| The
First Regiment of Vermont Volunteers, as has been stated, consisted of
the Brandon, Middlebury, Rutland, Northfield, Woodstock, Bradford, Cavendish,
Burlington, St. Albans, and Swanton companies, of the Militia, designated
by an executive order dated April 27th, 1861. The commissions of
its field and staff officers bore date of the day previous, April 26th.
To
the Lieutenant-Colonelcy, Captain Peter T. Washburn of Woodstock was appointed.
He was a leading lawyer of the Windsor County bar, with a taste for military
life which had led him to take an active part in the reorganization of
the militia of the State, and to accept the captaincy of the Woodstock
company. A man of liberal education, of precise knowledge, of firm
will and of methodical industry, he was by nature a strict tactician and
disciplinarian. He had made the Woodstock Light Infantry the best
military company in the State. He carried the same characteristics
into actual service; and had the condition of his health permitted him
to remain in the army after the disbandment of the First Regiment, he would
undoubtedly have won high distinction as a soldier. His subsequent
most faithful, laborious and invaluable services as Adjutant and Inspector
General of the State, and his elevation to the Governorship, in which office
he ended his life, are known to all Vermonters. |