Cold Harbor: 150 Years Later

As part of my goal to visit the battlefields that were part of the history of my great-great grandfather's service in the Union army during the Civil War, I decided to stop at the Cold Harbor National Battlefield Park on my way down to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.  Part of the Richmond battlefield series, Cold Harbor is a relatively small park that requires a short drive off of Route 295, north east of Richmond.  After a 10 minute diversion off of 295, I arrived at the park pleasantly surprised to find out that a 150th anniversary celebration was underway that particular weekend.  I arrived on Sunday, June 1st in the late morning to find a reception center at the main parking lot, along with a series of Confederate and Union encampments further into the wooded areas along the line of battle.  I was very very impressed with the authentic nature of these encampments with the men and women dressed in period outfits and the camp equipment of the correct style and substance.  Clearly, a lot of effort and passion goes into the planning and execution of these events and the reenactors did a magnificent job of giving the visitors the look and feel of the era.

Additionally, I met a ranger whose ancestor fought with the 48th PVI and who is passionate about the history of the 48th.  That was a really interesting experience meeting another descendant of the 48th.

Unfortunately, the part of the battlefield occupied by the 48th during the battle of Cold Harbor is not part of the public battlefield trust and is privately held.  It is located some 4 miles north of the park, so I was unable to visit the exact location where John W. Derr was encamped and fought.  However, I was able to get the feel of the battlefield while walking in the woods and around the trenches that remain and were dug by both Confederate and Union forces.








Overall a great experience and I thank both the Park Service and the reenactors for a great day at Cold Harbor.   The best part was taking my grandson to see the park....John W. Derr's great-great-great-great grandson....

Jim D.

Letter #34 - Spotsylvania Court House, VA -- May 16, 1862

With the appointment of Ulysses S. Grant to lead the Union forces in the eastern theater, the lives of the 48th PVI were about to change dramatically.  May of 1864 would usher in the start of the Rapidan Campaign and would include some of the most horrific battles seen during the Civil War...The Wilderness...Spotsylvania...Spotsylvania Court House...The Assault on the Salient...Stannard's Mills...North Anna River...Line of the Pumunkey...Totopotomoy...Cold Harbor...Bethesda Church...and the start of the Petersburg Siege.

The letter of May 16, 1864 provides a rare description of the difficult situation faced by the 48th PVI.

John describes "firing at the rebels" during the the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House battles.  The unit survives the battles well, but there are some casualities...John Boyer and his cousin John D. Weikel.  He sends home some level of reassurance for other family and friends...Daniel Derr, Elias Derr (17th PA Cav.) and Isaac Yarnell and Emanuel Bolich.

                                                                                                

Spotsylvania Court House, Va.

                                                                                                May 16^th, 1864

My Dear Father and Mother,

             I take this present opportunity to inform this few lines to you to let you know that I am well at present time and I hope this few lines will find you in the same state of good health.  You must excuse me for not writing to you any sooner because we was busy this two last weeks after the rebels.  We had two pretty hard fights since.  We are out and are now laying on the battle field for the six last days firing at the rebels and are fighting with them every day.  But all the boys from around there are safe yet as much as I know.  But John Boyer got wounded today but it ain’t very bad.  It is only a flesh wound through the left leg above the knee.  And John D. Weikel is missing.  Nobody knows anything about him and I don’t know where he is or where he got to.  He got away from us in the morning that we went into the battle.  He was along when we advanced in line of battle.  Thank God that I am safe yet and I hope that I always may get through safe.  We have some hard nuts to bite.  But I hope we will be successful in taking Richmond for we are bound to have it or else all die.  This is the cry all through the Army.  I also seen some of the 17^th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  I seen Daniel Derr and Elias Derr and Isaac Yarnall and Emanuel Bolich and they are all well and look hearty.  So I must close this few lines for it is getting dark and I have no more to write for this time.  This few lines from your beloved son.

                                                                                                John W. Derr

Answer soon and direct your letter to John W. Derr, Co. D 48^th Regt. Pa, 1^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, 9^th Army Corps Washington, D.C.            

Union trench works at Spotsylvania Court House battlefield

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

John D. Weikel had joined the 48th PVI Co. D when the regiment completed it's furlough in March of 1864.  Joining the regiment at Pottsville and entering the exciting world of the Army!  John, and the other cousins, more than likely were tasked by the family at home with the job of keeping an eye on the new...novice private.  It was quite a time for a new recruit to enter the Civil War and it is not surprising that he went missing in the fog of war.  





P.S.  John D. Weikel was found and mustered out of the regiment with his fellow 48th PVI-ers in 1865.

Jim D.

Bits and Pieces and a Little Clean-up

Since this blog is meant to be dynamic and not static, I thought I'd spend a "blog week" doing a little bit of housekeeping in order to add to blogs that I had posted previously.  Probably a good thing to do, before I get to a point in a few years whereby my reflections on this website become inaccurate and embarrassing.

Two weeks ago, I had the grand intention of doing in-the-field research in preparation for future letter posts.  My family and I had a vacation planned for the Outer Banks in North Carolina....more specifically...the Corolla area on the barrier islands.  Living in the Washington DC area, my plan was to drive down I-95 south and cut over to I-295 on my way to I-64 in the Hampton, Virginia area.  The plan was to visit and absorb the history of the Cold Harbor battlefield...part of the Richmond National Battlefield Park - Cold Harbor visitor center (  http://www.nps.gov/rich/historyculture/cold-harbor.htm).  JWD fought at Cold Harbor in 1864 and I wanted have a sense for location and terrain.

After Cold Harbor, I was planning to continue down I-64 to Hampton and visit Fort Monroe                      ( http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc/fortmonroe1.htm)...located just before the Hampton Roads Tunnel.  JWD was there in 1862 prior to the launching of the Burnsides Expedition to the Outer Banks area of North Carolina...this will be seen in the next letter I post on October 19th.

Next, I planned a trip down NC-12 on the Outer Banks with a first stop at the wreck of the USS Oriental in order to take photographs of the still visible wreck from shore.   In my blog dated August 25th, I gave a partial write-up of the connection between the "George Peabody Boat"  (aka USS George Peabody) and the USS Oriental....( http://www.jwdletters.com/2011_08_01_archive.html).  More on this below....

Lastly, I decided that another trip to the Hatteras point would complete the barrier island adventure.   There, I planned to visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum along with visiting the tribute to the 48th PVI located in the parking lot of the museum.  (http://www.graveyardoftheatlantic.com/)

Ok...so  that was the grand plan!  Unfortunately, a little thing called Hurricane Irene decided differently.
We ended up leaving a couple of days late due to the storm as well as the overall closure of the barrier islands to the general public...post storm.  When we finally got going on the Monday of that week, I found out that most of the I-295 and I-64 corridor was without power...hence...the Cold Harbor battlefield and Fort Monroe were closed.   This, however, was only the beginning.  The hurricane was so damaging to the thinly protected sandbar called the Outer Banks, that part of NC-12 south of the Oregon Inlet and north of Rodanthe was literally washed away.  The Oregon Inlet Bridge and the road south were closed.  Given that the USS Oriental wreck is located on Pea Island, just south of the bridge, and that Hatteras was even further south...strike four!   However, I must say that my little inconvenience is nothing, compared to the major disruption to the residents of Hatteras Island....

NC-12 at Mirlo Beach north of Rodanthe, NC (August 28, 2011) Photo from CNN.com

Some new info I found......

As I previously wrote, the USS George Peabody was the transport ship that carried the 48th PVI to battles on the North Carolina coast.  Additionally, it was also identified as the ship that provided search-and-rescue for the passengers and crew of the Oriental when it ran aground in May of 1862.  I was excited to hear that the same ship that transported my gg-grandfather, was also mentioned as the primary rescue craft for this doomed vessel.     During a trip to a bookstore in Corolla, NC, I picked up a book, "Shipwrecks of North Carolina" by Gary Gentile, and searched to see if there was any more information about the USS Oriental.....it so happens that Mr. Gentile writes...

"Members of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment stationed at Fort Hatteras, were involved in the rescue."

Hmm....could JWD have been involved?  That...I will probably never know....

USS Oriental

USS Oriental in distress, May 1864 - Harpers Weekly

USS Oriental from the beach on Pea Island

Photo from http://www.carolinaouterbanks.com/shipwrecks-2.htm

So...I guess the moral of this story is that you CAN make lemonade out of lemons...this little bit of information that I dug out of a bookstore on the Outer Banks, while bored and disappointed for not having been able to execute my research plan...ended up being the hit of the trip!


Jim D.