- A Brief History of the 2nd Vermont Regiment
- (Continued)
Answering President Lincoln's call for three year volunteers, Company E, 2nd Regiment, Vermont Volunteers formed at Tunbridge, Vermont on May 21, 1861. It was organized from militia companies from Brattleboro, Burlington, Castleton, Fletcher, Ludlow, Montpelier, Tunbridge, Vergennes and Waterbury. Henry Whiting was commissioned as Colonel by Governor Erastus Fairbanks on June 6, 1861. George J. Stannard, of St. Albans, was appointed lieutenant colonel, and Charles H. Joyce, a young lawyer from Northfield, was appointed major.
|
The regiment was mustered into United States service at Burlington on June 20. Four days later, the regiment left for Washington, D.C., arriving on June 26. It was initially brigaded with three Maine regiments under command of Colonel Oliver O. Howard. On July 21, the brigade participated in the First Battle of Bull Run. The regiment suffered 68 casualties: 2 killed, 35 wounded and 31 missing. August 12, 1861, the regiment transferred to Chain Bridge, where it went into camp with the 3rd Vermont Infantry, 6th Maine Infantry and 33rd New York Infantry. |
In September, the 4th, 5th and 6th Vermont regiments joined with the 2nd and 3rd to form the famous "Old Vermont Brigade" under the command of newly promoted Brigadier General William Farrar Smith, previously commander of the 3rd Vermont Infantry. Smith was soon assigned command of the division of which the Vermont Brigade was a part, and William T. H. Brooks, a native of Ohio, but the son of a Vermonter, assumed command.
|
Colonel Whiting resigned on February 9, 1863 and was replaced by James H. Walbridge, who commanded the regiment until he resigned on April 1, 1864. He was replaced by Newton Stone, who was killed in action at the Battle of the Wilderness, on May 5, 1864. His replacement, John S. Tyler, had been wounded on May 5, and died of his wounds on May 23. Amasa Tracy, his replacement, commanded the regiment until it was disbanded. Lieutenant Colonel George J. Stannard was promoted to the colonelcy of the 9th Vermont Infantry on May 21, 1862, and later commanded the 2nd Vermont Brigade, which garnered honors for its participation in the repulse of Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. The original members of the regiment, who did not reenlist, were mustered out of the service on June 29, 1864. One year recruits and others whose term of service was due to expire prior to October 1, 1865, were mustered out on June 19, 1865. The remaining officers and men mustered out of service on July 15.
|
The enrollment of the 2nd Regiment was 1,858. The regiment as a whole lost 399 men including: 6 officers, 218 enlisted, 175 enlisted died from disease. The enrollment of Company was 173. Of the 399, Company E lost 37 men including: 2 officers, 19 enlisted, 18 enlisted died from other causes. |
ENGAGEMENTS: |
