Holland City News, November 30, 1961

(This is the first of a series of articles describing the part played

by Holland residents during the Civil War. The story was compiled

and written by Rev. E. J. Masselink after months of research- Editor’s note)

By Rev. Edward J. Masselink Ph D.

Pastor of Central Ave. Christian Reformed Church

The Dutch settlers who came to America in the middle of the last century were deeply committed to the cause of liberty as soon as they reached these shores. They remembered the struggle for freedom which they had gone through in their native land, and they resolved that this precious gift should be shared by others.

When a new call for volunteers was issued in the summer of 1862, they were among the first to respond. One of their own leaders, Dr. H. P. Scholte of Pella, Iowa, had been vice-president of the Republican National Convention where Lincoln was nominated for the presidency. Central College, Scholte’s school, has a marble plaque bearing the names of twenty-four students who served in the war. Their comrades in western Michigan showed equal readiness to participate in the war of liberation.

Recruiting for the 25^th Michigan Volunteer Regiment began on August 14, 1862, in the office of K. Schaddelee, who was Justice of the Peace. On the first day, fifty-five Dutch immigrant boys who had recently come from the Netherlands, were enrolled. A week later, William E. Schaddelee went to Zeeland, and recruited fifteen more from Zeeland, Grand Haven and Grand Rapids. During the intervening week five more enlisted, bringing the total to seventy-five. These were organized as Company 1, with William Dowd as Captain, and Martin De Boe and Jacob Doesburg as Lieutenants. Capt. Dowd died on Feb 17, 1863. At that time Martin De Boe was promoted to Captain, and John Kramer became Lieutenant.

The great majority of these men were from the Netherlands. Most of them had been in this country only a few years, and spoke only a few words of English. Many of their letters were written in Dutch, some with German script. A large number of these have been preserved, and have been a prime source of information for the story which follows.

The Company included many others also, and was broadly representative of the entire community. Among them we find such names as Frederick Bos, Jan Brouwer, Isaiah, James and Joseph Crofoot, Peter De Feyter, Klaas Dykema, John Naber, Jan Riemersma, John Steketee, Hendrik Ten Slechte, Johannes Van Lente, Gerrit Van Schelven, Adrian Ver Hage. From Zeeland we find such entries as John Albers, Geerlinus De Kruif, Cornelius Den Herder, Albert Eding, John Everhard, John Huizenga, Jan Oggel, Marinus Vande Luyster, Geert Wesseling.

At least four of the volunteers were from the newly organized Hope College at Holland. They were Willem Van Putten, Ale Buursma, John Huizenga, and D. B. K. Van Raalte.

Two of these, Ale Buursma and John Huizenga, later became clerymen in the Reformed Church of America.

The age at which these men enlisted is remarkable. Of the seventy- five men in the Company, twenty-nine were eighteen and nineteen years of age, and one was seventeen. In the events which follow we must remember that they were hardly more than boys.

Several men of Company I distinguished themselves for bravery beyond the call of duty. Benjamin Van Raalte and Dirk Van Raalte, familiarly known as D. B. K., were sons of Dr. A. C. Van Raalte, the founder of the colony. Benjamin enlisted on the first recruiting day, August 14, 1862, at the age of twenty-three. Dirk was eighteen years of age, and joined on August 20. It is not difficult to reconstruct what may have transpired in the Van Raalte home in the six days which lay between.

During July and August of 1864, the Twenty Fifth Michigan Volunteers took part in the siege of Atlanta. There was heavy fighting at Utoy Creek, near East Point on the outskirts of Atlanta. On August 6 the regiment lost both color bearers, and the regimental flag was left on the field when the Union forces were driven back. During the night, Ben Van Raalte crept through the Confederate lines and somehow laid hands on the flag which they had lost. He brought it back to his own position, and for the rest of the war he carried the flag which he had rescued. In later years he always proudly carried the flag when the regiment was on parade. There are several versions of this story. The account which is here given is taken from the book, "Michigan Regiments in the Civil War," in the volume on the 25^th Michigan Volunteers. This book is in the library of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor,

On August 26, D. B. K. Van Raalte rode through a wooded area to deliver a message to headquarters. On the way, he was ambushed by a group of Confederate soldiers. When he heard shots he spurred his horse, but the horse instead of going forward, reared backward. A Confederate sharpshooter found in him a ready target. The bullet struck first in the forearm and then in the shoulder. Finally it grazed his right cheek, leaving a scar. His right arm was amputated at the shoulder and he was removed to a field hospital at Marietta, Georgia,

On August 30, 1864, he wrote a letter home. D. B. K. began the letter, writing clumsily with his left hand, and his brother Ben, who was with him, finished it. The letter was cheerful in tone, but did carry an urgent appeal for their father to come. Dr. Van Raalte immediately left by train, but was not permitted to go farther than Knoxville, Tennessee, for military reasons.

D. B. K. Van Raalte was riding a black horse when he was shot, and in later years he always drove a black horse as he went about his business.

Sergeant Otto Boot was killed by guerilla bushwhackers near Centerville, Tennessee, on November 26, 1864. The story of it is told by one of his companions who signed himself, "L. C. H."

November 26^th

"I was unable to keep up with the regiment, and in company of Corporal George Westover of Company G, and Sergeant Otto Boot of Company 1 and several others, we crossed Piney Creek. When about a quarter of a mile from the creek, twenty-five or thirty guerillas suddenly dashed upon us from a bend in the road. They fired upon us and demanded us to surrender.

"I had a watch and two pocketbooks, one containing $3 in my right hand pocket, and the other containing $40 in the other. They asked for my watch and pocketbook. I gave them my watch and the pocketbook containing $3. Four guerillas now took the six of us round by a creek and into a deep ravine. Here they halted us and ordered us to turn our backs. I said, ‘For God’s sake don’t shoot us so.’ These words were hardly out of my mouth when they fired."

He himself was slightly wounded but pretended to be dead. The others, including Sgt. Boot, were killed. After short time, two of the guerillas came back with spade and shovel and began digging a large grave. Not caring to become involved in this," L. C. H." rolled back of a bush and took off into the woods. Somehow he made his way back to the Union lines. Otto Boot was 19 when he enlisted.

Other men in Company I distinguished themselves with similar deeds of valor which have not been recorded: Cornelius Van Dam was killed in action at Resaca, Georgia on May 14, 1864. He is buried in the National Cemetery at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Alexander Jonkheer of Zeeland was mortally wounded at Utoy Creek and died the next day, August 7, 1864. Several other men served under General Phillip Sheridan in the Second Cavalry regiment.

A century later we can still sense the pulse beat of their enthusiasm and patriotism. These lads loved liberty and were willing to pay a price that it might be maintained. The drumbeat of the nation had been heard in the colony and the men from Ottawa County had taken their stand among the ranks of the soldiers of freedom.

Also See Dutch In Michigan In The Civil War