Politics & Government

Civil War Remembrance Planned In Toms River On Thursday

Tribute gets underway at noon in front of Ocean County Courthouse

Ocean County will commemorate the third year of the Civil War during a Sept. 12 afternoon ceremony in front of the Ocean County Courthouse featuring period music that has not been performed in more than 100 years.

“One of the highlights of this year’s program is a performance of the Grand March of the 9th Regiment, an original composition that we believe has not been performed for at least a century,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr.

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The tribute to the 9th New Jersey Infantry Regiment will be performed by a brass section from the Garden State Philharmonic.

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“We know that the 9th Regiment’s Company D was made up of mostly Ocean County residents,” said Bartlett, who is liaison to the Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

The program marking the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War begins at 12 noon in front of the Ocean County Courthouse, 118 Washington Street in Downtown Toms River.

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Exactly a century and a half ago Ocean County recruits mustered at this same location before marching off to battle.

In tribute to those men, the historic courthouse will be decorated with red, white and blue bunting identical to the banners that adorned the building during those bittersweet ceremonies.

“We still remember those brave soldiers who left their homes and fought for freedom all those years ago,” said Freeholder Director John P. Kelly, who also serves as Director of Law and Public Safety.

The program also includes local dignitaries reading Civil War-era articles from 1863 editions of the Ocean County Emblem, a local newspaper.

Union Army re-enactors will set up two tents and fire a cannon in a demonstration of Civil War military life.

Bartlett will also recite the Gettysburg Address, which was read by President Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago this November.

The Cultural and Heritage Commission has held a unique 150th Anniversary ceremony for every year of the war, a tradition that will continue through 2015.

“More than 800 veterans of that conflict are buried in Ocean County graves,” Bartlett said. “Many others were laid to rest on distant battlefields throughout our torn nation. It is fitting that we continue to pay tribute to these heroes today."



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