Kurz and Allen illustration of the cavalry at the Battle of Cedar Creek. Photo from the Library of Congress.
By Gary Farrow, Danville Historical Society
Col. Addison Preston was not only a good soldier; he was also a good writer and shared his experiences with North Star readers.
In the spring of 1862, the Vermont Cavalry was part of an overall Union effort to prevent a Confederate movement against Washington. The Federals had set up headquarters in the Shenandoah Valley town of Strasburg to control the Manassas Gap Railroad (Southern) and the Valley Pike. However the Northerners were forced to evacuate the town by General Stonewall Jackson’s rapid flanking movement.
In a letter to the editor, Captain Addison Preston of Danville offered a stirring account of the action seen by Company D of the Cavalry. This unit was personally recruited and commanded by Preston. Born in Burke, the family soon moved to Danville. At the age of 21, Preston entered Brown University and became an accomplished scholar; however, after a year and a half he had to withdraw because of illness.
The May 17 1862 edition of Harper’s Weekly featured a dramatic Winslow Homer illustration of Rebel Soldiers. The image is captioned, “Rebels Outside Their Works at Yorktown Reconnoitering with Dark Lanterns — Sketched by Mr. Winslow Homer”. The image is an impressive illustration of well equipped and disciplined confederate troops on a reconnaissance mission.
By Gary Farrow, member Danville Historical Society
Danville’s first direct war casualty comes home. The Federals gain the upper hand at New Orleans, and the rebels in Yorktown disappear. Meanwhile there is a little miracle on Ship Island.
North Star May 10, 1862
Death of a Danville Cavalry Soldier
We regret to announce the death of corporal John C. Chase, who belonged to Co. D. 1st Cavalry, a resident of this town, and who enlisted last fall and served under Capt. A. W. Preston. He received a mortal wound on the 27th …under the following circumstances. On that day, an expedition was sent up in pursuit of Ashby’s Cavalry, in the Valley of the Shenandoah … Orders were given to pursue Ashby’s Cavalry, who occupied a small village about 12 miles from Harrisburg.
Co. D. of our Cavalry led by Lieut. Cummings was then ordered to charge through the village which order they executed in fine style, driving the enemy completely across the river. It was while making this charge that Corporal Chase was wounded — not by the regular army foe, but by a pistol fired by some one from the window of a house — the ball entering into his hip and pressing into his abdomen. Chase did not notice the wound at the time but road forward and ran down one of the rebel cavalry, taking him and his horse prisoner.
He soon however became faint and called upon his brother soldiers for help, who came up assisted him off his horse, and he was taken to camp where his wound was dressed, and afterwards was conveyed to the hospital in an ambulance. He lived but 24 hours retaining his faculties to the last…
It was a bloody two-day affair. The Battle of Shiloh resulted in close to 24,000 deaths, worse than the entire Revolutionary War.
By Gary Farrow, Danville Vermont Historical Society
The Vermont Brigade joins McClellan’s sleepy Peninsular Campaign, while sound and fury rages in the West.
North Star April 12, 1862
Important News
The news from the Potomac Army is of much interest…and the future movements will be watched with anxiety, as the whole Vermont Brigade is in the column which marched from Fortress Monroe to Yorktown. The latter piece is besieged and our troops are now engaged in that operation.
The three attending Hemlocks added a period element of respect to the unveiling. Photos by Ken Linsley
The Old Commoner finally makes a visible presence in the Vermont State House
After many months of work, Thaddeus Stevens has been honored in his home state of Vermont by having his likeness hung in the State House. In a lovely ceremony in the historical Cedar Creek room, his portrait was unveiled and celebrated on March 28, 2012.
The old water tower in Danville, built within a ten year period after the Civil War.
Prior to Kate and Harold Beattie relocating our family to the farm in Danville, and when spending an occasional weekend with Grammy McDonald, I would often sit in her large green wicker rocker on the wraparound porch, contentedly drawing with my first box of crayons on the small blank sheets of paper secretly torn from the backs of books.
Years later, sitting in the same spot, I would now and then become momentarily startled, first by the whistle, then the cloud of smoke, and finally the familiar clickety-clack of the freight train gaining momentum as it wound its way toward St. Johnsbury after a stop at the Danville Station to unload goods – some for Delmer Smith’s Danville Grain Store.
I avidly watched the steam engine maneuvering its loaded cars slowly and effortlessly around the bend from the village and across the swampy field adjacent to the front of our house, always in anticipation that this would be one of the rare times it would squeal to a stop and take on water that ran from the spring in Will Findley’s field (currently Mt View Drive) and was stored in a tank within the gray cylindrical wooden tower to the right of the track — a somewhat raucous and lengthy process.
An example of a petition for emancipation from Washington D.C. Lincoln floated the idea of compensating slave owners in return for freedom granted in March. The act was in effect as of April 1862. In this case, a slave named Sophia was petitioned for release.
By Gary Farrow, member of the Danville Historical Society
Grant’s victories at Fort Henry and Donelson darkens festivities in the southern capital. The War Department sees peace dawn over Tennessee. Lincoln floats the idea of compensated emancipation. The First Vermont Calvary was itch’n to fight. And despite his success in the field, Grant lands in hot water.
North Star 1 March
General News Items
Jefferson Davis was officially inaugerated in Richmond as President of the Southern Confederacy.
Jeff Davis, President of the bogus Southern Confederacy, was inaugurated at Richmond, last Saturday. Col Wood (one of the recently returned federal prisoners) was present and says there was no enthusiasm whatever. Not a cheer to be raised.
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According to the eyewitness, the ceremony went flat while a leading southern paper sounded an even darker note.
Local historian conjectures a life not found in the history book
Lance Comfort holds the Israel Randall deed that he bought on Ebay.
By Sharon Lakey
“The ideal historian goes to the mouth of the tomb, cries: “Lazarus, come forth!” and sets him that was dead for ages, blinking and passionate, in the sun.”
AUSTIN O’MALLEY, Keystones of Thought
Lance Comfort’s Lazarus is Israel Randall of North Danville, and his attempt to raise him started with a deed he bought on Ebay.
The deed, a time-weathered document, begins with “Know all men by these presents that I Jesse Leavenworth of Danville in the County of Orange and State of Vermont for and in consideration of the sum of thirty pounds lawful money to men in hand paid before the delivery hereof by Israel Randal of Danville…” The deed is dated November 30, 1791.
With deed in hand, Lance began his own historical mystery tour with a series of questions that developed into a conjectured understanding of Israel Randall’s life in Danville. “History is written by the survivors, the winners, those who passed their history forward. If a family didn’t stick around, they do not appear in the history book,” said Lance, pointing to Village in the Hills a history of Danville, Vermont that lay on the table in front of us. A quick check of the index in the book shows no Israel Randall.
However, Randall’s name does appear once in the book—page 24 on the map that is captioned: “Final division of land under Danville’s second charter in 1802 following settlement with New York for ’30,000 rights.’” There, in the tiniest of print, is a plot without a number reading “200A Israel Randall.” The first town charter was granted under New York with the name of Hillsborough; the second charter was granted under Vermont with the name Danville. Village in the Hills describes this confusing process in detail in chapter two. It was a process that Lance believes affected Randall as well as and other earlier settlers. Could Randall have settled first under the Hillsborough charter, then later be made to comply with the second? Lance believes this is likely.
The North Star reported that things were looking up for the North. The Union Navy secured another victory and a bearded, soft-spoken small man from the West appeared on the scene to accomplish what eluded the Union generals who came before. In addition there is a story of “boys being boys” in Brattleboro and Captain R. W. Laird making a trip back home to Danville.
North Star February 1. 1862
Sword Presentation
Capt. R. W. Laird of Company H., 4th Regiment Vermont Volunteers, was presented with a splendid sword, at Camp Griffin, VA on Jan 20th, as a slight token of high esteem in which he is held by the men of his command, for his energy and untiring zeal in their behalf.
Captain Laird returned to his home in West Danville, last week Thursday. We understand that he has returned with recruiting orders, and will enlist recruits for the Vermont Brigade.
This month's newsletter focuses on what the Historical Society accomplished during 2011 with parting words from Paul Chouinard, who will be stepping down in March from the presidency. Three elected…
