Welcome to the resting place of the
Buffalo Soldiers – 22nd Regiment
United States Colored Troops
A small donation is all that is needed for the fondation to continue to service the cemetery and keep the memory of these forgotten men.
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The Civil War cemetary is a solomn place where our now not forgotten Black American Veterans have thier final resting place.
MAP A story of triumph and bravery. A story mostly noted in oral history or documented by their white commanding officers of their outstanding courage and bravery in the face of misery, disease and death. Our black NJ Troops assisted in the capturing of the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. I am proud to say they are the only black regiment that led in President Lincoln's funeral procession. The 22nd regiment and thousands of other black soldiers made great sacrifices to gain freedom for themselves, their families, and generations to come. United States of America is considered the Land of the free today because of the brave union soldiers who were willing to die for our liberty and freedom. Abraham Lincoln stated, "This war could not have been won against the south if not for the brave Colored Soldiers." They left us a legacy. It is up to us to continue to walk in this legacy and share our legacy with our children and our children's children.
Quote by Winston Churchill - "Those who forget their past are bound to repeat it." Please help in sharing our past so we can strive for a better future with liberty and justice for all
Peace and Love
Lisa Money “Sista Souljah”
Thank you: Gloucester County NAACP; New Jersey Buffalo Soldier; Gloucester County Veterans Affairs; Gloucester Board of Commissioners; Deptford NJ Lowes; GCIT-(Skills USA); Franklinville Diversity Inclusion and Ruth Kershaw of Franklinville, NJ
African Americans fought in every major campaign and battle during the last two years of the war earning twenty-five Medals of Honor. USCT regiments captured Charleston, the Cradle of Secession, and Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Lincoln recognized their contributions. He declared, “Without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the South could not have been won.”
This burial ground is the resting place for several African American Civil War soldiers and many early residents of Janvier whose markers have long since disappeared. Most of the soldiers mustered into service at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia to serve for a three year enlistment. They served as Privates, corporals and Sargeants in various companies. Most were free-born; some could read and write but all were eager to fight for freedom and citizenship. Charles Love also enlisted in the Regular Army after the Civil War and served as a Buffalo Soldier until 1894. Most information for these soldiers comes from military records and pension files.
The 22nd United States Colored Infantry (USCT) was organized in January 1864. With 681 Jerseymen on its rolls, it was the most “Jersey” of all USCT regiments. The Regiment left Philadelphia for Virginia at the end of January and served at Yorktown through April of 1864, where it was assigned to garrison duty and served on several reconnaissance missions.
The 22nd spent the Spring and early Summer constructing fortifications at Wilson’s Wharf and providing security along the James River. During this time, they often skirmished and repulsed Confederate cavalry probes. On June 15, 1864, the 22nd attached to the White XVIII Army Corp and attacked Petersburg, Virginia. The 22nd overran a Confederate trench line under a hail of bullets, and at sunset, attacked a well- armed Confederate fort splashing through a swamp, winning the fort.
For the next several months, the 22nd endured the dreary danger of siege warfare, ducking sniper bullets while sloshing through muddy trenches. When General Grant ordered an attack on Richmond, the 22nd moved onto New Market Heights where they attacked Confederate defenses on September 29, 1864. Under the command of Major J.B. Cook, the 22nd wheeled into battle sweeping the Rebel lines before them. From here the men were moved onto the grounds of the old Fair Oaks battlefield. Through command confusion, the Regiment became separated but managed to overrun a Confederate artillery position before they were pushed back by a Rebel counterattack.
In December 1864, the Regiment was assigned to the newly formed XXV Corp, the only all Black army corps in United States history. December to April of 1865, the 22nd remained in the trenches before Richmond dodging bullets and shells, and battling lice and rats along with Confederate troops.
With the Spring came the final Union push on the Richmond - Petersburg line. As the Confederates fled Richmond, elements of the XXV Corps marched into the Confederate capital, with the 22nd regiment among the first foot soldiers to enter the city.
After General Lee’s surrender, the 22nd marched to Washington and participated in President Lincoln’s funeral procession followed by their deployment on the Maryland side of th
e Potomac as the army hunted John Wilkes Booth. With Booth’s capture and death, the 22nd still had one more job to complete. The French had installed Emperor Maximillian in Mexico in violation of the Monroe Doctrine. The XXV Corps, including the 22nd, was sent to Texas to intimidate the French while pacifying the former Confederate state. They patrolled the Rio Grande border until their recall to Philadelphia in October 1865 where they were mustered out of service.
The accomplishments of USCT Regiments Trained at Camp William Penn.
The 3rd USCT was the first regiment trained at Camp William Penn in the summer of1863, when Confederate and Uniom forces clashed not too far away at Gettysburgh, Pa.
The 3rd, 
whose members were not allowed to parade through Philadelphia upon departing camp for fear of racial animosity spurred by the spectacle of blacks in uniform carrying weapons, would go on to participate in the siege of fort wadner on Morris Island, South Carolina.
The great abolitionist and Union recruiter, Frederick Douglas, likely on july 24, 1863, spoke to the 3rd USCT about their importance in the Civil War as some of America's first black federal soldiers...
"the fortunes of the whole race for generations
to come are bound up in the success or failure of the 3rd Regiment of colored troops from the North.
You are a spectacle for men and angels. You are in a manner to answer the question: can the black man be a soldier? That we can now make soldiers of these men, there can be no doubt ! "
Douglass' powerful words resonated with many of the soldiers who, like him, where ex-slaves.
North Carolina
Private U.S. Army
Died
Jan 19,1938
Private 22nd Regiment
US Colored Troups
Joined Jan 5th, 1864 Phila. Pa
Mustard out of service
Fort Monroe, Va
June 18, 1865
Sargent 22nd Regiment
US Colored Volunteers
Died
May 10th 1905
Died Aug 19th, 1915
Aged 79 Years
Private Company J 22nd Regiment
US Colored Volunteers
Posted Jun 03, 2019
Members of the 22nd United States Colored Troops re-enactment group, the 7th NJ Volunteer Infantry and another regiment from Pennsylvania do a gun salute to honor the Civil War Soldiers who were members of the 22nd regiment. (Barry Carter | NJAdvance Media)(Barry Carter NJ | Advance Media)
By Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
It was the last day of school when a bus aide had Lisa Money pull the bus over to the side of a muddy country road in Franklinville.
Ms. Marie was her name – that’s all Money can remember. She got off the bus on that rainy day in 2009 and waded into the middle of a field filled with tall grass and weeds on Tuckahoe Road.
Money followed the woman, but she didn’t see anything, not even the tombstones of Civil War soldiers that Ms. Marie wanted her to notice. They were members of the 22nd United States Colored Troops (USCT).
“She said, ‘I’m showing this to you because people have forgotten about it and nobody is doing anything, so I thought if I told, you’d do something about it,’" said Money, recalling their conversation.
Money, a Sicklerville resident who no longer drives a bus, did something selfless. She appointed herself caretaker for this small burial ground, which also contains veterans from World War I and World II.
Tombstone of Andrew Jackson, a member of the 22nd United States Colored Troops. (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media)(Barry Carter NJ | Advance Media)
After every winter, Money and her daughter, Faith, cut the grass, pulled weeds and lugged large branches to the side of the road. This year, though, she was getting tired, and needed more help with the upkeep. And, she wanted to honor the soldiers with some kind of sign to tell their story.
The troop was organized at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia in 1864, and over 681 men in the regiment were from New Jersey. Robert Bowell, an American Civil War Reenactor for the 22nd USCT, said they were the first troops to enter Richmond, Virginia at the fall of the Confederacy and they escorted President Abraham Lincoln to the Confederate White House.
During the welcome home parade, he said the 22nd USCT was the only black regiment invited. Days later, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth and the troop took part in the search for him. (Lincoln, who was impressed by their service with him in Richmond, had previously requested that the troop be part of his funeral procession.)
Many in the area didn’t know this troop’s history, let alone that they were buried in Franklinville, until Money began to talk about them.
Lisa Money, of Sicklerville, speaks at dedication ceremony to honor the 22nd United States Colored Troops. Her daughter, Faith Money, next to her on the right. Both women took care of the cemetery where the soldiers are buried in Franklinville (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media)(Barry Carter NJ | Advance Media)
The Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council took an interest when Money told the group about the cemetery and asked for funding to erect a historical marker. One of its members, Robert Jonas, put her in touch with the Gloucester County Institute of Technology, which was looking for a service project.
Thirty students from the school volunteered to clean up the cemetery in April -- cutting down old trees, putting in new ones and painting the fence.
Money figured some kind of dedication would be appropriate as word spread about the cemetery.
That happened this past Saturday during a memorial ceremony in which the cemetery was named the Buffalo Soldiers – 22nd Regiment United States Colored Troop to pay tribute for their sacrifice.
Members of the New Jersey Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club bow their head during dedication ceremony to honor the 22nd United States Colored Troops (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media)(Barry Carter NJ | Advance Media)
None of the Civil War troops are Buffalo Soldiers, the all-black 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments who were formed a year after the Cvil War ended in 1865.
Harris Grant, president of the New Jersey Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club, said he was honored to have the burial ground named after the organization when Money reached out to him. The call went out to its members and they came from northern, central and southern New Jersey. Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York members showed up, too.
About 100 people gathered at the dedication, which featured a gun salute from members of the 22nd USCT re-enactment group, the 7th NJ Volunteer Infantry and another regiment from Pennsylvania.
“We don’t like to see any soldiers in the past forgotten," Bowell said. “It’s a great opportunity to remind people of the sacrifices that they made."
A Camden color guard from The American Legion Hudson-Adams Carpenter Post 473 was on hand for the somber remembrance. Robert Costello, an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, dressed as the president and delivered remarks about the war.
A Camden color guard from The American Legion Hudson-Adams Carpenter Post 473 participates in dedication ceremony to honor the 22nd United States Colored Troops. (Barry Carter | NJ Advance Media)(Barry Carter NJ | Advance Media)
Money’s daughter, Faith, became emotional, telling the crowd she dreamed of this day.
“I can’t stop shaking because my heart and my spirit is just proud and it’s just screaming," she said. “Thank you, God, for allowing everyone like this to come together."
Speakers praised Money and her daughter for making people aware of the cemetery when they quietly began to look after it. Passersby would stop and ask what Money was doing and she would explain. They caught the attention of Dave Faubell, who owns an adjacent farm and helped them clear the brush. He grew up there, and said many cemeteries in the area were once maintained by churches. This one, he said, was cared for by a church in Williamstown until the late 1960s or 1970s.
“I’m so grateful that somebody took an interest." he said. “There’s a spiritual connection to living next to hallowed ground."
It’s sacred for Money, too. She’s been to Washington, D.C, and has seen their names on the wall at the African American Civil War Museum. In some way, Money said she feels like the soldiers chose her to care for their resting place.
“I can’t explain it. I don’t know what kept me going," she said. “I just did it. I didn’t I think about stopping."
Everyone should be glad you didn’t, either, when you followed Ms. Marie off that bus.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY, N.J. (WPVI) -- Scores of volunteers armed with a tractor, saws, rakes and other tools converged on a small parcel of land just off Tuckahoe Road in Franklinville in Gloucester County.
Their mission: a one a day blitz operation to clear out heavy brush that surrounded and obscured a once forgotten cemetery.
The space is the final resting place for a number of African American military veterans, including one who served in World War I, another in World War II, and at least three who fought in the American Civil War.
For years Lisa Money and her daughter Faith had been volunteer caretakers. They had learned of the cemetery from a neighbor. For years, a mother and daughter had worked to make the space presentable, clear weeds, keep the grass cut and battle poison ivy.
Today the pair got major help from dozens of students and staff from the Gloucester County Institute of Technology. It was part of an outreach effort by the school's chapter of SkillsUSA, a student organization that as part of its mission, encourages its members to use their skills to help others in their community.
The three Civil War veterans buried were members of United States Colored Troops 22d Regiment--African American soldiers who fought in Virginia, and later were part of Lincoln's funeral procession.
The volunteers who helped clean up the cemetery include workers from the local Lowe's home improvement store. The store donated paint and new plantings around the border of the once neglected cemetery.
Lisa Money says it does not appear the cemetery was ever given a name. She is planning on having a formal naming ceremony on the morning of June 1.
The name will be "The Buffalo Soldiers, United States Colored Troops, 22nd Regiment Cemetery." It is located in Franklinville at the intersection of Tuckahoe Rd and Sheridan Ave.
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3501 Tuckahoe Road Franklinville, Gloucester County, New Jersey, 08322 USA
