Augustus J. Robbins

He Risked Everything to Save a Trapped Regiment

Augustus J. Robbins was born on November 17, 1839, in Grafton, Vermont. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary courage at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia. His distinction came from voluntarily undertaking a dangerous battlefield assignment, successfully directing a regiment away from an exposed position, and suffering a severe wound while performing that duty.

Robbins entered military service in 1861, joining the 2nd Vermont Volunteer Infantry as a corporal. His early service marked the beginning of a military career that would take him from the enlisted ranks into a commissioned officer's position during one of the most demanding periods of the Civil War.

On January 16, 1862, Robbins was promoted to commissary sergeant. He subsequently received a commission as a second lieutenant on December 20, 1862. By the time of his Medal of Honor action, he was serving with Company B of the 2nd Vermont Infantry.

The 2nd Vermont formed part of the Vermont Brigade, a Union infantry formation that served extensively in the Eastern Theater. The regiment participated in major operations with the Army of the Potomac, including campaigns against Confederate forces commanded by General Robert E. Lee.

By the spring of 1864, the Union Army had launched the Overland Campaign under Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. The campaign involved repeated engagements intended to maintain pressure on Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and prevent Confederate forces from withdrawing without further fighting.

Following the Battle of the Wilderness in early May, the opposing armies moved toward Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. The resulting battle developed into a prolonged struggle around strongly fortified Confederate positions. Soldiers fought across wooded terrain, through defensive earthworks, and under intense musket and artillery fire.

May 12, 1864, became one of the most violent days of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. Union troops launched a major assault against the Confederate defensive position known as the Mule Shoe Salient. Fighting around the Bloody Angle developed into an exceptionally fierce confrontation, with repeated attacks and counterattacks taking place at close range.

It was during the fighting at Spotsylvania that Robbins performed the action for which he would receive the Medal of Honor.

Although serving as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Vermont Infantry, Robbins voluntarily undertook staff duties during the engagement. A Union regiment had become dangerously exposed and needed to withdraw toward the remainder of its command.

The movement was particularly hazardous because the troops had to cross and move around an area vulnerable to enemy fire. Maintaining direction and coordination during such a withdrawal was essential, especially amid the confusion of an active battlefield.

Robbins accepted the responsibility of directing the regiment out of its exposed position.

While carrying out this assignment, he placed himself in danger and successfully assisted the regiment in withdrawing to rejoin the rest of its command. His actions helped complete a difficult battlefield movement under threatening conditions.

During the operation, Robbins was severely wounded.

The combination of his voluntary service, successful direction of the withdrawal, and serious injury formed the basis of his later Medal of Honor recognition. His courage was demonstrated through an exposed assignment undertaken to assist a military formation rather than through an individual attack against an enemy position.

Robbins survived his wound. His military service concluded on June 29, 1864, following nearly three years in the Union Army. During that period, he had advanced from corporal through commissary sergeant to second lieutenant and participated in the operations of a regiment closely associated with the Army of the Potomac.

Although his heroism occurred in 1864, official recognition did not come until many years after the Civil War.

On March 24, 1892, Augustus J. Robbins received the Medal of Honor for his conduct at Spotsylvania Court House. The award recognized his voluntary performance of staff duties, his successful withdrawal of a regiment from a severely exposed position, and the wound he sustained during the action.

The decoration permanently associated his name with one of the most demanding battles of the Overland Campaign. It also recognized an important form of battlefield courage: accepting personal danger to help preserve the cohesion and safety of other soldiers during a difficult military movement.

Robbins lived for more than four decades after the conclusion of the Civil War. He survived long enough to receive national recognition for his wartime service and to see the Medal of Honor become an established symbol of American military valor.

He died in September 1909 in Lakewood, New Jersey, at the age of sixty-nine. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Lakewood, where his military service and Medal of Honor recognition are commemorated.

Augustus J. Robbins is remembered for his courage during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 12, 1864. While voluntarily serving in an exposed staff assignment, he helped guide a regiment back toward its command and was severely wounded in the process. His Medal of Honor preserves the memory of that action and his service as an officer of the 2nd Vermont Infantry during the American Civil War.