The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-12-13
THE VERMONT BRIGADE.
The Cannoneer Explains Why They Were
1.-THE Old Guard OF the Potomac Army


Thompson, OF the 5th Vt, in which he SAYS
81 have read in a recent number OF TIL
NATIONAL TRIBUNE your compromise view
of the controversy between Gen. Powell anC
Serg't Webster, of Cowan's LIST n. Y. battery
on the surprise of the Eighth Corps or Army
OF West Virginia, al Cedar Greek, and agre,
with You. No other troops in the Army o
the Valley were in position to see as much
of the retreat or rout OF Crooks troops a,
the Vermont Brigade and Meningitis bat
terry were, because when we first formed or
the line Of the pike most of them came
through our ranks or passed close to oul
tanks.
Neither our brigade nor Bdwell's could
hold the rebels AT all on the pike. They
came at US in front aud across our right
flank, and if we had stayed there 30 minutes
longer they would have gained our rear.
Col. Amasa Tracy tried to refuse the 5th
and 9Th regiments of the Vermont Brigade,
to prevent the rebel flank movement, but
he could not make the line long enough 10
keep ihem from overlapping il on the right.
"McKnight's battery was covering our
right at first between the Belle Grove Man
sion and the pike, and STE from your de.
scripton in The CauBoneer" that You
stand there till you lost one gun and a Lieu
tenant and several men and horses. But
the battery retreated from our right and
Bidwel's Brigade from our left, and then we
had TO follow suit or be surrounded.
There is no use denying that the Sixth
Corps was fairly forced back from its first
line on the pike. and at Belle Grove 10 the
ridge west of Meadow Brook abreast OF
Middletown. However, il fell back in good
order. i have always thought that we
i ~
seen what was in front of us. The fog was
great disadvantage 10 US and benefit 10
the enemy.
You saw in your letter to THE NATIONAL
TRIBUNE that the Vermont Brigade lost
1000 men the 9th OF May in the Wilderness.
OF whom only four were reported missing
suppose you did not have the statistics
by you when yOu were writing. Nest Of
the loss of the brigade was suffered in
attacking A. i. HILLS troops on the Plank
road. But il was in the afternoon of The
9Th not the 9th of May Getiy's Division
tour brigade in the CENTER drove Hills
troops nearly a mile west of the Brock road
before SHUTDOWN. We were then relieved
by some of the Second Corps, aud returned
10 the Brock road, where we formed a
reserve-line during the night and most of
the following day. 1t was very bad place
TO fight, because The brush was so thick that
we could not see The enemy till we got right
on top of them, and they fred many volleys
right in our faces. Still as / said, we drove
them.
"In these operations the brigade consisted
Of the five old veteran infantry regiments,
the I'd, 3D., 4ih. 9Th, aud 9th VI. Nearly all
OF the old men had re-enlisted, ard the
strength was 1906 of all ranks The LIST
II. A. had not then joined. 1t Joined May
IL. The loss on May was 1,252, as fol-
lows: Killed or mortally wounded. % off
GERS and 272 enlisted men wounded, $50 of
all ranks; captured 49,; not accounted for,
-four men! Most of those captured were
also wounded. Some died
All the accounts, particularly Gen. Hum
phreyss book, speak OF HIPS troops as
being severely punished in this fighting.
Every member of The Vermont Brigade
thanks you Tor the kind words you have
written about Them"
/ have also received letter from COM
rade signing himself "A +. Gleason, of
Harris's West Virginia Brigade" but not
giving the number of his regiment. He
says:
You never miss an opportunity to heap
praise upon the Vermont Brigade You say
ny WI NV Dtnb thlnnAi1 III Aut MDIlu
that they never knew what cefeat was;
that they never had any siragglers,' aud so
forth. And then you call them The Old
Guard OF the Army Of the Potomac
Now, admitting for the sake Of argument
that all this is true, Will yon explain why
it was? Does Vermont raise bette r or drawer
men than any other State? Or is your par
tiality for the Vermont Brigade due TO the
fact that one OF its Sergeants saved You
from bring bayoneied while down on the
ground At Cedar Creek? If the latter is the
true reason, can appreciate IT,"
In reply TO this ! have TO say that the
extraordinary quality of the Vermont Bri-
gsde was due to several facts:
]. They were nearly all native Americans
The exceptions were few Irishmen and
French Canadians, who are always good
soldiers.
2. Most Of them were lineal descendants
OF the Revolutionary heroes of Bennington
and Bemis Nights, Saltwater and Saratoga.
have heard them when starting ON bayO-
net charge call for Three Cheers for Molly
Stark" and " Hurrnh for Ethan Allen!"
3. They were ali farm country village
raised boys; not corrupted by the associa-.
nons and not cnerya: cd by the vices OF great
cities
a. They were in dead earnest. The Anti
slavery sentiment WAS stronger and more
universal in Vermont than in any other
State. The personal feeling Of the indiyid-
nal soldiers of the Vermont Brigade toward
the rebels WAS more bitter than ever OBJ
served IN any other command. 1t was
almost equal to the luminosity OF Cromwells
Roundheads toward the Cavaliers.
5. They solidly represented their State. no
other than Vermont troops being admitted
TO the brigade, except one New Jersey regi-
ment Temporarily, and their State pride was
very great.
o. The officers who commanded them.
from Gen. Lewis Grant down, had been their
near neighbors and friends at home and
were their close comrades and friends i'm the
field.
z Their physical average was very high
Their losses from disease were proportion
a'eiy less than those of any other similar
command N the army.
All these statements can he verified by
consulting the official records of the rebel
lion.
In word, ] answer Comrade Gleason's in
quires by saying that the old Vermont Bri-
Rade was the best IN the army, because it
was made up, more exclusively than any
other, of cd fashioned, home-spun Yankee
soldiers-the truest that ever pulled a trig-
ger and the bravest that ever faced foe
The CANNoNEER.
A Historical Sheet.
WIS. Dunbar, Banks, Mimi, asks some one