Historical sketch of the Fifteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers: First Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps

In Short

This historical sketch traces the formation, service record, and heavy sacrifices of the Fifteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers from 1862 to 1865. Composed largely of educated, property-owning young men from rural northern New Jersey, the regiment joined the Army of the Potomac and participated in the Sixth Corps' most grueling engagements, from Fredericksburg and Gettysburg to the Wilderness and Appomattox. It has lasted as a meticulously detailed, sober primary record of volunteer soldiering, documenting both the tactical brilliance of determined infantry and the devastating human cost of prolonged warfare.

The Story

The regiment organizes at Flemington in August 1862, drawing volunteers from Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Morris, and Somerset counties. Comprising freeholders and young men of high moral character, it undergoes rigorous discipline under experienced officers before moving directly to the front. Following early fortification work around Washington and assignment to the veteran First Jersey Brigade, the regiment faces its baptism of fire at Fredericksburg in December 1862, serving in the advanced skirmish lines under heavy artillery. After enduring a dismal winter camp marked by severe typhoid outbreaks, the regiment fights through the Chancellorsville campaign, holding critical positions and covering retreats under fire.

Throughout 1863, the unit participates in the long pursuit following Gettysburg, engagement at Rappahannock Station, and the Mine Run movement. During the winter encampment at Brandy Station, the men maintain active religious and literary exercises through a regimental church organized with the chaplain. In May 1864, the regiment breaks camp for Grant's Overland Campaign, entering the ferocious fighting of the Wilderness. At Spottsylvania Court House, the Fifteenth executes a perilous and celebrated bayonet charge across an open field, and days later takes part in the brutal, close-quarters combat for the "bloody angle," suffering catastrophic losses that reduce its numbers to a fraction of their original strength.

Transferred north to defend Washington against Early's raid and subsequently joining Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign, the regiment plays crucial delaying and defensive roles at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. Despite exhaustion and constant attrition, it remains steadfast through minor skirmishes and major engagements alike. Returning to the main army before Petersburg, the regiment participates in the final assault and capture of the city, pursues retreating Confederate forces, and witnesses Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The narrative concludes with solemn casualty rolls and statistical recapitulations, recording the exact names of those who fell and preserving the stark ledger of sacrifice.

How It Unfolds

• The voyage begins — The regiment forms in New Jersey's hill country, bringing together educated young landowners who quickly receive strict military discipline.
• The baptism of fire — Moving rapidly to the front lines, the men face their first trial under artillery bombardment and skirmish duty at Fredericksburg.
• The winter trials — A grueling encampment at White Oak Church brings an outbreak of typhoid fever that tests the regiment's physical endurance.
• The Chancellorsville stand — The unit fights through heavy forest engagements at Salem Church, managing to recover and evacuate all its wounded under fire.
• The Brandy Station winter — Troops build a large log chapel, fostering a strong moral and religious community amidst demanding picket duties.
• The Wilderness and Spottsylvania — Entering the fierce 1864 campaign, the regiment executes a devastating bayonet charge and fights bitterly at the bloody angle.
• The Valley campaign — Under Sheridan, the unit helps stem Confederate advances at Winchester and pushes through decisive engagements at Fisher's Hill.
• The final march — After participating in the decisive breakthrough at Petersburg, the regiment shares in the final pursuit culminating at Appomattox.

The People

Edward Livingston Campbell, the author and commander, observes his men closely from organization to muster-out, striving to accurately document individual conduct and unit character without exaggeration. The enlisted men, drawn from rural New Jersey farms and communities, want to fulfill their patriotic duty with honor, but face the obstacles of disease, harsh weather, and overwhelming enemy fire. Chaplain Haines works tirelessly among the troops, tending to the wounded during fierce engagements and sustaining morale through religious services. Colonel Ryerson, Colonel H.W. Brown, Lieutenant Colonel Wiebecke, and various company captains such as Lewis Van Blarcom, James Walker, and C.C. Shimer lead daring assaults across fortified terrain, with many officers killed or severely wounded in action. Marshall B. Stull, a correspondent in the ranks, records frontline conditions and casualty lists amidst the chaos of battle. Ultimately, the surviving officers and men end up dispersed through promotions, transfers, or discharges, while hundreds rest permanently on the field of honor.

In Its Own Voice

"The long line of a full regiment did not waver in the least, though new to the field of battle, and saluted suddenly, for the first time, with the terrifying explosions of shells from guns of large calibre." This line describes the regiment's steady composure during its initial artillery exposure at Fredericksburg.

"With two armies looking on, it advanced across an open field; when within about three hundred yards of the front of the wood in which the enemy was posted, it fixed bayonets, and with a line of glittering steel as steady as on dress-parade, dashed up to the rebel position..." This passage captures the precision and terrifying peril of the assault at Spottsylvania.

"Two-thirds of the members of this little church, doubly militant, afterward fell in action, bravely battling for their country and their God." This sentence reflects the profound spiritual dedication and subsequent combat mortality among the regiment's religiously active volunteers.

What It's Really About

The book explores the organic development of military character through the aggregation of individual moral resolve, civic responsibility, and community ties. It examines the paradox of citizen-soldiers—men plucked from the untrammeled freedom of civil life who willingly subject themselves to absolute discipline for a higher cause. Beneath the tactical descriptions of marches and entrenchments lies an inquiry into the true price of preservation of the Union, demonstrating how local communities in northern New Jersey bore an immense, localized burden of grief. The text argues that the success of the Union army relied less on abstract military machinery than on the intelligent, tenacious patriotism of rooted men who understood what they were fighting to defend.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in American history, military logistics, or genealogical research will find this volume deeply rewarding for its uncompromising authenticity and granular detail. Reading it feels like walking alongside the column through suffocating mud, dense wilderness smoke, and freezing rain, supported by page after page of primary rosters that honor individual lives rather than anonymous statistics. It makes no attempt to entertain with modern narrative pacing or romanticized adventure; instead, it presents the raw, unvarnished chronicle of war as experienced by ordinary citizens. Modern readers must navigate the starkly clinical casualty lists and period military terminology, but the reward is an unmediated encounter with history. What stays with you long after closing the book is the sheer numerical weight of loss—the haunting ledger of young men from familiar towns who marched south and never returned.