16th Vermont Infantry The 16th Regiment , Vermont Volunteer Infantry ( or 16th 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 . Recruitment . The 16th Vermont Infantry , a nine months regiment , was raised as a result of President Abraham Lincoln ' s call on August 4 , 1862 , for additional troops due to the disastrous results of the Peninsula Campaign . It was recruited in Windsor and Windham Counties , the two southernmost counties in the state , and rendezvoused in the following towns : On September 27 , 1862 , the officers listed above met at Bellows Falls and elected Wheelock G . Veazey , of Springfield , colonel , Charles Cummings , of Brattleboro , lieutenant colonel , and William Rounds , of Chester , major . The regiment rendezvoused at Brattleboro on October 9 , and was mustered into the United States service on October 23 , with 949 officers and men . The left Brattleboro on October 24 , and arrived in Washington , D . C . on the morning of October 27 , going into camp near the other four regiments that were then formed into the 2nd Vermont Brigade . In the field . The regiment marched to Munson Hill on October 30 , then to Hunting Creek on November 5 , where it remained until December 12 . It next served on picket duty near Fairfax Court House until January 20 , 1863 , where it participated in the repulse of Stuart ' s cavalry on December 29 , 1862 . The regiment was next stations at Union Mills from March 24 to June 1 , then Bristoe Station , Catlett ' s Station and Manassas until June 15 , when it returned to Union Mills . 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 16th 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 . It was drawing near Gettysburg on July 1 , when the 12th and 15th regiments were detached to guard the corps trains . The two regiments accompanied the corps trains to Rock Creek Church , near the battlefield . The remaining regiments of the brigade 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 July 2 , the brigade helped reinforce picket lines along Cemetery Ridge that were threatened by an attack by Confederate General A . P . Hill . 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 regiments 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 David Lang ' s brigade , capturing hundreds of Floridians . 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 ! ' " Final days . After the battle , due to Brigadier General George J . Stannard ' s wounding , Colonel Veazey assumed command of the brigade , and it participated in the pursuit of Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia across the Catoctin mountains to Middletown , Maryland , then back over South Mountain , through Boonesboro , to Williamsport by July 14 . On the previous day , a picket detail of 150 from the 16th participated in a skirmish with rebel pickets , in which two soldiers were wounded . This was the last known action of the brigade . The 14th , 15th and 16th regiments marched to Harper ' s Ferry , across South Mountain again , and camped near Petersville , near Berlin . On July 18 , the regiment was released , took a train from Berlin to Baltimore . It reached New York City on July 20 . After spending a few uneventful days in theat riot - torn city , assisting with security , the regiment continued its trip home , arrived in Brattleboro on July 21 , and mustered out on July 30 . Like the other regiments in the 2nd Vermont Brigade , dozens of newly discharged members from the 14th regiment enlisted again , predominantly in the regiments of the 1st Vermont Brigade , and the 17th Vermont Infantry . See also . Vermont in the Civil War