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Record Group:	Department of Defense
Subgroup:	Adjutant General's Office
Series:	Records relating to the New Jersey Monuments at Gettysburg Battlefield, 1885-1888
Accession #:	Unknown
Series #:	SDEA0011
Guide Date:	5/1992 (JK)
Volume:	0.25 c.f. [1 box]

Contents

Content Note

From 1885 to 1887, the state legislature enacted three laws appropriating monies for the erection of monuments to honor the New Jersey Civil War regiments which fought in the battle of Gettysburg. The first law, passed 20 April 1885 (P.L. 1885, c. 208), authorized the governor and comptroller to spend $2,500 to erect monuments at the battlefield to mark the positions of the New Jersey units. The second act, approved 27 April 1886 (P.L. 1886, c. 199), appropriated $3,000 for the Gettysburg Battlefield Monument Association, and an additional $6,000 for properly marking the positions of the regiments. The law also directed the governor to appoint a three-man commission (the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission of New Jersey) with the purpose of determining the style and number of monuments. The commission was also authorized to call on (and pay up to $300) one surviving officer from each regiment and battery engaged in the battle to accurately locate the lines and positions of the New Jersey men. The third and final act, passed 16 March 1887 (P.L. 1887, c. 14) further appropriated $9,450 for the completion of the project.

The dedication of the New Jersey monuments on the battlefield at Gettysburg took place on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the eve of the battle, Saturday, 30 June 1888. The ceremony consisted of an invocation by Rev. Alanson A. Haines, late chaplain of the 15th New Jersey Infantry Regiment, speeches by Pennsylvania Governor James A. Beaver and New Jersey Governor Robert S. Green, music, and brief addresses by surviving members of the several New Jersey commands engaged at Gettysburg. Members of the Locating, Erecting, and Inscribing Commission were Colonel James N. Duffy, Chairman of the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission of New Jersey, Honorable Gottfried Krueger, and Honorable William H. Corbin. The commission in charge of the dedication of the monuments included Governor Green, Adjutant General William S. Stryker, Honorable Edward J. Anderson (Comptroller of the Treasury), and the members of the Locating, Erecting, and Inscribing Commission.

The photographs listed below are keyed to the monument descriptions in the dedication program (Miscellaneous Item #5). The prints were originally contained in an album--apparently assembled by the Adjutant General's office--which was dismantled due to its deterioration. The individual photographs have been placed in numbered plastic sleeves

Contents

(click on image below for enlarged view)

Miscellaneous Items:
No.	Caption	Image
1.	Richard C. Drum, Adjutant General, U.S. Army, to William S. Stryker, Adjutant General of New Jersey, listing New Jersey regiments engaged at the Battle of Gettysburg, 6 July 1885.
2.	Gettysburg Battlefield Commission of New Jersey reports and request for proposals for monuments, etc., 1886-1887 [3 items].
3.	M. Jacobs, Notes on the Rebel Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania and the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1863, Gettysburg, PA, 1888.	click for complete document
4.	Richard C. Drum, Adjutant General, U.S. Army, to William S. Stryker, Adjutant General of New Jersey, re: strength of New Jersey units at the Battle of Gettysburg, 6 January 1888.
5.	Program: Dedication of the New Jersey Monuments on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, describing each monument and giving its inscription, 30 June 1888 [3 copies].
Photographs, ca. June 1888:
No.	Caption	Image
1.	Monument honoring the First Brigade, New Jersey Volunteers, commanded by Brigadier General Alfred T. A. Torbert. Known as "Kearny's New Jersey Brigade," the First Brigade fought with the Army of the Potomac from May 1861 to the end of the war at Appomattox Court House in 1865.
2.	Monument honoring Battery A, Parsons' Battery, mustered in on 12 August 1861 and mustered out on 22 June 1865, after engaging in thirty battles [2 photographs].
3.	Monument honoring Battery B, First New Jersey Artillery, mustered in on 3 September 1861 and Mustered out on 16 June 1865. Battery B, Clark's Battery, was engaged in twenty-six battles, including "all the important actions on the Peninsula, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Appomattox."
4.	Monument honoring the First New Jersey Cavalry, commanded by Major Myron H. Beaumont. The First Cavalry was organized in September 1861 and participated in ninety-seven engagements throughout the Civil War.
5.	Monument honoring the Fifth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel William J. Sewell. The Fifth Infantry was mustered in on 22 August 1861, was consolidated with the 7th Regiment on 6 November 1864, and was engaged in thirty-two battles.
6	Monument honoring the Sixth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Lt.-Colonel Stephen R. Gilkyson. The Sixth Infantry was mustered in on 19 August 1861, consolidated with the 8th Regiment, on 12 October 1864, and engaged in thirty battles
7.	Monument honoring the Seventh New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Francine. The Seventh Infantry was mustered in on 3 September 1861 and mustered out on 17 July 1865.
8.	Monument honoring the Eighth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel John Ramsay. The Eighth Infantry was mustered in on 14 September 1861 and mustered out on 17 July 1865, after engaging in thirty-eight battles.
9.	Monument honoring the 11th New Jersey Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Robert McAllister. The 11th Infantry was mustered in on 18 August 1862 and mustered out in July 1865, after engaging in twenty-nine battles.
10.	Monument honoring the 12th Regiment, erected by the survivors of the regiment and their friends in May 1886.
11.	Monument honoring the 13th New Jersey Volunteers, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. The 13th Regiment was mustered in 25 August 1862 and discharged on 8 June 1865, after engaging in the battles at Antietam in 1862, Gettysburg in 1863, and the sieges of Atlanta and Savannah in 1864.
12.	Portrait of Colonel George W. Smith of the 7th New Jersey Regiment [photograph taken in 1863; obituary on reverse]
13.	Monument of Major-General Philip Kearny
14.	Monument of Brigadier General Alfred T. A. Torbert.

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Created November 2004