Private Henry Van Baalen
Vanished into the Wilderness
by Stephen Donald Arthur
During the early Fall of 2020 I started getting interested in my family history. My mother had just passed away a few months before. It was the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic, when everyone was still under lockdown. My father referred me to my second cousin, once removed, Adam, who introduced me to the scholarly book "The Forerunners: Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora” by Dutch-American immigration expert Dr. Robert P. Swierenga, in which chapter eight, "The Great Lakes Frontier: The Restless Ones", has a section named "Buffalo - The Van Baalen and Boasberg Families", my ancestors, all of whom arrived in the United States from Amsterdam around 1842. My great-grandmother Louisa was a Boasberg, and her mother Sarah Van Baalen, was the older sister of Henry Van Baalen, making Henry my great-great-granduncle.
While reading Dr. Swierenga’s informative book, I came across an interesting sentence about Henry: "Emanuel’s fourth son, Henry [Van Baalen], enlisted in the Union Army at Buffalo in 1861 and was killed in action in 1864 at the very beginning of the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia." When I first read that sentence, I didn’t know what to make of it, as I had never even heard of Henry Van Baalen before I had read chapter eight. No one ever mentioned that we had Civil War veterans in the family, though I knew about the Van Baalen and Boasberg surnames. I never heard of the Battle of the Wilderness, either. I wanted to learn more about Henry Van Baalen and how he fit into my family tree. I was dumbstruck by having a relative who fought in the Civil War. It was so outside what I thought of as a ‘normal’ Jewish family history.
I would later learn that the Battle of the Wilderness was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, in which there were more than 29,000 causalities (estimates vary), including 3,723 dead, on both sides in an inconclusive three-day battle (May 5-7, 1864). My great-great-granduncle Henry Van Baalen was among the Union dead.
Now that I had this familial connection to the Civil War, I thought it might be fascinating to plan a bicycle trip to Civil War battlefields that Henry participated in as a member of the 49th New York Infantry Regiment (nicknamed 2nd Buffalo Regiment of New York). The 49th was organized in Buffalo, New York and mustered in for three years’ service on 18 September 1861. My newly discovered great-great-granduncle was one of the first volunteers to enlist (September 1861) in the 49th New York Infantry Regiment. Henry participated in some of the major Civil War campaigns, including the Peninsula Campaign (1862), Antietam (1862), Fredericksburg (1862), Chancellorsville (1863), Gettysburg (1863), and the Wilderness (1864), as well as other lesser-known military engagements.
Many Union soldiers who died during the Wilderness Campaign were disinterred and reburied at Fredericksburg National Cemetery. To prepare for my trip, I corresponded with the Fredericksburg National Park staff where Henry should be buried; disappointingly, I learned that he likely is buried in an unmarked mass grave with other dead Union soldiers, as was commonly done during the Civil War, though it is possible that his body was overlooked and remains at the Wilderness Battlefield. Based on the information that I gave Park Ranger Ryan, Henry was probably killed in Saunders Field early on 5 May 1864.
Mass grave Headstone4 Bodies
Not having any prior knowledge of Civil War burial practices, you can only imagine what I was feeling inside at that moment. I’d really hoped Henry at least had an individual tombstone with his name on it like many of my other ancestors who died in the 19th Century; it was hard enough that he was killed during a pitched battle.
Later I discovered the Shapell Roster, an online database of Jewish veterans of the Civil War; the roster was very helpful in answering my queries. The roster has Henry in its database; I provided additional information about him. (I also discovered from the Shapell Roster that Henry's younger brother, Louis, had enlisted in the Union Army in Chicago on 4 March of 1865, less than one month shy of the age of 15; he did not see any military action.)
I thought about the trip to visit the Civil War battlefields from time to time, but lacked the spark to commit. Then, in November of 2023 I came across a Buffalo-based reenactor Facebook group for the 49th New York Infantry Regiment. The 160th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness was occurring the following May, and there would be commemorative events in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia where the battle occurred. My interest in a trip to the Wilderness Battlefield was re-energized. I decided to attend the Battle of the Wilderness events. There were two separate events marking the 160th anniversary of the battle that weekend, one sponsored by the National Park Service, and the other by Friends of the Wilderness (a volunteer organization that advocates protection of local battlefields from commercial development); the latter organization partnered with a local Civil War reenactor group with some of Henry’s 49th Regiment reenactors joining them.
I decided I needed to focus on getting the most out of attending these events; this would be an intense personal investment of my time, money, and energy. I was really touched by Henry’s story, a child of first generation Dutch Jewish immigrants, volunteering for three years’ service in the Union Army in September of 1861. Henry declared that he was eighteen years old; however, based on both the 1850 federal census, and the New York State census of 1855, Henry was actually several years younger – fifteen or possibly even fourteen. Henry Van Baleen went on to participate in, and survive, some of the most famous and bloodiest battles of the Civil War, coming within only about four months of being honorably discharged from the Union Army when he was killed in action; a future cut short and without having a proper Halacha burial.
I knew this was the time to go; it would be a rare opportunity to have all of the 160th battle anniversary resources available to me. I also decided to reach out to the local Jewish community in Fredericksburg. Perhaps, if they learned of Henry’s story, and my desire to have some kind of burial ritual in Henry’s honor (since no Jewish ritual was likely provided for Henry right after his death), the Jewish community might join me in providing a religious service.
Henry’s death in battle was one of about 600 Jews (out of between 8,000 and 10,000 Jews who served), who died in the Civil War, a mortality rate of between 6% and 7.5%. It is estimated that, 3.2 million served on both sides during the Civil War. The current estimate is that a total of more than 620,000 men died during the four-year war. This is a mortality rate of 19.4% (no correction in this percentage was made for the small number of Jewish soldiers). The mortality rate among Jewish soldiers, on both sides of the conflict, was about one-third of the overall mortality rate.
I contacted a local Reform Temple, Beth Sholom. I expected to be completely ignored, but surprisingly, they quickly replied to me via email, and referred me to a retired career Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel ̶ a Jewish Chaplain ̶ Mike Haas (Mike the Marine). Fortunately, he really grasped my motivation to honor Henry Van Baalen on the 160th anniversary of his death. I was amazed by his enthusiasm for my goal. We spoke on the phone, and exchanged many text messages, and all of them were supportive in a way I did not expect. Mike was going to be out of town on the weekend of the anniversary, but he actually put together all of the Jewish prayers I needed to read for Henry, and sent me a Siddur, as well. In addition, Mike had me write a short biography of Henry Van Baalen that Beth Sholom Temple would read during their Friday night Kaddish. A mass email went out to the Temple community entitled: "In Remembrance of Private Henry Van Baalen" with the biography I had drafted inside it; I was touched by their gesture.
Thursday night, May 2, 2024, just days before the 160th anniversary, I took an overnight Greyhound bus from Manhattan with my folding bicycle to Fredericksburg, Virginia. After orienting myself, I made my way through the countryside with the goal of getting to Saunders Field by 11 am for an onsite lecture; one of the Park Rangers told me Saunders Field is where Henry died in battle. Along the way, I passed through both the Spotsylvania Courthouse battlefield and parts of the Chancellorsville battlefield before making it to the Battle of the Wilderness site just in time to hear Park Ranger Ryan and the other Park Rangers give their talk under a blazing hot Virginia sun.
After the lecture, I went to nearby Ellwood Manor, the Union Headquarters during the battle, where I met some of the volunteers who were trying to protect the Wilderness Battlefield from commercial development, and with whom I had earlier corresponded about Henry Van Baalen. They were preparing an official certification about Henry Van Baalen that they were going to present to me.
One unexpected outcome of that discussion with the volunteers is that I learned that a previously unknown third cousin, once removed, was a lifelong Civil War buff and a prominent Civil War battlefield preservationist. The following week my cousin and I were able to have a long telephone call together. His ancestors were Nathan Boasberg and Rachel Van Baalen, the older brother, and older half-sister, respectively, to my great-great-grandparents Benjamin and Sarah.
Private Henry Van Baalen Certificate
(click to enlarge)
Afterwards, I passed through more of the Wilderness battlefield, and then went on to the Chancellorsville battlefield visitors center where I was told that the staff would have very detailed military maps of where, exactly, the 49th New York Infantry was deployed every few hours during each battle. First, they verified that the 49th was at each of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Courthouse battles. Then a National Parks Ranger went on to detail every location where Henry's leaders were listed. Unfortunately, the 49th Regiment adjutant did not take great notes, so we only got down to the level of Thomas Neill, who served under General John Sedgewick of the VI Corps. It was at the visitor’s center that I first learned that Henry likely died in a nearby wooded area to the west of Saunders Field, giving more evidence that Henry’s corpse might have been exposed to the infamous raging fires in the wilderness, a byproduct of exploded munitions and brush. (Large fires raged in the wilderness the first two nights of the battle, painfully incinerating many wounded soldiers.) Good grief!
I went to Beth Sholom for evening services; they actually printed at least 100 copies, on orange paper, of Private Henry Van Baalen’s biography that I had written. Henry Van Baalen was honored by the Rabbi, who read Henry’s biography aloud. I was publicly recognized as his ancestor. During the service, I sat next to Mike’s parents, at their request, and they made me feel right at home.
The next morning, May fourth, I traveled, by way of the Chancellorsville Battlefield, to the reenactment of the Wilderness battle, which was being held at Wilderness Run Vineyards, off of what was called, in 1864, the Orange Turnpike. May fourth was much colder than earlier in the week, and there was some light rain, on and off, during the day, but there were many reenactor soldiers representing both the Union and Confederate armies. Before the battle started, I was schmoozing with some spectators off to the side of the battlefield, and when I mentioned Henry Van Baalen, Jesse, who works at the National Archives, knew exactly who Henry was, probably because of the mass email that had been sent by Beth Sholom earlier in the week, and enthusiastically volunteered to look up Henry Van Baalen’s complete military service records for me.
The reenactment started with the bloody Union charge across an open field very close to Saunders Field, with many reenactors simulating injury and death. The Union cannons were extremely loud to my ears. The simulation lasted about an hour. Afterwards, I went to view the sutlers and spoke with the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield volunteers who were nearby; they presented me with their certification indicating that I was related to Private Henry Van Baalen. They also gave me more precise details on where they believed Henry was killed, corroborating what the Chancellorsville Park Rangers said. One of the volunteers spoke under her breathe about the fires being in that area of the Wilderness, too.
Despite the cold rain, my tight schedule forced me to go to that site right away. The volunteers told me that The Lake of the Woods Church and a golf course are now near where Henry was killed. In the church’s parking lot are two, plain, Civil War plaques dedicated to the soldiers who died in the woods during the battle. This was probably the closest I could reasonably get to where Henry lost his life. On the way back to my lodging, I passed by the Mine Run battlefield, a battle Henry participated in in December 1863, before the Union Army set up winter camp near Culpeper, Virginia. In every direction of the small area that I biked that weekend, I passed through multiple places where Henry had fought.
The next morning, May 5th, was the 160th anniversary of Henry's death, which happened to coincide with Yom HaShoah that year. The forecast called for clouds, and more rain.
After visiting Beth Sholom for breakfast, I went to nearby Salem Church where Henry's unit fought during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. I then made my way to where the first Battle of Fredericksburg was fought in December of 1862, and where the Fredericksburg National Cemetery was erected to bury Union Army war dead. With sadness, I made my way up to the cemetery on top of the hill, where Henry was said to be reburied in an unmarked mass grave. As I walked around the hilltop, I saw hundreds of anonymous markers that indicated how many bodies were buried at each site, without indicating the names of any soldiers inside the grave. I was told by Park Rangers that by the time Union soldiers were reburied in the cemetery (from 1866 to 1868), they were likely just dry bones. Over 15,000 Union soldiers are buried in Fredericksburg National Cemetery.
After a time, I exited the cemetery and decided I wanted to decompress by going for a final long bike ride before my 11 pm bus left that evening. When I was about one mile away, I realized I had not read the Siddur Prayers that Mike had given me to recite at the cemetery! I raced back to the cemetery just before it closed and completed the prayers that Mike outlined for me. I spoke to Mike over the phone to collect my thoughts from the experience.
Early the next day I was back in Brooklyn. That evening, May sixth, at home, I lit Yahrzeit candles for Henry. I again spoke with Mike about the experience. He told me that in twenty-five years as a member at Beth Sholom he had never experienced a request like this before.
I really appreciated all of the support and attention directed towards Private Henry Van Baalen ̶ the support far exceeded my highest expectations. I am still moved by the experience.
Because of the efforts of “Mike the Marine”, the Beth Sholom community, The Friends of the Wilderness volunteers, the Fredericksburg National Park Rangers, the National Archives technician, and my third cousin, once removed, the valor and sacrifice of Private Henry Van Baalen has reemerged from the wilderness. Though there are many facts we may never know about Henry, Henry has finally found his rightful place in American and Jewish history ̶ all this springing from a single sentence in a scholarly book.
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Stephen Arthur currently works as a Data Engineer in New York City. He remembers fondly the college level survey Jewish History class he took in which he wrote and presented a paper about the Dreyfus Affair. Another college paper he wrote about in a different history class, the Partitions of Poland, prompted Stephen's professor to say he had enough talent to succeed in graduate school in that field. In Stephen's free time he likes to cook and explore his Jewish roots both through genealogy and social events. Another passion, daily bicycling for exercise, has taken Stephen on self-supported adventures around the world. On one notable trip Stephen rode his bicycle from Casablanca to Istanbul in about 40 days.
