Civil War Letters of John W. Derr: Letter #23 -- Georgetown College Hospital, Washington DC

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Letter #23 -- Georgetown College Hospital, Washington DC - September 18, 1862

FLASH!....I was pouring through some letter documents and found two letters that have never before been transcribed. One is dated September 18, 1862 and the other is dated September 27, 1862...both were written while John convalesced in Georgetown College Hospital after his wounding at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

I have decided to tag the first one Letter #21a and the second one as Letter #21b. Today I will post Letter #21a, but stay tuned for Letter #21b which I will post next week. I guess later is better than never, so here goes.

*** I have renumbered the letters to correspond to their correct order...this letter is now #23.***

Letter #~~21a~~ 23 dated September 18, 1862 is much as the others, a short letter from him to his parents while he laid in a hospital ward trying to recover from his "flesh wound". As I have stated in previous posts...wounds that appeared to be minor and uncomplicated, would end up being life threatening. This was primarily due to infection, diet and poor hospital care. John alludes to the poor state of hospital care in this early part of the war in a previous letter. The United States government was ill prepared for the level of carnage that this war, with its modern weaponry would inflict on soldiers given the antiquated strategies used by the officer corps. In this letter, John is responding to a letter that he received that day from his parents and is interested in some family news. Apparently a baby died at home and he is inquiring as to the cause and his concern. I believe this must have been a brother or sister...a child of his parents, though I have no records to confirm this assumption. Elizabeth, his sister, is mentioned again in this letter, and he he indicates his desire to have her write to him. More than likely, John is extremely bored, homesick and lonely and enjoys receiving mail...his only entertainment.

Unfortunately, this letter is written in lead pencil and is very difficult to read in some places. You will see my parenthetical blocks which indicate the illegibility of these parts of the letter.

One interesting note....He instructs his parents to ensure that any letter they pay for at the Barry Township post office in Pennsylvania have a stamp on it. Even though his parents paid the postage on this letter, the postal service at the hospital would not release it to him until he paid cash for the assumed postage due. Rather rough on a soldier to have Washington bureaucrats withholding mail from home to a wounded soldier due to the lack of a postage stamp!

Georgetown College Hospital

Ward No. 2 Washington

September 18, 1862

Dear Father and Mother,

I take my pencil in hand to inform this few lines to you to let you know that I am very well today on this evening it is, 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 you letter today and was very glad to hear from home and to hear that you are all well at present time for I haven’t heard from home for the 8 weeks all though I am sorry to hear that the baby died. But I can’t order it any. You didn’t mention how long it was sick or what his sickness was. Further I don’t know much to write this evening and I can’t write much because leg don’t heal for it. I wish you would tell Elizabeth that she should write a letter to me while I am here. Write soon. Again from your dear son.

John W. Derr

Direct your letter to John W. Derr Georgetown College Hospital Ward No. 2 Washington, D.C.

Further I must let you know that there are a few words in that letter that I can’t understand what the meaning is. But I don’t think that I do need any (unintelligible). If you do pay for your letter (unintelligible)…put them in (unintelligible)…post office then make them put a stamp on. This last letter you wrote and paid for, they (unintelligible) do but here was no stamp on and I had to pay it again here before they would give it to me.

John W. Derr

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.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Letter #23 -- Georgetown College Hospital, Washington DC - September 18, 1862

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