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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Westervelt, John H. (John Henry)
Diary of a Yankee engineer : the Civil War story of John H. Westervelt, engineer, 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Corps I edited by Anita Palladino.
p. em. -(The North's Civil War, ISSN 1089-8719 ; no. 1)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8232-1724-8
1. Westervelt, John H. (John Henry}--Diaries. 2. Military engineers-New York (State)-Rockland County-Diaries. 3. United States. Army. New York Engineer Regiment, 1st (1861-1865}--Biography. 4. New York (State}--History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Personal narratives. 5. United StatesHistory-Civil War, 1861-1865-Personal narratives. 6. Rockland County (N.Y.)-Biography. I. Palladino, Anita. II. Title. III. Series.
E523.9.W47 1997
973.7'81-dc20
Printed in the United States of America
96-42521 CIP
This book is dedicated with love and gratitude to
my step-father, "Poppa Joe" Arcaro, finder of the diary, teller of tales, and singer of songs who, I'm sure, is even now enjoying some music and a demijohn of whiskey with John Henry and my mother, Mildred Palladino Arcaro, who shared with me her love of history and uncomplainingly endured endless research trips and years of Westervelt obsession.
Introduction
By the time the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, two hundred years had passed since the Westervelt family docked at New Amsterdam. From two brothers on board the Hoop were to descend a long line of patriots, religious and political leaders, and, in 1827, a farmer's son named John Henry Westervelt. 1
Unlike some of his more renowned relatives, John lived a relatively obscure life. The little that is known about him comes, for the most part, through his own words, written in faded ink and sent in installments to his thirteen-year-old son, Frazee. This diary, on a series of tattered, yellow pages, records "such things as may come under my personal observation"2 during his service >vith the 1st New York Engineer Corps.
John's accounts do not speak with the authority of a general and make no pretense of battlefield heroics. Yet, by his intent to write not for history, but for Frazee, his journal presents a truer vision of military life than the more often told sagas of glory. The soldier's life of relentless tedium, the fatiguing fight against the twin enemies of pestilence and illness, give us perhaps one of the "truer, if not beautiful" 3 pictures of war. Early dreams of greatness depart, leaving only the voice of an ordinary man in an extraordinary time, a man who merely lived as he thought right, and died in consequence.
The early life of John Westervelt is largely undocumented; both church and school records for the years involved are missing, yet his youth was undoubtedly similar to that of other farm boys in mid-nineteenth-century America. His early education was probably either at Brick Church or English
1. W. Talman Westervelt, Genealogy of the Westervelt Family (Salem, Mass.: Higginson Books, 1990),. pp. 1-2.
2. Diary entry of May 8, 1864.
3. Comment written on reverse of his sketch.
INTRODUCTION
Church school, the two nearest to the family in New Hempstead (Ramapo), Rockland County.
In addition to the "3R's" John was undoubtedly taught the fourth R-Religion. As long-standing members of the Dutch Reformed Church (the family plot at Brick Church begins with Revolutionary War veteran Albert Westervelt, buried in 1829), the teachings of the Dutch Reformed Church without question also played a large part in his boyhood training.
It appears that John left Rockland in the mid-1840s and moved to New York City. 4 From his knowledge of literature, mechanics, and draftsmanship it is obvious that his education was continued beyond elementary school. While it cannot be stated without reservation, there is a strong possibility that he obtained his education at the school run by the Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen at 4 72 Broadway.
The links between John Westervelt and this society are several: his third cousin (and later New York City Mayor), Jacob Aaron Westervelt, was president of the society for a number of years, beginning in 1845. The Mechanics society was also the sponsor of the First New York Regiment of Engineers, the Civil War Regiment in which John enlisted. As the classes otl'ered there included classical as well as mechanical studies, the likelihood of .John Westervelt's attendance there cannot be disregarded.
On April 14, 1850, John married Anna M. Nafis at the Bedford Street Methodist Church, located at the corner of Bedford and Morton Streets in Greenwich Village. 5 In November of
4. The 1850 Census no longer lists him as a residPnt of Rockland County.
5. In William Scott Fisher, New York City Methodist Marriages, 17851893 (Camden, Me.: Picton Press, 1994), p. 57. No indication is found of how or when he broke with the Dutch Reformed religion, although it is known that Nicholas Onderdonk (born 1828), brother-in-law to John's sister Antoinette, was a member of the Bedford Street Methodist Church from 1850 until his death in 1910. (Onderdonk Family vertical file at Historical Society of Rockland, New City, New York.)
The Westervelt genealogy also records that family mPmlwrs Matthew, Peter, and William \VPsten·elt migrated to Ohio in 1B18 and then• became the first male members of the earliest :Methodist society, organizPcl in 1819. (WestPrvillP, Ohio, is named in honor of thPse early sl'ttlPrs). In 1836 Matthew donated the lot 011 which the church was built and later IH'canw one of the first trustees of BIP!Hlon SPminary, prPdecessor of OttPrlwin l'nin'J'Sity, which attemptPd to bf'('OmP thP h•ading college of \\'('stern MP!hodism.
INTRODUCTION
1850 their first child, Frazee, was born. He was followed in 1852 by Marie Antoinette (died 1856), John Henry on September 13, 1854, Frank Brown on January 20, 1858, Frederick on March 24, 1861 (died of infant cholera August 6, 1862), and Edward C. on November 27, 1866.
Apart from these records, the lives of the family remain largely unknown. John was a member of the New York City Volunteer Fire Department, Gulick Hose Company XI, stationed in Greenwich Village, close to the Westervelt home at 66 Greenwich Avenue. Fire Department Company membership records from the 1850s list John along with friends later mentioned in his diary: John Halliday, carpenter of Mulligan Place; tin smith Mitchell Halliday, his brother Robert, a carpenter, and Charles Uhl, a mason (all Greenwich Avenue neighbors of the Westervelt family); William Mathews, a stair builder of Washington Street; and sash and blind makers James and Peter Ward of First Avenue. Also found in the membership rolls is John's younger brother Schuyler, a lawyer and resident of 4th Street in the 9th ward. 6
An additional hint about John (occupation recorded as "stair builder," denoting a skill level above "carpenter") is found in a marginal notation in these ledgers: "Suspended 6 months from March 27, 1857 to September 26, 1857."7 Although the reason for this suspension is not given, it is known that the most probable causes of suspension were "rowdiness" and fighting, generally between members of different companies over their relative merits. Despite records indicating that John resigned from the company on March 8, 1858, he obvi-
Thus, John would not have been the first in his family to exchange Dutch Reformed membership for Methodism.
6. John Westervelt belonged to Hose Company XI, "Gulick." Organized March 25, 1837, the company was located at 14 Amos Street in Greenwich Village. Hose XI was notable for its colorful participation in parades, accompanied by its twenty-one-piece band. In the 1860 parade held for the Prince of Wales many remarked that "its carriage alone cost $200" (Augustine E. Costello, Our Firemen: A History of the New York City Fire Department (New York, 1887). It went out of service in 1865 with the advent of paid fire companies.
New York City Fire Department Certificate issued to John Westervelt lists him as owner of Badge #15.
7. New York City Volunteer Fire Department Records, Files and Reports, 1855-58, original ledger at the New-York Historical Society.
INTRODUCTION
ously rejoined at a later date as his certificate of membership in good standing is dated January of 1860 and includes a new badge number. That he relished the camaraderie and excitement of his days with the volunteer fire department is evident by his references to Hose XI in his journal.
The same fire department records show that the Westervelt family, at least up to 1858, resided at 66 Greenwich Avenue, the old "9th Ward" that John fondly mentions in his journal. By the time of the 1860 census, which values John Westervelt's estate at $500, the family had moved to West 26th Street and Anna's widowed mother was living with them.
On September 8, 1862, John Westervelt signed his voluntary enlistment papers and became a member of the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment, Company H. Also known as "Serrell's Engineers" (for Edward Serrell), this company was organized at New York City beginning in October of 1861. The men of the engineering corps had the mission of constructing pontoon bridges for river crossings, building lookout and signal towers, constructing roads (often through swamps), and building entrenchments and fortifications. Their work was often clone under rebel scrutiny and sometimes under fire, frequently when the engineers were unable to respond. John's company was significantly involved in operations on Folly Island and Morris Island, South Carolina, as well as assaults on Forts Wagner, Gregg, Sumter, and Charleston. Later, members of the 1st New York took part in Butler's operations against Petersburg and Richmond, Bermuda Hundred (where John Westervelt had the honor of erecting the first flagstaff), the construction of Dutch Gap Canal, and the occupation of Richmond. John was also part of an engineering detachment sent to Florida after the battle of Oulstee and from May of 1864 was part of the Army of the James. 8
The reasons for his enlistment can be only partially understood through his own words. Patriotism undoubtedly was an important factor, as he refers to having done his part to save the Union. Economic conditions may have been involved, and
8. The 1st New York Engineers (Serrell's) were organized under the auspices of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, located at 472 Broadway (Martha J. Lamb, "The Career of a Beneficent Enterprise," brochure, 1889, p. 16).
INTRODUCTION
certainly family tradition was a consideration-grandfather Albert was a Minuteman during the Revolutionary War and other family members participated in the War of 1812. In fact, one month before .John's enlistment, his eighteen-year-old nephew James Henry Onderdonk joined the Union Army and was sent to New Orleans. (James fared even less well than John, dying of disease on August 8, 1863.) Whatever his reasons, we do know from his diary that John Westervelt left New York on the 21st of September 1862 at "ten o'clock in the morning from the foot of old Amos St. for Port Royal S.C. and landed at Hilton Head, S.C., just four days later on Oct 2nd at 10 A.M."
When John Westervelt's diary begins in the spring of 1863 he has been in the army for seven months. As a part of the engineering corps outside Charleston under the command of General Gillmore (who is intently drawing his "ring of fire" around the Confederate-held Fort Sumter and Charleston), the engineers are busy constructing fortifications, lookout towers, and roads while Fort Sumter remains in rebel hands despite relentless Union bombardments.
While John repeatedly cautions that he was not writing a history of the war, he did inadvertently prepare an eyewitness history from the seldom-seen point of view of the engineer. Although he does not personally take part in battles, he and his comntdes were instrumental in constructing pontoon bridges and towers that significantly impacted Union fighting. An added aspect of his contribution is found in the sketches John drew. While they are perhaps less perfect than he would have liked, they still manage to convey an on-the-spot presence and as such augment his personal, original impressions.
Although never maudlin, John comments with sadness at the wounded, "their legs and arms cut off like butchering sheep" (p. 171). In like manner, the heavy loss of lives during Grant's campaign caused him to comment that "The news from Grants army is of the most cheering kind. Everything is cheering except the immense loss of human life" (p. 131). His desire for peace is likewise tempered with foresight, insisting that "We dont want peace at any price, but peace at a price we can afford hereafter, one that will not at some future day com-
INTRODUCTION
pell us to pay a heavy interest in another deluge of human blood" (p. 213).
This is the John Westervelt that we can know without looking further than his own words. His experiences, thoughts, and emotions are both uniquely his and Everyman's.
By his own admission he was not an abolitionist, yet, he was an abolitionist in the most universal sense of the word, believing all men deserving of equal justice. On September 29, 1863, John writes Frazee that his passionate belief in the "rights of man, whether black or white" compels him to comment on the ill-use of black troops, despite their obvious contributions to the Union cause.
In what may first seem a contradiction, this same entry notes his "hatred" of southern blacks. It is only by looking deeper at his philosophy that this unexpected feeling will be understood.
The overwhelmingly dominant theme in the words John sends home is that of pride. He repeatedly relays stories to Frazee which stress how a man's behavior shapes that of those around him: "for a man if he has any pride or self respect can easily by a quiet dignity, compel those above him to respect him, in spite of themselves" (p. 104).
And again, in his tale of returning to camp after furlough, John reminds his son that "manly independence and self respect will insure gentlemanly treatment" (p. 223). John refused to acknowledge subservience to any man; thus, the servility and timidity of the southern blacks was an anathema to him. In essence, he was misplacing anger at southern blacks, instead of at the system that created their servility. (Interestingly, escaped slave Robert Smalls, certainly an atypical slave, was praised by John as "a very intelligent pilot ... a plucky fellow" [p. 76]).
Closely allied to John's feelings on slaves were his emotional reactions to the ignorance of Southerners, which induced him to compare their level of intelligence to "that which you might detect in the face of a dumb brute." Still, he concludes his observations with a fervent hope that these "poor wretches may be taught that they are human beings" (p. 231).
This is but another instance of John's forceful belief in
INTRODUCTION
man's inherent dignity. This trait, this insistence upon selfrespect, is perhaps his most defining characteristic.
Government waste and inequity was another frequent target of his temper. In fact, he became so incensed at civilian workers receiving more pay than soldiers without having to face enemy fire or the draft that he avows "were I honorably out of the service no consideration of duty would induce me to enter it again" (p. 75).
Tempering his outbursts at injustice, John often displayed great understanding and tolerance of his fellows. Unlike many members of society of the time, John apparently held no prejudice about religion. Upon seeing his General entering a Catholic chapel he ofl'ered no criticism and, in fact, voiced approval of any man's choice of worship, as long as he is "a good and loyal citizen."
Further signs of his unusual understanding of his fellow men are seen throughout his diary as he speaks of diverse personalities. Describing Captain Cruso, he explains that Cruso is eccentric yet if you understand his eccentricities you will get along with him. However, regardless of his attempts to accept his fellow man, John had his limits; in his mind there was no excuse for, and no forgiving of, a man who was unclean, a drunkard, or a bully.
In contrast to his passion for justice and serious mindfulness, it is important to consider John's appreciation of life and sense of humor. His character was embedded with awareness and enjoyment of nature. Many pages describe the flowers and birds with a feeling of wonder. His fascination with Florida is especially compelling in this regard; he speaks with wonderment at the thousands of porpoises, the fragrance of orange blossoms, and the delicious balminess so magical "you almost imagine you're in paradise" (p. 125).
Later, stationed in Virginia during an unusual cold spell which freezes the river, he watches the fortunate men with skates and remarks with a boyish wistfulness that "I wished very much for a pair" (p. 210).
John also found delight in music, fishing, and cooking. The pleasure and pride in his accomplishments, whPther cooking flapjacks, inventing a lamp, or building a stove, unerringly
INTRODUCTION
gave Frazee the message: do your best, never say I can't, and always conduct yourself with pride.
When John begins to lose his health, his optimism combines with anger and he rallies his energies with the passionate words, "I am a poor old horse turned out to die because I am no longer useful. But I will not die for all they can do."
These words become all the more poignant when contrasted with his earlier jaunty remark: "I am as healthy as a man can possibly be .... I eat like a horse everything I get hold of and feel, to use a vulgar expression, like a fighting cock."
Upon John Westervelt's discharge in June of 1865 he is thirty-seven-years old. His weight has gone from 150 to 130, and though he struggles to keep his confidence alive, his once vibrant health has been broken.
In sum, his journal tells the story of his evolution, and, by inference, the story of thousands who, no matter which side they fought for, no matter their beliefs, were never again who they were at the onset of the war.
Acknowledgments
This diary could never have come into being without a great deal of assistance and direction. Among those without whom this volume would never have been possible are:
Dorothy Westervelt Briggs and family, in whose gracious spirits the John H. Westervelt line proudly continues
Joseph ("Poppa Joe") Arcaro, finder of the diary
Pat Durie, Alan Aimone, and Susan Lintleman of the United States Military Academy Library, Special Collections, West Point, New York
Edwin Alford, Document Specialist
Emerson New Jersey Genealogical Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Jean Koefoed of "Be Seated." New York, New York
Marie Koestler, Rockland County Genealogist, Nanuet, N.Y.
Patrick McCaully, South Carolina Historical Society
Carole Morrill, Coordinator of the Little Red Schoolhouse Museum, East Ramapo, N.Y.
George Pantonovic, Rockland County photographer and Lincoln scholar
Fran Pollard, Virginia Historical Society
Jeanne Reid, Yonkers Reference Librarian
David F. Riggs and Dee Ann Stallings, Jamestown, Virginia Historians
Claude Westerfield of Bossier City, Louisiana
Sherron Westerfield Moore of Florida and Kentucky
and the numerous staff members of:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Finkelstein Memorial Libmry, Spring Valley, N.Y
General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, New York City Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Mount Pleasant Public Library, Westchester County, N.Y
National Archives and Record Service, Washington, D.C.
New-York Historical Society, New York, N.Y.
New York Public Library, Local History Division, New York, N .Y
Nyack Library, Nyack, N.Y
Rockland County Historical Society, New City, N .Y
U.S. Army Military History Institute Library, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
History of the Diary and Drawings of John H. Westervelt
John Westervelt sent 68 installments of his life in the engineer corps home to his son Frazee. Following John's death in 1868, John's widow and children continued to live in New York City at 436 W. 36th Street until 1876, when Anna and family moved to 406 West 55th Street. They remained there throughout the 1870s, moving in late 1879 or early 1880 to Railroad Avenue, near 166th Street. Per census records, Anna's household contained sons Henry, Frank B., and Edward as well as Frazee, his wife Elizabeth, and their sons Schulyer, Theodore, and Frank. Presumably, the journal and drawings moved along with the rest of the family belongings.
According to the 1892 through 1895 New York City Directories, Anna is shown as having relocated to the West Farms area of the Bronx, giving her address as 1735 West Farms Road. (Frazee and family are not listed in the directory, but were most likely also living there.) By the time of the 1900 census, dated June 4th, Anna is noted as "Head of Household" in a rented house at 1601 West Farms Road, and Frazee is living with her. The same census page lists John's younger son, Edward (a "foreman"), living a few houses away at 1581 West Farms Road with his wife Minnie and their ten-year-old son Clinton. 1 Anna continued to live at 1601 until her death in 1904.
On September 18, 1927, the journal was found by George
1. Frazee's wife and children are not listed as household members; however, as they would have been in their 20s they may well have been on their own by this date. His wife may have been away at the date of the census, or deceased, or her omission may have been an error. Edward's household included his widowed sister-in-law, Eva Pawson, and her daughter Emma. Per the census, Edward owned this home free of mortgage.
AND DRAWINGS
and Joseph Arcaro, my step-father. Many years later I received the diary from Joe and was told that he and George found it in the trash outside a house that was being renovated on West Farms Road. While it cannot be stated with certainty, this was probably the residence of Frazee.
As puzzling as the missing years in the existence of the diary are, the circumstances surrounding John Westervelt's drawings are even more of a riddle. While searching for clues on the Westervelts I found a reference on the out-of-county CD Catalog at Valley Cottage Library which stated: Westervelt, John H. Papers; 1864, drawings and cartoons. The entry indicated these items were in the holdings of the Library of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Initial contact with West Point could not provide any details and until the sketches were located in Special Collections archives it seemed doubtful that they could have any connection to the same John H. Westervelt.
Once located and studied, however, it was obvious that they were indeed done by the same man; their captions and references matched the diary perfectly, leaving only the intriguing question of how they were separated from the journal and came to West Point. The acknowledgment letter for the map and drawings 2 indicates only that they were donated in 1976 by Violet Westervelt, a name which was not familiar to any of the present descendants of John. The only Violet found in genealogies was a first cousin to John, born in 1888 to William Westervelt and Annie Brydson. 3 Her connection to the artwork seemed tenuous as John had direct descendants that were more likely to have inherited the work.
The mystery of Violet continued when tracing the address given to West Point. None of the neighbors knew or remembered her. With this, the search for Violet seemed to have reached a dead end until I entered her name one last time in the computer-based Social Security Death Index at the Genealogical Library of the Emerson Branch of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Eureka! The computer located a Violet West-
2. Letter of 27 October 1976 from United States Military Academy Library to Violet Westervelt. In collection at West Point.
3. Westervelt, Genealogy, p. 113.
HISTORY OF THE DIARY AND DRAWINGS xxi
ervelt and provided birth and death dates. A letter and check to Tallahassee (Violet died in Florida in 1993) produced a death certificate showing Violet as born in New York to Theodore \Vestervelt, son of Frazee.
While there is still some mystery about the diary and artwork-when and how they became separated or misplacedone can only be grateful for the serendipity, and perhaps nudge from heaven, that led to their reunion after so many years.
EDITORIAL NOTE
The diary of John Westervelt has been transcribed as written by him. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar have not been regularized nor modernized. Names, where misspelled, have been corrected only in the appropriate notes identifying the individual at the end of each section.
While every attempt has been made to record the full text of the journal, when only fragmentary words or phrases can be deciphered due to damage to the original manuscript these sections are omitted if no understandable context can be discerned. These areas are indicated as ...
Where words, phrases, or sentences are legible only in part, and the remaining text strongly suggests the obscure or missing letters or words, such letters or words have been added and are indicated by brackets.
John frequently inserted small sketches to illustrate items to Frazee. Places where these occur in the original diary are indicated by [sketch]. His more elaborate drawings, from the West Point archives, are noted as [illus/WP].
Oct. 21, 1827
Aug. 26, 1830
mid-1840s
Apr. 14, 1850
Nov. 1850 1852
1850s to early 1860s
Jan. 15, 1853
Sep. 13, 1854 1856
Jan. 20,1858
Mar. 24, 1861
Aug. 6, 1862
Sep.8, 1862
Chronology
John Henry Westervelt born on family farm in New Hempstead (Ramapo), Rockland County
Anna Maria Na.fts born on Sullivan Street, New York City
John moves to New York City
Married to Anna Na.fts at Bedford Street
Methodist Church in New York City by Rev. VanDeusen
Son Frazee S. born in New York City
Daughter Marie Antoinette born in New York City
Member New York City Volunteer Fire Department, Gulick Hose Company, #11
John's mother, Hannah (Teneyck), dies at Rockland County family farm
Son John Henry born in New York City
Daughter Marie Antoinette dies
Son Frank Brown born in New York City
Son Frederick A. born in New York City
Frederick dies of infant cholera
John enlists and is mustered into 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Corps, Co. H, as a private. Paid bounty of $50 plus a premium of$29
Sep. 28, 1862 Leaves New York for South Carolina on Star of the South from dock at the "foot of Amos Street"
Oct. 2, 1862 Arrives Hilton Head, South Carolina
Apr. 4, 1863 Begins journal to send to Frazee
Apr. 1863 to Feb. 1864
May 8,1863
CHRONOLOGY
Stationed in and around Folly and Morris Islands, South Carolina
Promoted to private 1st class/artifl.cer
Feb.-Mar. 1864 Serves with detachment in Florida
Apr. 1864 Stationed in various Virginia locations: Fortress Monroe, City Point, Bermuda Hundred
Dec. 17, 1864 Promoted to sergeant
Mar. 16-Apr. 3 Home on furlough
June 13, 1865 Discharged for disability, Richmond, Virginia
June 15,1865 Arrives "safe at home," makes last journal entry
Nov. 27, 1866 Son Edward C. born in New York City
Apr. 1868 Increase to total disability approved
Oct. 18, 1868 Dies of tuberculosis at his West 36th Street home
Oct. 22, 1868
Oct. 17, 1879
Nov. 22, 1904
Sep. 18, 1927
Oct. 1976
Buried in Rockland County
John's father, James, dies at family farm
John's wife, Anna, dies at home on West Farms Road, Bronx; buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Journal found, West Farms Road
Artwork donated to West Point by Violet Westervelt, great-granddaughter of John (Frazee Westervelt's son Theodore was the father of Violet. She was born in 1908, died 1993.)
Journal of an expedition to Folly Island written by JHW for FSW
No.1
Apllst 4pm Word came to prepare for a secret expedition to Folly Island. 2nd Last evening we packed everything belonging to us. 6 P.M. We had orders to strike tents but were obliged to sleep in the sand all night. The wind blowing a gale on us and sand in clouds .... got my breakfast 8 A.M. Fell in and marched on board all highly elated with their idea of work . there are birds here. They seemed so playful that I almost imagined that it was for our benefit. After watching them a while went to dine on salt hardtack. Water on board vessels is made fresh by placing in what they call condensers, after which it becomes sweet and pure. [However] not having any on board old enough ... 5 P.M. We had 2 boats lashed together one upside down, we took them in tow although the sea was very high and we had great difficulty in getting them and was obliged to cut the one adrift that was upside down. 6 P.M. We ran and anchored in Edisto inlet between Edisto & John's Island 4th 7 A.M. Up anchor and put to sea. 8 A.M. began to get rough, the sea kept rising. 11 A.M. when we took a pilot on board. Previous to this the boat we picked up swamped. We cut her loose and let her go. We now ran as far as Stono inlet and lay out at the bar for the tide till 6 P.M. when we ran in and anchored. We could now see the fleet blockading Charleston harbor, being about 15 miles distant. We could also see rebel camps on the land. Here lay several monitors and gun boats waiting orders for the attack on C. Sunday 5th 3 P.M. Orders came on board for the Company to go to Folly island with three days rations in our haversacks, or knapsacks. All hands were highly elated except two of those who showed the whites further. Now we detect the chaff from the wheat. I will tell you some anecdote about it when I see you. I have no space here. 11 P.M. Left the steamer in small boats and landed at 12 midnight. All of the boats running
DIARY OF A YANKEE ENGINEER
aground we were obliged to jump overboard and go ashore, getting wet up to the middle. 3 A.M. 6th Commenced a march along shore. We had 2 infantry besides our Co which numbers 75 men. It was moonlight and we proceeded on our expedition halting every ten minutes for our scouts who was scouting the woods in every direction fearing there might be a rebel force on the island. 9 A.M. We halted for breakfast after we made 3 miles. After eating some salt horse and hard tack, 1 a young man by the name of Benson 2 and myself crawled under the bushes and slept till 12 Noon. I'll tell you more about Benson some other time, suffice it for the present he has taken a fancy to me, and as I like him he generally makes one of our group. March again now and saw some of the most wild looking scenery I ever saw. It is all white sand but mostly covered with pines and stunted palmettos. Its growth of brush so dense that a cat could not creep through it with their paw. It looks if had been trimmed by the hand of man as you have seen there in gardens. The general appearance of the island reminds me of pictures I have seen of Africa or of the south sea islands. There are plenty of snakes and a few wild goats and cows, also some black squirrels. There is an eagles nest, in a pine tree over our camp. 2 P.M. halted and eat dinner, then built a lookout or signal station. We now began to think about a place to sleep for the night, being pretty well played out and my feet sore from walking with wet stockings and drawers. So we pulled out our jack knives and Benson and me cut a hole under the brush large enough for two to lay. Hotch & Patterson 3 doing the same close by us. We now took some
1. Salt horse was actually pickled, salted beef, taking its nickname from soldiers' rumors of finding horseshoes at the bottom of barrels. Hardtack, staple of issued rations, were crackers made of unleavened flour and water. Generally moldy and riddled with vermin, they nonetheless kept many a soldier from starvation.
2. Edward Benson, age 19, enlisted December 23, 1861 in New York City. Mustered out at Varina, Virginia, December 23, 1864. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1898, p. 20.
3. Aaron S. Hotchkiss, age 44, enlisted August 31, 1862 in New York City. Promoted to sergeant February 11, 1965, mustered out June 30, 1865 in Richmond, Virginia. Annual Report of the Adjutant General, p. 152. James Patterson, age 34, enlisted September 8, 1862 in New York City. Promoted to sergeant February 11, 1865, mustered out June 30, 1865, Richmond, Virginia. Annual Report of the Adjutant General, p. 245.
palmetto leaves, some of which are as large as the top of a table, and put them in the hole and by pressing them against the top and sides formed an arch making a neat and comfortable place to sleep. We were not destined to enjoy it long however for at 1 A.M. we were ordered on the march. We proceeded about a mile and a half when our scouts reported having seen rebels. The engineers now fell in the rear and the infantry front for battle but then the alarm passed the scout having most likely seen some of our other scouts. So the men lay down on their arms and the engineers on their shovels and axes till daylight when we returned to our palmettos. After taking a snooze, about 10 P.M. I took a walk% mile from camp and saw Fort Sumter plain enough to distinguish two flagstaffs one being the secesh and the other a black flag. The black flag expected to mean no surrender. Our monitors which lay outside now began toward the harbour. Soon a battery on Morris island began popping away at them, but we waited without returning their fire until they were in range of old Sumpter who [showered] tremendous fire on them, the firing commenced at 2 P.M. 4 and lasted till 5 with what result I did not learn, but it is believed that the monitors received but little injury except Keokuk which is only an experiment having two turrets and is owned by a man who had an understanding that if she proved successful government was to buy her, but she sunk next morning. 5 The engagement was the grandest I ever saw. It was one continual boom, boom, from forts and batterys. Sumpter's heavy guns would make the earth quake and you could almost feel the concussion of air
4. On the afternoon of April 7, 1863, Admiral duPont led the naval attack on Sumter. Damaged considerably, the federal fleet withdrew at nightfall, leaving the Confederates to repair their heavily injured Fort. The results of this attack convinced duPont that Sumter would not be taken by naval power alone. E. B. Long, The Civil War Day by Day: An Ahnanac (New York: Doubleday, 1971), pp. 335-36.
5. The experimental craft referred to was the Keokuk. Only partially armored, Keokuk suffered through 90 hits before retreating. She sank off Morris Island the morning of April 8th. Unknown to the Union, the Confederates recovered the signal book from Keokuk and used it to decipher messages between Admiral Dahlgren and General Gillmore, making their attack of September 8, 1863 (see chapter 14) no surprise to the prepared rebel forces. Bern Anderson, By Sea and by River: The Naval History o.fthe Civil War (New York: De Capo Press, 1962), p. 171.
DIARY OF A YANKEE ENGINEER
on your cheek, although we were 4 or 5 miles distant. 8th commenced to build a dock to land troops and provisions but being on the inside of the island and in sight of the rebels we gave it up. We are encamped on the outside of the island and within the midst of the 9th Ave of the sea. Sometimes the waves nearly wash some of the mens tents who were foolish enough to build to far down to the water. It is quite interesting to watch the breakers which are scarry sometimes if the wind is from the east. Their incessant roar was verry noisy at first but we soon got used to it. 9th Nothing for breakfast this morning. Out at 12M started for Stono river> for provisions which is 6 miles from camp. At 6 P.M. eat some hard tack and at 7 P.M. advanced 2 miles on the beach, we were obliged to use caution as before being in hearing of the enemys pickets of their battery on morris island, the men spoke to each other in whispers and rarely but shovels was used in the soft sand, and we succeeded in throwing up a battery of 6 guns without being discovered. The engineers while working were protected by a natural embankment between us and the creek that runs between the islands. got to camp before daylight. lOth To day we heard firing near shore but could not make out. did not do anything to day. Yesterday I received a letter from my wife I was glad to get it out in the woods and was not long in intensely devouring its contents. To day I received one from my sister Antoinette 7 I wrote answers to them both. 11th Fortifying the island to day. all quiet till we fell in and marched up to the battery and brought back the guns again don't know what for unless it was fear that the rebels might capture or spike them ... crossed in a boat the last night and captured one of our pickets.
6. Stono River, south of Folly Island, was the site of the capture of the Fedeml gunboat Isaac Smith on January 30, 1863. Fmncis T. Miller, ed., The Photographic History of the Civil War (New York: The Review of Reviews, 1911), vol. VI, p. 316.
7. This refers to Marie Antoinette [Westervelt] Onderdonk, born August 19, 1822, died February 27, 1887. On December 1, 1841 she married Lake Onderdonk (son of Adrian and Easter [Hetty], who was born January 22, 1816 and died August 25, 1895). Both buried at Brick Church Cemetery (New Hempstead/Spring Valley, New York) with their son, James Henry Onderdonk. Eighteen-year-old James H. died (unmarried) on August 9, 1863 while serving in the Union Army stationed in New Orleans. Excepts from his diary were published in New York History, January 1968. The original
Sunday 12th The monitors all left for Hilton Head to day. I believe there will be no attack for the present. Four companies of engineers of our regiment [will] leave for the head to day. Co A leave their muskets with us till we can get our own.
13th This has been quite an exciting day. We [went] through the woods by the captains orders who was tight, thus [the] boys mad. About 11 o'clock the sergeant in charge sent a portion of us in camp to change axes for shovels. This the boys did not like, but obeyed and went to camp, but when we got there the Cap who had taken a little more flew in a passion and ordered us to take both axes and shovels and although the cook said dinner would be ready in 10 minutes he compelled us to go without it, saying he would send it to us. On going out and telling the other men about it they were wild and but for myself and one or two others would have thrown down their tools and packed in camp, but we persuaded them to wait to their usual quitting time when we went in without waiting for dinner to be sent to us, expecting trouble when we got there but the captain is easily intimidated, and thinking perhaps he had a determined set of men to deal with in a bad place he made the best of a bad bargain and he said nothing about it.
To be continued
diary is at Rockland County Historical Society, New City, New York. James had enlisted on August 14, 1862, left for Washington Sept 6.
Journal of an expedition to Folly Island written by J.H.W
For F.W.
No.2
Apr 13th continued. In the afternoon we went out again without any further trouble. This morning while some men of the 62nd were cooking their breakfast, an old bomb shell they had put in the fire to hold their kettle up, thinking there was nothing in it, suddenly exploded dangerously wounding two of them and making it necessary to amputate the leg of one of them. To day we built more roads and commenced a splinter proof battery, that is a battery covered over with palmetto logs and sand. Palmetto being of a soft spongy nature like cork if hit by a ball or shell no splinters fly off which is often the case with other wood, the splinters wounding more men than the shots. This morning a captain of the 62nd was shot dead by one of his own men. 1 It seems that the captain went outside the lines and lost his way, and came in at another point. The guard not knowing the captain was out challenged and the captain being a little deaf did not respond, so the guard fired killing him almost instantly. This happened before day light. The wind from the east to day blowing a gale. The sea is very high and the breakers make such a roar we can barely hear each other speak. This tide is verry high compelling some of the men to move higher up the bank. 15th This day is clear and beautiful and I begin to like it here as well or nearly as I did Beaufort. I am sure I like better than the head of it in the wild woods. To day I tried something new. In the top of the palmetto grows a substance which the negroes call cabbage, and it certainly tastes much like it. I like it much better. It can be used all the different ways the same as cabbage. I use it mostly raw cut up with vinegar. One tree furnishes about
1. Accidental deaths of Federal forces are estimated at 4,114. Long, The Civil War Day by Day, p. 710.
