The 14th New Jersey monument is a memorial monument located on the Monocacy battlefield

Monocacy National Battlefield

Monocacy National Battlefield is a unit of the National Park Service, the site of the Battle of Monocacy Junction in the American Civil War fought on July 9, 1864. The battlefield straddles the Monocacy River southwest of the city of Frederick, Maryland. The battle, labeled "The Battle That Saved...

 in Frederick, Maryland

Frederick, Maryland

Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...

 that stands to honor the men of the volunteer force that protected the Monocacy Junction during the crucial winter of 1863-1864. Their halting of Confederate troops from advancing Northward played a significant role in the Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 territory control.

Construction and dedication

"The monument is constructed of granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 and measures about 24 feet high, topped by a sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 of an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 soldier. The front of the monument features a Greek cross along with two bronze tablets. The 14th New Jersey Monument was the first of five monuments to be erected on the battlefield. The dedication ceremony, held on July 11, 1907, was attended by 180 survivors of the regiment."

Plaques

"Erected by the State of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 to commemorate the heroic services of the 14th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac

Army of the Potomac

The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...

, at the Battle of Monocacy

Battle of Monocacy

The Battle of Monocacy was fought on July 9, 1864, just outside Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864, in the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace...

, MD July 9, 1864.
The 14th Regiment New Jersey Volunteers was organized on the Monmouth Battle Ground, and mustered in the United States service near Freehold, New Jersey August 26th, 1862, and was mustered out June 18th, 1865, near Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

"



"The Union forces commanded by General Lew Wallace

Lew Wallace

Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...

 on the battlefield so stubbornly opposed the Confederate troops under General Jubal A. Early

Jubal Anderson Early

Jubal Anderson Early was a lawyer and Confederate general in the American Civil War. He served under Stonewall Jackson and then Robert E. Lee for almost the entire war, rising from regimental command to lieutenant general and the command of an infantry corps in the Army of Northern Virginia...

as to assure the safety of the National Capital."

Rededication

The final plaque was dedicated after an extensive restoration of the monument and its rededication:
"We commemorate the 100th anniversary of this monument and rededicate it in honor of those who served with pride and distinction in the 14th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. One hundred years ago, in a time of healing, the surviving veterans came here to remember their comrades and their sacrifices. We gather here today to honor them anew. Their struggle to preserve the Union must never be forgotten.
The New Jersey Civil War History Association July 7, 2007"