USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume II > Part 11
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MAJOR WILLIAM W. MORRIS-THE DRAFT RIOTS.
The second, and last major of the Twenty-sixth was William W. Morris, one of the bravest soldiers who went out of Newark during the entire war. His great-grandfathers on both sides were soldiers during the Revolution and in the War of 1812. He served in the Newark City Battalion before the war and went to the front as a private soldier, but soon afterwards was made captain of Com- pany A, which he had organized. He was promoted major on November 19, 1862. He was in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13 and 14, acting as colonel a good part of the time, with but one staff officer to assist him, Amos J. Cummings, later of the New York Sun. Major Morris was one of the storming column at Fredericksburg Heights. He acted as lieutenant-colonel at Franklin's Crossing.
"During the great draft riot in New York and Newark, in July, 1862," writes Samuel Toombs in his "New Jersey Troops in the Gettysburg Campaign," "when the Newark Mercury newspaper office, owned by ex-Sheriff E. N. Miller, and his residence, was attacked by the mob-Sheriff Miller being at that time provost marshal of the district-Major Morris offered his services, which were gladly accepted, and Sheriff Miller commissioned him to organize a body of veterans, secure arms and make arrangements with the military district commander, General Wool, to put down the enemies of peace and order. Major Morris organized some four hundred men, and many of his brother officers rallied round him, among whom were Captains Fordham, P. F. Rogers, John Hunkele, John McIntee, Mark Sears, Lieutenant Rochus Heinisch and others. Before the arrangements with General Wool were fully
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completed the riot in New York was put down and that in Newark speedily ended."
Major Morris was document clerk at the Newark City Hall during the later years of his life. He died in 1905.
THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
The Thirty-third New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was the last command to which Newark contributed any considerable number of men. The city supplied five companies: A, B, C, E and F. It was mustered in at Camp Frelinghuysen on September 3, 1863, having been mobilized in fifty-five days. It served until the close of the war and served entirely in the West, being with Sherman on his march to the sea. It was chiefly a regiment of veterans from other commands and whose terms of enlistment had expired. It went from Newark equipped with the then latest model of Springfield rifle, and it wore the Zouave uniform. These were its battles:
Chattanooga, Tenn., November 23, 1863; Mission Ridge, Tenn., November 24-25, 1863; Mill Creek Gap, near Dalton, Ga., May 8, 1864; Resaca, Ga., May 15-16, 1864; New Hope Church, near Dallas, Ga., May 25 to June 1, 1864; Pine Knob, Ga., June 15-16, 1864; Muddy Creek, Ga., June 17-18, 1864; Culp's Farm, Ga., June 22, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 27, 1864; Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20, 1864; Siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 22 to September 2, 1864; Siege of Savannah, Ga., December 11 to 21, 1864; Averys- boro, N. C., March 16, 1865; Bentonville, N. C., March 18-20, 1864. The Thirty-third had a total of 2,184 officers and men. Its losses, from battle, disease and from wounds, were six officers and 141 men. (For list of officers see Appendix H.)
COLONEL GEORGE W. MINDIL-CHATTANOOGA TO ATLANTA.
Organized in the summer of 1863 this regiment was composed almost exclusively of veterans from Essex, Morris, Passaic and Hudson counties, five of the ten companies being made up almost entirely of Newark men for three years or the war. It won golden laurels repeatedly, and its colonel was brevetted brigadier-general and later brevetted major-general. Indeed, during a large part of
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the period in which the regiment served he acted as a brigade commander. Its first battle was Chattanooga. There it lost Cap- tain Waldron, of Company I, killed by a sharpshooter; Captain Boggs wounded, afterwards dying from his wound; one private killed and twelve wounded. These losses were sustained in a brilliant charge. "General O. O. Howard," says one writer, "who had witnessed the gallant charge and steadiness of action, warmly complimented the command on its splendid behaviour." On May 8 the spirited attack of the Thirty-third at Mill Creek Gap, near Dalton, Georgia, had much to do with retard- ing the advance of the enemy. In this affair the regiment lost Captain Bartlett and Lieutenant Joseph L. Miller. Bartlett was succeeded by Cochrane, but he, too, fell at Pine Knob, a month later, before his commission reached him. Near New Hope Church, Georgia, the regiment lost Captain Field, mortally wounded. In the succeeding seven days, from May 25 to 31, 1864, the Thirty- third lost one officer and five men killed and twenty-seven men wounded.
"The battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 30, 1864," says one authority, "was in all respects a most desperate fight, and no regiment sustained a nobler part than the Thirty-third. Both Hooker and Geary commended the bravery of the regiment. The loss of the regiment was over seventy in killed and wounded- Lieutenants Downes, Aspen and Warren being taken prisoners by the foe, Aspen being badly wounded. * The Thirty-third left Chattanooga with over five hundred muskets, and entered Atlanta with a few over one hundred. Three hundred out of the five hundred men were either killed or wounded. It is believed that no regiment cf that army can show a similar record." Another writer said of the Thirty-third: "This regiment, in a little less than two years, traveled a distance of 2,500 miles, over 1,700 of which were accomplished by marching. It fought in fourteen battles, and engaged in over a dozen skirmishes. Although but two years in the service, the losses of battle and campaign were such that the regiment was twice filled. That the Government highly
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appreciated the services of the regiment, the number of brevets conferred upon its officers clearly show."
DRUMMER BOY MAGEE'S BRILLIANT EXPLOIT.
Out of the Thirty-third came one of the most remarkable char- acters furnished the armies of the North by Newark, William Magee. He was but eleven years old when Sumter was fired on, of poor and plain Irish parents. In 1863, when the Thirty-third was being recruited he managed to get his name on the rolls as a drummer boy. He was tall for his age, fourteen, handsome, and unusually intelligent. He was a good drummer, but, boy though he was, a far better leader of men in times of stress on the battlefield. Young Magee did not know what fear was, and he was remarkably clear-headed in action. His regiment was with the Army of the West, and after General Sherman started upon his famous "March to the Sea" in the fall of 1864, the Confederate General, with forty thousand men, laid seige to Nashville, where General Thomas's army lay in trenches. Joseph Atkinson writes in his History of Newark :
"For weeks Thomas was penned in with little prospect of relief. A garrison had been stationed by Thomas at Murfreesboro, thirty miles away. It was under the command of General Milroy, and stood in great danger of being captured. * * * At length, on December 2, 1864, it was resolved to strike a blow for deliverance. The enemy had a battery stationed on an eminence hard by. It greatly annoyed the Union troops, and it was determined to make a bold attack upon it. Magee, who, owing to illness, had been left behind in hospital by the Thirty-third, had by this time become an acting orderly to General Van Cleve. His intrepidity had long before recommended him to the notice of his superior officers, and to him now, mere stripling though he was, was given the order to lead the sortie.
"Out from the works he sallied, at the head of an Ohio regi- ment (the Eighty-first), leading the men in a gallant charge upon the battery. Nobly was the attack made, but the terrible fire of the battery drove the Ohioans back. The boy commander was repulsed, but not disheartened. His appetite for success was simply whetted. Selecting another regiment (the 174th Ohio), he moved out once more. A second time came the withering fire of the Confederate battery; but this time, fortunately, the brave youth had with him
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hearts as gallant as his own. On through the surging smoke dashed the little band. * ** * The battery, with its entire force, was captured! The victory was a brilliant one in itself, and the virtual salvation of Gilroy's garrison, likewise the first of a series of victories which ended in driving Hood out of Tennessee. Two heavy siege guns and eight hundred of the enemy, killed, wounded and captured, were the immediate fruits of Magee's mag- nificent exploit. The army and the nation rang with the praises of the Newark boy-hero. He was warmly commended for his signal gallantry by Generals Milroy, Rousseau and officers in command. From the War Department, in due time, was forwarded a medal of honor, inscribed: 'The Congress to Drummer William Magee, Com- pany C, Thirty-third Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers.'"
After the war Magee, a veteran with glowing honors at seven- teen, returned to Newark and became a waiter in a restaurant. A year or so later, through the efforts of Governor Marcus L. Ward, of New Jersey, and Governor Geary, of Pennsylvania, Magee was given a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Infantry. He failed, however, to pass the examination, as, although very bright, he had had very little opportunity for schooling. He was given another trial, and this time he was successful. But, alas, his bright star soon set. He became involved in a controversy with another officer and shot the latter so that he died. He was sent to prison, but afterward, through the efforts of Governor Ward, was pardoned out. He never recovered from the disgrace of his crime.
GOVERNOR MARCUS L. WARD, "THE SOLDIER'S FRIEND."
It was most fortunate for Newark, Essex County and for the entire State that Marcus L. Ward did not put on the blue and march forth to war, for, remaining at home he accomplished more than a host. He saw his own field for good, right here at home, and he busied himself giving as well as gathering aid for the families of those who fell at the front. The mission which he per- formed with such rare efficiency, intelligence and benevolence, won for him the profound gratitude of thousands.
" "As the struggle increased in importance and drew into the ranks of the patriot army regiment after regiment of New Jersey
1 Shaw's History of Essex and Hudson Counties, Vol. i, pp. 675, 676.
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"The Soldiers' Friend," a direct descendant of one of Newark's Founders
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troops, Marcus L. Ward saw the necessity of sustaining the families of the volunteers during their absence. Alone and unaided, he devised and carried out a system of relief, the advantages of which were felt in every county of the State. The pay of the volunteer was collected at the camp and passed over to the wife and children at home; of killed or wounded, the pension was secured; and this continued until after the close of the war, with- out a charge of any nature upon those sacred funds. Hundreds and thousands of families were preserved from want and suffering by this wise and considerate scheme, and of all the means devised to sustain the State in its patriotic efforts none was more potent than this.
THE WARD SOLDIERS' HOSPITAL-THE SOLDIERS' HOME.
"But his active efforts did not terminate here. It was through his efforts and influence with the General Government that a hos- pital for sick and wounded soldiers was established in Newark, and in view of his loyal action his name was bestowed upon it. Ward's Hospital became known as one of the best-controlled institu- tions of the kind in the country. His sanitary arrangements were fully appreciated by those best calculated to judge them.8
"These constant and unwearied services brought Governor Ward into immediate contact with Mr. Lincoln and his Cabinet, by whom he was ever regarded as justly entitled to the highest consideration. In 1862 so strongly did his services impress the Republicans of his State that he was unanimously nominated for Governor, but in the absence of the loyal soldiers of the State in the field, and in the deep depression of that memorable year, he was defeated. This did not change his unswerving loyalty or affect in the slightest degree his constant and unwearied labors for the right. In 1864 he was a delegate-at-large to the National Repub- lican Convention at Baltimore which renominated Mr. Lincoln, and in the ensuing election he was placed on the Republican ticket as a Senatorial elector.º
"The close of the war and the defeat of the Rebellion was to him a source of unmixed gratification, and it brought to him a strong personal popularity evinced upon every public occasion. As
" The Ward Hospital was located in several factory and warehouse buildings east of Centre street, and between the railroad tracks of what is now the freight station of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the river. The wounded and sick men were brought on from the front or from other hos- pitals, in trains and moved directly out of the cars into the hospital, which was opened on May 13, 1862, with bed accommodations for 1,400 patients. From the time of its opening until after the close of the war convalescent soldiers were constantly to be seen on Newark streets.
' He was a delegate to the National Convention that nominated Lincoln for his first term.
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regiment after regiment of the soldiers returned to their native State, they manifested their appreciation of 'The Soldier's Friend,' and his political opponents admitted his sincerity and patriotism. This was the happiest period of his life. In 1865 he again received the Republican nomination for Governor, and after an unusually *
exciting contest he was elected by a large majority.
"In 1864, Governor Ward was placed upon the National Repub- lican Committee, and in 1866 he was chosen chairman. In this capacity he made the preliminary arrangements for the National Convention of 1868, which nominated General Grant. He took a decided part in the campaign which followed, and his services and efforts were fully acknowledged. During a few succeeding years Governor Ward lived in comparative retirement, but was frequently called to duties of a public character. He was the first president of the Newark Industrial Exposition, and by his efforts contributed largely to its success. The 'Soldiers' Home' of Newark was orig- inally established through his exertions, and as one of its managers and treasurer he gave it constant and unwearied service. * *
"During the Presidential campaign of 1872, Governor Ward was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Sixth Dis- trict of New Jersey, and was elected by over five thousand majority. Upon taking his seat in the House of Representatives he was recog- nized as one of its most valuable members. He was placed on the Committee of Foreign Relations, where his influence was felt, and always in the direction of the public interests. Governor Ward made no pretensions to the role of a speaker, but on the few occasions when he addressed the House he commanded its atten- tion by clearly expressed views and the thorough honesty of his convictions. In 1874, Governor Ward was unanimously renom- inated for Congress, but the condition of the country was unfavor- able for success. He was defeated."
Marcus L Ward was a direct descendant of one of the founders of Newark and the family has since 1666 lived on part of the original land drawn by lot by the founder. Governor Ward's son lives in the home that has been the Ward homestead for several generations to the present (September, 1913). Governor Ward was one of the noblest characters in all Newark's history, and the city has yet to raise a proper tribute to his memory, in enduring form. For many years before the war he was the head of a soap and candle-making business at 204 Market street, where the New- ark Sunday Call is now (1913) published.
Previous to the establishment of the Soldiers' Home one of
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the hospitals of the Ward system was located on the ground, which was on the northeast corner of what are now Seventh avenue and Garside street. The latter was not then cut through, and the tract, which comprised twenty-three acres, irregular in boundaries, extended well up to what is now Park avenue. In the hospital long, low barracks, painted white, were used for hospital purposes, and the grounds were filled with soldiers on pleasant days, recovering from illness and wounds. The Soldiers' Home in Newark was given up in 1888, when the then new institution in Kearny was opened. The original home, in Newark, was known from the start as the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers, and was the first State institution of its kind to be established in the country. The fol- lowing commissioners were appointed to establish it, on April 12, 1864: Marcus L. Ward, David Haines, William A. Newell, Charles S. Olden, Edwin A. Stevens, Theodore S. Paul, the latter, declining to serve, being succeeded by R. H. Veghte. The home was opened on April 4, 1866.
NEWARK OFFICERS IN OTHER COMMANDS.
There was no arm of the service in which Newark was not rep- resented on both sea and land. Colonel Edward H. Wright (a son of Senator William Wright, Mayor of Newark in 1841, and of whom much is told in an earlier chapter) served as Major in the Sixth United States Cavalry, receiving his commission on May 14, 1861; was appointed lieutenant-colonel and aide-de-camp to Lieutenant- General Scott on June 8, 1861, and was assigned for duty as colonel and aide-de-camp to General McClellan. He saw hard service. He resigned April 25, 1863.
Another highly capable young officer was Cornelius W. Tolles, who was graduated from Princeton at nineteen, was at one time editor of a Trenton newspaper and at the opening of the war held a responsible position with the Newark Daily Advertiser. He offered his services on the first call for three months' men, and went out as a captain and acting adjutant-general on the staff of Brigadier-General Runyon, receiving his commission on July 3, 1861. Upon the return of the brigade Tolles was made a first lieutenant in
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the Thirteenth United States Infantry, his commission dating from May 14, 1861. He was presently assigned to duty as lieutenant- colonel and quartermaster, United States Volunteers. He was on General Sheridan's staff as chief quartermaster, Army of the Shen- andoah. He was brevetted colonel on November 1, 1864, and a few days later, while directing the movement of supplies, was attacked by guerillas and mortally wounded near Winchester, Virginia. He died on November 1, 1864. A short time before he had sent for his wife and little boy to visit him in camp, and about the same time he received his death wound from one guerilla band, the party of which Mrs. Tolles and the child were members was descended upon by another. The child was killed.
NEWARK MEDICAL MEN IN THE SERVICE.
Dr. Alexander N. Dougherty was made surgeon of the Fourth New Jersey on August 17, 1861; major and surgeon two weeks later. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel late in 1864, and late in 1865 received the brevet of colonel for faithful and meritorious services. He was afterwards made postmaster of Newark, serving for a short term. Dr. Gabriel Grant was surgeon of the Second New Jersey, and was promoted to the rank of major. Dr. Charles J. Kipp served as a surgeon in the volunteer army from May, 1863; was promoted to the rank of major and brevetted lieutenant-colonel in 1865 for faithful and meritorious services.
Dr. William O'Gorman, one of Newark's most able and highly esteemed physicians for a generation after the war, was a surgeon in the regular army service as early as 1851. He resigned from the army and came to Newark in 1857. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he promptly signified his readiness to uphold the Union in the field, and was appointed by Governor Olden as chief of a commission sent to Fortress Monroe to care for the wounded Jer- sey soldiers in that neighborhood.
Associated with Dr. O'Gorman on this commission were: Dr. Milton Baldwin, Dr. Edward Payson Nichols, Dr. M. C. Vail, of Newark, and Dr. J. H. Love, of Montclair. Dr. O'Gorman was in
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charge of this work at Fortress Monroe for about two years. He was County Physician of Essex for two terms and then resigned because of his heavy private practice. He was medical director of St. Michael's Hospital for many years from its beginning ; and was, virtually, its founder.
Dr. Andrew M. Mills was born at Morristown, attended New- ark Academy and Bloomfield Academy, studied medicine at the University of Vermont and returned to Newark to practice his profession. He was surgeon-in-charge of the Ward United States Army Hospital here in Newark, from its institution to its discon- tinuance. Dr. Frederick B. Mandeville, Dr. Milton Baldwin, Dr. Edgar Holden, Dr. Betheuel Lewis Dodd of Orange, Joseph D. Osborne, William S. Ward, all served for longer or shorter terms in the Ward Hospital.
Dr. John H. Breintnall went out from Newark as an assistant surgeon in the navy and saw arduous service in the South Atlantic blockading squadron.
Dr. John Duane Brumley, of this city, while an acting assistant surgeon in the Wilderness campaign, was taken a prisoner and con- fined for a short time in Libby prison. Later he became a full assistant surgeon.
Dr. Edgar Holden was graduated from Princeton in 1859 and got his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, in 1861. He entered the service immediately, and after a short period of military hospital practice was assigned to the frigate "Minnesota" as assistant surgeon. He watched the terrible inroads made upon the fleet at Hampton Roads by the Confederate ironclad "Merrimac" and witnessed the epoch-making triumph of the "Monitor" over the death-dealing ram. He was soon after acting fleet surgeon, and for this service was promoted. After faithful and efficient service on both land and sea, Dr. Holden was, in the summer of 1864, placed in command of the medical department of the James River squadron. He resigned later, being concerned about his health, and for the remainder of the war served as an assistant surgeon in the Ward Hospital here.
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Dr. Charles F. J. Lehlbach, of this city, served through a goodly portion of the war as a surgeon and for a time was an assistant surgeon with the Seventh New Jersey Infantry.
Dr. John Milton Rand, who did not come to Newark until 1866, was for a time executive medical officer of the Tenth Army Corps field hospital and was in charge of the military hospital at Rich- mond after the surrender. He was executive medical officer with General Weitzel's expedition to Texas.
Dr. William A. Smith, while serving as surgeon to the One Hundred and Third New York Infantry, was desperately wounded. He recovered and returned to the colors, and after the battle of Olustee in Florida had under his immediate care no less than fif- teen hundred wounded men. He did not come to Newark until after the war.
Dr Charles W. Stickney went to the front from Pompton Plains, where he had begun the practice of medicine, in 1863, as assistant surgeon with the Thirty-third New Jersey Infantry. He was attached to the Twentieth Army Corps hospital during Sher- man's March to the Sea, and when the army reached the Savannah River was placed in charge of the sick and wounded of Major General Slocum's column. He returned to the practice of his pro- fession soon after the war, locating in this city.
A brief account of the distinguished services of Dr. Sanford B. Hunt is given in Chapter XXX.
CAMP FRELINGHUYSEN.
Camp Frelinghuysen occupied a large tract of open country on the western bank of the Morris Canal, west of what is now Branch Brook Park, extending from near the tracks of the Morris and Essex Railroad, well up toward Bloomfield avenue, and for a considerable distance west. The present North Seventh Street School is said to stand on ground that was within the camp. A fence enclosed it. Just before Memorial Day, 1912, the pupils of Barringer High School unveiled a bronze tablet fastened to a boulder provided by the Essex County Park Commission, in Branch
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