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$45.00
We Are Coming Father Abra’am
We
Are Coming Father Abra'am: The History of the 9th Vermont Volunteer Infantry,
1862-1865 by Don Wickman, hard
cover, 525 pages, with over 75 photographs and
maps, includes a regimental roster and an index.
When
the 9th Vermont Regiment marched down Broadway in New York City
in July 1862, the local press proclaimed it as the first regiment to answer
President Lincoln’s recent call for 300,000 volunteers.
It was an auspicious beginning.
Two months later the Vermonters found themselves part of the Union
garrison surrendered at Harpers Ferry. During the remaining three and a half
years of their service the regiment constantly worked towards the removal of
that blemish on their record.
From the routine of guarding Confederate prisoners incarcerated at
Camp Douglas, Illinois, to the piney woods of coastal North Carolina and
finally to the gates of Richmond, the 9th Vermont earned a
reputation of being well-disciplined and steadfast under fire.
The men displayed these characteristics at the 1863 Siege of Suffolk,
the engagement at Newport Barracks, North Carolina, the gallant charge at
Chaffin’s Bluff outside Richmond, and the 1864 fight at Fair Oaks.
Members of the unit marched among the first troops that entered the
Confederate capital of Richmond.
Though the 9th Vermont did not belong to the renowned
‘Vermont Brigade’ or the 2nd Vermont Brigade made famous in
blunting Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, the regiment
still has a noteworthy history. Through
the use of many primary source documents, the story of the regiment is told.
It is not limited to a tale of the unit, but the 1,878 men who served
in the ranks and experienced the soldier’s life as it became one of the
most traveled Federal infantry regiments.