Regimental History
NEW JERSEY
SIXTH INFANTRY
(Three Years)

Sixth Infantry.
Colonels: James T. Hatfield, Gershom Mott, George C. Burling
Lieut.-Colonels: Simpson R. Stroud, John P. Van Leer, Stephen R. Gilkyson
Majors: Theodore W. Baker, John Willian

 This regiment was organized under the provisions of an act of Congress, approved July 22, 1861, and was fully organized, equipped and officered by Aug. 19, at which time it was mustered into the U. S. service at Camp Olden, Trenton, for
three years. It left the state on Sept. 10, with 38 officers, 860 non-commissioned officers and privates, a total of 898. 

Upon arrival at Washington the regiment went into camp at Meridian hill, and remained there until the early part of December, at which time it was ordered to report to Gen. Hooker, near Budd's ferry, Md., where it was brigaded with the 5th, 7th and 8th N. J., composing what was generally known as the 2nd New Jersey brigade, the 3d brigade, Hooker's division. 

At the battle of Williamsburg, Va., the brigade was sent into the left of a road and occupied a wood in front of a line of field-works. Among the killed was Lieutenant Colonel John P. Van Leer, and among the wounded were a large number of officers.

At the battle of Fair Oaks the 5th and 6th moved forward under Col. Starr, cutting their way through a mass of panic-stricken fugitives, the loss of the 6th being 7 killed and 14 wounded. The next morning the two regiments advanced and occupied the ground recovered from the enemy, where they remained until June
25, being almost constantly on duty at the front. In the combat at Savage Station, the New Jersey brigade was not directly engaged, but the 6th regiment had 2 men wounded by shells. At Bristoe Station Colonel Mott was badly wounded in the 
forearm, and in the series of engagements, ending at Chantilly on Sept. 1, 1862, the regiment suffered a total loss of 104 men. 

Going into camp at Alexandria, the brigade remained undisturbed until Nov. 1 when, Lee having been driven from Maryland, it proceeded towards Bristoe Station, where it arrived on the 4th, the 5th and 6th regiments being in advance.

For the Chancellorsville affair in the spring of 1863, the New Jersey brigade, which at that time included the 2nd New York and 115th Pennsylvania regiments, as well as the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th N. J., all under command of Gen. Mott, crossed the Rappahannock on Friday, May 1. The losses of the 6th during the engagement
amounted to 6 killed, 59 wounded and 8 missing, Colonel Burling being among the wounded. 

At the time of the battle of Gettysburg the 115th Pennsylvania and 2nd New Hampshire regiments were attached to the brigade, which was under the command of Colonel Burling, General Mott not having recovered from his wound received at
Chancellorsville. 

At the battle of the Wilderness, at 5 o'clock in the morning of the second day, six regiments of the brigade advanced, the 5th, 6th and 11th N. J. being placed
under Col. Sewell. In the assault at Spotsylvania the brigade was in the front line, the 6th acting as skirmishers. The total losses of the regiment during the months of May and June, 1864, amounted to 16 killed, 99 wounded, 8 missing. 

In August and September 1864, a large number of recruits were forwarded to
the regiment, and with those who had reenlisted and those whose term of service had not expired, were assigned to what was known as Cos. A, B and C, 6th battalion, until Oct. 12, 1864, at which time they were transferred to and consolidated with
the 8th regiment. By reason of such transfer the 6th Regiment as an organization ceased to exist. The total strength of the regiment was 1,485, and it lost, by resignation 26, by discharge 364, by promotion 53, by transfer 314, by death 180,
by desertion 209, by dismissal 3, not accounted for 157, and 179 were mustered out at the end of the regiment's term of service.

The following is derived from
George Reeser Prowell's
History of Camden County, N.J.
published in 1886

THE SECOND BRIGADE—Camden County was also strongly represented in the Second New Jersey Brigade of three years' troops, which was composed of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Regiments. Companies D, E, G, I and K, of the Sixth, were raised in Camden County, and the regiment was mustered into the United States service at Camp Olden, Trenton, August 19, 1861. The Sixth left the State on September 10th, with thirty-eight commissioned officers and eight hundred and sixty non-commissioned officers and privates.   At Washington it went into camp at Meridian Hill, and in December the four regiments reported to General Hooker, at Budd's Ferry, Maryland, when they were brigaded as the Third Brigade, Hooker's division; afterwards as the Third Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps; then as the First Brigade, Fourth Division, Second Corps; and lastly as the Third Brigade, Third Division, Second Corps.

At. Williamsburg, Virginia, May 5, 1862, it was in the thickest of the battle, losing over five hundred men, among whom was Lieutenant Colonel John P. Van Leer, of the Sixth, a citizen of Camden, and thirty-eight killed and seventy-eight wounded, of the same regiment. On June 1st, at Turner's Farm, General Hooker placed himself at the head of the Fifth and Sixth Regiments and "charged straight into and through the woods, breaking the rebel lines and driving the enemy in great confusion for a consider­able distance, recovering all the ground lost by Casey's division and ending the fight for the day on that part of the line."

The other battles of the Peninsular Campaign in which the Sixth took part were Fair Oaks, June 25th; Glendale, June 30th; and Malvern Hill, July 1st and August 20^th. In this campaign the Second New Jersey Brigade had six hundred and thirty-four officers and men killed and wounded out of its total strength of twenty-seven hundred, From the swamps it was moved to reinforce Pope, and bore the brunt of the engagement at Bristow Station, on July 27th, and was an active participant in the fighting of the four, succeeding days at Bull Run and Chantillv, In this series of disastrous battles that eclipsed Pope's military fame its ranks were depleted to the extent of two hundred and forty-eight killed, wounded and missing, the Sixth's share being one hundred and four, or more than double that of any other of the four regiments. The report of Lieutenant Colonel George C. Burling, commanding the Sixth, says,— 

"Wednesday morning, August 27th, marched in the direction of Manassas, and when near Bristoe's Station found the enemy in force. In a short time we met the pickets and drove them in. We were then ordered to take an advanced position on a hill to the right in front of us, which we gained without loss under a terrible fire of shell from the enemy. We were then ordered to relieve the Second New York, Eighth New Jersey and One Hundred and Fifteenth Pennsylvania Regiments, who were engaged on the right. Immediately on reaching our new position, the enemy fled in great confusion, leaving their dead and wounded in great numbers on the field. We pursued them for two miles and encamped for the night. August 28th, pursued the enemy through the day and encamped near Blackburn's Ford that night.

"August 29th, left camp at three o'clock, A. M. pursuing the enemy through Centreville, down the Warrington Road.  Crossing Bull Run at ten A.M., we formed a line of battle and advanced, in the woods, to relieve one of General Sigel's regiments, where we found the enemy in force behind the embankment of an old railroad. After delivering and receiving several volleys, we charged and drove them from their position, when they received reinforcements, and were compelled to fall back nearly fifty yards, which position we held until we were relieved by the Second Maryland Regiment. During this engagement Colonel G. Mott and Major S. E. Gilkyson, while gallantly encouraging their men, were wounded.

"August 30th, formed a line of battle about four o'clock, P.M., and were ordered to support batteries to the right and rear of the position we had held the day before. Through some misunderstanding, my regiment being on the right, the other regiments composing the brigade were withdrawn without my knowledge, leaving me in a very critical position. The enemy making a charge upon the batteries in front, compelling them to fall back, I determined to resist their advance when to my astonishment I found we were flanked right and left; I then ordered the regiment to fall back in the woods, which was done in order, and thus checked the advance of the enemy in front. At this time, finding the flanks of the enemy rapidly closing round us, the only safety for my command was to retreat. In trying to extricate ourselves from the critical position in which we were placed my command suffered severely. I was enabled to rally my regiment on a hill in close proximity to the battlefield, under the shell of the enemy, where we remained in line of battle until ordered by the ranking officer to fall back to Centreville, where we joined the brigade the following morning.

Captains T. W. Baker and T. C. Moore are alluded to as displaying especial gallantry.

At Chancellorsville, on May 3, 1863, General Mott having been wounded, General William J. Sewell  took command of the brigade and distinguished himself by taking it into a charge which a correspondent of the Washington Chronicle described as "one of those splendid achievements seldom occurring in this war so far, but which, when occurring, cover a soldier's career with imperishable glory." The brigade's loss in this engagement was three hundred and seventy-eight, six killed and fifty-nine wounded being credited to the Sixth.

Colonel Burling was commander of this brigade at Gettysburg, where it did noble service on the afternoon of July 2. He sent the Sixth into the Devil's Den, where it lost one man killed and thirty-two wounded.

The next engagement for the Sixth after Gettysburg was the skirmish at McLean's Ford, on Bull Run, October 15th. On May 6, 1864, in the Wilderness, and on the 10th and 12th, around Spotsylvania Courthouse, it was in the most perilous positions of those hard-fought fields, and behaved with much gallantry in the charge on the salient held by Ewell's Confederates, in which three thousand prisoners and thirty guns were taken. Adjutant C. F. Moore and Lieutenant Note brought off one of these guns with a squad of the Sixth and turned it upon the enemy. Seven hundred men, killed and wounded, were subtracted from the brigade on that terrible 12th of May.

Between June 3d and 21st the Sixth participated in the fighting on the north bank of the James River, and the attacks on Petersburg. Its losses in May and June were sixteen killed, ninety-nine wounded and eight missing. Its final engagement was near Deep Bottom, James River, August 14th to 18th, when, its three years of service having expired, it was ordered to report at Trenton, and was mustered out September 7^th, 1864.  

Company K, 6th New Jersey Volunteers

This Company was mustered in August 29, 1861,
and mustered out with the 6th Regiment on September 7, 1864
unless otherwise stated.

The Notes in Italics were made by Captain Timothy C. Moore, who signed off on the Company Roster at some point after October 12, 1862 and his resignation on January 14, 1863. The roster was provided to this website by Michael McCracken.

CAPTAINS

Timothy C. Moore

September 9, 1861

Resigned January 14, 1863 

Thomas M. K. Lee

March 2, 1863

FIRST LIEUTENANT

Thomas Goodman

September 9, 1861

Detached to the 
4th Artillery Regiment.

Benjamin D. Coley

January 2, 1863

Promoted to Captain
Co. I, 6th N.J. Regiment
September 24, 1863

SECOND LIEUTENANT

J. T. Note

March 2, 1863

Promoted to First Lieutenant
Co. I, 6th N.J. Regiment
June 9, 1863

FIRST SERGEANTS

Edward Corcoran

Taken Prisoner at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Discharged June 8, 1863

George W. Jobes

Transferred to 
Co. B, 8th N.J. Regiment

SERGEANTS

Samuel H. Elder

Absent due to Illness
Taken to Baltimore Hospital
Discharged November 24, 1862

James White

Discharged January 28, 1863

William McCormick

Discharged March 23, 1863

George W. Hall

Enlisted as a Private,
Promoted to Corporal
Promoted to Sergeant
Transferred to 
Co. F, 8th N.J. Regiment

Isaac T. Garton

Enlisted as a Private,
Promoted to Corporal
Promoted to Sergeant
Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

William T. Goodman

Taken Prisoner at Bull Run
August 30, 1862

CORPORALS

James Flynn

Christopher Dowling

Wounded at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862
Discharged September 7, 1862 

Hugh Diamond

Discharged August 29, 1864

Charles P. Tuttle

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

John McKenna

Discharged December 27, 1862

Thomas McKibben

August 13, 1862 

Enlisted as a Private on August 13, 1862
Promoted to Full Corporal on
January 15, 1863
Remained in Army after 6th New Jersey mustered out.
Transferred to Company K, 6th Infantry Regiment New Jersey on April 1, 1865
Discharged on 29 June 1865

Benjamin F. Reeves

September 17, 1861

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Taken Prisoner at Bull Run
August 30, 1862
Hospitalized at Annapolis MD
Killed July 2, 1863

James Derken

Absent due ti Illness in Camden

MUSICIANS

Frederick Busser

Thomas Marshall

Discharged March 11, 1862

Henry Bender, Jr.*

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

WAGONER

David Creevy

Discharged February 8, 1863

PRIVATES

James Baker

October 3, 1861 

Deserted October 12, 1862

John Barnes

William Bayne

Absent due to illness
Discharged October 13, 1862

William Bisbing

Taken Prisoner at Bull Run
August 30, 1862

Jesse H. Berry

Died of Wounds
June 1, 1863

J. G. Bowers

May 1, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Lewis R. L. Blizzard 

Discharged June 9, 1862

Peter Bride

October 9, 1861

Discharged May 22, 1862

Edward Budding

Discharged June 9, 1862
at Budds Ferry Hospital

Charles Braceland

Benjamin F. Christy

Joseph Cheeseman

Discharged April 27,1863

Albert G. Dark

May 21, 1964

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Henry Conerty

James Coleman

Taken Prisoner at Bull Run
August 30, 1862
Discharged June 19, 1863

John S. Copeland

Died 
September 18, 1861

Michael Corcoran

Wounded at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862
Discharged September 7, 1862

Jacob Cowan

Transferred to 
Co. D, 6th N.J. Regiment

J. J. Daniels

May 20, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Cornelius Dowling

Discharged July 14, 1862

Patrick Earley

Discharged February 28, 1863

Thomas Egan

Discharged April 18, 1863

James Finnegan

Discharged September 1, 1864

John Fogger

Deserted August 7, 1862

John Gagger

Killed at Bull Run
August 29, 1862

James Gannon

Charles P. Gannon

Deserted August 27, 1862
Transferred to 
Co. D., 6th N.J. Regiment

Francis A. Gaskill

Wounded at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862
Discharged May 3, 1864

Samuel Gilbert

August 19, 1862

Discharged March 25, 1863

Lewis H. Giles

Discharged May 21, 1862

Martin Haley

William Hampton

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862

Henry Harley

October 3, 1861

Joseph W. Henderson

Absent due to illness
at David Island NJ
Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

William H. H. Hilyard

Absent due to illness
Discharged February 7,1863

James R. Husted 

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Discharged January 16, 1863

Edward Hutchinson

Wounded at Fair Oaks
June 1, 1862
Discharged October 21, 1862

H. C. Izard

May 16, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

W. H. Janes

January 29, 1862

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

E. H. Johnson

August 19, 1862

Discharged January 7, 1863

Elias P. Jones

Killed June 18, 1864

William F. Joslin

Discharged October 17, 1862

John Lane

Wounded at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862

James M. Lane

Absent due to illness
Discharged February 2, 1863

Dennis Laughlin

Absent due to illness
Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

William H. Lawrence

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

John Leo

October 9, 1861

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Discharged  
December 31, 1862 

Thomas Lippincott

Discharged 
May 14, 1862.

Thomas M. Long

Discharged 
July 21, 1863

George A. Lovett

Discharged 
September 17, 1862

W. G. Leake

Wounded at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862
Died of Wounds
May 20, 1862

Joseph C. Lore

Wounded at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862
Died of Wounds
May 21, 1862

Martin Marshall

Killed at Bull Run
August 29, 1862

Patrick Maguire

Discharged 
October 7, 1862.

Robert McAdoo 

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Discharged 
December 25, 1862

Thomas McDonald 

Discharged 
December 9, 1861

James McCormick

Killed May 5,1862 
at Williamsburg VA

Neil McElhone

March 13, 1862

Wounded at Fair Oaks
June 1, 1862
Died of Wounds
June 4, 1862

Robert McGourley

Deserted August 27, 1862

Michael McLaughlin

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Died of Wounds
September 14, 1862

Michael McGrory

Peter McGeary

Discharged August 29, 1861

James McNulty

Discharged September 26, 1862

W. Miller

May 21, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Abijah Mitchell

Deserted October 10, 1862

Joseph. Mox

May 23, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

William Mullen

Absent due to illness
Discharged August 18, 1862

Robert Munday

Transferred to 
Co. B., 6th N.J. Regiment

Michael O'Neil*

Constantine O'Neil 

Discharged 
October 18, 62

F. O'neil

February 7, 1862 

Died February 25, 1862

Fritz Olsun 

May 20, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

J. Penn

May 21, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Jeremiah C. Price
(Enlisted as Corporal)

Wounded August 29, 1862
Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

William Proud, Jr.

Killed June 1, 1862
at Fair Oaks

Nathan Rambo

Discharged 
January 16, 1863
at Budd's Ferry Hospital

William H. Randolph

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Manliff W. Reynolds

September 17, 1861

Discharged
December 9, 1861

William V. Robinson

May 23, 1864

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Treated at US Hospital
Chester PA
Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

A. Schaider

May 23, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Johns. Sibbett

Discharged 
July 24,1862

William Snape

Detached to Bramhall's Battery
Discharged
September 7, 1864

G. J. Stewart 

May 21, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

John Scott

May 26, 1864

Mahlon Smith

Wounded at at Fair Oaks
June 1, 1862

John A. Smith

Died November 30, 1863

William Streeper

Absent due to illness 
At York PA Hospital
Discharged 
October 17, 1862

Levi Swan

Died October 10, 1862

Henry H. Stiles

September 18, 1861

Absent due to illness
at Bridgeton NJ

Mathew Timmens

Transferred To
V. R. C.

William Thompson 

Discharged 
September 7, 1864

J. H. Thompson

Discharged July 24, 1862

P. Vandertimer

May 21, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Isaac Warr

February 5, 1862

Transferred To
V. R. C.

George F. Ward

Discharged 
September 16, 1862

W. H. Watson 

August 17, 1862

Transferred To
V. R. C.

J.H. Wilkins

May 16, 1864

Transferred to 
Co. G, 8th N.J. Regiment

Nathaniel F. Wilkinson

Wounded at Bull Run
August 29, 1862
Transferred To V. R. C.

John Wiley

Killed at Bull Run
August 29, 1862

Edgar S. Wilkinson

Killed at Williamsburg VA
May 5, 1862

James Wittle

Discharged 
September 7, 1864

*Musician Henry Bender was sent to another Company, as Company K had another musician. Private Michael O'Neil was sent to Company K in exchange.