Sergeant Richard Vons
Sgt. Richard Vons
Sgt. Richard Vons was born c.1840 in Franklin County, Virginia, and enlisted on March 31, 1864, in Alleghany Co. VA. Military records described him as 24 years old, 5’6” tall, with dark complexion, black eyes, and black hair. His occupation was recorded as engineer, and he enlisted for three years. He was appointed sergeant on April 20, 1864.
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He served with the 39th United States Colored Infantry, Co. I, which was organized on March 22, 1864, in Baltimore, Maryland. He served with 221 other men in Company I.
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Union forces, including the 39th USCT, reached the vicinity of Petersburg in early June 1864 and launched several inconclusive attacks in the area over the next several weeks. Located near the Appomattox and James Rivers and at the junction of five railroads, Petersburg, Virginia was an important supply and communications hub for the Confederacy, just 26 miles from Richmond. Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant, commanding the U.S. Army, recognized that the fall of Petersburg would weaken the Confederacy and open the way for an attack on the Rebel capitol.
Lt. Colonel Henry Pleasants (a former coal mining engineer) devised a plan to dig a tunnel under the Confederate fort, fill it with explosives and blow a gap in the Rebel lines through which the Union Forces could advance. On July 30th, an explosion, as planned, created a massive crater, but incompetent leadership fumbled the Union attack, and Grant called it off. General Burnside, however, chose to ignore that command, and ordered Major General Edward Ferrero (a former dance instructor) to lead an attack of the United States Colored Troops. In the confusion of battle and lacking proper leadership, when the African American regiments charged, many followed the white soldiers into the crater. They were then unable to climb out when they tried to withdraw. Confederate forces led by Brigadier General William Mahone, who had moved forward from a position two and a half miles away when he heard the explosion, mounted a determined counterattack, firing artillery and rifles into and around the pit.
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Many black soldiers were murdered when they tried to surrender, and others were killed after they were disarmed and led to the rear as prisoners of war. Mahone tried to stop the atrocities, but it was some time before he could regain control of his men. The Battle of the Crater was a disaster for both sides and resulted in a Confederate victory. Grant later described the battle as “the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war.”
Sgt Vons was wounded in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg and was sent to the hospital “wounded severely.” A report dated Oct. 28, 1864, revealed he had a gunshot fracture of the left scapula, received in action. He returned to service on Dec. 8, 1864, and was in the Battle of Sugar Loaf on Feb. 11 and Town Creek on Feb. 22, 1865, at Wilmington, North Carolina.
Sgt Vons died at the post hospital in New Bern, North Carolina on Sept. 23, 1865. His hospital number at the time of death was 521, and it was noted that he had no known family. His cause of death was recorded as intermittent fever. On his military records was written a note that he “Was a good soldier.”
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Sgt Vons’ gravesite was recorded as number 25, row one, in a section reserved for Black soldiers at what was later established as the New Bern National Cemetery on February 1, 1867. Among the 6,500+ veterans buried in the New Bern National Cemetery were more than 404 United States Colored Troop (USCT) soldiers and an unknown number of Black sailors who fought for freedom. Nearly half of the USCT soldiers buried there remain unknown.
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To protect the graves of fallen Union soldiers from neglect or desecration by defeated Confederates, the U.S. Army removed and reburied soldiers throughout the Inner Banks region between 1867 and 1869. In the 1870s, a brick wall and stone markers replaced the original whitewashed fence and wooden headboards.
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Contributors: Rebecca Steele, John Wood and Cathie Cummins
