A Stout Heart and a Hearty Soul:
James Woodworth of the 44th NY Volunteers
Hospitals
In the rapid marching south after Gettysburg, Woodworth developed diarrhea, but still missed no duty. At the time, he claimed that all but about 20 men in the entire regiment suffered from the same malady. Woodworth continued his day to day duties and maintained hope and faith in the face of constant pain and discomfort from diarrhea, toothaches, and headaches. But his case soon developed into a more serious ailment, an inflamation of the bowels. One night, while on guard duty, he suddenly felt sharp pains in his stomach, an attack, and needed assistance just to return to his tent. He missed duty for several days, with many men, including even the officers, concerned enough to check on his condition each day. His tentmates, now David Harris and Hicks Campbell, two more men from Seneca County, brought him items such as butter and milk from the sutler and performed many of his duties for him. Lieutenant Husted brought him extra rations of potatoes each daily. Another member of the regiment, in Company H, diagnosed with the same ailment only a few days after Woodworth, was considered beyond hope as his case transformed into typhoid fever. The illness discouraged Woodworth, especially his weakness, which limited him to short walks with the assistance of a cane. (1)
By early October, Woodworth, though not completely cured, felt enough to march with his regiment. While marching on October 14, first into line of battle and then to the support of the 2nd Corps, engaged at Bristoe Station, Woodworth suffered an injury during a confusion in which cavalry, artillery, and infantry all mobbed together on the same road, some going in opposite directions. As a horseman rushed to rescue a cannon falling off a pontoon, the man inadvertently hit Woodworth, severely injuring his back. He continued on the march for a short time, but soon fell out and entered the hospital. Before long, the surgeon shipped him to Finley Hospital in Washington, where from a bed overlooking the construction of the Capitol dome, he enjoyed fine food (when they let him eat), a chaplain, and plenty of good reading. Despite his rest and good care, his weakness remained, preventing him from writing very often to his wife. His diarrhea had worsened after his injury, debilitating him further. Woodworth remained in Finley until the end of October, when the War Department ordered all New York soldiers in hospitals to New York City, perhaps in anticipation of some great battle requiring the use of all available beds. (2)
The government shipped Woodworth to St. Joseph's Hospital in Central Park. He admired the beauty of the park, which he and his wife previously imagined from descriptions in books. But he remained there only a short time before acquiring a furlough, and arrived home by November 7, when he paid $8.30 to Ralph Roberts to settle his account. Thompson Barrick, home also around this time, visited Roberts' store as well. Few details exist of James Woodworth's reunion with his family, but with imagination one can fill in many of the events. His wife and son running to greet him, the enormous dinners with his friends and families, who all eagerly sat in the parlor and listened to his tales from the war. It was not the great reunion he imagined, and the shortness of this furlough made his temporary reunion bittersweet. While in Virginia, he had threatened to refuse a furlough if offered because "he would have to leave home again and it would only make him sad." He wished for one more night sleeping warmly in the bed alone with her. Apparently his son, so eager to see his Pa during his brief stay at home, slept with his mother and father every night during the furlough. Woodworth regretted not attending church or praying often enough while home, and hoped God forgave him for this mistake and did not hold it against him. (3)
December 6 found him at Camp Convalescent in Alexandria, "a terrible place." By mid December Woodworth rejoined his regiment at Rappahannock Station,
within only miles of the regiment's location in October when he entered the hospital. Shortly after rejoining the regiment, Woodworth received the honor of a
promotion to corporal, which obligated him to triple duty as postmaster, commissary, and a member of the color guard. On January 24, the regiment moved to
Alexandria, where it received the assignment of guarding the six daily trains traveling between there and the front. At Alexandria the regiment built their "model"
camp, which received the attention of a photographer from Matthew Brady's studio. Busy with constructing the camp, protecting the trains, and his new duties
as corporal, Woodworth had but few opportunities to write to his wife during the Winter of 1864. (4)
1. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, April 8, 1863, August 6, 1863, August 14, 1863, September 29, 1863, October 4, 1863, October 7, 1863.
2. Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, October 16, 1863, October 18, 1863, October 23, 1863, November 1863.
3. Ralph P Roberts Ledger Book, Seneca Falls Historical Society, Ledger no. 58, entry dated November 7, 1863; Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, January 31, 1863, November 22, 1863, December 10, 1863, January 10, 1864.
4. Eugene A Nash, A History of the Fourty-Fourth Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, (Chicago: RR Donnelley and Sons, 1910): 179; Woodworth Papers, James Woodworth to Phebe Woodworth, December 6, 1863, January 10, 1864, January 29, 1864, March 13, 1864.