Your correspondent recently interviewed the Governor of New Jersey at newly established Camp Olden, named for his Excellency, Governor Charles S. Olden, where three New Jersey regiments are currently training to meet the enemy in decisive battle. The men are in excellent health and spirits and all are eager to be off to the seat of war. Camp Olden is situated in a salubrious and picturesque location about three miles from the City of Trenton. The camp was recently moved to this locale so that the troops would have less contact with certain unwholesome establishments within the town that were supplying the men with strong drink designed to destroy their health and well-being. I speak explicitly of the rum shops and houses of ill repute that formerly provided such unwholesome distraction from the soldiers' drill and camp duties.
Libelous accusations had been cast at the feet of the officers of the regiments, and even directed towards the Governor for not doing enough to prevent such unsavory practices as a few of the men were formerly wont to indulge. These spurious statements accusing the authorities of not dissuading and even permitting these aforementioned excesses by certain members of the regiments are detrimental to the character and good name of those who have been entrusted with the welfare of the troops. Having seen the conditions at Camp and having interviewed many of these same New Jersey volunteers, I can assure our readership that the men are well-fed, well-supplied and healthy. They are kept constantly at drill and vigorous exercise. Their only complaint is that they are champing at the bit and ever anxious to get at the Rebels. The men anxiously await the arrival of uniforms and arms from the Government, which are due to arrive within the week. They are generally serious, sober, enthusiastic and brave young men, awaiting their chance at making history, and a glorious name for themselves in the contest to come.
Governor Olden has tirelessly worked to raise troops and supply the necessities of these soldiers while simultaneously performing the various duties of his office. He is often found laboring long into the night, sleeping at his desk rather than at his comfortable mansion, "Drumthwacket." It is true the Governor had once supported the Fugitive Slave Act, but he has always been firmly opposed to the expansion of slavery. Before Fort Sumter, Governor Olden favored a peace compromise to avoid civil war. In fact, he was the only sitting governor to attend a Peace Conference of over 100 politicians held at Willard's Hotel in Washington City this February past. He told me he had attended the conference purely because his worst fear was that war would split his state asunder. Not an abolitionist, the Governor has always decried extremism both North and South, and he equates secession with anarchy. Though of the Quaker faith, nonetheless, he wholeheartedly supports the war effort to put down the wicked, unjust Rebellion.
Governor Olden was a member of the Whig Party when he entered political arena in 1844. He became a Republican after the dissolution of the Whigs and was elected the 19th governor of New Jersey on the Republican ticket in 1859, defeating his democratic rival, Edwin R. V. Wright. Olden is serving his second year in the governor's chair, and hopes to witness the crushing of the Rebellion ere long, and the Union preserved inviolate, before the third and final year of his term begins.
- H. J. W.
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| Henry Winser, New-York Times reporter, interviews New Jersey Governor Charles S. Olden (portrayed by Bruce L. Sirak) at Allaire Village [Photo courtesy of William Myers, USS Lehigh] |
