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The Camp Mattawoman Gazette

Volume 1 No. 7 July 1999

Contributing Editor: Tom Fox.

Mission Statement: To provide a means for the dissemination of period information concerning the Eighth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers and its’ members during and after the Civil War.

Case 240. - Private Hugh Wright, Co. G, [8th N.J.V. ... continued ...]

... He walked well without crutches or cane, bearing his full weight on the mutilated limb. There was quite free motion at the hip, but little at the knee. There were no open fistulas, and no tenderness about any of the cicatrices. Dr. Stephen Wickes, of Orange, reported, in the summer of 1866, that Wright was in good health, though somewhat intemperate; that he worked daily at light tasks, and was even able to mow grass. He commonly walked with a cane. According to the measurement of Dr. Wickes, the limb was shortened four and three quarter-inches. About this period, Dr. Mursick, the operator in the case discovered his former patient, and examined him. He found the resected end of the femur firmly attached to the pelvis by ligamentous tissue an inch and a half long. The agglutination of the muscular sheaths had nearly disappeared. The limb was quite under control. The man could flex and extend it slightly, and adduct to a limited extent; the power of rotating and abducting was lost. Motion at the knee was quite restricted, on account of the thickening and consolidation of the surrounding tissues resulting from inflammation. He stated that latterly the improvement in his limb had a very decided; that when he first commenced to walk, the limb felt like a weight attached to the body; this sensation had entirely disappeared. January 15, 1867, Hugh Wright was found duly established at his residence in North Orange, Essex, New Jersey, receiving a pension dating from October, 1864, the date of his injury. The Pension Examiner, Dr. A.W. Woodhull, of Newark, reported "that at that date there was about six inches shortening, with no power of flexion or extension at the hip and the power of rotation, to a very limited degree. All motion of the injured limb for progression was imparted by lateral swing of the body itself. I may add that the knee joint of the injured limb is stiffened." On October 19, 1867, Dr. Mursick again examined Wright, and took him to New York, and had his photograph taken. The negative is preserved at the Army Medical Museum, and is No. 188 of the Surgical Series of Photographs, a reduced copy of the lower limbs as shown, in the photograph, is presented in the wood cut (Fig. 53). At this period, Wright reported that his limb had given him no trouble since the sinuses healed, in May, 1865, and that it sufficed for all purposes of locomotion. He stood on it very firmly, and could move it in any direction with an easy swinging motion. He had been engaged for a year and a half as a farm hand, and was employed at the time as a wood-chopper. He had for a short time earned larger wages as a hod bearer, and had climbed high ladders with a heavy hod of bricks on his shoulders; but he found this avocation too fatiguing. His general health and physical condition was good. The knee joint continued quite stiff. It could be flexed to about quarter, perhaps, of the normal extent. When he walked, the rounded upper extremity of the femur played up and down on the dorsum of the ilium over a space of an inch and a half. In November, 1868, Dr. Mursick, again examined Wright, and reported on his condition. The utility of his limb had augmented during the twelve months that had elapsed since the last examination. The attachment of the femur to the pelvis was strong; the cicatrices were firm and healthy. All movements of the thigh were performed with almost as much facility as in the normal state; rotation, even, as well as flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction. His general health was good. On August 3, 1872, Wright’s pension was increased to $18 per month on account of increasing disability and because additional legislation permitted larger payment to the more gravely mutilated. In September, 1873, Pension Examiner A.W. Woodhull reported the local disability unchanged, and on October 26, 1874, the sudden death of the pensioner, Hugh Wright, from supposed cardiac disease was reported. Unfortunately no autopsy was made and the valuable opportunity of examining the relations of the resected joint was unimproved.

Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The
Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume II. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 103.

Michael McGuire:

Company G, 8th New Jersey Vols.

Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: March 21, 1865. For the period of 1 year. Mustered out: July 17, 1865. Remarks: Recruit.

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 404.

Declaration for Original Invalid Pension.

... On this 14th day of Feb. A.D. one thousand eight hundred and eighty eight ... Michael McGuire -- aged 66 years, a resident of or near Lambertville, County of Hunterdon, State of New Jersey ... who was enrolled on the 21st day of March 1865, as a Private in Company G of the 8th Regiment of N.J. Vols. and was honorably Discharged at near Washington, DC on the 17th day of July 1865; that his personal description is as follows: Age 66 years; height 5 feet 8 inches; complexion dark; eyes gray; hair brown.

That while a member of the organization aforesaid, in the service and in the line of duty at or near Hatcher’s Run in the State of Va., on or about the -- day of April 1865, he received an injury of [the] right hip by his arm being broken by a grape shot, while in action with the enemy and a part of the said gun striking said hip & severely bruising and injuring it, with resulting rheumatism & exanthema on [the] skin like pocks and eruptions resulting ever afterwards therefrom, and has suffered from [the] same effects thereof more or less ever since.

That he was treated in hospitals as follows: In none.

... That since leaving the service, this applicant has resided in the County of Hunterdon in the County of New Jersey, etc., and his occupation has been that of a laborer.

That prior to his entry into the service above named, he was a man of good sound physical health, being when enrolled [a] laborer. ...

National Archives. Pension Records Group. Civil War. Union.

Hatcher’s Run: Movements & Activities of the 8th N.J. Vols.:

Jany. 1st the Battalion was in quarters on the Weldon R.R. near Yellow House, Va. where it remained until Feby. 5th, when the Brigade to which it belongs broke camp and marched to near Hatcher’s Run, Va. where it formed in line - on the left of the Brigade; the enemy attacked as the position was gained; the action lasted four (4) hours resulting in the repulse of the enemy with heavy loss - the 8th Battalion sustaining the brunt of the attack and suffering a loss of killed 11 enlisted men, wounded 2 Commissioned Officers and 35 enlisted men - After the engagement the Battalion went into Camp on the same ground fought upon where it still remains. Total distance marched five (5) miles.

[signed ] Henry Hartford,

Major 8th Batt. N.J.V.

Station: Near Petersburg, Va.

Date: Feb. 28th, 1865.

National Archives. Records Group 94, Adjutant General’s Office. Muster Rolls & Regimental Papers, 8th NJ Infantry. Civil War.

The Eruptive Fevers.

Surgeon A.J. McKelway, 8th N.J., Camp Van Lear, near Alexandria, Va., Oct. 20, 1862.

Towards the end of February and through the month of March rubeola to the extend of about thirty cases prevailed in the regiment. Although the disease was of a severe type no case proved fatal; but in several cases tubercular and bronchitic developments necessitated the discharge of the men.

Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The
Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 654.

Scurvy:

Surgeon A.J. McKelway, 8th N.J., Camp near Alexandria, Va., Oct. 20, 1862.

In addition to the diseases specified as having affected the men of this regiment since their landing at Yorktown scrobutus made its appearance. Few escaped without showing some manifestation of the disease. The general symptoms were feelings of languor and debility; fatigue on the slightest exertion; the face presented a puffy appearance in many instances; the gums were spongy and swollen, the breath offensive, the legs in many cases mottled with purpuric spots; cases not so well developed nor so distinctly marked were attended with wandering neuralgic pains, at times attacking the spine and at other times producing pain or constriction of the chest with difficulty of breathing. One well marked symptom in some cases, where the disease did not manifest itself in purplish spots, was rigidity of the muscles of the leg, spoken of as chronic rheumatism in the description of their feelings given by the sufferers. In some of these cases purpura shortly appeared, but in others who suffered precisely in the same way, malaise and debility included, these spots were never exhibited. The exciting causes can be easily found in the continued deprivation of proper vegetable food under which the men had suffered since their landing on the Peninsula. doubtless other causes contributed to its production, exposure, fatigue, exhaustion, and other depressing influences; but the want of fresh vegetables and meat and the use of salt meat for months no doubt gave origin to the disease.

Cardiac Diseases:

Irritable heart appears to have been a result of active field service. It is true, cases were attributed to the drills and double quick movements of camp, effected under the full burden of arms and accoutrements, particularly when the individual was debilitated, as from an attack of diarrhea, or while convalescing from typhoid fever, but the greater number dated from some over- action of the heart during a particular battle or campaign. This was early observed by our medical officers in the field: thus Surgeon A.J. McKelway, 8th N.J., referring to the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, says: -

Disease of the heart appears to have been developed in several cases from overexertion preceding the battle and excitement and effort during its continuance. In these cases the pulse remained for days at from 110 to 120 beats per minute. Some fifteen cases, which have since been discharged or sent to hospital, originated at that time

Edward Jewell:

Company I, 8th New Jersey Vols.

Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: Dec. 24, 1861. For a period of 3 years. Recruit - Discharged at U.S. Army General Hospital, Pa., Feb. 23, 1863. Disability.

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 418.

Secondary Excision at the Knee Joint:

Case 629. - Private E. Jewell, Co. I, 8th New Jersey, aged 19 years, was wounded at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, a musket ball fracturing both bones of the right leg near their articulation at the knee. He was sent to Hygeia Hospital, Fort Monroe, and thence in the following month to Philadelphia, where he entered Fifth Street Hospital, on June 8th. Acting Assistant Surgeon A.C.. Bournonville, in charge of the latter, reported that "the leg was bent at a right angle with the thigh and had been in that position since the injury. Caries had taken place, and an excision of the head of the fibula and partial resection of the head of the tibia was performed. The patient is now (November 6th) doing well, and has been able to rise and walk about the ward with the aid of crutches." The patient was subsequently transferred to Haddington Hospital, and was discharged February 23, 1863, and pensioned. Pension Examiner A.W. Woodhull, of Newark, October 24, 1868, described the injury: "A conoidal ball fractured both bones of the right leg just below the knee joint. Large portions of bone have been lost either by operation or nature. The bones are now extensively necrosed and enlarged, and there are two large sinuses, which always suppurate. The leg is shortened four or five inches," etc. The Newark Board reported, in September, 1875, that the limb is greatly atrophied and deformed. Two years later the same board reported "contraction of muscles of [the] calf, producing talipes equinus; anchylosis of ankle and partial of knee. Wound open." The pensioner was paid March 4, 1880.

Robert Boyd:

He does not appear in the listing for Company F, 8th New Jersey Vols. However he appears as follows:

Company B, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 14, 1863. For a period of 3 years. Mustered out: July 17, 1865. Recruit - Transferred from Co. D.

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Co. B page 374. Co. D page 389.

Robert Boyd:

Private, Company F, 8th New Jersey Volunteers, fell from a railway car near Wilmington, Delaware, on June 21st, 1864, and received a lacerated wound of the scalp. He was immediately conveyed to the Tilton Hospital. Simple dressings were applied, and he was returned to duty July 8th, 1864.

Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The
Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part I. Volume II. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1875. Page 36.

Philip Sunkle/a.k.a./Soukil:

Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: June 3, 1864. For a period of 3 years. Substitute - Died of chronic diarrhea at Ward U.S. Army General Hospital, Newark, N.J., Jan. 13, ‘65; buried at Faimount Cemetery, Newark, N.J.

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 372.

Philip Sunkle/a.k.a./Soukil:

... from the case-book of Ward Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, Assistant Surgeon J. Theodore Calhoun, U.S.A., in charge.

Case 109. - Private Soukil, Company A, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; admitted January 16, 1865. Chronic diarrhea. The records of the depot field hospital of the 2d Army Corps, City Point, Virginia, show that this man was admitted December 7, 1864, for chronic diarrhea. December 12th he was sent on board the hospital transport Connecticut and carried to Washington, DC December 24th he was sent to his home on furlough; being to sick to return, he was admitted to this hospital at the date given above, by order of the medical director. Died, January 17th [1865]. Autopsy thirteen hours after death: The large intestine alone was examined. In the caecum and ascending colon the walls of the gut were very much thickened and very vascular, and the same characteristics were observed in the descending colon and sigmoid flexure. The transverse colon was not thickened, but presented some patches of adherent lymph. The solitary glands in the descending colon were much enlarged. No ulcers were found. Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph D. Osborne.

Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The
Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part II. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1879. Page 107.

Barnard/Bernard Ennis:

He does not appear in the listing for Company H, 8th New Jersey Vols. However he does appear as follows:

Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 13, 1863. For a period of 3 years. Recruit - Died of haemoptysis at Newark, N.J., July 25, ‘65; transferred from Co. B. [Stryker, page 372.]

Jacob B. Ennis -

Company B, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 14, 1862. For a period of 3 years. Mustered out: June 4, 1865. Recruit - Transferred from Co. D; discharged at Camp near Washington, D.C., G.O. 26, Hd. Qrs., Army of the Potomac, May 17, ‘65. [Stryker, page 374.]

Jacob B. Ennis -

Company D, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 14, 1862. For a period of 3 years. Recruit - Transferred to Co. B. [Stryker, page 389.]

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876.

Case 115. - Private Barnard Ennis, Company H, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; admitted May 4, 1865. Chronic diarrhea and bronchitis. The records of the field hospital of the 3d Division, 2d Army corps, show that this man was admitted to that hospital March7th, suffer- ing with chronic diarrhea, and was transferred to the depot hospital of the same division at City Point, Virginia, March 15th. April 18th he was sent on board the hospital transport State of Maine, and transferred to Washington, D.C. The records of the Finley hospital, Washington, show that he was admitted April 20th - diagnosis chronic diarrhea - and transferred to Newark, New Jersey, May 4th. This man died July 25th, of hemorrhage from the lungs. Autopsy same day: Rigor mortis well marked; extreme emaciation. brain not examined. There was a large cavity in the upper lobe of the right lung, in which a clot showed the point from which the hemorrhage took place. There was also a very large cavity in the same portion of the left lung. There were slight pleuritic adhesions on the right side, and very extensive ones on the left. The pericardium contained about two ounces of serum. The heart was healthy. The stomach and intestines were nearly normal; the later showing very little to account for the long-continued chronic diarrhea from which the patient had suffered. Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph D. Osborne.

William VanClief/VanCleve:

Company C, 8th New Jersey Vols.

Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 29, 1861. For the period of 3 years. Remarks: Died of dysentery at Phila., Pa., Aug. 4, ‘62; buried at Phila., Pa.

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 384.

Case 124. -

Private William Vancleve, Company C, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; age 45; admitted from Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, July 30, 1862. Chronic dysentery. Died, August 4th. Autopsy next day: the organs of the chest were normal, except a few small spots of atheroma in the mitral valve and the coats of the aorta. The organs of the abdomen appear normal, except the intestines. The mucous membrane of the ileum was inflamed in patches from a few inches to a foot in length, with the intervening parts apparently healthy. The mucous membrane of the colon was also inflamed, but not ulcerated, the inflammation being most aggravated in the caecum, descending colon, and rectum. - Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph Leidy.

William Hosey:

Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols.

Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 22, 1861. For the period of 3 years. Mustered out: Sept. 21, 1864. Remarks: None

William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 369.

William Hosey:

Private, Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols., aged 34 years. Saber cut of the scalp. Chancellorsville, Va., May 3rd, 1863. Admitted to Mower Hospital, Philadelphia, April 27th, 1864 from Titlton Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware. Transferred to Trenton, New Jersey for Muster out August 26, 1864.

War Department, Adjutant General’s Office. Washington, June 8th, 1864.

Special Orders No. 21

16. At his own request Asst. Surgeon J.J.B. Ribble, 8th New Jersey Vols. is hereby honorably discharged [from] the Service of the United States, to enable him to accept a Commission as Surgeon of the 13th New Jersey Vols. By order of the Secretary of War,

[signed] E.D. Townsend,

A.A. Genl.

New Jersey State Archives. Trenton, N.J. Records Group: Dept. of Defense. Subgroup: Military Records. Series: Civil War. Box 84, Book 403, item 43.

Lafayette College, Skillman Library

Another source for New Jersey soldiers serving in the Civil War is the following: Register of the Commissioned Officers and Privates of the New Jersey Volunteers in the Service of the United States. Jersey City. Printed by John H. Lyon. 1863.

	The Eighth New Jersey Regiment
Memories Photos Business Religion Contact Old Newark Search	The Camp Mattawoman Gazette Volume 1 No. 7 July 1999 Editor-in-Chief: Gilbert V. Riddle Contributing Editor: Tom Fox. Mission Statement: To provide a means for the dissemination of period information concerning the Eighth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers and its’ members during and after the Civil War. Case 240. - Private Hugh Wright, Co. G, [8th N.J.V. ... continued ...] ... He walked well without crutches or cane, bearing his full weight on the mutilated limb. There was quite free motion at the hip, but little at the knee. There were no open fistulas, and no tenderness about any of the cicatrices. Dr. Stephen Wickes, of Orange, reported, in the summer of 1866, that Wright was in good health, though somewhat intemperate; that he worked daily at light tasks, and was even able to mow grass. He commonly walked with a cane. According to the measurement of Dr. Wickes, the limb was shortened four and three quarter-inches. About this period, Dr. Mursick, the operator in the case discovered his former patient, and examined him. He found the resected end of the femur firmly attached to the pelvis by ligamentous tissue an inch and a half long. The agglutination of the muscular sheaths had nearly disappeared. The limb was quite under control. The man could flex and extend it slightly, and adduct to a limited extent; the power of rotating and abducting was lost. Motion at the knee was quite restricted, on account of the thickening and consolidation of the surrounding tissues resulting from inflammation. He stated that latterly the improvement in his limb had a very decided; that when he first commenced to walk, the limb felt like a weight attached to the body; this sensation had entirely disappeared. January 15, 1867, Hugh Wright was found duly established at his residence in North Orange, Essex, New Jersey, receiving a pension dating from October, 1864, the date of his injury. The Pension Examiner, Dr. A.W. Woodhull, of Newark, reported "that at that date there was about six inches shortening, with no power of flexion or extension at the hip and the power of rotation, to a very limited degree. All motion of the injured limb for progression was imparted by lateral swing of the body itself. I may add that the knee joint of the injured limb is stiffened." On October 19, 1867, Dr. Mursick again examined Wright, and took him to New York, and had his photograph taken. The negative is preserved at the Army Medical Museum, and is No. 188 of the Surgical Series of Photographs, a reduced copy of the lower limbs as shown, in the photograph, is presented in the wood cut (Fig. 53). At this period, Wright reported that his limb had given him no trouble since the sinuses healed, in May, 1865, and that it sufficed for all purposes of locomotion. He stood on it very firmly, and could move it in any direction with an easy swinging motion. He had been engaged for a year and a half as a farm hand, and was employed at the time as a wood-chopper. He had for a short time earned larger wages as a hod bearer, and had climbed high ladders with a heavy hod of bricks on his shoulders; but he found this avocation too fatiguing. His general health and physical condition was good. The knee joint continued quite stiff. It could be flexed to about quarter, perhaps, of the normal extent. When he walked, the rounded upper extremity of the femur played up and down on the dorsum of the ilium over a space of an inch and a half. In November, 1868, Dr. Mursick, again examined Wright, and reported on his condition. The utility of his limb had augmented during the twelve months that had elapsed since the last examination. The attachment of the femur to the pelvis was strong; the cicatrices were firm and healthy. All movements of the thigh were performed with almost as much facility as in the normal state; rotation, even, as well as flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction. His general health was good. On August 3, 1872, Wright’s pension was increased to $18 per month on account of increasing disability and because additional legislation permitted larger payment to the more gravely mutilated. In September, 1873, Pension Examiner A.W. Woodhull reported the local disability unchanged, and on October 26, 1874, the sudden death of the pensioner, Hugh Wright, from supposed cardiac disease was reported. Unfortunately no autopsy was made and the valuable opportunity of examining the relations of the resected joint was unimproved. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume II. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 103. Michael McGuire: Company G, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: March 21, 1865. For the period of 1 year. Mustered out: July 17, 1865. Remarks: Recruit. William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 404. Declaration for Original Invalid Pension. ... On this 14th day of Feb. A.D. one thousand eight hundred and eighty eight ... Michael McGuire -- aged 66 years, a resident of or near Lambertville, County of Hunterdon, State of New Jersey ... who was enrolled on the 21st day of March 1865, as a Private in Company G of the 8th Regiment of N.J. Vols. and was honorably Discharged at near Washington, DC on the 17th day of July 1865; that his personal description is as follows: Age 66 years; height 5 feet 8 inches; complexion dark; eyes gray; hair brown. That while a member of the organization aforesaid, in the service and in the line of duty at or near Hatcher’s Run in the State of Va., on or about the -- day of April 1865, he received an injury of [the] right hip by his arm being broken by a grape shot, while in action with the enemy and a part of the said gun striking said hip & severely bruising and injuring it, with resulting rheumatism & exanthema on [the] skin like pocks and eruptions resulting ever afterwards therefrom, and has suffered from [the] same effects thereof more or less ever since. That he was treated in hospitals as follows: In none. ... That since leaving the service, this applicant has resided in the County of Hunterdon in the County of New Jersey, etc., and his occupation has been that of a laborer. That prior to his entry into the service above named, he was a man of good sound physical health, being when enrolled [a] laborer. ... National Archives. Pension Records Group. Civil War. Union. Hatcher’s Run: Movements & Activities of the 8th N.J. Vols.: Jany. 1st the Battalion was in quarters on the Weldon R.R. near Yellow House, Va. where it remained until Feby. 5th, when the Brigade to which it belongs broke camp and marched to near Hatcher’s Run, Va. where it formed in line - on the left of the Brigade; the enemy attacked as the position was gained; the action lasted four (4) hours resulting in the repulse of the enemy with heavy loss - the 8th Battalion sustaining the brunt of the attack and suffering a loss of killed 11 enlisted men, wounded 2 Commissioned Officers and 35 enlisted men - After the engagement the Battalion went into Camp on the same ground fought upon where it still remains. Total distance marched five (5) miles. [signed ] Henry Hartford, Major 8th Batt. N.J.V. Station: Near Petersburg, Va. Date: Feb. 28th, 1865. National Archives. Records Group 94, Adjutant General’s Office. Muster Rolls & Regimental Papers, 8th NJ Infantry. Civil War. The Eruptive Fevers. Surgeon A.J. McKelway, 8th N.J., Camp Van Lear, near Alexandria, Va., Oct. 20, 1862. Towards the end of February and through the month of March rubeola to the extend of about thirty cases prevailed in the regiment. Although the disease was of a severe type no case proved fatal; but in several cases tubercular and bronchitic developments necessitated the discharge of the men. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 654. Scurvy: Surgeon A.J. McKelway, 8th N.J., Camp near Alexandria, Va., Oct. 20, 1862. In addition to the diseases specified as having affected the men of this regiment since their landing at Yorktown scrobutus made its appearance. Few escaped without showing some manifestation of the disease. The general symptoms were feelings of languor and debility; fatigue on the slightest exertion; the face presented a puffy appearance in many instances; the gums were spongy and swollen, the breath offensive, the legs in many cases mottled with purpuric spots; cases not so well developed nor so distinctly marked were attended with wandering neuralgic pains, at times attacking the spine and at other times producing pain or constriction of the chest with difficulty of breathing. One well marked symptom in some cases, where the disease did not manifest itself in purplish spots, was rigidity of the muscles of the leg, spoken of as chronic rheumatism in the description of their feelings given by the sufferers. In some of these cases purpura shortly appeared, but in others who suffered precisely in the same way, malaise and debility included, these spots were never exhibited. The exciting causes can be easily found in the continued deprivation of proper vegetable food under which the men had suffered since their landing on the Peninsula. doubtless other causes contributed to its production, exposure, fatigue, exhaustion, and other depressing influences; but the want of fresh vegetables and meat and the use of salt meat for months no doubt gave origin to the disease. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 687-688. Cardiac Diseases: Irritable heart appears to have been a result of active field service. It is true, cases were attributed to the drills and double quick movements of camp, effected under the full burden of arms and accoutrements, particularly when the individual was debilitated, as from an attack of diarrhea, or while convalescing from typhoid fever, but the greater number dated from some over- action of the heart during a particular battle or campaign. This was early observed by our medical officers in the field: thus Surgeon A.J. McKelway, 8th N.J., referring to the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, says: - Disease of the heart appears to have been developed in several cases from overexertion preceding the battle and excitement and effort during its continuance. In these cases the pulse remained for days at from 110 to 120 beats per minute. Some fifteen cases, which have since been discharged or sent to hospital, originated at that time Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 862. Edward Jewell: Company I, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: Dec. 24, 1861. For a period of 3 years. Recruit - Discharged at U.S. Army General Hospital, Pa., Feb. 23, 1863. Disability. William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 418. Secondary Excision at the Knee Joint: Case 629. - Private E. Jewell, Co. I, 8th New Jersey, aged 19 years, was wounded at Williamsburg, May 5, 1862, a musket ball fracturing both bones of the right leg near their articulation at the knee. He was sent to Hygeia Hospital, Fort Monroe, and thence in the following month to Philadelphia, where he entered Fifth Street Hospital, on June 8th. Acting Assistant Surgeon A.C.. Bournonville, in charge of the latter, reported that "the leg was bent at a right angle with the thigh and had been in that position since the injury. Caries had taken place, and an excision of the head of the fibula and partial resection of the head of the tibia was performed. The patient is now (November 6th) doing well, and has been able to rise and walk about the ward with the aid of crutches." The patient was subsequently transferred to Haddington Hospital, and was discharged February 23, 1863, and pensioned. Pension Examiner A.W. Woodhull, of Newark, October 24, 1868, described the injury: "A conoidal ball fractured both bones of the right leg just below the knee joint. Large portions of bone have been lost either by operation or nature. The bones are now extensively necrosed and enlarged, and there are two large sinuses, which always suppurate. The leg is shortened four or five inches," etc. The Newark Board reported, in September, 1875, that the limb is greatly atrophied and deformed. Two years later the same board reported "contraction of muscles of [the] calf, producing talipes equinus; anchylosis of ankle and partial of knee. Wound open." The pensioner was paid March 4, 1880. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part III. Volume II. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1883. Page 398. Robert Boyd: He does not appear in the listing for Company F, 8th New Jersey Vols. However he appears as follows: Company B, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 14, 1863. For a period of 3 years. Mustered out: July 17, 1865. Recruit - Transferred from Co. D. William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Co. B page 374. Co. D page 389. Robert Boyd: Private, Company F, 8th New Jersey Volunteers, fell from a railway car near Wilmington, Delaware, on June 21st, 1864, and received a lacerated wound of the scalp. He was immediately conveyed to the Tilton Hospital. Simple dressings were applied, and he was returned to duty July 8th, 1864. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part I. Volume II. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1875. Page 36. Philip Sunkle/a.k.a./Soukil: Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: June 3, 1864. For a period of 3 years. Substitute - Died of chronic diarrhea at Ward U.S. Army General Hospital, Newark, N.J., Jan. 13, ‘65; buried at Faimount Cemetery, Newark, N.J. William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 372. Philip Sunkle/a.k.a./Soukil: ... from the case-book of Ward Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, Assistant Surgeon J. Theodore Calhoun, U.S.A., in charge. Case 109. - Private Soukil, Company A, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; admitted January 16, 1865. Chronic diarrhea. The records of the depot field hospital of the 2d Army Corps, City Point, Virginia, show that this man was admitted December 7, 1864, for chronic diarrhea. December 12th he was sent on board the hospital transport Connecticut and carried to Washington, DC December 24th he was sent to his home on furlough; being to sick to return, he was admitted to this hospital at the date given above, by order of the medical director. Died, January 17th [1865]. Autopsy thirteen hours after death: The large intestine alone was examined. In the caecum and ascending colon the walls of the gut were very much thickened and very vascular, and the same characteristics were observed in the descending colon and sigmoid flexure. The transverse colon was not thickened, but presented some patches of adherent lymph. The solitary glands in the descending colon were much enlarged. No ulcers were found. Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph D. Osborne. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part II. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1879. Page 107. Barnard/Bernard Ennis: He does not appear in the listing for Company H, 8th New Jersey Vols. However he does appear as follows: Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 13, 1863. For a period of 3 years. Recruit - Died of haemoptysis at Newark, N.J., July 25, ‘65; transferred from Co. B. [Stryker, page 372.] Jacob B. Ennis - Company B, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 14, 1862. For a period of 3 years. Mustered out: June 4, 1865. Recruit - Transferred from Co. D; discharged at Camp near Washington, D.C., G.O. 26, Hd. Qrs., Army of the Potomac, May 17, ‘65. [Stryker, page 374.] Jacob B. Ennis - Company D, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 14, 1862. For a period of 3 years. Recruit - Transferred to Co. B. [Stryker, page 389.] William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Case 115. - Private Barnard Ennis, Company H, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; admitted May 4, 1865. Chronic diarrhea and bronchitis. The records of the field hospital of the 3d Division, 2d Army corps, show that this man was admitted to that hospital March7th, suffer- ing with chronic diarrhea, and was transferred to the depot hospital of the same division at City Point, Virginia, March 15th. April 18th he was sent on board the hospital transport State of Maine, and transferred to Washington, D.C. The records of the Finley hospital, Washington, show that he was admitted April 20th - diagnosis chronic diarrhea - and transferred to Newark, New Jersey, May 4th. This man died July 25th, of hemorrhage from the lungs. Autopsy same day: Rigor mortis well marked; extreme emaciation. brain not examined. There was a large cavity in the upper lobe of the right lung, in which a clot showed the point from which the hemorrhage took place. There was also a very large cavity in the same portion of the left lung. There were slight pleuritic adhesions on the right side, and very extensive ones on the left. The pericardium contained about two ounces of serum. The heart was healthy. The stomach and intestines were nearly normal; the later showing very little to account for the long-continued chronic diarrhea from which the patient had suffered. Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph D. Osborne. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part II. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1879. Page 108. William VanClief/VanCleve: Company C, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 29, 1861. For the period of 3 years. Remarks: Died of dysentery at Phila., Pa., Aug. 4, ‘62; buried at Phila., Pa. William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 384. Case 124. - Private William Vancleve, Company C, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; age 45; admitted from Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, July 30, 1862. Chronic dysentery. Died, August 4th. Autopsy next day: the organs of the chest were normal, except a few small spots of atheroma in the mitral valve and the coats of the aorta. The organs of the abdomen appear normal, except the intestines. The mucous membrane of the ileum was inflamed in patches from a few inches to a foot in length, with the intervening parts apparently healthy. The mucous membrane of the colon was also inflamed, but not ulcerated, the inflammation being most aggravated in the caecum, descending colon, and rectum. - Acting Assistant Surgeon Joseph Leidy. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part II. Volume I. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1879. Page 110. William Hosey: Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols. Rank: private. Enrolled and Mustered in: August 22, 1861. For the period of 3 years. Mustered out: Sept. 21, 1864. Remarks: None William Stryker, A.G.O. Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Volume I. Trenton, N.J., John L. Murphy, 1876. Page 369. William Hosey: Private, Company A, 8th New Jersey Vols., aged 34 years. Saber cut of the scalp. Chancellorsville, Va., May 3rd, 1863. Admitted to Mower Hospital, Philadelphia, April 27th, 1864 from Titlton Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware. Transferred to Trenton, New Jersey for Muster out August 26, 1864. Joseph K. Barnes, Surgeon General, United States Army. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865). Part I. Volume II. Surgical History. Washington, Government Printing Office. 1875. Page 8. War Department, Adjutant General’s Office. Washington, June 8th, 1864. Special Orders No. 21 16. At his own request Asst. Surgeon J.J.B. Ribble, 8th New Jersey Vols. is hereby honorably discharged [from] the Service of the United States, to enable him to accept a Commission as Surgeon of the 13th New Jersey Vols. By order of the Secretary of War, [signed] E.D. Townsend, A.A. Genl. New Jersey State Archives. Trenton, N.J. Records Group: Dept. of Defense. Subgroup: Military Records. Series: Civil War. Box 84, Book 403, item 43. Lafayette College, Skillman Library Another source for New Jersey soldiers serving in the Civil War is the following: Register of the Commissioned Officers and Privates of the New Jersey Volunteers in the Service of the United States. Jersey City. Printed by John H. Lyon. 1863.
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