- 12th Vermont Infantry
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History
The 12th Vermont Infantry, a nine months regiment, raised as a result of President Lincoln's call on August 4, 1862, for additional troops due to the disastrous results of the Peninsula Campaign.
It was composed of volunteers from ten volunteer militia companies as follows:
* West Windsor Guards, Co. A
* Woodstock Light Infantry, Co. B
* Howard Guard of Burlington, Co. C
* Tunbridge Light Infantry, Co. D
* Ransom Guards of St. Albans, Co. E
* New England Guard of Northfield, Co. F
* Allen Grays of Brandon, Co. G
* Bradford Guards, Co. H
* Saxton's River Light Infantry of Rockingham, Co. I
* Rutland Light Guard, Co. KColonel
Asa P. Blunt , previously of the 3rd and 6th Vermont regiments, was selected to command the regiment. Lieutenant ColonelRoswell Farnham and Major Levi G. Kingsley had held commissions in the1st Vermont Infantry , along with a total of 65 officers and men.The regiment went into camp at Brattleboro on
September 25 ,1862 , and was mustered in to United States service onOctober 4 . It leftVermont onOctober 7 , and arrived inWashington, D.C. onOctober 10 , and went into camp on East Capital Hill. OnOctober 30 it became part of the2nd Vermont Brigade , which also included the 13th, 14th, 15th and16th Vermont Infantry regiments.Colonel Blunt, as ranking colonel, commanded the brigade until the arrival of Brigadier General
Edwin H. Stoughton , onDecember 7 .Stoughton was not popular with the officers and men of the brigade, so when he was captured by Confederate partisan
John S. Mosby onMarch 9 ,1863 , few mourned his loss. Colonel Blunt assumed command of the brigade again, turning it over to the new brigade commander, Brigadier GeneralGeorge J. Stannard , onApril 20 , who led the brigade until theBattle of Gettysburg .The regiment marched to Munson's Hill on
October 30 , and Hunting Creek the next day, where it stayed untilDecember 12 , in 'Camp Vermont.' It was engaged in picket duty near Fairfax Courthouse fromDecember 12 toJanuary 20 ,1863 , participating in a repulse ofJ.E.B. Stuart 's cavalry onDecember 29 . The regiment was stationed at Wolf Run Shoals fromJanuary 20 toMay 1 , performed railroad guard duty at Warrenton Junction untilMay 7 , and camped near Rappahannock Station untilMay 18 . From then untilJune 1 , it camped near Bristoe and Catlett's Station. For the majority of June, it was at Union Mills.On
June 25 , the brigade was assigned as the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps, and ordered to form the rear guard of theArmy of the Potomac as it marched north afterRobert E. Lee 'sArmy of Northern Virginia . The 12th marched with the brigade from Wolf Run Shoals onJune 25 , crossed the Potomac river onJune 27 , at Edward's Ferry, and moved north through Frederick City and Creagerstown, Maryland. It was drawing near Gettysburg onJuly 1 , when the 12th and 15th regiments were detached to guard the corps trains.The regiment accompanied the corps trains to Rock Creek Church, near the battlefield, and two companies of the 12th went forward to protect ammunition trains on the Taneytown road.
After the battle, the regiment moved south to
Westminster, Maryland , then served as guards for a train of 2,500 Confederate prisoners who were taken toBaltimore, Maryland . Departing Baltimore, the regiment traveled toBrattleboro, Vermont , where it arrived onJuly 9 . It was mustered out onJuly 14 ,1863 .Dozens of newly discharged members of the regiment enlisted again, predominantly in the regiments of the 1st
Vermont Brigade , and the17th Vermont Infantry .Final Statement
ee also
Vermont in the Civil War References
* 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, ii:402-405.
* Dyer, Frederick Henry, "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion." New York: T. Yoseloff, 1908. 3 vol.
* 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, pp. 456-457.
Further reading
* Coffin, Howard, "Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War." Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1995.
* -----. "Nine Months to Gettysburg. The Vermonters Who Broke Pickett's Charge." Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 1997.
* Palmer, Edwin F., "The Second Brigade: or, Camp Life, By a Volunteer," Montpelier: E. P. Walton, 1864.
External links
* [http://vermontcivilwar.org Vermont in the Civil War]
* [http://www.vtguard.com/museum/index.htm Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library]
* [http://www.bgs.state.vt.us/gsc/pubrec/referen/military.htm Vermont Military Records Project, Vermont Public Records Division]
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