Holbrook, Frederick - 1910

War Governors of Vermont, 1861

Frederick Holbrook was elected Governor of Vermont in September, 1861, re-elected in September, 1862, serving two terms. The Second Vermont Brigade was composed of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and
16th Vermont Regiments, and recruited under the administration of Governor Holbrook.

The urgent call made by President Lincoln on Governor Holbrook for Vermont's quota under this particular call was so promptly complied with as to assure the President that Vermont's war Governor was fully alive to the mighty struggle for National existence and the great responsibilities resting on him as Governor of Vermont. The war had been in progress only a few months at the date when Governor Holbrook first assumed office, October 10, 1861.

First Bull Run, July 21, 1861 was the only great battle that had been fought, and this a humiliating defeat and in fact the mighty contest had just begun, and Governor Holbrook in common with the other war Governors of the New England States comprehended the magnitude of the fearful struggle that must ensue in order to preserve the Union and sustain the integrity of the administration of President Lincoln and therefore as a true patriot he addressed himself with great energy to the single and most important question, the preparation for the preservation of the Union and defense of Country.

He was the trusted adviser of President Lincoln during the darkest days of the Rebellion from October, 1861, to October, 1863. It is claimed that more volunteers went to the front from Vermont under his administration and more commissions were signed by him than both of the other war Governors of our state. He was Governor when the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th regiments were recruited and sent to the front, and the boys of the 13th regiment who rendezvoused at his hometown, Brattleboro, Vermont, on their way to Washington were encouraged by his cheering words of advise and the glad and hearty welcome given on our way to Washington, and on our return to be mustered out.

His words of praise for the distinguished service rendered on the great battlefield of Gettysburg, was an eloquent compliment, for he said "you have accomplished wonders and the Second Vermont Brigade is given the credit of the defeat of General Pickett in the sanguinary struggle at Gettysburg, and final victory in General Lee's last great effort on that momentous battlefield”. He fully realized that these regiments though young in years and inexperienced in battle accomplished more in a single hour at the close of the three days of fearful struggle when they met the flower of General Lee's great army led by his especially chosen officer, General Pickett, than some brigades during their term of service.

Governor Holbrook during his two terms of office fully met every responsibility and discharged every duty to state and nation in such a manner as to secure deserving credit to himself and honor to the state he served. This grand old man still lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, and is the oldest of the surviving-
War Governors of that most eventful period of our National existence, the Civil War.
~ History of the 13th Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, War of 1861-1865, written in 1910 by Ralph Orson Sturtevant, pages 14 & 15.

You can visit the memorial page for Frederick Holbrook.