Held At The River

Theodore Safford Peck was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on February 2^nd 1864 at Newport Barracks, North Carolina.

Theodore Safford Peck was born March 22^nd 1843 in Burlington, Vermont the son of Theodore Augustus and Delia Horton (Safford) Peck.  He attended local schools and was prepared to enter the University of Vermont when the Civil War began.

Peck enlisted as a Private in Company F of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry.  He was involved in the engagements at Middletown and Winchester, Virginia in early 1862.  In June Peck received an appointment to Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant in the 9^th Vermont Infantry.  He was with this regiment when it was captured at Harper’s Ferry in September 1862.  He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in January 1863, and was at Suffolk, Yorktown, and Young’s Crossroads.

On February 2^nd 1864 Peck was involved in an engagement at Newport Barracks, North Carolina.  Union troops there numbering about 700 men, were attacked by a force commanded by Confederate General James Green Martin.  The Union troops were outflanked, and there line was pressed back.  Peck leading Company H of the 9^th Vermont made eleven stands before reaching the Newport River, where they held well the rest of the Union troops crossed the river.  The Confederates were so close that there was hardly time for the Union troops to burn the bridges, they had just crossed on.  It was for this action that he received the Medal of Honor.

Peck was wounded at Fort Harrison, Virginia in September 1864, and was promoted to Captain.   He continued to serve moving up to Brigade Quartermaster of the 2^nd Brigade of the 2^nd Division in the XVIV Corps.  He was with the Union army when it entered Richmond, Virginia following the fall of that city.

After the war Peck owned and operated an insurance company in Burlington, Vermont.  He was an active member of the GAR, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and Reunion Society of the Vermont Officers.  He received an honorary degree in 1896 from Norwich, Vermont.  He joined the Vermont National Guard and would reach the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  Peck died March 15^th 1918 in Burlington, Vermont and is buried in the Lakeview Cemetery there.

The Youngest Confederate General

Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur died October 20^th 1864 from wounds received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Stephen Dodson Ramseur was born May 31^st 1837, the son of Jacob Able and Lucy Mayfield (Dodson) Ramseur in Lincolnton, North Carolina. His family and friends knew him as Dod.  Ramseur studied math at Davidson College, and then finished his education at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He graduated in 1860, ranked 14^th in his class, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the United States Artillery.

Ramseur resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Army before his home state had even seceded.  On May 27^th 1861 he was made Lieutenant Colonel in the 3^rd North Carolina Infantry.  During the Peninsula Campaign Ramseur commanded the artillery in Confederate Brigadier General John B Magruder’s division.  In April 1862 he became the Colonel of the 49^th North Carolina Infantry.  He led a charge and was wounded during the Battle of Malvern Hill.  Ramseur was unable to return to duty until after the Battle of Antietam, when he was given command of a brigade of four North Carolina regiments in Confederate Brigadier General Robert E Rodes’ division.  On November 1^st 1862, Ramseur would be promoted to Brigadier General, and at only 25 was the youngest Confederate General at the time.  He led his brigade against the Union right at the Battle of Chancellorsville, and he would be wounded again.  At the Battle of Gettysburg he led his brigade against the right flank of the Union First Corps on Oak Hill, pushing them all the way through the town to Cemetery Hill.  Ramseur was in the action at the Battles of Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor.

Ramseur was part of Confederate General Jubal A Early’s Corps during the Valley Campaign of 1864.  During the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19^th 1864 the Confederates made a surprise morning attack on a Union camp, routing most of them.  But the Confederates being hungry and worn out stopped, fell out of ranks and started rummaging through the Union camp.  Ramseur pulled together a few hundred of his men, and with those soldiers stood off a counter attack made by Union General Philip H Sheridan for over an hour.  Ramseur leading his men had three horses shot out from under him, before being shot through the lungs.  He was captured by a member of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry, and was taken to Sheridan’s headquarters at the Belle Grove Mansion near Meadow Mills, Virginia where he died.  Ramseur’s last words were, "Bear this message to my precious wife—I die a Christian and hope to meet her in heaven."  He is buried in the St Luke’s Episcopal Cemetery in Lincolnton, North Carolina. 

Protecting The Northern Border

Major Johiah Grout Jr

The Union Frontier Cavalry was organized by the authority of the War Department, and it’s first unit was organized on January 4^th 1865 to patrol New England’s northern border.

The Frontier Cavalry organized under the special authority of the Union War Department in December 1864.  It was a volunteer regiment and was placed under Union General John A Dix’s Department of the East.  It was organized as a response to the raid by Confederates on October 19^th 1864 in St Albans, VT.  At the beginning it was made up of returned veterans, militia and in Vermont by cadets from Norwich Military Academy.

The cavalry regiment was known as the 26^th New York Cavalry, and was made up of 7 companies from New York, 2 from Massachusetts, and 2 from Vermont.  The Vermont companies which were raised by General Order #6 were stationed in St Albans, VT; the other companies were stationed in New York along the Canadian border.  The first Vermont unit was recruited in Rutland, VT and filled out January 4^th 1865.  The commander of the regiment was Union Major Josiah Grout Jr who had served in the 1^st Vermont Cavalry.

The Vermont companies mustered out of service June 27^th 1865.