St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-09-17

in that charming village the most
pleasant chapter in the history of
our soldier lives.
Among the many good people of
that village that the writer especial
ly remembers for their many cour-
tesies and kindness to him, COM
parative stranger, were the Rev. Mr..
Tabor, and his charming family, S.
S. Gould, w. w. McGregor and
Mr.. Drew, proprietor Of the hotel.
But our sojourn in such pleasant
environment was destined to be of
short duration. In that history-mak-
ing epoch, things moved rapidly, and
in a few days we were ordered to
report at Camp Baxter, st. Johns
bury for duty No doubt many of
the friends whom / babe adieu at
that time have like most of my COM
rades in arms, passed over the dark
river, yet while they are absent in
the flesh, / feel they are with me in
| spirit and / feel like saying in the
spirit of the song
Take oh boatman thrice thy fee
Take, | give it willingly
For invisibly to thee,
] Spirits twain have crossed with me"
| About June 1st, we entrained in
wagons and started for Camp Bax-
ter, if l remember correctly, about
eight miles distant, where in due
season we arrived tired, if not foot
sore, and were assigned to tents as
all the buildings were occupied by
companies that had arrived, previ-
ously. This was the beginning of
what was destined to be four long
years (to- those who reinlisted or
survived the vicissitudes and casual
= Ill
its attendant discomforts and
dangers.
Concord Paid No BOunties
With all due Difference to the
good people of West Concord, 1
trust l may be pardoned for relat-
ing the following episode that oc-
Cured later: In the winter of
1864, veterans whose term of en-
listment had not expired, were CIV
en- an opportunity to reinlist for
three years, for which they were to
receive bounty of $402 and a lur-
Tough of So days. At that time the
towns were paying bounties ranging
from $500 to $500 for men to Till
their quotas and the men who re-
enlisted had the privilege of signing
on the quota of any town they wish
the writer again signed on the
quota of West Concord instead of
St. Johnsbury as a comrade suggest
ed and asked him to do. A few
days later he learned that the form
er town was paying no bounty, |
while st. Johnsbury was paying $500 |
or $500, and consequently his pre-
ference had cost him a snug little |
sum. However, he put up no kick, |
nor does he believe West Concord !
did. If so, he has never heard of it.
Life at Camp Baxter
need hardly say our life at
Camp Baxter with it's routine of
drillings, dress parades, guard |
mountings, ETC., though a new ex-
perience to the most of us was |
revelation that gave US foretaste |
of what was to follow. The good |
people of st. Johnsbury did every
thing in their power to make our
stay in that beautiful and hospitable |
town so enjoyable that we indeed |
felt sorry when. the order was receiv-
ed for the Third Regiment to leave
for the seat of war, on or about che |
23rd day of July, 1861, and from
that day to the present, | have never
had an opportunity, much as 1 have
longed to do so, to revisit that, town
the. name of which aWakens so many
pleasant memories. 1 can only hope
that / will yet have an opportunity
before 1 answer the last roll call,
to once more pay a visit not only
to that, but the nearby and as we'll
beloved town of West Concord. If
l succeed in my desire, how many
of my old acquaintances would
find?
Unfortunately six years ago while
removing from Atlanta, Ga, to my
present place of abode, lost copy
of the St. Johnsbury Caledonian
daily dated July 23rd, 1861, con-
tanning not only an account of the
battle of Bull Run, fought a day or
two previously, but a complete ros-
ter of the Third Regiment, and l am
thrown back entirely
upon my memory for most of the
data up to the time of our depart
ure for the seat of war and conse-
quently while dates and names may ,
not be absolutely correct, the narra-
tive as a whole is substantially o.
K.
Makeup of the Regiment
The ten companies composing the s
regiment according to my remem- {
brance were designated and COM I
manded as follows: Co. A, Spring /;
field, Capt. w. G. Veazey; Co. B, {
Coventry, Capt. Blanchard; Co. c, {
Wells River, Capt Corbin; Co. D, {
Charleston, Capt. Harrington; Co. E,
Lamoille, Capt. West; Co. F, Hart 1
lord, Capt. Seaver; Co. G, st. Johns
bury, Capt Allen; Co. H, St. Adams,
Capt. T. F. House; Co. /, Guildhall,
Capt. T. o. Nelson; Co. K, Calais, |
Capt. Smith. I
On the LIST day of June, 1861, the $
Third Vermont regiment was duly |
mustered into the service Of the q
United States for three years or the L
var which at that time most people U
believed would be of but a few v
months duration, and that but little a
flood would be shed. Little did the 2
athers, mothers. wives, sisters and z
weethearts of the soldier boys, as q
oil IN oh % |