Civil War Rank Straps and Dress Epaulettes of Col. and Brevet Brigadier General Charles B. Stoughton – 4^th Vermont Infantry – Charles Bradley Stoughton enlisted, at age 19, as a 1^st Lieutenant, in the Field & Staff of the 4^th Vermont Infantry. By February, 1862, Stoughton had risen to the rank of Major; just a few months later, in July, 1862, Stoughton was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel, achieving the rank of Colonel in November, 1862. Stoughton would remain with the 4^th Vermont throughout his time in the Union army, participating in many significant engagements to include: the Siege of Yorktown, the Battle of Williamsburg, the Seven Days Campaign, Malvern Hill, Crampton’s Gap, Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and the small engagement at Funkstown, Maryland, about one week after Gettysburg. At Funkstown, on July 10, 1863, Stoughton would sustain a significant wound that resulted in the loss of his right eye. Now a full Colonel, Stoughton would continue his service, mustering out in February 1864. For his meritorious and courageous service, Stoughton was brevetted to the rank of Brigadier General, in March 1865.

Charles Stoughton had the somewhat dubious distinction of being the younger brother of General Edwin H. Stoughton. The older Stoughton, a graduate of West Point, was the initial Colonel, at the onset of the war, of the 4^th Vermont Infantry. He would serve in that capacity throughout the same enumerated engagements as his younger brother, Charles, becoming the youngest General officer in the Union Army, when he was promoted to Brigadier General of volunteers, in November 1862. Shortly after the first of the year 1863, the Twenty Second Army Corps was engaged in the defenses of Washington, DC.  Brigadier General Edwin H. Stoughton was in command of the 2nd Brigade of Major General Silas Casey’s Division of the Twenty Second Corps.  The brigade, consisting of five Vermont infantry regiments, was deployed at outposts in the Centerville-Fairfax, Virginia area, and Stoughton established his headquarters at Fairfax (known at that time as Fairfax Court- house). On the night of March 8th, 1863, famed Confederate partisan leader, Col. John S. Mosby and about 30 of his troops, proceeded towards Fairfax Court House. Mosby took five or six men directly to General Stoughton’s quarters and knocked on the door; the responder inside inquired who was knocking, and Mosby answered, “Fifth New York Cavalry with a dispatch for General Stoughton”. With that, a staff officer opened the door whereupon Mosby later related: “I took hold of his nightshirt, whispered my name in his ear, and told him to take me to General Stoughton’s room”. General Stoughton was asleep when the raiding party entered his room.  Mosby recalled later that “there was no time for ceremony, so I drew up the bedclothes, pulled up the general’s shirt, and gave him a spank on his bare back, and told him to get up”. Mosby informed Gen. Stoughton that he was a prisoner and to get dressed quickly; Stoughton was ultimately taken to Libby Prison in Richmond and subsequently exchanged some two months later. There remains a famous photographic image of Col. Mosby with the frock coat of Gen. Stoughton casually placed near Mosby’s boots.

Included in this grouping are the following: Charles B. Stoughton’s Colonel of the Infantry rank straps – single gold bullion straps, with sky blue velvet fields, surmounted by silver bullion eagles; Brig. General Stoughton’s single silver bullion rank straps with dark blue velvet fields each surmounted by a single, silver bullion star; Brig. General Stoughton’s dress epaulettes, constructed of gold brass bullion and high convex, eagle buttons, with each flat surmounted by a single, silver bullion star – the underside of each epaulette is padded and covered with red silk, with brass plates, labeled “Right” and “Left”, for attachment to the shoulders of a frock coat. All of the elements in this fine grouping remain in very good condition.

The provenance and original ownership of Col. Stoughton was established by renown long time collector / dealer Jim Frasca who obtained the grouping from descendants of Col. Stoughton, several decades ago. Frasca would later sell the grouping to a well-known collector of Civil War insignia, in the Midwest. We obtained the grouping from that collector.

 Charles Bradley Stoughton

Residence Rockingham, VT; 19 years old.
Enlisted on 8/1/1861 as a 1st Lieut.

On 8/1/1861, he was commissioned into Field & Staff Vermont 4th Infantry.
He resigned on 2/2/1864

He was listed as:

• Wounded 7/10/1863 Funkstown, MD

Promotions:

• 1st Lieut 8/1/1861 (1st Lieut & Adjutant)
• Brig-General 3/13/1865 by Brevet
• Major 2/25/1862
• Lt Colonel 7/17/1862
• Colonel 11/5/1862

Born 10/31/1841 in Chester, VT
Died 1/17/1898 in Bennington, VT

4th VT Infantry

Organized: on 9/1/1861

Mustered out: 7/13/1865

Officers killed or mortally wounded: 12

Officers died of disease, accidents, etc.: 1

Enlisted men killed or mortally wounded: 150

Enlisted men died of disease, accidents, etc.: 279

4th VT Infantry

Organized: on 9/1/1861

Mustered out: 7/13/1865

VERMONT FOURTH REGIMENT. (THREE YEARS.) BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL STEPHEN M. PINGREE. THE Fourth Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry, was raised chiefly in late August and early September, 1861, simultaneously with the Fifth regiment. The Fourth, to the extent of nearly nine of its ten companies, was raised on the east side of the mountains, while the Fifth, in fully as great a proportion, was being recruited on the westside. Company A of the Fourth was fully raised in, and very near to Bennington county. Windsor county furnished a larger number than any other for the Fourth, being company C, most of E, a considerable part of K, and a fraction of B–the larger part of B being from Orange county; D was largely from Orleans county, with a fraction from the northwesterly part of Windham county; F was from Windham county, largely along the Connecticut River in Brattleboro, Rockingham and between; G and H were chiefly from Washington and Caledonia counties; I was largely from Windham county, though partly from the north-easterly part of the State,while K–except as above stated, and a small fraction from Windham-was from Washington county and the north-westerly part of Orange county. Its original aggregate, as a regiment, was 1,048, of whom it is believed less than forty deserted, some of whom returned. The most numerous desertions were from companies C and K. The smallest losses, “killed and died of wounds,” (battle losses) were in B, E, F, I and K, and of these, ten in B was the least. Four companies–A, C, D and G–each lost over twice that number. Twelve officers and one hundred fifty enlisted men died in battle; one officer and two hundred seventy-nine enlisted men died of disease and as prisoners, sixty of whom died in Confederate prisons. In the battle of the Wilderness, Va., in May, 1864, seven officers were killed and eleven wounded, one of whom died of his wounds, and out of less than five hundred fifty enlisted men in that battle, forty-one were killed outright. Two hundred twenty-three were wounded, forty-three mortally, and four were missing; so that, in this battle, the actual death loss was eighty-four, the largest suffered by any Vermont regiment in one battle, and a loss seldom equalled by any infantry regiment in a single engagement during the war. Its total losses by death were in excess of those of any other infantry regiment from the State. The first Colonel, Edwin H. Stoughton, was but 23 years of age. He was the youngest officer to take a regiment from Vermont, and is believed to have been the youngest from New England. His brother, Charles B., (Second Col.) was made Colonel at 21. The regiment was mustered in at Brattleboro, September 20, 1861, started for Washington next day, and in five days joined the other Vermont troops then in Virginia, at Camp Advance, and was soon followed by the Fifth and Sixth, which, with the Second and Third who had “gone before,” made up the “Old Vermont Brigade,” which remained unbroken, save by casualties, and was present at the surrender of Lee. Like other Vermont organizations the Fourth was fortunate both in its officers and its men. It was also extremely fortunate to form part of a brigade, organized and commanded by that gallant and unexcelled soldier, Gen. W. T. H. Brooks; to form a part of a division, led by the brave and soldierly Wm. F. Smith–“Baldy”–and of a corps–Old Sixth–which, under the command of Franklin, and later, of the incomparable Sedgwick, became the pride and idol of the volunteer service. “Over all this waved the Greek Cross” never humbled and never dishonored. To have been esteemed worthy, for nearly four years of war, to share the companionship in arms of our fellow regiments from Vermont, and to have borne in their opinion a deserving part of the great work of the Old Brigade, ought to be, and is, accepted as a sure passport that the Fourth regiment was all it need to have been, or claims to be. Her history is everywhere a part of the history of a brigade famed throughout our Nation, and whose losses in battle, killed and mortally wounded, exceed those of any other brigade in the Union armies, east or west. ENGAGEMENTS. Lee’s Mills, Va., April 16, 1862. Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862. Golding’s Farm, Va., June 26, 1862. Savage’s Station, Va., June 29, 1862. White Oak Swamp, Va., June 30, 1862. Crampton’s Gap, Md., Sept. 14, 1862. Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862. Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13, 1862. Marye’s Heights, Va., May 3, 1863. Salem Heights, Va., May 4, 1863. Fredericksburg, Va., June 5, 1863. Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863. Funkstown, Md., July 10, 1863. Rappahannock Station, Va., Nov. 7, 1863. Wilderness, Va., May 5 to 10, 1864. Spottsylvania, Va., May 10 to 18, 1864. Cold Harbor, Va., June 1 to 12, 1864. Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864. Weldon Railroad, Va., June 23, 1864. Charlestown, W. Va., August 21, 1864. Opequan, Va., Sept. 13, 1864. Winchester, Va., Sept. 19 1864. Fisher’s Hill, Va., Sept. 21 and 22, 1864. Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864. Petersburg, Va., March 25 and 27, 1865. Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865.

4th Vermont Infantry Regiment

The 4th Vermont Infantry Regiment mustered 38 officers and 1,010 enlisted men as original members and 642 recruits and transfers during the American Civil War, a total of 1,690 men.

It lost 9 officers and 77 enlisted men killed in action, 3 officers and 70 enlisted men who died of wounds, one officer and 200 enlisted men who died of disease, 61 men who died in Confederate prisons, and 2 who died in accidents: a total of 423 deaths. 418 men were wounded, and 199 were taken prisoner.

The regiment is honored on the Old Vermont Brigade monument at Antietam, the 1st Vermont Brigade monument at Gettysburg, and the Vermont Brigade monument at The Wilderness. Five members of the regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor (see below).

Charles Bradley Stoughton (October 31, 1841 – January 17, 1898) was an officer and regimental commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Early life

Charles B. Stoughton was born in Chester, Vermont on October 31, 1841. He was the son of Henry E. Stoughton and Laura (Clark) Stoughton. Stoughton was educated in Bellows Falls, Vermont, graduated from Norwich University in 1861, and delayed plans to study law so he could enlist in the Army.

Military career

He was commissioned adjutant of the 4th Vermont Infantry Regiment on August 1, 1861, with the rank of captain, and mustered into military service on September 21. The 4th Vermont was commanded by his brother, Colonel Edwin H. Stoughton. Charles Stoughton was promoted to major on February 25, 1862. He took part in the action at all the regiment’s battles during the Peninsula Campaign.

Stoughton was promoted to lieutenant colonel on July 17, 1862, and saw action at Crampton’s Gap, where the regiment captured 121 men and the colors of the 15th Virginia Infantry. He subsequently served at Antietam in September, 1862. When his brother was promoted to brigadier general and assumed command of a brigade in November, 1862, Charles Stoughton took command of the regiment and was promoted to colonel.

Stoughton led the regiment at the Battle of Fredericksburg, on December 13, 1862, where the 4th Vermont suffered 56 casualties. He reported “My colors were completely riddled with canister and musket balls, scarcely hanging together. The top of the staff, upon which is a brass eagle, was shot away by canister, but saved, and brought away.”

He continued to lead the regiment during its participation in the battles of Marye’s Heights, Salem Church, and Gettysburg. On July 10, 1863, during the Union army’s pursuit of the retreating Army of Northern Virginia, Stoughton was severely wounded in an engagement near Funkstown, Maryland, resulting in the loss of his right eye. He resigned on February 2, 1864, as a result of his wounds. In the omnibus promotions that followed the end of the war, he was brevetted a Brigadier General to date from March 13, 1865, in recognition of his faithful and meritorious service.

Post-war career

After the war Stoughton studied law with his father, attained admission to the bar, and became an attorney in the New York City practice of his uncle, Edwin W. Stoughton. He was a trustee of Norwich University from 1871 to 1887, and received an honorary Master of Arts in 1872 and an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) in 1884.

In his later years, Stoughton practiced law in New Haven, Connecticut, and he lived there after retiring. His health began to decline, and he moved to the Vermont Soldiers Home in Bennington, Vermont, where he died on January 17, 1898. He was buried at the Immanuel Cemetery at the Immanuel Episcopal Church in Bellows Falls, Vermont.

Family

In April, 1869 Stoughton married Ada Ripley Hooper of Boston, Massachusetts. They were the parents of one son and five daughters: Bradley; Laura; Leila; Mildred; and Isabel.

Mildred Stoughton was the wife of Benjamin I. Spock. They were the parents of Dr. Benjamin McLane Spock (1903–1998), a leading pediatrician and peace advocate.