Summary Information
Wilhelm Ramthun Papers
1862-1863
- Ramthun, Wilhelm, circa 1838-1863
Micro 651
1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Eight Civil War letters written in German Gothic script with transcripts and translations, Feb. 23, 1862-July 28, 1863, from Wilhelm Ramthun, a Private in Co. K, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, including descriptions of army life and the Battle of Fredericksburg. Also includes an 1861 baptismal record.
German and English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0651 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
During the American Civil War, Wilhelm Ramthun was a private in Company K of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was part of the Iron Brigade. Together with his parents and other family members, Ramthun had emigrated from his native Prussia sometime prior to 1860. They settled on a small farm near Kewaskum in Washington County, Wisconsin. (The name Ramthun or any variant spelling, does not appear in the 1855 census for Washington County.) While his father Christian (aged 62 in the 1860 census), his mother Sophia (67), his older brother Friedrich (26), and his sister Hanna (16) remained in Kewaskum, Wilhelm worked as a farm laborer near West Bend and later at Ashford in Fond du Lac County. On November 5, 1861, he enlisted as a Wisconsin volunteer from Washington County, and on December 20, 1861 was mustered into service at Madison. Ramthun saw action at the battles of Gainesville, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Fitzhugh's Crossing, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. He was wounded in the abdomen on September 14, 1862 at South Mountain and in the right arm on July 1, 1863 at Gettysburg. After amputation of the arm below the elbow and subsequent complications, Ramthun died on July 30, 1863 in a Gettysburg military hospital. He is buried at Gettysburg.
Scope and Content Note
The Wilhelm Ramthun Papers consist of eight letters, 1862-1863, and the birth certificate of a child born to Friedrich and Caroline Ramthun in 1861. Friedrich Ramthun was probably the “Brother Fritz” to whom seven, and possibly all eight, of the letters were written.
The letters were written from the front between February 1862 and July 1863. Included is an account of the Battle of Fredericksburg, although Ramthun was not involved in the main thrusts of that battle. Ramthun left no account of the Battle of Gettysburg. There are, in fact, numerous gaps in the correspondence, as revealed in the letters by references to other letters not found here. Ramthun's letters are significant mainly for the light they shed on the world of the common soldier in the Civil War. One sees here the dangers and concerns, as well as the elemental drudgery, poor food, dirt, and cold of the soldier's daily life. The last letter, written from the Gettysburg Court House Hospital only two days before his death, found Ramthun feeling “much better” and hoping soon to be home. This letter was written for Ramthun by someone else, but like the others is written in the now obsolete German Gothic cursive script, which has presented some difficulties in transcription and translation. In keeping with the rough-hewn character of the letters, and also to achieve the highest degree of exactness, the translation has been made as literal as possible.
The papers are arranged by date. In each case the original document in German Gothic handschrift is followed first by a typewritten transcript of the German and then by its translation into English.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Originals loaned for translating and microfilming by Marilyn Reinhardt, Kewaskum, Wisconsin, January 19, 1977. Accession Number: M77-14
Transcribed from the German originals by Paul Rood, in consultation with Professor Robert L. Koehl, University of Wisconsin, Department of History; translated by Paul Rood; Supervising Archivist: Joanne Hohler; November 16, 1977.
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