1862 Report
Appendix B
Headquarters, 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 1st Army Corps,
In front of Gettysburg, July 4, 1863.T. P. (sic) Washburn, Adjutant and Inspector General:
Sir, -- I have the honor to report that the Second Vermont Brigade, under my command, marched from the line of the defences of Washington upon the Occoquan, on the 25th ult., under orders to report to Major General Reynolds, commanding the 1st Army Corps.
The Brigade joined that corps at this place, on the evening of July 1st, after an exhausting march of seven days. The distance marched, averaged about 18 miles per day. Rain fell on every day of the seven. The men marched well, with no straggling, and considering the condition of the roads, the distance travelled, from the mouth of the Occoquan to Gettysburg, could not have been accomplished in less time.
We reach the battle ground, in front of Gettysburg, too late in the day to take part i the severely contested battle of July 1st, and my tired troops upon their arrival took position in rear of the line of battle of the 1st Corps.
Before reaching the ground, the Twelfth and Fifteenth regiments were detached, by order of Gen. Reynolds, as a guard to the corps wagon train in the rear. The 15th rejoined the Brigade next morning, but was again ordered back for the same duty, about noon of that day. After the opening of the battle of the 2nd, the left wing of the Thirteenth regiment, under Lieut. Col. Munson, was ordered forward as support to a battery, and a company of the Sixteenth was sent out as support to the skirmishers in our front. While stationing them, Capt. A. G. Foster, Assistant Inspector General of my staff, was seriously wounded by a ball through both legs, depriving me of his valuable service for the remainder of the battle. Just before dark of the sam day, our army line on the left of the centre having become broken, under a desperate charge of the enemy, my brigade was ordered up. The right wing of the 13th regiment, under command of Col. Randall, was in the advance, and upon reaching the breach in the line, was granted by Gen. Hancock, commanding upon the spot, the privilege of making effort to retake the guns of Company "C," Regular Battery, which had just been captured by the enemy.
This they performed in a gallant charge, in which Col. Randall's horse was shot under him. Four guns of the Battery were retaken, and two rebel field-pieces, with about eighty prisoners, were captured by five companies of the 13th, in this single charge. The front line, thus re-established, was held by this Brigade for twenty-six yours. At about two o'clock if the 3d inst., the enemy commenced a vigorous attack upon our position. After subjecting us, for an hour and a half, to the severest cannonade of the whole battle, from nearly one hundred guns, the enemy charged with a heavy column of infantry. The charge was aimed directly upon my command, but owing apparently to the firm front shown them, the enemy diverged mid-way, and came upon the line on my right. but they did not thus escape the warm reception prepared for them by the Vermonters. As soon as the change of the point of attack became evident, I ordered a flank attack upon the enemy's column. Forming in the open meadow in front of our line, the 13th and 16th regiments marched down in column, by the flank, changed front forward, at right angle to the main line of battle of the army, bringing them in line of battle upon the flank of the charging column of the enemy, and opened a destructive fire at short range, which the enemy sustained but a very few minutes before the larger portion of them surrendered and marched in, not as conquerors, but as captives. they had hardly dropped their arms before another rebel column appeared charging upon our left. Col. Veazey, of the 16th, was at once ordered back to take it, in its turn, upon the flank. This was done, as successfully as before. The rebel force, already decimated by the fire of the 14th regiment, was scooped, almost en-masse, into our lines. The 16th took, in this charge, the regimental colors of the 2d Florida and 8th Virginia regiments, and the battle flag of another rebel regiment.
The 16th was supported for a time in the now advanced position it occupied after the charge, by four companies of the 14th, under command of Lieut. Col. Rose.
The movements I have briefly described were executed into he open field, under a very heavy fire of shell, grape and musketry, and they were performed with the promptness and precision of battalion drill. They ended the contest on the centre, and substantially closed the battle.
Officers and men behaved like veterans, although it was, for most of them, their first battle, and I am content to leave it to the witnesses of the fight, whether or no they sustained the credit of the service, and the honor of our Green Mountain State.
That their efforts were approved by the Division General, is shown by the General Order, appended to this report.
The members of my staff, Capt. Wm. H. Hill, Assistant Adjutant General, Lieut. G.W. Hooker, and Lieut. G. G. Benedict, Aides-de-Camp, Lieut. Clark, Provost Marshal, and Lieut. S. F. Prentiss, Ordnance Officer, executed all my orders with the utmost promptness, and their coolness under fire and good example contributed essentially to the success of the day.
The list of casualties appended, has been prepared in haste upon the field, and is probably inaccurate in some respects. Of those set down as missing, but one is known to have been taken prisoner, and a number of them will probably appear in the lists of killed and wounded when the full returns shall have been received.
I Am, General, with respect, your obedient servant, G. J. Stannard, Brig. Gen. com'd'g 3r Brigade, 3rd Divis. 1st Army Corps.
Headquarters, 3d Division, 1st A. C.,
July 4, 1863.General Order, No. _____
The Major General commanding the Division desires to return his thanks to the Vermont Second Brigade, the 151st regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers,and the 20th regiment New York State Militia, for their gallant conduct in resisting, in the front line, the main attack of the enemy upon this position, after sustaining a terrific fire from 75 to 100 pieces of artillery. He congratulates them upon contributing so essentially in the glorious, and it is to be hoped, decisive, victory of yesterday.
By command of
Maj. Gen. Doubleday, (Signed) EDWARD C. BAIRD Capt. and Ass't Adj't Gen., Headquarters, 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 1st Army Corps Gettysburg, Penn., July 4, 1863. "Official" Wm. H. Hill, Ass't Adj't Gen.
