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.