Coming Soon...Resumption of "The Letters"!

I have been receiving plenty of correspondence regarding the resumption of "The Letters"...so here is the plan...

As I wrote about in December of 2012, there is a gap in The Civil War Letters of John W. Derr that spans the timeframe from December 22, 1862 to March 22, 1864.  When I received the letters from my father as a 12 year old boy, I noticed immediately that the year 1863 was conspicuously absent.  At that point, my father and I queried all the family members we could think of regarding the location of the this missing lot.  Unfortunately, we were unable to determine the location, or that matter, whether they ever existed.  Given the frequency of John's writing in 1861-1862 and 1864 to the end of the war, it is likely that he wrote during 1863 and the letters were just lost.  There is no way to prove this, but it seems like a likely scenario.

During 2013, I spent time filling in my blog entries with other information...and frankly...ran out of ideas that had anything to do with anything.  My last entry was regarding the WWII baseball bat that I donated to the Mighty 8th Air Force museum in Pooler, Georgia (more on that in the future...there is an update), but then I realized that I was just babbling in blog form....so I stopped.   With the 15 month gap in letters coming to a close in 5 days, I decided to send a note out reminding people that are interested that the blogging will resume soon with dozens of remaining letters.   I look forward to reengaging the blog and my readers who have been faithful and patient.  Thank you.








As I wrote about last year...the 48th PVI was sent to the Kentucky/Tennessee theater in 1863 to provide provost duty in support of General Burnsides who was relieved of his Virginia theater command after Fredericksburg.   For the most part, the 48th enjoyed a relaxed 9 months in Lexington, KY as well as in some level of engagement in Tennessee, culminating in the reenlistment of the 48th PVI at Blain's Crossroads in the Tennessee.  After John's reenlistment on December 31, 1863, he was furloughed along with the 48th until March of 1864.  That is where the letters resume.

In 5 days, I will post the first letter since December 2012.  I look forward to your continued support and dedication to this blog.  Please feel free to comment or email me with comments, suggestions and corrections.

Best wishes,

Jim D.

Gettysburg and Pennsylvania's Boys are in Kentucky!

1863 for the 48th PVI started off as a great change from the prior difficult year.  Having finished duty in North Carolina as well as seeing action in battles at Mananas, Antietam, South Mountain and Fredericksburg, the men of the 48th welcomed the relative calm of provost duty in Lexington, Kentucky.  As is indicated in the written records of Munsell and Bosbyshell, the 48th PVI enjoyed a welcome stay with the kind and appreciative people of Lexington.  I can only imagine how much fun John must have had reuniting with his comrades after a lengthy four months of hospital care while convalescing from his wounds at the Second Battle of Bull Run.  Now, he had time away from the effects of war to spend time socializing and reacquainting himself with friends and family (cousins) in the 48th PVI.

The movement of the 48th PVI to the western regions in February of 1863 preceded a period of both calm and anxiety for the men.  Though no letters from John remain from this period, subsequent letters in 1864 indicate the disdain that the men had with the Confederate invasion of their Pennsylvania homeland.

Pre-war downtown Lexington, Kentucky

July of 1863 found John and men of the 48th preparing themselves for the routine of daily life as provost guards in a loyal city of the union.   The kindness shown by the citizens of the city provided less stress and general happiness amongst the men.  The ability of the men to use some of their pay to buy goods to send home, or to go out and have a drink in a bar provided another level of delight for them.  In early July, John was preparing for a fun filled July 4th, with parades, parties and fireworks to celebrate the birthday of his country.  Unbeknown to him, General Lee was planning an unpleasant surprise for the union and the citizen of Pennsylvania.  That surprise would culminate in the battle of Gettysburg in early July of 1863.  I'm not sure if the men of the 48th PVI would have had knowledge of the events of July 1st - 3rd, 1863, but they would have known about it a few days later.  I can only imagine the anxiety and fear that news of the battle instilled in these men while they guarded a city so far away from home.  

In July of 1864 John recounts his July 4th 1863 celebrations in Lexington, Kentucky.

                                                                                                Camp 8 miles from City Point, Va

                                                                                                July 1^st, 1864

My Dear Father,

            I take the present opportunity to write 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 yesterday and was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you was all well and I am glad that I am the same when this letter leaves me.  I always forget to tell you that I got them things what you did send with John Weikle, the sausage and butter, but I did get it safe when he came back.  I will also enclose 50 cents in this letter and will send it to you and I want you to buy me some postage stamps and send them to me in your next letter for I am entirely out of them and I want to write to the girls sometimes.  Then I must have some stamps to put on my letters and also if I want to write to my Dear Wife or somebody else’s wife.  I think that is enough for this time of that subject.  I think you are busy at making hay at home till this letter comes to hand.  Well we are laying out here under the bullets and shells every day and night.  But we are still enjoying ourselves well and are hoping that we may soon be with you at home and enjoy ourselves with the and this cruel war be over.  This fourth of July we will celebrate with the roaring of cannon and muskets along the lines of battle.  While we had fine times of it last year, we was eating and drinking as much as we liked and what we would like.  But that is all over and gone.  But this hand (ain’t) over yet today, but it will till this letter comes to your hands.  I wish you wouldn’t forget to see John Kramer about that money what I wrote to you in my other letter and let me know about it.  I have to bring my letter to a close for this time.  This few lines from your son.

                                                                                                John W. Derr

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

Additionally, in John's next letter he references the Gettysburg invasion of 1863.

                                                                                                Camp near Petersburg, Va.           

                                                                                                July 13^th, 1864

My Dear Father and Mother,

            I take the present opportunity 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 today and I was very glad to hear that you are well all the time and I am happy that I can say the same.  I am also glad to hear that you got my money and I hope you will take good care of it, as you did before.  And if we don’t soon get paid I will be very apt to send for some of it but I hope we will soon get paid off.  We don’t need much money, but I want some once in a while.  I suppose you took good care that you got my pay all in good money for I wouldn’t like to have any bad money for I have to work hard for it.  We hear that the rebels are making a raid into Pennsylvania again but I hope it will be to their sorrow.  I hope they will lose more men then they did last summer at Gettysburg and they didn’t gain much that time by all appearances.  It is for no use to write anything to you about the war for you know more at home then we do out here for we do hear very little but what we see.  But I will let you know that we will have a great explosion here before very long.  We are going to blow up the rebels forts.  They are undermining them now.  They have two or three all ready now and our regiment is working at one and they are near done with it and I hope it will work all right, if they get it going. *

            I have no more to write today so I will bring these few lines to a close for this time with the intention of hearing from you soon again.  So I will remain your affectionate son.

                                                                                                John W. Derr

Answer soon and direct your letter as before.  Give my love to my brothers and sisters and to all inquiring friends.  Tell Josiah Fetterolf if he wouldn’t write a letter to me I would pin his nose up on his forehead.  G.D. the mules they shake too much I can’t write anymore.

Well..enjoy!

Jim D.

John W. Derr..."When ya' comin' back?"

As previously mentioned in prior posts, there is a 15 month gap in the letters of John W. Derr spanning January 1863 and March of 1864.  During this period of time, there was a bit of a lull in the action for the 48th PVI after the tragic battle of Fredericksburg.  Fortunately for John...and myself by extension...he was still convalescing in the hospital in Philadelphia from his wounding at the Second Battle of Bull Run.  The battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862 was where John H. Derr...mentioned previously in other posts...was wounded.  John H. Derr would die a month later in January of 1863 of these wounds and was buried at the  National Cemetery in Washington, DC.

http://www.jwdletters.com/2012/01/visit-to-distant-relative.html

Subsequent counter offensives were ordered by General Burnsides in early January, which were later rebuffed by President Lincoln, after significant protests from subordinate officers.  Later in January, General Burnsides would be replace by General Joseph Hooker via General Order 20, after Burnsides request to the president to relieve Hooker and other generals, was rejected.

January and February of 1863 saw little action for the 48th PVI and in fact paved the way for their eventual transition to provost duty in Lexington, Kentucky.  It was around this time that John W. Derr returned to duty with the 48th PVI.   Below are JWD's muster records for the period, which initially proved confusing, but later became clearer.

Muster rolls for November/December 1862, January/February 1863, and March/April show JWD as present for duty.  So, I was a bit confused by this since his letters shows him transferring to the Broad and Cherry Streets Hospital in Philadelphia in mid-December of 1862.   Later I was able to obtain ancillary muster roll cards from the the Broad and Cherry Streets Hospital, which showed him present there.  I suspect that the standard unit muster rolls were augmented after the fact to ensure he was paid out of the appropriate regimental pay bucket.  It would also appear that included in John W. Derr's  muster roll cards was John H. Derr, previously mentioned.  The writing looks similar to a "W." but is actually an "H." and is consistent with the fact that John H. Derr was wounded at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.  One other interesting note on the John W. Derr muster card from November/December of 1862 is that he deserted.  In actuality, he transferred from the Georgetown College Hospital on December 13, 1862 to the Broad and Cherry Street Hospital in Philadelphia.  I guess one part of the army did not coordinate with the other and his record shows him as deserted...when they could not find him in Washington DC during roll call on December 31, 1862.

48th PVI Co. D muster rolls (Nov 1862 - April 1863):

Then I found these which seem to confirm that he was still in the hospital until later January 1863:

I am confident...based on family oral history...that he spent time in Kentucky and Tennessee.  Additionally, his re-enlistment in December 1863 at Blains Crossroads in Tennessee, confirms this.

Additionally, I was able to find an official record of JWD's capture and parole that he describes in his letter in September 1862 after the Second Battle of Bull Run....

Jim D.