Vermonters in the Civil War

What follows is an excerpt from the book, Full Duty, written by Howard Coffin. Previously featured as our Vermont Only Book of the Month, this is how the book opens.

"Vermont will do its full duty."

With those words (it is believed) the governor of the state of Vermont, Erastus Fairbanks, replied to a telegram sent him by the president of the United States of  America, Abraham Lincoln, as the American Civil War began in the spring of 1861.

Lincoln had wired the following message to Fairbanks as confederate States of America cannon compelled the surrender of Fort Sumter, defended by a federal garrison in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina:

Strictly private and confidential
Gov. Erastus Fairbanks
Montpelier, VT

Washington is in grave danger. What may we expect of Vermont?

A. Lincoln

... From the very beginning, Vermont stood ready to fight for the salvation of the American Union and to defeat those who had shattered it. The attack on Sumter had evoked a most heated and patriotic response in Vermont. Flags suddenly seemed to be flying from every pole and window. Patriotic meetings were held in practically every community.

Source: Howard Coffin, Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War, Woodstock, VT: The Countryman Press, 1993.