USA > New Jersey > New Jersey and the rebellion : a history of the service of the troops and people of New Jersey in aid of the Union cause, Pt. 1 > Part 32
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The record of the regiment from this time forward was almost identical with that of the First Brigade, which is elsewhere given. It shared in all the battles of the Wilderness and fought with its corps all the way to Petersburg, on every field displaying conspicu- ous gallantry. In the battle of the 6th of May, it suffered severely, especially in the assault of the rebel General Gordon on our right, made just before dark. In the engagement resulting from this assault, the regiment lost nearly one entire company in prisoners alone. Among the mortally wounded on this day, was Colonel Ryerson.2 During the 7th, the regiment was not engaged, but on the evening of the 8th, it again met the foe. At this time, War-
? At the close of the heavy fighting of the day, the Tenth Regiment was taking
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ren's Corps, which, coming up with the enemy at Alsop's Farm early in the day, had vainly essayed to carry his position, was pre- paring to make a second attack, and the Sixth Corps having arrived, one division was ordered to take part in the movement. The Tenth Regiment-no other regiment of the First Brigade participating- was accordingly put in on the right of Crawford's Division of the Fifth (Warren's) Corps, and moving forward, bravely attacked the · enemy in its front. Unfortunately, however, the regiment on its left became in some way separated from it, and the two being thus isolated, were pounced upon by the enemy with great celerity and force; compelling them to give way, with heavy loss-the Tenth
repose in line, though ordered to be in momentary expectation of a rush by the enemy. Colonel Ryerson had just risen upon his knees to reconnoiter, when his corps-badge upon his eap was torn away and his skull fractured by the Minie ball of a sharpshooter. He was carried to a log-cabin in the rear, where two of his Captains, with Captain Cooke, Adjutant-General of the brigade, waited by him through the night, unable to get surgical assistance, expecting his speedy death and the sad duty of burying him. During the night, our line fell back, and early in the morning the whole party were taken prisoners. Colonel Ryerson was left at Loeust Grove Confederate Hospital, where he died on the 12th, attended by a paroled Vermont surgeon who marked his grave and so described it that at the close of the war his remains were found, aud re-interred in the cemetery of his native town.
Colonel Henry Ogden Ryerson was the fifth child of the late Thomas C. Ryerson, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1834 till his death in 1838. He was the youngest of three sons and a daughter who survived their father, the eldest being Martin Ryerson, who also held for a time, and until his resignation, the same office. On the mother's as well as father's side, he was descended from loyal stoek. His father's ancestors were connected with the Society of Friends, and yet had their representative in the Quartermaster's Department of the Revolutionary Army. His father did his tour of duty in the militia in the War of 1812, and the records of the State Historical Society sufficiently show the part taken by his mother's family in the War of the Revolution, her father and uneles being field or staff offi- cers in the Continental Army, and her grandfather one of the New Jersey Committee of Safety. Her unele, Aaron Ogden, was aid to Layfayette, and a trusted agent of Washington in connection with the affair of Andre and Arnold.
Colonel Ryerson was born at Newton, Sussex County, January 10, 1826, and was left an orphan by the death of his mother in 1835, and his father in 1838. Declining a collegiate course, he passed from the grammar-school directly to the study of the law, and was licensed in 1847. From that time until 1855, he lived an unsettled life in Chicago, California and the Sandwich Islands ; having gone to the Islands on account of intermittent fever, which was incurable in San Francisco. After returning to New Jersey, and taking his counsellor's license, he lived in Belvidere until 1857, when he returned to his native town, where at the breaking out of the rebellion he held the office of public prosecutor. While engaged in taking depositions in Chancery at Jersey City, he saw the first call for volunteers, returned home, and, baggage in hand, walked directly to the recruiting office and volunteered as a private. Elected Captain by his comrades, he led them to the field as Company B, of the gallant Second Regiment. As an officer of this regiment, Captain, and afterwards Major, Ryerson had high reputa- tion for soldierly bearing, tactical skill and high discipline. His enthusiasm led him to
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THE TENTH REGIMENT.
having eighty men and several officers captured, including Colonel Tay, who, being with the other prisoners, taken to the rear, was next day started for Richmond, but was fortunately on the same day rescued from the hands of his guards by General Sheridan, at Beaver Dam Station. The total loss of the regiment up to this time, aside from prisoners, had been one hundred and thirteen- eighteen killed and ninety-five wounded. In the fighting along the Po, the Tenth shared with the brigade, and at Cold Harbor again suffered largely, being in the first day's engagement in the third line of battle, and losing some seventy in killed and wounded. In the assault upon the enemy's position on June 3d, the regiment
practice the bugle calls of the skirmish line, and when assigned to command in brigade drill he was always ready and accurate. At the battle of Gaines' Mill, six companies of the Second Regiment, under Colonel Tucker and Major Ryerson (promoted to that va- cancy in his regiment just before leaving Alexandria,) were sent in to relieve a whole regiment. So rapid and effective was their fire that they kept a whole brigade at bay, until our line had fallen back on both sides of them. Exposed to a double eross-fire, and the gallant Theker mortally wounded, the regiment began a lasty retreat ; Major Ryerson seized the standard, and was rallying the battalion when he fell, shot through both thighs, and bleeding so profusely, as he was carried away, that his attendants re- ported him mortally wounded in the abdomen, and left him on the field. There he remained ten days, three of them without food. Water, however, was abundant in the swamp, for one of his wounded brother officers paid a Confederate soldier ten dollars in gold to drag him out of it to dry ground. That ten days' exposure, and three weeks (before his exchange,) in a Richmond prison, gave him the fever, which aggravated his wounds and kept him away from his regiment until the ist of October. With one wound still open, he rejoined his regiment as Lieutenant-Colonel, hurried to the field by the record of his comrades at Crampton's Gap.
Just as the army began to move towards Manassas he was placed by General Torbert over the Twenty-third Regiment of nine months men, and received a regular commission as Colonel. With this regiment he participated in the first battle of Fredericksburg, where they were for a short time under heavy fire, and suffered severely. When the Twenty-third was mustered out, Colonel Ryerson was transferred to the Tenth, with which he served, as we have seen, until killed. While at Suffolk, he performed (for a part of the time,) Brigadier's dnty, and in that capacity received General Peek's written compliments for his vigilance, knowledge of the stragetic character of the country, &c.
Colonel Ryerson's courage, which was conspicuous on all occasions, was of the kind which arises from that pre-occupation of mind and intentness on an object which exclude self. He never saw personal danger. But he was serupulously careful of his men in action, just as he was in camp, because he was responsible for their welfare both to his superiors and to the country's cause. He was, besides, of a generous disposition and anxious for the comfort of his command. A strict disciplinarian also, he was yet beloved, because impartial towards officers and men. It is the testimony of Chaplains that he was also mindful of the spiritual interests of his men, furnishing all the assistance in his power for religious instruction, both in the camp and on the march. Had he lived, it is known that he would have been promoted at an early day ; but falling, he received, as is believed, higher than earthly promotion, from the Captain over all, under whose banner he had enlisted.
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
charged alone at a peculiarly exposed point, and sustained heavy loss, amounting in all to some sixty-five in killed and wounded. From this time forward until the appearance of the army before Peters- burg, the regiment was constantly on duty, responding cheerfully to all demands upon it, and on all occasions' acquitting itself with eminent credit.
Transferred with the First Brigade to the Shenandoah Valley, . the Tenth was there, too, found equal to every emergency. On the 15th of August, it participated in a sharp picket skirmish near Strasburg, and two days after took part in the battle of Winchester, assisting (with the rest of the brigade) to hold the whole of Early's army in check for a period of six hours. In this engagement, the Tenth was formed on the left of the Fourth Regiment, and held its position until heavily overlapped by the enemy on the left, and even then, with its ammunition exhausted, stood firm, after a part of the brigade-right wing-had retired. From some cause, inex- plicable to those most vitally concerned, no order was sent to the regiment to withdraw, and the result necessarily was, that holding on from moment to moment, fighting and waiting, it was gradu- ally surrounded, so that when at last the attempt was made to fall back, it only fell into the snare set for it. The regiment not only lost considerably in killed and wounded, but also in prisoners, Colonel Tay being again captured with one hundred and fifteen men of the brigade-mainly of the left wing. At the close of this affair, the Tenth, which crossed the Rapidan in May with six hun- dred men, had only eighty men left for duty-a fact which exhibits more forcibly than any words the severity of the experience which it had been called upon to undergo.
In the subsequent battles in the Valley, the regiment, feeble as it was, bravely maintained its reputation. During the winter of 1864-5, having with the brigade rejoined the army before Peters- burg, and being largely recruited, it participated in the various movements which resulted so detrimentally to the enemy, and in the grand assault of the 2d of April, rendered distinguished ser- vice. When the rebel flag went down at Appomattox, it turned its face homeward, reaching the vicinity of Washington, four hundred
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THE TENTH REGIMENT.
and fifty strong, on the 2d of June. Thence, some weeks after, it proceeded to Trenton, and was in due time discharged. Its record, from the day that it took the field, was one of sublime devotion to the work in which the nation was engaged, and in the legends and chronicles of the firesides to which its survivors came back scarred and laureled, its deeds will live for long years to come.
CHAPTER IX.
ELEVENTH REGIMENT.
THE Eleventh Regiment, of which Robert McAllister was appointed Colonel on the 30th of June, 1862, left Trenton on the 25th of August following, and reported at Washington on the 26th, at noon. It was at once sent into Virginia, by order of General Casey, and performed various duties in that department until November 16th, when it was attached to the brigade of Brigadier- General Carr, (General Sickles' Division,) at Fairfax Court House. Two days subsequently, it took up its march for Falmouth,1 where it arrived on the 27th, having forded the Occoquan River, and suffered 'many hardships, owing to the prevalent rains, on the march. On the 9th of December, General Burnside having com- pleted his plans for an assault . upon the enemy in the rear of Fredericksburg, the regiment received orders to prepare for service, and, on the morning of the 11th, moved from camp to' a position on a hill overlooking Fredericksburg. Meantime, pontoons had been thrown across the river, and a lodgment had been effected in the city. On the morning of the 12th, the regiment was ordered to move down, by a circuitous route, to the river bank for the purpose of guarding the pontoon bridge at General Franklin's crossing, where it remained until the 14th. The general attack on the enemy, stretched along and behind the southern bluffs of the Rappahannock for a distance of four or five miles, was made on the 13th. Rebel guns, posted on the eminence, raked every foot of ground by which the assailants could advance, and bravely
1 Owing to the exposure and difficult duty to which the regiment had been, up to this time, exposed, a great deal of sickness prevailed among the men, and when orders were received for this advance, some two hundred were untit for duty. There had already been twelve deaths.
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THE ELEVENTH REGIMENT.
as our veterans fought, they but dashed themselves in vain against an impregnable position. The slaughter was pitiless, terrible; the courageous columns, pressing up the slopes with eager step, were shattered and broken by the fire of three hundred tireless guns; and though stubbornly maintaining the conflict until night closed the scene, not a foot of ground had been gained, and heaps of dead and dying alone attested the gallantry which, in the very face of death and disaster, serenely and proudly held its own.
On the morning of the 14th, the Eleventh crossed the river, under orders of General Carr, and took position in the second line of battle, being shortly afterwards sent forward to the front line to relieve the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Regiment-two companies being dispatched to take the place of the pickets of the regiment thus relieved. These companies, with others that were afterwards sent in under a galling picket fire, behaved with the greatest steadiness. While thus engaged, the regiment sustained a loss of two enlisted men killed, four wounded and six missing. On the 15th, the regiment re-crossed the river to its old position, and soon after returned to its former camp near Falmouth-General Burn- side having wisely abandoned, upon the remonstrance of General Sumner and others, all thought of a second assault, and directed the withdrawal of the entire army from the south side of the river.2
2 " HEADQUARTERS ELEVENTH NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS, } CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VIRGINIA, December 23, 1862.
"It is with feelings of pride that I congratulate you on your bearing during all our hard marelies in this campaign, and particularly upon the bravery and gallantry you displayed on the field of battle, before the heights of Fredericksburgh.
"I would say to those of you who went in under that galling picket-fire, when the eyes of thousands of our comrades were upou you, and like old veterans, stood the raging storm of battle, not only holding, but gaining ground; I would say, you deserve my warmest praise.
" We sorrow over the remains of the gallant dead who fell by our side, and sympathize with their loved ones at home, trusting that God will bear them up in their bereave- ment.
"We have before us the consoling fact that they died as brave soldiers, fighting for their country, and that those of our day, and posterity, will do them justice.
"To the wounded I would say, bear up under your affliction with the cherished hope that in the providence of God you will soon be able to join us, and assist in more suc- cessful encounters to put down this rebellion, and restore peace to our land.
"R. MCALLISTER, "Colonel Commanding Regiment."
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
1
The regiment remained in camp-having, however, changed its position to "Fitzhugh Farm," some two and a half miles from Falmouth-until February 5th, when it accompanied the division on a reconnoissance, in the direction of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, the march being one of great hardship, a storm of snow and rain prevailing during almost the entire time, while the men were without tents or any means of shelter. In this expedition, several bridges were destroyed, and the regiment was warmly complimented for the manner in which it performed the work assigned it. During the winter, the efficiency of the regiment was increased by drills and by careful instruction of the officers in their duties-schools of the captains and the lieutenants, as well as the non-commissione d officers, being established and maintained by the Colonel. The regiment, too, took a lively interest in the political questions then occupying the attention of the people, and at a meeting held early. in March, at which the utmost enthusiasm was manifested, bonfires being kindled and speeches made in honor of the event, a series of patriotic resolutions were adopted, and being signed by the officers, were forwarded to the Governor as expressing the hostility of the regiment to any attempt to distract public sentiment by untimely partizan clamors for a dishonorable peace." On the 20th of April,
3 The following are the resolutions referred to :
WHEREAS, The Legislature of our native State, a State hallowed by the remembrance of the battles of Princeton, Trenton, and Monmouth ; fields stained by the blood of our forefathers in the establishment of our Government, has sought to tarnish its high honor and bring upon it disgrace, by the passage of resolutions, tending to a dishonorable peace with armed rebels ; seeking to destroy our great and beneficent Government; the best ever designed for the happiness of the many ; and
WHEREAS, We, her sons, members of the Eleventh Regiment New Jersey Volunteers ; citizens representing every seetion of the State, have left our homes, to endure the fatigues, privations and dangers, incident to a soldier's life, in order to maintain our Republic in its integrity, willing to sacrifice our lives to that object, fully recognizing the impropriety of a soldier's discussion of the legislative functions of the State; yet deeming it due to ourselves that the voice of those who offer their all in their country's cause be heard, when weak and wicked men seek its dishonor; therefore,
Resolved, That the union of the States is the only guarantee for the preservation of our liberty and independence; and that the war for the maintenance of that Union commands now, as it has doue, our best efforts and most heartfelt sympathy.
Resolved, That we consider the passage, or even the introduction of the so-called "Peace Resolutions, as wicked, weak, and cowardly, tending to aid by their sympathy, the rebels seeking to destroy the Republic.
Resolved, That we regard as traitors alike, the foc in arms, and the secret enemies of
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THE ELEVENTH REGIMENT.
the regiment was visited by Governor Parker, and a review of the division to which the regiment was attached, was had in his honor.
On the 21st of January, Burnside having asked to be relieved very soon after his failure at Fredericksburg, General Hooker had assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, and for two months employed all his influence and authority to improve the discipline, perfect the organization and elevate the spirit of his men. By the
our Government, who at home foment disaffection, and strive to destroy confidence in our legally chosen rulers.
Resolved, That the reports, spread broadcast throughout the North, by sympathizing prints and voices, that the army, of which we esteem it a high honor to form a part, is demoralized, and elamorous for peace on any terms, are the lying utterances of traitor- ous tongues, and do base injustice to our noble comrades who have never faltered in the great work ; and are not only willing, but anxious to follow the gallant and chival- ric leader against the stronghold of the enemy.
Resolved, That we put forth every effort, endure every fatigue, shrink from no dan- ger ; until under the gracious guidance of a kind Providence, every armed rebel shall be conquered, and traitors at home shall quake with fear as the grand emblem of our Na- tional Independence shall assert its power from North to South, and crush beneath its powerful folds, all who dare to assail its honor, doubly hallowed by the memory of the patriot dead.
(Signed,)
Robert McAllister, Colonel Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers.
Stephen Moore, Lieutenant-Colonel Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers.
John Schoonover, Adjutant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers.
Garret Schenck, Quartermaster Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. E. Byington, Assistant-Surgeon Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers.
G. Ribble, Second Assistant-Surgeon Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers.
F. Knighton, Chaplain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Luther Martin, Captain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. John T. Hill, Captain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. William H. Meeker, Captain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Thomas J. Halsey, Captain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Philip J. Kearney, Captain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. William B. Dunning, Captain Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. S. M. Layton, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Ira W. Corey, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Lott Bloomfield, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. A. H. Ackerman, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Edward S. E. Newbury, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. John Oldershaw, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. W. H. Lloyd, Lientenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Milton S. Lawrence, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. E. T. Kennedy, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. S. W. Volk, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Samuel T. Sleeper, Lieutenant Eleventhi New Jersey Volunteers. Edwin R. Good, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. John Sowter, Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Alexander Beach, Jr., Lieutenant Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers.
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10th of April, he had so increased the efficiency of the army, and circumstances had become so generally favorable, that he determined upon again assuming the offensive, and accordingly, on the 13th, General Stoneman was dispatched with a large force of cavalry to initiate his movement against the enemy. Lee still remained at Fredericksburg, but his position could be turned, and this General Hooker proposed to do. On the 27th, orders were issued for a movement of the infantry and artillery, and on the following day, the Eleventh Regiment, then attached to the First Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, left its camp and moved up the river, silently but rapidly, to the United States Ford of the Rappahannock, crossing at noon on May 1st, and thence to Chancellorsville, halting that night near the headquarters of General Hooker. Meanwhile, the enemy had hurried up from Fredericksburg in strong force, and had taken position at a convenient point, whence on Saturday, May 2d, he opened on our left, gradually, however, shifting his forces to the right. At this time, the Third Corps was posted in reserve near our center. About sunset, the enemy having moved his lines, suddenly pounced with terrible power upon our right, sweeping the Eleventh Corps completely from the field, and leaving the Third critically exposed, the woods in its front being full of rebels, while the cavalry at that point, upon which General Sickles (com- manding the corps) had relied, was lamentably weak. But that brave officer was equal to the occasion, and promptly advanced his men into the breach. The Second Division, with Hooker, Sickles and Barry riding at its head, moved at a double-quick to the rescue, the men cheering loudly as they swept through the disordered ranks of the panic-stricken Eleventh (Corps,) and fell into line of battle right and left of the plank road, of which the enemy had so far maintained a tenacious hold. Soon the order to charge was given, and the men with a shout rushed, amid the booming of cannon and crackle of musketry, upon the rebels, slowly driving them from the ground lost by Howard in the morning, and recovering several abandoned guns and caissons. But though beaten, the enemy did not withdraw out of range. Repeatedly during the night, he renewed the contest-once massing in great force in our
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immediate front in a determined effort to break our lines, but being again repulsed with great slaughter. At a later hour, being rein- forced, he once more advanced to the assault, pressing with impetuous daring against our lines, but again our batteries, playing over the heads of our infantry far into the massed columns of the foe, compelled him to retire with terrible loss. In both of these combats, the fighting was of the most desperate character, and the scene, as the flash of the heavy guns flamed out upon the gloom of the solemn wood, and the flying missiles crashed and screamed among the trees, carrying a cloud of branches before the terrible storm, was grand and almost fearful in its sublimity.
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