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1892 Revised Roster
These are the introductory pages of an 863 page report by the Vermont Adjutant General's Office that provided the initial input into the website. Page references throughout the website refer to this document.
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.
-----
COMPILED BY AUTHORITY OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
UNDER DIRECTION OF
THEODORE S. PECK, ADJUTANT-GENERAL.
-----
MONTPELIER, VT.:
Press of the Watchman Publishing Co.,
Publishers and Printers.
1892.
REPORT
State of Vermont,
Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office,
Burlington, February 27, A. D. 1892.To His Excellency,
Carroll S. Page,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.Sir:--The General Assembly of the State of Vermont, by its Act, number 113, approved November 26, 1888, provided for a Revised Roster of Vermont Troops in the War of the Rebellion, with a list of native Vermonters who held commissions in the Union Regiments and organizations of other States, and an index of the hospital records now in the Adjutant and Inspector-General's office.
By direction of His Excellency, Governor William P. Dillingham, the undersigned commenced the revision of the Roster, and, having completed the same, begs leave to respectfully report the result of the work.
The endeavor has been to present a correct record of each soldier serving in Vermont organizations, the Regular Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Veteran Reserve Corps, and Hancock's First Corps, and of Vermonters serving as officers in the United States Colored Troops and organizations from other States.
The magnitude of the task thus undertaken, can hardly be estimated by the casual reader.
The basis of the work was the Roster prepared under the direction of Adjutant General Washburn during the war. This, though remarkably complete, contained many errors, some of which did serious injustice to the soldier.
So little could be added to the index of hospital records that it was not deemed advisable to compile a new one.
In the work of revision the following sources of information have been used:
First.--The enlistment contract, or pay-roll (where there was no contract).
Second.--The Vermont hospital records, and the reports of the hospital commissioners.
Third.--The bi-monthly muster-rolls, for promotions and other changes.
Fourth.--The muster-rolls, which account for every man in each company. It took over six months to go through these rolls.
Fifth.--About four thousand slips from the records of Confederate prisons, obtained from the War Department. As these did not give more than one-half the dates stating when the soldier was taken prisoner, etc., it was found necessary to go through the muster rolls a second time. This careful work removed the word "deserter" from many a soldier's record.
Sixth- Record of transfers to the Veteran Reserve Corps, Regular Army, Navy, etc., comprising over twelve hundred names.
Seventh.--The lists of soldiers buried in the national cemeteries. The examination of these involved the scrutiny of between two and three thousand names.
Additional information was obtained from seventy-three volumes of the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," to find the correct dates of battles and names of Generals commanding troops and other important data, and from the "Historical Roster of the United States Army, "and files of the "Vermont Watchman," the "Green Mountain Freeman," and the "Burlington Free Press" of 1861-1866.
The process of verification has involved going through the various lists, comprising over 35, 000 names, some fifteen times.
While the sketches of the regimental organizations are quite complete, there are a few facts which much be of interest, and to which I believe we can refer with honest pride. Vermont was represented at the fall of Fort Sumter on the 15th of April, 1861, by Truman Seymour, Captain First Artillery, U. S. A.
The first Vermonter to volunteer his services for the War of the Rebellion, was George Jerrison Stannard of St. Albans, Colonel Fourth Regiment of Militia; this occurred on the 15th of April, 1861. The first reconnaissance in force upon Virginia soil by the United States troops, was made by the First Vermont Regiment on the 23d of May, 1861. The first Vermont soldier to lose his life, was Private D. H. Whitney of the Bradford Company (D) First Regiment, who was killed by a rebel scout on the 22d of June, 1861, at Newport News, Va. The first empty sleeve from Vermont in the War of the Rebellion, was that of First Sergeant Urban A. Woodbury, Company H, Second Vermont Volunteers in action at Bull Run, Va., July 21, 186.
The last shot of the Sixth Army Corps was fired by the Second Vermont regiment, April 6, 1865, on the eastern fork of Sailor's Creek, Va. The last fighting of Vermont troops was done by the Seventh Regiment at Whistler, Alabama, April 13, 1865, and by the First Vermont Cavalry at Appomattox Court House, on the morning of Lee's surrender, April 9, 1865. The last Vermont soldier killed was Private George B. Dunn of company M., First Vermont Cavalry, April 8, 1865; and the last wounded was First Lieutenant Willard Farrington of Company L., First Vermont Cavalry, early in the evening of April 8, 1865.
The First Vermont Brigade and the Tenth Regiment, serving with the Sixth Army Corps, were among the first troops to enter the city of Petersburg, Va., on the morning of its capture, April 3, 1865. On the same morning Richmond was captured, and the skirmish line, which was the first organized body of troops to enter the rebel capital, was commanded by Captain Abel E. Leavenworth, Ninth Vermont, assisted by Lieutenants Joel C. Baker and Burnham Cowdrey, with a detail of one hundred and twenty men from the same regiment.
Some time ago I communicated with the War Department, with a view of getting, as nearly as possible, the number of battle flags, cannon and prisoners, captured by Vermont troops during the war. I regret to say, however, that it was not possible for me to obtain this information, as there were no records kept of the captures by Vermont troops, except in a few instances.
One hundred and four (104) Vermonters served as officers in the United States Colored Troops, eighty-seven (87) of whom were promoted from the ranks. The different regiments thus represented are:
Second regiment, 1 Third regiment, 2 Fourth regiment, 3 Fifth regiment, 1 Sixth regiment, 6 Seventh regiment, 4 Eighth regiment, 43 Ninth regiment, 4 Tenth regiment, 22 Eleventh regiment, 4 Sixteenth regiment, 1 Second U. S. S. S. 1 Citizens of Vermont 12 ---- Total, 104 Seventy-nine (79) commissioned officers serving with Vermont troops were brevetted for gallant and meritorious services in the field, viz.:
Twenty (20) Vermonters serving as officers in organizations from other states, were brevetted for gallant and meritorious services in the field.
Four Vermonters commissioned as officers in the Colored Troops were brevetted for gallant and meritorious services in the field.
Thirty-two (32) Vermonters serving in the Regular Army were brevetted for gallant and meritorious services in the field. Total brevetted one hundred and thirty-five (135).
The list of officers from Vermont who became General officers, comprises one Major-General, William F. Smith; three Brigadier and Brevet Major Generals--Lewis A. Grant, twice wounded, George J. Stannard, four times wounded and lost right arm, Williams Wells, twice wounded; four Brigadier-Generals, John W. Phelps, Edwin H. Stoughton, Stephen Thomas, once wounded, James M. Warner, once wounded; six Colonels and Brevet Brigadier-Generals, Asa P. Blunt, George P. Foster, once wounded, William W. Henry, three times wounded, John R. Lewis, twice wounded and lost right arm, Edward H. Ripley, once wounded, Charles B. Stoughton, once wounded and lost right eye.
Of the fourteen (14) general officers, ten were wounded from one to four times each, two losing their right arms, and one an eye, making 72 per cent wounded.
Out of one hundred and twenty-four (124) field officers, representing all the regiments and staff, fifteen were killed or mortally wounded, thirty-eight were wounded, one six times, one four times, and six twice, making over 12 per cent killed and over 31 per cent wounded.
Field officers killed and wounded were as follows, viz:
Colonel Newton Stone, killed; Colonel John S. Tyler, mortally wounded; Colonel Amasa S. Tracy, twice wounded; Major Erastus G. Ballou, four times wounded.
Colonel Horace W. Floyd, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel E. Pingree, twice wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Hubbard, wounded; Major Thomas F. Nelson, wounded; Major John F. Cook, wounded.
Colonel Ronald A. Kennedy, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Charles P. Dudley, mortally wounded; Major Thomas Kavaney, wounded.
Colonel Elisha L. Barney, wounded, afterwards mortally wounded; Colonel Sumner H. Lincoln, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Oscar A. Hale, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Frank G. Butterfield, wounded; Major Richard B. Crandall, killed; Major Carlos W. Dwinell, wounded, afterward mortally wounded; Major Edwin R. Kinney, twice wounded.
Colonel George T. Roberts, mortally wounded.
Colonel John B. Mead, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry F. Dutton, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Alvin B. Franklin, three times wounded.
Major Charles Jarvis, mortally wounded; Major Joseph C. Brooks, twice wounded.
Lieutenant-Colonel Wyllys Lyman, three times wounded; Major Edwin Dillingham, killed; Major Lucius F. Hunt, wounded.
Lieutenant-Colonel Reuben C. Benton, wounded, (Captain Fifth Regiment); Lieutenant-Colonel George E. Chamberlin, mortally wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Darius J. Safford, wounded; Major Charles Buxton, killed; Major George D. Sowles, wounded.
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles W. Rose (Captain Fifth Regiment), wounded.
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Cummings, wounded, afterwards killed; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry A. Eaton, killed; Lieutenant-colonel Lyman E. Knapp, twice wounded; Major William B. Reynolds, killed.
Colonel Addison W. Preston, killed; Colonel Josiah Hall, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Bennett, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel William G. Cummings, wounded; Major Andrew J. Grover, wounded; Major Henry M. Paige, wounded; Major Charles A. Adams, twice wounded.
Lieutenant-Colonel William Y. W. Ripley, wounded.
Colonel Homer R. Stoughton, wounded.
General StaffBrevet Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Hooker, wounded at South Mountain, Md., and five times wounded at Cold Harbor, Va.; Lieutenant-Colonel Merritt Barber, Assistant Adjutant-General "First Vermont Brigade, " wounded at Monocacy, Md., and Fisher's Hill, Va.; Brevet Colonel Daniel D. Wheeler, Assistant Adjutant-General Twenty-fifth Army Corps United States Volunteers, wounded at Cold Harbor, Va.
Colonel William F. Fox, United States Volunteers, in his elaborate work entitled "Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, " give a list of eight "famous" brigades -- made pre-eminent by their fighting qualities as shown by their losses in action. In this noble list the First Vermont Brigade stands first. "The greatest loss of life, " says Colonel Fox, "in any one brigade during the war occurred in the Vermont Brigade, of the Second (Getty's) Division, of the Sixth Corps.
Of the Cavalry regiments in the Union armies, he mentions nine which lost from 119 to 174 men each, killed or mortally wounded in action. In this list, the First Vermont Cavalry stands fifth. It is admitted that it was second to none, however, in captures of guns, prisoners and battle flags.
From over two thousand regiments in the Union armies, Colonel Fox selects three hundred as the "fighting regiments" which lost from 134 to 224 men each, killed and died of wounds; of this number Vermont furnished nine, viz.: First Regiment Vermont Cavalry, Second, Third, fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and Seventeenth Regiments of Infantry, and First Regiment Vermont Heavy Artillery, or Eleventh Regiment.
Companies E, Fifth Regiment, and F, First Regiment United States Sharpshooters, suffered the greatest loss in killed and wounded of any company organization from Vermont, the former losing 37 killed and mortally wounded, out of 191 men taken into the field, or almost 20 per cent--the later losing 32 out of 177 total enlisted, or 18 per cent.
The greatest loss of officers killed or died of wounds in Vermont organizations was in the Seventeenth Regiment, which lost 14.
The Fifth Regiment at Savage's Station, and the Eighth Regiment at Cedar Creek suffered the heaviest losses in killed, wounded and missing of any of the Vermont regiments, in any one action.
It is impossible to publish the deeds of valor of each soldier as it would take a list of at least three-fourths of our brave boys who, day after day, and month after month, for four long years, plodded steadily on with no wish but that of helping to save their country from destruction and ruin, and by their steadfastness and fighting qualities gave their officers the wonderful record which they now have, and from whose ranks over 687 were promoted.
I hope, however, that the day may come when the legislature of Vermont will order the compilation of a "Roll of Honor" in which may be given in detail the special acts of gallantry performed by her soldiers, as well as their sufferings in rebel prisons.
The consolidated statement shows that 1, 832 Vermont soldiers were killed in action, and died of wounds, and 3, 405 died of disease, in prison, and from accident. Total, 5, 237.
Of the service and losses of the Vermont troops Colonel Fox writes me:"It is a wonderful record and I do not remember its equal in military history. The loss of the German Army, Franco-Prussian Wa, killed and mortally wounded, was 3.1 : Allied Army, the Crimean War, 3.2 ; Austrian Army, War of 1866, 2.6; Union Army, War of the Rebellion, 1865-66, 4.7. Pennsylvania sustained the greatest loss in killed of any State, its percentage being 7.1; Vermont comes next with a loss of 6.8. Pennsylvania leads because that State had a larger portion of its troops at the front, especially in the Army of the Potomac, where the fighting was most severe and prolonged."
Vermont, however, in proportion to the number of men furnished, gave to the Union more lives lost from all causes than any other Northern State.
The list of Vermonters who held commissions in the organization of other States, was mainly obtained from Hon. George Grenville Benedict, State Military Historian. Every endeavor was made to add to this, and to this end articles requesting information were published in over fifty leading newspapers in the United States, to which some one hundred and fifty replies were received I am sure that the list is not complete, but have done my best to make it so. So far as I am aware, no other State has attempted the preparation of a similar list.
At the close of the war there were about five hundred unassigned recruits, being men who were enlisted but never joined any command. As soon as it was known that the war was over, these men left without notice, and were recorded as deserters. In my judgment the general high standing of organizations composed of soldiers who stood by their colors through thick and thin, should not be thus lessened, and while the record cannot now be changed, it should be understood that of the total number of desertions a large proportion were of this class. For instance, in the Seventeenth Regiment, as explained in Lieutenant Lucia's report, there were 120 men assigned to the regiment who never joined, but were recorded as having deserted.
Through the channels of the War Department I find that about thee hundred Vermonters who were recorded as deserters in the roster of 1864-1865-1866, died in rebel prisons, or on the battle field in the hands of the enemy, or have had the charges against their names removed. These corrections of the record of so many of our gallant men are alone worth all the work and expense of preparing this Roster.
I am under obligations for valuable data to the Hon. Redfield Proctor, Secretary of War, Hon. Lewis A. Grant, Assistant Secretary of War, and Major Fred C. Ainsworth, Surgeon United States Army, in charge of the Record and Pension Division of the War Department; to Colonel George G. Benedict, for continuous assistance in the preparations of this work; to Colonel William F. Fox, Albany, N.Y. for the interest he has taken, and also for permission to use data from his book, and to the officers who have prepared the sketches of different organizations.
I am also indebted to Hon. George W. Wing, Hon. Hiram A. Huse, and Colonel Joseph H. Goulding for services rendered. I desire to acknowledge the valuable services of my comrade, Thomas L. Wood, (of the Tenth Vermont Regiment), who has charge of the details of the work, and of his assistants, Mrs. James S. Peck and Truman C. Phinney. Miss Jennie A. Wood has also rendered efficient and laborious service.
I most truly appreciate the advice and kindly interest in my task shown by your Excellency, as well as by Governor William P. Dillingham, and believe that this Roster, completed during your administration, you can present to the people of Vermont a work of which they may well be proud.
I submit it with the expression of a hope that this record of the services in arms of the Vermonters of 1861-65, may serve to teach future generations a lesson of patriotism, and to perpetuate the manly virtues which were so brilliantly illustrated in the great struggle for national unity.
Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, Theodore S. Peck Adjutant-General