N.J.’s unique role in Civil War on exhibit

Examiner ^ | December 4, 2003 | LORI ELKINS SOLOMON

[yonif]

During the Civil War, Old Bridge supplied the Union troops with salt hay to feed their horses.

The Mason Dixon Line — the symbolic border between the Union and the Confederacy — passed through New Jersey, geographically separating southern New Jersey from northern portions of the state.

The town of Kearney was named for Philip Kearney, a one-armed military general who led many successful battles against the Confederates before being killed in battle.

These and many other facts, some little-known, some not, are revealed in a new exhibit titled "Our Long Endurance: The Story of New Jersey in the Civil War."

Housed in the Cornelius Low House in Piscataway, this comprehensive collection of Civil War photos, documents and artifacts is a joint project of the Cornelius Low House-Middlesex County Museum and Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Funding was provided in part by the New Jersey Historical Commission, Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders and Middlesex County Cultural Heritage Commission.

The exhibit opened Nov. 16 and will be on display through December 2005.

According to Joanne DeAmicis Bulla, curator at the Cornelius Low House, New Jersey played a major role in the Civil War.

"We contributed officers and did a lot for the Union cause," she said.

But this allegiance to the North took some time to develop. The exhibit begins with the state’s early slave history. Although New Jersey passed gradual abolition acts in the 1800s, it was the only northern state to still have slaves at the start of the Civil War.

The Democratic Party, which supported slavery, was strong in New Jersey, unlike in other northern states where the Republican Party prevailed. Mixed feelings existed about the expansion of slavery and the differences between agricultural and manufacturing economies.

There were strong economic and cultural ties to the South, as many manufactured goods from Newark, Paterson and Trenton were shipped south, including clothing, leather items and agricultural tools. Also, some southerners attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and visited the resorts in Cape May. Many New Jerseyans were reluctant to lose these markets.

The turning point for New Jersey was the Confederate attack on South Carolina’s Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Fort Sumter was just one of a few southern military installations that were still under federal control — most others had been taken over by their respective states. In New Jersey, there was such a strong reaction to the attack that the Common Council of Newark unanimously passed the following resolution:

"Resolved. That it is the high duty of every citizen to ignore all past political issues and promptly and heartily to rally under the banner of the Stars and Stripes for the defense of the Union and the Constitution of our fathers against all enemies and opposers whatever."

One of the state’s major war contributions was as a principal supplier of agricultural goods. Wheat was processed into flour and baked into hardtack crackers for the soldiers to eat, and oats and straw were fed to cavalry horses.

In further recognition of New Jersey’s agricultural role in the war, in 1862, Rutgers University was designated a land grant college and established a scientific school, one of the earliest agricultural research centers.

New Jersey also supplied the troops with military goods. In fact, the Trenton Iron Works was a major supplier of iron and steel for artillery and rifles. These supplies were transported to Pennsylvania by the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which provided a vital link to Union troops stationed in the South.

Perhaps the most important resource was New Jersey’s people. Young men willingly enlisted. By the end of the war, 6,400 New Jerseyans lost their lives for the cause.

One illustrious New Jerseyan who participated in the war was Gen. Joseph Revere of Morristown. The grandson of Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere, the general assumed command of the 2nd New Jersey Brigade when his predecessor fell under enemy fire. He ordered an unauthorized retreat so that his troops could regroup, for which he was court-martialed and dismissed from service. Revere was eventually exonerated and given the honorary title of brevet major general.

Thomas Nast, of Morristown, a young war correspondent and illustrator for Harper’s Weekly, was deemed "our best recruiting sergeant" by President Abraham Lincoln. Displayed in the exhibit is one of Nast’s drawings depicting St. Nick bringing cheer to the Union troops. Nast is credited with developing our modern image of Santa Claus. His post-war cartoons promoted African-American rights and publicized political corruption such as the political machine of Boss Tweed in New York.

New Jersey’s women also played an important role in the war. Although women were not permitted to assume military positions, Dorothea Dix, already known as a proponent of mental health care in New Jersey (and nationwide), took on the responsibility of supervising female nurses during the war. Cornelia Hancock, a native New Jerseyan from Salem County, nursed Union soldiers, aided southern black refuges left homeless in Washington, D.C., and taught emancipated slaves in the South.

While racial prejudice prevented New Jersey from forming a black regiment, 2,872 blacks from the state fought in the war — first as members of the all-black 54th MA Infantry Regiment, and later as participants in the U.S. Colored Infantries. Although blacks only fought for the last 18 months of the war (after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation allowed them to enlist, serve as substitutes and be drafted), these soldiers accounted for 8 percent of New Jersey’s total fatalities — a percentage equal to their population in the state.

New Jersey continued to play an important role in post-war politics and culture. During the presidential election of 1864, the Democratic candidate running against Lincoln was George B. McClellan, a former general who had commanded the Grand Army of Potomac and settled in Orange after the war. While McClellan lost the presidential election, in 1878 he was elected governor. During his time in office, McClellan created a strong militia, eliminated state taxes and encouraged the growth of trade schools and local industry.

Decatur Dorsey, a former slave from the South who joined the Union side, settled in Hoboken. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery during the war.

And poet Walt Whitman, who served as a nurse at a Union hospital in Washington, D.C., settled in Camden after the war. There he wrote a series of Civil War poems entitled "Drum Taps," which later became part of his famous "Leaves of Grass."

For more information, call the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission at (732) 745-4489.

[Freemeorkillme]

"The Mason Dixon Line — the symbolic border between the Union and the Confederacy — passed through New Jersey, geographically separating southern New Jersey from northern portions of the state."

I thought that this wasn't the case. I remember looking into this statement a while back and most of the info I found indicated that the official end of the Mason-Dixon eastward ending at the boundary of Pennsy and NJ.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[LibertarianInExile]

It's worse--it doesn't even go INTO NJ.

Mason-Dixon Line, boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland (running between lat. 39°43'26.3''N and lat. 39°43'17.6''N), surveyed by the English astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon between 1763 and 1767. The ambiguous description of the boundaries in the Maryland and Pennsylvania charters led to a protracted disagreement between the proprietors of the two colonies; the dispute was submitted to the English court of chancery in 1735. A compromise between the Penn and Calvert families in 1760 resulted in the appointment of Mason and Dixon. By 1767 the surveyors had run their line 244 mi (393 km) W from the Delaware border, every fifth milestone bearing the Penn and Calvert arms. The survey was completed to the western limit of Maryland in 1773; in 1779 the line was extended to mark the southern boundary of Pennsylvania with Virginia (the present-day West Virginia). Before the Civil War the term “Mason-Dixon Line” popularly designated the boundary dividing the slave states from the free states, and it is still used to distinguish the South from the North.

[Sub-Driver]

an interesting read.........

http://freespace.virgin.net/john.cletheroe/usa_can/usa/mas_dix.htm

[Freemeorkillme]

So my cursory research seems in line with that presented so far.

Thanks for the interesting information.


FMOKM

[Xthe17th]

Before the Civil War the term “Mason-Dixon Line” popularly designated the boundary dividing the slave states from the free states, and it is still used to distinguish the South from the North.

OK, but how do you esplain the fact that Maryland was part of the Union? In that context, the Potomac river was the real Mason-Dixon line.

[Verginius Rufus]

New Jersey was the only free state to vote against Lincoln in both elections, 1860 and 1864. In 1860 Douglas (D) outpolled Lincoln (R) 63K-58K in the popular vote, but Lincoln received 4 of the 7 electoral votes to Douglas' 3. In 1864 McClellan outpolled Lincoln 68K-61K and received all 7 electoral votes. (The other states which Lincoln lost both times were slave states which did not secede--Delaware and Kentucky.)

[Coleus]

I don't know, I was always under the impression that the line did, in fact, go through southern NJ. It must have since I have a tendency to say Y'all

[Coleus]

So, what's the verdict?

[LibertarianInExile]

Pre-Civil War Era, then-Governor Hicks called a special session of the state legislature, which Secessionist forces had wanted him to do for months. The commander of Union forces in Maryland, Ben Butler, warned Governor Hicks that if any discussion of secession were to take place, Hicks would be arrested and the legislature forcibly dissolved. Hicks gave assurances nothing of the sort would occur, but he had the meeting moved from Annapolis to Frederick, far from the arm of Butler. Maryland held a secession convention and delegates voted secession down 53 to 13 (Local legend has it that the Pro UNION faction of the Maryland Government got the Southern Faction drunk the day of the vote so they would not vote for secession reasoning that Maryland did not have the constitutional authority to secede) On April 29 Maryland passed resolutions favorable to the Confederacy and opposing the war.

The complicated politics and fierce loyalties of the American Civil War were nowhere more evident than in Maryland. The state's eastern section and Chesapeake Bay society were closely tied to Virginia and the South, and its legislature's refusal to secede resulted in a sharply divided populace and the alienation of families and friends.

In fact, Maryland provided more generals for the Confederate States Army than she did for the United States Army and provided whole units for the South, units composed of men who risked imprisonment, loss of property, and even death to cross the Potomac and serve the Confederacy.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Maryland had almost equal numbers of slaves and free blacks, and the state was sharply divided in its sympathies to North and South. Four slave states -- Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky -- did not succeed from the Union. Missouri held a secession convention in February at Jefferson City, but did not vote for secession. Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri became buffer zones between the North and the South. All three of these states provided troops to the Confederacy.

(see http://home.att.net/~secondmdus/csunits.html for more info)