The 6th Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three years' infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Organized at Montpelier and mustered in October 15, it served in the Army of the Potomac (AoP). It departed Vermont for Washington, DC, October 19, 1861. It served in the Eastern Theater, predominantly in the VI Corps, AoP, from October 1861 to June 1865. It was a part of the Vermont Brigade.
The 6th, recruited from the state at large, was mustered into the U. S. service for three years under Colonel Nathan Lord, Jr., the son of the Dartmouth College president Nathan Lord, at Montpelier, October 15, 1861, and immediately ordered to Washington, where it arrived on October 22.
It proceeded at once to Camp Griffin, where it was attached to the Vermont brigade under the command of was Brig. Gen. William T. H. Brooks. The command remained at this post during the winter and broke camp on March 10, 1862, for George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
In this campaign, the brigade was incorporated into the Army of the Potomac as the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, VI Corps. On April 6, 1862, at Warwick Creek., the regiment was first in action and had no casualties. The 6th fought at Golding's Farm, and received praise from Brig. Gen. Hancock for their performance. At Savage Station, they suffered severe losses. The regiment remained with its brigade and corps through the end of the campaign.
Leaving the Peninsula, the regiment was busy in the Maryland campaign. It fought Gen. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) at Crampton's Gap and Antietam. After the relief of McClellan, Burnside moved the regiment and brigade to Falmouth. It fought at Fredericksburg and took part in the failed assault on Maryes Heights.
After the battle, it went into winter quarters at White Oak Church, where it remained, with the exception of the "Mud March," until camp was broken for the Chancellorsville movement in the end of April 1863. During the winter, the regiment received a new brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Grant,. Under Grant's brigade command, the 6th fought in the Chancellorsville campaign culminating in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Operating as part of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's force opposite Fredericksburg. On May 2, the U.S. forces there had broken through the Confederate lines. The 6th participated in the capture of Marye's Heights in the Second Battle of Fredericksburg and then were prominent in the fighting at Salem Church.
Like most of VI Corps, the regiment and its brigade were held in reserve during the Battle of Gettysburg, holding a flank guard position behind Big Round Top, losing only one man wounded. After the Gettysburg Campaign, the 6th saw elements of their brigade were sent to help quell the draft riots in New York City while they remained in Virginia, fighting at Funkstown later in the summer. Like its brigade mates, the 6th proved itself as a steady and reliable unit.
After fighting in the Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns in the fall, the 6th regrouped. It went into winter camp at Brandy Station, until the opening of Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864. Its depleted brigade received reinforcements in May 1864 when the 11th Vermont Infantry was assigned to the organization.
