LANDGROVE, Vt. – Noted Civil War historian Howard Coffin will present a talk titled “The Other Grant,” about Brig. Gen. Lewis Addison Grant, commander of the 1st Vermont Brigade, who was from Peru, Vt. His talk will be on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m., at the Landgrove Meeting House.
Grant was by far the longest-serving commander of the 1st Vermont Brigade. Historians now generally agree that the brigade was the best in all the Union armies.
Grant led the brigade in most of its great moments, including the defense of Banks Ford in the Chancellorsville Campaign, the remarkable Wilderness stand, and the Petersburg breakthrough.
Born in Winhall Hollow, in 1828, Grant became a prominent lawyer in Bellows Falls. Enlisting when the war began, he rose quickly through the ranks to brigadier general.
After the war he went west, settling in Iowa. There he became a major real estate developer. President Benjamin Harrison appointed Grant his assistant secretary of war.
In the west, Grant became a prominent speaker at Civil War veterans’ events. In his later years, he came to Vermont to attend soldier reunions, delivering remarkable speeches.
Not long before his death in 1918, he was one of only four generals who had been present at Gettysburg to attend the 50th reunion there.
The talk is cosponsored by the Landgrove Historical Society, the Landgrove Meeting House, the Londonderry Arts and Historical Society, and the Weston Historical Society. This event is free and open to the public.