Killed in action at the Battle of the Wilderness May 5, 1864.
Military Service
Bristol, Vermont
ENLISTED October 4, 1861 as a 1st Lieutenant
MUSTERED October 15, 1861 UNIT Company A, 6th Vermont Infantry
TRANSFERRED n/a
PROMOTED Promoted Captain on November 1, 1862
DISCHARGED n/a
COMMENTS Killed in action on Play 5, 1864 at the battle of the Wilderness
Excerpts from Benedict's "Vermont in the Civil War"
Captain Riley A. Bird (of Bristol) of Company A, a soldier of rare merit especially distinguished himself on the first day [ot the battle of the Wilderness] and died before its close. He was first wounded in the head and advised to go to the rear, but with the blood streaming down his face he sternly and even angrily refused, saying that it was 'the business of no live man to go to the rear at such a time'. Soon a second musket ball struck him in the thigh. He retired a few steps, sat down, took off his sash, bound it round his leg and then resumed his place in the line. A third bullet pierced his heart, and he fell dead with the word which he was cheering on his men cut short upon his lips.
Sources: George C. Benedict, Vermont in the Civil War. A History of the Part taken by the Vermont Soldiers and Settlers in the War for the Union, 1861-5. Burlington, VT. Free Press Association (1886), Chapter X.
Excerpts from the Official Records
CAMP IN THE FIELD, VIRGINIA June 28, 1864
Captain A. Brown, Jr.
A.A.A.G., Second Brigadier, Second Division, Sixth Corps
SIR: I have the honor to snake the following report of the part Taken by Ile Sixth Vermont Regiment in the battles of the Wilderness, Mao I:
On the 5th of May we were ordered to take a position in the second line of battle and on the left of the plank road. About noon we were ordered to charge the enemy. in this advance Colonel E. L Barney, Adjt. S. ft Lincoln, Captain C. W, Dwinell, Company C, First Lieutenant F. A. Holton , Company I, were wounded; Captain George C. Randall, Company F. Captain Riley A, Bird, Company A, and First Lieutenant Albert A. Crane, Company A, were killed On the following day a general advance was ordered. The line of battle in which the Sixth Regiment was placed, advanced upon the enemy in the morning. After engaging the enemy for about an hour, and having exhausted all our ammunition, we were ordered to the next line in rear. In these battles all officers and men fought bravely.
Total loss the 5th and 6th of May; Officers, killed, 3; wounded, 4. Enlisted men, killed 31; wounded, 151; missing, 7,
I have the honor to be sir, your most obedient servant.
G. A. HALE,
Lieutenant-Colonel,, Commanding Regiment
Sources: The War of The Rebellion; A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate archive, series 1, volume 36, part 1 (Wilderness-Cold Harbor), 715-716.
HEADQUARTERS FIRST VERMONT BRIGADE
August 27,1864
Peter T. Washburn,
Adjutant and Inspector General
SIR: I have the honor to report that this Brigade crossed the Rapidan May 4th, 1864, and encamped two miles south of Germania Ford.
On the morning of May 5th, we marched to Old Wilderness tavern and halted several hours. Soon after noon this Brigade and two others, (the 1st and 4th of this Division, Brig. Gen. Getty commanding, were detached from the 6th Corps and ordered forward across the "old pike," and along the 'Brook" road, to where it crosses the plank road leading from Chancellorsville to Orange Court House. Upon arriving at the cross roads, the first Brigade became engaged with the enemy's advance, which was coming down the plank road driving before it a force of our Cavalry...
One engaged In that terrible conflict may well pause to reflect upon the horrors of that night. Officers and men lay down to rest amidst the groans of the wounded and dying and the dead bodies of their comrades, as they were brought to the rear. One thousand brave officers and men of the Vermont Brigade fell on that bloody field...
The list of killed and wounded contains the names of some of the most valuable officers in the service.
Of the Captains who were killed, or have subsequently died from the effects of wounds, there were Capts. Orville Bixby, of the 2d Regiment, Enoch H. Bartlett and Erastus Buck, of the 3rd Regiment; J. W. D. Carpenter, Dennis W. Farr and Daniel Lillie, of the 4th Regiment; A. R. Hurlburt, Geo. D. Davenport and Chas. J. Ormsbee, of the 5th Regiment, Riley A Bird and George C. Randall, of the 6th Regiment, each and all of whom were valuable officers. It is no disparagement to those who survive that the places of these Captains cannot be filled.
It would be a pleasure to mention at length Individual cases of daring and noble heroism, but when all did so noble it is impossible to further particularize. It was a terrible struggle— a time which truly "tried men's souls.' The memory of those who fell will be sacredly cherished among the true and tried patriots of Vermont; and those who survive, well may proudly say. "I, too, was in the battles of the Wilderness."
I am, General. very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
LA. GRANT,
Brigadier-General, Commanding
Sources: The war of the Rebellion, A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series 1, volume 36, part 1 (Wilderness-Cold Harbor); 696-701
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