Netherlands during the civil war

Slavery.

Whatever an immigrant's view on the morality of slavery, he or she would have to be willing to work for less than a slave. That was not an inviting prospect.

Many immigrants in the North were farm laborers or worked in areas outside of manufacturing like dock work and construction, by the way. These jobs existed in the South, but the work was mostly done by slaves.
Well thanks for the explanation, every search i have done so far seems to indicate to me that the most Dutch immigrants served in one of the Michigan Infantry mention above with only the 25th Michigan Infantry Company I "Holland Rangers" being the one that had if i am correct being the only Dutch-immigrant company.
 
One of the things I find interesting in The civil War letter of Johannes Van Lent is how he signed his letters to his parents. He starts off signing John van Lente but soon switches to Johannes van Lente. He signed a few letters J. van Lente. A later war letter to his parents is signed JoAnnes Van Lente. This is interesting because not only the odd way the first name is signed but he has switched to a capital "V" which is the Americanized way to write van. By the end of the war it is back to John but in the Americanized John Van Lente. The book also has letters from a few other soldiers from the Holland Colony.

Pieter Elleu
Karel Mulder
Ary Rot
Jan Stekettee and Hendrik Slegter also seen in other parts of the book as Hendrik teSleghte
Wulf Van Appeldoorn
Cornelius Van Dam

van 2.jpg
 
I am quite familiar with one Dutchman. He is the man I portray. By the time he had enlisted in the US army he was on his third army and fighting on his 4th continent.

His men referred to him as that "Sumbich" Dutchman. At Iuka they were tempted to hang him but by the end of the war they fully appreciated him.
 
Just a off comment. Does Johannes look on the small size? Not necessary short but his hands look large and his body on the slight size.
 
I am quite familiar with one Dutchman. He is the man I portray. By the time he had enlisted in the US army he was on his third army and fighting on his 4th continent.

His men referred to him as that "Sumbich" Dutchman. At Iuka they were tempted to hang him but by the end of the war they fully appreciated him.
Do you know what his first two armies where.
 
Do you know what his first two armies where.
Apparently a very short stint in the Dutch Army then "better than 15 years" in the French Foreign Legion fighting in North Africa, the Crimea & possibly in Italy but I don't think so.

I believe he ran into trouble in the Dutch Army, deserted and made his way to Marseilles (further from Holland the better?) where he drank with some fine French soldiers and woke the next morning to find himself in the Foreign Legion. I don't know the particulars of his discharge from the Foreign Legion but suspect desertion may have been involved.

He was born in a part of Amsterdam where they had drained a swamp, never have located where that would be. His parents died when he was of a very young age and he grew up in an orphanage/poor house. I believe he then worked as a dockworker & boy of all works until conscripted.
 
I believe he ran into trouble in the Dutch Army, deserted and made his way to Marseilles (further from Holland the better?) where he drank with some fine French soldiers and woke the next morning to find himself in the Foreign Legion.
Well he most likely sing his name under a contract when he was dronk.
 
Co G of the 33rd Iowa Infantry had a number of Dutch immigrant soldiers from Pella and Marion county.
The Scholte House Museum in Pella had an exhibit on those soldiers during 2012. Here is
contact info for the Scholte House: www.pellahistorical.org; [email protected] and
ph # 641.620.9463.

Volume 5 of Guy Logan's Roster and Record of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion has a history
of the 33rd and roster. It is online at: http://iagenweb.org/civilwar/books/logan/mil702.htm
 
I am quite familiar with one Dutchman. He is the man I portray. By the time he had enlisted in the US army he was on his third army and fighting on his 4th continent.

His men referred to him as that "Sumbich" Dutchman. At Iuka they were tempted to hang him but by the end of the war they fully appreciated him.
Which regiment in the Union army was he in?
 
I would expect that New York regiments would have large numbers of Dutch immigrants ore am i wrong.
 
I am from the Netherlands and i am fascinated about the Civil War, i want to know more about the Netherlands ore Netherlands immigrants who fought in the war, so far i know about the:

25th Michigan Infantry Company I "Holland Rangers" (that is if i am correct and this was a Dutch immigrant company).

But where there more Dutch immigrant companies either in the Union ore in the Confederate Armies.
Hi, I am late to this thread, but I have investigated and mapped every mainland european pensioner from the 1883 roll referred to above. If you want to see the details of service and fate of the Dutch individuals listed (or indeed any European pensioner), go to the link below and click on "Map 1", then click on the mapped points in the Netherlands- it will tell you about each of them:

http://irishamericancivilwar.com/20...-widows-dependent-parents-an-online-resource/
 
Four identified soldiers from the Netherlands (Holland) who served at Gettysburg (July 1863):

USA:
- Private Nicholas Hoyks, Company C, 82nd New York, born in Holland, killed on July 2. The 82nd was worsted just north of the Codori buildings on the Emmitsburg Road by the 3rd and 48th Georgia of Ambrose Wright's brigade. Hoyks enlisted on June 17, 1861 at New York City, listing his occupation as a butcher.

- Private Daniel Schout, Company F, 108th New York, born in Holland on February 6, 1841 and came to the U.S. in 1857. He enlisted on August 8, 1862 and was badly wounded on July 3 at Gettysburg (his regiment supported Woodruff's Battery I, 1st U.S. Artillery in Ziegler's Grove). He was discharged in Baltimore on June 10, 1865, for disability.

CSA:
- Private Jacob R. Polack (also spelled Polak), 1st Virginia Infantry, born in Holland and educated at the University of Leyden. He was 23 years old and working as a clerk in Richmond when he enlisted on April 21, 1861. He was promoted to Color Bearer in June 1862 and was wounded at 2nd Manassas that August. Apparently he was reduced to the ranks prior to Gettysburg, where he received an arm wound while attempting to carry the colors of the regiment after the bearer and guard were shot down during Pickett's charge on July 3. Perhaps for such demonstrated gallantry he was promoted to the prestigious position of Sergeant Major of the regiment on September 9, 1863. Discharged on August 1, 1864, he resided in Atlanta after the war.

- Private John H. Walters was born near Amsterdam on January 12, 1835. He came to America as a young man and first lived in Albany, New York, working for a time in an office of the New York State legislature. He then moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he was impressed with the kindness of the people, and became a bookbinder. When war came, he joined the Norfolk Artillery Blues, which became known as Capt. Grandy's battery. Walters' diary forms the basis of a fine book edited by Ken Wiley called Norfolk Blues: The Civil War Diary of the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues (Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press, 1997). During the war, communications were cut off with Norfolk, so that on March 23, 1863 Walters received a letter from home dated July 12, 1862 - over eight months later. On September 14, 1864 he received a letter from Holland, dated June 4 of that year, which "only" took three months and 10 days to arrive. At Gettysburg, Grandy's battery was posted on Seminary Ridge near David McMillan's residence, but Walters' howitzer section was not engaged during the battle.

By the way, the Norfolk Artillery Blues have a long and distinguished history. They were formed as a militia unit in 1829. Following the Civil War they were reestablished (1877) and are still in existence to this day, having fought in World War I, World War II (with the 29th Division on D-Day), and more recently in Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of the 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment, Virginia National Guard.
 
I was at the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Civil War Round Table on Wednesday. We had kind of a show and tell instead of the usual speaker. About 45 minutes of the meeting was a short slide show of a presentation one of our round table members was preparing on the subject of the Dutch of western Michigan during the Civil War. Once completed it would make a great hour, hour and a half presentation.
 
I am from the Netherlands and i am fascinated about the Civil War, i want to know more about the Netherlands ore Netherlands immigrants who fought in the war, so far i know about the:

25th Michigan Infantry Company I "Holland Rangers" (that is if i am correct and this was a Dutch immigrant company).

But where there more Dutch immigrant companies either in the Union ore in the Confederate Armies.
I am just curious as to what started your interest in our Civil War.
 
I am just curious as to what started your interest in our Civil War.
There are many things, mostly watching both the movies Gettysburg and Gods and Generals, when i was young, the naval activity and of course the many battles that where fought are something that interest me a lot.
 
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