13th Vermont Infantry The 13th Regiment , Vermont Volunteer Infantry ( or 13th VVI ) was a nine months ' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War . It served in the eastern theater , predominantly in the Defenses of Washington , from October 1862 to August 1863 . It was a member of the 2nd Vermont Brigade . History . The 13th Vermont Infantry was raised as a result of President Lincoln ' s call on August 4 , 1862 for additional troops due to the disastrous results of the Peninsula Campaign . It was composed of volunteers from Washington , Chittenden , Lamoille and Franklin counties , as follows : The regiment ' s commander , Colonel Francis V . Randall , of Braintree had served with the 2nd Vermont Infantry . Lieutenant Colonel Andrew W . Brown had no previous military experience . Major Lawrence D . Clark had served as captain of Co . A , 1st Vermont Infantry . Clark resigned in March 1863 , due to impaired health , and was replaced by Captain Joseph J . Boynton , of Company C . Brown resigned in May 1863 , and was succeeded by Captain William D . Munson , of Company D . James Stevens Peck , originally a second lieutenant in Company I , was subsequently appointed regimental adjutant . The 13th Regiment went into camp at Brattleboro on September 29 , 1862 , and was mustered into United States service on October 3 with 953 officers and men . It left Vermont on October 11 , and arrived in Washington , D . C . on October 13 . The regiment suffered its first two casualties within two weeks of arriving in Washington : Isaac N . Brooks , 18 , of Company E , died on October 26 , and Lieutenant Nathaniel Jones , Jr . , of Company B died of typhoid fever on October 29 . The regiment set up camp on East Capitol Hill , a half - mile west of the 12th Vermont Infantry , then moved to Camp Chase , Arlington , Virginia on October 25 , returning to East Capital Hill three days later when the 2nd Vermont Brigade was formed . The regiment marched to Munson ' s Hill on October 30 , and Hunting Creek on November 5 , where it stayed until November 26 , in ' Camp Vermont ' . It was engaged in picket duty near Fairfax Courthouse until December 12 to January 20 , 1863 , participating in a repulse of J . E . B . Stuart ' s cavalry on December 29 . The regiment was stationed at Wolf Run Shoals from January 20 to April 2 , then performed railroad guard duty at Warrenton Junction until June 25 . On June 25 , the brigade was assigned as the 3rd Brigade , 3rd Division , I Corps , and ordered to form the rear guard of the Army of the Potomac as it marched north after Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . The 13th marched with the brigade from Wolf Run Shoals on June 25 , crossed the Potomac river on June 27 at Edward ' s Ferry , and moved north through Frederick City and Creagerstown , Maryland . On the morning of July 1 , it left Westminster , Maryland , arrived on the battlefield at Gettysburg after dark on the first day of the battle , and camped in a wheat field to the left of Cemetery Hill . Gettysburg . On the afternoon of July 2 , the 13th responded to a request by General Winfield S . Hancock to assist Lieutenant Gulian V . Weir , Battery C , 5th U . S . Artillery , whose battery was in danger of being captured by a regiment of Brigadier General Ambrose R . Wright ' s brigade . The battery was saved and moved back to the rear . The 13th moved forward to Emmittsburg road and captured two rebel guns . Receiving fire from Rodgers ' house , Captain John Lonergan , Company A , surrounded the building and took 81 prisoners from an Alabama regiment , returning to the main lines on Cemetery Ridge . He subsequently received the Medal of Honor for his actions . The 13th , 14th and 16th Vermont Regiments played a pivotal role in the Union repulse of Pickett ' s Charge on the afternoon of July 3 . The 13th and 16th flanked James L . Kemper ' s brigade as it approached the copse of trees on Cemetery Ridge , then the 16th wheeled about , and joined by the 14th , stopped the advance of Cadmus M . Wilcox ' s brigade , capturing hundreds of Virginians . Lieutenant George Benedict , an aide to Brigadier General George J . Stannard , related General Abner Doubleday ' s reaction , saying he " waved his hat and shouted : ' Glory to God , glory to God ! See the Vermonters go it ! ' " During the forced march from Virginia to Gettysburg , 2nd Lieutenant Stephen F . Brown , Company K , had disobeyed orders , and left the regiment to get water for his men . He was placed in arrest and had his sword and sidearm taken from him . When the regiment arrived on the battlefield at Gettysburg , he was released from arrest , but his weapons were back in the regiment ' s supply train . Taking a camp hatchet , he went into battle , captured a rebel officer and relieved him of his sword and sidearm . Lieutenant Brown , who subsequently served in the 17th Vermont Infantry , kept the sword and eventually donated it to the Vermont Historical Society . After the battle , the 13th Regiment participated in the pursuit of Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia across the Catoctin mountains on July 7 , to Middletown , Maryland on July 8 , when it was ordered home . The regiment marched to Monocacy Junction , where it took a train to Baltimore . Departing Baltimore on July 11 , the regiment was met by the 12th Vermont Infantry in Brattleboro on July 13 . After a few days furlough , the regiment was mustered out on July 21 . Like the other regiments in the 2nd Vermont Brigade , dozens of newly discharged members from the 13th Regiment enlisted again , predominantly in the regiments of the 1st Vermont Brigade , and the 17th Vermont Infantry . See also . Vermont in the Civil War