Letter #40 -- Camp Near Petersburg, VA -- September 9, 1864

Letter #40 provides zero insight into strategic or tactical war elements, rather, it is a letter from a common soldier reflecting common life in the army during the war.  John writes home to follow-up on his ongoing discussion about lending money to Kramer, asking for his parents to send him some of his own money, news of a cousin's impending visit home, a broken watch, postage stamps...and a darning needle.  Very common subject matter for a soldier who has spent the last three years in the army.

John is increasingly regretful about having promised Kramer a loan...in fact he indicates that he hopes Kramer never follows-up on the request.  Could he have promised the loan during a time of stress...or perhaps whiskey?  We will never know...but it is clear that he regrets having made the commitment.  He certainly wants a signed promissory note from Kramer to seal any deal that might be made.  He leaves that up to his father.

John missed the paymaster payout for the month...owing more than likely...to his assignment as a wagoner or a teamster.  He was probably on a run with his team, when the paymaster arrived and was certainly disappointed to have missed him.  He is low on cash, and requests that his parents send him some of his savings, until he can get paid.  In researching these letters, and in researching the pension records in the National Archives, there are many muster roles and payouts that were missed by John.  I always wondered why...now I know.  Note the reference again to sending and accepting only "greenbacks"...or money backed by the United States government, vs. local state and county currency.

His friend and comrade Solomon Yarnell was coming back to the Deep Creek area from the battlefield and John took the opportunity to send his broken watch home with him to give to his parents.  There is a possibility that Solomon would take the watch for repairs, but there is no record of that ever happening.

I am not sure who the Catharine is that he mentions in the letter, but his cousin Levi Derr will be furloughed soon and he informs his parents, so they might tell Levi's parents.

The request for a darning needle is pretty common for the era.  People repaired socks when they got a hole in them...and soldiers repaired their own socks in the field.

                                                                                                Camp near Petersburg, Va.

                                                                                                September the 9, 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 kind letter today and was glad to hear from you and to hear that you was well.  I got that letter with the postage stamps in it but that was the last one until this one.  You wrote that Kramer didn’t come for the money yet and I don’t care if he don’t come at all for it or not.  But if he comes you will give it to him because I promised it to him if he gives you good bail.  I haven’t been paid since I am out.  The regt. was paid and I wasn’t there so I didn’t get paid.  I want you to send me fifteen dollars in the next letter but you must send me “greenbacks” or else I can’t pass it.  And direct your letter right so it won’t get lost and send it as soon as you get this letter from me.  Solomon Yarnall will come home in a couple weeks then I will send my watch home with him and he will give it to you and you will take care of it till I come home or maybe he will come out again then I will get him to fix it and fetch it along again.  But if he don’t come he will let it at home.  I think Catharine hasn’t come home yet or else you would said something about it please and let me know where she is and I will write to her mother.  Put me a darning needle in a letter and send it to me but don’t put it in with money.  Send it in another letter.  I let you know that cousin Levi Derr went home on furlough from here.  It may be that he will come up there.  This is about all for this time.  This few lines from your 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.

Jim D.

Letter #38 -- Camp Near Petersburg, VA -- July 17, 1864

5 Cent Fractional Currency Note from John W. Derr Collection

I'm a day late on this one, but as they say...better late than never.

The digging goes on...and so does the camp life for John W. Derr.  The mine is still in progress with the eventual explosion on July 30th.   Though this letter does not reflect it, John spends his days working in the mine as well as driving team for the dirt removal.



Letter #38 discusses a commitment John made to John Kramer to lend Kramer $200.  He is confirming his verbal commitment to Kramer and tells his father to do the deal, but to get "his note and a good bale" from him.  He has loaned Kramer money before and he directs his father that when he gives him the $200, that if some of the money Kramer paid back in the past was not greenbacks (or gold/silver) that his father should use that money for the loan.

During the war, and prior to the war, there were many varieties of currency printed.  Some was literally not worth the paper it was printed on.  As a result, most only wanted to deal in hard currencies such as gold or silver...and at a minimum..."greenbacks".  Greenbacks were printed by the Federal government and had slightly more trust than local currencies...but not much.  Memories of the old Continental currencies, printed during the Revolutionary War, were still fresh in the minds of Americans.  The Continental currency essentially became worthless after the war and many soldiers of the Revolution held worthless pay.   During the Civil War, many of the soldiers had grandfathers that had fought, so they knew the stories of "bad money".  An earlier letter (Letter #19) illustrates his concern about taking local money.   In that case...Schuylkill money...

http://www.jwdletters.com/2012/08/letter-19-newport-news-virginia-august.html

Confederate $5 Bill from John W. Derr Collection

Confederate $5 Bill from John W. Derr Collection

Civil War Token from John W. Derr Collection

                                                                                                Camp near Petersburg, Va.   

                                                                                                July 17^th, 1864

My Dear Father,

            I take the present opportunity of informing 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 let you know that John Kramer ask me to lend him two hundred dollars of my money and I did promise it to him.  So if he comes for it and gives you his note and a good bale (bail) * on it you can give it to him but no sooner than you get the note.  He told me that I need to use only on bail but I will leave that to you.  Or if you don’t know anybody let him put old Reed or Dengler or who you think is best to have on (it).  And if he paid you any money that ain’t greenbacks give him that and see that you won’t get cheated.  It is more trouble than it is worth but still I have to do it.  I have no more to write for this time so I will bring my letter to a close.  This few lines from your son.

                                                                                                John W. Derr

Answer soon and direct your letter as before.

*It appears that the term bail as used in this letter was, during this period of time, synonymous with our current use of the term co-signer.           

Jim D.

Letter #19 -- Newport News, Virginia - August 1, 1862

Money...money...money!  Always about the money!  That is what I used to think of the general content of the the letters of JWD.  Originally, I had envisioned grand and glorious letters written home to friends and family describing the heroic actions of my ancestor during this most momentous time in our nation's history.   The more I read...the more I digest...the more I understand the man who was my great -great grandfather.  I guess what I find most interesting and satisfying is that he was no different than other soldiers who have fought for our country.  Even to this day, soldiers write (or more likely today they use email, Skype, or cellphones) home to talk about mostly day-to-day life and to catch-up on events at home.  Soldiers today generally don't write detailed descriptions of battles, actions taken...nor do they sit at home and wax fondly of the days of war.  I can understand this now.  For a soldier in the field, constant letters containing the true dangerous day-to-day actions, would only serve to worry family at home.  After all, JWD was writing to his parents who were already very worried about his safety, and writing to them to confirm what they read about in the papers and what was gossiped about at home would only add to their fears.  So it goes...his letters serve as a communication vehicle, a comfort, and a touch of the home front for a soldier who was both bored and terrified in the field.

Letter #19 from August 1, 1862 is interesting from a historical perspective...not of the war...but of the state and belief in the monetary system of the United States at that time.  Today, we take for granted the value and fidelity of United States paper currency.  In 1862, the general population did not have as much confidence in paper money.  Prior to the Civil War, paper currency was handled on a local level with states, counties, and even cities/town issuing their own paper currency.  This currency was backed by gold or silver and could be redeemed in that location at any time.  This presented problems as the money moved further away from the locality from which it was issued.  Eventually the United States government started issuing its own currency via "demand notes", in 1861.  By 1862, these were replaced by the more commonly known, "greenbacks" reserve notes.  This was done in order to finance the war effort by issuing dollars in paper vs. the increasingly scarce precious metal coinage. By 1862, copper pennies were so scarce that private companies and banks began issuing their own pennies...hence the civil war token was born.

In this letter you can see how JWD tries to explain to his parents about his wishes on what kind of money they should take for his pay disbursement.  In this case, he is telling them what kind of deal was acceptable.  Hunsinger described in the letters, was a merchant in Minersville, Pa, and he played a roll in providing a payroll cashing service for family members drawing pay for soldiers in the field.  This was a valuable service, since the last thing a soldier wanted was to have all of his monthly pay allotments on his person and to risk losing it during a battle, or having it stolen by friend or foe!  Most had their pay drawn at home, and services provided by Hunsinger handled the details.  JWD directed his parents and essentially educated them on how, how much and what to accept, so that they would not be taken advantage of by the merchant.  In essence what he tells them is that if he pays in "United States Money" (Greenbacks) that they owe him nothing because of his lack of faith in the new currency.  However, if he pays in Schuylkill County paper currency, then they should take a lower value and get gold or silver instead.  So...he had little faith in either paper currencies, but was willing to take less money for precious metals....e.g. 70 cents on 20 dollars....or 3.5% fee for metal.


The last part of the letter is for his entire family to comfort them and tell them not to worry about him.  I suspect he had received letters from brothers and sisters who were concerned about him and he felt he needed to tell them that he will be alright.

Lastly, he inquires about his sister Elizabeth and her marriage.  I am not sure what happened there, but I find it interesting that he inquires and has not been told by the family....something suspicious!

Letter #19.....

                                                                                                Newport News, Virginia

                                                                                                August the 1^st, 1862

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.  Further I let you know that I received your letter on the last of July and I was very glad to hear from you and hear that you are all well at present time.  But I don’t know what to say about my money what you draw from Hunsinger but I will tell you what to do about it if he pays the United States money, them kind of bills what I sent home the first time.  Then you will take it and don’t give him the 70 cents from twenty dollars.  But if he pays Schuylkill County money or any other kind of old paper money then you may take gold and silver.  That is if he takes only 70 cents from the 20 dollars you must know best what to do.  You know that I am satisfied if you do only what is right and take good care of it for I need it very bad when I come home.  But you stated in your letter that I have only 51 dollars of soldier’s money at home and I did send 28.50 cents home from here and you did draw 40 dollars at home and that would make 68.50 dollars and fifty cents and you can draw 20 dollars again now and twenty I had at home.  Then that all together would make one hundred and eight dollars and fifty cents.  You mustn’t give no money to any body that don’t give it back again.  You will use some of my money to buy paper and envelopes and to pay the letters for I must write often to you and let me know all about it what I wrote to you.  Answer this letter well and soon.

                        Dear Father and Mother Sisters and Brothers, you must not trouble yourselves about me.  You must always think that I would come home and very likely I will come home.  Further I let you know that I answered every letter to Elizabeth that I got from her and one more.  But I will write to her as long as I can draw the pen over the paper.  But I heard that she got married and no one will write to me whether it is so or not.  But now I must come to a close and say goodby for this time. Answer this letter as soon as you get this from me.  Direct your letter as before for I can’t write the direction here.

                                                                                                So much from Your Dear Son,

                                                                                                John W. Derr

Jim D.