Nine Months to Gettysburg

Today is the 4th of July. Independence Day here in Doodle Land. 

It's also the day after the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most written of battles of the American Civil War and, to my mind, one of the most interesting. If for no other reason than I live in Pennsylvania, and I've visited the place probably a couple of hundred times.

As a member of the Vermont Army National Guard, I have a particularly soft spot for the two brigades of troops from Vermont who fought at Gettysburg. 

The second of the two brigades that came from Vermont, under the command of George Stannard, was composed of men who enlisted for only nine months service. 

General George Stannard

The brigade consisted of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Vermont Regiments and they had spent the majority of their time guarding places and things, instead of campaigning with the Army of the Potomac. 

The movement of the Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania changed that, and the brigade was attached to the I Corps instead. 

Detaching the 12th and the 15th Regiments at Westminster, Maryland, the rest of the brigade arrived late on the 1st of July. The brigade engaged in a small action on the 2nd of July at the Codori farm which resulted in the capture of approximately 80 soldiers from an Alabama unit and a cannon. 

The Codori farm in the distance. The barn is post-war in colour and size.

Witnessing the attack, one grizzled veteran asked the newcomers who they were. The answer was "We're the Green Mountain Boys!". The veteran shot back "I figured you were green. Only green troops would act so foolishly". 

On the 3rd of July, the men of the 16th Regiment were deployed as skirmishers across the front of one part of Cemetery Ridge. The other two were in reserve, resting. 

As the attack that would become known as "Pickett's Charge" unfolded, the 16th Regiment was pulled back and the three Vermont regiments formed up in line of battle. As the Confederates advanced, Stannard used the terrain to his advantage to gain the left flank of troops that were supporting the three brigades of Pickett's Division and catch them in the flank with withering volleys. He then wheeled those regiments to the left and fired into more supporting Confederate infantry, blasting the attack apart with a withering fire. 

The II Corps commander, Winfield Scott Hancock, was with Stannard and his staff when he was hit and seriously wounded.

The area where Hancock was wounded

Because of the actions of Stannard and his men, the Confederates were forced to divert forces to face the threat from the Vermonters, thus taking away combat power from the attack on what would be known as the High-Water Mark. 

After the battle, the brigade, less the 12th Regiment, took part in the pursuit of the Confederates, but were soon re-directed back to Vermont. Some took part in suppressing the New York City Draft Riots. 

The regiments of the brigade were all discharged by August. George Stannard himself continued to serve the rest of the war, being wounded a number of times and losing his right arm in the process. 

The monument to the brigade at Gettysburg has a statue of General Stannard standing atop.