Ambrose Bernard Van Landschoot was born March 6, 1821 in Maldegem, Belgium...

Ambrose B. Van Landschoot

From Flemish Scholar to Broken Civil War Veteran

Ambrosius Bernard Van Landschoot was born on March 6, 1821, in Maldegem, Belgium, then part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. His youth promised culture rather than conflict. In 1836, he enrolled at the prestigious College of St. Niklaas, one of Belgium’s highest institutions of learning.

He was not merely educated — he was distinguished. Ambrose was well-read in history and fluent in Flemish, French, English, Greek and Latin. As a student he even appeared in a moral comedy set in Maldegem itself, playing the fourth son of Eduard Wyneghem. His early life suggests refinement, intellect, and ambition.

The American Civil War

By the outbreak of the American Civil War, Ambrose was living in St. Louis, Missouri. On September 11, 1861, he enlisted as a Private in Company H, 10th Missouri Infantry Volunteers.

While on guard duty near Corinth, Mississippi, in June 1862, during prolonged stormy weather, he contracted inflammatory rheumatism. What began as an illness would become a lifelong affliction.

He was hospitalized at the General Hospital in Keokuk, Iowa and later treated at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Despite recurring illness, he returned repeatedly to duty. His service record shows transfers between companies, extended hospital stays, and the physical toll of war.

In 1864, he faced a court-martial, resulting in confinement at hard labor in the Military Prison at Nashville, Tennessee, followed by a dishonorable discharge. The circumstances remain unclear, but by war’s end he was permanently weakened.

A Life of Chronic Suffering

After the war, Ambrose settled in Illinois. On April 7, 1869, he married Mary Jane Holliet at St. Anthony’s Church in St. Louis. The couple had no children.

From 1865 onward, physicians documented his worsening condition. He endured three to four severe rheumatic attacks each year, often confined to bed for weeks at a time. By the final years of his life, he was unable to perform manual labor and eventually confined entirely to his home.

In June 1880, he filed a Declaration for Invalid Army Pension, stating that his illness began during active military service. Multiple physicians and neighbors in Henry County, Illinois testified that he had been disabled for nearly two decades.

Death and Burial

Ambrose B. Van Landschoot died on November 1, 1883, in Atkinson, Henry County, Illinois, aged sixty-two.

He was first buried at Shabbona Grove Cemetery in Atkinson. His remains were later reinterred at Oakwood Cemetery in Geneseo, Block O, Lot E – ½ 33.

For the final twenty-four months of his life, he had been entirely bedridden.

The Widow’s Petition

After his death, Mary Jane Van Landschoot continued the fight for his pension. In April 1884, she submitted sworn declarations stating that her husband had been confined to his house for two years prior to death and was unable to execute a new pension statement.

Witnesses confirmed that his rheumatism began during military service, that he had been unable to work for many years, and that in his final years he had to be lifted from bed into a chair.

Mary Jane never remarried and relied solely upon her own labor for survival.

From the lecture halls of St. Niklaas to the storm-soaked camps of Corinth, Mississippi, to a quiet bed in Atkinson, Illinois — his life reflects the hidden and lasting cost of war.

Sources:
US National Archives — Military Pension Records
History of Henry County, Illinois