Overview about Vermont in the American Civil War
During the
American Civil War
, the
State of Vermont
gave strong support to the Union war effort, raising troops and money. According to Rachel Cree Sherman:
[1]
By the spring of 1865 Vermont was devastated, having sent one tenth of its entire population to war, with a loss of over 5,000 lives to battle, wounds, and disease. The state had dedicated nearly $10 million to support the conflict, half of that amount offered up by towns with no expectation of recompense.
Background
[
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]
The second article in Vermont's constitution, originally written in 1777, abolished
slavery
, making it the first state to do so. Although its climate was not conducive to the slave trade, Vermonters were early participants in the
abolitionist
movement. In the
1860 presidential election
, Vermont gave Republican
Abraham Lincoln
a lopsided victory
, 33,808 votes compared to 8,649 for
Stephen Douglas
, 1,866 for
John Bell
, and 217 for
John C. Breckinridge
. Lincoln would win 75.86% of the vote in the state, making Vermont his strongest victory in popular vote percentage.
[2]
One historian opined that the heavy rain on election day "reduced the Republican majority by at least 7,000" votes.
[3]
In the closing days of 1860, in response to a pro-Southern resolution by Representative
Albert Rust
of
Arkansas
, Vermont Representative
Justin S. Morrill
offered an amendment, "Resolved, That in the opinion of this committee, the existing discontent among the Southern people and the growing hostility to the Federal Government, are greatly to be regretted, and that any reasonable, proper and constitutional remedy necessary to preserve the peace of the country, and the perpetuity of the Union, should be promptly and cheerfully grant." His amendment was rejected by a large majority, and Congress and the Union continued its downward spiral toward disunion.
[4]
Lawyer
Lucius E. Chittenden
served on the ill-fated
Peace conference of 1861
and later as Registrar of the Treasury in the Lincoln administration. Vermont politicians in
Congress
included Senators
Solomon Foot
and
Jacob Collamer
and Representatives
Justin S. Morrill
,
Homer Elihu Royce
and
Portus Baxter
.
During the war, three men served as
Governor of Vermont
;
Erastus Fairbanks
,
Frederick Holbrook
and
J. Gregory Smith
. Fairbanks reportedly responded to the Federal Government's response for troops with "Vermont will do its Full Duty." Under his administration, Vermont fielded six
infantry
and one
cavalry
regiments. Governor Holbrook's administration saw the recruitment of 10 infantry regiments, 2
light artillery
batteries, and 3
sharpshooter
companies. Under his administration, as well, Vermont built three military hospitals in the state which were "soon credited by the United States medical inspector with perfecting a larger percentage of cures than any United States military hospital record elsewhere could show."
[5]
Governor Smith oversaw the recruitment of Vermont's last infantry regiment, a third light artillery battery, and, as a result of a Confederate raid on his hometown,
St. Albans
, two companies of frontier cavalry.
Military enrollment
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]
The state sent more than 34,000 to serve, out of a total population of about 350,000 citizens.
[6]
More than 28,100 Vermonters served in Vermont volunteer units. Vermont fielded 17 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 3 light artillery batteries, 1
heavy artillery
company, 3 companies of sharpshooters, and 2 companies of frontier cavalry. Instead of replacing units as they were depleted, Vermont regularly provided recruits to bring the units in the field back up to normal strength. With the nation's oldest senior military college, Norwich University, located in Vermont, the state provided the Union with numerous officers.
Nearly 5,000 others served in other states' units, in the
United States Army
or the
United States Navy
. The
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
included 66 Vermont blacks; a total of 166 black Vermonters served out of a population of 709 in the state.
Vermonters suffered a total of 1,832 men killed or mortally wounded in battle; another 3,362 died of disease, in prison or from other causes, for a total loss of 5,194. More than 2,200 Vermonters were taken prisoner during the war, and 615 of them died in or as a result of their imprisonment.
Historian Howard Coffin claimed that the state's most important contribution to the war was at the
Battle of the Wilderness
where the Vermont Brigade held the crucial intersection of two roads, the loss of which would have split the Union forces in half. 1,200 Vermonters died. They also played a crucial role at the
Battle of Gettysburg
, where, under General
George J. Stannard
, the
2nd Vermont Brigade
broke
Pickett's charge
by stepping out of a protected area and firing at the flank of the attackers.
[6]
General
Winfield Scott
, learning that a regiment of Green Mountain Boys (the 1st Vermont Infantry) was awaiting orders, said "I want your Vermont regiments, all of them. I have not forgotten the Vermont men on the
Niagara
frontier... I remember the Vermont men in the
War of 1812
."
[7]
A significant number of generals hailed from Vermont. Several led Vermont units, including
Lewis A. Grant
,
John W. Phelps
,
William Farrar Smith
,
George J. Stannard
,
Edwin H. Stoughton
,
Stephen Thomas
,
James M. Warner
, and
William Wells
. Others served in other states' units or in the
Regular Army
, including
Benjamin Alvord
,
John C. Caldwell
,
Sylvester Churchill
,
Joel Dewey
,
Charles Doolittle
,
William B. Hazen
,
Ethan Allen Hitchcock
,
Charles Edward Hovey
,
Joseph A. Mower
,
Thomas E. G. Ransom
,
Israel B. Richardson
,
Benjamin S. Roberts
,
Truman Seymour
,
George Crockett Strong
,
Stewart Van Vliet
, and
George Wright
. Six Vermonters became
brevet
brigadier general
, including
Asa P. Blunt
,
George P. Foster
,
William W. Henry
,
John R. Lewis
,
Edward H. Ripley
and
Charles B. Stoughton
.
One native Vermonter,
Chester A. Arthur
, who later became
President of the United States
, served as
Adjutant General
of the
State of New York
during the war. Some notable Vermont sailors include
George Dewey
,
Charles Edgar Clark
,
George F. Emmons
,
George Colvocoresses
,
Theodore P. Greene
,
Edward D. Robie
, and
Edwin T. Woodward
.
Service
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The first military action seen by Vermonters was at the
Battle of Big Bethel
on June 10, 1861, where a battalion of the
1st Vermont Infantry
was engaged.
The
2nd
,
3rd
,
4th
,
5th
,
6th
and later the
11th Vermont Infantry
regiments served in the 1st
Vermont Brigade
, which saw action in nearly every major engagement in the
Eastern Theater
from the
First Battle of Bull Run
to
Appomattox Court House
.
The
7th Vermont Infantry
,
8th Vermont Infantry
, and two
Vermont Light Artillery Batteries
served in the Department of the Gulf under
Benjamin F. Butler
. The 8th Vermont later saw service in the Shenandoah
Valley Campaigns of 1864
.
The
9th Vermont Infantry
suffered capture at the
Battle of Harpers Ferry
during the 1862
Maryland Campaign
, but later fought well with the
VII
,
XVIII
and
XXIV Corps
in eastern
Virginia
and
North Carolina
, and was one of the first units to enter
Richmond, Virginia
, in April 1865.
The
10th Vermont Infantry
gained its niche in history at the
Battle of Monocacy
, an important but often overlooked battle that delayed a
Confederate
drive on
Washington D.C.
At Gettysburg on the first day of battle, July 1, 1863, General
John Sedgwick
is quoted as saying, "Put the Vermonters ahead and keep the column well closed up."
[8]
The
12th
,
13th
,
14th
,
15th
and
16th Vermont Infantry
regiments were banded together as the
2nd Vermont Brigade
, which gained lasting credit for its actions in helping stop
Pickett's Charge
on July 3, 1863, during the
Battle of Gettysburg
.
At the
Battle of the Wilderness
, Vermont experienced its worst day of the war; 1,000 men were killed or wounded from the 1st Vermont Brigade alone. One in eight of the casualties resulting in the battle was by this brigade, which was one of 32 brigades on the Union side.
[9]
Vermont fielded three companies of
sharpshooters
, which served with
Hiram Berdan
in the two U.S. Sharpshooter regiments.
The
1st Vermont Cavalry
regiment participated in more than 70 engagements.
After the
St. Albans raid
on October 19, 1864, Vermont fielded two companies of
Frontier Cavalry
, who spent six months on the
Canada?US border
to prevent further incursions from Confederate raiders.
Sixty-four Vermonters received the
Medal of Honor
, including
Willie Johnston
, the youngest person ever to receive the award.
Notable Civil War leaders from Vermont
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]
Civil War sites in Vermont
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]
St. Albans, Vermont
, is the site of the northernmost land action in the Civil War, the
St. Albans Raid
. On October 19, 1864, Confederate raiders, under the command of Lieutenant
Bennett H. Young
, robbed three banks, escaped to Canada, were captured, and put on trial. The Canadian courts decided they were acting under military orders and they could not be extradited back to the United States without Canada violating her neutrality.
Most Vermont towns have a monument in memory of the soldiers who participated in the Civil War. Decades after the war, the upland hillsides of the state were littered with the cellar holes of long-gone farmhouses from farms that had been abandoned because all the family's sons had been killed in the Civil War.
There are several facilities in the state that have significant collections of manuscripts and archives of the war, including the
Vermont State House
, the Vermont Historical Society,
University of Vermont
Howe Library, the
Bennington Museum
, the
Sheldon Museum
in Middlebury, the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library,
Norwich University
Sullivan Museum and special collections, and the State of Vermont Public Records Division.
See also
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References
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- Benedict, G. G.,
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.
Burlington, VT.: The Free Press Association, 1888.
- Crockett, Walter Hill,
Vermont The Green Mountain State
, New York: The Century History Company, Inc., 1921.
- Fox, William F.,
Regimental Losses In The American Civil War 1861?1865.
Albany: Albany Publishing Company. 1889.
- Lane, E. H.,
The soldiers' record of Jericho, Vermont.
Burlington, VT.: R.S. Styles, 1868.
- Peck, Theodore S., compiler,
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., 1892.
Notes
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]
- ^
Rachel Cree Sherman, "St. Johnsbury Puts the Civil War to Rest."
Vermont History
76.1 (2008) p. 64.
- ^
"1860 Presidential Election Statistics"
. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
. Retrieved
2018-03-05
.
- ^
Walter Hill Crockett,
Vermont The Green Mountain State
, (The Century History Company, Inc., New York, 1921), iii:491.
- ^
Walter Hill Crockett,
Vermont The Green Mountain State
, (The Century History Company, Inc., New York, 1921), iii:496
- ^
Nancy E. Boone and Michael Sherman, "Designed to Cure: Civil War Hospitals in Vermont,"
Vermont History
, Winter 2001, 69:174
- ^
a
b
Gresser, Joseph (September 21, 2011). "The Vermonters fire forced the South's retreat".
the Chronicle
. Barton, Vermont. p. 13.
- ^
Benedict, G. G.,
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
, Burlington, VT.: The Free Press Association, 1888, i:33-34
- ^
"TIOH - Heraldry - 172d Cavalry Regiment"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-09-22
. Retrieved
2011-09-14
.
- ^
Starr, Tena (May 7, 2014). "Two who died at Wilderness battle honored".
The Chronicle
. Barton, Vermont. pp. 16A, 17A.
Further reading
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]
- Benedict, G. G.
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.
Burlington, Vt. : Free Press Association, 1886.
- Coffin, Howard,
Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War.
Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1995;
- Coffin, Howard,
Nine Months to Gettysburg. The Vermonters Who Broke Pickett's Charge.
Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1997;
- Coffin, Howard,
The Battered Stars: One State's Civil War Ordeal during Grant's Overland Campaign.
Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 2002.
- Collea Jr, Joseph D.
The First Vermont Cavalry in the Civil War: A History
(McFarland, 2010).
- Cox, Christopher.
History of Vermont Civil War Regiments: Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry
(2013)
online
- Fuller, James.
Men of Color, to Arms!: Vermont African-Americans in the Civil War
(2001).
extracts
- Link, Kenneth. "Potomac Fever: The Hazards of Camp Life,"
Vermont History
(1983) 51#2, pp 69?88
- McClaughry, John. "John Wolcott Phelps: The Civil War General Who Became A Forgotten Presidential Candidate In 1880."
Vermont History
38 (1970): 264-285
online
.
- Poirier, Robert G.,
By the Blood of our Alumni: Norwich University Citizen-Soldiers in the Army of the Potomac.
(Mason City, IA: Savas Publishing Co., 1999).
- Sherman, Rachel Cree. "St. Johnsbury Puts the Civil War to Rest."
Vermont History
76.1 (2008) pp 63-66.
online
.
- Smith, John David. "The Health of Vermont's Civil War Recruits."
The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society
43.3 (1975): 185-192.
- Wickman, Don.
"We Are Coming Father Abra'am," The History of the 9th Vermont Volunteer Infantry 1862?1865.
(Lynchburg, VA: Schroeder Publications, 2005).
- Winks, Robin W.
The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States
(McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 1998); Confederates raided Vermont from Canada.
online
- Zeller, Paul G.
The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861?1865
. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2002.
- Zeller, Paul G.
Williamstown, Vermont in the Civil War
(2011)
excerpt
Historiography and memory
[
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]
- Miller, Richard F. ed.
States at War, Volume 1: A Reference Guide for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the Civil War
(2013)
excerpt
Primary sources
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]
- Abbott, Lemuel Abijah.
Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864
(Createspace Independent Pub, 1908)
online
.
- Dornbusch, C. E.,
Regimental Publications & Personal Narratives of the Civil War.
, Vol I Northern States, Part 2 New England: The New York Public Library, 1962.
- Dyer, Frederick Henry,
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion.
New York: T. Yoseloff, 1908. 3 vol.
- George, Charles, Herbert George, and Jere George.
"Bully for the Band!": The Civil War Letters and Diary of Four Brothers in the 10th Vermont Infantry Band
(McFarland, 2012).
- Davis, James A. "More Work Than Play: Insights from the Letters of J. Herbert George, Civil War Musician."
Journal of American Culture
26.4 (2003): 464+; from 10th Vermont regiment.
online
- Marshall, Jeffrey D.
A war of the people: Vermont Civil War letters
(UPNE, 1999).
- Ripley, Edward Hastings.
Vermont General: The Unusual War Experiences of Edward Hastings Ripley (1862-1865)
(1960)
- Rosenblatt, Emil & Ruth. 1992.
Hard Marching Every Day: The Civil War Letters of Private Wilbur Fisk 1861?1865
. University Press of Kansas.
ISBN
0-7006-0529-0
- Waite, Otis F. R. "Vermont in the Great Rebellion: containing historical and biographical sketches, etc." Claremont, N.H. : Tracy, Chase and Co., 1869)
at the
Internet Archive
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