The 6th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at Montpelier and mustered in October 15, it served in the Army of the Potomac (AoP). It departed Vermont for Washington, DC, October 19, 1861. It served in the Eastern Theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, AoP, from October 1861 to June 1865. It was a part of the Vermont Brigade.
Service The 6th, recruited from the state at large, was mustered into the U. S. service for three years under Colonel Nathan Lord, Jr., the son of the Dartmouth College president Nathan Lord, at Montpelier, October 15, 1861, and immediately ordered to Washington, where it arrived on October 22.
It proceeded at once to Camp Griffin, where it was attached to the Vermont brigade under the command of was Brig. Gen. William T. H. Brooks. The command remained at this post during the winter and broke camp on March 10, 1862, for George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
In this campaign, the brigade was incorporated into the Army of the Potomac as the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps. On April 6, 1862, at Warwick Creek., the regiment was first in action and had no casualties. The 6th fought at Golding's Farm, and received praise from Brig. Gen. Hancock for their performance. At Savage Station, they suffered severe losses. The regiment remained with its brigade and corps through the end of the campaign.
Leaving the Peninsula, the regiment was busy in the Maryland campaign. It fought Gen. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) at Crampton's Gap and Antietam. After the relief of McClellan, Burnside moved the regiment and brigade to Falmouth. It fought at Fredericksburg and took part in the failed assault on Maryes Heights.
After the battle, it went into winter quarters at White Oak Church, where it remained, with the exception of the "Mud March," until camp was broken for the Chancellorsville movement in the end of April 1863. During the winter, the regiment received a new brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Grant,. Under Grant's brigade command, the 6th fought in the Chancellorsville campaign culminating in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Operating as part of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's force opposite Fredericksburg. On May 2, the U.S. forces there had broken through the Confederate lines. The 6th participated in the capture of Marye's Heights in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and then were prominent in the fighting at Salem Church.
Like most of VI Corps, the regiment and its brigade were held in reserve during the Battle of Gettysburg, holding a flank guard position behind Big Round Top, losing only one man wounded. After the Gettysburg campaign, the 6th saw elements of their brigade were sent to help quell the draft riots in New York City while they remained in Virginia, fighting at Funkstown later in the summer. Like its brigade mates, the 6th proved itself as a steady and reliable unit.
After fighting in the Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns in the fall, the 6th regrouped. It went into winter camp at Brandy Station, until the opening of Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864. Its depleted brigade received reinforcements in May 1864 when the 11th Vermont Infantry was assigned to the organization.
In this campaign the 6th Vermont played important roles and suffered great casualties. They were heavily engaged in the Wilderness where the fighting was arduous. On the morning of Thursday, May 5, 1864, the U.S. army attacked Lee's army at the Battle of the Wilderness. While the initial Union attack was successful, rough terrain and stubborn resistance ground down the attack. By midday, A.P. Hill's Corps had come up and was attacking the weak Union center along the Orange Plank Road. Maj. Gen. George W. Getty's brigades were ordered by Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock to hold the road and counterattack. As part of the Vermont Brigade, the 6th took the southern flank and charged the advancing Confederates. Ordered to retreat, the 6th and its brigade were given time to fall back to new breastworks by an opportune bayonet charge by the 5th Vermont. The Confederates continued to attack until the Union line was stabilized. Losses in its the brigade totaled 1,269 killed, wounded, and missing in less than 12 hours of fighting.
After the Wilderness, over the weekend of 7–8 May, the U.S. forces moved south to Spotsylvania Court House, where Lee's army had entrenched. The 11th Vermont joined the brigade at this point. The regiment lost its corps commander, Sedgwick, on the first day of battle, Monday. Early in the battle, on May 9, the brigade, defending barricades forward of the rest of the Union Army, were ordered to retreat and spike their supporting artillery field pieces before the Confederates overran them. Disobeying orders, Grant ordered the guns to be "spiked with canister," and the brigade was able to defend the guns and works successfully until reinforcements arrived to stabilize the position. The Vermonters suffered heavily during the ensuing assault on the Confederate defenses.
The next day, Tuesday, May 10, the 6th Vermont was within the brigade as it led Upton's successful late afternoon assault on the west side of the "Mule Shoe Salient", a protruding network of trenches in the center of the Confederate lines.
The final battle of the Overland Campaign was the Battle of Cold Harbor where the 6th was repeatedly in action. Its brigade was one of the units selected to charge Confederate earthworks on Wednesday, June 1, 1864. Grant's attack failed and he suffered heavy losses. In less than 10 minutes, hundreds of soldiers from the Vermont Brigade were killed or wounded. The brigade, in less than one month of fighting, had been reduced from 2,850 men to less than 1,200.
While the AoP and the ANV dug in at Petersburg, Lee sent Lt. Gen. Early on a mission through the Shenandoah Valley to the outskirts of Washington, D.C. In response, the VI Corps was sent to stop him at Fort Stevens. After this, the 6th fought in the Valley Campaign against Early, under the overall command of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan. The regiment moved southward as the army won victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill.
On Wednesday, October 19, At the Cedar Creek, Early launched a surprise attack against Sheridan's army and the regiment, and its brigade covered the Union army's temporary retreat, prior to Sheridan's counterattack and decisive victory. Grant was promoted to command the 2nd Division, VI Corps, during the later stages of this action, when Getty became acting corps commander. Col. George P. Foster led the brigade while Grant was in command of the division. The 6th was in the center of the division's line until the entire formation retreated in good order. At one point an adjoining commander told his men not to fall back until the Vermonters Brigade did so.
After the battle, the 6th took part in the destruction of the valley as a source for sustenance for the Confederacy. The regiment remained on this duty in the Shenandoah until December.
Returning to the AoP in December, it re-entered the siege lines around Petersburg. The 6th Vermont remained in the entrenchments over the winter. In the final phase of the siege, the 6th was in the van of the First Vermont Brigade's successful break-through attack on the earthworks defending the city, on Monday morning of April 2, 1865. Lewis Grant was wounded in this action and briefly relinquished command. After the surrender of Lee's army on Sunday, April 9, the 6th Vermont took up the initial occupation duties in and around Richmond.
It later participated in the victory parade in Washington on Thursday, June 8, 1865. It mustered out three weeks later, on June 29, 1865 in Washington, and the men returned home to Vermont. At home, many former members of the regiment joined fraternal veterans organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States to enact legislation to support veterans and their families, often and held reunions recount their service in the 6th Vermont Infantry.
Companies Company D
Company I
Regimental staff Through its service, the commanders were: Colonels— Nathan Lord, Jr., Oscar S. Tuttle, Elisha L. Barney, Sumner H. Lincoln
The staff officers were: Lieutenant Colonels— Asa P. Blunt, Oscar S. Tuttle, Elisha L. Barney, Oscar A. Hale, Frank G. Butterfield, Sumner H. Lincoln, William J. Sperry Majors—O scar S. Tuttle, Elisha L. Barney, Oscar Hale, Richard B. Crandall, Carlos W. Dwinell, Sumner H. Lincoln, William J. Sperry, Edwin R. Kinney.
Affiliations, battle honors, detailed service, and casualties
Organizational affiliation Its assignments are as follows: Attached to Brook's Brigade, Smith's Division, AoP, to March, 1862 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, IV Corps, AoP, to May, 1862 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps, AoP, to August, 1863 Provost of New York City, August to September, 1863 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps, AoP, to August, 1864 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps, Army of the Shenandoah, Middle Military Division, to December 1864 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps, AoP, to June 1865
List of battles
The official list of battles in which the regiment bore a part: Battle at Lee's Mills, April 16, 1862 Battle of Williamsburg; May 5, 1862 Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farm; June 26, 1862 Battle of Savage's Station; June 29, 1862 Battle of White Oak Swamp; June 30, 1862 Battle of Crampton's Gap; September 14, 1862 Battle of Antietam; September 17, 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg; December 13, 1862 Battle of Marye's Heights; May 3, 1863 Battle of Salem Church; May 4, 1863 Second Battle of Fredericksburg; June 5, 1863 Battle of Gettysburg; July 3, 1863 Battle of Funkstown; July 10, 1863 Second Battle of Rappahannock Station; November 7, 1863 Battle of the Wilderness; May 5–10, 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania; May 10–18, 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor; June 1–12, 1864 Second Battle of Petersburg; June 18, 1864 Battle of Reams' Station; June 29, 1864 Fort Stevens (Washington, D.C.); July 11, 1864 Battle of Charlestown; August 21, 1864 Battle of Opequon (Gilbert's Ford) September 13, 1864 3rd Battle of Winchester (Opequon); September 19, 1864 Battle of Fisher's Hill; September 21–22, 1864 Battle of Cedar Creek; October 19, 1864 Siege of Petersburg; March 25, 1865 Third Battle of Petersburg April 2, 1865
Detailed service
1861 At Camp Griffin, Defenses of Washington till March 10, 1862
1862 Moved to Alexandria, VA March 10 The Peninsula Campaign, March 17-July 3, 1862 To Fortress Monroe, VA March 23–24 Reconnaissance to Warwick River March 30 Young's Mills April 4 Siege of Yorktown April 5-May 4 Lee's Mills April 16 Battle of Williamsburg May 5 The Seven Days Battles June 25-July 1 Garnett's Farm June 27 Savage Station June 29 White Oak Swamp Bridge June 30 Malvern Hill July 1 At Harrison's Landing till August 16 Moved to Fortress Monroe, thence to Alexandria, August 16–24 The Maryland Campaign September 4–20, Crampton's Pass, September 14 Battle of Antietam September 16–17 At Hagerstown, MD, September 26- October 29 Movement to Falmouth, VA, October 29- November 19 Battle of Fredericksburg December 12–15
1863 Burnside's Second Campaign, Mud March, January 20–24 The Chancellorsville Campaign April 27- May 6 Operations at Franklin's Crossing April 29-May 2 Maryes Heights, Fredericksburg, May 3 Salem Heights lay 3-4 Banks' Ford May 4 Franklin's Crossing June 5–12 Battle of Gettysburg, PA, July 2–4 Funkstown, MD, July 10–13 Detached from Army for duty at New York City and Kingston, NY, August 14- September 16 Rejoined army at Culpeper Court House, VA, September 23 The Bristoe Campaign October 9–22 Advance to line of the Rappahannock, November 7–8 Rappahannock Station, November 7 The Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2
1864 The Overland Campaign May 12-June 24