USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > Historic days in Cumberland County, New Jersey, 1855-1865 : political and war time reminiscences > Part 7
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"It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins, and pray for clemency and forgiveness."
The nation on its knees before God-such was Mr. Lincoln's wish. It was answered from every hearth and home in the land. The pulpit was eloquent with fervency -- the people prayed with tears, and as did Jacob of old, wres- tled with the Lord until the break of day.
It was Peniel over again. Verily, the nation had seen God face to face, and its life was preserved.
Just a little more darkness, then there was to be light. General Joe Hooker, successor to Burnside, fought the bat- tle of Chancellorsville, May 3 and 4. 1863, and was re- pulsed. The Confederates suffered a serious loss, however. in the death of Stonewall Jackson, one of their best and most skillful leaders.
The result at Chancellorsville so encouraged General Robert E. Lee, the Confederate commander, that he began an advance through Maryland into Pennsylvania with the object of carrying the war into the North.
Early in June the Bridgeton companies enlisted in the nine months regiments returned home because of expiration of their term of service. They had bravely fought in the two great battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. With depleted ranks they received a royal welcome and the plaudits of the people.
July 1, 2 and 3 the great decisive battle of Gettysburg, Pa., was fought. For three days 160,000 men were en- gaged in mortal combat. When the sun went down on the evening of the third day 57,000 men lay upon the field, killed and wounded. 39 per cent. of the two armies whose
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utmost strength had been fully tested in that awful en- counter. Six hundred cannon on the Union side alone vol- lied and thundered. Campbell's description of Hohenlinden was eclipsed-
"Then shook the hills with thunder riven, Then rushed the steed to battle driven, And louder than the bolts of heaven Far flashed the red artillery."
Down the declivity from Seminary Ridge, through the open fields, came Pickett's splendid division of brave Con- federates. By double platoons, column upon column, as numerous as the leaves of the forest. The glistening bay- onets of the Confederate host shone brightly in the Summer sun. Flags flying, bands playing, bravely forward they marched. Not a sound stirred the air. while the column ad- vanced nearer and nearer. Face to face with the Union position, the solemn stillness was broken by the sound of battle. From behind the stone wall rose the Union line. and poured a deadly fire into the gray breasts of the oncom- ing foe. Infantry and cavalry joined in the onslaught -musketry and sabre crashed, lunged and parried, while "furious every charger neighed to join the dreadinl revelry."
The gallant columns melted away again and again, immediately to return the charge, only to at last disappear in the debris and carnage of that Satanic field.
With Schiller-
Nearer they close-toes upon foes,
"Ready"-from square to square it goes.
Down on the knee they sank.
And the fire comes sharp from the foremost rank -.
Many a man to the earth it sent.
Many a gap by the balls is rent --
O'er the corpse before springs the hinder-man.
That the line may not fail to the fearless van,
To the right, to the left, and wherever ye gaze, Goes the Dance of Death in its whirling maze God's sunlight is quenched in the fiery fight. Over the hosts falls a broading Night!
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Twilight deepened. The rain came down in a pitiless shower upon the upturned faces of the countless dead and their wounded comrades. Darkness fell with the Union Army resting upon its arms, uncertain as to with whose eagles the victory rested, waiting patiently for the coming day.
The morning dawns-it was the glorious Fourth of July. Far away in the distance Lee's mutilated regiments were disappearing through the mists of the South Moun- tains. The Confederate prestige was broken, never to be restored-the war for the Union was not a failure.
"The charge, the dreadful cannonade, The din and shout are passed-"
The wheat field, the peach orchard, Cemetery Hill and Round Top are red with the blood of patriots. Precious blood ! Glorious victory ! Historic field-Mecca for the com- ing generations.
On a sunny slope of the great battlefield at Gettys- burg, Pa., stands a granite monument in memory of the heroic deeds performed there on the 2d and 3d days of July, 1863, by the Twelfth New Jersey Regiment, Infantry, Vol- unteers. This monument, located on the Gettysburg Road, now called Round Top Avenue, is of durable stone, twelve feet. six inches in height. It is in the centre of the position of the regiment as occupied on those eventful days. The base of the monument is four feet, eight inches square, and two feet high. The sub-base is three feet. eight inches square and eighteen inches high, and contains this inscrip- tion: "Second Brigade. Third Division, Second Corps," on three sides. The die is two feet, eight inches square, by four feet, ten inches. in height, polished on the two faces fronting Round Top Avenue, inscribed as follows :
'In memory of the men of the Twelfth Regiment New Jersey Infantry, Volunteers, who fell upon this field, July
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WAR TIME PICTURES-1-62-1-65 Officers Twelfth Regiment New Jersey Inf. Vo's. Col_ J. Howard Willetts Lieut -Col. Richard S Thompson Major William E. Potter Lieut .- Col. Edward M Du Bois Capt Frank M Riley Regimental Monument at Gettysburg, Pa.
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2d and 3. 1863. and who elsewhere died under the flag, this monument is dedicated by their surviving comrades as an example to future generations." On the second face :
"Buck and Ball, Calibre .69."
"This regiment made two separate charges on the Bliss Barn, and captured it."
On the base there is also a picture in bronze of the charge upon the Bliss Barn. The capstone is surmounted by a pedestal, upon which is a representation of the missiles so effectively used by the regiment in repelling the charge of the enemy-buck and ball.
In addition to this beautiful monument, the Twelfth New Jersey Regiment also has a marker near the site of the Bliss Barn. This marker is a massive piece of granite, ten feet, three inches in height : three feet, nine inches wide, and two feet thick, extending into the ground five feet, and weighing about eight tons. On the top of this marker are two carved crossed bayonets and corps badge, and "12th N. J. Vols." in raised letters. On the front is the following in- scription :
"Erected by the State of New Jersey, 1888, in honor of the Twelfth Regiment of Volunteers, a detachment of which, in the afternoon of July 2. 1863. charged the Bliss house and barn here, capturing the enemy's reserve of seven officers and eighty-five men stationed therein."
On the rear of the tablet is the following :
"On the morning of July 3d. another detachment of the regiment charged. capturing the buildings, one officer and one man, and driving back the skirmish reserve. The regiment lost in their charges sixty officers and men."
Thus, in enduring granite, is told the story of the gal- lant work of one of the best New Jersey regiments, in the most tremendous struggle of the Civil War. It was here that it met the Confederate General Pettigrew's onslaught in the advance known as Pickett's charge, and stood like
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a solid rock-a barrier for the Union. The strength of the regiment, on the 2d day of July, was about four hundred men. It was armed with the Springfield smooth-bore mus- ket, calibre .69, a terrible weapon at close range. Lieutenant- Colonel William E. Potter, in his address at Gettysburg, on the dedication of the monument, May 26th, 1886, said that : "The men were young, well disciplined, of respectable parentage. in comfortable circumstances, and almost solely of native birth. In the entire regiment, as originally mus- tered-one thousand strong-there were but seventy-two men of foreign nativity, and these were, almost without ex- ception, faithful soldiers. The men had the confidence of their officers, who were, in turn, very generally trusted and respected by their men. The usual cartridge of the Spring- field musket carried a large ball and three buckshot, but many of the men, while awaiting the enemy's advance, had opened their boxes and prepared special cartridges of from ten to twenty-five buckshot alone. It was the only regiment in the division bearing the arms mentioned, and I doubt whether anywhere upon that field a more destructive fire was encountered than blazed forth from its front."
Part of this regiment, composed of such splendid native fighting material, was Company K, enlisted at Bridgeton, the shire town of Cumberland County, New Jersey. Be- hind a stone wall, which in the Gettysburg country sepa- rated the farms from the road, which ran a distance of about three hundred and fifty yards, serving as a line fence, Gen- eral Smyth's Brigade of the Second Corps lay, with the Twelfth New Jersey on the right, the First Delaware to the left, the Fourteenth Connecticut next. As Generals Petti- grew and Armistead, of Pickett's Division, moved upon the Union line with magnificent front, Company K. made up of the honest yoemanry of Cumberland County, of whose brilliant action on the historic field at Gettysburg history has made no mistake, waited upon the ground for the word of command to fire. When the order rang out, the boys from Cumberland joined with their comrades in withering
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volleys of buck and ball into the faces of the advancing foe. Three times did Pickett's Division advance, only to recede with decimated ranks. Column on column of Confederates had gone to their death before the deadly fusilade of shot and shell from the Union line; the field ran red with blood, the dead and dying lay in row upon row, as far as the eye could reach when the lifted smoke gave opportunity to ob- serve the dreadful scene. As the assault continued, one gal- lant Confederate in the van of the assaulting column placed his foot upon the stone wall, bravely carrying the Confeder- ate colors. He was a member of General Pettigrew's Divi- sion, and a stalwart North Carolinian. and it is the testimony of the living remnant of Company K to-day-about thirty in number, now, with whom the writer has long had personal acquaintance-that to the soldiers of North Carolina, under the gallant Pettigrew, belongs the honor and glory of hav- ing gone farthest into the Union lines at Gettysburg-a credit that has often been denied them by writers whose hasty productions have done gross injustice to the brave men from the old North State, who in many battles of the Civil War brought victory to the Confederate arms on fields which might otherwise have been lost. The New Jersey soldiers who met the soldiers of North Carolina on that bloody field, face to face, remember their sterling qualities as American soldiers on the wrong side of a great issue ; but, nevertheless. Americans still.
The afternoon of July 2d, 1863, at Gettysburg, brought still greater honors to the Twelfth Regiment. The five centre companies were ordered to charge the Bliss barn, which stood in the open field, some distance from the stone wall. The barn was occupied by Confederate sharpshoot- ers, who were picking off the Union soldiers wherever a head appeared. In this charge. Captain Frank M. Riley, of Bridgeton, then in command of Company F, took an im- portant part, bravely leading his men to the attack. The assault was successful. the barn captured. and a large number of prisoners taken. The companies were soon
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obliged to abandon the barn, and fall back with their prison- ers to the stone wall again, owing to a heavy Confederate fire. On the morning of July 3d, a second charge of the re- maining five companies of the regiment was ordered. This charge was gallantly led by Captain Richard S. Thompson. of Company K, Bridgeton. The barn was again captured, and a few more prisoners taken. The Confederates rallied and began to surround the barn, when the companies fell back to the stone wall. When the order to retire rang out, Sergeant Aaron Terry, of Company K, a native of Downe Township, Cumberland County, a noble fellow, and Private John J. Boone, of Company A, were engaged in firing from the main floor above the basement, in which they had got comfortably fixed. They immediately returned to the base- ment of the barn to rejoin their comrades, when they found themselves alone. Their fellow-soldiers were nearly back to their old position on the Emmettsburg Road. A line of Confederates perhaps seventy-five yards long could be seen behind a fence on each side of the field through which Terry and Boone must pass to reach safety in the Union lines. A glance disclosed the fact that they must run for their lives or submit to capture. Accordingly, they started for the Union position on a double-quick. The attention of the Confederates being on the main body of Federals which had just escaped them, they did not discover the two Jerseymen until they were about two-thirds of the way through their lines. Then suddenly came the challenge, sharp and short : "Halt, you Yankees!" But the command was not obeyed. It only added fleetness to the sprinters. Bullets flew like hail 'round and about the runners, whist- ling about their ears, striking the ground in every direction, but neither Terry nor Boone were hit. Fortune had favored them, and they arrived safely at the position occupied by their comrades at the stone wall, very happy over their close escape from death. That night, however. Sergeant Terry was captured on the picket line, and his heroic soul departed this life of disease and starvation at the Confeder- ate prison, Andersonville, Georgia. The casualties in Com-
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pany K during the two sanguinary days at Gettysburg were: Killed-Simon W. Creamer, Henry S. Sockwell ; wounded-Daniel H. Carman ( who afterwards died at Field Hospital), William H. Dickson, Charles IT. Simpkins, Bloomfield Spencer, Samuel Tomlinson; missing-Aaron Terry, Thomas C. Galloway. Theophilus Sutton.
Many were the gallant deeds performed by members of Company K at Gettysburg, and many were the hair- breadth escapes from instant death. Each member took meri- torious part in that fiercest contest of the war, and to each and all belongs the meed of praise for patriotic service well done-a record of which the County of Cumberland will be very proud throughout the generations which are to come.
Late telegrams brought to the good people of the town of Bridgeton great news in the early afternoon and even- ing of July 4th, 1863. The telegrams posted in front of the Post Office said that the rebel General Pemberton had surrendered the fortress at Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Gen- eral Grant, with 32,000 prisoners and 200 cannon, and that General Robert E. Lee. with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, had been disastrously defeated in a three days' fight at Gettysburg, Pa .. and was on the retreat, General George G. Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, having killed. wounded and taken prisoners 35,000 of the Confederates.
The first telegram read as follows:
"WAAR DEPARTMENT.
WASHINGTON, July 4, 1863, 10 A. M.
The President announces to the country that news from the Army of the Potomac, up to 10 o'clock P. M. of the 3d, is such as to cover that army with the highest honor, to promise a great success in the cause of the Union, and to claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen : and that for this he specially desires that on this day He whose will. not ours, should ever be done, be everywhere remem- bered and ever reverenced with profoundest gratitude.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN."
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WAR TIME PICTURES-1962-14. Group Company K. Twelfth Reg. N. J. Inf. Vols.
Thomas S. Green Serg. Charles S. Padgett George McHenry
Thomas H. Conover
George Laws
Samuel H. Tomlinson
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No sooner had the news arrived than the bell on Gross- cup's Hall began to ring vigorously. The melodious bells on the First Presbyterian Church Session House, the Second Presbyterian Church, the West Jersey Academy, joined in the tumult, and far and near rang out peals of victory. The old six-pounder, which had done good service in celebra- tions of by-gone years, was brought out and fired a salute on the banks of the Coliansey. The fire engines "Minerva" and "Bridgeton." old-time hand vehicles, appeared from the hose house on the Cumberland Nail and Iron Works grounds, near Lott's Mill, and, with a long line of men and boys attached to the ropes, ran through Commerce Street with a clatter of fire bells and a rattle of cheers which set the town wild. The local brass band came out. and added to the hurrah by discoursing patriotic mu- sic. The old-time drum corps, Lot Loper, Jerry Maul. Jerry Roray, with the fife; and Lev. Bond, Eddie Crozier, Crockett Loper, and every man of the town who could handle drum sticks, came down Laurel Hill with a "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia" that made other forms of music pale into insignificance. Whistles and horns screamed and tooted. Bands of citizens sang upon the streets all the patriotic airs of the war time, chief among which was the familiar "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys, Rally Once Again, Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!" Thousands of men, women and children, paraded the streets until the small hours. Stirring speeches were made from dry goods boxes at the corner of Commerce and Laurel streets by excited patriots. In front of the old Davis House the sidewalk was impassable. From the great crowds, aug- mented every moment by large numbers of farmers from the adjacent townships, who, having heard rumors of the good news, hastened by horseback and every form of vehicle to join in the festivities at the county seat, cheer upon cheer went up to the heavens. At Edmund's bar the health of Generals Grant and1 Meade was repeatedly drunk from brim- ming glasses, and the bravery of the soldiers in the field landed in excited huzzahs. Flags and red fire decorated and
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illuminated the residences on every hand. He who did not produce the Stars and Stripes was looked upon as a traitor. Glorious night ! Happy people !
Next day the Philadelphia papers arrived, with start- ling headlines and graphic accounts of the great victories secured on the anniversary of the American Fourth of July, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, both on the same day. The par- ticulars of the Vicksburg surrender, however, seemed to cheer the nation even more than that at Gettysburg. One of the papers-the Phila. Inquirer, which was the journal that had a wide circulation in Bridgeton-gave pen-picture sketches of the scenes attending the surrender of the rebels. Among other things, it said that before noon of the preced- ing day Grant and Sherman's armies, about 70,000 strong, filed into the streets of the city and hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the Court House. The soldiers made the wel- kin ring with shouts and cheers, singing the battle cry of freedom. One of the Wisconsin regiments, the Eighth. famous for its fighting qualities, carried with it an eagle which had been with the regiment in the thickest of the fight, in many battles. The war-eagle was known as "Old -. \be." Seated on the staff-head of the old flag, borne by the color guard, in advance of Grant's columns, into the captured city, "Old Abe" flapped his wings and screamed his joy to the great delight of the marching soldiers.
July 15th, in the midst of the national rejoicing, the great President, whose faith always rested in God. again appealed to the nation, setting apart Thursday, the 6th day of August, 1863, as a day for national thanksgiving, praise and prayer "to the Divine Majesty, for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf, and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion. to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so great a
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national emergency, and to visit with tender care and con- solation, throughout the length and breadth of our land, all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles and sieges, have been brought to suffer, in mind, body or estate. and finally to lead the whole nation through the paths of repentance and submission to the divine will back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace."
The puissant arm of the nation had won great victories on land and sea : the eagles of the army shone with the re- fulgence of the triumphs achieved on the soil of Pennsyl- vania, red with the blood of heroes; by the banks of the Mississippi. and on the waters of the rivers which ran to the sea. Peans of earthly victories filled the air. Then, with meekness and humility, Abraham Lincoln, colossal figure, called the nation from festivity to duty. He pointed them to God-that God without whose help nations must fall, with whose favor nations stand. prosperous, victorious.
The Democratic majority in the New Jersey Legis- lature, during the month of January, 1863, at a time when the national horizon was depressed and disturbed because of the failure of the Union commanders to bring the Confed- erate armies to defeat, set on foot a scheme which they im- agined would secure peace between the sections. Accord- ingly. the Senator from Hudson County, Mr. Randolph. introduced a document for the consideration of the State Senate, afterward known as the "Peace Resolutions." The substance of this treasonable proposition was: "That the Legislature should appoint a Commission to go to Richmond to see upon what terms the rebels will make peace, and ask- ing President Lincoln to furnish them safeguards for the journey."
Mr. Scudder, Chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, reported the resolutions favorably.
Mr. Ludlam, Senator from Cumberland County, of- fered a substitute, the third section of which read as fol- lows:
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PROMINENT CITIZENS-1-61-1-65
George B. Cooper Hon. C. Henry Sheppard
Hon. Charles C. Grosscup
Thomas Corson
Joseph H. C. Appelgate
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"Be it Resolved, That we are opposed to all proposi- tions for peace as a cessation of hostilities or to compromise, unless the rebels lay down their arms, and acknowledge the rightful government of the United States, and return to an obedience of the laws, on a common level with all the States under the Constitution as our forefathers made it.
"That we extend to our brave Jerseymen who have left their homes to battle for the Government, all praise and honor for the noble manner in which they have upheld the old flag, and promise that by no act of ours shall the blush of shame be made to mantle their cheeks."
In the House of Assembly, Dr. Benjamin Rush Bate- man, of Cumberland, offered a resolution bearing upon the peace propositions and the objections which the Democrats were then making to the use of colored men as volunteers in the army and navy, to wit. :
"That, as General Washington did never disdain the services of persons of color in the War of the Revolution, and as Andrew Jackson, at the defence of New Orleans, like- wise invited them to his standard, and after the battle had been won did issue to them a splendid address. in which he thanked them for their efficient services. therefore, the Presi- dent has done well to follow the precedent established by the Father of his Country, and by the idol of the Democracy, in summoning to the help of the Union all who love their country."
Mr. Ludlam's substitute was rejected by the Senate, as was Dr. Bateman's resolutions in the House, by strict party votes, the Democrats having majorities in both Houses.
Wednesday, the 25th day of February, 1863, the reso- lutions were discussed by Mr. Randolphi, Senator from IIud- son : Mr. Chandler. Senator from Morris : Mr. Buckley, Sen- ator from Passaic: Mr. Ludlam, Senator from Cumberland.
In his remarks, among other excellent things, Senator Ludlam said :
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"For nineteen months after their attack on Fort Sumter we protected their slaves and other property. I am person- ally acquainted with volunteers from my own county, who went at the first call for three years' men, who stood in the winter of 1862 shoe-top deep in mud night after night, pro- tecting rebel property, and to keep their slaves from running into our lines; and all the thanks they got for it was to be insulted in the morning as a return, or by information sent by these scoundrels to the rebel pickets of their whereabouts. then to be shot like dogs as they stood at their posts; and this, as I said before, for nineteen months, through summer's heat and winter's cold. through hunger and thirst, sickness, and the death of many a noble heart. *
"The object of the war is the maintenance of the Gov- ernment, the object of these resolutions is the restoration of a party to power and to effect that object, it exposes the Government to destruction, and declares that they prefer the supremacy of a party to the supremacy of the Government.
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