Brigadier General Edward H. Ripley

Born in Rutland, Ripley enlisted in the 9th Vermont in 1862 and fought at Harper’s Ferry, Chaffin’s Farm and Second Fair Oaks. As brigade commander of the Army of the James, the general led the first Union troops into the Confederate capitol of Richmond on April 3, 1865, restoring order and extinguishing fires that threatened the city. Ripley warned Abraham Lincoln of an assassination plot two days before the president’s death. After the Civil War, Ripley had an estate and horse farm in Mendon, with interests in banking, marble and hotels. He donated land for the town hall and represented Mendon in the state legislature. His warhorse Old John is buried at the inscribed stone near the old sugarhouse.