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| Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiments | |
|---|---|
| Name | Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiments |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Union |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Active | 1861–1865 |
| Notable commanders | John W. Phelps, Ethan Allen, George J. Stannard, William F. Smith |
Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiments were infantry formations raised in Vermont to serve the Union Army during the American Civil War. Composed of companies recruited from Vermont counties and towns, these regiments participated in major campaigns of the Eastern Theater and in key battles such as Gettysburg, Antietam, and the Wilderness Campaign. Officers and enlisted men drawn from Vermont communities linked local civic institutions like Burlington, Montpelier, and Rutland to national events in the 1860s.
Vermont’s volunteer infantry regiments were mustered under authority of the United States War Department and state officials including J. Gregory Smith and Erastus Fairbanks, integrating state militia traditions with federal mobilization during President Abraham Lincoln’s administration. The regiments served within formations such as the VI Corps, II Corps, and provisional brigades attached to armies commanded by George Meade, Ulysses S. Grant, and Ambrose Burnside. Distinctive Vermont units earned reputations for discipline, marksmanship, and brigade-level cohesion observed by commanders like John Gibbon and Winfield Scott Hancock.
Regimental organization followed the United States Army model of ten companies (A–K), each company often recruited from a single Vermont county—examples include companies raised in Chittenden County, Addison County, and Caledonia County. State mustering officers coordinated with federal mustering officers at rendezvous points such as Burlington Barracks and smaller armories in Brattleboro and St. Albans. Command structures typically included a colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major; notable Vermont commanders who rose from regimental ranks included George J. Stannard and Peter T. Washburn. Many regiments carried state-issued colors patterned after designs authorized by the Adjutant General of Vermont.
Vermont regiments saw service across multiple campaigns in the Eastern Theater, with deployments to the Peninsula Campaign, Second Bull Run, and the Overland Campaign. Regiments were brigaded with formations from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts within corps commanded by Union leaders such as Joseph Hooker and Winfield Scott Hancock. Vermont units provided garrison and field service at strategic points including Harper's Ferry and participated in sieges like Petersburg. The regiments’ service records reflect attrition from combat, disease, and captures during operations like the Maryland Campaign and the Siege of Suffolk.
Vermont regiments played prominent roles at Gettysburg where units under commanders like George J. Stannard helped repel Confederate assaults such as those led by James Longstreet and Richard S. Ewell. At Antietam, Vermont infantry were engaged in the fighting near the Cornfield and Burnside Bridge alongside divisions commanded by Ambrose Burnside and Joseph Hooker. During the Wilderness and the Cold Harbor actions of the Overland Campaign, Vermont regiments sustained heavy casualties while serving under corps commanders including Horatio G. Wright. In the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns, Vermont troops operated against forces led by Jubal Early and participated in combined operations associated with generals like Philip Sheridan.
Primary Vermont infantry regiments raised for three-year service included the 1st through 17th Vermont Infantry, with later war formations such as the 18th through 26th Vermont Infantry and nine-month regiments like the 13th and 14th in earlier calls. The lineage of some regiments is traced through reorganizations and veterans’ battalions influenced by state adjutant general records and postwar veteran associations including the Grand Army of the Republic. Prominent numbered regiments include the 2nd Vermont, 3rd Vermont, 6th Vermont, and 8th Vermont, each with documented service at major engagements and distinct battle honors preserved in unit histories and state archives.
Recruitment drew volunteers from rural townships, merchant classes in Burlington, and immigrant communities in Springfield and Middlebury. Training emphasized musketry using weapons such as the Springfield Model 1861 and earlier imported rifled muskets, drilled according to manuals like Hardee's Tactics and influenced by officers trained at institutions like the United States Military Academy. Supply and outfitting were managed through Vermont quartermaster depots and federal supply lines routed via Washington, D.C. and railroad hubs including Alexandria.
Postwar, Vermont regiments were commemorated by monuments on battlefield sites such as the Vermont Memorial at Gettysburg National Military Park and regimental monuments at Antietam National Battlefield and Petersburg National Battlefield. Veterans organized into Grand Army of the Republic posts and contributed to state memory through monuments, regimental histories, and civic ceremonies in towns like Burlington and Middlebury. Modern descendants of Vermont Civil War units are remembered by historical societies such as the Vermont Historical Society and through preserved artifacts in institutions including the Bennington Museum and the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration.
Category:Vermont in the American Civil War Category:Infantry regiments of the Union Army