Battle of Salem Church • Tour the Battlefield
The monument to the 23rd New Jersey Infantry Regiment is on the south side of Plank Road (Virginia Route 3) 4 miles west of downtown Fredericksburg and 1.5 miles west of exit 130 on Interstate 95. (see map below)
About the monument
The monument is a tall shaft topped with a statue of an infantryman. The base is in the form of a crenellated castle with square bronze tablets on each side and a round bronze of the Seal of the State of New Jersey on the front. The front of the shaft has a relief of crossed rifles and an ammunition pouch, with the cross symbol of the Union 6th Corps between the muzzles of the rifles. The monument was erected in 1906 by the State of New Jersey.
The 23rd New Jersey was recruited for nine months service in the fall of 1862 and was due to muster out in five weeks. It would volunteer to extend its enlistment during the crisis of Lee’s invasion of the North during the Gettysburg campaign. Colonel E. Burd Grubb, a 21 year old fifth generation member of the Grubb Iron Dynasty, commanded the regiment.
Text from the front (north side) of the monument:
23rd Regt., N. J. Vols.
Monument to commemorate the services of the Twenty-Third Regiment New Jersey Volunteers Infantry, in the battle of Salem Church, Virginia, May 3rd, 1863.
Erected by the State of New Jersey, under the authority of an act passed at the session of 1906. Introduced in the House of Assembly by Samuel K. Robbins, Speaker. Approved by Edward C. Stokes, Governor.
Commissioners: Genl. E. Burd Grubb; Capt. E. H. Kirkbride; O. M. S. Thomas J. Alcott.
Thomas Manson & Son, Builders, Red Bank, N.J.
From the west side of the monument:
To the memory of our heroic comrades, who gave their lives for their Country’s unity, on this battlefield, this tablet is dedicated.
From the rear (south side) of the monument:
Our Colonel, E. Burd Grubb.
From the east side of the monument:
To the brave Alabama boys, our opponents on this field of battle, whose memory we honor, this tablet is dedicated.
Rededication tablet
Text from the tablet at the base of the monument:
This site rededicated
May 16, 1964
Civil War Centennial Commission
State of New Jersey
Richard J. Hughes
Governor
Flank marker for the 23rd New Jersey Infantry Regiment
Map and directions to the monument to the 23rd New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The monument is on the south side of Plank Road (Virginia Route 3) 4 miles west of downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia and 1.5 miles west of exit 130 on Interstate 95. (38° 17.375′ N, 77° 31.805′ W)