The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-06-01

ted with the most solderly quality ofhuman
nature, the staying quality; where they
were put there they remained; and as we
shall soon see, before Grants campainn was
two days old, the logged pcrsstency of the
old Vermont Brigade twice saved the army
of tho Potomac.
Thus we are prepared to follow TO the
south, not simply an army of strangers
fighting for a cause which we honor and
revere, but all these companies. batteries
and regiments, composed of our ncirhbors
and our familiar friends men whom we
knew, and who were of our kin, whose
names we hurriedly sought for in the daily
deatll-roll. AMI in the bulletin of success.
and who in the various organizations which
have been named all did their part some
did much more than their part--to change
the attitude of the rebel commander. and TO
break the spirit of his mon
At the opening of this campaign both
armies were ready for tie contest; neither
was ever more ready; and the result of
this perfect preparation was the most stub
born and most sanguinary baltic Of the war.
the battle OF the Wilderness The extreme
severity of this action, and the fact that it
did not prove as Immediately decisive as
had been hoped for, has led our historians
W io'N hohNhNt ullbll IL SOilt nave even
gone so far as to stigmatizc it ~ u defeat
Our army did not so regard it however;
and defeated army would II rllv have
taken up its march. following its original
route straight TO the south, on the very
evening when the conflict ceased.
The battle of the Wilderness was followed
by daily coHtact with the enemy, 50 that by
May 10th. the Vermont Brigade had lost
considerably more than half its numbers
including full three ton'ths of its officers.
On that day it was reinforced by the nth
Vermont or lst Heavy artillery from the
Notifications at Washington IN which rcgi-
ment your speaker was then serving. And
he finds recorded in his diary rs the express
sion of his judgment upon that dav that
this shattered and torn remnant of the Old
Vermont Brigade, which had spent ten DAYS
in the very center OF the fiery furnace,
which had toiled and suffered ~ men are
seldom called upon to labor and endure, |
iindit,I repeat, written in my diary that these
men and their comrades in the Sixth army
corps, though physically weary and worn.
were III spirit the most enthusiastic. sef-rol-
ant, and cxhiiratcd body of men that had
ever seen They had not been defeated.
They had won the day They were out Cf
the wilderness, and on the south side of il
for the first time; and they were ready and
eager for further effort under the new Tcg-
inle.
On the other hand the temper ufthc rebel
army had undergone total change. On
May 9th that army had entered the conflict
full of the fire and determination with which
it had stormed the nights Of Gettysburg.
On the day after Grant crossed the
Rapidan, Lees army struck, him, attacking
in deadllest earnest, and with the herccst
fury. That great battle, thrccdays long in
its progress, workeda complete transforms
| ton in the warfare of the SOUTH for thC
army Of northern Virginia never assumed
the offensive again Never. Two or tire,
isolated and weak assaults upon our pickle
line at Petersburg and elsewhere are tn,
only remaining occasion when they attempt
ed even to feel our position. From thi.
time forward they waited and defended
The battle of the Wilderness was enough
for them.
Let us then try to understand this puzzl,
called the battle Of the Wilderness. At tn
time it was as blind to those concerned il
it as to their friends at the north, but il
reality it was one of the simplest battles o
the war.
The march of our army upon the enemy
country was not. and could not be Il pro
gress with its full front to the south. Xix
the advance of wave OF the sea; on tn
contrary it was obliged to move by fou
along the existing roads, its longest direc
ton not east and west, but north and soutl
A hundred miles of road would hardly hay
contained the army of the Potomac as
then existed. Therefore, while our troop
were penetrating the thckcts Of the wilder
ness in several slender columns, Gen lie
was moving his command from west t
east in similar columns against them, alon
the two great roads which approached Fred
cricksburg from the mountains SO that til
lines of battle for the first engagement wcr
necessarily drawn up by our columns hal
ing in their course and facing to the ives
while the rebels spread out in an eastwar
front to assail them.
The two road. down which Lee wa
marching to the cast are known, the fir
or more nothcrly, Us the Orange Turnpik,
the second or southcrly, as the Orana
plankroad These roads are crossed neal
ly at right angles by road from Germani
Ford to the south along which Warren's OF
corps was marching, and when the battl
began Warren formed his lines across III
Orange Turnpike, thus holding one of III
two vital positions of the battlefield.
, continuation Of this same road to the soutl
: is called the Brock road, and the poii
where the Brock road crosses the Orane
plankroad was the other position which IL
cOntending armies tough; for. Hancock wit
the I'd corps was ordered to hold it, BIT
unfortunately he had been marching on Al
other road considerably to the cast of Il
Brock road having crossed the road tC
miles below Germania Ford. The head
l. Al
= Orange plankroad but it was evident tn
I hours must clapsc before he could deplC
, so as to cover the cross roads, and that
the lower cross roads were not held, Wa
rem would be outilankCd and defeated
, Meanwhile the sixth corps was supper
ing Warren. and on his right, while Il
ninth corps hHd not yet arrived. 1t vi
an exceedingly critical moment, and
: Gen. Meade had trusted TO his origin
: plan, Lee would have been too quick f
, him, and have routed him before his lin
were formed. Meade therefore, dclacht
4, Gcttys division from the sixth corps, Wi
a orders to hasten down the Brock road
! its crossing with the plank road, and
, hold those crossroads until Hancock cOu
! get up. And the backbone of Gctly'S 4
: vision was the old Vermont brigade.
4 One consequence of this order was th
= throughout the battle this division RENAME
attached to the second corps, Their oN
corps commander knew nothing Of the
u straits or their behavior while the Office
\ of the second corps naturally did not ma
4 Nifty the services of their pro temp0re ass
I ciatcs; yet Gen. Longstreet was accustomC
to say that Getty's division checked Al
defeated his entire army corps, and sue
was the absolute fact Gen Getty himsel
: who WAS one of the most modest, as We
AS most skillful officers in our service le
e the field severely wounded, and the serN
ces of his men have never been fully /
! cognizcd. Foras they approached the eros
roads, the enemy s has been SEEM being al
: in motion for the same point, our trOOl
were first at the junction. The enemy
skirmishcs were driven out, and slig
cover of rails and logs WAS hastily throw
up, which was afterwards of great vall
as II rallying point. Then an adyan
was ordered, the troops moved out, N
= soon met the enemy, who at the same m