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Record Group: Department of Defense
Subgroup: New Jersey National Guard
Series: Records of the New Jersey Provisional Battalion, Yorktown Centennial Encampment, 1881
Accession #: Unknown
Series #:  SDENG004
Guide Date:  5/1992 (JK)
Volume: 1 c.f. [3 boxes]


Contents

Institutional History

On 17 March 1881, the New Jersey legislature authorized the governor to organize a provisional battalion to represent New Jersey at the centennial celebration of the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia [Laws of 1881, Joint Resolution Number VII, p. 308]. New Jersey's provisional battalion was composed of ten companies specially selected from the National Guard, each having three officers and sixty enlisted men. The companies were selected and given new letters in the provisional battalion according to the seniority of their captains, as follows:

New Jersey National Guard Provisional
Company C, 3rd Regiment Company A
Company C, 6th Regiment Company B
Company E, 5th Regiment Company C
Company K, 6th Regiment Company D
Company B, 7th Regiment Company E
Company A, 7th Regiment Company F
Provisional Company, 1st Regiment Company G
Company A, 1st Battalion Company H
Company B, 1st Battalion Company I
Company D, 3rd Regiment Company K

The centennial celebration took place at Yorktown during 17-21 October 1881. New Jersey's battalion was awarded a silver Tiffany vase for presenting the best military appearance of any battalion from the sixteen states represented. The vase is currently maintained by the New Jersey State Museum [NJSM Accession Number CH1970.129.1a-b].

For a complete account of the encampment, see the 1881 annual report of the Adjutant General. Pages 147-158 of the report, showing rosters of the men who served in the Provisional Battalion at Yorktown, are attached to this guide.


Contents

Box 1
  [Morning returns from each provisional company for the five days of the Yorktown Centennial Encampment, 17-21 October 1881.]
1. Monday, 17 October 1881 [received by the Adjutant General's Office on 21 October].
2. Tuesday, 18 October 1881 [received by the Adjutant General's Office on 22 October].
3. Wednesday, 19 October 1881 [received by the Adjutant General's Office on 24 October].
4. Thursday, 20 October 1881 [received by the Adjutant General's Office on 25 October].
5. Friday, 21 October 1881 [received by the Adjutant General's Office on 25 October].

Box 2
  [The photographs of the Yorktown encampment listed below are from a dismantled album originally kept by the Adjutant General's office. Most of the photographs are labeled on the reverse.]
1. New Jersey Batallion Camp at Yorktown, VA, 17-21 October 1881.
2. Thirty-four men and women at Yorktown, 19 October 1881:
1) Major Isaac Denman, Quartermaster, 1st Brigade, NJNG
2) Lt.-Colonel George E. P. Howard, Inspector
3) Lt.-Colonel A. Judson Clark, Assistant Inspector General of Rifle Practice
4) Not listed
5) Colonel William E. Hoy, Aide-de-Camp to Commander-in-Chief, NJNG
6) Mr. Joseph L. Naar, Editor of the Trenton True American, Trenton, NJ
7) Brig.-General Willoughby Weston, Inspector General, NJNG
8) Major-General Joseph W. Plume, commanding the 1st Brigade
9) Mr. E. L. Sterling
10) Mrs. E. Burd Grubb
11) Major-General William S. Stryker, Adjutant-General of New Jersey
12) Not listed
13) Colonel E. Burd Grubb, commanding the Battalion
14) Governor George C. Ludlow of New Jersey
15) Major Townsend B. Baldwin, Aide-de-Camp, Division Staff
16) Mrs. Townsend B. Baldwin
17) Colonel Edwin A. Stevens, Aide-de-Camp to Commander-in-Chief
18) Mrs. Lewis Perrine
19) Major-General Lewis Perrine, Quartermaster General of New Jersey
20) Major-General Gershom Mott, commanding Division
21) Mrs. William S. Stryker
22) Brig.-General Bird W. Spencer, Inspector-General of Rifle Practice
23) Brig.-General William J. Sinell, 2nd Brigade
24) Miss Kate Mott
25) Colonel E. Moore, Aide-de-Camp to Commander-in-Chief
26) Colonel Lewis Perrine Jr., Assistant Quartermaster General of New Jersey
27) Colonel John W. Romaine, Aide-de-Camp to Commander-in-Chief
28) George L. Duryea
29) Not listed
30) Lt.-Colonel Daniel B. Murphy, Inspector, 2nd Brigade
31) George M. Wright, State Treasurer of New Jersey
32) Lt.-Colonel Thomas S. Chambers, Assistant Adjutant General, 2nd Brigade
33) Not listed
34) Major William M. Palmer, Quartermaster, 2nd Brigade
3. Colonel E. Burd Grubb, 6th Regiment, NJNG, Commander of the Provisional Battalion at Yorktown in 1881. 
4. Lt.-Colonel Edward A. Campbell, colonel of the 1st Regiment, NJNG.
5. Eighteen men of the Provisional Battalion of the NJNG at Yorktown:
1) Not listed
2) Captain Jacob J. DeMott, Inspector of Rifle Practice, 2nd Battalion
3) Not listed
4) Not listed
5) Lt.-Colonel Benjamin F. Chambers, 7th Regiment, Trenton
6) Major Richard A. Donnelly, 7th Regiment, Trenton
7) Major Joseph W. Congdon, 1st Battalion, Paterson
8) Lt.-Colonel Edward A. Campbell, 1st Regiment, Newark
9) Captain Charles Y. Bumford, Inspector of Rifle Practice, 7th Regiment, Trenton
10) Colonel E. Burd Grubb, 6th Regiment
11) 2nd Lieutenant DeLancey G. Walker, Company A, 6th Regiment, Burlington
12) Lieutenant Samuel D. Dickinson, Adjutant, 4th Regiment, Jersey City
13) 1st Lieutenant Nathan Haines, Paymaster, 6th Regiment, Burlington
14) Captain Joseph K. Manning, Chaplain, 3rd Regiment, Keyport
15) Not listed
16) Lt.-Colonel George W. Terriberry, Assistant Surgeon, 1st Brigade, Paterson
17) Not listed
18) Lieutenant William R. Williams, Paymaster, 5th Regiment, Newark
6. Various officers posing with the vase won by the New Jersey Battalion for presenting the best military appearance.
7.  Provisional Battalion of the National Guard representing New Jersey at Yorktown. 
8.  Tiffany vase awarded the New Jersy Battalion by a committee of officers of the Regular Army of the United States for presenting the best military appearance at Yorktown on 19 October 1881.
9. Major Townsend B. Baldwin, Aide-de-Camp, Division Staff, Detailed Judge-Advocate, New Jersey Battalion, 10 October 1881.
10. Captain William H. DeHart, Company C, 3rd Regiment, commanding Company A of the New Jersey Battalion.
11. Unidentified soldier.
12.  Unidentified soldier.  
13.  Unidentified men.
14.  Five men at the Quartermaster's tent in Yorktown, including:
1) Captain Jacob J. DeMott, Quartermaster, Inspector of Rifle Practice, 2nd Battalion
2) Major James S. Yard, Deputy Quartermaster
15.  Three men at Yorktown, including:
1) 1st Lieutenant Nathan Haines, Paymaster, 6th Regiment [sitting]
2) 2nd Lieutenant DeLancey G. Walker, Company A, 6th Regiment [standing]
16.  Seven unidentified men, including a cook.
17.  Unidentified group, New Jersey Battalion.  
18.  Company A of the New Jersey Battalion at Yorktown [Company C, 3rd Regiment, NJNG], commanded by Captain William H. DeHart, 1st Lieutenant Uriah L. Van Deventer, and 2nd Lieutenant Charles D. Angus. 
19. Unidentified group, New Jersey Battalion.
20. Unidentified group, New Jersey Battalion. 
21. Company F of the Provisional Battalion [Company A, 7th Regiment, NJNG, Trenton], commanded by Captain William H. Skirm and 1st Lieutenant Charles E. Merritt [Captain of Company F, 7th Regiment, Mt. Holly].
22. Unidentified group, New Jersey Battalion. 
23.  Lt.-Colonel George W. Terriberry, Assistant Surgeon, 1st Brigade, with seven unidentified men and a trunk of medical supplies. 
24.  Unidentified soldier. 
25.  Three unidentified men. 

Box 3   
  [Muster Rolls]
1. Field and Staff of the New Jersey Provisional Battalion, commanded by Colonel E. Burd Grubb [3 copies].
2.  Company A, commanded by Captain William H. DeHart [2 copies].
3.  Company B, commanded by Captain Joseph C. Lee [3 copies; 1 copy accompanied by a letter from
Captain Lee to Adjutant General William S. Stryker dated 15 November 1881].
4.  Company C, commanded by Captain Edwin Hoyt [2 copies].
5.  Company D, commanded by Captain George A. Cheever [2 copies].
6.  Company E, commanded by Captain William H. Bilbee [3 copies].
7.  Company F, commanded by Captain William H. Skirm [3 copies].
8.  Company G, commanded by Captain Charles B. Champlin [2 copies].
9.  Company H, commanded by Captain James Beggs [2 copies]. 
10.  Company I, commanded by Captain Charles Curie [2 copies].
11.  Company K, commanded by Captain John T. Whittier [2 copies].

Created November 2004
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