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. 2 > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
-
767
THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA IN 1863.
on the morning of the 18th with one company, reaching Harris- burg at twelve o'clock the same night-some hours before any of the volunteers from Philadelphia arrived. Three other companies
that Captain Murphy issued the first military order which was promulgated after the publication of the President's proclamation. From the hour when the company was detailed for service at the State Arsenal, the most vigorous discipline commenced, and Captain Murphy became the great drill-master of the organization. Of the fifty- six men on constant duty there, forty-five enlisted in the army or received commis- sions therein. The company boasts to-day, with none to challenge it, that it sent, for its size, more men to the war than any organization in the North. On the 19th of June, 1863, having recruited their depleted ranks, under the call of Governor Curtin ' for the emergeney,' they hurried to Harrisburg, passing on the route Pennsylvania companies organizing, and were the first to report to Governor Curtin for assignment to duty. As men of another State they were warmly complimented by him for their alacrity and splendid discipline."
The following shows the subsequent career of some of the men connected with this organization :
Corporal George Heisler, Second Lieutenant, United States Marines ; First Lieuten- ant, United States Marines; injured by concussion of shell at the attack on New Orleans ; assisted for two hours on flag-ship Hartford, in the bombardment of Vicks- burg; died a few hours thereafter in the hospital at Memphis, Tennessee. Corporal James W. MeNecly, First Lieutenant, Company G, Tenth Regiment New Jersey Vol- unteers ; Captain, Company G, Tenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; Major, Second New Jersey Volunteers ; Lieutenant-Colonel, Second New Jersey Volunteers ; Colonel, Second New Jersey Volunteers. Corporal Henry R. Clark, Second Lieuten- ant, Company A, Fifth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; killed at the battle of Get- tysburg. Joseph Abbot, jr., First Lieutenant, Company B, Seventh Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; aid to General Hooker; Provost-Marshal of Hooker's Division, rank of Captain ; Captain, Company B, Seventh Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; killed at the battle of second Bull Run. Caldwell K. Hall, Adjutant, Fifth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; Chief of Ordnance, General Hooker's Staff; Aid to General Patterson; wounded at the battle of Williamsburg: Major, Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers ; Lieutenant-Colonel, Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers ; brevet Briga- dier-General, United States Volunteers. James C. Hunt, First Lieutenant, Company I, First New Jersey Cavalry ; Second Lieutenant, Second Cavalry (Regulars); Adju- tant, Second Cavalry; First Lieutenant, Second Cavalry ; Captain, Second Cavalry ; brevet Major. De Klyn Lalor, First Lieutenant, Company E, Fifth New Jersey Vol- unteers ; killed at the battle of Williamsburg. Daniel Loder, jr., First Lieutenant, Company A, Sixth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; Aid to General Peek; Major, Tenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. William C. McCall, First Lieutenant, Com- pany B, Sixth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; Captain, Fourteenth Infantry (Reg- ulars). Charles J. MeConnell, Third Assistant Engineer, United States Navy ; Second Assistant Engineer, United States Navy ; First Assistant Engineer, United States Navy. John C. MeLaughlin, enlisted in Company K, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers; Fourth Sergeant, Company K, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers ; Third Sergeant, Company K, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers; taken prisoner in hospital at Savage's Station, Virginia; released, and died soon after in the hospital at Philadelphia. Charles V. C. Murphy, First Lieutenant, Company A, Tenth New Jersey Volunteers ; Deputy Provost Marshal of Washington, District of Columbia; Aid to General Wadsworth; prisoner at Richmond. T. Malcolm Murphy, Sergeant- Major, Second New Jersey Cavalry; Captain, Company A, Third New Jersey Cavalry ; Major, Third New Jersey Cavalry. William Sloan, Sergeant, Company A, Fifteenth New Jersey Volunteers; Captain, United States Colored Troops; Sceond Lieutenant,
768
NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
from New Jersey followed, all with orders to report to Colonel Murphy, which they did. The command when complete was con- stituted and officered as follows : Company A, National Guard, of Trenton, Lieutenant Bellville commanding ; Company B, of Tren- ton, Captain Marshall commanding; Company C, of Trenton, Captain Manning commanding ; Company D, of Lambertville, Captain Hughes commanding. There was also a company from Camden, under command of Captain James M. Scovel, who were ordered by the commanding General to report to Colonel Murphy for duty, but as soon as the order was promulgated, the company unaccountably disbanded-a fact which perhaps needs no comment.
Soon after the command reached Harrisburg, an order was issued by the War Department directing that all troops volunteering for the defence of Pennsylvania should be mustered into the service of the United States for six months unless sooner discharged. This created a considerable commotion among the men, and Governor
Eleventh United States Infantry. Jolin Stull, enlisted in Company K, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers; Second Sergeant, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers ; First Sergeant, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers; First Licutenaut, Company K, Third New Jersey Cavalry. William S. Stryker, Paymaster, United States Army; Aid to General Gillmore, with the rank of Major, in the siege of Charleston ; brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel; Adjutant-General of New Jersey. Caleb C. Vansyckle, enlisted in Company C, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; First Sergeant, Company C, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; Second Lieutenant, Company C, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; prisoner at Richmond; First Lieutenant, Com- pany F, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; Captain, Company H. Peter D. Vroom, Adjutant, First Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; wounded in the battle of South Mountain ; Major, Second New Jersey Cavalry; First Lieutenant, Third United States Cavalry (Regulars); brevetted Captain and Major. Edgar Whittaker, enlisted in Company C, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; Second Sergeant, Company C, Fourthi Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; First Sergeant, Company C, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; Second Lieutenant, Company C, Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; Adjutant, Twenty-ninth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; Aid-de-camp to General G. B. Paul. John J. Willis, Captain, Company C, Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers. Aaron Wilks, Seeond Lieutenant, Company B, Sixth Regi- meut, New Jersey Volunteers ; First Lieutenant, Company B, Sixth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; Adjutant, Sixth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers ; killed at the battle of Williamsburg. Samuel K. Wilson, jr., Captain, Company I, Twenty-eighth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers; Major, Twenty-eighth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. James C. Hillman, Third Assistant Engineer, United States Navy. Frank V. Payson, Assistant-Surgeon, Seventh Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers.
2 Adjutant-General Stockton, in his report for 1863, gives the following account of the circumstances under which the " emergency men" were sent forward, and the effect of the order of the War Department :
"On the 15th of the month, a telegram from the War Department informed the
769
THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA IN 1863.
Parker being unwilling to lose the control of his troops by per- mitting them to be mustered into the National Army, and so made liable to be dispatched in any direction and on any service whatever, sent his private Secretary with an order directing the return of the troops under Colonel Murphy's command. The latter, however, being unwilling to abandon Harrisburg while it was menaced by
Governor that the movements of the rebel forces in Virginia were sufficiently devel- oped to show that General Lee, with his whole army, was moving forward to invade Maryland, Pennsylvania and other States; that the President, to repel this invasion, had promptly called upon Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Western Virginia for one hundred thousand volunteers for six months, unless sooner discharged, and the Gov- ernor was requested to inform the Department what number, in answer to a special call of the President, he could raise and forward for six months' service without bounty, to be credited upon the draft then expected, to which answer was immedi- ately made that every means would be taken to ascertain how many men could be raised for such service, and that the Department would be notified of the result as soon as ascertained. While this information was being obtained, an urgent appeal was made by the State of Pennsylvania for assistance, in view of the expected invasion.
" It was impossible to have men mustered into the service of the United States for six months' service as expeditiously as would seem to be required by the appeal of his Excellency, the Governor of Pennsylvania; the nine months' regiments had just been returned to the State to be mustered out, and an unfortunate misunderstanding before alluded to, gave a hesitancy to such enlistment.
"The Secretary of War was therefore informed of the appeal made, and asked by telegraph if recruiting for six months' service should be delayed, and State militia. forwarded to Pennsylvania; to which answer was returned, 'forward to Pennsyl- vania all the troops you can.'
" Under these circumstances, all action under the request for volunteers or militia for the United States service was suspended, and the Governor, by proclamation of date of 17th of June, called upon the citizens of the State to meet and organize as militia of New Jersey, to assist in the defence of their sister State.
"It had been determined to raise a division of some twelve thousand militia, and from the hearty response which was made to this proclamation, it undoubtedly could have been done in a short time, but while these troops were being raised, it was deemed advisable to accept, for thirty days' service, a battalion of State militia, and the Twenty-third and Twenty-seventh militia Regiments, under command of Colonels Grubb and Mindil, which had volunteered their services to the State.
"These troops could be expeditiously forwarded to the suecor of Harrisburg, then supposed to be in imminent danger, while they could be subsequently relicved by the . division of State militia, which was in process of organization as has been stated; but on the 20th of June, before this division left the State, it became evident that their services would not be required, and the Governor accordingly paused in the exertions being made towards raising and equipping a large militia force.
"The request of Governor Curtin, that the State militia in Pennsylvania should be mustered into the United States service, was denied, for the reason that these troops had been enlisted as State militia.
"This militia remained in Pennsylvania until the expiration of its term of service.
"The troops forwarded from this State had the honor of being the first effective force that arrived at the Capital of our sister State, and the exertion on the part of Governor Parker was gratefully acknowledged by the Governor of Pennsylvania."
97
770
NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
the enemy, induced the Governor's messenger to withhold the order, and Major-General Couch, who commanded the department of the Susquehannah, consenting that the troops from New Jersey should be exempted from the order of the War Department, they remained on duty. Soon after, the plans of the enemy being more fully developed, Colonel Murphy received orders to occupy and hold the pass (Clark's Ferry) at the junction of the Juniatta river with the Susquehannah, some twenty miles west of Harrisburg. At this time, General Early occupied Carlisle with the Stonewall Jackson Corps, twelve thousand strong, and it was supposed that he intended to move by way of Clark's Ferry so as to flank the batteries in front of Harrisburg on the west bank of the Susque- hannah, and attack the city in the rear. Colonel Murphy's orders were to prevent the crossing at all hazards, but if not possible, then to blow up the bridge over the Susquehannah. Before marching, a company of Pennsylvanians was placed under Colonel Murphy's command, the entire force numbering about four hundred men. It seemed little less than mockery to thrust this little force, with- out even a piece of artillery, in the path of the best corps in the rebel army, but Colonel Murphy did not hesitate to undertake the duty assigned him.3 Upon arriving at Clark's Ferry, in pursuance of orders from General Couch, he surveyed the whole position, and finding that it would be useless to attempt to prevent the crossing of the Juniatta, it being fordable everywhere, adopted all the measures he could devise to hold the bridge over the Susquehannah. Among other things, he made a hersillon at the west entrance, removed the flooring at a point on the bridge where the distance to the water was thirty or forty feet; built barricades on the bridge and along the approaches to it, from which the advance of the enemy could be checked and harrassed, and as a last resort to impede his progress, placed six kegs of powder, with fuses attached, and with timbers on the girders under which the powder was
3 Colonel Murphy learned a few days afterwards from a well-informed negro, who was servant to one of Early's staff officers, that this was the route determined upon, and that the cavalry attached to the corps had advanced six miles in the direction of the position occupied by the Jersey command.
771
THE INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA IN 1863.
placed, and reaching to the main cords at the top of the super- structure, so that an entire span, over the deepest part of the river, could be blown out in ninety seconds after lighting the fuses. Here the command remained, constant telegrams from headquarters, and statements received by our pickets from the mounted scouts fur- nished by Mr. John Wistar, proprietor of some extensive iron works, keeping the men lying on their arms for six days, almost hourly expecting the advance of the enemy.4 Fortunately, how- ever, that enemy had encountered a formidable obstacle at another point of the field, and the Jerseymen lying on guard along the Susquehannah were not called upon to face him in deadly conflict. The battle of Gettysburg, where other Jerseymen fought with royal courage, ended the invasion, and at the end of thirty days from the time they left New Jersey, Colonel Murphy's command was ordered by General Couch to report at Trenton, where they arrived July 18th, and were at once discharged.
It is no more than due to the men composing this little battalion, to record that throughout they exhibited the highest soldierly qualities. Although but very few of them had ever seen service before, they all endured the hardships and privations of the short but rough campaign, and submitted to the most rigid and exacting discipline, in a manner which would have done credit to vete- rans. They were not, indeed, called upon to meet the hazards of battle, but their services were none the less valuable as part of the general plan of defence, and the high motives which led them to hasten to the assistance of a sister State, were certainly no less deserving of honorable mention in this record of New Jersey's part in the war for the Union.3
+ On the Sth of July, the command was ordered to Marysville, about midway between Harrisburg and Duncannon (the latter being three miles below Clark's Ferry), and at the junction of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad and the Northern Central Railway. This was after the result of the battle of Gettysburg was known, and when no armed rebels remained in the State.
Governor Curtin, in a letter to Governor Parker, dated June 24th, said : " I cannot close this communication without expressing to you the thanks of the people of Pennsylvania, for your promptness in responding to their calls, and to the people of New Jersey for the patriotic disposition they so truly manifest, and their willingness to take up arms for our defence." An autograph letter from President Lincoln to Governor Parker, dated June 30th, expressed a similar acknowledgment of the efforts made in New Jersey to get troops forward.
CHAPTER XLII. LEGISLATION OF THE WAR PERIOD.
THUS-as we have seen in the preceding pages-in the searching struggle for national existence, New Jersey performed her part in behalf of liberty and of Constitutional Government. Thus, by the heroism of her sons, by the fidelity of the masses of her people to the great principles involved in the conflict, she vindicated ber name against the sneers and reproaches of unthinking assailants, and compelled the whole nation to respect her character. While in some other States, disaffection flowered into open turbulence, and unreasoning prejudices menaced with overthrow all the bar- riers of order, and all the safeguards of society, New Jersey, with only here and there a malignant tory, held up with steady hand the authority and power of the Government, faithfully fulfilling all the obligations laid upon her by the pressure of events. There were, indeed, occasional public expressions of sentiments which scarcely did us honor, but they were partizan and exceptional, and found no hearty echo among the masses of the people. So there were men and presses which, if they did not actually obstruct, at least had no word of cordial sympathy for the loyal cause ; but popular opinion, branding them with infamy as they deserved, swept them aside as unworthy of confidence or respect. Some of these men were, for seditious utterances, incarcerated as State prisoners in Government jails; others were condemned by juries of their peers; while others, still escaping the clutch of the law, skulked into obscurity, smitten to the mafrow by the popular indignation and contempt.
In a country like our own, there must, obviously, always be varieties of political opinion, seeking development and application in hostile parties. It would not be desirable, even were it possi-
773
LEGISLATION OF THE WAR PERIOD.
ble, that all men should agree touching the many questions which arise for determination. Antagonisms of opinion in a free society are purifiers ; even their violence serves, now and then, to shake down abuses and expose evils which calmer controversy would not startle from the dusty nooks where they have found refuge and shelter. It was only natural, therefore-this being the tendency of our life, and the necessity of our form of government-that there should be exhibitions of party feeling during a struggle which impelled into the arena of discussion a vast multitude of grave and novel questions. Even had all men agreed as to the justice and propriety of the war itself, it could not be expected that the whole people would concur as to all the details of the policy upon which it should be conducted. The people of England, while unanimously justifying the participation of their Government in the struggle in the Crimea, not only pro- tested at the time against the method of that participation, but condemn to this day the alliance in which, as they claim, they merely gave respectability to Louis Napoleon-the man who "strangled a nation in the night time"-without reaching a single end, in the interest of humanity, that might not have been as readily accomplished without his aid. All wars are irruptions of, and violences upon, nature, and must in the nature of the case provoke into action the baser as well as the grander passions, developing every form of sentiment and securing to each a train of followers. It ought not, therefore, to excite surprise that, during our transition period, there were conflicting parties, repre- senting not so much perhaps antagonistic views as to the war itself, as radically opposite sentiments as to the manner in which it should be prosecuted, and the measures, especially those possessing a political significance, which were adopted by the supreme authority in furtherance of its objects. In no State, perhaps, did the sentiment of the party which objected to the policy of the Government, find more violent expression than in New Jersey ; but outside of a small circle of political leaders, that sentiment was merely, as we may charitably suppose, as to matters of policy, and did not involve any actual protest as to the essential righteousness of the struggle
774
NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
in which we were engaged. The legislation of the war period, during which the party in question had almost constant control of that branch of the State Government, was in the main unexcep- tionable; though, in the debates upon public measures, expressions amounting almost to avowals of sympathy with the enemy were frequently made, they were seldom supported by acts, and even those who ventured upon the obnoxious outgivings would have recoiled, perhaps, from the consequences of their universal accep- tance. The only conspicuous and deliberate expression of opinion by the Legislature which seriously outraged the people, was made in a series of resolutions and a protest adopted in March, 1863, in which the General Government was accused of usurpation, and Congress was solicited to appoint commissioners to meet commis- sioners similarly appointed by the insurgent States, "for the pur- pose of considering whether any, and if any, what plan may be adopted, consistent with the honor and dignity of the National Government, by which the present civil war may be brought to a close." This proposition, taken in connection with the terms of the accompanying protest, was very generally and properly regarded as not merely disgraceful to the people of the State, but as an insult to every soldier in the field; as exhibiting, indeed, a spirit of cowardice and disaffection which nothing whatever could excuse. The insurgents were still in the field with arms in their hands ; they had rebelled without cause, deliberately seeking the life of the Nation ; and for the Government to propose an armistice, or think of peace while they still defied its authority, would have been to abdicate the right to live, and invoke anarchy, disintegration and death. They were the offenders ; from them must come the appeal for a cessation of hostilities. Such was the thought and decree of all patriotic men; and it was hence inevitable that this legislative expression should doom all who united in it to just and deserved infamy, as poltroons who would have lowered the Nation's flag- never yet dishonored in any combat with foreign peoples-in dis- grace and defeat at the beck of traitors and insurgents whose crimes had filled the whole world with horror.
The legislation of the State during the war period, of course
775
LEGISLATION OF THE WAR PERIOD.
covered a great variety of topics. We have said that in the main it was praiseworthy and patriotic, and this we now proceed to show by a recital of the principal proceedings. Almost immediately upon the outbreak of hostilities, Governor Olden summoned the Legislature to meet at Trenton for the purpose of considering the question of defence, and it accordingly convened on the 30th of April, at once addressing itself to the important work before it. Its first enactment conferred upon the authorities of the City of Newark, authority to issue bonds to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, the proceeds thereof to be applied to the support of the families of persons residing in that city who might volun- teer in the military service of the Union, or who might be called into such service by the Government of this State or of the United States. This was followed by acts conferring similar powers upon the authorities of Trenton, Jersey City, Rahway, Camden and Bordentown-in all of which places, aid was thus given, during the whole period of the war, to the families of volunteers. An act was also passed authorizing the State to borrow money to an amount not exceeding two millions of dollars, to meet the neces- sary expenditures incurred in aiding in the suppression of the rebellion, or in repelling any invasion of this State. A further law was enacted authorizing the Governor, should be at any time deem it necessary, to form, equip and arm four, or any less number of regiments, for the protection of the State, and to detach them, upon emergency, for the service of the United States; also to take the necessary measures for the protection of the exposed seaboard and river coasts of the State, and to cause the arms belonging to the Commonwealth to be so altered as to be effective. Authority was also given for the purchase of ten thousand additional stand of arms of the most approved pattern, together with such artillery and military stores as might be necessary to the proper defence of the State. A law was also passed providing that the sum of six dollars a month should be paid to the families of "such married persons of the militia of this State, and to the widowed mothers of such persons without families, dependent upon them for support," as might be mustered into the military service; and also enacting
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.