The 12th New Jersey Infantry Regiment was a Union Army regiment from New Jersey that fought in the American Civil War. Service Foundation The 12th New Jersey Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Stockton in Woodbury, New Jersey, in the summer of 1862 in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for an additional 300,000 men for the Union Army. After training through the summer, it was officially mustered into the Union Army on September 4, 1862. Early service The regiment's first assignment was guard duty in Ellicott Mills, Maryland. It first went on duty there on September 8, and remained until December 10. It then moved to Washington, D.C. where it joined the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac. It then moved with the corps to Falmouth, Virginia, reporting there on December 20 and remaining encamped there for the winter. This posting lasted until April 27, 1863, when it led the corps's crossing of the Rappahannock River just prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the course of that battle, it engaged Confederate forces east of the town of Chancellorsville on the morning of May 1. The next day, the regiment joined with the rest of II Corps in forming a defensive line. On May 3, the regiment fell back to protect the corps's artillery units and sustained heavy fire. After the conclusion of the battle, it was ordered back to Falmouth and remained there until the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign in July. Gettysburg Campaign After Confederate cavalry was reported near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the regiment was ordered north to help screen Washington, D.C. It then moved toward Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, arriving early on July 2. Soon afterward, Company I of the regiment was sent to the skirmish line, but full combat had not yet begun and it sustained only minimal casualties. Throughout that day, intense fighting raged around a farm owned by William Bliss. By the mid-afternoon, the Union held the barn and the Confederacy held the house. The 1st Delaware regiment and Company I of the 12th New Jersey relieved the New York troops holding the area and moved past the farm to a fence near the house. At approximately 4 p.m., the regiment's Captain Henry F. Chew observed that Confederate General Carnot Posey was gradually bringing in reinforcements so that he could build a force sufficient to dislodge the Union forces holding the barn without drawing