Image shows John A. Bodamer as a 2^nd Lieutenant. He wears a dark frock coat with 2^nd Lieutenant shoulder straps. The coat is open at the throat and reveals a dark vest underneath and a white cravat.

Image is clear but a little light on the contrast. Bottom of image has a nice bold period ink signature “THY FRIEND JNO. A. BODAMER, U.S.A.” Image has light to moderate surface dirt throughout with some spots of discoloration above the subject’s head.

Reverse is blank.

Bodamer’s papers are located at the William L. Clments Library. Their biography of him reads:

“From the beginning days of the Civil War in April, 1861, John Bodamer was a drummer in the 21st New York Infantry. After serving through several campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, he was honorably discharged in May, 1863. On December 26, Bodamer reenlisted at Buffalo, N.Y., as a Corporal in Co. M, 24th New York Cavalry. The regiment left the state at the end of February, 1864, and served under quiet conditions, dismounted in the vicinity of Washington, D.C., until the end of May. Once remounted and attached to the Army of the Potomac, revitalized by the new leadership of Ulysses Grant, they entered into a seemingly unbroken string of bitter engagements, including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania C.H., North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Bethesda Church, and Petersburg. Exhaustion clearly took its toll on the regiment: "Three men died last night on the march.," wrote Bodamer; "One time a thousand men layed on either side of the road completely played out. After Cold Harbor, Bodamer remarked on how both sides seem to have played out, exchanging fire only lackadaisically, "both parties do not seem to care a great deal about firing.”

On June 15th, Bodamer joined in the first assault on Petersburg, an engagement "where our boys dropped like rain" but otherwise accomplished little. On July 30, the 24th N.Y. Cavalry fought alongside a "colored" regiment during the disastrous Mine Assault. Bodamer insisted that the "colored" troops went in well, but "ran like sheep" when charged by the Confederates, and he was enraged at being asked to serve with Blacks: "I say put the niggers out of our Corps as I don't want to be in the Corps they are in.”

While on duty following the Battle of Weldon Railroad, Bodamer and his entire detail of almost 400 men from the 24th Cavalry were taken as prisoners of war. Transported through Petersburg and Richmond, the men experienced inhuman conditions in a series of Confederate prison camps, including Libby, Belle Isle, and Danville.

Bodamer witnessed what he claimed were two murders by guards. In the first, the guard, a 15 year old boy, shot a prisoner in revenge for a brother killed by Union soldiers, and following the second incident, Bodamer claimed the guard was actually promoted, rather than punished. Death also visited the prison through accident or neglect. In one of the more gruesome episodes witnessed by Bodamer, a prisoner was eaten alive by hogs while too ill to fend them off. Making matters worse, hunger and the elements worsened as winter set it. By November, "the screams in Prison No. 6, pen and language cannot express the misery that exist.” Bodamer survived the winter and was paroled in February, 1865. He appears to have transferred into the regular army after the war, and was discharged as a 1st Lieutenant in the 10th Cavalry in November, 1870.”

In relation to his postwar service with the 10^th US Cavalry we find this account of an action called “Bodamer’s Fight:”

“8 June 1870; Buffalo, Oklahoma: Lt. John A. Bodamer and 25 men of Company F, 10th Cavalry, were escorting a large ox train from Fort Dodge to Camp Supply, about 80 miles south. Near the edge of Indian territory, about 100 Cheyennes attacked. Bodamer corralled the wagons and fought off the Indians until nightfall, then dispatched Pvt. William Edmonson to Camp Supply for reinforcements. Narrowly escaping capture, Edmonson reached the post at 11 p.m. When Capt. Nicholas Nolan arrived the next morning, the Cheyennes were gone.”

After his service Bodamer returned to Buffalo where he died in 1913. He was buried there in Forest Lawn Cemetery.    [ad]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS,

CLICK ON ‘CONTACT US’ AT THE TOP OF ANY PAGE ON THE SITE,

THEN ON ‘LAYAWAY POLICY’.