News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-06-19

| l1u Deen pldDueu, 10 HldICn toward hltn-
| mond, was destroyed. Boxes were broken
! open, each one got what he could carry, the
rest added to the flames; quite portion of
| this was from the homes of the North sacred
as tributes of love; into which was knit, WOW
| en- and stitched the prayers and tears of
wives, mothers and sisters. Two large army
hospitals containing $500 wounded with
nurses and surgeons were left to fall into the
hands of the enemy.
In this retreat stand must be made at
! Savage Station, in order that the $4,000
men of McClellan's army might successfully
| cross the narrow passage through White Oak
| Swamp. The Vermont brigade was chosen
to guard the army in this battle. The 9Th reg
iment made most costly and gallant stand
but they held the ground, at dark the fight
| ing ceased. The 9Th Vermont took into this
| action not more than 400 men, of these they
| left 200 OBJ the field. Thirty men of one com
pany fell side by side in as perfect dress as
| though they were passing a review, struck by
a single charge of grape and canister Com
| pany f. went into the fight with % men;
| only came ont uuharmed. The total loss
| to the Brigade at Savage Station was 3JS.
The wounded suffered terribly, as the Brigade
was ordered to leave the field with the wound
| ed to the enemy and all the care given was by
the less severely wounded.
The next night the Vermont boys formed
the rear guard at the White Oak Bridge
| Here the guns of StoneWall Jackson suddenly
opened upon them. Thrown into confusion
| for a time they soon rallied, and held their
ground amid calling fire, till the army OF
| Mcclellan had crossed, and was on the way
| to Malvern Hill The next night under cover
of the darkness the union troops that formed
the rear guard of the army silently formed in
line and marched by the guns of Longstreet
and Hill and joined their comrades at NAL
vern Hill In the confederate attack at this
point the Vermont Brigade had little share
save standing under arms from ten III the
morning till eleven in the evening waiting to
be ordered to the attack. A further retreat
to HarriSOn's Landing was at once ordered,
though in this battle the enemy had been
driven back. The Bird Vermont under Col.
Weary was ordered to hold the picket line
against everything Cor two hours and then
| follow sadder, wearier, drearler march
| never was taken than that. From Harrl-
sons Landing the soldiers were removed by
water to Alexandria where Mcclellan was
superseded by Pope. This General came from
! the West with the blast of trumpets as to
| what was about TO be done. The trultiess
battle of Gainesville was fought and the next
day the second disastrous battle of Bull Run,
| and his career of a week is ended. The blame
did not all rest upon Pope, but such was his
| career as leader of the army. To the JOY OF
the soldiers Mcclellan was reinstated. have
no time to pause on the first invasion of the
| North by the confederate forces, and the
meeting at Champions Gap, where to carry
out the well laid but tardiy executed plan of
| Mcclellan, the 2nd and 4th Vermont did most
gallant work driving the enemy from their
| strong position, putting them speedily to
flight though Cobb, the leader, had been told
to ''hold the fort if it took his last man.
After losing one-third of his men he was drlv-
en- back with heavy loss. The loss to the
| ''Old Brigade was only 23 men. Though you
did this work so brilliantly, and did it too in
time to save the army at Harper's Ferry, yet
by delay on the part of the leaders Harper s
Ferry was lost and McLaws division crossed
the Potomac and Joined Lees forces at An
tietam.
| On this battle field the Vermont regiments
| did noble service, at small cost, on their part.
! The cornfield which had been crossed and re-
crossed by opposing forces untilit was strewn
! thick with dead and wounded, was swept for
the last time by the ''Old Brigade" Cheering
as they went they cleared the field and the
woods beyond in ten minutes. The field and
! the wood with their CHASTITY harvest We're left
with them. So sudden and impetuous had
been the charge that the loss slight. At
| sunset the fighting ceased, but the troops did
not leave the field. All night they lay on
! their arms in the front line. The firing of the
enemy at every moving thing kept them
awake, while the murmur of the night wind
| brought to their ears the groans of countless
sufferers.
Again the hardness of Mcclellan lost all
| that the heroism of the soldiers had won.
| Eleven thousand five hundred men had fallen
| on the field, one thousand were missing and
| then with two to one in his favor he tarFied
till the opportunity to overthrow the confed-
| crate leader had past. For one month
! Brooks Brigade rested quietly in the little
| city of Hagarstown. drilling and loafing.
| Mcclellan reorganizing his army, Lee
was waiting for him to cross into Virginia
! While all seemed to be waiting, Gen Stewart
made second raid into Maryland. and cars
ried back with him supplies and horses wrest--
ed from the Maryland farmers. While the.
| tardy but generous McClellan telling what
should be done, did nothing, and let supplies
| be carried into Virginia for rebels wl1ileshe
| waited for them.
Soon after however the army moved across
| the Potomac Here Mcclellan was again re.
ieved of his command, and the gallant, but
unfortunate Burnside appointed to fiji
| his place. 1t was not a place he chose. lie
distrusted himself. His Generals did not
/ trust his ability. He could not take the
| place of Mcclellan among the soldiers With
! an army of 125, 900 men Burnside marched
| toward Richmond by way of Fredericksburg,
/ But he failed to reach that point until 1t had
/ been occupied by Lee with $1,000 men. Here
! Burnside determined to attack Lee in spite
| of his strong position. As mig be supposed
| the battle was disastrous to the Union forces.
| At fredericksburg through the hardness of
| their commander, Gen. Franklin, the "Old
! Brigade" had little share except in skrmish
lines, where often heavy fighting done.
| A month of quiet waiting in camp at White
| Oak Church, followed by the inglorous 'mud
march,, undertaken to make a second attack
| upon Lee at + eQeflckSDurg- ana BURNSIDE
career is ended. The method of his removal
showed more clearly than any thing in his
career his lack of tact, weakness and incapac-
! ity for the position to which he had been call
| ed
Hooker was chosen to succeed him. He be-
| gan by making every department of the
army more effective. Many changes
made during the winter of '62-3. Hooker
himself was the weakest point in the army
which he called THE most efficient on the
1
| here was snow balling. The Goth New Jersey
regiment which formed part of the 9th
corps challenged the third and fourth
| Vermont to snow ball fight. The challenge
was accepted The battle was witnessed by a
vast number of spectators, and resulted in "a
complete victory for the Vermont boys. How
| to fight and how to snow ball were not the
| only things the Vermont soldiers taught the
| New Ierseymen. On one occasion little pre-
vious to the battle ''of the snow balls the men
of the second regiment had repeatedly lost
| fresh meat which they more than suspected
| found its way to the mess of their New Jer-
| sey neighbors. Some of the boys of the sec
ond caught Col. Morrisons fat New Found
| land dog, killed and dressed it. In appear
| ance it was not unlike fat veal or lamb 1t
was hung up in the usual place. In the morn
| ing the dog gone. 1t tracked to the
| table of the officers of the New jersey rpgi-
ment. Of course the information given did
] not improve the taste of the mutton"
| Many pfdcIlCal Jokes ana amusing events
served to relieve the tediousness of army life
and keep all awake
In April the Charlottesville campaign be-
gan, lasting four days. 1t was an inglorious
defeat of great army. 1t was disastrous
| to the union because the men were not put in
| to action. Hooker recrossed the Rappahan-
mock leaving = 900 killed and wounded II
guns and 1000 small arms to the enemy
HOoker's opportunity was the best. He had
the confidence of his soldiers. He had made
an admirable beginning. But in the battle
on every side was defeat for the union. Lees
tactics were wonderful. Though his whole
army was much smaller he so managed his
forces as always to meet the union troops
with superior force; valor could make no
Roadway against such skill on the one side
and stupid dulness on the other. The Yer
mont soldiers in this campaign won undying
fame by the way they met and overcame the
fierce onsets of Early without losing a gum
flag prisoner; while they captured II
guns, ) battle flags and 400 prisoners
Some of them were officers of rank; of this
action Col. Grant said: Your undaunted
courage, unbroken front, steady aim and
brilliant charge, give you title to the highest
praise" The loss of the Vermont brigade
was 257 killed and wounded, the loss to the
enemy could not have been less than $500.
This campaign cost Lee his most daring
and intrepid leader, Stonewall Jackson, and
Hooker his reputation, and position as com
mander of the union forces, for in less than
month he was superseded by Gen Meade
For third time the confederate forces in
vaded the North. Lee was on the march to
Gettysburg, the union forces followed closely.
July / the 9th corps was at Manchester,
thirty-two miles from GETTYSBURG where the