1st Jersey Artillery CIVIL WAR LETTER - Hears Virginia Battle While Writing
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:219298 |
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 to 1895, Cornelius waswidowed and he remarried to a woman named Susan Alice Foster (1853-1913) on 17December 1895 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Susan was the daughter of George andAngelica Spencer of South Carolina. In the 1900 US Census, Cornelius wasenumerated in Portsmouth and employed as a joiner at the shipyards there. From 1912 to 1916 (when he died), Cornelius was living at the NationalHome for Disabled Soldiers at Hampton, Virginia. He was buried in the NationalCemetery at Hampton.TRANSCRIPTIONCamp Duncan
26 October 1861Dear Father, There is a continual firing off in Virginia this morning. It commenced about 4 o’clock this morning. I think we will hear some news pretty soon. We have been very busy since we arrived here getting our horses and other things we want. We started Tuesday morning as we expected and arrived in on Wednesday night at dark and then we had to pitch our tents yet to sleep in. It had been raining Tuesday afternoon and night and the ground was very wet and muddy but we had to sleep in the ground with no straw. Then I felt the good of your present—my rubber blanket. I caught a bad cold that night which made me sick a day or two. I am quite well at present. I must stop to go on guard.It is now Sunday night—the first chance I have had since yesterday. This morning the Captain kept us busy arranging the different positions to all the men but me. He chose all the corporals but he has not given me anything. It is not because I was not drilled for the Lieutenant. I am drilled better than some of the men that are chosen or it is not because I have too many bad marks for I haven’t got one bad one so I don’t know what is the reason. He has not said anything to me about it yet. There is only one position open yet and if I don’t get that, I will be very much disappointed. Yet I do not expect it. I have no reason to. I wish you would write to him and see what he means to do. It won’t do any hurt to write anyway. I wish you would write to him. I think he is real mean. I think I have done everything right as far as I know how. If I do not get a position, I will make a fuss. He will find out he has not got a nigger to deal. I was brought up as good as he was and I think as much of myself as I do of him. I won’t stand it at all. I think if you will write to him, he will do something for me. I will be shot before I will be his nigger and let him do as he pleases. I [want to know] what to expect if I do not do my duty. If he does right, I will do the same. I have worked hard for him and so have you. I want it so much for you as I do for myself.We have not been paid yet and I am out of money and everything else so I wish one of the girls—Tilly or Amanda—would speak to some of the girls [and] get them to send some tobacco and other necessaries. They need not say that I spoke about it but do it the same as if they thought of it themselves. I don’t want them to think I am begging. You can send it in a box and I will get it if you direct it right. Mary will send something for me in the same box. If you send me anything, please let her know it. She is at No. 110 Oliver Street, Newark.I wish you would go and see my wife. I suppose you know that Mary is your daughter. I told Albert to tell you and Mother and [to] keep it a secret from the rest. I expected to see you and Mother in Newark. I had quite a hard time of it. I had nobody to help me. Albert was just like a wooden man—he did not know anything. I tried to get some money off him but I could not get it so I had to run all around to get some. I don’t know what to think of him. If you see Lib, I wish you would tell her I did not get that thing Fanny was to send me. It was something to keep my letter paper in. I don’t know whether she sent it or not. Send these things as soon as possible to Camp Duncan, Battery B, New Jersey Artillery, Washington D. C. in care of Captaincies. J[ohn] E. BeamGive my love to Mother. Tell her I would like to hear from her and to hear that she is well and all the rest. Good night. I remain your dutiful son, — C. V. H.(paper is scarce)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.
00096
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 to 1895, Cornelius waswidowed and he remarried to a woman named Susan Alice Foster (1853-1913) on 17December 1895 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Susan was the daughter of George andAngelica Spencer of South Carolina. In the 1900 US Census, Cornelius wasenumerated in Portsmouth and employed as a joiner at the shipyards there. From 1912 to 1916 (when he died), Cornelius was living at the NationalHome for Disabled Soldiers at Hampton, Virginia. He was buried in the NationalCemetery at Hampton.TRANSCRIPTIONCamp Duncan
26 October 1861Dear Father, There is a continual firing off in Virginia this morning. It commenced about 4 o’clock this morning. I think we will hear some news pretty soon. We have been very busy since we arrived here getting our horses and other things we want. We started Tuesday morning as we expected and arrived in on Wednesday night at dark and then we had to pitch our tents yet to sleep in. It had been raining Tuesday afternoon and night and the ground was very wet and muddy but we had to sleep in the ground with no straw. Then I felt the good of your present—my rubber blanket. I caught a bad cold that night which made me sick a day or two. I am quite well at present. I must stop to go on guard.It is now Sunday night—the first chance I have had since yesterday. This morning the Captain kept us busy arranging the different positions to all the men but me. He chose all the corporals but he has not given me anything. It is not because I was not drilled for the Lieutenant. I am drilled better than some of the men that are chosen or it is not because I have too many bad marks for I haven’t got one bad one so I don’t know what is the reason. He has not said anything to me about it yet. There is only one position open yet and if I don’t get that, I will be very much disappointed. Yet I do not expect it. I have no reason to. I wish you would write to him and see what he means to do. It won’t do any hurt to write anyway. I wish you would write to him. I think he is real mean. I think I have done everything right as far as I know how. If I do not get a position, I will make a fuss. He will find out he has not got a nigger to deal. I was brought up as good as he was and I think as much of myself as I do of him. I won’t stand it at all. I think if you will write to him, he will do something for me. I will be shot before I will be his nigger and let him do as he pleases. I [want to know] what to expect if I do not do my duty. If he does right, I will do the same. I have worked hard for him and so have you. I want it so much for you as I do for myself.We have not been paid yet and I am out of money and everything else so I wish one of the girls—Tilly or Amanda—would speak to some of the girls [and] get them to send some tobacco and other necessaries. They need not say that I spoke about it but do it the same as if they thought of it themselves. I don’t want them to think I am begging. You can send it in a box and I will get it if you direct it right. Mary will send something for me in the same box. If you send me anything, please let her know it. She is at No. 110 Oliver Street, Newark.I wish you would go and see my wife. I suppose you know that Mary is your daughter. I told Albert to tell you and Mother and [to] keep it a secret from the rest. I expected to see you and Mother in Newark. I had quite a hard time of it. I had nobody to help me. Albert was just like a wooden man—he did not know anything. I tried to get some money off him but I could not get it so I had to run all around to get some. I don’t know what to think of him. If you see Lib, I wish you would tell her I did not get that thing Fanny was to send me. It was something to keep my letter paper in. I don’t know whether she sent it or not. Send these things as soon as possible to Camp Duncan, Battery B, New Jersey Artillery, Washington D. C. in care of Captaincies. J[ohn] E. BeamGive my love to Mother. Tell her I would like to hear from her and to hear that she is well and all the rest. Good night. I remain your dutiful son, — C. V. H.(paper is scarce)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.
00096
