Vermont in the American Civil War During the American Civil War , the State of Vermont continued the military tradition started by the Green Mountain Boys of American Revolutionary War fame , contributing a significant portion of its eligible men to the war effort . History . The second article in Vermont ' s constitution , originally written in 1777 , abolished slavery , making it the first state to do so . Although its climate was not conducive to the slave trade , Vermonters were early participants in the abolitionist movement . In the 1860 presidential election , the Green Mountain State gave Abraham Lincoln a lopsided victory , 33 , 808 votes compared to 8 , 649 for Stephen Douglas , 1 , 866 for John Bell , and 217 for John C . Breckenridge . One historian opined that the heavy rain on election day " reduced the Republican majority by at least 7 , 000 " votes . In the closing days of 1860 , in response to a pro - Southern resolution by Representative Albert Rust of Arkansas , Vermont Representative Justin S . Morrill offered an amendment , " Resolved , That in the opinion of this committee , the existing discontent among the Southern people and the growing hostility to the Federal Government , are greatly to be regretted , and that any reasonable , proper and constitutional remedy necessary to preserve the peace of the country , and the perpetuity of the Union , should be promptly and cheerfully grant . " His amendment was rejected by a large majority , and Congress and the Union continued its downward spiral toward disunion . Lawyer Lucius E . Chittenden served on the ill - fated Peace conference of 1861 and later as Registrar of the Treasury in the Lincoln administration . Vermont politicians in Congress included Senators Solomon Foot and Jacob Collamer and Representatives Justin S . Morrill , Homer Elihu Royce and Portus Baxter . During the war , three men served as Governor of Vermont ; Erastus Fairbanks , Frederick Holbrook and J . Gregory Smith . Fairbanks reportedly responded to the Federal Government ' s response for troops with " Vermont will do its Full Duty . " Under his administration , Vermont fielded six infantry and one cavalry regiments . Governor Holbrook ' s administration saw the recruitment of 10 infantry regiments , 2 light artillery batteries , and 3 sharpshooter companies . Under his administration , as well , Vermont built three military hospitals in the state which were " soon credited by the United States medical inspector with perfecting a larger percentage of cures than any United States military hospital record elsewhere could show . " Governor Smith oversaw the recruitment of Vermont ' s last infantry regiment , a third light artillery battery , and , as a result of a Confederate raid on his hometown , St . Albans , two companies of frontier cavalry . Military enrollment . The state sent more than 34 , 000 to serve , out of a total population of about 350 , 000 citizens . More than 28 , 100 Vermonters served in Vermont volunteer units . Vermont fielded 17 infantry regiments , 1 cavalry regiment , 3 light artillery batteries , 1 heavy artillery company , 3 companies of sharpshooters , and 2 companies of frontier cavalry . Instead of replacing units as they were depleted , Vermont regularly provided recruits to bring the units in the field back up to normal strength . Nearly 5 , 000 others served in other states ' units , in the United States Army or the United States Navy . The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry included 66 Vermont blacks ; a total of 166 black Vermonters served out of a population of 709 in the state . Vermonters suffered a total of 1 , 832 men killed or mortally wounded in battle ; another 3 , 362 died of disease , in prison or from other causes , for a total loss of 5 , 194 . More than 2 , 200 Vermonters were taken prisoner during the war , and 615 of them died in or as a result of their imprisonment . Historian Howard Coffin claimed that the state ' s most important contribution to the war was at the Battle of the Wilderness where the Vermont Brigade held the crucial intersection of two roads , the loss of which would have split the Union forces in half . 1 , 200 Vermonters died . They also played a crucial role at the Battle of Gettysburg , where , under General George J . Stannard , the 2nd Vermont Brigade broke Pickett ' s charge by stepping out of a protected area and firing at the flank of the attackers . General Winfield Scott , learning that a regiment of Green Mountain Boys ( the 1st Vermont Infantry ) was awaiting orders , said " I want your Vermont regiments , all of them . I have not forgotten the Vermont men on the Niagara frontier . . . I remember the Vermont men in the War of 1812 . " A significant number of generals hailed from Vermont . Several led Vermont units , including Lewis A . Grant , John W . Phelps , William Farrar Smith , George J . Stannard , Edwin H . Stoughton , Stephen Thomas , James M . Warner , and William Wells . Others served in other states ' units or in the Regular Army , including Benjamin Alvord , John C . Caldwell , Sylvester Churchill , Joel Dewey , Charles Doolittle , William B . Hazen , Ethan Allen Hitchcock , Charles Edward Hovey , Joseph A . Mower , Thomas E . G . Ransom , Israel B . Richardson , Benjamin S . Roberts , Truman Seymour , George Crockett Strong , Stewart Van Vliet , and George Wright . Six Vermonters became brevet brigadier general , including Asa P . Blunt , George P . Foster , William W . Henry , John R . Lewis , Edward H . Ripley and Charles B . Stoughton . One native Vermonter , Chester A . Arthur , who later became President of the United States , served as Adjutant General of the State of New York during the war . Vermonters played a significant role in the maritime aspects of the war as well , but they frequently get overlooked . Some of the more prominent sailors include George Dewey , Charles Edgar Clark , George F . Emmons , George Colvocoresses , Theodore P . Greene , Edward D . Robie , and Edwin T . Woodward . Service . The first military action seen by Vermonters was at the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10 , 1861 , where a battalion of the 1st Vermont Infantry was engaged . The 2nd , 3rd , 4th , 5th , 6th and later the 11th Vermont Infantry regiments served in the famous 1st Vermont Brigade , which saw action in nearly every major engagement in the Eastern Theater from the First Battle of Bull Run to Appomattox Court House . The 7th Vermont Infantry , 8th Vermont Infantry , and two Vermont Light Artillery Batteries served in the Department of the Gulf under Benjamin F . Butler . The 8th Vermont later saw service in the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864 . The 9th Vermont Infantry suffered ignominious capture at the Battle of Harpers Ferry during the 1862 Maryland Campaign , but later fought well with the VII , XVIII and XXIV Corps in eastern Virginia and North Carolina , and was one of the first units to enter Richmond , Virginia in April 1865 . The 10th Vermont Infantry gained its niche in history at the Battle of Monocacy , an important but often overlooked battle that delayed a Confederate drive on Washington D . C . . At Gettysburg on the first day of battle , July 1 , 1863 , General John Sedgwick is quoted as saying , " Put the Vermonters ahead and keep the column well closed up . " The 12th , 13th , 14th , 15th and 16th Vermont Infantry regiments were banded together as the 2nd Vermont Brigade , which gained lasting credit for its actions in helping stop Pickett ' s Charge on July 3 , 1863 , during the Battle of Gettysburg . Vermont fielded three companies of sharpshooters , which served with Hiram Berdan in the two U . S . Sharpshooter regiments . The 1st Vermont Cavalry regiment participated in more than 70 engagements . After the St . Albans raid on October 19 , 1864 , Vermont fielded two companies of Frontier Cavalry , who spent six months on the Canadian border to prevent further incursions from Confederate raiders . Sixty - four Vermonters received the Medal of Honor , including Willie Johnston , the youngest person ever to receive this award . Civil War sites in Vermont . St . Albans , Vermont , is the site of the northernmost land action in the Civil War , the St . Albans Raid . On October 19 , 1864 , Confederate raiders , under the command of Lieutenant Bennett H . Young , robbed three banks , escaped to Canada , were captured , and put on trial . The Canadian courts decided they were acting under military orders and they could not be extradited back to the United States without Canada violating her neutrality . Most Vermont towns have a monument in memory of the soldiers who participated in the Civil War . Decades after the war , the upland hillsides of the state were littered with the cellar holes of long - gone farmhouses from farms that had been abandoned because all the family ' s sons had been killed in the Civil War . There are several facilities in the state that have significant collections of manuscripts and archives of the war , including the Vermont State House , the Vermont Historical Society , University of Vermont Bailey Howe Library , the Bennington Museum , the Sheldon Museum ( Middlebury ) , the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum and Library , Norwich University Sullivan Museum and special collections , and the State of Vermont Public Records Division .