The deadliest day in Vermont history, May 5, 1864, lives in infamy. Hundreds of miles south of the Green Mountain State, in the rough and tumble landscape of The Wilderness in Virginia, Vermonters suffered severe losses during a ferocious fight. When the battle ended and casualties tallied, the grim roll included 1,234 Vermonters.
One of them, George Washington Tucker, served as a private in Company C of the 3rd Vermont Infantry. At some point during the engagement, he suffered a flesh wound in his thigh, initially described as minor. And it was, compared to many of his comrades. Still, the injury resulted in hospital time in Fredericksburg, Va., and later in Vermont.
