The Original 14th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers

The History of the 14th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers

New research as of November 11th, check below for roster improvements, burial information, and photograph.

The "Monocacy Regiment"
The 14th Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was recruited in the summer of 1862 in response to President Lincoln's call for 300,000 volunteers. Under the command of Colonel William S. Truex (pictured, left) the regiment was mustered into federal service for three years on August 26th. It trained at Camp Vredenburgh near Freehold, New Jersey on the grounds of the Monmouth battlefield of 1778. Its companies came mostly form central New Jersey and were a good mix in origin. Four companies were from urban Trenton and Elizabeth and six from rural Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex counties. The men of the 14th New Jersey proudly boasted to be neither draftees nor bounty men, but freely enlisted patriots.

The regiment played a major role in saving our nation's capitol, Washington, D.C. For its steadfast defense and fighting withdrawal in the face of numerically superior Confederate forces at the Battle of Monocacy near Frederick, Maryland, the regiment became known as the "Monocacy Regiment." It, along with other regiments of the 3rd Division, VI Corps, received the salute of Major General Philip Sheridan for exemplary conduct and fighting qualities at Cedar Creek, Virginia. During the war the total combat fatalities of the 14th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers ranks fourth among New Jersey Regiments. No one can say that the Jersey boys had not done their part.

Thirty-four months of continuous campaigning thinned the regiment's ranks from 950 to 230 men. A total of 1384 officers and men served in the 14th at various times, of whom 345 were either killed, wounded, or missing in action. Its bravery and casualties won the regiment the honor of being included in William Fox's list of "300 Fighting Regiments." During its service the 14th New Jersey covered over 1000 miles by rail, over 600 miles by ship, and over 2000 miles by foot.

The 14th fought in many major engagements including the Battle of Locust Grove, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Monocacy, Cedar Creek, Opequon, Petersburg, and Saylor's Creek. The regiment was also present at Lee's surrender at Appomatox Court House and participated in the Grand Army Review held on June 8, 1865 in Washington. The 14th was subsequently mustered out of the United States service on June 19th and returned to Trenton. In 1907 the deeds of the 14th were commemorated by the State of New Jersey with the erection of a large monument (pictured, below and right) on the Monocacy battlefield. The monument is located near the spot where the regiment fought so bravely on July 9, 1864.

We are always looking for original documents, photos or information on the 14th NJ. In particular letters, quartermaster reports, and photographs. It is out intention to not only accurately portray them on the field but also have online large database available to the public. This would include as we have started, the original roster and casualty figures. Hopefully we can update the site with Quartermaster reports and returns, so we see what exactly they wore and from where they got it. Paymaster vouchers and Ordnance reports too! And finally we intend to provide a listing of the known burial sites for ancestors and historians to refer too.

Charles A. Haggerty (left) In pencil it says 15 or 16
years old. He had just turned 15 on march 18
of 1862. Enlisted in August, Company E as a drummer.

View the Roster of the Original 14th Regiment NJ Vols.

Missing Roster Addition of Company K. In Excel

View Casualty Figures for the 14th NJ During the War

Known Burial Locations- All Companies

A Letter Home...

The following is a letter written by Major Peter Vredenburgh (left) of the 14th New Jersey. Just over four months later the Vredenburgh family would receive another letter, this time informing them that their beloved son had been killed in action at Opequon Creek, near Winchester, VA.

Hd. Qrs. 3 Div. 6 A.C. On the North Bank of the Nye or Po River about 3 miles Northeast of Spottsylvania C.H. May 15, 1864 10:00 A.M. My Dear Father, I have had no opportunity of writing to you since the day we started till now, and I am not certain that this will reach you in several days. we started at 4 A.M. May 4th crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford in the afternoon and bivouacked on the South Bank. The next day our whole army was engaged terrifically with Lee's army and at night our right was turned and our men were forced back a couple of miles, i.e., the 6th Corps--and I know that our side lossed about 15,000. Our own Corps lost 9000 men. Our 2nd. Brigade lost 1500 men the first two days and General and staff officers without number. On the night of the 7th the army started at 9 P.M. and west to Chancellorsville thence to Aldrich thence short after right towards Spotsylvania C.H. We have been under fire every day till yesterday and I personally see who had narrow escapes every hour. Poor Sedgwick (6th Corps Commander) was shot in the face close by me. We had a terrible engagement on the 11th. The rebels were on our side of the breastworks and our men on the open ground. The Rebels then charged and drove our forces back and then we fought all that day and all the next night till daylight when the rebs withdrew. The firing was incessant and hundreds of officers many of whom I knew were killed on our side. The next morning the entrenchments presented a most sickening sight, men were piled up on one another like sacks of grain at a depot--in every position, upside down, and here and there men with dead men on top of them would raise 2 arms only or turn their bodies showing they were still alive. It would be too much to give you matters in detail and it's about as embarrassing to have too much to say or not enough. All I can say is that we have lived in the most intense state of excitement for so long that now if we were certain the enemy would charge on us in five minutes I would go on to finish this letter without giving them a second thought. I think we are doing well on the whole and that we will eventually be successful if we keep on (as Abe says) "pegging away at them." Truex commands the 1st Brigade and though it has been under fire nearly all the time, has not been engaged. Now but 25,000 men, it is fearful to see how reduced the ranks are. I think from appearances that we still have heavy fighting as Lee is even now massing on our right and we are ordered to be in readiness to move at a moment's notice. With hopes for my safety and your health and love to all. Your Affectionate Son, Peter

Their finest Hour...

The Battle of Monocacy, July 9,1864

It was just about dawn, July 9, 1864. It promised to be another hot one, somewhere in the 90's. The 14th New Jersey was drawn up on a hill by the old campground they had occupied back in '62. Many of the men were asleep. Those who were awake ,boiling morning coffee and crumbling hardtack into it, looked down over the fields that sloped away to the south and west with an uneasy feeling. They knew there was trouble coming from that direction.

General Lew Wallace (left) in overall command, rode the perimeter of this defense with General Ricketts. As they rode past the 1st Brigade, the men could hear their division commander saying "...and this is the 14th New Jersey." The total number of Union troops gathered at Frederick, Maryland was just over 6000. Various units of the 8th Corps, and the 14th's division (3rd) of the 6th Corps. Their mission: to buy time for reinforcements to reach the capitol from Petersburg.

General Wallace felt that his best position was to defend the Monocacy crossings just to the east of Frederick. The 14th was posted near the eastern end of the railroad bridge they had guarded over a year earlier. Arrayed against them along the Monocacy River, were over 14,000 Confederates under Major General Jubal Early. It was a desperate situation for the 14th and its comrades, all the more so because the safety of Washington was at stake. Somebody had to slow down the Rebels. By noon the Confederate troops had cleared Union skirmishers from the Frederick side of the river and were beginning to cross in force south of the 14th's position. The 14th and its brigade were shifted to the left to meet this threat.

In the lines of the 14th New Jersey, men adjusted their cartridge boxes to comfortable positions and engaged in the little rituals common before impending combat. At about 4 p.m. the Jersey boys could hear the high-pitched yells of the Rebels as seven Georgia regiments veered toward them. They had expected to see them coming bent over, spread out, running and shouting; not like this, in lines right out of the tactics manual. As the 10th Vermont moved from its reserve position over to the left, bending back the end of the line in a "refused" formation, the 14th New Jersey and the 87th Pennsylvania opened fire at a distance of 125 yards. The withering fire decimated the Georgia brigade and the attack ground to a halt. After a tremendous fire fight the Georgians came again, rolling forward with a maelstrom of lead preceding them.

The Union regiments were now attempting to disengage, making a fighting withdrawal, taking as many wounded with them as possible. It was clear they could not delay the Rebel onslaught any longer. The 14th was backpedaling now, but it was a retreat not a rout. At around 5 p.m. a relative silence set in and the Battle of Monocacy was over.

General Early had been delayed a full day on his march to Washington, just long enough for Union reinforcements to reach the capitol's defenses ahead of the Rebels and turn them back to Virginia at Fort Stevens on July 11.

Losses in the 14th were terrible. Of the 485 officers and men carried on the morning report, from Colonel Truex down to the youngest drummer, about 350 were present for the battle. Of these, 140 were either killed, wounded, or were missing in action. Every officer was killed or wounded except Captain Janeway of Company K. In just a few months, he would take command of the 14th.

In all the 14th lost more killed and wounded than any other infantry unit present that day from the Army of the Potomac. From now until the end of the war, the 14th would never fight in another losing battle.

Letters Home from Another 14th NJ Soldier

Henry Clay Havens, 1st Sgt. Co. F 14th NJ

For More Information on the Original 14th New Jersey...

A selected bibliography

Bilby, Joseph, and Martin, David G., ed., The Monocacy Regiment, Hightstown, NJ: Longstreet House, 1987. Detailed first person history of the 14th regiment written by an original member after the war. Many good photos, statistics, and biographical information. An excellent resource.

Bilby, Joseph, and Goble, William C., Remember You are Jerseymen, Hightstown, NJ: Longstreet House, 1998. Excellent capsule histories of all New Jersey Civil War units.

Cooling, Benjamin Franklin, Jubal Early's Raid on Washington, 1864. Baltimore: Nautical Aviation Co. of America, Inc., 1990. History of the battle of Monocacy.

Lewis, Thomas H., The Shenandoah in Flames. Alexandria: Time Life Books, 1987. Excellent, well illustrated, essay on Sheridan's 1864 Shenandoah campaign.

Olson, Bernard, Upon the Tented Field. Red Bank, NJ: Historic Projects, 1993. Excellent first person chronological account of the experiences of the 14th NJ regiment, relayed through the letters of six original members. A must read for anyone interested in the 14th New Jersey.
Sgt. William Ingrahm, (above)

Co. H, enlisted 5th August 1862, age 24