USA > New Jersey > The New Jersey coast in three centuries; history of the New Jersey coast with genealogical and historic-biographical appendix, Vol. I > Part 21
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CHAPTER VIII.
SUBSEQUENT WARS.
THE WARS WITH GREAT BRITAIN AND WITH MEXICO.
War was declared by the United States against Great Britain on June 19, 1812. Hostilities had been long impending, and two months before the event named, Governor Aaron Ogden had called upon the State of New Jersey for five thousand men to protect it against possible invasion. . These men, then in the prime of manhood, immediate descendants of sires who had won liberty for them, were imbued with patriotic and military spirit, and the force called for was assembled without delay, and placed under the command of General Ludlow.
May 11, 1812, more than a month prior to the formal declaration of war, five companies of infantry and one company of artillery were posted at Navesink Highlands to guard that point for a period of thirty days. The infantry companies were the Freehold Rifle Company, commanded by Captain William Ten Eyck; the Middletown Point Rifle Company, com- manded by Lieutenant James Ten Eyck, the Jersey blues, of Trenton ; a com- pany from Orange, commanded by Captain Day, and Captain Davis' Rifle Company, of Bloomfield; and the artillery company of Captain Plume's, of Newark. July 14th the companies of Captain Ten Eyck and Lieutenant Ten Eyck were called out for a second tour of duty. The terms of service of all the companies named were brief, averaging less than three months, and, while they were engaged in no active operations, their presence was highly necessary to assure the safety of the Monmouth county coast.
Shortly after the commencement of hostilities, John R. Scull, of Egg Harbor township, in what was then Gloucester but is now Atlantic county, formed a company for the protection of the harbor and it maintained its organization until February 12th, 1815, after the restoration of peace.
Captain Scull made excellent selection of a situation near the river, commanding great Egg Harbor, and here he erected a semi-circular fortifi- .cation some fifty feet in diameter, with a base of twenty feet, a width of
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fifteen feet on the parapet, and a height of six to ten feet. In this work were mounted four-and six-pounder cannon-light calibre in this day of giant ordnance, but sufficient then against wooden vessels. The company stood guard ready for action night and day, but it does not appear that the point was ever attacked. The fortification was preserved, except as impaired by the elements, until about 1885, when it was leveled to give place for modern improvements, and during the work of destruction numer- ous cannon balls were found on the ground where the patriot artillery had formerly been planted.
In Ocean county a draft was made for troops. It is not to be inferred from the fact of military service being enforced, that there was a dearth of patriotic spirit. The habits of the people of that region, and their pe- . culiar exposure to marauding naval expeditions, naturally inclined them to sea service, to be referred to hereinafter, and for these reasons they strove to evade what was less congenial and less in their own interest. But sub- stitutes were secured on payment of a bounty of fifty dollars. The drafted men were sent to man the fortifications at Sandy Hook.
The long stretch of exposed sea coast of New Jersey was throughout the war a principal objective point of British naval vessels, whose crews committed numerous depredations, which, while annoying, in nowise ad- vantaged their case. On the contrary, every blow they delivered was well repaid, and when the balance was struck, the enemy counted more defeats and losses than did their adversaries.
Off Sandy Hook was a favorite cruising ground for British ships of war which sought to paralyze the commerce of New York City. On frequent occasions they entered the Bay, and at times to their sorrow. There were various instances where small armed British craft were taken by the daring American sailors. Notable among such was the gallant achievement of "Mad Jack Percival," who celebrated the Fourth of July in 1813 by sailing out in a fishing-smack with a party of men garbed as fishermen and attacking the sloop "Eagle," tender to the British man-of- war "Poictiers." The "Eagle," commanded by a midshipman, manned by a crew of eleven men, and armed with a howitzer, was boarded and cap- tured after a brief hand-to-hand fight, and was taken into New York harbor under the very nose of her great consort.
It was lower down the coast, however, from Toms River to Cape May, that the enemy was most aggressive, and where they themselves sustained the greatest damage, while blockading the ports which had been the seat of a thrifty commerce. The blockading squadron comprised many of the largest vessels of the British navy, and was commanded by a splen- did officer, Commodore Hardy, who had for his flag-ship the "Ramillies,"
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seventy-four guns. March 31, 1813, this vessel sent into Barnegat Bay a number of armed ship's boats, which undertook to tow out the lumber schooner "Greyhound," commanded by Captain Jesse Rogers, but she grounded on the bar and was burned. Many American coasting vessels were subsequently destroyed in and near Barnegat Bay. In one instance, two sloops, the "Maria," Captain Joshua Warren, and the "Friendship," Captain Thomas Mills, were chased ashore near Squan Beach by the "Ramillies." Boat crews were sent in to destroy them after they had been abandoned by the American sailors, and one of their men was shot from the beach by Jesse Chadwick, who had been a Revolutionary war soldier. The barges then returned to the flag-ship, which tore up the two vessels with her heavy guns.
Late in 1813 several coasters bound for Egg Harbor encountered a British schooner off Cape May. The schooner opened fire and gave chase, and finally overtook the "New Jersey," from May's Landing, with her captain (Burton) and two men. A midshipman and three men were put aboard the prize, which was ordered to follow the British vessel while she continued in chase of the other craft. Nearing Egg Harbor, and night approaching, the British schooner abandoned the chase and put about for the Cape. The prize followed slowly, the midshipman being an indiffer- ent seaman, and he was constrained to commit her sailing to Burton, her former master and now a prisoner, under orders to lay his course for the Cape also. Burton designedly so steered the vessel as to make the mouth of Great Egg Harbor by daybreak, but he feigned ignorance of tlae place. His captors being confused, he watched his opportunity, and made them prisoners, and brought his recovered vessel into the friendly waters of Somers' Point. The British midshipman was held prisoner for a time, and then returned to his country, but the men of his prize crew remained in New Jersey, and one of their number, an Irishman, enlisted under the flag which he came to tear down.
The spirit of the hardy shoremen of New Jersey may be discerned in two well authenticated incidents of the times. Men from the British flag- ship "Ramillies" having killed fifteen head of cattle on Long Beach, be- longing to Jeremiah Spragg and John Allen, Commodore Hardy, who was at once a well dispositioned man and a gallant officer, proferred payment. This was refused by the owners, who averred that such a transaction would be not a whit better than for them to sell food to the enemy. They after- ward asked compensation by Congress, which was refused, as was the claim of Captain Rogers, whose vessel had been destroyed as previously narrated.
On another occasion, the British vessel "Poictiers," seventy-four guns,
13
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sent ashore to Cape Island a boat under a flag of truce, with the request that he be allowed to land to procure water for the ship's butts. Captain Humphrey Hughes, commanding a small party of men at the Island, re- fused the request, whereupon the British commander sent in another boat with notice that unless allowed to land peaceably he would fire upon the vil- lage. Captain Hughes, on advice of his officers and residents of the place, gave the desired permission. He was subsequently arrested under a charge of treason, for furnishing supplies to the enemy, and narrowly escaped severe punishment.
December 24, 1814, a treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain was made at Ghent, by the authorized representatives of the two countries, and it was ratified by the Senate of the United States on February 17th following, and was promulgated by President Madison the next day.
For the war with Mexico, 1846-8, New Jersey was called upon for but three companies of infantry. One of these, organized at Trenton, be- came Company G, of the Tenth Regiment, United States Infantry, com- manded by Colonel R. E. Temple. In April, 1847, this command was embarked on the brig "G. B. Lamar," and proceeded to Brazos Santiago. Throughout the war it remained in the vicinity of Matamoras, perform- ing faithfully all duty to which it was assigned, but taking little part in active campaigning. The regiment was mustered out of service in the fall of 1848.
The company above referred to was commanded by Captain Joseph S. Yard, who after a life of great public usefulness passed his declining days in Farmingdale, Monmouth county. William S. Truax, who was a sergeant at the muster-in of the company, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant shortly after arrival at Brazos, and was transferred to another ยท regiment. He served in the Civil war of 1861-5, and rose to the rank of colonel.
THE CIVIL WAR.
To one who did not live in that day, no description of the stirring scenes of the Civil War period can convey adequate idea of the tremendous excitement and superheated feeling that were occasioned by the overt act of rebellion which marked the beginning of the great struggle. The war from beginning to end was intensely dramatic, and scarcely a day from the midsummer of 1861 to the spring of 1865 was unmarked by a battle scene of more or less importance at some point between the southern At- lantic coast and the western mountain ranges of Missouri, and in these
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scenes the citizen soldiery of New Jersey bore a glorious part. Of the male population of the State of arms-bearing age, numbering 98,806, 88,305 performed military service, and out of the State treasury was paid nearly three millions of dollars for organizing, equipping and putting her troops in the field.
The inspiring patriotism of the young men of the day who bore arms, who endured hardships and privation, who toiled through weary marches, stood the long night watches, and were participants in the hard-fought battle, had its counterpart in the devotion of their mothers, wives and sis- ters, who while passing years of dreadful agony in fearful suspense, every hour dreading to hear fateful news of their loved ones, gave their dreary watch-hours to picking lint and providing comforts for the wounded and sick.
New Jersey was fortunate in having as executive an unflinching patriot in Governor Olden. Conservative though he was, while holding slavery to be an unmitigated evil, yet deprecating any encroachment upon the system upon ground not clearly permitted by the original compact, he held to the preservation of the Union, and loyally devoted his effort to aid the government by every means in his power. Appealing to the banks for means wherewith to equip troops and provide for the families of vol- unteers, he was speedily pledged nearly a half million dollars. He also convened the legislature in extraordinary session (April 30), and that body patriotically passed every measure of his recommendation.
Fort Sumter was fired upon April 15, 1861, and the same day Presi- dent Lincoln made his call for 75,000 men to serve for a period of ninety days. The quota of New Jersey as fixed by the War Department was four regiments of 780 men each, or 3,120 men. Immediately upon receipt of the presidential requisition, April 17th, Governor Olden issued his proc- laination directing all organizations and individuals willing to respond, to report within twenty days, and at the same time he notified the govern- ment that the force required would be forthcoming. By the terms of Governor Olden's call, the major generals commanding the several mili- tary districts of the State, four in number, were each directed to detail one regiment of ten companies, also to organize the reserve militia in their re- spective districts. These officers were instructed to accept volunteers, and, in the event of failing to secure a sufficient number, to make draft from the reserve militia to supply the deficiency.
The militia system of the State had little existence save in name. It had not been properly fostered or sustained, and was but a motley array of military shreds and patches. Hence it was that, as was not so in many States, there was little immediately available force. The response to the
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call of the Governor was the spontaneous :1prising of the vigorous youthful manhood of the commonwealth, and within a week the number of volun- teers offering was three times what was requisite, and many of those who were unable to enter the ranks from their own State enlisted in New York and Pennsylvania regiments.
The first company received and mustered into the service was the "Olden Guard," a militia organization of Trenton, and April 30th the quota of the State was complete. The four regiments were as follows: First, Colonel Adolphus J. Johnson; Second, Colonel Henry M. Baker ; Third, Colonel William Napton; and Fourth, Colonel Matthew Miller. These were formed into the First Brigade, Brigadier General Theodore Runyon commanding.
New Jersey was the first State with a fully organized brigade ready to march, and the command received orders May 2d to proceed to the de- fence of the National capital. The day following the troops were em- barked on propellers on the Delaware and Raritan canal, arriving at An- napolis during the night of the 4th. Four companies of the Second Regi- ment were left here, by order of General Winfield Scott, to guard the rail- road and telegraph between Annapolis Junction and Washington. On the 6th the brigade reached the capital. Its arrival was joyfully hailed by all the loyalists in the city, and a few days later it was honored by a visit from Lincoln, President and Commander-in-Chief, who spoke words of fervent commendation and encouragement.
May 9th and roth the brigade moved out to Meridian Hill, in the outskirts of the city, and established a camp which was named Camp Mon- mouth. Large details were made daily to guard the roads in the vicinity, and several hours each day were given to company and battalion drill.
May 24th the brigade crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia, and the men were put to work constructing rifle-pits and redoubts covering the roads leading to Washington, and the most important of these works, in which were mounted several heavy guns, was named Fort Runyon, in honor of the commander of the New Jersey troops. These were said to be the first fortifications thrown up by the Federal troops in the Civil War.
At a later day the brigade was advanced toward Bull Run, and it formed a portion of the reserve force present during the memorable bat- tle on that ground, but, greatly to the chagrin of the men, it was held supinely within close view of the conflict. However, it faithfully per- formed what duty was devolved upon it, and when came the disastrous closing scene, it stood an effectual barrier between the retreating forces and their pursuers, and so manifest was the soldiery spirit of the well- dressed ranks and so splendid their carriage, that bluff old Ben Wade, who,
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from an overlooking height saw the retreating soldiery drift before him, exclaimed, "Give us a brigade of these Jerseymen, and we'll beat the en- emy yet !"
July 24th and 25th the regiments of the brigade were ordered to Washington City, where they were honorably mustered out of service, their term of enlistment having expired. The great majority of the men thus discharged almost immediately enlisted in long term regiments, and made honorable records in the following years of arduous campaigning and heroic fighting.
These troops were in greater part from the large cities of the State, and the coast and interior towns were represented by few complete organi- zations, although many of their young men enlisted individually in the First Brigade or other commands.
In these regiments there were no organized companies from Union or Middlesex counties. Monmouth County was well represented in the Third Regiment, of which James S. Yard, of Freehold, editor of the "Monmouth Democrat," was major.
Soon after the organization of the first three months' troops, the gov- ernment made call for a force to serve for three years, and the quota of the State was three regiments, which were promptly furnished, and were numbered, respectively, the First, Second and Third. These were formed into the Second New Jersey Brigade, and with the First Brigade, previ- ously mentioned, constituted the reserve division commanded by General Runyon on the battle of Bull Run. July 25th the gallant Phil Kearny, of New Jersey, recently appointed as Brigadier General of Volunteers, was assigned to the command of the New Jersey troops. A thorough soldier, and one whose magnetic qualities afforded him a splendid popu- larity with his men, General Kearney brought his brigade to a high state of efficiency. In March, 1862, his brigade distinguished itself in various skirmishes, and the Third Regiment was the first to enter the works at Manassas Junction, which had been precipitately abandoned by the enemy on the approach of the Union forces. The spoils of war were eighty bag- gage wagons, two hundred tents, large quantities of commissary and hos- pital supplies, and several locomotive engines. Among the trophies were seven flags, one of which was of white silk, bearing the motto, "Claro- linians in the Field; Traitors, Beware;" and another bore the motto, "State Rights; Sic Semper Tyrannis."
The brigade, as a portion of the Army of the Potomac, participated in all the campaigns and many of the great battles in Virginia; and was finally honorably discharged from service in June, 1865, some two months after the ending of the war.
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To this brigade Union County contributed Company A, Captain David Hatfield, First Regiment ; Company A, Captain James Wilson, Sec- ond Regiment; and Company K, Captain John H. Whelan, Third Regi- ment. Middlesex County contributed to this brigade nearly four full companies, C, E, F and G, of the First Regiment ; and Company H of the First Cavalry Regiment. Monmouth county was not represented by any complete organization, but a considerable number of its young men en- listed individually in one or other of the regiments.
July 24, 1861, three days after the disastrous battle of Bull Run, the War Department made requisition upon Governor Olden for five addi- tional regiments to serve for a period of three years, and further calls were made at various times in after years.
The Ninth Regiment, which was organized in the fall of 1861, and took the field December 4, contained two companies from Union County -Company G, Captain John Ritter, and Company K, Captain Elias J. Drake, and in these were many Middlesex County men.
The service of this command was arduous and glorious. It formed a part of General Burnside's famous expedition to North Carolina, which was one of the most unique and thrilling incidents of the Civil War period. The troops were embarked on all descriptions of nondescript ocean-going and inland water craft, hastily assembled, and wholly unfitted for the" purpose for which they were brought into use. The fleet encountered a fearful storm off Hatteras Inlet, and several foundered, some going down in collision with other ships of the fleet.
The regiment participated in the famous battle of Roanoke Island, February 8, 1862, where the troops marched (or rather waded) to the conflict through a swamp which the enemy deemed impassable. The only cannon which could be brought into action was a small rifled piece which was dragged through the deep mud and water and tangled underbrush, and was manned during the action, almost entirely by a detail drawn from the Ninth Regiment. The howitzers upon a gunboat which forced itself up the little stream were also manned by infantrymen from the same command.
In this action, in which twelve regiments were engaged, the Union loss was 364 killed and wounded, of whom sixty-two, or one-sixth of the whole number, were of the Ninth. So meritorious was the conduct of the regiment that General Burnside complimented it in general orders, and directed that "Roanoke Island, February 8, 1862," should be emblazoned upon its colors in testimony.
Shortly afterward, on Christmas Eve, the legislature of New Jersey
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presented to the regiment a beautiful stand of colors costing $700, accom- panying the gift with the following engrossed resolutions :
"Resolved, That the Ninth Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers, by their patient endurance under privation and fatigue, and by their courage at the ever-to-be-remembered battles of Roanoke and Newberne (a cour- age evinced by the havoc made in their own unwavering columns better than by the reports of partial journals), have sustained the high reputa- tion which since the days of the Revolution has belonged to the soldiers of New Jersey, and as evidence of our appreciation of that acme of every manly virtue, 'patriotic devotion to country,' the Governor of the State is requested to have prepared and forwarded to said regiment a standard, on which shall be inscribed these words: 'Presented by New Jersey to her Ninth Regiment, in remembrance of Roanoke and Newberne.'
"Resolved, That Col. Charles A. Heckman, who so gallantly led his well-ordered men to the conflict, is requested, at the proper time, to report to the clerk of the House of Assembly the names of those who fell, killed or mortally wounded, on either of the said battle fields; and that the clerk of the House, is, by virtue of this resolution, ordered to enter their names, with the place where they fell, on the minutes of the Assembly of New Jersey, as men who have fallen in defence of the best government of the world.
"Resolved, That New Jersey looks with pride on her soldiers in the field, without exception or distinction, and is prepared to honor them; and while extending congratulations that the occasion has not yet occurred when they have been put to flight by an enemy, entertains entire confidence that such occasion will never be recognized by them.
"Resolved, That New Jersey highly appreciates the disinterested fidel- ity of Brig .- Gen. Philip Kearny in declining proferred promotion rather than separate himself from the command of Jerseymen to him intrusted.
"Resolved, That with the families, relatives, and friends of those members of the Ninth Regiment who, on the 14th day of March, met death in that form most courted by the true soldier, on the battle-field, with their faces to the foe, we most deeply sympathize and sincerely condole.
"Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be forwarded to the gen- erals and colonels commanding the New Jersey troops."
The operations of the regiment were confined to the Carolinas until the autumn of 1863, during which period it took part in various hard- fought battles. Its subsequent service was in Virginia until the summer of 1864, when it was transferred to North Carolina again. On account of its phenomenal service in the swamp regions, it gained for itself the sobriquet of "Jersey Muskrats." Its organization was maintained by the re-enlistment of a majority of the men as veteran volunteers in 1864. It took part in forty-two battles and minor engagements. It went into serv- ice with one thousand one hundred and forty-two men and received many
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recruits as its ranks were depleted by battle and disease, and yet only six hundred men were mustered out with the 'colors at the end of the war. Eight officers were killed in action, and twenty-three were wounded, and the loss of enlisted men was sixty-one killed and four hundred wounded. One hundred and thirty officers and men fell into the hands of the enemy, of whom forty-seven died as prisoners.
In the Eleventh Regiment, which went into service in August, 1862, there were two companies from Union County-Company B, Captain William H. Meeker, and Company D, Captain Luther Martin.
At a critical time, when in 1862 the so-called "peace resolutions" were under discussion, the regiment adopted resolutions condemnatory of all measures tending to a dishonorable peace-an expression of patriot- ism which at once gave great encouragement to the administration and was a deadly blow against marplots. The regiment participated in all the campaigns in Virginia' and in many of their hardest fought battles. At Fredericksburg, with its division, it felt the full weight of "Stonewall" Jackson's charge, and aided in repelling five desperate assaults, sharing in the honor of capturing eight battle flags. In this engagement its casualties were twenty killed and one hundred and thirteen wounded. In congratu- lating his regiment upon its behavior on this occassion, Colonel McAllis- ter said: "You who went in under the galling picket fire, when the eyes of thousands of our comrades were upon you, and like veterans stood the raging storm of battle, not only holding but gaining ground, deserve my warmest praise." And he added, speaking of the fallen, "We have before us the consoling fact that they died as brave soldiers, fighting for their country, and those of our day and posterity will do them justice."
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