Pension of Harriette A. Woodruff, Mother of Eugene A. Woodruff

HARRIETTE A. WOODRUFF

April 11,1874.—Committed to a Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Rusk, from the Committee on Invalid Pensions, submitted the following

REPORT:
[To accompany bill H. R. 2899.]

The Committee on Invalid Pensions, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2623) granting a pension to Harriette A. Woodruff, mother of Eugene A. Woodruff, late first lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, having considered the same, make the following report:

It appears from the papers in this case, that Eugene A. Woodruff entered the service in 1861, as a member of Company E, Fifth Regiment Iowa Infantry, and after serving a few months was appointed a cadet at West Point. He graduated in 1866, with marked distinction, standing No. 5 in a large class, and at once entered the regular service. In 1873, while superintending the work assigned him on the Red River raft, it became necessary for him to visit Shreveport to procure needed supplies for his working-parties. On his arrival at Shreveport he found the city stricken by a sudden and terrible epidemic, before which all but the bravest fled, leaving the sick suffering and to be cared for by the few gallant souls who dared to face the plague. It was a position to call forth all the generous, self-sacrificing impulses of a Christian gentleman and a soldier, and nobly did Woodruff answer to the call. Joining the Howard Association, he took his part in bringing order out of chaos; in inspiring others with his own fearless spirit; working good both at the bedside of the sick and among those who could only be held in the path of duty and charity by a present bright example. After one week of devotion to the care of the plague-stricken, Woodruff was himself seized with the disease, and died from its effects September 30, 1873.

The petitioner claims pension on the ground of dependence, which is abundantly proven by properly-attested papers. The claim was rejected by the Commissioner of Pensions “because it was not shown that Lieutenant Woodruff was ordered to Shreveport to perform any duty, consequently the disease which caused his death was not considered to have been contracted in the line of duty.” Additional evidence on this point proves the contrary to be true. Charles W. Howell, captain in the Corps of Engineers, states under oath that he was well acquainted with Lieutenant Woodruff, and that it was by his order that said Woodruff was stationed at Shreveport, and that while at his post of duty, and in the discharge of duties devolving upon him by competent authority, was attacked by yellow fever, from the effects of which he died.

The committee believe the claim to be a just and proper one, and the mother entitled to pension, and therefore report favorably, and recommend the passage of the accompanying substitute for H. R. 2623.

SOURCE: Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives for the First Session of the Forty-third Congress 1873-’74, Vol. 2, Report No. 410, p. 409-10