1st Jersey Light Artillery CIVIL WAR LETTER From Camp Winfield Scott, VA
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:125947 |
CIVIL WAR LETTER
This Civil war soldier letter waswritten by Cornelius Van Houten (1841-1916), the son of Ruliff or “Ralph” VanHouten (1808-1891) and Catherine Van Wagoner (1810-1887) of Pompton Plains(Pequannock township), Morris County, New Jersey. Cornelius had at least sixsiblings: Letitia (1831-1893), Albert (1835-1900), Elizabeth or “Libby”(1838-1901), Matilda (1844-1918), Samuel Crane or “Sammy” (1849-1912), andGeorgiana (1852-1935).The letter was written while Co...rneliusserved in Battery B of the 1st New Jersey Light Artillery from September 1861until June 1865.I havenot been able to find a biographical sketch for Cornelius but we know that hisparents were descendants of early New Jersey Dutch families. We know thatCornelius stood above average height at 5’10” tall and that he had a faircomplexion and blue eyes. Before his enlistment, Cornelius was active inpolitics. He was a member of the opposition party during the Buchananpresidency and campaigned for Lincoln’s election in 1860. A record in the Sentinelof Freedom in Newark indicates that he served as the correspondingsecretary in the Lincoln & Hamlin Club.Cornelius entered the service as aprivate with aspirations of rising in rank but after the disappointmentof being passed over for a corporal’s position, he attempted to pull wires withhometown politicians to secure himself a commission in some capacity but apparentlynever received any serious consideration—most likely because he never seemed toget along well with his immediate superiors whose recommendations he requiredfor such a position.We learn from his letters that Corneliusdescribed his pre-war life as one of “wickedness” and we are led to infer thathis relationship with his parents was strained. He apparently did not even tellthem that he had gotten married until he had already volunteered. Over time, wesee Cornelius mature and become a “more dutiful son” to his parents and moreaccepting of his responsibility to his wife who struggled during his absence toraise their son on the meagre earnings he mailed home. As the war progressed, Cornelius grew more and more religious.As near as I can discern from hisletters, Cornelius was present with his Battery during most of theirengagements. We know that he was with them throughout the Peninsula Campaign, that he fell ill and separated from his battery during the fall of 1862 butrejoined them in time to participate in the fighting at Fredericksburg, the MudMarch, and the Battle of Chancellorsville where the Battery was the first toturn their guns on Jackson. At Gettysburg, he was with them on Peach OrchardRidge to turn back Longstreet’s assault on Sickle’s salient. Finally he waswith them throughout the Wilderness campaign and at the fall of Petersburg, only leaving for a time at the close of 1864 due to illness.Following the war, Cornelius returned toNew Jersey and worked for several years as a carpenter in Newark. Cornelius’first wife was Mary Jones Ryerson (1837-Bef1895), the daughter of George G. andAnna (Graves) Ryerson. Both the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census records enumerateCornelius with his family in Newark employed as a carpenter. By 1880, thecouple had six children, the oldest being Frederick.Sometime prior to1895, Cornelius was widowed and he remarried to a woman named Susan AliceFoster (1853-1913) on 17 December 1895 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Susan was thedaughter of George and Angelica Spencer of South Carolina. In the 1900 USCensus, Cornelius was enumerated in Portsmouth and employed as a joiner at theshipyards there. From 1912 to 1916 (when he died), Cornelius was livingat the National Home for Disabled Soldiers at Hampton, Virginia. He was buriedin the National Cemetery at Hampton.
TRANSCRIPTIONCamp Winfield Scott, Va.
April 24, 1862Dear Father, Your letter was duly received by me. I am pleased to hear you are all so well. I am enjoying the best of health at present and I hope I will continue so till after this battle for I would not miss it for anything. But I am afraid we will miss our aim yet for I understand the Rebels are about leaving, but I hope it is a false report for I do sincerely think if we whip them here, we will have very little more to do and then for home. O! it makes me so good to think (if God will only permit) that I shall soon see home and friends, never again to leave them until death calls me away.This morning I saw N. DeMott, Billy Manderville, A. Ryerson, & Billy Stagg. They are lying close to us. They seem to like it about as well as I do and that is not very much. They are all well and so are our boys here. We are all anxious to see the end.I have just bough the Herald of the 22nd. I have not read much but I see the Rebels have a great idea of the intentions of the Minister of France. I guess they are a little mistaken. I see Secretary Stanton is about resigning. It is a pity. I hope he will reconsider this small difficulty between him and the President. He is too sound a man for such proceedings. McClellan should have all he wanted and no mistake. I hope it will all turn out well yet.I see by your electoral ticket that you have whipped the Democrats all out but I am glad Mr. Heath is Squire instead of Van ____. He would burst if he got it.You must show Mary my farm and see how she would like to live there. I want to know what kind of a house she wants. Tell her she can’t have a very large one for if we have a large house, we will have to much company. You know I never liked that. I hope Mary will comply with your wish for her to spend the summer with you. She could not find a place I would like better. If she is not a good girl, you must spank her. That is, if you can find anything to spank. If not, just let me know and I’ll fix her off when I get back.That live oak is an evergreen. Tell Mary this flowers are very nice. I believe they are forget-me-nots but I can hardly tell they are so dry.You must put in a good big crop of everything this summer for grain will be high next winter. I hope you will not have to go to Morristown this spring. If Tony is working for you, tell him he must be a good boy. Tell Sammy I am coming back pretty soon. He must not break his dray for I want to see it. We had quite a hard rain for three or four days but it has cleared away and is warm and pleasant. Everything is like summer. But I must stop. Give my respects to all enquiring friends & remember your soldier son, — CorneliusP. S. I have not had a letter from [home] since January. Write soon. — C. V. H.Take good care of my dear little wife!TERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00077
This Civil war soldier letter waswritten by Cornelius Van Houten (1841-1916), the son of Ruliff or “Ralph” VanHouten (1808-1891) and Catherine Van Wagoner (1810-1887) of Pompton Plains(Pequannock township), Morris County, New Jersey. Cornelius had at least sixsiblings: Letitia (1831-1893), Albert (1835-1900), Elizabeth or “Libby”(1838-1901), Matilda (1844-1918), Samuel Crane or “Sammy” (1849-1912), andGeorgiana (1852-1935).The letter was written while Co...rneliusserved in Battery B of the 1st New Jersey Light Artillery from September 1861until June 1865.I havenot been able to find a biographical sketch for Cornelius but we know that hisparents were descendants of early New Jersey Dutch families. We know thatCornelius stood above average height at 5’10” tall and that he had a faircomplexion and blue eyes. Before his enlistment, Cornelius was active inpolitics. He was a member of the opposition party during the Buchananpresidency and campaigned for Lincoln’s election in 1860. A record in the Sentinelof Freedom in Newark indicates that he served as the correspondingsecretary in the Lincoln & Hamlin Club.Cornelius entered the service as aprivate with aspirations of rising in rank but after the disappointmentof being passed over for a corporal’s position, he attempted to pull wires withhometown politicians to secure himself a commission in some capacity but apparentlynever received any serious consideration—most likely because he never seemed toget along well with his immediate superiors whose recommendations he requiredfor such a position.We learn from his letters that Corneliusdescribed his pre-war life as one of “wickedness” and we are led to infer thathis relationship with his parents was strained. He apparently did not even tellthem that he had gotten married until he had already volunteered. Over time, wesee Cornelius mature and become a “more dutiful son” to his parents and moreaccepting of his responsibility to his wife who struggled during his absence toraise their son on the meagre earnings he mailed home. As the war progressed, Cornelius grew more and more religious.As near as I can discern from hisletters, Cornelius was present with his Battery during most of theirengagements. We know that he was with them throughout the Peninsula Campaign, that he fell ill and separated from his battery during the fall of 1862 butrejoined them in time to participate in the fighting at Fredericksburg, the MudMarch, and the Battle of Chancellorsville where the Battery was the first toturn their guns on Jackson. At Gettysburg, he was with them on Peach OrchardRidge to turn back Longstreet’s assault on Sickle’s salient. Finally he waswith them throughout the Wilderness campaign and at the fall of Petersburg, only leaving for a time at the close of 1864 due to illness.Following the war, Cornelius returned toNew Jersey and worked for several years as a carpenter in Newark. Cornelius’first wife was Mary Jones Ryerson (1837-Bef1895), the daughter of George G. andAnna (Graves) Ryerson. Both the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Census records enumerateCornelius with his family in Newark employed as a carpenter. By 1880, thecouple had six children, the oldest being Frederick.Sometime prior to1895, Cornelius was widowed and he remarried to a woman named Susan AliceFoster (1853-1913) on 17 December 1895 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Susan was thedaughter of George and Angelica Spencer of South Carolina. In the 1900 USCensus, Cornelius was enumerated in Portsmouth and employed as a joiner at theshipyards there. From 1912 to 1916 (when he died), Cornelius was livingat the National Home for Disabled Soldiers at Hampton, Virginia. He was buriedin the National Cemetery at Hampton.
TRANSCRIPTIONCamp Winfield Scott, Va.
April 24, 1862Dear Father, Your letter was duly received by me. I am pleased to hear you are all so well. I am enjoying the best of health at present and I hope I will continue so till after this battle for I would not miss it for anything. But I am afraid we will miss our aim yet for I understand the Rebels are about leaving, but I hope it is a false report for I do sincerely think if we whip them here, we will have very little more to do and then for home. O! it makes me so good to think (if God will only permit) that I shall soon see home and friends, never again to leave them until death calls me away.This morning I saw N. DeMott, Billy Manderville, A. Ryerson, & Billy Stagg. They are lying close to us. They seem to like it about as well as I do and that is not very much. They are all well and so are our boys here. We are all anxious to see the end.I have just bough the Herald of the 22nd. I have not read much but I see the Rebels have a great idea of the intentions of the Minister of France. I guess they are a little mistaken. I see Secretary Stanton is about resigning. It is a pity. I hope he will reconsider this small difficulty between him and the President. He is too sound a man for such proceedings. McClellan should have all he wanted and no mistake. I hope it will all turn out well yet.I see by your electoral ticket that you have whipped the Democrats all out but I am glad Mr. Heath is Squire instead of Van ____. He would burst if he got it.You must show Mary my farm and see how she would like to live there. I want to know what kind of a house she wants. Tell her she can’t have a very large one for if we have a large house, we will have to much company. You know I never liked that. I hope Mary will comply with your wish for her to spend the summer with you. She could not find a place I would like better. If she is not a good girl, you must spank her. That is, if you can find anything to spank. If not, just let me know and I’ll fix her off when I get back.That live oak is an evergreen. Tell Mary this flowers are very nice. I believe they are forget-me-nots but I can hardly tell they are so dry.You must put in a good big crop of everything this summer for grain will be high next winter. I hope you will not have to go to Morristown this spring. If Tony is working for you, tell him he must be a good boy. Tell Sammy I am coming back pretty soon. He must not break his dray for I want to see it. We had quite a hard rain for three or four days but it has cleared away and is warm and pleasant. Everything is like summer. But I must stop. Give my respects to all enquiring friends & remember your soldier son, — CorneliusP. S. I have not had a letter from [home] since January. Write soon. — C. V. H.Take good care of my dear little wife!TERMS$3.00 postage in the United States. We accept Paypal. Postage combined for multiple purchases. Please wait for me to send the invoice, otherwise will pay a much higher postage rate!For International buyers: We are now using eBay's Global Shipping Program. We had too many packages sent via the post office go missing. So we believe this program will be safer for us - and for you.We're members of the American Philatelic Society, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, the Confederate Stamp Alliance and the Illinois Postal History Society.We only sell genuine, original letters (no copies or reproductions). Some of our letters have been transcribed and nicely presented for future genealogists and history buffs on the Spared & Shared blog. We've been selling on eBay since 2001. BID WITH CONFIDENCE.
00077
