Most archives and cultural institutions have hidden collections,
these are collections or items that, usually due to time restraints and a large
backlog, haven't been cataloged or described yet and are hidden
by researchers and staff. One of the perks of working in a place like the
Grems-Doolittle Library and Archives at SCHS is finding these
collections. We recently found a small hidden collection of postcards
and photos dealing with Louis W. Kortmann Jr. and his relatives. Kortmann
was the president of the Schenectady Trust Company and a rather prominent
citizen of Schenectady, judging by the contents of this collection. Kortmann
Jr.'s father, Louis Kortmann Sr., served in the Spanish-American War and the
postcards are mainly correspondence from Kortmann Sr. to his wife Kate who was
staying at the Madison Barracks in Sackets Harbor.
 |
Louis and Kate Kortmann at their home in Madison Barracks at Sackets Harbor, NY.
Courtesy of the Louis W. Kortmann Collection at the Grems-Doolittle Library and Archives.
|
The correspondence from Kortmann Sr. is particularly interesting because
they document his time serving in the Spanish-American War in 1898. Kortmann
enlisted as a private in the Ninth infantry unit at Sackets Harbor, NY. The
correspondence to Kate begins on April 20, 1898 as he is traveling from
Washington D.C. to Cuba, making stops in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Rocky
Ford, Georgia until he reaches Tampa Bay, Florida on April 22, 1898. Kortmann's
unit camped out at Port Tampa for a while and in one postcard he describes the
camp as having "sand knee deep and good and hot," with the only
trouble being that he can't get enough to eat. The orders to ship out to Cuba
came on June 13th and Kortmann writes that there are around 850 men
on his ship (the USS Santiago) and that it is "quite a task to
breathe." The USS Santiago was among the first ships to arrive at
Cuba on June 22, despite this, they were actually forgotten during the disembarking
process and ended up having to wait three days till the men were able to leave
the humid, cramped ship.
There is a gap in the correspondence between June 26th and July 12th, but we
can fill some of
 |
The flag of the 9th Regiment. Courtesy of the
New York State Military Museum
|
the unit's activity and what Kortmann would have been
going through thanks to the website
www.spanamwar.com/9thusinfantry.htm. The
troops had to march about 12 miles to Santiago in intense heat while carrying
their blanket rolls and ammo. The Ninth eventually reached San Juan Hill, but
found themselves in the valley between the American artillery and the Spanish
troops. As the unit tried to make sense of the battle, their colonel was killed
and two lieutenant colonels were wounded leaving Lieutenant Colonel Ezra P.
Ewers as the senior officer, which he did not even know until after San Juan
Hill was captured.
"We are
here at last in the City (Santiago de Cuba) and quartered in the Theater...A
great many of our men are sick from exhaustion and malarial fever. - Louis
Kortmann
 |
Postcard from Louis to Kate stating that Santiago
has surrendered. Courtesy of the Louis W. Kortmann
Collection at the Grems-Doolittle Library and Archives.
|
Between the intense heat, sickness, and lack of cooking equipment, camp
at San Juan was brutal. By the time the Spanish surrendered San Juan, the Ninth
had lost one officer and four enlisted men with 27 enlisted men
wounded. The Ninth had more to worry about than the Spanish forces
as Kortmann writes, "We have plenty of sickness in our
camps." By July 22, 132 men out of the regiment's 433 were reported
sick and 5 men would die of various illnesses before they reached Camp
Wikoff on Long Island. Despite being back in the states, sickness still
ran rampant throughout the Ninth. Kortmann writes that "This place (Camp
Wikoff) is not a fit place for a camp for sick men. We have to lay on the
ground and most of us have only one blanket." In a later postcard he
states that the Camp is worse than being in Cuba and that they average six
deaths a day.
Doctor William Wallace Walker was stationed at Camp Wikoff and wrote an
account of the conditions at the Camp. Walker wrote that “Right here in 100
miles of New York I cannot get medicines for typhoid fever, or chlorinated soda
to wash out the bowels in typhoid fever and dysentery, the two principal
diseases killing our boys…There is gross mismanagement somewhere and it is
costing many lives. Too many politicians and rich men’s sons are appointed to
office.” Walker complained of other doctors not visiting sick men till 10 a.m.
while he had been working since 5:30 a.m. He was sickened and disturbed by
these conditions and requested a transfer back to his regular regiment in San
Antonio.
 |
| Company E of the 9th Infantry reading newspapers during the Spanish-American
war. 1898. Black & white photoprint, 8 x 10 in. State Archives of Florida,
Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/29886>,
accessed 30 June 2016. |
 |
Telegram from Nelson A. Rockefeller to Louis W. Kortmann.
Rockefeller asks Kortmann to meet to discuss the effectiveness
of state programs. Courtesy of the Louis W. Kortmann
Collection at the Grems-Doolittle Library and Archives.
|
Kortmann made it back to his wife and ended up playing for the United States
Military Academy Band. In 1905, their son Louis W. Kortmann Jr. was born. The
Kortmann’s eventually settled in Schenectady and Louis Jr. started his banking
career as a teller at the Schenectady Trust Company. Kortmann would work his
way up to become president of the bank. This collection doesn’t contain too
many personal details about Louis Jr.’s life, but from its contents, we see
that he dealt with some very important people. There is an invitation to John
F. Kennedy’s inauguration, a letter from Robert F. Kennedy, and a telegram from
Nelson A. Rockefeller. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find much more
about Kortmann Jr.’s life. The bits and pieces that are there mostly deal with his
time as president of the Schenectady Trust Company. This collection gives a
glimpse into his life, and I hope to dig up a bit more about him in the future.
