The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-05-15
FIFTH VERMONT BRIGADE,
nj ajor Cen u. q. Nright's Tribute 70 The
Green Mountain BOys-NaJOr Ahsoh's

V Green Mountain roys-Major Ansoni
g Interview.
G The following interview by Majol
. Arson in Wash ington printed in the
e Chicago Times Herald, will have spec
d ial interest for Vermonters;
u 81 was dining with Captain Charles
t G.. Gould of the Fifth Vermont "a sor
Il of Windham a member OF the famous
S Vermont brigade, who has been an ex
c aminer in the patent Office for ~ years
p or more.
4 by the way. Capt. Charley Gould
e is an interesting character Let me
r tell you something about him. lie
o was first a private in our regiment, the
/ 18th VT. While ! was adjutant he was
E. detailed az my clerk, and month al
ter made sergeant major, and shortly
{ after that second lieutenant of Co. a.,
g and not very long after that he was
promoted to the captaincy IN the 9TH
After dinner. while we were talking
; over war times, the captains wlfe
, said: Charley, why don't you show
Z the major your medal!' Oh, never
mind the medal, my dear said the
captain But do mind it, | replied.
and Mrs Gould tripped upstairs and
brought down a medal voted to her
husband by Congress, together with
letter Of transmittal, written by our
old brigade commander, Gen. l.. ,.
Grant, who was assistant secretary OF
war under Harrison at the time the
medal was voted. ! guess Gould
thinks as much of Gen. Grants letter
as he does of the medal. AS you kn3w
not many of these medals have been
distributed. When a soldier has one
of them you may be sure he has per
| formed some act out Of the common |
knew that Charley Gould had done
| that.
"Hc won that medal in charge on
| the confederate lines in front of Pc
| tersburg the morning of April ., 1860
The Vermont briagde charged that
portion Of the line little TO the left
Of the Union Fort WEIGH. The 9th |
Vt. was of the front regiment AS
nearly as we have been able to ascer- |
tain, Capt Gould was the first to reach |
the confederate works. He had a
hand to hand conflict with one Of the !
enemy, who speared him through the
cheek with bayonet and whom he
shot with his revolver. Al that mo-
ment another confederate struck him.
over the head with musket and
hlltJC At'l IL IN bOW u vi tlt st |
side of the works. Recovering himself
and discovering that our force had not
yet taken the line, he attempted to
climb TO the Union side. One of his
sergeants saw him and let his musket
down for him TO got hold Of, and was
pulling him up when a confederate
aught hold of him and yanked him
back, and gave his life for his pains,
the sergeant dealing the fatal blow.
While on The ground he WAS struck
again with hayonet on the back of
the neck. Just missing a vital point.
By this time our forces had taken
the works. Capt. Gould was. as we all
fatally injured, having been
twice bayonetted and once struck on
the head. but he recovered, or partial
ly so. and, AS said, has been on Cuty ,
in the patent office for along time.
Capt. Gould went with me to call /
upon Major General II. G. Wright, s
who assumed command of the Sixth .
corps upon the death of Uncle John I
Sedgwick, which sorrowful event took I
place near Spottsylvania, Va, May 8, s
1861, and retained command until the |
md of the war. ~
Sedgwick,a major general command i
ng corps, was instantly killed by a u
while on the picket line. T
DO you remember General Wright II
his rudy face, brown curly hair, mus fl
tache and goatee? His hair is still 3,
'urly, but, like the mustache and cl
,oatee, is as white as snow, for the gen
raj is past 76 years old, you know. 10
The brave old leader gave US
warm welcome said he was always II
lad TO see any of the men who served d
With him in the glorious Sixth corps n
md particularly well pleased to meet
nembers of the Vermont brigade.
which he regarded as second 10 no
brigade in any army in the world at
ny time. | noticed in his parlor
eautlful new silk flag, the Sixth -. -;
orps headquarters emblem, and said ~
General, | see you keep the old corps ~ ~
az with YOU No, major, that is VI
OF the flag we had in the war. | got y; ~
nat made TO keep in the parlor for - -
y own plesure and the benefit of the -,
Dung people who call Come with -.
e, gentlemen, | have something to :.
low you. And he led us to a corner of Is
lie sitting room where in a case Gov n ny
ed with glass was another flag, W
TINS gentlemen lis the dear old CORPS -
eadquarters flag; the one which was 7
lth Sedgwick: the one you followed
pile commanded the corps. 1t is i
and landed but very precious to me
know it is to YOU What would ne
duce you to part with that flag gem ca
az l asked. Nothing can get that tn
nile | live 1t speaks volumes to me he
cry time L look at it. 1t was followed DO
as brave, heroic and patriotic a u
no OF men as ever marched to battle TN
recall those heroes of the long ago NE
cry time | look at it and the older | ca'
! the more precious those thoughts WI
3 to me-.
II was delightful hour we spent my
Tn the dear old general. When we In
rted he thanked us for calling and try
Id: Whenever you are in the city un
sure and come and see me. | can
tell you how much 1t pleases me
meet my old soldier boys.
Dear old general. | wish he might
e thousand years. | saw in pa
not long ago that the last of the ia 4
Jus generals on the Union side had
ssed away. That cannot be truth
ny sad SO long as William S. Rose
ms. Daniel Sickles, HoratioG. Wright
: George W. Getty are alive. u
General Wright planned some of the Y
tincations about Washington. This
intry never had better fortified
y than the capital was within wear gon
M the first shot of the war. He re- inc
ned TO the engineer corps when the VI
uggie was over and when retired