During the American Civil War, the State of Vermont gave strong support to the Union war effort, raising troops and money. According to Rachel Cree Sherman:[1]
By the spring of 1865 Vermont was devastated, having sent one tenth of its entire population to war, with a loss of over 5,000 lives to battle, wounds, and disease. The state had dedicated nearly $10 million to support the conflict, half of that amount offered up by towns with no expectation of recompense.
Background
Civil War envelope showing Vermont state seal with message "Loyal"
The second article in Vermont's constitution, originally written in 1777, abolished slavery, making it the first state to do so. Although its climate was not conducive to the slave trade, Vermonters were early participants in the abolitionist movement. In the 1860 presidential election, Vermont gave Republican Abraham Lincolna lopsided victory, 33,808 votes compared to 8,649 for Stephen Douglas, 1,866 for John Bell, and 217 for John C. Breckinridge. Lincoln would win 75.86% of the vote in the state, making Vermont his strongest victory in popular vote percentage.[2] One historian opined that the heavy rain on election day "reduced the Republican majority by at least 7,000" votes.[3]
In the closing days of 1860, in response to a pro-Southern resolution by Representative Albert Rust of Arkansas, Vermont Representative Justin S. Morrill offered an amendment, "Resolved, That in the opinion of this committee, the existing discontent among the Southern people and the growing hostility to the Federal Government, are greatly to be regretted, and that any reasonable, proper and constitutional remedy necessary to preserve the peace of the country, and the perpetuity of the Union, should be promptly and cheerfully grant." His amendment was rejected by a large majority, and Congress and the Union continued its downward spiral toward disunion.[4]
During the war, three men served as Governor of Vermont; Erastus Fairbanks, Frederick Holbrook and J. Gregory Smith. Fairbanks reportedly responded to the Federal Government's response for troops with "Vermont will do its Full Duty." Under his administration, Vermont fielded six infantry and one cavalry regiments. Governor Holbrook's administration saw the recruitment of 10 infantry regiments, 2 light artillery batteries, and 3 sharpshooter companies. Under his administration, as well, Vermont built three military hospitals in the state which were "soon credited by the United States medical inspector with perfecting a larger percentage of cures than any United States military hospital record elsewhere could show."[5] Governor Smith oversaw the recruitment of Vermont's last infantry regiment, a third light artillery battery, and, as a result of a Confederate raid on his hometown, St. Albans, two companies of frontier cavalry.
The state sent more than 34,000 to serve, out of a total population of about 350,000 citizens.[6] More than 28,100 Vermonters served in Vermont volunteer units. Vermont fielded 17 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 3 light artillery batteries, 1 heavy artillery company, 3 companies of sharpshooters, and 2 companies of frontier cavalry. Instead of replacing units as they were depleted, Vermont regularly provided recruits to bring the units in the field back up to normal strength. With the nation's oldest senior military college, Norwich University, located in Vermont, the state provided the Union with numerous officers.
Vermonters suffered a total of 1,832 men killed or mortally wounded in battle; another 3,362 died of disease, in prison or from other causes, for a total loss of 5,194. More than 2,200 Vermonters were taken prisoner during the war, and 615 of them died in or as a result of their imprisonment.
Historian Howard Coffin claimed that the state's most important contribution to the war was at the Battle of the Wilderness where the Vermont Brigade held the crucial intersection of two roads, the loss of which would have split the Union forces in half. 1,200 Vermonters died. They also played a crucial role at the Battle of Gettysburg, where, under General George J. Stannard, the 2nd Vermont Brigade broke Pickett's charge by stepping out of a protected area and firing at the flank of the attackers.[6]
General Winfield Scott, learning that a regiment of Green Mountain Boys (the 1st Vermont Infantry) was awaiting orders, said "I want your Vermont regiments, all of them. I have not forgotten the Vermont men on the Niagara frontier... I remember the Vermont men in the War of 1812."[7]
At the Battle of the Wilderness, Vermont experienced its worst day of the war; 1,000 men were killed or wounded from the 1st Vermont Brigade alone. One in eight of the casualties resulting in the battle was by this brigade, which was one of 32 brigades on the Union side.[10]
Vermont fielded three companies of sharpshooters, which served with Hiram Berdan in the two U.S. Sharpshooter regiments.
After the St. Albans raid on October 19, 1864, Vermont fielded two companies of Frontier Cavalry, who spent six months on the Canada–US border to prevent further incursions from Confederate raiders.
Sixty-four Vermonters received the Medal of Honor, including Willie Johnston, the youngest person ever to receive the award.
Notable Civil War leaders from Vermont
Statue of General William Wells in Battery Park in Burlington, Vermont
St. Albans, Vermont, is the site of the northernmost land action in the Civil War, the St. Albans Raid. On October 19, 1864, Confederate raiders, under the command of Lieutenant Bennett H. Young, robbed three banks, escaped to Canada, were captured, and put on trial. The Canadian courts decided they were acting under military orders and they could not be extradited back to the United States without Canada violating her neutrality.
Most Vermont towns have a monument in memory of the soldiers who participated in the Civil War. Decades after the war, the upland hillsides of the state were littered with the cellar holes of long-gone farmhouses from farms that had been abandoned because all the family's sons had been killed in the Civil War.
There are several facilities in the state that have significant collections of manuscripts and archives of the war, including the Vermont State House, the Vermont Historical Society, University of Vermont Howe Library, the Bennington Museum, the Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library, Norwich University Sullivan Museum and special collections, and the State of Vermont Public Records Division.
The First Vermont Brigade, or "Old Brigade" was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. It suffered the highest casualty count of any brigade in the history of the United States Army, with some 1,172 killed in action.
George Jerrison Stannard was a Vermont farmer, teacher, government official and Union general in the American Civil War.
Lewis Addison Grant was a teacher, lawyer, soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and later United States Assistant Secretary of War. He was among the leading officers from the state of Vermont, and received the Medal of Honor for "personal gallantry and intrepidity."
William W. Wells, Jr. was a businessman, politician, and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War who received a Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg.
The 3rd Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three-years infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, from July 1861 to July 1865. It was a member of the Vermont Brigade.
The 2nd Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, from June 1861 to July 1865. It was a member of the famous Vermont Brigade.
Charles Bradley Stoughton was an officer and regimental commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 4th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three year' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, from September 1861 to July 1865. It was a member of the Vermont Brigade.
The 2nd Vermont Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.
The 12th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to July 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
The 14th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
Edwin Henry Stoughton was appointed a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, but his appointment expired after it was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Four days later, on March 8, 1863, he was captured by Confederate partisan ranger John S. Mosby while asleep at his headquarters in the Virginia village of Fairfax Court House. The incident became well known, and Stoughton became an object of ridicule as a result. He was included in a prisoner exchange two months later but resigned his commission after he was not reappointed as a brigadier general.
George Perkins Foster was a school teacher, Colonel and brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and then a United States Marshal.
The 16th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
The 13th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a nine months' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the Defenses of Washington, from October 1862 to August 1863. It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade.
The 6th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at Montpelier and mustered in October 15, it served in the Army of the Potomac (AoP). It departed Vermont for Washington, DC, October 19, 1861. It served in the Eastern Theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, AoP, from October 1861 to June 1865. It was a part of the Vermont Brigade.
The 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment was a three years' cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater from November 1861 to August 1865, in the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac.
The following list is a Bibliography of American Civil War Union military unit histories. More details on each book are available at WorldCat.
Stephen F. Brown was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War. He became famous for entering the Battle of Gettysburg armed only with a camp hatchet. He soon acquired a sword and pistol from a Confederate he took prisoner. Brown distinguished himself in battle and aiding other soldiers.
References
Benedict, G. G., 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. Burlington, VT.: The Free Press Association, 1888.
Crockett, Walter Hill, Vermont The Green Mountain State, New York: The Century History Company, Inc., 1921.
Fox, William F., Regimental Losses In The American Civil War 1861–1865. Albany: Albany Publishing Company. 1889.
Lane, E. H., The soldiers' record of Jericho, Vermont. Burlington, VT.: R.S. Styles, 1868.
Peck, Theodore S., compiler, Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and lists of Vermonters Who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion, 1861–66. Montpelier, VT.: Press of the Watchman Publishing Co., 1892.
Notes
↑ Rachel Cree Sherman, "St. Johnsbury Puts the Civil War to Rest." Vermont History 76.1 (2008) p. 64.
↑ Walter Hill Crockett, Vermont The Green Mountain State, (The Century History Company, Inc., New York, 1921), iii:491.
↑ Walter Hill Crockett, Vermont The Green Mountain State, (The Century History Company, Inc., New York, 1921), iii:496
↑ Nancy E. Boone and Michael Sherman, "Designed to Cure: Civil War Hospitals in Vermont," Vermont History, Winter 2001, 69:174
1 2 Gresser, Joseph (September 21, 2011). "The Vermonters fire forced the South's retreat". the Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. p.13.
↑ Benedict, G. G., 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, Burlington, VT.: The Free Press Association, 1888, i:33-34
↑ Starr, Tena (May 7, 2014). "Two who died at Wilderness battle honored". The Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. pp.16A, 17A.
Further reading
Benedict, G. G. 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. Burlington, Vt.: Free Press Association, 1886.
Coffin, Howard, Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War. Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1995;
Coffin, Howard, Nine Months to Gettysburg. The Vermonters Who Broke Pickett's Charge. Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1997;
Coffin, Howard, The Battered Stars: One State's Civil War Ordeal during Grant's Overland Campaign. Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 2002.
Collea Jr, Joseph D. The First Vermont Cavalry in the Civil War: A History (McFarland, 2010).
Cox, Christopher. History of Vermont Civil War Regiments: Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry (2013) online
Fuller, James. Men of Color, to Arms!: Vermont African-Americans in the Civil War (2001). extracts
Link, Kenneth. "Potomac Fever: The Hazards of Camp Life," Vermont History (1983) 51#2, pp 69–88
McClaughry, John. "John Wolcott Phelps: The Civil War General Who Became A Forgotten Presidential Candidate In 1880." Vermont History 38 (1970): 264-285 online.
Poirier, Robert G., By the Blood of our Alumni: Norwich University Citizen-Soldiers in the Army of the Potomac. (Mason City, IA: Savas Publishing Co., 1999).
Sherman, Rachel Cree. "St. Johnsbury Puts the Civil War to Rest." Vermont History 76.1 (2008) pp 63-66. online.
Smith, John David. "The Health of Vermont's Civil War Recruits." The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society 43.3 (1975): 185-192.
Wickman, Don. "We Are Coming Father Abra'am," The History of the 9th Vermont Volunteer Infantry 1862–1865. (Lynchburg, VA: Schroeder Publications, 2005).
Winks, Robin W. The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 1998); Confederates raided Vermont from Canada. online
Zeller, Paul G. The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861–1865. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2002.
Zeller, Paul G. Williamstown, Vermont in the Civil War (2011) excerpt
Historiography and memory
Miller, Richard F. ed. States at War, Volume 1: A Reference Guide for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the Civil War (2013) excerpt
Primary sources
Abbott, Lemuel Abijah. Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864 (Createspace Independent Pub, 1908) online.
Dornbusch, C. E., Regimental Publications & Personal Narratives of the Civil War., Vol I Northern States, Part 2 New England: The New York Public Library, 1962.
Dyer, Frederick Henry, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. New York: T. Yoseloff, 1908. 3 vol.
George, Charles, Herbert George, and Jere George. "Bully for the Band!": The Civil War Letters and Diary of Four Brothers in the 10th Vermont Infantry Band (McFarland, 2012).
Davis, James A. "More Work Than Play: Insights from the Letters of J. Herbert George, Civil War Musician." Journal of American Culture 26.4 (2003): 464+; from 10th Vermont regiment. online
Marshall, Jeffrey D. A war of the people: Vermont Civil War letters (UPNE, 1999).
Ripley, Edward Hastings. Vermont General: The Unusual War Experiences of Edward Hastings Ripley (1862-1865) (1960)
Rosenblatt, Emil & Ruth. 1992. Hard Marching Every Day: The Civil War Letters of Private Wilbur Fisk 1861–1865. University Press of Kansas. ISBN0-7006-0529-0
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