Enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant on 10 September 1861 at the age of 23.
Commission in Company B, 8th Cavalry Regiment New York on 23 November 1861.
Killed on 9 June 1863 at Beverly Ford, VA.
Posthumously promoted to Captain (As of Co. A) on 23 June 1863.

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Van Rensselaer enlisted as a private in Company F and completed his service at that rank until his discharge in December of 1862. The town clerk records state that he was present for the Battle of Antietam during his fifteen months of service with the unit. Instead, his pension file shows that he was present for the Battle of Harpers Ferry, which occurred several days before the engagement at Antietam.

The Battle of Harpers Ferry began on September 12, 1862 at the site of John Brown’s famed attack several years prior. Confederate forces had surrounded the town and were positioned on high ground around the federal arsenal. Severely outnumbered, Col. Benjamin Davis urged Col. Dixon Miles to allow the cavalry units to breakout as the troops would be useless in the defense of the arsenal and surrounding town. Van Rensselaer’s pension application describes the harrowing escape from Harpers Ferry on the night of September 14, 1862.

By the cover of darkness, several cavalry units fled the town of Harpers Ferry and headed for Greencastle, Pennsylvania. The forty-six mile trek was made at a gallops pace and took nearly ten hours to complete. During the course of the journey, Col. Davis and his men encountered a train of wagons set to resupply James Longstreet to which the men peacefully commandeered the wagons and led them to Greencastle. Not a single man was lost that night.

The frantic pace of the escape from Harpers Ferry required the men to ride their horses while standing in the stirrups, moving at a fast speed for extended periods of time while being exposed to the autumn elements. As described in the affidavits provided in Van Rensselaer’s pension application, the majority of the men were taken with debility as a result of the actions on September 14, 1862. In his own case, Van Rensselaer suffered severe rheumatism in his legs stretching from his knees to his feet in both legs. He also suffered from severe pains in his back combined with the onset of kidney disease, likely caused by the long horseback rides in a standing position. He also suffered from rheumatism in his hips.

The onset of these issues all stemmed from his extended service with the cavalry, but his age and social habits likely exacerbated the ailments. Dr. William Noble remarked that Van Rensselaer was “a hard working and pretty hard drinking man and will never be in a better condition than now.” His service in the cavalry had severely damaged his physical being and there was almost no chance of his physical condition ever returning to normal. He entered the camp hospital and was discharge on December 8, 1862 at Port Conway, King George, Virginia. The names of his son Otis and his brother-in-law Sylvester Kesler appear on many of his pension documents, as they were likely the only close family living in the area at the time.

Drowned – On Friday afternoon last, Mr. Rensselaer M’Comber, of Carlton, was drowned in Oak Orchard Creek, at the Two Bridges. Deceased went out in a boat between 5 and 6 o’clock after a log which was drifting down the creek, fastened a rope to the log, while in some way his boat swung round and capsized. The affair was witnessed by persons on the shore, but before assistance could reach him he was drowned. – He was about 50 years of age. His family consists of two sons, both in the army. Dr. J. G. Dolley, coroner, held an inquest Saturday and the jury rendered a verdict of “accidental drowning.”

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