REGIMENTAL HISTORY
NEW JERSEY TWENTY-FOURTH INFANTRY
(Nine Months)
Twenty-fourth Infantry
Lieutenant Colonel Franklin L. Knight – Major Joel A. Fithian.
This regiment was mustered into the U. S. service at Camp Cadwalader, Beverly, Sept. 16, 1862. Four companies of the regiment, B, F, G and H, were from the county of Cumberland; three, A, C and K, from Salem; one, E, and parts of D and I, from Gloucester; and the remaining men of the two latter companies were from Camden. Of the members of Company B, about an equal number were enlisted from the city and townships of Millville and Maurice River. Of Company F the city of Bridgeton furnished about 30, the township of Greenwich 15, while the remainder, with the exception of 1 man from Deerfield, were equally divided between Hopewell and Doune. Of Company G, not less than 20 were from Bridgeton, 30 from Deerfield, 10 from Stoe Creek, and the rest hailed from Doune. Company H, officered exclusively by Bridgeton men, comprised about 75 from the city of Bridgeton, while the remainder were from Hopewell, Deerfield and Stoe Creek. In Companies A and C, there were a large number of men from the city of Salem, though the surrounding townships were nearly all represented in them, and also in Company K. Company E comprised men principally from Woodbury, Paulsboro, and the upper townships of Gloucester. Company D had men from Camden, Gloucester City, and Glassboro, and Company I, mainly from Clayton township, Gloucester county, and several of the townships of Camden county.
On September 28, the regiment was equipped with Belgian rifles and other necessary accouterments for service, and on Tuesday, the 30th, broke camp and departed for Washington, going by steamer to Philadelphia and thence by rail. It was brigaded with the 28th New Jersey and 128th Pennsylvania regiments, under the colonel of the former, acting Brigadier General Abercrombie having command of the division, which occupied the extreme right of the brigade on the Leesburg road. It was afterward permanently brigaded with the 4th and 8th Ohio, 14th Indiana, 7th Virginia, and 28th New Jersey regiments under the charge of Brigadier General Kimball, in French’s division, Couch’s corps. It participated in the fighting at Fredericksburg, and the loss of the regiment, which behaved admirably throughout, was severe, amounting in all to 160. Sergeant Henry S. Spaulding, Company B, afterward promoted to the Second Lieutenantcy of Company I, received a musket ball in his shoulder; Captain Aaron Ward, Company D, a ball through his left lung; Second Lieutenant George D. Brittain, Company D, and Captain Samuel Harris, Company F, were shocked by explosions of shells; Second Lieutenant William Pepper, Company F, was wounded in leg and head; Sergeant H. R. Pierson, Company G, afterward promoted to Second Lieutenant, Company F, was wounded in the side; Sergeant John Springer, Company B, afterward Second Lieutenant of Company B, was wounded in the hip; 2nd Lieutenant James J. Reeves, Company H, was wounded in the left arm above the elbow; and Captain William C. Shinn, Company I, was wounded in the right eye, the sight of which was lost.
The regiment also participated in the battle of Chancellorsville, where the loss in killed and wounded in the regiment was comparatively small, not exceeding 40 all told. The withdrawal of the army having been determined upon, the 24th, with the rest of the brigade, made its way back to the United States ford, where it crossed on the 6th and proceeded to its old camp, where it continued to do picket-duty until ordered to Washington. Proceeding thence in due time to Beverly, the regiment was mustered out and the men as they were paid off returned to their homes. The total strength of the regiment was 994, and it lost during service, by resignation 5, by discharge 108, by promotion 8, by transfer 1, by death 92, by desertion 8, not accounted for 1, mustered out, 771.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 3
Battles Fought
Fought on 13 December 1862 at Fredericksburg, VA.
Fought on 03 May 1863 at Chancellorsville, VA.
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