Campaign of the Fourteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers

by J. Newton Terrill

On the afternoon of 17th, the column marched eight miles, very slowly, passing Sandy Hook and crossing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry on pontoons. For the first time our regiment trod the sacred soil of Virginia. Alas! how few returned of that noble band of Jersey boys, the bravest of the brave, that for the first time stood on that once sacred, but now polluted, ground. The ravages of war had laid the country waste, and destitution everywhere met the eye. An old dilapidated bridge crossed the Shenandoah, and the troops marched over in single file, moving around Louden Heights. The night being very dark and the march very slow, they halted in a field at 12 o'clock until morning. The next day was Sunday, but there was no rest—no such thing as Sunday in the army. The regiment was detailed as rear guard of ammunition train, marching eight miles, the sun being very warm, and the heat almost insufferable, encamping with the main body of the corps in a field near Keys Pass. The heat was so intense that neither army could march fast. The rebels were now but one day's march from us, we having taken a nearer route by way of Harper's Ferry, marching down the Louden Valley, the enemy marching down the Shenandoah.

The Summer campaign had thus far been an active one, and by the new troops was considered wonderful. The rebel army was still moving southward by slow marches, from eight to fifteen miles per day, the weather too hot to permit marching faster, the Potomac Army in pursuit. Lee, as wily and strategic as ever, refused to give battle, and, by a series of maneuvers, succeeded in eluding our grasp. The different corps marched by different routes, the cavalry frequently skirmishing with their rear guard. But five miles were made on the 19th, as the troops were waiting for supplies, passing through Snickersville, near Snicker's Gap, and encamping in a field. At midnight we were routed out for rations and a good supper issued. At four o'clock we were ordered to move, marching fourteen miles before breakfast, halting at noon for dinner. After resting an hour orders were given to move again, marching three miles to Upperville, encamping on the ground where Buford had a cavalry fight with the rebel leader, Stuart, the year previous. For several hours skirmishing was kept up until dark, when Buford ordered a charge. Stuart was driven from the field, retiring in the darkness of the night, leaving his dead and wounded in our hands. The troops remained at Upperville two days, the regiment being detailed for picket the ensuing night. It was now rumored that Grant, the hero of Vicksburg, was to take command of the army, Gen. Meade being too slow for the people North. Had they been in the Potomac army, they would not have been so eager to move, and march in the hot sun. Upperville is a small village near Manassas Gap. The people, as a general thing, are very ignorant, and gazed with wonder at us Yanks, as they called us. One remark, especially, was amusing to the men. As the regiment was passing an old house, being an advance guard, a little girl came running in, exclaiming, "Mother, mother, take in your clothes, here comes the Yanks!" This served as a bye-word for some time, the men often exclaiming, as they passed a house, "Take in your chimney, old man, its going to rain!" At four o'clock on the afternoon of the 22d, orders came to fall in, marching six miles to Piedmont station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. At the commencement of the war this road was destroyed by the rebels; ties were burned, rails bent, bridges demolished, and wrecks of cars lay strewed around in various places. The troops encamped on a hill until morning. Gen. Meade received information that Ewell's corps was holding Manassas Gap, until the main body of the rebel army had passed. Orders were given Gen. French to take the 3d corps and, if possible, drive them from their position. At daylight the next morning the corps started, with nothing to eat, as the rations had not arrived. It was deemed necessary to drive the rebels from the gap, and the men were compelled to go. The sun was very warm, and the troops, hungry and weary, plodded on, marching fourteen miles, halting for a rest at noon. At three o'clock the column advanced in line of battle, the cavalry returning, having engaged the enemy during the morning, but could do but little without infantry. Manassas Gap is a wild, romantic spot, and very hilly. The brigade was formed and maneuvered in line of battle; Berdan's sharpshooters were deployed as skirmishers and soon engaged the enemy on Whopping Heights. Orders were given the men to load and fix bayonets, some time being occupied in getting into position, marching up hill and down. It was now supposed by the men that a battle was to be fought. Our brigade was placed in position and ordered to charge the enemy. The skirmishing now became heavier, and the sharp crack of the sharpshooter's rifle could be distinguished from the rest. The men from the 14th now thought they were to see their first battle, and grasping their muskets with a steady nerve, moved forward. Fortunately we escaped for the time. Fearing a flank movement, the order for the 1st brigade to charge was countermanded, and they were sent to the extreme right of the line to protect the flank, through a dense wood of briars and filled with ditches. The firing on the left and centre now became heavier. Sickels' old brigade, now commanded by Gen. Spinola, was ordered to charge in place of the 1st brigade, which proved a success; two hundred prisoners and two guns were captured from the enemy. Gen. Spinola was wounded and retired from the field. Our loss in killed and wounded was but sixty men. Night was now approaching; the main body of the rebel army had passed; the firing ceased, and the enemy were retreating in haste. The weather suddenly changed, and the night was chilly and damp. The regiment encamped on the side of a hill, without blankets, and with nothing to eat; tired and weary, the men were soon asleep. At daylight the bugle aroused the men from their slumbers. No traces of the enemy could be seen; maneuvered up hill and down in line of battle during the morning, when the troops were ordered back to Piedmont; the remaining corps were encamped there awaiting supplies. During the march to Manassas Gap, the troops waded five streams, some of them waist deep, passing a village called Markham. The afternoon of the 26th the column moved back the same road, fourteen miles, to Piedmont, the weather intensely hot and the men falling out by the way. They were two days without anything to eat but green grapes and berries that grew by the roadside; this was the hardest march the men had had so far. Arriving at Piedmont, rations were issued of hard tack, coffee and pork, the men eating a good supply, and lying down until morning. Having received five days' rations, the troops moved again the next day twelve miles, passing near Salem; the weather, as usual, warm, and the roads dusty, the mud soon drying up. The column halted for the night, and the men, with weary limbs and blistered feet, lay on the ground to rest. The next day was Sunday, marched eleven miles to Warrenton; guarding ammunition train, remaining on the outskirts of the place in camp five days. Warrenton is a pretty village, three miles from Warrenton Junction, on the Alexandria, Richmond and Danville road. At the commencement of the war it was a thriving place, but since it has gone to decay.

One hundred young men, the sons of wealthy parents, enlisted in the rebel army; at the close of the war but eleven remained. Virginia is one vast graveyard; the bones of three hundred thousand heroes there repose; the merchant with the laborer, rich and poor, white and black. The leaden messenger of death heeded not, but speed on, wielded by the hands of men, once brothers, but now foes; engaged in cruel civil war, neither party disposed to yield.

At Warrenton, Colonel Truex, with three commissioned officers and five enlisted men, started for Jersey to raise recruits. The regiment was commanded by Lieut. Col. Hall during his absence. Having, as yet, received no tents or blankets, we lay in the hot sun until August 1st, when the troops were again ordered to move; marching on the wrong road, thereby marching eight miles out of the way; returned again, marching fifteen miles more, halting at Shut-eye Town, near Stoneman's Creek; no signs of the enemy, the regiment still guarding the ammunition train. This march was very severe, the men carrying five days' rations, muskets, equipments, and sixty rounds of ammunition. More than one half of the men fell out, some cursing the officers for leading them out of the way. Remained near Stoneman's Creek four days, brigade drill under Gen. Morris each day. Officers from different regiments were sent home to recruit, to prepare for the Fall campaign; more men were needed and the army again re-organized. The troops now halted on the banks of the Rappahannock, the 3rd corps at Fox's Ford, our brigade encamping at Rout Hill, five miles from Stoneman's Creek, near Bealton Station, picketing the Rappahannock; the rebel army near Culpepper. Camps were laid out, shelter tents and rubber blankets issued, the men needing them very much. Tents were placed on a line and raised from the ground, with poles cut from trees, and were inspected each Sunday morning by a staff officer from headquarters. The troops were lying once more in camp, drawing clothes and shoes. Muskets were cleaned up and inspected each afternoon; company drill one hour each morning. The drills were very arduous; brigade drill four hours each day, guard mounting and dress parade at night. Rout Hill was a very unhealthy place, a great many of the men taking sick, several of them dying. The 6th N.Y. Heavy Artillery were detached from brigade and sent to Washington, organized as provisional brigade and commanded by Col. Ketchum, who subsequently lost his life at Cedar Creek.

The brigade was now the largest in the corps; the 14th N. J. numbered 800 men, commanded by Col. Truex; the 10th Vermont 900 men, commanded by Col. Henry, and the 151st N. Y. 900 men, commanded by Lieut. Col. Bowen, in all 2,600 men, commanded by Brig. Gen. Morris. Details were made each morning for picket from the various regiments, and stationed along the Rappahannock. The camp now presented a healthy appearance, and a city sprung up as if by magic. Old barns and out-houses were taken down by the men, and comfortable Summer quarters were built, covered with shelters. Games of ball, pitching quoits, and other amusements were common. Sutlers arrived, the men were paid off, and marching for the time was forgotten.

The army was now rapidly filling up, recruits arriving each day. The mail and papers regularly arrived, and served to while away the dull hours of camp life. Nothing was as cheering to a soldier as a letter from his loving friends at home. As each mail arrived, the postmaster was surrounded by an eager crowd, anxious to hear from home. Those who were fortunate enough to get a letter were envied by their unlucky comrades. If the friends at home could have known the pleasure a letter would give us, they would not have delayed, but would have answered immediately upon reception.

The troops remained in camp on the banks of the Rappahannock five weeks, preparing for the Fall campaign. The 14th had now been in the army one year, and had not thus far engaged in conflict with the enemy; several times forming line of battle, every moment expecting to attack. For a time we were fortunate, but, before the term of our enlistment had expired, we were destined to see more marching and more fighting than any regiment from New Jersey. Since the battle of Gettysburgh, there had been no fighting of importance, and all were looking for a forward movement. The rebel army had again been recruited, and were lying quietly in camp near Culpepper, watching the movements of our forces, and awaiting our advance. When least expected, the advance was made, and the rebels surprised, as will be here-shown.

On the 7th of September, the corps was reviewed; an imposing spectacle. The divisions were drawn up in line of battle on an open plain, near army headquarters the troops in heavy marching order, with knapsacks packed and blankets rolled, marching and counter marching, and passing in review before Gen. Meade and staff, the officers seated on horseback. It was very tiresome to the men. After reviewing the troops, they marched back to their quarters, the officers to Gen. Meade's, where a collation was served, the wine passing freely around; the privates, that did the fighting, by their camp fires, eating hard-tack and salt pork, denied the comforts of life, far from home, on Southern soil, fighting for liberty and union.

During the afternoon of Sept 15, the Regiment being out on drill, were ordered immediately to camp, and to prepare to move. Tents were struck, knapsacks packed, and three days' rations issued. At five o'clock the column moved forward, leaving our camp where we had lain five weeks, and started towards the Rappahannock, marching five miles, halting at dark near a mill on the Rappahannock, the men supposing they were to remain until morning; but the troops were on the wrong road, the water at this place being too deep to wade. The men were ordered to fall in, and marched back across the fields, passing the old camp, and marching some ten miles farther, encamping for the night on a low marshy swamp, near Freeman's Ford, twelve miles from Bealton Station. The water at this ford is very shallow, the main road to Richmond crossing at this point, not deep enough for a bridge. The men were now well supplied with tents, blankets and knapsacks for the Winter. The days were very warm, but the nights were very cold, the dew falling heavily. Our loads were a burden; knapsacks packed, five days rations and sixty rounds of ammunition, the men calling themselves Uncle Sam's pack mules. At daylight the next morning, the order to move forward was given, the men not knowing where the enemy was stationed, nor in what force. The Rappahannock was waded waist deep, the boys cheering as they felt the cold water gradually rising till it was up to their waists, holding their muskets and ammunition up in their hands, to prevent them from getting wet; marching very fast, crossing Hazel river at Weldon's Ford, wading it still deeper than the Rappahannock. After marching all day, with heavy loads, the column halted at dark, having marched twenty miles. Tired and wet, the men were glad to rest, and threw themselves on the ground for sleep. The papers north were now filled with news, and were eagerly read by those at home who knew nothing of war: the Potomac army has moved and will soon be engaged in deadly strife with the enemy, and the war will soon be over. Such reports were daily published, and by the people were believed. It was thought by them that Lee was so badly whipped at Gettysburgh that he would not fight; but they were mistaken, the rebel army was recruited, re-organized, and as full of fight as ever, their leaders determined on independence or extermination. The forward movement had now commenced.

The next day the troops marched five miles in line of battle, in a dense wood. The equinoctial storm now came on, and the troops were ordered into camp near Culpepper, remaining there twenty-three days, watching the movements of the enemy strongly entrenched on the Rapidan. Pickets were thrown out and camp life again commenced. Why the halt, none of the men could tell, and for twenty-three days, drills, inspections and reviews were in regular succession. This suited the men better than marching, although tired of drilling. The 14th had not as yet lost any men by battle, but a great many by sickness and death. Of the 950 able-bodied men that had left New Jersey, 110 of them had died and were buried in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and a few in Virginia. Eight hundred and forty strong, the regiment occupied a large space of ground, encamping in five lines, two companies in one line, or, as was called, regimental divisions. The companies were in line as follows: A, F, D, I, C, H, E, K, G and B. A on the right was called the senior company, B on the left the second, and C centre or color company; the color guard was composed of one Sergeant and eight Corporals, whose duty it was to protect the flag.