New Jersey 1st Volunteer Infantry (Union)
5/21/61
Organized - New Jersey 1st Volunteer Infantry - New Jersey
7/21/61
Battle - First Bull Run - Fairfax County, Virginia; Prince William County, Virginia
One of earliest battles of the Civil War, it introduced Americans to the idea that this would likely not be a short conflict and blood would be shed:READ MORE
5/31/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General George W. Taylor
Brigadier GeneralGeorge W. Taylor
5/31/62
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Henry W. Slocum
Brigadier GeneralHenry W. Slocum
5/31/62
Battle - Seven Pines - Henrico County, Virginia
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army from the Virginia Peninsula toward the Confederate capital of Richmond as Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's army pursued him. By the end of May, Johnston held a defensive position seven miles east of the city on the Richmond and York River Railroad. McClellan's army facing Johnston straddled the Chickahominy River and stretched south. Capturing the initiative from his Union foe, Johnston attempted to overwhelm two Federal corps isolated south of the river. The Confed…READ MORE
6/27/62
Battle - Gaines' Mill - Hanover County, Virginia
Despite his victory over the Confederates at Beaver Dam Creek on June 26th, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's Fifth Corps abandoned its position early on June 27th and established a new defensive line along Boatswain's Creek, just north of the Chickahominy River.READ MORE
8/28/62
Battle - Second Bull Run - Prince William County, Virginia
After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup.READ MORE
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Mark W. Collet
Lieutenant ColonelMark W. Collet
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Alfred T. A. Torbert
ColonelAlfred T. A. Torbert
9/17/62
Leadership Change - Division - Major General Henry W. Slocum
Major GeneralHenry W. Slocum
12/13/62
Battle - Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg, Virginia
In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Mark W. Collet, undefined Jr., and Lieutenant Colonel William Henry
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Henry W. Brown, Colonel Samuel L. Buck, and Colonel William H. Penrose
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General William T. H. Brooks
Brigadier GeneralWilliam T. H. Brooks
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Colonel Mark W. Collet
ColonelMark W. Collet
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Henry W. Brown
ColonelHenry W. Brown
4/30/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Samuel L. Buck
ColonelSamuel L. Buck
4/30/63
Battle - Chancellorsville - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - undefined Jr., and Lieutenant Colonel William Henry
Lieutenant ColonelWilliam Henry
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Brigadier General Alfred T. A. Torbert
Brigadier GeneralAlfred T. A. Torbert
7/1/63
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Horatio G. Wright
Brigadier GeneralHoratio G. Wright
7/1/63
Battle - Gettysburg - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE
7/6/63
Battle - Williamsport - Washington County, Maryland
During the night of July 4-5th, General Robert E. Lee's battered army began its retreat from Gettysburg, moving southwest toward Hagerstown and the Potomac River crossing at Williamsport, screened by Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry. Lee's infantry reached the rain-swollen Potomac but could not cross, the pontoon bridge having been destroyed by a cavalry raid. On July 11th, Lee entrenched a line protecting the river crossings at Williamsport and waited for Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's army to advance. On…READ MORE
7/6/63
Battle - Williamsport, Maryland
5/5/64
Battle - Wilderness - Spotsylvania County, Virginia; Orange County, Virginia
The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE
5/8/64
Battle - Spotsylvania Court House - Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE
5/31/64
Battle - Cold Harbor - Hanover County; near Mechanicsville, Virginia
After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving…READ MORE
8/17/64
Battle - Winchester, Virginia
9/19/64
Battle - Third Winchester - Frederick County, Virginia; Winchester, Virginia
To clear the Shenandoah River valley of Confederates, Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan moved on Winchester in mid-September 1864. Sheridan's force of over 39,000 men was more than twice the size of Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army defending the valley. After Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw's division left Winchester to rejoin Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg, Early renewed his raids on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg in the lower valley, dispersing his four remaining infantry divisions. On Septem…READ MORE
10/19/64
Battle - Cedar Creek - Frederick County, Virginia; Shenandoah County, Virginia; Warren County, Virginia
Also known as: Cedar Creek, Belle GroveREAD MORE
4/2/65
Battle - Third Petersburg - Dinwiddie County, Virginia; Petersburg, Virginia
With the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1st, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George Meade ordered a general assault against the Petersburg lines by the Second, Ninth, Sixth and Twenty-Fourth Corps to take place April 2nd. In the pre-dawn darkness, the Union infantry gained a successful breakthrough where Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright's advancing Sixth Corps met the Confederate lines held by Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill near the Boydton Plank Road. Hill was killed trying to reach his troops in t…READ MORE
4/9/65
Battle - Appomattox Court House - Appomattox Court House, Virginia
Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE
6/29/65
Mustered Out - New Jersey 1st Volunteer Infantry - New Jersey
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