Battle of the Wilderness • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The monument to the Vermont Brigade on the Wilderness Battlefield is about 270 yards down a walking trail from Stop Eight on the Wilderness Battlefield Auto Tour (see map below)
About the Vermont Brigade Monument
The monument was erected in 2006. It stands five feet high and eight and a half feet wide. Designed by Pete Quinland, it was carved by Andrew Hebert from 17 tons of Barre Granite at the Rock of Ages Quarry in Vermont.
The top of the monument is the outline of The Camels Hump mountain, which was sculpted by Walt Celley. The Camels Hump is Vermont’s third highest mountain, and its distinctive shape is also on the Vermont Coat of Arms, State Flag, and State Quarter.
The Vermont Brigade at the Battle of the WIlderness
The Vermont Brigade was made up of five regiments commanded by Brigadier General Lewis A. Grant. The veteran brigade entered the battle with 2,800 men and lost 1,200 casualties holding the south flank of the Army of the Potomac against fierce attacks by Longstreet’s Confederate First Corps on May 6, 1864.
The Vermont Brigade is also honored by monuments on the Antietam Battlefield and the Gettysburg Battlefield.
Text from the front of the monument:
The Vermont Brigade
In these woods, during the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5 and 6, 1864, Vermont’s “Old Brigade” suffered 1,234 casualties while defending the Brock Road and Orange Plank Road intersection.
Text from the rear of the monument:
“The flag of each regiment, though pierced and tattered, still flaunts in the face of the foe, and noble bands of veterans with thinned ranks, and but a few officers to command, still stand by them, and they seem determined to stand so long as there is a man to bear their flag aloft or an enemy in the field.”
Brigadier General Lewis A. Grant
brigade commander
Location of the monument to the Vermont Brigade on the Wilderness battlefield
The monument is about 270 yards along the walking trail from Stop 8 of the Battle of The Wilderness Auto Tour. The Tour Stop is on the south side of Orange Plank Road just west of the intersection with Brock Road.
See more of the history of the regiments of the Vermont Brigade in the American Civil War:
2nd Vermont Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Newton Stone (killed) and Lieutenant Colonel John S. Tyler (mortally wounded)
3rd Vermont Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Thomas O. Seaver
4th Vermont Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel George P. Foster
5th Vermont Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John R. Lewis
6th Vermont Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Elisha R. Barney (mortally wounded)