Civil War New Jersey

05/02/2024

Jerseymen getting some long overdue recognition!

A sign recognizing “The Jersey Boys” will be dedicated Sunday on the 162nd anniversary of the Battle of Williamsburg.

04/05/2024

159 years ago today, April 5, 1865, a brave New Jersey cavalry commander met his end. Hugh Hartshorne Janeway was born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1842 into one of the most prominent New Jersey families and was the great-grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Leiper. When the war started in April 1861, he rounded up comrades and rode on horseback from New Brunswick, New Jersey to Trenton to offer their services as cavalry. Turned down initially since the state was not authorized to raise a cavalry regiment in the rush to recruit forces to fight the rebellion. A former New Jersey congressman, though, took the men in in an independent horse regiment he was raising, and 18-year-old Hugh Janeway was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant on Company L on September 19, 1861. He would be in the thick of most of the fighting of his regiment throughout the course of the whole war. The regiment was eventually accepted by New Jersey and became the famed 1st New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry. Young Janeway would become the first officer of the regiment to be wounded when on December 17, 1861, in a scouting mission in Virginia he was shot out of this saddle and captured by rebels in a skirmish along Accontink Creek. The rebels thought he was mortally wounded and left him on the ground after stealing his shoulder straps, pistol and saber. After dragging himself some distance, he was found by Union forces. His wounds turned out to be more superficial than thought but would be the first of fifteen wounds he would receive during the war. When his company commander resigned in February 1862, he was promoted to Captain of Company L, beginning his rise in the ranks. He would see action in the regiment’s participation in operations in Virginia in June 1862, the August 1862 Battles of Cedar Mountain and 2nd Bull Run, and in December at Fredericksburg. In January 1863 he was promoted to Major, three months after his nineteenth birthday, and in this capacity led his troopers during Stoneman s Raid during the May 1863 Chancellorsville Campaign, the June 9, 1863, massive cavalry battle at Brandy Station, at the Rummel Farm during the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, during the fall 1863 Mine Run Campaign, and the Spring 1864 Overland Campaign. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on July 6, 1864, he served as second-in-command to Colonel John Woods Kester, a competent officer who unfortunately was forced to resign in September 1864 due to disability from his exertions in the field. On October 11, 1864, Hugh H. Janeway was promoted to Colonel and commander of the 1st New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry – a battle-hardened and experienced officer not yet 22-years old. Well-liked and respected by the men of the regiment through his tenure, his appointment to command was met with universal approval among the ranks of the 1st New Jersey. He would lead the command almost to the end of the Confederacy, contributing to the Union victory at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865, and in the pursuit of the forces under General Lee after they abandoned their lines at Petersburg, Virginia. Four days later Colonel Janeway and his men were part of their brigade’s attack on and capture of Confederate wagon trains at Amelia Springs, Virginia, which dealt a massive blow to the hopes of the retreating Confederates hoping to use the supplies to sustain them. His brigade commander detailed the 1st New Jersey cavalry to hold the rear guard to allow the Union forces to carry off the spoils, and Colonel Janeway and his men found themselves outnumbered as they confronted a full Confederate cavalry brigade bent on recapturing the wagon trains. After two other regiments of the Union brigade had attacked the oncoming confederates and were repulsed, it was up to the 1st New Jersey to try and drive off the rebels. Placing himself at the head of the charge, the brave young boy-Colonel was shot in the head and instantly killed as the Jerseymen’s charge was starting. Only four days later, at Appomattox Court House, the Army of Northern Virginia would surrender, beginning the end of the war. Colonel Hugh Hartshorne Janeway’s remains were eventually interred in the family plot in Elmwood Cemetery in New Brunswick, New Jersey (Section C, Lot 114). His legacy would live on when the GAR Post in New Brunswick was named after him at its founding in 1875.

04/02/2024

159 years ago today the Army of the Potomac's VI led the assault that broke the Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia, which hastened the end of the war. Two brigades on opposite ends of the assault were led by Jerseymen - Colonel William Snyder Truex of the 14th New Jersey Infantry on the left flank, and Colonel William Henry Penrose of the 15th New Jersey Infantry on the right flank, leading the famed 1st New Jersey Brigade. Both men would end the war as Brigadier Generals of Volunteers - Truex by brevet, Penrose by commission.

It's Petersburg Breakthrough 159–the assault that I call the most consequential attack of the Civil War--I mean, show me another attack that resulted directly in the loss of the Confederate CapitaI. Here’s a map that is four or five years old, but still shows the main movements. This battlefield is among the American Battlefield Trust’s greatest accomplishments: we purchased various tracks that connect with both National Park Service land and Pamplin Historical Park land and worked in cooperation to clear scores of acres of nohistoric woods, thereby opening up the field so we can see what the Soldiers saw during this consequential assault. Learn more: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/petersburg-breakthrough

04/01/2024

The American Battlefield Trust map of the Battle of Five Forks, which took place 159 years ago today, April 1, 1865. Participating in the center of Major General Philip Sheridan's cavalry assault was the brigade commanded by Colonel Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr of the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry. Colonel Pennington was the son of a New Jersey Congressman and a 1860 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. After commanding Battery M, 2nd United States Light Artillery he was commissioned Colonel and commander of the 3rd NJ Cavalry, which were nicknamed "The Butterflies" due to their Austrian hussar-inspired uniforms. He soon rose to brigade command, and led the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps that helped pin down the Confederate left flank, allowing the Army of the Potomac's V Corps to hit the right flank and roll it up. In the engagement the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Penn Robeson of Belvedere, New Jersey. Both Colonel Pennington and Lieutenant Colonel Robeson would survive the war, and both would be brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers.

04/01/2024

Frank Emil Fesq was born on April 1, 1840 in Braunschweig, Germany, which was then in what was the Duchy of Brunswick. In 1858 he emmigrated to the United States and resided amongst the German population of New York City. When the Civil War began he enlisted on May 3, 1861 in NYC and was mustered in as a Private in Company A, 20th New York Volunteer Infantry (New York Adjutant General records lists his name as "Frank Fesg"). Known as the "Turner Regiment", the 20th New York was recruited largely from various German-American societies, and was composed mostly of Private Fesq's fellow German immigrants. For its first year of enlistment the unit was based out of Virginia's Fortress Monroe and performed operations in that region before being transferred to the Army of the Potomac in June 1862. It would see heavy casualties at the September 1862 Battle of Antietam and at the May 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville (previous to that battle 200 men of the regiment mutinied over questions of terms of enlistment - Private Fesq was not among them) before being discharged in June 1863. He would rejoin the Union war effort a year and a half later when he enlisted in what would become the 40th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry - the last such regiment raised by New Jersey. Mustered in as a Private in Company A on October 11, 1864, his regiment take months to be fully recruited. As such, when a company was deemed fully staffed and trained, it was sent to the Army of the Potomac without waiting for others to be ready. Thus, Private Fesq and Company A alone arrived first in November 1864 to the Army of the Potomac then laying siege to Petersburg, Virginia, and was temporarily attached operationally to the 4th New Jersey Infantry. It would not be until February 1865 when the whole unit of the 40th New Jersey Jersey would serve together. They fought in their only pitched battle on April 2, 1865 when General Ulysses S. Grant ordered a final push against the Confederate positions at Petersburg following the rebel defeat at Five Forks the day before. In that fight the 40th New Jersey fought well, and Private Fesq engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the color bearer of 18th North Carolina Infantry. His hand would be smashed and he would sustain a deep cut on his thigh by a rebel saber, but he managed to wrench the flag away and capture it. The Union victory that day would be the beginning of the end for the Army of Northern Virginia, which would surrender seven days later. Frank Emil Fesq would be honorably discharged on September 7, 1865 after participating in occupation duty, but not before he was awarded the Medal of Honor on May 10, 1865 for his brave heroics in capturing the rebel colors. He would go on to reside the rest of his life in New Jersey, establishing a long career as a hat maker. He died at the age of 80 on May 6, 1920 in Orange, New Jersey, and was buried in Rosedale Cemetery, Montclair, Essex County, New Jersey.

03/30/2024

SALEM CHURCH (Virginia) — After having driven by a few times before between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, I recently stopped here for the first time. It’s an incredible building (with visible battle damage) and location that is now surrounded by heavy traffic and a lot of development. Considering that, it’s fortunate that this property even remains protected.

Refugees fled here during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 and the structure and its surrounding ridge hosted the Battle of Salem Church (May 3-4, 1863) during the Chancellorsville Campaign. Southern doctors ended up treating wounded men from both sides in the church. The prominent monument seen here is to the 23rd New Jersey Infantry Regiment.

📸 Photo by Matthew Holzman

03/28/2024

The high command of the 21st New Jersey Volunteer Infantry at its muster. Colonel Gilliam Van Houten bottom left, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Mettler middle, Major Hiram Van Buskirk, bottom right. Top is Chief Surgeon Daniel McNeil on left and 1st Lieutenant and Regimental Adjutant Andrew Van Buskirk on right (Hiram and Andrew Van Buskirk being brothers) Mustered in on September 15, 1862 and mustered out on June 19, 1863, four of these five men would serve in their ranks unchanged in the nine months of their enlistment. Their commander, Colonel Van Houten, would not be so lucky. On May 4, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville the 21st NJ along with the rest of their brigade were on the Union left flank at Bank's Ford when they were attacked by Confederates under Major General Jubal Early. The engagement produced a hour and a half of severe fighting and the mortal wounding of Colonel Van Houten, who was taken prisoner and died on in Confederate captivity on May 6, 1863. He was eventually interred in the Van Houten Family Cemetery in Franklin Lakes, Bergen County, New Jersey.

03/27/2024

Born today in 1917 in Clarksburg, Virginia, Cyrus Roberts Vance is best known in the modern era for serving as the 57th United States Secretary of State from 1977 to 1980, filling most of the Carter Administration. He famously resigned his post protesting the botched secret mission to rescue the hostages in Iran. He earlier served as Secretary of the Army in both the JFK and LBJ Administrations. He was also the grandson of George Kenderdine Roberts (1840-1914), who served during the Civil War as a Sergeant in Company A, 1st New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry. Company A was made up mostly of Pennsylvanians who had first offered their services to their state, with the idea they would become Company A - the color company- of the first cavalry regiment from Pennsylvania. However, there was already a Company A of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, so the men crossed the river to New Jersey with their offer, which was accepted. George K. Roberts was mustered in as a Corporal on August 5, 1861, received a promotion to Sergeant on January 1, 1864, and was honorably mustered out on September 16, 1864 when his enlistment expired by law, having served in the unit's 1862 campaign in Virginia, the 1863 Chancellorsville and Gettysburg Campaigns, and in General Philip Sheridan's operations in conjunction with General US Grant's Overland Campaign in 1864. After the war he rose to prominence as a banker in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. His daughter, Amelia "Amy" Roberts, married John Carl Vance, in 1909, and Cyrus Vance was born eight years later. When he passed on October 24, 1914 George Kenderdine Roberts was interred in the Saint Thomas Episcopal Church Cemetery, Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

03/26/2024

Vintage postcard showing the Civil War Monument in Phillipsburg, Warren County, New Jersey.

Historical information about the monument from The Historical Marker Database.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=30506