History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 10

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 10

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

in a movement to cut off Hancock's Corps (which had crossed the river below the ford) from the main army. To prevent this the Vermont and two other brigades were detached from the Sixth Corps. As the brigade came to the crossing of the " Brock" Road and the turnpike, they found the rebel advance driving the Union cavalry before them. The brigade was formed at the cross- ing and hastily threw up slight entrenchments. The order was then given to advance to the attack, a movement which the enemy was at the same time beginning. The two lines met in a thick wood, where little of either opposing force could be seen by the other, and the great battle of the Wilderness began. The Vermont Brigade held the key to the position and seemed to realize the fact. Unflinchingly they met and returned the galling fire of the enemy, while their ranks were rapidly thinning. Every assault was gallantly repulsed, notwithstanding every regimental commander in the brigade, except one, was either killed or wounded. A thousand brave officers and men fell in the brig- ade that day, and the living slept amidst the bloody horrors of the field. The fierce struggle was renewed on the morning of the 6th, the enemy having fallen back a short distance and slightly entrenched. Again and again during the day was the Vermont Brigade assaulted with the most determined vigor, but the heroic troops of the Green Mountain State were equal to every de- mand upon their bravery and, after signally repulsing the last attack, retired to the entrenchments they had thrown up on the Brock Road; late in the after- noon another desperate attack was made by the enemy upon this line, but this time they were again repulsed and defeated. On the morning of the 7th a strong skirmish line from the Sixth Regiment was sent out and drove back the enemy's skirmish line, revealing the fact that the main body of the rebels had fallen back. Soon after dark the flank movement towards Spottsylvania was begun. The brigade crossed the Rapidan on the 4th with 2,800 effective men ; the losses in the two days' fighting were 1,232, of which the Fifth Regiment lost twenty-eight killed, one hundred and seventy-nine wounded and seven- teen missing. Of the officers in this regiment Captains Alonzo R. Hurlburt, George D. Davenport and Charles J. Ormsbee, and Lieutenants Orvis H. Sweet and Watson O. Beach were either killed or wounded; Ormsbee and Sweet were both killed. Lieutenant-Colonel John R. Lewis, commanding the Fifth, was severely wounded. In the Sixth Colonel E. L. Barney, Captains Riley A. Bird and George C. Randall, and Lieutenant Albert A. Crane, were killed or died of their wounds.

During the whole of the night of the 7th of May the brigade was on the march, arriving at Chancellorsville the next morning; here they were detailed to guard the Sixth Corps train. About 4 o'clock P. M. they were ordered to the front; a forced march of four miles was made and the battlefield reached just before dark. The 9th was spent in fortifying the position of the brigade and on the 10th the skirmish line was advanced, driving back that of the ene-

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

my, the Fourth Regiment receiving high commendation for its conduct. Dur- ing the day the Second Regiment, the Fifth, under command of Major C. P. Dudley, and the Sixth (the whole under the command of Colonel Thomas O. Seaver) formed a part of the column which charged the enemy's works, the Vermont troops being in the rear line. The front lines were at first successful, capturing the works and many prisoners, but were driven back. The Vermont troops mentioned then advanced under a terrible fire and occupied the rebel works, the other regiments falling back. Orders were now given for all to fall back, but they failed to reach the Second Regiment, which refused to retire until they were positively ordered to do so. It was in this charge that the brave Major Dudley fell of wounds which caused his death. The brigade retained its position, constantly under fire, through the 11th of May, and early on the 12th moved with the corps to the left to co-operate with Hancock's corps. The latter had captured the enemy's works at that point, and the reb- els were engaged in a desperate attempt to retake them, when the Vermont Brigade marched into position under a heavy fire. Two lines were formed on the extreme left and skirmishers thrown out under a brisk fire. To quote from the report of the adjutant-general : "At this time the enemy were making the most determined effort to retake the line of woods carried by Hancock and now held by the Sixth Corps, the key of the position being at the angle in the center, and that being the point at which the most desperate attacks were made. Brigadier-General Grant, with the regiments of the second line, was ordered to the right to assist General Wheaton, and Colonel Seaver was left in command of the front line and the skirmishers. General Wheaton with his brigade was endeavoring to advance through thick brush, and in face of a deadly fire from the enemy's rifle-pits, and the Vermont regiments moved up promptly to his support, the Fourth Regiment taking and holding the front line. It was found impracticable to carry the enemy's works upon the right by a direct attack, and the enemy were gaining advantage in the center. Leaving the Fourth Regiment in its position, General Grant returned to the center, and being joined by Colonel Seaver with the residue of the brigade, the whole were put into the engagement, except the Sixth Regiment, which was held in reserve."

This was a critical point and a critical time for both armies, and the fight- ing was of the most desperate character ; the combatants were separated by a breastwork of logs and rails, and the conflict was practically hand to hand. The terrible struggle continued for eight hours, when the Vermont brigade was re- lieved ; the works were held, but the losses were heavy. The brigade camped for the night on the extreme right.

On the 13th the brigade, with small exception, was not actively engaged and took a position towards night on the left near the scene of its former strug- gle. During the 14th the Vermont brigade held the extreme left. On the

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

16th Colonel Seaver, with his regiment and one from Massachusetts, made a reconnoissance in the direction of Spottsylvania Court-House, gallantly driving in the enemy's skirmishers and accomplishing the duty to which he was as- signed. On the morning of the 18th the Second and Sixth Corps charged the enemy's works, advancing about half a mile under heavy artillery fire. The Vermont brigade held the front line for some time, when the whole were or- dered to fall back. Early on the morning of the 19th the brigade advanced with the corps about a mile and fortified its position, remaining there two days. At noon of the 21st the brigade moved about three-fourths of a mile to the rear, leaving a strong skirmish line in their works. Just before nightfall the enemy in strong force broke through this skirmish line and Colonel Seaver was ordered out with his regiment to re-establish it; the task was gallantly per- formed. That night the corps marched towards Guinness's Station. The total losses of the Fifth Regiment from the time of the crossing of the Rapidan to this date were thirty-eight killed, two hundred and twenty-nine wounded and fifty- one missing - a total of three hundred and eighteen. The losses in the brig- ade were 1,650, more than one-half of the entire force that crossed the river.

On the 15th of May the brigade was joined by the IIth Vermont Regi- ment, which had been mustered into the service September 1, 1862, and con- stituted the First Regiment of Vermont Heavy Artillery after December 10, 1863.

The Eleventh Regiment .- In the Eleventh Regiment Company B was raised principally in Shoreham and near-by western towns, by Captain Charles Hunsdon, and there were many enlistments from other towns, as will appear on a later page of statistics. The regiment was first mustered in on the Ist of September, 1862, and the original members mustered out June 24, 1865. By special order of the War Department of December 10, 1862, the regiment was changed to heavy artillery, and was attached to the Vermont Brigade on the 15th of May, 1864.

Those men from Addison county who held commissions in Company B were : Captain Charles Hunsdon, of Shoreham; First Lieutenants Aldace F. Walker, then of Middlebury, George G. Howe, of Shoreham, and Walter S. Jones, of Shoreham ; Second Lieutenants Charles H. Smith, of Addison, George G. Howe, of Shoreham, Edward B. Parker, of Middlebury, Wm. W. Gage, of Monkton, Cyrus Thomas, of Weybridge, and Philo S. Severance, of Mid- dlebury. Records of the services of these officers will be found at the close of the chapter.

A few words as to the career of the Eleventh Regiment previous to its as- sociation with the Second Brigade: After its muster it left Brattleboro and was first stationed at Fort Lincoln, near Bladensburg, Va., in the northern de- fenses of Washington for about two months. It was then (December 10, 1862) transferred to the Heavy Artillery branch of the service and occupied Forts

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

Stevens, Slocum and Totten, near Silver Spring, D. C. Two additional com- panies (L and M) were recruited for the regiment in 1863, giving the regiment one thousand eight hundred men. It performed duty in that vicinity, without memorable incident, until May, 1864, when it was assigned to the Vermont Brigade, as stated.

Again returning to the general history of the brigade in which Addison county volunteers acted such honorable part, it started on the night of the 2Ist of May, 1864, from Spottsylvania and by arduous marches reached first Guinness's Station ; thence marched to Harris's Store on the 22d ; to the North Anna River on the 23d; crossed the river on the 24th, and two days later ad- vanced to Little River, destroying the railroad at that point; on the night of the 25th they recrossed the North Anna and marched in the mud to Chester- field Station on the Fredericksburgh railroad ; continued the march on the 26th, and on the 27th crossed the Pamunkey River three miles above Hanover Town and moved to the right two miles towards Hanover Court-House, where they remained entrenched two days. On the 29th the brigade marched to a new position on the Tolopotamy River where they remained two days, Major Cham- berlain's battalion of the Eleventh Regiment being engaged in skirmishing nearly the whole of one day.

On the Ist of June the brigade marched to Cold Harbor and participated in the attack on the enemy, holding the extreme left, the Fifth Regiment be- ing in support of a battery. A charge was made by the Second Regiment and Major Fleming's battalion and Captain Sears's company of the Eleventh, under a destructive fire, displaying great gallantry. On the following day the division containing this brigade held a portion of the enemy's works which had been captured, under a destructive fire. In the general attack on the enemy on the 3d, the Third and Fifth Regiments were in the front line of battle and greatly exposed ; their losses were heavy. During the night the Third and Fifth Regiments and two battalions of the Eleventh, under Colonel Seaver, re- lieved a portion of the front line. The casualties in the Fifth, from the 21st of May to the 5th of June, were eight killed, twenty-two wounded, one miss- ing; in the Eleventh thirteen killed, one hundred and twenty-one wounded. Captain Merrill T. Samson, of the Fifth, Lieutenant Hiram C. Bailey, of the Second, and Lieutenant Henry C. Miller, of the Third, fell in the engagement on the 3d. From the 3d of June to the IIth the brigade held the front line at two important points, and on the evening of the 12th moved back to a new line of works a mile in the rear, leaving the Fourth Regiment in the front as skirmishers, and about midnight started on the march for Petersburg. For twelve days the brigade had been under almost incessant fire, evincing the most heroic bravery and almost marvelous endurance. Major Richard B. Crandall, of the Sixth Regiment, a gallant young officer, fell on the 7th. From the 4th to the 10th of June the Fifth Regiment lost three wounded and the Eleventh two killed and seventeen wounded.

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

Regarding the conduct of the Eleventh Regiment, which was new to active service in the field, it is but just to quote from the reports of Brigadier-General Grant, who said : "Special mention ought to be made of the officers and men of the Eleventh for their gallant bearing in the charge of May 18. This was the first time they had been under fire, but they exhibited the coolness and noble bearing of the 'Vermonters,' and fairly stood beside the veteran regiments of the old brigade."

June 13 the brigade crossed the Chickahominy after a march of twenty-four miles, and encamped. The march was resumed next day and on the 17th they occupied the rebel works near Petersburg which had been captured. During the day the enemy was attacked in his new position and driven back, the Sec- ond and Fifth Regiments holding the skirmish line. The lines at Petersburg were held under heavy artillery fire until the evening of the 20th, when the brigade was moved to the left, relieving a division of the Second Corps. From the IIth to the 20th of June the Fifth Regiment lost two men killed and wounded and the Eleventh five. On the evening of June 21 the Sixth Corps was moved six miles to the entire left of the army, and on the night of the 22d the Vermont Brigade took position about a mile from the Weldon Railroad. The 23d was occupied in the destruction of the road, during which the enemy made an attack from the woods on the right and closing on the rear of the Fourth Regiment and Major Fleming's battalion, cut them off. A desperate fight ensued and the men surrendered only when driven to the last extremity. Captain William C. Tracy, of the Fourth, and Merritt H. Sherman, of Major A. F. Walker's battalion of the Eleventh Regiment, were killed during the day. Between the 20th and the 26th of June the Eleventh Regiment lost nine killed and twenty-seven wounded, with two hundred and sixty-three reported missing.

On the 29th of June the Vermont Brigade led the advance of the Sixth Corps to Reams's Station on the Weldon Railroad. After one day out they occu- pied their former position until July 8, when they marched to City Point and on the 9th embarked for Washington. On the 13th the brigade marched to Poolesville, Maryland, where the rear guard of the enemy was overtaken and routed; thence they marched to Snicker's Gap and on the 23d returned to the capital. On the 26th they again left Washington for Harper's Ferry, go- ing into camp on Bolivar Heights on the night of the 29th. On the 30th they returned to Frederick City, Md. This was Sunday and Major Aldace F. Walker, in his admirable little book on The Vermont Brigade in the Shenandoah Valley, says: "It was the hardest day's march we ever made. The heat was in- tense; the day was the very hottest of all the season; the clouds of dust were actually blinding; the pace almost a gallop; the poor men struggled bravely, ambulances were crowded, shady spots covered with exhausted soldiers, men falling out of the ranks at every rod, overpowered by the heat and positively

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

unable to proceed; actual cases of sunstroke by the score and by the hundred ; a great scarcity of water; but no halt or chance for rest until towards night we reached Frederick City." No more vivid and truthful picture could be drawn in a few words of a forced march under a southern sun.

August 5 the brigade proceeded to Harper's Ferry and up the Shenan- doah Valley to Strasburgh, where in a skirmish the Second Regiment lost two men on the 14th. The 16th the brigade returned to Charlestown, Va., remain- ing until the 2Ist when they were attacked by the enemy. The brigade was. subjected to a destructive fire from 9 A. M. until dark. The loss of the Fifth Regiment was six killed and wounded and in the Eleventh thirty-two, includ- ing the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel George E. Chamberlain, who was wounded early in the day, while bravely leading his battalion, and died soon afterward. In the report of Colonel J. M. Warner, in command of the Eleventh, he pays high tribute of praise to Captain A. Brown, jr., of the Fifth, and Major Aldace F. Walker of the Eleventh, as well as to many others in the brigade.

The brigade lay at Harper's Ferry from the 22d to the 29th of August, when it moved to Charlestown, remaining in that vicinity until September 19, making in the mean time a reconnoissance to the Opequan River, where a slight skirmish was had. On the 19th the brigade crossed the Opequan in early morning and went into position under heavy shelling on the Winchester pike. In front was a section of rolling country, the crests being held by the enemy, so as to command the valleys through which our forces must pass to the at- tack. The advance was therefore made rapidly over the crest in face of a gall- ing musketry fire, and the enemy was driven back in confusion. About one o'clock the brigade was compelled to fall back half a mile, having suffered severely. About 3 P. M. the entire line again advanced. The Vermont Brig- ade was exposed from the time when they reached within a mile of Winchester to a heavy musketry fire in front and an enfilading fire from a battery on the left. More than two hundred prisoners were captured by the brigade. The casualties in this engagement were two hundred and fifty-six total, twenty-two of which in killed and wounded occurred in the Fifth Regiment, and eighty- five in the Eleventh, fifty-one in the Sixth, twenty-six in the Third, and thirty- two in the Second. Captain Charles Buxton and Lieutenant Dennis Duhigg of the Eleventh were killed ; both excellent officers and recently promoted, the former to major and the latter to a captain.

The brigade participated in the engagement at Fisher's Hill on the 2 Ist and 22d, and at Mount Jackson on the 23d. October I they were in camp at Harrisonburgh, and on the 5th moved to Newmarket; the 6th to Woodstock; on the 7th to Strasburgh; on the 10th to near Fort Royal; on the 13th to Milltown, and on the 14th to Middletown. On the 19th of October the army lay upon the easterly side of Cedar Creek, the Sixth Corps on the right, and the Vermont Brigade holding the extreme right, except one brigade. At day-

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

break the enemy attacked in strong force on the left; the Sixth Corps was moved to that part of the line and formed nearly at right angles to its former position, there being now but one brigade on the left of the Vermont. Before the troops could take position Major Walker's battalion of the Eleventh Regi- ment and the Fifth and Sixth Regiments, under command of Major Johnson of the Second, were thrown forward as skirmishers and drove in the rebel skir- mish line. The brigade then advanced with the division and were soon en- gaged in a desperate struggle, checking for a time the impetuous advance of the enemy. About this time the right gave way and the division fell back a short distance, the Vermont Brigade in the center, the First Brigade, under Colonel Warner of the Eleventh Regiment, the right, and the Third Brigade the left. Upon this line the enemy made a desperate attack, the brunt of which fell on the Vermont Brigade. General Ricketts, commanding the corps, being wounded, and General Getty, who commanded the Second Division, taking his place, General Grant assumed command of the division and Lieutenant-Colo- nel Tracy, of the Second Vermont, who was then the ranking officer in the brigade, took command of the brigade. Again the enemy assaulted the lines and were repulsed with great loss, and the left of the brigade suffered severely. The persistent and gallant resistance of the Sixth Corps, of which the brigade was a part, gave opportunity for proper preparations for the final stand in the engagement. Up to that time the tide had been against the Union forces, and the losses had been very heavy. The enemy now made a most determined attack, the Eighth and Sixth Corps receiving the heaviest of it; the whole line soon gave way and was pressed backward toward Newtown.

At this crisis General Sheridan made his memorable appearance on the field. Riding down the pike he halted in front of the Second Brigade and asked what troops they were. "The Sixth Corps !" "The Vermont Brigade !" was shouted simultaneously from the ranks. " Then we are all right !" he ex- claimed, and swinging his hat over his head he rode away to the right amid the shouts of the men. Upon his return General Wright took command of the Sixth Corps, General Getty of the Second Division and General Grant of the Vermont Brigade. During the remainder of the engagement the Vermont Brigade shared in the heaviest of the fighting, holding a position much of the time far in advance of the other troops, until the enemy was finally driven back and across Cedar Creek, their lines entirely broken up. Reaching Cedar Creek, the infantry was reorganized, and there also the Vermont Brigade, after a pur- suit of the retreating enemy a distance of three miles, was found in advance of the remainder of the troops. The casualties in this engagement were two killed and seventeen wounded in the Fifth Regiment; nine killed and seventy-four wounded in the Eleventh; three killed and thirty-one wounded in the Second Regiment; three killed and thirty-eight wounded in the Third Regiment. Among the killed was Lieutenant Oscar Lee, of the Eleventh. Colonel Amasa

HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.

S. Tracy and Lieutenant Edward P. Lee were among the wounded and Lieu- tenant Thomas Kavanagh, of the Fifth.

The brigade moved to Strasburgh on the 2Ist of October and remained until the 9th of November; thence to Newtown and thence on the 10th to Kearnstown, where they performed picket duty until December 9. They were then transported to Washington and thence to City Point; thence to Mead's Station, and on the 13th moved out on the Squirrel Level Road to works previously occupied by the Fifth Corps. Here the brigade went into winter quarters, but the picket duty was very severe. On the 25th of March the corps charged upon Fort Fisher, capturing nearly the whole of the enemy's picket line. The losses were not severe.

On the 2d day of April the Vermont Brigade was hotly engaged in the final struggle which resulted in the evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. In the night of the Ist the brigade moved out from camp and took position near the skirmish line entrenchments which had been captured from the enemy a few days earlier. The Second Divison was in the center of the Sixth Corps and the Vermont Brigade on the left of the division. At one o'clock the corps was in position and lay down to await the attack. About two o'clock a heavy fire was opened along the entire skirmish line, which was vigorously replied to by the enemy. During this fire Brevet Major-General L. A. Grant was wounded, and the command of the brigade devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Tracy, of the Second Regiment. At the signal agreed upon the brigade moved out of the entrenchments and pressed forward toward the enemy's line, driving in their skirmishers; then with a cheer the command charged forward towards the enemy's works, five hundred yards distant. When half the dis- tance was passed they were assailed by a heavy rain of musket balls, with an enfilading artillery fire from the forts on either hand. The line wavered mo- mentarily, but again pushed on under a terrific fire, all vieing with each other in the race to be first at the works. The enemy could not withstand the as- sault and fled ; two earthworks, one on the right of a ravine, containing four guns, and the other on the left with two guns, were captured. The honor of being the first to break the enemy's line was awarded to the Vermont Brigade, and Captain Charles G. Gould is said to have been the first man of the Sixth Corps to mount the enemy's works. His regiment was in the first line of the brigade and in the charge he was far in advance of his command. Upon mounting the works he was severely wounded in the face by a bayonet thrust and was struck. by clubbed muskets; but he slew the man who wielded the bayonet and retired only when his command had come to his assistance and the rebels were routed. Beyond the works the brigade was halted briefly to re-form, and then the pursuit of the flying enemy continued for about four miles to near Hatcher's Run - a charge that must go down into history as one of the most brilliant and successful of the war. Nothing could withstand the on-

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

ward-pressing troops. Brevet-Major Elijah Wales, of the Second Regiment, with two men captured a piece of artillery, and turning it on the enemy, fired a charge which the rebels had placed in the gun. Major William J. Sperry, of the Sixth, and Lieutenant George A. Bailey, of the Eleventh, with a few men, captured two guns and turned them on the routed enemy. Captain George G. Tilden, of the Eleventh, with about a dozen men, captured two pieces, eleven commissioned officers and sixty-two men of the Forty-second Mississippi. Sergeant Lester G. Hack, of Company F, Fifth Regiment, charged a squad of rebels surrounding a stand of colors, knocked down the bearer and captured the flag. Corporal Charles W. Dolloff, Company K, Eleventh Regiment, also captured a stand of colors; and there were too many deeds of individual heroism to mention here. About nine o'clock A. M. the brigade moved back along the line of works to a point about three miles south of Petersburg and formed in line of battle with the' Eleventh on the right, the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth and Fourth Regiments on its left, in the order named. An advance was made and a battery of artillery captured in the yard of the Turnbrell House, where General Lee had his headquarters. Captain Robert Templeton, with a squad of men of the Eleventh, was conspicuous in planning and executing the feat. That night the brigade established its head- quarters at the Turnbrell House; the last stand of the enemy before Peters- burg was ended. The casualties among the Rutland county men were six killed and thirty-four wounded in the Fifth Regiment, and five killed and forty-five wounded in the Eleventh. Among the killed was Lieutenant George O. French, of the Eleventh, who fell in the first assault, and Charles C. Morey, of the Second. Major-General Meade, in his official report, speaks of the gal- lant attack of the Sixth Corps, on the 2d of April, as " the decisive movement of the campaign." Petersburg was evacuated that afternoon and Richmond the next morning.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 10

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 988

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 988