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Construction on Camp Vredenburg began on July 22, 1862. It was one of ten Civil War boot camps built in New Jersey, and its
purpose was to train Union soldiers recruited or drafted from central New Jersey. The camp remained active until late January
1864, was then disassembled and the lumber was shipped to Trenton.
The exact location of Camp Vredenburg has been
debated for years. It was originally a farm lot belonging to Jacob Herbert, but was leased by the state of New Jersey as a
training camp because of its easy access to the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad. Access to this railroad enabled
movement of troops and supplies to the camp. Although the general location of the camp is known because of a property deed,
the exact layout of the camp remains unknown. Following is a description of the property that appeared in the Monmouth Democrat
on July 17, 1862:
"The campground has been located on a fine field on the farm of Jacob Herbert, Esq., about two miles from the village
on the line of the railroad. It has plenty of good water for drinking and bathing purposes, a fine grove of trees on the rear
will afford shelter form the heat of the sun, it is convenient access from all parts of the district, and just the right distance
from the town for the comfort of both soldiers and citizens."
The camp was named after local judge Peter Vredenburg. His son, Peter Jr., was elected Major of the first regiment to train
there. The regiments mustered out of Camp Vredenburg were the 14th, 28th, 29th, and Company H of the 35th.
The
Monmouth County Historical Association has a photograph of Camp Vredenburg showing one of the main camp streets, which is
lined with a large number of tall flag poles made from what appear to be local trees. In order to keep these poles erect,
they would have to have been embedded several feet deep in the sandy soil. This means that there is a high probably of postmolds
being intact below the plow zone. It has also been suggested that Camp Vredenburg would have had wall tents, wooden barracks,
a guard house, a hospital, a cook house, and sinks. These structures may also have associated features intact below the plow
zone.
WHAT WE'VE FOUND: Over the past several years, Deep Search Metal Detecting Club and two archaeological field schools from
local college have unearthed both historic artifacts and prehistoric Native American artifacts in their search for Camp Vredenburg.
We know that the site has been disturbed by agricultural use and rumors suggest that the area has been looted. However, along
the banks of Weamaconk Creek, a large sampling of prehistoric pottery was found, along with a significant multi-component
Native American habitation site. In another area, a series of prehistoric postmolds were found along with related Woodland
Period Native American artifacts. Elsewhere on the property, a small sample of Archaic Native American projectile points were
also excavated.
As for historic artifacts, during a supervised archaeological field outing, members of Boy Scout Troop 358 excavated a late
19th-early 20th century trash pit consisting primarily of bottles.
Thus far, over 300 historic artifacts have been excavated from the site of Camp Vredenburg, including percussion caps, bottle
glass, ceramics, kaolin clay pipe and bowl fragments, and bent hand-wrought square nails. Further investigations are necessary
to locate the elusive Camp Vredenburg.
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