1st Vermont Infantry
Encyclopedia
The 1st Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry (or 1st VVI) was a three months' infantry regiment in the Union ArmyUnion Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It served in the eastern theater, in and around Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
History
Responding to President Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's call in mid-April 1861, for 75,000 men to serve for three months to help put down the rebellion, Governor Erastus Fairbanks
Erastus Fairbanks
Erastus Fairbanks was an American manufacturer and Whig politician.He studied law but abandoned it for mercantile pursuits, finally settling in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where in 1824 he formed a partnership with his brother Thaddeus for the manufacture of scales, stoves and plows...
ordered the recruitment of the regiment.
The regiment was organized from militia companies from the following towns, as follows:
- A - Swanton
- B - Woodstock
- C - St. AlbansSt. Albans (city), VermontSt. Albans is a city in and the shire town of Franklin County, Vermont, in the United States. At the 2000 census, the city population was 7,650. St Albans City is completely surrounded by St. Albans town, which is incorporated separately from the city of St. Albans...
- D - BradfordBradford, VermontBradford is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,619 at the 2000 census.-History:The first settler was John Hosmer in 1765...
- E - CavendishCavendish, VermontCavendish is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The town was named after William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. The population was 1,470 at the 2000 census...
- F - NorthfieldNorthfield, VermontNorthfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. It lies in a valley within the Green Mountains, and has been the home of Norwich University since 1866. The town contains the village of Northfield, where over half of its population lives. The population was 6,207 at the 2010...
- G - Brandon
- H - BurlingtonBurlington, VermontBurlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
- I - Middlebury
- K - RutlandRutland (town), VermontRutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,054 at the 2010 census. Rutland completely surrounds the city of Rutland, which is incorporated separately from the town of Rutland.-History:...
Captain John W. Phelps
John W. Phelps
John Wolcott Phelps , was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, an author, an ardent abolitionist and presidential candidate.-Soldier and abolitionist:...
, of Brattleboro
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
, an 1836 graduate of the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
, and a 23-year veteran of the regular army, was chosen to command the regiment. Militia Captain Peter T. Washburn
Peter T. Washburn
Peter Thacher Washburn was a lawyer, politician and Adjutant and Inspector General of the State of Vermont during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, of Woodstock, later Adjutant General of the State of Vermont, was appointed Lieutenant Colonel. Among the officers was future U.S. Congressman Roswell Farnham
Roswell Farnham
Roswell Farnham was a U.S. politician of the Republican Party and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War....
.
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. 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
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
. On May 26, the regiment took the steamers Cataline and Monticello, up Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
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
Battle of Big Bethel
The Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War after the surrender of Fort Sumter...
.
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.
Further reading
- Coffin, Howard, Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War. Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1995.
- Dyer, Frederick Henry, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. New York: T. Yoseloff, 1908. 3 vol.
- U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.