Dear List: Wish to share this with you and hope that if anyone else on list has an ancestor who served for NJ in Civil War they might find items at the NJ STATE ARCHIVES. JSR Subj: Charles J. Field Date: 4/13/04 1:28:14 PM Pacific Daylight Time From: donald.cornelius@sos.state.nj.us To: Jackisr@aol.com File: Don'smemo.doc (51200 bytes) DL Time (45333 bps): < 1 minute Sent from the Internet (Details) Dear Jacqueline Russell, Thank you for your patience while I assembled all of the documents for the Civil War Service Record of Charles J. Field. In this case, I was able to uncover quite a bit of original documentation. Assuming you will want this file, I have taken the liberty of mailing the material to your home address. You can follow the instructions on the enclosed invoice for payment ($10.00). I have also attached my file cover letter (included in the mailing) to this e-mail, so you will know what documents you will shortly be receiving in the mail. I hope you enjoy this material as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Charles J. Field was, to me, certainly a soldier who defines the modern day idea of the military hero. Sincerely, Donald F. Cornelius NJ State Archives (downloaded file) Memorandum NEW JERSEY STATE ARCHIVES To: Jacqueline Russell From: Don Cornelius Date: 4/14/04 Re: Civil War Service Record Thank you for your request for the Civil War Service Record of Charles J. Field. As it turns out, Charles J. Field had an active and highly distinguished service career before his tragic death from wounds received in action at the battle of Fort Dallas (also known as New Hope Church or Pumpkinvine Creek), Georgia. He served three separate tours of duty in the New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, and had a record of accomplishment and promotion that speaks clearly of both his attributes as a soldier and officer. Pay particular attention to the comments made about him by his superiors and you will see that whatever else you may know about your ancestor, you can certainly be proud of his service during the Civil War. Charles J. Field first enlisted as a Sergeant in Company F of the Fourth Volunteer New Jersey Militia on April 25, 1861. He was mustered in on April 27, 1861, and served with this unit until they were discharged and mustered out on July 31, 1861. You may not be aware that at the very beginning of the Civil War, New Jersey and other states very quickly formed regiments of militia that were recruited to serve for three months (90 days). These regiments traveled to Washington and served in the defense of the city and as the nation's defense. Meanwhile, the separate states could raise, equip, and train larger regiments which then traveled to the various places of military necessary to take the place of the first, smaller emergency units. These first militia units never actively engaged in any fighting, but were still a necessary part of the beginning of the conflict until the Union could form a large, better trained standing army. The initial militia regiments, after replacement, were returned home, where many of those soldiers, like your ancestor, re-enlisted in larger newly forming Volunteer units. Charles J. Field next re-enlisted on September 2, 1862 as 1st Sergeant of Company G in the 25th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in on Se ptember 26, 1862, for a term of nine months, which was the enlistment term of that regiment. He was quickly promoted to Sergeant Major of the Regiment on September 30, 1862, which was a position on the Field and Staff command of the Regiment. He was promoted again when he received his commission as a Second Lieutenant on December 28, 1862, and was transferred to Company D within the 25th NJ Volunteers. He was also made acting Adjutant of the Regiment at that time. He was promoted again when he received his new commission as Adjutant of the Regiment, dated February 18, 1863, which entailed another transfer back to the Field and Staff command of the Regiment. This promotion also entailed a jump in rank to 1st Lieutenant. He continued to serve in that capacity until his regiment's term of service expired and they were mustered out on June 20, 1863. Your ancestor then re-enlisted in another newly forming regiment, the 33rd New Jersey Volunteers. He was initially commissioned as the 1st Lieutenant of Company E on August 20, 1863. He was promoted when he was issued his commission as Captain of Company E on October 14, 1863. Unfortunately, he was severely wounded at the fighting at Fort Dallas, Georgia, on May 28, 1864. He died eight days later at the hospital at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, just outside Chattanooga. He was buried there at the National Cemetery, Chattanooga, Tennessee, in Section D, Grave W. We have located the following records in our collections that document the service of Charles J. Field: - Printed Roster, from General William Stryker's Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861 - 1865 - Muster - In Roll, Washington Grays Company, First Regiment, Camden Brigade (Later designated as Co. F of the Fourth NJ Volunteer Militia), April 16, 1861 - Quarter-Master's Department, Clothing Return, Co. F, 4th NJ Volunteer Militia, April 29, 1861 - Treasury Department, State of New Jersey, Voucher for receipt of pay as subsistence to dependent families of soldiers, August 28, 1861 - Company Roll, 1st through 4th NJ Volunteer Militia, undated - Bounty Roll, Co. G, 25th NJ Volunteers, undated (probably September, 1862) - Descriptive List, Co. G, 25th NJ Volunteers, undated (again, probably September 1862) - Regimental Order #7, 25th NJ Volunteers, October 21, 1862 - Muster Roll, Field and Staff, 25th NJ Volunteers, October 31, 1862 - Treasury Department, State of New Jersey, Voucher for receipt of pay as subsistence to dependent families of soldiers, November 25, 1862 - Official Correspondence, Colonel Andrew Derrom, Commander, 25th NJ Volunteers to Charles Olden, Governor of New Jersey, December 25, 1862 - Muster Roll, Field and Staff, 25th NJ Volunteers, December 31, 1862 - Regimental Order #31, 25th NJ Volunteers, January 1, 1863 - Official Correspondence, Colonel Andrew Derrom, Commander, 25th NJ Volunteers to Charles Olden, Governor of New Jersey, January 7, 1863 - Treasury Department, State of New Jersey, Voucher for receipt of pay as subsistence to dependent families of soldiers, February 3, 1863 - Official Correspondence, Colonel Andrew Derrom, Commander, 25th NJ Volunteers to Joel Parker, Governor of New Jersey, March 21, 1863 - Muster - In Roll, Charles J. Field, Adjutant, 25th NJ Volunteers, April 3, 1863 - Muster Roll, Field and Staff, 25th NJ Volunteers, April 10, 1863 - Pay Roll, Co. G, 25th NJ Volunteers, April 13, 1863 - Muster Roll, Field and Staff, 25th NJ Volunteers, April 30, 1863 - Muster - Out Roll, Co. G, 25th NJ Volunteers, June 20, 1863 - Muster - Out Roll, Field and Staff, 25th NJ Volunteers, June 20, 1863 - Company Roll, Co. G, 25th NJ Volunteers, undated - Official Correspondence, Colonel G.W. Mindil, Commander, 33rd NJ Volunteers, to Brigadier General Stockton, Adjutant General of New Jersey, July 21, 1863 - Treasury Department, State of New Jersey, Voucher for receipt of recruiting expenses, August 31, 1863 [contains signature] - Official Correspondence, Colonel G.W. Mindil, Commander, 33rd NJ Volunteers, to Brigadier General Stockton, Adjutant General of New Jersey, October 14, 1863 - Casualty List, 33rd NJ Volunteers, May 31, 1864 - Official Correspondence, Colonel G.W. Mindil, Commander, 33rd NJ Volunteers, to Joel Parker, Governor of New Jersey, June 6, 1864 - Official Correspondence, Lieutenant Colonel Enos Fourat, 33rd NJ Volunteers, to Brigadier General Stockton, Adjutant General of New Jersey, June 12, 1864 - Personal Correspondence, John Beagary to the office of the Adjutant General, NJ, April 5, 1865 - "Memorials of Officers," Box 1, Folder 56, Newspaper article "In Memoriam," unknown publication or date The pertinent pages from these records have been photocopied and enclosed. The research and photocopy fee for these documents is $10.00 (see attached invoice). In addition to these documents we have determined that there are federal pensions on file at the National Archives for Charles J. Field. The first is a widow's pension, for Elizabeth P. Field, with an application date of November 14, 1864. The application number for the file is 71922 and the certificate number is 53733. The second is a minor pension, filed by C.C. Morgan, with an application date of January 5, 1874. The application number for the file is 213171 and the certificate number is 165088. Pensions are documents that contain both military and biographical information and can be highly valuable from a genealogical standpoint. Please remember that the pension is a federal document; it is not available here at the NJ State Archives. For your convenience, we have enclosed a photocopy of the form necessary to obtain the pension from the National Archives and Records Administration. Simply write to the address on the copy and they will send you two-part forms to complete and return (with the appropriate fee, of course). This response and its enclosures represent a complete search of the New Jersey State Archives Civil War collections. For further information, we suggest contacting the National Archives (www.nara.gov) for the pension records or official federal military records that may not be in our possession. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to write. Sincerely, Donald F. Cornelius

Hello, Jacqueline and list -- What a generous response from Donald Cornelius, and what a joy to learn so much about an ancestor! I wish there were something we could do to thank Mr. Cornelius for his helpfulness, on behalf of genealogists in general; such "angels" seem few and far between, even in archives, and it's only luck that finds them. Congratulations to Jacqueline on a great bit of history unearthed. Cheers, Patrick S. ----- Original Message ----- From: <Jackisr@aol.com> To: <NJCAMDEN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 5:13 PM Subject: Capt. Charles J. Field from NJ STATE ARCHIVES > Dear List: > Wish to share this with you and hope that if anyone else on list has an > ancestor who served for NJ in Civil War they might find items at the NJ STATE > ARCHIVES. JSR >