Stephen F. Brown (April 4, 1841 – September 8, 1903) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War. He became famous for entering the Battle of Gettysburg armed only with a camp hatchet. He soon acquired a sword and pistol from a Confederate he took prisoner. Brown distinguished himself in battle and aiding other soldiers.
After the war, he graduated from Albany Law School, and moved to the growing city of Chicago to set up a practice. He became a businessman in addition to attorney. Brown rebuilt his practice and businesses after losing multiple properties in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Two decades later he returned to Swanton, Vermont to aid his aging parents.
The 13th Vermont Infantry honored Brown by placing a statue of him on the Regimental Monument at Gettysburg.
Early life Stephen Flavius Brown was born to Samuel G. Brown and Anne M. (Crawford) Brown in Swanton, Vermont, on April 4, 1841.Swanton Historical Society, The History of Swanton, Vermont, 1988, page 100 He had a brother, Samuel G. Brown, Jr., and sister Ann E., who died young.Aldrich, pp. 787-788 Their father farmed on the Crawford homestead. After Stephen Brown was educated in Swanton, he started working in winters as a teacher, while also attending school in Swanton Falls. He farmed with his father in summer. He passed the entry exam and planned to begin studies at the University of Vermont in the fall of 1862.Lewis Cass Aldrich, History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont, 1891, pages 705-708
Instead of beginning college, Brown enlisted for the Civil War as a Private in Company K, 13th Vermont Infantry Regiment, a nine months' regiment. He was soon elected the company's First Lieutenant. The 13th Vermont was part of the 2nd Vermont Brigade, and carried out duties in Maryland and Virginia during 1862 and 1863.Erik S. Hinckley and Tom Ledoux, They Went to War: A Biographical Register of the Green Mountain State in the Civil War, 2010, pages 52-53Civil War in the East, "13th Vermont Infantry Regiment", retrieved February 2, 2014
Battle of Gettysburg In July 1863, the 2nd Vermont Brigade marched from Maryland to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the VI Corps.Paul G. Zeller, The Second Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865, 2009, page 146 While en route, Brown violated a "no straggling" order and disobeyed a security detail guarding a well in order to refill the canteens of several soldiers in his company who were succumbing to the summer heat. Brown was arrested and relieved of his sword and pistol, an officer's symbols of authority. But given the fierce fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg, Brown was allowed to keep marching with his men.Edwin C. Bearss, Receding Tide: Vicksburg and Gettysburg; the Campaigns that Changed the Civil War, 2010, page 372Jeffry D. Wert, Gettysburg, Day Three, 2002, pages 227-228Howard Coffin, Nine Months to Gettysburg: Stannard's Vermonters and the Repulse of Pickett's Charge, 2011
Once the 2nd Brigade arrived at Gettysburg, Brown determined to reclaim his honor by taking part in the fight. Arming himself with a hand axe from a woodpile near his regiment's camp, Brown charged into battle to the cheers of his men. During the hand-to-hand combat, he compelled the surrender of a Confederate officer, and took his sword and pistol before making him a prisoner.Richard Rollins, editor, Pickett's Charge: Eyewitness Accounts at the Battle of Gettysburg, 2005, page 260Albert Lawson, War Anecdotes and Incidents of Army Life: Reminiscences from Both Sides of the Conflict Between the North and the South, "How a Hatchet Replaced a Sword", 1888, pages 45-46
During the battle, Brown suffered head trauma from the concussion of an artillery shell, which exploded near him as he gave aid to a member of the regiment who had lost a leg during the fighting. Despite hearing loss and other effects from the concussion, Brown refused to leave the field, telling the regimental surgeon that he would continue to fight unless the entire regiment was ordered to retreat.John M. Priest, Into the Fight: Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, 1998, page 176Coffin, Nine Months to Gettysburg, page 290-291
The 13th Vermont's role at Gettysburg included taking part in the counterattack on Pickett's Charge. Units of the 2nd Vermont Brigade, commanded by George J. Stannard, marched out from the Union lines, executed a left flank maneuver, and fired directly into the flank of Pickett's men as they advanced. Stannard's timely action effectively ended Pickett's Charge and the Battle of Gettysburg.Shaler's Brigade Association, Shaler's Brigade, Survivors of the Sixth Corps: reunion and Monument Dedications at Gettysburg, 1888, page 8613th Vermont Regiment Association, Pictorial History Thirteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers: War of 1861-1865, 1910, pages 309, 319
Brown continued to wear the captured sword and pistol until the end of his service. The charges against him for violating the "no straggling" order were not pursued.Albert Lawson, 5 War Anecdotes, page 46
Later military service After the 13th Vermont's term of service ended in 1863, Brown reenlisted, as did many of his fellow soldiers. This time he was a member of the 17th Vermont Infantry. Promoted to Captain, he was assigned as commander of the regiment's Company A.Abby Maria Hemenway, The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Volume 2, Part 1, 1871, page 446
In May 1864 Brown was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, when a bullet struck his left shoulder as he was giving orders to his company. His left arm had to be amputated, and Brown was discharged in August 1864.Hinckley, Ledoux, They Went to War, pages 52-53
Later life After the war Brown enrolled at Albany Law School. He graduated in 1868.University of Vermont, General Catalogue, 1902, page 126Vermont Phoenix, Obituary: Stephen F. Brown, September 11, 1903
He moved to Chicago, which was growing rapidly. There he established a successful law practice and was also successful as a real estate investor.American Biographical Publishing Company, Bench and Bar of Chicago, pages 126-127 During the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 he lost his law library, the building containing his law office, and several other buildings he owned. He was able to recover and continue his law practice and business activities.
In May 1882 the U. S. Grant Grand Army of the Republic Post (Number 28) in Chicago held a testimonial dinner in Brown's honor. They presented him with a medal to commemorate his heroism at Gettysburg.Biographical Publishing, Bench and Bar of Chicago, pages 123-124
In 1891 Brown returned to his hometown of Swanton to care for his aged parents. His father died during that year. He continued to reside there after his mother died, too.Biographical Publishing, Bench and Bar of Chicago, page 130Hinckley, Ledoux, They Went to War], page 52
In 1901 Brown was elected President of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers.Reunion Society of Vermont Officers, Proceedings of the Reunion Society of Vermont Officers, Volume 2, 1906, page 293 He was active in the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS).Alfred Theodore Andreas, History of Chicago: From the Fire of 1871 until 1885, 1886, page 590Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Register of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1906, page 42
Death and burial Brown died in Swanton on September 8, 1903.Law Notes magazine, "Other Deaths in the Profession: Stephen F. Brown", October 1903, pages 136-137Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908, Death Record for Stephen F. Brown, retrieved February 2, 2014 He is buried at Church Street Cemetery in Swanton.
Family His father Samuel G. Brown enlisted at the start of the war, and served in Company A, 1st Vermont Infantry.Aldrich, History of Franklin and Grand Isle Counties, pages 787-788Hinckley, Ledoux, They Went to War, page 53
Brown's brother, Samuel G. Brown Jr., served as a lieutenant in the 17th Vermont Infantry. Wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, he died in Washington, D.C., from typhoid fever.Hemenway, The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, page 471
In 1896 Brown married Mary N. McDonough in Swanton.Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908, marriage record for Stephen F. Brown, retrieved February 2, 2014
Honors and legacy
The monument to the 13th Vermont on the Gettysburg battlefield is topped with a statue of Brown. The War Department would not allow Brown to be depicted carrying his axe, regarding that as a tribute to disobedience of orders. Instead, the statue depicts him with a sword at his side and an axe at his feet.Edwin C. Bearss, Receding Tide
A panel on the base of the monument is dedicated to Brown. It reads:
Brown presented the sword he seized at Gettysburg to the Vermont Historical Society.Vermont Historical Society, Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, 1903, pages 33-34
References
External links at Ralph Orson Sturtevant, Pictorial History Thirteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers (1910)