Exhibit spotlights New Jersey troops' role in Civil War

On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the flag was carried into the heaviest fighting. It was tattered by .58-caliber bullets and spattered with blood.

Ten Confederate soldiers who bore the banner were killed protecting it. "No man can take those colors and live," said an officer in the 26th North Carolina Regiment.

He was wrong.

The 12th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry ultimately captured the red battle flag during the climax of the three-day 1863 clash, known as Pickett's Charge.

It became part of New Jersey's proud Civil War history - and is now one of 170 state-related artifacts, largely assembled by Mount Holly historian and author Paul Loane, for the sesquicentennial of the conflict.

The exhibit, called "Gone for a Soldier - Jerseymen in the Civil War," will open Sunday at the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown and will run through July 1.

"Almost everything in the collection has a personal history to it," said Loane, the exhibit's cocurator, who is related to six men who fought for the Union. "I selected things that were actually used by soldiers and all have little stories to go with them."

Loane, 63, retired director of alumni relations at Rutgers University-Camden, arranged to borrow the artifacts from museums and personal collections in New Jersey and nearby states, including the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va. He believes the exhibit is the largest public assemblage of New Jersey-related relics.

"The flag [of the 26th North Carolina] certainly symbolizes some of the most climactic moments of the nation's greatest struggle," Loane said. "It's one of those enduring symbols of the South's 'lost cause,' and recalls the bravery of men on both sides."

Among the items in the exhibit are a blue forage cap worn by Pvt. William Button of the Fifth New Jersey Volunteers when he was mortally wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg; a frock coat and cloak worn by Gen. Phil Kearny, who later had a New Jersey town named after him; and the Medal of Honor awarded to Andrew Tomlin of Goshen, Cape May County, after he "advanced under a withering fire of musketry" to rescue a wounded comrade.

"The whole point of displaying these artifacts and mementos is to recall the service of those veterans and evoke the passion for their deeds so they won't be forgotten and we can learn from the past," said Andy Waskie, a Civil War historian, author, and professor of languages at Temple University.

"This is a significant collection, particularly when you consider that New Jersey sent fewer troops to serve than the larger surrounding states of Pennsylvania and New York," he said.

Fifteen of the relics in the new exhibit, including posters, insignia, firearms, and tintype images, are from Loane's own collection.

Loane has collected Civil War memorabilia since he was 10. He focused largely on uniforms, headgear, photography, and gear that can be traced to individual soldiers.

He coauthored U.S. Army Headgear 1812-1872 in 2003, was a contributing editor to National Geographic's Eyewitness to the Civil War, and contributed to the Time-Life series on the war.

"I helped put together the exhibit on my own initiative," said Loane, who worked with the New Jersey Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee, a state-chartered volunteer group that has been organizing events to commemorate the anniversary.

"I knew where all these wonderful things were from my own visits to private collectors, historical societies, and museums throughout my life, and I really wanted to bring them together in a coherent public exhibition," he said. "My colleagues on the committee found the venue."

Among the items in the collection is the tailor-made, fox-trimmed cap used by Union Col. William Hatch of Camden when he was relaxing in camp. He was shot through the thigh at the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg and died two days later.

One of the most compelling pieces is a overcoat worn by Capt. J. Howard Willetts when he was shot five times - but only slightly wounded - during the Battle of Williamsburg in 1862.

One bullet tore through the coat and hit a large brass button but barely scratched his chest. Others nicked his hand, boot, and other clothing while also killing a comrade and breaking a musket in two.

Willetts wore the repaired coat with pride afterward but lost his life at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, Loane said.

Even relics as small as a bullet have colorful stories to tell. One Minié ball in the exhibit was taken from the knee of Capt. Edward Stratton of Mullica Hill after he was shot and had his leg amputated at Chancellorsville.

"He kept the bullet in a little change purse until his dying day," Loane said. "The bullet was worn from handling by family and friends."

"After the war, he became a truant officer," Loane said. "He sat on his porch and watched the kids go to and from school. The children were frightened of him because he had one leg."

In Mount Holly, the basement of Loane's home is a museum and library, with hundreds of books and display cases filled with uniforms, swords, muskets and belt buckles, including one with a Minié ball still embedded in it.

One of his favorites items - an ornate sword - belonged to his great-grandfather, Thomas Porterfield, a 19-year-old Union second lieutenant in the Second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. Porterfield's soldiers had given it to him during the siege of Petersburg in 1864. It's engraved with the words, "Victory Crowns the Brave."

"We're really not that far removed from the war," Loane said. "These artifacts are our connection to these men who laid their lives on the line and at the same time brought glory to themselves and their state."