Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1881-01-06
: WHOLE NO. 29Ot

| Sedgwlck was accompanied BY Reynolds
Corps, and he hcsitated 10 attack until he
could withdraw sufficient force from Hook.
er's front 10 make his victory certain. The
MAN attack was made in the afternoon shout
1 ave o'clock. from the direction OF Frederick
burg, and made calamity and with vigor. One
brigade OF Howe's division, strongly posted.
received the assault and was broken. Then,
| as on many other days In the long war for the
Union, the farmyards and the workshops, the
schoolroonls and the colleges, the mountains,
and valleys, the city by the lake and the
hamlets on the hills of the Green Mountain
| State. spoke out to the world for freedom
and unity" spike from the barrels of two
| thousand cleaning muskets and by the ring
| ing cheers of two thousand of the best and
| bravest men that ever served State. The
1 Vermont brigade on the flank OF Nell's,
| holding the woods which also fanked the
/ rebel advance, poured 10 their steady contris
| button of well-directed bullets on the ad-
vaucing masses Of the rebellion, and the Sixth
Corps. and the army andthe Union were saved
by Vermont, The night came down upon
anxious hearts The battle was over nor gun
nor color was lost but the position Of the old
corps was still as critical a. ever. 1 pass over
the melancholy history of the hours that fol-
lowed, filed as they were with contradictory
orders, one rsvoking the other, and third re-
newing the first. The Sixth Corps crossed the
river that night, making their passage over
the pontoons lighted by the bursting shells
which the enemy, with very creditable prac-
tice, were dropping In the vicinity OF the bridg.
es, and the next day Hooker far above, re-
crossed the river and this campaign was over.
Sedgwick lost Eve thousand men In his honest
endeavor to execute thai part OF the order
which directed him to destroy the army CON-
manded by Gen Lee; the combined loss of all
the other corps scarcely exceeded this Then
| came the regular and periodical change Ia
commanders, the annual picnic into Maryland
and Pennsylvania, the panic In Washington
and st last Gettysburg. c sIa- ~6aas K
On Cemetery Ridge, amid grave stones shat,
tered by shot and shell, behind hasty earth.
works of fence rails and dirt, our gallant broth
ers OF the Second Corps under the IRE Of one
hundred and eighty guns and against the very
flower OF the invading army, made this UDion
an immortal thing and the name of Hancock
cherished memory that will live forever in the
hearts OF the American people.
The long night march Of the Sixth Corps
from Manchester to the held Of Gettysburg
and its timely arrival to retrieve the disaster
that Sickles had suffered, were the principal
features OF our Maryland campaign. a@1sf
I'VE had many marches that were prolonged
and tedious many that were dgby day
and night both before and after the great de-
\
been describing too, that this Vermont Brig
ade holding the skirmish line ut Beaver Dam,
repulsed afull line Of battle attack twice re-
peated IL was during this time, too, that.
Sedgwick directed me ito put the Vermont!
ers ahead and keep everything well closed
up."
1t was not the only time that be compll-
mented the soldiers from Vermont. His COM
pliments many times Gust them very dear, Tor,
has,
them on many battledelds In the foremost
position of danger ;of placing upon them the
whole reliance OF the corps. On many 9 day
he watched them as the troops moved out OF
camp 10 the morning or dosed the long dusty
march Of the day, and when on one occasion
|jn the wilderness, after the Sixth Corps had
suffered serious disaster on the day previous
when the Vermont Brigade, returning after
heavy losses from their march to the assistance
OF the Second Corps, saw the General ride,
along the lines as they were coming into biv-
ouac, they burst forth in hearty, spontsne.i
Gus cheer that touched him to tie very heart
and when the cheers subsidized one OF them
stepped to the front and called out with
comic and yet touching emPhasis 'sThree
more for old Uncle John % The Generals
bronzed face flushed like girls, and as the
STAFF laughed at his embarrassment It spread
along the lines and the whole brigade laughed
and cheered as If they were just returning
from summers picnic and not from bloody
field, weary, worn, and with decimated ranks.
Nor had they rest that night all night long.
they labored with the pick and shovel, and
next morning came the long, weary march,
with fighting and entrenchng again night
marches or labor in the trenches; and through
il all there was neither rest nor shelter. There
was no word of complaint; there was no
murmur of discomfort; and the steady yeo-
many that made up this old brigade INDUCED
in occasional flashes of humOr scarcely to be
expected from the solid citizens of conserva-
tive New England. t5us. 1s 'e
The colored troops who had joined Us at the
outset Of this campaign, for the first time were
green and inexperienced. They were, there.
fore, withheld from an active part in it not,
| suppose from any tenderness for them, but
simply because the work then to bedone could
only be committed to veteran Soldiers When,
therefore, one hot and dusty summer morn
ing, Vermont was digging in the earthworks,
the colored division of Burnside's Corps pass
ed through our lines. they looked verv well in
their new uniforms, but they seemed to fret
and be discontented even under the burdens Of
of their knapsack. Thus far they bad not
fired shot nor turned o shovclful OF earth. A
stalwart citizen of Vermont, leaning upon his
spade as the division when by, sOlemnly re-
moved his hat and bowling low with great dig.
nifty said: Good morning. gentlemen you
must find this work exceedingly fatiguing 7"
The troops of the corps, owing to the long
and trying marches which they had been COM
PEELED to make, acquired the habit of calling
themselves ''Sedgwick's foot cavalry" and
maintained that they were kept on the gallop
all the time. 1t was joke among them that
Sedgwick never, stopped until his horse gave
ont. and on one occasion, in Virginia when be
had dismounted by the roadside and stood on
little bank leaning on the fence watching
the troops as they went by, men In the ranks
constantly called ont, Gene on, we'll wait
for you. Get another horse we are in no
hurry"
For, sometime the General did not notice
these cries nor understand their significance.
At last he turned to me and said. what do
they mean by Get another horse, we'll wait
for your" explained to him the signifi-
canoe of the language and AZ did so he
laughed heartily whereupon in the ranks they
cried out, ''See the old fellow laugh" and i'm
mediately the whole column took 1t up with
enthusiastic cheers.
These things L mention chiefly to show the
relationship betweenthe commander and his
troops. He could appreciate their humOr,
knowing that no thought Of disrespect ever
entered it, and single smile from him went
like q sunbeam through long columns Of tired
men until it broadened into laugh, and cul.
minated in cheers that came from the true
hearts of az gallant soldiers az ever served
patriot cause. ,Af -a t.ss.4r-- a. Ees-.
After the Gettysburgh campaign, Warren
ton and Hazel, river, winter Of delights
when the Sixth Corps lived and revealed for
sin long months There v re horse races and
cock fights and balls al ded by fair women
from home. There were, festivities such az,
only an army know how to organize and en-
81 bQ ~ has md
dancing by night Each corps We'd with. the
other as to the extent of It's Inequalities Each
corps claimed TO have the fastest horse, the
best fighting cock, to be visited-by the pref
test ladies and 10 be altogether the best corps
in the, army. This extrsvagant claim, of
cot,rse, was only true as TO one corps, the
sixth, although smfree so say al some %