The Jersey Boys

The Jersey Boys. "Not soldiers but bulldogs". In the ravine before you, three New Jersey regiments experienced their bloodiest day of the Civil War, losing more men in this battle than any other., On the mid-morning of May 5, 1862, the soldiers of the four regiments in the New Jersey brigade turned off the old Hampton Road in a driving rain and pushed through where you stand toward the ravine (where the landscape drops down). They were rushing to reinforce other Union regiments that were out of ammunition and falling back., Gen. Francis Patterson ordered three of his four regiments forward, leaving the 5th New Jersey just behind you to support artillery pieces. As shot and shell flew overhead, the other three regiments plunged into the tangled undergrowth, slipping and sliding into a hail of Confederate musketry., The ravine echoed with the sounds of gory hand-to-hand fighting, with troops mistaking friend for foe. The men from the 6th, 7th, and 8th regiments were outnumbered. Gen. Patterson recalled "a heavy fire in front ... was spreading around our left flank." Exhausted, out of ammunition, and facing a dozen Confederate regiments, the Jerseyans were forced back in this direction., The Union artillerymen positioned behind you held their fire until the oncoming Confederates got closer. That, and the timely arrival of fresh Union soldiers commanded by Gen. Philip Kearny pushed the Confederates back., That night, the Confederate army quietly abandoned Williamsburg, retreating towards Richmond., As Confederate reinforcements poured into the ravine, Union Gen. Joseph Hooker commented that the New Jersey men were "whipped three times but did not know it. (They) are not soldiers but bulldogs.", (caption) Company H, 7th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. Of the men pictured, two were killed or wounded here during the battle and only two would survive the war unscathed. Courtesy Library of Congress