Commemoration

On July 9, 1907, forty-three years after the Battle of Monocacy, 180 veterans of the 14th New Jersey Regiment returned to dedicate a monument honoring their comrades and their sacrifices. Most wore a memorial pin on their lapels that had been given to them that morning. The occasion was both joyous and somber, joyful for the reunion with old friends and somber because more than 140 members of the regiment had been wounded, captured, or killed at Monocacy. After the Civil War, many states built monuments to honor the sacrifices of their fallen sons, a small gesture appreciated by those who served. In his dedication speech, Rev. Dr. W.W. Case said it would be a lesson in patriotism for present and future generations and would remind all who saw it that New Jersey's sons had done their duty on that field in the struggle for a united nation. The State of New Jersey placed the first monument on the battlefield, and others were later added by Pennsylvania in 1908, the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1914, Vermont in 1915, and Maryland in 1964. Former members of the 14th New Jersey Regiment, known as the Monocacy Regiment, received commemorative pins at the ceremony. The regiment had been assigned to Monocacy Junction from September 1862 to June 1863, returned during the Gettysburg Campaign, and came back again in 1864 to fight.

Ballenger Creek, Maryland · United States