USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
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Captains. - John A. Hicks, jr., of Rutland, was made sergeant-major Sep- tember 1, 1862 ; second lieutenant Company B, December 27, 1862 ; first lieu- tenant Company B, June 6, 1864; honorably discharged May 2, 1865, for dis- ability.
Henry W. Kingsley, Rutland, regimental quartermaster ; sergeant, Sep- tember 1, 1862 ; second lieutenant Company F, December 27, 1862 ; wounded severely November 27, 1863; first lieutenant Company F, June 6, 1864; appointed captain and commissary of subsistence January 23, 1865.
First Lieutenants - Daniel G. Hill, Wallingford, regimental commissary- sergeant September 1, 1862; second lieutenant Company H. January 19, 1863 ; died of wounds received at Opequan, Va., September 19, 1864.
Second Lieutenants - William H. H. Sabin, Wallingford, promoted first lieutenant Company C, November 8, 1862.
Henry H. Adams, Wallingford, private Company C, July 16, 1862 ; cor-
John ASSheeva.
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poral, September 1, 1862 ; sergeant August 6, 1863 ; regimental quartermas- ter-sergeant, July 1, 1864 ; mustered out of service as quartermaster-sergeant June 22, 1865 ; commissioned second lieutenant, February 9, 1865.
The companies other than Company C were distributed through the State as follows : A, Saint Johnsbury ; B, Waterbury ; D, Burlington ; F, Swanton ; G, Bradford; H, Ludlow; I, Saint Albans; K, Derby Line.
The field and staff officers were as follows: Colonel, A. B. Jewett; lieu- tenant-colonel, John H. Edson ; major, W. W. Henry ; adjutant, Wyllys Ly- man ; quartermaster, A. B. Valentine; surgeon, Willard A. Childe; assistant surgeons, J. C. Rutherford, Almon Clark ; chaplain, E. M. Haynes.
The regiment went into camp at Brattleboro on the 15th of August, and was mustered into the service on the Ist day of September, with one thou- sand and sixteen men. It left the State on the 6th and proceded via New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington, arriving on the 8th and the next morning went into Camp Chase on Arlington Heights. Soon after the second battle of Bull Run the regiment started on a march of forty miles up the Potomac, to guard the Maryland shore of the stream. Taking positions in that vicinity, the regiment remained from the 17th of September to the middle of October. Here the duties of camp life were earnestly begun- and well learned by the men.
While encamped in October at Seneca Creek the regiment passed through a period of sickness that became almost an epidemic. While here the regi- ment was brigaded with the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts, the Twenty-third Maine and Fourteenth New Hampshire Regiments and placed under command of Brigadier-General Grover. On the 13th of November he was displaced by Colonel Davis of the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts, and the brigade took position at Offut's Crossing, fifteen miles from Washington, where it remained until December 21 without important incident. Many deaths occurred here from the same apparent causes of the previous mortality ; twenty-five men died in five weeks. On the 21st of December the brigade was marched to Pooleville, thirty miles from Washington, and there, divided into three sections, the regi- ment remained through the remainder of the winter. Here Colonel Jewett succeeded to the command of the brigade.
On the 24th of June, 1863, the regiment started, according to General Hooker's orders, for Harper's Ferry, which place was reached on the 26th, and the command went into camp on Maryland Heights. June 30 this position was evacuated and the regiment marched to Frederick, Md., where it was brig- aded with the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery, One Hundred and First New York Infantry and Fourteenth New Jersey. On the 8th the regiment was made a part of the Third Division, Third Corps. During the battle of Gettys- burg the regiment lay at Monocacy Bridge (July 1st-3d), and on the 9th joined the Army of the Potomac. Trying marches of several days brought
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the regiment to Sharpsburg, 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 the 26th of July found the regiment at Warrenton and a halt of five days was made near the town. Beginning with August I, the regiment lay for five weeks near the famous Sulphur Springs of Virginia, with light duty to perform, On the 7th of September the Third Corps was re- viewed by General Meade. None of the brigade regiments had yet fought a battle, although they had been a year in the field. September 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 No- vember 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 Orange Grove. In this battle the Tenth bore a conspicuous part ; it was, moreover, its first real engagement, which renders its conduct still more admi- rable. 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 towards 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 middle 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 Fourteenth New Jersey.
On the 25th of April Colonel Jewett resigned, much to the regret of the
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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 com- paratively 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 but three killed and nine wounded ; but its services were none the less important.
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 11th 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 assault, but was held in reserve, and the losses were not heavy - twenty-three killed and one hundred and thirty-three 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 stubbornly held by the rebels against a brigade of the First Division. From that time until the 21st 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 prisoners captured ; the rebels were quickly driven into retreat.
From the 2Ist to the 25th the brigade was marched southward and reached the Virginia Central Railroad, which they destroyed, and the Tenth Regiment went on picket at night. During the ten days in which this corps confronted the rebels at this point it was not engaged, except in slight skirmishes.
At Cold Harbor on the Ist and 3d of June the Tenth Regiment and its associates were actively engaged and suffered severely. In the engagement the First Brigade was on the left of the division. The advance was made through a belt of pine woods where the enemy had erected slight works. Ser- geant, afterwards Captain, S. H. Lewis, of the Tenth, sprang over these works and single-handed captured a major, lieutenant and several men ; and later the regiment captured the Fifty-first North Carolina Regiment. The 3d of June, in the general assault on the rebel line, the Tenth suffered severely, and on the 6th Captain Samuel Darrah was killed by a sharpshooter. In these engage- ments the Tenth lost twenty-seven killed and one hundred and forty-six wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry was wounded on the Ist and the com- mand of the regiment devolved upon Major Charles G. Chandler. Lieutenants
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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 four killed and twenty-six 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 battle of Winchester, cannot be followed in detail ; they are matters of general his- tory. 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 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 Winchester, 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
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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. Lieu- tenant Abbott was severely wounded and Captain Davis slightly. After the fall of Major Dillingham the command of the regiment was turned over to Captain (afterward Major) Hunt.
The engagement at Fisher's Hill followed closely on (September 21, 22). Here the enemy was posted on the crest of the hill behind fortifications. On the evening of the 20th the Sixth Corps filed into the woods north of Stras- burgh and lay there over night. The 2Ist was spent in reconnoitering for po- sition. The next day the Third Division formed the extreme right of the army. Sheridan's line covered a mile and a half in length, but not continu- ous, and thus the opposing armies confronted each other on the morning of the 22d. General Crook was sent on a flank movement similar to that at Win- chester, 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 Hayne'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 trav- ersed the field before them, mounted the rebel works in front 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 car- rying 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-
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tober. While about crossing the Shenandoah River on the 13th, it was or- dered back to Middleton into position on the right of the army, left by it some days before. The battle of Cedar Creek followed on the 19th of October. The Tenth Regiment went into this engagement with seventeen officers and two hundred and sixty men. Soon after daylight the regiment with the Sixth Corps was formed in line of battle at right angles to their original position. The enemy had broken the left and the fugitives were constantly passing the line. About 7:30 the enemy opened heavy firing of artillery and musketry from a commanding crest in front of the line and the latter fell back to a low ridge four hundred yards in the rear. The rebels then advanced to seize three pieces of artillery which had been left. Seeing this, a charge was ordered and the Tenth rushed up to the guns and recovered them. Sergeant William Ma- honey, Company E, was the first to reach the guns. The enemy rallied and poured in a heavy musketry fire from front and right, and as the troops fell back the division was soon exposed to a fire from that flank also. The losses here were very severe, and the line fell back to the second ridge, where a stand was made and the enemy was again repulsed from the crest in front ; but our line was again flanked and forced to fall back a mile. Reaching a cross-road, the line was re-formed ; the rebels came on and again the line was withdrawn. After the arrival of General Sheridan the regiment, with the division, moved forward through woods to an open field, halted a few moments and then again pushed on, until the rebels reached and stood in a strong position on a contin- uous ridge, along the crest of which was a stone wall. Here the fire was con- stant and heavy for half an hour, when a general charge was ordered and the enemy was driven and routed. The Tenth Regiment passed over the battle- ground of the morning and after dark occupied their old camp. The casual- ities in the regiment were fourteen killed and sixty-six wounded. Among the killed was Captain Lucian D. Thompson, of Company D, and the brave Color- Sergeant Mahoney, who fell in the final charge. Among the wounded were Adjutant Wyllys Lyman, First Lieutenant George E. Davis, Company D, and Second Lieutenant James M. Read, of the same ; Second Lieutenant B. Brooks Clark, Company E, who subsequently died of his wounds; Captain Chester F. Nye, Company F ; First Lieutenant William White, and Second Lieuten- ant Charles W. Wheeler, Company I ; First Lieutenant George P. Welch, and Second Lieutenant Austin W. Fuller, Company K.
From the 19th of October, 1864, to November 9 the regiment was en- camped near Cedar Creek, and then marched to Camp Russell, near Kearns- town. On the 10th a part of the regiment, being on picket, were attacked, but repulsed the enemy after a sharp skirmish. The regiment remained in camp to the 3d of December, when they proceeded by way of Washington to City Point, and went into camp near Warren Station on the 5th. In this im- mediate vicinity the regiment lay, without important action, until the 25th of
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March, when the grand closing operations of the army began. On the date mentioned about one hundred and sixty of the Fourteenth New Jersey and two hundred and thirty of the Tenth Regiment, the latter on the left, were placed on a picket line in front of Forts Fisher and Welch, for the purpose of attacking the enemy's pickets ; the latter were strongly entrenched. A sup- porting column was placed in rear. At three o'clock p. m. the whole line moved forward at double quick ; the position of the enemy was reached at several points, but the fire was too severe to withstand and the line retired. The attacking force was strengthened, another advance made and nearly the whole picket force captured and the entrenchments held. The casualties in the Tenth were two killed and four wounded.
On the 2d of April the Tenth Regiment participated in the assault of the field works in front of Fort Welch, in which the fortifications bearing that name were captured, the Tenth, with the brigade, making a rapid advance, through abattis and over rough ground, capturing line after line of strong earth-works, and many prisoners It was a day of trying service and the col- ors 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, who died four days later, a great loss to the command. Lieu- tenant James S. Thompson, Company H, was also wounded. Major Wyllys Lyman received especial mention by the commanding officer as having been the first to enter the rebel works with the color-bearer.
Prom 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 ; thence they returned to Burkesville Station and thence to Danville, Va., where they remained three weeks. At the end of this period the regiment moved to Washington via Richmond and remained in camp near Ball's Cross- Roads until mustered out. The original members of the regiment and the recruits whose terms of service would expire previous to October 1, 1865, were mustered out June 22 ; their number was 451 men and thirteen officers. They left Wash- ington and arrived at Burlington June 27 and were paid off and discharged July 3d. The remaining members, fourteen officers and 136 men, were transferred to the Fifth Regiment and were mustered out June 29, 1865. The Tenth Regiment, although its losses in the field were not so heavy as those of some other Vermont organizations, served the country in the most creditable and honorable manner, and its officers and men still living deserve the gratitude of the State ; the dead have secured a merited place of honor in history.
The Ninth Regiment. - This organization was mustered into the service on the 9th of July, 1862, for three years. Company B was entirely recruited in Rutland county, with scattering enlistments from the county in other com-
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panies to the number of about one hundred and seventy, distributed among the various towns as follows : Brandon, Co. B, 5; Co. C, 4. Benson, Co. C, 1; Co. B, I. Castleton, Co. B, 2; Co. D, I. Chittenden, Co. B, 4; Co. D, 1; Co. H, 3. Clarendon, Co. B, 7. Danby, Co. B, 4 ; Co. C, I. Fairhaven, Co. B, I. Hubbardton, Co. C, I. Ira, Co. B, 3 ; Co. F, 2. Mendon, Co. B, 7. Middletown, Co. B, I. Mount Holly, Co. B, 13; Co. D, 5; Co. G, I. Mount Tabor, Co. B. I. Pawlet, Co, B, 3 ; Co. H, I. Pittsfield, Co. C, 2. Pittsford, Co. B, 4. Poultney, Co. B, 6; Co. D, 2. Rutland, Co. A, I ; Co. B, 15 : Co. C, 2; Co. D, 2; Co. F, 3; Co. K, 7. Sherburne, Co. B, 1; Co. D, I. Shrewsbury, Co. B, II : Co. K, 2. Sudbury, Co. B, 4. Tinmouth, Co. B, 7 ; Co. C, 3. Wallingford, Co. B, 6. Wells, Co. B, I; Co. C, I; Co. E, I ; Co. F, I. Westhaven, Co, B, 5 ; Co. D, 3.
The officers of Company B, recruited in Rutland county, were as follows : Captain, Edward H. Ripley ; major, March 20, 1863 ; lieutenant-colonel, May, 16, 1863 ; brevet-brigadier-general, August 1, 1864 ; mustered out June, 13, 1865.
First lieutenant, Samuel H. Kelley ; promoted, captain Company B, May 1, 1863.
Second lieutenant, Alfred C. Ballard; promoted first lieutenant, May I, 1 863.
The Ninth Regiment rendezvoused at Brattleboro, whence they departed for the front on the 15th of July, 1862. Their first camp was in Virginia and not far from Fairfax Court-House. There they remained two weeks, when they removed to Winchester and remained about six weeks. After the battle of Antietam was fought the regiment moved to Bolivar Heights at Harper's Ferry. In the fighting which occurred near that point the regiment was in support of artillery. It formed a part of the large Union force that was surrendered to the Confederates by General Miles on the 15th of September and on the 16th proceeded to parole camp at Annapolis, Md. From there the regiment was sent to Chicago, arriving on the 28th ; they were camped at what was called Camp Tyler until the ioth of December, when they moved to Camp Douglas, remaining until January 9, 1863, when they were exchanged. From that date to April 1, the regiment was employed in guarding prisoners ; on the latter date a large body of prisoners was taken by the regiment to City Point. They were then moved to Camp Hamilton at Fortress Monroe, remaining, however, but a few days, when they marched to Suffolk and participated in the siege at that point ; thence they moved to Bottom's Bridge and then to Yorktown, reaching there a little before the Ist of November, 1863.
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