George J. Stannard
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George Jerrison Stannard (October 20, 1820 – June 1, 1886) was a Vermont farmer, teacher, and Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives.
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[edit] Early life
Stannard was born in Georgia, Vermont. He worked as a farmer, teacher, and foundry operator in St. Albans. Just before the American Civil War, he served as Colonel of the 4th Vermont Militia.
[edit] Civil War
In June 1861, Stannard was elected lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Vermont Volunteer Infantry. Some local residents claimed that he was the first Vermonter to volunteer for duty in the Civil War. He fought with the 2nd Vermont at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, successfully enough that he was offered command of the newly forming 3rd Vermont, but he turned it down because he thought he had not served long enough to qualify. During the Battle of Williamsburg in the Peninsula Campaign the following year, Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's report indicated that Stannard was responsible for securing a bridge that was crucial to the battle. A week after the campaign, on July 9, 1862, he was appointed colonel of the 9th Vermont Infantry.
The 9th Vermont saw action in the Second Battle of Bull Run. During the Maryland Campaign in September, they were part of the Federal garrison that was forced to surrender to Stonewall Jackson at Harpers Ferry. Upon his exchange in January 1863, Stannard returned to Vermont. He was appointed brigadier general on March 11, 1863, and given command of the 2nd Vermont Brigade in April, joining it in its camps in the defenses of Washington, D.C. The brigade consisted of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Vermont Infantry regiments.
Stannard's immediate predecessor had been Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton, who had been captured in his bed at Fairfax Court House during a raid by partisan ranger Col. John S. Mosby. Stannard drilled his new brigade strenuously and his "quiet but effective"[1] command style made him well-respected by the men and significantly improved morale in the Brigade.
During the Gettysburg Campaign, the 2nd Vermont Brigade was one of four brigades sent from the Capital to join the Army of the Potomac as it pursued Robert E. Lee into Pennsylvania. The brigade reported to the 3rd Division of the I Corps. Although the I Corps fought, and lost, heavily in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, three regiments of Stannard's men did not arrive until after the fighting ceased that day, July 1, 1863.
On July 2, the brigade was withdrawn behind Cemetery Hill and did not participate in the defense against the attack by Confederate Brig. Gen. Ambrose R. Wright on Cemetery Ridge. The brigade's greatest fight was on July 3, where it was one of the principal defenders against Pickett's Charge. As the assault approached Cemetery Ridge, Stannard swung two of his regiments (the 13th and 16th Vermont) out at a 90° angle, pouring deadly flanking fire into Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper's brigade, one of the critical factors that defeated the Confederate attack. Minutes later, the unconnected assaults by the Confederate brigades of Brig. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox and Col. David Lang approached the Union line to the south of the Vermont Brigade. Stannard once again wheeled two regiments (the 14th and 16th Vermont) and repeated his tactic of flanking fire to repulse the assault. Stannard was wounded in his right thigh by an artillery shell fragment, but stayed on the field until the end of the battle.
Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, commander of the II Corps (who was in operational command of the defense against Pickett) wrote in his report, "The troops of General Stannard behaved with spirit at the Battle of Gettysburg. They were well ordered and well and vigorously handled by General Stannard and his subordinate officers, who did not hesitate to put them in front of the fight, and to keep them there until the battle was decided." Stannard's own corps commander, Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday, wrote, "I can only say that they performed perhaps the most brilliant feat during the war. For they broke the desperate charge of Pickett, saved the day and with it, the whole North from invasion and devastation."[2]
Stannard was wounded too severely to return immediately to field command, so he left his brigade and returned to Vermont to recover. When he returned to duty, it was to Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler's Army of the James, for which he commanded a brigade in the 1864 Overland Campaign and at the Battle of Cold Harbor, where he was wounded again. He assumed command of the 1st Division, XVIII Corps, during the siege of Petersburg and was conspicuous at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, where he was again wounded leading the attack on Fort Harrison, requiring the amputation of his right arm. He received a brevet promotion to major general for his actions during the assault on Fort Harrison.
[edit] Postbellum
Stannard was then assigned to light duty in Vermont for the remainder of the war. In 1866, he served briefly as assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands in Maryland. He resigned from the Army in June 1866 and worked as a customs official in Vermont. From 1881 until his death, he served as Doorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives. He died in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Lake View Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont. A statue of Stannard, sculpted by Karl Gerhardt, stands atop the Vermont Memorial at the Gettysburg Battlefield.[3] Another statue of Stannard stands in Lakeview cemetery in Burlington on the Lake Champlain waterfront. The town of Stannard in Caledonia County, Vermont, was named after the general.
[edit] References
- Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Hawthorne, Frederick W., Gettysburg: Stories of Men and Monuments, Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides, 1988, ISBN 0-9657444-0-X.
- Tagg, Larry, The Generals of Gettysburg, Savas Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-882810-30-9.
- Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.
