George J . Stannard George Jerrison Stannard ( October 20 , 1820 – June 1 , 1886 ) was a Vermont farmer , teacher , and Union general in the American Civil War . After the war , he served as Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives . Early life . Stannard was born in Georgia , Vermont . He worked as a farmer , teacher , and foundry operator in St . Albans . Stannard also served as a noncommissioned officer during the Vermont militia ' s activation for the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1838 . Just before the American Civil War , he served as Colonel of the 4th Vermont Militia Regiment . Civil War . Early service . In June 1861 , Stannard was elected lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Vermont Volunteer Infantry . Some local residents claimed that he was the first Vermonter to volunteer for duty in the Civil War . He fought with the 2nd Vermont at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 , successfully enough that he was offered command of the newly forming 3rd Vermont , but he turned it down because he thought he had not served long enough to qualify . During the Battle of Williamsburg in the Peninsula Campaign the following year , Brig . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock ' s report indicated that Stannard was responsible for securing a bridge that was crucial to the battle . A week after the campaign , on July 9 , 1862 , he was appointed colonel of the 9th Vermont Infantry . During the Maryland Campaign in September 1862 , 9th Vermont was part of the Federal garrison that was forced to surrender to Stonewall Jackson at Harpers Ferry . Stannard was conspicuous in the defense of Bolivar Heights against Jackson ' s attack . Col . William H . Trimble , his brigade commander , had Stannard accompany him in an inspection of the Union lines in that sector . Both thought the southern end of the line weak . Stannard clearly had no confidence in Col . Dixon Miles , the garrison commander , but he displayed his own coolness under fire by watching for Confederate artillery action in order to tell his men to drop to the ground . Stannard is reported to have tried to extract his regiment from Harpers Ferry before the surrender could take effect , but he was intercepted with orders to yield to the Confederates . Upon his exchange in January 1863 , Stannard returned to Vermont . He was appointed brigadier general on March 11 , 1863 , and given command of the 2nd Vermont Brigade in April , joining it in its camps in the defenses of Washington , D . C . The brigade consisted of the 12th , 13th , 14th , 15th , and 16th Vermont Infantry regiments . Stannard ' s immediate predecessor had been Brig . Gen . Edwin H . Stoughton , who had been captured in his bed at Fairfax Court House during a raid by partisan ranger Col . John S . Mosby . Stannard drilled his new brigade strenuously and his " quiet but effective " command style made him well respected by the men and significantly improved morale in the Brigade . Gettysburg . During the Gettysburg Campaign , the 2nd Vermont Brigade was one of four brigades sent from the Capital to join the Army of the Potomac as it pursued Robert E . Lee into Pennsylvania . Stannard ' s command left the Washington defenses on June 25 . Marching 18 miles a day for a week , the brigade reported to the 3rd Division of the I Corps . The I Corps had fought , and lost , heavily in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg , July 1 , 1863 . Three regiments of Stannard ' s men arrived only after the fighting ceased that day , adding to the division ' s depleted ranks . ( The other two regiments , the 12th and 15th Vermont , had been detached to guard wagon trains . ) On July 2 , Stannard was brigade officer of the day , leaving immediate command of his troops to Col . Francis V . Randall of the 13th Vermont . Although the brigade was withdrawn behind Cemetery Hill , not participating in the initial defense against the attack by Confederate Brig . Gen . Ambrose R . Wright on Cemetery Ridge , it was sent to recover guns lost to Confederate attacks . The Vermonters recovered these guns despite resistance from Wright ' s Georgians . The brigade ' s greatest fight , however , was on July 3 , where it was one of the principal defenders against Pickett ' s Charge . The Vermonters lost men to sharpshooter fire and to the bombardment preceding the Confederate attack . As the assault approached Cemetery Ridge , Stannard swung two of his regiments ( the 13th and 16th Vermont ) out at a 90° angle , pouring deadly flanking fire into Brig . Gen . James L . Kemper ' s brigade , one of the critical factors that defeated the Confederate attack . Minutes later , the unconnected assaults by the Confederate brigades of Brig . Gen . Cadmus M . Wilcox and Col . David Lang approached the Union line to the south of the Vermont Brigade . Stannard once again wheeled two regiments ( the 14th and 16th Vermont ) and repeated his tactic of flanking fire to repulse the assault . Stannard was wounded in his right thigh by an artillery shell fragment , but stayed on the field until the end of the battle . Col . Randall commanded the brigade until it was mustered out of service . Maj . Gen . Winfield S . Hancock , commander of the II Corps ( who was in operational command of the defense against Pickett ) wrote in his report , " The troops of General Stannard behaved with spirit at the Battle of Gettysburg . They were well ordered and well and vigorously handled by General Stannard and his subordinate officers , who did not hesitate to put them in front of the fight , and to keep them there until the battle was decided . " Stannard ' s own corps commander , Maj . Gen . Abner Doubleday , wrote , " I can only say that they performed perhaps the most brilliant feat during the war . For they broke the desperate charge of Pickett , saved the day and with it , the whole North from invasion and devastation . " Service with the Army of the James . Stannard was wounded too severely to return immediately to field command , so he left his brigade and returned to Vermont to recover . During this time he briefly commanded the post of New York City . When he returned to duty , it was to Maj . Gen . Benjamin Butler ' s Army of the James . When Brig . Gen . Charles A . Heckman was captured at the Battle of Proctor ' s Creek , Stannard replaced him in command of the 1st Brigade , 2nd Division , XVIII Corps . In the Battle of Cold Harbor , he was wounded in the left thigh but continued to lead his brigade through the Second Battle of Petersburg . He assumed command of the 1st Division , XVIII Corps , during the Siege of Petersburg and was conspicuous at the Battle of Chaffin ' s Farm . His division led the attack on Fort Harrison . Stannard was again wounded holding the captured fort against a Confederate counterattack , requiring the amputation of his right arm . He received a brevet promotion to major general for his actions during the assault on Fort Harrison . Postbellum . Stannard was then assigned to light duty in Vermont for the remainder of the war . In 1866 , he served briefly as assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Refugees , Freedmen and Abandoned Lands in Maryland . He resigned from the Army in June 1866 and worked as a customs official in Vermont . From 1881 until his death , he served as Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives . He died in Washington , D . C . , and is buried in Lake View Cemetery , Burlington , Vermont . A statue of Stannard , sculpted by Karl Gerhardt , stands atop the Vermont Memorial at the Gettysburg Battlefield . Another statue of Stannard stands in Lakeview cemetery in Burlington on the Lake Champlain waterfront . The town of Stannard in Caledonia County , Vermont , was named after the general . He also is commemorated on a tablet inside the First Congregational Church of Bennington .