In October 1862, the men of the 31st New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment left Camp Belvidere, in Flemington, NJ, and traveled to Washington, D.C. The 31st was joined by the 30th NJ Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which also contained some Warren County volunteers. Under the guns of Fort DeRussy, the 31st NJ Regiment established Camp Warren on October 6. The 30th NJ Regiment was sent to Fort Baker on the Potomac River.
William H. H. Warman, of the Belvidere Company [Company I], wrote a letter to The Belvidere Intelligencer to report the regiment's first death. "Our regiment has enjoyed tolerably good health - have but one death among us, and that, perhaps, was occasioned by improper indulgences in eating and drinking stuff containing poison. The person referred to was Conrad Miller, a married man from Blairstown, in Comp. G, who was suddenly attacked on Friday, p.m., the 3rd instant [October 3, 1862], and died on Sunday about 10 o'clock a.m. The Doctors say it was a case of poisoning. He was embalmed and sent home. Our regiment is much saddened by this occurrence, and I hope it will be a two-fold warning to others of the 31st and may it extend and have good influence in other regiments. It seemed like a warning from God."
Conrad Miller, of Blairstown, enlisted in Company G of the 31st NJV on September 3, 1862 at 33 years of age as a Drummer. According to regimental records, Miller died on October 5, 1862 at East Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. of cholera morbus.
Copyright 1997-2012: Jay C. Richards
No comments:
Post a Comment