In 1856, at just 17, William H. Werner left his hometown of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and headed for Iowa, drawn by the potential riches of the American West. Two years later, the adventurous young man set out for Pike’s Peak in what is now Colorado. Along the way, he met settlers heading back east who warned him that the gold prospects in that part of the Rockies weren’t worth the trip, so he joined a group bound for the mining camps of California instead.

He was there in California when news arrived via telegrams and the Pony Express that Confederate forces had bombarded Fort Sumter and the Civil War had begun.

Werner, the son of Schuylkill County deputy sheriff John T. Werner, wrote home to his father from San Francisco on October 3, 1861, to tell him he had enlisted. The 20-year-old adventurer had signed up with the 2nd California Cavalry at Camp Alert, a makeshift army camp on a horse-racing track two miles south of San Francisco.

In his letter, Werner explained why he had left his employer to serve as the war escalated and threatened his adopted state. Much of the letter defends his decision to give up a job paying $50 a month for a private’s pay of $13. “I have been told that I was foolish… My reply to that is, – I am going to fight not for money, but for my country.”

The letter took nearly a month to reach the Coal Region, where the Miners’ Journal published it under the following editorial comment:

Spirit of a Schuylkill County Boy. – Our good old County will have a glorious record in the history of this Rebellion. Not only do her resident sons rush by thousands to the ranks, but those who have been separated from her for years, are found by scores among our country’s defenders. On the soil of Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas, in addition to those in Virginia, many a gallant son of Schuylkill County is facing his country’s foes.

Our readers will be interested in perusing the following letter from Mr. William H. H. Werner, son of J. T. Werner, Esq., of this Borough, who went to California when he was 17 years of age, and who is now in his 20th year. The spirit of the young man reminds us of the self-sacrificing conduct of the lamented Lyon, and is in the highest degree worthy of emulation:

From the Miners’ Journal, November 2, 1861

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SAN FRANCISCO, October 3, 1861.

DEAR FATHER:—The deed has been drawn, signed and delivered, and I belong to Uncle Sam for the next three years or “until sooner discharged.” 

The call for volunteers in this State was not responded to as patriotically as was expected, and the only reason that can be assigned for it is, that our people are given too much to money-making. 

I conceive it to be the duty of every American citizen, native or naturalized, to support his country in this her time of sore and direful need—when the dark clouds of adversity overhang and threaten to destroy the greatest blessings ever bestowed on man. 

On Saturday last I made known to my employer that I would leave him forthwith. I did so, arriving at this place on Monday night. I paid a visit to Camp Alert and yesterday was mustered into service as a High Private, in Company I, Capt. Winne, 2d Cavalry Regiment, California Volunteers. 

Our Company numbers eighty men; we expect to have it full in a short time. Camp Alert is on the race course two and a half miles south of the city. The boys are all in good spirits, and are daily looking for their uniforms and horses; they would like to be called eastward, but are willing to serve Uncle Sam at any place where his enemies can be found.

I sincerely trust that what I have done will be fully approved of by you. I have left a good situation, where I was making $50 a month clear, because I deemed it a sacred duty to serve my country. I have been told that I was foolish to exchange fifty dollars per month for thirteen. My reply to that is,—I am going to fight not for money, but for my country.

Enclosed I send you a draft for $650, which you will please invest for me in Government Bonds. Should I become wounded in battle, it may be of use to me hereafter. Should I fall, it will be with the inward satisfaction that my duty has been performed—my country has my money and my life.

Your Affectionate Son,

WILLIAM H. H. WERNER.

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Read the previous letter from the Letters from War: 1861 series.

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This is part of an ongoing series called “Letters from War: 1861” that will share correspondence written on the front lines during the turbulent first year of the Civil War.

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