The response of Vermont to the news of the disastrous battle of the first Bull Run was a proclamation by Governor Fairbanks, dated July 30th, 1861, calling for the immediate enlistment of two more three years' regiments of volunteers, in addition to the two already sent forward. In this proclamation he anticipated the coming call for troops from Washington. He said in it: “The events of the 21st instant and the retreat of the United States Army from the field near Manassas Junction, demonstrated the necessity of a greatly increased national force, and although no formal requisition has been made upon me by the secretary of war, nor any apportionment of troops as the quota for this State communicated, yet the events referred to indicate clearly the necessity of exercising the discretionary power conferred on me by the aforesaid act for raising and organizing additional regiments. Orders will therefore be issued immediately to the adjutant and inspector general for enlisting the Fourth and Fifth regiments of volunteers for three years or during the war, to be tendered to the general government as soon as it may be practicable to arm, equip and discipline the troops for service.” Commissions were at once issued to twenty recruiting officers in different parts of the State, and the work of enlistment of men began. A dispatch received at this time from the secretary of war, urging the governor to send on any more troops at his disposal “in view of imminent danger,” showed that the government had not been hasty in anticipating the action of the authorities at Washington. In order to hasten recruiting he thereupon commissioned twenty more recruiting officers on the 19th of August; and in a second proclamation, dated August 20th, he earnestly called upon the citizens, “especially the young men of the State, to enroll their names at the several recruiting stations for the service of this country.”
Within thirty days after the governor's proclamation of July 30th, men enough to fill two full regiments had been recruited, and most of the companies composing them organized. The men of the Fourth were enlisted for the most part in towns in the southern part of the State. The colonelcy was offered to Lieut. Colonel Washburn of the First regiment, who declined it on account of the precarious condition of his health. Lieutenant Edwin H. Stoughton, U.S.A., was then appointed colonel. He was a native of Bellows Falls; a graduate of West Point, of the class of 1859; and a second lieutenant in the Sixth U. S. infantry. He resigned his commission in December, 1860, when many regular army officers resigned, the resignation to take effect on the 4th of March 1861, when the term of Abraham Lincoln as President was to begin; but he subsequently reconsidered his determination and withdrew his resignation with a view of entering the volunteer service. He was but twenty three years of age when appointed colonel of the Fourth, and was said to be the youngest colonel in the army at that time. Colonel Stoughton's commission bore date of August 1st, 1861. The other field and staff officers were appointed about two weeks later.
Major Harry N. Worthen of Bradford, lately of the First regiment was appointed lieutenant colonel. John C. Tyler of Brattleboro, a young man of 22, was appointed major; Charles B. Stoughton of Bellows Falls, a younger brother of the colonel, a youth of nineteen years, was appointed adjutant; the regimental staff were John Halsey Cushman of Bennington, quartermaster; Dr. Samuel J. Allen of Hartford, surgeon; Dr. Willard A. Child of Pittsford, asst. surgeon; and Rev. Salem M. Plympton, a Congregational clergyman of West Haven, Conn., chaplain.
The rendezvous was fixed at Brattleboro, and as fast as the companies were organized they went into camp there, the first arriving September 12th, and the last September 14th. The camp was named “Camp Holbrook,” in honor of Hon. Frederick Holbrook of Brattleboro, who had just been elected Governor. The preceding regiments had been uniformed by the State, in gray; but the uniforms of the Fourth were furnished by the General Government, and were of army blue (dark blue blouses and light blue pantaloons,) with hats of black felt, similar to those worn by the U. S. regular troops. The arms were Enfield rifles. The regiment compared favorably in material and personal appearance with those that had already gone from Vermont. The standard-bearer was six feet seven and a half inches tall. Most of the field and staff officers were young, much younger than those of the other regiments, but some of them, as well as a number 159 of the company officers, had had some experience in the First regiment.
On the 14th of September, before the regiment was fairly full, or any uniforms and equipments had been received, Fairbanks received directions from the War Department to send forward the Fourth and Fifth Vermont regiments at once, the Department giving assurance that any deficiencies in the outfit of the regiments would be supplied upon their arrival at Washington. The Governor accordingly ordered the regiments forward; but the officers strongly objected to leaving the State until the men were fully equipped, representing that by such a move the discipline of the regiment would be seriously impaired. In consideration of all the circumstances the Governor consented that the departure should be delayed until the men could be properly equipped, and it was a week later before the regiment started for the war. Camp life was a new experience to the men, and during the rainy week at Camp Holbrook, nearly 300 men were sick from change of diet and unwonted exposure. On the 20th, overcoats and pantaloons were distributed among the men, and on the 21st of September, the Fourth regiment, numbering 1,042 officers and men, was mustered into the service of the United States. A regimental band of 24 pieces was organized with and accompanied the regiment. The regiment left Brattleboro for Washington on the evening of the 21st, and arrived at Jersey City, by steamer from New Haven, on the morning of the 23d. The New York newspapers, as usual, praised its appearance and discipline, as well as the completeness of its equipment, in al which respects, they said, it rivaled the best troops in the field. At Philadelphia an excellent supper was served by the citizens and was appreciated by the men, who had had little or nothing but dry bread since leaving Camp Holbrook.
The regiment reached Washington Monday evening, September 23d, having had on the whole a comfortable journey from Vermont, and the next morning went into camp on Capitol Hill, where it remained four days. “On Saturday morning, the 28th, an order came to strike tents and march to Chain Bridge, where the Second, Third and Fifth regiments were now encamped, the last of these having arrived at Camp Advance the day before, though it left Vermont a day or two later than the Fourth.
Here the men had their first experience in picket duty. For the ten days following nothing occurred of more consequence than the wounding of a man by the accidental discharge of a musket in the hands of a comrade with whom he was sparring bayonets. On the 9th of October the regiment moved with General Smith's division to Lewinsville, where the men lay on their arms all night, and suffered much from cold. Next day they received their tents and went into camp on Smoot's Hill, at Camp Griffin, the camp of the First Vermont brigade which was organized about this time.
October 19th, seven companies of the Fourth accompanied the Fifth regiment on a reconnaissance to Vienna, and on the 24th the regiment participated in a Division review.
While the weather remained fine the health of the regiment continued good; but as the period of cold nights and fall rains came on, the men began to sicken. On the 9th of November, Surgeon Allen reported 200 men sick in hospital, and within a month this number nearly doubled.
A more definite cause was assignable in the case of the Fourth, for the sickness then prevailing throughout the Vermont brigade, than in the cases of some of the other regiments. The water for the camp was supplied by a brook, which received the surface water from a slope on which a thousand cavalry horses had stood for two months previous. That malarial epidemics should have developed under such circumstances was not surprising. Moreover some of the men still lacked overcoats, and suffered from exposure. The moving of the camp, about the middle of December, to a pine grove on higher ground, together with an ample supply of clothing received from Vermont, effected an immediate change for the better. On the 13th of December there were 360 men of the Fourth in hospital. Two weeks later, on the 27th, there were but 60. Surgeons Allen and Child were untiring in their labors, during this period of sickness, and their skill and care is attested by the fact that of some 2,000 cases of sickness in two months— many of the men suffering repeated attacks—but 26 proved fatal.
The regiment remained at Camp Griffin through the winter, taking its turn once in five days on picket... On the 10th of March, the Fourth left Camp Griffin, in the movement of the Army of the Potomac towards Manassas...