12th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry The 12th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry was a Union Army regiment from New Jersey that fought in the American Civil War . Service . Foundation . The regiment was organized at Camp Stockton in Woodbury , New Jersey in the summer of 1862 in response to President Abraham Lincoln ' s call for an additional 300 , 000 men for the Union Army . After training through the summer , it was officially mustered into the Union Army on September 4 , 1862 . Early service . The regiment ' s first assignment was guard duty in Ellicott Mills , Maryland . It first went on duty there on September 8 , and remained until December 10 . It then moved to Washington , D . C . where it joined the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac . It then moved with the corps to Falmouth , Virginia , reporting there on December 20 and remaining encamped there for the winter . This posting lasted until April 27 , 1863 when it led the corps ' s crossing of the Rappahannock River just prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville . In the course of that battle , it engaged Confederate forces east of the town of Chancellorsville on the morning of May 1 . The next day , the regiment joined with the rest of II Corps in forming a defensive line . On May 3 , the regiment fell back to protect the corps ' s artillery units and sustained heavy fire . After the conclusion of the battle , it was ordered back to Falmouth and remained there until the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign in July . Gettysburg Campaign . After Confederate cavalry was reported near Chambersburg , Pennsylvania , the regiment was ordered north to help screen Washington , D . C . It then moved toward Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , arriving early on July 2 . Soon afterward , Company I of the regiment was sent to the skirmish line , but full combat had not yet begun and it sustained only minimal casualties . Throughout that day , intense fighting raged around a farm owned by William Bliss . By the mid - afternoon , the Union held the barn and the Confederacy held the house . The 1st Delaware regiment and Company I of the 12th New Jersey relieved the New York troops holding the area and moved past the farm to a fence near the house . At approximately 4 p . m . , the regiment ' s Captain Henry Chew observed that Confederate General Carnot Posey was gradually bringing in reinforcements so that he could build a force sufficient to dislodge the Union forces holding the barn without drawing attention to it . He reported this to the 1st Delaware ' s Lieutenant Colonel Edward Harris , but his warning was rebuffed and ignored . His report was , however , accurate : Posey had gathered nearly 700 men , which proceeded to attack and force the Union forces into retreat . At 5 p . m that day , Union general William Hays ordered the barn retaken . Companies B , E , H , and G of the 12th New Jersey , under the command of Captain Samuel Jobes , were chosen for the task . They were fired upon by both sharpshooters in the Bliss buildings and artillery batteries on the nearby Seminary Ridge and sustained heavy casualties . However , they were able to reach the farmyard and , upon so doing , fired a volley of buck and ball into the barn . They then surrounded and seized control of it , capturing about 50 of the sharpshooters within . However , the Confederacy retained control of the house and had sharpshooters there that continued to harry Union troops . General Hays ordered that the soldiers in the barn capture the house . A company of the 12th New Jersey proceeded to do so , capturing more enemy troops . In total , the regiment captured 92 men , including seven officers . The farm was held overnight and through the next morning , until the regiment burned it prior to rejoining the II Corps lines at the commencement of Pickett ' s Charge . After Gettysburg . After the end of the Battle of Gettysburg and the subsequent pursuit of the Confederate Army , the regiment was assigned to duty on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad . This lasted until September 12 , when it was part of an advance from the Rapidan to the Rappahannock River . The regiment then participated in the Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns , the latter ending on December 2 . Afterward , the regiment encamped for the winter at Stevensburg , Virginia until May 3 , 1864 . After wintering , the regiment was a part of the newly promoted Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ' s southern attack in the Battle of the Wilderness . Although the regiment was not fully engaged during this battle , it took serious casualties , with one officer killed and several others wounded . It then participated in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House , where it suffered similarly . Lieutenant Colonel Davis , one of the wounded from the Wilderness , led the regiment in this battle and was killed . Command was assumed by Captain McCoomb , who was subsequently killed during the Battle of Cold Harbor . Moving on with Grant ' s southern push , the regiment was a part of the Siege of Petersburg from June 16 to April 2 , 1865 . Soon afterward , it was present at Battle of Appomattox Court House and Robert E . Lee ' s surrender to Grant . After the surrender , the regiment marched to Washington , D . C . , and served duty there until it officially mustered out on July 15 . Over the course of the war , 9 of the regiment ' s officers and 168 of its enlisted men were killed or suffered mortal wound s , and 99 enlisted men died from disease . Monument . In 1886 , a monument to the regiment was dedicated at Gettysburg National Military Park . The monument is located on North Hancock Avenue , near the site of the regiment ' s fighting at Gettysburg .