USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
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Sickness in the regiment increased until, after the first fortnight, there were seldom one hundred men fit for duty, while almost every day one or two died. On the 15th of July the rebel ram Arkansas ran through the squadron of Far- ragut, only to be followed by the passage of the latter's vessels by the rebel bat- teries to his original position below Vicksburg. On this occasion occurred the death of Captain Lorenzo Brooks, of Company F, who was killed on the trans- port Ceres, while in command of a squad of soldiers who had been sent to re- turn the negroes employed on the Butler ditch.
As an evidence of the deplorable condition of this regiment relative to its health, it should be noted that a few days before the abandonment of the Vicksburg expedition, Captain John B. Kilburn, of Company D, was detailed to take the sick of the regiment to Baton Rouge. They were embarked on board the Morning Light and for three days were detained there awaiting or- ders and a convoy. There were 350 sick on the boat; the weather was in-
1 Among the sick left on the island was Captain Charles C. Ruggles, of Company I. Ile was sub- sequently sent to the hospital at Carrollton and when able assumed command of the convalescents in camp. Actuated by a desire to do more than he was able, he suffered a sunstroke, from the effects of which he died on the 24th of July, 1862. He was a favorite and brave officer.
2 General Phelps was finally forced to resign, chiefly, it is claimed, from the persecution of General Butler, which raised a long controversy into which we cannot here enter.
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RUTLAND COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
tensely hot and great suffering was experienced. The boat grounded on the first night of the passage, and while striving to get afloat two of the sick died; they were buried in their blankets on the shore. Although Dr. Blanchard was on board, he was unable to do much for the sick, as he had no medicines. Reaching Baton Rouge, the sick were got ashore, but six died during the re- moval. The main body of the expedition left Vicksburg on the evening of the 24th, the Seventh Regiment forming the rear guard. The organization that had started out thirty-six days previous nearly eight hundred strong, had now less than one hundred fit for duty, and at a review that occurred a few days before the battle of Baton Rouge, two or three of the companies were not represented at all, their services being needed in burying the dead. Among those who fell victims to the climate and exposure was Lieutenant Richard T. Cull, a faithful officer. He was buried at Baton Rouge with mil- tary honors.
The battle of Baton Rouge was fought on the 5th of August. The action opened with firing from rebel skirmishers immediately in front of the Seventh, in the early morning before it was light. This was followed by a general at- tack, and the Union force being outnumbered was driven from stand to stand and finally forced to fall back on the main body, when the action became gen- eral. At this stage of the engagement there seems to have been no general understanding of the character of the attack ; the Seventh Regiment was drawn up in line of battle in front of its camp, according to orders, and while waiting further instructions the firing on the left became very heavy. Colonel Roberts moved the regiment in that direction, through the thick fog and smoke. Here the men were subjected to the somewhat indiscriminate firing of artillery in the rear, and to prevent casualties from this circumstance, Colonel Roberts moved the regiment back to its former position. It was during this movement that the brave officer fell, as detailed in an earlier page of this chapter. When the regiment reached its former position the battle was raging furiously in front of its camp and that of the Twenty-first Indiana. The fog and smoke were so dense that objects could not be seen ten feet distant. Colonel Roberts had hesitated to order his men to begin firing, fearing the Twenty-first Indi- ana might be directly in front. General Williams at this juncture rode up in a somewhat excited manner and peremptorily ordered the firing to open. The colonel promptly gave the order, and firing began. Only a few volleys had been fired when it was learned that the Indiana regiment was suffering from the shots, as Colonel Roberts had feared would be the case. Colonel Roberts did not hesitate to give the order to cease firing. This was his last command, as he immediately fell with a severe wound in his neck. From this time through the engagement the regiment, commanded temporarily by Captain afterward Major) Porter, bore an honorable share. Colonel N. A. M. Dudley, in command of the right wing, which embraced the Seventh, said in his report :
7
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
" It cannot be expected that I should mention the brave exploits of persons, or even regiments, particularly when all did so well. On no occasion did I see a single regiment misbehave ; all seemed to act with coolness and determi- nation that surprised even ourselves after the excitement was over.
Captain Manning (after having fallen back) quickly rallied his men and went into battery on the right of the Indiana Twenty-first, well supported on the right by the Seventh Vermont. . In the mean time the enemy ap- peared in strong force directly in front of the Indiana Twenty-first, Vermont Seventh and Massachusetts Thirtieth. At one time these three brave regi- ments stood face to face with the enemy, within forty yards, for full one hour. The contest for this piece of ground was terrific." Other reports corroborated these statements in full. Many of the officers and men, among them Captain Peck, left their hospital beds to join the fight.
Colonel Roberts died on the 7th, two days after the battle. The following appeared in the New Orleans Delta, and it is but just to his memory that it should be copied here : ". . The Seventh Vermont Regiment, which had just returned from severe service at Vicksburg, participated in the battle of Baton Rouge. It is sufficient evidence that they were at their post discharg- ing faithfully the trust reposed in them, that their gallant colonel, George T. Roberts, fell mortally wounded in the thickest of the fight. He was a true patriot and an honorable, high-minded man. He first went into the service as a lieutenant in Company A, of the First Vermont Volunteers. When the Sev- enth was called for he was tendered the colonelcy, and in every particular has proved the selection a good one, and, though dying in a glorious cause, his loss will be severely felt, both by his regiment and his many friends in his native State, where he was so well and widely known." Colonel Roberts's remains were brought to Rutland where his obsequies were very largely attended.
On the 20th of August Baton Rouge was evacuated and the Seventh Reg- iment returned to Carrollton, going into camp there with other troops. This was another most unhealthy locality, and soon acquired the name of the " camp of death." On the 26th Lieutenant-Colonel Fullam resigned and Will- iam C. Holbrook was made colonel. Captains Peck and Porter were promot- ed, the former to lieutenant-colonel and the latter to major of the regiment. Captain E. A. Morse, the efficient quartermaster, also resigned to accept pro- motion. On the 8th of September Surgeon Francis W. Kelley resigned, and Assistant Surgeon, Enoch Blanchard was promoted to the office.
When the Seventh reached Carrollton, it was reported that statements de- rogatory to the conduct of the regiment at Baton Rouge had emanated from some of the Indiana officers. Upon the strength of such reports as reached General Butler, he revised his official reports as far as they referred to the con- duct of the Seventh and issued his childish and unjust " Order 62," in which he condemned the regiment for its alleged conduct at Baton Rouge. It must
S. T. 6 roberto
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RUTLAND COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
suffice for us to merely state that history will accept Colonel Dudley's report, written by an officer who saw what he wrote about, as against General Butler's tirade, based upon prejudiced reports of others. A long and bitter contro- versy followed, ending in a court of inquiry, the findings of which were such as to entirely exonerate the regiment from all blame and sustain its honor and bravery in every particular. General Butler thereupon, perforce, issued his " Order 98," in which he retracted his charges and insinuations.
We have alluded to the unhealthiness of the camp at Carrollton. Sickness followed until the regiment was practically unfit for duty ; but the men were forced to remain there until September 30, when they were moved to Camp Kearney, a short distance below Carrollton, a slightly more wholesome place. On the 4th of November another move was made to New Orleans. A few days later orders were received to start for Pensacola, Fla., and on the 13th of November the regiment embarked for that point. The destination was reached the following day, after a most uncomfortable trip. Here the climate and salubrious air soon improved the condition of the men. In Colonel Hol- brook's history of the regiment is given the following tabular statement of deaths in the regiment from 1862 to 1866, inclusive, showing how great a mortality from sickness was reached in the first year, as compared with the casualties of subsequent years :-
1862.
1863.
1864.
1865.
1866.
Total.
Commissioned Officers.
4
2
I
7
Non-Commissioned Officers
I
I
2
Company A
26
1
2
3
I
33
Company B
32
2
9
2
45
Company C
14
5
4
23
Company D
20
3
I
3
27
Company E
36
1
4
7
48
Company F
24
3
3
30
Company G
31
6
5
3
45
Company H
44
5
4
4
..
57
Company I
37
3
4
..
47
Company K
26
3 3 10000
6
8
43
Total
295
31
39
41
I
407
The period of about a month was passed by the regiment in building a stockade in anticipation of an attack predicted by the redoubtable General Neal Dow, then in command at that point. The attack was not made, and on the 29th of December the regiment, with other troops, engaged in an armed recon- naissance to Oakfield ; no enemy was encountered.
Early in January Lieutenant Henry French died of fever contracted in the fatal Vicksburg campaign, and his remains were sent home.
Scouting parties were the order of the service until spring. On the 17th of February Companies B and G, under Captain Dutton, started on one of these expeditions. Near Oakfield they were attacked by the enemy's cavalry; a skirmish, which degenerated into a running fight, ensued, until Oakfield was reached, when the enemy retired. About this time orders were received to evacuate Pensacola, and on the 20th of February the regiment proceeded to
100
HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
Fort Pickens, on Santa Rosa Island. On the 28th of March Companies A, D and G were detailed for duty as artillerists in this fort, which had previously been garrisoned by United States Regulars. Nothing of importance occurred to the command while on this island, and on the 19th of June, when Colonel Holbrook was placed in command of the troops of Western Florida, the regi- ment, excepting the companies last named, was removed by him to Barrancas, where a pleasant camp was formed and named " Camp Roberts" in honor of the dead colonel of the regiment. Little active service was seen by the regi- ment during the summer and autumn. On the 6th of September Colonel Hol- brook sent out a reconnoitering party under Captain Mahlon M. Young and Lieutenant Jackson V. Parker ; they captured a party of rebels at the head- quarters of the Spanish consul, Morino, who was in sympathy with the South. An attempt was made and repeated to secure the release of these prisoners, from both Captain Young and later from Colonel Holbrook, but the efforts failed ; it was claimed that they entered the town under a flag of truce and that they were under the protection of the Spanish consulate.
On the 10th of September an accident of a serious nature occurred at the fort. The picket line had been repeatedly fired upon in front of the fort, and the gunners were in training to get the range of the woods whence the firing came, when an eight-inch howitzer exploded while being served by a detach- ment of Company I ; the discharge was caused by the carelessness of the cor- poral whose duty it was to thumb the vent of the gun. Private Robert Ripley, of Company I, had his right arm blown off and sustained other injuries which caused his death within a few days, and Private James B. Royce was blown into the air and picked up for dead ; to every one's surprise, however, he sur- vived, with a badly shattered left arm, which was subsequently amputated. He was also badly burned and bruised.
During the month of September yellow fever was developed in that region and on the 5th of November Corporal Lucius O. Wilkins, of Company B, died of the disease, and on the 17th Lieutenant Rollin M. Green, one of the best officers in the regiment, was stricken down from the same cause.
On the 7th of November Colonel Holbrook was relieved by Brigadier- General A. Asboth, and assigned to the command of the First Brigade, then consisting of the Seventh Vermont (less the detached companies) under Lieu- tenant-Colonel Peck, and two colored regiments. From this time until spring nothing of especial moment, outside of several successful scouting expeditions, occurred in the regiment.
On the 13th of February, 1864, Lieutenant Frank N. Finney, of Company D, returned from Vermont with one hundred and ten recruits for the regiment. During the same month all of the enlisted men of the regiment remaining from those originally mustered in, except fifty-eight, re-enlisted for three years fur- ther service, or for the war, the War Department having previously decided that
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RUTLAND COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
the original term of service would expire June 1, 1864. By the provisions of this order the re-enlisted men were entitled to a thirty days' furlough. The embarkation for this furlough was made August 10.
During the spring and early summer there were some changes of minor im- portance in the duties of the regiment, and while the rebels were busily strength- ening position, Farragut was preparing for an attack on Forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance of Mobile Bay. The rebel reinforcements and supplies passed over the railroad running from Pollard and beyond to Mobile. General Asboth conceived a scheme for the destruction of this then important line. An expe- dition was fitted out consisting of four companies, A, B, E and H, of the Sev- enth Vermont, Schmidt's New York Cavalry, the First Florida Cavalry, the Eighty-third and Eighty-sixth United States Colored Regiments and two mountain howitzers, the latter under command of Adjutant Sheldon. Barran- cas was left by the expedition July 21. The enemy was encountered at Gon- zales Station in a rude square redoubt, and were gallantly assaulted by A and E companies under Captains Moseley and Smalley. The charge was so gal- lantly conducted that the rebels fled from their works. Colonel Holbrook says: " Although this affair can hardly be called a battle, yet for over an hour the Seventh was exposed to a severe musketry fire. No troops could have be- haved better than they did." Owing to the fact, which was learned from a deserter, that Colonel Maury was marching towards General Asboth's force with four thousand men, it was decided to retreat, and Barrancas was safely reached on the 24th.
The Seventh Regiment reached their homes after a long and tedious voyage on the 26th of August, and were handsomely received by Governor Smith and the citizens of Brattleboro. On the 13th of September Lieutenant John Q. Dickinson, who had for some time acted as quartermaster of the regiment, re- ceived his commission as such. He was subsequently made captain of Com- pany F, and was honorably discharged for disability October 10, 1865. He remained in the South after the close of the war, and having taken some part in political affairs in Florida, was warned by the Ku Klux to leave the State. He paid no attention to the threats made in case he disobeyed the warning, and was shot by cowardly assassins who were hidden in darkness. His remains were returned to his northern home.
On the 30th of September the regiment again turned its face southward, reaching New Orleans on the 13th of October, 1864. During the absence of the regiment at home, Captain Mahlon Young was killed while leading a charge against the enemy in the streets of Marianna. Colonel Holbrook says of him : "Captain Young was a fine specimen of the volunteer soldier. Always cool and collected, his advice was invariably sound and valuable. He was cour- ageous as a lion and ever ready to go wherever he felt that his duty called him."
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
While stationed at Annunciation Square, New Orleans, the Seventh Regi- ment was principally employed in guard duty. On the 19th of February the Regiment was ordered to Mobile Point, to take part in the operations against that city. The regiment was assigned to Brigadier-General Benton's division of the Thirteenth Corps, and on the 17th of March began a march to flank the defenses of Mobile on the western shore and operate against those on the east- ern shore. This march, which was one of almost unparalleled difficulties in the way of mud, rain, and exposure, continued until the 23d, when the regi- ment went into camp on the north fork of Fish River. On the 25th another forward movement was made which continued through the 26th, involving con- siderable skirmishing with the enemy. On the 27th preparations were made to attack the " Spanish Fort." Benton's division, embracing the Seventh, moved forward in the morning, each regiment in line of battle, directly towards the fort, with other corps on the right and left. The brigade to which the Seventh was attached was not halted until within six hundred yards of the rebel earthworks, and midway between the old Spanish Fort and Red Fort, the guns of which commanded the position through a long ravine. Here the regiment lay all day long, exposed to a heavy fire of musketry and artillery. The men lay on the ground most of the time. Soon after the first halt in the morning Captain Salmon Dutton was ordered with his company (G) to relieve a portion of the skirmish line. He remained out till after nightfall, several of his men being wounded, when he was relieved by Captain George E. Croft, with Company D. They were in turn relieved by Companies I and H, both of which were exposed to heavy firing during the day. During the 28th the regiment was exposed to heavy shelling at a point a little in rear, where it had camped after being relieved by the Ninety-first Illinois. On the evening of the 28th Companies F (Captain Edgar M. Bullard), and C (Captain Henry Stowell) were ordered on the skirmish line, with instructions to advance as far as possible, entrenching as they proceeded. This duty was thoroughly per- formed. From this time to April 12 the siege of the fort progressed with the utmost vigor and determination, and every day the Seventh Regiment was en- gaged in dangerous picket duty, labor in the trenches or repelling sorties by the enemy. We cannot here enter into the details of all of these operations, which are graphically desbribed in Colonel Holbrook's history of the regiment. The chief occurrence in the Seventh was the capture of Captain Stearns with twenty men on the skirmish line on the night of the 31st, where he had with great bravery maintained a most dangerous position. Captain Stearns was paroled and sent to the parole camp, Vicksburg. After thirteen days of act- ive operations the fort was abandoned and the works occupied by the Union forces on the 8th of April.
Early on the morning of the 9th the regiment was ordered to Blakely, which had been, since April 2, besieged by General Steele and his force from
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RUTLAND COUNTY IN THE REBELLION.
Pensacola. As the regiment drew near Steele's line, heavy firing was heard. The Seventh did not share in the subsequent assault by which the rebel works were carried. On the morning of the 11th, the division containing the Seventh marched back towards Spanish Fort to Stark's Landing, where they embarked on transports. During this march news of the fall of Richmond reached the troops. On the 12th they proceeded to Mobile City where arrangements had already been made to turn the place over to the Union forces. The following morning Benton's division was ordered in pursuit of the fleeing enemy; they marched through the city and to a station on the Mobile and Ohio railroad called Whistler, where the shops of the road were located. The Seventh was in the advance with the Fiftieth Indiana. Colonel Day, just before reaching the station, turned to the left, leaving the Seventh and Fiftieth to proceed along the track. Firing was soon heard in the direction taken by him, and he sent back for support. The Seventh and the Indiana regiments were hurried forward at a double quick and they were soon under a heavy fire, but somewhat protected by woods. The rebels were on a slight eminence beyond a marsh over which was a bridge ; this bridge had been fired and the Ninety-first Illinois in at- tempting to get through the marsh was fairly stalled. Colonel Holbrook at- tempted, but unsuccessfully, to form the Indiana regiment, and then formed the Seventh, which rushed ahead under a heavy fire and was soon at the bridge. Here they were changed into column and hurried across the burning bridge. Across the bridge line of battle was again formed and firing begun ; but the enemy soon retreated precipitately.
The regiment remained at Whistler till the 19th when the division was marched to a place on the Tombigbee River, about forty miles from Mobile, and went into camp. Here came the news of the assassination of the president. Although Lee surrendered on the 9th and Johnston on the 27th, operations in the southwest still continued. General Taylor with his force of rebels was in the immediate front of the division, and to him notice was sent that the exist- ing truce must end, as the United States government did not approve of the Sherman-Johnston armistice. On the morning of May 2 Colonel Holbrook, with the Seventh and Fiftieth Indiana, was ordered out on a scout ; but nego- tiations for Taylor's surrender were renewed and no action followed; the two regiments returned, and the next day the division proceeded to Mobile.
Colonel Holbrook resigned on the 2d of June, 1865, and from that time until the regiment returned north it was in service in Texas. The command, under Lieutenent-Colonel Peck, sailed for Brazos where they arrived June 5 and went into camp, remaining until the 14th, when they proceeded to the mouth of the Rio Grande and went into camp. On the 14th of July the one year recruits were mustered out. August 2 the regiment broke camp and marched to Brownsville, about thirty miles up the river, and remained there in camp until mustered out in March, 1866. On the 26th of August Colonel
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
Peck resigned and Lieutenant-Colonel Porter was commissioned colonel, Ma- jor Bullard, lieutenant-colonel, and Captain Smalley, major. Subsequently Major Smalley resigned and Captain George E. Croft was commissioned major.
On the 14th of March the regiment was mustered out at Brownsville, but proceeded in a body to New Orleans and thence to Brattleboro, Vt., where it disbanded. A grand and merited reception was given the veterans at Brattle- boro. The regiment was the last volunteer organization of Vermont to be dis- banded. No more gallant regiment than the Seventh was ever sent out by the State.
The Tenth Regiment. - This regiment was recruited in the summer of 1862, simultaneously with the Eleventh. A little over one hundred and fifty of its members were from Rutland county, distributed as follows : Brandon Co. C, 6. Chittenden, Co. C, 3; Co. H, I. Clarendon, Co. C, 4 ; Co. F, 4, and one not recorded with company. Danby, Co. C, 3 ; Co. H, 3. Mendon, Co. C, 2. Middletown, Co. C, 24. Mount Holly, Co. H, 3; Co. D, 2; Co. C, 2. Mount Tabor, Co. C, 3. Pawlet, Co. C, I. Pittsfield, Co. C, 6; Co. F, I. Pitts- ford, Co. C, 14; Co. E, I. Rutland, Co. C, 14; Co. D, I ; Co. F, I, and two officers and four not recorded with companies. Shrewsbury, Co. C, 3. Tin- mouth, Co. C, 8. Wallingford, Co. C, 14, two officers; Wells, Co. K, I.
Of the field and staff officers from this county John A. Salsbury, of Tin- mouth, went out as first lieutenant of Company C, commission dating August 5, 1862; captain Company I, November 7, 1862 ; brevet major, October 19, 1864, for gallantry before Richmond and in the Shenandoah Valley ; mustered out of service as captain of Company I, June 22, 1864 ; promoted major Jan- uary 2, 1865.
John A. Sheldon, credited to the town of Castleton, went out as captain of Company C, which, as above seen, was recruited in this county, and was promoted captain and commissary of subsistence June 28, 1864.
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