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The monument to the 8th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment is near the National Park offices in Middletown. One of only three monuments on the Cedar Creek battlefield, it was on private property for many years but was recently purchased for the National Park Service by the Civil War Trust.

Private Herbert Hill of the 8th Vermont Infantry fought at Cedar Creek and survived to become a successful businessman after the war. He paid for the 8th Vermont monuments here and on the Third Winchester battlefield, which was later moved to Winchester National Cemetery.

The monument is of Vermont granite, left rough hewn on three of its sides to symbolize how the 8th Vermont was attacked on its front and both flanks in savage fighting.

The regiment was in the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of the 19th Army Corps. The Colonel of the 8th Vermont Infantry, Stephen Thomas, was temporarily in command of the brigade during the battle, and the regiment was commanded by Major John B. Mead. Thomas would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Cedar Creek, for “distinguuished conduct in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the advance of the enemy was checked.”

Thomas’ Brigade formed around the monument’s location in an attempt to hold off the Confederate attack that had just overrun the 8th Corps and buy time for the rest of its own 19th Corps to organize a defensive line. In thirty minutes of desperate fighting the brigade lost 70% casualties before being swept away. The monument marks the spot where three color bearers, Corporals John Petrie, Lyman F. Perham and George F. Blanchard were killed saving the 8th Vermont’s flags and a fourth, Corporal Leonard C. Benis, was badly wounded.

Monument to the 8th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment on the Cedar Creek battlefield in Virginia

From the monument:

Cedar Creek

The 8th Vermont Vols,
Genl. Stephen Thomas
Commanding Brigade
Advanced across the Pike
The morning of
Oct. 19, 1864.
Engaged the enemy near
and beyond this point,
and before sunrise lost
in killed and wounded 110 men.
Three color bearers
were shot down
and 13 out of 16 commissioned
officers.
Whole number of men engaged 164.
Dedicated Sept. 1885.
Gift of
Herbert E. Hill

Map and location of the monument to the 8th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment

The monument is about 1.5 miles southwest of Middletown, Virginia along the Valley Pike (US 11). A driveway on the south side of the Valley Pike is marked for the National Park Service and labelled “Morning Attack Trails.” (driveway location 39°00’43.4″N 78°18’19.7″W) The driveway leads to a parking area next to a former residential house. From here a walking trail leads 700 feet back into the woods to the location of the monument. (monument location 39°00’39.1″N 78°18’11.9″W) Additional walking trails go on from here to cover the area of the morning fighting.

See more on the 8th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War.