- 15th Vermont Infantry
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History
The 15th 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 Caleldonia, Orleans, Orange and Windsor Counties, as follows:
* West Fairlee, Co. A
* Danville, Co. B
* West Randolph, Co. C
* Wait's River, Co. D
* Island Pond, Co. E
* McIndoe's Falls, Co. F
* Lyndon, Co. G
* Frontier Guards of Coventry, Co. H
* Barton, Co. I
* St. Johnsbury, Co. KColonel
Redfield Proctor , previously of the 3rd and 5th Vermont regiments, was selected to command the regiment. He would later serve asGovernor of Vermont .William W. Grout , the regiment's lieutenant colonel, would later serve in the U.S. Congress.The regiment went into camp at Brattleboro on
October 8 ,1862 , occupying barracks just vacated the day before by the12th Vermont Infantry , and was mustered in to United States service onOctober 22 . It leftVermont onOctober 23 , and arrived inWashington, D.C. onOctober 26 ; the next day it joined the14th Vermont Infantry and some Maine regiments in Camp Chase, in Arlington, Virginia, then returned to camp on East Capital Hill, and onOctober 30 became part of the2nd Vermont Brigade .The regiment marched to Munson's Hill on
October 30 , and Hunting Creek the next day, where it stayed untilNovember 26 . It performed picket duty at Occoquan Creek from November 26, to December 4, when it moved to "Camp Vermont" until December 12. It engaged in further picket duty near Fairfax Courthouse until December 20, then moved to Fairfax Station until March 24. From March 24 to May 7 it was at Union Mills, followed by nearly two weeks at Bealeton. It returned to Unions Mills until mid-June, then for ten days elements of the regiment were stations at Bristoe Station, Catlett's Station and Manassas.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 15th 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 two regiments accompanied the corps trains to Rock Creek Church, near the battlefield.After the battle, regiment participated in the pursuit of Lee's
Army of Northern Virginia across the Catoctin mountains toMiddletown, Maryland , then back over South Mountain, through Boonesboro, to Williamsport by July 14. The regiment marched to Harper's Ferry, across South Mountain again, and camped near Petersville, near Berlin. On July 18, the regiment was released, took a train from Berlin to Baltimore. It reachedNew York City onJuly 20 , spent two uneventful days there during theDraft riots , then continued on to Brattleboro, where it mustered out on August 5.Like the other regiments in the
2nd Vermont Brigade , dozens of newly discharged members from the 15th 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:411-413
* 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. 524-525.
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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