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 24
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 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
The doomed men were at once placed under special guard, and were- notified by General Winder that they need not delude themselves with any hope of escape, and that their execution would take place July 14th, eight days hence. Sawyer, however, did not abandon hope, and he asked and' received permission to write a letter to his wife, conditioned upon its read- ing by the prison authorities. This epistle is at once remarkable for its. display of cool deliberation in planning for the preservation of his life, courageous resignation in the event of death, unflinching patriotic devo- tion, and the infinite pathos of his farewell to his loved ones. It is well worthy of preservation to the remotest days of history as illustrative of one of the noblest types of the American soldier :
"Provost Marshal-General's Office, Richmond, Va., July 6th, 1863.
"My Dear Wife :- I am under the necessity of informing you that my prospects look dark.
"This morning all the captains now prisoners at the Libby Military Prison drew lots for two to be executed. It fell to my lot. Myself and Captain Flynn, of the Fifty-first Indiana Infantry, will be executed for two captains executed by Burnside.
220
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
"The Provost Marshal-General, J. H. Winder, assures me that the Secretary of War of the Southern Confederacy will permit yourself and my dear children to visit me before I am executed. You will be permitted to bring an attendant. Captain Whilldin, or Uncle W. W. Ware, or Dan, had better come with you. My situation is hard to be borne, and I cannot think of dying without seeing you and the children. You will be allowed to return without molestation to your home. I am resigned to whatever is in store for me, with the consolation that I die without having com- mitted any crime. I have no trial, no jury, nor am I charged with any crime, but it fell to my lot. You will proceed to Washington. My gov- ernment will give you transportation for Fortress Monroe, and you will get here by flag of truce, and return in the same way. Bring with you a shirt for me.
"It will be necessary for you to preserve this letter to bring evidence at Washington of my condition. My pay is due me from the Ist of March, which you are entitled to. Captain B- owes me fifty dollars, money lent to him when he went on a furlough. You will write to him at once, and he will send it to you.
"My dear wife, the fortune of war has put me in this position. If I must die, a sacrifice to my country, with God's will I must submit; only let me see you once more, and I will die becoming a man and an officer ; but, for God's sake, do not disappoint me. Write to me as soon as you get this, and go to Captain Whilldin; he will advise you what to do.
"I have done nothing to deserve this penalty. But you must submit to your fate. It will be no disgrace to myself, you or the children; but you may point with pride and say: 'I gave my husband;' my children will have the consolation to say': 'I was made an orphan for my country.'
"God will provide for you; never fear. Oh! It is hard to leave you thus. I wish the ball that passed through my head in the last battle would have done its work; but it was not to be so. My mind is somewhat in- fluenced, for it has come so suddenly on me. Write to me as soon as you get this; leave your letter open, and I will get it. Direct my name and rank, by way of Fortress Monroe.
"Farewell! farewell !! and I hope it is all for the best. I remain yours until death,
"H. W. SAWYER, "Captain First New Jersey Cavalry."
Sawyer and Flynn were now placed in close confinement in an un- derground dungeon so damp that their clothing mildewed. Feeble light and foulest air were admitted by a six-inch square hole in the door, out- side of which stood a sentinel, who every half-hour, day and night, chal- lenged the prisoners, who were obliged to respond. Owing to these cease- less calls, and the presence of a multitude of great rats, the miserable men were well nigh totally deprived of sleep.
But although they were unaware of it, deliverance for the captives
221
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
was at hand. Sawyer's faithful wife, nerving herself to a heroism akin to that of her noble husband, hastened to Washington and laid before the President the message had been received. She needed to make no plea when she gazed into the pitying, careworn face of the tender-hearted Lincoln. Bidding her take courage, he set to work every agency to save the con- demned men, and also procured for the poor woman a safe-conduct which enabled her to visit her husband, who, with his companion, was granted a fifteen-day respite.
Under the direction of the President and the Secretary of War, a son of General Robert E. Lee and a son of General Winder, the Libby Prison commandant, then prisoners in the hands of the federal authorities, were ordered into close confinement, and General Benjamin F. Butler was di- rected to notify the Confederate government that these men would be executed immediately upon receipt of information of the death of Sawyer and Flynn.
The notice was sufficiently deterrent in terms, but its forcefulness. was augmented by the naming of General Butler as the agent of retribu- tion, for his determination in the use of heroic measures was proverbial. The executions were postponed from time to time. After a three weeks incarceration in the noisome dungeon, Sawyer and Flynn were removed to the same quarters with the other prisoners. Meantime the Richmond newspapers clamored for their execution, and they never once felt that their lives were really saved until in March, 1864, nine months after their capture, and eight months after their condemnation to death, when they walked out to freedom, through exchange for the Confederate officers held as hostages for them, and under similar sentence.
Captain Sawyer was honorably mustered out of service, with the brevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel, in September, 1865. He was subse- quently offered a lieutenancy in the regular army, which he declined. As a capital guard of 1861 he received a medal of honor from the State of Pennsylvania. For several years he was a member of the City Council of Cape May, and he was at one time Superintendent of the Life Saving Service for the coast of New Jersey, and a member of the New Jersey State Sinking Fund Commission from 1888 to 1891. His death occurred October 16, 1893, and was due to heart failure. He bore in his body to. the last one of the balls which he received in battle.
His prison companion, Captain Flynn, who with him was sentenced to death, rapidly declined during his imprisonment, and died about six months. after regaining his liberty.
222
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
THE NAVAL SERVICE.
It is estimated that not less than three thousand men whose homes were on the New Jersey coast went into the navy, a service for which they were admirably fitted by reason of their salt-water tastes and training. Nor is the fact to be lost sight of that, in Ocean and Cape May counties particularly, many seafaring men, vessel owners and sailors, were through- out the war engaged in the transportation of army supplies, food and clothing for men, forage for animals and ammunition, to the armies along the Maryland, Virginia and Carolina coasts-a service as necessary as was the maintaining of a fighting force, and one fraught with great peril. For these hardy sailors encountered not only the fury of the ocean tempest, but they were endangered by the war craft of the enemy on the sea, by torpedoes in the streams, and by ambuscaders on the shores.
A number of Ocean County sailors rose to distinction in the naval service. Thomas Edwards was acting master of the U. S. Ship "Oneida," from 1861 to 1863, and subsequently commanded the U. S. Ship "Stock- dale." William Rogers commanded the U. S. Ship "Pembina," in 1861; the U. S. Ship "Mary Sandford," in 1863, and the "Hetzell," in 1864-5. Jerome B. Rogers was in command of the U. S. Ship "Restless," in 1862, and of the U. S. Ship "Sebago," in 1863-4.
Cape May contributed to the navy a considerable number of experi- enced sailors who acquitted themselves most honorably, and some of whom rose to important positions. Perhaps the most conspicuous of these was Henry W. Hand.
He was of colonial ancestry, a lineal descendant of Mark Hand, who was a soldier under Oliver Cromwell. He was a son of Christopher S. Hand, and he was born at Green Creek, July 8, 1833. He began the life of a sailor when he was seventeen years of age, and when he was twenty- one years old he was master of a vessel in the merchant marine. His life was full of adventure. At Mobile, Alabama, in 1856, he was arrested and tried for abducting a negro slave, but was acquitted.
An ardent Unionist, and also an Abolitionist, he entered the naval service of the federal government at the beginning of the Rebellion. No- vember 13, 1861, he was made master and assigned to duty on the U. S. Ship "Keystone State," on board which he served as division and watch officer when it made its long cruise in pursuit of the Confederate block- ade runner "Nashville." He was on duty with Admiral Dupont's fleet in the operations against and capture of the ports on the South Carolina coast, and he served in the division of sailors and marines placed on shore duty. in
223
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
connection with the expedition. He was detached from his ship as prize master of the captured Confederate privateer "Dixie." He was subse- quently ordered to duty on board the monitor "Passaic," and was placed in command of her turret division. He was transferred, in turn, to the U. S. Ships "Vermont" and "New Hampshire," and was successively executive officer of both these vessels. Incidents of his service were in the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina, and with the naval brigade under General Hatch, in South Carolina, in February, 1865, operating as a diversion to distract attention from General Sherman's march from Savannah to the Atlantic coast.
Captain Hand's service under the government did not terminate with the end of the war. For three years afterward he was watch officer on the U. S. Ship "Lackawanna," engaged in surveying duty in the Pacific Ocean, with headquarters at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands. In 1869 he re- tired from the sea, and was a teacher in schools in Cape May until 1883, when he withdrew to give his entire attention to editorial work on the "Cape May Wave."
Numerous other Cape May seamen performed meritorious service afloat during the Civil War. Edward D. Springer served as Acting Ensign in the Mississippi Squadron. Eli D. Edmunds was Acting Master's Mate on the U. S. Ship "Crusader," in 1862; Acting Ensign in the Potomac flotilla, in 1863-4, and in 1866 commanded a coast survey steamer. Henry W. Hand, Acting Master, served on the U. S. Ship "Vermont." James Mecray, Jr., Acting Assistant Surgeon, served in the East Gulf Blockad- ing Squadron.
After more than four years of horrible war came the sunshine of peace. The armies of the Union were disbanded, and a multitude of their hosts came back into a world which had become new to them. They were but school-boys or tyro apprentices when they enlisted. They had left their school-books unfinished, their trades unlearned, and they were now too old to begin again at the turned-down page or make a new beginning with tools they had forgotten the use of. Some older ones had left a desirable occupation four years ago, but they came home to find that others had stepped into the work they had begun. Old avenues were closed to them, old ambitions were dead, and they walked as men do in dreams.
To some, by-and-by, came new aspirations, leading them to embark in ventures they would not have dared but for the self-reliance acquired in days of hardships and conflict. They took up the struggle against Fate and those who, refusing to do duty for country, had thus far outstripped
224
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
them in the race of life, and, despite the odds against them, pushed for- ward to success and honorable distinction. They led the vanguard of civilization in the unexplored places of the land, building up communities and creating States, planting everywhere the school-house, the church and the printing-press, and leading into channels of thrift and enterprise all who gathered about them. Others passed beyond the confines of their own land, traveling beyond the seas, spreading commerce and invention, to the advancement of their own fortune and to the honor of their country.
Others, broken in body and weary of spirit, stooped their shoulders to the burden nearest them. Poor were they in this world's goods, yet were they rich-rich in a life of noble effort, of heroic deed, of patriotic unselfishness, of broadened manhood, of conscientious citizenship.
Such as these were the sires and exemplars of another noble genera- tion-the splendid young men who more than a third of a century later, marched side by side with the sons of men against whom their fathers had fought, and with them vindicated the honor of a re-united nation and made glorious the one flag floating over it.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
In a military sense, the State of New Jersey was in admirable con- dition to enter upon its part in the war with Spain-a gratifying contrast with its unpreparedness at the beginning of the Civil War.
In the preparation for the approaching struggle, the Congress of the United States, on April 22, 1898, passed the act commonly known as the "Hull Bill," provided that all able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who had declared their intention to become citizens of the United States under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, should constitute the national forces, and, with such exceptions and under such conditions as might be prescribed by law, liable to perform duty in the service of the United States. It also declared that in time of war the army should con- sist of two branches to be designated respectively as the regular army and the volunteer army of the United States.
April 23d, the day after the passage of the above named Act of Con- gress, President Mckinley issued his proclamation calling out a volunteer army of 125,000 men, the same to be apportioned, as far as practicable, among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia, according to population, and to serve for two years, unless sooner dis- charged.
April 25th Congress declared an existent state of war between the
225
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
United States and Spain, and empowered the President to call into actual service the militia of the several States to such extent as he might deem necessary to carry the Act into effect.
On the same day the Secretary of War addressed Hon. Foster M. Voorhees, Governor of New Jersey, notifying him that the quota of the State, under the Presidential call, was three regiments of infantry.
The following day, April 26th, a conference of the military author- ities of the State was held in the executive chambers at Trenton, the Gov- ernor being present, and the next morning an order was issued for the calling out of three regiments of the National Guard as the quota of New Jersey under the first call for troops. It was provided that all officers and enlisted men in the National Guard entering the volunteer service should be considered as "absent with leave" during the term of service.
Between April 28th and 30th the prescribed medical examinations of the various commands had been made, and the Governor, through General William S, Stryker, Adjutant General, ordered the mobilization of suffi- cient State forces to constitute three regiments. These were to report at the State camp ground at Sea Girt, which was constituted a military post under command of Major General Joseph W. Plume, of the New Jersey National Guard. These orders were carried into effect with remarkable celerity. On Monday afternoon, May 2d, at one o'clock, Companies A, C and G, Sixth Regiment, National Guard, and Company E, Seventh Regi- ment, National Guard, all of which organizations were to be attached to the Third Regiment, marched into camp. At three o'clock the First Regi- ment, headquarters at Newark, and the Third Regiment, headquarters at Elizabeth, arrived at Sea Girt. At four o'clock the same afternoon the Second Regiment, headquarters at Paterson, reported in camp, and twenty- five minutes thereafter General Plume had the camp colors hoisted and Camp Voorhees was formally established.
Captain William C. Buttler, Third Infantry, United States Army, as- signed to duty as mustering officer of the New Jersey troops, reported to the Governor, and Company B, First Regiment, was the first company mustered into the service of the United States for the war, May 6th, and the mustering in of the entire three regiments was concluded Sunday, May 15th.
June IIth, General Plume was relieved from command of the mili- tary post at Sea Girt, and on the 20th of June he received a commission as Brigadier General of United States Volunteers, and soon afterward re- ported for duty with the Second Army Corps at Camp Alger, Virginia.
Notwithstanding the State had filled three regiments of troops to the maximum number of officers and men under the first call of the President,
15
226
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
it was now deemed proper by the War Department that nearly a thousand more men should be enlisted for these three regiments. June 13th the recruits so called for began to arrive in camp at Sea Girt, and the next day their medical examination and mustering in began and continued until July 8th. The contingent for the First Regiment left for Camp Alger on July Ist, and on the same day the recruits for the First Battalion of the Third Regiment started for Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. The recruits for the Second Regiment, at Jacksonville, Florida, left Sea Girt on July 7th, and those for the Second and Third Battalions of the Third Regi- ment at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, left July 8th.
June 28th the President called for an additional force of 75,000 vol- unteers, and under this call the Fourth Regiment was brought into camp, and mustered into service July 18th.
The organization of these regiments having been thus stated, it re- mains to make a brief narrative of their service, which was an once hon- orable and useful, despite their disappointment in not seeing actual war service.
May 16th the First Regiment received orders to rendezvous at Camp Alger, near Washington City. It broke camp on the evening of the 19th, fully armed, uniformed and equipped, provided with all the necessary tent- age, one hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, ten days' fixed rations and two days' travel rations, and arrived at its destination early the next day, and was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps, Colonel Edward A. Campbell commanding the brigade. May 27th the troops were reviewed by Major General Graham, and on the 28th by President Mckinley. July 17th Colonel Campbell was relieved of the command of the Brigade by Joseph W. Plume, who had been commissioned as Brigadier General of Volunteers. August 4th the brigade was ordered to be placed in readiness for duty in Porto Rico, but owing to the approach- ing close of hostilities this order was not carried into effect, and Septem- ber 3d the regiment returned to camp at Sea Girt to be mustered out of service. On its return to Newark it was received by the Mayor, and re- ceived a great ovation from the people of the city.
The First Regiment was purely a Newark organization, and was ad- mirably well drilled and disciplined. Its excellent personnel and the real soldierly character of its officers and men was attested by its phenomenally small sick list, the daily average being but four, or less than one-half of one per cent. It was commanded by Colonel Edward A. Campbell.
The Second Regiment, Colonel Edwin .W. Hine commanding, from Paterson and vicinity, was ordered, May 30th, to the national camp at Chickamauga Park, Tennessee. June Ist, while little advanced on its
.
227
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
journey, a second order was received for its transfer to Camp Cuba Libre, at Jacksonville, Florida, where it was assigned to the Seventh Corps, Gen- eral Fitzhugh Lee commanding. The personnel of this regiment was ex- cellent. No regiment excelled it in drill and discipline as it marched through the streets of Jacksonville, and so it continued, applauded and honored by all. On an unfortunate day, however, fever swept across the camp, many men sickened and a few of them died, and this disaster, so incident to campaigning on southern battlefields, carried much distress to the men themselves and to their families at home. The regiment returned to Paterson on September 26th and was reviewed by the Governor and ban- queted by the citizens.
May 25th the Third Regiment broke camp at Sea Girt, and the First Battalion proceeded to Pompton Lakes, Passaic county, New Jersey, and the Second and Third Battalions to Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook.
The service performed by this regiment was at once most unique and of unusual importance. At the outset, it was greatly feared that the harbor of New York and adjacent waters would be entered by a Spanish fleet, and at the same time it was deemed important to closely guard the great powder manufactories at Pompton Lakes.
At the latter named point the First Battalion, under the personal command of Colonel Benjamin A. Lee, rendered diligent service, and many of its men distinguished themselves by their heroism on the occasion of the great powder mill explosion.
The Second and Third Battalions of the Third Regiment, Lieutenant- Colonel Benjamin P. Holmes and Major Julius C. Shailer, were charged with the safety of Fort Hancock, at the extremity of Sandy Hook. The heavy ordnance at that place was of the most valuable and important de- scription, and the detachment of artillery of the Regular Army in charge of these guns needed this protection. The battalions were, during their term of service, as well disciplined as any organizations in the army, and received the highest praise from every soldier competent to give an in- telligent criticism. Had their services been needed before the destruction of the Spanish fleet, there is no doubt whatever that they would have rendered 'most important and valuable aid in protecting the harbor of New York.
In this regiment were many men from the coast towns, among them Captain Herman O. Bauer, Lieutenant Richard S. White and Lieutenant Simeon P. Dey, of Keyport; Adjutant Louis C. Iauch, Captain Charles Morris and Lieutenant William T. Cobb, of Long Branch ; Captain Jerome R. Muddell, of Bradley Beach; and Lieutenants John H. Ryno and George E. White, of Asbury Park.
228
HISTORY OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST.
The Fourth Regiment, Colonel Robert G. Smith, was recruited in and about Jersey City, and was a magnificent organization. Its camp was at Middletown, Pennsylvania.
The service performed by the Naval Reserve of New Jersey was in- valuable to the government, and the narrative of its accomplishments is of peculiar interest.
This arm of the service comprised two battalions-the Battalion of the East, Commander Washington Irving, of Short Hills, and the Bat- talion of the West, Commander Charles B. Dahlgren, of Trenton.
May 21st a large detachment of the Battalion of the East was mus- tered into the service of the United States, and on the 29th was trans- ferred from the U. S. Ship "Portsmouth," at Hoboken, to the U. S. Ship "Badger," at New York City. June 6th the "Badger" sailed for Province- town, Massachusetts, for duty with the North Atlantic Patrol Squadron. On arrival it went into night patrol service, giving some assistance to the U. S. Ship "San Francisco," ashore at Cape Cod, and then proceeded to the coast of Maine. From June 13th until June 20th the "Badger"
was on this duty, with headquarters at Bar Harbor. June 26th the vessel left for Key West, Florida, reaching there July Ist, and on July 4th it ar- rived in front of Havana, Cuba, where it was assigned to Station No. 6 and took part in the blockade of that port for one week. July 1Ith the vessel was ordered to Nuevitas for duty with the blockading fleet at that port, where it remained until the 26th of July in active service, preventing many vessels from reaching the harbor. July 26th it captured three vessels flying Spanish flags and the red cross, which reported yellow fever on board. Nearly four hundred soldiers were found on board, but very few sick. A prize crew was put in charge, and under the convoy of the "Badger" these vessels were brought to the blockading squadron before Havana. August 7th the "Badger" sailed from Key West for Guantana- mo, and became the flag ship of Commodore Watson for several days. August 18th the "Badger" left for Montauk Point, Long Island, with soldiers of the Thirty-fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry; it arrived at its destination August 23d, and sailed immediately for Boston. September 26th the "Badger" left Boston for League Island Navy Yard, and on Oc- tober 7th the detachment of men of the Battalion of the East serving on this steamer was mustered out of service at Hoboken.
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.