Tabernacle Historical Society

I speak for Private Charles L. Bowker. I was born in 1829 and died in 1905. I was mustered in as a Private in Company I of the 5th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry on October 9, 1861, and served a full three years of duty in the field. I was honorably discharged on November 26, 1864.

During my military service, I participated in over two dozen battles. Our engagements began in the spring of 1862 and continued into the winter of 1864, with a new engagement occurring every month, sometimes twice a month. During this time, 223 lives were lost or critically injured, consisting of 12 officers and 126 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 85 enlisted men who died from disease. Our regiment is honored by a monument at Gettysburg.

You may be familiar with many of our battles, such as the Siege of Yorktown (April 10-May 5), the Battle of Williamsburg (May 5, 1862), and the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. (December 12-15). We were at Falmouth until April 27, 1863. Other notable engagements include the “Mud March” (January 20-24), operations at Rappahannock Bridge and Grove Church (February 5-7), the Chancellorsville Campaign (April 27-May 6), the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1-5), the Gettysburg Campaign (June 11-July 24), the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3), and the pursuit of Lee to Manassas Gap (July 5-24). We also fought at Spottsylvania Court House (May 12-21), the assault on the Salient, “Bloody Angle,” and Petersburg (June 16 to November 6, 1864). Our regiment was consolidated with the 7th New Jersey Infantry on November 6, 1864.