Phyllis,
Here is some preliminary info for your John W. Barrows and his unit.
Jim Martin
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John W. Barrows, Jr
Residence Mendon VT;
Enlisted on 8/24/1861 as a Private.
On 9/16/1861 he mustered into "G" Co. VT 5th Infantry
(date and method of discharge not given)
(No further record)
He was listed as:
* POW 6/26/1862 Golding's Farm, VA
* Paroled 8/29/1862 (place not stated)
* POW 6/28/1863 (place not stated)
* Paroled 3/1/1865 (place not stated)
Source: Roster of Vermont Volunteers During the War of the Rebellion 1861-66
A short history of the 5th VT INF REGT
VERMONT
FIFTH REGIMENT.
(THREE YEARS.)
BY HON. LEWIS A. GRANT, (Assistant Secretary of War), BRIGADIER
and BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. VOLS. JOHN R. LEWIS, COLONEL
FIFTH REGIMENT and BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL U. S. VOLS.; And
CHARLES G. GOULD, CAPTAIN and BREVET MAJOR FIFTH REGIMENT.
THE Fifth Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry, was
composed of companies organized at the following towns, the men
composing them being enlisted from these and adjoining towns:
company A, St. Albans; B, Middlebury; C, Swanton; D, Hyde Park;
E, Manchester; F, Cornwall; G, Rutland; H, Brandon; I,
detachments from Burlington, Poultney and Tinmouth; K,
Richmond.
The regiment was mustered into the United States service
for three years at St. Albans, Vt., Sept. 16, 1861, and in a
few days went to Washington and camped on Meridian Hill, then
crossed Chain Bridge into Virginia and joined other Vermont
regiments at Camp Advance, when the Old Vermont Brigade was
organized.
The regiment spent most of the fall and winter of 1861-62
at Camp Griffin, near Langley, Va., going to Fortress Monroe in
the spring of 1862 and taking part in the Peninsula
Campaign. At Savage's Station, June 29, 1862, it suffered the
greatest loss, in killed and wounded, of any Vermont regiment
in any one engagement. In this battle, with not over four
hundred muskets, it lost 188 officers and men in half an hour-
company E losing 44 men killed and wounded out of fifty-nine,
25 of whom were killed or mortally wounded. It was here that
five Cummings brothers, and one cousin, of company E, were all
killed or wounded, only one of the six recovering from his
wounds. Returning in August, the regiment marched out across
Cub Run, near the second Bull Run battle field. It then joined
in the Maryland Campaign. Returning to Virginia, it encamped
during the winter of 1862-63 near Fredericksburg, taking part
in the campaign near that place in 1863, and in the Gettysburg
campaign. From Gettysburg it went into Virginia, and thence to
New York at the time of the draft riot. Returning to the Army
of the Potomac it took part in the fall campaign in Virginia.
It encamped during the winter of 1863-64 near Brandy Station,
where it re-enlisted, Dec. 15, 1863, being the first regiment
to re-enlist and go home on a veteran furlough. In 1864 it
took an active part in the terrible campaign from the Rapidan
to Petersburg, and reached the line in front of Petersburg June
17. It went into this campaign with about five hundred
muskets, and in one month lost 349 men in killed, wounded and
missing, including two field officers, six captains and
five lieutenants.
In July the regiment returned and assisted in driving
Early from Washington, following him into the valley and
becoming a part of the Army of the Shenandoah.
Sept. 15, 1864, the term of the original members of the
regiment who had not re-enlisted expired, and they were
mustered out at Clifton, Va., leaving present for duty with the
regiment one assistant surgeon, a quartermaster, three first
lieutenants and about three hundred men. This fragment of a
regiment participated in Sheridan's campaign in the Shenandoah
Valley, from Winchester to Mount Crawford and return. Dec. 9
the regiment left the valley and returned to Petersburg, going
into winter quarters, Dec. 13, near the Squirrel Level Road, in
the line south of Petersburg. It led the Sixth Corps in its
assault upon the enemy's works at Petersburg, April 2, 1865,
and was the first regiment in the corps to plant its flag upon
the enemy's works. It took part in the pursuit and capture of
Lee's army, and after his surrender it marched to Danville,
Va., to aid in preventing the escape of Johnston's army.
It then went to Munson's Hill, near Washington, where it was
mustered out of the service of the United States, June 29,
1865, and returned to Vermont to be finally discharged. At its
muster-out but 24 officers and 288 men were borne upon its
rolls--an aggregate of 312 out of a total enrollment of 1,618
during its entire term of service.
For ten months of its last year of service the highest
rank of any of its officers present for duty was that of
captain; for more than three months of this period none of the
officers of the regiment present with it were above the rank of
first lieutenant, and every officer that returned with the
regiment went out as a private in the ranks.
During its four years of service the regiment sustained
the following losses: killed and died of wounds received in
action, 11 officers, 202 men, a total of 213, or 13.8 per cent
of its total enrollment. Its total of killed and wounded in
battle during the war was 685. The deaths from disease and
accident, in rebel prisons and from other causes, were 1
officer, 124 men. The total number of known deaths from all
causes was 338. The Fifth was one of the forty-five infantry
regiments, out of all the regiments of the Union armies, that
lost over 200 men, killed or mortally wounded in battle during
the War of the Rebellion. It bore an honorable and active part
in the battles of Lee's Mills, Williamsburg, Golding's Farm,
Savage's Station, White Oak Swamp, South Mountain, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Dec., '62; Fredericksburg, May, '63;
Fredericksburg, June, '63; Salem Heights, Gettysburg,
Funkstown, Rappahannock Station, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania,
Bloody Angle, Anderson's Farm, Jericho Ford, Cold Harbor,
Petersburg, June, '64; Fort Stevens, Charlestown, Winchester,
Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, Petersburg, March 25, 1865;
Petersburg, April 2, 1865; Sailor's Creek, and other
skirmishes and reconnoissances.
ENGAGEMENTS.
Lee's Mills, Va., April 16, 1862.
Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862.
Golding's Farm, Va., June 26, 1862.
Savage's Station, Va., June 29, 1862.
White Oak Swamp, Va., June 30, 1862.
Crampton's Gap, Md., Sept. 14, 1862.
Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862.
Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862.
Marye's Heights, Va., May 3, 1863.
Salem Heights, Va., May 4, 1863.
Fredericksburg, Va., June 5, 1863.
Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863.
Funkstown, Md., July 10, 1863.
Rappahannock Station, Va., Nov. 7, 1863.
Wilderness, Va., May 5 to 10, 1864.
Spottsylvania, Va., May 10 to 18, 1864.
Cold Harbor, Va., June 1 to 12, 1864.
Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864.
Charlestown, W. Va., August 21, 1864.
Opequan, Va., Sept. 13, 1864.
Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864.
Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 21 and 22, 1864.
Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864.
Petersburg, Va., March 25 and 27, 1865.
Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865.
Source: Roster of Vermont Volunteers During the War of the Rebellion 1861-66
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Report of Maj. Charles P. Dudley, Fifth Vermont Infantry, of
engagement at Rappahannock Station.
HEADQUARTERS FIFTH VERMONT VOLUNTEERS,
November 11, 1863.
SIR: I have the honor to make the following report of the part
taken by the Fifth Vermont Volunteers in the action of the 7th
instant:
The regiment was ordered to protect the right flank of the line and
to skirmish toward Beverly Ford, and in case no enemy were found,
to swing around upon the river and come down. We threw out four
companies as skirmishers and advanced to within half a mile of the
river, seeing none of the enemy. The right swung around upon the
river, and we advanced down it. We came in contact with the rebel
skirmishers and drove them into their rifle-pits, our skirmishers
going to within 25 rods of their rifle-pits and remaining there until
dark. The regiment was ordered to picket up the river to Beverly
Ford. While posting them, a sharp fire from a section of a battery
opened on the regiment and obliged us to stop posting until after
dark.
The officers and men, as usual, behaved with coolness and bravery.
The casualties were only 3 wounded.
I am, lieutenant, your obedient servant,
C. P. DUDLEY,
Major, Commanding Regiment.
Lieut. C. H. FORBES,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 603-48 OPERATIONS IN N. C., VA., W. VA., MD., AND PA. [CHAP. XLI.
[Series I. Vol. 29. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 48.]
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Report of Capt. Eugene A. Hamilton, Fifth Vermont
Infantry, of operations May 4-7.
HDQRS. FIFTH VERMONT VOLUNTEERS,
June 28, 1864.
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part
sustained by this regiment in the present campaign. Yet, permit me, sir,
in this place, to remark that, at the commencement of this campaign, I
was the sixth in rank of the line, and, therefore, did not apprehend that
I could be placed in a position where I would be called upon to render
a report of this kind. For this reason I have not that data from which to
write that a field officer commanding a regiment ordinarily has.
At an early hour of the morning of the 4th of May we left our winter
quarters near Brandy Station, and began the first day's march of
this campaign. We crossed the Rapidan at Germanna Ford, and
encamped for the night about 3 miles from its southwest bank. On the
morning of the 5th we resumed our march, going in the direction of
Chancellorsville, and following Wheaton's brigade, of the Sixth Corps.
the Vermont brigade, of which this regiment has the honor to be a
portion, met the enemy near the intersection of the Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania plank road and the Fredericksburg and orange Court-House
turnpike. This was about 5 p. m. This regiment was commanded by
Lieut. Col. John R. Lewis, and its position was on the right
and a little to the rear of the Sixth Vermont Regiment, which was, I am
informed, temporarily transferred to a brigade of the Second Corps. We
were soon ordered to the front line. As we were preparing to obey this
order, Lieut. Col. John R. Lewis was severely wounded and
carried from the field, and the command devolved upon Maj. Charles
P. Dudley. The engagement was carried on for the space of twenty o
thirty minutes, at short range, in a thick growth of young trees and
underbrush, and against superior numbers. It was through a portion of
this dense, dark forest that the command to charge was executed. When
the charge was being made, we suddenly found ourselves 40 or 50 yards
in advance of the remainder of the line, wholly unsupported and
exposed, not only to a front fire of unprecedented severity, but also to
a raking fire on both flanks of the most galling description . The
brigadier-general commanding, perceiving our situation, ordered an
immediate withdrawal, which movement was, I am happy to say,
performed without haste or confusion. We fell back to a line of
breast-works which we had hastily thrown up before we were ordered
to advance. It is proper to state in this connection that two companies
from this regiment were deployed as skirmishers in front of the brigade,
and, when the advance was made, the enemy being near and in great
force, necessarily suffered severely. It would seem invidious to select
from the record of this action any individual instances of courage and
fortitude. All, both officers and men, did nobly. Seldom has a command
suffered more severely in the loss of gallant officers and brave men.
The Fifth Regt. Vermont Volunteers went into the engagement of
the 5th of May with 2 field officers, 19 line officers, and about 450
men. The list of casualties is as follows: 1 field officer wounded,
Lieut. Col. John R. Lewis; 3 line officers killed, Capts.
George D. Davenport and Charles J. Ormsbee, and Lieut. Watson
O. Beach; 6 line officers wounded, Capts. A. R. Hurlbut (since died),
William B. Robinson, and Leonard D. Tice, and Lieuts. Orris H. Sweet
(since died), Williard G. Davenport, and Minor D. Fish, and 187
enlisted men killed, wounded, and missing; the aggregate loss being
197.
After strengthening our defenses we awaited a renewal of the conflict.
At an early hour of the 6th an advance in three lines of battle was
ordered, and we were assigned a position in the third line. This advance
drove the enemy 1 1/2 miles to their entrenchments. The first line
having been relieved by the second line, that was in turn relieved by the
third, and we again found ourselves in the front line of battle, on the left
of our own brigade, and at the immediate right of the Second Corps. In
this position we had engaged the enemy for more than an hour, when
they threw a heavy force against the right of the Second Corps and
drove it back, and in this way exposed us to a flank movement,
whereupon we slowly withdrew, keeping the enemy engaged, to the
entrenchments which
we had previously occupied. Having reformed we moved, early in the
afternoon, to the first line on the right of the plank road, where we
remained until dark, when we were relieved and moved into the second
line, our left resting near the above-mentioned road. Our loss this day
was 2 line officers wounded, Capt. Friend H. Barney and Lieut.
Leonard J. Brownson, and 48 enlisted men killed, wounded, and
missing. The number of officers killed in the engagements of the 5th
and 6th of May is 3; the number wounded, 10; total, 13. The number
of enlisted men killed, 25; wounded, 177; missing, 31; total, 233.
Aggregate loss, officers and men, 246.
At 3 p. m. of the 7th of May we moved to the right of the army and
rejoined the Sixth Corps. At 10 p. m. of the same day we commenced
marching to the left, by the way of Chancellorsville, and although the
men were worn down and almost exhausted by their incessant and
arduous labors, they maintained their ranks almost unbroken.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
E. A. HAMILTON,
Capt., Cmdg. Regt.
Capt. A. BROWN, JR.,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
----------------------
Report of Capt. Friend H. Barney, Fifth Vermont
Infantry, of operations May 8-20.
HDQRS. FIFTH VERMONT VOLUNTEERS,
August 27, 1864.
SIR: In compliance with orders from brigade headquarters, I have the
honor to forward the following memoranda of the part sustained by my
command in the second epoch of the present campaign against
Richmond:
Sunday, May 8, served as train guard through Chancellorsville to the
vicinity of the River Ny. At 3 p. m. we were relieved and ordered to
the front. About dark the Third Division of this corps made a charge,
and we supported the left, but without loss.
Monday, May 9, was employed in throwing up defenses on the left of
the Third Division.
Tuesday, May 10, twelve regiments from the Second and First
Divisions, under Col. Upton, formed in two lines of battle, our
regiment being on the left, and a charge being made, the first line of the
enemy's works was carried and held until after dark. In this movement
our regiment suffered severely. Maj. C. P. Dudley, who had been in
command since the 5th instant, after having with great courage and
gallantry led the charge, bearing the colors in his own hands, and
cheering on his men with words of patriotic encouragement and
enthusiastic devotion, was wounded and carried from the field. The
command then devolved upon Capt. E. A. Hamilton, Company f.
During the 11th we were in reserve. On the 12th our division moved to
the left as a support to the Second Corps. The fighting of this day is
without a parallel in the history of this campaign, if, indeed, it has its
equal in the records of the present war. The enemy charged repeatedly
and pertinaciously.
They were at every point firmly met and stoutly repulsed. The
engagement lasted for more than seven hours, and resembled a
hand-to-hand fight rather than a modern battle with long-range weapons.
The men clubbed their muskets, and repelled repeated advances by more
physical force. Our loss was severe, but we held our ground. On the
13th there were indications that the enemy had withdrawn from our
immediate front. On the 14th we moved to the extreme left, taking a
position to the left and rear of the Anderson house, and not far from the
River Ny. On the 17th we returned to the right. There was some
skirmishing, and the enemy's cannonade was severe, but this command
suffered no loss. On the morning of the 18th we returned to the
Anderson estate, and, crossing the Ny, threw up breast-works and held
a position to the left and rear of Spotsylvania Court-House. On the 19th
we moved to the right and front, and relieved the First Division. On the
20th our division moved to the left, following the first Division, and our
campaign before Spotsylvania was completed.
With this brig statement, I have the honor to forward a tabular list of
casualties.*
I remain, captain, your obedient servant,
F. H. BARNEY,
Capt., Cmdg. Regt.
Capt. A. BROWN, JR.,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 713-67 OPERATIONS IN SE. VA. AND N. C. [CHAP. XLVIII.
[Series I. Vol. 36. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 67.]
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Report of Lieut. Col. Ronald A. Kennedy,
Fifth Vermont Infantry, of operations March 25.
HDQRS. FIFTH VERMONT VETERAN VOLUNTEERS,
March 27, 1865.
I have the honor to report the following as the part taken by the Fifth
Regt. Vermont Veteran Volunteers on the 25th instant:
As the brigade was massed before the advance commenced the Fifth
formed the left of the third line. The first advance was to the work
occupied by the first line; the second was to the crest, out the left of the
small work in which were the mortars. After lying here until 5 p.m.
were ordered to move to the front and right of the house situated on the
old picket-line to await further orders. In obedience to further orders the
regiment returned to camp at 11 p.m.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. A. KENNEDY,
Lieut.-Col., Cmdg. Fifth Vermont Veteran Volunteers.
Capt. M. BARBER,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 306-95 N. AND SE. VA., N. C., W. VA., MD., AND PA. [CHAP. LVIII.
[Series I. Vol. 46. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 95.]
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Report of Lieut. Col. Ronald A. Kennedy, Fifth Vermont Infantry.
HDQRS. FIFTH Regt. VERMONT VETERAN VOLUNTEERS,
Camp in the Field, Va., April 4, 1865.
CAPT.: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part
taken by the Fifth Regt. Vermont Veteran Volunteers during the
engagements of Sunday, the 2d instant:
Our position at the commencement of the charge was in the front line
of the brigade, it being formed in close column by regiments. About 5
a.m., at the signal from Fort Fisher, we commenced the charge;
passing through the enemy's pickets, and, taking most of them
prisoners, we pushed on to the main works, through two lines of abatis,
and soon after took the work in our front, almost directly west of Fort
Welch, with four pieces of artillery. We then turned to our left and
pushed through the ravine to a small work containing two guns,
Color-Bearer Jackson Sargent being the first to scale the works and
plant the State colors of Vermont upon the parapet, immediately
followed by Corpl. Nelson E. Carle with the national colors. The Third
Division coming up, we bore toward the right, joining the rest of the
brigade and passing on the left of the white house to the edge of the
woods in front, where we halted to allow the regiment to assemble on
the colors. The division here being formed, and moving by the flank
some distance to the left, we again came to a front and charged through
the woods in southwesterly direction, skirmishing and driving the
enemy before us about one mile and a half, when we halted, the brigade
being still formed "close column by regiments," the Fifth retaining its
original position, and were allowed to rest.
About 8 a.m., passing on to the right we again formed our lines, facing
toward Petersburg, and advanced up to the crest in view of the city;
from here we made a half left-wheel, charging across the ravine and on
to Michael's house. Halting a moment for our lines to reform we
charged again across the main road, following to the left, and in the
direction of the road to near the Turnbull house, formerly occupied as
Lee's headquarters. Here we were checked for a short time by a rebel
battery, our men making one unsuccessful attempt to take it, after
which, by the assistance of the advancing line on the right, we
succeeded in quieting the battery, and, charging without firing, captured
the offensive guns. We next crossed the road leading to the river and
halted in the ravine beyond, and here rested until ordered to rejoin the
corps on the right of the main road. We remained in this position until
about 4 p.m., when moving by the left flank we returned to the east of
the main road and by the side of the road leading to the river, about
one mile and a half from Petersburg southwesterly, where we
entrenched and remained for the night.
Our casualties, considering the formidable nature of the enemy's
position, were comparatively few. On the evening of the 2d the loss
was as follows: Killed, 6; wounded, 34; missing, 18. Of the missing sixteen
have rejoined the regiment; the others are supposed to have been killed.
I append herewith a list of the casualties in the regiment.*
The conduct of both officers and men was exemplary in the extreme
from first to last. Individual cases of daring and bravery were numerous,
but of the most meritorious it gives me pleasure in mentioning a
few: Capt. C. G. Gould, Company H, when the line advanced on the
first fort of the enemy, scaled the works and entered considerably in
advance of any of the rest of the command and commenced a hand to
hand encounter, which came near costing him his life, receiving a
bayonet wound in the face and bruises from clubbed muskets until
released from his dangerous position by a few men of his company and
Corporal Recor, of Company A. First Lieut. Robert Pratt, of
Company H, also added materially to his reputation of being a soldier
in every sense of the word, as well as one of the most unequaled daring.
Among the enlisted men none could have done better than the bearers
of the national and State standards--Jackson Sargent, sergeant of
Company D, and Corpl. Nelson E. Carle, of Company A. Wherever
opportunity offered, or possibility allowed, the colors of the Fifth were
the first to elicit the cheers of the advancing columns as they appeared
planted defiantly upon the enemy's works.
Sergt. Lester G. Hack, Company F, also deserves special mention for
the daring he exhibited in capturing the battle-flag of the Twenty-third
(rebel) Tennessee Infantry, when surrounded by a score of the foe, who
were undecided as to the propriety of surrendering.
Among the killed during this day's sanguinary engagement we have to
mourn the loss of First Sergts. Edward Brownlee, Company H, and
John Smith, of Company K. They both fell in the thickest of the strife
while cheering on the men of their respective companies.
In the above I have given as correctly as circumstances will allow a true
statement of the part taken by the Fifth Regt. Vermont Volunteers,
in the engagement of Sunday, the 2d instant, which his respectfully submitted.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. A. KENNEDY,
Lieut.-Col., Cmdg. the Regt.
Capt. M. BARBER,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 974-95 N. AND SE. VA., N. C., W. VA., MD., AND PA. [CHAP. LVIII.
[Series I. Vol. 46. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 95.]