Clean up and Follow-up

I was working on Letter #21 last week and during the course of the exercise, I found a section of the Google Blogger that I had been remiss in accessing.  I set up this blog to allow for interaction with you...the reader...and to get comments, suggestions and insights into the interests of my readers.  I was puzzled as to why I was getting no comments on the blog (internal to the commenting tool) and yet would get comments directly sent to jwdletters@gmail.com.  Well...mystery solved.   I finally located and reviewed the "Comments" in the Blogger tool and found about a dozen comments that you...the readers...have sent me.  Some as far back as a year.  Wow!  I am feeling kinda silly having asked for comments and then...when folks do send comments...I give the impression that I ignore them.  For that, I profusely apologize!  For those of you who sent the comments directly to the gmail account, I did respond to those...as well as those who commented on my Facebook link and the various groups I belong to in Linkedin.  I have since posted all of those dated comments in their respective postings, so you can see  your comments, if you go back to those dates.  So...I will start reviewing the Blogger comments and posting them on this website on a regular basis...and I am sorry for appearing to be so aloof.

Ok...enough about that.


In 2011, I traveled to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to spend a few days at the beach and to do a little research into Burnsides Expedition to North Carolina.  The 48th PVI played a prominent role in this campaign and I wanted to spend a few days absorbing the atmosphere and reflecting on the environment that was endured by my ancestor 149 years prior.  The trip was planned and I was very excited by adventure I was embarking upon.....then came hurricane Irene.  Delaying my trip by 2 days, I ventured south to the Outer Banks only to find that access to the location of the 48th PVI on Hatteras Island had been blocked by storm damage and a missing/washed out road.  While I was 'bummed' by missing this opportunity, I knew that I would return to the Outer Banks...a favorite vacation destination for our family.  So...this year I made another try...and was successful!

My plan was to visit two locations on Hatteras Island...the wreck of the SS Oriental....and the southern point of the island where markers are located commemorating the Burnsides Expedition.   I had been told that wreck of the SS Oriental in May of 1862 was one that was still visible today.  The wreck is located about 100 yards offshore in the surf about 10 miles south of the Oregon inlet across the street from the Pea Island nature center.  I have often heard from people about sites and locations and how "easy" they are to see/access and upon going there myself, find just the opposite.  In this case, the rumors are true.  I parked at the visitor center with my daughter, and we made the 150 yard trek across the road and up the sand dune towards the beach.  At the top of the dune, you get a very good view of the entire beach for miles and a great perch from which to view the ocean....and there...about 100 yards offshore....the wreck of the Oriental.  Well....the cast iron boiler at least.  What you see (below) is the remains of the boiler of the ship and it is just tall enough to breach the surface so you see it with each passing wave.  Very cool.  Especially when you think that it has been 150 years since the ship foundered and sank in a tropical storm leaving many of the passengers to either swim to shore, or the await rescue from the SS George Peabody.   As a reminder...my interest in the Oriental is because of the connection to the Peabody...the ship that transported Derr from Fort Monroe to Hatteras Island in 1861.  Documentation indicates that during the rescue operations, members of the 48th PVI provided support on the ship to the sinking ship.  Was Derr part of that?  I don't think we will ever know.
For more on this see my posting of...

 http://www.jwdletters.com/2011/09/bits-and-pieces-and-little-clean-up.html .

SS Oriental

Wreck of the SS Oriental

Boiler images taken from the shore of the SS Oriental......

  

SS George Peabody

The second location I decided to visit was the location at the drive end of the Hatteras Island near the "Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum" where markers are located in the museum parking lot commemorating the Burnsides Expedition.   The 48th PVI, being and integral part of this expedition, camped and fought here during the defense of the newly captured Forts Hatteras and Clark.  Later  the 48th PVI would transit further south on ships as part of the New Berne campaign near the Neuse River.  Derr's letters of 1861 and early 1862 indicate participation in these actions as well as his discomfort at living in the cold/wet (winter) and hot/sandy (summer) environment of the Outer Banks of  North Carolina.  As a side note...having visited these locations during the month of August in the dead of summer, I can not imagine the discomfort of these soldiers at living in the hot, humid, sandy and insect ridden environment as they did.  Unbelievable.

 Yeah...that's me taking the picture in the reflection....


Jim D.

Letter #6 -- Fort Hatteras, Camp Winfield, North Carolina -- January 16, 1862

The letter of January 16, 1862 is an interesting look into the mood and attitude of JWD where he displays a longing for the comfort of home.   JWD had just received a package from his parents...probably a Christmas package.  Owing to the length of time it took to transport mail and parcels in those days, the food arrived...more or less...in good shape in a few weeks.  After a steady army diet of crackers, coffee, corn, bread, etc..., the package from home was a real treat.   John's parents must have sent certain items to him to convey a sense of home and comfort.  It was a thoughtful package.  JWD reminisces about each item and what they mean to him.  This is one of my favorite letters.  It shows the sentimental side of JWD...a view rarely available to descendants.

                                                                                    Fort Hatteras,

                                                                                    Camp Winfield,

                                                                                    North Carolina,

                                                                                    January the 16, 1862

My Dear Father,

            I take my pencil in hand write these few lines to you to let you know that I am well at present time and I hope that these few lines will find you in the same state of good health.  I wish you would take my Sunday clothes out of my trunk and hang them out in the air every once-in-a-while so that they don’t get moldy.  Further I let you know that I got my box this day while I was writing this letter to you.  I let you know that I got my box in safety.  Everything was nice and clean but the pie as a little moldy but I ate them and didn’t mind it.  And I was very glad to have them.  But I will you the pudding and sausage went like hot cakes.  I let you know that when I eat the chestnuts it reminds me of Christmas and when I see the sausage it reminds me of New Years and when I saw the pie and bread and butter it reminded me of Sunday morning and when I saw the apples it reminded me of Sundays at ten oclock.  Further I will let you know that I was well satisfied at least and I will try to satisfy you too the next pay day my kind mother.  Tell Josiah M. Fetterolf that I would send my best respects to him and to all the rest and the same Slotterbach’s family and to all the rest of the neighbors.  And let Ester know that I am well as present time, and I want you to write a letter to me as soon as you get this from me and let me know whether she is well or not.  Tell Josiah Fetterolf to write a letter to me and he should write a good deal of news to me.  You can show him the directions in this letter.  But now I must come to a close.

                                                                                    So much of your dear son,

                                                                                    John W. Derr

Direction

Direct your letter to John W. Derr, Fort Clarke, Hatteras Inlet, Company “D”, 48^th Regiment, Pa., North Carolina via Fortress Monroe, in care of Capt. William W. Potts.

Jim D.

Letter #4 -- Fort Hatteras, North Carolina -- December 22, 1861

Ok...so I have my first big swing and miss at the plate!  I missed the 150th anniversary for letter #4....I have a reason, but not a good one.  You see...I have been using a type written transcription of the letters to present both a typed version and the original scanned version of the letters.  It seems that the letter dated December 22, 1861 was misfiled in the 1864 section of the type written transcription.  So...I followed that version vs. the hand written version.... Well, better late than never....



In this letter, JWD continues to write about his illness that was referenced in the November 28, 1861 letter #3.  He was able to write home himself, which is an improvement over the November letter that was written by Franklin Hoch.  Clearly, JWD is craving the foods of home and he writes to his father asking that some of his favorites be shipped to him in the field.  I find this letters somewhat humorous as he writes an ever growing list of the foods he wants sent...Apples, chestnuts, sausage, pudding (pudding is a type of liver sausage that resembles ring bologna...it is gray in color and about 2 inches in diameter filled in a sausage casing and tied into a ring shape.  It is similar to liverwurst), bread and butter were on his list.  Do you think the coming of Christmas might have influenced his cravings?



Letter #4..............




                                                                             Fort Hatteras December the 22, 1861


My dear father I take my pen in my weak hand to write a few lines to you to let you know that I am better again.  I let you know that I was sick 6 weeks and father I let you know that I received you letter this day and was very glad to hear of you and to hear that you got that money with I sent to you.  And I let you know that Solomon Eyster wrote home fore a box and if you wish to send me my things along why you can put it in his box.  I wish you would send me some sausage and some pudding and sum bread and butter and some chestnuts and some apples and if you have anything else to send to me why do so.  And if you must pay the box when you send it of you, take sum of my money and pay my share of it.  Write a letter to me and let me know if you sent it or not.  Write to me as soon as you can.  So much of your dear son.


                                                                              John W. Derr




Direct your letter Fort Clark Hatteras inlet,  Company D 48th regiment Pa. Vol
North Carolina via Fortress Monroe Va.

Sorry for the delay...


Jim D.

Letter #5 -- Fort Hatteras, North Carolina -- January 1, 1862

Happy New Year to everyone and thank you for your continued support to this project.  Today I present letter #5 written by JWD on January 1, 1862 at Fort Hatteras, North Carolina.  The 48th PVI was stationed at this location shortly after their journey from Fort Monroe, Virginia in November of the prior year.  As was shown in the previous letter (letter #3 dated November 28, 1861), JWD contracted a "cold" that quickly progressed to bronchitis and/or pneumonia.   Through out his service in the war, JWD was frequently ill with bronchitis, pneumonia, rheumatism, etc...owing to a combination of exposure, diet, and exhaustion.   I have already written and posted the various pension affidavits and letters that show his chronic condition which ultimately lead to his early death in 1876 at age 36.

And now...the letter....

                                                                                    Fort Hatteras

                                                                                    January the 1, 1862

My Dear Father

            I take my pen in hand to inform these few lines to you to let you know that I am well at present and I hope that these few lines will find you in the same state of good health.  My dear father, I let you know that I was sick.  I had a bad fever.  I was sick for seven weeks long.  But now I am well again but I wasn’t on duty yet.  And further I let you know that we expect to have pay again till the 15^th of this month.  We will get 20 dollars this time.  The other time we got only 19.50 dollars and fifty cents.  And I let you know that we don’t think we will stay long in North Carolina anymore.  I wish you would let Esther know that I am well again and let me know how she is getting along.  I must come to a close.  I want you to answer me this letter as soon as you can.

                                                           

                                                                                    No more at present time.

                                                                                    Your Dear Son,

                                                                                    John W. Derr

Direct you letter to John W. Derr, Fort Clarke, Hatteras Inlet,

Company “D”, 48^th Regt. Pa., North Carolina via Fortress Monroe,

In care of Capt. William W. Potts.

Enjoy and have a happy and healthy 2012!

Jim D.

Bronchitis, Pneumonia, Rheumatic Fever or Tuberculosis?

In December of 1861, JWD was encamped at Fort Hatteras in North Carolina.  Eventually the specific location would be Camp Winfield at Fort Hatteras at the southern tip of the Outer Banks, Hatteras Island.  At this time, JWD was very sick...an illness captured in both his letters as well as the pension depositions.  It would appear that he was sick for over 7 weeks and that begs the question....what illness did he contract?

In researching Civil War illnesses, there were a vast array of diseases and maladies that afflicted troops on both sides of the conflict, due to the size and close quarters of the men in camp.  Additionally, the lack of basic sanitation coupled with the lack of knowledge and effective treatments, meant that 99% of all soldiers during the war suffered from dysentery or chronic diarrhea at some time during their service in the war.  Dysentery ranked #2 in the "deaths by disease" category just behind typhoid and just before pneumonia.  Horrible camp conditions with refuse, slop pits, animal parts, human waste and animal manure were routinely located near water or food sources.  As stated by a federal sanitation inspector at in 1861 upon inspection of various camps... "littered with refuse, food, and other rubbish, sometimes in an offensive state of decomposition; slops deposited in pits within the camp limits or thrown out of broadcast; heaps of manure and offal close to the camp."  The results were that bacteria, viruses spread throughout the camps causing more casualties than munitions during the course of the war.  Attempts were made, with various degrees of success, to improve sanitation conditions through centralized practices by the U.S. Sanitation Commission.


JWD more than likely, suffered his fair share of dysentery during his four years in the Union army.  He also, suffered throughout the war, his fair share of bronchial conditions.  I believe that this is the primary reason for his early death in 1876.  However, I question what really afflicted him?  Could it have started as a simple cold that lead to bronchitis, then pneumonia?....or was it more?  Did he suffer from both of these conditions as a result of a lingering case of tuberculosis?...or did he just progressively damage his lungs through repeated cases of bronchitis and pneumonia?  


Depositions from fellow soldiers as well as from his civilian doctor, indicate that he died of rheumatic carditis as well as a bronchial condition and "catarrh"...a term no longer used in America...but essentially meaning the same as a chest cold.   Clearly, his condition continued beyond his wartime service where it was documented on at least two separate occasions that he was sick and unable to fight.  The first is documented here in North Carolina in 1861 during the Burnside's expedition.  The second was after his efforts working in the mine while preparing for the Petersburg "Crater" assault.    Below are the letters and depositions of friends, soldiers and his doctor, providing insight to the pension board regarding the death of JWD.

Written Deposition from Dr. George W. Ebrite...Physician of John W. Derr

Pension Deposition of Dr. George W. Ebrite...Physician of John W. Derr

Pension Deposition of William Maurer - 48th PVI Co. G.

Pension Deposition of Charles W. Hoch (cousin of Sgt. Franklin Hoch, 48th PVI Co. D)

 

Union encampment at Fort Hatteras, North Carolina

Fort Hatteras Union encampment

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.