The ones who made history
The 8th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was organized under the provisions of an
act of
Congress, approved July 22, 1861, and was fully organized, officered, and
equipped
by Sept. 14, at which time it was mustered into the service of the United
States,
for three years, at Camp Olden, Trenton. It left the state on Oct. 1, with 38
officers, 851 non-commissioned officers and privates, a total of 889. It was
formed
into a brigade with it's brother regiments, the 5th, 6th, and 7th New Jersey.
The 8th's first major engagement was at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th
1862.
A. St. John Chambre, Chaplain of the 8th NJ, wrote "The heaviest work of the
battle
of was by the New Jersey Brigade under its noble commander Patterson. And the
hardest fighting of the Brigade was done by the 8th New Jersey Regiment, which
occupied the left of the line, and met and turned back repeatedly the swelling
force
of the enemy that were thrown against it to turn its flank. Our killed and
wounded
number some 200".
By the time the regiment engages in the Battle of Chancellorsville a year later,
they
are down to only 242 men. On May 3rd 1863, the 8th again finds itself in
absolute
hell. They fight on the Plank Road at Chancellorsville in the thickest of the
fight.
The regiment took part in bravely recapturing some of the guns from Dimick's 1st
US
Artillery Battery H, but the 8th suffers heavy casualties along with most of the
3rd
Corps. They go into the battle with 242 men and and leave with only 108. There
are
now only 108 left, 12% of the proud 889 that left New Jersey less than two years
prior.
Only two months later the 8th finds itself in the Wheatfield at the Battle of
Gettysburg. They take the field with officially a little less than 170 men
(though
morning reports from June 30th show that 34 of these were "unarmed or
unequipped"
bringing their fighting strength to only 136). The 8th fights detached from the
majority of the brigade alongside the 115th Pennsylvania and faces the full
brunt of
an attack by the 8th and 9th Georgia. In just a short amount of time, they
suffers
41 casualties in the field. On July 14th the regiment can only field 45 men.
The 8th would fight out the rest of the war, and like many Army of the Potomac
units,
watch their ranks "grow" with the newly instated draft. But many of these men
desert
en route to their units. The 8th would fight in nearly every engagement through
1865
including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Sailors Creek,
and
of course, Appomattox. The 8th New Jersey was mustered out on July 17th, 1865.
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284 men died in the service of their country under the 8th's colors. Hundreds of
others would suffer long after the war's end from the wounds they received.
Today's 113th Regiment in the NJ Army National Guard directly traces their linage
back to the 8th NJ.