The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-07-03
5OTH ANNIVERSARY
Of RETURN FROM
ANDfRSONV|LLE
Heny G. Camp Had Remarkable
Experience in Civil War
ENLISTED WHEN ~ YEARS OLD
Probably Youngest Vermont Veteran
Who Entered Service During
First Year of Great Struggle.

.~-~----~
Henry G. Camp, who resides with
| his sister, Mrs. John Harwood on
| Beech street and who is probably
| the youngest Vermont veteran who
; enlisted during the first year of the
civil war, will next Monday, July O.,
observe the 5Oth anniversary Of his
return.
Camps experiences in the civil
war were remarkable. He was twice
wounded, recovered and re-enlisted,
was taken prisoner and escaped only
to be recaptured after a vain attempt
to work his way back TO the federal
lines. He saw the inside of 10 less
than l3 different confederate prisons,
including Libby and Andersonville.
His father and three brothers eniIst-
ed in Vermont regiments. One broth
er was killed, another lost an arm
and the head Of the family gave his
life to the cause, being instantly
killed at the battle of Winchester
Born in bennington December q,
1916, the son of jonathan Camp and
Polly Townsend, he moved with his
PARENTS when a hoy OF six years to
the adjoining town of pownal where
he enlisted August 5. 1861, in cons
pany 4 OF the Fourth Vermont Volun
teers. Nt the time he entered the
service he lacked more than four
months of being Is years of age He
had already attained his height Of
five feet and ten inches, a fact that
enabled him to pass the surgical eN-
animation His enlistment papers
show that his frame was slight as
they give his weight to have been on
ly l24 pounds. In speaking of his eX-
periences, Camp says that outside of
tlc actual fighting he never had such
good time in his life as in the army
Few men, IN his belief ever went in
to battle without a feeling OF fear ani
dread of the results The outdoor
life of the service the plain food
and constant marching hardened and
developed his frame so that at the
time he was taken prisoner he had
added over fifty pounds to his weight
ana was seasoned soldier.
Camp was wounded on the day fol
lowing the long battle of the Wilder
ness. He was a member of a detach'
ment detailed to guard a large herd
of beef cattle. The guard was attack
cd by conrederates who poured a vol
ley into the cattle protectors. Two
of the bullets hit Camp, one passing
through his left shoulder and the
other through the hand on the same
side AS soon us he was able to
leave the hospital he was discharged
and returned to his home in Pownal.
At the end of four months he had
nearly recovered and then came the
call from Gen Grant for 10000 more
troops with which to finish the war.
Pownal quota was 80 men and the
town had already sent so many Of its
citizens to the front that the response
meetings % men agreed to enlist
provided Camp would be one to help
to I'll the quota. His shoulder and
hand were still stiff from the effects
of his wounds and the examining sur
geon said it would be the breaking
Of his oath to enlist a man in such a
condition, but the necessity was so
great that Camps name was added
to the muster roll and he went back
to his original company. His second
,,ia hnpann har ~
1868
During the first six months of 1864
Camp was with the army OF the
Potomac. On June % with 2l0O fed
eral soldiers he was made prison
er while at work attempting to de-
stroy the Weldon railroad six miles
east Of Petersburg. The federals,
consisting of the entire Fourth Yer
mont regiment, two battalions of the
Eleventh Vermont, few men from
the Tenth Vermont and the Seventh
New York, were surprised while their
muskets we're in stacks and there
was nothing else for them to do but
surrender.
The captured men were first taken
to Richmond and placed in Libby
prison. The building was so crowded
that they were soon moved to Pemb-
erton, then to Castle Thunder
next to Belle Isle, which
was Il stockade prison, and
to Lynchburg. 1t was at Bush
Bridge, near Lynchburg, that Camp
and another member of the same
company, Myron Montgomery who en-