During theAmerican Civil War, theState 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.[2]
Civil War envelope showing Vermont state seal with message "Loyal"
The second article in Vermont's constitution, originally written in 1777, abolishedslavery, making it the first state to do so. Although its climate was not conducive to the slave trade, Vermonters were early participants in theabolitionist movement. In the1860 presidential election, Vermont gave RepublicanAbraham Lincolna lopsided victory, 33,808 votes compared to 8,649 forStephen Douglas, 1,866 forJohn Bell, and 217 forJohn C. Breckinridge. Lincoln would win 75.86% of the vote in the state, making Vermont his strongest victory in popular vote percentage.[3] One historian opined that the heavy rain on election day "reduced the Republican majority by at least 7,000" votes.[4]
In the closing days of 1860, in response to a pro-Southern resolution by RepresentativeAlbert Rust ofArkansas, Vermont RepresentativeJustin 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.[5]
During the war, three men served asGovernor of Vermont;Erastus Fairbanks,Frederick Holbrook andJ. 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 sixinfantry and onecavalry regiments. Governor Holbrook's administration saw the recruitment of 10 infantry regiments, 2light artillery batteries, and 3sharpshooter 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."[6] 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.
The state sent more than 34,000 to serve, out of a total population of about 350,000 citizens.[7]More than 28,100 Vermonters served in Vermont volunteer units. Vermont fielded 17 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 3 light artillery batteries, 1heavy 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.[8]
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.[11][12]
Historian Howard Coffin claimed that the state's most important contribution to the war was at theBattle 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 theBattle of Gettysburg, where, under GeneralGeorge J. Stannard, the2nd Vermont Brigade brokePickett's charge by stepping out of a protected area and firing at the flank of the attackers.[7]
GeneralWinfield 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 theNiagara frontier... I remember the Vermont men in theWar of 1812."[13]
At theBattle 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.[25]
Vermont fielded three companies ofsharpshooters, which served withHiram Berdan in the two U.S. Sharpshooter regiments.[11]
St. Albans, Vermont, is the site of the northernmost land action in the Civil War, theSt. Albans Raid. On October 19, 1864, Confederate raiders, under the command of LieutenantBennett 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 theVermont State House, the Vermont Historical Society,University of Vermont Howe Library, theBennington Museum, theSheldon Museum in Middlebury, the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library,Norwich University Sullivan Museum and special collections,[8] and the State of Vermont Public Records Division.
^abGresser, Joseph (September 21, 2011). "The Vermonters Fire forced the South's retreat".the Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. p. 13.
^abPoirier, Robert G. (1999)."By the Blood of our Alumni": Norwich University Citizen-Soldiers in the Army of the Potomac. Mason City, IA: Savas Pub. Co.ISBN978-1-882810-21-5.OCLC41516536.
^Fuller, James R. (2001).Men of color, to arms! : Vermont African-Americans in the Civil War. San Jose, CA: IUniversity Press.ISBN978-0-595-15826-3.OCLC47079851.
Fuller, James R. (2001).Men of color, to arms! : Vermont African-Americans in the Civil War. San Jose, CA: IUniversity Press.ISBN978-0-595-15826-3.OCLC47079851.
Gresser, Joseph (September 21, 2011). "The Vermonters Fire forced the South's retreat".the Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. p. 13.
Hoffman, Elliott (1979)."A Shot in the Dark"(pdf).Vermont History.47 (4). Vermont Historical Society:276–278.ISSN0042-4161. RetrievedMay 15, 2024.
Poirier, Robert G. (1999)."By the Blood of our Alumni": Norwich University Citizen-Soldiers in the Army of the Potomac. Mason City, IA: Savas Pub. Co.ISBN978-1-882810-21-5.OCLC41516536.
Collea, Joseph D. (2010).The First Vermont Cavalry in the Civil War : a history. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.ISBN978-0-7864-5719-9.OCLC607553814.
Cox, Christopher (2013).History of Vermont Civil War Regiments: Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry. [S.l.]: LULU COM.ISBN978-1-304-47014-0.OCLC1356234125.
Wickman, Donald H. (2005).We Are Coming Father Abra'am: The History of the 9th Vermont Volunteer Infantry 1862–1865. Lynchburg, VA: Schroeder Publications.ISBN978-1-889246-23-9.OCLC61156352.
Winks, Robin W. (1998).The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States. Montreal, QE: McGill-Queen's University Press.ISBN978-0-7735-6763-4.OCLC181843391.
Zeller, Paul G. (2002).The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.ISBN978-0-7864-1262-4.OCLC49699426.
Miller, Richard F., ed. (2013).A Reference Guide for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the Civil War. States at War. Vol. I. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.ISBN978-1-61168-377-6.OCLC862938868.
Dornbusch, C. E. (1961).Northern States, Part 2 New England. Regimental Publications & Personal Narratives of the Civil War: A Checklist. Vol. I. New York, NY: New York Public Library.ISBN978-0-87104-117-3.OCLC1646255.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
George, George; George, Charles; George, Herbert & George, Jere (2012). Davis, James A. (ed.)."Bully for the Band!": The Civil War Letters and Diary of Four Brothers in the 10th Vermont Infantry Band. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.ISBN978-0-7864-6686-3.OCLC733232485.
Marshall, Jeffrey D. (1999).A War of the People : Vermont Civil War letters. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.ISBN978-0-87451-922-8.OCLC40473799.
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