The county regiment

In Short

Dudley Landon Vaill's narrative records the wartime journey of the Second Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, originally raised as the Nineteenth Infantry from Litchfield County. The book follows these New England recruits from their quiet beginnings in the defensive fortifications surrounding Washington through the brutal, relentless campaigns of 1864 and 1865. They face fierce combat at Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and throughout the Shenandoah Valley, enduring heavy casualties and severe leadership changes. The text endures as a meticulously detailed historical document that illuminates how ordinary civilian volunteers adapted to the shocking realities of prolonged, large-scale industrial warfare.

The Story

The narrative opens in the summer of 1862 following President Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand additional troops. Representatives from every town in Litchfield County gather in July to form a local regiment, appointing Sheriff Leverett W. Wessells as its commander. Recruits drawn from quiet civilian routines quickly fill the ranks. By September, the Nineteenth Connecticut Volunteers arrive in Washington, taking position across the Potomac River near Alexandria.

For more than a year and a half, the unit remains stationed among the forts and redoubts guarding the capital. Under the firm instruction of Lieutenant-Colonel Elisha S. Kellogg, the men undergo rigorous drill and target practice, establishing a high degree of military discipline. Though ill health forces Colonel Wessells to resign, Kellogg assumes command, shaping the untried soldiers into an effective, orderly force.

In May 1864, re-designated as the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery, the regiment leaves the quiet defenses of Washington to join the Army of the Potomac at the front. Assigned to the Sixth Corps, the soldiers are thrust directly into Grant's aggressive overland offensive. On the march southward, the unseasoned troops discard tens of thousands of dollars in personal belongings to survive the grueling paces, heat, and mud.

Their true baptism of fire arrives on June 1 at Cold Harbor. Sent into a direct assault against heavy Confederate fortifications, the regiment suffers catastrophic losses, including the death of Colonel Kellogg. Following this traumatic trial, Captain Ranald S. Mackenzie assumes command. Known as a strict, unyielding officer, Mackenzie instills a harsh, demanding discipline that tests the men, yet under his strict guidance, the regiment proves its resilience during the grueling siege operations around Petersburg.

In July 1864, the unit shifts northward to counter General Early's Confederate forces threatening Washington. Reaching the Shenandoah Valley under General Sheridan, the regiment engages in a series of intense battles. At Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, the men face heavy artillery fire, bloody charges, and sudden retreats, ultimately securing decisive victories over Early's army.

By winter, the regiment returns to the trenches of Petersburg, enduring bitter sleet and snow while mounting defensive operations. In the spring of 1865, they help breach the Confederate lines before Petersburg and join the rapid pursuit of Lee's retreating forces, fighting their final action at Sailor's Creek. Following the surrender at Appomattox and a brief deployment southward, the surviving soldiers return home to resume their peaceful civilian lives across Connecticut.

How It Unfolds

The call to arms Following Lincoln's proclamation in July 1862, delegates from Litchfield County assemble to organize an entire volunteer regiment. Local recruitment drives, boosted by patriotic speeches from returned captives, quickly fill the ranks with local farmers and mechanics.

Guarding the capital Stationed in the fortifications south of the Potomac, the men spend over a year mastering military drill, guard duty, and artillery maintenance. They endure long months of routine, sickness, and political debate while watching the distant conflict unfold.

Into the furnace In May 1864, the regiment leaves Washington to join Grant's southward movement in Virginia. The troops endure exhausting marches without adequate food, quickly discarding non-essential equipment along the muddy, sun-baked roads.

The trial at Cold Harbor Charged with assaulting entrenched enemy positions, the unit experiences devastating losses under a terrible hail of fire. Colonel Kellogg falls in the attack, leaving the survivors to dig in under relentless night-time combat.

Scorpions and valley charges Under the rigid, exacting command of Colonel Mackenzie, the regiment moves to the Shenandoah Valley. They execute dangerous charges over rocky heights and open fields at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek.

Final victory and return After enduring a frozen winter in the Petersburg trenches, the regiment participates in the final push against Lee's army. Following the surrender at Appomattox, the veterans muster out and integrate back into their home communities.

The People

• Leverett W. Wessells: A former Litchfield Sheriff appointed as the original colonel of the regiment. He works to organize the initial enrollment and administration, but persistent ill health repeatedly forces him away from field command until he ultimately resigns his post in September 1863.
• Elisha S. Kellogg: The lieutenant-colonel who assumes primary responsibility for molding raw New England civilians into disciplined, well-drilled soldiers. He takes full command of the regiment, earning the deep respect of his men through his thorough training methods before dying heroically at the head of his troops during the assault at Cold Harbor.
• Ranald S. Mackenzie: A brilliant, uncompromising West Point graduate assigned to lead the regiment following Kellogg's death. He demands absolute obedience and enforces harsh discipline, earning a reputation as a relentless taskmaster who nevertheless drives the regiment to perform with remarkable bravery during the Valley Campaign.
• Winthrop H. Phelps: The regimental chaplain who ministers to the men throughout their long service. He documents the unit's material losses, physical suffering, and spiritual state during the grueling marches through Virginia.

In Its Own Voice

"A year later, when the soldiers of the Nineteenth were staggering along the Pamunkey, with heavy loads and blistered feet, or throwing up breastworks with their coffee-pots all night under fire in front of Petersburg, they looked back to the Defences of Washington as to a lost Elysium."

The early months of routine post duty quickly become a cherished memory once the unit experiences the brutal, unrelenting realities of active campaigning in Virginia.

"He was a Perpetual Punisher, and the Second Connecticut while under him was always a punished regiment."

The men react with deep resentment to Colonel Mackenzie's strict, uncompromising discipline, though his tactical skill ultimately guides them through devastating battles.

"Civil life may furnish better fare than the army at Cedar Creek had that night, but not better appetites; for it must be borne in mind that many had gone into the fight directly from their beds and had eaten nothing for twenty-four hours."

Following a desperate, all-day battle that flips from initial rout to complete triumph, exhausted soldiers return to their cold camp to share basic rations over open fires.

What It's Really About

The central theme focuses on the profound transformation of an ordinary civilian community under the pressures of total war. It examines how a tightly knit regional group, bound by shared geographic roots and local pride, adapts to the impersonal, mechanical violence of large-scale military operation. The narrative highlights the stark contrast between romanticized notions of military duty and the grim realities of physical exhaustion, sudden death, and harsh institutional discipline. Beyond the tactical movements, the book explores how duty, communal solidarity, and rigorous training sustain ordinary men through terrifying chaos, ultimately asking what standard of sacrifice a free society requires of its citizens during a national crisis.

Why Read It Today

This narrative offers a grounded, unvarnished portrait of the American Civil War seen through the sharp focus of a single regional command. Modern readers will appreciate the text for its precise historical detail, vivid descriptions of mid-nineteenth-century soldiering, and authentic perspective on the human cost of conflict. It avoids romanticized glorification, presenting instead a clear-eyed account of the hardship, fear, and sheer physical labor endured by common infantrymen.

While the book assumes some familiarity with the general geography and major campaigns of the Civil War, its primary focus remains anchored in the lived experience of the men in the ranks. Readers interested in military history, local heritage, or socio-political studies of the Civil War era will find it a compelling, deeply moving study of collective endurance. What lingers long after reading is the impressive resilience of these rural New Englanders, who stepped directly from quiet hill towns into some of the violent encounters of their era, performing their assigned duties with steady, solemn resolve.