The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-12-21
NEW JERSEY IN WAR
Forces This State Could
Quickly Mobilize for
Uncle Sam.
NONE BETTER THAN HER TROOPS
A Small Army and Navy Well
Equipped and Drilled Could
Be Raised in a Few Hours.
NONE BETTER THAN HER TROOPS

military and naval strength of the two
countries. In this vicinity it too has
caused much apprehension upon the part
of timid minded people. 1t is well known
that in case of actual hostilities the port
of New York would be one of the first
objects of attack by the enemy, and
that Jersey City and New Jersey would
be a part of the theatre of war. That
reflection necessarily gives rise to the
question, What condition is New Jersey
in to successfully defend herself against
invasion and waste by the enemy?
The defence of America depends al
most entirely upon her militia. which
is composed Of every citizen available
for active military service. These num-
Der, throughout the entire country, 9144,-
500, of which New Jersey has 2S4, SS7.
Hudson has 55,117 of these, the largest
number of any county in the State. Es-
sex comes next, with 1879. and Cape
May brings up the rear with 2450. The
militia is divided into classes, the active
and the reserve. The active militia are
those now uniformed, equipped and dis
ciplined, and are known as the National
Guard. This force, at the beginning of
the year. consisted of 313 officers and
3,487 men. 1t was organized into fifty
six companies of infantry, one Gattling
gun company and one troop of cavalry.
Since the date this number was taken,
two companies of infantry and one troop
of cavalry have been added. With the
improved means of transportation which
this State affords, this entire force could
be modified at a given point along our
coasts in a few hours. The truth of
this has been demonstrated on the sew
eral occasions when entire brigadeS, some
of the companies of which come from
the extreme corners of the State, have
been gathered together and thrown into
the State Encampment at Sea Girt.
In addition to this, there are at some
of the higher educational institutions or
ganized military companies which are
made up of young men of suitable age
for enlistment, who have been carefully
drilled and instructed by officers of the
regular army, especially detailed for that
work by the War Department.. These
officers report each year to the Adjutant
in each graduating class, who have
shown especial aptitude for military SER
vice, and the most distinguished in the
military department of the college. Their
names are Kept on file, and when the en-
ergency arises in time of war they will
be commissioned officers in the Army.
In44this way New Jersey has acquired
a large force of educated and competent
soldiers, of whom no account appears
on the official records, except under the
omnibus head of Available for Active
Service
In this immediate neighborhood are the
First Regiment of Newark. with a total
force of us, officers and men; the Sec
ond Regiment of Paterson, with total
ment of Elizabeth, with 5S9 officers and
men, and the Fourth Regiment of Jersey
City, with a total of sos, officers and
men; the First Troop of Cavalry, at New
arx wit ~ off a me-
The other portion OF the force is the
Sixth Regiment of Camden, with 442
officers and men; the Seventh Regiment
of Trenton, with 4sS officers and men,,
and Gattling Gun Company B of Camden,
81 officers and men.
This entire force is commanded by
eran of the last war. and is divided into
brig,ades. The First Brigade is command
ed by Mayor Wanser, as Brigadier Gen
eral, and consists of the First, Second
and Fourth Regiments and the First
Troop. United States Senator William J..
Sewell commands the Second Brigade,
which is made up of the Third, Sixth and
Seventh Regiments and Gattling Gun
Company B General Sewell is known to
this generation as great political leader
and fighter, but their fathers knew him
in the dark days of the Rebellion as a
brave and able soldier. He won the Major
Generals sash he wears on parade by
hard, courageous fighting, and the citi-
zens of New Jersey have nothing to
Iear WITH MIN III cOluIilduu "a d pOIllOl
of her troops.
OF all the uniformed militia of the
county none are better thought of in
Army circles than those of New. Jersey.
Some time ago, in speaking of the mill
tary resources of the country, Major
General Oliver o. Howard, then in COM
mand of the Department of the East,
u. S. A, and stationed at Governor S
Island, said:-'I would ask for no better
troops than those | saw drilling last
week at Sea Girt.
At each of the annual encampments at
Sea Girt the War Department details an
army officer to carefully note the work
of the troops and transmit critical
report thereon to the Government. These
ment at Washington, universally com
mend the work of the New Jersey militia
and speak of their proficiency in the
highest terms. Wherever the military
New Jerseys force is always spoken of
as among the best, and, together with
New York, Pennsylvania and one or two
Western States, is taken as standard.
is most complete. The newest and best
of everything which tends in any way
to promote the comfort and efficiency
of the men has been obtained. She has
signal corps which compares favorably
with that of any other State, while her
ambulance and hospital service is stead
ily approaching the highest standard.
Since the last census was taken there
have been added to the active militia of
this State two companies of infantry,
one troop of cavalry and the Naval Re-
serve. The latter is divided into two
battalions, each of which forms the
crew of man of war. The Battalion of
the East. with headquarters at Jersey
City man the brig of war Portsmouth,
which is now temporarily moored to the
Fifteenth street wharf Hoboken, and the
the Battalion of the West forms the
crew of the iron monitor Ajax, now at
Camden This force numbers about S0C
men, armed and equipped. and. consid-
ering the short time they have been in
the service about six months, are in
a commendable state Of efficiency. They
have had considerable practice in hand
ling the great guns, in infantry tactics,
in short time, be capable to take their
places in the crew of any man-of-war
in the United States Navy.
The Ajax could, without delay, be
placed in a condition to render efficient
aid in defending the port of Philadelphia
Lieutenant Commander Dahlgreen, Com
mander of the Battalion of the West,
has, among his men, mechanics and en-
pineers and he is now busily engaged
in putting the boilers of his monitor
into condition. He will then organize
an engineering corpsy and he expects soon
10 be able to navigate the Ajax under
her own steam and by her own men.
Commander DaIhlgreen Is a son OF the
inventor of the Dahlgreen gun and a
veteran of the Rebellion. He served in
the Navy all through the war and saw
a great deal of service in the monitors.
The Battalion of the East, which is
boken, Newark, Orange and this vicin-
fly, is in an equally good shape for active
service. The men havey among their
officers. graduates c9 the Annapolis Naval