It was a brilliantly sunny day for a demonstration of honor and remembrance at the Gloucester County Historical Society’s Civil War Encampment on June 19th on the heavily wooded grounds of the Woodbury Friends Meetinghouse. The event celebrated the work of the re-enactors who keep alive the memory of the volunteers who served in Company K of the Union Army’s 12th New Jersey infantry Regiment during the Civil War.
While it is one of many Civil War reenactor groups in the region, the 12th New Jersey is special because of the important role the regiment played in the Battle of Gettysburg. That three-day clash in central Pennsylvania crippled the Confederate Army’s offensive capability and produced a dramatic Union victory that had a profound psychological and operational impact on the course of the war.
When the conflict began, most soldiers carried smoothbore muskets. By the Battle of Gettysburg, however, roughly four out of five Union infantrymen were armed with modern rifled muskets. The 12th New Jersey was among the minority that still carried .69-caliber smoothbore muskets loaded with buck-and-ball ammunition — a seemingly outdated combination that proved horrifically deadly at close range. Buck and ball consisted of a large musket ball and several buckshot pellets. When fired, the load produced an effect similar to that of a shotgun.
On July 3, 1863, the third and final day of the Gettysburg battle, more than 400 soldiers of the 12th New Jersey hunkered behind a low stone wall along Cemetery Ridge. There they loaded their buck-and-ball muskets and held their fire until the mass of charging Confederates was about 50 yards away. Then they unleashed a devastating volley, sending more than 1,500 projectiles traveling at roughly 700 mph into the Confederate ranks and tearing a gap in the advancing line. Reloading as rapidly as possible, the soldiers continued their barrage, helping to break the cohesion and momentum of the Confederate left flank. Their stand contributed to the staggering casualties suffered by the attacking Confederates, helping force Gen. Robert E. Lee to retreat back to Virginia and marking a decisive turning point in the war.
Today, the Monument of the 12th New Jersey on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg National Military Park is topped by a granite sculpture of the regiment’s distinctive buck-and-ball ammunition.
At the encampment, the 12th New Jersey set up tents and displayed their period uniforms, weapons and supplies for a crowd that was interested in all aspects of the Civil War experience. In keeping with the Quaker tradition of the Friends Meetinghouse, no guns were fired during the event. Dietrich Preston, who is both the Clerk of the Woodbury Friends Meetinghouse and a reenactor with the 12th New Jersey, led tours through the 311-year-old massive wooden meetinghouse structure. Photos below show what the event looked like.
