September 1862: George Mindil's 27th NJ Infantry Regiment

In September 1862, recruiters in Sussex and Morris Counties were signing up volunteers for a nine months   infantry regiment, the 27th NJ Volunteer Infantry Regiment.  The 27th NJV was the last of the nine months units created in New Jersey so it was divided into 11 companies instead of 10, which gave the regiment an extra 160 men.  This made the 27th NJV one of the largest regiments in service, totaling 1,088 officers and men.

 

The officers could decide on a commanding colonel.  Attorney Cortland Parker, a friend of the late General Philip Kearney of the 1st NJ Brigade, the officers elected 19-year old Captain George W. Mindil as the colonel commanding the new regiment.  Mindil had been the general's Inspector of the 1st Division.

 

Mindil was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant of Company B, 23rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment in July 1861.  By October 1861, he had been promoted to Captain.  In March 1862, Captain Mindil was appointed to the staff of Brigadier General David B. Birney, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division in the 3rd Army Corps.  Mindil was in General George B. McClellan's staff after General Kearney was killed.  Mindil was cited for gallantry at Williamsburg and had received testimonials from Generals Kearney, McClellan, Nathaniel Banks, Samuel Heintzelman, and Birney.  During the  Battle of Williamsburg, Mindil led the decisive charge.  He distinguished himself again at the Battle of Fair Oaks and during Kearney's retreat from Richmond.  During the Second Battle of Manassas, Mindil was the only member of Kearney's staff present on the battlefield.

 

The following Warren County men enlisted in the 27th NJV:

 

COMPANY A: Henry D. Fields, of Frelinghuysen; George Hendershot, of Washington; Andrew G. Hill, of Marksboro; Corporal Thomas Potter, of Frelinghuysen; Fred H. Wildrick, of Phillipsburg; and Bartley VanCampen, of Pahaquarry;

 

COMPANY B: Joseph S. Hart, of Mount Bethel, and Sergeant Theodore McEachron, of Rockport;

 

COMPANY C: Theodore Neighbor, of Hackettstown, and Jacob W. Yauger, of Port Murray;

 

COMPANY E: Ezra P. Gulick, of Vienna;

 

COMPANY G: Samuel Reeves, of Belvidere; Peter Bird, Jr., George Morgan, and John Morgan, of Port Murray; and John R. Taylor and Thompson Taylor, of Oxford;

 

COMPANY H: George W. Hoyt, of Phillipsburg; and Corporal Fletcher B. Longcor and John Longcor, of Washington;

 

COMPANY I: Peter Carroll, of Vienna; William K. Hoffman and Tobias Lyon, of Hackettstown; and Aaron Rolph;

 

COMPANY K: Wagoner Charles Kennybrooke, of Washington; and

 

COMPANY L:  Corporal  Jacob Switzer, of Buttzville; and Corporal David DeGraw, Lemuel DeGraw, and Joseph DeGraw, of Hackettstown.

 

Copyright 1999-2012: Jay C. Richards