e Grand Army of the
Potomac, which had been gathering and organizing under General
McClellan for what the impatient country was disposed to think an
interminable time. A War Department order in April, 1862, putting a
stop to recruiting for the armies, added to the confidence, since an
easy inference could be drawn from it, and the North settled down to
await with high hopes the results of McClellan's long expected
advance.

Then came the campaign on the Peninsula. At first there was but meagre
news and a multitude of conflicting rumors about its fierce battles
and famous retreat, but in the end the realization of the failure of
this mighty effort. To the country it was a disappointment literally
stunning in its proportions; but now at length there was revealed the
magnitude of the task confronting the nation, and again there sprang
up the determination, grim and intense, to strain every nerve for the
restoration of the Union.

The President's call for three hundred thousand men to serve "for
three years or the war" was proclaimed to this state by Governor
Buckingham on July 3rd (1862), and evidence was at once forthcoming
that it was sternly heeded by the people. To fill Connecticut's quota
under this call, it was proposed that regiments should be raised by
counties. A convention was promptly called, which met in Litchfield on
July 22nd; delegates from every town in the county were in attendance,
representatives of all shades of political opinion and individual
bias, but the conclusions of the meeting were unanimously reached. It
was resolved that Litchfield County should furnish an entire regiment
of volunteers, and that Leverett W. Wessells, at that time Sheriff,
should be recommended as its commander.

Immediate steps were taken to render this determination effective; the
Governor promptly accepted the recommendation as to the colonelcy,
recruiting officers were designated to secure enlistments, bounties
voted by the different towns as proposed by the county meeting, and
the movement thoroughly organized. Although there was a clear
appreciation of the present need, the dozen or more Connecticut
regiments already in the field had drawn a large number of men from
Litchfield County, and effort was necessary to gain the required
enrollment. There had been many opportunities already for all to
volunteer who had any wish to do so, but the call now came to men who
a few weeks before had hardly dreamed of the need of the