Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-11-17
Wafrliman & gnnrnaL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER II, 1886
The Vermont Oflcers' Reunion.

The Vermont Officers Reunion.
The seventeenth annual reunion OF the officers
OF the Vermont troops in the last war took place
on Thursday and was most successful affair In
every way-the attendance was large, the social
ity all-pervadlng, the Grafton eloquent and the
banquet perfection. as well in the viands as the
speeches. Everything went off as 1t should, and
the reunion of 1880 will be long remembered as
one of the most notable in the history Of the
society.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
The annual meeting for the election Of officers
took place at four clock in the afternoon In the
general committee room OF the state house. DIR.
George Nichols OF Mortified, the president Of
the society," was in the chair. The report OF
the treasurer, General Kingsley, having been
made and accepted, the following gentlemen
were chosen officers for the ensuing year: Pres
ident, Colonel John B. Mead OF Randolph vice
presidents, Captain r. J.. Coffey Of Montpelier
and Captain E. j. Ormsbee OF Brandon secretary,
General James S. Peck OF Montpelier; treasurer,
General L. G. Kingsley Of Rutland; executive com
mittee, Captain Horace French, Surgeon S. ]. Al
len Of White River junction and Lieutenant Hugh
Henry Of Chester. An invitation was received
and accepted from Colonel S. Z. Pingree Of Hart
ford, asking the association to hold their reunion
Of next year at White River Junction.
In the evening, representatives hall was
crowded to Its utmost capacity with a brilliant
assembly OF gentlemen and ladies. who listened
with intense interest to General Martin 7. Nc
Mahon of New York, who delivered
THE ADDRESS
He announced that his subject was Major-Gen-
eral John Sedgwick the commander of the sixth
corps Of the Army of the Potomac, Of which the
Vermont Brigade was part His Grafton was a
graphic review Of the main incidents in General
Sedgwick's life, interspersed with many glowing
eulogies Of his character as man, his galantry
as a soldier, and 1t closed with an eloquent apos-
trophe to his memory, He said that General
Sedgwck was born in Cornwall Hollow, Connect
icut, in 1917. In 1893 he entered West Point and
was graduated In the middle OF class OF fifty
His first service was as a second lieutenant on the
plains He went into the Mexican war an Sec
ond lieutenant. For bravery at Contreras, Molina
del Rey, Cherubusco, and the San Cosmo gate OF
the City Of Mexico (which he attacked with his
company he was brevetted major. When the
army was increased in 1885 he was appointed
major Of the first cavalry. When the rebellion
broke out he was appointed colonel Of the fourth
cavalry, and soon afterwards was promoted to be
brgadier-general OF volunteers. He was then
appointed to succeed General Stone in command
Of the corps Of observation on the upper Potomac,
and when Mcclellan took command Of the army
OF the Potomac, he was given charge OF the sec
ond army corps with which the corps of observa-
tion was consolidated. At Fair Oaks he crossed
the river on the only remaining bridge, and that,
almost swept away by the swollen stream, saved
the day and defeated the enemy. At Antetam
he led his men across the corn-feld back beyond
the bunker church, and though bleeding from
painful wound didn't desst until he fell from
second bullet. He returned to active service be-
fore his wounds were healed. He commanded
the ninth corps for a short time, and was trans
ferred to the sixth after Burnside failed at the
first battle Of Fredericksburgh, succeeding Gen.
eral Baldy Smith, who was transferred to the
tenth corps When Hooker's Chancellorsville
campaign opened, Sedgwick commanded the left
wing Of the army, which consisted OF three corps.
He was left below Fredercksburgh confronting
the enemy's position, to create formidable
diversion while Hooker, with the main body Of
the army, proceeded by the upper fords to flank
Lees position and compel him to withdraw from
the defences Of Fredericksburgh Hookers opera
tions up to certain point were entirely success
full. Then he ceased to fight; but he directed
Sedgwick, from whom he had previously de-
tached two corps leaving him only his own corps,
the sixth, to capture Lee and Marye's heightsl
The magnificent assault by the sixth corps
Marye's heights followed. Then came, on the
same evening" the battle Of Salem heights, when
Sedgwick's advance was knocked back about half
held his position, although confronted by the
main body Of Lees army. while Hooker, with the
whole Of the army of the Potomac, remained In
active. He held his own against Lees attacks,
and in the night fell back, under Hookers Or
ders and crossed the river at Banks ford. This
was the most brilliant event in Sedgwck' career,
and proved him to be a consummate soldier as
well as a noble patriot. 1t placed him In the
front rank of his profession. During the whole
of that day, with 2i 900 men, he fought Lee with
6O,O00, and held his own. At Gettysburgh he still
commanded the sixth corps and again retrieved
our arms from disaster. He was killed on the
9th Of May, 1864, at the battle Of Spottsy lvania
courthouse near the Wilderness He was then only
forty-seyen years old, with the brightest prospects
before him. Universally beloved, those who had
looked on death in every form shed tears over
his corpse and his memory will never fade
He was buried In the churchyard Of his native
place. and modest monument, erected by his
sister, points out his resting place.
THE BANQUET.
The banquet was served at ten o'clock in the
evening In the great dining hall of tha Pavilion