Zions Lutheran Cemetery-Womelsdorf PA

 

Today I completed the preliminary research for the 33 Civil War Soldiers of Zions Lutheran Cemetery in Womelsdorf. 

There were three units represented more than others in this cemetery. The 14th Pennsylvania Infantry, a unit organized in April 1861, immediately after Abraham Lincolns first call for 75,000 men for 3 months of service. The 42nd Emergency Militia, a unit organized for a little under two months to try to stop the Confederates from attacking Pennsylvania. And lastly, the 55th Pennsylvania Infantry, a regiment that spent time in South Carolina before joining General Grant in the Overland campaign at the end of the war.

You can find the full list in the cemetery section of this site.

The stand-out soldier of this cemetery for me was the tragic story of Private Henry Rittenhouse. 

Henry was 23 when he joined company C of  the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry in August of 1862. From its organization in Harrisburg the 149th moved to Belle Plains Virginia in the beginning of 1863 and hen joined with the Army of the Potomac in its ill-fated Chancellorsville Campaign.

After the loss at Chancellorsville it was hurried north to try to stop the Confederates incursion into Pennsylvania. In the beginning of July they reached Gettysburg where they participated in the first days battle along Chambersburg Pike and the famed "railway cut".

At Gettysburg they lost 66 men killed 159 wounded including Henry who was wounded in the nose and sent to the hospital.

After leaving the hospital he rejoined his unit as they chased after General Lee back into Virginia. In 1864 they joined General Grant and his Overland campaign as he maneuvered to attack Richmond. 

Unfortunately for Henry during the North Anna battle he was captured on May 23rd 1864. From there he was sent to the horrors of infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia. 

Andersonville Prison, stands as a haunting symbol of the human cost of the American Civil War. Located in southwest Georgia, this Confederate military prison became notorious for its overcrowded conditions, inadequate supplies, and high mortality rate.

Originally covering about 16.5 acres, the prison was enclosed by a 15-foot-high stockade. Its rectangular shape, measuring 1,620 feet by 779 feet, allowed for a cramped space of about 5 feet by 6 feet per prisoner.

Confederate Captain Henry Wirz commanded the site, which suffered from inadequate water supply, insufficient food, and unsanitary conditions. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held at Camp Sumter during the war, nearly 13,000 (28%) died, primarily due to scurvy, diarrhea, and dysentery

When Henry was paroled in November he was sickly and suffering greatly from scurvy and other diseases and was sent to the hospital in Washington DC

After he was well enough to travel he headed home. Unfortunately the ravages of Andersonville would follow him for the rest of his life. He would never truly recover from the diseases he contracted and therefore could not work.

He received a measly 6$ a month pension and repeatedly petitioned the government for an increase because of his disabilities, which were subsequently denied.

In his 50s his health continued to fail him and his self-perceived uselessness caused great depression. Soon his eyesight began to fail him and on June 22nd 1896 he took his own life. 

Many took to the papers talking about what a horrible tragedy it was for a soldier to be treated this way.

The Civil War tends to be romanticized and this story is a stark reminder of the trauma that followed these soldiers for the rest of their lives.

Soldier Highlight: The Holland brothers

Dennis and Henry Holland were born in Adams County Pennsylvania to David and Mary (Shuyett) Holland. They came from a large family with five brothers (James, David, Dennis, Henry and Alexander) and two sisters (Mary and Sarah). 

When they were young their family moved from Adams County to a farm in Upper Tulpehocken Township. 

On February 27th 1864, when he was 20, Dennis Holland travelled to Reading and enlisted in the 32nd US Colored Regiment. From there he was sent to Camp William Penn near Philadelphia where he would be trained and the rest of the regiment would be organized. 

 From Philadelphia the regiment travelled to Hilton Head South Carolina and attached to the Department of the South. Here they participated in a number of movements and skirmishes.

Near Beach Creek, Statesburg South Carolina Dennis would be wounded and subsequently sent to the hospital in Charleston South Carolina. At some point he would leave the hospital and head home. He would be marked absent in September of 1865. 

On February 15th 1865, at 19, Henry Holland would sign up as a substitute for an Ezra Miller of Cumru Township. In other words Ezra Miller paid Henry to take his place as a draftee in the Civil War. 

Henry would join the 2nd Regiment US Colored Cavalry. He would head south where he and the rest of the regiment would serve at Petersburg until its fall in April of 1865. After which they would be sent to Texas and attached to the department of the Gulf. 

In October of 1865 as they were travelling from New Orleans to Brazos Santiago Texas Henry would desert from the ship and return home.

After the war (according to the 1880 census) Henry, Dennis and their brother Alexander would live and work together on a farm in Upper Bern. Dennis would be listed as a preacher the other two farm laborers.

In 1910 Henry would be living with Dennis and wife Lucy (Ary) Holland on a farm together in Tilden Township. 

The next year Dennis would die of Tuberculosis on May 14th 1911. His brother Henry would follow him in death on December 10th 1818 dying of kidney disease. 

As far as I can tell they are the only two Civil War Soldiers buried at Salem-Berne Methodist Church in Tilden Township Berks County. 

Their story fascinates me and I plan on digging deeper to see what else I can learn about the "Holland Boys" in rural Berks County Pennsylvania. 

Cemetery Update: Fairview Cemetery Kutztown

 

One of the things I like to do after my first pass at a list is to visit the cemetery. So this morning I visited Fairview Cemetery in Kutztown to take a walkthrough and compare the list that I had with the headstones of the soldiers there. 

After my first run-through I had 29 soldiers with one red-letter and after this mornings walk I had found 5 more which I added to the list.

Including Titus Geehr who joined the 74th Pennsylvania infantry in February of 1865 with his father Jacob also buried at Fairview

Please check them out in the Berks County Cemetery section at the top right of the page and if you have any updates or changes please let me know!