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 42
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General Ramsey participated in the siege of Yorktown and all the principal battles of the Peninsula, in the second Bull Run, Bristow, Chantilly, McLean's Ford, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Petersburg and a number of other engagements-exhibiting in all the highest courage and finest sol- dierly proficiency. He was three times wounded, once at Chancel- lorsville, once at Gettysburg and a third time, severely, at Peters- burg. General Ramsey was not as covetous of applause as many others, and was, perhaps, less careful than some to improve his opportunities for advancement, but as a stubborn fighter he had few superiors. Indeed, if he did not actually relish the excite- ments of battle, he always entered into them without reluctance, and never failed to strike telling blows. While in command of a brigade, he did some of the most effective fighting of the last grand campaign, and more than once received honorable mention in official reports.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL WILLIAM J. SEWELL.
Among the many New Jersey officers who were conspicuous for the rarest gallantry, none possessed a more genuine soldierly spirit, and displayed higher capacities for command, than William J. Sewell. Mustered into service as a Captain in the Fifth Regiment, Angust 28, 1861, he was among the first to exhibit a true concep- tion of the necessities of the service, and promptly adapting him-
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self to its requirements, proved from the very outset a disciplina- rian of the highest order, as well as an invaluable support to his superiors in all matters affecting the welfare of the regiment. Par- ticipating with his regiment in every action in which the corps was engaged, from the assault upon Yorktown down to the battle of Spottsylvania, in May, 1864, his courage shone conspicuously on every field, while his readiness of apprehension and fertility of resource in desperate emergencies, marked him on all occasions as a man of superior talents. In the battle of Chancellorsville, Gen- eral Mott being wounded, Sewell succeeded to the command of the brigade, and leading it forward at a critical moment, achieved one of the grandest successes of the war, capturing eight colors from the enemy and retaking the regimental standard of a New York Regiment. The story of this achievement, as fully told in the history of the Second Brigade, is alone sufficient to stamp this gal- lant officer as worthy of a place among the best and bravest sol- diers of the Republic. But he need not rely upon this deed alone for the rewards of fame. At Gettysburg and elsewhere he exhibi- ted the same magnificent bravery, adding to the reputation achieved in earlier conflicts. He was twice wounded-once at Chancellors- ville, and again at Gettysburg, where he sustained a severe hurt, while commanding the skirmish line in front of the Third Corps, during the attack of Longstreet in the second day's engagement. He was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth Regiment, July 7, 1862, and Colonel on the 21st of October following, both promotions being made on the recommendation of Colonel Starr, one of the bravest and most finished officers connected with the service, whose faithful performance of duty as Colonel of this regiment never received due recognition at the hands of Jerseymen. On the 30th of September, 1864, Colonel Sewell, who had been com- pelled to leave the service temporarily on account of illness, result- ing from long exposure, was made Colonel of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, then about organizing, and with it returned to the field, where he remained until the summer of 1865. He was made bre- vet Brigadier-General of volunteers, April 9, 1866, "for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chancellorsville," and no honor was ever more worthily or justly bestowed.
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An analysis of General Sewell's character would probably show that his success as a soldier was largely due to a certain vehemence and hauteur of disposition which could not brook opposition or defeat. Once fairly entered upon an enterprise, his natural enthu- siasm carried him impetuously forward, while his great strength and obstinacy of will, enabled him to overcome obstacles which would have entirely baffled men of less resolute purpose. All his qualities as an officer were solid, robust, positive, and his reputa- tion rests now, as it will continue to do in the future, upon a basis of solid achievement of which the whole State may justly be proud.
MAJOR-GENERAL JUDSON KILPATRICK.
Among the earliest volunteers in the service of the Union, when Southern traitors assailed its integrity, was Judson Kilpatrick, then. a cadet at the Military Academy at West Point. Fired with patri- otic ardor, immediately upon graduating he entered the field, and was among the first to fall wounded at Big Bethel, June 11, 1861, in the first battle of the war. Recovering from his wound, he recruited in Sussex County two companies for the Harris Light Cavalry, of which he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, being also in September promoted to First Lieutenant, First Artillery, in the Regular Army. Winning rapidly the respect of his superiors, he was soon after made a member of the board for examining cavalry officers of the volunteer service, and performed, in addition to other duties, that of Inspector-General of McDowell's Division. In all the earlier cavalry engagements of the war, he was conspic- uous, exhibiting an intrepidity, dash and readiness of resource which no other officer in that branch of the service had ever dis- played. In 1862, he inaugurated a series of "raids" which, in point of daring, rapidity of execution, and effectiveness of results, were altogether unequalled, appalling the enemy while they filled the whole North with exultation. In the battles of Brandy Station, Sulphur Springs, Groveton, Haymarket, and the second Bull Run, he was ever prominent, winning fresh laurels in each conflict, and coming to be recognized as, at that time, the cavalry
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leader of the war. When the Cavalry Corps of the Potomac Army was organized, he was placed in command of a brigade, and in the Stoneman expedition advanced to within two miles of Richmond, inflicting immense damage upon the communications of the enemy. In subsequent battles, all of which are described more or less fully in the account of the Sussex Squadron of the Harris Light Cavalry, Kilpatrick performed eminent service, and upon the reorganization of the army, under General Meade, was placed in command of a division as Brigadier-General. His record subsequent to this date was the record of the war in Vir- ginia, and to rehearse it here would only be to reproduce some of the brighest pages of the history of the Grand Army of the Potomac.
General Sherman having been assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, General Kilpatrick was ordered to report to him at Nashville, being there assigned to a cavalry command and at once sent to the front. When the armies under Sherman moved against the enemy, Kilpatrick led the advance with the column commanded by General Hooker, but subsequently co-operated with the Army of the Tennessee in its movements on Resaca, Georgia, success attending all his movements, until, in one of the engagements before that place, he was badly wounded and compelled to leave the field. Going North, he remained in quiet for a brief period, but growing impatient, returned to the front, against the advice of his physician, in time to participate in the final movements against Atlanta. In the March to the Sea, he several times engaged the cavalry of the enemy, in all cases putting him to rout, and by his uniform success winning new laurels. General Sherman, upon reaching Savannah, thus recognized the valuable services of the Jersey General : "I beg to assure you that the operations of the cavalry have been skillful and eminently suc- cessful. The fact that to you, in a great measure, we owe the march of four strong infantry columns, with heavy trains and wagons, over three hundred miles through an enemy's country, without the loss of a single wagon, and without the annoyance of cavalry dashes on our flanks, is honor enough for any cavalry commander." On
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the 14th of January, 1865, Kilpatrick was made Major-General, and a week later started on the Carolina campaign.
Of the services of the cavalry in that memorable campaign, it need only be said that they insured the complete success of Sher- man's plans, and that to no one man was that result more largely due than to Judson Kilpatrick. In one instance he defeated, with only a portion of his command, the combined forces of Generals Wheeler and Wade Hampton, and in every engagement his cour- age and capacity had fresh and honorable development, insomuch that with the close of the campaign and the war, no name shone more lustrously than his.
As to General Kilpatrick's characteristics, it need only be said that he was a genuine soldier in the very broadest understanding of the character, and withal was a patriot of the purest and most unselfish type. His success in the field greatly depended upon the magnetism of his example, and the care he took of his men-their arms, equipments, clothing and subsistence, being looked after by him with anxious solicitude. Readiness of mind was another strong element of his character ; his fertility of resources and ability to take advantage of occasions as they arose, giving him a constant advan- tage. There was, too, his rare knowledge of men, and acquaint- ance with human nature. He knew how to put " the right man in the right place," and always kept the right sort of men about him, even to his orderly, his servant, and his cook. Yet another trait that contributed to his success was, his great tact and business talent, or " administrative ability," in which he so far excelled the most of military men as to place him, in this respect, beyond com- petitors; for his natural powers, in themselves quick, ready, elastic, were improved by science, study, and cultivation, and, combined with tact, rendered him pre-eminent and successful.1
As a fighter, Kilpatrick was audacious, impudent, and fearless to a fault. Some have questioned his courage; but those who know him best, know that no braver soldier ever went afield. Self-reliant in a remarkable degree, he believed himself the equal
1 Sketch of Kilpatrick, by Doctor James Moore.
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of the best man in the land, and he never for one instant lowered his sword in fear, no matter how great the odds against him. There were more intellectual men, men of more solidity of character among the Generals of the Union army, but there were none who more faithfully or successfully performed the work assigned them, or fought with loftier or nobler purpose, than General Judson Kilpatrick.
· BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL CHARLES A. HECKMAN.
Charles A. Heckman was born at Easton, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 3, 1822, and entered upon his military career during the war with Mexico, in which he served as First Lieutenant of Company H, First United States Voltigeurs, taking part in the battles of National Bridge, Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec, and being present at the capture of the City of Mexico. Upon his return to his home at the conclusion of the war, he was engaged as a conductor by the Central Railroad Com- pany of New Jersey, remaining in the service of that Company until the commencement of the rebellion, when, under the first call of the President, he raised a company of volunteers, which, . by order of Governor Curtin, was assigned to the First Pennsyl- vania Regiment. Serving with distinction during the three months' campaign, Heckman returned to Phillipsburg, New Jersey, but additional troops being called for, he once more responded, being made Major of the Ninth Regiment by Governor Olden, who discovered in him peculiar qualifications for a command. Indeed, it was mainly owing to his knowledge and skill that this regiment was so rapidly advanced in efficiency, no officer but him- self being at the time of its organization sufficiently familiar with . the rifle practice to drill the men therein with any degree of intel- ligence or profit.
Upon reaching the field, Heckman at once became conspicuous as a soldier of the highest accomplishments. Perhaps no General officer ever behaved with greater gallantry in action than he. Hc was, as truly as any man that ever lived, insensible to fear. 106
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During the whole period of his service, he was never once found in any other position than at the head of his columns. Indeed, in his headlong bravery, he often exposed himself unnecessarily, pushing beyond his lines, usually accompanied only by Surgeon Woodhull, straight into the jaws of danger. But he did this, like everything else, upon principle. He felt it to be his duty never to trust to others what he could do himself, and held it to be an evasion of responsibility to ask his command to engage in any service, dangerous or otherwise, in which he was not willing to participate. It is somewhat remarkable that although thus con- stantly exposing himself, mingling always in the thickest of the fight, he was never wounded. His clothing, however, was repeat- edly perforated by bullets.
In the winter of 1864, having been made a Brigadier-General two years before, Heckman relieved Major-General Getty in the command of twenty thousand troops defending the approaches to Norfolk, and subsequently was offered by General Butler com- mand of a division of infantry with two regiments of cavalry, and a battery of artillery. The Old Star Brigade to which Heckman was greatly attached, not being included in the proffered command, · this offer was declined. Upon his return from Richmond, whither he was carried a prisoner, in May, 1864, he assumed command of the Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, which he command- ed at the capture of Fort Harrison. In this desperate engagement he captured two regiments of rebels with four pieces of artillery. General Ord being wounded, Heckman took command by virtue of his rank, and immediately ordered an attack upon a river bat- tery, which, together with the garrison, was captured. This bat- tery being found untenable (being covered by the rebel monitors), he had it destroyed, and then abandoned it. After this he opera- . ted against an annoying Fort, situated between Forts Harrison and Gilmore, but was unable to capture it. For the ability displayed in these operations he was highly complimented by General Grant. Major-General Weitzel being sent to that part of the field, relieved General Heckman, who then took command of his old division, with which he remained until the consolidation of the Tenth and
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Eighteenth Corps, when he was placed in command of the First Division, Twenty-fifth (colored) Corps, and soon after, General Weitzel leaving for Fort Fisher, became commander of the whole corps, then but partially organized. The task of moulding this organization into effective form was one of great difficulty, but by unceasing exertion, strict discipline, and the close personal supervi- sion of the commander, success was finally achieved, the troops becoming genuine soldiers in the broadest sense of the term. On the return of General Weitzel, he appointed Heckman Chief of Staff, which position he held until May 25, 1865, when, the war being considered at an end, he resigned, and returned to his home. He subsequently received a Major-General's brevet, to date from the capture of Fort Harrison.
General Heckman is a man of fine personal appearance, and pos- sesses great physical activity and powers of endurance. Ordina- rily calm and self-poised, his manner when excited is almost fierce in its heat and violence. His voice is singularly loud, ringing and sonorous, and in the noise of battle, his commands pierced the tumult like the blast of a trumpet. While in the service, he had one passion, but it was rather harmless than otherwise, being sim- ply a passion for music. His flute was scarcely less precious to him than his sword, and many a weary hour was solaced by its sooth- ing murmurs. Perhaps it was this very passion which led him into the thickest of every combat, wooed by the music of scream- ing shell and whistling ball.
BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE W. MINDIL.
General Mindil entered the military service of the United States, when only eighteen years of age, as First Lieutenant of Company B, Twenty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, in July, 1861, being promoted to the Captaincy in October following, and remain- ing with the command until March, 1862, when he was assigned to. staff duty with Brigadier-General David B. Birney, commanding Second Brigade, First Division, Third Army Corps. During the Peninsula campaign, he served with distinction, not only on the
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staff of General Birney, but in more responsible capacities-at Williamsburg leading the decisive charge of the day, and winning the applause both of General Kearney and his immediate com- mander. At Fair Oaks, he again distinguished himself, " his supe- rior intelligence and activity," in the language of the commander of the brigade, " being manifest everywhere." In the withdrawal of Kearney's Division from its position in front of Richmond, Mindil was selected to mask the movement, which he did with such skill as again to secure honorable mention, with an invitation from Gen- eral Kearney to accept a position on his staff. Upon reporting to that officer, he was assigned as Inspector of the Division-a posi- tion in which he displayed the highest soldierly abilities and won the approbation of some of the best officers in the service. About this time, Captain Mindil was strongly recommended by Generals Kearney, Berry, Hayes, Egan and others for a position in the Regular Army-another paper, signed by Generals Mcclellan Heintzleman, and others, urging his appointment to a field officer's rank. In the battles of Pope's campaign, he shared all the perils of the field-at the second battle of Bull Run being the only mili- tary aid of General Kearney who was present for duty-a fact which the lamented officer gratefully acknowledged in his last offi- cial report. Upon General Kearney's death, Captain Mindil, after accompanying the remains to New Jersey, was assigned for duty at Army Headquarters, being subsequently-when Mcclellan again took the field-left with others in charge of the Washington office. In October he was offered command of the Twenty-seventh New Jersey Regiment, and accepting the position, at once reported for duty at Newark. The Twenty-seventh, under his leadership, upon reaching the field, soon established a high reputation for efficiency and drill, and during its whole term of service, both in the East and West, enjoyed the fullest confidence of its superiors. Its record, as given elsewhere, is the highest compliment which can be paid to the courage, intelligence and ability of Colonel Mindil.
Upon the expiration of the term of service of the Twenty- seventh Regiment, Colonel Mindil proceeded to Washington with a view of securing employment, but while there was called to the
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command of the Thirty-third Regiment, then forming at Newark. With this regiment he proceeded to Tennessee, participating in the movement against Atlanta, and in the subsequent March to the Sea. For his gallant conduct in the assault at Mill Creek Gap, and his meritorious services in the battle of Chattanooga, Colonel Mindil received, although not until some time afterwards, the brevet rank of Major-General. At Savannah, he was a second time recommended for a full Brigadiership by Generals Sherman, Howard and Geary.1 Before the answer came, however, the Carolina campaign was opened, and as the commander of the Second Brigade, Second Division, Twentieth Corps, Colonel Mindil took the field. In that campaign his brigade took an active part, in skirmishing with the ever-retreating enemy, and in the destruc- tion of the railways and bridges throughout the State. During the obstinate engagement at Bentonville, in North Carolina, every spare soldier was needed by Slocum to restore and hold his lines, and to Colonel Mindil, with his small brigade, reinforced by the First Michigan Engineer Regiment and a pontoonier battalion, was assigned the duty of conveying to a place of safety the immense wagon trains of his corps. Despite the horrible condition of the roads, his meagre topographical information of the country, and the harassing demonstrations of the enemy's cavalry, he succeeded in bringing the entire trains in safety to Goldsboro on the same day that the army arrived. For this service especially, and for his
1 In calling General Sherman's attention to Colonel Mindil's claims for immediate promotion, General Howard says : "At the battle of Chattanooga, and subsequently, Colonel Mindil has shown himself to be an able and efficient officer, and well qualified to command troops. In the management of his regiment he proved himself to be a thorough disciplinarian, and during the Knoxville campaign, he ably commanded a brigade with yourself."
General Geary in his recommendation, said : "The Colonel is one of the most accom- plished taeticians and drill officers in my division, and wherever he has been engaged in action with the enemy, he has exhibited a high degree of coolness and courage. Before his connection with this army, he served with distinction as Assistant Adju- tant-General on the staff of the gallant and lamented Kearney, and in other positions during the Peninsula campaign in front of Richmond. I therefore recommend him to your consideration for promotion to Brigadier-General, believing him worthy of this mark of recognition."
. On the 5th of January, 1865, General Sherman approved of the promotion, and the papers were forwarded to Washington for the action of the proper authorities.
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" good conduct during the campaign," his name was forwarded for a brevet by Generals Geary, Mower, Slocum and Sherman-the doc- ument also meeting the approving signature of the Lieutenant- General. Mr. Lincoln had already determined to give him the full rank on the Savannah recommendation, when his regretted and untimely death intervened, and the brevet rank and an assign- ment in accordance therewith, was accordingly at once granted by the Department of War.
In the closing campaign of the war to Raleigh and beyond, which ended in the surrender of the remaining armies of the Con- federacy, General Mindil commanded the First Brigade of his division. He participated in the grand review of Sherman's army on the 22d of May, and remained in command of a force consisting of most of the old regiments of the famous " White Star Division," in the vicinity of Washington, for some months after Kirby Smith's surrender. General Mindil should have received his first star long before he did, but he was far away in the Western army, and disdained to use the political influence which would have aided him and could have procured it for him at home. The fact that he was recommended for the full rank of Brigadier in 1863 and at the termination of every subsequent campaign in which he participated, and that Mr. Lincoln intended to confer the rank, having been made known to the authorities at Washington, the next highest rank above was cheerfully granted him, and his " Major-Generalship," in justice to his services, was dated back, being granted for his gallantry at Chattanooga, Mission Ridge and Mill Creek Gap. General Mindil left the service August 2, 1865, after four years of constant duty, and resumed his former mercantile pursuits in Philadelphia.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE W. TAYLOR.
George W. Taylor, who gave his life in defence of the country, was a native of Hunterdon County, in this State, and early exhib- ited a predilection for military pursuits. Graduating, at the age of eighteen, at the celebrated military school of Colonel Allen Par-
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tridge, in Connecticut, he entered the navy as a midshipman and made several cruises-subsequently, however, resigning and engag- ing in mercantile pursuits. But the love of adventure and excite- ment had not been entirely banished from his nature, and when the Mexican war broke out his military instincts and native patriot- ism incited him to raise a company of volunteers, of which he was commissioned Captain, and which was offered to the Government, accepted and ordered to Mexico, where it arrived in time to endure some fatiguing marches and many hardships, but too late to participate in any of the battles. Upon the outbreak of the rebellion in 1861, Captain Taylor was one of the first to respond to the appeal for troops-at once engaging in the formation of com- panies and inciting the people of his county generally to patriotic action. This done, he made preparations to leave home, with his horse and arms, with a view of offering himself as a volunteer upon the staff of some General already in the field and at the post of danger. He was, however, arrested by the unexpected, and so far as he was personally concerned, unsolicited offer by Governor Olden, of the Colonelcy of the Third Regiment, then in process of formation. Unhesitatingly accepting the commission, Colonel Tay- lor at once addressed himself to the task of reducing his new levies. into a state of discipline, and on the 8th of June, 1861, accompanied them to Washington, where with the rest of the brigade they reported for duty and were stationed in the forts or advanced as pickets rear Washington. On the 21st he assisted, with the other Jersey regiments, in checking the disgraceful flight from Bull Run and rendered other efficient service. Upon General Kearney being assigned, in the following spring, to the command of a division, Colonel Taylor, being the senior officer, became Acting Brigadier General of the First Brigade, and was subse- quently (June 10, 1862) promoted to that rank. He com- manded the brigade during the battles of the Peninsula, dis. playing in all the most indomitable courage. . Returning with the army to Alexandria, he was sent forward (August 27th) to Bull Run Bridge, with a view of moving up to Manassas Junction and dispersing a rebel force reported to be at that point. Upon
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