Letter #45 -- Camp Near Petersburg -- March 6, 1865

The war would quickly come to an end in just over one with the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.  Though other theater generals would surrender later and some seafaring Confederate captains would capitulate even later in the year, the surrender of Lee is generally considered the end of the Confederacy.  The men of the 48th PVI sense the end is near and as is documented, none wanted to be the last man to die in battle.

The letter of March 6, 1865 shows a more casual John, which him sending money home with a friend Franklin Hoch and with him requesting more clothing for him to have handy and at the ready.  He even describes the need for handkerchief from home so that he doesn't have to pay the sutler the outrageous price of $1.



Lastly, he describes that he is seeking a pass to see his sister Catharine and her husband Samuel who is stationed at Fort Monroe.  Frequently, wives would accompany their husbands in the field, providing cooking, cleaning and support to the troops.



There are only four more letters in the portfolio of "The Letters of John W. Derr".  Soon I will be closing this segment of the blog and continuing with more general information.  I am open to suggestions and hope that you have enjoyed them so far.

                                                                        Camp near Petersburg, Va.

                                                                                                March the 6, 1865

My Dear Father and Mother,

            I take my pen in hand to inform this few lines to you to let you know that I am well at present time and I hope that this few lines will find you in the same state of good health.  I received your letter the other day and I was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you was all well at the same time.  I let you (know) that Franklin Hoch is gone home on furlough and I did send $50 dollars home with him.  It was in a 50 dollar bill.  Let me know whether he gave it to you or not and I also told him to fetch me two of my best jeck (sack) or (checked) shirts along for me (if) you will please and give them to him and a cotton handkerchief too for me for if I went to buy one out here they will ask me one dollar at least.  I am trying to get a pass to go to Fortress Monroe and see Samuel and Catharine if I can get one.  I have no more to write this time so I will come to a close for this time.  So this few lines from  your son.

John W. Derr to his father and mother        

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.

Fort Monroe Designated a National Monument

A timely bit of news on Fort Monroe from today's Washington Post.  I plan to visit this site next year.  

Obama signs proclamation designating shuttered Fort Monroe in Virginia a national monument

By Associated Press, Published: November 1

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday took a shuttered Army fort in Virginia with an important role in the nation’s slavery history and made it a national monument.

Using his authority under a century-old law, Obama signed a proclamation designating Fort Monroe a national monument. That saves it from major development and preserves its history for generations.

At a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Obama said the fort had played a “remarkable role in the history of our nation.” He said he looked forward to visiting and taking daughters Malia and Sasha along to get “a sense of their history.”

The fort and the land it sits on are historically significant because it was where Dutch traders first brought enslaved Africans in 1619. It remained in Union possession during the Civil War and became a place where escaped slaves could find refuge. Confederate President Jefferson Davis also was imprisoned there after the Civil War.

Obama said the fort also helped create the environment that led President Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.

But the government decided in a 2005 cost-cutting move to close the fort and many other military installations. In September, the Army ended its 188-year presence there.

The fort occupied a strategic coastal defensive position at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, having been built after the British sailed north from there and burned Washington.

Beyond the historical issues, Obama noted the economic value of Fort Monroe’s designation as a national monument. He said local officials have estimated that a plan for reusing the site would help create nearly 3,000 jobs in next-door Virginia. Obama won the commonwealth in 2008 and it may prove crucial to his re-election bid.

“Fort Monroe has played a part in some of the darkest and some of the most heroic moments in American history. But today isn’t just about preserving a national landmark. It’s about helping to create jobs and grow the local economy,” Obama said in a paper statement released earlier Tuesday. “Steps like these won’t replace the bold action we need from Congress to get our economy moving and strengthen middle-class families, but they will make a difference.”

The proclamation signing was the latest in a series of executive actions Obama has taken while his $447 billion jobs bill remains stalled in Congress. He took advantage of having several lawmakers with him for the occasion, telling them “I still need some action from Congress” on the bill.

Obama’s decision to turn Fort Monroe into a national monument marked the first use of his authority under the Antiquities Act. Presidents dating to Theodore Roosevelt have used the 1906 law to protect sites deemed to have natural, historical or scientific significance, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

Jim D.

Insights, Addendum and Thank you

Thanks to everybody who has commented and made recommendations to date, and thank you for the great responses that I got from the last letter.  It's really nice to hear the comments and reflections from friends and followers who remember stories of family traditions such as "snitzing parties".  I think it's important that we remember and repeat those stories so that those old American traditions are not lost in the flow of time.

The next letter will be published on Monday, November 28th.  I will warn you that this particular letter is rather short and not very exciting, only being a paragraph long.  However, if you are following the entire JWD story from the time he entered the Army until his death in 1876, you will see that this letter is the first indication of troubles that plagued him for the rest of his short life.  Essentially, this period in his life was the beginning of the decline in his health.  References to this part of JWD's service are seen in the pension applications affidavits that I have already posted and ones that I will post later in this blog.   Fortunately, or unfortunately...you can reference such seeminly innocuous letters and see the sad decline...and where it began.   I will never really know what ultimately killed JWD, but these letters provide some measure of the symptoms he suffered and possible linkages to common ailments of soldiers during this period in time.

Now, some filler and addendum to prior posts.....


Camp Hamilton (origination of the Letter #2) was organized on the site of what is now Phoebus, Virginia and provided an overflow camp to Fort Monroe.  Visitors to Phoebus, can see where the camp was located as well as the cemetery containing those soldiers who were the unfortunate victims of the typical camp diseases of the era.   The camp was located just prior to the bridge connecting Fort Monroe to the mainland.

Here is a link to the Civil War Today website's posting of information on Camp Hamilton:

http://civilwartoday.net/camphamilton.aspx

Camp Hamilton from a  Stereo Opticon image from the National Archives

Fort Monroe today

Fort Monroe plans from the Virginia Historical Society

Ok...the next image has nothing to do with the subject matter this week, but I needed to get it into the blog record for completeness.  My good friend and brother RDML Sinclair Harris helped me with some research on my favorite ship....the George Peabody.  As you remember from prior postings, I had a somewhat obsession with researching this particular ship that carried JWD to the Outer Banks of North Carolina during the conduct of the Burnside's Expedition.   After exhausting all of the avenues that I knew of in finding informational "tidbits" and images....I decided to go to an expert.  Who better than a friend who happens to be an Admiral in the United States Navy?    The results included information that I had previously posted, and the following image that I have not yet posted.  I find this picture of the George Peabody to be most special, as it is a hand drawn image that is housed in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.  RDML Harris correctly pointed out to me that the George Peabody was not a United States Ship, but a private vessel...hence my change from USS.    Many thanks to RDML Harris....ok...Sinc to me....for a great addition to my blog.

George Peabody (Library of Congress)

Jim D.

Letter #2 - Fortress Monroe, Camp Hamilton - October 19th, 1861

The second letter written home by JWD indicates that his regiment moved from their initial mustering location of Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, Pa., to Fort Monroe, just outside Hampton, Virginia.  The movement by the 48th PVI was done via trains to Baltimore and then steamship to Fort Monroe, in preparation for future action as part of the Burnsides North Carolina expedition.

Letter #1, was written on September 3rd, so it had been over a month since his last letter home.  This long delay was due primarily to the transient nature of the 48th PVI at that time.  Letter #2 is slightly longer with JWD discussing friends that he has seen or who will be coming home.   This, undoubtedly, provided additional information to other families in the Deep Creek area of Pennsylvania as communities of that time shared news verbally and usually at common meeting places such as church.  I sometimes wonder, what lost information was conveyed by JWD's friends about him in their letters home and did it provide comfort or anguish to JWD's family.  I'll never know.

Letter #2 primarily discusses JWD's shipment of his non-Army clothing home.  Being a very poor farmer, he valued his clothes greatly and shows concern that they had not yet arrived at home.  As I mentioned in a previous posting, Francis Dengler provided a conduit for JWD and his fellow 48th PVI friends for shipping items home.  Additionally, this letter is one of few that actually discusses military information.  JWD indicates that Camp Hamilton added an additional 1,000 men with General Hooker requesting 25,000 more.

Another interesting part of Letter #2 is JWD's reference to "snitzing parties".   Being Pennsylvania Dutch (German) by heritage, he used that common colloquialism of the time.  Snitzing parties were community events whereby neighbors got together to peel, core, and boil apples in the preparation of apple butter...a Pennsylvania Dutch staple.   The time of year...Fall...makes this consistent of what he must have been writing about.   In addition to "snitzing" the apples, I imagine the parties...which lasted throughout the night...included significant socializing with friends and ladies.  Though modern day snitzing is commonly attributed to Mennonite or Amish traditions, it was more commonly practiced by the Pennsylvania Dutch of other denominations...Lutheran for JWD.

The letter also makes the first reference to a family member other than his parents.  He sends a message in the letter to his sister Elizabeth, encouraging her to write to him.  Being the oldest sibling, JWD was undoubtedly looked up-to by his brothers and sisters.

And now Letter #2....

                                                                                          Fort Monroe, Camp Hamilton,

                                                                                    Elizabeth County, State of Virginia

                                                                                    October the 19^th, 1861

My Dear Father,

            I take my pen in hand to write a 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 health and I let you know that I received your letter in safety and I was very glad to hear from you again.  But you said you didn’t get my clothes yet.  I can’t see where they got to. But if Francis Dengler and John Snyder and Charles Bilman and John Rice went to Harrisburg,  if they come back, go to Dengler and see whether he didn’t find out anything of them.  They were all packed up in one bundle.  And I let you know what it was.  It was my coat and vest and cap, pants, shirt and boots.  We put mine and Franklin Hoch and George Artz and Solomon Eysters and a good many more together in one box and did send them to Pottsville to Franks Potts.  I wouldn’t care anything much about all my clothes, but about my boots.  They were quite new yet and further I let you know that I am very glad that you wrote to me that George Slotterback and Henry Snyder are in Harrisburg yet for we didn’t hear anything from them since we left Harrisburg.  It was set (?) wants that they would come after us but they didn’t come yet and since that we didn’t hear anything from them any more.   But I let you know that we go 1,000 men stronger again this week at Camp Hamilton.  And General Hooker wants to have about 25,000 more men there in a short time for we expect to have a battle every day and we are ready for them.  And I let you know that I wrote a letter to Josiah Fetterolf and didn’t get no answer yet.  Now tell him that he should write me a good deal of stories and something about the “snitzing” parties and if he wouldn’t write me now, I would never write to him no more.

            And my sister Elizabeth, I wrote a letter to her and she didn’t answer yet.  I want her to write.  Now I must come to a close for this sheet of paper is full and I haven’t go no other one to write on and I have no money to buy some more.  For I want you to answer me this letter.  Don’t let it be too much trouble to you for I have plenty of paper in my trunk and envelopes.  So just take some of them and write to me.  You must excuse my bad writing and all my mistakes.

                                                                        So much of your dear son

                                                                                    John W. Derr

Direct your letter to John W. Derr, Fort Monroe, Camp Hamilton, Va.  Co. D – 48^th Regt. Pa, in care of Capt. D. Nagle

Letter is constructed as follows:

                                                Page 4                                                         Page 1       

                                                    v                                                                   v        

                                                 Page 2                                                           Page 3

                                                     v                                                                    v

Enjoy

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.