New Jersey troops in the Gettysburg campaign from June 5 to July 31, 1863, Part 20

Author: Toombs, Samuel, 1844-1889
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Orange, N.J., The Evening Mail Publishing House
Number of Pages: 458


USA > New Jersey > New Jersey troops in the Gettysburg campaign from June 5 to July 31, 1863 > Part 20


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mander, and his enforced withdrawal from service was regretted by all his comrades in arms. He still resides in the city of New Brunswick, and is President of the Ninth National Bank, New York City.


COLONEL WILLIAM E. POTTER.


William Elmer Potter, the youngest son of James Boyd and Jane Barron Potter, was born June 13, 1840, in Bridge- ton, Cumberland county, New Jersey. His grandfather, Colonel David Potter, was a soldier of the Revolution, and saw considerable service. He was first colonel of the second battalion of Cumberland, and, as such, was in com- mand of his regiment forming a part of the brigade of Brigadier-General Hugh Mercer, at Perth Amboy in the Autumn of 1776. He was elected brigadier-general by the Legislature of New Jersey, February 21, 1777, but declined the appointment. He again entered active service as colo- nel of a battalion of State troops. On the twentieth of September, 1777, by order of Governor Livingston, he was detached in command of the effective troops of the brigade of Brigadier-General Silas Newcomb to reinforce the main army under General Washington, then retreating after the disastrous battle of the Brandywine. He crossed the Dela- ware with his command, and in some one of the skirmishes preliminary to the battle of Germantown, or in that battle itself, it is not now known which, he was taken prisoner by the enemy. He was confined for a long time upon the prison hulks in Long Island Sound, and was afterward released upon parole, and was not exchanged, at least as late as 1781. He was afterward marshal of the Admiralty Court of New Jersey, sheriff of the County of Cumberland, and one of the commissioners to ratify the Constitution of the United States.


The subject of this sketch having determined upon the


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law as a profession, entered the office of Honorable John T. Nixon, as a student, in October, 1857. He remained until September, 1859, and the same month became a student at the law school of Harvard University. From this school he graduated in January, 1861, with the degree of LL. B., and in September of the same year entered the junior class of Princeton College. Under the spur of patriotic ardor he abandoned his collegiate studies, and in July of the following year enlisted in Company K, Twelfth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers. He was commissioned second lieutenant of the same company August 14, 1862, and mustered into the service of the United States as such September 4, 1862. He was promoted to a first lieutenancy of the same company and regiment August 6, 1863, and to the captaincy of Company G February 4, 1864. Captain Potter became brevet-major United States Volunteers for meritorious services, May 1, 1865, by promotion of the President of the United States, and was, in 1866, commis- sioned aide-de-camp to Governor Marcus L. Ward, of New Jersey, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, upon whose staff he served for three years.


While in the field with his regiment he was detailed as ordnance officer of the Third Division, Second Army Corps, and acted as such in the campaigns of Chancellors- ville and Gettysburg, on the staff of Major-General William H. French, and with Brigadier-General Alexander Hays. He served in that capacity until October 1, 1863, and was then appointed judge-advocate of the division on the staff of General Hays, continuing thus until he rejoined his regiment and took command of his company. He was wounded at the battle of the Wilderness while in command of his company on the sixth of May, 1864, and reported again for duty at Cold Harbor, Va., June 4, of the same year. On the first of July, 1864, he was detailed as


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aide-de-camp to Colonel Thomas A. Smyth, commanding Third Brigade, Second Division of the Second Army Corps. On the first of August, 1864, he was made judge-advocate on the staff of Major-General John Gibbon, commanding the Second Division, Second Army Corps, and served thus until January 15, 1865, when he was detailed as aide to Major-General John Gibbon, commanding the Twenty- fourth Army Corps, Army of the James, and as acting judge-advocate of the corps. He remained on duty in the latter capacity until mustered out of service, June 4, 1865. During this period Colonel Potter was present in the following engagements : Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Auburn, Bristoe Station, Blackburn's Ford, Locust Grove, campaign of Mine Run, Morton's Ford, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, the entire campaign of Petersburg, Deep Bottom (first and second engagements), Reams' Station, Hatcher's Run, Boydton Road, assault and capture of Petersburg, Rice's Station and Appomattox Court House. By an order from headquarters, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, in company with five other officers, he was detailed to deliver the colors, surrendered by General Lee's army, seventy-six in number, to Honorable Edward M. Stanton, of the, War Department, which ceremony occurred on May 1, 1865. He was the only New Jersey officer present on this occasion.


Colonel Potter, during his military career, displayed gallantry and judgment, which won for him the highest encomiums from his superior officers. Colonel Potter received from Princeton College his degree of A. B. in 1863 and of A. M. in 1866. He was admitted as an attorney at law in 1865, and as a counselor in 1869. Hav- ing begun practice in Bridgeton, he, in 1870, formed a co-partnership with J. Boyd Nixon, with whom he has since continued his professional labors, and attained a prominent position at the bar of New Jersey.


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He was a delegate to the Republican National Conven- tion at Chicago in 1868, as also to the convention held at Cincinnati in 1876, and an elector on the Garfield ticket in 1880. He was elected an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati of New Jersey, July 4, 1874, and presi- dent of the New Jersey Officers' Association for 1880. The colonel was, on the 27th of May, 1869, married to Alice, daughter of the late Alfred Eddy, D. D., of Niles, Mich. Their children are. Alfred E., James Boyd, David, Alice, and Francis Delavan.


BREVET BRIGADIER - GENERAL EZRA A. CARMAN.


Ezra A. Carman, colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, entered the service in 1861, being commissioned on September 14th of that year lieutenant- colonel of the Seventh Regiment. He was wounded in the battle of Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862, and was commis- sioned colonel July 8, 1862. He organized the Thirteenth Regiment, which he commanded, and with it proceeded to Washington on August 31st. He was disabled at Antietam and Chancellorsville, and at Gettysburg was placed in command of a provisional brigade, which was sent to support Gregg's cavalry, on the evening of July 3d. At the close of the Gettysburg campaign three regiments of the brigade to which the Thirteenth belonged were sent to New York to aid in quelling the riots which had been in progress there and Colonel Carman commanded the bri- gade then composed of the Thirteenth New Jersey, One Hundred and Seventh and One Hundred and Fiftieth New York Regiments. When the Thirteenth Regiment, with the Twelfth Corps, went west, he was appointed president of a military commission which held its sessions in Tullahoma, Tenn. In the Atlanta campaign the Thirteenth


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Regiment was frequently engaged with the enemy, notably at Resaca, Cassville, Pumpkin Vine Creek-some- times called Dallas and also New Hope Church-Nancy's Creek, Buffalo Creek, Peach Tree Creek, Kulp's Farm, and several times in front of Atlanta, on each occasion winning golden opinions for its gallantry and bravery. On the March to the Sea, Colonel Carman commanded the brigade, and in front of Savannah held the extreme left of the army. The brigade was ordered to the South Carolina shore, for the purpose of closing up Hardee's only avenue of escape, but that wily officer, afraid of a movement of that kind, as he had noted the crossing of the brigade to Argyle Island in the middle of the Savannah river, evacu- ated the city, which was entered by part of the Second Division of the Twentieth Corps, who captured a guard detail of the enemy who were unable to get away. At Savannah Colonel Carman was ordered to Nashville on special duty. He was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services during the war to date from March 13, 1865.


BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL FREDERICK H. HARRIS.


General Frederick Halsey Harris, of the Thirteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, was born in the city of Newark, 'N. J., March 7, 1830. He is descended on the maternal side from the Baldwin and Gould families, who settled in Newark over two hundred years ago. His grandfather, Robert Baldwin, was born in Orange, N. J., and was engaged in the war of 1812, on the New Jersey coast. His mother was a grand-daughter of General Will- iam Gould of Caldwell. His father's ancestors were originally of Welsh origin and the date of their settlement in this country is forgotten. Moses Harris, the grand- 25


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father of General Harris was born in Morrisania, New York, and in 1805 moved to Newark, N. J., when the father of the general was an infant. He was engaged for many years in business near the corner of Market and Broad streets in Newark as a merchant tailor. His father's mother was a Halsey and came originally from Elizabeth, N. J. William H. Harris, his father, was an architect and builder for many years in Newark, where he learned his trade.


The subject of this sketch attended private school in Newark when a boy, being one of the attendants at the Newark Academy-where the postoffice building now stands-afterward attending the select school of Reverend William R. Weeks, D. D., on Washington street. In the Fall of 1844 he was sent to the Bloomfield Academy, then under the management of Messrs. Holt & Rindler, where he remained until the Fall of 1847. A long-cherished desire to enter Princeton College, for which he was pre- paring, was interfered with by the serious illness of his father, who urgently requested him to leave school and temporarily abandon the proposed college course and the profession of medicine, which he then contemplated. This put an end to his schooling; until 1858 he remained in business with his father, when he began the reading of law in the office of Charles R. Waugh, Esq., afterward presiding judge of Essex county, and in the office of David A. Hayes, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in June, I862.


The urgent call for troops after the Peninsula campaign led him to begin recruiting for the Thirteenth Regiment, both in the city of Newark and township of Bloomfield, and on the 25th of August, 1862, his company, E, was mustered into the United States service with the regiment,


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and on Sunday, August 31, proceeded to Washington. He participated in the Chancellorsville campaign and at the battle of Gettysburg, Company E was the color company of the regiment. During his military service Captain Harris was constantly with his regiment and on frequent important occasions commanding it, notably at the time of the advance of the army to Atlanta, where the Thirteenth under Colonel Harris was sent out to support the skirmish line then heavily engaged. Advancing his regiment to a knoll overlooking the enemy's breast works, he halted it there, and when the skirmish line was driven back, he deployed the right and left companies as skirmishers, until the skirmish line ad- vanced and reestablished itself. This was the nearest point to Atlanta ever reached by any command during the siege, and it was fortified by the Thirty-third Wisconsin Regi- ment, which relieved the Thirteenth. On the arrival of the regiment at Savannah Colonel Carman was sent to Nash- ville on special service, and during the whole of the Caro- lina campaign, Colonel Harris commanded it, participat - ing in the battles of Averysboro and Bentonville. In the latter battle the Thirteenth Regiment particularly dis- tinguished itself under his command, by repulsing the enemy, who were advancing in large numbers, and won the highest encomiums of praise from its superior officers. At Goldsboro, N. C., severe illness caused him to relinquish the command to Major John H. Arey, and he went to hospital at Newburn for medical treatment. He rejoined the regi- ment at Washington and participated in the grand review, and was mustered out with it on June 8, 1865. On July 17, 1864, he was promoted major and November 1, 1864, lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. For gallant and meri- torious services during the campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas he was brevetted colonel, and subsequently


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brigadier-general of United States Volunteers for gallant services at Bentonville.


At the close of the war General Harris was married to Miss Elizabeth J. Torrey at Honesdale, Pa. He never held political office though frequently solicited to be a candi- date for numerous important and lucrative positions, In the Summer of 1865 he resumed the practice of law, and in the Spring of 1866 became the treasurer and assistant secretary of the American Insurance Company of Newark. Being elected a director, he continued to perform the duties of secretary and treasurer until the death of Presi- dent Gould in January, 1883, when he was unanimously elected to fill the position of president of that old and prominent company.


JOHN JAMES HENRY LOVE, M. D.


Surgeon J. J. H. Love, of the Thirteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, was born on April 3, 1833, in Harmony township, Warren county, New Jersey. His father was the Rev. Robert Love, a Presbyterian minister, and he was the great grandson of Lieutenant Thomas Love, aide-de- camp to General Samuel Cochrane of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Doctor Love was educated at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., and in the medical department of the University, city of New York, graduating from the former in 1851 and from the latter in 1855. When the Thirteenth Regiment was being recruited he was appointed surgeon on July 19, 1862. He had seen some service, however, previous to this. After the battle of Williamsburg and the beginning of the siege of Yorktown, May 5, 1862, he was sent out as a volunteer surgeon by Governor Olden to look after and care for the wounded of New Jersey regiments. On the 23d of March, 1863, Surgeon Love was assigned to duty as surgeon-in-chief


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Third Brigade, First Division, Twelfth Army Corps, and served in that capacity during the battle of Gettysburg, doing most efficient service in the care of the wounded. On the first of August, 1863, when the Twelfth Corps had settled down for a rest at Kelly's Ford, Va., after the arduous campaign then just ended, he was appointed surgeon-in-chief First Division, Twelfth Corps, and became a member of General A. S. Williams' staff. In this capacity he served until the following January, after accompanying the corps to the west, when on the 28th of that month, 1864, he resigned his commission and was honorably discharged from the service. On his return home he at once entered upon the practice of his profes- sion, in which he holds a high place.


CAPTAIN AMBROSE M. MATTHEWS.


Captain Ambrose M. Matthews, of Orange, N. J., was engaged in business as a hat manufacturer when the war broke out, and leaving his business he enlisted on May 10, 1861, as a private in Company G, Second Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. Twice he was offered a first lieuten- ancy in the Excelsior Brigade, but declined, and on the fifth of August, 1862, was discharged by Special Order No. 223, C. S. Headquarters Army of the Potomac, at Harrison's Landing, Va., at the request of the Governor of the State, to assist in raising a new regiment. On August 22, 1862. he was commissioned second lieutenant of Company E, Thirteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volun- teers, and was mustered with it into the United States service three days later. At the battle of Antietam he was wounded, and his gallant services there were recog- nized in his promotion as first lieutenant of Company K. On November 1, 1862, he was promoted Captain of Com- pany I. At Chancellorsville, where the Thirteenth Regi-


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ment did splendid and praiseworthy service, Captain Matthews was again wounded, and he received honorable mention in a regimental order, issued a few days after the return to their old camp, by Captain Beardsley, who was then in command. At Gettysburg his Company I, with that of Captain Ryerson's Company C, comprised the left flank of the regiment, they being formed almost perpendicular to the main line, creating an angle. This brought these two companies, then commanded by Cap- tain Matthews (Captain Ryerson acting as major of the regiment) directly in front of the enemy, and when the charge by part of Steuart's rebel brigade was made upon this position, they aided in repulsing it. Captain Ryerson was wounded, and Captain Matthews had a narrow escape from death, a ball penetrating his hat just above the scalp line. At Resaca, Ga., he was again wounded. Captain Matthews accompanied his regiment through all its campaigns, the siege of Atlanta, the March to the Sea, the Carolina campaign, and in every emergency was noted for his courage and coolness. He was a strict disci- plinarian and held his men to a rigid performance of duty, and always looked carefully after their interests. No man of the Thirteenth Regiment to-day is held in higher esteem by his comrades than the subject of this sketch.


COLONEL JAMES N. DUFFY.


Colonel James N. Duffy, the President of the Gettys- burg Battle-Field Commission of New Jersey, served during the battle on the staff of General H. G. Wright, commanding First Division, Sixth Army Corps, his rank being that of lieutenant-colonel and his duties those of acting assistant inspector-general. Colonel Duffy entered the service as captain of Company C, Second Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, in May 27, 1861. On July 1, 1861,


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he was promoted major, and on September 14, 1862, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Third New Jersey Regiment. September 29, 1863, after the battle of Gettys- burg, he was commissioned colonel of the Fourth Regi- ment New Jersey Volunteers, but as the organization had become reduced below the minimum he could not be mustered. He served with the Third Regiment until the close of the war and was mustered out with it as lieu- tenant-colonel June 23, 1864. Colonel Duffy has been prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of Newark and for several years maintained a large factory for the manufacture of patent and enameled leather in that city. Subsequently he started a factory in Eldred, Pennsylvania. His appointment as a member of the State Commission for the erection of monuments at . Gettysburg was received with great favor by all the sur- vivors of the commands interested.


BRIGADIER-GENERAL WILLIAM H. PENROSE.


William H. Penrose was born at Madison Barracks, N. Y., March 10, 1832, and his early life was spent in garri- son, following his father, who was an officer in the Regular Army, to the various posts at which he was sta- tioned. The outbreak of the Mexican war separated the father from his family, the latter finding a comfortable home with the Honorable Charles B. Penrose, of Carlisle, Pa., and William was then sent to Dickinson College. While here the death of his father occurred, and as the family were not in affluent circumstances, it became necessary for the young lad to seek employment, which he found in the machine shops at Reading, Pa. The old military instinct, imbibed when a mere boy, kept con- tinually asserting itself within him, and the breaking out of the rebellion gave him the opportunity he sought to


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enter the service. Receiving an appointment in the Regular Army-the commission dating April 13, 1861-he was assigned, as second lieutenant, to the Third Infantry, but as he was then out West and his company in Texas he was ordered to report to the commanding officer of the Fourth Artillery, then stationed at Fort Randall, Dakota. From here he went to New York to join his company of the Third Infantry which had arrived from Texas, and he there ascertained that it had been surrendered by General Twiggs to the State authorities, and the men paroled. Five of the companies of the regiment were at Wash- ington, and after considerable delay Lieutenant Pen- rose secured his orders and transportation to go to the Capital where he arrived two days before the first battle of Bull Run, and found his regiment encamped at Arlington, the commanding officer being Major (afterward Major- General) George Sykes. The regulars were soon after brought to Washington and put on provost duty, and Lieutenant Penrose was selected for duty in the Secret Service. Just after the battle of Ball's Bluff he was called to Philadelphia by Lieutenant-Colonel Weister of the First California Regiment (Colonel Baker's), after- ward known as the Seventy-first Pennsylvania, and was tendered the colonelcy of the regiment. This was a great surprise to the young officer, but learning that he had been recommended by some of the oldest and best officers in the army, he consented to accept it. Days passed and weeks flew by until at last one Sunday, while attending church, a telegram was brought to him asking why he did not come and take command. The telegram further stated that Colonel Weister had his commission and the order from army headquarters to proceed to the regiment. This was a matter of extraordinary importance to Penrose, and going to the adjutant-general with the telegram, that


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officer, much confused, said he would see about it. At midnight that same night marching orders were received, and nothing more was heard of the order until the army had reached Harrison's Landing, when an investigation revealed the fact that the order had been issued but Gen- eral Sykes pigeon-holed it, as he was opposed to any officer of his command leaving it. During the Peninsula campaign the colonelcy of three other regiments were offered him, but the same power intervened to prevent his taking either of them. Sometime in January, 1863, Gen- eral Torbert, then commanding the First New Jersey Brigade, sent for Penrose, and asked him if he would take


a regiment. He explained the difficulty of getting away from Sykes, but on Torbert's assurance that he would take care of that part of it, Penrose accepted. Some time went by and the matter had about passed from his mind when a note from General Torbert informed him that he had his commission as colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, and the order for him to take command would be issued at once. Penrose received his order and was in the performance of his new duties before Sykes knew anything about it. From this time on the record of Colonel Penrose is that of the Fifteenth Regiment. Its forced march from Manchester to Gettysburg with the Sixth Corps, is recorded elsewhere in the pages of this book. Colonel Penrose's own recollections of what trans- pired when the column reached Rock Creek, are thus described by himself. As no record of the exploit appears in the history of the Fifteenth Regiment, it is given in full here. General Penrose says :


" We had arrived none too soon. Our troops had been repulsed at almost every point, the fate of the army trembled in the balance. Canteens had hardly been filled when the order came to cross. The bluffs on the opposite side were steep, the water deep, but nothing


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could stop those brave men. In we went, and up the steep ascent on the other side. I was leading the brigade with the gallant Fifteenth. Hardly had I reached the level ground beyond when Captain Whittier, personal aid-de-camp to General Sedgwick, rode up in great haste and saying to me, 'Penrose, for God's sake get to the front as quick as you can; cut loose and follow me, everything is gone to the devil !' I put the men on a dog trot. Meeting a column crossing our track I gave the order to close up and cut through it, which was promptly obeyed. I fol- lowed on and came into line just in rear of the Third Regulars, who were on the right of the Fifth Corps-our lines had been driven to the crest of the hill. The situation was everything but encouraging. Regu- lar formation of the troops engaged there was none. Every man appeared to be fighting on his own hook, but with a determination not to yield one inch further. An incident occurred just at this time, which in my opinion had great weight in the result of that day's fight. As I went into line a man approached me having as prisoner a Confederate colonel mounted. The man asked me where headquarters were. I pointed out the corps flag in a field to the rear. The colonel then . addressed me as follows: 'For God's sake, how big is this - Catho- lic corps ?' (having reference to our corps badge, a Greek cross.) I answered 'Why ?,' He replied, 'You were thirty miles from here last night. We saw your colors (corps) coming over the hill, and the orders for our reinforcements to be pushed in were countermanded.' It will thus be seen that our timely arrival checked a movement that, had it been made, would have given them the crest of the hill, and cut our army in two. As soon as my line was formed it was moved forward. Going over the weary and worn out troops in our front, down the hill we went at a thundering pace, driving every thing before us, across the swamp at its foot, through the woods, never stopping until we reached a house just on the edge of the wheat-field, where the enemy made a decided stand. Here also stood an entire battery, every horse killed. The enemy had captured it in the afternoon, but had had no time to take it from the field. Here I halted, as night was coming on, and I could see none of our troops on my right or left. Cov- ering these guns with our rifles, I deployed two companies to my right before I made a connection with our troops, finding them to be part of General Wheaton's command which had gone in on my right. Six companies were deployed to my left before finding any one to connect with; it was then, if I remember right, with the Twelfth Regulars. Here we lay all night, but at the first peep of day




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