Military unit
The
1st Vermont Infantry Regiment
was a three months' infantry regiment in the
Union Army
during the
American Civil War
. It served in the eastern theater, in and around
Fortress Monroe, Virginia
.
History
[
edit
]
Responding to President
Abraham Lincoln
's call in mid-April 1861, for
75,000 men to serve for three months
to help put down the rebellion, Governor
Erastus Fairbanks
ordered the recruitment of the regiment.
The regiment was organized from militia companies from the following towns, as follows:
Captain
John W. Phelps
, of
Brattleboro
, an 1836 graduate of the
United States Military Academy
, and a 23-year veteran of the regular army, was chosen to command the regiment and commissioned as a
colonel
.
Militia Captain
Peter T. Washburn
of Woodstock, later Adjutant General and
Governor
of
Vermont
, was appointed
lieutenant colonel
.
Among the officers were
Roswell Farnham
,
William Y. W. Ripley
, and
Albert B. Jewett
.
The ten companies rendezvoused at Rutland, on May 2, 1861, and went into camp on the fairgrounds south of the city, called
Camp Fairbanks,
in honor of the governor. The regiment was mustered into United States service on May 8,
and the next day departed for New York City, where it arrived on May 10.
Rutland businessman
Horace Henry Baxter
, then serving as Adjutant General of the Vermont Militia, used personal funds to ensure that 1st Vermont soldiers were equipped and paid, and he rode at their head as they left Vermont. On May 11, the regiment embarked the steamer
Alabama,
and arrived at Fortress Monroe on May 13.
On May 23, the regiment made the first reconnaissance upon Virginia soil by United States troops, marching six miles from Fortress Monroe to
Hampton
. On May 26, the regiment took the steamers
Cataline
and
Monticello,
up
Hampton Roads
to
Newport News
, where they made camp, which ended up being their home for the rest of its stay in Virginia.
On June 10, five companies of the 1st Vermont, along with five companies of the
4th Massachusetts Infantry
, were at the
Battle of Big Bethel
.
On August 4, the regiment embarked the steamers
Ben de Ford
and
. R. Spaulding,
and sailed to New Haven, Connecticut, then took a train to Brattleboro, arriving there on August 9. The men were paid off and mustered out on August 15 and 16.
The regiment mustered in 38 officers and 743 enlisted men. One enlisted man was killed in action, four died of disease, and one died due to an accident. One officer resigned his commission, four enlisted men were discharged for disability, and two deserted. Five-sixths of the members of this regiment subsequently enlisted for three years. Two hundred and fifty served as field and line officers in Vermont and neighboring states' units.
See also
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- Adjutant General, Vermont (1892). Theodore S. Peck, BGEN (ed.).
Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and lists of Vermonters Who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion, 1861-66
. Montpelier, VT: Press of the Watchman Publishing Co. p. 886.
OCLC
302368404
.
- Benedict, George Grenville
(1886).
Vermont in the Civil War, Chapter I - XX
. Vermont in the Civil War. A History of the part taken by the Vermont Soldiers And Sailors in the War For The Union, 1861-5. Vol. I. Burlington, VT: Free Press Association. p. 674.
OCLC
2209277
.
- Crockett, Walter Hill (1921).
Vermont The Green Mountain State, Chapter XXX-XXXIV
. Vermont The Green Mountain State. Vol. III. New York, NY: The Century History Company, Inc.
OCLC
9412165
.
- Coffin, Howard (1995).
Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War
. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press. p. 376.
ISBN
9780881503494
.
OCLC
42706499
.
- Dyer, Frederick H (1908).
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion
. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.
ASIN
B01BUFJ76Q
.
- Haynes, Edwin M. (1894).
A History of the Tenth Regiment, Vt. Vols
. Rutland, VT: The Tuttle Company – via
Internet Archive
.
- U.S. Department of War (1880).
Operations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Apr 16-Jul 31, 1861
. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. II?VIX. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
OCLC
857196196
.
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