UNIT: 1st New Jersey Cavalry
HOMETOWN: Shamong
BORN/DIED: 1837–1905
RANK: Private
GRAVE LOCATION: Old Tabernacle Cemetery, Row 55 Lot 5
Approximate Grave Location:
[GRAVE MAP PLACEHOLDER: Frank Gardner]
Old Tabernacle Cemetery, Row 55 Lot 5
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Hear My Story
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Read My Story
I was born in 1837. I lived in Shamong and worked as a farm laborer. At the age of 24, I enlisted in the Union Army on August 17, 1861. I served as a Private in the 1st NJ Cavalry Regiment. My regiment served until the end of the war and participated in 97 engagements, including the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1-3, 1863. The battle at Gettysburg brought 269 men from the 1st NJ Cavalry Regiment to the field. On the afternoon of July 2, an assault was made upon the position occupied by my regiment, but it was easily repulsed, and at night we fell back upon the Baltimore Pike to bivouac until the morrow. We contributed to the victory that day. At Gettysburg, we lost only 9 soldiers; however, the overall casualty toll was nearly 35,000 on both sides, with 9,000 or more on each side.
My regiment was present at Appomattox Court House when General Lee and his army surrendered on April 9, 1865. By the end of the war, the First New Jersey Cavalry Regiment lost 12 officers and 116 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and 4 officers and 185 enlisted men to disease.
I was discharged on September 17, 1864, and received a check for $52.73 for my service. At the end of the war, I married Elizabeth Rogers and lived in Shamong; we had 11 children. I later became a woodcutter, and at the time of my death in 1905, I had been married for 41 years. I was 68 years old.
(Frank Gardner discharge document)
(Frank Garner from Ancestry.com)
(Frank Gardner payment receipt)
Frank Gardner (Old Tabernacle Cemetery Row 55 Lot 5)
Timeline
1837: Born.
August 17, 1861: Enlisted in the Union Army; served as a Private in the 1st New Jersey Cavalry.
July 1–3, 1863: Served with his regiment at Gettysburg.
September 17, 1864: Discharged; received $52.73 for his service.
After military service: Married Elizabeth Rogers, lived in Shamong, and raised a family of eleven children.
Later life: Worked as a woodcutter.
1905: Died at the reported age of 68.
