Archive Find: Dr. Gruver's Cure

Among the many fascinating documents found in the General Correspondence files of the PA Adjutant General, researchers can discover a variety of inventors and entrepreneurs wishing to sell their ideas and wares to the Commonwealth during wartime.  One such letter, while rather ordinary at first glance, offers us a.....stimulating look into the world of Civil War era medical treatments. 

Danville Sept 15. / 62

To his excellency A. G. Curtin Gov. of Pa

Enclosed find a card to which we humbly invite your attention.  There are many soldiers who are confined to the Hospitals for weeks and months whom I am quite confident I could cure in a few days and thus restore to their ranks.  There are some now in the field whom I have cured of maladies which were incurable by every other known remedy.  The reason I desire a commission to practice is because I can do more good in this way than in any other, but should my proposition not be advisable I am ready to serve in any other capacity where I can be serviceable most. 

Respectfully your humble [servant]

Dr. W. F. Gruver

            Address

                        Danville

                                    Montour [County]

                                                            Pa

Unfortunately, the card which Dr. Gruver sent along to Governor Curtin, and which apparently detailed his miracle cure, is no longer with his letter.  Thankfully on the outside of the letter, someone, probably a staff member in the Adjutant General's office, wrote a brief note summarizing the reason for the good doctor's letter. 

To Gov Curtin

[Dr. Gruver] Thinks he can cure all sick soldiers by electricity

It's unclear whether Pennsylvania took Dr. Gruver up on his offer, but one can imagine that a few "doses" would send any sick soldier sprinting for the front, cured or not.  

source:

Gruver, Dr. W. F.,  Letter to Gov. of Pennsylvania, September 15, 1862. Pennsylvania State Archives, Record Group 19, Office of the Adjutant General, Series 19.29, General Correspondence.

Archive Find: "My name is Mrs. L. M. Ferman and am a soldier"

Lately, I have been drawn in several directions, on many research topics and projects.  When sifting through hundreds of archived records and other fascinating documents; one is bound to become sidetracked by an interesting photograph, a grabbing headline, or an eyebrow raising quote. 

Recently, while perusing the collections, at the Pennsylvania State Archives, my eyes came upon the intriguing quote seen in the title of this post.  Reading on, I became fascinated by the story of one "Mrs. L. M. Ferman".   

A family goes to war - Library of Congress, via shorpy.com

Writing to Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin, Mrs. L. M. Ferman offer fascinating glimpses into the life of a woman "gone to war", who eventually finds herself caring for the sick and wounded in a Washington hospital.  While many women did follow their husbands into the army, their stories are not always as well known as their armed counterparts.  Mrs. Ferman's story reminds us of both the physical and mental hardships that these women suffered side by side with their husbands, and, as in the case of L. M. Ferman, with their patients as well.  Stories, letters, and voices like Mrs. Ferman's compliment the stories of battles and soldiers, and help paint a more rounded and vivid picture of the human tragedy that was the American Civil War.

Georgetown

Sept 18^th 1862

Honorable Sir
Will you spare one moment of your limited time to read a few lines from a stranger altho I have had the Honor of seeing you that was on the 26^th of last February at Camp Curtin Harrisburg Pa.  you may think strange of my addressing you, the Governor of the state of Penn. however I take the liberty to do so.  My name is Mrs. L. M. Ferman and am a soldier.  I enlisted with my husband one year ago the 10 of this month.  I have seen some hard time marching from place to place.  We belong [to] the 111 Penn Vol. [Pennsylvania Volunteers]  We belong in Crawford Co Penn. we camped at Camp Read Erie Pa. until the 25^th of last Feb when they were ordered to Baltimore on our way we campt at Camp Curtin.  I remember it was bitter cold.  Our regiment was presented with a beautiful flag by Gov. Curtin.  We came on to Baltimore + campt at Camp McKim.  While then my husband was sick.  he was Seargant but they thought proper to detach him for the Hospital therefore put him + myself in the Hospital together.  I am the daughter of the 111 P.V. [Pennsylvania Volunteers]  When we were ordered to Harpers Ferry I was in the General Hospital then nurseing takeing care of the sick + wounded.  I left my home for the purpose of doing my duty to my Country in takeing care of the sick + wounded.  Therefore I wish to do all I can for  them  the poor sufferers my heart aches for them.  We are in the Georgetown College Hospital.  My husband is to work as a Wound Dresser, and of the best kind, and I am here with him and have no posision.  For in this place nurses have their appointment from Authority of those that have power to appoint nurses – therefore will you grant to me a situation as nurse.  You wil not only confer a great favour but the Almighty will Bless you.  I hear from a Lady that has just came through Harrisburg that you are one of the kindest Gov. that ever lived.  At any rate I suppose I can stay with my husband where he is in any Hospital.  Please tel me if I can.  We came here from Gen Hospital Harpers Ferry to this place the 26^th of Aug.  could not get to our Reg. [Regiment] on account of this late [2nd] Battle of Bull Run.  We had our baggage marked for our Reg. but could not get them.  We have lost every thing we had to ware.  I have no clothes for a change and am entirely out of funds.  Therefore I wish to go to work for I must be going something.  My husband wil not get any money this 2 months.  I cannot be idle. No way.  I have been here one week in this hospital and have worked every day.  But I want a permanent situation.  Please write immediately.  Direct to my husband G. C. Ferman[1]  Georgetown College Hospital D.C.  there is other ladies here and more are needed

[written in the top margin of the third page]

P.S. I have a recommend from the Church but it is in my trunk and lost with the rest of my things therefore I wil send you one from our Reg that are wel acquainted with me at home.

[written along the left edge of the third page]

The Dr that takes charge here.  His name is Brown.

[written along the right edge of the third page]

Your most obedient servant  Mrs L M Ferman

---

[1] Samuel Bates’ History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865  lists George C. Ferman as a Private of Co. E, 111^th Pennsylvania Infantry.  He enlisted for 3 years on November 22, 1861, but was discharged on Surgeon’s Certificate, March 14, 1863.

sources:
Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5 : prepared in compliance with acts of the legislature. Harrisburg: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869. 

Ferman, Mrs. L.M. Letter to Governor Curtin, September 18, 1862. Pennsylvania State Archives, Record Group 19, Office of the Adjutant General, Series 19.29, General Correspondence.

Archive Find: "We had troops enough there to eat up Secesh with out peper or salt"

Digging through the collections of archives or historical societies, I find that I get distracted easily by items that aren't always what I had intended to be searching for.  While these items can take you on time consuming detours, I don't really mind them too much.  I recently came across several letters written by 1st Sergeant James Carroll, Co. G 10th U.S. Infantry, and I thought I'd share a couple interesting and colorful lines from a couple of his letters.

In "camp near Rockville Md" on September 9, 1862, Carroll wrote of his experiences during the 2nd Battle of Bull Run.
"...After 2 days march we then proceed to Bull Run and was engaged in that Battle on the 30th of Aug.  it was purty hard fighting but not as well of a fight as it might  We had troops enough there to eat up Secesh with out peper or salt if they had beeing rightly handled   I seen one of the purtiest sights that day I ever saw   A Brigade of Secesh charged on one of our Battries through our [lines?]   the Battry opened grape and cannister on them and mowed them down like you would grass but they did not stop  they continued there journey and took the Battries..."

In another letter dated July 13, 1862, Carroll describes the situation for the Union troops at the Battle of Gaines' Mill, noting the appearance of one of the most famous fighting units, on both sides, in the Civil War. 
"...the odds we were fighting was tremindious  I dare say five to one for the greater part of the time however we keept them in check all day   We are greatly indepted to the Irish Brigade for there Servis in the eve   They came in fresh in the evening and drove Back the Secesh to there old Standered so they had no odds after all"* 

*Arriving on the battlefield at Gaines's Mill, in the fading daylight hours of June 27, 1862, just as the Rebel Army was seizing victory, the Irish Brigade succeeded in stemming the wild and confused rout of the entire Union 5th Corps.  They soon advanced to support the U.S. Regulars, and enabled them to move to the rear in an orderly fashion.  After the battle, Confederate Gen. Daniel H. Hill remembered wild cheering coming from the Union lines, which was, "...caused by the appearance of the Irish Brigade to cover the retreat."  Irish Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher wrote later that he considered it, "...the most successful and masterly achievement of the Brigade...all the more so that we didn't fire a shot."  The 88th New York, of the Brigade, was the last Union regiment to leave the field, crossing back over the Chickahominy River before setting fire to the bridge behind them.  Gaines's Mill was just one of the many battles on the Penninsula, in 1862, in which the Irish Brigade would become legendary.    

"Brothers of Ireland" by Don Troiani, depicting the Irish Brigade (right) arriving on the battlefield at Gaines's Mill, with Meagher on horseback (center).  http://www.historicalartprints.com/

Source:
Bilby, Joseph G. Remember Fontenoy!: The 69th New York and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War. Hightstown, NJ: Longstreet House, 1995.

"Letters concerning James Uhler," 1862. Manuscript Collection, Civil War Era Letters. Cumberland County Historical Society, Hamilton Library, Carlisle, PA. 

Wylie, Paul R. The Irish General: Thomas Francis Meagher. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.

Archive Find: Charley King, 49th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry

"All the rising generation is ruined by the heresy of secession" ~ Worthington G. Snethen

Recently, I have been spending time transcribing a handful of soldiers’ letters from the Maryland Campaign.  While each one is truly fascinating, and offers a distinct view of the events and actions of that September, one in particular jumped out to me, as it makes mention of a truly tragic episode, among the many, at the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862.

On September 9, 1861, Charles E. “Charley” King, of West Chester, PA, enlisted as a musician with Company F of the 49^th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.  Even though the Muster Roll [see image below] of Charley’s company lists him as being 18 years of age, Charley was in fact only 12 years old.  On the Roll, he was noted as having brown hair, hazel eyes, light complexion, and an occupation of “school boy”.  Undoubtedly, this “school boy” was swept up with patriotic duty, and a sense of adventure, not to mention the $12 a month he would receive, before drumming his company off to war. 

Pennsylvania State Archives

A little over a year later, at the Battle of Antietam, the 49^th Pennsylvania was attached to General Winfield Scott Hancock’s brigade, of the Union Army’s 6^th Corps.  Arriving in the vicinity of the East Woods, in the northern end of the battlefield, Hancock was tasked with securing the Union position after a 2^nd Corps division, under Gen. John Sedgwick, had been flanked in the West Woods by a surprise rebel counterattack, several hundred yards to Hancock’s front.  With Sedgwick’s force shattered and swept from the field, the Confederates continued their push forward.  Hancock ordered his regiments to dash forward in order to break the oncoming enemy force, in order to stop them from over running a lone Union artillery battery, and completely devaste the Union right flank.   

National Park Service - Antietam National Battlefield

Corporal John Woods, a 21 year old in Company G, writing home to Spring Mills on September 22^nd,  remembered of the moment:

“We saw the two long lines of battle [on the left] in an open field about 200 or 300 yds apart fighting as hard as a battle can be fought and at the same time the artillery on both sides playing on each other just as fast as the artillerymen could handle themselves.  It would have been a beautiful sight if there had been no one killed or wounded.  We got to our position just in time – it was on a little hill and the rebels and us were doing their utmost to get the position first but we beet[sic] them by a few hundred yards.  Our Batteries were scarcely on the hill till they opened on the rebs and kept them back and such a shelling for a few hours I never heard.”

49^th Pennsylvania historian, Sgt. Robert Westbrook, of Company B, noted the desperate pace of the events:

“We were double-quicked in, and in line of battle Colonel Irwin’s orders were, ‘Steady, right dress;’ our lines are good; battery in our rear on a full gallop; we are afraid the rebels will get the position; we move a little to right oblique to make an opening for our battery; up [they] come to the crest and go into position; we support them; the position is ours; now the fighting is very sever on our immediate left; Company C is deployed as skirmishers; General Hancock is ordered to take command of General Richardson’s division, Richardson having been badly wounded today, and he leaves us at once; we kissed the ground to escape the flying missiles; now Colonel Irwin is taken away from us to take command of a brigade, and this leaves Major Tom Huling in command of our regiment; these changes were made in about five minutes, as there was no time to be lost...”
 

Of the ferocious artillery fire, Cpl. Woods stated that the men, “…had to lay flat on the ground and the rebel shell burst all around us.  Two pieces dropped within two feet of my head and one ball struck the ground a few feet in front and bounded over us and struck a tree back of us.  I felt the wind of it on my foot that had no shoe on."  [suffering from a swollen foot, and unable to wear his boot, Woods had made the march from Washington shoeless]  

It was at this point that Woods makes the simple, but tragic observation that, “…four of our Regt. Wounded and two I think have died since.  One little drummer boy of Co. F[Charley King] was shot through the lungs”.  Sgt. Westbrook added that King, “…fell into the arms of H. H. Bowles, of the Sixth Maine regiment;” a neighboring unit in Hancock’s brigade.

The 49^th Pennsylvania would remain in this location for the rest of the day, and all of the next.  When they finally moved forward in order to probe the Confederate lines, and determine their whereabouts, both Woods and Westbrook were startled by the carnage of what was the single bloodiest day in American History.  “We passed over the battlefield the next day and oh! such a sight.  I never saw anything like it before or never want to again.  The fields were just covered with the dead and all the way to the river bodies were strewn along the road,” wrote Woods.  “It was a horrible sight in the road – the dead rebels piled on top of one another, and there was no room to walk.  We took the field to the right, and came on the pike above Sharpsburg,” remembered Westbrook.

After his terrible wounding, Charley King was immediately taken to a hospital in the rear of the lines, where he lingered for three more days before dying on September 20, at the age of 13.  It is not fully clear whether his body was buried on the battlefield, where it still might remain, or whether his father was able to return his son to his native Chester County.  King is widely believed to be the youngest soldier killed during the entire American Civil War.

History of the 49th Pennsylvania Volunteers

Notes:

Civil War Muster Roll, 49^th Regiment, Records Group (RG) 19, Series# 19.11, Carton 24 & 25, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

John Woods, to Mother, 22 September 1862, Woods Family Collection, Manuscript Group (MG) 188, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.

Marion V. Armstrong Jr., Unfurl Those Colors!: McClellan, Sumner, and the Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2008), 260-261.

Robert Westbrook, History of the 49^th Pennsylvania Volunteers (Altoona, PA: Altoona

Times Print, 1898), 125.

“Worthington G. Snethen to Winfield Scott, June 29, 1861[transcription],” accessed 29

June 2011; available from http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/37295; Internet.