In May 1863, the US 9th Corps, including Colonel George Mindil and his 27th NJ Volunteer Infantry Regiment, were ordered to assist General [Hiram] U. S. Grant in the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. As the 9th Corps marched toward the Mississippi River at Louisville, Kentucky on June 4, Major General Ambrose Burnside ordered the 27th NJ to be detached since its 9-month enlistment had expired on June 3. Burnside said he needed Mindil's troops in Kentucky a few days longer.
On June 13, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mindil heard about Confederate General Robert E. Lee's troops entering Pennsylvania. Reports stated the Pennsylvania Central Railroad might be in Confederate control, blocking the regiment's trip home to New Jersey. Mindil called together the men of his regiment and told them of the situation. Mindil told his troops he wanted to move forward into Pennsylvania to offer his services to General George Mead during this emergency and asked who would go with him. The entire regiment volunteered to go with him.
Burnside issued the following dispatch on June 15, 1863: "In withdrawing the Twenty-Seventh New Jersey Volunteers from the front, in order that they may return to their homes at the expiration of their term of enlistment, the commanding General desires to express his regret at parting from them. In every position in which the requirements of the service have placed them, they have proved themselves brave, efficient and reliable soldiers, and have made for themselves in this command a clear record worthy of the gallant State whose name they bear.
"Should this regiment, in the event of a continuance of the war, again take the field, this commanding General will be glad to receive them as tried soldiers once more under his command."
General Samuel Powhatan Carter wrote to Mindil, "For yourself personally, Colonel, I entertain the highest esteem, as I do for your noble regiment, which has gained a most enviable reputation in Kentucky from the soldierly bearing and correct deportment of both officers and men.
"Will you be pleased to give to the officers and men my appreciation of their worth, and the regret I feel at parting from them. It is a matter of pride with me that I have had the honor to command, for even a time, troops who have won for themselves such imperishable fame."
On June 17, Mindil sent the following letter by telegraph from Cincinnati to President Abraham Lincoln, "Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States: My regiment, eight hundred strong, whose term of service has expired, is on its way home for muster-out. I hereby offer the services of the command for any service in Pennsylvania during the emergency. Please advise me of your intentions. George W. Mindil, Colonel, Twenty-seventh New Jersey Volunteers."
At the Soldiers' Home in Cincinnati, Major General Burnside honored the regiment with a bounteous dinner. The regiment later traveled by train to Columbus, Ohio. At Columbus, Mindil received the following telegram from Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, "Colonel George W. Mindil, Twenty-seventh New Jersey Volunteers: You will accept for yourself and express to your gallant regiment the thanks of the government for your patriotic offer, which is cordially accepted. You will please proceed with your regiment as rapidly as possible to Pittsburgh, via the Ohio Central Railroad, in order that you may stop at Wheeling, if your services should be required there by General [William T. H.] Brooks, who will communicate with you on the road, and you can reach Pittsburgh by that line, if he should prefer to have you there. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War."
The 27th NJ Volunteers were ordered to hold the railroad junction at Uniontown. On June 21, five companies were sent to secure the Morgantown Railroad line five miles from Uniontown. The remaining six companies were sent to secure the National Railroad line at the Chestnut Ridge gap. On June 24, the regiment reunited and proceeded to Turtle Creek Station on the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, twelve miles east of Pittsburgh. On June 26, the regiment was ordered to Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg. With fresh troops guarding Harrisburg, the 27th NJ rode the train to Port Elizabeth, NJ. On July 2, 1863, the regiment was mustered out of federal service at Camp Frelinghuysen in Newark. Colonel Mindil quickly headed by train to Washington, D.C. to offer his services to President Lincoln. Lincoln personally asked him to return to New Jersey to reorganize his regiment, which became the 33rd New Jersey Zouave Regiment. Mindil became a general by the time he was 21 years of age, making him the real "boy general" - not George A. Custer. He was awarded two Medals of Honor: one for volunteering his regiment's services after the term of enlistment expired, and one for leading a charge into the center of the enemy lines at Williamsburg on May 5, 1862.
Copyright 1999-2013: Jay C. Richards
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