USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > St Johnsbury > The town of St. Johnsbury, Vt. ; a review of one hundred twenty-five years to the anniversary pageant 1912 > Part 23
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"The scene was imposing. The long line of soldiers in new uniforms, their arms glittering in the light of an unclouded sun ; the vast concourse of people on all sides filling the seats of the great amphitheatre and occupying the windows, cupola and roof
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of the large building used for barracks, and the surrounding hills densely packed with spectators, conspired to add to the dignity and solemnity of the occasion."
Col. Geo. A. Merrill representing the Ladies in a graceful speech, delivered the Flag to Governor Fairbanks, who with im- pressive and patriotic words entrusted it to the Regiment. Col. Hyde in accepting it, said-"This Banner comes to us, bright, unsullied, perfumed by the touch of the Ladies of Vermont. It shall, with God's blessing, be returned, tried in battle, its folds bearing record of deeds that you, Sir, and the citizens of Vermont shall be proud to say were done by the Green Mountain Boys."
The Third Regiment of 882 men, and a Band of 24 instru- ments was mustered into the service July 16, and left for the front July 24, in a train of 22 cars. It was a stalwart body of young men. John Earle of Boston who took measurements for the uni- ยท forms, remarked, "I've made uniforms for many officers and men in most of the New England states, but I never put the tape on to such a set of men as these," whereupon another dryly re- marked, "Yes, with a bayonet in hand one of 'em could toss a secessionist over a meeting house !" They were amply supplied with camp and hospital equipments and had 65 large, well select- ed horses all procured in Caledonia and Orleans Counties. Their . muskets were of superior long-rifled English manufacture ob- tained thro the Fairbanks Company of New York. The Rutland Herald stated that military men competent to judge regarded the Third Regiment better equipped and prepared for service than any that had yet left New England. Company G. of St. Johns- bury had sixty-six men; Lorenzo Allen, Captain ; John H. Hutch- inson, First Lieutenant. At the Fiftieth Anniversary, July 16, 1911, a memorial boulder was erected by citizens of the town on the spot where these men had been mustered in. At the cere- mony the word of presentation to the surviving veterans was by Edward T. Fairbanks, and the stone was unveiled by Robert L. Stone, great grandson of Governor Fairbanks under whose direc- tion the Regiment was formed and reviewed. Sixty-four of the Regiment were present, nine of whom were still living in St. Johnsbury.
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Between Sept. 1861 and April 1865 the Third Regiment was in twenty-eight engagements, among which were Antietam, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spottslyvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg.
TENTH AND ELEVENTH REGIMENTS
Early in July 1862, Edwin B. Frost, a student of medicine in the office of his brother Dr. C. P. Frost, recruited a company of 100 men in this village, of which he was made Captain, and which on September 1, 1862, was mustered into service as Com- pany A, of the Tenth Regiment. This Company was in various engagements during the two years following, and in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor met severe losses. While leading his men on a forlorn hope at Cold Harbor, "Captain Frost, with perfect self-possession and an example of courage which every true Green Mountain boy was anxious to emulate," fell fatally wounded. In this as in all former engage- ments he was ever in the hottest of the fight; "his calm, clear commands could be heard above the din of battle, his tall figure in plain sight, too conspicuous a mark to escape the keen-eyed rebels. Captain Frost was the ideal of his Company, winning their love by his kindness, ever looking after their welfare, attending the sick with his own hands, cheering all with a constant flow of wit and kind sympathy ; he had declined promotion, preferring to remain with his Regiment to the last ; living he was beloved and dead he was lamented." His name was adopted by the E. B. Frost Sons of the Veterans, organized in 1881.
Following President Lincoln's call for 300,000 men, George E. Chamberlin opened a recruiting office August 1, 1862, on the Plain where in ten days' time he raised a Company of 112 men. This Company, of which he was Captain, was mustered in Sep- tember 1, as Company A, of the Eleventh Regiment, to duty in Fort Lincoln near Washington. Some days later the ladies of St. Johnsbury presented swords to Captain Chamberlin and his Lieutenants. In accepting them he said-"these swords will soon be unsheathed; with them we intend to strike our blow in crushing the monster Treason; and do our part in establishing
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the land of our fathers as an undivided and perpetual inheritance for the generations to come."
Before the end of September, the Eleventh Regiment (after- wards the First Vermont Heavy Artillery) was on duty in the defences of Washington, where, in Forts Lincoln and Totten, Major Chamberlin was put in command. Here his characteristic energy and discipline, insistence on neatness and order, strict at- tention to details, not only transformed the conditions in the forts, but trained his men for achievements which General Sedg- wick afterward said could not be outdone by any in the Army of the Potomac.
On the 12th of May, 1864, the Regiment was ordered to rein- force the depleted Army after the battles of the Wilderness. Six days later, with the coolness and valor of veterans in the field, they led a charge of the Vermont Brigade at Spottsylvania. Chamberlin was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, June 28, and in command of the Third Battalion led his troops at the battles of Cold Harbor and Petersburg. On the 22nd of August, while lead- ing a skirmish line he was shot-a shining mark; and fell from his horse mortally wounded near Charlestown, Va. The deep feeling and solemnity of the assembly that filled the North Church at the funeral service some days later, was one among many in- dications of the respect and honor in which he was held among his fellow townsmen. The Chamberlin Post of the Grand Army fittingly carries the name of the man whose resolute soldierly qualities and forceful command gave distinction to the town he represented.
In the early death of Col. Chamberlin his generation lost a man of noble character and exceptional promise. He had won superior rank among his fellow students at Dartmouth College for scholarship, high-minded manliness and executive ability. A brilliant career was before him as a lawyer in the city of St. Louis. Against the urgent representations of many friends he sacrificed all other prospects under a matured and profound con- viction of his personal duty as a patriot ; the dedication, it was, unto death, of a chivalrous and gallant soul. Vale, frater, vale ave atque vale!
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Besides the men from this town in the Third, Tenth and Eleventh Regiments, there were others who served in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, Fifteenth and Seventeenth Regiments Infantry ; also in the First Regiment Cavalry, 76 en- gagements, the First Battery Light Artillery, and the Second Regiment Sharpshooters, in 24 engagements ; also a good many of St. Johnsbury birth or residence among volunteers from other states.
By vote of the town, March 7, 1865, A. G. Chadwick, Esq. was directed to prepare a St. Johnsbury Soldiers' Record. This he did in a book of 215 pages, published in 1883, which contained a personal record of 374 men of this town, 350 of whom were en- listed here and 24 elsewhere. Some items and incidents culled from this Record are here given as illustrating various experiences of army life.
John W. Ramsey, Lieut. Co. A. Third Regiment was the first man in town to volunteer, also the first who was killed in battle. He fell pierced by four bullets, within four rods of the enemy's line, at Savage's Station, after being in five former en- gagements ; 269 men who fell in that disaster were buried in the Seven Pines National Cemetery in 1866. Ramsey was tall and powerful, intensely patriotic ; before Sumter was fired on he had raised a volunteer Company in this town, all of whom afterward enlisted, all but one of whom perished in the war.
The youngest of the soldier boys from this town who carried a musket, was Patrick Howard, who enlisted in Co. A, Eleventh Regiment at the age of 14 years. He had been repeatedly reject- ed in his determination to enlist, solely on the ground of his age. He insisted that he was tough and strong, and that he could en- dure fatigue or fight as well as older men. His record in the ser- vice justified this claim. He fought in six battles and fell fatally wounded before Petersburg in June 1864. His older brother John perished in Andersonville.
Willie Johnson, drummer boy of the Third Regiment, enlisted when he was twelve years old. He was a brave resolute little fellow ; went with his Regiment thro the seven days' campaign in the Peninsula, and was the only drummer in the
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Division who held on to his drum and brought it safely off in the retreat to Harrison's Landing. In recognition of this a medal for heroic conduct was awarded him by Secretary of War Stanton.
NOTABLE ESCAPES
The most remarkable escape from bullets was undoubtedly that of Major E. W. Harrington, a man of six feet four in height and some 200 lbs. weight, who for three years carried the colors of the Regiment, the Second Vermont. For a color bearer of such proportions holding so exposed and perilous a position to have come safely through 22 battles seems little short of the miraculous.
Some other escapes are of interest. Lafayette Soper at the Weldon railroad disaster saved his life by running a gauntlet of musket balls that flew like hail stones on either side He went thro 14 battles uninjured till at Petersburg in April 1865 while capturing some of the enemy in advance of his own line, he was hit by a Union ball and lost his leg thereby. At Charlestown, Va., he fired 150 rounds of ball cartridges and at Fisher's Hill 200 rounds.
Hiram I. Gorham, captured on the Weldon railroad, was sent on to Georgia, jumped the train with F. J. Hosmer, and ran thro the woods toward the Blue Ridge; they were caught about midnight and with their arms bound together with hickory bark were marched to Boone Jail, N. C., thence with 40 others tied two together they were tramped toward Andersonville 40 miles ; after confinement in seven different prisons they were finally paroled. Sergeant Gorham was in 12 battles and twice wounded.
Charles W. Wilcomb was wounded in the battle of the Wilder- ness by a confederate who leveled his piece behind a log and fired. The ball passed thro his thigh and lodged in his wallet, considerably flattened. He lay on the ground two days without food; then a negro came along with a chicken which he sold for a dollar. After reaching the Union lines Wilcomb was insensible for three weeks from effects of the wound; finally recovered and rejoined his regiment a year later.
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In the second Bull Run battle a musket ball struck L. C. Farnham in the right breast, passed thro the right lung and went out under the shoulder. He lay on the field five days, then crawled to a stream of running water, cleansed the wound, rallied and managed to reach Washington 35 miles distant on the third day. While lying on the field his rations were one hard tack. This was in 1862; in 1870 he was living on his farm in this town, able to do an average day's work notwithstanding.
After seven engagements in the army, O. W. Heyer enlisted in the navy and was on the frigate Wabash in the attack under Dahlgren on Fort Sumter Aug. 8, 1863 ; was captured and im- prisoned on Sullivan Island. One night he with two others escap- ed, crawled on hands and knees to an inlet, found some boards, constructed a raft, and in the darkness floated out to sea on the ebb tide. They were picked up by a picket boat of the squadron ; after this Heyer on the U. S. Steamer Iroquois, made 49 different ports on a cruise around the world.
Geo. W. Bonett was in 31 battles and twice wounded; at Petersburg he with two orderlies captured an entire Company of the enemy; in response to his demand the Captain surrendered his sword and gun. At Spottsylvania the Third Regiment was ordered upon a breast work of logs. Shots from a sharp-shooter who could not be located picked off 25 men, each bullet hitting the victim in the center of the forehead. The twenty-fifth shot which killed Corporal Norris came apparently from a point where two logs jutted together. Major Bonett ordered eight men to aim at that spot and fire simultaneously. This they did and no more men were hit in the forehead.
Edward F. Griswold after Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg battles was captured on the Weldon railroad and con- fined in Libby Prison. On transit from here to Georgia, while being marched thro a field in Virginia, he escaped in a clump of bushes and reached the bank of a river which he forded July 1, and traveling by night only reached Millboro in seventeen days. Here he was discovered and pursued, but outran the enemy and came to a farm house where were some friendly negroes. Pres- 4 ently two men walked in, by whom he was recaptured and taken
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back again to Richmond, where he remained a prisoner till his parole in Sept. 1864.
Capt. Pearl D. Blodgett's left hand was shattered during a desperate charge at Cold Harbor. He was reported dead, and so considered, till Horace Fairbanks found him alive but in a critical condition. With his right hand which was uninjured he afterward served this town nineteen years as Town Clerk and twelve years as Treasurer.
Horace K. Ide of the First Vermont Cavalry, was in three years' service on the field, twice wounded, twice a prisoner in Libby and on Belle Isle, six times promoted, becoming Brevet Major U. S. V. He was in 42 engagements. In April 1862 when captured by Mosby's gang, he escaped, walked two days till he got inside the Union lines. In Oct. 1863, a bullet ran thro him 1-16th of an inch below the main artery of the arm; the wound was burnt out with acid. His regiment was in eight weeks' con- tinuous fighting in the summer of 1864; at one time when the Colonel was wounded, two officers while trying to carry him off the field were shot; no others volunteering Major Ide jumped forward and brought him safely in. He was in all the fights of Sheridan's army till the last, near Appomattox. In 1882 he re- ceived the appointment of Quarter Master General of the Vermont militia.
Alexander G. Hawes was one of the pioneers who went to Kansas in 1856 to resist the introduction of slavery in to that ter- ritory. During the sack of Lawrence that year, the border ruffians destroyed the office of the Herald of Freedom which Hawes was editing. He participated in the Lawrence fights; was one of John Brown's posse at Ossawatomie and Black Pack, and narrowly escaped while executing important enterprises in the anti-slavery conflicts. In 1861, within an hour of the call for volunteers, he raised a military company, the first in Southern Illinois, which he reported to Gov. Yeats. He served nearly four years in the Civil War, was in 40 battles, including Fort Henry, Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and the Atlanta campaign under Sherman. He was three times wounded ; at Shiloh he barely escaped death; while bullets were flying like hail around him a ball went thro his shoulder, but
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he rallied in time to go in to battle at Corinth. Col. Hawes had the longest military record of any man from our town, viz. from 1856 to 1865; he was repeatedly complimented on the field for courage and skill.
THE LAST GUN
The tension of four years' suspense and distress was lifted by the news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. Enthusiasm long pent up broke loose with an outburst such as our town had never known before. Muskets and cannon, church bells and steam whistles, gongs, drums, horns, dinner bells and whatever else could make a noise were rioting together in wild demonstrations of joy.
The cavalry company under Capt. Spalding came out mount- ed in force ; a procession formed at the Town Hall ; in the midst of it was seen the coffin of the Confederacy draped with the stars and bars, borne by four young men and followed by a company of young women waving the stars and stripes. At the corner of Main and Central streets the coffin was lowered into a pit, with triumphal singing of the Star Spangled Banner and Glory Halle- lujuah. Capt. Harrington of East Village led the militia, who per- formed evolutions and discharged 25 rounds of ammunition from their guns.
In the evening 200 buildings were illuminated making "the grandest sight our little town ever witnessed." Union Block and the Court House displayed brilliant lights ; at Pinehurst a row of gas jets blazed the entire length of the ridge-pole ; red, white and blue lights flashed out from Underclyffe; fire companies with band and torch lights paraded the streets ; four horses brought up the hose carriage finely decorated and illuminated. Huge bon- fires were kindled on Main street and Railroad street while from the hills on either side cannon were booming. At 8 o'clock the old democratic gun on Harris Hill, having seven pounds of pow- der rammed into it with a wad of damp straw, burst into frag- ments ; strange to say not a man was hurt. It was the end of the war, the last gun had been fired; from this time on
"-the war drum throbb'd no longer, and
the battle flags were furl'd."
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THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT
"These monuments of manhood strong and high, Do more than forts or battleships to keep Our dear-bought liberty."
Van Dyke.
At a special Town Meeting, June 23, 1866, a Committee ap- pointed at the previous March meeting, reported a plan for the erection of a monument to the memory of the men who lost their lives in defence of the country during the Civil War. It was thereupon voted to appropriate a sum not exceeding $10,000, for this purpose. The Committee at once communicated with Mr. Larkin G. Mead of Florence, Italy, who at the time was on a visit to his native state of Vermont. He came to St. Johnsbury and in due time a contract was made with him for a statue in Italian marble, executed in Florence, to be delivered at New York City for the sum of $5000. A contract was also made with Mr. Peter B. Laird, for a granite base and pedestal from a de- sign by Architect Grebble of Philadelphia. This was erected in the spring of 1868; in August the statue "America" arrived and was elevated to position on the pedestal, veiled with flags.
On the 20th of August 1868, the inauguration took place with imposing ceremonies. A procession, led by Gilmore's Band of Boston, went through the principal streets; besides the various organizations in the line, there was a car drawn by six horses in which 36 girls dressed in white represented the several states of the Union ; another car canopied with evergreen, in which sat a woman personating Peace; carriages carrying disabled soldiers and others.
At Monument Square words of greeting were spoken by Hon. C. S. Dana, President of the day. The names inscribed on the four sides of the monument, 80 in number, were read by Major Edward D. Redington ; Mr. Horace Fairbanks, Chairman of the Monument Committee, announced the completion of the work, and unveiled the statue. The vigorous and prolonged ap- plause of the multitude attested their appreciation and enthusiasm. The 36 girls laid at the feet of "America" a floral offering as from each state of the now reunited Republic. Salutes were fired from
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guns that were manned under direction of Capt. Edward F. Gris- wold of the Vermont Artillery. Addresses were made by Gov. Dillingham and Hon. L. P. Poland.
The expense of this memorial was $8892.46. It is planted on a commanding spot four rods north of the Court House and in- scribed :-
IN HONOR OF
THE ST. JOHNSBURY VOLUNTEERS WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES IN DEFENCE OF THE UNION
Geo. E. Chamberlin
Edwin B. Frost Edwin J. Morrill J. W. D. Carpenter John W. Ramsay Dustin S. Walbridge
Harrison W. Varney Henry C. Voodry Charles W. Hill
Solon W. Pierce
Ira L. Powers
Geo. N. Richardson Martin Rosebrook
William J. Rogers Albert S. Stockwell Wm. H. Sherman Edwin W. Stewart Joseph St. Pierre Paschal P. Shores
Geo. L. Fairchild Samuel Forrest Silas Forrest Edward French John Green Chas. J. Goodnough
Benjamin Waldron Erastus M. Dunbar
Oscar H. Cummings
George Smithson Theron W. Scruton Davis Towle Whipple A. West Alfred Ward
Obed S. Hatch Oscar F. Hayward Orville W. Hutchinson
Abel W. Hawkins Patrick Howard John Howard
Ephraim P. Howard
Henry C. Wright
James Donnell
Geo. F. Harroun
George T. Kasson William Norris
Charles A. Picard
Julius Dupluse
John Donovan Alvin Duff
Denison Day
Orange H. Ayer
Joseph S. Archer
Leonard N. Bishop
Lorenzo D. Farnham Simeon S. Bean John S. Kilby Joseph Baker Orange S. Lynn Rozerne E. Bacon Darwin J. Wright Stephen Currier
Franklin Caswell
Andrew Sturgeon
Russell A. Hutchins William Hannet
Lanson E. Aldrich John N. Copeland Michael Foley Albert F. Felch
Lewis A. Clark Felix Cunneuille Jacob Chapman Royal G. Mansfield Samuel W. Marden
Nathan P. Jay Hiram T. Page
Elisha S. Palmer
Nathan L. Davis
Thomas Kidder Daniel S. Lee
The statue, facing the west, rises seven and a half feet above the pedestal, which is twelve feet from the ground. A more graceful and artistic figure in marble is seldom seen; it fitly and adequately symbolizes the dignity of the Republic, looking out as into future years with calm poise and prophetic eye. Around it is paid the yearly tribute of remembrance of the dead on Memo- rial Day ; on either side, as a reminder of sanguinary fields whose names are graven on the granite, are planted the two Par- rot cannon obtained by Gen. W. W. Grout from the War Depart- ment in 1899. The town of St. Johnsbury paid $44,025 in boun- ties to her soldiers.
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CHAMBERLIN POST G. A. R.
This body was among the few pioneer Posts of the country, organized April 10, 1868, in the second year of the Grand Army of the Republic. At its fortieth anniversary in 1908, a historical address was given by Capt. E. L. Hovey, from which the con- densed material of this paragraph is made up.
The Post, named in honor of Lieut .- Col. Geo. E. Chamberlin, had eleven charter members; Capt. P. D. Blodgett, first Com- mander, was at a later period elected State Department Command- er. The highest membership was 208 in 1889. About one third of the comrades were living at the fortieth year, the average age being sixty-eight. The Post has done much to promote a spirit of patriotism and good citizenship, and has received many tokens of favor from the public. Its hall has been adorned with gifts of life-sized portraits, war pictures, maps, a valuable library and many miscellaneous articles, including a costly volume for personal life record of the members. In 1886, Mount Pleasant Cemetery As- sociation presented the Post with a large burial lot, on which it erected a substantial monument surmounted by a figure in mili- tary uniform. Having received the gift of two Parrot guns from the War Department, thro the efforts of General Grout, the Post raised about $100 from individuals and mounted them on Monu -. ment Square in 1899. The Post celebrated the Fourth of July 1893, by addresses in Music Hall, two members being present who had passed their ninety-third birthday, viz. Maj. Allen Spaulding and Loren W. Young who enlisted at the age of 58. The Chicago Tribune was not able to find any other Post in the country that could match this record of longevity ; some had one but none had two such veterans. For 29 years the Post has ar- ranged suitable public observances of Memorial Day, toward the expense of which the town has uniformly devoted $150. Many eminent orators have contributed to the importance of these occa- sions. Three war dramas have been presented by the veterans to crowded houses in Music Hall for three and four evenings each. In 1885 there was prepared with the aid of the Woman's Relief Corps a Fair that continued for a week, with receipts of $2000. At the address of Gen. John A. Logan in Music Hall, 1300 tickets
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were sold; the General was unwilling to accept any compensa- tion, and remarked that if he should find himself possessed of any money not accounted for after arriving in New York, he should send it back to the Chamberlin Post Woman's Relief Corps. This Auxiliary was organized November 21, 1884 ; by its cordial and business like methods it greatly re-enforced the social and pa- triotic work of the Post, and for several years held a record as the banner Corps of the state in charitable work. The E. B. Frost Camp No. 18 of the Sons of the Veterans was organized in 1881.
OFF FOR WAR WITH SPAIN
The action of Congress on April 19, 1898, declaring Cuba in- dependent was the signal for war with Spain. Four days later a war meeting was called in the Town Hall at the instance of Capt. Ellis of Company D. A special session of the General Assembly met on the fifth of May and on the following day Company D started off for military duty. Promptly at 8 o'clock in the fore- noon the boys were in position, and under escort of Major Bow- man with his aides and various organizations, they marched thro the principal streets of the village. This parade, which was one of the finest for many years, was in the following order: Major Bowman Chief Marshal; St. Johnsbury Police, J. H. Thompson, Chief; St. Johnsbury Band, 22 pieces ; Palestine Commandery, K. T. 39 men; Canton Crescent, I. O. O. F., 26; Vermont Divi- sion K. P., 20 ; Catholic Order of Foresters, 60 ; Harmony Band, 16 pieces ; Board of Trade, 16; Chamberlin Post, 42; Company D Vermont National Guards, 85; Drum Corps, 5 pieces ; St. Johnsbury Academy, 82; L. N. Smythe, E. O. Leonard, Chas. H. Horton, Assistant Marshals.
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