“I wanted to…try my luck in an engagement.”

Oliver’s letter of February 19, 1862 is one of the most lengthy in the collection and will take several posts to dissect. The illness known as Ague that Oliver has struggled with since December of the previous year returns and causes him to miss the first combat action of the 8^th CVI. Oliver is confined to the Chasseur and misses the Battle of Roanoke Island on the 7^th and 8^th of February 1862. By February 14^th, Oliver’s condition has improved to the point that he is allowed to come ashore:

I did not leave the old Chasseur until last Friday for the reason that I was indisposed, and the regiment had not pitched their tents and it was rather damp lying in the open air, especially for one who was not well. It was with feelings of delight that I again set my feet upon “terra firma” after having been upon the briny deep for over six weeks.  

Although Case professes to be much healthier since coming onto the island, his leaders still have concerns about his physical condition to the point that his commander doesn’t allow Oliver to accompany the regiment on a march just three days later.

The Lieut. And Capt. both sent for me unbeknown to each other and told me that as I had been sick so recently I should not be able to go and wanted me to stay in their tents and in case the regiment should not come back to see about packing up their things. It was all very well for them but I wanted to go with the regiment and try my luck in an engagement. Each of them told me as it was such very wet weather and we should have to lie outdoors in the water it would surely bring on the Fever and Ague.

I find the depth of concern on the part of Oliver’s leaders to be noteworthy. Not that commanders in Union regiments didn’t care for their troops, but in Oliver’s case, it seems that they are going to great lengths to ensure they don’t lose him. This may very well be the result of the deaths of Henry Sexton and Duane Brown from illness.

Private Case will have to wait for another day to experience his first taste of combat.

 

Oliver Returns to the 8th CVI

The next available letter in the Oliver Cromwell Case collection at the Simsbury Historical Society is from January 26, 1862. The internal evidence of this letter seems to indicate Oliver has written at least one other letter to his sister Abbie during the seven day gap since the last letter. Acknowledging the limitations of the postal system created by the operational situation of Burnside’s Expeditionary Force, Oliver writes that he is batch processing several letters with different dates for Abbie “thinking you would like to receive letters of different dates although at the same time.”

Whatever the situation with a possible missing letter, this letter finds the young Soldier still at sea albeit aboard a new vessel. Oliver had arrived off the North Carolina coast aboard the hospital ship “Recruit” but has now been transferred to the steamer “Chasseur” to rejoin his comrades from Company A, 8^th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry along with companies D, F and I in preparation for the coming invasion. He also reports on the other companies in the regiment:

The rest are aboard of a bark and a schooner; I think four companies upon the former and two upon the latter.

His seeming ambivalence about the reunion with his companions may indicate that he provided commentary to Abbie in an earlier letter that is lost to posterity.    

General Burnside is continuing to build and prepare his army for action against the Confederate fortifications along the North Carolina coast. Stormy weather has hampered the gathering of the fleet in Pamlico Sound and several ships have been lost. Oliver confirms that the rough weather has continued to batter the fleet:

Today is the first fair day since our arrival and for the last week we have had a terrible storm at time endangering many of the fleet by causing the vessels to drag anchor and to smash into each other. For the last three or four days there has hardly been a time but what there were two or three signals of distress to be seen flying but of course no relief could be given them until after the abatement of the storm.  

Like most of the Soldiers in Burnside’s expedition, Oliver is longing to go ashore.

It is four weeks today since I came on board ship and I am now finally very anxious to again place my feet on “terra firma” although we enjoy ourselves quite well on ship board.

In this letter, Oliver also returns to one of favorite subjects…the Zouaves. As previously posted, I believe he is referring to the 53^rd New York Infantry again in this letter.

I do not know whether the Zouaves are lost or not – certain it is they are not in; such things are kept from us. I think they are sent somewhere else to garrison some fort already in our hands, because they dare not trust them in an engagement with their officers for they have sworn revenge upon them. This is only my opinion.

For those interested in the culinary arts of the Civil War period, Oliver’s letter offers a glimpse of the types of food that the Soldiers enjoyed while aboard the ship.

Eatables are brought from the Sutlers boat but are held at rather high prices; apples $.05 to 10 cents each, figs .02 to .05 each, raisins $.20 per pint, [?], Oysters, Turkey Peaches, tomatoes etc. in quart cans from $1.50 to $2.00, Current, Plum, Rasberry, Grape, Pear and Strawberry jellies $1.50 to $2.00, sweet crackers $.15 per dozen and everything else in the same proportion.

In typical fashion, Oliver closes the letter with questions about happenings and people back home in Simsbury.

Is Mr. Stockwell living? I heard a short time since that the Dr. had given him over. Alonzo wrote me that he was going to move in the spring. I think he will do well to keep Public House…Is Mr. Holbrook going to leave Tarrifville? I have heard so somewhere. I have forgotten where.

The deaths of Henry Sexton and Duane Brown continue to weigh heavy on the young man’s mind and it’s clear that he is concerned with the impact on their families.

How do Mr. Sexton’s people take Henry’s death? How do Mr. Brown’s people take Duane’s death?

Knowing how important it will be to the family’s ability to bring some closure to the death of their husband and son, Oliver is concerned about the disposition of Sexton’s remains. He asks Abbie a question that is movingly prophetic regarding the circumstances of his own future death and burial.

Have they sent to Annapolis after his body?

Nine months later, Job Case will not just send for the body of his son, but he will personally go and recover his remains from fields near Sharpsburg, Maryland to ensure that Oliver returns home. Did Abbie share Oliver’s concern for the disposition of Henry’s remains with her father? Did this influence Job Case’s decision about his son nine months later?

Sadly, according to my research, Henry Sexton’s wife attempted in vain to locate his body in Annapolis.

The Zouave Drum Major

In the previous two posts, I discussed Oliver’s references to the “Zouave Drum Major” which left me a bit puzzled. At first glance, it appeared that this “drum major” might have been connected with the 9th New York known as “Hawkins’ Zouaves.” However, after more research, I’ve discovered another New York Zouave Regiment that fits with the description given by Oliver in some of his letters of November/December 1861.

In those letters, Oliver makes mention of a regiment of Zouaves at Annapolis that is a rowdy bunch of troublemakers. Although I have not blogged on these references, in his letter of November 28, 1861 Oliver writes:

It has been rumored that we shall spend the winter here but the last rumor is that the 51^st N.Y. is the one to be left. If they stay, I guess the citizens will get enough of the soldiers before winter is over for they are the hardest set of boys that encamp here (not excepting the zouaves which are bad enough in a conscience [word unclear]).

The 51st NY was known for its fondness for alcohol, but the Zouave regiment referenced here by Oliver is likely the 53rd New York Infantry.

The 53rd New York Infantry was organized at organized at New York City August 27 to November 15, 1861. The regiment left New York bound for Washington, D. C. on the 18th of November 1861, but apparently never made it there and continued on to Annapolis which is where Oliver Case first encountered them. The regiment was known as D’Epineuil’s Zouaves after their commanding officer, Colonel Lionel Jobert D’Epineuil, a Frenchman with a colorful story put forward in the interest of self-promotion, but lacking in truthfulness. D’Epineuil claimed to have served in the French army for 17 years prior to his recent arrival in America. However, it appears that he never served a day in the French army, but possibly had some limited service in the French naval forces. 

The colonel seems to have struggled to fill the regiment with Frenchmen from New York, but vigorously defended his efforts to the New York Times in a letter published October 9, 1861. Due to his lack of success in finding a large number of French recruits, D’Epineuil signed up many recruits from various ethnic groups in New York City including one company of Tuscarora Indians from upstate New York.

In outward appearance, the Zouaves were impressive sporting one of the most colorful versions of the Zouave uniform. In demeanor and bearing, the officers and soldiers of the 53rd seemed to have been undisciplined and insubordinate. It all started at the top. Colonel D’Epineuil appears to have known little to nothing about command of a regiment and was described by one of his officers as “a gentleman, but no officer and knew nothing of military matters.” Although many of the officers and soldiers fought with Burnside’s Expedition in battle of Roanoke Island in early February 1862, the commanding officer lost all control of his command creating a situation so bad that General McClellan finally published Special Order No. 42 to disband the regiment on February 26, 1862.

So what about Oliver’s drum major who died aboard the hospital ship on January 18, 1862? Although I have been unable to confirm his identity with a complete roster for the 53rd, I believe he may have been Victor Dubigney who is often listed a Band Master or Chief Musician. Two other individuals listed as drum majors don’t seem to fit the description for various reasons. I would appreciate assistance from anyone with more complete info on this individual or the D’Epineuil’s Zouaves.

A Rough Passage

Oliver composes his next letter to his sister Abbie on January 19, 1862, on the day after he arrives aboard the schooner Recruit in the Hatteras Inlet of North Carolina. His last letter announced the arrival of his ship at Fortress Monroe on January 13^th and according to this letter, Recruit left Monroe on January 18^th for the passage south. Most of the vessels in Burnside’s Expedition have arrived off the North Carolina coast by the time the Recruit reaches the inlet. The schooner is being used as a hospital ship and Oliver has spent the majority of the past three weeks on the hospital ship although he professes to be in good health after several bouts with fever.

The largest amphibious operation to this point in American military history has not gone well for General Burnside and his fleet of ships. Typical winter weather along the east coast amplified by a significant storm that hit just as the fleet left Fortress Monroe has caused considerable delays in the movement. The passengers and crew of the Recruit also experience these storms during their journey.

Oliver describes the wild scene on board the ship:

The waves ran pretty high through the day and increased to a gale at night. At 12 o’clock the waves swept over the deck and carried away the ship’s boats, the vessel rocking at the same time so violently as to rock some out of their berths and send all the wood and boxes tumbling over the deck. The wind broke loose gaff (a piece of round timber 8 inches through and sent it flying over the deck. The boilers (large heavy copper which are kept on the stove continually) of coffee were overturned and the boiling liquid sent streaming over the deck. The confusion was general, many falling out of their berths, others falling flat upon the floor. One boiler fell down the hatchway making causalities too numerous to mention.

For his part, Oliver finds a bit of humor in his personal experience with the rough passage:

I was fast asleep when I heard the racket and such laughing and enraging [?] I never heard before. One thing was falling here, another there – those that were in their berths rolling from one side to the other (that is those that were lucky enough to keep in) and those that were holding on to the sides. There was no danger, only a little rolling and a little fun.

Later in the letter, Oliver shows more of his indifference to the stormy conditions by writing that he “slept very soundly when in my berth while everyone else were rolling about the deck.”

Burnside’s Expedition does suffer some causalities and the lost of vessels. Although he is still on the ship, Oliver provides a fairly accurate description of the disposition of the fleet in his letter to Abbie. This includes the sinking of the gunboat Zouave and the drowning of Colonel Allen and Surgeon Wellen of the 9^th New Jersey who died as a result of the swamping of their small boat as they returned to their ship from a shore reconnaissance.

A New York Times Special Correspondent gives a complete description of the journey.

Wreck of the Gunboat Zouave in Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, January 1862

Oliver goes on to express his concern about the fate of his regiment, the 8^th Connecticut, from whom he has not heard. Also, he returns to the subject of the Zouave Drum Major we met in his letter of January 9^th.

The Zouave drum major died night before last (sic?) and his body left at Annapolis. He was a commissioned officer and had no business to come with us on the hospital ship.  The band to which he belonged was dissolved 2 weeks before he started but he was getting $60.00 a month which was too good a berth [?] to give up without a struggle. He never was well enough to come aboard. He died of the rheumatic fever.

In my research, I have been unable to determine the identity of this drum major. I presume the “Zouaves” referred to in Oliver’s letters are the 9^th New York Infantry.  However, I cannot locate a drum major reference other than Charles T. Smith who mustered in on May 4, 1861 and was discharged only three weeks later for incompetence.

Oliver closes his letter by asking about several of his friends from back home and passing along his regards to family members. He seems to be glad to stay and work on the ship serving the sick, “if it were not for that horrid sea sickness.”

 

Anchors Away: Heading for Dixie

Writing from on board the schooner “Recruit” beginning on January 9, 1862, Oliver writes in a journal type of format for the next five days making a short entry on each day. The schooner is being used as one of two hospital ships in Burnside’s expeditionary force. A New York Times article from February 12, 1862 provides a description of the two hospital ships and their surgeons.

Oliver’s entries are short due primarily to the rough seas the vessel is encountering sailing for Fortress Monroe. They are expected to depart on January 9th, but are forced to wait until the 11th before sailing. There are several interesting items from the letter over the five days:

Oliver has “great confidence in our new doctors” and expresses his regret that “we did not have the doctors before and have something done for Sexton.” He offers as evidence of the clinical effectiveness of these new physicians the fact that “the sick are much better; none dangerous.” This is more likely attributed to leaving the preventative medicine nightmare of camp life for the fresh air of the open seas. There is some recognition of this by the doctors who order the soldiers to go out on deck for fresh air at various times while on the schooner. Oliver mentions the head surgeon of hospital ship, Dr. S.A. Green of the 24th Mass.

For his part, Oliver is “in the best of health with a good appetite.” Because of his helpfulness in caring for the sick soldiers, the nurses provide him with extra rations. In fact, he confesses to eating “two rations at every meal…” Oliver does mention that he has a sore throat but attributes it to “smoking strong tobacco.” The revelation that he smokes is not surprising given the fact that his father, Job Case, is a tobacco farmer back in Simsbury.

Oliver also writes about a ”Zouave drum major, a Frenchman who cannot understand English, is quite bad off with the rheumatism.” After the patient tries to get up and move around, he falls and can’t get back up. Oliver and another soldier ”carried” the drum major back to his bed. He also comments that “the Dr. talks with him in French.”

The food aboard the ship is a problem for Oliver and the other soldiers as a creative cook attempts to make soup from sea water. The soup is so awful that the soldiers not only complain to the doctor, but begin to circulate a petition to go to ”the general” likely meaning General Burnside. Oliver is not impressed by the efforts of his shipmates and does not “approve of it; think it will amount to shucks.”

Many of the soldiers become seasick during the journey and the ship finally reaches Fortress Monroe on January 13, 1862. He describes the scene in the harbor as “one forest of masts” and welcomes the opportunity “to send and receive letters now…” Oliver has formed friendships with the other soldiers and is ”now acquainted with nearly all on board and enjoy it very much, perhaps more than with our own company.” On the day of their arrival at Fortress Monroe, the soldiers are treated to some fun “seeing the Dr. shoot at ducks with his revolver.”

 

 

Oliver Case Bible Collage

Thanks again to John Banks for putting together this collage of photos of Oliver’s Bible. For more info on the inscriptions, see this post.

 

A visit to Oliver’s grave

Thanks to John Banks over at his Civil War Blog for sharing the experience and some great photos from his visit today to Oliver’s grave in Simsbury. John has an outstanding informative blog that I’ve enjoyed for awhile now. I look forward to sharing more on the 8th CVI with him.

“…the most sorrowful time that I ever witnessed.”

The new year of 1862 did not start well for Oliver Case. He was stuck aboard the schooner “Recruit” in Annapolis Harbor being used as a hospital ship for soldiers in Burnside’s expeditionary force awaiting their orders to sail for the coast of North Carolina. He continued to suffer episodes of ague, a condition involving fever, chills, and what he termed as “shakes.” Oliver’s condition had passed by the time he writes a letter to Abbie on the 7th of January 1862 and he is acting as a medical orderly assisting the physicians in various ways plus pulling guard duty.

However, this letter is the most heartbreaking of any of the letters of Oliver Cromwell Case that I have read. Oliver and his shipmates are only hours from sailing for their first combat experience against the Confederates in North Carolina, but the young soldier must express the deep grief to his sister. As he writes his sister, Oliver is in a time of immense misery having just experienced what he calls “the most sorrowful time that I ever witnessed.” In the period of just a few days during the first week of the new year, Oliver has lost two of his friends in the regiment. As mentioned in earlier letters, both Duane Brown and Henry D. Sexton have been ill with trips to the hospital while still in the training camp at Annapolis. It seems Brown was suffering with “measles and the Typhus Fever” while Sexton had what Oliver called “jaundice.” Henry Sexton had succumbed to the condition at noon on the day Oliver wrote to his sister and Duane Brown appears to have died just a few days before at a hospital ashore and was buried the day before Sexton’s death.

I will quote large portions of his letter beginning at this point because I think Oliver describes the experience so well.

Sexton was a little worse Sunday, but not so bad, that he was around. He said that if he were at home he should be sitting in the rocking chair writing but as there was no place to sit down he kept his bunk. I prevailed upon the Dr. to have his bunk changed to a more comfortable one Sunday night and Monday morning I talked with him. I thought that his mind wandered a little. I left him about two. In the morning he was not conscious and repaired nearly all day in the stupid state.

From this point, Sexton’s condition takes a horrible turn for the worst.

About three he had a spasm and rushed out of his bunk. I had no control of him as he could handle me like a child…It was very difficult to get anyone to take hold of him as they seemed to be afraid of him. It took five of us to hold him and keep him from tearing his face with his hands. He would bite at us and froth to the mouth, making a horrid noise all of the time. I stayed over him twenty four hours in succession before his death. I never saw anything so horrible in my life and if it had not been for the sailors I do not know what I should have done.

Oliver is very dissatisfied with the medical care his friend received while on the ship and does not mince words.

He never has had any care upon the boat from the Dr…He used to come around in the morning and ask him how he did – tell him to cover up and keep warm – perhaps give him a pill. He had only his own blanket and lay down upon the lower deck where it was very cold, damp, and close and where it was an impossibility to keep warm. I used to give him my blanket when I was on guard and when he could not get warm got into the berth with him. I tried all I could to have the Dr. convey him to the hospital Sunday when I began to see that he was getting worse. He also begged him to be carried there and he finally promised that he might go the next day, but the next day was too late. With even ordinary care he might have got well in a short time.

Oliver does not want for his sister to share this experience with “anyone whatever” because he “never felt so bad in my life as when I saw that here was no hopes of his recovery.” Then comes the heartbreaking portion of the letter that shows the devastation of Oliver’s loss. He tells Abbie that “It seemed as though I had lost the only friend I had with me.”

In Oliver’s moment of deepest grief, we gain a glimpse of the source of sustainment for him and the reason to hope for his friend Henry.

But thanks be to God what is our loss is his gain. He was prepared for the final change. Only the day before he was taken unconscious he remarked that there was only one thing that supported him during his illness at the hospital, and now when he got low-spirited, “The religion of Jesus Christ was his sustainer.”

Oliver then turns to the death of Duane Brown but uses only one paragraph in his description as he was obviously not a witness to his passing.

Duane went to the hospital Sunday with the measles and the Typhus Fever set it, and carried him off. He had the best of care at the hospital, as good or better than he could have had at home. Everyone that has been there speaks of the excellent care, accommodations, food etc. that they get there.

Oliver gives a Abbie a brief report on his duties aboard the ship but quickly returns to conclude by relaying the aftermath of his friend Henry’s death.

I got another man to write to Sexton’s wife for I could not do it at the time. I telegraphed this morning…We put all of Henry’s things in a box and sent by express. They would not let me help pay the expenses because they said that I had done my part by being with him all the time.

Almost anticipating the concerns of his sister, Oliver closes this sad story with another comforting note.

Sexton died easy but unconscious.

Private Waston Carr, 27th Mass Inf

In his letter dated 30 December 1861 written from on board the hospital ship Recruit, Oliver Case mentions another soldier on the ship by the name of Waston Carr who has had camp fever and the measles.

Here is the information on that soldier:

Pvt. Waston Carr

Co. D, 27^th Massachusetts Infantry

Listed as an 18-year old “student” from Huntington, Massachusetts

Died 7 Oct 1864 in Arlington, Va

 

An Unloved Solider during the Holidays

There is a principle concerning soldiers that holds true throughout the history of warfare. Namely this that all soldiers wanted to feel loved by someone back home normally expressed by some form of communication. I’ve personally witnessed the biggest, rough and tough soldier come to the point of tears because he failed to receive some form of communication from his family back home.

One hundred and fifty years ago, that form of communication was a letter from home. In the Civil War, next to eating a hot meal, receiving a letter from home could raise morale faster than any other action a commander might take on behalf of his troops. Commanders soon discovered that it was much easier to motivate the troops on road marches and in battles if they ensured that the mail deliveries occurred at every possible opportunity.

In his letter of December 16, 1861, Oliver Case writes of a sad situation with one his friends and fellow soldiers in the 8th CVI. Duwaine Brown (spelled Duane in Oliver’s letters) of Ganby, Connecticut enlisted as a private in Company A, 8^th CVI on October 10, 1861. Oliver relates to Abbie that his friend has not received a letter from home in a very long time and that Duane “feels quite down spirited.” The daily mail call is torturous for the young soldier as “he watches the letters as they are distributed each day and as some, not all of us, receive some almost everyday and he does not, it makes him feel as if he was forgotten.” Oliver’s level of concern about this situation is such that he requests Abbie to “remind” his family to write to him.

Sadly, the story of Private Duwaine Brown does not have a happy ending as he will die of disease on January 5, 1862 at Annapolis, Maryland. The rest of that story to follow in a later post.

One of the organizations that helps all of our Service Members to feel loved is Soldiers’ Angels. Visit them if you would like to give a Soldier something that Private Duwaine Brown didn’t have one hundred and fifty years ago.