John Vander Horck

Name: John Vander Horck Company: D Enlisted Feb. 1, 1862; wounded in battle with Indians at Fort Abercrombie September 3, 1862; resigned.
Birth Date: May 5, 1830 Place: Eitorf, Prussia (Germany)	Mustered In Date: March 15, 1862 Rank: Lieutenant Age: 31 Residence prior to military service: near Cologne, Prussia (Germany); Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois; West St. Paul and St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota Vocation prior to military service: hardware business, merchant, grocer, and village treasurer for the city of St. Paul
Death Date: unknown	Mustered Out Date: April 10, 1863 Rank: Captain Age: 32 Residence following military service: Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; Fort Sisseton, Dakota Territory Vocation following military service: hardware business, city government, investor

John Vander Horck in the Civil War

John Vander Horck was born to Henry and Maria Anna (Katterbach) Vander Horck on May 5, 1830 in Eitorf, Prussia (Germany), about 15 miles (25 km) west of Bonn. At age 14 he began working as a clerk in a hardware store.

Vander Horck came to the United States in 1852. Before the Civil War he worked as a clerk in a hardware store in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, and then moved to Galena (located in the northwest corner of Illinois) for two years where he operated a hardware store on his own. In 1853 John Vander Horck married Eliza Zenzius, daughter of Peter Zenzius and a proficient musician.

Moving to St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota in 1855, he worked in a store for several months. Then he bought property in West St. Paul and opened a grocery store. He was also elected treasurer of West St. Paul in 1858-59.

The 1860 U.S. Census shows 30-year-old John living in West St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, and working as a "Merchant." He lived with his wife, Eliza (age 27, born in Prussia), two sons and one daughter. His sons were Alexander (age 6, born in Illinois) and Charles (age 2, born in Minnesota), and his daughter was Amelia (age 6 months, born in Minnesota). In all, John and Eliza would have nine children, five of whom died in infancy or childhood.

Fort Abercrombie

In 1861 (at age 31), Vander Horck was commissioned as a recruiting officer by Governor Ramsey and recruited Company D of the 5th Minnesota. He was appointed First Lieutenant of Company D in February 1862, and was commissioned captain of the company on March 15 (5?), 1862. From their home base of Fort Snelling, Vander Horck and Company D were detached to Fort Abercrombie on the Minnesota and North Dakota border. They arrived at Fort Abercrombie on March 29, 1862. After several months of dull outpost duty at the fort, Vander Horck received news of Indian warfare in Minnesota. In addition to the men of Company D, about 80 residents of the area gathered at the fort. Soldiers and citizens worked together to reinforce the fort defenses.

On August 23rd, Vander Horck requested reinforcements and ammunition. (Upon arriving at Abercrombie in March, the company had discovered that the stock of cartridges was the wrong size ammunition for their .69 caliber muskets. Repeated requests for the correct ammunition had resulted in promises, but not ammunition.)

Fort Abercrombie, Plat by John Vander Horck

Fort Abercrombie, Plat by John Vander Horck

On August 30th, a small band of Dakota Indians raided, driving off the cattle from around the fort. About fifty of the cattle were recovered the next day.

Between 4:00 and 5:00 am on September 3rd, Captain Vander Horck and his orderly were inspecting the outside picket guard of the fort. The guard on duty mistook them for Indians and fired at them, wounding Vander Horck in the arm. At daybreak, while the post physician was bandaging the wound, about 400 Indians attacked the post [this number has been questioned by some, estimating up to 125 attackers]. The fight lasted until about 3:00 pm when the Indians were finally run off.

After scattered fire on September 4th and 5th, the Indians attacked fiercely on September 6th. This time two men from the fort were killed and one was wounded. A relief expedition was sent to the fort by Governor Alexander Ramsey on September 6th. The reinforcements finally arrived on September 23rd. More detailed information about Fort Abercrombie may be found at The Siege of Fort Abercrombie.

When Company D of the Fifth Minnesota was sent in October to join other Minnesota units fighting in the Civil War, Vander Horck remained at Fort Abercrombie to oversee improvements being made. Because of his disabled arm, Vander Horck resigned his position on a certificate of disability and was mustered out on April 10, 1863, his service in the 5th Minnesota having lasted about a year. He was replaced by Hermann Muehlberg who was promoted from Company E.

Vander Horck was appointed captain in the U.S. Invalid Corps (later called the Veteran Reserve Corps) on June 20, 1863, and was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. While at Ft. Leavenworth he was Inspector General of the Districts of Kansas for a year and Commissary of the Department of Kansas for six months.

Vander Horck moved to Minneapolis in August 1866 and engaged in hardware business on First Street near Hennepin Avenue. He was elected Comptroller of Minneapolis from 1868 through 1871, and in 1872 and 1874--following the consolidation of Minneapolis and St. Anthony as one city--Vander Horck was elected alderman on the new City Council, representing the Fifth ward. Also in 1872, J. Van Der Horck of Minneapolis was listed as the Quartermaster of the Second Regiment Minnesota National Guards. From 1877 to 1885 he was Post Trader at Ft. Sisseton, Dakota Territory. He took his family to the fort, but he retained his residence in Minneapolis during their absence. Though the position was neither exciting nor easy, Vander Horck was paid well for his service at Fort Sisseton. Eliza Vander Horck died April 8, 1885, in Minneapolis. John resigned his post at Fort Sisseton on July 1, 1885 and returned to Minneapolis where he engaged in a variety of manufacturing and other investments. For two years he served as director of the Flour City National Bank.

John and Eliza's son, Alexander Humbolt (born in 1854), was educated in Minneapolis and Berlin, Germany. After graduating from the University of Berlin he particiapted in a polar expedition, and then served as a superintendent for the English government in hospitals in Hong Kong, China. After marrying the wealthy Baroness Von Brecker of Germany, he managed coffee and tobaccao estates in Sumatra which were owned by the Baroness.

Son Max P. (born August 5, 1862) graduated in medicine at Philadelphia and then studied in Berlin, Vienna, and Prague. He returned to Minneapolis to hold the chair of Dermatology in the medical department of the University of Minnesota. He died in Hennepin County on December 5, 1911.

Youngest son Connard Z. (born December 6, 1873) studied at Berlin and then the University of Minnesota.

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