Henry Vanderwyde

White Flint Bill

Sergeant
Joined
Oct 9, 2017
Location
Southern Virginia
While researching conditions in Danville Virginia in April and May 1865, I've discovered several fascinating characters. Especially interesting is Henry Vanderwyde.

Henry_Van_der_Weyde.jpg


Pieter Hendrik van der Weijde was 12 years old when his family immigrated to the U.S. from Holland in 1850. At the age of 22 he was attending Cooper Art Institute when he enlisted in Co. G of the 7th Regiment of the New York State Militia in 1861. He was an officer in the 65th New York Infantry (I'm not sure of his rank) when he was captured at Cedar Creek and sent to the officer's prison in Danville. In a post-war letter, Captain Henry S. Burrage of the 36th Mass. Infantry wrote, “My prison messmate was Captain Henry Vander Wyde, who was the ADC on the staff of General Frank Wheaton, commanding the First Division, Sixth Army Corps. He was an artist and during the winter not only made sketches of the officers in the prison, but of about every good looking girl in Danville, as he was allowed by the Confederate officers to go out for this purpose on their request.”

In the winter of 1865 (I'm not sure exactly when) Vanderwyde was exchanged and he ended up back with the Sixth Corps in time for it to occupy Danville. On April 27 it was Major Vanderwyde, in his capacity as Provost Marshall ,who accepted the Danville mayor's surrender of the city where he had been a prisoner just a few months earlier.

In 1870 Vanderwyde emigrated to London to pursue his artistic career (as Henry Van der Wyde). He continued to paint, but became best known as an innovator in photography and photographic portraiture.

He was also a prolific inventor, accumulating over 80 patents. He invented a car with collapsible sides, designed to make it easier to drive on narrow European streets. Unfortunately he poured all his money into that project and it was a failure. He was broke when he died in 1924 at age 86. At least one of his children became a well-known European artist in his own right.

What a remarkable life!

Colonel Thomas Hyde (a remarkable man as well) commanded the Federal forces which occupied Danville. In his memoirs he writes that as they were leaving town some of his men encouraged him to burn the warehouses that had been the Confederate prisons. He doesn't say who those men were, but I like to think that Henry Vanderwyde was one of them. Luckily for us Colonel Hyde was concerned that the prevailing winds would carry the flames into the city and burn the whole town, so he did not allow the warehouses to be torched.

Just thought some might find the Vanderwyde story interesting...
 
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Greetings all,

This is my first post, so please forgive me if it's beyond the normal bounds of this forum. I was so excited by this information that I felt I had to register and extend my personal gratitude to you for sharing your research.

My name is also VanderWyde and I've struggled to really find any info on my family's history. (Ironic given there aren't many of us as far as I can tell) I will have to do a good amount of digging to find out if Henry is a direct ancestor but you've given me a great starting point to potentially learn about our past.

Anyway, I hope my message finds you well. Thank you again for your hard work! I look forward to exploring more of this site.
 
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