Civil War Union Army Officer. Captain of Company B, 3rd New Jersey Cavalry
Albert Spelling Cloke was born in 1835 in Kent, England, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Monmouth County, where in 1853 his father opened a store in Morganville. Cloke attended school in Middletown Point, studied law in Freehold and opened a legal practice. In September 1862 he was commissioned captain of the 29th New Jersey Infantry's Company H, and during his service with the regiment wrote frequently to his brother William, editor of the Freehold Herald & Inquirer. Towards the end of Cloke's service with the 29th NJ, he was arrested, court-martialed for fraternizing with the enemy (exchanging newspapers) and dismissed from the service.
Despite his prior dismissal, in January 1864 Cloke was commissioned as captain of the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry's Company B. The 3rd was also known as the "1st US Hussars" and the "Butterflies," due to its colorful and unique European-style uniforms.
Cloke was court-martialed again in March 1864 after leaving his company to reconnoiter the premises of a Charles Town, West Virginia, saloon. Charged with disobedience of orders, being drunk on duty and conduct unbecoming an officer, he was dismissed from the service again, but managed to have this sentence revoked a year later, He was honorably discharged from the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry on August 1, 1865.
After the war, Cloke moved to Jersey City, married, had two children and resumed his legal career. He became active in Republican Party politics,was one of the founding members of the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, and gained a reputation as an "interesting and magnetic" speaker on the GAR lecture circuit, specializing in talks on"Little Phil" Sheridan.
Cloke died suddenly on March 4, 1890, in a seedy Jersey City hotel and was buried at the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue.
(Bilby & Goble, Remember You Are Jerseymen; NY Times Obituary; military service and pension records)
(-Jim Madden, New Jersey Goes to War, An Official Publication of the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association Sesquicentennial Committee, 2010)
Albert Spelling Cloke was born in 1835 in Kent, England, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Monmouth County, where in 1853 his father opened a store in Morganville. Cloke attended school in Middletown Point, studied law in Freehold and opened a legal practice. In September 1862 he was commissioned captain of the 29th New Jersey Infantry's Company H, and during his service with the regiment wrote frequently to his brother William, editor of the Freehold Herald & Inquirer. Towards the end of Cloke's service with the 29th NJ, he was arrested, court-martialed for fraternizing with the enemy (exchanging newspapers) and dismissed from the service.
Despite his prior dismissal, in January 1864 Cloke was commissioned as captain of the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry's Company B. The 3rd was also known as the "1st US Hussars" and the "Butterflies," due to its colorful and unique European-style uniforms.
Cloke was court-martialed again in March 1864 after leaving his company to reconnoiter the premises of a Charles Town, West Virginia, saloon. Charged with disobedience of orders, being drunk on duty and conduct unbecoming an officer, he was dismissed from the service again, but managed to have this sentence revoked a year later, He was honorably discharged from the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry on August 1, 1865.
After the war, Cloke moved to Jersey City, married, had two children and resumed his legal career. He became active in Republican Party politics,was one of the founding members of the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, and gained a reputation as an "interesting and magnetic" speaker on the GAR lecture circuit, specializing in talks on"Little Phil" Sheridan.
Cloke died suddenly on March 4, 1890, in a seedy Jersey City hotel and was buried at the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue.
(Bilby & Goble, Remember You Are Jerseymen; NY Times Obituary; military service and pension records)
(-Jim Madden, New Jersey Goes to War, An Official Publication of the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association Sesquicentennial Committee, 2010)
Civil War Union Army Officer. Captain of Company B, 3rd New Jersey Cavalry
Albert Spelling Cloke was born in 1835 in Kent, England, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Monmouth County, where in 1853 his father opened a store in Morganville. Cloke attended school in Middletown Point, studied law in Freehold and opened a legal practice. In September 1862 he was commissioned captain of the 29th New Jersey Infantry's Company H, and during his service with the regiment wrote frequently to his brother William, editor of the Freehold Herald & Inquirer. Towards the end of Cloke's service with the 29th NJ, he was arrested, court-martialed for fraternizing with the enemy (exchanging newspapers) and dismissed from the service.
Despite his prior dismissal, in January 1864 Cloke was commissioned as captain of the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry's Company B. The 3rd was also known as the "1st US Hussars" and the "Butterflies," due to its colorful and unique European-style uniforms.
Cloke was court-martialed again in March 1864 after leaving his company to reconnoiter the premises of a Charles Town, West Virginia, saloon. Charged with disobedience of orders, being drunk on duty and conduct unbecoming an officer, he was dismissed from the service again, but managed to have this sentence revoked a year later, He was honorably discharged from the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry on August 1, 1865.
After the war, Cloke moved to Jersey City, married, had two children and resumed his legal career. He became active in Republican Party politics,was one of the founding members of the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, and gained a reputation as an "interesting and magnetic" speaker on the GAR lecture circuit, specializing in talks on"Little Phil" Sheridan.
Cloke died suddenly on March 4, 1890, in a seedy Jersey City hotel and was buried at the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue.
(Bilby & Goble, Remember You Are Jerseymen; NY Times Obituary; military service and pension records)
(-Jim Madden, New Jersey Goes to War, An Official Publication of the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association Sesquicentennial Committee, 2010)
Albert Spelling Cloke was born in 1835 in Kent, England, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Monmouth County, where in 1853 his father opened a store in Morganville. Cloke attended school in Middletown Point, studied law in Freehold and opened a legal practice. In September 1862 he was commissioned captain of the 29th New Jersey Infantry's Company H, and during his service with the regiment wrote frequently to his brother William, editor of the Freehold Herald & Inquirer. Towards the end of Cloke's service with the 29th NJ, he was arrested, court-martialed for fraternizing with the enemy (exchanging newspapers) and dismissed from the service.
Despite his prior dismissal, in January 1864 Cloke was commissioned as captain of the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry's Company B. The 3rd was also known as the "1st US Hussars" and the "Butterflies," due to its colorful and unique European-style uniforms.
Cloke was court-martialed again in March 1864 after leaving his company to reconnoiter the premises of a Charles Town, West Virginia, saloon. Charged with disobedience of orders, being drunk on duty and conduct unbecoming an officer, he was dismissed from the service again, but managed to have this sentence revoked a year later, He was honorably discharged from the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry on August 1, 1865.
After the war, Cloke moved to Jersey City, married, had two children and resumed his legal career. He became active in Republican Party politics,was one of the founding members of the Lincoln Association of Jersey City, and gained a reputation as an "interesting and magnetic" speaker on the GAR lecture circuit, specializing in talks on"Little Phil" Sheridan.
Cloke died suddenly on March 4, 1890, in a seedy Jersey City hotel and was buried at the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue.
(Bilby & Goble, Remember You Are Jerseymen; NY Times Obituary; military service and pension records)
(-Jim Madden, New Jersey Goes to War, An Official Publication of the New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association Sesquicentennial Committee, 2010)
Bio by: Jim Madden
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