The 16th Vermont Infantry, a nine months regiment, was raised as a result of President Abraham Lincoln's call on August 4, 1862, for additional troops due to the disastrous results of the Peninsula Campaign. It was recruited in Windsor and Windham Counties, the two southernmost counties in the state, and rendezvoused in the following towns: On September 27, 1862, the officers listed above met at Bellows Falls and elected Wheelock G. Veazey, of Springfield, colonel, Charles Cummings, of Brattleboro, lieutenant colonel, and William Rounds, of Chester, major.