Shot through the leg, but who's to blame?

Lieutenant-Colonel George John Peacocke has the dubious distinction of having been shot by a man who doesn't exist.

Let me explain.

In chapter 1, the foolish British and betrayed Canadians are gunned down by what we are explicitly told is the Third Regiment of Vermont State Militia. This regiment had five companies:
Company A: Green Mountain Rangers, at Lowell (35 miles from Norton)
Company B: Green Mountain Boys, at Danville (47 miles from Norton)
Company C: Frontier Guards, at Coventry (25 miles from Norton)
Company D: Charlestown Rifle Rangers, at Charleston (16 miles from Norton)
Company E: Frontier Cadets, at Derby Line (15 miles from Norton)

However, only one of these five companies took part in the last pre-war muster on 30 August 1860. When the call came for three-month volunteers, there were only eight companies ready to take the field- none of which were in the Third Regiment. When Vermont were asked for militia in May 1862, they had none to send. Furthermore, because they offered instead to raise and send new units, we know that, rather than just refusing a foolish demand from Washington, they actually didn't have any Volunteer Militia available . This is confirmed in August 1862, when General Order No. 21 disbands those units which had 'practically ceased to exist, as organized company [sic], long previous'. All five of the Third Regiment's units are to be disbanded under this order. The only one which avoids this fate is the Frontier Guards: however, this is because it manages to recruit up to strength so it can be sent into the army rather than disbanded.

So the last evidence for the existence of the Third Regiment of Vermont State Militia is one fifth of the unit turning up to a single muster a year and a half before the war. They weren't available in 1861, they weren't available in 1862, and the only unit that isn't disbanded is still understrength. Moreover, TFSmith knows the unit had all but ceased to exist as of the start of the war, because he describes one of its members as 'wearing plain farmer’s garb and a wool cap, a long Hawken rifle in one hand.' As we saw elsewhere, the Union can rely on hastily improvised units but the British and Canadians cannot.

As we have seen, the battle is a resprayed battle of Bronkhorstspruit, in which 250 Boers took part. There is no other regiment named as being present, and it is unlikely calling that they would call all four of the regiments into service at once rather than rotating them. So if the Third Regiment of Vermont State Militia still existed, how many men might it have had?

At the last pre-war muster of the Vermont militia, 14 companies took part: there were, 'including field and staff officers and music, not far from 900 men'. This is an average strength of 64 men per company. If we assume that the Third Regiment of Vermont State Militia manages to match this average, making up its deficit with eager amateurs, there would be 320 men on the field. This suggests that Boers firing breech-loading rifles are only 28% more effective than pre-war militia armed with percussion muskets and civilians armed with their own rifles. This calculation completely overlooks the fact that 900 men was the Vermont militia's maximum deployment before the outbreak of war, but frankly this is the least of the problems with this section of the timeline.

As Norton had a population of 30 before the war, these 320 men are presumably sleeping under canvas rather than being billeted. In December 1861. What's the weather like again? Oh, right: 'snow drift', 'frost-rimmed windows', 'frosted with snow,' 'fog and gray clouds,' 'muddy snow,' 'snow-covered field,' 'snow,' 'snow,' 'muddy snow,' 'cold,' 'icy creek'. How impressive that the Third Regiment of Vermont State Militia's effectiveness was not impaired in the least by either frostbite or not existing.