12th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers - Wilderness VA
N 38° 18.074 W 077° 42.535
18S E 263119 N 4242710
A memorial plaque to the 12th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers who fought for the Union stands at the intersection of Plank Rd. and Brock Rd. in Spotsylvania County, VA.
Waymark Code: WM8KZX
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 04/16/2010
Views: 5
During the Battle of the Wilderness, both the Union and Confederate armies sought to control the intersection of Orange Plank Rd. and Brock Rd. Men struggled through the nearby entangled, overgrown woods. Among the Federal troops were the 12th NJ or the 'Buck and Ball Regiment' as they became known.
The 12th NJ was first formed in 1862 and trained in Woodbury, NJ. The regiment was officially mustered on September 4, 1862 with a total of 992 men. They originally went to Maryland, but moved to Virginia. They participated in several battles in Spotsylvania County including Chancellorsville and this bloody battle in the Wilderness on May 5-6, 1864. On May 7, Grant broke off battle and moved on to the Spotsylvania Court House.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
12TH REGIMENT
NEW JERSEY
VOLUNTEERS
1862-1865
"WE CAN NOT DEDICATE
WE CAN NOT CONSECRATE
WE CAN NOT HALLOW THIS GROUND
THE BRAVE MEN LIVING AND DEAD
WHO STRUGGLED HERE HAVE
CONSECRATED IT FAR ABOVE
OUR POOR POWER TO ADD OR
DETRACT."
THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
MERELY MARKS
THE SURROUNDING TWENTY
ACRES OF GROUND ON WHICH
THE 12TH NEW JERSEY
VOLUNTEERS SO GALLANTLY
FOUGHT FOR THE PRESERVATION
OF THE UNION. MAY 5 AND 6, 1864
DEDICATED MAY 30, 1942
An adjacent smaller plaque reads:
THIS SITE REDEDICATED
MAY 16,1964
CIVIL WAR CENTENNIAL COMMISSION
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
RICHARD J. HUGHES
GOVERNOR
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