The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-09-15
THE VERMONT BRIGADE.

on Jne marcn. Iney pllldgeu mOueraJe-
ly in other things. They swept the
dairies and they stripped the orchards
for miles where they travelled. They
chased rabbits when they went into
camp after long marches, and they yelled
like wild Indians when neighbOring
camps were silent through fatigue.
They were i'll disciplined and familiar
with their officers. They staggered in
a cool, impudent way, and looked down
with patronizing Yankee GOODNESS up
on all regiments that were better drilled,
and upon that part of the Army gener-
ally that did not belong to the Vermont
Brigade. They were strangely proud,
not of themselves individually, but of
the brigade collectively; for they knew
perfectly, we'll they were the best fight
ers in the known world. They were
long of limb and could outmarch the
army. They were individually self-reli-
ant and skillful in the use of arms, and
they honestly believed that the Vermont
Brigade could not be beaten by all the
combined armies of the rebellion.
"They were veterans in fighting quail
ties almost from their first skirmish.
This was at Lees Mills They crossed
a narrow dam under hot fire, made the
attack they were instructed to make, and
came back wading deep in the water
with a steadiness that surprised the
army. They were an incorrigible, irreg
ular, noisy set of rascals. They were
much sworn at during their four years of
service; yet they were at all times pet
brigade. There were but two things
they would do-march and fight; and
these they did in manner peculiarly
their own. They had a long, slow,
swinging stride on the march which dis
taneed everything that followed them.
They had quiet, attentive, earnest, in
dividual way of fighting that made them
terrific in battle. Each man knew that
his neighbor in the ranks was not going
to run away, and he knew also that he
himself intended to remain where he
was. Accordingly none of the attention
of the line was distracted from the impor-
tant duty of loading and firing, rapidly
and carefully. When moving into action
and while hotly engaged they made
queer, quaint sounds. and enjoyed them
greatly. They crowed like cocks, they
ba-a-ed like sheep, they neighed like
horses, they beloved like bulls, they
barked like dogs, and they counterfeited
with excellent effect the indescribable
music of the mule. When, perchance,
they held picket line in forest it
seemed as if Noah's ark had gone to
pieces there.
''In every engagement in which this
brigade took part it was complimented
for gallant conduct. One of the most re-
markable of its performances, however,
has never appeared in print, nor has it
been noticed in the reports. After the
battle of Gettysburg, when Lees army
was in the vicinity of Hagerstown and
the Antietam, the Vermont Brigade was
deployed as a skirmish line, covering a
front of nearly three miles. The enemy
were in force in front, near Beaver Creek.
The Sixth Corps was held in readiness
in the rear of the skirmlsh line, antici-
pating general engagement. The enc
my had evidently determined to attack.
At last his line of battle came forward.
The batteries opened at once, and the
skirmishers delivered their fire. Our
troops were on the alert and stood
watching for the skirmishers to come in
and waiting to receive the coming as
sault. But the skirmishers would not
come in, and when the firing died away
it appeared that the Vermonters thus de-
ployed as a skirmish line had actually
repulsed a full line-of-battle attack.
Thrice afterward the enemy advanced to
carry the position and were each time
again driven back by this perverse skir-
mish line.
The Vermonters, it is true, were
strongly posted in wood, and each man
fired from behind a tree. But then
everybody knows that the etiquette in
such matters is for a skirmIsh line to
-. oaFiuffa6 tho
enemy means business. These simple
minded patriots from the Green Noun
tains, however, adopted a rule of their
own on this occasion, and the enemy,
digusUed with such stupidity, retired
across Beaver Creek.
"When the VermonteTs led the col
umn on a march, their quick movements
had to be regulated from corps or divis-
ion headquarters, to avoid gaps in the
columns as it followed them. If a rapid
or forced march were required, it was a
common thing for Sedgwick to say with
a quiet smile, Put the Vermonters at
the head of the column to-day and keep
everything well closed up
"After the riots in New York, when it
was found necessary to send troops to
the city to prevent recurrence of the
outbreak, the Vermont Brigade was es-
pecially named by the War Department
for this duty. Within two hours after
the receipt Of the dispatch, the command
was en- route for the city. They occu-
pied the public squares here for some
time, enjoyed themselves not wisely nor
yet virtuously, and returned to the
Army of the Potomac sadly demoralized
in all but the two great essential quail
ties of fighting and marching. 1t was a
fortunate thing for the New York mob