1st Vermont Infantry Regiment

United States Regiments & Batteries > Vermont > 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment

The 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment enlisted 38 officers and 743 enlisted men. It lost 2 enlisted man killed or mortally wounded, 1 died in an accident, and 4 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. Four men were discharged for disability and two deserted.

1861
May 2 The 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Fairbanks at Rutland under the command of Colonel John Wolcott Phelps of Brattleboro, a West Point graduate (West Point Class of 1836), Lieutenant Colonel Peter T. Washburn of Woodstock and Major Henry N. Worthen of Bradford.

Organization of the Regiment
  • Company A – Captain Lawrence D. Clark
  • Company B – Captain William W. Pelton
  • Company C – Captain George G. Hunt
  • Company D – Captain Dudley K. Andross
  • Company E – Captain Oscar S. Tuttle
  • Company F – Captain William H. Boynton
  • Company G – Captain Joseph Bush
  • Company H – Captain David B. Peck
  • Company I – Captain Eben S. Hayward
  • Company K – Captain William Y.W. Ribley
May 8 Mustered in for three months Federal Service. Captain George G. Hunt of Company C was rejected for disability and  Charles G. Chandler was mustered in as Captain of Company C.
May 9 Left Vermont for New York City
May 10 Arrived in New York
May 10 Left for Fortress Monroe on steamship Alabama
May 13 Arrived at Fortress Monroe, Va. and assigned to the Department of Virginia under the command of Major General Butler. Camp at Hygea Hotel.
May 20 Demonstration on Hampton
May 23 Reconnoissance of six miles to Hampton.
May 27 Embarked on steamships Cataline and Monticello for Newport News and occupied the town.
June 9

Advance on Big Bethel

Five companies of the 1st Vermont and five companies of the 4th Massachusetts under the command of the 1st Vermont’s Lieutenant Colonel Peter T. Washburn joined the Union attack.
June 10

Battle of Big Bethel

The overly complex attack was badly bungled, with a friendly fire incident giving away the element of surprise. The 1st Vermont lost 2 men killed, 3 wounded, and 1 man missing. The relatively minor skirmish was one of the first serious fights of the war and was viewed at the time with exaggerated importance.
August 4-7 Sailed on steamships Ben de Ford and R. Spaulding to New Haven, Connecticut, then moved by train to Brattleboro, Vermont.
August 15 The 1st Vermont Infantry Regiment mustered out. Over 600 members of the regiment reenlisted and around 250 became officers in various Northern units during the war.