Germans in the Civil War: The Letters They Wrote Home

25. Matthias Leclerc

Leclerc 225 25. Matthias Leclerc Not much more is known about the life of Matthias Leclerc than what is in his few surviving letters. Born in 1822 in Vallendar near Koblenz on the Rhine, this son of a linen weaver seems to have made a living trading goods—apparently across the border as well—until in his own words he became ‘‘slovenly,’’ started drinking and neglecting his work. By 1862, the forty-year-old was financially ruined and found himself faced with a choice either ‘‘to put a bullet through my head or choose Ammerika.’’ He opted for the latter, probably leaving considerable debts behind. Once in the United States, as Leclerc wrote in 1864, he stopped drinking and became ‘‘a responsible person’’ again, earning more money than he needed to live a decent life. He worked for more than a year with a man who had apparently emigrated from the Koblenz area some time earlier, (Carl?) Lammersdorf, then opened a store together with a watchmaker. When that enterprise went bankrupt, he ended up working in Washington, D.C., as a mason—the trade he had probably learned in his youth.1 Washington, October 2, 1864 Most esteemed Cousin Simmon, [88 ll.: reasons for his emigration; money matters; family; life in America] You get the news from the newspapers, but that’s nothing but press prattle, the war or rather this brothers’ war is so horrible at the moment it is hard to believe. The northern government has mustered up a colossal army and the human slaughter is terrible. Now they can’t get any soldiers for 3 years anymore , so they’re recruiting them for 1 year. A man gets 1,000 to 1,500 dollars for 1 year and 16 dollars a month pay plus 48 dollars for clothing plus food. When I was working for Lammersdorf, I had a chance to see what it’s like to be a soldier here, and you couldn’t get me to be one for 100,000 dollars unless I was fed up with life, which isn’t the case. Here in the Cämp or Lager, the soldiers get meat 2 times a day, as much as they want. A whole loaf of bread, 2 lbs. of fine white bread, coffee, tea, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, syrup, but when they’re marching—and oh, what marches—not so much can be taken source note: Perhaps Leclerc’s business went bankrupt because there were too many misunderstandings . He is one of the very few letter-writers in this volume whose use of the local dialect, defective grammar, atrocious spelling, and incongruous punctuation combine to make the reader stop, think, and wonder what the writer wants to say every two or three lines. In most cases the meaning can be deciphered, but it requires considerable patience. Not included here is one letter from after 1865. 1. Information provided by the donor; Matthias Leclerc to Simon Leclerc, October 2, 1864, February 15, 1865, NABS. 226 Leclerc along, and they get Kräker and salt pork, thick slabs of bacon, salted with saltpeter so it can withstand the great heat, since normal salt doesn’t keep meat well enough. That will give you an idea of what this heat is like. And then they march day and night, and whoever falls behind is lost. I’ve taken part, too. Then the soldiers throw away everything, blankets, coats, they only keep their bullets and guns, and now especially this time of year the days are terribly hot and the nights are cold, and there is thick fog in the woods at night. This is now causing terrible fever, since they drink the water wherever they can find it, and this causes diarrhea, and it just runs down their pants, and they get more exhausted than you can even imagine. The more water you drink, theworse it gets, and the upshot is you’re a wreck.The ones who stay well have to meet the enemy, and then there’s so much shooting that entire regiments disappear in no time, I’ve seen it in the last 1½ years on the battlefield since I left Carl. I’ve been going to the hospitals near Washington, because I had a Rekomantazion [recommendation] for a Pass so I have access to all the Forts & hospitals. A while ago, after the battle in the Wiltniss [Wilderness] I saw 13 cadavers being carried to the morgue in one...