Wednesday, November 2, 2011

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.

Jim D.

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Welcome

With 2011 being the 150th year since the start of the American Civil War, I thought it would be appropriate for me to share letters written by my great-great grandfather, John W. Derr during the course of the war. I have completed posting each letter on the 150th anniversary of their creation (mostly!). Since Private Derr did not write his letters in a consistent pattern...sometimes there are gaps in time better one letter and the next...This blog includes gap filler with other information relevant to him and his regiment. As I posted each letter, I created a corresponding link on the right side of the webpage to provide easy access and reference as you read each posting. I hope you enjoy the history of this common soldier during the most tumultuous time in our nation's history.

Additionally, I recently completed a long anticipated project by publishing a book "A Widow's Due" in June of 2020. This book is primarily about the life of my Great-great grandmother, Magdalena Diehl Derr, the widow of John W. Derr. It is based on years of research and much documentation, and whereas it is a work of "creative non-fiction", it is accurate and true to the documents and records I was able to find. Please visit my other website relating to the book as well as other upcoming projects at: www.jamespderr.com. Thank you.

Biography of Private John W. Derr

John W. Derr (JWD) was born in Barry Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania on October 7, 1839.

He enlisted in the Union Army in September of 1861 and was mustered into the 48^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company D at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg Pa, in that same month. From Harrisburg, the 48^th PVI transitioned through Baltimore, MD and then down the Chesapeake Bay to Fort Monroe in Virginia. From there, the 48^th PVI was attached to the larger Burnsides Expedition to North Carolina (Hatteras/New Berne area). After the North Carolina expedition the 48^th PVI was moved north and participated in the 2^nd battle of Bull Run, where JWD was wounded on August 29^th, 1862 and taken prisoner. He was paroled by the Confederates, and was transported to Georgetown College Hospital in Washington, D.C. After staying in Washington and missing the battles of Antietam and South Mountain, he was transferred to the Cherry and Broad Street hospital in Philadelphia, Pa in December of 1863. He was subsequently furloed home for further recuperation.

His unit was then detached for guard duty in Kentucky and Tennessee, where his unit re-enlisted in December 1863 at Blains Crossroads, TN. In 1864, the 48^th PVI was involved in Grant’s campaigns of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, etc…and eventually the Petersburg Campaign. JWD, as part of the 48^th PVI was integral in the digging of the Mine Crater. Documentation of his participation in the actual mining activities and subsequent illness from the damp/cold conditions are documented in his post mortem pension application by his widow, Magdalena Derr. Pension affidavits by his fellow soldiers indicate that his participation in the mining activities, along with his wounding at 2^nd Bull Run were the primary cause of his early death in 1876

In addition to his participation in the Petersburg Siege, JWD participated in the 1863 Army review by President Lincoln in Washington, D.C., the Grand Review of 1865 in Washington, D.C.

He was mustered out of the Army in July of 1865 and returned home to live out his remaining short life, dying on January 12, 1876 at age 37.

Civil War Letters of John W. Derr