headquarters and between the extremities of the great horse- shoe line of battle. A mile to the left, but seeming to be not half the distance, rose the wooded knoll of Little Hound Top ; and from beyond it and to its right came the incessant roll of musketry and thunder of artillery. The fiery Hood was then making his desperate and well nigh successful attempt to carry Little Bound Top, and Longstreet, having driven back the Third corps, was endeavoring to break through on Meade's left. Within the last three hours the Third, Fifth and Second corps had lost 10,000 men. The army had thus far lost about 20,000. It was an anxious time around General Meade's headquarters. The Sixth corps was welcome. " I was at Meade's headquarters," says Mr. C. C. Coffin, describing the moment. "It was nearly six o'clock. The " sound of battle grew louder and nearer. Hill was threatening " the centre. A cloud of dust could be seen down the Balti- " more pike. Had Stuart gained our rear ? There were anx- " ious countenances around the cottage where the flag of the " commander-in-chief was flying. Officers gazed with their "field glasses. 'It is not cavalry, but infantry,' said one. " ' There is the flag. It is the Sixth corps !' We could see the "advancing bayonets gleaming in the setting sun. Faces " which a moment before were grave, became cheerful. It was " an inspiring sight. The troops of that corps had marched "thirty-two miles during the day. They crossed Rock Creek, "filed into the field past the ammunition trains, threw them- " selves upon the ground, tossed aside their knapsacks and "wiped the sweat from their sunburned cheeks." They were not allowed to rest long, however, before the order to fall in again came, and though it was supposed. to 388 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. mean an advance into battle, it was promptly and eagerly obeyed. " The dashing readiness," says General Howe, " with which the division went on to the field, on the evening of the 2d, after its long and continuous march of the previous day and night, and the handsome way it bore itself during the engagement, was worthy of its former reputation." Howe's division was divided, Neill's brigade being sent to the right to reinforce General Slocum, while the First Vermont brigade was moved a mile and a half to the left and stationed near Little Bound Top, in one of the most important and responsible positions on the field, holding the extreme left of the army of the Potomac, and picketing that flank of the army that night. During the next and final day of the battle, while the Second Yermont brigade was doing its first and last fighting, and winning laurels on the left centre, the First brigade held its position on the left, between the Taneytown road and Bound Top. Some stray shot and shell came over into its lines and spattered some of the men with earth ; but they saw but little of the fighting which shook the solid ground beneath their feet, and suffered no loss. On the 4th, the Fourth regiment was on the picket line, and was ordered forward a mile and a half, till it struck the enemy's skirmishers, and had a little brush with them, in which one man was wounded. This skirmish was about the last fighting done on the field of Gettysburg. That night' Lee began his retreat ; and the next morning the Sixth corps, passing around Bound Top and across the battlefield to the Fairfield road, followed on his rear for some ten miles. The houses and barns along the way were full of Confederate wounded, in charge of their own surgeons. A mile or two beyond Fairfield, the Fairfield pass opens across the mountains. Through this Lee retreated with the mass of his army, leaving a rear guard so strongly posted in the gorge that Sedgwick did not venture to try to force the pass without distinct orders, though he reported that he could THE FIKST BRIGADE. 389 do it if so directed. He remained in front of it during the 6th, when, General Meade having concluded that he could make a more effective pursuit by a flank route, the corps was withdrawn, save a single brigade left to harass the enemy's rear, and marched due south, by way of Emmetts- burg and Lewistown, till it nearly reached Frederick, when turning west, it struck across the Catoctin mountain range, to Middletown. The crossing of the mountain was effected over a narrow and rocky mountain path, through Highland Pass, in the rainy night of the 7th. The march was a scramble up and a tumble down the mountain, in the dark- ness, and the soldiers, wet, muddy, footsore, and in hun- dreds of cases barefooted, were glad to halt and rest the next day near Middletown, where Meade's army was con- centrated. On the 9th, the corps, turning to the northwest, marched across the South Mountain by Middletown Pass, to Boons- boro. Thence, turning back to the north, the Sixth corps moved up the Antietam Valley toward Hagerstown, where a large part of what was left of Lee's army lay, the rest being stretched for seven miles along the road from Hagerstown to Williamsport on the Potomac, waiting for the river to sub- side, and for a pontoon bridge to be built which should take them back to Virginia. General Meade had made a wide detour, and having marched his army two miles for his opponent's one, was now fairly on Lee's flank. FUNKSTOWN. Two miles below Hagerstown is the little village of Funkstown, notable as the spot where the First Vermont brig- ade held a skirmish line against repeated attacks of strong Confederate lines of battle. This engagement occurred on the 10th. Howe's division headed the column of the corps, that day, preceded by Buford's cavalry. Moving toward Hagers- 390 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAll. town along the turnpike, in the early morning, Buford came on the enemy's cavalry about three miles out from Boons- boro, and drove them for three miles, to and across Beaver Creek, a small stream emptying into the Antietam, south of Funkstown. Following the cavalry, Howe crossed the stream, and, under orders from General Sedgwick, halt- July 10, 1863. ' , , , ,, . ed to wait for the rest of the corps. During the forenoon Buford, after driving the enemy's cavalry through Funkstown, found himself confronted by a strong force of Confederate infantry, with artillery, which advanced from their entrenchments and gave him battle. He fell back fighting to a crest just south of Funkstown, where he made a stand. While his men were holding the enemy in check, Buford rode back, in person, to Howe, whose division was a mile and a half back, to ask him to come on and relieve him, as his men were getting out of am- munition. Howe's orders were such that he did not feel justified in advancing without authority from General Sedg- wick. To procure this took some time, and Buford, whose troopers, fighting dismounted, had exhausted their carbine cartridges, drew off his command to the right before the infantry supports arrived. General Howe at once it was now noon ordered Colonel Grant to occupy the position in front with his brigade, and Grant, seeing that there was no time to be lost, immediately moved forward. Deploying the Fifth and Sixth regiments as skirmishers, he hurried them to the wooded crest from which the cavalry had retired. It was a race with the enemy's skirmishers to gain the crest; but the Yermonters reached and occupied it first and did not leave it. The position was a good one, with a fair amount of cover for the men. The skirmish line, when formed, stretched nearly two miles along the crest. The Sixth Vermont was on the right, its right posted in a piece of woods, and the Fifth on the left. A gap between the left of the Fifth and Antietam Creek was filled by two com- THE FIRST BRIGADE. 391 panies of the Second. The rest of the Second regiment was held in reserve ; and the Third and Fourth regiments sup- ported a battery which General Howe had sent forward, to meet artillery with artillery. The enemy soon opened a very severe fire from several batteries near Funkstown ; and it became clear that he was in strong force there and that the-; position was an important one to him. In point of fact Lee^ had been brought to bay by his antagonist and the elements \, and he was that day disposing his army, two or three miles away, for the desperate encounter which he fully expected. It was of very great consequence to him to guard the ap- proach from Funkstown to his position while making his dis- positions and throwing up his intrenchments, and Anderson's brigade, of Georgia troops 1 , commanded at this time by Colonel White, Anderson having been wounded at Gettys- burg, was sent to hold back the Union advance, as long as possible, along the line of Antietam Creek. To this end the Confederate commander wished to occupy the crest in ques- tion. Colonel Grant saw that the enemy wanted it ; and ac- cordingly decided to hold it. He took the sharp artillery fire to mean an infantry attack to follow, and prepared to meet it. The Third regiment was sent forward to support the Sixth, three companies of the Third being deployed to strengthen the centre of the skirmish line, which was every- where much extended. In like manner the Fourth was sent to support the Fifth, and two companies put in to strengthen that part of the skirmish line. The eight companies of the Second not on the skirmish line supported the battery. The orders to the Colonels were to hold the line at all hazards. 1 Consisting of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh and Fifty-ninth Georgia, and Tenth Georgia battalion. Colonel Grant speaks of the Con- federate force as "Anderson's old brigade, of seven regiments." If this number is correct, another regiment was attached to the brigade in this engagement. VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. About two o'clock and while the supports mentioned were moving into position, the enemy advanced in full line of battle, preceded by skirmishers, against the centre of Grant's line. The Confederates probably supposed that the skirm- ishers before them were dismounted cavalry and expected to brush them away with ease. But the Vermonters did not budge an inch, but stood and met the lines of gray with a fire so close and deadly that they recoiled and fell back to cover. Having reformed his line, White again advanced, throwing out at the same time a regiment from his right, ,o ford the Antietam and take Grant's line in reverse from the left. To meet this, Colonel Walbridge was sent to the left with the left wing of the Second regiment ; and while the brigade again repulsed the front attack Walbridge repulsed the flanking movement, driving the enemy well back from the stream and extending the skirmish line of the brigade along it. The brigade was now, with the exception of three com- panies of the Second which remained as a su pport to the bat- tery, all deployed on a skirmish line two miles long, with no supports within a mile and a half. The men took advantage of such partial shelter as they could get from the rail fences and timber ; and when the Confederate line of battle again advanced, they for the third time received and repulsed it, and followed it up for a short distance towards Funkstown, whither the enemy retired. As the centre of the enemy's line fell back in confusion through a cornfield, some of the Yermonters sprang upon the fence in front, and tauntingly called on them to come back, as there was nothing there but " some Yankee militia." Bat the discouraged Confederates did not return. The men of the Vermont regiments had sixty rounds of cartridges in their boxes and pockets, and many of thorn used them all, and a fresh supply was sent for, and was brought up on stretchers, during the engagement. At no point was their skirmish line pushed back; and the THE FIRST BRIGADE. 393 brigade held the ground the rest of the day and night and till relieved by other troops of Howe's division, next morning. The Confederate brigade which suffered this rebuff was a part of General Hood's division, and a portion of it re- ceived the desperate charge of the Vermont cavalry at Gettysburg. The deaths of Farnsworth and the Vermonters who fell with him in that charge, were doubly avenged by the men of the Old brigade, at Funkstown. Had the Sixth corps been pushed in on Lee's flank after this transaction, and properly supported, some serious trouble might have been made for the army of Northern Virginia. But the orders to the generals were not to bring on a general engagement ; and General Lee was not molested. The exploit of the Ver- monters, however, was a tall feather in the cap of the* brigade, and they were not allowed to remain wholly unconscious that they had done a good thing. Colonel Grant in his report says: " It is believed that another in- stance of a skirmish line, extending over so great a distance, repeatedly repelling the assaults of strong lines of infantry at different points, cannot be found in the history of any war." General Howe said of it : "The troops that happened to be there on our line, were what we considered in the Army of the Potomac unusually good ones. They quietly repulsed the rebels twice, and the third time they came up they sent them flying into Funkstown." 1 General Sedgwick, always chary of praise, said in his report : " The Vermont brigade (Grant's of the Second division) were deployed as skirm- ishers, covering a front of over two miles, and during the afternoon repulsed three successive attacks made in line of battle. The remarkable conduct of the brigade on this occasion deserves high praise." l General Howe, before the Committee on the Conduct of the War. Vol. I., 1865, p. 315. 394 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The loss of the brigade was nine killed and 59 wounded, of whom seven died of their wounds, as follows : l Killed. Wounded. Died of wounds. Second Vermont Regiment, 16 Third " " .1 4 1 Fourth " 1 24 2 Fifth MM 86 Sixth " " 8 19 4 Total, 9 59 7 Colonel Stoughton of the Fourth, who distinguished himself, as did all the regimental commanders, by his cool- ness, had the misfortune to receive a bullet wound in the head during the afternoon, which cost him his right eye, and there were several line officers among the wounded. Colonel Grant estimated the enemy's loss at not less than 200. Citi- zens of Funkstown variously stated the rebel killed at from 30 to 50, and their wounded at from 100 to 150. On the 12th, the Sixth corps moved on through Funks- town, the Confederates falling back as it advanced, and down toward Williamsport, where it formed line of battle along the hills in front of Lee's lines, dimly seen through the mist of a rainy day. But General Meade waited a day too long to get forward his reserves, and during the dark and foggy night of the 13th Lee succeeded in placing the swollen current of the Potomac between him and his enemy. The disappointment of his escape, was, however, alleviated for the army, by the belief that the Confederates had got enough of invasions of the North, and by the news of the fall of Vicksburg ; while the "fire in the rear," of the draft riots in New York, then in progress, intensified the determination of every good soldier to fight the issue through, whether it was to take one year or ten. Countermarching on the 15th, the Sixth corps moved 'These casualties are erroneously reported in the U. S. Official Records as occurring at the battle of Gettysburg. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 395 back to Boonsboro ; camped that night on the same ground it occupied on the march from Maryland in October, 1862, and crossing the South Mountain next day, moved down the valley via Middletown and Petersville, to the Potomac at Berlin. Here several corps were waiting for an opportunity to cross the river by the bridge. The turn of the Sixth corps came on Sunday the 10th, and as it moved back to the sacred soil, the bands played : " O, carry me back to Old Virginny." The route of the corps down the valley was mainly the same as that taken by it eight months before, except that instead of going by White Plain and New Baltimore it kept on to Salem, and thence was sent out toward Manassas Gap, which had been occupied by the enemy. Ewell was driven out of the Gap on the 23d, and the Sixth corps, not being needed there, turned back and passing south by the way of Orleans, halted and went into camp on the 25th, on the hills just west of Warrenton. Howe's division here camped about an old and ruined Baptist Church, surrounded by a thick growth of timber. Here the brigade had five days of comparative rest the first since they left the Rap- pahannock in June. The weather was hot and showery, and the fields full of ripe blackberries, and the good effect of wholesome fruit on the health of the troops was unmis- takable. On the 1st of August the division marched to Waterloo, six miles west of Warrenton, remained there five days, and on the 6th marched back and camped two miles from Warrenton Springs. General Lee in the meantime with- drew his army to the south of the Rapidan. Drills and inspections and light picket duty were the occupation of the troops of Howe's division. 1 1 " It is safe to say that no division in the army performed more labor in drills, than Howe's." Surgeon Stevens. 396 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. SUMMER VACATION IN NEW YORK. A novel piece of service now fell to the lot of the brigade. The New York draft riots, in July, in which colored orphan asylums, armories and draft stations were sacked and burned ; black men hung from the trees and lamp posts; rioters knocked from the tops of six-story blocks by the police and provost guards ; and fights of the mob with the few regulars on duty in the city took place, which left the streets strewn with dead and wounded ; together with the subsidiary riots in Jersey City, Boston, Troy and other places had aroused the strongest feeling throughout the North, and grave appre- hensions on the part of the government. In consequence of these disturbances, anc'l at the request of Gov. Seymour, the draft had been suspended in New York city and other places. But if the government was to sustain its authority at homo, of course the draft could not stay suspended. The Federal authorities determined that it should be resumed, and inflexibly completed ; and they did not propose to leave any opportunity for further outbreaks. General Dix, in whose wisdom and resolution there was full reliance, was in command of the department, with his headquarters in New York. The cool and judicious Canby was detailed to assist him, and two brigades of regulars being about all that was left of the regular army under General E. B. Ayres, was detached from the Army of the Potomac, and ordered to New York. To this force the government decided to add several thousand of the best volunteer troops in the army selecting for the purpose troops of tried courage and steadfast loyalty, who could be depended on in any emer- gency, and who would set an example of order, sobriety, and general good conduct. For this service, the Vermont brigade was the first volunteer organization selected. This was done, not at all at the instance of any one connected THE FIRST BRIGADE. 397 with the brigade; l and when an order came to the brigade commander to turn in the quartermaster's supplies, march to Warrenton Junction, proceed thence by rail to Alexandria, and report to General Halleck for further orders, no one in the command, high or low, had any idea where it was going. The prevailing opinion in the corps was that the brigade was wanted to carry Fort Wagner, in Charleston Harbor, the attempt to storm which had just failed. Several indi- vidual regiments of high character for discipline and reliabil- ity were also detached the whole making an "army of occupation," for New York city, of some 12,000 men. The order above alluded to was received by Colonel Grant on the 10th of August. The Fifth Vermont, which was out five miles, on picket, near Hart's Mill on the upper Rappahannock, was at once recalled. The brigade broke camp next day and marched to Warrenton Junction ; and on the 13th and 14th the regiments went by rail to Alexandria, embarked on the transports Illinois and Ericsson, and were taken to New York, arriving there on the 20th. Here Colonel Grant reported to General Canby, and was ordered to land his brigade and march, without special parade, to Tompkins Square, and to establish there his headquarters, stationing three of his regiments there, one in Washington Square, and one in Madison Square. The regiments landed and went into camp in the squares named on the 21st and 22d. Two regiments of regulars that had been already stationed in Tompkins Square which was near " Mackerel- ville," one of the worst parts of the city, swarming with rioters and criminals were also placed under the command of Colonel Grant. The ammunition supplied to the troops included no blank cartridges. The officers were resolute and the men perfectly ready to obey orders ; and there would 1 It was stated, at the time, that General Sedgwick was asked to detail his "best brigade," and that he at once designated the Vermont brigade. 398 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. have been no trifling about the business, if they had been called on to face a mob. The law-abiding people of the metropolis slept more soundly after the arrival of the troops ; and the city was never more quiet, since its first settlement, than during the draft which soon followed. In the first week of September, the Second, Third, Fifth and Sixth regiments were sent respectively to Poughkeepsie, Newark and Kingston, N. Y., where drafts were ordered, and took place, during their stay in those cities. A week later they returned to New York, whence the regiments went by rail and transports, on successive days, to Alexandria, where the brigade was collected on the 16th. The respect of the New York mob for the uniform and the authority of the United States was noticeably strengthened by this little campaign in the north. About the time of the departure of the troops an order was issued by General Canby, compli- menting them in high terms for their good behavior; and the New York World said of them : " The admirable conduct " of the soldiers and officers of the ' army of occupation ' in "this city has been remarked by all classes of our citizens. "The brawls, drunkenness and scenes of violence, which are " so common in European cities where large bodies of troops "are quartered, we are happily free from. Nothing could "be better than the behavior of the troops now in New " York. If the soldiers now in this city are a fair sample of " our armies, we can safely claim having the best, in a moral "sense, as well as the bravest and most patient troops on "earth." On the other hand the troops were well treated by the people of New York and the other cities where they were stationed; and the brief return to civilization, the scenes and pleasures of the city, and the opportunities to see friends, hundreds of whom went down from Vermont to visit the soldiers, made this episode in their army life as agree- able as it was unwonted. Though the opportunities for desertion were almost unlimited, the desertions from the Ver- THE FIKST BEIGADE. 399 mont regiments were very few during their northern vacation. On the 18th, in a pouring rain, the brigade started from Alexandria once more, for the front, the soldiers taking their overcoats which had been stored in that city since the pre- vious spring. The brigade guarded on the march an army train of 150 mule teams and 1,000 beef cattle, for the supply of the army ; and as cattle move slowly the march was made at moderate speed. It was over the old route, via Fairfax Court House, Centreville, and the line of the Orange and Alexandria Kailroad, which 10,000 men of the Eleventh corps were at this time guarding against less than 1,000 guerillas. Crossing the Eappahannock below the railroad bridge, on the 22d, the brigade marched next day to Culpepper Court House, around which the Army of the Potomac was lying. The march past the camps of the various corps from Brandy Station to Culpepper was quite an ovation for the Vermont boys, the troops lining the roadside and cheering them heartily. Three miles south of the village of Culpepper, the brigade passed the camp of the Tenth Vermont, now part of the Third corps, and halted there to exchange saluta- tions. Two miles more brought it to the camp of the Sixth corps. Here it was met by a cavalcade of corps, division and brigade staff officers; and passing on to the camp of Howe's division, General Neill's brigade was found drawn up to receive the Vermonters, who were greeted with music and military salutes, as well as by the less formal welcomes of their old comrades. The brigade had made its mark in the army, and its return was a welcome event. And though camp life was quite a different thing from their " white-glove service " in New York, the men had had about enough of the latter, and were on the whole glad to be back again at the front. About this time some 600 recruits, chiefly drafted men and substitutes, arrived, and were distributed among the 400 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Second, Third and Fourth regiments, and squad-drills were plenty. During the first week of October, after two weeks of un- disturbed quiet, the Sixth corps was ordered forward to relieve the Second corps, on the line between Cedar Bun Mountain and Kobinson Biver a small affluent of the Bapidan. The corps was here to picket a line two miles long, from Bapidan Station to the right. Across the stream, a few rods away, was the picket line of the enemy. From the signal station on the summit of the mountain near by, the eye ranged over one of the finest views in Virginia, em- bracing the scene of the battle between Banks and Stonewall Jackson a year before. The long lines of fresh red earth, winding with the river, showed that Lee had strongly intrenched his position, and the course of the Bapidan could be followed for 20 miles by the smoke of his camps. The corps marched with eight days' rations, and with no little growling on the part of the men that they should be "made pack-mules to carry wormy bread," and the recruits especially found the fourteen miles' march a trying one. The service on the line though requiring especial vigilance, was ami- cable as between the opposing pickets, and daily exchanges of newspapers, instead of bullets, took place between them. The eight days' rations had not been exhausted, when a movement on the part of General Lee, occasioned a sudden withdrawal of the corps. Chafing under his reverse at Gettysburg, and aware that two corps of the Army of the Potomac had been detached and sent to Tennessee, Lee put his army in motion, past General Meade's right, hoping to place himself across the latter's communications with Washington, and force a general engagement, on ground of his own selection. Meade's first plan, when he discovered the movement, was to attack Lee while crossing the Bappahan- nock; but his purpose was defeated by erroneous informa- tion and want of information, and the campaign became & THE FIRST BRIGADE. 401 series of flank movements for position and finally a race of the two armies for the heights of Centre ville. In the course of these operations there was plenty of skirmishing, and several sharp cavalry fights ; and an engagement of the Second corps with A. P. Hill's division took place at Bristoe's Station, in which Warren took 450 prisoners and five guns, with slight Union loss. The Army of the Potomac was the first to reach and occupy Centreville, and no general engagement took place. In this campaign the Vermont brigade left its camp fires burning below Cedar Mountain an hour before midnight on the 10th, and stacked arms on Centreville Heights at three o'clock p. M., on the 14th. The movements of the brigade and the corps during that time were briefly as follows : In the night of the llth, the Sixth corps crossed the Kappahannock at Rappahannock Station. On the 12th it re-crossed the river the Vermont brigade leading and taking position on the right bank to cover the re-crossing of the Fifth and Sixth corps and advanced to Brandy Station, expecting to give battle to Lee at Culpepper Court House ; but he was not there. The next night the corps camped two miles south of Bristoe's, twenty-five miles as the crow flies north of where it lay the night before, having marched thirty miles between midnight of the 12th and nine P. M. of the 13th, with two halts of several hours each at Rappahannock Station and Warrenton Junction. The brigade camped that night, with the corps, between Centreville and Chantilly, the men tired and footsore, but plucky and prepared for the battle, of which the sound of Warren's fight at the rear that afternoon was taken to be the prelude. At daybreak next morning the troops stood to arms, and in the afternoon a skirmish between part of the Second corps and a cavalry force with artillery, at Blackburn's Ford, aroused momentary expectation of an order into battle. But Lee knew better than to fight on ground so favorable to his antagonist ; and after once more destroying a good part of the railroad . 26 402 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. between Bull Run and Warrenton, he retired behind the Rappahannock. The only loss sustained by the Sixth corps in this movement, was from the guerrillas which infested the region. 1 The Sixth corps started back to the south on the 18th, Howe's division moving over the old Bull Run battlefield to Gainesville, where, about five o'clock p. M. on the 19th, it met Ouster's brigade, of Kilpatrick's cavalry division, which an hour or two before had been attacked on flank, front and rear by Stuart and Fitz Hugh Lee, at Buckland's Mills, and driven back in serious disorder. Lee was pressing on Ouster's rear, and the sight of a Union infantry column was not an unwelcome one to the latter. Letting Ouster's men, among whom were the First Vermont cavalry, pass through their lines, the infantry made hasty preparations to receive the pursuers. A skirmish line consisting of the Sixth Vermont and Seventh Maine was thrown forward, and had barely deployed when the Confederate troopers came up in hot pursuit of a light battery, which they would probably have captured in the next five minutes. As they emerged from a piece of woods, and dashed into the open in front of the Union skirmishers, they were received with a volley and a cheer, and their charge ended suddenly. They returned the fire; but found minie balls too plenty about their ears, and soon dis- appeared in the direction from which they came. Next morning the brigade, leading the advance of Howe's division, came again upon the Confederate cavalry, who retired before them. At Buckland's Mills they passed the scene of the run- ning cavalry fight of the day before, marked by the bodies of several Union cavalrymen lying beside the road, stripped of all but their underclothing. The march ended at Warrenton, 1 Among the captures made by the guerrillas were those of Captain Gait, A. Q. M., and Lieutenant E. O. Cole of the Second Vermont, acting provost marshal on General Howe's staff. Lieutenant Cole, however, after being disarmed, made his escape from his captors. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 403 where General Meade made his headquarters, and where the army remained nearly three weeks, while the railroad was being rebuilt, and the army provisioned. "This campaign of maneuvres," says Swinton, "added no laurels to either army ; yet it was none the less attended with much toil and suffering sleepless nights and severe marches, and manifold trying exposures. But this is a part of the history of the army, of which those who did not bear the heat and burden of the day, can never know much." During the stay at Warrenton, the brigade was reviewed by Colonel Grant, the division by General Howe, and the ' corps by General Sedgwick. The weather, which had been cold, grew milder in the first week in November, and, as usual, by the time the men had built huts and made their quarters comfortable, the order: " Eeveille at half past four, move at daylight!" came, and the Fifth and Sixth corps, under command of General Sedgwick, started, November 7th, for the Eappahannock, along which lay the army of Northern Virginia. It was mainly south of the river, Lee's headquarters being at Brandy Station, but he was holding also a position on the left bank at Kappahannock Station. BATTLE OF RAPPAHANNOCK STATION. General Meade now proposed to move the Army of the Potomac rapidly to the heights of Fredericksburg ; but his project was disapproved by General Halleck, and as the only other practicable offensive operation open to him, he decided to make a demonstration against Lee, whose men were building huts and evidently expecting to go into winter quart- ers where they were, and at least force him farther south. His plan, which was successfully carried out, was to throw two columns across the river. One, of three corps, under General French, was to cross at Kelley's Ford; the other of two corps, under Sedgwick, was to force the crossing at Kappa- 404 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. hannock Station. The two were then to unite and push on to Brandy Station. French accomplished the crossing at Kelley's Ford without much difficulty, taking 400 prisoners. Sedgwick had a more formidable task at Kappahannock Station. At that point, Early's division, so often opposed to the Sixth corps; occupied the southern bank, with Hays's brigade in the earthworks on the north bank, originally built by the Army of the Potomac, which had been reconstructed and turned into a strong tete de pont, guarding a ponton bridge, by which communication was maintained between the opposite banks. A dam below the works made the river unfordable. The position was strong naturally, the redoubts and rifle pits elaborate and well provided with artillery, backed by batteries of heavy guns on the south bank. Hays was reinforced, when Sedgwick's advance came in sight, by Hoke's brigade. Marching from Warrenton in the early morning, the Sixth corps deployed in front of and a mile away from the Confederate works at Eappahannock Station, at Nov. 7, 1863. noon. The men stacked arms and sat down to eat their dinners, while the enemy's cavalry pickets, within pistol shot, looked on, not a shot being fired from either side. At one o'clock the corps was formed for the assault ; the first division on the left, under General Russell General "Wright its commander being in command of the corps, while Sedg- wick commanded the wing, consisting of the Fifth and Sixth corps. Howe's division was on the right ; the Third division General Terry, was in reserve. The first and second divisions were each in two lines, and the Vermont brigade had the right of the second line, curving round toward the river. A portion of the Fifth Yermont was thrown out in front as skirmishers. At two o'clock the corps advanced. The Con- federate videttes whirled and fled ; the enemy's skirmish line was encountered and driven in, and the lines advanced to some higher ground in front. Here they came within range THE FIRST BRIGADE. 405 of the enemy's artillery and were halted while the Union batteries came to the front, and for three hours a heavy artillery duel was kept up. While this was in progress the Yermont brigade lay behind the crest from which the Union batteries were firing. The enemy's shot and shell flew thickly over their lines, and several casualties occurred, one man of the Fourth losing a leg by a shell ; but the men were kept close to the ground, and the stretchers were rarely called for. The lines of the corps were gradually advanced ; but nothing decisive took place till dusk, when six regiments of the first division of the Sixth corps, led by General Eussell in person, gallantly stormed the works, taking four guns, 103 commissioned officers, 1,200 enlisted men, 1,225 stand of small arms and seven Confederate battle flags. Early lost 1,700 men killed, wounded and missing, out of 2,000 men of Hoke's and Hays's brigades in the works. The loss of Rus- sell's division was 336 killed and wounded and two missing^ The Sixth Maine suffered especially, losing 16 out of 24 officers, killed and wounded. Howe's division was ready to co-operate ; but was not needed, and the men had only to echo the final shout of victory, which rang around the lines in the darkness. It was something to be present at, and in support of, so brilliant an exploit. Early burned his end of his bridge that night, and the next day Sedgwick threw a ponton bridge across and ad- vanced to Brandy Station, Lee retiring beyond the Eapidan. This was the seventh time the Yermont brigade had crossed the Eappahannock, in advance or in retreat. The camp of the Sixth corps at Brandy Station was on the land of John Minor Botts, who used to assert that the Army of the Potomac burned 600 miles of rails belonging to him, in its first week at Brandy Station. It is true that his fences and forests disappeared rapidly, but they were not all taken by the Union soldiers. It is also true that the chief 406 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac paid him a good deal of money for firewood for the army. The soldiers had now two weeks or more of comparative quiet, during which the Sixth corps was reviewed by General Sedgwick, accom- panied by some English officers, and the division was paraded to witness the punishment of two deserters by branding. But one other movement of any consequence took place before the army went into winter quarters. This was the short and unsuccessful campaign of Mine Run. Mine Eun is a muddy stream running through a deep and marshy valley at right angles to the Eapidan, into which it empties ten miles south of Brandy Station. The right of General Lee's line rested along the left bank of this stream and valley, which afforded a good natural protection. This was strengthened by a line of intrenchments, extending back several miles from the Eapidan. This line was held by Swell's corps. Eealizing that the country was impatient of the inac- tion of the army, and desiring to strike an effective blow at his antagonist before the winter set in, General Meade decided to throw his army in three columns across the Eapidan below the mouth of Mine Eun, turn the right of E well's position, and fall upon him from the rear. The movement was to begin at daylight on the 26th, the Third corps, which was nearest the river, moving first and the Sixth following. The Sixth corps was moving at the hour, but found, on reach- ing the camp of the Third corps, that that corps had not stirred, most of its men being in fact still asleep in their quarters. The troops of the Sixth corps accordingly had to stand in the mud for hours, waiting for the Third to get in motion and get out of the way. Further delays occurred because the two ponton trains each proved to lack a boat of enough to span the river, and instead of being at Eobertson's Tavern, in the rear of Lee's right, before nightfall, the Third corps did not begin to cross the Eapidan till after dark, and the Sixth corps did not cross till midnight. The latter corps THE FIRST BEIGADE. 407 moved on till one o'clock in the morning and then halted for the rest of the night. The night was cold, the ground wet, and the sleep of the soldiers brief and restless. In three hours they were aroused, and the slow and interrupted march was again resumed. Soon the scattered shots of skirmishers, and an occasional discharge of field artillery, showed that the enemy was awake, and the advance resisted. Had, however, the commander of the Third corps, General French to whose sluggishness and irresolution the failure of the campaign^ must be attributed even now showed any enterprise or energy, the movement might have been successful. Coming,, however, to a fork in the roads, General French halted for hours, because he did not know which road to take, though had he moved on by either he would have reached Robertson's Tavern at eleven o'clock, at which hour the Second corps reached that point by a much longer route, and the two corps, supported by the Sixth, which crowded on the heels of the Third, could at least have cut off and destroyed Swell's corps. But French waited till he was confronted by a division of Swell's corps, and allowed himself to be held in check all the rest of the day by a force not a third as large as his own. In the course of the afternoon, he received a per- emptory order from General Meade to push on, and prepared to force his way ; but was himself attacked while taking posi- tion. He repulsed this and a succeeding attack, losing nearly 1,000 men, and did no more. Howe's division was sent for- ward by General Sedgwick to assist French during the latter part of the engagement, and was under fire from shells coming over the lines fighting in front, but was not engaged. That night Lee drew back his outlying forces and con- centrated his army behind Mine Run, where he extended and strengthened his earthworks, placed abatis of felled pines in front, and made his position exceedingly secure. Another day Sunday, November 29th a cold and rainy day, was consumed by the army of the Potomac in moving up to and 408 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. reconnoitring Lee's position. That night orders were issued by General Meade for a general assault the next morning. In this, the Sixth corps was to attack from the right, and at one o'clock in the morning the corps moved two miles to the right and front, under cover of the darkness, to a position on the left of Swell's line. The night was stormy and bitter cold ; the men were not allowed to light fires, and could keep their limbs from stiffening only by leaping and constant motion. Howe's division was in the front line, with the Second Yermont thrown out as skirmishers, and was to lead in the assault. Those who passed the hos- pital tents, and saw the operating tables set, water-pails filled, and amputating knives ready for the surgeon's grasp, understood that bloody business was in hand. All, officers and men, knew that the dawn would bring desperate work. General Howe thus described the feeling of his troops : "We placed the men where we could look right into the " enemy's camp, which was but a little distance from us. There "seemed to be entire confidence throughout my division, that "it was an easy as well as a sure thing to carry the enemy's "left. General Neill said : ' I believe I can carry that with "my brigade.' Another brigade commander in my division * expressed this opinion : ' I believe there is one regiment "in the Vermont brigade that can take the key of that posi- tion which was an opening that commanded the position.' " They were under some excitement, and were pretty sanguine. * The men were fired up and all seemed eager for the order to " attack." ' Daylight came and hours wore away ; but the order to attack did not come. At last, at eight o'clock, the artillery opened, the men fell into line and should- ered muskets with beating hearts, waiting the word forward ! ' when suddenly an aid dashed up to General 1 Testimony of General Howe before the Committee on the Conduct of the War. Vol. I, 1865, p. 435. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 409 Howe with an order countermanding the attack. The morning light had disclosed to General Warren, who was to open the assault on the extreme left, a very dif- ferent condition of things from that of the evening before. Lee had so strengthened his lines during the night, that the attempt to storm them had become a forlorn hope. Warren saw that his men understood it, as, stern and silent, they pinned on their breasts slips of paper on which each had written his name, that his grave might not be marked "unknown," and he assumed the responsibility of postpon- ing the attempt. His judgment that it would be fruitless was confirmed by General Meade after a personal view of the ground ; and as the carrying of Lee's right was essential to the general plan, the attack was everywhere suspended. It remained suspended. Nothing could be gained by fresh ma- neuvring. The weather had become so severe that some of the pickets perished on their posts with cold. The six days' rations brought by the men, were about exhausted. General Meade abandoned the effort, and during the night of December 1st withdrew his army to the north side of the Eapidan. The Sixth corps retired by Germanna Ford, leav- ing the Third Vermont, Seventy-seventh New York and a battery to guard the ford, while the rest of the army con- tinued its march to its former camps. The brigades of Howe's division halted in the woods, for the night of the 2d, eight or ten miles from the Ford, where a wagon train met them with bread and fresh meat, which was right grateful to men who had been marching for twenty-four hours on coffee. Resum- ing their march next morning, they marched past Brandy Station and filed into their old camps. The eight days since they left them had been among the roughest in their experi- ence, and there was little mourning over the end of active campaigning for the winter. The winter of 1863-4 at Brandy Station, was perhaps the most cheerful one passed by the First Yermont brigade. 410 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The weather was generally fine. The health of the troops was good, the sick lists averaging only about seventy to a regiment. The men were in huts of poles or slabs, plastered with Virginia clay and roofed with canvass. The officers had made their quarters not only comfortable but often almost luxurious. Many wives of officers graced the camps with their presence. The picket duty was light and drills not severe. Lyceums and debating societies were organized in several of the regiments. Religious services were well attend- ed, and a good deal of religious interest prevailed among the troops. In December, the question of whether to re-enlist or not to re-enlist was presented by the government's offer of bounties and furloughs to re-enlisting veterans, and formed a steady subject of discussion among the men. The result was that one thousand and thirty men of the brigade, who had served two years or more, re-enlisted for three years more or for the war. No further movement of the Sixth corps took place during the winter, with a single exception. On the 27th of February, the corps was sent to Madison Court House, twenty-three miles to the southwest, to support Ouster's cavalry division , which made a demonstration further south to Charlottesville. The object of the movement was to draw troops away from Richmond, while General Kilpatrick made his celebrated raid against the Confederate capital,, which would have made him forever famous, if his heart had not failed him after he was fairly within the defences of the city. 1 The Vermont brigade accompanied the corps on this expedition, which occupied five days, and was wholly uneventful. The march out was made in two days. A winter storm of rain and snow made the mud deep, but the return march was made between sunrise and sunset. A visit to the camps from Governor Smith, and a brigade 1 ' ' The only force opposed to General Kilpatrick was 500 men with six field guns, and had he made & determined charge he would have taken Richmond." General A. A. Humphreys. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 411 review before Mr. Edmunds, Hon. F. E. Woodbridge, and one or two other prominent Vermonters, in a drenching rain, were among the incidents of this period. As the winter wore on, deserters from Lee's army came in, in increasing numbers, with uniform accounts of scanty rations and general destitu- tion in the Confederate camps. As the spring opened the work of reorganization and preparation, in the Army of the Potomac, for one of the mightiest campaigns in human his- tory, became active. The antagonist armies which had wrestled for nearly three years, were soon to grapple again in the bloodiest struggle of the war. Few of the Vermonters of the First brigade, however, foreboded that it was to bring death or wounds to three out of every five of their number. CHAPTEB XVI. THE FIRST BRIGADE CONTINUED. General U. S. Grant, Commander-in-Chief Consolidation of the Corps Getty takes command of the Division Changes in the Brigade Review of the Situation Campaign of the Wilderness The Service of Getty's Division The part of the Vermont Brigade Terrific Fight- ing A thousand Vermonters Killed and Wounded the First Day; Two hundred the Second Day Heavy Losses of Officers March to Spottsylvania The Vermonters saluted by the Sixth Corps Death of General Sedgwick General Wright succeeds Him The Fighting in the Lines of Spottsylvania Upton's Charge on the Salient The Struggle at the Bloody Angle Losses of the Vermont Regiments The Eleventh Regiment joins the Brigade Picket Duty Between the Lines Movement to the North Anna March to Cold Harbor. General Halleck's meddlesome rule as commander-in- chief at last came to an end, and on the 10th of March the army was stirred by the arrival at Brandy Station of the new commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, Lieut. General Ulysses S. Grant. The troops soon learned that he was to take the field in person with the Army of the Potomac, and they were not slow to conclude that the change "meant business." On the 23d of March the Army of the Potomac was reorganized, by consolidating the five army corps into three a measure previously recommended by General Meade. The new corps were the Second, General Hancock; Fifth, General Warren, and Sixth, General Sedgwick. The Sixth was the old Sixth corps with the addition of Eickett's division of the Third corps. The division commanders of the corps were General H. G. Wright, General George W. Getty and General J. B. Eicketts. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 413 General Getty, who succeeded General Howe as the commander of the second division, 1 was one of the best officers in the army. A native of the District of Columbia, a graduate of West Point in 1840, brevetted captain of artil- lery for gallant conduct at Contreras and Cherubusco in the Mexican war, appointed brigadier general of volunteers in 1862, promoted Lieut. Colonel in the regular army for gallant and meritorious service during the siege of Suffolk, Ya., in April, 1863, where he commanded a division of the Ninth corps ; the husband of a Southern lady, but a true patriot ; a thorough soldier, modest, faithful to duty, sharing danger with his men ; as cool as he was brave in action, equal to any position in which he was placed, he soon won the absolute respect and confidence of all under him, and his men came to believe, with reason, that they had about the best division commander in the army. The brigades of Getty's division, were the First, General Frank Wheaton ; Second, General L. A. Grant ; Third, General T. O. Neill, and Fourth, General H. L. Eustis. 2 These were all uncommonly good brigades, and the division, as the event proved, had no superior, as a fighting division, in the Army of the Potomac. March was a remarkably stormy month. Kain, hail, and snow storms followed each other in close succession, and swollen streams and bottomless mud forbade active opera- tions by either of the armies along the Eapidan. On the 22d of March, six inches of snow lay on the ground at Brandy Station ; and the Second and Sixth Vermont regiments had a pitched battle of snow balls. Up to the 7th of April the 1 General Howe was relieved from the command of the division, March 3d, 1864, to become chief of artillery for the defences of Washington. 2 Wheaton' s brigade consisted of the Sixty-second New York, and the Ninety-third, Ninety-eighth, One Hundred and Second and One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Pennsylvania regiments ; Neill's of the Seventh Maine, Forty-third, Forty-ninth, and Seventy-seventh New York and Sixty- first Pennsylvania ; and Eustis's of the Seventh, Tenth and Thirty-seventh Massachusetts and Second Rhode Island. 414 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. crests of the Blue Eidge were white with snow. Target practice and drills filled all the clear days, and court martials for the trial of offenders were steadily in progress when storms and mud prevented other occupation of the officers. As April advanced, however, the weather improved; the roads grew hard; and successive orders sending home the women in camp, ordering the sutlers to leave, and cutting down camp equipage, showed that serious business was ahead. In the Vermont brigade since the year opened, Colonel Walbridge of the Second and Colonel Stoughton of the Fourth regiments had resigned, in consequence of disability and wounds, and the regiments of the brigade, on the 1st of May, were commanded, the Second by Colonel Newton Stone, the Third by Colonel T. O. Seaver, Fourth by Colonel George P. Foster, Fifth by Lieut. Colonel John E. Lewis, and Sixth by Colonel E. L. Barney. The brigade commander, General L. A. Grant, had just been commissioned as brigadier general of volunteers. The morning reports of May 1st, showed 3,308 officers and men present for duty. Of this number there were actually in the ranks about 2,850, divided as follows: Second regiment, 700; Third, 570; Fourth, 680; Fifth, 510; Sixth, 450. The men were in fine condition, strong in heart and in body. The national exigency at this time was indeed great. The purpose of the North had not been weakened by three years of war ; but a greatly depreciated currency, the necessity of resorting to drafts to fill the army, and other ominous signs, impressed on all in civil or military authority the tremendous need of Union victories in the field. On the other side the Southern conscription was filling the Confederate armies more rapidly than the Northern drafts were the armies of the Union. The rebel cruisers had driven American commerce from the seas; while the blockade runners kept the Con- federacy supplied with munitions. The Southern historian THE FIRST BRIGADE. 415 Pollard, asserts that "it was at no great physical disad- vantage that the South, with all her strength brought to the surface by conscription and impressment, with all her resources employed in the war, re-entered the contest in the year 1864." " The resources of the South," he adds, "both in men and substance, to prosecute the war, were ample." Doubtless these resources had hitherto been used with greater unity and efficiency than those of the North. It was felt on both sides that the crisis of the war was at hand. The South advanced to meet it with more hope, and the North with more anxiety, than had prevailed in either section since McClellan retreated from Richmond in 1862. The two armies were never in such a condition of effi- ciency for their bloody work. The Army of the Potomac numbered, in round numbers, 100,000 men of all arms ; that of Northern Virginia, 75,000. 1 The preponderance of num- bers on the Federal side was largely counterbalanced by the advantages of position, of better knowledge of the ground, and of fighting on the defensive, on the other side. Lee's army, like the Army of the Potomac, consisted on the 1st of May of three infantry corps, under Longstreet, Ewell and A. P. Hill. No official report of its actual strength on the 1st of May is known to exist. General Humphreys shows that its strength could not have been less than 62,000 men with 224 guns. General W. H. Taylor, of Lee's staff, A. A. G. of the Army of Northern Virginia, gives it a total of 64,000. General Badeau's detailed estimate, gives it an ag- gregate of 75,391 present for duty. It was perfectly understood, on each side, that the Army 1 The morning report of the Army of the Potomac for April 30th, showed present for duty, 99,438 men. The three infantry corps aggregated 73,394 ; Sheridan's cavalry corps, 12,424 ; the artillery, engineers, etc., made up the rest. The Ninth corps, General Burnside, 17,000 strong, joined the army in the Wilderness. It is to be remembered that the number of men actually in the ranks, is always considerably smaller than the number reported present for duty." 416 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of the Potomac would take the initiative. On the 2d of May Grant's order for the movement of the army was issued, and on that day Lee met his corps and division commanders, at the signal station on Clark's Mountain, ten miles south of Grant's headquarters, and told them that the Army of the Potomac was about to move, and in his opinion would cross the Rapidan by the fords below leading into the Wilderness. Grant's problem in the movement now on foot, was to bridge and cross an unfordable river ; to turn the right of his opponent, and to take through a rugged region, covered with dwarf pines and scrub oak, and an undergrowth of bristling shrubs and tangling vines, threaded by narrow roads with which his antagonist was much better acquainted than him- self, an army covering eighty miles of highway with its 100,000 men and 20,000 horses and 320 guns and 4,000 army wagons. One day he knew would be his, while his movement was unfolding itself. More than that he could not be sure of, for he had an opponent who would be likely to allow him no advantage that could be prevented by prompt action. Lee's problem was a much more simple one. His plan naturally would be, and was, to strike the Army of the Poto- mac on the march, cut it in two, hold its halves divided and entangled in the Wilderness, and to drive what he did not destroy and capture back across the Rapidan, as he had driven Hooker a year before. The highways of the region dictated the course of the movements. Grant must move through the Wilderness by roads whose general direction was from north to south. Lee must strike him by roads crossing these from west to east. The movement of the Army of the Potomac began at midnight of Tuesday, the 3d of May. That day the cavalry moved to Germanna and Ely's Fords, put guards in all the occupied houses on the way, to prevent the inhabitants from carrying information to the enemy, and guarded the fords,, while the engineers laid five bridges across the stream. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 417 The infantry moved for the most part in two parallel columns. The Second corps crossed at Ely's Ford, moved to Chancel- lorsville, and halted at noon of the 4th on Hooker's old battle-ground. The Fifth corps started at the same time, crossed at Gerrnanna Ford, and moved to the Wilderness tavern, six miles from the river, where it halted in the after- noon. The Sixth corps started at four o'clock for Germanna Ford, following the Fifth corps. The men carried fifty rounds of cartridges, and six days' rations, three in their haversacks and three in their knapsacks. Before they reached the river, Lieut. General Grant, with his staff, rode along the column, on his way to the ford, and was greeted with cheers by the men. They could not forget that two attempts to force a passage to Kichmond by the overland route, had failed; but they were willing to try again, under Grant. The Sixth corps crossed the river in the middle of the afternoon, and halted and bivouacked, as ordered, about three miles beyond the ford. Nightfall found the mass of the troops across the Eapidan though the trains were crossing all night. The first step of the campaign, and a very important and critical one, had thus been accomplished. While it was in progress, General Lee, who learned of the movement during the morning, was promptly moving his army toward the Army of the Potomac. Two of his columns moved by nearly parallel roads the old Orange and Fredericksburg turnpike, con- structed many years before, and the Orange plank road, built by another corporation in the days of the plank road mania, between the same places. These roads crossed Grant's line of march at right angles, about three miles apart, in the middle of the Wilderness. Swell's corps moved by the turnpike, and Hill's by the plank road. Longstreet's corps, which had been lying at Gordonsville, seven miles south of Lee's headquarters at Orange Court House, had farther to march, and would reach the field by a lower road, coming in from 418 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. the southwest. Advanced troops of the two armies bivou- acked that night about five miles apart. In the next two days, Wednesday and Thursday, the 5th and 6th of May sad anniversaries in many a Vermont house- hold the terrible battle of the Wilderness was fought. Of all the battles of the war, perhaps none is more diffi- cult to describe in detail. The scrubby and tangled forest which shrouded, and still shrouds the field, seemed at the time to envelop the battle in mystery. Few of the officers and men engaged retained very definite conceptions of either time or space. They moved when the lines surged forward or back. They made the best fight they could against the seen and unseen foes in front and on right and left. But when or where or why they moved, or what was the result of their fighting, few understood. The battle was characterized by unseen movements of troops; terrific volleys of musketry, bursting at close range from the thickets ; charges through woods so dense that field officers could hardly see the line of a company ; sudden appearances and disappearances of bodies of troops, through jungles veiled in smoke ; opposing brigades and regiments hugging the ground, not daring to rise for advance or retreat, yet keeping up incessant fusillades ; lines rapidly thinning and ever closing up, while many dead dropped unseen in the underbrush, and many wounded men crept off alone into the hollows. The ground forbade almost all use of artillery ; and preponderance of numbers had no moral effect, and was indeed of little actual avail. 1 Through the mist and smoke of this battle, however, some brilliant lights appear. And among the brightest of these is the shining service of Getty's division, and of the Vermont brig- ade of that division. Had they failed, or fled, it is hard to see how the result could have been less than terrible disaster to the army. Let us see if this service can be made clear. " So far as I know, no great battle ever took place before on such ground." General A. A. Humphreys. THE FIKST BRIGADE. 419 In the early morning of the 5th, the Union columns were again moving to the south. The Fifth corps, Warren's, followed by the Sixth, Sedgwick's, formed the heavier column, and marched on the right, and so nearest the enemy, by the main road leading southeast from Germanna Ford, through the Wilderness. On the left the Second corps, Hancock's, marched from Chancellorsville, by a road intersecting the road from Germanna Ford at Todd's Tavern on the farther edge of the Wilderness. Having the shorter route of the two, Hancock reached Todd's Tavern without opposition. Here he was halted between eight and nine o'clock in the morning by an order from General Meade, through whom Grant's orders were issued, they having become satisfied that Lee was preparing to fight in the Wilderness. 1 Shortly before this time Warren had passed the intersection of the Orange turnpike with his line of march, had sent a division a short distance up the pike to guard his flank, and had discovered that the enemy's infantry were in force on the pike, two miles from the Wilderness Tavern. This infantry was the head of Swell's corps, which had advanced to that point and was waiting there till Hill should be well advanced on the Orange plank road, when both were to attack along the lines of those roads. Hill was nearly as far along on the plank road, and the skirm- ishers of his advance were even then engaged with a cavalry force under Colonel John Hammond, beyond Parker's store, three miles from the Wilderness Tavern. The discovery of Confederate columns on these two roads revealed the main features of Lee's movement and plan of attack ; and the two points at which these roads struck the line of march 1 Early in the morning of the 5th, Generals Meade and Grant, with their staffs, after riding five miles from Germanna Ford, halted near an old mill in the Wilderness. Aides came with despatches. "They say that Lee intends to fight us here," said General Meade, as he read them. "Very well," was the quiet reply of Grant. C. C. Coffin. 420 VERMONT IN THE CIYIL WAR. of Grant's main column, became at once points of the utmost strategic consequence. That line of march was over the Germanna Plank Road, as far as the Wilderness Tavern and a mile beyond it. From there on, for four miles, it was over the Brock Road. 1 This is a curved road, begin- ning on the Orange Turnpike, crossing the Germanna Road, a mile and a half southeast of the Wilderness Tavern; next crossing the Orange Plank Road at right angles ; and running thence southeast to Todd's Tavern, on the road to Spottsylvania. The two most important points to be held, therefore, for the Union army, were these junctions, of the turnpike with the Germanna Road, and of the Orange Plank Road with the Brock Road. Of the two the latter was the more important, because upon it Lee was likely to throw, and did throw, his heaviest columns, and because the possession of it by Lee, would be to place two- thirds of the army of Northern Virginia between the two wings of the Army of the Potomac; to cut off the Second corps ; to hold the Fifth and Sixth corps entangled in the Wilderness ; and perhaps to wreck Grant's campaign at its very outset. The importance of this point is of course generally recognized by historians of this battle. Swinton says of it: "Four miles east of Parker's store the plank " road is intersected by the Brock Road, which runs south- " ward to Spottsylvania Court House, and on which Hancock "was moving up to join the main body of the army. It is " obvious, therefore, that this junction of roads was a strategic "point of the first importance, and if Hill should be able to tf seize it, he would interpose effectually between the two " Union columns." General Badeau, whose relations to Lieut. General Grant were such that his description of the campaign may be considered to be almost equivalent to a description by General Grant, says: "The Brock road is the key of all 1 Or Brock's Road. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 421 ''this region. * * * Cutting these transverse roads at "right angles, it enabled whichever army held it to outflank "the other, and was of course of immense importance to both "commanders." General Humphreys, in his elaborate des- cription of this battle, does not in terms designate any one point as of more importance than another ; but his narrative fully shows the supreme importance of this point. The selection of the force which was to hold this point could not have been a matter of chance, which so often, in great battles, determines the presence of one rather than another body of troops, at critical points. As soon as Lee's purpose became evident, General Meade, by Lieut. General Grant's direction, ordered that General Getty, with his divi- sion of the Sixth corps, or the larger part of it, be sent to the junction of the Brock and Plank roads, with instructions to "hold that point at all hazards, until relieved." At the same time he sent an order to General Hancock at Todd's Tavern, to move his corps up the Brock road, and to connect with the force holding the junction of that road with the plank road, and be prepared to support an attack out on the latter road. As the Sixth corps was behind the Fifth corps in the order of march, and the latter was thus the nearest to the junction of the Orange plank and Brock roads, the natural movement would have been to send a division of the Fifth corps to that point, and to supply its place on the turnpike by bringing forward a portion of the Sixth corps. But that was not what was done. And while no implication is here intended that there were not in the Fifth corps troops worthy to be entrusted with almost any duty, it cannot be doubted that the detaching of Getty and his division for this special service was due to the fact that it would not do to make any mistake in the selection of the officer and troops sent to this key-point. Grant and Meade knew that it would be hours before Hancock ccruld get his corps into position to 422 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. protect that point ; and that "Warren was likely to have heavy fighting to do on the turnpike and would need all his men. They selected a division that could be relied on to reach the plank road promptly, and to hold it till the gaps between the wings of the army could be closed. So Getty's division was detached for the purpose ; and there is some reason to sup- pose that the selection made was to some extent due to the fact that the Vermont brigade was part of that division. 1 Getty took with him his first, second and fourth brigades, leaving the third with the Sixth corps. How he and they discharged the trust reposed on them will be seen. The battle opened in earnest about noon, on Warren's front. He drove Swell's advance back for a mile, but was in turn driven back, and, though supported by a portion of the Sixth corps, had all and sometimes more than he could do to hold his own the dense second-growth of timber greatly impeding his movements, and preventing effective massing of his men. He lost during the day some ground, two guns and over three thousand men, killed, wounded and captured ; but at nightfall still held his main position across the turnpike and in front of the Wilderness Tavern. Getty reached the junction of the Brock and Orange plank road's shortly before noon, and none too soon ; for the advance of Heth's division (of Hill's corps) was pushing for the same point, and driving in Colonel Hammond, who with the Fifth New York cavalry, was falling back before the enemy's infantry, not over half a mile away from the Brock road. Getty at once sent forward a line of skirmishers, who relieved the cavalry, and drove back the enemy's skirmishers for some distance. The Yermont brigade was then advanced, passing the First brigade, (Wheaton's, which had led the 1 Surgeon S. J. Allen, of the Fourth Vermont, who was medical direc- tor on General Getty's staff, and with him when he received this order, says that it was accompanied by a special direction that he should take the Vermont brigade, with two other brigades of his division. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 423 column to this point,) and was posted in front of the cross- roads, on the left of the Orange plank road, in two lines. The Fourth and Third regiments were in front with two companies of the Fifth thrown out as skirmishers, under Captain Orms- bee, and the Second, Sixth and Fifth were the second line. 1 Wheaton's brigade was formed in like manner on the right of the plank road, with a section of artillery in the road, between the two brigades ; 3 and the line was extended into the woods to the right, by Eustis's brigade. The Vermont regiments, by order of their commander, piled a partial cover of rails and logs, which proved of good service later in the day. General Getty held this position for some three hours, against a pres- sure of the enemy which hour by hour grew more threatening. About three o'clock the first indications that he was to be supported appeared in the sound and sight of the head of Hancock's column, coming up the Brock road. General Grant, whose headquarters were on a knoll by the Wilderness Tavern, had become impatient to strike Hill before he should become more strongly concentrated on the plank road, and had sent an order to Hancock to unite with Getty, and drive the enemy back to or beyond Parker's store. This order General Han- cock found it impossible to obey promptly. His artillery, filling the Brock road, which was narrow and densely wooded on each side, greatly retarded the advance of his infantry; and the formation of the troops as they came up, was imped- ed by the woods and underbrush. He rode forward in person, to confer with Getty, learned from him that he (Getty) had two Confederate divisions in his front, and was expecting momentarily an attack in force, assured him of support at the earliest possible moment, and directed General Birney, commanding the advance of the Second corps, to form his division, as fast as it arrived, on Getty's left. Before Birney, 1 The regiments were placed in the order named from right to left. 2 Part of Rickett's battery, F., First Pennsylvania Light Artillery. 424 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. however, got into position, Getty received an order from General Meade to attack without waiting longer for Hancock ; and he at once moved forward to the assault. The force in front of him was Heth's division, with Wilcox's division on Heth's left. Generals Lee and A. P. Hill were both with Heth's division, and Lee, it is fair to presume, gave his per- sonal attention to the movements of Hill's corps. The latter's front line ran along a ridge, so screened by the trees and undergrowth that neither the nature of the ground nor the position of his line could be determined twenty yards away. The first of Getty 2 s troops to become engaged were the Ver- monters. They had moved forward scarce three hundred yards, when they were received by a tremendous volley, bursting from the thickets but a few yards in front. They halted, returned the fire, and then dropped down, to get cover from the hail-storm of bullets. The enemy did the same. Again the lines were ordered to advance ; but when the men rose, so many were at once shot down that it became plain that to advance was simply destruction. The men dropped again. They could not advance, but there was no thought of retreat. The second line closed up on the first, the Second regiment creeping forward through the bushes to a position nearly on a line with the Fourth, and both regi- ments kept up a destructive fire, under which the enemy was as powerless to advance as they. The Third regiment, bear- ing to the left, pushed forward beyond its line of skir- mishers, and became engaged in much the same manner. The Sixth regiment moved up to the support of the Third and the Fifth took position still farther to the left. The other brigades of the division became also sharply engaged ; but their lines were not as close to the enemy as those of the "Vermont brigade, and the fighting along them was far less bloody. In the Yermont regiments the carnage was fearful. The loss of field and line officers who were on their feet and moving along the lines, while the men hugged the ground, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 425 was especially severe. Colonel Stone, the gallant young colonel of the Second, fell with a ball through his thigh ; retired to have his wound dressed, and returned to his post, soon to drop dead, shot through the head. Lieut. Colonel Tyler too!;: his place, till, an hour later, he too fell, with a mortal wound, leaving the regiment without any field officer. Colonel Foster of the Fourth received a ball in the thigh and had to yield the command to Major Pratt. Lieut. Colonel Lewis, commanding the Fifth, fell with a shattered arm, and Major Dudley stepped into his place. Colonel Barney, of the Sixth, received a mortal wound in the temple, and was suc- ceeded in the command of his regiment by Lieut. Colonel Hale. Of the company officers, one after another fell not to rise again, or were borne bleeding to the rear. The men's faces grew powder-grimed, and their mouths black from biting cartridges. The musketry silenced all other sounds ; and the air in the woods was hot and heavy with sulphurous vapor. The tops of the bushes were cut away by the leaden showers which swept through them; and when the smoke lifted occa- sional glimpses could be got of gray forms crouching under the battle-cloud which hung low upon the slope in front. For two hours this went on, and the ammunition of the men was nearly exhausted, when General Birney, having got into posi- tion, sent a brigade (Owen's) to the support of the Vermont regiments. By this time, also, the other divisions of Han- cock's corps arrived within supporting distance, and were posted along the Brock road. As the position was thus made strong, it was no longer necessary that Getty's front line should hold its advanced position. General L. A. Grant was directed to withdraw his brigade ; but how to withdraw it, in the face of the increasing force with which it was in such close contact, was a problem. Discovering a place in front of the Fifth Yermont, where the enemy's line seemed to be a little thinner than elsewhere, Grant proposed to Major Dudley to attempt to break through the enemy's line at that 426 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. point, with the support of two of Birney's regiments just posted in his rear, hoping thus to secure relief from the pressure on the rest of his line. Dudley was willing to try, and at the word of command the Fifth rose, and charged the ridge with a cheer. The enemy's line in front partially gave way; but the supporting troops got enough of it after a short advance, and halted and lay down ; and Dudley, find- ing his regiment alone, and suffering from a severe fire opened on its left flank, relinquished the endeavor, and ordered his regiment down. This attempt at a diversion having failed, and the ammunition of the regiments being exhausted, the only available course was to beat a square retreat to the lines behind them. This was successfully accomplished. The enemy pressed close on the retiring line of the Second and Fourth regiments, and occupied for a short time the ground, strewn with their dead, on which they had fought. Lieut. French of General Grant's staff, who had been sent by him to order back the Fifth, had his horse shot and was captured while on his way with the order. But Dudley, finding him- self flanked and in danger of capture, had meantime wisely withdrawn his regiment ; and the brigade, as the shades of night fell on the field, resumed, with sadly thinned ranks, its former position on the Brock road. Heth also with- drew after nightfall to his former position. " The battle con- tinued," says General Humphreys, "with great severity until near eight o'clock, when darkness and the dense forest put an end to it, fortunately for Hill, whose troops were shattered and his lines disjointed. An hour more of daylight, and he would have been driven from the field." General Lee, in a despatch to the Confederate secretary of war that evening, briefly described as follows the events of the day: "Swell's and Hill's corps arrived this morning in close proximity to the enemy's line of march. A strong attack was made upon Ewell who repulsed it, capturing many prisoners and four pieces of artillery. The enemy subse- THE FIRST BRIGADE. 427 quently concentrated upon General Hill, who with his and Wilcox's divisions successfully resisted repeated and desper- ate assaults." General Lee was on the field in person in front of Getty, and if he called the fighting there "desperate," there can be no doubt that it was so. In fact, the vigor ol Getty's attack was such that the opposing generals were per- suaded that it was made by a very much greater force than one division; and it has been stated by Confederate his- torians that Heth's and Wilcox's divisions of Hill's corps, numbering 15,000 men, resisted that day five Federal divisions of Hancock's and Sedgwick's corps, numbering 45,000! But the facts are that the assault was opened and sustained for hours by Getty alone, with 7,000 men, being three-fourths of his division. Other troops of the Second corps supported Getty at a later stage of the battle ; but the entire loss of the Second corps on the 5th of May was not equal to that of the Vermont brigade in killed and wounded a fact which indicates distinctly what troops did the fighting- General Getty well knew that he had two men in front of him for every one of his own; but he knew the im- portance of the duty assigned to him. The situation required desperate effort; for if Hill had succeeded in reaching the Brock road, it is hard to see how he could have been dis- lodged. It would then have been an easy matter for him to hold back Hancock who as it was did not get into position till after four o'clock p. M. with one of his divisions, while Wilcox pushed in on Warren's left flank with the other. The consequences can be imagined. Elsewhere, Hancock's lines gave way for a time, and General Alexander Hays, of Birney's division, was killed in attempting to restore a break; but Getty's front was firmly held from first to last against the utmost efforts of the enemy, till the junc- tion of the Orange Plank Road with the Brock Road was made secure. It is no disparagement of the other gal- lant brigades of Getty's division, which fought well and 428 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. suffered severely, to say that the brunt of the fighting of the division fell to the lot of the Vermont brigade. It was a year and a day from the time when their steadiness in the face of heavy odds saved the Sixth corps at Banks's Ford. The same qualities had enabled them to render even greater service this day. But it was accomplished at terrible cost. Of five colonels of the brigade but one was left unhurt. Fifty of its best line officers had been killed or wounded. A thousand Vermont soldiers fell that afternoon. The fighting along and near the Plank road ended about eight o'clock; but elsewhere, and especially in front of the Sixth corps, there was skirmishing on into the night ; and till two o'clock in the morning occasional volleys lit up the dark woods with flame. Along the fronts of the opposing lines strong picket guards faced each other with exhausting watchfulness. Behind them the burial parties and stretcher-bearers sought through the thickets for the killed and wounded, at the risk of their own lives, for the enemy's pickets fired at every light or sound. In the debata- ble ground between them lay hundreds of dead and dying, whom neither army could remove. The men in the lines of battle lay on their arms behind their low breastworks, and got but brief and fitful rest. No decisive advantage had been secured on either side in this day's fight. Each com- mander decided to renew the contest at daylight the next morning, and hunied forward reinforcements. All night long Longstreet was hurrying up from Gordonsville, with his corps, to the help of Hill; and Burnside with the Ninth corps was on the way, and marching hard, from the line of the Orange & Alexandria road, to strengthen the Army of the Potomac. But as yet there was a wide gap between Han- cock's right and Warren's left, and a gap perhaps nearly as wide between Hill and Ewell. Spades were brought into use, and intrenchments thrown up, on each side. Behind the front lines of each army staff officers were hurrying THE FIRST BRIGADE. 429 hither and yon, and troops marching to and fro through the woods, under the starlight for hours before daylight. Grant's orders to Hancock, Warren and Sedgwick were to attack at five o'clock. Lee commenced his attack fifteen minutes earlier. The fighting soon became heavy all along the lines. Ewell held his ground stubbornly behind his. intrenchments ; but Hill soon found himself in serious trouble. Getty had remained to aid the Second corps in a direct assault, while Crawford's division of the Fifth corps, which had got into position the evening before too late to take part in the fighting, was to strike Hill's exposed left flank. These move- ments were successfully executed. Birney's division advanced in two lines, followed by Getty's. In this movement the Vermont brigade moved straight out along the Plank road, with two regiments on the right and three on the left of the road. Hill made a stout resistance ; but could not stem the combined assault on his front and flank, and after a half hour's severe fighting his lines broke, and he was driven back in great confusion through the woods, for more than a mile. In this advance, the crowding in of Crawford's troops on the right occasioned a general obliquing of the attacking lines to the left, bringing the Vermont brigade all on the south side of the Plank road. The lines moved forward till Lee's headquarters and the Confederate trains and artillery were in sight, not far in front. Hill's corps was tremendously shattered. It looked much like a Union victory in that part of the field. At this juncture Longstreet arrived with two fresh divisions, and formed them hastily, placing Kershaw's division on the south of the Plank road and Field's on the north. Their lines opened to let through the disorganized masses of Heth's and Wilcox's divisions, and then closing, offered a firm front to their opponents ; and Hancock, whose lines had become much disordered in the ardor of the advance through forest, swamp and thicket, called a general halt in order to re-form his lines. 430 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Several hours now passed, during which the commanders on each side were bringing up troops and adjusting their formations. On the Confederate side the routed troops of Heth and Wilcox were rallied and brought again to the front ; and the arrival of Anderson's division, of Hill's corps, which had not been as yet engaged, enabled Lee to extend the lines of that corps till his right wing connected with Ewcll. On the other side a single division of Burnside's corps had arrived at the Wilderness Tavern and had been sent to support Hancock. But there was long and impatient waiting for the rest of Burnside's command to come and fill the gap between Hancock and Warren. The ground was so broken, the woods so dense, the movements of the troops, which were constantly mistaking friends for foes and halting and losing direction, were so interrupted and slow, that the further advance of Hancock, who waited for Burnside to get into position on his right before again assaulting, was delayed till Longstreet took the offensive. He had been able to extend his right, and to form a flanking force of four brigades, which, concealed by the woods, moved down around Birney's left and struck him on the flank and rear. " We thought," said General Longstreet, describing this portion of the battle to Mr. Swinton after the close of the war, " that we had another Bull Bun on you ; for I had made my dispositions to seize the Brock road." But the Brock road was not seized by General Longstreet that day. Getty's division reduced at this time to two brigades by the departure of Eustis's brigade, which had been sent to the extreme left of Hancock's line was still holding the rear line between Longstreet and the cross roads. What took place there cannot be better described than in the words of General L. A. Grant's report : "The tide of battle had turned. The front line was broken, and men came disorganized to the rear. The brigade, at the time, happened to occupy a slightly elevated or rolling ground, where the enemy had, for his own use, thrown together two THE FIRST BRIGADE. 431 irregular lines of old logs and decayed timber. The Vermont regiments took position behind these lines of logs and rubbish and awaited the progress of the battle. In less than half an hour the four lines in our front were swept away, and heavy lines of the advancing enemy came upon us with great force. They were received with a bold front and galling fire, and their advance was completely checked and thrown back in confusion. Still determined, the enemy reformed his lines, and again advanced to the attack and again went back. The attack was many times repeated, and as many times repulsed. The repulse, however, was complete only in front of this brigade. Every time the enemy made an attack, he made a substantial advance upon both our right and left, and the Union troops gradually gave way, especially upon the right. Bullets came from the right across the plank road. Major Pratt promptly faced the Fourth regiment to the right, and opened fire across the road. The state of affairs in that direction becoming critical, it was represented to the division commander, who placed another brigade under my command. That brigade was immediately placed on the right of this, partially facing the plank road, so as to protect our right and rear, should the enemy gain further advantage in that direc- tion. Perhaps the valor of Vermont troops and the steadiness and unbroken front of these noble regiments, were never more signally displayed. They stood out in the very midst of the enemy, unyieldingly dealing death and slaughter in front and flank. Only the day before, one-third of their number and many of their beloved leaders had fallen ; but not disheartened, the brave men living seemed determined to avenge the fallen; and most effectually they did it. For more than three hours did the brigade hold this advanced position, repelling every attack. Foiled in every attempt at this point, the enemy massed forces about one-fourth of a 432 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. mile to our left, and made a vigorous attack. 1 Our lines, at that point, suddenly gave way and came in confusion past our rear. I immediately ordered two regiments to face to the left, but before the order could be executed, the enemy rushed through the breach and opened fire into our rear, and at the same time made another attack in front. Perceiv- ing that it was worse than useless to attempt further resist- ance there, I ordered the regiments to rally behind the breastworks on the Brock road, at which point we had been ordered to rally in case of disaster. Our entire lines, at this part of the army, went back in disorder. All organizations and control seemed to have been lost. But out of that disorder the Vermont brigade quietly and deliberately took its position in the front works on the Brock road, and awaited the enemy's advance. Other troops were rallied and placed on the right and left and rear, though thousands went be- yond reach or immediate control. The lines of the left of the Second corps were unbroken, and now took position on the Brock road. Other troops came up from the right, and our position was made strong again, and here we awaited the enemy's attack. It came late in the afternoon ; a vigorous, determined and desperate attack. The heaviest part fell upon the troops on our immediate left, but a portion of it fell upon this brigade, and was handsomely repulsed." 1 General Longstreet had been seriously wounded, by a volley from hia own men, and Lee took command in person. At one time, Confederate historians say, he proposed to head a charge ; but the men, anxious for his safety, refused to go forward till he had gone to the rear ; and he finally yielded to their protest. The abandonment of the advanced line of breast works by a portion of the Second corps, was in part owing to the woods' catching fire. Many wounded men, it has been stated, were burned alive ; 'but it is not known that this fate befell any of the Vermonters. The fighting went on, however, till at last the flames caught the breastworks of logs which sheltered portions of Mott's and Birney's divisions; and they were driven from behind them by the heat and smoke. The Confederates pushed in to the break thus made ; but were again forced back by Carroll'* brigade of Gibbon's division of the Second corps. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 433 Vermont troops of other organizations and of all arms, infantry, cavalry, artillery and sharpshooters, fought in other parts of the field, and rendered service which will be de- scribed in subsequent pages. 1 We have seen that it twice fell to the First Yermont brigade to take a most important part at a most important point. It held its position there to the end. The other brigades of Getty's division returned during the night of the 5th to the Sixth corps ; but General Hancock was unwilling to spare the Vermont brigade ; and it remained upon or near the Brock road during the next day and till the army resumed its movement toward Richmond, during the night of the 7th- General Getty was seriously wounded on Friday ; but declined to leave the field. The value of the service rendered by his division, in this battle, can scarcely be exaggerated. It has been overlooked in some accounts of the battle, owing to the fact that the division was detached from the Sixth and fought with the Second corps, to which corps its work has been credited. But that the service which it rendered was appreciated at the headquarters of the army, may be inferred from General Badeau's remark that "Getty with a single division first reached the critical point and held it afterwards in the presence of double his own force, although Lee in per- son was in front." a Dear as was the cost of their part of this service to the Vermont troops, there is good reason to believe that they inflicted much greater loss on the enemy than they receiv- ed. The losses of the Confederate divisions opposed to 1 The Tenth Vermont was in the Third division of the Sixth corps ; the Seventeenth Vermont and Third Vermont battery with the Ninth corps ; the First Vermont cavalry with Sheridan ; and three Vermont com- panies of sharpshooters with the Second corps. The Seventeenth Ver- mont lost 80 men in this battle. 3 Military history of U. S. Grant. Vol. II. p. 113. 38 434 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Getty's are to some extent matters of conjecture, in the absence of official reports of casualties on the rebel side in this battle an absence indicative of heavier losses than the Confederate generals were willing to acknowledge. There are, however, some significant matters of record bearing on the subject. Thus the morning report of Lee's army for the 20th of April the latest report on file preceding the Wilder- ness campaign gives Hill's corps 20,648 enlisted men, present for duty. On the 8th of May, General Early took command of the corps, General Hill being sick, and he says> in his memoir, that the corps that morning "numbered about 13,000 muskets for duty." That is to say the corps had lost about eight thousand enlisted men saying nothing of officers in the two weeks during which this battle was fought and in which it had done no other fighting. As the losses in Field's division of Longstreet's corps, are described as "very heavy," Lee must have lost nearly ten thousand men in front of Hancock and Getty; and both General Longstreet and General Wilcox have been quoted as ac- knowledging that the repulse of Wilcox's and Heth's divisions was chiefly the work of Getty's division. The tables of casualties on the Union side furnish significant indications as to what troops stood the strain and did the fighting of that division. The killed and wounded of the Vermont brigade numbered 1,200. The killed and wounded of the Army of the Potomac numbered 12,485.' That is to say, the Ver- mont brigade, being one of thirty-two infantry brigades engaged, suffered one-tenth of the entire loss of Grant's army in killed and wounded in the Wilderness ! The following 1 The entire Union loss, as stated by General Humphreys, was killed, 2,265; wounded, 10,220; missing, 2,902; total, 15,387. The losses of the Army of Northern Virginia, as stated in the "Medical and Surgical His- tory of the War," were 2,000 killed, 6,000 wounded, and 3,400 missing ; total, 11,400. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 435 table shows a remarkably even distribution of casualties among the regiments : CASUALTIES IN THE WILDERNESS. Killed. Wounded. Missing. Died of wounds. Total. Brigade Staff, 11 2 Second Vermont, 48 220 29 32 297 Third " 40 184 15 25 239 Fourth " 34 194 22 45 250 Fifth " 34 179 17 23 230 Sixth, " 35 169 12 26 216 191 947 96 151 1234 Of the missing, five were never accounted for; two deserted. Most of the rest were wounded men, who fell into the hands of the enemy, only a few unwounded Yermonters being captured. 1 The loss of officers was especially severe, amounting in killed and wounded to three-fourths of all present for duty a fearful percentage. The brigade had no less than twenty-one officers killed and mortally wounded, 3 being more than the number of officers killed in all the rest of the Sixth corps put together. Among them were some of the best soldiers in the brigade, and Surgeon Stevens of the Seventy-seventh New York thus expresses the deep feeling aroused in Getty's division by the deaths of so many valued officers : " The Yermont brigade lost many of its brightest " ornaments. Colonel Barney of the Sixth was one of Yer- " mont's best men, a kind yet faithful commander in camp, 1 Several Vermont soldiers were injured during the first day by the fire from the section of Ricketts's battery behind them, the lines being so near together that shells intended for the enemy exploded over the lines of the Vermont regiments. Among these was Sergeant H. E. Taylor, Company F., Fourth Vermont, who was struck in the small of the back by a piece of a shell, which passed through to the other side of the spine, where it re- mained for four months, before it was extracted. Since the death of Presi- dent Garfield from an almost precisely similar wound, the case of Sergeant Taylor, who is still living, has been cited as a very rare one of recovery from such an injury. 2 Including all who died of their wounds. 436 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. "gallant and fearless on the field, the highest type of a man " a Christian gentleman. Colonel Stone was killed in- " stantly on the 5th ; his urbane manners were remembered "by all who frequented our division headquarters, and his "bravery had endeared him to his men. Colonel Tyler, too, "of the Second, was among the mortally wounded, and all "felt his loss deeply. Captains Bixby of the Second, Bart- "lett and Buck of the Third, Carpenter, Fair and Lillie of "the Fourth, Ormsbee and Hurlbut of the Fifth, and Bird "and Randall of the Sixth, all men of bravery and patriot- " ism, all beloved as companions and valued as officers, were "among the dead or dying. But among Vermont's fallen "sons was no more ardent patriot or gallant soldier than "Captain George D. Davenport of the Fifth. His manly "bearing, brilliant intellect, ready wit, his social virtues and "well-known bravery, combined to render him a favorite " officer. These are a few among the many names of fallen "heroes. Never were grander men sacrificed for a nobler "cause." * General L. A. Grant said of the same : "It is no disparagement to those who survive, to say that the places of these captains cannot be filled." Nineteen line officers were killed, thirty-one wounded, and two taken prisoners. Hardly a company in the line escaped without the loss of one or more commissioned officers, and many companies were left under the command of sergeants by the loss of all their officers. At the close of the battle the Fourth regiment had but three line officers present for duty, and the Fifth but five several in each regiment being on the sick list. It is needless to say that the night of May 6th fell on many heavy hearts in the Vermont regiments. Their lines had closed up over the vacant places of nearly half of their number ; but they allowed themselves to give way to no sink- ing of heart ; for they still held an important position, and 1 Three Years in the Sixth corps, p. 320. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 437 meant to hold it, whatever further tribute of endurance and bloodshed the morrow might exact. But that night Lee retired within his intrenched lines. This fact was disclosed by a line of skirmishers sent out by General L. A. Grant } under Major Crandall of the Sixth Vermont, in the morning. These moved out over the field, thickly strewn with corpses clad in gray and blue ; discovered that the enemy's front had been withdrawn for some distance ; found a large number of muskets, which the enemy had collected on the field but had had no opportunity to remove, and guarded them till wagons were sent out by General Birney and brought them in ; but, wdtli the exception of a few Confederate pickets who retired rapidly, they found no hostile force on the ground where Lee's lines lay the day before. Lieut. General Grant acknowledged that the fighting of those two days was the hardest he had ever known ; and as he did not propose to attack Lee behind his works, the battle of the Wilderness ended there. It was a drawn battle, in that neither army occupied the ground fought over. Yet as Lee had been foiled in the main purpose for which he brought on the general action, and as his loss was comparatively, though not actually, greater than Grant's, for him it was to all intents and purposes a lost battle. And the Army of Northern Virginia never after fought an offensive battle. During the afternoon of the 7th, the Vermont brigade rejoined the Sixth corps on the extreme right; and that night the Army of the Potomac moved on to the south, by the flank, through the dark woods, leaving in the field hospitals several hundred wounded men, for whom places could not be found in the trains of ambulances and army wagons, many miles long, filled with groaning sufferers* which had started during the day for Fredericksburg. 1 1 Surgeon Phillips of the Sixth Vermont, and Asst. Surgeon Thompson of the Seventy-seventh New York, were placed in charge of the wounded men of Getty's division so left. They remained with them for several weeks, 438 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. SPOTTSYLVANIA. In the more open country around Spottsylvania Court House, fifteen miles south of the Wilderness Tavern, Grant hoped to find room to use his superior numbers to better purpose, and to secure a position which should give him a firmer foothold for his army in its overland campaign. He expected to occupy this without serious opposition. But his antagonist, partly by accident, one of his divisions having moved thither in advance of orders, got there and took position before him, and was not dislodged by twelve days of constant effort and bloody fighting. The army of the Potomac started for Spottsylvania in the evening of the 7th. The Sixth corps marched by the way of Chancellorsville, the Yermont brigade bringing up and guarding the rear of the corps. The trains and artillery filled the roads, and the men were on their feet all night. At Chancellorsville the brigade was detached from the corps, to guard the trains, while the rest of the corps pushed forward. The regiments had halted for dinner, at a spot about four miles from Spottsylvania, between four and five p. M., when an order came to General L. A. Grant directing him to hurry his brigade forward to join the corps, which was to support a demonstration then in progress. The situation in front was this : Warren's corps, the Fifth, had been sent to Spottsyl- vania by a night march over the Brock road and the most direct route, to seize the position there ; but its progress had been impeded by Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry and by barricades of trees felled across the road, and the head of the column was still two miles from the Court House, when, at nine o'clock the next morning, a strong force of the enemy's infantry was till most of their patients had been removed to Richmond, and till they learned that all of the rest were to be taken thither at once. They then made their escape, pushed to the north, travelling by night and hiding by day, and finally reached Washington in safety. THE FIBST BRIGADE. 439 found blocking the way. By noon Warren had developed the fact that he was opposed by a division of cavalry and two divisions of infantry. Reporting this to General Meade, the latter ordered Sedgwick to hasten forward and join Warren in an immediate and vigorous attack, which it was confi- dently expected would secure the position at the Court House. It was so late in the day, however, before the dis- positions were made, and the men were so exhausted by the march and heat, that, though some severe fighting was done by Warren, no general assault took place. The Vermont brigade made a forced march to the scene of action and joined the right of the Sixth corps just before dark. It was then directed to move to the extreme left of the corps. Its movement thither was the occasion of a somewhat noticeable demonstration. The troops of the Sixth corps were standing to their arms and expecting momentarily to move into action. They could hardly be expected under the circumstances to expend much breath in compliments. But the fighting of the Yermonters on the Orange Plank road had been for two days the talk of the corps; and now as the brigade, reduced to half its former size, began to move along the line, the men nearest to it broke out into spontaneous and hearty hurrahs for the Green Mountain boys. The greeting was taken up by regiment after regiment and brigade after brigade in the line, as the Vermont brigade moved past them, and its march to the left was made under a continuous round of cheers. Its officers and men were sober from their losses, exhausted by four days of fighting, marching and want of sleep, and blown by double-quicking ; but the welcome of their comrades put fresh heart into them, and they would have added fresh laurels to those of the corps, if they had gone into action that night. As they moved on, however, General Grant was met by General Meade, who informed him that the intended attack had been suspended for the night, adding some words of high compliment to the brigade for its recent work and 440 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. prompt arrival at this time. The brigade was then conducted by a staff officer, in the dusk of the evening, through a ravine and up a wooded hill to a position on the enemy's flank. Here, as darkness fell, Brig. General Grant discovered that his command was in front of the general line of the army, and in advance even of any skirmish line. He knew not where the enemy was, whether near or far. Scattering shots, as of skirmishers, were heard on his flank and in his rear. The position was not a pleasant one, and he determined to seek some other, where he could at least be sure that the enemy was before instead of behind him. After several hours of reconnoitring and wandering to and fro in the darkness, the brigade finally struck a portion of the skirmish line of the Sixth corps and took a position back of it, which proved to be about where General Sedgwick had intended to place the brigade. The men were glad to halt and drop to sleep upon their arms. Next morning the Fourth regiment was sent forward to the skirmish line ; and the rest of the brigade was occupied during the day in intrenching its lines. Finding Lee fairly in his front, General Grant was now concentrating his army before attempting again to force his way. On this Monday morning, May 9th, Lee's lines enclosed Spottsylvania Court House in a semicircle, covering all the roads which con- verged there from the north and east. The country around is undulating, and was largely covered with forests, with occasional patches of cleared land. The marshy valleys of the Ny river and of the branches of the Po, and the ridges on either hand, afforded excellent natural advantages for defence, to which Lee added extensive earthworks and abatis. Grant's lines, as finally formed, swept in an irregular curve outside of Lee's, from the northwest to the southeast, the Second corps holding the right, and next, from right to left, the Fifth, Sixth and Ninth corps. Getty's division of the Sixth corps, commanded for the time being by Brig. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 441 General Neill, was formed in a clearing on a hillside in front of the Landron house, a mile and a half north of the Court House. In front of the clearing was a strip of woods, and beyond that a rise of open ground, along the crest of which ran the enemy's earthworks. Two of the Sixth corps batteries were placed on a crest in the rear of the line. Breastworks of logs and rails covered with earth protected the men. There was little fighting done this day, except by the skirmishers ; but it was a black day for the Sixth corps, for on it fell its brave and trusty com- mander, General John Sedgwick. As he stood in the early morning, directing the movements of some of the troops which were occupying the rifle-pits at the most advanced point of the Union line, 1 a ball from the rifle of a Confederate sharp- shooter, across the little valley in front, took effect under his left eye and passed out at the back of his head. He fell without word or sign into the arms of Colonel M. T. Mc- Mahon, of his staff, and was a dead man before he touched the ground. His death brought a deep gloom over the whole army, and in no portion of it was he more sincerely mourned than in the Vermont brigade. Its officers and men knew what " Uncle John" thought of them, and they return- ed his confidence and esteem to the full. 2 1 On this spot, on the farm of Mr. Spindler, the State of Connecticut intends to erect a monument to her brave son. 2 u Sedgwick's compliments many times cost the soldiers from Ver- mont very dear ; for they were the high compliments of placing them on many battlefields in the foremost position of danger of placing on them the whole reliance of the corps. On many a day he watched them, as the troops moved out of camp in the morning, or closed the long dusty march of the day ; and when, on one occasion in the Wilderness, when the Ver- mont brigade, returning, after heavy losses, from their march to the assist- ance of the Second corps, saw the general ride along the lines as they were coming into bivouac, they burst forth in a hearty spontaneous cheer that touched him to the very heart. And when the cheers subsided one of them stepped to the front and called out with a comic and yet touching 442 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The command of the Sixth corps would now have devolved by rank upon General Bicketts, commanding the Third division ; but, knowing that General Sedgwick had expressed a desire that General Wright should succeed him in case of his death, General Kicketts declined the com- mand, and it was assumed by General Wright. He was a native of Connecticut, a graduate of West Point, a major of engineers in the regular army, a brigadier general of volun- teers, and had shown marked executive ability in the Depart- ment of the South, before joining the Army of the Potomac as commander of the First division of the Sixth corps. He had distinguished himself and won a brevet at Eappahannock Station. He thus brought high qualifications to the com- mand of the corps. He could not make good the loss of Sedgwick no one could have done that; but the corps had in him a careful, pains-taking, energetic, and, on the whole, a successful commander, throughout the remainder of the war. May 10th was occupied chiefly in efforts to obtain infor- mation, by pressing the skirmish lines against those of the enemy at various points in the curtain of woods which screened them. In one of these attempts the Fourth Ver- mont regiment, under Major Pratt, drove back the enemy's skirmish line to their intrenchments, and secured some valuable information which determined the point of an assault made from the front of the Sixth corps in the latter emphasis: "Three more for old Uncle John!" The general's bronzed face flushed like a girl's ; and as his staff laughed at his embarrassment, the laugh spread along the lines and the whole brigade laughed and cheered as if just returning from a summer's picnic, and not from a bloody field, weary, worn and with decimated ranks. He could appreciate th^ir humor, knowing that no thought of disrespect ever entered it ; and a single smile from him went like a sunbeam through long columns of tired men, until it broadened into a laugh and culminated in cheers from the true hearts of as gallant soldiers as ever served a patriot cause." Colonel M. T. McMahon, Adjt. General, Sixth corps. THE FIRST BEIGADE. 443 part of the day. 1 This assault was part, and the only suc- cessful part, of a combined attack on the enemy's centre, made by portions of the Fifth and Sixth corps. The point selected by General Wright, wafc the apex of a salient of the enemy's lines, which were thrown forward for half a mile to the north, on his centre, along the brow of a hill near the farmhouse of Mr. McCool, and then, turning at an angle the famous " bloody angle " of Spottsylvania returned as far to the southeast. This salient was held by Dole's brigade (of Swell's corps) of Georgia troops. The position was guarded by two lines of works. The first of these was espec- ially strong, the top of the breastwork being faced with heavy logs, squared and pierced with loopholes, like a block house. The storming party which was to attack it was formed of twelve picked regiments, three of which were taken from the Vermont brigade. These were the Second, commanded by Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree of the Third ; the Fifth, Major Dudley, and the Sixth, Lieut. Colonel Hale, all under com- mand of Colonel T. O. Seaver of the Third. The command of the column was committed to the gallant Colonel Emory Upton of the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York, com- manding a brigade of Eicketts's division. At five o'clock the regiments selected unslung knapsacks, assembled in an open space in front of the breastworks of the Sixth corps, and were then marched silently forward to the farther edge of a strip of woods, which concealed them from the enemy. Here Colonel Upton formed his command in three lines the first consisting of his own brigade the One Hundred and Twenty- first New York, Fifth Maine, Ninety-sixth and One Hundred and Ninteenth Pennsylvania ; the second of five regiments of Neill's and Russell's brigades the Sixth Maine, Fifth Wisconsin, Forty-third and Seventy-seventh New York 1 The Fourth lost two men killed and eighteen wounded in this skir- mish. 444 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania ; the third of the three Ver- mont regiments. The bullets from the enemy's skirmishers, scarce a hundred yards distant, were whistling through the trees, and the men were directed to lie down till the word to advance should be given. The sounds of musketry and artillery for, unlike the Wilderness, the artillery played an important part at Spottsylvania came heavily from the right, where Warren's troops were struggling through the swamps and jungles, to be met by a terrible greeting in front of Longstreet's breastworks and to fall back through blazing woods, in which a number of wounded men were burned alive. Then the Sixth corps artillery, upon the crest behind the column, opened a tremendous fire on the salient. This ceased at six o'clock, as suddenly as it began, and Upton gave the order to advance. His men sprang to their feet, and with hearty cheers, burst out into the open ground. They were met by a sweeping front and flank fire of musketry and canister, but pushed straight onward; reached and mounted the opposing breastworks ; engaged the Confederates "behind them in a hand-to-hand fight; took 900 prisoners, drove out the rest ; and pressing forward to a second line of "works, took them also, with a battery posted in them. The salient was thus carried ; and if Mott's division of the Second corps, which was to support Upton, had followed him into the works, it could have been held, with very serious results to the enemy. But Mott's advance was checked by the enfilading fire of the enemy's batteries, and Upton was left without support. The enemy rallied against him in vastly superior force. Gordon's division of four brigades attacked him in front, and the three brigades of Battles, Daniels and Walker pressed on his flanks. It was plain that lie could not stay, and General Kussell, his division com- mander, who had watched the movement from the opposite crest, ordered a retreat. Most of the column fell back, first filling the guns they had taken with sods, to prevent their THE FIKST BRIGADE. 445 being served against them. But a number of the Vermonters failed to get the order to withdraw with the rest, and refused to go back, insisting that they could hold the works they were in, and that in fact it was safer to stay than to go. Colonel Upton rode back to them, to order them away; but their answer to him was : " We don't want to go. Send us am- munition and rations, and we can stay here six months." They did stay for two hours after the rest of the column had gone back. During this time General Wright rode up to Lieut. General Grant, and reported that some of his (Wright's) Yermonters were still in the salient and would not come away. " What shall I do ?" he asked. " Pile in the men and hold it," was Grant's reply. 1 General Wright went back to do this ; but meantime, under positive orders from General Russell, the Yermont regiments had been withdrawn. Four companies of the Third Yermont, under Captain Kenes- son, which had been on the skirmish line, advanced with the column, and some of them were among the last to leave the salient. After the failure of the movement they re-estab- lished the skirmish line. Upton's charge made him a brig- adier, and is one of the famous charges in the history of the army. That he failed to hold the ground he gained was not his fault, nor that of the Yermonters under him. Had a divi- sion been " piled in" to the support of them, there would have been no need of the bloodshed, two days later, which gave to the point of the salient its name of " the bloody angle." The brigade lost in this affair, including the casualties on the skirmish line, 88 men, as foUows : Killed. Wounded. Missing. Second Vermont Regiment, 123 Third " " 10 1 Fourth " " 2 18 Fifth " " 1 19 12 Sixth " " 2 17 Total, 6 66 16 1 Statement of C. C. Coffin, war correspondent at army headquarters. 446 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. The Fifth regiment lost this day its last field officer, the intrepid Major Dudley, who was among the foremost in this as in every desperate endeavor. He died, a few days later, from his wound, as has been more fully related in the history of the Fifth regiment. Among the officers severely wounded were Captain Cook of the Third, and Captain Keith of the Sixth. The brigade lay behind its entrenchments that night and the next day. The fighting was confined to skirmishing and heavy artillery firing. The works on each side had, however, been made quite strong, and the men were well covered. About dark the troops of the Vermont brigade were relieved in the rifle-pits, and permitted to bivouac and get some rest in a field in the rear. It was on this day General Grant sent to Washington his famous despatch : "I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." The 12th of May the most important of the twelve days spent in the lines of Spottsylvania opened with fog and rain. During the previous night, Hancock's corps had been brought from the right to the left of the Sixth corps ; and arrangements were made for a far more formidable assault on the salient than that of the 10th. This took place as soon as it was light enough to see in the morning, with brilliant success. Barlow's and Birney's divisions led the assault, rushed up the slope to the Confederate entrench- ments in face of a severe fire, pushed through the abatis, mounted the breastworks at and near the apex of the salient, and captured the larger part of its defenders. Before six o'clock A. M., General Hancock had reported the capture of Maj. General Johnson, Brig. General Stuart, 4,000 Confed- erate infantry, 20 guns, several thousand stand of small arms, and over thirty colors. Of course, General Lee could not afford to have his centre thus pierced ; and he made every effort to repair the disaster. He threw heavy reinforcements into his second line of works, and with Gordon's, Mahone's and THE FIRST BRIGADE. 447 Wilcox's divisions attacked the troops of the Second corps, still in the disorder of their success, and pressed them back, till they reached and rallied behind the outer face of the captured breastworks, where, with a line of skirmishers in front within the salient, they made a stand. Meantime, the Sixth corps had been ordered to support Hancock, and taking Russell's and Getty's divisions, General Wright ad- vanced promptly up to the west angle of the salient. As the Yermont brigade moved up the slope it came under a severe artillery fire from the enemy's guns on its right, and lost a number of men. As soon as it arrived at the salient, General L. A. Grant was ordered to relieve the portion of Barlow's division which was holding the west face of the salient near the apex. He did this, forming his brig- ade in a double line, and throwing out a line of skirmishers, under a brisk fire of both musketry and artillery from the enemy, now ' gathering in heavy force in front. General Hancock was there in person, and seeing that General Russell was hardly pressed, a short distance to the right, ordered General Grant to go to his assistance with two regiments, leaving the rest where they were, to face the enemy till he could put other troops in their place. Accordingly, leav- ing Colonel Seaver in command of the other three regi- ments, Grant took the Fourth and Fifth regiments to the western angle of the salient. Here General Wheaton with his brigade was supporting Eussell and endeavoring to ad- vance through a thick growth of bushes and in face of a severe fire from the portion of the works on that side of the salient that was still held by the enemy. The two Ver- mont regiments moved forward gallantly and the Fourth took and held a portion of the front line of breastworks to the right of the angle. Soon Colonel Seaver came up with the rest of the brigade, and leaving the Fourth regiment with 1 About 8 o'clock A. M. 448 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. General Wheaton, and holding the Sixth in reserve behind a swell of ground, General Grant put the Second, Third and Fifth regiments in along the outer face of the west angle, which was in imminent danger of recapture. For at this time, (about 9 o'clock), McGowan's brigade of South Carolina troops, of Wilcox's division, regained the trenches on the inner face of the breastwork, from the apex for some distance down along the west side. And now began one of the most desperate struggles of the war, for the possession of the angle. Says General L. A. Grant: "It was literally a hand "to hand fight. Nothing but the piled up logs of the "breastworks separated the combatants. Our men would "reach over the logs and fire into the faces of the enemy, "and stab over with their bayonets. Many were shot "and stabbed through crevices and holes in the logs. "Scores were shot down within a few feet of the death- " dealing muskets. Men mounted the works, and with " muskets rapidly handed up, kept up a continuous fire until " they were shot down, when others would take their places "and continue the deadly work. 1 Some men clubbed their "muskets, others used clubs and rails. General Upton " personally attended to the serving of two pieces of artillery " which, when loaded, were repeatedly wheeled up by hand " to a low or open place in the works, on the left side of the "angle, from which the enemy's lines were enfiladed with "great effect. Several times during the day the rebels showed " a white flag above the works, and when our fire slackened "jumped over and surrendered, while others were crowded 44 down to fill their places. It was there that the somewhat 1 As one of many similar incidents, it is related that private W. W. Noyes, of Company F. of the Second Vermont, mounted the breast- works, when loaded muskets were passed up to him by his comrades from below, and he fired thirty shots into the enemy lying in the trenches a few feet away. The bullets whistled thickly around him, and one knocked his cap from his head, but he escaped unhurt. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 449 " celebrated tree was cut off by bullets ; there that the brush "and logs were cut to pieces and whipped into basket-stuff; "there that fallen men's flesh was torn from their bones and "the bones shattered ; there that the rebel ditches and cross- " sections were filled with dead men several deep. Some of "the wounded were almost entirely buried by the dead "bodies of their companions that had fallen upon them. "In this way the Vermont brigade was engaged for about "eight hours." The reports of other eye witnesses on both sides fully confirm these statements of the closeness and deadliness of the struggle. The Confederate General Mc- Gowan, says : " Our men lay on one side of the breastwork, the enemy on the other ; and in many instances men were pulled over. The trenches on the right, in the angle, ran with blood, and had to be cleared of the dead more than once. An oak tree, twenty-two inches in diameter,in the rear of the brigade, was cut down by the constant scaling of musket balls, and fell about twelve o'clock Thursday night, injuring several men in the First South Carolina regiment." 1 Mr. Swinton says : "Of all the struggles of the war, this was "perhaps the fiercest and most deadly. The enemy's most "savage sallies were directed to retake the famous salient, "which was now become an angle of death and presented a " spectacle ghastly and terrible. On the Confederate side of "the works lay many corpses of those who had been bay- "oneted by Hancock's men when they first leaped the " intrenchments. To these were constantly added the bravest "of those who in the assaults to recapture the position, fell "at the margin of the works, till the ground was literally " covered with piles of dead. I speak of what I personally "saw. In the vicious phraseology commonly employed by 1 General MeGowan reported a loss of 451 men, killed, wounded and missing, in this action, including four regimental commanders and twenty five other officers. 450 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. " those who never witnessed a battlefield, 'piles of dead* fc * figure much more frequently than they exist in the reality. " The phrase is here no figure of speech, as can be attested "by thousands who witnessed the ghastly scene. The mus- " ketry fire had the effect to kill the whole forest within its " range, and there is at Washington the trunk of a tree, "eighteen inches in diameter, which was actually cut in two "by the bullets." Outside of the angle the carnage was less frightful ; but in the bushes and along the ground in front of the rebel breastworks, for nearly half a mile, lay hundreds of bodies of men of the Second and Sixth corps, who fell in the assault. The fight at the angle continued with great fury till nearly dark, the rain falling heavily meantime, and the dark- ness settling early. It then began to abate but did not cease till three o'clock next morning, when Lee gave up the hopeless effort to retake the salient, and withdrew his men to a new line of works, which had been built during the night across the base of the salient, three-fourths of a mile back from the angle. It was about dark when the Vermont brigade, its am- munition being exhausted, was relieved by other troops at the angle, and was sent round to the right, the men feeling their way in the darkness through dense woods, till permitted to halt and rest for the night. There was some fighting done elsewhere along the lines by the Fifth and Ninth corps this day, and the Army of the Potomac lost in all 6,820 men killed, wounded and missing, while it inflicted on Lee a loss never definitely reported, but moderately estimated by General Humphreys at between 9,000 and 10,000 the larger part of which took place in the salient. Two Confederate brigadiers were killed and four wounded severely, and a major general and a brigadier general were captured. On the Union side General Wright was wounded early in the day, but retamed command of the corps, and two brigade commanders, Webb and Carroll of the Second corps, were wounded. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 451 The loss of the Vermont brigade was 254, as follows : Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. Second Vermont regiment, 19 76 6 101 Third, " " 9 43 3 55 Fourth, " " 2 26 6 34 Fifth, " " 9 34 8 51 Sixth, " 3 7 3 13 Total, 42 186 26 254 This was the last day of hard fighting at Spottsylvania. Next day the Yermont brigade moved back to the left, and on Saturday, the 14th, it moved with the Sixth corps two miles to the south, and was posted on the left of the corps, near the Anderson house, on the Ny river, a mile and a half east of Spottsylvania Court House. The event of the next day was the accession to the brigade of the Eleventh Vermont regiment, Colonel Warner, which, after two years of service as heavy artillery in the forts around Washington, had now been attached to the Ver- mont brigade. Marching from Washington via Belle Plain and Fredericksburg, it reached the front and joined the brigade on Sunday morning, May 15th. It was, as it were, a brigade in itself, having 1,500 officers and men in its line a larger number than was now left of the other five regiments put together. It was finely equipped, ably officered, and in all respects a splendid body of soldiers. With 150 recruits, which were added to the old regiments at this time, this accession more than made good in numbers the losses of the "brigade in the campaign, and put new heart into the sur- vivors. The new comers found the veterans o'f the old brigade physically worn, but stout of heart, enthusiastic, even ex- hilarated in spirit; for they knew that they had done their duty in every fight in which they had taken part, and they were ready for whatever effort or danger the future might bring. On the 16th, a reconnoissance was made by Colonel Seaver, with the Third regiment, to the south of Spottsylvania 452 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Court House, to determine the situation in that quarter, pre- paratory to the next movement of the army by the left flank, which Lieut. General Grant had now decided on. But before putting the army again in motion, he concluded, upon General Wright's suggestion, to make one more attempt on General Lee's left, which it was surmised had been considerably weakened to reinforce his threatened right. For this assault the Second and Sixth corps were again selected, and in the night of the 17th, were moved back to the vicinity of the captured salient, from which at daylight next day they were to assault Lee's line across the base of the salient. Start- ing after dark, the troops had a muddy and by no means cheerful all-night march through the brush and swamps, getting into position before daybreak in the captured trenches on the west side of the salient and in the rifle pits extending from them to the right, built to connect them with the former line of the Sixth corps. About four in the morning Barlow and Gibbon of the Second corps, moved to the attack in lines of brigades, and the Sixth corps advanced at the same time on their right. The Yermont brigade was in two lines of battle the old regiments in front, and the Eleventh, which owing to its size was manoeuvred in three battalions, 1 forming the second line. The troops of the Second corps, being nearest to the point of attack, reached it first, and found that the enemy was still there in strong force, and protected by formidable works, access to which was impeded by slashings of timber and double linos of abatis. His artillery and musketry swept the ground in front ; and though the lines of Barlow and Gibbon reached the abatis, they could get no further and fell back under cover, with some loss. 1 The Eleventh had twelve companies, averaging 125 men each. Each battalion thus had eight platoons, and was handled like a regiment of eight companies. The three battalions exceeded any brigade in the division in numbers. THE FIKST BRIGADE. 453 In the advance of the Sixth corps, the Vermont regiments moved through the woods, with hostile shells crashing and cracking through the branches over their heads, and thence out into open ground, to the base of a slope, where the brigade was halted to dress the lines for the charge. Starting with three brigades in front of it, the brigade soon overtook the front line, and was kindly permitted by the troops in advance of it to take the front. Here it awaited the order to advance. The enemy's batteries to the right had now got good range ; and the brigade "commander's order to lie down was cheerfully obeyed bj his command. The rebel sharp-' shooters were also busy in the tree-tops in front, and Colonel Warner received a wound through the neck, which narrowly escaped being a mortal one. He retained command however, and his men, animated by his example, conducted themselves with remarkable steadiness, in this their first experience under fire. The expected charge, however, was not ordered. General Meade, in view of the diffi- cult and doubtful character of the attempt, had ordered it to be suspended, and about noon, the troops of both corps were withdrawn, and the brigade marched back to its former posi- tion, south of the Ny, and on the extreme left of the army. The casualties in the brigade in this affair numbered 37, almost all in the Second, Third and Eleventh regiments the latter having twelve men wounded, among the number being Lieutenant Glazier, who lost an arm. After two days and nights spent in this position, during which the lines were advanced about a mile on the left, the Sixth corps started, in the evening of the 21st, for Guinea Station, eight miles south, on its way to the North Anna River. The Yermont brigade was among the last troops of the corps to leave, and as the enemy, aware that the move- ment of the army had begun, pressed closely on its rear, the withdrawal was a delicate matter, and the duty on the skirmish line in which the Yermonters so excelled called 454 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. for all their watchfulness and steadiness. In this service, dur- ing the night of the 20th and day and night of the 21st, a detail of 200 men from the Eleventh regiment, under com- mand of Captain A. F. Walker, reinforced on the 21st by 50 men under Captain James Rice, all under Major Hunsdon, as field officer of the brigade for the day, took part, and showed their quality, as equal to the best. As a sample of what picket duty was, at this time, their experience is worth describing somewhat in detail. The opposing picket lines, to the southeast of Spottsylvania Court House, were pressed closely together, the pickets sheltering themselves behind trees or other cover. The shooting was so close upon any exposure, that the reliefs could only reach their posts during daylight by crawling out on their hands and knees ; and as a rule the line was relieved only at night. All night long the firing kept up at the slightest sound or motion, and the strain of incessant watchfulness was severe. During the morning of the 21st, the men learned that the corps and the army had quietly moved to the south, leaving the skirmish line to maintain a front against the enemy. Towards noon, an order was whispered along the line, to withdraw half a mile to the rear, to a line of rifle-pits which for several days had pro- tected the front line of the corps. The skirmishers could not be withdrawn unseen, and the retirement was accom- plished by the pickets' starting at a given signal and making a dead run amid flying bullets to the rear. They were sharply pursued by the Confederate pickets, till they brought up in the rifle-pits, when their pursuers thought best to halt. There were barely men enough, including the picket reserves, to man the pits with a single thin line. The line to the right of the Yermonters was held by a detail of Massachusetts troops. Here they held their ground till five o'clock, when General Wilcox, of Hill's corps, who had been sent out to ascertain what Union force still remained in front of Spott- sylvania Court House, attacked the rifle-pits with two brig- THE FIRST BRIGADE. 455 ades and a section of artillery. He was twice repulsed, with considerable loss. On a third attempt one of Wilcox's regiments succeeded in reaching and planting its colors on the breastworks at the right of the Yermonters. The troops in that portion of the rifle-pits gave way, and the enemy moved down the line of the pits to flank the small Union force out of them. Captain Walker, however, with remarkable coolness and spirit, held most of his men, and by a sharp flank fire kept the enemy in check till Colonel Seaver, who had been sent back with the Third regiment to reinforce the skirmish line, arrived, when, with the aid of artillery, the enemy was driven out of the rifle-pits and soon retired, having gained no in- formation they did not possess before. Two men of the Eleventh were killed in this affair, and were buried in the intrenchments where they fell, and several were wounded. This picket detail of the Eleventh spent a second night of constant watching in the rifle-pits, till nearly daylight of the 22d, when orders came to follow the corps. They then quietly filed out, and marched, with a single halt for breakfast, till three P. M., when they overtook the brigade at Guinea Station. There the march was resumed with the corps and kept up till after dark ; was again taken up at daybreak oi the 23d, and was kept up until nine p. M., the last five miles being a forced march to the support of the Fifth corps, then under fire at the crossing of the North Anna thus giving the detail, as an official report states, out of seventy-four hours of time, sixty-seven hours of about the hardest pos- sible duty, with a fight thrown in. The Sixth corps halted the night of the 22d at Harris's store, about five miles south of Guinea Station, and the next day, after a hot and dusty march, constantly impeded by the army trains, reached the North Anna river at Jericho Mills, where the army was concentrating along both banks. Here again, General Lee, marching lightest and by the most direct 456 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. roads, had placed the Army of Northern Virginia across the way of the Army of the Potomac. The Fifth corps, which preceded the Sixth on the march, after crossing the North Anna on the afternoon of the 23d, was attacked by A 4 P. Hill, but repulsed him. The Sixth corps hastened forward to reinforce the Fifth ; but was not needed, and camped that night on the northern bank of the river. In this movement to the North Anna General Grant abandoned Fredericksburg as his base of supply, which was now shifted to Port Royal, on the Rappahannock. The losses of the brigade, in action, in the three weeks since it crossed the Rapidan, were reported by General L. A. Grant on the 23d of May, to be 249 killed, 1,231 wounded, 170 missing, total 1,650, of which 1,634 were from the original regiments. Of the wounded not less than 190 died of their wounds ; and to these losses were to be added about 100 more discharged for disability, and about 300 who had broken down under the fatigues and exposures of the cam- paign, and had been sent to Northern hospitals. Less than half the veterans who were in the ranks on the 1st of May, now answered to the roll call, and of the officers but a third remained. The town of Fredericksburg had now become one vast hospital. Its churches, public buildings and most of its private houses of any size were filled with wounded men sent by thousands from the battlefields of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania. The untold agonies suffered by these in the long ambulance journeys over rough and corduroyed roads, and by many from lack of proper care after reaching Fredericksburg, can scarcely be imagined, certainly not described. Under the enormous influx of sick and wounded men, the hospital supplies and surgical force proved at first quite insufficient. The surgeons stood at the operating tables till their swollen feet could no longer support them, and till their exhausted nerves failed to guide the hands THE FIRST BRIGADE. 457 which grasped the knives. The thousand Yermonters taken thither probably fared better than the majority of this army of unfortunates, owing to the extraordinary efforts put forth by the State authorities for their relief. Governor Smith and Surgeon General Thayer went in person to Fred- ericksburg, and gave able and unwearied effort to the care of the wounded, and the surgical force in charge of them was enlarged by despatching thither fifteen or twenty of the best physicians and surgeons in Vermont. 1 In the last week in May the wounded were all taken from Fredericksburg to Washington by transports ; and from thence hundreds of the Vermonters were sent to Vermont, where, in the large army hospitals at Burlington, Montpelier and Brattleboro, provision had been made for the care of over 1,500 patients. In the year ending September 10, 1864, 2,551 sick and wounded Vermonters were received and cared for in these hospitals, and over 600 soldiers of other States. The Sixth corps crossed the North Anna in the morning of the 24th, but was not called on to take any part in the fighting by which the position of the enemy was develope d and the brigade had two days of comparative rest, though in plain sight of the enemy. Lieut. General Grant found that Lee, who had been reinforced by Breckenridge's division and 1 Among those so sent, who rendered valuable service in the Fred- ericksburg and Washington hospitals, were Doctors G. F. Gale of Brattle- boro; J. M. Knox, of Burlington; C. M. Chandler, of Montpelier; C. G. Adams, of Island Pond: W. M. Huntington, of Rochester; A. C. Welch; of Williston; J. F. Miles, of Hinesburgh; D. W. Haselton, of Cavendish, H. Powers, of Morrisville ; B. Fairchild, of Milton ; S. Newell and H. S. Brown, of St. Johnsbury, and C. S. Cahoon, of Lyndon. Surgeon Stevens, of the Seventy-seventh New York, wrote from Fred- ericksburg on the llth of May: "We are almost worked to death. All day yesterday I worked at the operating table. That was the fourth day at the tables, besides two whole nights and part of another. It does not seem as though I could take a knife in my hand to day. Yet there are a hundred cases of amputations waiting for me. It is a scene of horror such as I never saw. Hundreds of ambulances are coming in now, and it is almost mid- night. So they come every night." 458 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. other troops, occupied a position so guarded by swamps and streams that he could only be attacked at great disadvantage, and in the night of the 26th, he withdrew the Army of the Potomac and resumed his flank movement, moving on the north side of the North Anna to ihe southeast, till he reached Hanovertown on the Pamuukey Elver, fifteen miles north of Richmond. The march was a trying one, for the mud was deep that night, and the heat next day oppressive. The brigade crossed the Pamunkey with the division on the 27th, three miles above Hanovertown, and then, turn- ing back, marched two miles toward Hanover Court House. The next day it marched south some six miles, to a position along Totopotomoy Creek, where it guarded the right flank of the army and maintained an extensive picket line, while the army was slowly crowding its way toward the Confederate capital, against ceaseless opposition. During the incessant skirmishing and more serious fighting of May 30th, however, the brigade was not engaged. On the 31st, the skirmish lines were everywhere pressed closely against the enemy and the pickets of Major Cham- berlain's battalion of the Eleventh had a lively day of it, though they lost but one man killed, and but three or four wounded. This battalion was left on the picket line when the brigade left, next day, and did not join it till the next night. 1 On the night of the 31s fc of May, the Sixth corps was detached from the army and sent forward to occupy Cold Harbor, where Grant had decided to force the passage of the 1 " During all these marches, the engagement at Spottsylvania, and the assault upon the picket line, there were only four or five missing, or one in three hundred ; and this, too, in a regiment of only ten days' field service, and whose longest previous march was four miles. This is a record which I think, has never been equalled." Report of Lieut. Colonel Benton, com- manding Eleventh Vermont. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 459 Chickahominy. 1 The position there was a most important one ; for at that point five roads meet, leading thence to the crossings of the Chickahominy and to Kichmond, and also to White House, the new base of the Army of the Poto- mac. The possession of Cold Harbor was indeed essential, either to the immediate investment of Kichmond from the north and east, or to the proposed movement to the James, already planned by Lieut. General Grant. Sheridan, with the cavalry, had occupied the position on the 31st after a sharp fight, and was holding it against heavy opposition and increasing numbers, at noon the next day, when the Sixth corps came in sight. The day was sultry, the dust ankle deep, and the march exhausting in the extreme ; and the men were glad to halt, even it were to fight. They arrived just in time to relieve the cavalry, who could not have held their ground half an hour longer. Here General Wright was joined during the afternoon by General William F. Smith, who had moved up from White House with a column of 10,000 men of the Eighteenth and Tenth corps, the latter under General Brooks, the old commander of the Vermont brigade. These troops of the Army of the James, with which General Butler had been threatening Kichmond from the south, had fought the battle of Drury's Bluff, and had been "bottled up" at Bermuda Hundred whence the larger part of Butler's com- mand was brought, under Smith, to the White House, to co- operate with the Army of the Potomac. Immediately upon the detachment of the Sixth corps, Lee had despatched Early and Longstreet's corps (the latter commanded by Anderson) to occupy Cold Harbor and protect the crossings of the Chickahominy. They were not able to do the first ; but lu Many interpretations of Cold Harbor or Coal Harbor have been given. It has been suggested that the proper form is " Cool Arbor;" but it would appear that Cold Harbor is a common name for many places along the travelled roads in England, and means simply " shelter without fire." Swinton. 460 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. accomplished the last, taking position between the Chicka- hominy and Cold Harbor, where they intrenched their lines and awaited Wright's attack. Grant had expected this to be made in the morning ; but an unfortunate mistake in an order, which sent General Smith out of his way and delayed him four or five hours, and the exhausted condition of Wright's men, after their march, caused it to be postponed till after- noon. The Vermont brigade, as was so often the case on forced marches, led the advance of the Sixth corps, from Hanover- town to Cold Harbor. The veterans of the older regiments of the brigade were especially glad to find, on arriving at that point, that the Sixth corps was to have the support of their old commanders, Generals Smith and Brooks, in the battle which was evidently at hand. CHAPTER XVIL Cold Harbor Part Taken by the Vermont Brigade the First Day The Assault of the Second Day Gallant Part of Stannard's Brigade Unsuccessful Attack of the Third Day The Army in Trenches Ex- posures and Sufferings of the Troops Movement of the Army to the James Investment of Petersburg The Vermont Brigade in the front Line Movement of the Sixth and Second Corps against the Weldon Railroad Heavy Loss of the Brigade Over 400 Vermonters captured Over Half of them die in Rebel Prisons Expedition against the Danville and Lynchburg Railroad Back Again to Washington Early' s Raid Against the Capital The Sixth Corps sent to meet Him President Lincoln wants to see the Vermont Brigade The Engagement in front of Fort Stevens Hard Marching in Maryland and Virginia First Sight of the Shenandoah Valley Return to Washington A Hot Day at Harper's Ferry and March to Frederick, Md. Results of Halleck's Strategy in chasing Cavalry with Infantry Change of Commanders Sketch of General P. H. Sheridan Return of the Sixth Corps to the Valley. It was on the first of June that the Vermont brigade, marching left in front, moved down across the road leading from Old Cold Harbor to New Cold Harbor, and fronted into line on the south of that road, on the left of the division, and corps, and on the extreme left of the army. Open ground in front extended to the enemy's line of in- trenchments, which ran along the edge of some woods, about half a mile away. These were held by four Confederate divisions, those of Hoke and Kershaw, so often opposed to the Sixth corps, being in front of it now. The ground was nearly the same as that on which the battle of Gaines's Mill, the first of the Seven Days' battles in 1862, was fought, with, however, the positions of the combatants reversed. General Wright had been ordered to attack, at once, on his arrival, with the co-operation of Smith's command ; but 462 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. for reasons already given the afternoon was well advanced before the dispositions were completed. In the formation of the second division for the assault, the Yermont brigade was placed in the front line, formed in a double line of battle, with the Third Yermont thrown out as skirm- ishers. Two other brigades of the division were in its rear. About five o'clock p. M., fifty Union guns opened vigorously, in return to those with which the enemy had been for some time shelling Wright's lines. As the advance was about to be made, the sudden appearance and firing of a hostile battery which opened from the left, and a strong pressure on the skirmish line from the same direction, caused apprehensions of a flank attack from that quarter. To meet this, General Neill, commanding the division, was ordered to refuse the left of his line. Brig. General Grant, under his orders, accordingly fronted the Fourth and Sixth regiments and Major Hunsdon's battalion of the Eleventh to the left, while the Fifth was detached to support a battery close by. As a consequence of this arrangement these regiments did not participate in the main assault. The Second regiment, under Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree, and Major Fleming's battalion of the Eleventh, 1 under the immediate command of Lieut. Colonel Benton, went forward with Russell's division on their right, which made a simultaneous charge with Rickett's division farther to the right. It was no holiday work. The enemy was well posted, his lines covered and con- cealed by woods, while the attacking troops moved over open ground. They started at a moderate pace, for the men had marched hard and had been suffering much from the heat during the day. Both the artillery and musketry fire in front was terrific. In twenty minutes nearly a quarter of the assaulting force had fallen ; but they moved steadily on. At the centre, General Ricketts, of whose division the Tenth 1 Consisting of Companies F. L. K. and H. , to which Company E. was added for the time being. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 463 Vermont regiment formed a part, advancing along the line of the road to New Cold Harbor, struck the enemy's main line, took 600 prisoners of Hoke's and Kershaw's divisions, and though compelled by a rally of the latter to relinquish a part of the works after entering them, also held a part. 1 Upton's brigade entered the Confederate intrenchments on the left of Eickett's. The brigade on the right of the Ver- mont regiments did not reach the works in front, but halted about 300 yards from them. Fleming's battalion, however, pressed on to within 100 yards of the enemy's breastwork, when, discovering that the battalion was advancing alone, without support on either flank, Colonel Benton halted and withdrew it a short distance. Here, throwing themselves flat, the men secured partial shelter from the bullets which whistled over and around them by digging shallow trenches with their bayonets, tin plates and cups, and held their ground till nightfall. On the right of the Sixth corps, Devens's division, with heavy loss of officers and men, cap- tured an advanced line of rifle-pits. Still farther to the right Brooks's division was repulsed from the enemy's main line. The sun sank red in the west, on a field veiled by clouds of smoke and dust, and the stretcher-bearers were busy along a front of over two miles. The enemy continued their efforts to regain the captured works till nine o'clock, when they ceased. During the night "Wright and Smith intrenched the positions they had gained. In this assault the battalion of the Eleventh engaged lost 13 men killed and 107 wounded. The Second Vermont had nine men wounded. The loss of the Sixth corps in killed and wounded was about 1,200, and of the Eighteenth corps 900. The next day was occupied in making arrangements for a renewal, in much stronger force, of the effort to force the passage of the Chickahominy. Hancock's corps was placed 1 The Tenth Vermont distinguished itself, capturing almost entire the Fifty first North Carolina. The Tenth lost about 180 killed and wounded. 464 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. on the left of Wright, taking in part the place of the Second division of the Sixth corps, which was brought around to the right of the corps to take the place of Devens's division which was moved still further to the right. The corps of Warren and Burnside were posted on the right of Smith. In this arrangement, Neill's division, of which the Vermont brigade was a part, occupied with its front line the rifle-pits which Devens had carried the day before. The front was a narrow one, and the division was formed in successive lines, the Ver- mont regiments forming the fourth line. The bulging of the Union line to the front at this point, however, brought the entire division, rear as well as front, under fire during the skirmishing, which was often brisk in front; and the troops were only saved from serious loss by burrowing in the sandy soil. General Lee, on his part, was also concentrating his army, and industriously strengthening his breastworks, three parallel lines of which guarded his centre. Generals Grant and Meade had intended to make the grand assault at four in the afternoon of the 2d ; but various delays and a severe thunder storm at that hour led to a postponement of it to the next day. Next morning, Friday, Jane 3d, the men, who had lain on their arms all night, were roused in the gray of the early dawn, and shortly before five o'clock the cracking along the skirmish line announced the beginning of the assault. The Second, Sixth and Eighteenth corps were rushing forward against the hostile breastworks, now wrapped in folds of white smoke, while bursting from behind them, a pitiless storm of lead and iron swept the slopes and hollows in front. Hancock's corps lost a thousand men in fifteen minutes, and though it forced its way into the enemy's works at two points, taking three guns and several hundred prisoners, it could not hold them and was forced back ; retaining, however, an advanced position, where it intrenched and held its ground. THE FIRST BRIGADE. . 465 Of the Sixth corps, the second division, whicn was on the right of the corps, was formed for the attack in three lines, the Vermont brigade forming the second line. The front line, composed of two regiments of Wheaton's brigade, drove the enemy's skirmishers from a line of rifle-pits and advanced to the edge of a piece of woods, about two hundred yards from the enemy's main line of intrenchments. The Union lines on either hand were making no headway, and Wheaton halted ; the Vermont brigade moved up behind him, and at his request, General L. A. Grant now relieved his line, placing in its stead the Third and Fifth Vermont regiments, while Wheaton took his brigade back, leaving the Vermont brigade in front of the division. But no further advance was ordered from that point. The other divisions on its left had been, if anything, less successful ; though advanced positions were gained and held, in some places within forty yards of the enemy's works. The Sixth corps lost 800 men that morning, including some valuable officers. On the right of the Sixth corps, Martin- dale's division, of General Smith's command, made a gallant advance. His leading brigade was commanded by a well known Vermonter, General George J. Stannard, who after recovering from his wound received at Gettysburg, was assigned to the command of a brigade of the Eighteenth corps. Moving down a ravine which opened out at a point where the enemy's lines made a re-entrant angle, Stannard made three gallant and desperate charges. Twice he nearly reached the breastworks in front ; but the raking fire from both flanks was too deadly to be endured, and he relinquished the attempt ; but not till after every regimental commander but one, sixty per cent, of his line officers and fifty per cent, of the men of his brigade had fallen. Stannard was himself wounded in the thigh, but kept his saddle, and he lost every member of his personal staff, killed or wounded. Among them was Lieutenant George W. Hooker, of the Fourth Ver- 466 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. mont, who received two dangerous wounds in his shoulder and side. With the aid of a single orderly, alone remaining of his personal attendants, Stannard withdrew the shattered remnant of his brigade and re-formed it in the rear. Still further to the right Brooks's division suffered severely, and gained little ground. The Eighteenth corps lost a thousand men. Another thousand was lost by *the Fifth and Ninth corps. No decisive advantage was gained at any point. The assault was a general failure. Preparations were made, however, by the corps com- manders, to renew it at noon. In the new dispositions for this, the Vermont brigade, now in the front line, was to lead the division. The enterprise looked like a forlorn hope. The men were maintaining their position in the open timber, by lying closely on the ground. The skirmishers, of the Third and Fifth regiments, in the edge of the woods, were sharply engaged and losing a good many men. The enemy's main lines were in full view from the skirmish line, his intrenchments evidently strong and amply defended, and artillery and musketry were in full and eager play on both sides. The order to advance was awaited under these cir- cumstances, not with impatience, yet with stern determina- tion; but it did not come. This was the time, when, according to Mr. Greeley and Mr. Swinton, the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac with one consent deliberately refused to obey an order to renew the attack. This statement has been squarely denied by General Grant, 1 and indignantly repelled by many soldiers. Certainly there was never a time when the Sixth corps or the Vermont brigade refused to NEW YORK, February 7th, 1884. '"I never gave any order to any army that I commanded during the rebellion, to make an attack, where it was disobeyed. It is possible that ] have given an order for an attack for a certain hour and afterward con- cluded that it would be better, possibly, not to make it ; but I do not remember that any such circumstance as that took place at Cold Harbor." U. S. GRANT. THE FIKST BRIGADE. 467 attack when ordered. The facts were, as stated by General Humphreys, adjutant general of the Army of the Potomac, that as early as seven o'clock in the morning, Lieut. General Grant had directed General Meade to suspend the assault at the moment it became clear that it was not likely to succeed. At a later hour, after consulting his corps commanders and learning that with the exception of General Wright they were not sanguine of success, he directed General Meade not to renew the attack. There was a sharp clash of picket lines and their sup- ports on the right of the Second and left of the Sixth corps at eight o'clock that evening, in which the enemy was repulsed, and with this the battle of Cold Harbor ended. The loss of the Yermont brigade in it was 104 men, almost all of the Third and Fifth regiments the Third losing 10 killed and 56 wounded, and the Fifth seven killed and 22 wounded. During the night of the 3d, General Wright directed General L. A. Grant to send half of the brigade to strengthen General Russell's division. The Third, Fifth and two bat- talions of the Eleventh, under Colonel Seaver, were accord- ingly detached and sent to the left, where they were placed in the front line. The rest of the Vermont brigade retained its position in the front line of the Second division. As Lieut. General Grant was now desirous to detain as much of Lee's army as possible near Eichmond, while an expedition under General Hunter moved up the Shenandoah Valley against Lynchburg and the Confederate lines of supply by rail and canal accessible from that point, he gave orders to the corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac to intrench their lines, and to press them against those of the enemy by saps and parallels. In pursuance of these in- structions ten days now followed of the closest contact with the enemy possible, short of actual assault in line ; and of the most incessant and severe exposure that the army had yet experienced. 468 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. In a few hours after the close of the fighting on the 3d, the whole army was in trenches. From under the breast- works zigzag ditches, six feet deep, were run out in front, at the ends of which smaller breastworks were thrown up for the picket posts. At night the main trenches would be ad- vanced to the skirmish line, and fresh saps pushed forward. This had to be done under fire at short rifle range from the enemy's lines, 1 while his guns commanded almost every rod of ground for a breadth of half a mile along the five or six miles of the front of the Army of the Potomac. The musketry firing on the front lines was continuous, and the slightest exposure made the soldier a target; while to frequent showers of shell and grape from the enemy's field batteries was added the work of siege howitzers, set on end,, which dropped large shells within the Union trenches.* No reliefs or changes of troops could be made except at night, and any sound brought a response of bullets or shells^ Confederate sharpshooters, posted in tree tops, picked off 1 At some points the Union approaches were within forty yards of the Confederate parapets. 2 The following incident, related by Captain Walker, of the Eleventh Vermont, shows something of the vigor and accuracy of the enemy's artillery at this time: "During one of the last nights of our stay at Cold Harbor, a com- pany of regular engineers threw up in the midst of our brigade a little earth- work for the use of a section of artillery which was placed in position just at daybreak. The enthusiastic artillerists had great expectations in regard to the damage about to be inflicted upon the enemy by their two little field pieces, and at " sun-up," as our colored brothers say, they opened vigor- ously. It was intended for a surprise, and it was, not alone to the enemy; but also and especially to our "regular" allies, who were spending their first morning under fire. It could not have been more than ten minutes, before, to their consternation and our amusement, the whole concern, earthwork, guns, gun-carriages, platforms and artillery had disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke, literally knocked to pieces by the concentrated fire of half a dozen hidden rebel batteries. At night the poor artillerists gathered up the fragments of their field pieces, and quietly retired, sadder and wiser men." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 469 the officers, if they moved outside of the embankments which protected the tents. The health of the men, especially of those in the front lines, began to suffer from overwork, con- stant watching and exposure to the scalding sun while lying in the trenches, as well as from the scantiness of the supply of water, want of vegetable rations, insufficient cooking of their food for the cooking was necessarily of the rudest and from the contamination of the air by the numbers of unburied bodies of dead men and animals between and behind the lines. Under these circumstances, for ten days, the Vermont brigade held the front trenches at two im- portant points, the regiments relieving each other, but the brigade as a whole having no relief. During all this time hostilities were in progress except for an hour or two on the 7th, when a flag of truce brought a brief respite. During this period the brigade lost 48 men killed and wounded by the enemy's pickets and sharpshooters, each regiment having its share of the loss. Among the killed was the gallant young major of the Sixth, Major Crandall, who was shot in the abdomen by a sharpshooter, on the 7th, and died in a few hours. Preparations were now in progress for the next import- ant movement of the Army of the Potomac, which was to pass to the south side of the James Kiver and to secure a position where it could at once threaten the Confederate apital and intercept its main lines of communication and supply from the south. This plan involved a withdrawal from lines in the closest contact with those of the enemy, a march of fifty-five miles across the Peninsula, and the cross- ing of a large river. Its first result was expected to be the seizure of Petersburg, which was only an outlying defence of Richmond, though twenty miles distant from it. All of these operations but the seizure of Petersburg were executed by Lieut. General Grant with consummate skill and absolute success. The attempt to occupy Petersburg by a coup de 470 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. main failed, and its reduction was only effected by ten months of siege. The Army of the Potomac started for the James River, on the night of June 12th, General Warren with the Fifth corps covering the movement by a feint against Richmond from the left, while General Smith withdrew his command to White House, and proceeded thence by water around to and up the James to the neck of land named from the village of Bermuda Hundred, ten miles north of Petersburg, which General Butler had been holding for a month with a force of twelve thousand men. The Yermont brigade was concentrated on the night of the llth, and started with the Sixth corps on the night of the 12th, leaving the Fourth regiment on picket, in a new line of rifle-pits, thrown up for the purpose in the rear of Cold Harbor. The army moved by several roads. The march of the Sixth corps, which followed the road taken by the Ninth corps, began in earnest about midnight. In the morning there was a short halt, for breakfast, near Despatch Station ; and then the long column moved on steadily all day in a cloud of stifling dust, outmarching the Ninth corps and passing down along the Chickahominy, till at sunset it turned to the south and crossed the river at Jones's Bridge, twenty-three miles by the road from Cold Harbor. Moving on, it halted and bivouacked a mile south of the Chickahominy. Starting at daylight next morning, and marching through a region whose comfortable farm houses and fine residences were in strong contrast with the desolations around Richmond, the corps descended during the forenoon from the high lands to the undulating plain which skirts the James. Here fields of tasselled corn and grain already yellow, varied the green of the meadows ; and old mansions, surrounded by noble groves, showed how much of ease and wealth had prevailed before the war. The corps halted a little before noon near the almost deserted village of Charles City Court House, a mile THE FIRST BRIGADE. 471 or two from the residence of the late ex-President John Tyler, now abandoned and stripped of everything the soldiers considered worth taking. On the morning of the 15th, the corps moved to the river at Wilcox's Landing, where it lay for two days guarding the bridge-head, while the other corps were passing. In the evening of the 16th, the first and third divisions of the corps were ferried over in steamboats, while the second division marched over the ponton bridge, two thousand feet long the longest ever laid over such a cur- rent which swayed and tossed with the river's tide, but held fast till it had borne across the larger part of the army and its train of wagons and artillery ambulances, which poured over it in a continuous stream, fifty miles long. PETERSBURG. On the 15th of June, General Smith was hurried forward with the Eighteenth corps, which had debarked at Bermuda Hundred the night before, to Petersburg. He reached the defences of the city before noon, and before dark had carried a mile and a half of tho outer intrenchments, including seven redoubts, and had taken 300 prisoners and 16 guns. In the assault on the works, Stannard's brigade led the advance of Martindale's division and lost over 300 men, killed and wounded. That General Smith did not follow up this advance, force his way into Petersburg and seize the bridges across the Appomattox that night, has been called " the mistake of the campaign;" and it was perhaps the greatest mistake of General Smith's military career. 1 By nine o'clock the troops 1 "General Smith gives, in his report, the following reasons for his hesitation : "We had broken through the strong line of rebel works ; but heavy darkness was upon us, and I had heard some hours before that Lee's army was rapidly crossing at Drury's Bluff. I deemed it wiser to hold what we had, than by attempting to reach the bridges to lose what we had 472 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of Lee's army began to arrive, to reinforce the two brigades of Confederate troops and the militia, less than 4,000 all told, which, under General Beauregard, had hitherto partially manned the works ; and a new line of intrenchments, thrown up during the night in the rear of the captured redans, next morning faced the assailants. Smith had been also reinforced by Hancock's corps. Each commander now hurried to the spot all available troops, and within two days the armies of the Potomac and of Northern Virginia again faced each other, on the lines of Petersburg. On the 16th, the Second corps, with two brigades of Brooks's division of the Eighteenth, carried three more re- doubts, and at daylight on the 17th, General Potter's division of the Ninth corps carried about a mile of works, on the ridge of the Shand House, east of the city, taking four guns and 600 prisoners. The second division of the Sixth corps, temporarily detached from the rest of the corps, which had been sent in transports up to Bermuda Hundred, marched all night towards Petersburg, after crossing the James, and on reach- ing the lines next day, the 17th, was posted in some captured works on the right of the line, relieving General Brooks's troops, which had carried and occupied Kedan No. 4, the evening previous. A picket line of the Second regiment and part of the Fifth, was thrown out by General Grant, and the rest of the Yermont troops lay on their arms for the night. Daring the night General Beauregard withdrew his forces from a large portion of his front line, to a stronger and shorter line, from five hundred to a thousand yards nearer the city. The next afternoon a general assault by all the corps of the army was ordered by General Meade. While by this, some ground was gained, and have the troops meet with a disaster." General Smith's cau- tion has been commended by some ; but it cost him the fame of a brilliant achievement, and the army many weeks and months of labor and fighting. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 473 gained, its main result was to develop the fact that Peters* burg was now garrisoned in full force, and that the Confeder- ate position was too strong to be carried by direct assault. This information was gained at heavy cost of life and blood. The Union losses of the three days exceeded 7,UOO killed and wounded, the larger part being sustained on the 18th. In this assault, somewhat to their surprise, tha Vermonters were not ordered to take part, and enjoyed the rather rare oppor- tunity of seeing others do the fighting.'" On the 20th the brigade, lessened by the departure of 220 officers and men of the Second regiment, whose time, had expired, was in the front line all day, in full sight of the spires of Petersburg, two miles away, and at times under artillery fire from the front and from Confederate batteries on the right across the river ; only one Vermonter, however, was killed and but three or four wounded. THE AFFAIR AT THE WELDON RAILROAD. The Union assaults had thus far been directed against the lines on the east and southeast of Petersburg. Relin- quishing his efforts to carry these, Lieut. General Grant now intrenched his position in front of them, and began ex- tending his lines to envelop Petersburg on the south and cut the railroads entering the city from the south and south- west, which were the main arteries of communication and supply between the Confederate capital and the Southern States. Among the movements to this end the Sixth corps was, on the evening of the 21st, relieved by the Eighteenth corps, 1 " Here near by us, is the Vermont brigade, General L. A. Grant, in reserve. An officer near me remarks that it is the first time he ever knew that brigade to be in reserve." Army Correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune. This was the first Battle of Petersburg, included in Adjutant General Washburn's official lists of battles in which the regiments of the First Vermont brigade took part. 474 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAK. and, moving at midnight, marched round to the west, halt- ing during the forenoon of the next day near the Williams House, beyond the Jerusalem Plank Boad, to which road the Union lines had already been extended. General Wright's- orders were to move on the next day some two miles, to the Weldon railroad, running south from Petersburg, seize it and intrench his position, while the Second corps, under General Birney General Hancock being temporarily disabled by an outbreak of his Gettysburg wound which had been also moved to the left, was to support the movement and keep up the connection between the Sixth corps and the rest of the army. Such connection, however, was not maintained, and during the afternoon, General A. P. Hill, who had been sent out by General Lee to protect the Weldon road, taking ad- vantage of a wide gap left between the right of the Sixth corps and the left of the Second, pushed through it sud- denly, took the line of the Second corps in reverse, captured with small opposition most of a brigade, and went back to- his intrenchments, taking with him 1,600 prisoners, and leaving a force to guard the railroad. In the operations of this day, the two corps commanders ,. moving largely irrespective of each other, had been ordered to take especial precautions to ensure the safety of their ex- posed flanks, and General Wright committed to the Yer- monters the duty of guarding the left flank of the Sixth corps. While the mass of the corps moved forward in line of battle, the Vermont brigade marched by the flank on the left and rear of the corps line, and was thus in position to repel any attack on the flank of the corps. The movements were slow, through the thickets, and halts frequent ; and, with his customary caution, General L. A. Grant kept the exposed side of the brigade well covered by a skirmish line, consisting of the Third regiment and Walker's battalion of the Eleventh. Had General Birney used equal care for the protection of his THE FIRST BRIGADE. 475 flank, the mortifying reverse of this day, already referred to, would not have occurred. The brigade was sent to the assistance of the Second corps during the assault on the flank and rear of the latter in the afternoon ; but as General Birney had fallen back, it was not needed and was recalled to its former position near the Williams house. Dispositions were at once made to retrieve the disaster to the Second corps. At dusk that corps was again thrown forward; and General Wright also advanced, driving in a skirmish line of the enemy for a mile through thick brush, the Vermont brigade still guarding the left flank of the corps, as before. It was nearly midnight when the Sixth corps was halted, about a mile from the Weldon road. In this movement, the picket line, composed of the Third and a battalion of the Eleventh, was strengthened by the Fourth regiment. The night passed quietly on that portion of the lines, and in the morning no enemy was visible in front. This day, June 23d, was a very dark day in the calendar of the brigade, being marked by the heaviest capture of its members that ever occurred in its entire history. The men were roused before daylight in expectation of an attack or an advance ; but no movement took place except to perfect the dispositions of the troops which had been posted in the darkness of the previous night. During the forenoon, Cap- tain Beattie, of the Third Vermont, was sent out with a company of 90 picked men to reconnoitre in front. He reached the Weldon railroad, unopposed, and sent back word that he had found the road unguarded and cut the telegraph line, and with his report he sent a piece of the telegraph wire to prove his word. A working party of pioneers was there- upon sent out with tools to tear up and destroy the track. To protect them and give warning of any approach of the enemy, General Grant was ordered to send out a picket detail of 200 men. These were taken from Major Fleming's battalion of the Eleventh regiment, the detail being under 476 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. command of Captain E. J. Morrill, and they reported to Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree, field officer of the day, by whom they were posted, according to instructions, in a line extending from the right of tne skirmish line of the division, and at a right angle with that line, out to the railroad. Captain Beattie with his company picketed a line along the rail- road ; and 200 cavalry men were deployed at a right angle with these on the left, thus enclosing with the pickets a hollow square, extending half a mile along the railroad, and back from it to the division skirmish line. The area thus enclosed was mainly open ground, with two or three farm buildings nearly in the centre of it. On each side was timber, that on the north, toward Petersburg, being a dense forest, extending from the railroad back a mile or more, to the front of Bickett's division, and that on the south a narrow strip of woods. The right of the main line of the Vermont brigade joined the left of Bicketts's division, turning at an obtuse angle ; and the line was extended to the left of the brigade by other troops of the second division. General L. A. Grant was now called on by General Wheaton, commanding the division, to furnish another detail to support the skirmish line, and Major Fleming was sent out with the remainder of his battalion, to which Company A. of the Eleventh was added. The detachment was stationed by an officer of General Wheaton's staff, about half a mile or more in front of the brigade, at the left of the open ground. In front of the line of the Yermont brigade was a swell of ground, the low crest of which commanded the entire open area. A line of infantry along it could have swept half of the open ground in front with musketry. A battery posted on it, could have shelled the whole area, as well as the strip of timber on the left, which was so narrow that persons on the crest could see over and through it. The advantage of occupying this crest was so obvious to General L. A. Grant that after waiting sometime for an advance of the lines to it, THE FIRST BRIGADE. 477 which he supposed would be ordered, he took the respon- sibility, when the operations commenced in front, of moving forward the line of his brigade to it ; 1 requesting the com- manders of the brigades on his right and left, to swing out and connect with him. The one on the right did not do so t however, and General Grant was soon ordered to bring back his brigade to its former line. General Grant then went in person to General Wheaton and asked him to advance the division line, so that the crest might be occupied.* Eeceiving no satisfactory response, Grant next went to the corps commander, and at the former's earnest request General Wright rode with him to the top of the crest to inspect the situation. Some lively skirmishing was then in progress in front and to the left, and a force of the enemy was plainly visible, coming from the direction of the railroad, around outside the strip of woods, and apparently aiming for the left and rear of the Vermont detachments on the skirmish line. General Wright decided that it was now too late to advance the main line to the crest, and to Grant's expressions of con- cern for the safety of his men in front General Wright replied that if attacked they could fall back into the woods on their right, behind Kicketts's picket line, which General Wright supposed to be advanced nearly to the railroad. This, how- ever, was a mistake on the part of General Wright. Ricketts's pickets afforded no adequate protection against an attack from that quarter, though the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, of his division, which had been sent out as an additional guard to the pioneers, made a fight at the right, and lost 83 men killed, wounded and captured. Beyond advancing the skirmishers of the Fourth Yermont to cover Fleming's left, which was ordered when it was plain that the latter 1 That is of the portion of the brigade left in line, full half of the brigade being out on picket, and in support of the skirmishers in front. 8 Statement of General L. A. Grant. 478 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. was in danger, little was done by the division and corps commanders for the protection of the detachments in front ; and this advance of the Fourth, as it proved, was simply sending it to be captured with the rest. The working party, before this, had torn up half a mile of track, extending south from where they struck it, when, about the middle of the afternoon, they became aware of the approach of a considerable force of the enemy, which had been sent out west of the railroad from the right of his lines around Petersburg. The pioneers, with Captain Beattie's sharpshooters who had moved to the left with them, and the cavalry pickets, accordingly fell back to the left and rear, and rejoined the corps without serious loss. The skirmishers under Captain Morrill, on the right of the open ground, maintained their position, expecting the enemy to attack, if at all, from that direction. The Confederate troops approaching from that quarter divided, a portion of them making a demonstration in front, while the larger part pushed into the woods on Fleming's right. He prepared to receive the attack from his front by hastily piling a low breastwork of rails. On his left the Fourth Term on t, as has been stated, was deployed as skirmishers, its line extending through a piece of woods to the narrow belt of timber, hereto- fore described. Bursting suddenly through this, the enemy came in on the left of the Fourth, swinging round into the latter's rear as they advanced into the open field, and en- veloping the line. Captain Tracy of the Fourth, one of the most gallant young officers in the brigade, commanded the left company, and rallied his men for a brief fight ; but he soon fell dead, and after about a dozen men of the Fourth had been shot down, most of the rest, seeing resistance and flight were alike hopeless, threw down their arms. About fifty men, however, of the Fourth, including the color-guard, escaped through the woods, before the enemy's lines met THE FIKST BRIGADE. 479 behind them ; and made good their retreat to the main line, taking the colors with them. Seeing his danger, Major Fleming now endeavored to withdraw the skirmishers and picket reserve of his battalion to his right and rear ; but found the woods there full of rebels, who at once pushed out a strong line behind the Vermonters, till it met the other Confederate line. The men of the Eleventh were thus in turn completely cut off. They made a brief fight against vastly superior numbers and then surrendered. Two field officers, Majors Pratt and Fleming, and 24 commissioned officers eight of the Fourth and six- teen of the Eleventh gave up their swords, and 373 men of the two regiments were captured. 1 About the time that this occurred in front or shortly after, a considerable force of the enemy advanced on the left till it struck the skirmish line of the corps, on its extreme left flank, there refused so that it faced to the south. The skirmish line at this point was held by Major Walker's battalion of the Eleventh, two companies being deployed in front and the rest of the bat- talion held as picket reserve. The skirmishers repulsed two charges, from under cover of piles of rails, when the enemy pushed in on their left, through an opening left by the fault of the division officer of the day in charge of the skirmishers on the left, 2 who had failed to make the right of his portion of the line connect with that held by the Yermonters. The latter consequently were obliged to fall back in haste, and lost an officer, Lieutenant Sherman, killed ; two officers, Lieutenants Chase and Parker, captured, and a dozen or twenty men, killed, wounded and missing. The skirmish line 1 The companies of the Eleventh so captured were A., F. , H., K. and L. The men captured averaged over 50 to a company. Enough escaped, with those in hospital or excused from duty or detailed as cooks and, orderlies, to leave about 40 men to a company for further service. 2 A Pennsylvania officer. 480 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. was soon re-established, however, and the enemy withdrew from that portion of the front of the corps. While Pratt and Fleming were making their short and hopeless fight in front, the rest of the brigade were within plain hearing of the firing and of the " rebel yell " with which the enemy closed in on their comrades, but were not permitted to move to their support. Instead of advancing, spades were ordered up, and rifle-pits dug, to protect the corps front. At dusk the Second Vermont was sent out as skirmishers and met the skirmishers of the enemy in the edge of the woods about six hundred yards in front. The latter retired, and hostilities having ceased for the night, the regimental and brigade officers counted up their losses, with heavy hearts. At midnight the brigade was withdrawn to its former position near the Williams house. It is easier to ask ques- tions about such an affair as this, than to get satisfactory answers to them ; and the officers and men of the brigade have never understood why the swell of ground in their front was not occupied by artillery and infantry ; why the Vermont detachments were not withdrawn after the sharpshooters and pioneers left the railroad; or why if needed in front they were not supported, instead of being sacrificed without object or gain to anybody but the enemy. It is safe to say that if General Getty had been in command of his division this melancholy affair would not have happened. Whoever was chiefly responsible for it, no share of the blame can be justly laid at the door of any Vermonter. General L. A. Grant had no control of the detachments in front'. They were sent out and posted under orders and by aids from the divi- sion head-quarters. He was anxious about them ; and if his suggestions and earnest requests had been regarded, they would not have been surprised and surrounded. Lieut. Colonel Pingree, as division officer of the day, had a very long and difficult picket line to superintend, and obeyed the orders given him with all possible fidelity. He of course had THE FIRST BRIGADE. 481 nothing to do with the pickets of Eickett's division, and was not responsible for the arrangement which permitted the enemy to fill the woods on the right and cut off the retreat of the Vermonters. To his " coolness, bravery, and almost superhuman efforts " his brigade commander alludes, in his report, in terms of very high praise. Majors Pratt and Fleming obeyed their orders and fought as long as resistance was of any use. The aggregate loss of the brigade in this affair of the Weldon Road was 459, as follows : Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total. Second Vermont Regiment, 0101 Third " " 1 1 02 Fourth " " 3 11 139 153 Fifth " " 11 Sixth " 1 1 Eleventh " " 9 31 261 301 Totals, 13 45 401 459 Of the wounded men three of the Fourth and 11 of the Eleventh died of their wounds. A sad sequel must be added to this disastrous episode. Of the 401 men thus captured, over one half died within six months after their capture, a few in Confederate hospitals, but most of them in the prison pens of Andersonville and Columbia, S. C. The names of two hundred and thirty -two Vermonters, most of them strong and vigorous men when taken that day, who thus died by a lingering death in the hands of the enemy, are elsewhere given in the pages of this history. A number who lived to be exchanged, came home mere wrecks of men and died soon after, and it is probably no exaggeration to say that 70 per cent of the men so captured died in prison or from the results of their captivity. The officers as a rule fared better. Several escaped. One, Captain Morrill, of the Eleventh, was fired on while attempting to escape from his captors, and died of his wounds so received. Another, Lieutenant Parker 31 482 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of the same regiment, escaped from prison, to die by the teeth of southern blood-hounds, set upon him by his pur- suers. Of the rest, some were placed under the fire of the Union guns, at Charleston, S. C. Some came home in sadly shattered health. The southerners have been more sensitive to the charge of inhuman treatment of their prisoners, than to any other brought against them, and southern writers and statesmen have written many pages and uttered many words to refute it; but no statements or sophistries can wipe out or gloss over the stain of such facts as these. The brigade remained in the works near the "Williams house, for two weeks, with the exception of a single short expedition. At noon of the 29th, General Meade learned that General Wilson, who with a column of 5,500 cavalry ' had been out for ten da} r s on a raid against the Danville and Lynchburgh Railroad, sixty miles of which he had destroyed, was on his way back and had been intercepted at Eeams's Station, ten miles south of Petersburg, by a strong force of Confederate cavalry and infantry. The Sixth corps was accordingly drawn out of the lines and sent to Eeams's Station to open a passage for Wilson. The brigade started at two o'clock of the 29th, leading the advance of the corps. Arriving within half a mile of the station at six o'clock, the Third Vermont was deployed as skirmishers, and engaged and drove from the field the skirmish line of the enemy, which was covering the retirement of the Confederate infantry, consisting of two brigades of Mahone's division. During the forenoon Wilson had been surrounded at that point by W. F. Lee's and Wade Hampton's cavalry and Mahone's infantry, and after a disastrous fight in which he suffered heavy loss of men and guns, had retreated to the south. The enemy, having made Wilson all the trouble they 1 Of which the First Vermont Cavalry was a part. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 483 could, did not stop to see the Sixth corps, and beyond the slight skirmish referred to there was no fighting done by the corps. The Vermont brigade bivouacked at Eeams's Station that night, tore up a good piece of the railroad the next day, and then returned with the corps to the lines in front of Petersburg. "Wilson made a detour to the south and east, and came in two days later. The Vermont brigade was now about to leave the Army of the Potomac for the first time, and to enter on a campaign of peculiar interest and importance. It was first to aid in .repulsing the last rebel demonstration against Washington ; and then, for four months, to march and fight and conquer under a new commander. On many bloody fields it had made a reputation for tenacity and reliability in emergencies, second certainly to that of no other brigade in the army. It was now, under Sheridan, to do some hardly less severe iighting, and in addition was to enjoy, with the consciousness of duty done, the unwonted experience of sharing in distinct and memorable victories. BACK TO WASHINGTON. While tne Army of the Potomac was, in the campaign whose fortunes we have been following, making its last march from the Kapidan to Kichmond, the Shenandoah Valley had become a field of fresh interest. General Hunter had relieved the unlucky Sigel; had defeated the Confederate General Vaughn, and had advanced to Lynchburg, to find himself con- fronted there by General Early, who had come with his corps to guard that chief city of Western Virginia and important centre and supply station for the Confederacy. Outnumbered, and short both of ammunition and supplies, Hunter had then withdrawn into the Kanawha Valley, leaving the Shenan- doah Valley open to Early. The latter made use of his opportunity to push rapidly northward into Maryland through 484 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAB. the passage thus opened, and to threaten the National capital,, which he hoped to find but slightly defended! Of course, there was no little trepidation in Washington, when Early's plan became developed, and troops were hurried thither from various quarters ; but as many of these were green troops^ and a strong nucleus of veterans, under a capable and trusty commander, was needed to allay apprehension and perhaps to assure the safety of the capital, General Grant, at Presi- dent Lincoln's request, withdrew the Sixth, corps from the lines before Petersburg, and sent it to Washington. Ricketts's. division, which formed nearly half of the corps, having lost much fewer men in action than the others, was despatched by transports to Baltimore, and reported on the 8th of July, to General Lew Wallace, commanding the department. The latter, with three or four thousand undisciplined troops, had moved out from Baltimore and thrown himself between Early and Washington, at the point, five miles south of Frederick, Md., where the Baltimore and Ohio railroad crosses the Monocacy River. Here, on the 9th of July, the battle of the Monocacy was fought, in which General Wallace was attacked and defeated by Early, General Eicketts severely wounded, and 1,500 men of his division killed, wounded and captured. This battle, to be hereafter described in connection with the history of the Tenth Vermont regiment, delayed Early's advance on Washington for two days, which was just the time needed to get the rest of the corps there. The order for them to move came late in the evening of the 9th, and within two hours they were on the way to City Point. The long drought of that summer, which lasted forty-seven days from the 3d of June, had set in, and the roads were beds of dust, ankle deep ; but the march was accomplished at a rapid rate, the fourteen miles being made between midnight and six A. M., and with much less discomfort under the stars than it would have been under the July sun. Next day, under the superintendence of Colonel and A. Q. M. P. P. Pitkin, now THE FIEST BRIGADE. 485 in charge of the land and water transportation of the Army of the Potomac, the two divisions took transports for Wash- ington, and by noon the brigade, with the exception of the Eleventh regiment, which did not embark till five p. M., was steaming down the James. The voyage down the river and up the Potomac, past Harrison's Landing, Newport News, Fortress Monroe, Belle Plain and Acquia Creek, and other familiar points, was a rest and relief to the men, who were weary of digging and living in rifle-pits ; and they entered on their third campaign in Maryland in excellent condition of mind and body. Before entering on the record of the. campaign it will be well to note some of the recent changes in the personnel of the brigade. The older regiments of the brigade now averaged less than 400 muskets apiece, present for duty, and the Eleventh about 950. The vacancies in the roster of officers made by the slaughter in the Wilderness, had been partially filled by promotions. The Second regiment was now commanded by Lieut. Colonel A. S. Tracy ; the Third, by Colonel T. O. Seaver; the Fourth, by Colonel George P. Foster; the Fifth, by Captain Eugene A. Hamilton, Lieut. Colonel Lewis being still disabled and no field officers having been ap- pointed to take the place of those lost ; the Sixth, by Lieut. Colonel O. A. Hale ; and the Eleventh, by Lieut. Colonel George E. Chamberlain, Colonel Warner being on duty in the defences of Washington. The two battalions of the Eleventh the uncaptured fractions of Major Fleming's bat- talion having been consolidated with the other two bat- talions were commanded by Major Charles Hunsdon and Major Aldace F. Walker. The brigade, reporting present for duty 2,600 officers and men, was still commanded by General L. A. Grant; and General Getty, having recovered sufficiently from his wound to take the field, was again in command of the division, much to the satisfaction of the troops thereof. 486 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. General Getty and his staff preceded the division in a small steamer, and were the first of the corps to land at Washington. It was an anxious time in Washington, and President Lincoln, looking pale and careworn, and Secretary Stanton, were standing on the wharf as they landed. " What troops does this steamer bring ?" asked Mr. Lincoln, of one of the first men who stepped on shore, who happened to be Surgeon Allen of the Fourth Vermont, at that time medical director of the division. "It brings Major General Getty and his staff, but no troops," was his reply. The careworn president turned away with evident disappointment, saying: "I do not care to see any major generals : I came here to see the Vermont brigade" l The two divisions reached Washington during the even- ing of the llth, and landed next morning. Mr Lincoln was again on hand to witness the disembarkation, breaking his fast meanwhile on a piece of hard tack, which he had begged from a soldier, and evidently much relieved by the arrival of the corps. All Washington, save the few sympathizers with the rebellion, shared this feeling. Early, who marched straight for Washington, after the battle of the Monocacy^ was then but five miles from the capitol and in plain sight of its dome, and the sound of his cannon, in his reconnoissances and skirmishing in front of the forts during the day previous, had filled the citizens with the utmost consternation. His numbers, at first underestimated, were now greatly exag- gerated ; and it was believed in the city that his army num- bered 30,000 or 40,000 men. The defences north of the city had been hurriedly manned with a few regiments of hundred-day troops, called out by the President for the emergency, together with a few companies of heavy artillery, some detachments from the invalid corps, and a battalion or two of government clerks and laborers, hastily organized and 1 Statement of Surgeon S. J. Allen. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 487 armed for the occasion. Little reliance, however, was placed upon them, and till the Sixth corps arrived the city was in a state of mind little short of absolute panic. As the column of bronzed and sturdy veterans marched up Seventh Street,, with the easy swing of old campaigners, they had no reason to doubt that they were welcome. The sidewalks were thronged with people, who as their eyes fell on the Greek cross, shouted : "It is the old Sixth corps!" "Hurrah for the men who stormed Marye's Heights!" "We are all right now!" Some ran along the lines with buckets of ice water, for the morning was sultry, while others handed newspapers and eatables into the column. The color came back to the white lips which had been whispering: "The foe! they come!" and confidence that the danger was already over replaced the terror of the day and night previous. The corps had reached Washington not an hour too soon. It moved out on the Eockville pike, to the sound of the cannon of Early, who had, as he says in his "Memoir," determined to attack the defences of Washington that morn- ing and was then examining the works in preparation for the assault. He had halted the afternoon previous in front of Fort Stevens a strong bastioned work on the Seventh Street pike with 10,000 or 12,000 men and fifty guns. His men, he says, were tired with hard marching, and he took time to reconnoitre. His skirmish line, composed of troops of Eode's division, was about 500 yards from the fort, and his sharpshooters filled the Eives house and the house of Mrs. Lay, on the right and left of the turnpike leading to Silver Spring and Eockville. A portion of Wheaton's brigade, which was the first to reach the ground, was deployed as skirmishers in front of the works. On the arrival of the Vermont brigade, the Second and Third regiments were posted in rifle-pits to the left of the fort, and the rest of the brigade, with other portions of the corps, were massed in a piece of woods west of Fort Stevens. The fort, and two or 488 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. three others near it, had been built in good part by the Eleventh Vermont, and having been stationed for over a year in them, as an artillery regiment, its officers and men were familiar with the range of every gun and would have been glad to show the raw troops how to use the artillery they were awkwardly handling ; but the Yermonters were held to take part in the general assault which was contemplated by the generals, half a dozen or more of whpm, including General Halleck, General McCook, General Meigs, General Wright and the division commanders, were on the ground. Before attacking, however, General Wright thought best to send out a brigade, to develop Early's position and relieve the Union line from the enemy's sharpshooters, whose bullets were flying altogether too thickly around the forts. While arrangements for this advance were in progress, a company of 80 men, selected for their skill as marksmen, was sent out under command of Captain A. M. Beattie, of the Third Ver- mont, to the skirmish line, to try conclusions with the enemy's sharpshooters. They soon found active employment, drove the rebels from a house with some loss, one Ver- monter being killed and half a dozen wounded in the opera- tion, and otherwise rendered excellent service. In the afternoon the skirmish line was still further strengthened by 50 picked men of the Sixth Vermont. These troops all par- ticipated in the advance later in the day. Shortly after four o'clock, the Third brigade, Colonel BidweLL's, of Getty's division, filed out into the road in front of Fort Stevens and deployed in two lines. 1 The forts opened a vigorous fire with their heavy guns to clear the way, and then Bidwell's brigade moved out steadily. Early had been strengthening his skirmish line with both infantry and artil- 1 " The pseudo-soldiers who filled the trenches around the fort, were astonished at the temerity displayed by these war-worn veterans in going out before the breastworks, and benevolently volunteered most earnest words of caution." Major A. F. Walker. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 489 lery, and they opened a sharp fire on the advancing lines. The latter advanced up a slight acclivity to the Hives house, from which the Confederate skirmishers were speedily driven, and then to a crest beyond, where they encountered the sup- ports of the enemy's skirmish line. These had thrown up a breastwork of rails and earth, and made a stout resistance, under which every regimental commander of Bidwell's brig- ade fell killed or wounded. But the advance of the latter could not be stopped. They swept the crest in the hand- somest manner, driving back Early 's lines for a mile, when, having accomplished all that was expected of them, they were halted, and were relieved at sundown by the Yermont brigade, which picketed the front for the night. The Union loss in this affair was 280. Early left 30 dead on the field, and 70 men, too seriously wounded to be moved, at the house of the elder Blair, at Silver Spring, where Generals Early and Breckenridge had their headquarters. Early probably lost as many men as the Sixth corps. It was on the whole a sharp and well conducted fight, and a portion of it took place in the presence of a more distinguished group of spectators than witnessed any other action of the war. President and Mrs. Lincoln, Secretary Stanton and other members of the cabinet, and several ladies, came out to Fort Stevens during the afternoon, to see some actual fighting; and Mr. Lincoln remained during the action, upon the invitation of General Wright, which the latter much repented having given, when to his surprise it was accepted by the President . Mr. Lin- coln, with a torn coat sleeve, persisted in standing on. the parapet of Fort Stevens, by the side of General Wright, in spite of the earnest remonstrances of the latter and the entreaties of Mrs. Lincoln, till an officer was wounded within three feet of him by a rebel bullet, when he consented to step down to the banquette, still looking over the parapet till the enemy was driven out of sight. Within the fort crouched cabinet officers and prominent civilians, breathless 490 VEEMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. with excitement, while in the hostile camp beyond stood General Breckenridge, of Kentucky, who four years before, as vice-president of the United States, occupied the chair of the Senate, in the building whose lofty dome now rose white before him, but of which he was to have no nearer view. The fact of the presence of the veterans of the Sixth corps, indicated to General Early by this affair, was enough for him; and that night he fell back through Rockville, leaving in flames the elegant house of Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, which stood near his camp. He marched all night to the northwest toward the fords of the Potomac, and halted in the morning near Darnestown, Md., eighteen miles away. At noon of that day, Getty's and Russell's divisions of the Sixth corps started in pursuit, followed by Emory's- division of the Nineteenth corps, which had just arrived at Washington, all under command of General Wright. The Vermont brigade, being on the picket line, started last of the corps, in the latter part of the afternoon. The men were already weary with a night and day of picket duty ; the roads were narrow and obstructed with mired army trains ; and the night march was a most confused and exhausting one^ The brigade, nevertheless, had made about twenty miles when it halted for breakfast next morning. After a short hour's rest it started again being now in the lead of the division, under the system of rotation in marching which placed the brigade which brought up the rear one day in advance on the next and during the afternoon reached Poolesville, thirty miles from Washington, having marched, by the roads traveled, about forty miles in twenty-four hours. The last few miles of the march were enlivened by the sounds of skirmishing from White's Ford, in front, where Early was crossing the Poto- mac, and where a section of artillery attached to Lowell's cav- alry, was firing on his rear guard. Here the brigade lay with the corps for a night and a day, during which nothing more THE FIEST BRIGADE. 491 exciting occurred than the hanging of a spy, which took place near the corps headquarters at one o'clock in the morning. At daylight on the 16th, the corps crossed into Virginia, fording the Potomac, which here ran with a strong current three feet deep, at White's Ford and at Conrad's Ferry, near the scene of the famous Union disaster of Ball's Bluff', early in the war, 1 and moved on through Leesburg to the Catoctin mountains. Here the members of the Third Vermont regi- ment whose three years' term had expired, and who had not re-enlisted, took their leave for home. Their departure took from the brigade those sterling officers, Colonel T. O. Seaver and Lieut. Colonel S. E. Pingree, unsurpassed in every quality of the true soldier; Major Nelson, a worthy offi- cer ; and 15 line officers arid 150 men who had fought with the brigade in every action and battle from Lee's Mill to Petersburg. The remainder of the regiment was con- solidated into a battalion of six companies, under Captain (soon to be made major) Floyd, retaining its title of the Third Vermont. On the 18th of July, the corps, now entire, having been joined by Ricketts's division, advanced to the Blue Ridge, and crossed it on the heels of Early, by Snicker's gap. Here the Vermonters had their first view of the Shenandoah Valley with which, in the three months following, they became tolerably well acquainted. This day General Crook, with two fragmentary divisions of General Hunter's army, which had moved up the Valley to aid in intercepting Early 's : " Brigades were crossing in several places for a mile up and down the river. Every one greeted the unusual sensation of the slippery rocks and the gurgling water with shouts and laughter. The burdened men were here and there overthrown by the swift current, and occasionally one would slip from a staggering horse and be buried for an instant in the stream, to the amusement of all but the unfortunate. In such a gleeful humor we re-entered Virginia and laid ourselves out to dry upon her sacred soil." Major A. F. Walker. 492 YEEMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. retreat, reached the west bank of the Shenandoah river, at Snicker's Ferry, and had a fight with Early's rear guard, in which the former lost 400 men killed and wounded. The head of the column of the Sixth corps, under Ricketts, reached the eastern bank of the river before this action was fairly over, but not in time to take part except by firing across the river with artillery. Early barely slipped through between the columns of Crook and Wright before they united, and made good his retreat toward Strasburg. Supposing that Early was on his way back to Kichmond, and understanding that the object of his own expedition was accomplished, General Wright now decided to return to Washington. The corps rested on the 20th. 1 The next day it faced about, re-forded the Shenandoah, and with soaked shoes and blistered feet, made the toilsome ascent of the Blue Ridge. Crossing the crest of Snicker's Gap at midnight, Getty's division overhauled and then passed the division of the Nineteenth corps which had preceded it on the road and was doing its best ; pushed on in the darkness in a forced march across the valley, with brief halts for coffee ; re-crossed the Catoctin ridge in the morning ; and kept on without halt to Leesburg. Striking here the turnpike, the corps moved on through Drainsville. July 23d, it marched through Lewinsville, past Camp Griffin where the Vermont brigade spent its first winter crossed Chain Bridge, and went into camp near Tenally town, in the northern defences of Washing- ton. General Wright had notified General Halleck, on the 21st, that "two days' easy march" would bring his command back to Washington. The command found the march any- thing but "easy." The Vermont brigade had done some hard marching before this ; but all who shared the experience of this ten days, agreed that it was the hardest continuous marching in its history ; and they did not see that they had 1 "That day everybody robbed a beehive, and hard tack was eaten with honey." Major Walker. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 493 anything to show for it. The pursuit of Early had been a failure; and the hurried return, at a rate which caused hundreds of good soldiers of the two corps to fall out on the way, to be captured by the guerrillas and sent to Richmond though explained by General Wright's desire to get back to Grant by the time Early should rejoin Lee might well have been omitted altogether. For General Early had not returned to Richmond. The corps spent three days at Tenallytown, resting, receiving new shoes and clothing, and waiting for orders, expected hourly, to return to the Army of the Potomac. But when orders came they directed the corps to move in quite a different direction. When General Early learned that the Sixth corps had left the valley, leaving only Crook's inferior force of infantry and cavalry a few miles to the north of him, he at once turned back from Strasburg, struck and defeated Crook at Kernstown, and followed him till he escaped into Maryland. Having thus secured undisputed possession of the valley, Early proceeded to break up the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and despatched his cavalry, under "the robber " McCausland, into Maryland and Penn- sylvania, to burn towns, levy contributions of money, and plunder non-combatants. When the news of Crook's defeat reached Washington, the Sixth corps was at once hurriedly despatched to the assistance of Hunter and Crook, who were now guarding the South Mountain gaps in Maryland. The corps moved, on the 26th, through Rockville to the north, forded the Monocacy on the 28th, and passed through Fred- erick to Jefferson, Md., beyond the South Mountain. On the 29th, it marched by Sandy Hook along the Potomac and between the mountains to Harper's Ferry; crossed the river on a long ponton bridge ; climbed Bolivar Heights; and arrived at evening, footsore and weary, at Hall- town, four miles south of Harper's Ferry. The corps had marched seventy-five miles in two clays and twenty hours. 494 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. Here Hunter and Wright united their forces under command of the former. This day McCausland started on his raid to Chambersburg, Pa., Early covering his departure by a cavalry expedition to Hagerstown, Md. The news that the enemy was again north of the Potomac, caused fresh per- turbation in Washington ; and brought orders from General Halleck to Hunter, to move all his forces into Maryland to repel the invasion. Hunter replied that Wright's troops were too much fatigued and scattered to move at once; but Halleck made his order peremptory, 1 and the Sixth corps accordingly moved back across the Potomac. It was a sultry day, as the forces poured into the hot, dusty basin of Harper's Ferry; the heat was overpowering, and men and beasts stood bathed in sweat and panting for breath, for hours, waiting for their turn to cross the narrow bridge. Getty's division crossed in the night, and though on foot all night, made barely five miles of progress in the jam of men, horses, guns and wagons. The "Sabbath day's journey," of the next day, however, exceeded considerably the scriptural limit, for it was one of twenty miles. The heat was frightful ; the air a cloud of blinding dust ; the pace rapid, and the amount of straggling beyond parallel. Thousands fell out of the ranks and hundreds sank under sunstroke.* Horses gave out as well as men, and numbers were left by their riders along the road. If a horse revived after a few hours rest, it was at once rigged with a hempen bridle and mounted by some footsore soldier, and ridden bareback till it sank again. Towards night, of the hardest day in the history of the brigade, the mounted officers and regimental colors, 1 "Wright's and Crook's forces should immediately move towards Emmettsburg they must make a night march." Despatch of General Halleck to Hunter. 2 "Our infantry is suffering dreadfully. Six men fell dead yesterday in one of our smallest brigades." Hunter to Halleck. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 495 accompanied by a corporal's guard of the strongest men of their respective regiments, marched into Frederick City. The corps had nominally reached that point. In reality it was strung out for fifteen or twenty miles to the rear thousands of the men lying exhausted in the woods, and other thousands dragging themselves slowly along the road, faint for want of food and water and barely able to carry their muskets. The march cost the corps as much as a sharp engagement, in losses of men who died of sunstroke or broke down permanently. And it was absolutely needless; for Hunter's infantry were no obstruction to McCausland's cavalry ; and Early's infantry were all south of the Potomac. It was a piece of General Halleck's peculiar strategy. The corps halted at Frederick a day and night, during which most of the stragglers came in, and the men got some rest; and on the 3d of August it moved five miles to the south to the little village of Buckeystown on the Monocacy. Here the troops camped along the hillsides of a pleasant valley ; and lounging in the shade, and bathing in the river, gained rest and strength and almost forgot their recent trials. During this week of comparative quiet, Early's cavalry were foraging and swapping lame horses for better ones taken from the farmers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. On the 30th of July, McCausland had reached Chambersburg, Pa., fifteen miles north of the Maryland line, demanded $500,000 in currency or $100,000 in gold from the inhabitants, on pen- alty of having their town burned ; and, the money not being produced as it could not be, for there was no gold and less than $50,000 in currency in the town applied the torch and laid in ashes a thriving place of 3,000 unarmed inhabitants, without even so much as notice to them to remove their sick and bed-ridden inmates. Then, having allowed his soldiers to plunder the citizens of their money and valuables to the amount of uncounted thousands, he retired laden with booty. Eeturning into Maryland and down the south branch 496 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. of the Potomac, lie was struck at Moorefield, West Virginia, by General Averell, who had followed him up closely with two brigades of cavalry, and came to serious grief, losing all his artillery, 400 horses, 420 men captured, including 38 officers, and most of his wagons. " This affair," says General Early in his memoir, "had a very damaging effect upon my cavalry for the rest of the campaign." ' This was the last Confederate raid into Maryland ; but General Early still re- mained in the lower Shenandoah Valley, with an army of nearly 20,000 men a standing menace to the North and to the national capital. About this time both President Lincoln and Lieut. General Grant reached the distinct conclusion that things were not going as well as they might in the Shenandoah Valley. The latter was detained in person at Petersburg by some important matters, among which were the operations attending the explosion of the famous mine ; but he saw that there must be a change of generalship and consequently of commander, in the Valley. Having sent up from the Army of the Potomac the remainder of the Nineteenth corps and a division of cavalry, to reinforce Hunter's army, on the 1st of August he sent a man who was in himself a stronger rein- forcement than an army corps. This was an officer at this time little known to the army or to the country at large. A native of Ohio, now in his thirty-fourth year ; a graduate of West Point ; a colonel of a Michigan cavalry regiment early in the war; then a brigadier general, commanding a division of infantry at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Chattanooga, 1 McCausland told Rev. Mr. Edwards, of Hagerstown, Md., that he was "from hell," and many inhabitants of Pennsylvania and Maryland thought he told the truth. General Early, however, assumed the sole responsibility for the burning of Chambersburg ; and has repeatedly, since the close of the war, justified the act, as one of just retaliation for the unauthorized burning by Union soldiers or stragglers, of half a dozen private residences of prominent members of the Confederate Congress, in various portions of the field of war. THE FIRST BRIGADE. 497 he had attracted the notice of Ganeral Grant both by his fighting qualities and executive ability. He had been made a major general, brought to the East, and placed by Lieut. General Grant in command of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac. Under him the cavalry arm of the army had been doing both hard riding and hard fighting. His capacity for still higher command remained to be seen; but it is plain that General Grant did not doubt it, for he sent him to Washington, telegraphing at the same time to General Halleck : " I want Sheridan put in command of all the troops in the field, with instructions to put himself south of the enemy, and to follow him to the death. Wherever the enemy goes let our troops go also." General Halleck, however, had no thought of relinquishing the direction of the campaign, and proposed to confine Sheridan to the command of the cavalry. On the 4th of August, President Lincoln tele- graphed General Grant: "Look over the despatches you have received from here, and discover, if you can, that there is any idea in the head of any one here of putting our army south of the enemy, or of following him to the death in any direction. * * It will never be done unless you watch it, and force it." In two hours from the receipt of this despatch General Grant started for Washington. The next day, at evening, he appeared at General Hunter's headquarters near Monocacy Station. His first question to Hunter, was, "Where is the enemy?" Hunter replied that he did not know, adding that he had been so ordered hither and thither by despatches from Washington, that he had been unable to determine the position of the rebels, much less to pursue them. General Grant simply said: "Zwill find out where the enemy is ;" 1 and he put the army in motion that night for the Yalley of Virginia. General Sheridan joined Grant and Hunter the next day ; and the next, General Hunter relin- 1 General Badeau. 32 498 VERMONT IN THE CIVIL WAR. quished to the junior general the command of the army, which the latter made famous as the " Army of the Shenan- doah." It was on the 7th of August that General Philip H. Sheridan assumed command of all the forces in Washington, Maryland and West Virginia, with his headquarters at Hall- town, Va. The men of his new command did not give him an enthusiastic welcome, for, as one of them said, "they knew little of his services except through the newspapers, and in reading of them made the usual cavalry allowances." But all who did know him, had no fears for him ; 1 and the army began to like him as soon as they made his acquaintance. Though he was not an imposing figure at first glance, a second look found a good many striking points about him. His short, compact frame and large chest betokened great strength and endurance. His bright black eyes, now twinkling with humor and then lighting with intense expression, lost sight of nothing around him. His large and closely shorn head was full of character. His words, gesture, and action showed him to be thoroughly in earnest. His whole manner betokened con- fidence in himself, while it was as free as possible from self- conceit ; and his simple bearing and genial ways soon made every soldier his friend. The troops noticed at the start that their new general was visible to his command. He did not follow the column but rode at its side, taking the dust with his men, watching details of the march, and bringing order and progress out of confusion, when the inevitable blockades of the roads by the trains occurred, with an aptness which reminded the men of the Sixth corps of Sedgwick. When the column halted, two tents and two flies furnished the modest shelter allotted to the headquarters of the army ; 1 General Sherman, who was then investing Atlanta, telegraphed General Grant that day: " I am glad you have given General Sheridan command of the forces to defend Washington. He will worry Early to death." THE FIRST BRIGADE. 499 something of a contrast with the good old McClellan days, when the headquarters tents and baggage filled sixty six-mule wagons. In the movement of the army across the Potomac, the Sixth corps was brought by railroad from Monocacy Junc- tion; and as it once more passed through Harper's Ferry the men adopted for it the title of "Harper's Weekly." CHAPTEK XVIII. THE CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. (Jnder Sheridan in the Valley Strength and situation of the opposing armies Movement to the South Early reinforced Sheridan retires down the Valley Engagement at Charlestown The Vermont brigade holds the skirmish line against a Confederate division Casualties in the Vermont regiments Reconnoisance to Gilbert's Ford Visit from General Grant The battle of Winchester or the Opequon Part of the Vermont brigade The grand charge Losses of the brigade Battle of Fisher's Hill Colonel Warner carries Flint's Hill Crook'a flank movement Charge of Getty's and Ricketts's divisions, and flight of Early Three weeks of marching and manoeuvring The Sixth corps starts for Washington but returns to Cedar Creek Battle of Cedar Creek The surprise in the morning Gallant stand of Colonel Thomas and the Eighth Vermont Action of the Tenth Vermont The part of Getty's division and the Vermont brigade Arrival of Sheridan The grand advance of the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, and final charge of the cavalry Casualties of the Vermont brigade Close of the campaign Voting for President A month of rest at Kernstown Departure from the Valley. On the 9th of August, General Sheridan had concentrated about Halltown and within five miles of Harper's Ferry, the most effective Union army that had ever been assembled in the Valley. It consisted of the Sixth corps, reduced to less than 12,000 by its hard campaigning; a division of the Nineteenth corps, to which another division of that corps was soon added ; two divisions of Crook's army of West Vir- ginia ; and a cavalry corps of about 8,000 men. These gave him, with his artilbry, 36,000 men reported present for duty; and, after allowing for the various details for hospital attendants, teamsters, train-guards,