USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 45
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Following is the record of the officers in the regiment who were from this county : Wyllys Lyman, of Burlington, adjutant, August 8, 1862; severely wounded October 19, 1864 ; major, January 2, 1865 ; commissioned lieutenant- colonel June 15, 1865.
James M. Read, Burlington, went out as private in Company D, and was promoted to sergeant September 1, 1862, and to second lieutenant June 17, 1864; wounded October 19, 1864; promoted first lieutenant Company E De- cember 19, 1864; brevet captain for gallantry in the assault on Petersburg April 2, 1865 ; commissioned adjutant January 2, 1865 ; died from wounds April 2, 1865.
Giles F. Appleton, Burlington, commissioned captain Company D August 5, 1862 ; resigned January 26, 1863.
Samuel Darrah, Burlington, first lieutenant Company D August 5, 1862 ; commissioned captain January 26, 1863 ; killed near Cold Harbor, Va., June 6, 1864.
George E. Davis, Burlington, second lieutenant Company D August 5, 1862 ; promoted first lieutenant January 26, 1863; wounded September 19, 1864 and October 19, 1864; commissioned captain November 2, 1864.
Henry C. Irish, Burlington, went as private in Company D, and was pro- moted corporal September 1, 1862, and first sergeant January 1, 1864; wounded severely September 19, 1864; commissioned second lieutenant December 19, 1864; discharged May 9, 1865, for wounds.
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The Tenth Regment proceeded to Washington, arriving on the 8th of Sep- tember, and the next day occupied Camp Chase on Arlington Heights. There is little that we feel called upon to record in our limited space, of the work of the regiment during its first winter, excepting that it passed through a period of sickness from which many of the men suffered severely.
On the 24th of June the regiment moved to Harper's Ferry and went into camp on Maryland Heights. June 30 this position was evacuated and the regiment marched to Frederick, Md., and during the battle of Gettysburg lay at Monocacy Bridge (July 1-3), and on the 9th joined the Army of the Po- tomac. Severe marches of several days brought the regiment to Sharpsburgh, the last day's tramp being in a burning sun which left scarcely a battalion in the brigade when it came to a halt. More severe marches followed, and on the 26th of July the regiment reached Warrenton and a halt of five days was made in that vicinity. Beginning with August 1, the regiment lay for five weeks near the famous sulphur springs of Virginia, with light duties. On the 7th of September the Third Corps was reviewed by General Meade. Septem- ber 13 the brigade crossed the Rapidan, but Meade's contemplated battle was postponed, and the command was again idle twenty-three days.
The active movements, though not of great importance, which occurred from this time to the 19th of October, need not be detailed here ; on that date, while Lee had begun his retreat along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the brigade was in pursuit. The railroad was destroyed for thirty miles ; but the Tenth aided in its energetic reconstruction, and on the 19th it was done and the rebel army was faced by the Union forces on the Rappahannock. The enemy was again driven, the Tenth doing duty in support of artillery ; after dark the corps crossed the Rappahannock and the next morning advanced up the river, continuing the next day to Culpepper. From the 14th of Novem- ber for one week the regiment remained here.
On the 26th the whole army was again on the move, and the Tenth Regi- ment crossed the Rapidan. The next day was fought the engagement at Or- ange Grove. In this battle the Tenth bore a conspicuous part; it was, more- over, its first real engagement, which renders its conduct still more admirable. A brilliant charge to dislodge the enemy posted behind a fence was made by the Tenth, which was especially complimented in subsequent orders. Colonel Jewett, Major Charles G. Chandler and Captain Samuel Darrah were personally mentioned for bravery.
On the following night the army was headed toward the Rapidan, and the Tenth Regiment was placed on picket far toward the front. Here they lay until two o'clock of the morning of December 2, when they cautiously crept away to escape the shots of the rebel sharpshooters who were near at hand. On the same day a march of twenty-three miles was made to Brandy Station. Here the regiment lay through the winter without especial incident. About the mid-
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
dle of March the Third Corps was broken up and the Tenth Regiment became a part of the First Brigade, Third Division in the Sixth Corps. Most of the members were satisfied with the change, as it would associate them, although in another division, with the famous " Vermont Brigade." The other regiments of the new brigade were the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania, the One Hundred and Sixth New York, the One Hundred and First New York, and the Four- teenth New Jersey.
On the 25th of April Colonel Jewett resigned, much to the regret of the regiment, and a few days later, on the 4th of May, began the movement which opened the great battles of the wilderness. From this date until the 18th, through the Wilderness fight and at Spottsylvania, the regiment was under fire every day, and yet its losses from surrounding circumstances were compara- tively small. On the second day of the battle the First Brigade was held in reserve ; one officer and six men were killed in the brigade and twenty-one taken prisoners, and not a gun fired by them. This is one of the severest tests of the soldier's courage. During the three days' fighting the regiment lost only three killed and nine wounded; but its services were none the less im- portant.
In the first three days at Spottsylvania the position of the Third Division was on the right of the corps, on a crest from which their line extended into a valley, and although constantly under fire, the losses were not heavy. On the IIth the Tenth Regiment was placed on the skirmish line. On the 12th the corps was moved to the left to support General Hancock in his famous as- sault, but was held in reserve, and the losses were not heavy - twenty-three killed and 133 wounded during the entire action. On the morning of the 13th the Third Division took its old position on the right, and on the following day the corps was moved around to the extreme left of the army. A charge was made by the First Brigade at dusk on the 4th, the men wading the Ny River to their arm-pits, and gallantly carrying the crest of a hill which had been stub- bornly held by the rebels against a brigade of the First Division. From that time until the 2Ist the brigade was not brought into serious collision with the enemy, and then while withdrawing from the works to cross the North Anna, the First and Second Divisions were struck on the flank and a number of pris- oners captured ; the rebels were quickly driven into retreat.
At Cold Harbor on the Ist and 3d of June the Tenth Regiment and its immediate associates were engaged and suffered severely. In the engagement the First Brigade was on the left of the division. The advance at this point was made through a belt of pine woods where the enemy had erected slight works. Sergeant, afterward Captain, S. H. Lewis, of the Tenth, sprang over these works and single-handed captured a major, a lieutenant and several men; and later the regiment captured the entire Fifty-first North Carolina Regi- ment. On the 3d of June, in the general assault on the rebel line, the Tenth
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suffered severely ; on the 6th Captain Samuel Darrah, of Burlington, was killed by a sharpshooter. In these engagements the regiment lost 27 killed and 140 wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry was wounded on the Ist and the com- mand of the regiment devolved upon Major Charles G. Chandler. Lieutenants Ezra Stetson and Charles G. Newton were killed on the Ist, and on the 3d Captain Edwin B. Frost was killed.
The Tenth had now acquired the experience of veterans and had uniformly acquitted itself with honor, as shown by the published reports. At sundown on the 13th the regiment crossed the Chickahominy and on the 15th embarked on transports for City Point; without disembarking there they proceeded to Bermuda Hundreds, arriving on the 16th. Here a position was occupied in rear of Butler's fortified line. On the 19th of June the regiment crossed the Appomattox and moved around to the rear of Petersburg. On the 22d and 23d they took part in the well-known raid on the Weldon Railroad, but with- out loss, and on the 6th of July the Third Division was detached from the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac and ordered to Harper's Ferry, to meet the rebel advance into Maryland. The division went via City Point and Baltimore and at eight o'clock of the 9th was at Monocacy Junction, where it shared in the battle that ensued. In this engagement, the details of which are too lengthy for these pages, the Tenth was actively engaged and lost 4 killed and 26 wounded. The night of the 9th the regiment marched to New Market, where it joined the division, and the next day was sent to the Relay House, and on the IIth to Baltimore.
On the 14th of July the regiment took the railroad for Washington and the next day marched on through Georgetown, crossed the Potomac on the 16th and camped on the Leesburg pike. On the evening of the 17th the regiment joined the remainder of the Sixth Corps and the next day marched through Snicker's Gap and reached the Shenandoah River. The 20th the rebels on the opposite side of the river having disappeared, the regiment crossed and the same night reforded the stream and started for Washington and thence to Harper's Ferry. Another severe march brought the regiment to Frederick, where it remained to the 5th of August, when it moved to Monocacy Junction, where the Shenandoah valley campaign was inaugurated.
The movements in which the Tenth took part in the valley, up to the bat- tle of Winchester, cannot be followed in detail; they are matters of general history. The battle of Winchester was fought September 19. Orders reached this brigade on the 18th to be ready to march at a moment's notice, and early on the following morning the troops were on the move. In the engagement the Third Division was in the front line of battle, and in the onset were thrown into confusion and became mingled with the second, with which they then moved forward. The battle waged hot and at one time seemed lost, but Gen- eral Russell, with the First Division and Upton's Brigade, came up and
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charged the enemy on the flank, driving them back. General Russell was killed. At three o'clock the enemy had taken a new position near Winches- ter, where they were vigorously attacked by Crook's command, with Merritt's and Averill's divisions of cavalry on the flank, and the main army in front, with Sheridan cheering them on. A simultaneous charge was made in front, flank and rear, and the enemy broke and fled through the town in hopeless rout. Among the killed in the Tenth was Major Edwin Dillingham, a brave officer. Lieutenant Hill was wounded and died a few weeks later in hospital.
The engagement at Fisher's Hill followed closely on the 21st, 22d. Here the enemy was posted on the crest of the hill behind lines of works. On the evening of the 20th the Sixth Corps filed into the woods north of Strasburgh and lay there over night ; the 21st was spent in reconnoitering the position. The next day the Third Division formed the extreme right of the army ; Sheri- dan's line covered a mile and a half in length, but was not continuous ; thus the opposing armies confronted each other on the morning of the 22d. Gen- eral Crook was sent on a flank movement, to cover which the Third Division was swung out from the right, cleared away the rebel skirmishers and formed a line threatening their flank. The following narration of the actual incidents. of the engagement is from Chaplain Haynes's history of the regiment :
"Say now it is four o'clock. Crook has toiled with his command westward up the steep side of the Blue Ridge, and then moved south far enough to gain the rear of the rebel works; then, facing east, crawled stealthily yet rapidly to his assigned position. He is now in the edge of the timber, his whole column lapping the enemy's flank, ready to rush upon his rear. An instant more, wholly unexpected, he dashes out and leaps forward. At the same time Ricketts's Division, seconding Crook's command from the position taken in the morning, and, in anticipation of this very thing, sprang forward, quickly tra- versed the field before them, mounted the rebel works in tront and cleared them instantly. The work here was done. The rebels, those who did not at once yield themselves as prisoners, fled terrified, leaving everything that might en- cumber their flight. In the mean time the troops on our left were nobly carrying out their part of the programme. Under a heavier storm of deadly missiles-and they were under it, for it was quite impossible that the rebels should keep up a perfect range on this uneven ground - they rapidly closed in and helped to complete the victory. For the enemy it was a terrible rout. We captured sixteen pieces of artillery, sixteen stand of colors, and eleven hundred prisoners. Our division claimed to have captured four hun- dred prisoners and six pieces of artillery. The Tenth Regiment lost only five wounded and less than that number killed. Captain John A. Hicks, acting on the First Brigade staff from this regiment, was severely wounded."
After the succeeding operations in the valley, principally by the cavalry arm, the Sixth Corps started on the march for Washington on the 10th of Oc-
1
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tober, but returned in time to take part in the battle of Cedar Creek. In that battle, fought on the 10th, the Tenth Regiment was engaged with seventeen offiers and two hundred and sixty men. It shared in the heaviest fighting of the day and suffered casualties to the number of fourteen killed and sixty-six wounded. Among the killed were Captain Lucian D. Thompson, and the brave color-sergeant, William Mahoney, one of the first to reach the enemy's guns, who fell in the final charge. Among the wounded were Adjutant Wyllys Lyman, First Lieutenant George E. Davis, and Second Lieutenant James M. Read, of Company D; Second Lieutenant B. Brooks Clark, Com- pany E, who subsequently died of his wounds ; Captain Chester F. Nye, Com- pany F ; First Lieutenant William White, and Second Lieutenant Charles W. Wheeler, Company I; First Lieutenant George P. Welch and Second Lieu- tenant Austin W. Fuller, Company K.
The regiment moved to City Point and went into camp near Warren Sta- tion, on the 5th of December. In this immediate vicinity they remained, without important action, until the 25th of March, when the grand closing movement of the army began. On that date 230 of the Tenth participated in an attack on the enemy's picket lines in front of Forts Fisher and Welch, losing two killed and four wounded. On the 2d of April the regiment assisted in the assault on the field-works in front of Fort Welch, the brigade making a rapid advance through abattis and over rough ground, capturing line after line of strong earthworks and many prisoners. It was a day of trying service, and the colors of this division which were first inside of the captured works, were those of the Tenth. The casualties were three killed and forty-one wounded. Among the latter was Adjutant James M. Read, of Burlington, who died four days later, winning undying honors as a brave officer and a martyr to his country. Major Wyllys Lyman received especial mention by the commanding officer as having been the first to enter the rebel works with the color-bearer.
From Petersburg the regiment marched with the Sixth Corps to Sailor's Creek, where it was engaged on the 6th of April, taking active part in the de- cisive flank movement which closed the action. The regiment then marched to Appomattox Court House, where the rebel army surrendered on the 9th of April; thence they returned to Burkesville Station, and thence to Danville, where they remained three weeks. At the end of this time they proceeded to Washington via Richmond, and went into camp near Ball's Cross Roads ; here they remained until mustered out. The original members of the regi- ment, and the recruits whose terms of service would expire before October I, 1865, were mustered out on the 22d of June and arrived at Burlington on the 27th. The remainder of the regiment were transferred to the Fifth and were mustered out with that regiment on the 29th of June.
Twelfth Regiment .- This regiment was recruited for nine months and was mustered into the service October 4, 1863. As stated on an earlier page, the
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
original Howard Guards, of Burlington, went out in almost their original form as Company C, of the Twelfth. The following officers of the regiment were from Chittenden county : Lemuel W. Page, commissioned captain August 23, 1862; mustered out July 14, 1863. Heman R. Wing, commissioned first lieutenant August 23, 1862 ; mustered out July 14, 1863. William Loomis, commissioned first lieutenant January 23, 1863 ; he went out as second lieu- tenant of Company C, and was mustered out with the regiment. George G. Benedict went as a private in Company C; commissioned second lieutenant January 23, 1863, and mustered out with the regiment. George H. Bigelow, regimental quartermaster-sergeant, commissioned second lieutenant May 15, 1863 ; mustered out with the regiment.
This regiment was brigaded, during its term of service, with the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth, and will be further alluded to in connec- tion with those organizations.
Thirteenth Regiment .- This regiment was mustered into the service Octo- ber 10, 1862. It received large accessions from Chittenden county, as seen by the preceding table. The officers in the regiment from this county were as fol- lows : Joseph Sargent, Williston, chaplain ; died April 20, 1863. Wm. D. Munson, Colchester, captain Company D; wounded July 3, 1863 ; commis- sioned lieutenant-colonel May 5, 1863. John Lonergon, captain Company A. George Bascom, Milton, first lieutenant Company D, September 6, 1862 ; commissioned captain June 4, 1863. John L. Yale, Williston, captain Com- pany F, resigned February 6, 1863. Lucius H. Bostwick, Jericho, first lieu- tenant Company F ; commissioned captain March 3, 1863. Justin Naramore, Underhill, second lieutenant Company F, commissioned first lieutenant March 3, 1863. Wm. L. Blake, Milton, private in Company D, promoted to sergeant October 10, 1862 ; commissioned second lieutenant February 23, 1863. John M. Rolfe, Colchester, second lieutenant Company D, resigned January 30, 1863. Arnold C. Fay, Richmond, private Company F, promoted first ser- geant. October 10, 1862 ; second lieutenant March 3, 1863.
The Fourteenth Regiment .- This organization was mustered into the serv- ice October 21, 1862. Company I received eighteen recruits from Charlotte, and Company G twenty-eight from Hinesburg. There were no other enlist- ments in the regiment from this county. Azro M. Plant, of Burlington, went out as assistant surgeon and was mustered out with the regiment. John H. Allen, of Hinesburg, was captain of Company G. Milo A. Williams, of Char- lotte, was second lieutenant of Company I and promoted to first lieutenant January 16, 1863.
The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of nine months' men, which with the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth constituted the brigade, did not in- clude recruits from Chittenden county. These regiments were brigaded to- gether as the Second Vermont Brigade and placed under command of Briga-
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dier-General Edwin H. Stoughton. He was soon after captured, when the command was assumed by Colonel Asa P. Blunt, of the Twelfth Regiment. In April, 1863, Brigadier-General George J. Stannard was assigned to the command and held it until the expiration of the term of service of the brigade.
Until June, 1863, the brigade was stationed in front of Washington, the various regiments being located in the vicinity of Fairfax Station and Wolf Run Shoals, and engaged principally in picket duty. On the 25th of June the brigade left the line of works, under orders to report to Major-General Rey- nolds, commanding the First Corps. On the evening of July I the brigade joined that corps at Gettysburg, after an exhausting march of seven days, dur- ing which they made more than one hundred and twenty-five miles. The Twelfth and Ffteenth Regiments were ordered to the rear to protect wagon trains and did not participate in the battles of the 2d and 3d, although the Fifteenth, under Colonel Proctor, was advanced to the field after the first order to the rear ; to the Twelfth and Fifteenth the order was given that the reg- iment numbering the most men should go to the front, and the Fifteenth slightly out-counted the Twelfth, but the service of the latter proved fully as important as that of the other, the Fifteenth being again sent to the rear the next day. On the evening of the 2d of July the remaining regiments of the brigade were moved to the front line, to fill the place of troops that had been shattered by the onslaughts of the enemy. To give the reader an idea of the very important and gallant service of this brigade in the Gettysburg battle of the 3d we cannot do better than reproduce a portion of the official report of General Stannard, as follows :
" Before reaching the ground, the Twelfth and Fifteenth Regiments were detached by order of General Reynolds as a guard to the corps wagon train in the rear. The Fifteenth rejoined the brigade next morning, but was again ordered back for the same duty about noon of that day. After the opening of the battle of the 2d the left wing of the Thirteenth Regiment, under Lieu- tenant-Colonel Munson, was ordered forward as support to the skirmishers in our front. While stationing them Captain A. G. Foster, assistant inspector- general of my staff, was seriously wounded by a ball through both legs, de- priving me of his valuable services for the remainder of the battle. Just before dark of the same day, our army line on the left of the center having become broken under a desperate charge of the enemy, my brigade was or- dered up. The right wing of the Thirteenth Regiment, under command of Colonel Randall, was in advance and upon reaching the breach in the line was granted by General Hancock, commanding upon the spot, the privilege of making effort to retake the guns of Company C, Regular Battery, which had just been captured by the enemy.
" This they performed in a gallant charge, in which Colonel Randall's horse was shot under him. Four guns of the battery were retaken, and two rebel
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
field pieces, with about eighty prisoners, were captured by five companies of the Thirteenth in this single charge. The front line thus re-established, was held by this brigade for twenty-six hours. About two o'clock of the 3d instant the enemy commenced a vigorous attack upon our position. After subjecting us for an hour and a half to the severest cannonade of the whole battle from nearly one hundred guns, the enemy charged with a heavy column of infantry. The charge was aimed directly upon my command, but owing apparently to the firm front shown them, the enemy diverged midway and came upon the line on my right. But they did not thus escape the warm reception prepared for them by the Vermonters. As soon as the change of the point of attack became ev- ident, I ordered a flank attack upon the enemy's column. Forming in the open meadow in front of our line, the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Regiments marched down by the flank, changed front forward at a right angle to the main line of battle of the army, bringing them in line of battle upon the flank of the charg- ing column of the enemy, and opened a destructive fire at short range, which the enemy sustained but very few minutes before the larger portion of them surrendered and marched in, not as conquerors, but as captives. They had hardly dropped their arms before another rebel column appeared charging upon our left. Colonel Veazey, of the Sixteenth, was at once ordered back to take it in its turn upon the flank. This was done as successfully as before. The rebel force, decimated by the fire of the Fourteenth Regiment, was scooped almost en masse into our lines. The Sixteenth took in this charge the regimental colors of the Second Florida and Eighth Virginia Regiments, and the battle flag of another regiment.
" The Sixteenth was supported for a time, in the now advanced position it occupied after the charge, by four companies of the Fourteenth under com- mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Rose. The movements I have briefly described were executed in the open field under a heavy fire of shell, grape and mus- ketry, and they were performed with the promptness and precision of battalion drill. They ended the contest on the center and substantially closed the battle.
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