Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1881-01-10


1t was during this time, too, that Sedg-
wick directed me to 'sput the Vermonters
ahead and keep everything well closed up"
1t was not the only time that he compli- |
mented the soldiers from Vermont His.
compliments many times cost them very |
dear, for they were the high compliments
of placing them on many battle fields in |
the foremost position of danger; of plac- |
ing upon them the whole reliance of the |
corps. On many day he watched them |
as the troops moved out of camp in the |
morning or closed the long dusty march |
of the day. and when on one occasion in
the Wilderness, after the Sixth Corps had |
suffered serious disaster ON the day pre-
vious, when the Vermont Brigade return
ing 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 bivouac, they burst
forth in a hearty, spontaneous cheer that
touched him to the very heart; and when
the cheers subsidized one of them stepped
to the front and called out with a comic
and yet touching emphasis, '"Three 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 brig
ade 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 the next
morning came the long, weary march,
with fighting and intrenching, again night
marches or labors in the trenches; and
through it all there was neither rest nor
shelter. There was no word of complaint;
| there was no murmur of discomfort; and
| the steady yeomanry that made up this old
| brigade INDUCED in occasional flashes of
| humor scarcely to be expected from the
solid citizens Of conservative New Eng
| land.
The colored troops who had Joined US
at the outset of this campaign for the
first time, were green and inexperienced.
They were, therefore, Withheld from an
active part in it; not, suppose for any
tenderness for them, but simply because
the work then to be done could only be
| committed to veteran soldiers. When,
therefore, one hot and dusty summer
morning, Vermont was digging in the
earthworks, the colored division of Burn
sides corps passed through our lines;
they looked very well in their new uni
forms, but they seemed to fret and be dis
contented even under the burden of their
knapsacks. Thus far they had not fired
a shot nor turned a shovelful of earth. A
stalwart citizen of Vermont, leaning upon
his spade as the division went by, solemn
ly removed his hat and bowling low with
great dignity, said: ''Good morning,
gentlemen; you must find this work ex-
ceedingly fatiguing?"
The troops of the corps, owing to the
long and trying marches which they had
been compelled 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 out,
and on one occasion, in Virginia, when
he had dismounted by the road side and
stood on a little bank leaning on the fence
watching the troops as they went by, men
in the ranks constantly called out, "Come
on, We'll wait for you. Get another
horse; we are in no hurry"
For some time the General did not no.
tice these cries nor understand their sig
nifcance. At last he turned to me and
, said, "What do they mean by Get anoth-
f er horse; We'll wait for your" I explain
ed to him the significance of the language
and as I did SO he laughed heartily,
whereupon in the ranks they cried out
"See the old fellow laugh" and immedi
| ately the whole column took it up will
p enthusiastic cheers.
/ These things I mention chiefly to show
, the relationship between the commander
t and his troops. He could appreciate
$ their humor, knowing that no thought o.
$ disrespect ever entered it, and a single
smile from him went like sunbeam
through long columns of tired men unit
e it broadened into laugh and eliminated
: in cheers that came from the true heart:
of as gallant soldiers as ever served
O patriot cause.
e After the Gettysburgh campaign, War
/ renton and Hazel river, winter of de
V lights! when the Sixth Corps lived an,
# reveled for six long months. There wer
O horse races and cock fights, and ball
e attended by fair women from home
/ There were festivities such as only al
If army knows how to organize and enjoy
n Everywhere picnics by day, and dancini
It by night. Each corps We'd with the othe
O as to the extent of its Inequalities. Fac
Il corps claimed to have the fastest horse
l. the best fighting cock, to be visited b
l. the prettiest ladies and to be altogethe
lie the best corps in the army. This extra1
N agant claim, of course, was only true a
le to one corps, the Sixth, although al
lie free to say as some of you may remember
1t that in the matter of horse racing th
IS Second Corps got the best of US on on
T. memorable occasion and reduced til
4, speculative officers of the Sixth to abst
r lutte penury until the next arrival of tt
I'd paymaster. A last desperate effort t
s. redeem our fortunes by sustaining
s. large odds a favorite chicken importe
1 g "a ID 4
tn to our disasters and when that unfOrt
in nate bird was laid away with funer
xt honors after only one round, the Ski
" Corps decided almost unanimously TIL
g. all this style of dissipation was high
st immoral ana should therefore be dlscou