Medal of Honor recipient, Lt. William Brant, a native of Elizabeth, enlisted in the Army in in Trenton at the onset of the Civil War, serving at first as a corporal in Company I of the 1St. New Jersey Volunteer Infantry., He was promoted to sergeant eight months later and to lieutenant in September, 1862.
When the enlistment times of the company expired in 1864, Brant and the other surviving members of the Company re-listed and were mustered into the NJ Veterans Battalion; he was then promoted to 1St lieutenant of Company B.
Medal of Honor
It was as such on April 3, 1865, that Lt. Brant participated in the final assaults on Confederate positions at Petersburg, Va., and he successfully captured the battle flag of the 46th North Carolina Infantry, the incident that was cited in his receipt of the Medal of Honor on May 10, 1865. The citation merely describes the reason as “Capture of battle flag of 46th North Carolina (CSA).
Lt. Brant was promoted to Brevet Captain and mustered out of service at the end of the Civil War, having served the entire length of the war. He had served in the second Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, amongst others.
The officer’s life remained active after his discharge. Returning to his native Elizabeth in Union County, he joined the Elizabeth Police Department, rising to the rank of police captain there in 1888.
The Elizabeth Police Department has a detailed history of the department from its start earlier in the century, including a story about Capt. Branch’s actions while a captain.
According to the department’s records, “Police Chief Austin and Brant, both Civil War Vets immediately introduced features of the military model policing. Rigid discipline along with an authoritarian and hierarchical organization became the benchmark of the Elizabeth Police Department.”
The history continues that “ One of Captain Brant’s first duties was on March 19, 1888, when Captain McLain of the schooner “Harvester” reported a “Turk by the name of Nick” stabbed the first mate in a mutiny. Captain Brant “revolver in hand” and officers Jones and O’Shea rowed out to the boat and arrested the man.”
Capt. Brant died in Elizabeth on March 2, 1898 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Hillside.
The location of his Congressional Medal of Honor is unknown.
Other New Jersey Recipients
