BRATTLEBORO — There are three Civil War battlefields where monuments have been erected to honor the courage of the First Vermont Brigade.
Two of them, Antietam in Maryland, and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, are well-known in the history books, but are battles in which the First saw limited action.
The third, the Battle of the Wilderness, is not as well-known to those with a casual interest in the Civil War. But in that battle, the First suffered more casualties than did any other Vermont unit in any other engagement in the Civil War.
Church bells tolled across Vermont on Monday to commemorate the 150th anniversary of a key moment in Civil War history - and Vermont's role in it.
The Battle of the Wilderness, which took place in Virginia beginning May 5, 1864, was the bloodiest day of the Civil War for Vermont soldiers.
Bells tolled for about 10 minutes at 4 p.m., the hour when the worst of the battle began, all over Windham County, from Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro to the Halifax Union Society, to the West Dover Congregational Church, and at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Wilmington.
Last month, the Vermont House passed a resolution to commemorate the Green Mountain State's role in the battle and urged for bells to sound on the anniversary of the battle.
Facing Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, the First Vermont Brigade - which fought in every major Civil War engagement, from the first Battle of Bull Run to Appomattox - was part of the Union force's attack.
Histories of the battle describe how 3,000 Vermonters held off a Confederate force of 14,000 defending the key intersection of Brock Road and Orange Plank Road for four hours until darkness fell over the battlefield.
At one point, Vermont soldiers were given an order to retreat to safer ground. Instead, the Fifth Vermont Regiment launched a bayonet charge against the Confederate forces.
The actions of the First Vermont Brigade bought critical time for the other Union units to regroup and stabilize the line. But the cost was dear. In less than 12 hours of fighting, the brigade suffered losses of 1,234 men killed, wounded, or missing.
Civil War historian Howard Coffin has called the Battle of the Wilderness “the most important moment for Vermont in the Civil War.”
And the record of those soldiers has stood the test of time.
In his 1890 history, The Old Vermont Brigade, Aldace F. Walker wrote that the First “were called on for the hardest work; they never knew when they were whipped; they stood together like men and they fought every battle to the end; not one of their colors was ever in a Rebel hand; their appearance was quiet and their speech was often homely, but their hearts were stout and their aim steady.
“They were never surprised or stampeded; no panic ever reached them; their service was intelligent, faithful, and honest; they had the full confidence of their commanders; and their countrymen will forever honor their memory,” Walker wrote.
Vermont gave more per capita in blood and treasure than did any other state in the Union. Virtually every household in the state was affected by the war.
And, in the Union army, Vermonters were held in the highest regard by their commanders and their fellow soldiers. Maj. Gen. James Harrison Wilson called them “hardy, self-reliant and courageous, and always ready for the serious business of warfare.”