Letter #46 -- Camp Near Petersburg, VA -- March 26, 1865

It's been a long time...a long long time.  I should have finished this blog/letters contribution last year and given closure to the letters of John W. Derr.  I was reminded of my delinquency by a follower of this website and for that, I apologize.  With over 100,000 page views, I am well pleased with the results of my project.  I sincerely appreciate the followers, casual viewers and the insightful and kind words people have sent to me.

So...on with the letters...


John references personal information as well as battle information.  From the description of "a small fight here on the 25", I take it that this was the battle of Fort Stedman. General Lee's final gasping attempt to breakout through the Petersburg siege lines and regroup his depleted army. Though John calls it "a small fight", and his casualty numbers are rather large, the official numbers are referenced below in a small paragraph on the battle at Fort Stedman provided by the Civil War Trust website.

Battle of Fort Stedman
March 25, 1865

In a last-gasp offensive, Gen. Robert E. Lee amassed nearly half of his army in an attempt to break through Grant’s Petersburg defenses and threaten his supply depot at City Point.  Directed by Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon, the pre-dawn assault on March 25 overpowered the garrisons of Fort Stedman and Batteries X, XI, and XII. The Confederates were brought under a killing crossfire, and counterattacks led by Maj. Gens. Parke and Hartranft contained the breakthrough, cut off, and captured more than 1,900 of the attackers. During the day, elements of the II and VI Corps assaulted and captured the entrenched picket lines in their respective fronts, which had been weakened for the assault on Fort Stedman. This was a devastating blow for Lee’s army, setting up the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1 and the fall of Petersburg on April 2-3.

John also references the I and III Corps, though that seems to be incorrect as well.

John, as always, is concerned about monies that he sent home with friends for his parents to save for him.  Francis Dengler, an agent in town more than likely was able to draw this $50 for John and pass it to his parents.  John is also concerned about the coming summer weather and clothing he has to wear.  During this time, soldiers would switch from a woolen shirt to a cotton shirt, which was cooler in the hot humid months in the south.  As you would expect, he needs new shirts every season, as the conditions in which he lived were rather rough and clothing wore out very fast.

Camp near Petersburg, Va.

March the 26, 1865

My Dear Father and Mother,

            I take my pen in hand 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 the other day and I was very glad to hear from you and hear that the boys are all well again.  I am sorry that you wasn’t at home when Franklin Hoch was there for I would like to have them shirts for this summer.  Them woolen shirts are too warm in summer.  I think you could do them up in some brown paper and put the direction on it and send them by mail.  If two makes too big a bundle send one at a time and let me know whether you are going to send it or not.  You said that you got the money from Francis Dengler.  It was a fifty dollar bill and I think you got it so.  I let you know that we had a small fight here on the 25.  Our loss is about 500 killed, wounded and prisoners and theirs lost about 5,000.  That was quite a haul for about a two hours fight.  Our division wasn’t in the fight only the first and third.  I am glad to hear that all the boys are well again and I am the same.  I have no more to write today so I will bring my letter to a close for this time.  From your son.

                                                                                                John W. Derr

Answer soon and direct your letter John W. Derr, 2^nd Division Ammunition Trainin, 9^th Army Corps, Washington, D.C. Peter Derr answer soon.         






     

   

                                                                                            







Jim D

Letter #43 -- Camp Near Petersburg, VA -- November 20, 1864

As I mentioned in my last posting, I am stretching out the posting of the letters, in order to prevent long gaps.  The November 20, 1864 letter is from six weeks ago, but with the next one being in the middle of February 1865,  I thought that this was a pretty much even spacing.


The letter this month, is a bit interesting, in so much as John is losing some of his formality in the writing process.  In this letter, like the next, he doesn't bother to sign it, nor does he indicate the location of the writing.  He simply tells his parents to send their letters as they have before.  In other words...the siege and encampment at Petersburg, Va. has become long...and boring for him.  He is now "driving team" and hence his discharge paperwork as a "Waggoner".  This is a direct result of his wounding at the Second Battle of Bull Run and his inability to march long distances.  The army still needed good battle tested men, and John was that type of soldier.  His disability made him a good candidate for teamster work, as well as trench fighting.  This disability in his leg would nag him the rest of his life making employment/labor difficult.  That coupled with his weakened condition from the many lung ailments he contracted during service, contributed to his early death at age 37.

The letter warns his parents that many "friends" will try to borrow money from him, via them, based on so called promises John made.  This was common during the war.  Most soldiers had sent their pay and bounties home to be saved for after the war.  This was common knowledge of local folks and people would try to take advantage of these relatively large sums of money.  John made it clear to his parents...no loans to friends.

Apparently, the saga of the broken watch has come to an end with the watch being lost or stolen on the shipment back to John.  Any suspicions that John had of his friend George Artz...who was entrusted with the watch...are dispelled by George paying John the $30 value of the lost watch.  A pretty good and trusted friend.






John also does a bit of bragging in this letter, by telling his parents to tell his friend's father Peter Fetterolf, that he is driving up to six mules.  That gives the home town folks a feel for the level of responsibility that John has and the difficulty level of driving team.  Driving one or two tandem mules is one thing, but driving a team of six is significantly more difficult.

                                                                                                                                         November the 20^th, 1864

My Dear Father and Mother,

            I take my pen in hand 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 this day and I was very glad to hear from you and to hear that you are all well at present time and have all got plenty work.  We have much rainy weather out here, but we had no snow yet.  If Peter Fetterolf is at home yet when you got this letter tell him to write to me and let me know where he is.  Tell him that I would send my best respects to him and to all the rest of the boys.  Tell them that I am driving team.  Tell Peter Fetterolf that I had command ober (over) six mules.  Don’t give none of my money to nobody without I tell you to do so for there is some men at home that want to have some money from me and I wouldn’t let them have any.  They might come there and tell you that I sent them there and it wouldn’t be so.  For that reason give none to nobody unless I tell you to do so.  I lost thirty dollars by sending my watch home with George Artz and he was to send it back to me.  But it either got lost on the road or he didn’t send it to me.  But I think he did else he wouldn’t put my money to its place as he did.  I have no more to write for this time.  So I will bring my letter to a close for this time for this a raining day.  So this few lines from son John W. Derr.

Answer soon and direct your letter as before. 

Jim D.

Letter #41 -- Camp Near Petersburg, VA -- October 6, 1864

The letter of October 6th is a short note home telling his parents to expect money from his comrade George Artz who is coming home on leave along with his other fellow soldier, Solomon Yarnell.  It totals $150.00 which he is naturally concerned about.  Using modern day inflation calculators...$150.00 in 1864 would be equivalent to $2275.50 in today's dollars.

John was fairly diligent about sending money home and so the bounties he received in his first and second enlistment along with normal smaller amounts being sent home during the course of the war, he is naturally interested in how much money he has saved up.  Every $1000 would be worth approximately $15,000 in equivalent dollars today....or 15 times the 1864 face value.

Reverse

Fractional Currency Note owned by John W. Derr

John is also looking for news from home...asking his father what he's been doing around the farm.  At this point, he undoubtable is longing for home.  With the war coming to an end in just 5 months...he must be anticipating getting back to normal life...

                                                                                                Camp near Petersburg, Va.

                                                                                                October the 6^th, 1864

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 with the fifteen dollars in it and now we got paid a couple days back.  And George Artz and Solomon Yarnall went home and I did send 150.00 dollars home with George Artz to give to you.  I want you to let me know whether you got it or not for I wouldn’t like to lose it.  This is all for the present time.  This few lines form me.

                                                                                                J. W. Derr

Answer soon and direct your letter as before.  Please let me know how much money I have got at home in all.  Give my love to all inquiring friends.  J.W. Derr to Peter Derr.  Let me know what you are working at now a while home.

J. Derr

Letter #37 -- Camp Near Petersburg, VA -- July 13, 1864

In July of 1864, John W. Derr would give insight into one of the most (in)famous battles of the Civil War.  Outside of Petersburg, Va, and during a stalemate in what would become the newest of battlefield tactics...trench warfare...officers of the 48th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry regiment devised a scheme to break the lines of the enemy.  The plan consisted of tunneling under the lines of the enemy and filling the resulting chamber with black powder...exploding the black powder...and thus undermining the lines of the enemy.  While the plan was good and the engineering was revolutionary...the follow-up attack was a disaster resulting in a failure of the union army to rout the enemy.

During the digging of what became known as "the Petersburg Mine", men of the 48th PVI spent over a month using knowledge obtained from coal mining in the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania to develop an effective mine tunnel under the Confederate lines.  It would later be filled with black powder and on July 30, 1864, exploded resulting in the famous Civil War "Battle of the Crater".  John was part of this mining effort and the letter below is a precursor to the execution of the attack.

I find this letter extremely fascinating and it provides an insight to the man and the effort.  It also gives me connection to the battle, whenever I visit the Petersburg National Battlefield Park.  Additionally, his bit of humor in the closing gives me a feel for the man...

"G.D. the mules they shake too much I can’t write anymore."

John would die a young man in 1876 at age 37.  Depositions provided in the widow pension application reference both his wounds received in battle, as well as his service in digging the mine.

*This is an uncensored reference in advance of the mining and preparation for the upcoming explosion which did occur on July 30, 1864 and resulted in the famous Petersburg “crater” and the breeching of the Confederate lines.  The 48^th Pa. conceived the plan for the mining and destruction of these fortifications; however, an otherwise brilliant plan deteriorated into a debacle when, after the successful detonation of explosives and breeching of fortifications, failed to follow up forcefully with the scheduled infantry attack (Depositions from Official Records (O.R.) indicated that J.W. Derr was actually more involved in the undermining than he indicated in this letter- See deposition of Sgt Otto Bodo, dated June 23, 1880).

                                                                                                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.

Pension Deposition of Sgt. Otto Bodo referencing JWD's participation in the mine

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.