Confederate Commander Jubal Early, under orders from Robert E. Lee, drove the Union forces commanded by David Hunter out of Lynchburg, Virginia. Hunter led his troops in a withdrawal into West Virginia leaving an opening for Early to head east for a bold raid on Washington, D.C. Positioned between Early and Washington were the forces of Major General Lew Wallace ready to defend Washington at the stone bridge over the Monocacy River a few miles east of Frederick, Maryland and only 35 miles from Washington. Amongs Wallace's command were the 14th New Jersey Volunteer Regiment.
Upon arriving at Frederick, Early demanded $200.000
in cash from the townspeople or he would burn the town down to the ground.
The townspeople asked for time to raise the money. This delaying
tactic would eventually work to their advantage because, at 9AM on Saturday
July 9, 1864 fighting would break out in a wheat field on the west side
of Monocacy River distracting Early. The battle did not go well for
the Union forces. The 14th New Jersey Regiment would join the battle
about 3PM that afternoon. About that time the Union Forces, outnumbered
14,000 to 6,050, disengaged the enemy and were falling back in a fighting withdrawal.
Their valiant effort that day delayed Early's advance long enough for reinforcements
to arrive and turn back Early's advance on Washington. The Battle of Monocacy
had saved Washington from certain capture and was the last major offensive
by the Confederacy into the North.
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Amongst the 14th New Jersey Volunteers was F Companys's 20 year old
First Sergeant Henry "Harry" Clay Havens, who grew up, along with his three
brothers John, G. W. Abraham, Horatio and two sisters, Sarah and Emily, in
the Burrsville(Laurelton) section of Brick Township, New Jersey.
Henry's father Abraham O. S. Havens died in October of 1854 leaving
his wife Anna to raise the children. Henry's bothers and brother-in-law
were the proprietors of Havens' Brothers General Store in Burrsville.
In 1862, when President Lincoln's call went out for volunteers to fight
in the War Between the States, Henry volunteered on August 15th and was
mustered in on August 26, 1862, at Camp Vredenburgh, west of Freehold,
New Jersey, with the rest of the 14th Regiment. .
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The descendants of Henry "Harry" Clay Havens, have placed a memorial marker in the family plot in the cemetery of the First Babptist Church of Laurelton, Brick Township, New Jersey, as a reminder of a family member lost in a war to preserve a nation. |
©2016 Brick
Township Historical Society
P.O. Box 160
Brick, NJ 08723
contact [email protected]