New Jersey State Monument

At Antietam on September 17, 1862, New Jersey units fought in several actions. The Thirteenth New Jersey Infantry, under Colonel Ezra A. Carman, met its baptism of fire seventeen days after leaving home; Captain Hugh C. Irish was the first to fall, and later the regiment was heavily engaged in the rear of Dunkard Church, suffering 102 losses during the day. The First, Second, Third, and Fourth New Jersey Infantry, together with Hexamer's Battery A, were known as the First New Jersey Brigade, the state's first three-year volunteers. After serving through the Peninsula Campaign, the brigade won high praise for its gallant service at Crampton's Pass on September 14, 1862, where it met and drove the enemy at every point and captured the heights under heavy artillery fire. From its bivouac at Crampton's Pass, the brigade marched to the field on the morning of September 17 and took position 600 yards east of this point near Dunkard Church, where it remained until September 19, supporting Sixth Corps artillery and enduring six hours of severe artillery fire that killed or wounded several men. After Crampton's Pass, Battery A, First New Jersey Artillery, was engaged at three different points on the field on September 17; between three and six o'clock it fired 280 shells, 200 shrapnel, and 15 canisters, forcing two Confederate batteries out of position and repelling an infantry force. The Thirteenth New Jersey later served in the Army of the Potomac and afterward with General Sherman's army until the close of the war.

Shepherdstown, Maryland · United States