A Few Words to My Comrades in Arms and Then I Am Done:
Fellow soldiers: For three years we battled for our country's rights and for our homes. We are widely separated; but with grateful memory of the past we live for the future. Our country is now at peace. If the call to arms should ever again resound throughout the land, may we ever be ready. Let not the thoughts of former days and past hardships deter us from again rushing to arms, for without a country we are as nothing. With proud hearts we think of the past, knowing and feeling that we have done our duty. We were welcomed home, and by the fireside relate tales of by-gone days; of days of pleasure and of pain; of those dark hours when our country was in danger, and when we answered the call TO ARMS. Prosperity now reigns. Our flag, the proud emblem of liberty, floats throughout the land from North to South, and we as a nation are happy and prosperous beneath its folds. The proud Eagle of America soars aloft on every ocean, and the star-spangled banner floats on every sea. Our nation has passed through a great deal in four years, and New Jersey has done her duty nobly. Thousands of her brave sons have given their lives for their country, and those that remain will read this book with interest. As these pages are perused by the members of the 14th, scenes that were long since forgotten will be fresh in memory. Soldiers, our work is done! These terrible days of war are over. Throughout the land soldiers' societies exist. Let every man that was a soldier join these societies, and do all in their power to help those widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers fill a soldier's grave, and ever remember that our flag, the stars and stripes, must wave o'er this Glorious Union now and forever. As a country we have no equal. Slavery forever abolished and our nation saved, with thanks to the Almighty for our safe return to our homes and families, to go no more to war.
Those men who in the hour of peril remained at home and did all in their power to help along the glorious cause, and by their actions showed that they respected a soldier, will be looked upon by the returned veterans as men; but those mean sneaking Copperheads that were forever denouncing the North and were in favor of the South, will be despised by us for their meanness. New Jersey is redeemed, and to-day a loyal Governor sits in his seat at Trenton, a soldier's friend. What we have passed through can be known only to us, and now happy at our homes are content. The South is subdued, and has learned a terrible lesson, that this Union can never be broken, and as a united nation will live forever. As a regiment, the 14th no longer exists, but the name of the 14th New Jersey from the old 6th corps, will never be forgotten, but ever be remembered with pride as a band of heroic men, that gave themselves for their country in its hour of peril. It is but natural that the people should turn with beaming eyes and grateful hearts to the heroic Union soldiers who have nobly periled their all in defence of their country. Forever shall the memory of our gallant dead be embalmed in the hearts of the living. On the banks of many southern rivers; under the spreading foliage of many a forest tree; on the hillsides and in the valleys of the South, are tens of thousands of those grassy mounds which mark the last resting places of the noble Union dead. In many a northern home the widow and the orphan, the brother and the sister, the bereaved father and disconsolate mother await the coming of that step that so often in the past had been the sweetest music to their ears. But they await in vain. Never more shall a mother's kiss be pressed upon his brow as he sleeps in his little cot in the humble chamber of the old homestead; but in the heart of a redeemed nation his memory shall live forever. Comrades, I am done! Our beloved country, healed of its wounds, to-day stands among other powers a free and independent nation forever. Liberty, that priceless gem, was purchased at a fearful cost. But those brave men who now live will ever, with proud step and beaming eye, exclaim with emotion, that with my help the country was saved. The star-spangled banner planted high upon the everlasting hills of truth and justice, shall wave to the breeze till time shall be no more; recognized by foreign powers as the head of all nations. In the annals of fame, our country lives forever!
Written by Sergeant J. Newton Terrill,
New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Commenced Sept. 1st, 1865; finished July 15th, 1866.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
Inconsistencies in capitalization and hyphenation have been retained from the original.
Inconsistencies in spelling have been retained from the original unless they are obvious typographical errors which have been corrected as follows:
Page 9: anp changed to and
Page 10: batallion changed to battalion
Page 14: extra word "the" removed
Monacacy changed to Monocacy
Page 18: west-tern changed to western
Page 20: obbing changed to robbing
Page 21: loosing changed to losing
cecesh changed to secesh
weer changed to were
Page 24: Patomac changed to Potomac
A changed to At
Page 25: bayanets changed to bayonets
Page 27: ffve changed to five
Page 28: onr changed to our
Page 34: eqally changed to equally
Page 35: ceaceless changed to ceaseless
Page 36: Manasses changed to Manassas
Page 47: af changed to of
Page 48: misdeameanor changed to misdemeanor
Page 50: maneuvre changed to maneuver
Page 54: sonth changed to south
Page 63: missing word "of" added
farward changed to forward
Torbett changed to Torbert
Page 66: superceded changed to superseded
Page 71: regi-iment changed to regiment
Page 73: date in original is unclear; it must be Saturday, July 19th, 1834.
Page 75: date in original shows July 9th; it possibly could be July 19th.
Page 76: advancrd changed to advanced
Tennery changed to Tennelly
sacrified changed to sacrificed
Page 79: Hark-tack changed to Hard-tack
Page 81: extra word "the" removed
neccessary changed to necessary
Page 82: Monacacy changed to Monocacy
Page 91: Charlottsville changed to Charlottesville
Page 94: infaladed changed to infiladed
Page 97: ther changed to their
Page 99: quartere changed to quarters
Page 100: Spotttylvania changed to Spottsylvania
Page 108: Waynsboro changed to Waynesboro
Page 122: sgirits changed to spirits
Page 124: remembred changed to remembered
Page 127: were changed to where
Page 132: river changed to rivers
foilage changed to foliage