Peter Vredenburgh Jr.

Who was Peter Vredenburgh Jr.?

Peter Vredenburgh was a lawyer and Union Army Major in the American Civil War. He was born in Freehold Township, New Jersey the son of Peter Vredenburgh, Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He studied law in Poughkeepsie, New York and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1859 and moved to Eatontown, New Jersey, where he practiced law.

When President Lincoln called for volunteers to help preserve the Union Vredenburgh joined the 14th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Regiment at Camp Vredenburgh, Freehold, New Jersey, and was commissioned major. The 14th New Jersey Infantry was attached to the Army of the Potomac and served in the Eastern Campaigns. Vredenburgh served in various staff appointments until after the Battle of Monocacy when he requested and was granted permission to return to his regiment. He was killed September 19, 1864 at Winchester, Virginia in the Battle of Opequon.

His letters to family and friends remain a significant source of documentation of the lives and struggles of Civil War soldiers and their opinions of the Army and the conduct of the war.