 On September 25, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, 6th Vermont Infantry, and then Colonel of the 12th Vermont Infantry on September 19, 1862.On October 27, the 2nd Vermont Brigade was formed from the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th, Vermont Infantry regiments, and Blunt assumed temporary command of the brigade as the ranking colonel, filling this position until December 7, when Brigadier General Edwin H. Stoughton arrived and assumed command.Stoughton was not popular with the officers and men of the brigade, so when he was captured by Confederate partisan John S. Mosby on March 9, 1863, few mourned his loss.