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  HISTORICAL SKETCH

  OF THE

  FIFTEENTH REGIMENT

  NEW JERSEY VOLUNTEERS.


  FIRST BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, SIXTH CORPS.


  TRENTON, N.J.:
  WM. S. SHARP, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER.
  1880.




SKETCH.


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
