Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1873-02-27

, way or llgthtlng that made them tel
, rifle in battle. Each man knew tina
| his neighbor in the ranks was not &C
q ing to run away; and he knew, alsc
, that he himself intended to remain
, where he was. Accordingly none 0
/ the attention of the line was directed
, from the important duty of loadin.
and firing, rapidly and carefully
When moving into action, and whil
hotly engaged, they made queer
quaint jokes, and enjoyed them greatly
They crowed like cocks, they ba acc
like sheep, they neighed like horses
they beloved like bulls, they barkeo
like dogs, and they counterfeited, witt
excellent effect, the indescribabl,
music of the mule. When, perchance
they held a picket line in a forest, i
seemed as if Noah's ark had gone tc
TO pieces there.
"ln every engagement in which this
brigade took part, it was compliment
ed for gallant conduct. One of the
most remarkable Of its performances
hower has never appeared in print
nor has it been!noticed in the reports
After the battle of Gettysburg, Lees
army was in the vicinity of Hagers
town end the Antietam, the Vermont
brigade was deployed as skirmish-
ing line, covering a point Of nearly
three miles. The enemy were in force
in front, near Beaver Creek. The
Sixth corps was held in readiness in
rear Of the skirmish line, anticipating
a general engagement. The enemy
had evidently determined to attack
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 skirmishers to come
i'll, and waiting to receive the coming
assault But the skirmishers would
not come in; and when the firing died
away, it appeared that the Vermonters
thus deployed as a skirmish line had
actually repulsed full line of battle
attack. Twice afterwards the enemy
advanced to carry the position, and
were each time again driven back by
this perverse skirmish line. The Yer
monters, it is true, were strongly post
ed in a wood, and each man fired from
behind a tree. But then everybody
knows that the etiquette in such mat
ters is for a skirmish line to come in
so soon as they are satisfied that the
enemy means business. These simple
minded patriots from the Green Noun
tains, however, adopted rule of their
own on this occasion; and the enemy,
disgusted with such stupidity, retired
across the Beaver Creek.
"When the Vermonters led the
column on a march, their quick move
ments had to be regulated from corps
or division headquarters, to avoid
gaps in the column as it followed
them, If a rapid Or forced march
were required, it was a common thing
for Sedgewick to say, with quiet
smile, Put the Vermonters at the head
of the column to-day, and keep every
thing well closed up
''After the riots in New York, when
it was found necessary to send troops
to the city to prevent recurrence of
the outbreak, the Vermont brigade
was specially named by the War De-
partment for this duty. Within two
hours after the receipt of the despatch,
the command was en- route for the
city. The occupied public squares
here for some time, enjoyed themselves
not wisely, nor yet virtuously and
returned to the army of the Potomac
sadly demoralized in all but the two
great essential qualities of fighting and
marching. 1t was fortunate thing
for the New York mob that it avoid
ed conflict with the New England
troops at that time.
"Upon the return Of the brigade to
the field they quietly held on to their
old routine of life, and maintained to
the close OF the war the splendid repu
tation they had won at the very out
set.
"There were many regiments equal
to the Vermont regiments in actual
battle, and some that, like the Fifth
New York volunteers, not only equal
ed them in fighting qualities, but
greatly surpassed them in drill, discip
line, and appearance on parade. AS a
brigade, however, they were undoubt-
edly the best in the army of the Poto-
mac, for they not only fought as well
as it was possible to fight, but they
could outmarch, with the utmost ease,
any other organization in the army.
ut was the intention of the writer
only to refer to this brigade, as furn-
ishing the best type of the American
soldier but this article has grown
beyond Its intended limit, and we have,
therefore, not the space to examine in
to the causes Of this superiority. Two,
however, may be brihy stated. First,
that the regiments from Vermont were
brigaded together. This rule, strange
to say, seemed to work well only in
regard to the smaller States, like Yer
mont and New Jersey. Second, the
fact that Vermont, during the first
year of the war, recruited for her regi-
ments, and kept them full. Regiment
al and company officers, knowing that
their ranks would be filled up, dis
charged men freely, and thus managed
to get rid of their weak and worthless
soldiers. For these reasons the Yer