Trenton in the Mexican, Civil, and Spanish-American Wars
BY SAMUEL S. ARMSTRONG
I. IntroductionTHAT part of the history of Trenton, which comes under the above general heading, has been assigned to the writer. As to the Civil War in particular, it is his purpose to give only a simple narrative of events and incidents pertaining to our city during the war period of 1861-65, as taken from state and national records, and gleaned largely from that prolific source for research, the local press of the day, and from personal recollection; written so as to avoid as much as possible the dryness of statistics. Outside events during the war period will be referred to, or used, only when they bear some relation to local history. Except to a small group of our townsmen who were contemporary in youth with the main period covered by this narrative, it will not be read or relished with the zest which would have been the case had it been written twenty-five years ago. Time has obscured the scenes and local events of those war-time days, as we can well realize when we consider that Trentonians of three score and ten still living, were but five years of age at the beginning of the war and cannot recall from memory any of the opening, and but faintly the closing incidents of the conflict. It meant something to have been living in historic Trenton eighty years ago. At that time there were still resident here a few people of advanced age who remembered some of the closing scenes of the Revolutionary War which happened in our town; and others who in their earlier years listened to the tales of older people, of incidents in Trenton during that period in which they participated or were spectators. Edward D. Fox, of this city, was a drummer boy in the Fifth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, at Williamsburg in 1862, and when he was a youngster of six years was taken by an older brother to a reception in Jackson's Woods, the site of old Camp Washington, tendered to the New Jersey Volunteers who had returned from Mexico. At that time a man of eighty years who had passed his life in Trenton might have told Fox how he, as a boy of eight years, had seen the captive Hessians marched tinder guard through our streets on their way to Pennsylvania; and later as a boy of thirteen had turned out with the crowd on our streets, shouting their joy over the glorious news from Yorktown; and finally as a man of twenty-one had participated in the reception to General Washington on the occasion of his passage through Trenton on his way to New York to be inaugurated first President of the United States. So Edward D. Fox, still living, is a link in the lengthening chain of years connecting celebrities and events of the past with the present.
II. Conditions in Trenton in 1846, and an Account of the City's Part in the Mexican War
IN A town or small city where one knows practically everybody, the inhabitants naturally come in closer and more intimate relations during the excitement attending events of local, state or national importance, than in larger communities where the population is more cosmopolitan and where changes in neighborhoods are made more frequent by the arrival of newcomers and the removal of older families from one section of the city to another - changes which tend to sever those friendly relations existing in smaller communities where such changes are rarer, and where members of neighboring families become comrades or associates in times of war, or political or social movements.
These were the conditions in Trenton in 1846, and before taking up Trenton's part in the Civil War, it may not be considered amiss to begin with this brief account of the War with Mexico in which conflict some of our citizens participated, who took part later in the long and bloody struggle of 1861-65.
In 1846 Trenton had a population of but ten thousand. Charles Burroughs was mayor, and was succeeded in 1847 by Samuel R. Hamilton. There was plenty of excitement in Trenton in those days; the Oregon boundary-line controversy was still unsettled and war with England seemed imminent; the troubles with Mexico were rapidly approaching a climax and Congress was the scene of heated debates on these momentous questions, reflected in discussions and disputes in general stores and barber shops, but principally in the barrooms of our inns and taverns, of which Trenton boasted a goodly supply in those days when prohibition and padlocks were not. Kay's United States Hotel, formerly the Indian Queen, on the site now occupied by the Trent Theatre, and the Trenton House, then under the management of Colonel William Snowden, were the favorite resorts for discussion. Here on any inclement afternoon - there was plenty of leisure in those days - would be gathered about the "social fire" our village statesmen of Democratic or Whig proclivities to argue pro and con the probabilities of a war with England over the Oregon question or with our sister republic of Mexico; some of those who frequented the precincts of Host Kay's bar, or the other resorts on these occasions, if mentioned by name, might be remembered by some older Trentonians of today. All danger, however, of war with England was averted by compromise, and the attention of our townsmen was fixed on the operations of General Taylor on the Rio Grande.
HOSTILITIES BREAK OUT
Hostilities began April 25, 1846, and on May 8 the battle of Palo Alto was fought, followed by the battle of Resaca de la Palma on May 9, where Captain May of the Second U. S. Dragoons made his famous charge. On May 18, 1846, General Zachary Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and occupied Matamoros.
The war was now on in earnest and on May 19, 1846, Secretary of War Marcy inclosed to Governor Stratton of New Jersey a copy of the Act of Congress, authorizing the President to accept the services of volunteers. On May 22, 1846, Governor Stratton issued his proclamation calling upon the uniformed organized militia companies and other citizens to enroll and report to the Adjutant General of the State as speedily as possible, in order that they might be held in readiness for muster, and the War Department advised thereof without delay. Under this call several of the uniformed militia organizations of the city offered their services but were not accepted at the time. The battle of Monterey was fought September 20, 21, 22, and 23, 1846; Buena Vista February 23, 1847, and the siege of Vera Cruz was ended by the fall of that city, March 29, 1847.
Salutes were fired in Trenton April 1, 1847, in honor of General Taylor's victories, on the "Commons" then in front of the "Cottages" on East State Street, between the Canal and Clinton Street; and on the streets, as in later years, "extras" were sold by newsboys announcing the various battles and victories gained by the United States army and volunteers in Mexico. There was keen rivalry between the Gazette and Daily News to be first on the streets with "news of battle."
On January 1, 1847, Lieutenant Robert P. Maclay of the Eighth Infantry, U. S. Army, opened a recruiting station at old Fort Rawnsley at the junction of Warren and Lamberton Streets. Lieutenant Maclay succeeded in enlisting some twenty-five or thirty recruits who were paraded in the streets from time to time, and forwarded in squads to Governor's Island for muster into federal service.
Reporter Franklin S. Mills, sauntering one day in the neighborhood of this old recruiting station, gave vent to his patriotism in "City Gleanings" in the Gazette in the following strain:
CAPTAIN YARD'S COMPANY
This recruiting station was closed March 15, 1847, and removed to Newark. Captain Yard's company, to be mustered as Company G, Tenth U.S. Infantry, having been accepted and ordered to report at Fort Hamilton, prepared for leaving the city. On April 5, 1847, the company made a preliminary march through the streets and on halting at the Indian Queen was treated by Host Kay to refreshments. "The Alleghanians," a troupe of singers then performing in Trenton, came out on the front porch of the hotel and sang "The Soldier's Bride" and also a popular war song of the day dedicated to General Taylor, set to the air of "Dandy Jim of Caroline," entitled "Old Rough and Ready," beginning:
On the next day the company, consisting of Joseph A. Yard, Captain, George W. Taylor, First Lieutenant, Benjamin Yard and John S. Nevins, Second Lieutenants, and ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates, left the drill hall on Mill Hill and marched to the City Hall where a collation was prepared for them by the citizens of Trenton. As they came up Greene Street, the City Hall bell began ringing and hundreds of anxious eyes were fixed upon the advancing troops. After partaking of the collation they returned to the street and were received by the Mercer Rifle Corps. The companies being drawn up in front of the City Hall on Greene Street, Samuel G. Arnold stepped to the front of the companies and on behalf of a number of citizens of Trenton, in a short speech, presented Captain Yard with a sword. Captain Yard in acknowledgment made a fitting response. The Mercer Rifle Corps under Captain Southard then took their position on the right of the line, and the march to Princeton, en route to Fort Hamilton, began. The troops passed through Second (State) Street to Warren and thence to the Princeton Pike. As the troops marched by the Indian Queen, the Trenton House and the Rising Sun Hotel (now the American House), they were repeatedly cheered by groups of citizens standing in crowds in front of the hotels and along the streets. The Rifle Corps, after escorting Captain Yard's command as far as the point where the Battle Monument now stands, took leave of the departing troops and they proceeded alone on their march. About a mile out of the town, the weather being inclement, they took off their knapsacks and putting them in the baggage wagons donned their great-coats and took a fair start for Princeton and from thence to their destination at Fort Hamilton in New York harbor, reaching there about 8:00 p.m. on April 8, and according to a letter from Private Alfred Murray published in Frank Mills' chatty "City Gleanings" were obliged to go to their bunks without any supper. In the morning they were treated to a breakfast of sea biscuit and raw pork. Dinner consisted of pork about half done and bean soup with beans so few they "had to dive to find 'em." For supper they were allotted a half pint of coffee each, with more fat pork. They remained cheerful, however, under these conditions in the commissary and placed no blame therefor on Captain Yard, who retained the respect and affection of his officers and enlisted men throughout their entire period of service. Captain Yard's company, designated as "G," Tenth U.S. Infantry, together with "H," the Camden company, also of the Tenth, which organization included in its number some Trenton recruits and was commanded by Captain Joshua W. Collett of Camden, left Fort Hamilton, April 11, 1847, on the brig G. B. Lamar, arriving at Matamoros, Mexico, May 5 of that year. Several interesting letters were published in the Trenton papers from Lieutenant Benjamin Yard, and other Trenton members of Company G telling of the experiences and privations of camp life in Mexico.
CAPTAIN DICKINSON'S COMPANY
After the departure of Captain
Yard's company, recruiting for Captain Samuel Dickinson's company, "E,"
Tenth U.S. Infantry, was hurried to completion. Captain Dickinson was
presented with a sword by the "National Guards" at their Armory, Isaac
W. Lanning, Esq., making the presentation speech. Lieutenant Gershom
Mott of Captain Dickinson's command was also the recipient of a sword
from a number of friends of the young officer, who afterwards, for distinguished
service in the Civil War, rose to the grade of Major General of Volunteers.
This presentation took place at the Trenton House.
OTHER NEW JERSEY TROOPS
On April 19, 1847, by direction
of President Polk, the Secretary of War called on Governor Stratton
for five companies of infantry to serve during the War with Mexico,
unless sooner discharged. The Secretary of War designated Trenton as
the point of mobilization of these companies and a camp for that purpose
was established accordingly. This camp was pitched opposite the Nathan
Beakes house near the Princeton Pike; Beatty Street, Morgan Avenue and
Southard Street, south of Beakes Street, now run through the site of
this old camp ground. The
main body of the volunteers of the New Jersey Battalion under command
of Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson Woodruff of this city - his home was
the building and grounds now occupied by the Trenton Country Club -
left September 3, 1847, for Governors Island, New York harbor, where
the five organizations were consolidated into four companies, to the
great disappointment of Captain William Napton, whose company containing
most of the Trenton recruits in the battalion was broken up and his
men distributed to complete other companies. This battalion was officered
as follows: Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson Woodruff, commanding; Company
A, Captain Henry A. Naglee; Company B, Captain James Reynolds; Company
C, Captain David McDowell; Company D, Captain David Pierson.
The Trenton Companies of the Tenth U.S. Infantry and the organizations of the New Jersey Battalion during the Mexican Campaign did not escape without a number of casualties, as follows:
TENTH U. S. INFANTRY
Company E : There
were eleven deaths in this organization, including Lieutenant O. M.
Lewis of Trenton by yellow fever; one corporal and one private were
drowned; one private was shot and killed by a sentry at Matamoros; one
murdered, and six others, privates, died from yellow fever, dysentery,
TRENTON'S REPRESENTATION IN THE REGULAR ARMY AND NAVY DURING THE MEXICAN WAR
For a city with a population
of but ten thousand Trenton was well represented in the Regular Army
and Navy during the period of the War with Mexico; and among those who
served in the regular establishments and received recognition for galant
and meritorious conduct appear the following:
In the U.S. Navy the following
named officers served with distinction:
III. Political Feeling in the Civil War, Memorable Events in Trenton, and Civil War SongsDURING the eventful closing days of 1860, and in 1861 prior to the inauguration of President Lincoln, while there was a unanimity of feeling in favor of the preservation of the Union, it was but natural for some of our citizens of the same political faith as the leaders of the secession movement in the South, and who like them had voted for the candidates of one or the other of the two factions of the Democratic party, or the candidates of the Union party led by Bell and Everett, to express in their utterances a measure of sympathy for the South and object to coercion in treating with the seceding States, and to approve of any efforts looking to compromise, or arbitration, to check the secession movement, and so avoid a resort to arms. Such advocates of conciliation would be classed today as pacifists but were then branded by Republicans as "Copperheads," a designation given them because many Democrats, advocates of state rights, wore on the lapel of their coats the old copper cent with the head of Liberty thereon, as an emblem of their faith in the Constitution. However, when courage was put to the test hundreds of "Copperheads" marched gamely to the front, while many of their defamers remained safely at home. 1
1 Taylor, Philadelphia in the Civil War, p. 13.
"COPPERHEADS," - BUT PATRIOTS
With the exception of editorials, more or less bitter at times, characteristic of the partisan press of the period, and taking advantage of every flaw in the policy of the administration for criticism, there was never at any time during the war any organized or concrete opposition to the conduct of the war by any group of so-called "Copperheads." The press in Trenton - the True American, advocating the principles of the Democratic party, and the Gazette and Republican those of the Republican party - vied with each other in their editorial columns and in non-partisan public meetings to arouse the people to a realization of the gravity of the coming struggle, the result of which was to determine the preservation or disruption of our great Union. With the actual outbreak of hostilities by the fall of Fort Sumter, all opposition for the time was changed by a suppression of partisan feeling and Democrats, fully as patriotic as their Republican opponents, sprang eagerly to the call to arms for the defense and preservation of a united country. The first complete brigade of infantry, fully uniformed, armed and equipped, to reach Washington from any State after the call of the President for 75,000 men, was the First Brigade, New Jersey Militia, three-months men, under command of Brigadier General Theodore Runyon, a Democrat of unimpeachable patriotism, with a large majority of his officers and enlisted men of the same political faith, who boldly and cheerfully hastened to a conflict which they had earnestly, but vainly, sought to avert. They realized, however, that the first duty of a citizen under the Constitution was to obey the laws of the constituted authorities of the state and national governments. Many of the great Southern leaders, notably Alexander H. Stephens, the statesman, and Robert E. Lee, the soldier, and many others prominent in the political and social life of the South, stood out in public speeches against secession until all opposition to that movement failed, and then, but not until then, from natural feelings of loyalty to their respective States, reluctantly, but with determination, threw their lives and fortunes into a cause which they doubtless realized would be finally lost as the South would not be able to overcome the vast resources of the opposing States, which indeed, notwithstanding the loss of much blood and treasure, emerged from the conflict unscathed by devastation of homes and property, such as was suffered by the South.
THE "TRUE AMERICAN" SUSPENDS PUBLICATION
Commenting on the disaster at Bull Run and the existing political situation the True American gave voice to sentiments to which Administration supporters took exception. On August 24 Of the same year, Judge Naar decided to suspend publication, declaring that while willing to give the support every loyal citizen owes to the government, "we cannot so compromise our self-respect as to continue publication under the positive or implied requirement that we are to yield a hearty support to all the measures of the Administration." The step was announced as follows:
It is with profound regret that we find ourselves under the necessity of announcing the intention from this day to suspend the publication of the True American until such time (should it ever occur) when we can under the guarantee of the Constitution and laws, publish it without fear of mob law or of governmental dictation . . . . We take pride in saying in defiance of all contradiction that nothing has ever appeared in its columns indicating disloyalty to the Government either of the Nation or the State, or in any way abusing the high privilege of perfect freedom accorded by the Constitution to the press. Further than this we must leave others to say. Nevertheless, it is admitted we have expressed our thoughts freely and in accordance with our honest convictions, but in language tempered by those social and conventionable restrictions intended to guard the intercourse of the members of a civilized community . . . .On September 25, 1861, the United States Grand Jury for the District of New Jersey sitting at Trenton with Ephraim Marsh as chairman brought in a presentment against the Newark Journal, the Warren Journal, the Hunterdon Democrat, the New Brunswick Times, the Plainfield Gazette and the Hackettstown Gazette, for alleged treasonable utterances. Several other New Jersey newspapers including the True American were generally charged with secession proclivities but were not named in the presentment. 2
2 Knapp, New Jersey Politics during the Period of the Civil War.The True American resumed its issue October 7, 1861, retracting nothing of what it had said. President Lincoln during his entire administration was subjected to far more trouble and annoyance from interference in his war policy, first from the abolitionists and later from the radical wing of his own party led by Thaddeus Stevens, than from any action or criticism of the "Copperheads." Looking back over a period of more than three-score years, political conditions of that period can be dispassionately discussed and commented on. While it is conceded that after the outbreak of hostilities any plan of adjustment with the South which included the perpetuation of slavery was unthinkable, yet it cannot be denied that many of the evils predicted by Democratic statesmen that would result from continued disregard of the Constitution were but too fully realized after the death of President Lincoln and the coming into power of the radical element of his own party, and the unhappy and scandalous period of "Reconstruction Days" which subjected the South, a vanquished but brave people, to insult, persecution and degradation. This condition culminated in 1876 with the decision of a partisan electoral commission, based on a report of an investigation submitted by a group of "visiting statesmen." By the decision of this commission the electoral vote giving him a majority of one vote in the electoral college was awarded to the Republican candidate.
Probably the remarks of Professor Seelye, at that time a Republican member of Congress from Massachusetts, in a speech in Congress, picture the whole miserable business in a nutshell. He said:
It seems to me perfectly clear that the charges made by each side against the other are in the main true. No facts were ever proved more conclusively than the fraud and corruption charged on the one side and the intimidation and cruelty charged on the other. The corruption of the one side seems as heinous as the cruelty of the other side is horrible.
And so it was that "fraud and corruption" won out, and "first became triumphant in American history." This reference to the election of 1876 seems pertinent to this narrative because of the fact that Dr. Simon B. Conover, a native of Cranbury, Middlesex County, well known in Trenton where he was at one time a resident and conducted a drug store at Broad and Market Streets, was a United States Senator from Florida during the "Carpet-bag" regime, serving from 1873 to 1879 and figured in the machinations resulting in the delivery of the electoral vote of Florida to the Republican presidential candidate.
STATE AND CITY OFFICIALS IN THE CIVIL WAR
Because in the stirring times of war the character of the men whose hands are at the helm of government is of even greater importance than in "the piping times of peace," it is of interest to know who occupied the positions of trust in the city and state during the Civil War. The following list is therefore given:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN TRENTON
An event of historic interest
was the reception to President-elect Lincoln in this city, February
21, 1861, while en route to Washington for his inauguration. The party
accompanying Mr. Lincoln was met at Jersey City by Governor Olden and
a joint committee of the Legislature as the State's Escort to Trenton.
The train containing Mr. Lincoln and suite arrived at the railroad station,
then located at State Street and the Canal, at 12 o'clock noon of February
21 and was greeted by a large crowd that had assembled at that point.
When the train came to a stop Mr. Lincoln and his suite stepped to the
platform and proceeded to the Tremont House, kept by Major Joseph Cunningham,
where His Honor, Mayor Franklin S. Mills, was waiting to receive them,
and to whom Mr. Lincoln was presented by the Hon. William L. Dayton.
The mayor welcomed the distinguished visitor in a brief speech to which
Mr. Lincoln responded with a few remarks on the pride and pleasure he
felt in accepting the hospitality of our historic town. The crowd about
the Tremont House and from there to Montgomery Street made the thoroughfare
almost impassable. At the conclusion of Mr. Lincoln's brief response
to the mayor, the cavalcade formed under Captain Robert C. Belleville,
chief marshal, and his aides in the following order:
I was kindly invited by your representatives in the Legislature to visit the Capital of your honored State and in acknowledging their kind invitation I was compelled to respond to the welcome of the presiding officer of each body and I suppose they intended I should speak to you through them as they are the representatives of all of you; and if I should speak here, I should only have to repeat in a great measure much that I then said which would be uninteresting to my friends who greet me here. I have no speech to make but merely appear to you and let the ladies look at me. And as to the latter, I think I have decidedly the best of the bargain. My friends, allow me to bid you farewell.During Mr. Lincoln's stay at the Trenton House a great crowd remained in and about the hotel, all anxious to get a look at him; a number of citizens called on him and a general and cordial handshaking took place. About two o'clock the escort was re-formed in the original order and moved to the railroad station, where Mr. Lincoln and suite took the train for Philadelphia 3 and thence on to Washington where for more than four long and weary years of internal strife and bloodshed, such as no other civilized nation has ever undergone, he was confronted with the most difficult problems which, up to that period, had ever been turned over to a President of the United States by his predecessor. In the solution of those problems he had to overcome or withstand the continuous opposition and criticism of political friend and foe alike, in his efforts to save to posterity an unbroken Union of the sovereign States of our country.
3 In Philadelphia in the late afternoon of February 21, 1861, following his reception in Trenton, I saw Abraham Lincoln as he, with his suite, alighted from carriages at the Ninth Street entrance to the Continental Hotel. I saw him again in the latter part of December 1864, in Grover's Theatre, Washington, at a play entitled "Gamea; or the Hebrew Fortune Teller." It was a rather swash buckling affair featuring a female actress "Vestali," as a cavalier in the leading part. There was a good bit of sword play in the piece.
When Lincoln came in, entirely unattended, leading a little boy by the hand, he passed around to the right, back of what used to be called the "dress circle," and entered the lower box. The theatre was about half filled, and with the exception of some hand-clapping, to which he made no acknowledgement, no other notice was taken of his presence. On both of these occasions I noticed that apparent languor in his movements and that expression of weariness in his face which many writers have attributed to the foreshadowing in his mind of coming events, or the cares of his great office, but which I think are characteristics common to the long-limbed, loose-jointed and slow-moving western men of his physical type. - S.S.A.
MEMORABLE DAYS IN TRENTON
All through the four weary
years of the War the interest of our citizens was centered largely on
the movements of the Army of the Potomac. News from armies in the far
South and Southwest attracted but perfunctory attention. Newsboys with
"extras" on the hot summer afternoons of those eventful years, lazily
droning out "a-n-o-t-h-e-r b-a-t-t-1-a i-n M-i-z-o-u-r-e-e," found few
purchasers; but all intelligence from the Army of the Potomac - almost
all the boys from Trenton were in that army, - was eagerly and anxiously
looked for, and extra editions of local or Philadelphia papers containing
tidings of a battle in Virginia found ready purchasers. So, at different
periods during the progress of the war there were days of much excitement
in Trenton; days in the first year of the war when the streets of Trenton
in front of the True American office at the southwest corner
of Warren and Front Streets and the State Gazette and Republican
office at the northeast corner of State and Warren Streets were
the gathering points for crowds desirous of hearing the latest news
from Washington and Virginia as announced on bulletin boards at those
places. Few, very few, now living can recall to memory those early years
of the '60's.
THE NEWS FROM BULL RUN AND FROM WILLIAMSBURG
The height of popular agitation
was reached, however, on that memorable Sunday, July 21, 1861, when
rumors of the defeat of the Union Army under command of Major General
Irwin McDowell at Bull Run were received, - rumors verified on the days
immediately following with particulars of the disaster, and of the panic
of our troops as they fled in dismay, pursued, as they imagined, by
the dreaded Black Horse Cavalry and the "Louisiana Tigers."
GENERAL MC CLELLAN'S SOJOURN IN TRENTON
An event of particular local
interest was the arrival here of General George B. McClellan after he
was relieved by executive order from the command of the Army of the
Potomac, with instructions from the General-in-Chief to turn his command
over to General Burnside, repair to Trenton and report for further orders.
My friends - for I feel that you are all my friends - I stand before you, not as a maker of speeches, not as a politician, but as a soldier. I came among you to seek quiet and repose, and from the moment of my arrival I have received nothing but kindness. Although I appear before you as a stranger, I am not altogether unacquainted with your history. Your gallant soldiers were with me in every battle, from the siege of Yorktown to the Battle of Antietam, and I here bear witness to their devotion to the cause for which we are fighting. [Here the cheering caused the General to pause for nearly ten minutes; continuing, he said:] I also have to speak of the ever faithful, ever true Taylor; the dashing and intrepid Kearny-men who have given their lives for the maintenance of our government, and before bidding you good night, I have this advice to give you: While the Army is fighting, you as citizens must see that the war is prosecuted for the preservation of the Union and the Constitution, for your nationality and your rights as citizens.The crowd about the hotel remained for a long time and in further answer to repeated calls, McClellan appeared at the window and thanking the people bade them "good night."
The New York Herald's correspondent spoke of this demonstration to McClellan in Trenton as "unprecedented, both as to numbers and enthusiasm."
As were the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, our citizens were deeply impressed by McClellan's winning personality and freedom from anything like ostentation, in short, they found him a man who would be sure to inspire love and respect among his comrades-in-arms and all others with whom he came in contact.
Mrs. McClellan and General and Mrs. Marcy came in for a large share of admiration and favorable comment for the democratic but dignified and refined manner in which they assisted in greeting the stream of visitors who called daily to pay their respects to General McClellan many of whom, veterans of the Army of the Potomac, greeted him as their "Old Commander."
A letter received from an officer in the army to a friend in Trenton reads as follows:
In Camp Near Fredericksburg, Va., November 22, 1862.
The removal of McClellan has thrown a deep gloom over the army, which in my opinion, may prove disastrous to our army. The whole army had more confidence in him than in any other man in the country; and he could get more fight out of them than any other man ....The forebodings expressed above were soon to be realized by the disasters of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville while the Army of the Potomac was under the command of Burnside and Hooker respectively. A correspondent in the local press speaking of McClellan's popularity exclaimed:
One is surprised after a short visit [to him] to account for the bitterness of the radical press, except upon the theory that he is, in look and gesture, mind and manners, the very opposite of radicalism.
Of course the criticism
of McClellan in the local press was not all favorable; articles were
written charging him with being overcautious, and procrastinating in
his movements in following up advantages gained, etc. His loyalty and
courage were never questioned.
THE PENNSYLVANIA EMERGENCY
The disasters to the Union arms in Virginia following the removal of McClellan from the command of the Army of the Potomac had a depressing effect on the people, manifested in Trenton and elsewhere by the difficulty experienced in obtaining recruits or reenlistments for the diminishing ranks of the regiments in the field and for the new organizations forming under calls for more troops. This difficulty was increased for the reason that many members of regiments whose term of service was expiring were induced by officers of the U.S. Army to enlist in the regular service, and it was only by offers of large bounties that cities, counties and townships were enabled to fill their respective quotas without recourse to the impending draft. The draft was most unpopular and enrolling officers were greatly hampered in the work assigned to them in connection therewith. The invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by Lee in June and July 1863, terminating in the battle of Gettysburg, was a source of disturbed feeling in Trenton. The streets were filled by anxious crowds eager to learn of the movements of the Confederate Army under Lee; the telegraph office was besieged and the street in front was almost impassable. On June 15, 1863, President Lincoln called for one hundred thousand militia to repel the threatened invasion of Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio by the Confederate Army, and in response to this call, and an urgent request from Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania, Governor Parker under date of June 17, 1863, called upon the citizens of the State to organize as military companies to march at once to the assistance of Pennsylvania during the emergency existing there. Under this call the following named militia organizations from Trenton volunteered for the relief of Pennsylvania:
Company A, New Jersey Militia: Captain, William R. Murphy; three commissioned officers and sixty-one enlisted men.
Company B, New Jersey Militia: Captain, George F. Marshall; three commissioned officers and thirty-nine enlisted men.
Company C, New Jersey Militia: Captain, James C. Manning; three commissioned officers and fifty enlisted men.
Company I, New Jersey Militia: Captain, Joseph A. Yard; three commissioned officers and thirty-nine enlisted men.
The Trenton companies with
the other militia companies from New Jersey under this call, upon their
arrival at Harrisburg, Pa., reported to Major General Couch, commanding
the Department of Militia, and were organized into two battalions. Captain
William R. Murphy of Company A was assigned to the command of the First
Battalion. At the end of their thirty days' service they were returned
to Trenton for discharge. The thanks of Governor Curtin were tendered
for their service in Pennsylvania.
THE END OF THE WAR
Much apprehension was felt
in the early spring of 1865 when it was announced that a draft to fill
Trenton's quota would begin March 28, at the Provost Marshal's office
in Odd Fellows Hall, at the southwest corner of Greene and Hanover Streets,
and continue daily until the quota was completed. The lists of names
drawn were published daily and the substitute brokers prepared for a
big harvest. Substitutes were furnished by these thrifty patriots at
prices ranging from $500 to $1,000, and notorious bounty jumpers
enlisted early and often in the place of drafted citizens. But the end
was rapidly approaching and it was soon apparent that our citizens drafted
under this last call would not be mustered into service. First came
the fall of Richmond, and on Sunday, April 9, 1865, a little after 10
p.m., news was received of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and
the remnant of his army. The news ran through the town like wild-fire;
crowds passed through State Street and Warren Street cheering, and the
City Hall bell and the church bells began ringing and kept it up until
midnight. The rejoicing in the streets was kept up until nearly daybreak;
and on Tuesday a salute of two hundred guns was fired on the State House
grounds in the rear of the Capitol in honor of the final victory of
the Union arms in Virginia.
SONGS OF THE CIVIL WAR
No people, unless in old
Scotland in the feudal days of the clans and the border wars, ever produced
so many battle songs as those written by American song-writers during
the period of the Civil War. The attempt will be made here to give a
brief account of some of the more popular ones, taken entirely from
memory as but little reference to them could be found in any literature
on the war of 1861-65. They were all popular in Trenton.
Listening to these old melodies calls up, in the hearts of the few of us who lived in those never-to-be-forgotten days, feelings that can hardly be realized by the present rapid-living and busy generation.
IV. Services of the State and City in the Civil War
IN 1861 the militia forces
of the State were organized under the revision of the militia law of
April 17, 1846, which divided the militia into county brigades, each
under the command of a Brigadier General; the several brigades were
formed into divisions designated as the First, Second, Third and Fourth
Divisions, respectively. Although some amendments had been made to this
antiquated Act between 1846 and 1861, the general provisions were the
same, dividing the militia between the ages of eighteen and forty-five
into two classes, the active and the reserve; the former comprised all
persons liable to military duty who were enlisted in the uniformed companies
of the several brigades, and the reserve consisted of the residue or
unorganized portion of the militia.
ARMS AND EQUIPMENT
The arms and accoutrements in possession of the State in the beginning of the year 1861 were limited in quantity and of inferior pattern. Rifled, percussion and flint-lock muskets aggregating about six thousand stands with less than one thousand rifles of more modern pattern were in the hands of the uniformed companies of the militia. Many of these arms were of obsolete pattern and were at once called in, and those in store at the Arsenal 4 were put in condition for active service. Under contracts for these repairs about seven thousand five hundred flint-lock muskets, caliber 58, were changed to percussion and rifled to suit the required service.
4 This old building, the scene of so many activities during the Mexican, the Civil, the Spanish-American and the World War, covering a period of nearly ninety years, has been abandoned as an arsenal and turned over by the Quartermaster General to the State Department of Institutions and Agencies.
All serviceable military property stored at the Trenton Arsenal has been removed to the new arsenal completed in 1928 at the State camp grounds, Sea Girt.
When the present State prison was finished in 1836, the inmates of the old penitentiary were transferred to the new institution and the Mercer County authorities were permitted the use of the old building as a jail until the new County jail, then in course of construction, was completed. After the removal of the County prisoners to the new jail, the old prison, as had been recommended by Governors Southard and Vroom, was turned over to General Samuel R. Hamilton, Quartermaster General, to be used as an arsenal for the storage of the ordnance, ordnance stores and camp and garrison equipage which had up to that time been kept in the old State Bank building at the northwest corner of Warren and Bank Streets and in the loft of the State House.
There were no breech-loading rifles in possession of the State and few, if any, in the U. S. Army in 1861.
ORGANIZATION OF TROOPS
On the fifteenth of April,
1861, President Lincoln made his memorable proclamation, calling on
the militia of the several States for seventy-five thousand men for
three months' service for the national defense, and on the same day
the Secretary of War notified Governor Olden that New Jersey's quota
would require, including officers and enlisted men, a force amounting
Allow me to tender to you the thanks of this department for the very prompt and efficient manner in which you, and the people of your State, have responded to the requisition made upon you.
The New Jersey troops being
among the earliest to reach the seat of war, and being the only fully
organized brigade there, were at once assigned to the important and
urgent duty of strengthening the defenses of the national capital, at
that time seriously threatened and supposed to be in imminent
danger; and their timely services were repeatedly acknowledged. This
brigade was not in active service at the battle of Bull Run, Sunday,
July 21, 1861, but as reported by Major General Irwin McDowell
commanding the army at the Bull Run disaster July 21, 1861, the First
and Second Regiments, New Jersey Volunteer Militia, were ordered up
from Runyon's brigade to assist in checking, or covering the retreat
of the panic-stricken army. The Third Regiment (containing the three
Trenton companies) and the Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Militia, performed
no other service during the battle of Bull Run than guarding communication
with Washington by way of Vienna, and the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
THREE-YEAR REGIMENTS, VOLUNTEERS
Trenton had now become the scene of great military activity. 5 Tents were erected in the Arsenal yard and were also pitched in the grounds about the State House. Most of the rooms in the State House were turned over to the use of military officers, who in their attractive uniforms were constantly passing in and out of the building. 6 With the rotunda and corridors filled with recruits; the marching and countermarching of detachments and squads of troops in the streets to the inspiring music of fife and drum; the foreign-looking Zouaves with baggy Ted trousers and fez; mounted officers and orderlies dashing to and from the State House to the Arsenal and the mobilization camps, our quiet town suddenly put on much of the "pomp and circumstance of war" strangely at variance with the sleepy period of those peaceful years following the return of the volunteers from Mexico.
5 Trenton was the headquarters of the Second Congressional District of New Jersey, which district was composed of Ocean, Burlington, Monmouth and Mercer. The Provost Marshal of the district was James R. Coppock, stationed in Trenton at the southeast corner of Warren and Front Streets, to take charge of the recruiting, enrolling, drafting, arresting of deserters, etc., in his district.
From the beginning of the Civil War until October 26, 1861, the State of New Jersey was in the Military Department of the East under the command of Major General John E. Wool. From October 26, 1861, to February 1, 1862, New Jersey was not in any military department. From February 1, 1862, to March 22, 1862, the State was in the Military Department of the Potomac, under the command of Major General George B. McClellan. From March 22, 1862 to February 6, 1863, New Jersey was in the Middle Department under the command of Major General John A. Dix, Major General John E. Wool, and Major General Robert C. Schenk, respectively. From February 6, 1863, to the end of the war, it was in the Department of the East, under the command of Major General John E. Wool, Major General John A. Dix, and Major General Joseh Hooker, respectively.
The first camp in
Trenton was just outside of the Arsenal walls and was called Camp Olden;
later this name was given to the large camp on the Sandtown road near
Pond Run, where many of the New Jersey regiments were mobilized and
mustered into Federal service.
The war had meanwhile assumed
a magnitude which made imperative a call for a larger number of troops
for a longer term of service for its suppression, and May 3, 1861, the
President issued his proclamation calling for men for three-year service,
under which call three regiments were assigned to New Jersey.
ORGANIZED MILITIA COMPANIES OF TRENTON SERVING IN NEW JERSEY REGIMENTS
Of the forty-one militia companies formed in Trenton from August 12, 1861, to December 18, 1861, only eleven attained to the numerical strength requisite for muster into Federal service. Consequently, many members of the weaker organizations were transferred to the companies nearest completion, to fill them up to the required strength. These completed organizations served in the following-named regiments:
Fourth Regiment, Infantry, Volunteers Company B (Wilson Zouaves) : William Sedden, Captain (deserted March 24, 1862) ; Robert S. Johnston, Captain (vice Sedden, deserted) ; Horatio S. Howell, Captain (vice Johnston, mustered out). Company C (Stevens Guards) : Heathcote F. Disbrow, Captain (resigned December 20, 1861) ; Barzilla Ridgway, Captain (vice Disbrow, resigned) ; Howard King, Captain (vice Ridgway, promoted); Caleb M. Wright, Captain (vice King, mustered out). Company D (Jersey Blues) : Samuel Mulford, Captain (promoted Major) ; Baldwin Hufty, Captain (vice Mulford, promoted) ; John J. Letchworth, Captain (vice Hufty, promoted).
Fifth Regiment, Infantry, Volunteers Company E (Lewis Guards) : Robert S. Gould, Captain (resigned April 18, 1863) ; Edward P. Berry, Captain (vice Gould, resigned. Captain Berry died of wounds received in action at Gettysburg.)
Sixth Regiment, Infantry, Volunteers Company B (Livingston Guards) : Charles Ewing, Captain (promoted January 8, 1863) ; Joseph R. West, Captain (vice Ewing, promoted).
Eleventh Regiment, Infantry, Volunteers Company C (Belleville Guards) : John J. Willis, Captain (resigned March 6, 1863) ; Andrew H. Ackerman, Captain (vice Willis, resigned. Killed at Gettysburg July 3, 1863) ; Edward T. Kennedy, Captain (vice Ackerman, killed in action) ; George Savidge, Captain (vice Kennedy, resigned).
Fourteenth Regiment, Infantry, Volunteers Company B (Union Light Infantry) : Benjamin F. Craig, Captain; Jarvis Wanser, Captain (vice Craig, dismissed).
Of the forty-five volunteer
military organizations of all arms of the service raised in New Jersey
during the progress of the Civil War of 1861-65, nineteen regiments
and twelve companies of infantry, three regiments of cavalry and four
batteries of the First Regiment of Artillery were mobilized and mustered
into Federal service in the camps in, or adjacent to Trenton as shown
on this statement:
On the fourth of August,
1862, the President ordered that a draft, the first, of three hundred
thousand militia be immediately called into the service of the United
States, to serve for nine months unless sooner discharged, regulations
for the draft to be established by the Secretary of War. A subsequent
order dated August 19 directed that "The draft be made on Wednesday
the third of September, 1862, between the hours of 9 o'clock a.m. and
5 o'clock p.m. and continued from day to day between the same hours
VOLUNTEERS FROM TRENTON
The population of Trenton in April 1861, based on the census of 1860, was 17,221, or in round figures in April 1861, 18,000. The actual number of males between the ages of 18 and 45 cannot be definitely ascertained, but according to the reports of the Adjutant General of New Jersey, of the 98,886 men in the State available for military duty, 88,305 were sent to the field. From Trenton there were, based on a fair estimate of the militia strength of the city, approximately two thousand volunteers in New Jersey regiments and volunteer organizations of neighboring states.
CITIZENS' RELIEF ASSOCIATIONS
On April 18, 1861, a public
meeting was held in Temperance Hall at the southeast corner of Greene
(later Broad) and Front Streets for the purpose of devising plans for
the care and support of families of volunteers enlisting for the war
and the appointment of committees to solicit subscriptions from the
citizens of Trenton for that purpose. The appeal met with a generous
response. The Trenton Bank and the Mechanic's Bank also made liberal
contributions to the fund in addition to the large loans tendered to
Governor Olden towards the expenses of fitting out the volunteer organizations.
Sub-committees were also appointed to attend to the proper distribution
of money and supplies to the families of soldiers.
Much activity among our
merchants in Trenton during the Civil War was occasioned by the urgent
need of the national and state governments for military supplies of
every description. Our large industrial plants were also very busy.
One of the most important of these plants was that of the New Jersey
Arms and Ordnance Company, manufacturing muskets and heavy ordnance.
The Trenton Iron Company, later known as the New Jersey Steel and Iron
Company, rendered great service to the War Department in the manufacture
of iron of a quality suitable for gun barrels, etc. Charles Hewitt,
at the request of the Secretary of War, went to England and bought up
a large quantity of such suitable iron and studied the conditions of
its manufacture. Mr. Hewitt, with the information thus gained, succeeded
in manufacturing an excellent quality of iron and rolled gun barrels
therefrom which passed a rigid inspection by Major Dyer, U.S.A., superintendent
of the Springfield Armory. All barrels made under Mr. Hewitt's formula
were stamped "Trenton" and were known as the "Trenton-Springfield Rifle."
V. Trenton Officers in the Civil War and Roster of Company A, National GuardFOLLOWING is a record of citizens of Trenton who served as commissioned officers in the Volunteer and Regular Armies, the Navy and the Marine Corps during the Civil War; service, if any, in the Mexican War of 1846-48 is indicated by an asterisk ( * ):
Allison, Thomas S., Major and Paymaster, June 1, 1861; Brevet Lieut. Col., March 13, 1865; appointed Paymaster U.S. Army April 1, 1867. Died Feb. 1, 1871.
Austin, Matthew S., Pvt., Co. G, 5th N.J. Inf., Vols., Aug. 24, 1861; Commissary Sergt. N.C.S., Aug. 29, 1861; 2d Lieut., Co. G, Nov. 10, 1862; mustered out Sept. 7, 1864.
Barton, James A., 3rd Asst. Engineer, U.S. Navy, Jan. 16, 1863; resigned Nov. 5, 1868.
Beatty, John R., Ensign, Co. C, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vols., Militia, April 27, 1861 ; mustered out July 31, 1861.
Bennett, George A., 1st Sergt., 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861 ; 2nd Lieut. Co. D, Dec. 2r, 1861; 1st Lieut., Co. C, Sept. 0, 1862; discharged April 6, 1863.
Bodine, Budd S., 1st Lieut., Co. B, 14th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 20, 1862; resigned March 1, 1864.
Boyd, Charles S., Sergt., Co. B, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 9, 1861; 2nd Lieut., June 11, 1863; mustered out Nov. 6, 1864.
Bragg, George Lawrence, Pvt., Sth Cav., Penn. Vols.; 2nd Lieut., Co. F, Aug. 21, 1861 ; 1st Lieut., Co. M, July 15, 1862; promoted Commissary of Subsistence from Co. M, Oct. 15, 1862; killed in action at Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 16, 1864.
Brant, William, Jr., Corp., 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., May 21, 1861; Sergt, Feb. 4, 1862 ; 1st Lieut., Co. B, Feb. 2, 1865 ; Brevetted Capt., April 2, 1865, for gallant and meritorious conduct before Petersburg, Va.; Captain, Co. B, May 11, 1865.
Brown, Charles P., Q.M. .Sergt., 12th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 12, 1862 ; 2nd Lieut., Co. A, April 11, 1864, not mustered; 1st Lieut., Co. I, May 20, 1864; Capt., Jan. 30, 1865; mustered out June 4, 1865.
Campbell, Edward L., Capt., Co. E, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vols., May 28, 1861; Lieut. Col., 15th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 11 1862, for distinguished service and gallantry at Cedar Creek, Va., to date from Oct. 19, 1864; Col., Feb. 6, 1865; declined. Col., 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., May 29, 1865; brevetted Brig. Gen. to date from April 9, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services in the operations resulting in the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Gen. Lee at Appomattox.
Clark, Henry R., 2nd Lieut., Co. A, 5th Inf., N.J. Vols., Dec. 16, 1862; killed in action at Gettysburg, Va., July 2, 1863.
Craig, Benjamin F., Capt., Co. B, 14th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 20, 1862; dismissed Nov. 12, 1864.
Cunningham, Thomas, Sergt., Co. B, 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., May 21, 1861; 1st Sergt., Sept. 1, 1862; 1st Lieut., Co. C, Feb. 13, 1863; Capt., Co. K., 38th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 12, 1864; mustered out June 30, 1865.
Dayton Ferdinand V., Asst. Surgeon, 1st Cav., N.J. Vols., Sept. 20, 1861; Surgeon, 2nd Cav., N.J. Vols., July 2, 1863; discharged at Natchez, Miss., Aug. 2, 1865; brevetted Lieut. Col. for meritorious conduct during the war, to date from March 13, 1865 ; mustered out October 24, 1865.
Dickinson, S. Meredith, Co. A, N.G., April 6, 1861; Acting Asst. Paymaster, U.S. Navy, 1861 ; resigned Oct. 31, 1862.
Disbrow, Heathcoate J., Capt., CO. C, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861; Capt., 15th U.S. Inf., May 14, 1861; resigned Dec. 20, 1861.
Dod, Albert B., Pvt., Co. A.N.G., April 16, 1861 ; Capt., 15th U.S. Inf:, May 14, 1861 ; resigned Aug. 15, 1864.
Drake, J. Madison, Sergt., CO. C, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 23, 1861; mustered out July 31, 1861; Sergt., Co. K, 9th Inf., N.J. Vols., Oct. 15, 1861; 1st Sergt., May 16, 1862; 2nd Lieut., Co. D, June 3, 1863; 1st Lieut., April 13, 1864; Capt., Feb. 8, 1865, not mustered. This officer was taken prisoner at Drury's Bluff, Va., May 16, 1864, but made his escape by leaping from a train of cars while in transit from Charleston to Columbia, S.C., and after forty-seven days wandering in the mountains reached the Union lines in safety. Lieut. Drake received a medal of honor from Congress for gallantry and bravery.
English, Earl,* Midshipman in U.S. Navy in 1840; Lieut. Commander, July 16, 1862, and at the time of his retirement had attained to the rank of Rear Admiral. He died in 1893 at Culpepper, Va.
Ewing, Charles, Ensign, Co. A, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 23, 1861; mustered out July 31, 1861; Capt., Co. B, 6th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 9, 1861; Major, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Jan. 8, 1863; Lieut. Col., Sept. 14, 1863 ; discharged March 16, 1865.
Farrell, Lawrence, 2nd Lieut., Co. H, 35th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 21, 1863; 1st Lieut., Sept. 24, 1863; Capt., Nov. 15, 1864, not mustered; discharged Jan. 23, 1865, disability.
Fausett, Orrin B., 1st Lieut., Co. C, iith Inf., N.J. Vols., July 22, 1862; resigned March 6, 1863, disability.
Faussett, John B., Sergt., Co. A, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 23, 1861; mustered out July 31, 1861; 2nd Lieut., Co. C, 11th Inf., N.J. Vols., March 6, 1863; 1st Lieut., Sept. 29, 1863; resigned July 19, 1864, disability.
Fisher, Clark, 3rd Asst. Engineer, LT,S. Navy, May 3, 1859; 2nd Asst. Engineer, July 1, 1861 ; 1st Asst. Engineer, May 20, 1863; Chief Engineer, Jan. 23, 1871; resigned March 27, 1872.
Fisher, Otis, 2nd Lieut., 8th Inf., U.S.A., Aug. 5, 1861; 1st Lieut., Sept. i9, 1863 ; Brevet Capt., Aug. 9, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service at Cedar Mountain, Va.; Brevet Major, Sept. 3o, 1864, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Battle of Poplar Spring Church, Va.; died Oct. 4, 1864, of wounds received in action Sept. 30, 1864, at Poplar Spring Church, Va.
Freese, Jacob R., Capt. and Asst. Adj. Gen., Aug. 24, 1861; resigned Dec. 31, 1863.
Gilkyson, Stephen R., Capt., Co. A, 6th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 9, 1861; Major, July 22, 1862 ; Lieut. Col., Oct.11, 1863 ; Col., June 1, 1864, not mustered; Col. 4oth Inf., N.J. Vols., March 7, 1865; mustered out July 13, 1865.
Gould, Robert S., 1st Lieut., Co. A, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 23, 1861; mustered out July 31, 1861; Capt., Co. E, 5th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 28, 1861 ; resigned April 18, 1863, disability.
Hall, Caldwell K., Co. A.N.G., April 16, 1861; Adj., 5th Inf., NJ. Vols., Aug. 28, 1861; A.D:C., staff General F. Paterson; Lieut. Col., 14th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 27, 1862 ; resigned, Sept. 10, 1864, wounds received at battle of .Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864; Brevet Col. and Brig. Gen., March 13, 1865.
Halsted, Henry O., Major, 1st Cav., N.J. Vols., Sept. 21, 1861; discharged Feb. 18, 1862, S.O. War Dept., A.G.O., Washington, D.C.
Halsted, N. Norris, Lieut. Col., A.D.C., staff Gov. Olden, and Commandant of Camp Perrine as rendezvous for drafted men and recruits.
Halsted, William, Col., 1st Cav., N.J. Vols., Sept. 1, 1861 ; discharged Feb. 18, 1862, S.O. War Dept., A.G.O., Washington, D.C.
Hammell, John S., enrolled Sept. 6, 1861, at New York City and mustered in as 1st Lieut., Co. G, 66th Inf., N.Y. Vols., promoted Adj. same date; Capt., Co. B, April 15, 1862; wounded at Fredericksburg, Va.; Lieut. Col., Jan. 11, 1863; captured June 17, 1864, it Petersburg, Va.; paroled at Savannah, Ga., Nov. 30, 1864; mustered out with the regiment Aug. 30, 1865; brevetted Brig. Gen. to date from March 13, 1865; said to be the youngest officer of the rank in the Union Army.
Hammell, William H., Capt., Co. F, 9th Inf., N.Y. Vols. (Hawkins Zouaves), May 4, 1861 ; wounded in action at Camden, N.C., April 19, 1862 ; mustered out with regiment, May 20, 1863.
Hargous, Peter J., Mate, U.S. Navy, Oct. 11, 1861 ; promoted Acting Master, "having distinguished himself on the Congress, June 14, 1862" ; resigned March 17, 1865.
Heisler, George, Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861; 2nd Lieut., U.S. Marine Corps, Nov. 25, 1861 ; died at Memphis, Tenn., July 12, 1862.
Higbee, George H., Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861 ; 1st Lieut., 11th U.S. Inf., May 14, 1861, reaching the brevet rank of Lieut. Col. for bravery and meritorious conduct during the war; remained in the army until 1870.
Holt, William H., Lieut. Col., 31st Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 11, 1862; resigned Feb. 5, 1863.
Holt, Woodbury D., Capt., Co. E, 31st Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 10, 1862; mustered out June 24, 1863.
Hunt, James C., Son of late Captain W. E. Hunt, U.S.N.; Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861; 1st Lieut., Co. 3, 1st Cav., N.J. Vols. ; resigned to accept commission as 2nd Lieut., 1st U.S. Cav., Feb. 19, 1862; 1st Lieut., July 17, 1862; Regimental Ord. Master, July 18, 1862; Bat. Capt., May 6, 1864; Capt., June 28, 1864; Bat. Major, April 1, 1865.
Ihrie, Joseph, Color Sergt. in the Confederate Army, killed at the battle of Shiloh.
Ihrie, Warren, Capt., 61st Reg. & Ill. Inf., Vols. ; although in poor health he participated with his company in the battle of Shiloh (where his brother in the Confederate Army was killed) ; Captain Ihrie died of a fever a few days after the battle and his remains were brought to Trenton for burial.
Johnston, Robert S., 1st Lieut., Co. B, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 6, 1862; Capt., vice Sedden, deserted; mustered out Sept. 3, 1864.
Johnston, Thomas P., Q.M., 7th Inf., NJ. Vols., Aug. 24, 1861 ; resigned Feb. 19, 1863, to accept commission as Capt. and Q.M., U.S. Vols., serving as such in various capacities, receiving for such service brevet ranks of Major and Lieut. Col.; mustered out Nov. 13, 1867.
Kline, Manuel, 1st Sergt., Co. A, 15th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 25, 1862; 2nd Lieut., Co. H, Sept. 10, 1864; mustered out June 22, 1865.
Kafer, John C., 3rd Asst. Engineer, U.S. Navy, Jan. 16, 1863; 2nd Asst. Engineer, May 28, 1864; remained in service after the war.
Kafer, Peter M., Acting 3rd Asst. Engineer, U.S. Navy, May 21, 1864; honorably discharged October 20, 1865.
Lodor, Daniel, 1st Lieut., Co. A, 6th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 9, 1861 ; Major, 10th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 3, 1862; discharged July 12, 1864.
Lodor, Richard, graduated from West Point as brevet 2nd Lieut., 4th U.S. Art., July 1, 1856; 2nd Lieut., Oct. 31, 1856; 1st Lieut., Feb. 1, 1861; Capt., Nov. 29, 1861 ; Brevet Major, Dec. 31, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service in battle of Stone River, Tenn.; Brevet Lieut. Col. and Brevet Col., March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the war; retired with rank of Brig. Gen., April 23, 1904.
Lykens, Isaac P., Capt., Co. C, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 23, 1861 ; mustered out July 31, 1861.
McCall, William C., Co. A.N.G., April 16, 1860 ; 1st Lieut., Co. B, 6th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 9, 1861; resigned Oct. 7, 1861, to accept commission as Capt., 14th U.S. Inf.; resigned July 31, 1863.
McNeeley, James W., Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861; 1st Lieut., 10th Inf., N.J. Vols., April 17, 1863; Capt., June 20, 1863; Major, April 5, 1865; Lieut. Col., 2nd Inf., N.J. Vols., June 26, 1865; Col., July 26, 1865, not mustered; mustered out July 11, 1865.
Mills, Franklin S., 1st Lieut, Co. D, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 24, 1861; mustered out July 31, 1861.
Moody, Irwin, 1st Lieut. and Adj., 93rd Inf., Indiana Vols.; killed in action at battle of Guntown, Miss., June 10, 1864.
Mott, Gershom,* born and raised in Trenton and served under Capt. Samuel Dickinson in the Mexican War. He was living in Bordentown at the outbreak of the Civil War and served in the Union Army as follows: Lieut. Col., 5th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 23, 1861; Col., 6th Inf., N.J. Vols., May 7, 1862; Brig. Gen., Sept. 7, 1862; B'v't Maj. Gen., Aug. 1, 1864; Maj. Gen., May 26, 1865; resigned, Feb. 20, 1866; Commands: 3rd Brig. (2nd N.J. Brigade), 2nd Div., 3rd Corps; 2nd Div., 3rd Corps, Army of the Potomac.
Mount, Joseph S., Capt., Co. E, 21st Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 2, 1862; mustered out June 19, 1863.
Mulford, Samuel, Capt., Co. D, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 24, 1861; mustered out July 31, 1861 ; Capt., Co. D, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861 Major, Sept. 16, 1862; resigned Dec. 18, 1862.
Murphy, William R., Capt., Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861; Col., l0th Inf., N.J. Vols., Jan. 29, 1862; resigned March 12, 1863; commanded Co, A, N.J. Militia, Penna. Emergency, June 17 to July 16, 1863.
Murphy, Charles V. C.,Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861; 1st Lieut., Co. A, 10th Inf., N.J. Vols., April 17, 1862; Capt., Co. K, 10th Inf., N.J. Vols., July 30, 1864, not mustered; discharged April 18, 1865.
Murphy, T. Malcolm, Sergt., Co. G, 1st Cav., NJ. Vols., Aug. 4, 1863 ; Sergt. Major, Sept. 23, 1863; 2nd Lieut., Co. A, 3rd Cav., N.J. Vols., Nov. 10, 1863; Capt., Jan. 12, 1864; Major, June 30, 1865, not mustered; discharged S.O. 132 Par. 7, A.G.O., War Dept., Washington, D.C.
Napton, William,* Col., 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 27, 1861 ; mustered out July 31, 1861; commissioned Capt. of Vols. in Mexican War but not mustered.
Neal, John W., 1st Lieut., CO. C, 3rd Inf., N.J. Militia, April 23, 1861 ; mustered out July 31, 1861.
Parker, John, 2nd Lieut., Co. B, 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., July 7, 1861 ; 1st Lieut., Aug. 6, 1862; Capt., Co. C, Aug. 30, 1863. Discharged as paroled prisoner. Mustered out March 12, 1865.
Paxson, Frank P., Co. A, N.J. Militia, June 17 to July 16, 1863; Asst. Surgeon, 7th Inf., N.J. Vols., Dec. 16, 1864; resigned May 30, 1865.
Paxson, Henry C., Adjutant, 12th Inf., N.J. Vols., July 9, 1862; resigned May 28, 1863.
Paxson, James O., Enrolled at Trenton, July 24, 1861 ; mustered in as 1st Lieut., Co. D, 48th Inf., New York Vols., Aug. 21, 1861 ; Capt., June 30, 1862; wounded July 18, 1863, at the storming of Fort Wagner, S.C., and died of his wounds at Beaufort, S.C., July 31, 1863.
Pearson, John M., 2nd Lieut., Co. D, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861 ; 1st Lieut., Co. F, Dec. 21, 1861; Capt., Co. K, Jan. 8, 1863; mustered out Nov. 19, 1864.
Phillips, William W. L., Major and Surgeon, 1st Cav., N.J. Vols., Aug. 16, 1861 ; mustered out Sept. 20, 1864.
Price, Frank, Jr., Corp., Co. H, 2nd Inf., N.J. Militia, April 26, 1861 ; mustered out July 31, 1861; Adjutant, 7th Inf.. N.J. Vols., Sept. 2, 1861; Major, March 31, 1862; discharged July 13, 1862; discharge revoked Nov. 12, 1862; Lieut. Col., Dec. 9, 1862; Col., July 23, 1863; brevetted Brig. Gen. for gallant and meritorious conduct during the war to date from March 3, 1865.
Ribble, James 1. B., Asst. Surgeon, 8th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 20, 1862; Surgeon, 13th Inf., N.J. Vols., April 20, 1864; mustered out June 8, 1865.
Ridgway, Barzilla, 1st Lieut., Co. D, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861; Capt., Co. C, Jan. 3, 1862; Lieut. Col., Jan. 8, 1863; resigned April 27, 1863.
Roberts, Robert W., 2nd Lieut., Co. C, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861; 1st Lieut., Co. E, Oct. 13, 1862; resigned Feb. 1863 to accept appointment as 1st Lieut. and Q.M., 12th Reg., Vet. Reserve Corps; brevetted Major March 16, 1865; discharged Oct. 30, 1867.
Roebling, Washington A., Co. A, N.G., April 16, 1861 ; discharged to enlist in New York; enrolled June 15, 1861, as Pvt. 6th N.Y. Vol. Independent Battery; Sergt., Sept. 1, 1861; 2nd Lieut., Jan. 23, 1862; discharged May 26, 1864, to accept commission as Major and A.D.C., U.S. Vols. ; resigned Jan. 1, 1865; commissioned Lieut. Col., U.S. Vols., by brevet to date from Dec. 6, 1864, for gallant service during the campaign before Richmond, Va.; Col., U.S. Vols., by brevet to date from March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the war.
Ross, William B., Pvt., Co. A, 14th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 26, 1862; 1st Lieut., Co. B, Sept. 10, 1864. Killed in action at Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864.
Rossell, Nathan Beakes,* Major, 3rd Inf., U.S.A., Sept. 25, 1861; killed at Battle of Gaines Mill, Va., June 27, 1862 ; served with distinction in the Mexican War in Regular Army.
Rossell, William Henry, Capt., 10th U.S. Inf., Dec. 7, 1861 ; Brevet Major Feb. 21, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service in the. Battle of Valverde, N.M.; retired Nov. 28, 1863.
Rowell, John T., 2nd Lieut., Co. C, 29th Inf., N.J. Vols., .Sept. 9, 1862; 1st Lieut., April 4, 1863; Capt., Co. K, 35th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 15, 1863; mustered out July 2o, 1865.
Sedden, William, Capt., Co. B, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 9, 1861; deserted March 24, 1862.
Schoonover, Johns, Pvt., Co. D, 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., May 8, 1861 ; Sergt., March 24, 1862; Adjutant, lith Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 21, 1862; Lieut. Col., July 28, 1863; B'v't Col., March 13, 1865, for conspicuous gallantry.
Smith, Watson,* Lieut., U.S. Navy, Sept. 15, 1855 ; Lieut. Com., July 16, 1862; served in Civil War under Rear Admiral David D. Porter in the Mississippi Squadron; contracted a fever on the Red River Expedition which resulted in his death in Trenton, Dec. 19, 1864; also served in the Navy throughout the Mexican War.
Speeler, Henry A., 1st Lieut., Co. K, 35th Tnf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 15, 1863; Capt., Co. H, May 25, 1865 ; mustered out July 20, 1865 ; served also in 48th Inf., N.Y. Vols., as a non-commissioned officer in Co. D.
Speer, Calvin P., 1st Lieut., Co. C, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 17, 1861; resigned Sept. 9, 1862.
Stahl, Ernest C., Pvt., Battery C, 1st Artillery, N.J. Vols., Sept. 4, 1863; Corp., Dec. 6, 1863; Sergt., June 12, 1864; 2nd Lieut., June 13, 1864; 1st Lieut., March 17, 1865 ; mustered out June 19, 1865 ; served subsequently in the 8th and 107th Inf., U.S. Colored Troops; resigned July 16, 1866.
Stryker, William S., Major and Paymaster, U.S. Vols., Feb. 19, 1863; Major and A.D.C., staff of Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore; Brevet Lieut. Col., Nov. 24, 1865 ; resigned June 30, 1866 ; Adj.-Gen. of N.J., April 12, 1867.
Stull, Henry S., 2nd Lieut., Co. H, 1st Cav., N.J. Vols., April 4, 1862; resigned Sept. 18, 1862; 1st Lieut., CO. M, 3rd Cav., N.J. Vols., Dec. 12, 1863 ; Capt., May 6, 1864 ; mustered out Aug. 1, 1865.
Stull, John, Capt., Co. M, 3rd Cav., N.J. Vols., Dec. 12, 1863; dismissed April 11, 1864.
Tantum, William H., 1st Lieut., Co. B, 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., May 21, 1861; Capt., Aug. 11, 1862; mustered out June 29, 1865.
Titus, Joab, 1st Lieut., Co. F, 22nd Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 17, 1862; mustered out June 25, 1863.
Titus, Uriel B., Q.M., F. and S., 22nd Inf., N.J. Vols., Oct. 17, 1862; mustered out June 25, 1863; 1st Lieut., Co. B, 11th Inf., N.J. Vols., Oct. 13, 1864; transferred to Co. A, 12th Inf., N.J. Vols., June 5, 1865; brevetted Capt. for meritorious service during the campaign terminating in the surrender of General Lee, to date from April 9, 1865.
Van Sickell, Caleb C., 1st Sergt., CO. C, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 13, 1861; 2nd Lieut., Co. E, Dec. 23, 1861; 1st Lieut., Jan. 8, 1863; discharged Sept. 14, 1864, wounds received in action.
Van Sickell, Sylvester, Capt., Co. B, 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., May 21, 1861; resigned July 31, 1862, disability.
Volk, Christian A., Sergt., Co. C, 40th Inf., N.J. Vols., Jan. 12, 1865 ; Sergt.-Major, N.C.S., .March 23, 1865; 2nd Lieut., Co. A, March 28, 1865; mustered out July 13, 1865.
Vroom, Garret D. W., served in Co. A, N.J. Militia, June 17 to July 16, 1863, Penna. Emergency, and as A.D:C. with rank of Lieut. Col., staff of Gov. Parker, 1863-66.
Vroom, Peter D., Adjutant, 1st Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 12, 1862; wounded in action at Crampton's Pass, Va., Sept. 14, 1862; Major, 2nd Cav., Aug. 28, 1863; brevetted Lieut. Col. for gallant and meritorious service during the war, to date from March 13, 1865; mustered out Oct. 24, 1865; accepted a commission as 2nd Lieut. in 3rd U.S. Cav., April 9, 1867, and remained in service until April 12, 1903, when he retired with rank of Brig. Gen.
Wells, Israel, 2nd Lieut., Q.M., 31st Inf., U.S. Vols., Sept. 17, 1862; mustered out June 21, 1863; 2nd Lieut., Q.M., 38th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 22, 1864; mustered out June 30, 1865.
Whitaker, Edgar, Sergt., Co. C, 4th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 13, 1861; 1st Sergt., Dec. 25, 1861; 2nd Lieut., Co. G, Jan. 3, 1862; resigned July 25, 1862; Adjutant, 29th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. i9, 1862; mustered out June 30, 1863.
Wilkes, Aaron, 2nd Lieut., Co. B, 6th Inf., N.J. Vols., Sept. 9, 1861 ; 1st Lieut., Oct. 7, 1861; Adjutant Jan. 27, 1862 ; killed in action at Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862.
Wilkes, Peter, Pvt., Co. B, 5th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 26, 1861; Sergt.. Co. B, N.J. Militia, Penna. Emergency, June 17, 1863; 1st Lieut., Co. C, 37th Inf., N.J. Vols. (100 days), June 24, 1864.
Withington, James, Pvt., Co. B, 5th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 26, 1861; Sergt., Co. B, N.J. Militia, Penna. Emergency, June 17, 1863 ; 1st Lieut., Co. C, 37th lnf., N.J. Vols. (100 days), June 24, 1864.
Woodward, Tenadore, 2nd Lieut., Co. B, 14th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 26, 1862; 1st Lieut., March 4, 1864, not mustered. Resigned, Aug. 24, 1864.
Woerner, Christian, 1st Lieut., Battery A, 1st Art., N.J. Vols., Aug. 12, 1861 ; resigned Oct. 4, 1862 ; 2nd Lieut., Battery C, 1st Art., N.J. Vols., July 18, 1863; Capt., Sept. 11, 1863; brevetted Major for gallant and distinguished service at Battle of Reams Station and during the campaign before Richmond, Va., to date from Dec. 2, 1864; mustered out June 19, 1865.
Woolsey, Henry H., 2nd Lieut., Co. E, 5th Inf., N.J. Vols., Aug. 28, 1861; 1st Lieut., May 7, 1862 ; Capt., Co. H, Jan. 6, 1863 ; died Jan. 19, 1864, of wounds received in action before Petersburg, Va.
Yard, Joseph A.,* Capt., Co. A, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 23, 1861;mustered Out July 31, 1861; he commanded Co. G, N.J. Militia, Pennsylvania Emergency, July 3, to July 23, 1863 ; died Oct. 17, 1878.
Zehner, Henry K., Ensign, Co. D, 3rd Inf., N.J. Vol. Militia, April 24, 1861; died in Washington, D.C., July 28, 1861.
VOLUNTEER SURGEONS FROM TRENTON
During the terrible conflicts
in the Wilderness, and before Petersburg and Richmond, the following-named
gentlemen, under the call of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army, for volunteer
surgeons and nurses, responded to treat the wounded taken in large numbers
to Fredericksburg, Md.: Dr. Thomas. J. Corson; Dr. John Woolverton;
and Dr. Charles Hodge, Jr.
COMPANY A, NATIONAL GUARD, TRENTON
This company was organized at a meeting called for the purpose at the American House, November 30, 1860, with Robert C. Belleville, chairman, and S. Meredith Dickinson, secretary. At a subsequent meeting William R. Murphy was elected Captain, Robert C. Belleville First Lieutenant, and Joseph Ott, Second Lieutenant. The company was rapidly recruited to the required strength and on April 16, 1861, reported for active duty under the following order:
OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERALTrenton, April 16, 1861
By order of the Commander-in-Chief
R. F. STOCKTON,
In his report for 1861 the Quartermaster General said
The young gentlemen composing this company performed all the duties of a military garrison, and, at the same time, rendered important service, assisting in the work of arming and equipping the troops for the field for the period of three months service from the 16th of April to the 16th of July, in which time seven regiments, four of militia and three of volunteers, were fully armed and equipped. This company served also during the draft riots at Perth Amboy in November 1863.The following roster will give a brief record of service, including guard duty, rendered by original members of this fine organization, in the Civil War:
VI. The Spanish-American WarIN APRIL, 1898 the State Military Department consisted of Foster M. Voorhees, Governor and Commander-in-Chief; William S. Stryker, Adjutant General, and Richard A. Donnelly, Quartermaster General. The freeing of the island of Cuba from Spanish rule had long been the dream of liberty-loving Americans of the United States, and the government in two instances endeavored to acquire the island from Spain by purchase: once under President Polk in 1848 and again about 1858 when a measure introduced in the Senate for the purchase of Cuba failed of passage.
The stubborn insurrection in Cuba continued and the blowing up of the U.S.S. Maine in the harbor of Havana was followed in April 1898 by a joint resolution in Congress for recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, which was approved by the President on the twentieth day of April, 1898, and on the twenty-third the President called for volunteers to sustain the government. Spain refused to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and the existence of a state of war between the two countries was declared by Congress.
THE NATIONAL GUARD VOLUNTEER REGIMENTS
Of the four regiments of
National Guard infantry mobilized in 1898 at Camp Voorhees, Sea Girt,
and of the two battalions of the naval reserve, there were but three
companies of infantry and one division of the Battalion of the West,
Naval Reserves, volunteering from Trenton in the War with Spain.
THE NAVAL RESERVE
The First Divisions of the Battalion of the West which contained the members of that organization from Trenton were detailed to the U.S. S. Resolute, May 13,1898, and served with the fleet before Santiago de Cuba, witnessing and participating in the action which resulted in the destruction of the Spanish fleet under the brave but unfortunate Admiral Cevera, arriving at the scene of surrender before the Cristoval Colon struck her flag. The Resolute received the prisoners from the Colon comprising nineteen officers and four hundred and ninety-five men and proceeded to Guantanamo Bay, transferring the prisoners to the U.S.S. St. Paul and the U.S.S. Harvard. On the twelfth of August the Resolute was sent to bombard Manzanillo. The bombardment was opened but on the morning of the thirteenth news was received of the signing of the protocol of peace, and hostilities ended. The Naval Reserve of New Jersey made a fine record in the Spanish-American War as shown by the following letter from Commander Eaton, U.S.N., to the Governor of New Jersey:
Key West, Fla., October 8, 1898.
HIS EXCELLENCY, THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE of NEW JERSEY:
SIR.-Today, after a service lasting for five months, the members of the West Battalion, New Jersey Naval Reserves, are detached from this ship and ordered north for honorable discharge.
I cannot allow them to leave the Resolute without expressing to you, and through you, to the State which they have honored, my sense of the patriotism, fidelity and bravery these Reserves have shown during the late war. Not only in the battles off Santiago on July 3, and off Manzanillo on August 12, when under fire from the enemy they exhibited coolness, courage and enthusiasm, but also in the much harder, but less glorious work at Guantanamo and Santiago they have shown the qualities which command respect and enforce confidence.
I had my doubts when they joined the Resolute - doubts based upon the inexperience of the Reserves, but I assure your Excellency, that after the first month there have been no doubts, and I am most sincerely sorry to have them go. They have shown that they possess all the qualities, steadfastness, courage, endurance and reliability, which render a man valuable to his country in time of need. It will be always a boast of my Naval life that the somewhat proud record, which the Resolute has made for herself in the war now past, was due mainly to the efficient and brave service rendered by the men of your State.
I regret that the exigencies of the situation prevent my saying in person, what I have so lamely put on paper, but I can assure you that your State may well feel proud of the record earned by the brave men of the West Battalion, who are but now laying down their arms, and quitting the service which they have honored and most ably sustained. I have the honor to be, your Excellency,
Most respectfully yours,
(Signed) J. G. EATON,
Commander U. S. Navy,
Commanding U.S.S. Resolute.
Except in military circles there was but little interest manifested in Trenton during the period of the war with Spain.
© 1929, TRENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY