Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-04-03

9Th, 70. 10 - -
The 1st Me. Fl. Art. sustained the
greatest loss of any regiment in any
one engagement of the war, having
21O killed outright at Petersburg, June
Regis, at Gettysburg, under Gen.
Stannard, did heroic fighting, met
with quite severe losses, and nobly
sustained the reputation of the Green
Mountain Boys.
The 1st Mimi. Regt. at Gettysburg,
out of 262 men engaged, lost rs men,
being % pr. cent, the greatest percent
age killed of any one regiment during
the war in any one engagement.
In the maximum percentage of kill
ed, wounded and missing of any regi-
ment in any one battle, the 9Th VT.
the regiments, having lost at Cedar
Creek 67.9 per cent out of of a total
of 155 engaged.
In the charge of the Light Brigade
at Balaklava, the fame and glory of
which is sung in story and chronicled
| in history as most heroic and daring,
the regiment lost in killed, wounded
and missing in single battles over so
per cent of their number engaged,
and yet their glory is unsung and
their story untold, though it does tell
of the hard: fighting in the war of the
rebellion.
The 9Th Army Corps, to which the
Old VT. Brigade was attached, was
ever active. At Savage Station, the
Old Brigade was hotly engaged, and
the 9th Regt. sustained the greatest
loss, having 209 men killed, wounded
and missing. At Marie's Heights,
May 3, 1863, the I'd and Sd Divisions
of the 9Th Corps assaulted and carried
the strong hold of the enemy at the
point Of the bayonet that had defied
assaults in previous battles, "The Yer
monters were the first in the works."
tAt Funkstown, after Gettysburg, July
10, 1868, the VT, Brigade, drawn out
in a skirmish line of over mile in
length, alone and unassisted repealed
a determined attack of vastly supe-
rior force in massed columns, charged
repeatedly this line of skirmishers."
Another historian, in speaking of
the Funkstown fight, says, ''The vt.
Brigade was in the advance of the 9Th |
Corps and came up with Buford's |
Cavalry holding strong position
against the enemy. At Buford's re-
quest, Gen. Howe sought and obtain
ed permission to send the Vermont
Brigade to relieve the Cavalry, when
Col Lewis with the 9Th VT. and part
of the I'd, and Col. Birney with the
9th Regt. at once deployed as Skin
mishers, forming their lines two miles
long. Against this long and thin line
the rebels opened a fire of artillery
and musketry and advanced again
and again, and then again, to drive
the slkirmishers from their position,
but in vain The brave Green Noun
tain boys never dreamed that their
skirmish line could not hold a rebel
line of battle, and they did hold it, re-
polling Anderson's rebel brigade of
seven large regiments from their
front and still another from their
fiank.' Says the historian of the gal
liant Sixth Corps, can instance of
skirmisb line a mile and a half from
any support, resisting repeated at
rarely found in the history of arm
ies'' And perhaps never did so small
a force contend successfully with such
odds against them, and it is pronounc-
ed as one of the most remarkable in
stances Of the war. The Vermonters
lost in this engagement, nine killed
and fifty nine wounded, while the en-
envy lost over two hundred men. 1t
was in this engagement that the writ
er was severely wounded.
Later on, at Rappahannock Station,
there was another display of that
gallantry which was SO eminently
tic of the 9Th Corps. At
the Wilderness, the Vt. Brigade lost
1892 men out of $500 engaged. ''The
history Of the 9Th Corps, more than
any other, is replete with fascinating
interest. It's record is invested with
more of the romance and brilliancy of
war. All of its battles were charac-
terized with dash, hard fighting
at the point Of the bayonet-victory
and large captures of men, flags, guns
and materials, closing with the crown
ing success, at the storming Of Peters
burg"
Over all these scenes the Greek
cross waved proudly on the banners
of the Corps, while its veteran legions
wrought deeds which linked that