Vermont in the Civil War

Introduction
Vermont mustered in more than 28,100 men to serve in Vermont volunteer units plus an additional 5,000 Vermonters served in the units of other states, in the U.S. Army or in the U.S. Navy.. Vermont had "17 infantry regiments, 1 cavalry regiment, 3 light artillery batteries, 1 heavy artillery company, 3 companies of sharpshooters, and 2 companies of frontier cavalry." The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry included 66 Vermont blacks. An additional 100 black Vermonters also served.

St. Albans, Vermont saw the northernmost land action in the Civil War. On October 19, 1864, Confederates robbed three banks there. After escaping to Canada, they were caught and tried, but the Canadian courts decided not to extradite them to the United States since they were acting under military orders.


 * Howard Coffin. Full duty : Vermonters in the Civil War. Woodstock, Vermont : Countryman Press, c1993. FS Library 974.3 M2ch
 * G.G. Benedict.Vermont in the Civil War : a history of the part taken by the Vermont soldiers and sailors in the War for the Union, 1861-5. 2 volumes. Burlington, Vt. : Free Press Association, 1886-1888. FS Library digital images

Vermont Military Units
Most units were numbered, however, some were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, batteries, and unassigned companies.

The information in the lists of Vermont Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors website. This website can also be searched by the name of a soldier.

Vermont Units by Number or by Name Union Units 1st-17th A to Z Vermont Units by Type of Unit Union Units Infantry Cavalry Artillery Navy

Cemeteries

 * Cemetery Database, Vermont in the Civil War (accessed 20 September 2011) has links to many Vermont cemeteries, National cemeteries, and cemeteries in other states, as well as other categories of burials.

1890 Census Veterans Schedules
The 1890 Census Veterans Schedules, the "Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (NARA M123) are available online for the state of Vermont. The schedules list Union veterans and their widows. For more information on the 1890 Veterans Schedules see Union Census Records.

Vermont Militia Personal Sketch DGS 4157018 4.jpgce and Pension Records
Service and pension records are available at the National Archives. Indexes to service and pension records of Union Army soldiers are available on film at the National Archives and the FamilySearch Library.

FamilySearch has an online of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.

For an index to compiled service records of Union soldiers, see:


 * United States. Adjutant General’s Office. Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organization from the State of Vermont. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0557. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1964. (FS Library films .)

For more information on service records see Union Service Records.

State Old Soldiers Home
Vermont maintained a soldiers home for veterans in Bennington, Vermont. Reports of Vermont Old Soldiers Home was established in 1884. The Vermont Department of Libraries has copies of these reports in:


 * Vermont. Old Soldiers Home. Reports. (State Library V362.8 V59re, not at FamilySearch Library.) The reports include the soldier’s name, unit, disability, marital status, literacy, and present status such as discharged, furloughed, or deceased. By 1912 personal information was no longer included. The report content varies.

State Roster
A state roster of soldiers is:


 * Vermont. Adjutant General’s Office. Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers: And Lists of Vermonters Who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of the Rebellion, 1861–66. Montpelier, Vermont: Watchman Publishing, 1892. (FamilySearch Library .) This source is arranged by military unit and then by name, with rank, residence, date of enlistment, date of muster, and remarks. It includes an index.

Unit Histories
An important inventory for finding Civil War military histories is:


 * A Guide to the Microfiche Edition of Civil War Unit Histories: Regimental Histories and Personal Narratives. Part 2, The Union—New England. Bethesda, Maryland.: University Publications of America, 1993. (FS Library book .) Vermont units are listed on pages 73–78. The library has the large microfiche collection described in this guide. Use the library catalog to find individual items. This may include correspondence, diaries, memoirs, and regimental histories published before 1920. The guide shows the unit name, counties where it was raised, author, title, publication information, number of pages, and source repository. This guide includes an author index and a major engagements index.

For regimental sketches, officers lists, and lists of soldiers killed in action, see:


 * Benedict, G. G. Vermont in the Civil War. 2 vols. Burlington, Vermont: Free Press Association, 1886–88. (on Google Books) (FS Library film .) This source includes an index.

Other Source Material

 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865, lists and explains Federal Civil War records.


 * The Civil War Archive [database online]. N.p., 1998 (cited 11 August 1999). This site includes histories and background information on Vermont regiments.


 * Vermont in the Civil War [database on-line]. N.p., 2013 (cited 22 January 2013). This site includes the names of over 35,500 soldiers, sailors, and marines including their town, regiment, and company. Search. It also includes unit histories and time lines of significant events in the Civil War relating to Vermonters, and a virtual cemetery.

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)
Grand Army of the Republic founded in 1866 - 1956, was the largest veteran’s organization in the country after the Civil War. It was a fraternal organization members were veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutler Service who served in the American Civil War. The group supported voting rights for black veterans, and lobbied the U.S. Congress to establish veterans' pensions. In 1890 the membership was 490,000.

In 1888 there were 100 posts and 4,952 members in the state of Vermont

GAR Posts in the State of Vermont

The FamilySearch Catalog list records of the Vermont Grand Army of the Republic.

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
With the death of the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was formed.