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John A. Bodamer journal, 1864-1870 (majority within 1864-1865)

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Summary

Creator:
Bodamer, John A.
Abstract:
John A. Bodamer's journal documents his service in the 24th New York Cavalry during the Civil War. He fought in the Spotsylvania Campaign and the Battles of North Anna River, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg, and was a prisoner at the Confederate camps, Belle Isle and Danville.
Extent:
4 items
Language:
English
Sponsor:
James S. Schoff Civil War Collection
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Rob S. Cox, December 1991

Background

Scope and Content:

John Bodamer's diary begins on the day he mustered in for his second enlistment. His entries are uneventful and very brief until the beginning of May, but from that point for a solid month, beginning with the "Battle of Pine Plain" (near the Wilderness) on May 6th, Bodamer records an almost continuous sequence of hard marches, little sleep, poor food, skirmishes, and battles, as the 24th Cavalry fought successively through the Spotsylvania Campaign and the Battles of North Anna River, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg.

The heart of the diary is the passages recording his experiences as a prisoner at the notorious Belle Isle and Danville camps. Although the entries are brief, they are powerful testimony to the harsh conditions and inhumane treatment of prisoners. After December, Bodamer's diary entries become more scattered and shorter, perhaps as a result of his deteriorated condition.

The collection includes a tintype and two letters, one from his commander informing Bodamer's family of his capture and the other, his honorable discharge from the Army as 1st Lieutenant in the 10th Cavalry, November, 1870.

Biographical / Historical:

Bodamer, John A.

Rank: Sgt.

Regiment: 24th New York Cavalry Regiment. Co. M (1863-1865)

Service: 1861-1870 November 25

From the beginning days of the Civil War in April, 1861, John Bodamer was a drummer in the 21st New York Infantry. After serving through several campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, he was honorably discharged in May, 1863. On December 26, Bodamer reenlisted at Buffalo, N.Y., as a Corporal in Co. M, 24th New York Cavalry. The regiment left the state at the end of February, 1864, and served under quiet conditions, dismounted in the vicinity of Washington, D.C., until the end of May. Once remounted and attached to the Army of the Potomac, revitalized by the new leadership of Ulysses Grant, they entered into a seemingly unbroken string of bitter engagements, including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania C.H., North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Bethesda Church, and Petersburg. Exhaustion clearly took its toll on the regiment: "Three men died last night on the march.," wrote Bodamer; "One time a thousand men layed on either side of the road completely played out" (1864 May 29). After Cold Harbor, Bodamer remarked on how both sides seem to have played out, exchanging fire only lackadaisically, "both parties do not seem to care a great deal about firing" (1864 June 11).

On June 15th, Bodamer joined in the first assault on Petersburg, an engagement "where our boys dropped like rain" (1864 June 18), but otherwise accomplished little. On July 30, the 24th N.Y. Cavalry fought alongside a "colored" regiment during the disastrous Mine Assault. Bodamer insisted that the "colored" troops went in well, but "ran like sheep" when charged by the Confederates, and he was enraged at being asked to serve with Blacks: "I say put the niggers out of our Corps as I don't want to be in the Corps they are in" (1864 July 30).

While on duty following the Battle of Weldon Railroad, Bodamer and his entire detail of almost 400 men from the 24th Cavalry were taken as prisoners of war. Transported through Petersburg and Richmond, the men experienced inhuman conditions in a series of Confederate prison camps, including Libby, Belle Isle, and Danville.

Bodamer witnessed what he claimed were two murders by guards. In the first, the guard, a 15 year old boy, shot a prisoner in revenge for a brother killed by Union soldiers, and following the second incident, Bodamer claimed the guard was actually promoted, rather than punished. Death also visited the prison through accident or neglect. In one of the more gruesome episodes witnessed by Bodamer, a prisoner was eaten alive by hogs while too ill to fend them off. Making matters worse, hunger and the elements worsened as winter set it. By November, "the screams in Prison No. 6, pen and language cannot express the misery that exist" (1864 Nov. 6). Bodamer survived the winter and was paroled in February, 1865. He appears to have transferred into the regular army after the war, and was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in the 10th Cavalry in November, 1870.

Acquisition Information:
1984, 1985. M-2150, M-2228, F-71 .
Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown.

PREFERRED CITATION:

John A. Bodamer Journal, James S. Schoff Civil War Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

John A. Bodamer journal, 1864-1870 (majority within 1864-1865)
Total components 5
Last indexed 2025-02-09