Sunday, June 30, 2013

July 1: The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg


July 1, 1863 marks the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg. The battle took place in and around Gettysburg from July 1 to July 3. The battle claimed the largest number of casualties of any battle in the Civil War and a battle that many
historians believe was a turning point battle in that conflict.


It could be said that the Battle of Gettysburg began and ended with Vermonters. Soldiers from the Green Mountain state played a role in key engagements before the battle, a Vermont native fired the first shot and three Vermont regiments not only defended against, but twice repelled, Confederate attacks on the heart of the Union line. Had it not been for Vermonters at Gettysburg, the battle—indeed, the Civil War—would have played out much differently. TheBridge 

During the five years of the Civil War, approximately 180 men from Cavendish volunteered for the Union Army. Three of these men received the Congressional Medal of Honor- William Sperry, Tom Seaver and Daniel Davis Wheeler.

Of the 173 names appearing on the Cavendish civil war memorial: 10 died in battle, five from wounds received in battle, four in prison, nine while in the service (diseases like typhoid) and one was lost at sea. At Gettysburg, four soldiers--  Joseph Ashley, Asa Blanchard. Henry Carlisle and Michael Moylan-died in battle or from the wounds they received.

Three brothers from Cavendish, Charles, Edwin, and George Kingston, captured the colors from the 17th Alabama regiment at Gettysburg.
Learn more about Cavendish soldiers during the Civil War


It is interesting to note that in the same year as the battle of Gettysburg, a group of Cavendish women, Evey Kendall, Leizzie Kendall, Mrs. Maria Spaulding, Julia A. Davis, Mary Hemminway, Celia A. Davis, and Ella A. Spaulding made quilt squares. Were these intended for a Civil War soldier? We don’t know, but we do have the quilt squares on display at the Museum.


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