The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1866-02-16
The Vermont Brigade.

Tho following DESCRIPTION OF tins
brigade appcars in the New York GU
zen, written by zone who did not be-
long to it, and WHO was never in Yer
mont 1t is both uHcomplimentary
and complimentary exaggerated both
ways. The editor says It Is from the
pen Of Major General in the army Of
the Potomac:
"Thov were honest farmers turned
yaeabonds. They were simple coun-
tlymcn changed into heroes. They
were quiet townsmen that had become
royers. They stole ancient horses and
bonv cows on the march. They pill
LACED moderately in other things.
They swept the dairies and they strip
ped the orchards for miles where they
Travelled. They chased rabbits when
they went into camp after long march
es, and they yelled like wild indians
when ncighboring camps were silent
through fatigue They were ill-disci-
pinned and familiar with their officers.
They staggered in a cool, impudent
way, and looked down y "a a patron
ling Yankee GOODNESS upon all regi-
ments that were better drilled, and
upon that part Of the army generally
that did not belong to the Vermont
Brigade. They were strangely proud,
not of themselves individually, but Of
the brigade collectively; for they knew
perfectly well they were the best fight
ers in the known world. They were
long Of limb, and could outmarch the
army They wcro Individually self
relian; and skillful in the use Of arms,
and they honestly believed that the
Vermont Brigade could not be beaten
by all the combined armies Of the re-
bcllion.
They were veterans in fighting quail
tiles almost from their first skHmish.
This was at Lees Mills They crossed
n narrow dam under fire, made the
attack they were instructed to make,
and came back wading deep in the
water with steadiness that surprised
the army. They were an incorrigiblc,
Irregular, noisy set of rascals They
were much sworn at during their four
years of service; yet they were at all
times a pet brigade. There were but
two things they would do-march and
fight. and these they did i'll Il manner
peculiarly their own. They had a
long, slow, swinging stride on the
march viii h distanccd everything
that followed them They had Il DUET
attentive, earnest individual way of
fighting that made them terrific in bat
tie. Zach man knew that his neigh
Dor in the ranks was not going to run
away, and he knew also that he HIM
self intended to remain where he was.
Accordingly none Of the attention of
the line was directed from the impor-
tant dniy OF loading ana firing, rapid
" and carefully. When moving into
action and while hotly engaged they
made queer, quaint Jokes, and enjoyed
them greatly They crowed like cocks,
they ba-a-ed ike sheep, they neighed
like horses, they beloved Ike bulls,
they barked like dogs, and they coun-
forfeited with excellent effect the in
Acknowledgements Of the mule. When,
perchance, they held picket line in
the forest it seemed as ii Noah's Ark
had gone to pieces there
ia every engagement in which this
brigade took part, it was compliment
cd for gallant conduct One Of the
most remarkable Of its performances,
I however, has never appeared in print,
nor has it been noticed in the reports.
/ After the battle of Gettysburg, when
! Lees army WAS in the vicinity of Ha-
gerstown and the Antietam, the YER
mont Brigade was deployed rs q Skin
mishlng line, covering point Of near
/ ~ three miles The enemy were Ill
force III front near Beaver Greek The
Sixth corps was held III readiness III
the rear OF the skirmish-line, anticipat-
ing general engagement. The en-
envy had evidently determined to at
tack At last his line of battle came
forward The batteries opened at
once and the skirmishers delivered
their fire Our troops were on the
alert and stood watching for the Skin
mishers to come IN and waiting to re-
ceiye the coming assault. But the
skirmishers would not come IN, and
when the firing died away it appeared
that the Nermonters thus beployed rs
a skirmish line had actually repulsed
a full line-of- battle attack Twice af-
forwards the enemy advanced to carry
the position and were each time again
driven back by this peryerse skirmlsh
line. The Nermonters 1t Is true We're
strongly posted in IL wood, and each
man fired from behind tree But
then everybody knows that the Ell
quette in such matters is for a Skin
mish line to come i'll so soon rs they
are satisfied that the enemy mean;
business These supplemented pat
riots from the Green Mountains, how
ever, adopted rule OF their own OF
this occasion; and the enemy, disgust
ed with such stupidity, retired across
the Beaver Creek.
When the Vermonters led the col
umn on march, their quick move
ments had to be regulated from corp
or division headquarters, to AVOID gap
in the column as it followed them. 1
rapid or forced march were required
, it was common thing for Sedgwicl
Al 4 10