Skip to main content

National Archives provides info on Civil War soldier


My 4th great uncle, Benjamin Franklin Vanhorn served in the 90th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry. He is a collateral relative but he fascinates me, being the only family member thus far I can confirm actually served during the Civil War on my side of the family.

A single man, he would have been 20 years old when he enlisted on 2 September 1863 as a Private. The 90th PA Infantry spent its days in Virginia. He fought at Mine Run, Wilderness, Laurel Hill, the Spotsylvania Court House, Petersburg, and the Weldon Railroad. It was at the Weldon Railroad, on 20 August 1864, that he was captured, taken prisoner, and confined at Liberty Belle Island in Richmond. 

The National Archives recently shed a little more light on that day. 

 
Benjamin was admitted at the Regimental Hospital on 18 August 1864 for “diarrhoea”. How embarrassing right? I suppose though it would be hard to march or fight while you constantly stopping to go to the bathroom. In any case, he was cleared to return to duty on 20 April 1864. 

He did survive the War. He was released from Liberty Belle Island on 15 June 1865. 

 
He came home to Pennsylvania. He married a Margaret Hensel. They moved first to Virginia then made their way west, settling in San Jose, California.
 

 
Military Monday is a genealogical prompt of GeneaBloggers.
© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today.   I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public!      What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis?   52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday!   © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015