BATTLEFIELD BACKSTORY: In brutal, often hand-to-hand, fighting, the 8th Vermont defended a deep ravine and stretch of woods, suffering 110 casualties out of 164 men engaged during the Battle of Cedar Creek on Oct. 19, 1864. The monument in the panorama marks where three of the regiment's color-bearers were killed. According to the 8th Vermont regimental history:
"Men seemed more like demons than human beings, as they struck fiercely at each other with clubbed muskets and bayonets. A rebel of powerful build, but short in stature, attempted to bayonet Corporal [Alfred] Worden of the color-guard. Worden, a tall, sinewy man, who had no bayonet on his musket, parried his enemy's thrusts until some one, I think Sergt. [Henry] Brown, shot the rebel dead. A rebel soldier then levelled his musket and shot Corporal [John] Petre, who held the colors, in the thigh, -- a terrible wound, from which he died that night. He cried out: " Boys, leave me ; take care of yourselves and the flag ! "(Click on image to enlarge and click here for all posts on this blog.)
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