which it is said that "for four long years it stood as a great wall between Washington and Richmond, or kept passing like a weaver's shuttle between the two capitals." The history of the First Vermont Brigade is identified with that of this army; the Second Vermont Regiment, being the first of these at the front, took part in almost every battle of the Army of the Potomac. This brigade served till the close of the war, its military operations being mostly in the vicinity of Richmond and Washington.

As a brigade it took no active part the first year of the war; but in the second (1862) was with McClellan in the Peninsular campaign and later followed that general into Maryland, where he went for the purpose of cutting off the Confederate General Lee's attempts to invade the North.

In 1863 the soldiers of the First Vermont Brigade fought in the battle of Fredericksburg under General Hooker; and when, at this juncture, it was learned that Lee was making a second invasion northward, they were immediately ordered to march with the Sixth Corps in that direction to intercept his movements. The Union army met the enemy at Gettysburg; and a bloody battle of three days' duration followed, which decided once for all that the Confederate army was not to invade northern territory. The First Vermont Brigade took no active part in this battle, and suffered no loss, but was present on the third day of the battle and stationed on the left of Round Top. The honors of that occasion fell upon their brethren of the Second Vermont Brigade.

In the year 1864 the First Vermont Brigade was with Grant in his famous march to Richmond, beginning with the battle of the Wilderness, a terrible battle lasting two days, in which, in a single afternoon, 1,000 of the Vermont

soldiers lost their lives. For five months they were with Sheridan in his famous raid through the Shenandoah Valley, during which time he entirely destroyed the army of the Confederate general, Early.

To this famous brigade, now under General L. A. Grant, a Vermonter, was given the honor of leading the column in the final assault on Petersburg, April 2, 1865, just before entering Richmond, the Confederate capital. That night Lee evacuated Richmond, and a week later was captured while trying to escape and join the Confederate general, Johnson. The Vermont Brigade had at this time been sent to guard the supply train, and so was not present at the actual surrender.

The Estimation in which this Brigade was held.-The estimate put upon this brigade is shown from the following: When the Sixth Corps was about to be hurried to the field of Gettysburg, the command was given, "Put the Vermonters in front, and keep the column well closed up." What manner of men the Vermont soldiers were, Sheridan also testified to, when, two years after the close of the war, at Representative Hall at Montpelier, he said: "I have never commanded troops in whom I had more confidence than I had in the Vermont troops, and I do not know but I can say that I never commanded troops in whom I had as much confidence as in those of this gallant State." McMahon, General Sedgwick's chief-of-staff, said of this brigade: "No body of troops in or out of the old Sixth Corps had a better record. No body of troops in or out of the Army of the Potomac made their record more gallantly, sustained it more heroically, or wore their honors more modestly. The Vermont Brigade was the model and type of the volunteer soldier."

Of the eight famous brigades that served during the Rebellion, which were made preeminent by their fighting qualities, Colonel William F. Fox places the First Vermont Brigade at the head of the list. "The greatest loss. of life," he says, "in any one brigade during the war, occurred in the Vermont Brigade of the Second Division of the Sixth Corps." From over 2,000 regiments in the Union service he selects 300 as fighting regiments (those that sustained a loss of from 134 to 224), and nine of these are Vermont regiments.

First Vermont Cavalry; Light Battery; Sharpshooters. -The First Vermont Cavalry was mustered into service in November, 1861, and reached Washington in December. A good share of this regiment served throughout the war and took part in over seventy engagements. In captures of guns, battle-flags, and prisoners, the First Vermont Cavalry was second to none.

Before the end of this year Vermont had raised for service three companies of sharpshooters and a light battery.

The Seventh and Eighth Regiments; the Second Battery.-Early in the year 1862 the Seventh and Eighth Regiments were mustered into service, as was also a second battery. These two regiments and the two batteries formed were assigned service in the extreme South, the Seventh to serve with the command of Butler. Although these regiments had not so many battles standing to their credit as had some of the earlier regiments, it is doubtful if any suffered greater hardships and privations than these; and the death-rate from all causes was enormous. The Seventh, a force of 943 strong at the time of enlistment, lost by death 406 of that number.

The Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Regiments.-No sooner was the campaign of 1862 fairly under way than serious disasters to the Union cause made it necessary to call for still more men; and in May Governor Holbrook received a message from the War Department asking for another Vermont regiment. In July the Ninth Regiment was mustered into service; and it at once set out for the field of action, under the command of Colonel George J. Stannard. Before the Ninth was mustered into service, a message came from the Secretary of War asking for further aid; and, in September following, the Tenth and Eleventh were mustered into service.

The Ninth suffered in the humiliation of Harper's Ferry and then passed several months

under parole at Chicago, when it was exchanged

A

and took its place with the Army of the Potomac. portion of this regiment was the first to carry the national flag into Richmond, the rebel capital, after Lee evacuated. The Tenth and Eleventh regiments were at once employed to replete the thinned ranks of the Army of the Potomac.

The Second Vermont Brigade.-Before the end of October (1862), the Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth,

Fifteenth, and Sixteenth regiments had been formed for nine months' service, and consolidated into a brigade. This brigade took no part in any set battle during this year, but was assigned to various guard and picket duties and held in reserve for any emergency. In April, 1863,

General George J. Stannard was given the command, and under him the soldiers of this brigade attained their greatest glory on the bloody battle-field of Gettysburg. On the final day of this great battle they did their first and last fighting. But the charge of the Second Vermont Brigade was a memorable charge—a charge that, by forcing Pickett back, turned the tide of battle in favor of the Union

arms.

Further Service.-During the year 1863 no Vermont forces were raised; but early in 1864 a Third Vermont Battery was mustered in, as was also the Seventeenth Vermont Regiment. The Seventeenth was not long in action, but no Vermont regiment performed more gallant service during the period of its service than this. It was at once. plunged into that great slaughter of the Wilderness and continued to follow Grant in his campaign against the rebel capital till the final overthrow of the Confederate

cause.

The St. Albans Raid.-In the year 1863 the Confederate States of America sent officers into Canada for the purpose of organizing parties from the large number of Confederate soldiers who had fled to Canada for safety, to make raids on the northern frontier. Among the leading men engaged in the carrying out of this plan was Bennet Young, afterward a prominent Kentucky lawyer, who led the St. Albans raid, so called.

On October 10, 1864, strangers began to arrive in St.