subject index to the James R. Woodworth Papers (Lawrence Hotchkiss Collection)
Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections
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Woodworth , James R., 1838-1864 Rank: Private, Corporal (1863 December 8) Regiment: 44th New York Infantry Regiment. Co. E (Ellsworth Avengers) (1861-1864) Service: 1862 August 30-1864 May 8
In September, 1862, Jim Woodworth left his wife, Phebe, and young son, Frankie, in East Varick, Seneca County, N.Y., to enlist in Company E of the 44th New York Infantry. Woodworth may have had an unsavory past, or at least he believed so, but his correspondence suggests that by the time of his enlistment, he had become a family man whose religious values guided both his thought and behavior. Throughout his service, Woodworth wrote to his wife two or three times a week to tell her about his experiences and about the other Seneca County men in his regiment, and to give advice on running their farm.
After assembling in Albany in September, 1862, the 44th Regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac under McClellan's command, and joined in the slow offensive in the Blue Ridge Mountains, participating a few skirmishes. Like most of his comrades, Woodworth approved of and felt he understood McClellan's strategy, and he was deeply angry at the General's dismissal. Despite the set back of McClellan's departure, the Army of the Potomac pressed onward, and in December, Woodworth experienced his first major battle, Fredericksburg, during which he was on the field for over 30 hours. Woodworth's description of the evacuation of the City, during which the 44th Regiment was placed in the perilous position as rear guard, paints a picture of the terror and exhaustion of battle, and is one of the most powerful letters in the collection.
Returning to camp at Falmouth, the Army of the Potomac settled into the mud and snow for almost four months, unable to move due to the poor conditions. The severe weather, the inability to move and the frustration of defeat made this period one of the bleakest for the Army. Woodworth's mood alternated between depression and disillusionment, though he claims to have had higher spirits than some. During most of this period, he was detailed as a pioneer, chopping wood in the forest and doing miscellaneous manual labor about camp.
During the Spring and Summer campaigns of 1863 began, the 44th saw action at Chancellorsville (during which Woodworth was in charge of officers' horses), at Gettysburg, and in the pursuit of Lee into Virginia. Woodworth passed through the great battles physically unharmed and with his health relatively intact, though, in October, he was hospitalized with dysentary (camp fever) and the effects of being punched by a panicked Union horseman during a skirmish. Woodworth recovered in time to spend another harsh and immobile winter in Virginia. Woodworth died early in the spring campaign of 1864, during the Battle of Laurel Hill on May 8th. Ironically, in a letter written one year to the day previous to his death, Woodworth remarked that Phebe's dream of seeing him in a great battle had come true.
Woodworth is an exceptional writer who provides insightful and emotion-laden accounts that make the boredom and frustration of war as vivid as its horrors. Often displaying a sarcastic sense of humor, he touches on the living conditions and the rise and fall in morale of the troops; and because he speaks as freely of the spiritual and mental sufferings of the soldier as he does the physical, his relationship with his wife and child, his home life, and the life of the community of soldiers and civilians from Seneca County are all well developed.
The Woodworth Papers consist entirely of letters written by James Woodworth to his wife, Phebe, with the exception of five letters from Phebe to James, one from "Charles M." to Phebe, one written to a brother, Frank, and a poem on Gettysburg written by a member of the 44th N.Y. Regiment. There are some possible small gaps in the correspondence, most notably for the late winter of 1864, but in general, the collection appears to be a complete sampling of Woodworth's letters written while in the service.
Woodworth's diaries cover 1) 1862 October 16-November 24; 2) 1862 November 27-1863 April 14; 3) 1863 March 23-July 28; and 4) 1863 November 16-1864 April 2. Entries are typically brief, but are an excellent supplement to the his letters to his wife. Woodworth seems to have written the diaries with the thought that they would be read by his wife and family, and thus they do not provide a signficantly different point of view. However, they do provide additional details on many of the events mentioned in his letters, particularly for the Blue Ridge Campaign of the late Fall, 1862.
Highlights of the collection include "guided tours" of soldiers' quarters near Fredericksburg and of a hospital tent, a humorous discussion of the ubiquitousness of body lice (1863 January 31), the Battle of Frdericksburg, descriptions of friendly contact with Confederate soldiers across a river (1863 May 30-June 2), looting a plantation while on picket duty (1863 Sep. 22), and a long letter in which Woodworth lays out some stern advice for his brother, Frank, who had just enlisted in the Army against Woodworth's better suggestions (1864 January 4).
The Woodworth Papers were donated to the Clements in 1962 by Lawrence E. Hotchkiss, Woodworth's great-grand-nephew.
Nash, Eugene A. A history of the Forty-fourth regiment, New York volunteer infantry, in the Civil War, 1861-1865. Chicago, Donnelley & Sons, 1911.
subject index to the James R. Woodworth Papers (Lawrence Hotchkiss Collection)
Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections
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