The Historical Society of Princeton opened a new exhibition in Fall 2006 concerning Princeton and its role in the Civil War. Princeton’s Civil War opened to the public Tuesday, October 17, 2006 and ran through Sunday, July 15, 2007.

The War of the Rebellion; the War Between the States; the Civil War: by any name, it was the 19th century’s most lethal conflict. Movies and books about the Civil War often focus on where the battles were fought. Although the actual fighting never got much closer than 200 miles from Princeton, the war was fought here, too. As the fighting raged, the people of Princeton followed the bloodshed, fretted over the fates of their families, neighbors, and friends, and debated the great issues of federal authority and race that precipitated the war. Few families were untouched.

The war began in 1861 with each side naively optimistic it would dispatch the other; but instead of a quick march, the conflict became protracted. The Lincoln administration quickly realized the insufficiency of its April 1861 plan to suppress the rebellion with 75,000 three-month volunteers. In May, it called for additional enlistees to serve for three years, or the duration of the war. More than 10,000 New Jerseymen, including many from Princeton, enrolled in 1861. Initially the fighting went badly for the Union, until a number of battlefield wins in early 1862 brought much of the south under Federal control, and made a swift Union triumph seem achievable. In the summer of 1862, the Confederates regained momentum, and by September, Union troops were backpedaling. Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation turned the war to save the Union into a war to end slavery, but much of the North, including Princeton, was lukewarm about emancipation. That year, the Union began recruiting African-Americans in earnest. New Jersey did not form a black unit, so African-Americans from Princeton, and elsewhere, served in units organized by other states, particularly Pennsylvania, or in the United States Colored Troops. After important late-1863 wins, most notably at Gettysburg, a Federal triumph in 1864 seemed possible. Southern resistance stiffened again, however, and mid-1864 saw some of the bloodiest months of the war. The fall 1864 capture of Atlanta, along with victories in Virginia, once more returned momentum to the Federals and the war finally ended with an unconditional Confederate surrender on April 9, 1865.

Numerous Princetonians distinguished themselves during the War. Margaret Breckinridge (1832-1864), raised as a child in the household of her maternal grandfather, Samuel Miller (professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary), served as a war nurse. In 1862, she set out on her own for Lexington, Kentucky, where she served briefly. She then headed north to St. Louis from where she twice sailed down the Mississippi on a hospital ship to bring sick and wounded troops from the front. A grandson of Richard Stockton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, David Hunter (1802-1866), a graduate of West Point, was badly hurt in 1861 at the first Battle of Bull Run. Sometimes called Lincoln’s “abolitionist general,” Hunter subsequently raised an African-American regiment in South Carolina, one of the first. African-American veterans of Princeton recognized Hunter’s pioneering racial politics by naming their G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) post in his memory.

Featuring images and newspaper accounts, Princeton’s Civil War documents the town and University’s response to the outbreak of war. Upon the proclamations of war and calls for volunteers by President Abraham Lincoln and New Jersey Governor Charles Smith Olden, the national flag was hoisted over the Princeton Theological Seminary, Nassau Hall, and several private residences. The southern students of the college left campus; none returned until after the end of the war. Princeton men populated all of the first four New Jersey regiments initially stationed in Camp Princeton in Arlington, Virginia, with the purpose of guarding Washington, D.C. Soldiers’ items illustrate their life on the front and the Panorama of the Seat of War, an 1864 map, helps demonstrate how nearly every major battle of the Civil War involved Princeton men. At home in Princeton, women knitted socks and mittens, collected food and other items for the soldiers at the front. Commemorative publications, personal scrapbooks, reunion badges and pins will testify to the legacy of the war in the memories of local residents.

This exhibition is assisted by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. Additional support is provided by Princeton Financial Systems—State Street; and the American Legion, Princeton Post No. 76. The Historical Society of Princeton is open Tuesday through Sunday, 12PM – 4PM. Admission is free. For more information call (609) 921-6748.

Links

Civil War Clothing, Civil War Fabrics, Brown Sheep and Jagger Spun Yarns, 19th-century Yarn Kits, & Fashion Information from the Civil War era
http://www.robinstokes.com

Gettysburg National Military Park
http://www.nps.gov/gett