Every regiment of soldiers has a character of its own. This
"character" is the sum of the elements of individual character, and
the circumstances affecting its organization and management.
The Fifteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers was organized at
Flemington. It was recruited in the "hill country" of the State--three
companies from Sussex, two each from Warren, Hunterdon and Morris, and
one from Somerset. There being no large cities in this district, it
was composed almost wholly of "freeholders" or the sons of
freeholders--young men who were well known in the communities from
which they came, who had a good name at home to adorn or lose, and
friends at home to feel a pride in their good behavior or suffer shame
at the reverse. They were an educated and intelligent class of men,
many of them of liberal education and in course of training for the
higher walks of business or professional life. They were men of a high
tone of moral character and of that sturdy and tenacious patriotism
which the history of every country, and especially of our own, shows
to reside more especially in the fixed population connected with the
soil as its owners or tillers. Reared in the mountain air they were
generally of vigorous and healthy physique. The writer saw much of
Union soldiers during four years of service--regulars, volunteers and
militia--and hopes he may be permitted to say, without invidious
comparison, that this regiment was marked for the high intellectual
and moral character of its enlisted men. Those accustomed to the
management and handling of troops know what this means on the battle
field and in active campaign. It was largely officered with men who
had already seen a year of active service, and who subjected it at
once to a rigid discipline.
It was mustered into service on the 25th of August, 1862. Two days
later it moved to "the front," at the perilous moment when Pope and
Lee were in their death-grapple about Bull Run. Pope being defeated,
and the rebels marching for Pennsylvania, the capital was to be more
completely fortified on the west and north, and prepared for possible
attack. The first duty assigned the regiment was to erect
fortifications at Tenallytown, Md., at which they toiled day and
night for about one month. On the 30th of September it proceeded to
join the victorious Army of the Potomac on the battle-field of
Antietam, and, by special request of the corps, division and brigade
commanders, was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Sixth
Corps--the already-veteran "First Jersey Brigade." It afforded much
gratification and a home-like feeling, to be brigaded with five other
regiments of the same State.
Whilst the Army of the Potomac was being re-fitted and supplied for
the fall campaign, the regiment enjoyed, in the midst of picket and
other duties, a much-needed month of opportunity for drill and
discipline at Bakersville, Maryland--a short time, as all experience
will attest, to convert into "soldiers" a thousand men fresh from the
untrammeled freedom of civil life, strangers to the rigor of military
discipline, the profession of arms, and the art of war. How
industriously, willingly, and effectively that month was employed, the
subsequent history of the regiment fully attests.
From this time forward, to the close of the war, its history is that
of the famous "Sixth Corps"--than which, probably, no corps ever did
more hard fighting and effective service, or achieved a more enviable
fame.
Its official fighting record, as made up by the Adjutant-General of
the State, is as follows:
Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 13 and 14, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., May 3,
1863; Salem Heights, Va., May 3 and 4, 1863; Franklin's Crossing, Va.,
June 6 to 14, 1863; Gettysburg, Pa., July 2 and 3, 1863; Fairfield,
Pa., July 5, 1863; Funktown, Md., July 10, 1863; Rappahannock Station,
Va., Oct. 12, 1863; Rappahannock Station, Va., Nov. 7, 1863; Mine Run,
Va., Nov. 30, 1863; Wilderness, Va., May 5 to 7, 1864; Spottsylvania,
Va., May 8 to 11, 1864; Spottsylvania C.H., Va., May 12 to 16, 1864;
North and South Anna River, May 24, 1864; Hanover C.H., Va., May 29,
1864; Tolopotomy Creek, Va., May 30 and 31, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va.,
June 1 to 11, 1864; Before Petersburg, Va., June 16 to 22, 1864;
Weldon Railroad, Va., June 23, 1864; Snicker's Gap, Va., July 18,
1864; Strasburg, Va., Aug. 15, 1864; Winchester, Va., Aug. 17, 1864;
Charlestown, Va., Aug. 21, 1864; Opequan, Va., Sept. 19, 1864;
Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 21 and 22, 1864; New Market, Va., Sept. 24,
1864; Mount Jackson, Va., Sept. 25, 1864; Cedar Creek and Middletown,
Va., Oct. 19, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Va., Feb. 5, 1865; Fort Steedman,
Va., March 25, 1865; Capture of Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1865;
Sailors' Creek, Va., April 6, 1865; Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865;
Lee's Surrender, (Appomattox, Va.,) April 9, 1865.
In the operations and battles of a large army or corps, a single
regiment is so swallowed up in the general mass; its movements and
conduct, under fire and out of range, are so intermingled with those
of many others, that, to write the history of one is to write that of
the army or corps as a whole. This would take volumes; it cannot be
done in these brief notes. It must be assumed that the glowing pages
which record the battles of the Rebellion are familiar to all; and
surely he is a doubtful patriot who has not followed them with deep
and absorbing interest. We can here only glance at the regiment at
some of those points in its career at which it was in some way
distinguished from the general mass, by position, or by special acts
of endurance and courage.
It received its baptism of fire at the disastrous battle of
Fredericksburg, December 13th, 1862. On the morning of the 12th, the
division crossed the Rappahannock at "Franklin's Crossing," below the
town, and advanced over the broad plain toward the high ground beyond,
under cover of a dense fog, to "find the enemy," whose position, below
the town, could not be seen--the Fifteenth on the right of the line.
Just before reaching "Deep Run," the enemy discovered the advance, and
opened with their heavy guns from the Heights to the right and front.
The long line of a full regiment did not waver in the least, though
new to the field of battle, and saluted suddenly, for the first time,
with the terrifying explosions of shells from guns of large calibre.
Carefully observed, they seemed to be nerved and animated by the
presence of danger. Patriotic resolve and high moral courage--which
had brought them to the field--mantled to their brows. Their commander
then and ever after knew and trusted his command. A few men were
wounded, but none killed, as the writer remembers. Arrived at the
ravine, it was permitted to remain under its cover during the balance
of the day, whilst a large army was getting into position, and plans
of attack matured. Before light on the morning of the 13th, it was
moved out of the ravine and silently deployed as a skirmish line,
under cover of the darkness and fog, so near to the rebel skirmish
line as to distinctly hear their conversation. Such close contact,
face to face with an armed enemy, gave rise to thoughts and emotions
new to them, and the gradual lifting of the darkness and fog was
watched with anxious faces; but not a man showed signs of flinching.
At the coming of light their sharp and obstinate skirmish fire opened
the first battle in which they took part. The memorable conflict of
the day swept chiefly to the right and left of their long line, but
involved four of the left companies, which participated in the charge
at that point with the Fourth and Twenty-third, and suffered serious
loss. During the following night the drum-corps carried rations from
the trains, several miles away, across the river, and distributed them
along the line, replenishing the exhausted haversacks--a hard night's
work, and a kind of drumming for which they felt they had not
enlisted; but they had new lessons in music yet to learn. In the
morning the regiment was relieved from its advanced position by the
One Hundred and Twenty-first New York, under a galling fire. The
battle was over, however, and the army re-crossed the river.
The regiment went into camp near by, at White Oak Church, and, after
participating in the fruitless expedition known as Burnside's "Mud
March," spent a dismal winter. Typhoid fever, the enemy which no army
can conquer, broke out with distressing virulence, and a considerable
number died of disease. In every regiment there is a somewhat uniform
number of constitutions which cannot resist the privations, hardships,
excitements and exposures of vigorous warfare. These must be
eliminated by death and permanent disability. In some cases the
process is gradual; in others, sudden and rapid, as was the case with
the Fifteenth, owing to its being suddenly taken from civil life and
thrust at once into the severest service, sustained by excitements and
courage until the campaign was over, and then dropped into a muddy
camp in very inclement weather. It was ever afterward free from
sickness to a marked degree.
In the May following came the "Chancellorsville" campaign under
Hooker. The part assigned to the Sixth Corps was to take the Heights
of Fredericksburg, and then strike the enemy in flank and rear, and
unite with the main army, which crossed the river at the upper fords.
Crossing the river at the same place as before, on the morning of the
3d of May, the Fifteenth was placed on the extreme left of the corps
line, to support a battery, and, with the balance of the brigade, to
hold in check a large force of the enemy formed on his right, to
strike the corps in flank and rear, as it attacked the Heights, which
was effectively done by a firm stand, though with considerable loss.
The balance of the corps having carried the Heights by a gallant
charge, it marched through the town, over the Heights, and up the
plank road to Salem Church, a few miles from Chancellorsville. Here it
encountered a large part of the rebel army, diverted to its front
after a successful checking of Hooker. A determined assault was
delivered, but failed to drive them from their well-chosen position.
The Fifteenth charged gallantly through a wood, pushed the enemy some
distance before them, and held the position until ordered to retire
about dark, the general attack having failed of its purpose. The night
was spent in caring for and removing the wounded. It is thought the
Fifteenth was one of the very few regiments which succeeded in getting
off all their wounded, which was mainly due here, as afterward, to one
of the most brave and faithful chaplains, who was ever with his men,
in battle as in camp, and serving them with sleepless and tireless
vigilance. The next day was spent in constant manoeuvering before a
rapidly concentrating enemy, and during the night the corps was
ordered to re-cross the river, at Banks' Ford. After another day spent
in drawing the artillery and pontoon trains through the mud to the
high ground, it returned to its old camp, after the loss of many of
its bravest and best men and officers.
At Gettysburg--the decisive victory of the war--during the pursuit of
the flying rebel army through Pennsylvania, Maryland, and down the
Katoctin valley, back to the line of the Rappahannock; again on the
advance up the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, nearly to its crossing
of the Rapidan, (where the Fifteenth reached the farthest point of any
regiment); back to Centreville by a rapid retreat parallel with the
enemy attempting to turn the Union flank; again forward to the battle
of Rappahannock Station, through the futile Mine Run expedition, and
back to winter-quarters at Brandy Station--the regiment bore an equal
and always honorable part with the other regiments of the corps, doing
its share of the fighting, and suffering its share of the loss.
Nothing is remembered, however, which distinguished it from the
balance of the corps, except, perhaps, that it covered the return from
the third crossing at Fredericksburg--(a demonstration made by the
First Division in the early part of June, to develop the movement of
Lee toward Pennsylvania)--and took up the pontoon bridge in the face
of the enemy--a delicate and difficult service, executed without loss,
in a driving rain.
The winter of 1863-4, at Brandy Station, was diversified by severe
picket and fatigue duty, and embraced an expedition by the brigade to
Madison Court House, as a diversion in favor of Kilpatrick's
celebrated raid to the fortifications of Richmond. The men, under the
lead of the chaplain, built a large and commodious house of logs, in
which religious services--never intermitted, when possible to be
held--and literary exercises were held. This was a great help to the
religious and moral tone of the regiment, as well as conducive to its
military effectiveness. A "Church" of one hundred and thirty members
was organized, and forty-six men were hopefully converted to the
Christian faith. The services were interesting and solemn, and were
attended by many even from distant camps. Two-thirds of the members of
this little church, doubly militant, afterward fell in action, bravely
battling for their country and their God. Who will question the
usefulness and value of a zealous religious instructor in the ranks of
an army in the field?
On the 4th of May, 1864, the army broke camp for the long and bloody
campaign from the Rapidan to Petersburg, and the 5th, 6th, and 7th
found the regiment engaged, with the balance of the army, in "the
Wilderness," doing its full duty with the regiments which fought by
its side. On the 8th, about noon, at the head of the corps, it reached
the front of Spottsylvania C.H., after a long night march, by a
circuitous route. Warren, whose corps (the Fifth) had moved by a more
direct route, and reached the position first, had met with a check. He
sent to Sedgwick--the grand old leader of the Sixth--for aid, and the
Jersey brigade was sent to his assistance. After some manoeuvering,
the Fifteenth, with the Third, (then little more than a detachment,
and used as a skirmish line,) was selected to make an assault on the
enemy, and develop his position and strength. No charge was ever more
gallantly delivered. With two armies looking on, it advanced across an
open field; when within about three hundred yards of the front of the
wood in which the enemy was posted, it fixed bayonets, and with a line
of glittering steel as steady as on dress-parade, dashed up to the
rebel position, to find them strongly entrenched and in full force. As
far as rifle-shot could reach, upon each flank they opened upon the
devoted little band. Notwithstanding the deadly fire, it drove the
enemy out of the work in its front, captured two prisoners, and, to
save annihilation, was ordered by its commander to retire. One hundred
and one of its brave officers and men were left upon the field, killed
or wounded. It may be doubted if a more perilous "forlorn hope" was
ever more daringly executed.
The Sixth Corps took position on the left of the line as it was
formed, its lamented commander falling on the same spot at which one
of the color-bearers of the Fifteenth had but just fallen; and on the
afternoon of the 9th the regiment was detached, with the First, to
turn the right flank of the enemy and gain possession of a
cross-roads. After wading a deep swamp, and a sharp brush with the
rebel skirmishers, the cross-roads was under their guns, and they were
separated some distance from the main army. The next morning, being
ordered to develop the flank of the enemy's main line, the two
regiments advanced, drove the rebel skirmish line before them for
about a mile, and finally struck the right of the rebel line, strongly
entrenched on the top of a high hill. This was the position afterward
known as "the bloody angle." The two regiments attacked vigorously,
but were forced back by a heavy musketry and artillery fire. Two more
regiments were sent to their assistance, and again they attacked, but
with no better success, and they were compelled to be content with
holding the position they had gained in an unequal contest. The
characteristic orders under which they were acting, issued by an able
general officer, afterward killed, and sadly missed, were--"Fight!
Fight! ---- it, fight!" Two days later, this was found to be the
strongest field-work ever attacked by the army.
On the afternoon of the same day, (the 10th,) a series of assaults was
organized along the different corps lines. The Second Division of the
Second Corps, which had come up by the crossroads taken as above
related, was to make the charge on the extreme left, and the two
detached regiments reported to, and participated in the charge with
it. Only one of these assaults was successful, (that of the Sixth
Corps,) and the line of works and many of the prisoners captured by it
had to be abandoned, owing to the failure of the attacks to the right
and left. That on the left being unsuccessful, and the troops retiring
from the hill, left the two detached regiments again alone to hold the
ground which had cost them a severe struggle. This they did until
relieved after dark, when, rejoining their brigade, they left the
position to the Second Corps, all of which was concentrated there on
the night of the 11th.
On the 12th came one of the most stubbornly-contested struggles of the
war. It was for the possession of the "bloody angle" which the
Fifteenth and First had repeatedly attacked two days previously. The
first charge was made by the Second Corps early in the morning, took
the rebels by surprise, carried a part of the line of works, captured
several thousand prisoners and a large number of guns. The Sixth Corps
was moved to the position as soon as practicable, to complete the
victory, the enemy having recovered from the shock and concentrated
his forces. The First Division was ordered to attack first, to the
right of the Second Corps, in _echelon_ of brigades, the First Brigade
on the right, and the Fifteenth Regiment on the extreme right of the
front line. It was placed in position, in a wood of low pines, by a
superior officer, in a drizzling rain. At the order to charge, it
dashed gallantly forward with bayonets fixed, and trailed to escape
the low branches, into the narrow strip of open ground, upon the
opposite margin of which was the rebel intrenched line, covered with
an _abattis_ of slashed brush. Its line being very oblique to that of
the enemy, it was compelled to execute a halfwheel, under a most
murderous fire. Again it dashed forward, carried the work at the point
of the bayonet, (and with some actual bayonet fighting, a very unusual
thing,) captured a stand of colors and all the rebels who did not fall
or run. It was the only regiment of the Sixth Corps which got inside
the enemy's fortifications that day. Its right flank, however, being
entirely "in the air," and a solid rebel line moving toward it,
subjected to the continued fire from a second rebel work in front and
from the numerous "traverses" of the line to the left which had not
been carried, it was compelled to retire again to the wood. This
desperate charge was made at fearful cost. More than half of the rank
and file, and seven of the most valued officers fell, killed or
wounded, inside or near the hostile works. Out of four hundred and
twenty-nine men and fourteen line officers who crossed the Rapidan on
the 4th, only one hundred and twenty-two men and four officers
remained.
It has been said that the other brigades did not get actual possession
of the works in their front. They did, however, gain and hold a
position so near as to command and hold them under their guns, until
abandoned during the night. How obstinate and determined was the rebel
defence was shown by the fact that the trench, full three feet deep,
was, in places, even full of rebel dead, and a pavement of mud
covering the uppermost bodies, told how they had stood upon their
fallen comrades and continued the fight. A large white oak tree was
cut off by bullets even with the top of the breastwork, and in its
fall pinned one rebel soldier to the ground.
From Spottsylvania to Petersburg--a sanguinary track, with every
here-and-there a fierce encounter with the foe--thence, in July, to
Washington, where Early was met at the head of Seventh street; thence
into the Shenandoah Valley, under Sheridan, the regiment shared the
successes and failures, the honors and losses, of the army and corps.
It was often detached for special service of responsibility and
danger. In the pursuit of Early's flying troops from the gates of
Washington, it became necessary to send a force across to the parallel
road on which the enemy were moving, to ascertain the position of the
rear of their column, and verify a suspected intention on their part
to halt and strike in flank our rapidly-advancing column. The
Fifteenth New Jersey was sent upon that mission, and executed it to
the satisfaction of the corps commander, but found no such design on
the part of the enemy. A few days later, Early contested the crossing
of the Shenandoah at Snicker's Ford, and it was desired to examine the
fords lower down the river. The Fifteenth was again sent, tested the
fords, the depth of water, bed of the stream, &c., under a skirmish
fire, and returned with its information--which was not needed, as the
upper ford was abandoned by the enemy during the night.
At Winchester, on the 17th of August, whilst Sheridan was retiring
before Early's army, reinforced by Longstreet, (not because unable to
cope with it, but because under orders from Grant not to accept or
deliver battle at that time,) the First Brigade was left, with the
cavalry, to obstruct their march whilst our army was crossing the
Opequan and getting into position. The Fifteenth Regiment was deployed
into a skirmish line, and posted across the turnpike by which they
were approaching, the other regiments being posted farther to the
left. From noon until nearly dark it held them in check, with the
assistance of two squadrons (dismounted) of the Third New Jersey
Cavalry, deluding them into the belief that Sheridan's whole army was
there in position to receive their attack. The men were carefully
posted along a small stream, behind stone fences, trees, and rocks.
Two rebel skirmish lines successively pushed against them, soon
retired, being badly punished, and Early's army ployed into columns of
attack. There was something seriously ludicrous in the sight. Twenty
thousand rebels could be distinctly seen from the hills on which our
right rested, carefully forming to attack a feeble line of
skirmishers. Our brigade numbered but eight hundred and fifty muskets,
all told; no supports but the color-guards. The cavalry, massed to the
rear, could render no assistance against heavy columns of infantry.
Whilst the formation was proceeding, the stubborn skirmish continued,
and, as we afterward learned, Early decided to postpone the attack
until the next day. Just before dark, however, Breckenridge, who
commanded Early's left division, was led in some way to suspect the
weakness of the force before him, and obtained permission to put his
left brigade in charge. The solid mass plunged directly through our
attenuated line of one man to every five or ten paces; then brigade
after brigade charged in _echelon_ from their left to right. The
fighting qualities of men were seldom more severely tested. It was
easy to get away, but to hold the enemy on the right, or so obstruct
them that the other regiments posted to the left could get out, was a
serious problem. The line was rallied and re-formed, from one stone
fence to another. In the darkness the men sometimes became
intermingled with the enemy, a Union officer, at one time, assuming
command of a rebel regiment. About eleven o'clock, in the outskirts of
the city, the contest was finally given up, all the left getting away
but a detachment of the Tenth, which got lost in the darkness, and a
few men of the Fifteenth and Fourth, surrounded unawares.
On the 19th of September came the battle of the Opequan--generally
known as the battle of Winchester. Viewed in all its relations, it was
one of the most important of the war. At the first onset of Sheridan's
army, the enemy were forced some distance from their position; but the
impetus of the assault being broken by an obstinate resistance, the
Union lines retired a short distance, and the enemy made a counter
advance. The Fifteenth was pushed forward on a double-quick, across a
ravine, to take possession of a hill and obstruct their advance,
whilst the lines were being reorganized. It was a perilous duty
gallantly discharged. One of our division commanders said the movement
saved the day. The re-formed lines again advanced, gathering up the
Fifteenth in their progress, and Early was sent "whirling up the
valley."
Three days later, (on the 22d,) at Fisher's Hill, which they regarded
as an impregnable position, the First New Jersey Brigade was
designated to lead the charge, being about the centre of the corps
line. Sweeping down through a ravine, clambering up the opposite rocks
to the grassy slope which fronted the rebel line, under a perfect
storm of bullets, which fortunately passed almost wholly just over
their heads, they rushed up to and entered the works in advance of any
other troops, capturing a number of guns, and pursued the flying enemy
across the plain until darkness covered their retreat. It was the
first brigade re-formed after the long charge, and ready for the night
march in pursuit.
At Cedar Creek, on the 19th of October--another famous victory--after
the left of the Union line, composed of parts of the Eighth and
Nineteenth Corps, had been routed by the enemy's successfully executed
surprise before daylight, the Sixth Corps moved rapidly by a flank
across the track of their advance, and the Jersey Brigade occupied the
most advanced and difficult position, holding it firmly under severe
fire. Once it was ordered back to the general alignment, but its
former place being considered a key position, it was ordered to retake
it, which it did, and held it tenaciously and successfully, until
again ordered to retire, with the whole corps, to the new line
selected for strategic reasons, (the first having been assumed in the
haste and confusion of the morning.) This was no "rout," as
represented by a popular ballad, but a movement deliberately planned
and executed by Gen. Wright, in the absence of Sheridan, who, upon
arrival, after his famous "ride," found the corps in a well
formed-line, and quietly taking their luncheon, preparatory to the
counter attack of the afternoon, which routed the army seven times
encountered within four months, captured a considerable part of it,
with guns and colors, and ended its existence as a separate command.
In this battle, one of the three field officers of the Fifteenth was
killed, and the other two wounded; the line, rank and file, suffered
severely.
From Cedar Creek, back to the main army before Petersburg, through the
remaining operations there, including the final assault and capture of
Petersburg and Richmond, along the rapid pursuit to Appomatox, we
cannot follow the regiment in detail. We have already exceeded our
limits. We must content ourselves with saying that, throughout these,
and those of previous campaigns which have been passed over without
mention, it always did its duty. In the long marches, by night and
day, in summer's heat and winter's cold, through loamy mud and mucky
swamp, in rain and snow, over frozen hummocks or glaze of ice,
burdened with arms, ammunition, rations, accoutrements and
equipments, often pressed to the limit of human endurance, it was
always in its place, and cheerfully responded to the word of command.
In the numerous minor fights and skirmishes, which often try the
soldier more than the general engagement, it did what was expected of
it. In the death-grapples of army with army, from 1862 to 1865, it
bore the stars and stripes with honor and distinction. No regiment
fought with more tenacious courage, or presented a more steady and
unbroken front to the foe. Where the fire was hottest, the charge most
impetuous, the resistance most stubborn, the carnage most fearful, it
was found. It was never ordered to take a position that it did not
reach it. It was never required to hold a post that it did not hold
it. It never assaulted a line of the enemy that it did not drive it.
It never charged a rebel work that it did not breach it. Whatever
might be the general result, the Fifteenth New Jersey Volunteers
always performed the part assigned it.
The sad part of the story--that at which eyes will moisten and hearts
ache--must be told in few lines. Such a record must be traced in
blood. When the roll is called, three hundred and sixty-one times it
must be answered, "Dead on the field of honor." They gave their lives
for the Union, for their country, for the cause of human liberty.
Their names should be written in gold, and hallowed by a grateful
people with affectionate remembrance. No other regiment from New
Jersey suffered nearly so heavy a loss, though most were much larger
in numbers. Add to this "roll of honor" the unknown number of those
crippled by wounds and wasted by incurable disease; remember that they
came chiefly from the original nine hundred and forty-seven, and some
idea may be formed of the horrid work of war. It is often a source of
painful reflections to look back over the history of this regiment and
think of the large number of promising young men, many of them the
brightest, bravest, purest, and best of our State, who fell along its
bloody pathway, from Fredericksburg to Appomattox. Who can estimate
their value to our State and country, if living? Fallen, who can
compute the loss?