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 9
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Chaplain Chambre was pastor of the First Universalist Church, then located at 49 Fair street, now Lafayette street.
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One report had it at the time, that both President Lincoln and General Scott said that the First Regiment were the finest body of men they had yet seen among the military.
The brigade crossed the Potomac into Virginia on the 24th and 25th of May. On the heights, in the direction of Alexandria, the Jersey regiments threw up the first fortifications erected by the Union troops on Southern soil. The Bull Run or Manassas campaign began on July 16 and ended on July 22, 1861, the ill- starred battle of Bull Run being fought on July 21. The Jersey regiments were not in the fight, but held their positions in reserve throughout the engagement, and afterwards were most useful in stopping the stampede of the panic stricken fugitives. The regi- ments' terms of enlistment now being up, they were mustered out in Washington on July 24 and 25, delivered up their arms and equipment to the federal authorities in Washington and returned home. The Rev. George H. Doane was appointed brigade chaplain on May 10 by Governor Charles S. Olden, and served with the brigade from that time until it was mustered out.
THOUSANDS EAGER TO ENLIST.
Within two days after Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men, practically every company of the First Regiment had reported that its members were ready to take up arms in defense of the country. In fact, the rush to enlist at that time was so great that a number of additional regiments might have been manned from Essex County alone. "In some cases," said one writer at the time, "whole companies which had been recruited under the first call, finding that there was no probability of acceptance as a part of the quota of New Jersey, were transferred to New York and became a part of the Excelsior Brigade of New York and other organiza- tions which subsequently achieved great distinction."
As a matter of fact, Newark furnished men for nearly every regiment enlisted in the State during the war, and hundreds went from New Jersey to other commands. The Adjutant-General of New Jersey, in his report for 1863, said: "Large numbers of our
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citizens were obliged to seek service elsewhere, because the Gov- ernor could not accept them from the State; they may be found by companies in the Excelsior Brigade, Irish Brigade, Hawkins' Zouaves and other New York organizations, and some other organi- zations from Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. These men preferred to enlist in New Jersey regiments, but the general government positively refused to accept them from this State,"
It was estimated, soon after the war, that Newark sent into the struggle fully ten thousand men. In his "New Jersey in the Rebellion," published in 1868, the late John Y. Foster wrote of the New Jersey troops: "No soldiers in all the armies of the Republic fought with grander courage, or clung more steadfastly or with loftier faith to the cause than those who in every combat were girt about with memories of Princeton and Monmouth, and strength- ened by the love of liberty that nowhere grows more robustly than on those revolutionary fields. Whether in the East or West, on the march or in the thick of battle; whether leading a forlorn hope or toiling in the trenches, New Jersey troops were found always brave, patient, faithful, obedient."
It is impossible in a work of this scope to give in detail the movements of the several Newark commands. This information may be obtained by the student in Foster's work referred to in the above paragraph, in Shaw's "History of Essex and Hudson Coun- ties," in "New Jersey Troops in the Gettysburg Campaign" by the late Samuel Toombs of Orange, and in "Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, Compiled in the Office of Adjutant- General William S. Stryker, and Published by the Authority of the Legislature, 1876," and in other works. The achievements of the Newark or part-Newark regiments in the field will be in a measure brought out in the brief sketches of some of the men of Newark whose prowess richly entitles them to special mention.
THE SECOND REGIMENT.
On May 3, 1861, President Lincoln, having by that time come to realize that the war was to be far more than a three-months'
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affair, called for more men, to serve for three years or during the war, and on May 17 New Jersey was informed that her quota of this, the second enlistment, would be three regiments. This levy was almost instantly filled, as many companies that had organized in anticipation of being placed with the first call were still un- attached to any regiment.
The Second Regiment of this, known as the First Jersey Bri- gade, had for its nucleus Companies A, B, C and D, of the Newark City Battalion of militia, which for years had borne a high reputa- tion for proficiency in drill and soldierly bearing. There were also two companies composed of Germans under Captain Albert Sigel, a brother of General Franz Sigel, and Captain Charles Wiebecke; a company from Belleville (Company F) ; two companies from Elizabeth and one from Paterson. Captain Toler of the Mont- gomery Guards made a public statement in which he asserted that his company had been refused a place in the Second Regiment because of politics, precedence being given to a company but three weeks organized, while his command had borne an excellent reputa- tion in Newark for ten years. He proceeded to New York with his men and they became Company E in the Second Regiment (Seventy-First New York) in Sickles' famous Excelsior Brigade. The following companies from hereabouts joined the Excelsiors about the same time: Company F, First Regiment, Captain J. McCawley of Newark; Company K, First Regiment, Captain Fred- erick T. R. Gruett ; Company D, Second Regiment, Captain William Leonard, Newark; Company F, Third Regiment (Seventy-Second New York), Captain Owen Murphy, Orange. Leonard was to become major and later lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. All four companies acquitted themselves most creditably in the field. For a time the Excelsior Brigade had a recruiting station here.
THE SECOND'S BATTLE LIST.
The Second, with the rest of the brigade, left Trenton on June 28, and reached Washington the next day. It saw little service at the first battle of Bull Run, but immediately after this fight was sent into Virginia and made its camp at Alexandria.
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The Second was to see the hardest kind of service, from the Penin- sula campaign of the spring of 1862 until Appomattox and Lee's surrender. Here is a list of the engagements in which it partici- pated :
West Point, Va., May 7, 1862; Golden's Farm, Va., June 26, 1862; Gaines' Mills, Va., June 27, 1862; Charles City Cross Roads, Va., June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 1862; Manassas, Va., August 27, 1862; Chantilly, Va., Sept. 1, 1862; Crampton's Pass, Md., Sept. 14, 1862; Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., December 13, 14, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., May 3, 1863; Salem Heights, Va., May 3 and 4, 1863; Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 and 3, 1863; Fairfield, Va., July 5, 1863; Williamsport, Md., July 6, 1863; Funktown, Md., July 12, 1863; Rappahannock Station, Va., November 7, 1863; Mine Run, Va., November 30, 1863; Wilderness, Va., May 5 to 7, 1864; Spottsylvania, Va., May 8 to 10, 1864; Spott- sylvania Court House, Va., May 12 to 16, 1864; North and South Anna River, May 24, 1864; Hanover Court House, Va., May 29, 1864; Tolopotomy Creek, Va., May 30 and 31, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June 1 to 3, 1864; before Petersburg, Va. (Weldon Railroad), June 23, 1864; Snickers Gap, Va., July 18, 1864; Strasburg, Va., August 15, 1864; Winchester, Va., August 17, 1864; Charlestown, Va., August 21, 1864; Opequa, Va., Sept. 19, 1864; Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 21 and 22, 1864; New Market, Va., Sept. 24, 1864; Mt. Jackson, Va., Sept. 25, 1864; Cedar Creek and Middletown, Va., October 19, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Va., February 5, 1865; Fort Steadman, Va., March 25, 1865; Capture of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865; Sailors Creek, Va., April 6, 1865; Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865; Lee's Surrender (Appomattox, Va.), April 9, 1865.
It is truly a noble list. The regiment needs little further com- mendation to any thinking American of any generation who has made himself even superficially familiar with the campaigns of the Civil War. There were 2,198 officers and men in the regiment throughout its entire term of service. The losses by disease, in battle and from wounds was: 9 officers, 151 men.$
GENERAL PHILIP KEARNY.
The Second New Jersey Infantry, as already told, was recruited largely in Newark. It had the honor to form a part of the cele- brated Kearny Brigade, which he commanded from late in July,
" Sco Appendix H for list of officers of this and the succeeding Newark regiments.
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1861, until the spring of 1862, when he was made a division com- mander. He had once refused that honor because he could not take his Jersey Brigade with him into his new command, which, naturally, deepened the devotion of his men. Later he was again offered a division, and accepted on the ground that it was his duty to accept. He had no patience with the deliberate tactics of Gen- eral Mcclellan. He was brave to the point of recklessness. He was at one time strongly recommended to succeed Mcclellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. It is believed by many men still living that he would have been given that high post had it not been for his death when in the act of making a reconnoisance, which should have been made by a subaltern, at Chantilly, Sep- tember 1, 1862. It has even been said, although not yet perhaps fully proven, that President Lincoln had actually signed Kearny's commission as Mcclellan's successor. Opinions have long differed as to whether Kearny, at the head of the Army of the Potomac, would have been a success. Officers of distinction have contended that it would have brought nothing but disaster. Others have. been equally insistent that Kearny would have pushed on and into Richmond and ended the war long, long before its actual close. Certain it is, however, that Kearny was one of the most inspiring and dramatic figures in the early period of the war.
General Kearny was born in New York City on June 2, 1815, while his mother was visiting relatives, at No. 1 Broadway, of an old family that originated in Ireland, his ancestors coming to the Perth Amboy region in the seventeenth century. General Kearny's father and mother lived in Newark, in what was known as the Kearny Homestead, which was razed to make room for the Newark State Normal School, at Belleville and Fourth avenues and Broad street. At the northern end of the Normal School enclosure, front- ing Belleville avenue, and setting a little back from the thorough- fare, is a tablet, erected by the Newark Board of Education, which bears the following inscription :
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Reproduced from John Y. Foster's "New Jersey and the Rebellion"
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Major General Philip Kearny Spent Most of His Youth in the Kearny Homestead Which Stood on this Spot. The Wall Beneath this Tablet was Part of the Homestead. He Entered the Army in 1837
As Second Lieutenant in the First Dragoons.
Was Sent to France in 1839 by the United
States Government to Examine the French Cavalry Service and Report. Served in the French Army in Algiers in
1839-40, Winning the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Took Part in the Mexican War
Where He lost His Arm and Was Brevetted for Bravery.
D.O. m M
Commanded an Expedition Against the Indians on the Columbia River.
Fought with the French at Solferino
in 1859 and for Bravery Was a Second Time Decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Was Appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers at the Outbreak of the Civil War and Was Given Command of the First New Jersey Brigade. Distinguished Himself in the Peninsular Campaign. Became Major General in 1862.
Was Killed in Battle at Chantilly, Va., September, 1862. "The Bravest Man I Ever Saw and the Most Perfect Soldier."-General Scott.
Erected by the Newark Board of Education, 1912.
In General Kearny's boyhood the estate ran down to the Passaic and continued on the other side of the river, where the General, a few years before the Civil War, built his "castle," modeled after a French chateau, on the ground where brave old Peter Schuyler, the New Jersey hero of the French and Indian wars, had his home. Upon Kearny's return from his campaigns abroad he brought his war horses with him, and it is a tradition that they were exercised daily over the broad acres east of the old Homestead and along the river bank.
General Kearny's body was brought into the Union lines by a guard of Confederates, who treated it with the highest possible
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respect. The Confederates had unbounded admiration for his bravery, calling him the "One-Armed Devil." All that remained of this remarkable soldier was then transported to Newark and to his castle across the river. On the day of the funeral it was borne away from the castle with his war horse bearing the empty saddle, across Bridge street bridge, along Broad street, down Market, and to Jersey City by way of the old Plank Road, thence to New York, where it was interred in Trinity Churchyard on Broadway. The remains were exhumed in the spring of 1912 and re-interred in the National Cemetery, Arlington, near Washington, D. C., with impressive ceremonial. As the body passed through Newark, in 1862, the flags on all city buildings were at half mast and a military and civic funeral procession accompanied the remains, by order of a special resolution of the Common Council.
COLONEL ISAAC M. TUCKER.
Colonel Isaac M. Tucker, for whom one of Newark's Grand Army posts is named, was the Second Regiment's second colonel, he succeeding Colonel George W. McLean in January, 1862. He was killed in action at Gaines' Mills, Virginia, on June 27, 1862. On that day Tucker was ordered to relieve a full regiment on the further side of the Chickahominy, with but four companies. This the little command strove to do. Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel L. Buck wrote in his report:
"Soon the superior numbers of the enemy enabled him to turn their flanks; under this cross fire the remaining few, headed by Colonel Tucker, assisted by Major Ryerson, Captains Bishop and Tay, and Lieutenant Buckley, rallied around the colors, when a shower of balls poured upon the small force, wounding our brave Colonel in the breast. Lieutenant Root, of Company K, attempted to carry him off the field, when another volley wounded the Lieu- tenant in three places and the Colonel in two. He soon breathed his last, and it became necessary to abandon his remains. Sergeant Charles Pierson, of Company H, remained with the Colonel until the last, thoughtfully removing his papers. This fire also wounded the Major in the bowels, and he was left on the field with three men of Company I, who gallantly refused to leave him.
"Captain Danforth, of Company I, received his death wound early in the engagement while gallantly leading his men. Where
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all behaved so well, it appears almost invidious to mention names, but admiration of the cool courage of Colonel Tucker and other officers named is the universal sentiment of eye-witnesses. Adju- tant Cook rendered efficient service in carrying orders, and had his horse shot under him.
"Colonel Tucker, who fell while rallying his men, was cool and brave to the last. To one who spoke to him as his command entered the woods on that fatal day, he smilingly said: 'It is rather hot in there, and some of us will never come out, but the Jersey boys will do their duty.' When some of his men were carrying him to the rear he said: 'Don't mind me, but go ahead and give it to them.' Major Henry O. Ryerson, of the Second, also displayed the same unshrinking courage. As his men were being forced back, inch by inch, he rushed to the colors and waving his sword, called to them to rally around him, and as they did so, he was shot down. Corporal James Marshall stood by the colors, bearing them defiantly aloft, until it was impossible longer to hold out, when, tearing them from the staff, he buried them out of sight.
"In this heroic act, Marshall was assisted by Corporal Mauvel, of Company I, and Jesse Conover, of Company K, who stood by him when the regiment was ordered to fall back. After perform- ing this act, they laid down, and just then Marshall had his thumb shot off, and Conover was struck by a spent ball, which did no injury. By this time the rebels came up and captured them; and the next day they were taken to Richmond. Major Ryerson, of the Second, who was also taken prisoner, remained on the battle- field ten days, receiving little sustenance or care, although badly wounded.
* "Colonel Isaac M. Tucker, when he fell at the post of duty, was some thirty years of age, and on the threshold, comparatively, of his military career. He entered the service as Lieutenant- Colonel of the Second Regiment, but from the first, owing to the incapacity or indifference of the commanding officer, was practi- cally the controlling spirit of the command. He possessed fine soldierly accomplishments, having been for many years connected with the military organizations of Newark, and was in some respects peculiarly fitted for the position to which he was soon advanced, as Colonel of his regiment. * In personal cour- age, fertility of resource, and readiness of apprehension, Colonel Tucker had few superiors; and from the first, his eminent social qualities, joined with his high intellectual attainments, made him a favorite with the best class of officers in the field. Before enter- ing the service, he had been prominently identified for some years with the political movements of his State, exerting especially in
* Shaw's History of Essex and Hudson Counties, Vol. i, pp. 64, 65.
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his own city, a commanding influence in the party to which he belonged; and had he remained in civil life, many honors must
undoubtedly have been his. * * * He fell, as brave men choose to fall, with his face to the foe, fighting with a bare handful of men against overwhelming numbers; and his memory is revered by all who knew him as he was, and how much he sacrificed in the country's cause. Frequent attempts have been made to recover his remains, but all without success."
COLONEL SAMUEL L. BUCK.
Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel L. Buck became the regiment's head upon the death of Colonel Ryerson, but did not receive his commission until July 1, 1862. He retired from the service on July 21, 1864, honorably discharged. Colonel Buck was born of Revolutionary stock, at Bethel, Vermont, June 8, 1820. He made his home in Newark in the 1840's and was for a number of years an officer in the Newark City Battalion. He was in command of the brigade to which his regiment was attached, at the battle of Salem Heights and had his shoulder dislocated by his horse falling upon him. He was sent to Washington for treatment and while there was assigned to court martial duty. When Lee began the second invasion which terminated in the battle of Gettysburg, Colonel Buck asked leave to rejoin his regiment. This was granted, and he had charge of it in the great combat and throughout the remainder of the campaign. General A. T. A. Torbert, in his report upon the battle of Crampton's Gap, September 14, 1862, was "pleased to make particular mention" of the gallantry of Colonel Buck of the Second.
The Second Regiment and the entire First New Jersey Brigade fought in this fight at Crampton's Gap with spendid valor, making a dashing charge up the side of a steep mountain." "At the word of command the Jersey Blues darted up the rocky slopes against the enemy in the face of a perfect storm of cannon balls and rifle bullets, and not only drove him from his position but captured nearly the whole of Cobb's Legion, a valorous body of picked men, and upon whose banner, also captured, was this inscription : 'Cobb's
' Atkinson's History of Newark. p. 267.
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Legion-in the name of the Lord.' The Jersey Brigade lost 174 killed and wounded, the Second Regiment losing 13 killed and 42 wounded. In general orders Torbert highly complimented the bri- gade. 'Your advance in line of battle,' said he, 'under a galling artillery fire, and final bayonet charge, was a feat seldom if ever surpassed. You have sustained the reputation of your State, and done great credit to your officers and yourselves.'"
In the battle of Salem Heights, where Colonel Buck, as already told, was in command of the brigade, the brigade achieved, accord- ing to the report of one officer, "imperishable fame," and he espe- cially commended four companies of the Second Regiment, "who, at the command of their officer, bravely faced an overwhelming force, and cooly received their deadly fire, thus enabling the regi- ment in the rear to re-form and hold the army in check." Private Richard M. Blake of Company C, Second Regiment, was especially mentioned for his "gallant and noble conduct in the engagement." In the battles of the Wilderness the regiment bore itself most creditably. Lieutenant-Colonel Wiebecke, of the Second, was killed in a successful assault upon the Galt House. "By superior merit," says Atkinson, in his History of Newark, "this noble German rose from a captaincy, and, with his face to the foe, met a hero's death in the cause of his adopted country."
COLONEL JAMES N. DUFFY.
Colonel James N. Duffy went to the front with the Second Regiment as captain of Company C. He was promoted major and, on September 14, 1862, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Third New Jersey. He received his commission as colonel of the Fourth after the battle of Gettysburg, but as that command had fallen below the minimum of numbers, he could not be mustered, and he returned to the Third Regiment, being mustered out with it as lieutenant-colonel. During the battle of Gettysburg he served on the staff of General H. G. Wright, his duties being those of act- ing assistant inspector-general. In 1886 Colonel Duffy was made a member of the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission of New Jersey, and became its president.
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THE EIGHTH REGIMENT.
The next regiment to go forth from Newark was the Eighth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, largely made up of the First Regi- ment of Runyon's Brigade of three months' men. This regiment, when the second call for troops came, offered its services, while still in the field as the First, direct to the federal government, asking only that it might be permitted to return to Newark in order to recruit to maximum strength. The offer was accepted, the Secretary of War stating that it was the only instance at that time of a regiment in the field offering its services for three years. It was one of the four regiments comprising the Second New Jersey Brigade, and was organized under an act of Congress approved July 22, 1861. By September 14, 1861, the Eighth was ready for the front and was mustered in on that day, at Camp Olden, Trenton. When its three years expired a large number of its men re-enlisted in the field for three years more or the war. For a time it was reduced to a battalion and in 1864 was reorganized and regained its regimental footing. It has left behind it a splendid record. It suffered terribly both from bullets and disease, and on its glorious roster are the names of some of the best soldiers of the volunteer army. Here is its battle list:
Siege of Yorktown, April and May, 1862; Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862; Fair Oaks, Va., June 1 and 2, 1862; Seven Pines, Va., June 25, 1862; Savage Station, Va., June 29, 1862; Glendale, Va., June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, 1862, and August 5, 1862; Bristow Station, Va., August 27, 1862; Bull Run, Va., August 29 and 30, 1862; Chantilly, Va., September 1, 1862; Centreville, Va., September 2, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., December 13 and 14, 1862; Chancellorsville, Va., May 3 and 4, 1863; Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 and 3, 1863; Wapping Heights, July 24, 1863; McLean's Ford, Va., October 15, 1863; Mine Run, Va., November 29, 30, and December 1, 1863; Wilderness, Va., May 5-7, 1864; Spottsylvania, Va., May 8-11, 1864; North Anna River, Va., May 23, 24, 1864; Tolopotomy Creek, Va., May 30 and 31, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June 1-5, 1864; before Petersburg, Va., June 16-23, 1864; Deep Bottom, Va., June 26, 27, 1864; Mine Explosion (The Crater), near Petersburg, Va., July 3, 1864; north bank of James River, Va., August 14-18, 1864; Fort Sedgwick, Va., September 10, 1864; Poplar Spring Church, Va., October 2, 1864; Boydton Plank Road, Va., October 27, 1864;
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Fort Morton, Va., November 5, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Va., February 5-7, 1865; Armstrong House, Va., March 25, 1865; Boydton Plank Road (capture of Petersburg), April 2, 1865; Farmsville, Va., April 6, 7, 1865; Amelia Springs, Va., April 6, 1865; Appomattox, April 9, 1865. The regiment had a total of 2,795 officers and men. The losses by disease, in battle, and by wounds, were: 10 officers, 274 men. (For list of the regiment's officers see Appendix H.)
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