The 15th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was an American Civil War infantry regiment from New Jersey that served from September 1862 through 1865 in the Union Army.
The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.
Infantry is the branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot, distinguished from cavalry, artillery, and tank forces. Also known as foot soldiers, infantry traditionally relies on moving by foot between combats as well, but may also use mounts, military vehicles, or other transport. Infantry make up a large portion of all armed forces in most nations, and typically bear the largest brunt in warfare, as measured by casualties, deprivation, or physical and psychological stress.
A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country and the arm of service.
The Fifteenth Regiment was organized at Flemington, New Jersey, in July and August 1862. Three companies were recruited in Sussex County (D, I & K), two in Warren (B & H), two in Hunterdon (A & G), two in Morris (C & F) and one in Somerset (E), and all were composed of men of superior physical strength and capacities of endurance. The regiment was mustered into the United States services on the 25th of August and on the 27th left for Washington, numbering nine hundred and twenty-five officers and men, Colonel Samuel Fowler commanding. Reaching the Capital it encamped at Tennallytown, where it remained for about a month, engaged in drill and acquiring discipline for future service. While here, the men were also employed upon the defenses of Washington, slashing timber, making military roads, and throwing up earthworks - Fort Kearny being constructed entirely by their labor. [1]
Flemington is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,581, reflecting an increase of 381 (+9.1%) from the 4,200 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 153 (+3.8%) from the 4,047 counted in the 1990 Census. It is the county seat of Hunterdon County. Most of the borough is in the Amwell Valley, but northwest portions of the borough sit on the Hunterdon Plateau.
Sussex County is the northernmost county in the State of New Jersey. Its county seat is Newton. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2017 Census estimate, the county's population was 141,682, making it the 17th-most populous of the state's 21 counties, a 5.1% decrease from the 149,265 enumerated in the 2010 United States Census, in turn an increase of 5,099 (3.5%) over the 144,166 persons enumerated in the 2000 Census. Based on 2010 Census data, Vernon Township was the county's largest in both population and area, with a population of 23,943 and covering an area of 70.59 square miles (182.8 km2).
Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2017 Census estimate, the county's population was 106,798, making it the 19th-most populous of the state's 21 counties, representing a decrease of 1.7% from the 108,692 enumerated in the 2010 United States Census, in turn having increased by 6,255 (+6.1%) from 102,437 counted at the 2000 Census, Its county seat is Belvidere. It is part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and is generally considered the eastern border of the Lehigh Valley. It is considered part of the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area, and shares its eastern border with the New York City Metropolitan Area, with its northwestern section bordering The Poconos. The most populous place was Phillipsburg, with 14,950 residents at the time of the 2010 Census, while Hardwick Township, covered 37.92 square miles (98.2 km2), the largest total area of any municipality.
Personal Stories
Personal stories of individual officers or enlisted men should be added to this section in alphabetical order.
Kelsey, William (PVT)
William Kelsey was born in Newton, Sussex County, NJ in December 1844, and was orphaned at a young age. He was working as a farm hand in Lafayette Township when he enlisted as a drummer boy in Company D in July 1862. On July 16, 1863, at Wolf Run, Virginia, he was shot in the neck, and the wound was assumed to be fatal. His fellow soldiers dug his grave, but he survived, and was sent to Washington to recover. He was mustered out on May 30, 1865. He later moved to Brooklyn, NY, where he worked as a chemist (pharmacist), then to Sag Harbor, NY. He and his family eventually settled in Amagansett, NY, joining two fellow soldiers who were Amagansett natives: (Sgt) Lodowick H. King (Co. I) and Marcus Barnes Duvall (Co. E). King and Duvall had joined the 15th New Jersey along with Chaplain Alanson A. Haines, a New Jersey native who was a pastor in Amagansett at the start of the war. Kelsey died in Amagansett on December 6, 1916, and is buried in East End Cemetery.
Losey, Peter (PVT)
Peter Losey was an unmarried farmer in Stillwater Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, when he enlisted at Newton. He served in Company I from first muster on August 11, 1862, until his capture on May 4, 1864, during the Battle of the Wilderness. By July 16 he was at Andersonville where he remained until he was released to the Union with others who were too ill matter. That is, he was too far gone to recover. He was exchanged on November 30 at Savannah, Georgia, and taken to Annapolis where he died of chronic diarrhea on December 20, 1864. Private Peter Losey (no. 287) was buried at U. S. Cemetery Annapolis in 259 Ash Grove. [3]
Stillwater Township is a township located in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Kittatinny Valley, Stillwater is a rural farming community with a long history of dairy farming. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 4,099.
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, around 5,000 men killed in total, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.
The Andersonville National Historic Site, located near Andersonville, Georgia, preserves the former Camp Sumter, a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp during the final twelve months of the American Civil War. Most of the site lies in southwestern Macon County, adjacent to the east side of the town of Andersonville. As well as the former prison, the site contains the Andersonville National Cemetery and the National Prisoner of War Museum. The prison was made in February 1864 and served to April 1865.
George Childs Burling was a United States Union Army officer during the American Civil War, serving mostly as colonel and commander of the 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. Burling was born in Burlington County, New Jersey, raised on his father's farm and educated at a private school in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was a coal merchant and a militia officer before the war. Burling's militia company was mustered into the volunteer service for a three-month term in July 1861, but it became company F of the 6th New Jersey with a three-year enlistment on September 9, 1861. Burling became the regiment's major on March 19, 1862 and lieutenant colonel on May 7 of that year. Burling was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862.
The 6th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was regiment of infantry from New Jersey that served in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.
Richard Conner was an American Civil War Union Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his bravery in action.
The 23rd New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was an American Civil War infantry regiment from New Jersey that served a nine-month enlistment in the Union Army.
The 40th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment raised in the state of New Jersey during the American Civil War. It was the last such unit the state raised for the conflict.
The 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was also known as the "Montgomery Regiment," and the "Bloody Tenth". The 10th Ohio Infantry was predominantly recruited from Irish Americans, but had two companies consisting of German Americans.
The 15th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Cavalry was a volunteer cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 9th Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 5th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 7th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was an American Civil War infantry regiment from New Jersey that served a Three year enlistment in the Union Army. It was mustered into Federal service in September 3, 1861. The regiment trained at Camp Olden in Trenton, before being sent out to join the Army of the Potomac. In the spring of 1862, Company B was disbanded, and the enlisted men were assigned by transfer to different Companies in the Regiment. In June 14, 1862, an independent company, commanded by Captain Edward G. Sloat, then at Alexandria, Va., was assigned to the Regiment, and designated Company B.
The 123rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an Infantry Regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1863 and 1864 it was temporarily known as the Mounted Infantry, 123rd Regiment as part of Wilder's Lightning Brigade.
The 11th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was a regiment of infantry from New Jersey that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
The 125th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a volunteer regiment from Rensselaer County, New York, during the American Civil War. Formed during the summer of 1862, the unit was officially mustered into United States Service on 27–29 August 1862, by Col. George L. Willard. He had seen previous service in the War of the Rebellion and in the Mexican War as well. Levin Crandall was commissioned lieutenant colonel, and James C. Bush major. The unit was mustered out on 5 June 1865.
The Thirteenth Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment, also known as the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, Kane's Rifles, or simply the "Bucktails," was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a part of the famed Pennsylvania Reserve division in the Army of the Potomac for much of the early and middle parts of the war, and served in the Eastern Theater in a number of important battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg.
The 1st Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. On August 10, 1861, at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri, the regiment suffered 106 soldiers killed in action or mortally wounded, one of the highest numbers of fatalities suffered by any Union infantry regiment in a single engagement during the American Civil War.
John Wainwright was a United States military officer during the American Civil War. A native of Syracuse, New York, he was awarded his nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his "gallant and meritorious conduct" while serving in the Union Army as a first lieutenant with the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina on January 15, 1865.
The 37th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment or the Irish Rifles was formed accepted by the State on May 25, 1861, and organized in New York City. The regiment mustered in the service of the United States on June 6 and 7, 1861 for two years of service to June 22, 1863.
The 27th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was an American Civil War infantry regiment from New Jersey that served a nine-month enlistment in the Union Army. It was the only nine-month Regiment from New Jersey with an eleventh Company.
The 25th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was an American Civil War infantry regiment from New Jersey that served a nine-month enlistment in the Union Army.
