Damian Shiels's Blog, page 13

Irish in the American Civil War to be Added to National Library of Ireland Web Archive

I hope that all readers of Irish in the American Civil War enjoyed a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2020 promises to be a significant one in the history of the site; the month of May will mark the tenth anniversary of the website’s establishment, and it is also this year that sees the site move beyond both 1,000,000 visits and 1,000,000 words of free content. There will be more on these milestones in the future, but for now I wanted to share with readers news received from the National Library of Ireland in December. Since 2011, the NLI has been identifying Irish websites to preserve and make accessible for research, as part of their Web Archive. They have now decided to include Irish in the American Civil War as part of that archive, which means that no matter what may occur in the future, a fully functioning iteration of the website will always be available as part of the national collections. It is gratifying news that the content produced up to this date will have this “ultimate backup”, and will be available for consultation and use long after I am no longer able to maintain it. If you are interesting in checking out what is currently available on the NLI’s Web Archive, you can do so here.

The research that is made available on the Irish American Civil War website is entirely self-financed. If you would like to support the work and upkeep of this site you can do so via my Patreon site for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/irishacw, or by making a one-off donation to the site’s running costs via the “Donate” button in the right-hand sidebar.

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Searching for Irish Family at Christmas 150 Years Ago: “Information Wanted” Advertisements, 25th December, 1869

In 1869 the New York Irish-American Weekly came out on Christmas Day. As with every week’s issue, a portion of the paper was given over to “Information Wanted” advertisements. Most often placed by family and friends, these notices were usually attempts by emigrants to enlist the wider Irish American community in efforts to re-establish contact with their relatives. The brief stories they tell can be heart-breaking, as parents and siblings sought news of immediate family from whom they had often not heard in years. Such absences would have been felt especially keenly felt at Christmas. The post below reproduces the Information Wanted Ads from this week 150 years ago, and examines what we can uncover about both these families and Irish American life through reading them.

INFORMATION WANTED Of Henry Martin. When last seen was at 19 Nevin Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., last June. Any information received by his sister Norah Martin, 154 Front street, Hartford, Conn.

INFORMATION WANTED Of William Finlan, who left Hara on the 19th of March last, for Baraboo Wis.; was a constant workman at jack spinning in a woolen factory. He left that place and nothing has been heard of him since. Any information of him, dead or alive, will be thankfully received by his wife, Mrs. Mary Ann Finlan, at West Eaton, Madison Co., N.Y. Eastern and Western papers please copy.

It was relatively common among Irish emigrants for the main breadwinner to travel far and wide in search of employment. For those on the east coast, those opportunities often lay in the Midwest. The Finlans may have intended to move all the family out west once William was established, or perhaps he was simply seeking a short-term opportunity to remit money back to New York. Either way, it seems Mary Ann still had no news of William by the time the census enumerators called on her in July 1870. The reason she was desperate for information from her husband was readily apparent. The 29-year-old Irish emigrant was providing for five young children. Her eldest, 10-year-old Edward, had already gone to work in the local mill to supplement the household income. 9-year-old William was still at school, though he was likely about to also enter the workforce. In addition, Mary Ann was providing for 6-year-old James, 3-year-old Thomas, and 2-year-old Mary Ann.

INFORMATION WANTED Of Michael Cain, who left Walsal, Staffordshire, England on 1st of May, 1865. Was in Deposit two years ago, last May; and when last heard from was in Boston, Mass. Any information of him will be thankfully received by his father, Hugh Cain, and his brother, John Cain, at 32 Marshal street, Paterson, New Jersey. Boston papers please copy.

The Cain family are a prime example of Irish step-migrants. The entire group had been born in Ireland, but all of them were living in Walsall in England when the 1861 Census was taken. In 1861 they were in that town’s “Foreign Ward”, where 48-year-old Hugh was “jobbing”. In the household with him was his 47-year-old wife Bridget, his 20-year-old son John and 17-year-old son Michael (the subject of the ad, whose departure was imminent), both of whom worked as painters, Hugh’s 25-year-old Irish-born niece Catherine Barlow, who worked in the buckle industry, and his 25-year-old nephew Martin Beaty, also a painter. It was common for single men and women to board with other Irish families, and in that way contribute towards the household– this was particularly the case if they were related. During the 1860s, all of the Cains would move to America.

GALWAY

Michael Casey will be much obliged to any person who can give information of his sister Delia Casey, native of county Galway, born in the parish of Clarron, near Headford, who sailed from Ireland about two years ago from this country. When last heard of was living in Brooklyn. Her father was agent for Captain Carter, of Dublin. All communications will please be addressed to this office.

INFORMATION WANTED OF Patrick Cosgruth, of the Parish of Clonfert, County Galway, Ireland. The last letter was received from him when he was in Mount Savage, Maryland. Any information concerning him will be thankfully received by Michael Quirk, Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa. Iowa papers please copy.

TIPPERARY

INFORMATION WANTED Of Bridget Muclahy, who left Cashel, County of Tipperary, Ireland, about twenty years ago. When last heard from she was married to James Skeahan, and residing in Springfield, Mass. Any information respecting her, dead or alive, will he thankfully received by her mother, Catherine Glashine, now resident in Bloomington, Illinois. Please address William Hackett, Bloomington, Ill.

It seems probable that Catherine “Glashine” was actually Catherine Gleeson. In the 1870 Census, she was 53-years-old, keeping house in Bloomington with her 20-year-old son Patrick, a laborer, and 16-year-old son Michael. Although she had not seen Bridget in 20 years, Catherine had herself been in the country for a considerable length of time. While Patrick had been born in Ireland, Michael had come along when Catherine was in Ohio. One of the reasons she may have sought the assistance of William Hackett is that Catherine was illiterate. In addition, the Hacketts were also all Irish, and may well also have been from the Cashel area.

MEATH

INFORMATION WANTED Of the Widow Newman, maiden name Anne Masterson, formerly of the parish of Duderry, County Meath, Ireland. When last heard from lived in North Fourth street, Williamsburg, Long Island; or, JOHN NEWMAN or family, who lived in Prince street, New York. Any information of them will be thankfully received by their cousin, Michael Newman, son of James Newman, Ottawa Post-Office, Lasselle [La Salle] County, State of Illinois. Williamsburg and New York papers please copy.

Whether Michael ever found Anne is unknown. In 1880 he was still living in La Salle County, where he had a farm in Allen. His children told the story of his step-journey westwards. In 1880 along with his 47-year-old Irish-born wife Emma the 47-year-old lived with his 23-year-old housekeeper daughter Mary, born in Pennsylvania, and 21-year-old Annie, 17-year-old Michael, 16-year-old Martin, 14-year-old Thomas and 11-year-old William, all of whom had been born after they arrived in Illinois.

ROSCOMMON

INFORMATION WANTED Of Thomas Mulvee, a native of Skrine, Parish of Kilmane, County of Roscommon, Ireland, who came to this country about four years ago. When last heard from he was in Chicago, State of Illinois. Any information of him will be thankfully received by his brother, Michael Mulvee, 500 West street, New York. Chicago papers please copy.

INFORMATION WANTED Of Thomas Mulvaa, a native of Schrina, parish of Kilmane, county Roscommon, Ireland, who came to this country about four years ago. When last heard from he was in Chicago, Ill. Information of him will be thankfully received by Michael Mulvaa, 500 West street, New York.

Both of the above were printed in the Christmas Day issue of the Irish-American, even though they are clearly ads for the same individual. It would seem to be an error on the part of the editor, but it does reveal that the newspaper mediated advertisements, sometimes re-wording ads they obtained from semi-literate individuals. The second advertisement seems likely to be closer to what Michael originally submitted, as it is more phonetic in spelling– for example “Mulvaa” and “Schrina”. The surname is most commonly rendered today as “Mulvey”. This ad also serves as a good example for the extreme variability in how people spelt their own surnames in the nineteenth century.

DOWN

INFORMATION WANTED Of John, Hugh, and Cecelia Morgan, natives of the parish of Kilcoo, Co. Down Ireland, who immigrated to this country upwards of twenty years ago. When last heard from they were in the town of China, Wyoming Co., N.Y. Any information respecting them will be thankfully received by their nephew, Francis Morgan, residing at Stamford, Conn.

It seems likely that Francis had a successful response to this ad, as Hugh Morgan is recorded in Java, Wyoming County in 1870. He was a 50-year-old farmer, living with his Irish-born wife, 40-year-old Mary, and children Mary Jane (16), Ellen (14), Thomas (12), all of whom worked on the farm, Mary (10) and William (8), who were at school, and toddler Susan (2). All the children had been born in New York. Although their sons and daughters had to leave education young to help with the property, they still had better educational opportunities than Hugh and Mary, both of whom were unable to read and write.

The research that is made available on the Irish American Civil War website is entirely self-financed. If you would like to support the work and upkeep of this site you can do so via my Patreon site for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/irishacw, or by making a one-off donation to the site’s running costs via the “Donate” button in the sidebar.

References

New York Irish American Weekly 25th December 1869.

1880 U.S. Federal Census.

1870 U.S. Federal Census.

1861 English Census.

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Life & Limb: Exploring the Consequences of Non-Amputation for Five Irish Emigrant Soldiers

Amputation, as one historian has noted, is the “symbolic wound” of the American Civil War. One estimate places the number of wartime amputations at 60,000, three-quarters of all the operations undertaken during the conflict. Around 45,000 of these men are thought to have survived. Often regarded as the quintessential symbol of the conflict’s butchery, a popular image has endured of half-trained surgeons lopping off limbs of soldiers forced to acquiesce in unanaesthetised agony. In recent years new scholarship and public history programmes are challenging many of these stereotypes, such as the myth surrounding the absence of sedatives. Although there were some horror stories, there can be little doubt that amputation saved thousands of lives. This is brought into stark relief when we encounter the cases of some of those who did not have amputative surgery. In this post we take a look at five such men, three Pennsylvania Irish and two New York Irish, who for differing reasons did not go under the surgeon’s saw–with mixed results. (1)

[image error]Winslow Homer’s The Civil War Surgeon at Work in the Field (Library of Congress)

Private John Fleming, Company E, 81st Pennsylvania Infantry, Fredericksburg

Irish emigrant John Fleming left behind his Irish-born wife Jane and daughters Margaret (b. 1857) and Rachel (b. 1859) in Philadelphia’s 13th Ward to enlist in the 81st Pennsylvania. The couple had married in Schuylkill Falls in 1849. At Fredericksburg on 13th December 1862 the regiment were part of John Caldwell’s First Brigade, Hancock’s First Division of the Second Corps. John had to step over the bodies of his countrymen from the Irish Brigade as he marched forward towards Marye’s Heights directly in their wake. Somewhere during the assault, he was struck in the foot. John was evacuated to Stone Hospital in Washington D.C., where the following letter was written just over a month later:

Washington DC Jan 16th/63

Mrs. Fleming,

Dear Madam. Yours was duly rec’d of the 2nd and now I hasten to answer you. This morning at half past one o’clock your husband died, and will be buried to day at the Soldiers burying ground. Before he died he said he would like to see his wife. I asked him concerning those papers all that I could get him to say was that he told you before he left home. When he came here he had a bad foot which had ought to of been amputated on the battle field. It was in the state of mortification. There was all done for him that could be done. When he came here he had forty dollars and yesterday I sent it by express to you and I would be happy to learn wether you receive it. I enclose you the receipt.

Yours Respectfully

J. Lamarency

P.S. If there is any thing more you wish to know I would be happy to inform you. (2)

Preventing the mortification that cost John his life was precisely the reason that amputation was so common during the Civil War. In this case, for whatever reason, the foot was not removed. It was a decision that ultimately cost John Fleming his life.

[image error]A Union field hospital at Savage Station in 1862 (Library of Congress)

Private Arthur Mulholland, 69th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, Gettysburg

Irish-born labourer Arthur Mulholland had departed Philadelphia’s 8th Ward to join the Irish regiment in 1861. At home were his wife Mary, whom he had married in 1842, and at least one minor child, Ellen (b. 1853). After more than two years of service, it looked like Arthur was headed home, as an injury to his leg in June 1863 caused him to be granted a discharge for disability. But before it could be fully processed Arthur and the regiment were on the march, headed for Pennsylvania and a showdown with Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. On the climactic third day of the action, he and the 69th were in position at The Angle, the very vortex of the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge. Arthur became one of only a handful of 69th men to be captured, carried back across the field into Rebel lines and a future as a Prisoner of War. Though accounts as to his fate varied, he seems to have eventually succumbed while incarcerated in Andersonville. His wife Mary later heard the following version:

…he was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg he was then taken to Belle Island Richmond Va…before his capture he was hit on the leg by a piece of a flying rail when he got to Richmond his leg mortified from the effects of the wound and they wanted to amputate his leg but he would not let them they then sent him to Andersonville where after confinement for some time he died and was buried there. (3)

Arthur was far from the only soldier to refuse amputation, particularly when it was being offered by enemy surgeons. Whether his was the right choice or not is impossible to determine; his fate may have been sealed either way. However, it is probable that had his limb been amputated in Richmond he would have been exchanged, in the process escaping a transfer to Andersonville– a move that proved to be a death sentence.

[image error]The 69th Pennsylvania’s memorial at The Angle, Gettysburg (Damian Shiels)

Corporal Andy Ward, 54th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company E, Third Winchester

23-year-old illiterate Irish emigrant labourer Andy Ward was enrolled in the 54th Pennsylvania on 7th March 1864. He had left his almost 70-year-old mother Rose and younger sister Nancy at home in Conemaugh, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Now part of the Army of West Virginia, Andy was brigaded with his fellow Irishmen of the 23rd Illinois, “Mulligan’s Irish Brigade”. He spent most of his service in the Shenandoah Valley, and had already come through some bloody battles before the Battle of Third Winchester/Opequon on 19th September 1864, where he was gunned down. Three weeks later, the following was penned to his mother:

Headquarters 2d Div Hospital Army West Va.

South Church Hospital

Winchester Va October 11th 1864

Miss Worosey Ward

Your letter to Andy Ward came into my hands today, but not till some two hours after Andy’s death. Andrew Ward died in South Church Hospital at 10 O’Clock this morning, after suffering intinsely three weeks from a wound of the left thigh, which fractured the bone so near the body, we could not hope for an amputation being successful, although he often wished us to amputate, as he suffered so much. He was burried in, or near the Methodist Cemetery where all the Union boys lay, making a long row who have fallen in the cause of their Country.

I also enclose three finger rings two of them broken, but he wished them sent to his Mother. He had not money, clothing, or other valuables, and made no expression of any thing except the finger rings.

We had hoped he would recover until three days ago, but when I told him he could not live, he seemed contented, not frightened, and this morning the Priest was with him for some time, as he requested it.

I sincerely sympathize with you in the loss of your noble son and brother, for I am sure he was a good kind brother and son, from the manner in which he spoke of his mother. Having had none except an hospital acquaintance with him, I belong to the 91st Ohio Reg, but feeling you would gladly learn anything concerning him, have taken the liberty to open your letter to him and will enclose it with this.

Very Respectfully

W.G. Newton A. Lurg 91st Reg

In Charge 2d Div Hospl 8th A.C. (4)

Andy was clearly desperate for amputation, a marker of the intense pain which the young man was feeling. But the location of his injury precluded it as an option, and so his fate was sealed.

[image error]Union troops in action at Third Winchester (Alfred Waud)

Private Thomas Hughes, Company K, 69th New York State Militia & Corporal Thomas Fagan, Company B, 14th Brooklyn, First Bull Run

In the case of each of the three Pennsylvania Irishmen, their inability or refusal to have an amputation contributed towards their deaths. But such decisions did not always end badly. A case in point is the story of Thomas Fagan and Thomas Hughes. Fagan had been shot in the left arm at First Bull Run, Hughes in the right. The former takes up their story:

[I was] wounded at the Battle of Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861, in the left arm. [I] was then taken prisoner by the enemy, and taken to Centreville, Va., where [I] met…Hughes for the first time, and Hughes then told [me]…he had been wounded in the same battle in the right arm and side. While at…Centreville, in rebel-hospital, both suffering from their wounds, they were told that the Surgeons would come around the next morning. They were advised to consent to the amputation of their arms, and were told that otherwise the probability was that mortification would set in and cause death. [I] and…Hughes spent the entire night, consulting with each other and considering the matter in all its bearings, and finally decided to run the risk of mortification, and not to consent to amputation. This night and the attendant circumstances will never pass from [my] memory. (5)

For both Thomas Fagan and Thomas Hughes, the decision they made after that agonising night proved to be the correct one. Both survived and recovered. Thomas Hughes even went on to enlist in the 155th New York Infantry, Corcoran’s Irish Legion, only to be wounded once more in an almost identical location at Petersburg on 22nd June 1864.

[image error]Henry Hill, the target of regiments like the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run (Damian Shiels)

Thousands of Irish Americans had to grapple with decisions over amputation during the Civil War. Though that decision was occasionally theirs to make, often circumstance took it out of their hands, as it did for Andy Ward. In many instances, a failure or inability to amputate cost men their lives. For others, particularly early in the war when surgical methodologies were more haphazard, their decision to reject medical advice paid off. Yet every one of those who made that choice–men like Thomas Fagan and Thomas Hughes–knew that it was a gamble that could cost them their lives.

The research that is made available on the Irish American Civil War website is entirely self-financed. If you would like to support the work and upkeep of this site you can do so via my Patreon site for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/irishacw, or by making a one-off donation to the site’s running costs via the PayPal button in the sidebar.

1) Grant 2014: 701, Figg & Farrell-Beck 1993: 454: (2) John Fleming File, 1860 Census; (3) Arthur Mulholland File, 1860 Census; (4) Andy Ward FIle, 1860 Census; (5) Thomas Hughes File;

References

John Fleming File.

Arthur Mulholland File.

Andy Ward File.

Thomas Hughes File.

Laurann Figg and Jane Farrell-Beck 1993. “Amputation in the Civil War Physical and Social Dimensions” in Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Volume 48, Issue 4, October 1993.

Susan-Mary Grant 2014. “‘Mortal in this Season’: Union Surgeons and the Narrative of Medical Modernisation in the American Civil War” in Social History of Medicine 2014, Volume 27 (2).

The post Life & Limb: Exploring the Consequences of Non-Amputation for Five Irish Emigrant Soldiers appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

The Story of a Tyrone Widow, a Misremembered Death, and a Letter from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

In 1865 Ellen McCann of 87 Mulberry Street in New York’s infamous Five Points district went in search of a pension. She was not a typical widow. By the time her husband Francis had elected to join the Union cause she was already 55-years-old, and their children Annie and John were adults. Francis had been extremely economical with the truth when he enlisted in August 1863. He had claimed to be 42, but he was actually ten years older. The Sixth Ward shoemaker may have been one of the many urban Irish who experienced tough economic times during the war, or he may simply have found the increasing financial bounty on offer too difficult to resist. Whatever his motivations–one of the other McCanns in his unit may even have been his son–Francis took the fateful decision to become a private in the 18th New York Cavalry, a regiment with a heavy Irish contingent. (1)

[image error]The “Bandit’s Roost”, an image captured by Jacob Riis of a back alley off Mulberry Street in the 1880s. The area where Ellen and Francis made their home was a tough one– a tenement a few doors away from their home had been noted for prostitution (Jacob Riis).

Having initially served in the Washington Defences, the 18th Cavalry spent most of their war in the Department of the Gulf. It was there that Francis McCann died, passing away in Louisiana on 2nd September 1864. Ellen found out about her husband’s fate within a few weeks. When she commenced her efforts to obtain a pension in January 1865, she stated she was 60-years-old. In fact she was more like 57. Ellen was illiterate, and as was common among illiterate and semi-literate individuals she had a tendency to round her age up to the nearest five or ten, a process known as age-heaping. Interestingly, while Ellen’s pension application confirms her illiteracy, she is not recorded as such on the 1860 census- a discrepancy I consistently encounter. It suggests she was either partially-literate (i.e. she could read) or that the couple had chosen to conceal their illiteracy on their census return. (2)

[image error]Ellen’s mark on her pension application. Though she was at least partially illiterate, she was not recorded as such on the 1860 Federal Census (NARA)

Ellen’s first task in her quest to secure a pension was to prove her relationship with Francis. They had wed in Ardboe, Co. Tyrone on 13th February 1836 at Ellen’s family home (her maiden name was Hagan). Like nearly all Irish emigrants, when they made their new lives in New York City, the couple enjoyed their closest relationships with those from their former Irish neighbourhood. In 1865, when Ellen needed to prove her marriage, she was able to call on 66-year-old Arthur O’Brien and 35-year-old Mark O’Brien, also from Ardboe, who claimed they “were present at the house of James Hagan…and witnessed the marriage ceremony performed according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church…by Father Peter O’Neill, the Priest.” Both the O’Briens and the McCanns had emigrated to America during the Famine, but despite the passage of years (and their semi-literacy) they were in constant contact with Ireland–Ellen was able to strengthen the O’Brien’s testimony with a certified record of her marriage from Tyrone. This serves as yet another reminder that emigrants rarely severed their ties with their native land after departure. Rather, families and communities maintained regular contact, even as the years passed into decades. (3)

[image error]Ardboe is home to a famous medieval High Cross. It is a monument that would have been well known to Ellen and Francis McCann (Mervyn Greer)

Having satisfactorily proved her marriage to Francis, Ellen next had to demonstrate that her husband had died in service. Though this might seem as though it should have been straightforward, it was here that Ellen encountered her most major obstacle. It quickly became apparent that confusion reigned as to where Francis had died, and even what had ended his life. This lack of clarity prevented the Pension Bureau from granting Ellen’s claim. All through 1865 she hunted in vain for further detail. In February 1866, more than a year after her initial application, The Charity Hospital of New Orleans wrote to state that no such person as Francis McCann had ever been a patient with them, despite the fact that he was said to have died there. Neither could the Medical Director’s Office in Louisiana find any record of the Tyrone emigrant. Ellen’s problems had been compounded by the fact that the 18th New York Cavalry had remained in the field in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas through 1865 and 1866. With none of her husband’s closest comrades or direct officers in New York, she had been unable to make contact with anyone in the regiment. Finally, more than 15 months after she had started her application, and 18 months after her husband had died, it seemed as if her fortunes were about to change. (4)

[image error]A New York Cavalry regiment encampment during the Civil War (Library of Congress)

The first apparent good news arrived for Ellen in March 1866. It came when William du Bois, the First Lieutenant of Francis’s Company G wrote from San Antonio Springs in Texas. The officer’s letter finally provided particulars as to Francis’s death. Firstly, it transpired that his end had come at Thibodaux, not New Orleans. du Bois also claimed that Francis had not succumbed to illness, but in fact was a victim of “Coup du Soleil”, or sunstroke. It looked like Ellen was finally reaching critical mass with the evidence she was gathering, particularly as she and her agents had also tracked down the former surgeon of the 18th New York, Robert P. Murphy. Surely a letter from him, when combined with that of du Bois, would be enough to satisfy the Bureau. But they would have to wait– as Murphy’s correspondence had to travel from Ireland. (5)

Robert P. Murphy had been 23-years-old when he mustered into the 18th in October 1863. The surgeon served continually with the regiment until he was mustered out at Victoria, Texas, on 31st May 1866, whereupon he almost immediately departed for Ireland. By the time he was alerted to Ellen’s plight he was already back in Dublin– indeed the fact that she managed to track him down at all was a substantial feat. Eager to help, he penned a letter for Ellen from the Royal College of Surgeons on Dublin’s St. Stephen’s Green:

Royal College of Surgeons

Dublin

September 29th 1866

I Robert P. Murphy member of the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland late Surgeon of 18th New York Volunteer Cavalry do hereby affirm to the best of my knowledge and belief that Francis McCann a private of Co G 18th New York Cavalry died at Thibodaux LA on or about the 2d day of September 1864 from injuries received (while in discharge of his duties) by a fall from his horse. At which time I was the Medical Officer in charge of the regiment.

R.P. Murphy M.R.C.S.I.

Late Surgeon 18 New York Vol. Cav. (6)

[image error]The Royal College of Surgeons as it appeared in the Nineteenth Century. It still stands on St. Stephen’s Green today, it’s facade pock-marked with the scars of the heavy fighting it witnessed during the 1916 Rising. Robert P. Murphy wrote from here in 1866 to confirm fellow Irishman Francis McCann’s service and death during the American Civil War (British Library)

Murphy’s letter is unique in my experience in the files, in that it was provided by an officer who had left the United States in order to aid a fellow Irish family who had remained in America. It is testament to the strong bonds of camaraderie that tied servicemen together, as it was surely one of the other members of the regiment who supplied Ellen with his contact details. Unfortunately, despite Robert Murphy’s good intentions, his letter did more harm than good. Rather than assuage the Pension Bureau’s concerns, it served only to heighten them. The surgeon’s assertion that Francis has died as a result of a fall from his horse did not tally with Lieutenant du Bois’s claim that he had succumbed to heatstroke. The Bureau could not be satisfied that the two officers were referring to the same man. Ellen had no choice but to renew her search for information. (7)

In the end, it would be February 1868 before Ellen secured the testimony that at last pushed her claim across the line. Somewhat ironically, the key evidence came from an officer who had been dishonorably dismissed from the service in November 1864. His name was Lieutenant Samuel Curran; despite his wartime tribulations his recollection proved decisive. In his statement he recalled Francis distinctly, relating that he had died of “camp fever after a few days sickness”. Although yet another variant on Francis’s cause of death, the cumulative evidence of three different officers proved sufficient to satisfy the Bureau. They finally approved Ellen’s pension claim in December 1868, more than four years after Francis’s death. The Tyrone woman could finally begin to collect her $8 a month from her new home in Philadelphia, and begin to move on with her life. (8)

The research that is made available on the Irish American Civil War website is entirely self-financed. If you would like to support the work and upkeep of this site you can do so via my Patreon site for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/irishacw, or by making a one-off donation to the site’s running costs via the PayPal button in the sidebar.

[image error]An 1870 photo of Philadelphia, when Ellen lived there. She had likely relocated to the city as some of her family made it their home. Ellen lived variously on Walnut Street and Cadwallader Street (Free Library of Philadelphia)

(1) Francis McCann Pension File, 1860 Census, New York Muster Roll Abstracts, New York Adjutant General Reports; (2) Pension File, 1860 Census; (3) Pension File; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Ibid.; (7) Ibid.; (8) Ibid.;

References

1860 U.S. Federal Census, New York Ward 6, District 2.

Francis McCann’s Widow’s Pension File.

New York Adjutant General Roster of the 18th New York Cavalry.

New York Muster Roll Abstracts.

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“Annie Dearest”: A Corkman’s Last Letter Home during the Final Days of the Doomed USS Maine

As many readers will be aware, I have had a number of “side projects” which I try to advance periodically through the years. One that I haven’t previously highlighted relates to Irish emigrants who lost their lives aboard the USS Maine in 1898. Many of the men who served on the cruiser were Irish emigrants, and some of their families were still back in Ireland. During my research I have uncovered a number of their letters. Perhaps the most fascinating–and certainly the most moving– was penned by Mike Harrington, a 36-year-old United States Marine. Mike’s mother and some of his siblings lived on the family farm, which clung to a mountainside on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. His long, detailed letter speaks of them, of other relatives, and of Ireland. He regaled those at home with a vivid description of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and described the extreme tensions on the streets of Havana, off which he was anchored. Eleven days after he sealed his envelope, he and at least 260 of his shipmates were dead.

Mike and the others lost their lives on the night of 15th February 1898, when an explosion ripped through her forward compartments. Many of the men were in their bunks, where those not killed in the blast were trapped and drowned. The cause of the explosion remains disputed. The Maine had been anchored in Havana Harbor, off Spanish Cuba, ostensibly to protect American interests. Back in the United States, the finger of blame was was firmly pointed at the Spaniards, and within weeks the Spanish-American War had erupted.

[image error] The USS Maine entering Havana Harbor under the guns of Castle Morro. An event that Beara Peninsula native Mike Harrington described in his letter (U.S. Department of Defense)

USS Maine

Havana Cuba

Feb 4th 98

Annie I received your kind and loving letter on Tuesday I was very glad to hear that you were all well. I was very glad to hear that you had a letter from home and Mother’s health [is] so good this time a year. I hope it will continue so poor Kate it is two bad and she such a beautiful little child as you said she was a neat crafty cunning little child but I suppose that ill bred dog of a father broke her healt[h] he should never have got her in the first place I mean after he went home.

Well Annie Dear I suppose poor Con will have to go to the Skelligs with us this year I expected to see him and you drop out this year but it seems ye want to follow the old guides Joe and myself and I suppose poor Julia will be there of course. Give them all my best love and regards when you write to them also brother Johnny. I am very glad to hear that there is an increase in the family one more name added to the lost of Harringtons in the country. I think it would be safe enough to go to the Klondike next Spring that is if he has enough to pay his way back in case of ill luck otherwise I would advise him to stay home wishing him every success tell Joe to give him my regards when she writes.

Well Annie Dearest as you asked me to send one of my pictures home to mother to tell the truth I have not got one fit to send the one I have got it is slightly damaged. It is not fit to send anywhere so I hope you will excuse me this time give them my love and regarded when you write to them.

Annie Dear I had a letter from Mary since your last letter stating that John’s health was not good owing to a cold but I see by your letter where he is all right again. Annie Dear you cannot be two careful of yourself this time of the year I hope you and Joe will be good to yourself during the winter do not deny yourself anything in the line of comfort if you can possible reach it. If you do not look out for yourself nobody else will of course except your Bean give him my Best regards (and also Joes).

Well Annie Dear I hope your not uneasy about me being down here in Havana of course people think where there is war there is danger but there is no danger here at present we are laying at anchor as peacefully as if we was in Newport the only thing we dread is sickness there is none as yet I hope there wont be any.

Annie Dear there was nothing but excitement the night that we was ordered down here we left Key West on Sunday and went to Dry Tortugas we got there on Monday night with the fleet we had no sooner dropped anchor then we were ordered to proceed to Havana we did not know what to make of it as every body was guessing we thought that the American Consul was killed or some Americans we did not have any sleep that night as we got everything ready for action. We was prepared for the worst we have the guns ready to load in about too seconds but we did not need it a good job for some of them as I tell you they was purty well scared especially the married men.

Well Annie Dear I cannot tell you much about this place except it is a very nice climate but the Harbour is very unhealthy the entrance is very narrow and no outlets it is like a stagnant pond we had to pass right under Morro Castle and also…where the Spanish keep all their Cuban prisoners they shoot 2 or 3 every morning. There is nobody allowed on shore except the Officers I was ashore once for mail with the Captain we went to the American Consul office he is well guarded with Spanish troops there was half dozen police men followed us all round until w got to the boat that is for protection. Havana is full of troops we had to push our way through them in the streets as I guess they thought we were Indians but we are getting more settled down every day. I dont know how long we will be here the papers got us leaving here on the 15th of this month for New Orleans. There is a French Carnival called the Mardi Gras there on 21st we are invited as was there last year us and the Texas. We had a jolly good time there made lots of friends as it is something new to see a man of war up the Mississippi. The Carnival lasts three days everybody is crazy men and women they dont do nothing for a week after they dress up in all sorts of costumes you do not know whether you are talking to a man or a woman. They took charge of our ship last year they went up the rigging and all over. New Orleans is 150 miles up the Mississippi. Annie Dear you will get sick of reading this scribbling. I hope you will excuse it as I am in a hurry to catch the mail steamer it leaves in the morning. We get 2 mails a week one on Wednesday and one on Saturday we has to send our mail through the American Consul as it would be opened otherwise. I think it would be better to address the mail to Key West then I will get it alright. Give my regards to Katie Shea, Mary and family and all inquiring friends.

With lots of love to yourself from your loving brother,

Mike.

John Bennett

U.S.S. Main[e]

Key West Fla

Curraduve Waterfall (Curraduff)

Good Bye X xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx X

[image error] Crew of the USS Maine prior to the explosion (Detroit Publishing Company)

Mike was described as having been 5 feet 6 1/2 inches tall, with a fresh complexion, dark hair inclining to fair, large blue eyes, a plump face, regular nose and a stout build. He had arrived in America in 1889, and had worked as a waiter in Springfield, Massachusetts prior to his enlistment. Crucially, he chose not to enlist under his real name, instead using the alias “John Bennett”. He always wrote “Mike” in his letter before adding his assumed name below. The “Annie Dear” he was corresponding with was his 23-year-old younger sister. She was living in Fall River, Massachusetts, as was their other sister “Joe”, 28-year-old Johanna. Both worked as domestics.

When the Maine had docked in Newport, Rhode Island in August 1897, Mike had taken the opportunity to visit his sisters. Afterwards, he wrote frequently, corresponding with Annie every two weeks. She received his last letter–the one you have just read–immediately before he died. She later recalled the moment she heard news of the explosion:

as soon as I learned that the Maine was blown up I sent a telegram to…the Navy asking as to the welfare of John Bennett and immediately received a reply by telegram that my brother was killed.

[image error] The USS Maine in 1898 (National Museum of the U.S. Navy)

Mike, Annie and Joe were three of the seven surviving children of Kate Harrington. Their father, also called Mike, had died in Co. Cork in 1888. Kate was 64 when her son sank beneath the waves off Cuba. Still on her small farm at Curraduff, Waterfall on the Beara Peninsula, she managed only a marginal existence. Though it was 45 acres, it was made up of “rough mountain land”, and only allowed her to support five cattle. She rented it for £7 10 Shillings a year from Lady Charles Pelham-Pelham Clinton, and painted a far from idyllic picture of her lot:

myself and the other members of the family eke a miserable existence as owing to the poor and impoverished state of the land in this locality, one of the most backward spots in Ireland. I am continually in debt to the traders in the neigbouring town of Castletownbere the little produce got by our industry obtaining but a very small price

[image error] The Beara Peninsula, as seen from Bere Island in Bantry Bay. The Harringtons (a name synonymous with this area) lived near here. Though one of the most picturesque parts of Ireland today, it was an extremely difficult location in which to live (Damian Shiels)

Kate’s daughters Annie and Joe sought to intercede on her behalf in order to secure her a pension. Unsurprisingly, major problems were caused by Mike’s decision to enlist under an alias. It transpired he had previously been in the British service (either the army or navy) and it may be that he had deserted. Whatever the truth of it, Annie offered a different explanation for his decision:

he did’nt want to worry mother or any of the family as we all objected to his being in the navy as he had been in the English Army and mother worried so about him, to please her my brother bought him out

[image error] The USS Maine mast memorial in Arlington National Cemetery (Cliff via Wikipedia)

Kate eventually received her pension, and would ultimately spend her final years with some of her children in Massachusetts. She was still there at the age of 93. The Maine was raised in 1910, and the remainder of the bodies aboard were interred at Arlington National Cemetery, where a memorial stands to those who lost their lives. Unfortunately, as with so many other Irishmen who died while serving under an alias, Mike lies beneath the name he adopted to enlist. Today, he is remembered not as Mike Harrington from Beara, but as John Bennett of New York City.

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[image error] Mike’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery, where is recorded as “J Bennett” (Hope via Find A Grave)

References

Mike Harrington Navy Pension File.

The post “Annie Dearest”: A Corkman’s Last Letter Home during the Final Days of the Doomed USS Maine appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Americans Abroad: The 18th Century American Soldiers Who Lived in Ireland

I spend the majority of time on the site exploring Irish men and women connected to United States military service in America. We sometimes forget that there were some men for whom the reverse was true. In the 18th century, British regiments stationed in America drew native-born men into their ranks, and some from loyalist families chose to depart with them from the new United States. Inevitably, some of these ordinary American men saw service in Ireland, and some ultimately entered the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, the main veteran’s home in Dublin. The hospital’s records serve as a reminder of just how cosmopolitan and international many garrison towns in 18th and 19th century Ireland could be. Among the handful of men “recommended as a fit Object of His Majesty’s Royal Bounty of Kilmainham Hospital” explored below are not just white-men born in New York and Philadelphia, but also an African American from South Carolina, and a man who likely spent time enslaved in what is now Haiti.

George Smith, 15th Regiment of Foot, c. 1758-1785

George had been born in Philadelphia around 1735. He was a labourer when he enlisted in the 15th Regiment of Foot, probably around 1758, when the unit arrived in America. He saw service in both the Seven Years’ War and the American War of Independence. George was in Wolfe’s ranks outside Quebec for the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, faced George Washington and his Continentals at Brooklyn and White Plains in 1776, and fought at the Brandywine, Germantown and White Marsh in 1777. In total George spent 28 years with the regiment. When he was discharged in Dublin on 15th March 1785, he was described as being “entirely worn out in the service”.

[image error] “The Death of General Wolfe” by Benjamin West, 1770. Pennsylvanian George Smith served during this engagement of the Seven Years’ War outside Quebec (National Gallery of Canada).

Christopher May, Caithness Legion, c. 1796-1798

Christopher was born in New York around 1777, but by the late 1790s was making his home in Scotland. He spent all his time with the Legion in Ireland, but the young labourer was only two years in the service when he “lost a part of his right foot in consequence of fever.” At the time, he was stationed in Bantry, West Cork (where the French had attempted to land in 1796) and it was there that his discharge was ordered on 21st February 1798.

[image error] The Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin, which today houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art. All of the men featured in the post were recommended for entry to the hospital when it was a veteran’s home (William Murphy).

William Dean, 16th Regiment of Foot, c. 1776-1802

William was born in New York and probably joined the 16th Regiment when it was deployed to that city from Florida in 1776. He returned with the unit to the South, and served with them in British Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The regiment moved to England in 1782, and then to Ireland in 1784. In 1790 William was in Nova Scotia, before deploying to Jamaica in 1791, where the 16th stayed for five years and where they were engaged in the Second Maroon War. They returned to home station in 1796, and William was in Kinsale, Co. Cork on 14th May 1802 when his discharge was ordered. It was said that for “several years past” he had suffered from a “pectoral complaint” and was asthmatic. He was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, and had spent 22 years as a private, two and a half years as a Corporal, and two and a half years as a Serjeant.

[image error] The Maroon community in Jamaica was made up of people who had escaped enslavement and settled in the island’s interior. William Dean fought them during the Second Maroon War, after which many of the defeated Maroons were deported to Nova Scotia, and ultimately to Sierra Leone (Jamaica Assembly, 1796).

John Conlan, 1st Battalion 26th foot (Cameronians), c. 1779-1808

John was born in New York around 1762 (likely to an Irish American family). He probably joined the Cameronians around the time they were leaving America for Britain in 1779, when his profession was described as a trade labourer. John and his comrades were based in England and Scotland until 1783, when they moved to Ireland. In 1787 they sailed from Cork for British North America, serving there until 1800. After a period in England, John moved to Egypt, where he was engaged in the Siege of Alexandria. The 26th again returned to Britain and Ireland, spent some time in Germany in 1805, and by 1808 John were at the Curragh Camp in Co. Kildare. After 28 years he was discharged there on 22nd July, deemed “unfit for service”. He had spent 15 years as a private, six years as a corporal, and seven years as a sergeant. He was 46-years-old.

[image error] French positions around Alexandria, Egypt in 1801, where John Conlan from New York served (Thomas Walsh 1803).

George Taylor, 58th Regiment/Galway Militia, c. 1789-1812

George was born in New York around 1776. In approximately 1789 he joined the 58th Regiment of Foot, serving for 6 years and six months as a drummer, and then another 6 years as a private. He went with them to the West Indies, and was involved in the capture of Martinique from the French in 1794. In 1798 the regiment participated in the taking of Minorca, and George may still have been with them when they fought in Egypt in 1801. After leaving the 58th, he went on to spend a further 11 years as a drummer in the Galway Militia. Eventually, after more than 23 years service, George was discharged in Cork on 25th November 1812, suffering from a “deficit of vision”.

[image error] The Capture of Fort St Louis on Martinique in 1794. New Yorker George Taylor participated in operations against the French on this Caribbean island (National Maritime Museum).

Peter Williams, 64th Foot/Dublin Militia , c. 1789-1798

Peter was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He was African American, and his family may well have been one of the many who took advantage of the British Revolutionary presence in Charleston to escape enslavement. Peter joined the 64th Foot around the year 1789, and likely served with them in the West Indies during the capture of Martinique. On their return to Europe, Peter moved into the Dublin Militia, with whom he spent a further four years. He and his comrades were marching from Dundalk to Ennis in the summer of 1797 when an artillery caisson ran over his hand. He was ultimately discharged as a result in Dublin on 14th May 1798, with the order confirmed in Arklow, Co. Wicklow on 20th November 1799. When he left the military, he was described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, 30-years-old, and “had no trade being a black”.

[image error] Peter Williams was far from the only black South Carolinian in Ireland. The famed United Irishman leader Lord Edward Fitzgerald had served with the British there, and famously returned with the formerly enslaved Tony Small, with the two remaining friends for many years. You can read about Tony’s remarkable story on the Come Here To Me blog here (Gallery of the Masters).

George Tombs, 20th Light Dragoons, c. 1798-1818

Though not American, another soldier who could well have experienced slavery was George Tombs, who was born around 1781 in St. Mark, part of the of French colony of Saint-Domingue. In 1791 the enslaved rose up against those who held them in bondage the island, sparking a protracted struggle that would ultimately lead to the establishment of Haiti in 1804. On 18th October 1798 George, then aged 14, enlisted in Jamaica for unlimited service in the 20th Light Dragoons. Among the locations he saw service was South America, where they fought at the Battle of Montevideo in 1807 and at the River Plate. They later went to the Peninsula, fighting at locations such as the Battle of Vimeiro in 1808, and they spent a number of years in the Mediterranean. Returning to Ireland, George was discharged on 10th December 1818 in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, as the regiment was being disbanded. He had spent 20 years and 54 days in service, ending his time as a Trumpet Major. He was described as 37-years-old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes and a black complexion. In Tipperary George was provided with “the sum of one pound five shillings and three half pence …as marching allowance for himself and family from Cahir Barracks to Dublin” .

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[image error] George Tombs’ countrymen battle French forces in 1802 (Histoire de Napoleon).

References

Royal Hospital Kilmainham Records.

The post Americans Abroad: The 18th Century American Soldiers Who Lived in Ireland appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Martial Ardor: The Brief, Exhilarating Life of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O’Keeffe

Beyond a relative handful of individuals such as Thomas Francis Meagher, it is surprising just how little we know about the lives of many senior Irish officers during the American Civil War. The latest guest post illuminates the story of one of the more remarkable. Joseph O’Keeffe was an emigrant from a notable Irish family who enjoyed a distinguished — if all too brief — career in Papal and United States service. The piece that follows is the product of painstaking research by Jessica Weatherbee, who has shown inspiring dedication in peeling back the layers of history to reveal the detail of this fascinating life. I am delighted that she agreed to share her work with readers of the site. Jessica takes up Joseph’s story:

On a mild, hazy afternoon in Washington DC, a young Irish immigrant, confined to a hospital bed after five years of adventurous exploits, took his final breath. Surrounded by friends and loved ones, he left an impressive military record behind him, forged on two continents. His broken body was laid to rest as a young nation struggled to recover from four years of fratricidal conflict. The American Civil War had exacted a hefty toll on both sides, many of whom are today largely forgotten. One of them was Joseph O’Keeffe, a man who had lived more in his 23 years than most people could in as many lifetimes.

[image error] Joseph O’Keeffe (NARA)

Joseph O’Keeffe was born on 3rd August 1841 in Dublin, Ireland, and baptized in the parish of Blanchardstown on the 12th. (1) His father, also named Joseph, was a successful distiller who had worked for a time in Jamaica. (2) His mother, Arethusa O’Callaghan, was the daughter of Ignatius O’Callaghan, friend and accountant to Daniel O’Connell, Ireland’s famed Liberator. (3) The family was devotedly Roman Catholic, and one of young Joseph’s uncles, William Delany, served as Bishop of Cork from 1847 to 1886. (4)

Sometime between 1843 and 1845, the O’Keeffe family immigrated to Canada, first settling in Canada West (now Ontario), where the father succumbed to typhus in late 1845. (5) Arethusa, now a single mother with one son and four daughters, moved the family to Chambly, some 700 miles to the east. (6) From there, they settled in the St. Antoine neighborhood of Montreal, where Arethusa worked as a music instructor. (7) The young family probably felt more at ease in Montreal, with its high preponderance of Roman Catholics.

[image error] Montreal in the nineteenth century, where the O’Keeffes made their home in Canada (McCord Museum)

About 1858, Joseph O’Keeffe, now a young adult, returned to Ireland at the behest of his paternal uncles. It was their intention to enroll him in the Clongowes Wood School, but the events of 1860 had other plans for him. (8) Italy, in its struggle to unite its scattered kingdoms into one cohesive nation, had encroached on the Papal States in the middle of the peninsula. Unnerved by the imminent threat of the approaching Piedmontese and Garibaldian forces, Pope Pius IX sent out a plea for help in protecting his temporal possessions. The response in Ireland was enthusiastic; after all, Pius IX had provided aid to the Emerald Isle during the dark days of the Great Famine. About 1,300 Irishmen heeded the call and came to Italy between early May and mid-June 1860. (9) O’Keeffe, carrying four letters of recommendation from Cork prelates, including one from his uncle, Dr. Delany, probably arrived in early June. (10)

The whole disorganized affair was doomed from the start, as many promises to the papal troops were broken, and too few of the volunteers had military experience. Regardless, they fought with zeal and impressed their commanding officer, General de Lamoricière. O’Keeffe, as an educated member of the upper middle class, received a commission as sub-lieutenant and was stationed at the imposing Rocca Albornoziana in Spoleto. (11) The men and newly-minted officers had little time to make the transition from civilian to military life, as the Piedmontese forces attacked Spoleto on 16th September 1860. After a valiant but futile defense that lasted 12 hours, the papal forces defending the Rocca were forced to capitulate. From there, O’Keeffe and his fellows faced a short term of imprisonment in Genoa. (12)

[image error] Members of the Company of St. Patrick in the Papal Army, 1860 (Image Courtesy of Robert Doyle)

After the final battle at Ancona, the triumphant Piedmontese annexed Naples. The Irish prisoners of war were allowed to return home in late October, but 40 remained, including O’Keeffe, and were formed into an honor guard for the Pope, the Company of St. Patrick. (13) O’Keeffe stayed with the company until 24th May 1861. (14) He probably grew bored with the largely ceremonial duties, but remained in Rome, where the Company’s surgeon, O’Flynn, noted that “his military enthusiasm is becoming more and more fervid every day.” (15) In November of that year, Archbishop of Dublin Paul Cullen reported, “I have had very late accounts from Rome. The Pope is quite well and the city perfectly quiet. One of the Brigade, Captain O’Keeffe, nephew of Dr. Delaney [sic] of Cork, is commanding a detachment of the late King’s party in Naples.” (16) It seemed that O’Keeffe had found his calling, and a much great conflict would soon test his mettle.

The American Civil War was already well underway, and the great contest was not going so well for the Union. In an effort to recruit men who had “seen the elephant”, Archbishop John Hughes and Secretary of State William Seward sought out Papal War veterans, including O’Keeffe, whom they hoped would espouse their cause. (17) O’Keeffe and several others were convinced, including Myles Keogh and Daniel Keily, good friends of O’Keeffe’s, and John Coppinger. The Irish officers bid farewell to Rome and sailed for New York City, arriving in April 1862. (18) The three friends were commissioned captains on the staff of Brigadier General James Shields and thrust directly into the martial fields of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Shields, though an amiable and accomplished man, was no match for General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson; in a matter of three months, he was relieved of his command, and O’Keeffe and Keogh were reassigned to the staff of cavalry officer Brigadier General John Buford. (19)

[image error] John Buford and his staff. Dubliner Joseph O’Keeffe is on the far left, beside his Myles Walter Keogh from Co. Carlow. O’Keeffe was not present when the photograph was originally exposed; his image was superimposed at a later date (NARA)

Duty under Buford proved to be challenging but
invigorating, and the “twin aides”, as Keogh and O’Keeffe came to be called,
garnered much praise from their venerated commander. (20) In a letter to the Adjutant-General,
Buford complimented the two, noting their dashing gallantry. (21) Both “twins”
received wounds during the Second Battle of Bull Run. (22)

September of 1862 saw Buford reassigned to administrative duties, so his twin aides were placed on the staff of General George McClellan for the Antietam campaign. Shortly thereafter, McClellan was relieved of command, and O’Keeffe and Keogh rejoined Buford in time for the Army of the Potomac’s winter encampment. (23) The spring of 1863 saw renewed action for the cavalry corps with Stoneman’s Raid, a series of maneuvers designed to harass the Confederates and meddle in their supply chains. Despite the torrential rains that foiled their progress, the cavalrymen remained dutiful, and Buford’s aides shone through with their model conduct. (24)

[image error] The Currier & Ive depiction of Stoneman’s 1863 Raid (Currier & Ive)

O’Keeffe’s life would take a turn for the worse in the epic all-cavalry Battle of Brandy Station on 8th June 1863. Buford gave the young captain permission to assist Captain Wesley Merritt of the 2nd US Cavalry, whom he aided “greatly with his advice and labor.” (25) The two personally led a charge of the regiment, in which O’Keeffe’s horse was killed, falling upon him and pinning him to the ground. (26) Unable to free himself, O’Keeffe was shot in the foot and taken prisoner by the rebels. For the second time in his life, the dauntless Hibernian was a prisoner of war.

O’Keeffe spent the next six months in Richmond’s infamous Libby Prison, where Union officers suffered physical and mental deprivations. It must have been exceedingly frustrating for O’Keeffe to be on the sidelines as battles continued to rage. Lieutenant Colonel Federico Cavada, who was imprisoned around the same time, made note of a jolly Irishman who tried to regale his fellows with jokes and songs. It is quite possible that he was referring to O’Keeffe. (27)

[image error] Union officers in Libby Prison, Richmond in 1863 (Library of Congress)

Fortunately, Captain O’Keeffe survived his wound and imprisonment
and was exchanged very close to Christmas Day, 1863. (28) He next found himself
in Annapolis, Maryland, that “Paradise on the Severn”, home of the parole
camps. It was in that fair city that he was reunited with his “boon companion”,
Myles Keogh, who was now serving on General George Stoneman’s staff after the
untimely death of General Buford. (29)

Once the formal exchange took effect, the young officer was assigned to the staff of General Philip Sheridan in June 1864. O’Keeffe found that he liked the pugnacious little New Yorker; the feeling was entirely reciprocated, as O’Keeffe was chosen to accompany Sheridan on his momentous ride to Cedar Creek, Virginia, an exploit that reversed a seeming Union defeat and turned it into a victory. (30) “Little Phil” would later refer to O’Keeffe as one of his “most efficient staff officers.” (31) His jolly and adventurous demeanor gained him popularity with his brethren officers and the enlisted men alike. Major George “Sandy” Forsyth, also a Sheridan aide, described O’Keeffe as a “gallant Irish gentleman” who “loved fighting for chivalry’s sake.” (32)

[image error] “Sheridan’s Ride”, the famous moment at Cedar Creek when Sheridan (whose family were from Co. Cavan)turned what appeared certain defeat into a stunning victory. Joseph O’Keeffe is depicted as the clean shaven red-haired officer riding behind Sheridan in this rendering by Thure de Thulstrup (Thure de Thulstrup).

But the monotonies of staff duty would compel O’Keeffe to resign his position as Sheridan’s aide-de-camp and accept a commission as senior Major in the 2nd New York Cavalry. His motive was simple: to “gain more experience in active fighting.” (33) The regiment was doubtlessly pleased to receive him, and the move was made official in November 1864. His regiment would eulogize him many years after the war, at the dedication of the 2nd New York monument on the Gettysburg battlefield. (34)

O’Keeffe’s cruel fate came on 1st April 1865 just outside Petersburg, Virginia, at an important intersection known as Five Forks. There Sheridan’s men surprised the Confederates in a desperate confrontation that became known as the “Waterloo of the Confederacy.” O’Keeffe, under Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Pennington, was deployed very near to the intersection, and while leading a charge far in advance of the 2nd New York was struck in the back of the right knee by a canister ball. (35) Bleeding profusely, O’Keeffe managed to drag himself a short distance away from the carnage before a group of his fellows, led by Lieutenant Colonel Mortimer Birdseye, managed to carry him to the rear. (36) Shortly thereafter, news of a Union victory reached the men, and O’Keeffe, “faint from pain and loss of blood…raised up and gave three cheers, and sank back exhausted.” (37)

[image error] The 2nd New York Cavalry Monument at Gettysburg. Joseph O’Keeffe was eulogized at the monument’s dedication (Jessica Weatherbee).

The young immigrant’s knee wound caused considerable trauma to the femoral artery, and brought his days as an active serviceman to an end. His first hospital stay was at City Point, Virginia, where the femoral was ligated. (38) Suffering from anemia and edema in the injured leg, he was transferred from City Point to Armory Square in Washington, DC, where doctors Henry Parry and C. A. Leale took charge of his care. (39) Afterwards, per his own request, he was transferred to nearby Providence Roman Catholic Hospital, where it was found necessary to amputate the injured limb. (40) O’Keeffe died on 31st May, 1865, just 48 hours after the operation, with one of his sisters, his good friend Myles Keogh, and numerous other members of his military family at his bedside. (41) His sister made arrangements to have his remains transported to Montreal, where they would be interred next to his mother, who had died during the summer of 1862. (42) He was laid to rest in the parish of Notre Dame, probably in the sprawling Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery. (43)

Joseph O’Keeffe, a young man lauded by his contemporaries as a “monument to his profession”, made a great impression in his short lifetime. (44) Those who knew him unstintingly characterized him as “a thorough gentleman in every respect”, a man who was “so brave, so passionate, yet so gentle, so manly and generous”. (45) His is a life that certainly deserves greater recognition among the ranks of the Irish Americans who fought for the Union during the Civil War. Perhaps the Reverend Mr. Boyle, in his eulogy pronounced over Joseph O’Keeffe’s casket at St. Peter’s Church in Washington, DC, stated it best: “He blended greatness with amiability. He was a true soldier.”

[image error] Joseph O’Keeffe’s death recorded in the records of Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica, as an “officièr dans l’armée américaine” (Drouin Collection)

References

Joseph O’Keefe baptismal record (1841), Diocese of Dublin, National Library of Ireland microfilm.The Laws of Jamaica Anno 5 Victoriae 1841-2. Kingston: Govt. Printer, 1842: 13.William Delany to Tobias Kirby, Cork, May 22 1860, The Kirby Collection, Irish Pontifical College, Rome.Diocese of Cork and Ross. Most Rev. William Delany. Retrieved from www.corkandross.org.The Cork Examiner, November 28, 1845.1851 Canada Census, accessed at www.findmypast.com.Mackay, R W Stuart. Mackay’s Montreal Directory, New Edition, Corrected in May & June, 1861-62. Montreal: Owler & Stevenson, 1862: 170.Joseph O’Keeffe obituary, The Cork Examiner, June 27, 1865.Corcoran, Donal. The Irish Brigade in the Pope’s Army 1860. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2018: 66.The Kirby Collection, Irish Pontifical College, Rome.The Irish Times, September 22, 1860.Corcoran, p. 140.Langellier, John P., Cox, Kurt Hamilton, and Pohanka, Brian C., editors. Myles Keogh: The Life and Legend of an “Irish Dragoon” in the Seventh Cavalry. El Segundo: Upton and Sons, 1998: 59.Cryan, Mary Jane. The Irish and English in Italy’s Risorgimento. Etruria: ArcheoAres, 2011: 160.“Letter from Rome”, The Tipperary Vindicator and Limerick Reporter, September 17, 1861.Newman, Jeremiah. Maynooth and Victorian Ireland. KG, 1983: 184Langellier, et. al., p. 61.Ibid, 62.Ibid, 70.Army and Navy Journal, July 15 1876, p. 793.Brig. Gen. John Buford’s letter to Adj. Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, accessed at collections.theautry.org.Longacre, Edward. General John Buford: A Military Biography. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing, 1995: 109.Langellier, et. al., pp. 71-2.“Stoneman’s Raid—Buford’s Report”, accessed at regularcavalryincivilwar.wordpress.com.Stricker, Major Mark R. Dragoon or Cavalryman, Major General John Buford in the American Civil War. Master’s Thesis, US Army Command and General Staff College, 1994: 165.The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12, 1863.Cavada, Federico Fernandez. Libby Life. Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1864: 87.Penfield, James Allen. The 1863-1864 Civil War Diary of Captain James Penfield, 5th New York Volunteer Cavalry, Company H. Crown Point, NY: Penfield Foundation, 1999: 144.Luce, Edward Smith. Keogh, Comanche, and Custer. Ashland, OR: L. Osborne, 1974: 23.Convis, Charles L. The Honor of Arms. Tuscon, AZ: Westernlore Press, 1990: 37.Wittenberg, Eric J. Little Phil: A Reassessment of the Civil War Leadership of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan. Washington, DC: Brassey’s Inc., 2002: 218.Forsyth, George A. Thrilling Days in Army Life. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1900: 143.Foster, John Y. New Jersey and the Rebellion: A History of the Services of the Troops and People of New Jersey in Aid of the Union Cause. Newark, NJ: Martin R. Dennis & Co., 1868: 752.New York Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga. Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, Vol. III. Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Co., 1900: 1098.Lidell, John A. Surgical Memoirs of the War of the Rebellion. New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1870: 233. Hewett, Janet. Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Serial 9). Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Pub. Co., 1994: 888-89.Foster, p. 752.Personal correspondence from Brian Pohanka to the author, 2003.Ibid.Joseph O’Keeffe obituary, The Cork Examiner, June 27, 1865.Ibid.Ibid.Notre-Dame-des-Neiges burial record (1865), diocese of Montreal, Library and Archives Canada.Joseph O’Keeffe obituary.Murphy, Charles J. Reminisces of the War of the Rebellion, and of the Mexican War. New York: F. J. Flicker, 1882: 54; Foster, p. 752.

The post Martial Ardor: The Brief, Exhilarating Life of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O’Keeffe appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

From Land of Enslavement to Land of Freedom, and Back: The Story of an African American Pensioner in Canada

Among the most intriguing stories of widows and dependents in the Atlantic World are those of the African Americans who moved into Canada having escaped the shackles of slavery. In 1883, one of them was Priscilla Atwood. She made her home in Ontario, but had been born Priscilla Jane Hartsill in Jonesboro, Washington County, Tennessee in 1834. Her story had taken her through some of the most famous locations associated with the Underground Railroad, marriage to a man who had been at the centre of a controversial manumission case in antebellum Alabama, and life at the heart of one of Canada’s most vibrant African American communities.

[image error] Priscilla Atwood’s Pension Certificate (NARA)

It is unclear if Priscilla was born enslaved, but many of her friends and neighbours most certainly had been. Chatham, Onatrio- where she made her home in 1883- was one of the major locations where African Americans settled once they had crossed into Upper Canada. Prior to the Civil War, it is thought that around 20,000 blacks from the United States were making their home in British North America. In 1861 no fewer than 1,770 of Chatham’s 4,466 inhabitants were black. Canada proved attractive not only because it could provide sanctuary for runaways, but also because, at least nominally, the law treated blacks and whites equally, and African Americans could attain full citizenship after three years residency. By the time Priscilla was recorded on the 1883 roll, Chatham’s position as a centre of black-life in Canada seems to have diminished. By 1881, when Priscilla was recorded as a 44-year-old Baptist, just 781 of the town’s 7,867 inhabitants were enumerated as black. This reduction presumably resulted from families having moved on to other parts of Canada, or because they had returned to a United States where slavery had been abolished. (1)

Priscilla Atwood had first crossed the border into Canada in 1854. Prior to that date she had been living in Ripley, Brown County, Ohio. She had been there since at least 1850, when she was recorded as living in the home of Jesse Fenton, a merchant. Ripley was a famed stop on the Underground Railroad, sited as it was on the north bank of the Ohio River opposite the slave state of Kentucky. It was in Ripley that Priscilla met Alexander Atwood, who had grown up in the Prairie Bluff cotton plantation on the Alabama River, Alabama. The couple married on 13 June 1854, and immediately departed for Canada. (2)

[image error] The house of Dr. John Rankin in Ripley, Ohio, a famous stop on the Underground Railroad (Library of Congress)

The extent to which the Canadian black community where they made their home was a transplanted American one is apparent in the women Priscilla was able to call on to support her pension claim in the late 1860s. Many of them had been in Ohio at the same time as her- for example in 1866 Amelia Robinson and Sarah Finer Pearson, both of Chatham, gave testimony to state they had witnessed Priscilla’s Ripley marriage in 1854. Similarly, the maintained links between those who had endured enslavement and shared experiences of the antebellum South were maintained across decades. In 1893, Priscilla had to face down a threat to her pension based around a new rule which required her to prove her husband’s citizenship (this created a pension crisis for all international widows- see my piece on The Pension Crisis of 1893). Effectively, this meant Priscilla had to prove Alexander had been born in the United States. Despite the remove of years, she still knew other people in Chatham who had lived on the same plantation as her husband. One was Lucy Overstreet, 56-years-old in 1893:

My age is 56 years I was born in Alabama on the Bluff plantation I am colored I was on the same plantation with Alexander Atwood and have often heard his parents say that he was born on the Bluff plantation. I have never heard the exact date of his birth. I am not related to Alexander Atwood…

Even more telling regarding the maintenance of these networks is the fact that Priscilla also had contact with women from her husband’s plantation who were far removed from Chatham in 1893. Another who supported her was Delia Lawson, who lived almost 150 miles away, in Albion, Michigan:

I was born on the Bluff plantation in the state of Alabama I am about 40 years of age I am colored and was on the same plantation with Alexander Atwood I have always heard the he was born on the same plantation I do not remember of ever hearing of the exact date of his birth I am no relative of Alexander Atwood (3)

What of Priscilla’s husband Alexander? Born onto the Chilachi cotton plantation at Prairie Bluff around 1830, many of the details of his life have been examined by Canadian historian Bryan Prince. Alexander was the son of the plantation’s Massachusetts-born owner Henry Stiles Atwood and an enslaved woman named Candis. Atwood had five children with Candis, and two more with an enslaved woman called Mary. He was both their father and owner. As well as bequeathing each of them $8000, he intended to free his children upon his death, even though Alabama prohibited in-state manumission. To circumvent this, he left instructions with his executors for his children in Alabama to be brought to a free state where they could then be manumitted. When Atwood died in 1851, his controversial will brought legal challenges from his white heirs, which threatened both the inheritance and freedom of Alexander’s siblings (read more about the case here). Luckily both Alexander and one of his sisters had already been sent to Ohio, so their inheritance and freedom was confirmed by the courts on that basis. However, that of the children still resident in Alabama was initially denied. Both parties appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court, who ultimately determined that those still in Alabama should be brought to a free state, though whether they should receive their inheritance was left to the discretion of the executor. Finally, in 1853, Alexander was able to welcome the remainder of his family to Ripley. (4)

[image error] The landing and cotton slide at Prairie Bluff, Alabama as seen in 1894 (Eugene Allen Smith)

This was the context in which Alexander married Priscilla in 1854. He had apparently been married before; when he met Priscilla he had a daughter, Sarahfine. In later years, Priscilla had to provide evidence that Alexander’s first wife was deceased at the time of her Ripley marriage, in order to prove her pension entitlement. This led to Sarahfine providing a fascinating affidavit in 1879:

My…father frequently talked to me about my mother. He told me that he married her in Mobile…and that they lived together there till the time of her death…she died before I was able to speak and as a fact I do not recollect my mother…after her death he removed taking me with him to Ripley…where he married my step-mother…who now supports and provides for me. I do not know my mother’s name. I was only a small child about nine or ten years old when my…father enlisted in the American Army and went away and I never saw him after that time. My birth-day is the thirtieth day of June. I was told by my…father that I was born on the thirtieth day of June 1854. (5) *

When Priscilla, Alexander and Sarahfine crossed into Canada in 1854, Alexander used some of his inheritance to establish a grocery business in Chatham. But he never forgot the horrors of the institution that had so influenced the lives of himself and his family. When African Americans began to be accepted into the Northern military, Alexander decided to return to the United States to fight for freedom. On 2nd October 1863 he volunteered in Providence, Rhode Island, becoming a soldier in the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored). He would ultimately rise to Sergeant in Company E. William H. Chenery, who served as Alexander’s company commander and later as the chronicler of the regiment, remembered him with great fondness:

He was known throughout the regiment as a modest and conscientious man, and was greatly respected by both officers and men. His patriotism was unquestioned, having journeyed from Canada to enlist in the Union army in the States. At home he was a man of prominence among his people, having acquired considerable property, and it is said he was the proprietor of a grocery store, and was doing a thriving business at the time of his enlistment…He was of great assistance to his captain in copying muster rolls, and performing the duties of a company clerk. He was a fit representative of the enlisted men of the colored troops of the Union. (6)

[image error] William Chenery, Alexander’s officer in the Union military (The Fourteenth Regiment)

Alexander spent much of his service based in Louisiana. While he was there, Priscilla made the decision to make the long journey South to visit him. It was a remarkably brave decision, particularly considering the war was not yet over. The couple were reunited in early 1865, while Alexander was stationed on the Mississippi River at Camp Shaw in Plaquemine, Louisiana. When William Chenery came to write the regimental history decades later, it was a visit he still remembered:

While stationed at Plaquemine he [Alexander] was visited by his wife, who had come from her far northern home to meet her soldier husband. Little did she think when she started on her journey homeward that she never would look again on the face of her beloved companion, but so it was to be. (7)

[image error] Letter dated 11th March 1865 written by Alexander requesting a seven day furlough “for the purpose of visiting New Orleans to get transportation for my wife to return home”. It was the last time they would see each other (NARA)

Priscilla may well have agonised over her decision to travel to Louisiana, but it was fortuitous she did so. A little less than five months later, Alexander contracted dysentery, from which he died in Donaldsonville, Louisiana on 28th August 1865. Not long afterwards Priscilla received the following letter from Lieutenant Chenery, which stands as a measure of how highly her husband was regarded:

Donaldsonville, LA

Aug 29th 1865

Dear Madam,

It is with feelings of pain and regret that I am compelled to announce to you the sorrowful intelligence, that your late beloved husband is no more. He expired yesterday, at 2 o’clock P.M. He had been ill two or three weeks before his death. He was conveyed to the Hospital about 10 days ago. While there, everything was done for him that could be dome by our good Surgeon, the Hosp. Attendants, and his brother soldiers But our efforts were of no avail. God has seen fit in his kind Providence, to call him home, to that world where the “wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest”.

He had not an enemy in this Battalion; on the contrary, hr was universally beloved respected and esteemed by all who knew him, from the officers to the private down. His gentlemanly qualities, kind arts and soldierly deportment endeared him to all. As a soldier, he was ever ready and willing to perform everything that was laid down for him to do. In the death of Sergt Atwood, the Country has lost a most worthy patriot soldier. He died in the service of his Country, and his name with hosts of other martyred heroes of this war, will be recorded in that glorious record, which will be read by coming generations with pride, veneration and respect.

I am aware that my poor sympathy and consoletion will not recompense and assuage the anguish and heart felt sorrow of those who were connected with him in bonds of relationship; but let us remember always, that God is a protector and comforter to the widowed and fatherless; and that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His notice.

I was with the Sergt when he died, but he was then unconscious. In conversing with me…he expressed a desire to have his clothing & c sent home. As soon as I can collect everything together, I will send every article that belonged to him, to you. I converted over his money, and found that he had $16.00…I understand that he owed Private Jacob Smith of this Co (who is now at Plaquemine) $20.00. I will write and inquire about it and in the meantime, I will keep the money, till I hear from you. His watch, clothing, knife, pocket boos & c., I shall send to you immediately by Express. His funeral took place this morning at 10 A.M. It was largely attended by the members of this Battalion. His remains I have had interred in the burying ground at this place; so that if you wish at any time to have them conveyed home, you can send for them. I shall have a neat head board put up over his grave, and distinctly marked.

Any information that I can give you concerning your late beloved husband will be cheerfully given by Your sincere friend,

Wm H. Chenery

1st Lt 11th U.S.C.A. (Hy)

Comdg Co E (8)

[image error] An African American soldier in a Heavy Artillery regiment during the Civil War (Library of Congress)

Priscilla lived as a widow in Chatham for the remainder of her life, cared for in later years by Sarahfine. Her final correspondence with the Pension Bureau was written when she was in her late seventies, and seeking guidance as to what she might do in her infirmity:

Chatham April 22nd 1911

To the Pension Agent Washington D.C.

Now as I have become A Burdon on others also Helpless with many weeknesses, my only help has been in the Care of me the Little Girl that my Husband Alexander Atwood left with me She has been with me in all my afflictions now she is Broken in health not Able to give me Care, I have had to divide all all thes many years with this wooman now what is best for me to Do in regards to a home for me please let me know Just as soon as you can what you think best for me in this Sad State.

if it should be the Soldiers Widow Home what will be the Charges

Please send me the particulars

I am as ever A well wisher to thos that rule this Great work for the Soldiers Poor Widows

Priscilla J. Atwood

My Address #185 Grand Ave East Chatham ont (9)

[image error] King Street, Chatham in 1910 (Toronto Public Library)

Priscilla did not enter a widow’s home, but she did return to the United States for a final time. She is recorded as having crossed the border at Detroit on 31st January 1912, en-route to visit a relative, Mrs George Hatsell, in Dayton, Ohio. At the point of entry she was said to be suffering from senility and slight deafness. These proved to be the final weeks of Priscilla’s life. Having suffered from heart disease since 1908, she finally succumbed in Ontario on 2nd March 1912. The last piece of correspondence on her file was written by Sarahfine, informing the Pension Bureau of Priscilla’s death:

Chatham April 2nd 1912

the Department of the interior

Bureau of Pensions

I recd your Card and letter Mrs Priscilla J Atwood. My dear Aunt said if she passed A way at any time her Lawyer must notify you of her Death As that would be the Last you would have to Send to her I would of used it towards her expences As I Am at present with[out] Any mony At hand, the Judg has Gon for his health. it may be too months I will have to waite for him to return. I send you her Last pension Paper. please Send me All of uncles [Alexander’s] papers you dont need the Lawyer Sent them. My Address 119 East King st Chatham

Please Answer Sarahfine P.A. (10)

[image error] The bill from Dr McKeough which charts Priscilla’s final illness in 1912. She had suffered a stroke before her death (NARA)

The Pension Bureau covered the expenses for Priscilla’s final sickness and funeral, bringing to a close a file that had been active for almost half a century, and told a story that spanned more than eighty years. Aside from bringing to light Alexander Atwood’s determination to do all he could to bring an end to slavery, it charts the life of a woman who was equally remarkable in her own right. Along the way, it preserved the statements of a host of African American women whose voices would otherwise be lost to history. In the end, Priscilla’s journey came to a close in an appropriate location- she was laid to rest in Maplewood Cemetery in Ripley, Ohio, near the graves of a number of the Atwood family, including Alexander’s mother Candis. (11)

If you would like to learn more about the Widows & Dependents in the Atlantic World project of which this forms a part, you can check out the project page by clicking here.

If you would like to support the work of this site you can do so via my Patreon site for as little as $1 a month at https://patreon.com/irshacw, or by making a one-off donation to the site’s running costs via PayPal by clicking here.

[image error] The funeral expenses for Priscilla, which included embalming and two tickets for members of the funeral company to travel to Ripley, Ohio (NARA)

(1) Hepburn 1999: 92, Farrell 1955: 216, 1881 Census of Canada; (2) 1911 Census of Canada, 1850 Federal Census, Pension File; (3) Pension File; (4) Prince 2015, Atwood’s Heirs v Beck, Manumission By Last Will in Antebellum Alabama; (5) Pension File; (6) Pension File, Alexander Atwood CMSR, Chenery 1898:134; (7) Chenery 1898:134; (8) Pension File; (9) Ibid.; (10) Detroit Border Crossings & Passenger Lists, Ontario Canada Death Records, Pension File; (11) Find A Grave;

* When Sarahfine had crossed the border in later life, she stated that she was born in East Tennessee, where Priscilla was from. While she may have simply done this as default, it raises the potential that she was actually Priscilla’s daughter rather than Alexander’s.

References & Further Reading

Priscilla Atwood Widow’s Pension File.

Compiled Military Service Record of Alexander Atwood, Company E, 11th United States Colored Heavy Artillery.

Detroit Border Crossings & Passenger Lists.

Find A Grave.

Ontario Canada Death Records.

1850 Federal Census.

1881 Census of Canada.

1911 Census of Canada.

Auburn University. Atwood’s Heirs v Beck, 21 Alabama 590 (1852).

Auburn University. Manumission By Last Will in Antebellum Alabama.

William H. Chenery 1898. The Fourteenth Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored) 1861-1865.

John Kevin Anthony Farrell 1955. The History of the Negro Community in Chatham, Ontario 1787-1865.

Sharon A. Roger Hepburn 1999. ‘Following the North Star: Canada as a Haven for Nineteenth-Century American Blacks’ in Michigan Historical Review Volume 25, No. 2, Fall 1999, pp. 91-126.

Bryan Prince 2015. My Brother’s Keeper: African Canadians and the American Civil War.

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Podcast: The Last Letters of Ulster Emigrants in the American Civil War

The latest podcast explores a topic close to my heart, the final letters of Union soldiers from the American Civil War. The episode takes a geographical slant, looking at the words of Ulster men from both the Catholic and Protestant faiths who died during the conflict. Aside from sharing the last words they ever wrote to their families, this episode reveals the different types of detail we can garner from this unique and poignant source.

You can listen to the new podcast below; The Forgotten Irish Podcast is also available on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify so please do follow there and leave a review! If you have enjoyed this and other posts and resources on the website, please consider supporting my work on Patreon. You can do so for as little as $1 per month. To find out more by click here or visit https://www.patreon.com/irishacw. 

The Last Letters of Ulster Emigrants in the American Civil War by The Forgotten Irish Podcast

This podcast that explores a topic close to my heart, the final letters of Union soldiers from the American Civil War. The episode takes a geographical slant, looking at the words of Ulster men from both the Catholic and Protestant faiths who died during the conflict, and revealing the different types of detail we can garner from this unique and poignant source.

The post Podcast: The Last Letters of Ulster Emigrants in the American Civil War appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

An Elderly Fisherman in Dunmore East Remembers His Part in the American Civil War

In 1911 John Fitzgerald of Liscelty sat down to write a letter to America from the rural fishing village of Dunmore East. He was doing so on behalf of a local fisherman, a man named John Dunne. By then in his seventies, John had quite the story to tell. With many long years of hard physical labour behind him, both men hoped it was a story that would illicit a positive response from the United States government. John Fitzgerald outlined the fisherman’s situation:

this fine old veteran who served as Quartermaster in different ships during the Civil War and who so gloriously fought for the Stars & Stripes is now incapable of doing anything for his livelihood through the effects of old wounds and age. He has been trying to supplement his small provision of 6 dollars a month by fishing, as he is now incapacitated from same and being a true patriotic son of America he is not eligible for any old age pension from the British Government…I am sure I am not making this appeal to you sir in vain, that the great and noble country for which he fought and bled will not see this fine old veteran descend to the level of a pauper…

[image error] John enumerated in the 1841 census in Dunmore East, with his parents Edward and Mary. Edward was a fisherman. (NARA)

John Dunne had been born in Corballymore, Dunmore East around the year 1840. He was from a family of fishermen, a trade which remains strongly associated with the Co. Waterford village to this day. In the late 1850s, the young man took the decision to leave his home waters and seek to make a life as a sailor further afield. He saw much of the world in the years that followed, and rose to become a key member of the crew aboard one of the most notable ironclads of the American Civil War. Many years later, John would recall his adventures:

I left Ireland February 1858 in the Active Captain Allen for Cardiff, Wales left her there and shipped in the Busteed of Boston…for Shanghai, China from there to San Francisco, California, paid off there shipped in Ocean Telegram, Captain Williams for New York arrived there fourth of July 1861…

Two days after his arrival in New York John enlisted in the United States Navy. He was described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. On 6th July he was sent to the receiving ship USS North Carolina, and five days later went on active service. John continues:

[I shipped] on board the Iroquois under Captain Palmer having sailed from New York bound for West Indies in search of “Sumter” which we found in Martinique but would not be allowed to engage her (under Relief of the Port) we then proceeded to St. Thomas’ where Capt De Camp succeeded Capt Palmer. We then proceeded to New Orleans under the command of Admiral Farragut we then proceeded to Vicksburg from which we were ordered to New York.

[image error] The USS Iroquois, John Dunne’s first vessel in Union service, as she appeared following decommission in 1892 (Photographic History of the U.S. Navy)

The USS Iroquois was a Sloop-of-War. John served aboard her while she was active in the Caribbean, seeking out Confederate commerce raiders. As John alludes to, they tracked down the famous CSS Sumter at Martinique, but could not attack as she was in a neutral port. John and his shipmates next sailed to participate in operations around the Mississippi River. They fought in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip in April 1862, which ensured the capture of New Orleans. Moving up the river, a landing party from the Iroquois helped to secure the surrender of Baton Rouge, and they also aided in securing Natchez before successfully moving past the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg. By September they had moved back into the Gulf of Mexico, before heading for home to end their cruise in New York in November 1862. John again takes up the story:

[I was] then sent on board North Carolina and transferred to Passaic [which John pronounced “Pessick”] and proceeded to Hampton Roads from there to Charleston in tow of a steamer and placed under Admiral Dahlgren and then proceeded to New York where I was paid off in September 1864..being in ill health I returned to my native place…

[image error] The ironclad USS Passaic, the vessel on which John Dunne from Dunmore East spent the majority of his service (Naval History & Heritage Command)

USS Passaic was one of the famous ironclad Union monitors that operated during the Civil War. John was assigned to her on 26th November 1862, and was part of her original crew. She was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, but necessary repairs made her put into the navy yard in Washington D.C. While there, she was visited by President Abraham Lincoln that December, providing John with an opportunity to see the most famous man in America up close. Passaic eventually departed the capital with the famed USS Monitor, and almost shared her fate when treacherous weather off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina sent Monitor to the bottom.

[image error] The crew of the Passaic at Sunday service during the war. John Dunne may well be visible in this image (Naval History & Heritage Command)

In the months of service that followed, Passaic and John were involved in a number of actions against Confederate onshore positions, mainly off South Carolina. The vessel took a battering off Charleston in early 1863 in an action that wounded John and forced the ironclad back to New York for repairs. John survived to return with Passaic to South Carolina waters, participating in attacks such as those against Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor. Discharged onto USS Vermont on 28th July 1864, John’s term of service in the United States Navy came to an end on 15th August 1864.

[image error] A remarkable image of ironclads USS Weehawken, USS Montauk and USS Passaic firing on Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. John was aboard Passaic when this image was exposed (Naval History & Heritage Command)

Though he would later claim to have become an American citizen in 1862, John did not spent too long in the United States after the war. By the beginning of the 1870s he was back in his “native place”, where he married Mary Downey in Tramore. The couple went on to have three living children, Thomas (b.1873), Mary (b.1875) and Ellen (b.1878). Ultimately settling down in Summerville, Dunmore East, John returned to the fishing trade. Since he had last fished off Ireland’s South-East coast, John had circumnavigated the globe and brushed shoulders with some of the most famous people and vessels in history.

[image error] Damage to the turret of USS Passaic after her engagements in South Carolina. It may well have been this damage that caused the injury to John’s hand (Naval History & Heritage Command)

John did not immediately become eligible for a United States pension, but as the decades passed he found that his many years at sea began to take a toll. His list of ailments had grown long by the 1890s, and included “atrophy of right knee, defective eyesight, wound of right temple, loss part of right thumb and resulting loss of use of hand and varicose veins”. He later gave a detailed description of how he came to lose his thumb in action:

In January 1863 while on the Ironclad Pessick [Passaic] in command of Captain Ronayne and under fire at Fort Sumpter the slide of the turret was knocked off by a ball from the fort and fell on my knee while in the act of loading my gun. In lifting the shutter from me, my thumb was injured which subsequently resulted in the loss of the first joint of same

[image error] Surgeon’s Certificate supplied with John Dunne’s pension application, illustrating where he had suffered injuries as a result of his service (NARA)

John received a pension in the 1890s, though difficulties that all foreign pensioners encountered following an 1893 law change forced John to move briefly back to New York in 1894 to resolve payment issues. While there he lived at 27 Fulton Street, and met up with old Irish comrades from his time in the navy- William O’Brien, who had served in his squadron, and Hugh Cunningham, who had been with him on the crew of the Iroquois. Once his issues were settled John returned to Dunmore East, where he would see out the remainder of his days.

[image error] The receipt for medical services incurred by the Dunne family during John’s final illness, paid for by the United States Government (NARA)

The 1911 letter which John Fitzgerald wrote on John Dunne’s behalf was an effort to secure an increase in the elderly veteran’s payments. These efforts proved successful, and thankfully for the old sailor and his family they were able to benefit from his increased allowance for many more years. John Dunne ultimately passed away on 9th February 1924 in Summerville, and was buried in the local Corbally Cemetery. As a final act of recognition for his service, the United States Government paid for his funeral expenses.

[image error] The bill from Hennessy undertakers of Johnstown, Co. Waterford for John Dunne’s burial, paid for by the United States Government (NARA)

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[image error] The goods for John Dunne’s funeral supplied by Cullinane’s of Michael Street in Waterford, paid for by the United States Government (NARA)

References

John Dunne Naval Pension. Analysis of these files is only possible thanks to the efforts of the team at the National Archives who worked so hard to make them available for study and analysis.

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