American Civil War Union Army unit From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 5th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantryregiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at St. Albans and mustered in September 16, 1861, it served in the Army of the Potomac (AoP).[1] It departed Vermont for Washington, DC, September 23, 1861.
The fortunes of this brigade were many months of hard fighting and miles of weary marching, but at the end the attainment of lasting renown. Company E, from Manchester, is said to have suffered the heaviest loss of any company from Vermont, and at the Battle of Savage Station on June 29, 1862, the regiment is said to have suffered the heaviest loss in killed and wounded of any one regiment in a single action.[6]
The regiment had its important share in the engagements of the Vermont brigade. It fought all through the Peninsula campaign from Yorktown to the Seven days. During the Maryland Campaign, it was heavily engaged at Antietam. At Fredericksburg, the 5th took part in the assault on Maryes Heights. During Chancellorsville, it was part of the AoP that remained opposite Fredericksburg, taking Maryes Heights on that occasion. It met and repulsed Pickett's Charge with the Vermont Brigade.[7]
It was detached to New York City in response to the draft riots in August 1863[8] and returned to the AoP to participate in the Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns in the vicinity of the Rapidan and Rappahannock in the autumn of 1863. Early in December of 1863, many of the members of the 5th reenlisted. The 5th continued in service as a veteran organization and participated in the bloody Overland Campaign with the AoP from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, afterward taking part in the siege of Petersburg, where it was active in the operations.[7]
In the summer of 1864, the 5th moved to Washington with VI Corps to confront Maj. Gen. Jubal Early, whose troops threatened the city.[2] It then fought under Sheridan in the Shenandoah. On that campaign, on September 15, 1864, the original members not reenlisted, were mustered out at Clifton.[2] After the successful completion of that campaign, the 5th returned with VI Corps to the Siege of Petersburg in December of 1864.
In the final assault on Petersburg, April 2, 1865, the Vermont brigade was in the front of the line, the 5th being the first regiment to reach the enemy's works and there plant its colors. It then joined in the pursuit and after Lee's surrender moved to Danville to cooperate with Maj. Gen. Sherman.[2]
The veterans and recruits were mustered out on June 29, 186529, 1865.[9][2]
Through its service, the staff officers were:
Colonels—Henry A. Smalley, Lewis A. Grant, John R. Lewis, Ronald A. Kennedy
Lieutenant-Colonels—Nathan Lord, Jr., Lewis A. Grant, John R. Lewis, Charles P. Dudley, Addison Brown, Jr., Ronald A. Kennedy, Eugene O. Cole
Majors—Lewis A. Grant. Redfield Proctor, John R. Lewis, Charles P. Dudley, Eugene 0. Cole, Thomas Kavaney
At Farmville and Burkesville Station till April 23
March to Danville April 23-27, and duty there till May 18
Moved to Manchester, thence march to Washington, D. C., May 24-June 8
Corps Review June 8
Mustered out the remaining regiment June 29, 1865.
Casualties and total strength
The 5th Vermont's original strength was 986. [29] Regiment lost during service 11 Officers and 202 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 124 Enlisted by disease. Total 340.[note 1] Over the course of their service the regiment saw 8 promoted to other regiments, 447 honorably discharged, 12 dishonorably discharged, 98 deserted, and 8 missing in action. During its service, 91 of the men transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and other organizations. The 5th had 615 men muster out at various times, 140 taken prisoner, and 476 wounded. [30]
Soldiers in the 5th Vermont were armed through thr war with model 1855, 1861 National Armory (NA) and contract[note 2] The regiment reported the following surveys:
In government records, National Armory refers to one of three United States Armory and Arsenals, the Springfield Armory, the Harpers Ferry Armory, and the Rock Island Arsenal. Rifle-muskets, muskets, and rifles were manufactured in Springfield and Harper's Ferry before the war. When the Rebels destroyed the Harpers Ferry Armory early in the American Civil War and stole the machinery for the Confederate central government-run Richmond Armory, the Springfield Armory was briefly the only government manufacturer of arms, until the Rock Island Arsenal was established in 1862. During this time production ramped up to unprecedented levels ever seen in American manufacturing up until that time, with only 9,601 rifles manufactured in 1860, rising to a peak of 276,200 by 1864. These advancements would not only give the Union a decisive technological advantage over the Confederacy during the war but served as a precursor to the mass production manufacturing that contributed to the post-war Second Industrial Revolution and 20th century machine manufacturing capabilities. American historian Merritt Roe Smith has drawn comparisons between the early assembly machining of the Springfield rifles and the later production of the Ford Model T, with the latter having considerably more parts, but producing a similar numbers of units in the earliest years of the 1913–1915 automobile assembly line, indirectly due to mass production manufacturing advancements pioneered by the armory 50 years earlier. These rifles were also produced by contracted commercial arms compnies who, by the contract, had to meet the NA manufacturing specifications. [31][32]