The 39th New Jersey Infantry Regiment was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

from the state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

that was raised to fight in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. It was one of three units to be raised after President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

called for five hundred thousand more men in July 1864 to finish off the Confederacy.

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

graduate and

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

officer Abram Calvin Wildrick was appointed

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and commander of the 39th New Jersey Infantry Regiment, and James H. Close, a veteran officer who served in the

2nd New Jersey Volunteer Infantry The 2nd New Jersey Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service Three months regiment The 2nd New Jersey Infantry Regiment was first organized at Trenton, New Jersey for three months service ...

, became the regiment's

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Because the unit was being organized late in the war, enlistees became hard to find. To attract more enrollees, bounties became higher than usual, yet by early October 1864, only five

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

had been organized. On October 4, those five companies left the state for the front. By October 21, the remainder of the regiment joined them, and the united unit had a total strength at about one thousand men. Through the next five months, the men of the 39th New Jersey experienced hard service in the trenches around

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

. However, it wasn't until April 2, 1865, when the men of the 39th New Jersey fought their first actual pitched battle. On that day, the Union Army enacted assaults on Confederate positions, which were designed to break the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

. At the onset of the Attack on Fort Mahone, the 39th New Jersey was charged with leading the assault and hacking through the enemy's defenses including the Cheval de frise. Four other veteran regiments from Vermont followed the charge but the 39th suffered heavy losses in the assault. At the end of the battle, the regiment suffered 17 killed and 74 wounded, a total of 91 casualties. The regiment was mustered out on June 17, 1865, with 819 men. On April 2, 1865, Colonel Wildrick received a

brevet rank In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( or ) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. ...

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the Regular Army for his leadership.

Regimental statistics

Killed or died of wounds
3 Officers
29 Enlisted men Wounded who recovered
1 Officer
60 Enlisted men Died of disease or accidents
-Officer
10 Enlisted

References

* Bilby, Joseph G. and Goble, William C., ''Remember You Are Jerseymen: A Military History of New Jersey's Troops in the Civil War''. Longstreet House, 1998. .

Regimental statistics

References

See also