Damian Shiels's Blog, page 16

Irish Medal of Honor Exhibition Heads to Tampa

Longtime readers will be familiar with my ongoing work regarding Irish recipients of the Medal of Honor. Most recently, I devised and curated the Irish Medal of Honor exhibition on behalf of the Irish Veterans Charity, which is currently on display in Kinsale, Co. Cork. The second chapter of Irish Veterans was recently established in Tampa, Florida, and to mark that occasion the exhibition will be going on view next week at the Tampa Bay History Center. The original Medal of Michael Gibbons–the only known Medal of Honor to reside permanently in Ireland–is going on loan to the exhibit. I am delighted to have the opportunity next week to pay a flying visit to Florida for the exhibition opening. It is part of a series of events that are well worth checking out. A number of Medal of Honor recipients will be in attendance throughout, including Robert Emmet O’Malley, the first U.S. Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Vietnam. The sequence of events is as follows:

Wednesday 13th March

Irish Veterans Chapter 2, Major Kevin Kelly Chapter, will host a meet and greet and book signing (Peter Collier’s Choosing Courage) on the eve of the Medal of Honor exhibition’s official opening. The event will take place at Four Green Fields, 205 W. Platt St. from 4.30 to 6.00pm.

Thursday 14th March

The Medal of Honor exhibition will officially open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Old Water Street. Distinguished guests will include multiple Medal of Honor recipients. The exhibition will remain on display until November 2019.

Saturday 16th March

The Irish Veterans chapter and its guests will officially take part in the Tampa Mayor’s Annual River ‘O Green Festival, where the river is dyed green and the day is filled with Irish celebration.

I am looking forward to what should be a great few days in The Sunshine State!

The post Irish Medal of Honor Exhibition Heads to Tampa appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

The Nilands: Uncovering A 19th Century Working Class Dublin Family’s Story in the American Pension Files

The Widow’s and Dependent pension files allow us reconstruct elements of the lives of working class 19th century families in unparalleled detail. In some cases, these individuals had never even set foot in the United States. Such is the case with Ellen Niland. Born in Dublin’s Liberties in 1841, Ellen spent her entire life living in and around the city centre. Yet due to her husband’s Hugh’s wartime service thousands of miles away, we are offered a window into her existence, one that was filled with moments of joy, with desperate poverty, and with extensive hardship.

On 9th April 1896, illiterate Dubliner Ellen Niland departed her tenement home at 62 Upper Dominick Street to make the journey to the offices of Arthur Donn Piatt, the Deputy Consul of the United States in Dublin. The purpose of the 55-year-old’s visit was to attempt to secure an American pension. Yet Ellen had almost certainly never been outside of Ireland before; indeed, she may never have been beyond Dublin. Sitting down in front of Piatt, she explained the reason she felt entitled to the monthly payments that offered the potential to transform her life. Piatt recorded what Ellen said, transmitting her words to the Bureau of Pensions in Washington D.C.:

My husband Hugh Niland went from Dublin to Toronto, Canada, in August 1862 and in November 1862 I got my first letter from him. This letter, which I did not preserve, was from Toronto, and in it he said he was thinking of joining the American Navy. I next heard from him about ten months later and he then said he was in the American Navy. He had never been out of Ireland to my knowledge before 1862 when he went to Toronto. I do not know of anyone who can swear whether he joined the Navy before 1863 and Hugh Niland’s papers were lost. I have no property of any kind but I am not able to get a certificate from the tax collector as when I applied to him he said that such certificates were never issued. This affidavit was written for me from my oral statements by Arthur Donn Piatt and I have not been in any way prompted or assisted other than by my memory.

[image error] Ellen’s mark at the end of the affidavit she gave to Arthur Donn Piatt, an indication of her illiteracy (NARA)

Ellen’s journey that morning had been prompted by events of four months earlier. On 11th December 1893 Hugh had passed away in the North Dublin Union Workhouse hospital. He had lain in the infirmary for 27 days before eventually succumbing to cancer of the tongue and throat at the reported age of 74 (he may have been some years younger). The former American sailor, who had spent the majority of his life as a cooper, was subsequently laid to rest in Glasnevin Cemetery.

[image error] Hugh’s death certificate, supplied to the American authorities (NARA)

Ellen Hawkins had been baptised at St. Catherine’s Church on Dublin’s Meath Street in 1841. Her life with Hugh had begun on 5th August 1860, when the couple had wed in the Pro-Cathedral on Dublin’s Marlborough Street. They celebrated the birth of their first child, Mary, on 10th May the following year. The young family had not been together long by the time Hugh left. It seems he may have had work on a vessel plying the transatlantic trade; coopers were often in demand for such trips. When the Civil War broke out, many Irish crewmen arriving in American and Canadian ports were tempted away from their ships and into the Union navy. The pay, and most significantly the potential prize money, were enticing prospects. Ellen was far from the only Irish woman left unconsulted as their husbands made snap decisions to sign on as Jack Tars. As she outlined in her affidavit, the first she knew of Hugh’s entry into United States service was when she received a letter (which would have been read aloud to her by an intermediary) many months after his departure. Whatever the precise background that dictated his choice, on 10th November 1862 Hugh Niland became one of the many thousands of Irishmen who took to the high seas dressed in Union blue.

[image error] Copy of the marriage certificate of Hugh Niland and Ellen Hawkins supplied to the Pension Bureau. Ellen had to explain why the surname was incorrect, having been recorded as Haughton at the time (NARA)

Hugh signed on for twelve months as a Landsman, and was sent to the receiving ship USS North Carolina in New York Navy Yard to undergo training. A few days later he was assigned to the first crew of the USS Commodore Morris, an armed side-wheel ferryboat. For the next year Hugh and his crewmates operated around Virginia’s rivers, patrolling and transporting military personnel and supplies. The Commodore Morris took part in a joint army-navy operation on the Pamunkey River in January 1863 that targeted Confederate infrastructure, and in the months that followed took a number of prizes. In November 1863 Hugh was discharged at Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, no doubt encouraged by the financial return he could expect following his term of service.

[image error] An image of either the USS Commodore Morris or USS Morse during the Civil War (Naval History & Heritage Command NH55307)

Despite having been away from Ellen for so long, Hugh decided not to return to Dublin. Instead he went back to New York, and within the month had signed on for another year. He was quickly back on the USS North Carolina, but this time at the rank of Coal Heaver. He spent a few weeks aboard the receiving ship before joining the first crew of the steamer USS Proteus in March 1864. She steamed for Florida in April, and was soon deployed to waters around Cuba and the Bahamas to hunt Confederate blockade runners. Hugh and his shipmates took the runners R.S. Hood on 9th June, Jupiter on 27th June, and Ann Louisa in September. Each would have landed the Dubliner additional prize money. He eventually ended his American naval career aboard the United States Naval Academy instruction frigate USS Savannah, and was discharged at Brooklyn Navy Yard in November 1864.

[image error] The USS Savannah, the vessel on which Hugh Niland ended his American naval career (Old Naval Days)

Hugh finally decided to draw a line under his navy career and return to Ellen and Mary in Dublin, whom he had not seen in well over two years. With his return to Ireland the couple’s life returned to normal, and their family began to grow. They included John who arrived in January 1867, Hugh Junior in March 1869, Ellen (who passed away while still a baby in the early 1870s) and Joseph in September 1871.

The years that followed proved extremely difficult for the Niland family, and were blighted by desperate poverty. The registers of the North Dublin Union Workhouse bear testament to their hardships. The entire family were admitted to the institution from their home in Nerneys Court on 24th February 1879. At the time John was twelve, Hugh Junior was seven, and Joseph only five. Hugh Senior left the Workhouse two months later, but was readmitted on 1st May from “G.G. Prison”, presumably Grangegorman (Richmond Penitentiary). He was released four days afterwards. John left in the care of his older sister Mary on 21st June, and Ellen, Hugh Junior and Joseph finally followed a few days later.

Whether the family’s problems extended beyond the purely monetary is difficult to know, but these experiences must have left an indelible mark on their lives. Unfortunately, their June 1879 respite was brutally shortlived. The entire family was readmitted to the workhouse from Dignams Court on 5th September, their condition being described as “bad”. Ellen was discharged on 24th November 1879 and Hugh on 10th February 1880, though he was back inside the following day, staying until April. The couple’s three young boys had to remain there until June. Though this seems to have brought to an end Ellen and the children’s experience of Workhouse life, Hugh would once again rely on it in his final years, likely in part a result of his medical issues. He was admitted for a few weeks from 6 North King Street in 1892, for two months from 84 Church Street in 1893, and for a day from 21 Stafford Street in early 1894. The Workhouse hospital is where he breathed his last later that year.

[image error] Workhouse children in the 1890s. An experience all three of the Nilands boys had to endure during their childhood (Manchester Archives)

Ellen’s April 1896 visit to Arthur Donn Piatt in search of a pension was far from her first. After Hugh’s death she had moved almost immediately to try and obtain the financial support she regarded as vital for herself and her family. She had been living in 215 Great Britain Street when she started the process. As she sought to prove her entitlement, Ellen was able to call on a small army of fellow Dubliners to provide affidavits on her behalf, an indication of the community network of which this working-class woman was a part. One was 60-year-old Jane O’Brien of 13 Upper Abbey Street, who declared:

I have known Ellen Niland…since 1853 and continuously since that date…I know Ellen Niland intimately and if she had remarried I would have known it.

Another was Margaret Flynn, an illiterate 60-year-old woman living at 9 Bolton Street:

I was present at the marriage of Ellen Hawkins and Hugh Niland on the fifth day of August 1860 at Marlborough Street Cathedral in Dublin and know the above named Ellen Niland to be the same individual as I have known her since 1852 [44 years]. I was one of the witnesses to the marriage my maiden name being Margaret Dolan.

69-year-old Patrick Cassidy of 27 Eugene Street had known Hugh Niland since before he had gone to America. He recounted that he had been friends with the Union sailor:

for 40 years or more. I knew him before his marriage to Ellen Niland…I was journeyman in James Mathew’s Cooper Shop in Bowe St when Hugh Niland was an apprentice and I knew him well from that time to his marriage.

Yet another was 43-year-old James Nolan, a neighbour of Ellen’s in the 62 Upper Dominick Street tenement she called home. James had also known Hugh and Ellen for years:

I knew Hugh Niland for 27 years and was a member with him in St. Michael’s Burial Society and I was intimately acquainted with him, and he never had another wife in my knowledge.

[image error] The affidavit of Margaret Flynn in support of Ellen Niland’s claim. Margaret was illiterate as demonstrated by her mark (NARA)

All these affidavits were aimed at proving Hugh had no other living wife, and that Ellen had not remarried (both of which would have disqualified her claim). Among the others who gave their time on Ellen’s behalf were 69-year-old John Byrne of 14 Gloucester Street and 60-year-old William Mooney of 57 North King Street. The efforts of her friends and acquaintances in the community ultimately helped Ellen to secure the pension, and to enjoy a modicum of security as she approached her 60s. Given the hardships life had thrown at her, she most certainly deserved it.

Despite the payments, life wasn’t easy, a factor borne out by Ellen’s living conditions. The 1901 Census found the 63-year-old still at Upper Dominick Street. There she shared a five-room section of the tenement with 17 people, which included her son Hugh Junior and his family. Ellen passed away in 1903. As a consequence of her husband’s military service on the other side of the Atlantic, elements of this working-class Dublin woman’s life have been preserved, stored in perpetuity within a file held at Washington D.C.’s National Archives.

I first came across Ellen’s story in 2013, when I was contacted by Hugh and Ellen’s descendant John Niland. John was keen to learn if there may be surviving records relating to Hugh’s service, and I subsequently identified and passed on the file to him. John added further detail to the story, revealing that Hugh is buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave in Glasnevin Cemetery. He also informed me of the fate of Hugh and Ellen’s youngest son, Joseph, who had endured life in the Workhouse when only five-years-old. Joseph ultimately became a cooper, just as his father had been, and went on to work at Guinness. When the First World War came he enlisted, and became a Sapper in the 179th Field Company of the Royal Engineers. On 28th March 1917 German shells landed on his section during pay parade, killing him and a number of his comrades (you can see photos of Joseph uploaded by Johnny Doyle here). Today the American Civil War veteran’s youngest son is buried at Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery in Arras, France.

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw. 

[image error]The grave of Joseph Niland, Hugh and Ellen Niland’s son, at
Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery in France (Image: Pearlady via Find A Grave)

* None of my work on pensions would be possible without the exceptional effort in the National Archives to digitize this material and make it available online. A team of archivists from NARA supported by volunteers have enabled access to this treasure trove of historical information. To learn more about their work you can watch a video by clicking here.

References

Ellen Niland Widow’s Pension

Dublin Workhouse Admission and Discharge Registers

Irish Catholic Parish Registers

Irish 1901 Census

Find A Grave Memorial for Joseph Niland

Find A Grave Memorial for Hugh Niland

Find A Grave Memorial for Hugh Niland

The post The Nilands: Uncovering A 19th Century Working Class Dublin Family’s Story in the American Pension Files appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Podcast Short: The Elderly Donegal Woman’s Predicament

The new post shares another of the brief podcasts that was originally prepared for Irish Community Level Patrons. Here we hear the first-person affidavit of Donegal woman Mary Doherty, who emigrated from Carndonagh, Co. Donegal to Boston in the 1840s. By the time she gave her statement in the 1890s, she had returned to Ireland. The podcast examines why she had to have this remarkable document created, and why she was now back home, almost fifty years after she had left in hopes of a new life.

The post Podcast Short: The Elderly Donegal Woman’s Predicament appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

“The Crashing of the Volleys and the Wild Irish ‘Hurroos'”: An Irish Brigade Veteran Remembers Gettysburg, Fifty Years On

The 1913 Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg witnessed the largest Civil War veteran’s reunion that ever took place. Although thousands of former Union and Confederate soldiers attended the event, the numbers of those who had fought through the war had started to tumble. The Irish Brigade was represented by only a handful of men at the fiftieth anniversary, something that made their experiences noteworthy in some of the contemporary press. In California, the San Francisco Chronicle took the time to interview one of the survivors who made the trip- Thomas McGrath. 

Thomas McGrath was born in Waterford City around the year 1840. He had emigrated to New York in 1858, where he was working as baker when the Civil War broke out. In December 1861 Thomas decided to throw in his lot with his fellow Waterford native Thomas Francis Meagher. Joining the 69th New York, he first became a private in Company D  before being transferred to Company B in June 1863. His only wound of the war came at Gettysburg, but he recovered and was promoted to Corporal before year’s end, when he also decided to re-enlist as a veteran. By the time the Overland Campaign commenced he had risen to Sergeant. Although he was captured in the debacle on the 69th’s picket line outside Petersburg on 30th October 1864 he was exchanged and mustered in as a First Lieutenant in February 1865, the rank at which he left the army. (1)

[image error]

The Irish Brigade Memorial at Gettysburg (Damian Shiels)

Thomas had been with the Irish Brigade from practically it’s first moment to it’s last. After the war he moved to California, finding work as a clerk. His wife Kate, also an Irish native, was a public school teacher. He was active in the Grand Army of the Republic, and had made sure to attend as many reunions as possible. By the time of the 50th anniversary of Gettysburg, he was one of the best known Irish veterans in California, part of the reason he was interviewed by the Chronicle:

SURVIVOR FIGHTS GETTYSBURG AGAIN

Local Civil War Veteran, Captain Thomas F. McGrath, Tells of Famous Battle.

ATTENDS 1913 REUNION.

Only Ten Who Marched With Irish Brigade See Peaceful Anniversary Camp.

Gettysburg in July, 1863, when the guns of the Union and Confederate forces belched death at each other, and when the fields were strewn with corpses, some clad in blue and some in gray-Gettysburg at the twenty-five year anniversary in the July of 1888, and the the fifty-year anniversary of July of the present year of grace, when the only smoke that rolled across the ground was that from the bivouacs where Union and Confederate veterans fraternized and refought old fights-what a difference, and yet in the person of Captain Thomas F. McGrath, now employed in the depot quartermasters’ office in this city, there is a human link that spans the years, is one who speaks of both Gettysburg’s as one having authority, for he has been at both.

It was as a private in the Irish Brigade that Captain McGrath saw the first Gettysburg, the field of civil strife; it was as a Union veteran that he saw the last Gettysburg, of the month just passed, where the tents of the one-time foes were pitched in peaceful proximity.

SCANT DOZEN ANSWER THE CALL.

Included in the Irish Brigade of the action of July 2, 1863, were the Sixty-third, Sixty-ninth and Eighty-eighth New York Volunteer regiments, the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts and the One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania. At the reunion this year a handful of nine or ten were all that were left of that brigade to answer the roll call; the rest had nearly all passed out for the last muster.

Among the gallant old remnant were Brevet-Colonel James J. Smith of the New York Sixty-ninth Regiment, now of Cleveland, O.; Captain John R. Nugent of the Sixty-ninth, New York; Lieutenant Richard Bernigham of the same regiment, Captain W.L.D. O’Grady and Comrade Buckley of the Eighty-eighth New York; Patrick Tumulty, uncle of the President’s secretary. California was represented by Captain McGrath, who paid his traveling and incidental expenses out of his own pocket, the State not furnishing him with one cent for the purpose.

“The United States, though, did itself proud in its assistance to the reunion,” said Captain McGrath, gratefully reminiscent. “Great credit is due those who had the arrangements in hand. Everything was carried out with mechanical precision, the camp was laid out by rule of survey, wells were sunk, and the lanes numbered and lettered, while each tent bore its distinguishing number. Boy scouts were on hand to run with messages, and to carry our packages and bundles; in fact, it seemed as though everything that could make for our comfort and well-being had been thought of, and I would like the Government and those in charge to know that we are grateful.”

[image error]

Notification from the 1913 Gettysburg Times of a Mass to be held in the town to remember the Irish Brigade dead (Gettysburg Times)

HARKS BACK TO WAR TIMES.

Reverting to the first Gettysburg, Captain McGrath told how each of the regiments of the Irish Brigade bore a green standard in addition to the national flag. Their commander was Colonel Patrick Kelly of the Eighty-eighth New York Volunteers, their first action being fought on the afternoon of the second day of the famous battle, July 2, 1863.

The First division of the second corps, commanded by Hancock and including the Irish Brigade, was ordered to the assistance of General Sickles, who had sent out a call for reinforcements, as his men were being pressed back by Longstreet from the position they had taken. Before the men of the Irish Brigade went under fire, their chaplain, Father Corby, with a boulder for his pulpit, made an impressive address to the men, exhorting them to remember the great issue that hung upon the fight.

“Victory or defeat depends on you men, individually and collectively,” said the priest. “It depends upon every one of you whether the Union forces are to be this day victorious. To this end each of you must, and I pray will, do his utmost duty to his country, his honor and his cause. In conclusion, I would beg you not to forget your duty to Almighty God. To him, also, you owe allegiance and service.”

Then the words of absolution were pronounced for those who would not see another sun rise. General Hancock and others, non-Catholics, who were present, raised their hats in token of respect, and a few minutes later the brigade moved from its position with the second corps near Cemetery Ridge, crossed an intervening wheat field and fell upon the Confederate foe at The Loop, Rose Farm and The Woods, where today a Celtic cross stands to mark the ground where the three New York regiments, the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts and the One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania Regiments went into action.

TELL OF CEMETERY RIDGE.

On July 3d the Brigade took up a position on Cemetery Ridge, which they held when the famous Pickett’s charge swept down upon the men in blue.

“Our general knew the reptation of the Irish in a fight,” said Captain McGrath with a flush of pride as he recalled the incident of fifty years ago. “We only had smooth bore guns, the charge of which was ball and three buck shot. Such weapons were of no use except at close quarters, and it was because they knew that the men of Erin would soon get to close quarters that they were served out to us. I shall never forget the hideous ‘din of the fight, the crashing of the volleys and the wild Irish ‘Hurroos’ as we clashed with the troops of the grey.”

TELLS OF 1888 REUNION.

That advance was successful and the Confederates at once began to fall back, the brigade advancing at a walk as they did so.

Returning to more peaceful times, the captain told how at the twenty-five year anniversary of Gettysburg the Celtic Cross already referred to was dedicated and unveiled. Father Corby, the priest who exhorted the men just before the fight of July 2, 1863, was also present at the 1888 reunion, as was Father Ouillet, the French-Canadian chaplain of the Sixty-ninth New York regiment. Mass, celebrated by the two intrepid priest, was held on that occasion in the Catholic Church at Gettysburg and attended by the survivors. That was the first large reunion of the veterans of the Blue and the Grey. Among those present were the survivors of Pickett’s notable brigade. The story of the recent fiftieth anniversary has already been told.

Many of the little incidents in the great fight were missed by Captain McGrath, who was severely wounded in the head early in the action. But today neither the effects of that old wound nor his years of honor press hardly upon him, and he looks fit to fight Gettysburg over again in reality as he has done in words and reminiscence. (2) 

Although Thomas’s recollection had some inaccuracies, and he took pains to accentuate the Irish contribution, neither point is surprising given the passage of time and the context of the interview. Thomas continued to play a leading role in California’s veteran landscape for a number of years after the fiftieth anniversary at Gettysburg. In September 1921 he was officially accompanied across San Francisco Bay by the Knights of St. Patrick as he went to join other surviving veterans at the Grand Army of the Republic Annual Encampment in Indianapolis. By that time his wife Kate had passed away, and Thomas himself died on 17th February 1923. He is buried in Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County, California.

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw.

[image error]

The grave of Thomas and his wife Kate in California (Tom Brocher via Find A Grave)

(1) 1910 Census, Muster Roll Abstracts, 69th Roster, Thomas McGrath Find A Grave Memorial; (2) San Francisco Chronicle; (3) San Francisco Examiner, California Death Records, Thomas McGrath Pension Index Card, Thomas McGrath Find A Grave Memorial; 

References

1910 U.S. Federal Census

New York Muster Roll Abstracts

California Death Records

Civil War Pension Index Cards

69th New York Roster

San Francisco Chronicle 3rd August 1913

San Francisco Examiner 22nd September 1921

The Gettysburg Times 2nd July 1913

Thomas F. McGrath Find A Grave Memorial

The post “The Crashing of the Volleys and the Wild Irish ‘Hurroos'”: An Irish Brigade Veteran Remembers Gettysburg, Fifty Years On appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Mobile Bay: A Newly Uncovered Irish Letter From the Day of Battle

While I have read vast numbers of letters preserved in Federal pension files over the last number of years, very few of them were written on the day of an engagement. There are numerous reasons for this, but perhaps chief amongst them is that soldiers and sailors often did not have the opportunity–or inclination–to set about committing words to paper just moments after their lives had been in jeopardy. However, I recently came across one of the rare exceptions. The letter was penned on 5th August 1864 by an Irish sailor who had just endured some of the most extreme naval violence of the Civil War–the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama. It is shared for the first time below.

Irish-born John Brogan had been an apprentice Morocco Dresser in Philadelphia a little over two months before the Battle of Mobile Bay. The 22-year-old had divided his time between that city and Wilmington, Delaware, where his father lived on Franklin Street. His mother had died on 25th March 1862, leaving him the eldest boy in a family that included three sisters and a younger brother. On 1st June John had presented himself at the New York Naval Rendezvous and enlisted as a Landsman, having no previous maritime experience. He was described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, with a fair complexion, chestnut hair and dark eyes. He spent his first month learning the basics on the receiving ship USS North Carolina, before shipping south on the frigate USS Potomac on 1st July. The Potomac brought him to his ultimate destination, the screw sloop-of-war USS Oneida, which John boarded on 20th July 1864. A little over two weeks later, he and his crewmates were steaming into Mobile Bay.

[image error]A sketch of USS Onieda as she appeared in late 1863 (Naval History & Heritage Command)

On 5th August Admiral David Farragut led his 18 vessels in double-column towards Mobile Bay, part of a combined land and sea operation aimed at closing the port to blockade runners. In order to gain a foothold in the Bay, they had to run the gauntlet of a torpedo-strewn channel under fire from Confederate Forts Gaines and Morgan. Once they had navigated that obstacle, they faced Confederate naval resistance, most notably the ironclad ram CSS Tennessee. The operation was successful; the Rebel vessels were neutralised and ultimately the forts had to surrender (Fort Gaines on 8th August, Fort Morgan on 23rd August). One of the consequences of the 5th August action was that it saw more Irishmen awarded the Medal of Honor than any other single action in American history.

John Brogan and USS Oneida had started to move towards the action at 5.18am on 5th August, bringing up the rear of Farragut’s fleet in company with the ironclad USS Galena. By 7.15am they were engaged with Fort Morgan, which was able to bring all it’s guns to bear on Oneida once the leading ships had run past. Around 7.45am a shell penetrated near the starboard boiler, scalding seven of the crew and driving the men from the fire and engine rooms. Another shell struck near the waterline and exploded in the cabin. Further fire from the forts hit the berth deck, and started a fire on top of the magazine which the sailor’s rushed to extinguish. Oneida had taken one of the worst batterings in the fleet at the hands of the forts, and the damage she sustained partially disabled her, forcing the vessel to shut down her starboard boiler.

[image error]Union vessels in action against the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee during the Battle of Mobile Bay (Naval History & Heritage Command)

Aside from the galling fire of the forts, the Oneida soon found herself facing the ram Tennessee, which passed within two hundred yards as the Rebel ironclad moved to engage the Yankees. Thankfully for Oneida, difficulties with the ram’s charges meant that initially only one shot struck home. But Oneida’s position and condition meant that she wasn’t able to do much better, and could only reply with one gun. When the Tennessee passed astern, the Rebel ironclad let loose a raking fire which caused still further damage and wounded Oneida‘s commander, Irish American James Robert Madison Mullany (his father James had been born in Ireland, and had served in the War of 1812). The treatment Oneida had received meant she couldn’t continue to play a role in the fighting; by late morning John and his comrades had been towed to an anchorage, which is where the Irishman wrote his letter. The casualties reported from the vessel that day were eight dead, eleven severely wounded and eighteen slightly wounded. Many were Irish Americans. Eight of Oneida’s crew were ultimately awarded the Medal of Honor, including Irish-born John Preston and James Roantree, and at least one ethnic Irishman, James Sheridan.

[image error]Fort Morgan, which inflicted such damage on USS Oneida (Library of Congress)

The shock of Mobile Bay must have been profound for John, particularly as the young man had so little naval experience. His relief at having made it through is palpable in the words he wrote. He wanted to express that relief to his father, and let him know that he was unscathed. Here is his letter in full:

Mobile Bay August 5th/64

Dear and affectionate father and sisters it is with great pleasure that i take my pen in hand to let you know that i am in good health at present thanks be to god for his kind mercies to us all Dear Father we had one of the severest Battles this morning of the present war we attacked Fort Morgan this morning about 6 o clock and continued firing for severl ours and then we run past the Fort but we suffered very much in doing so our ship ha suffered more than any of the rest of the fleet we had one shot sent through our boiler and our magizine was on fire twice but thank god we got of safer than i expected we had seven men killed [at least one, Fireman James Agan, was Irish-born, he had been a boilermaker before his 1862 enlistment] and one jumped over board [Patrick Dorris, reported as missing, killed or drowned] we had some fifteen wounded some of them are not expected to recover it would be quite a scene to behold our ship in the condition she is in at present we will have some more hard fighting yet but I think we will not have to go in to it as our ship is two badly injured so Dear Father you will please excuse this short letter as every thing here is excitment and I have not a much chance to write but as soon as I get a chance I shall send you all the particulars let me know if you received my last letter and direct

USS Oneida West Gulf Squadron

Mobile Bay Alabama

The often cruel hand of war showed itself for John Brogan within weeks. He survived Mobile Bay only to fall ill two months later. Suffering from Yellow Fever, he was transferred to the USS Fearnot to get to New Orleans and hospital, but died on 7th October 1864.

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw.

[image error]USS Oneida survived the war, but sank with great loss of life in 1870 off Yokohama, Japan after a collision with the British steamer Bombay.(Naval History & Heritage Command)

*None of my work on pensions would be possible without the exceptional effort in the National Archives to digitize this material and make it available online. A team of archivists from NARA supported by volunteers have enabled access to this treasure trove of historical information. To learn more about their work you can watch a video by clicking here.

References

Navy Pension Certificates.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies, Series 1, Volume 21. Detailed Report of Lieutenant Huntington, U.S. Navy, Executive Officer of USS Oneida, Transmitting Reports from the Various Departments of the Vessel.

Report of Casualties from USS Oneida, 5th August 1864.

The post Mobile Bay: A Newly Uncovered Irish Letter From the Day of Battle appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Podcast Short: The Civil War’s Unfortunate Irish Servicemen

The new post shares a brief podcast that was originally prepared for Irish Community Level Patrons. While thousands of Irish soldiers and sailors died of disease and battle during the war, what about those who experienced more unusual deaths? The podcast examines some of the more unfortunate I have come across, and explores the potential financial consequences for those left behind when loved one experienced a non-conventional death. You can listen to the podcast by pressing play below.

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“It Was Not For To Be Soldiers We Came Out”: Recruited Straight Off The Boat–Some New Evidence

Back in 2015 Brendan Hamilton and I published a piece on the site entitled Recruited Straight Off The Boat: On the Trail of Emigrant Soldiers From the Ship Great Western. The work was based on Brendan’s discovery (and his extensive subsequent investigations) that revealed a large number of men who had been recruited into the army on the very day they arrived in America. These men had traveled from England, ostensibly to work in the New York Glassworks of Messrs Bliss, Ward and Rosevelt. Prior to their departure, controversy erupted as Confederate agents informed British authorities that they were in fact intended for Union service, and had been “recruited” in England by a Federal agent called Shaw. The original post outlines the details of the case, and the experiences of some of the men who subsequently enlisted. Now a new affidavit has come to light, provided by an Irishman on board who decided he did not want to join up. His testimony provides not only fascinating detail about what occurred, but also raises questions about just who was involved in these dubious recruitment efforts. The affiant’s name was James O’Brien, who recounted his version of the story for the British Consul five days after the Great Western had docked:

I am a native of Cork of the age of twenty years. Have been living in London for about twelve months as a gentleman’s servant. About the 18 of November last I was engaged at No. 19 Old Pye Street Westminster by one Shea to come out to New York to work in Glass Works. There was about fifteen others engaged at the same time and place. Shea agreed to give us all fifteen dollars a month and our board and lodging, besides a suit of clothes suitable to the climate when we arrived in the States. Next day we all came down to Liverpool. Shea paid our fares and came with us. We were taken on board the Great Western and were there about a fortnight before we sailed. Nothing was said about enlisting in the army until the ship arrived here on Friday last. Bread and cheese and pipes and tobacco were brought off, and we were then told by some one that we should have to enlist. This was the first I heard of it. I came on shore in the tug boat on Saturday morning with the others. After signing names, we were taken into the enlisting station, the Police took us in and went with us. I was there urged to enlist. I refused, I was several times asked and refused. I said and so did others of those who came from London that it was not for to be soldiers we came out, but to get the work appointed for us in London. Some one said in reply that it was for soldiers we came. I said it was not. They told us we would get no work we had better list, and said we would get five hundred dollars bounty. I refused to list. The door was closed all the time I was there and a man at the door. I got out of the station about three o’clock. I do not know the names of any who asked us to list. Shea was not there. I am quite destitute since I have been here. I can hardly walk a few yards but a man comes up to me to ask me to list in the Navy or Army. I do not know what to do, and want employment.

[image error]Theodore Roosevelt Senior. What, if anything, did he know about the recruitment of men from the Great Western? (Wikipedia)

James O’Brien’s account of events is fascinating. It is difficult to credit his assertion that nothing had been said about enlisting in the army before his arrival, given that many of his fellow passengers had been on board the Great Western in Liverpool on 17th November when authorities came on board to question them about potential recruitment. But this was the day before James was signed on in London. It is entirely believable that he had journeyed with the express intention of working in the glassworks, and had no desire or intention to serve in the military. Clearly, the intensive focus on the activities aboard the Great Western did not dissuade Shea from continuing to source men for the passage. It seems probable that this “Shea” is the same man as the “Shaw” referenced in contemporary accounts of the incident. If so, it suggests he was Irish. It is evident in almost all the cases of suspected illegal recruitment (and inducement) that I have encountered that Irish intermediaries were key players. They frequently used their shared nationality and ethnicity to exploit their countrymen (both in Ireland and America) in pursuit of the huge profits on offer (See for example posts here and here).

[image error]The Union League Club of New York (Image: Beyond My Ken)

Further adding to the explosive nature of O’Brien’s account is his claim that New York’s Metropolitan Police were involved in trying to force him to enlist. Were some of New York’s authorities and leading citizens colluding in an effort to exploit these men? The financial rewards would have made it a tempting prospect, while patriotism may also have seen some willing to take any measures necessary to procure Union recruits. Intriguingly, Brendan’s investigations into the Bliss, Ward and Rosevelt glassworks–where the men were ostensibly coming to work–has revealed some tantalising and compelling links. The “Rosevelt” was most likely Theodore Roosevelt Senior, father of the future President. Roosevelt Senior, George Bliss Junior and George Cabot Ward were all part of a special committee of the Union League that formed in 1864 to assist with recruitment into the Second Corps (at the request of Winfield Scott Hancock). The majority of the men who entered the army from the Great Western ended up serving in the Second Corps. Roosevelt, Bliss and Ward were also members of the “Hancock Exemption Committee” which oversaw issues regarding substitution. Furthermore, Bliss was the former legal partner of Francis Barlow, who had held joint command of the 61st and 64th New York in 1862, and commanded the 1st Division of the Second Corps (which included the 64th) during the Petersburg Campaign. Many of the men from the Great Western enlisted in the 64th New York.

Another member of the Union League was Charles H. Marshall, owner of the Black Ball Line (and the Great Western) who was the author of the letter that informed men in Britain and Ireland that Rosevelt and the others would pay their passage to work in the glassworks. Were the connections of all these major figures with elements of the Great Western story coincidental, or were they in some way involved in procuring these men for Union service? If the latter, what were their motivations? And just how commonplace might this activity have been? These are all fascinating questions, and ones we will hope to return to in future posts.

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw

[image error] The passenger manifest from the Great Western. The name of James O’Brien appears at the bottom (National Archives)

References

James O’Brien Affidavit 19th January 1865.

New York Times 16th August 1864.

United States Department of State 1865. Papers relating to foreign affairs, accompanying the annual message of the president to the first session thirty-ninth congress.
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Henry Whitney Bellows 1879. Historical Sketch of the Union League Club of New York.

The post “It Was Not For To Be Soldiers We Came Out”: Recruited Straight Off The Boat–Some New Evidence appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Beyond the 69th: Exploring the Impact of Bull Run on Irish Americans

When we think of the Irish at Bull Run, our minds turn immediately to the 69th New York State Militia. When we consider the Irish in the Civil War, it is the Irish Brigade that springs to the fore. Just as these are the two formations that attract the most attention today, they were also regarded as the most influential representatives of Irish ethnicity at the time. However, our tendency to focus on ethnic regiments when considering Irish participation serves to mask the majority story of the Irish experience. Far more Irish American men served outside ethnic units; far more Irish American families scanned the casualty lists of non-Irish regiments for news of their loved ones. When we consider the scale of Irish involvement this is unsurprising. My latest estimates indicate that upwards of 250,000 Irish Americans served in Union forces during the war. Only a few thousand did so in ethnic regiments. One way to demonstrate the breadth of the Irish story–and how devastating the conflict was for Irish America–is to explore a single battle through the lens of men in these non-Irish units. The post that follows seeks to do this, taking Bull Run as its focus. The fragments of those lives which are revealed represent only a minuscule proportion of the totality of Bull Run’s impact on Irish America. The post is arranged in loosely chronological format, ordered by the time these men’s regiments saw major action on 18th and 21st July. It is one of the most sweeping pieces (in terms of numbers of families discussed) thus far attempted on the site. I hope it serves to demonstrate the truly immense scale of Irish involvement in the conflict– an experience only paralleled in modern Irish history by the First World War.

[image error]

From the moment of the first clashes between the Union and Confederacy at Blackburn’s Ford on 18th July, Irish Americans began to fall. Among the ranks of the “Chelsea Volunteers”–Company H of the 1st Massachusetts Infantry– was Private James H. Murphy. The 23-year-old was an important financial support for his Irish emigrant parents back in Boston, particularly since his father suffered from ailments that restricted his ability to work. As with many other Irish Americans, James had to leave school early in order to contribute to the household. He had begun to earn a wage at age 14, finding a position as an errand boy. From there he graduated to a printing office, then to a shoemaking apprenticeship, and finally to the Oil Mill in Chelsea where his father had been before him. By the time war came, James had risen to foreman. Given his position, patriotism must have played a large part in his decision to enlist in May 1861. Unfortunately for both himself and his family, he would not survive his first contact with the enemy. He fell to the fire of Virginians defending the ford over Bull Run, in the skirmish that presaged what was to come on 21st July. In the 1990s, the burials of some of the 1st Massachusetts men who fell with him were uncovered near Blackburn’s Ford (see here). (1)

[image error] Matthews House, Bull Run Battlefield (Library of Congress)

The Battle of Bull Run proper came on 21st July. Federals manoeuvred across the Run, seeking to outflank the Confederate left. Their march, and the Rebel response, dictated that the first major contest of the Battle would be fought out around Matthews Hill. Shortly before 10am men of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry acting as skirmishers encountered Confederates on its slopes. Among their opponents were soldiers of the 1st Special Battalion of Louisiana Infantry, which counted a number of Irishmen in their ranks. Marching with the Rhode Islanders who faced the New Orleans Irishmen that morning was Corporal Thomas J. Kelly of the 2nd Rhode Island’s Company I. The 26-year-old tinman had been a soldier for a little over a month, having left behind his 23-year-old wife Mary Ann (née Gallagher) and one-year-old baby Emma Louisa in Woonsocket. He did not live to see the evening. His company Captain Captain Peter Simpson would later recall that he visited the area where the regiment’s dead and wounded had been gathered at around 2pm on the 21st, and there he saw Thomas’s corpse. Tragically, his young widow followed him to the grave within months, dying in February 1862. Their orphaned baby girl went to live with Thomas’s Irish emigrant parents.

[image error] Men of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, in which Thomas Kelly, William McCann, Timothy Sullivan and John Riley served (Library of Congress)

Another Irish emigrant’s son in the 2nd Rhode Island was Private William McCann of Company K, whose father had been a manufacturer in Newport. The young operative was just 20-years-of age when he enlisted. Wounded in the fight, he was probably among those seen by Peter Simpson on the afternoon of the battle. Like most of the other injured Federals near the field, he was captured when the Confederates pushed the Northerners back across Bull Run. A few days later he was a prisoner in Richmond. Knowing his end was near, he gave another wounded comrade, Andrew Bashford, “some rings and other mementoes” which he asked him to pass to his mother. William died at around 4pm on 27th July. These incidents were later related by yet another Irish American in the regiment, Timothy C. Sullivan, who lost his arm as a result of the battle. William McCann would also have known John Riley, a member of Company K. John, was from Cloone, Co. Leitrim, and was some years William’s senior, being in his 40s at the time of the battle. The laborer had married Rosanna McCabe in Ireland in 1840 prior to their emigration to America. First settling in New York, they eventually came to make their home in Rhode Island’s Valley Falls. The last of their four children, William Henry, had just turned one by the time of the battle. John’s exact fate would never be known. Badly wounded during the fighting, he fell into the hands of the Confederates, dying at some point between the battlefield and Richmond. His wife died in 1867. (2)

[image error] Cheque for William McCann signed over to his mother for her support (National Archives)

Rhode Island’s position as an important manufacturing centre meant it had a large Irish community. As a result, few of the state’s units marched to war without a healthy Irish American contingent. The 2nd Rhode Island were soon joined in the fight for Matthews Hill by their compatriots in the 1st Rhode Island. Among their number was Thomas Harrington of Company F, a 24-year-old native of Co. Kerry who had emigrated to Newport in 1858. The recent emigrant had almost certainly been a chain migrant to the state, joining fellow Irish from his Kerry locality in Newport. Facing into the unknown not far from Thomas was James Dougherty of Company H. The 24-year-old jeweller from Co. Tyrone had left Ireland with his family around the time of the Great Famine. When war came, he still lived with his parents and nine other siblings in Fall River. Matthew Quirke was from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He marched in the ranks of Company K, and was old enough to be his fellow Irishmen’s father. Matthew was around 45-years-old when he started to ascend the slopes of Matthews Hill, and had adult children of his own. A laborer before joining up, he had taken a classic route to the United States, having moved as a step-migrant through Canada. North America had been his home long before the Famine; he and his wife Catherine Fleming had married in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1833, and indeed it appears his family may have still been there when Matthew enlisted. All three men had taken different routes to America, but their journeys united them in the ranks of the 1st Rhode Island and on the Bull Run battlefield–where each of them met their end. (3)

[image error] Burnside’s Brigade, which included both Rhode Island regiments, engaged at Bull Run, as sketched by Alfred Waud (Library of Congress)

The Federals successfully pushed the Confederates back from Matthews Hill during the mornings fighting, but their early success would founder against the new Rebel position at Henry Hill. Among the first units to move across the valley of Young’s Branch towards Henry Hill was the 8th New York State Militia, inappropriately decked out in uniforms whose colour matched their name, the “Washington Greys”. Their advance went quickly awry, and most of their men who fought later in the day would do so by attaching themselves to other units. One of those who set off across the valley was 25-year-old Private Michael Carney of Company D. He had left behind his 22-year-old wife Margaret, two and a half year-old daughter Jane and one year old son Philip in order to defend the Union. His failure to return from Bull Run set in train a sequence of events that impacted the family for years to come. Baby Philip died of scarlet fever only a few months after his father’s death. Margaret then entered into a relationship with another Irish American, with whom she had a daughter in 1866, but he subsequently abandoned her and left for California. Ultimately, she would be pursued by the Pension Bureau for falsely claiming a minor’s pension for her deceased son, and for claiming a widow’s pension after remarriage (though it is unclear if she had in fact remarried). (4)

[image error] Men of the 8th New York State Militia, Michael Carney’s regiment, photographed in June 1861 just before Bull Run. They are sporting their grey uniforms (Library of Congress)

Another of the regiments that went astray early on while crossing the valley was the 14th Brooklyn. But by that afternoon they were back, one of a number of regiments offering support to the batteries of Ricketts and Griffin. Those artillerymen had been given the fateful orders to advance and set up their pieces in the teeth of the Confederates on Henry Hill. One of the Brooklynites was Private Charles Kelly of Company F, a baker whose family were from St. Canice’s Parish in Co. Kilkenny. His father had died in 1858, and Charles’s death in the fight for Henry Hill represented a major emotional and economic blow to the family. Another of the “Red Legged Devils” was Private William Stapleton of Company G. He had only married his wife Margaret on Christmas Eve 1860. When William began ascending Henry Hill, he did so in the knowledge that his wife was 6 months pregnant with their first child. He must have longed to make it through to see his child born. He did not. The daughter he would never meet–Margaret– was born on 26th October 1861. (5)

[image error]An image thought to be that of a member of the 14th Brooklyn, one of the “Red Legged Devils”. Charles Kelly and William Stapleton marched with them onto the field at Bull Run (Library of Congress)

Across much of the afternoon that followed, regiment after regiment were fed into the maelstrom that developed around Griffin’s and Ricketts’s batteries and the Robinson and Henry Houses. Among them were the 38th New York–the 2nd Scott Life Guard–which had a heavy Irish contingent. Cork native Private James Flynn of Company F who marched in it’s ranks was the sole support of his widowed mother Eliza– his father Owen had died in Ireland in 1846, during the Great Famine. One of James’s friends in the regiment, John Maxwell, later remembered being in the ranks near James when “a ball…entered his forehead and passed through his head.” James O’Rourke was “directly behind” the Corkman and “saw him fall”, remembering he “died almost immediately…having been shot through the head.”

[image error] The 38th New York contained a large number of Irish officers and men, and had purposely sought out Irish enlistments. This advertisement featured in the New York Irish-American Weekly on 18th May 1861. James Flynn was one of those to answer the call (Irish American Weekly)

James’s Captain in Company F was Irish-born Hugh McQuade, who also went down under Rebel fire. Struck in the lower left leg, the limb was amputated by a Confederate surgeon in Richmond. Sisters of Charity wrote to his mother to inform her of his progress, but a fellow prisoner revealed his fate:

He received a wound in the lower part of the left leg, which rendered amputation necessary. The operation was performed in Richmond, by a surgeon of the name of Peachy, I think. The flap was a very good one, but, in consequence of inattention, the inside flap entirely mortified, so that they had to cut it completely off, leaving the bone protruding from one and a half to two inches. Inflammation set in, and extended up the limb, and in this condition he was taken down to the tobacco ware-house at mid-day, his face exposed to the hot sun, and the result was, what might have been look[ed] for, his death.

You can read a more detailed account of Hugh McQuade here. (6)

[image error] The casualties of Company F of the 38th New York, which appeared in the New York Times on 4th August 1861. It lists both Hugh McQuade and James Flynn. The wholly Irish character of the Company is immediately apparent on examining the men’s names (New York Times)

Another of the units making its way to Henry Hill were the rookies of the United States Marines, some of whom had barely learned how to fire their guns. John Reilly, an Irish American from Philadelphia, had enlisted as a Marine just 49 days before the battle. Still under training in the capital’s Marine Barracks, up until almost the very moment they were sent on the march these Marines had no idea they were to be involved. Only days earlier, John had been writing home talking about how long it would be before he was sent aboard ship. Instead he met his end on Henry Hill. Another of the Irish Marines, William Barrett, recalled how the men “fell like hail stones”, among their number a few of the “Irish Volunteers” who had recently joined to Corps from Pittsburgh (you can read more John and William’s story here). (7)

[image error]Marines at their barracks in Washington D.C. where John Reilly and William Barrett were stationed before being called for service at Bull Run (Library of Congress)

The 11th Massachusetts also saw hard fighting on Henry Hill, charging up the height in an effort to recapture Ricketts’s battery (which they briefly did), and coming under a galling fire. In Company E marched 33-year-old Corporal Michael Rice from Co. Louth. Michael had been enrolled in Boston a little more than a month before the battle, on 13th June. The Irish laborer had wed fellow emigrant Mary Kelly in Boston in 1851. The couple already had a daughter, Mary Ann, born before they got married. By the time of Michael’s enlistment she had been joined by Rose (b.1854), Ellen (b.1855), Catherine (b.1857) and William John (b.1858). Though appearances suggested Michael was a new soldier, in fact he was an old hand. Between 1852 and 1857, he had served out west with the 8th U.S. Infantry. Mary had been with the regiment as a laundress, and their daughter Ellen had been born in Texas. Despite his previous experience, the march to Henry Hill proved his last. Mary outlived him by 40 years, receiving a pension until her own death in 1901.

[image error]The Stone House on the Warrenton Turnpike, a landmark that most of the Federal soldiers on their way to Henry Hill moved past (Library of Congress)

In Company B of the 11th Massachusetts was Thomas Greene. Thomas had lied about his age to be at Bull Run, and may have been as young as 15 during the action. He had come from Ireland with his parents around the time of the Famine, but his father had afterwards abandoned the family. As a result Thomas had been forced to leave school early, earning a wage in a Boston Dry Goods Store before the war. Thomas was wounded at Henry Hill, and wrote to his mother telling her about it:

[I] got a wound on the right shoulder. Our regiment was drawn up into line when we got the order to fire I just pulled the trigger and fired, and just as I was turning around to load the ball struck me in the shoulder the ball glancing down my arm. Just then we got the order to retreat and everything was thrown into confusion. Our own cavalry running over our own wounded men….

Thomas survived, only to find himself back on the same ground a year later. He was not so fortunate on his return to Bull Run in 1862, when he was again struck by Rebel fire–this time fatally. (8)

[image error] Thomas Green is one of the few ordinary Irishmen who fought at Bull Run for whom we have an image. He was little more than a boy when he had this image exposed (Library of Congress)

Of all the Federal units that took part in the Battle of Bull Run, Irish Americans were most frequently found among those that hailed from New York. Though principally remembered for the horrific Draft Riots of 1863, the Irish working classes of New York were also over-represented in the Union military, suffering by far the greatest losses of any Irish community in the United States. It was practically unheard of for any urban New York outfit not to count at least some Irishmen among their numbers. Unsurprisingly then there were sizeable contingents to be found throughout the New York regiments that struggled for control of Henry Hill. The most famous on the field were the 11th New York, the “Fire Zouaves” that drew many of their men from the city’s fire companies (which were themselves heavily Irish). Daniel Divver from north-west Ireland (probably Donegal) was a 22-year-old Second Lieutenant in Company G. Before the war he had worked as a Morocco Dresser, and was a member of Eagle Engine Company No. 13 based out of Duane Street in Lower Manhattan. Like many Irish firemen, his family were active in political circles– his brother would later be an operative for Tammany Hall. His final moments charging Henry Hill were later remembered by his comrades:

On the march to the battlefield of Bull Run he divested himself of all superfluous garments, entering the field with his gallant comrades in his shirt sleeves, and they rolled above the elbows, sword in hand, and, with the familiar yell of the old engine company, “Get down, Old Hague!” he rushed forward to his death. When the excitement of the charge (the Rebels being driven back into the woods) was over, Lieutenant Divver was found on the field, his life blood ebbing away from over a dozen fatal wounds. He was carried off by some of his faithful comrades and was taken into a wheelwright shop by Paul Chappell and others by direction of Surgeon Gray of the regiment, where he expired almost immediately. (9)

You can read a more detailed account of Daniel Divver’s life and family here.

[image error]Daniel Divver with his helmet from Eagle Engine Company No. 13 (Our Firemen)

Sherman’s brigade, of which the 69th New York State Militia formed a part, were the last major group to be committed to the struggle for Henry Hill. Among their compatriots in the brigade were the 79th New York State Militia. Though ostensibly an ethnic-Scottish formation, the 79th contained large numbers of Irish Americans. In Company B was David Donohue, who like so many others had a young baby at home in New York– his daughter Mary was then a little over 7 months old. She lived with his wife (also Mary, née Burns) and his 10-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. They were left to fend for themselves when David, severely wounded in the fight, died in captivity on 2nd August. 34-year-old Private Charles Breen in Company F had married his fellow Irish emigrant Elizabeth Field in the Five Points in 1851. Before he left for Virginia, he had given his step- sister the family prayer book for safe keeping, no doubt hoping to reclaim it on his return. It recorded the birthdates of his children: Sarah (b.1851), James (b.1853), Charles (b.1854) and Susan (b.1858). Unfortunately his demise was only the start of a series of tragic events that afflicted the family. Charles’s widow Elizabeth died a little over a year after Bull Run. Young Susan followed in 1864, succumbing to water on the brain when only five-years-old. Their eldest son James also died tragically young, at the age of just 22.

[image error] Men of the 79th New York. Though theoretically an ethnic Scottish formation, it also contained large numbers of Irish Americans (Library of Congress)

Another honorary Scotsman was John McClery of Company G. The cooper was a native of Killane, Co. Cavan, where his father had died before the family emigrated in 1853. While John marched off to war with the 79th, his mother Nancy was living in Canada, another example of the step migration so common among Irish emigrants. Wounded and captured during the fighting, John was taken to Richmond, where his journey came to an end. 22-year-old William Geary’s decision to join the 79th can be explained by his pre-war employer. The first of his siblings born in the United States after the family left Ireland during the 1830s, he actually worked for James Coulter, who became Captain of Company H. He died under the gaze of his former employer at Henry Hill. (10)

[image error] The ruins of the Henry House on Henry Hill (Library of Congress)

Also brigaded with the 69th New York State Militia was the 2nd Wisconsin. In Company B was Irishman John Donovan, who was literally riddled with bullets as his regiment battled the enemy on Henry Hill. After the fight–in which he was captured–he recounted his experiences, including a claim that he was struck no less than six times:

…on reaching nearly to the brow [of the hill] I was struck by a rifle ball in the calf of my right leg, outside, passing through to the skin on the other side…After firing three times, another ball hit me in the left heel, glancing up along near my ankle joint…a third ball struck me in the right side, which still remains somewhere within me…I was struck in the right arm (while in the act of firing) about midway between my elbow and shoulder joints, the ball running up towards my neck…I then left the fence to get behind a tree standing some two hundred and fifty yards off, and picked up a revolver which lay on the ground, just after I left the fence, at which time a bullet struck on my right wrist glancing off from the bone. I went a little further towards the tree, when some twelve or fifteen Confederate soldiers came out of the woods directly towards me. I fired the revolver at them three times, and just as I fired the third barrel, a bullet fired by one of this company struck me just below my left eye, going into my head. I knew nothing more until about noon the next day (Monday). (11)

You can read John’s full account of his experiences here.

[image error] Men of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War (Wisconsin Historical Society)

Aside from the Militia and Volunteers, there were also United States Regulars fighting at Bull Run. The Regular service had long been favoured by Irish Americans. Indeed, as the war commenced, Irish-born servicemen tended to outnumber the American-born within its ranks. One of the professionals on Henry Hill on 21st July was Private Owen McGough from Co. Monaghan. A member of Charles Griffin’s famed Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery, by 1861 he was an old soldier. He had first enlisted as a 25-year-old laborer in New York on 5th September 1853, and returned to the military on 24th May 1859, having spent a few months as a teamster after his first term expired. A witness to the disaster that saw the Federal guns fall into Confederate hands, his efforts to save one of the pieces would see him awarded the Medal of Honor decades after the guns fell silent. His citation reads: “Through his personal exertions under a heavy fire, one of the guns of his battery was brought off the field; all the other guns were lost.” (12)

[image error] U.S. Artillery Regulars “going into action” during the Civil War. Owen McGough’s efforts at Bull Run were recognised with the Medal of Honor in 1897. He died in 1908 (Library of Congress)

Eventually the Union forces spent themselves in their efforts at Henry Hill, and their retreat from the field soon turned to a precipitate rout. One of the regiments that had not crossed Bull Run that day, the 2nd New York State Militia, found themselves engaged near the Stone Bridge. They had been suffering under Rebel artillery fire, and now found themselves facing bullets as well. The 2nd was filled with Irishmen: among the four largely Irish companies were the “Emmett Guard” and the “Irish-American Guard”. One of the men gunned down was Patrick Carraher from Co. Armagh. Patrick was part of a large chain migration network from his part of Armagh to New York, which brought many of his friends and relatives to Manhattan in the 1840s and 1850s. He had landed in America at the height of the Famine in 1848. A member of Company A, Patrick had elected to serve under the alias John Carrier. Those who knew him said he went by the name John before his service because of anti-Irish prejudice, as “at the shop where he worked there was a large number of young men Americans and English who would keep calling him Pat and Paddy so he gave his name into the shop as John.” Patrick’s wife Margaret died in 1864, leaving their three children John, Thomas and Francis orphans.

[image error] Ruins of the Stone Bridge over Bull Run. Intact at the time of the battle, the 2nd New York State Militia were stationed near it for much of the day (Library of Congress)

Not everyone who died as a result of Bull Run fell to a bullet or shell. Jeremiah Bressell of the 2nd New York’s Company F was among them. Sergeant Michael Blake remembered that Jeremiah “was well and doing duty…prior to the march to Bull Run, that on said march near Centreville…the whole brigade made a long charge over a ploughed field when [Blake] saw…Bressell take sick…” Martin Winters of the regiment was with Jeremiah during the retreat, and said that “Jeremiah got very wet and very much fatigued that the regiment was very much scattered in said battle…[I]…rejoined it on July 24th when it was in camp on 7th Street near Washington…Jeremiah came into camp on the same day and was sent…almost immediately to Georgetown Hospital…he was very pale and weak…he told [me] of getting wet by falling into the water on the night after the battle.” His exposure on the retreat cost Jeremiah his life. He died on 10th September Union Hotel hospital in Georgetown. (13)

[image error] The grave of Jeremiah Bressell at the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery in Washington D.C. (GulfportBob via Find A Grave)

In the months after Bull Run, the lists of the dead continued to grow. One of the wounded was 20-year-old Private Hugh Gillon of the 11th Massachusetts Infantry’s Company B, the “Paul Revere Guards”. Hugh had been born in Ireland, and worked as a mill hand before the war. The Gillons had come as step migrants through Britain, and Hugh’s father had died in Renfrewshire, Scotland, before they moved on to Lowell. Hugh fell into Confederate hands after the battle, but was eventually paroled to Union lines on the James River on 17th January 1862. His freedom was short-lived– he died in Fortress Monroe on 10th February 1862. Another of the 11th Massachusetts wounded was Private John O’Shea of Company C, the “Clark Light Guard”. The 27-year-old Irish carpenter, shot in the chest at Bull Run, was taken to the Sudley Church where the regiment’s surgeon Dr. Luther V. Bell cut the ball out from just below his shoulder. As the Rebels closed in, John managed to get to his feet and walked back to Washington. He was discharged due to disability on 16th September 1861, and there his official story in the military records ends. But his fight for life did not. Although his wound healed, he developed tuberculosis. For months he struggled on, perhaps driven by the knowledge that his death would leave his young children Thomas (b.1853) and Catherine (b.1855) orphans, as his wife had died in 1860. Slowly the months turned to years. In the end John O’Shea died as a result of his Bull Run wound just after Christmas Day, 1863, almost 18 months after the battle. (14)

[image error] Sudley Church, where John O’Shea was operated on to remove a bullet from his chest on the day of the battle (Library of Congress)

As John’s story illustrates, men continued to die for months and even years after the lists of Bull Run casualties had been finalised. Some had even managed to restart their lives before the long, lingering death sentence they had been handed on 21st July 1861 came for them. Patrick Kilroy was an 18-year-old Irish laborer in Company K of the 2nd Rhode Island at Bull Run. During the fight he was shot in the right side, an injury that led to his discharge on 2nd April 1862. Patrick felt he had a future. He started a relationship with Bridget Gill after he left the army, and when she became pregnant the couple married in June 1862. Their son John was born three months later. But Patrick’s wound never released him. The damage the ball had done to his lungs caused inflammation and haemorrhaging, killing him on 1st October 1863–over two years after the engagement when the fatal gunshot was fired. Bridget died in 1866, adding young John to seemingly ever growing list of Irish American Bull Run orphans. (15)

[image error] The Bull Run Monument on Henry Hill at its dedication in 1865 (Library of Congress)

The Civil War continued long after Bull Run, an engagement that would be dwarfed in scale by the battles to come. The handful of stories presented above gives only a tiny indication of the immense impact those engagements had on Irish American communities; communities whose sons, husbands and brothers were spread across hundreds of different Federal formations. What is truly sobering is the realisation that in July 1861, such miseries were only beginning–before long these horrors would be shared in by tens of thousands more Irish emigrants to America.

If you are interested in the 69th New York State Militia and the Irish at Bull Run, consider our tour in Spring 2019. You can find out more about it at Bull Runnings here.

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw. 

[image error] Union guns on Henry Hill today (Sadads via Wikipedia)

(1) Murphy Widow’s Certificate, 1870 Federal Census (Boston Ward 2), Cudworth 1866:15; (2) Hennessy 2015: 56-69, Kelly Widow’s Certificate, 1865 Rhode Island Census (Cumberland), 1850 Federal Census (Cumberland), Woodbury 1875: 410-411; 1850 Federal Census (Newport), McCann Widow’s Certificate, Woodbury 1875: 417, 1865 Rhode Island Census (Cumberland), Woodbury 1875: 418; (3) Woodbury 1862: 154-168, 1860 Census (Fall River), Quirke Widow’s Certificate; (4) Hennessy 2015: 78, Carney Widow’s Certificate; (5) Hennessy 2015: 91, Kelly Widow’s Certificate, Stapleton Widow’s Certificate; (6) Flynn Widow’s Certificate, New York Irish American 23rd November 1861, A-G Report 1902, Joint Committee 1863: 473; (7) Reilly Navy Widow’s Certificate, 1860 Federal Census (Boston Ward 7), Pittsburgh Daily Post 31 July 1861; (8) Hennessy 2015: 108-109, Hutchinson 1893: 11-12, U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, Greene Widow’s Certificate, ; (9) Divver Widow’s Certificate, Costello 1887: 590,730, 1860 Census (Manhattan); (10) Donohue Widow’s Certificate, Breen Widow’s Certificate, McClery Widow’s Certificate, Geary Widow’s Certificate, 1850 Census (New York Ward 19); (11) New York Irish American, 9th September 1862; (12) U.S. Army Register of Enlistments; (13) New York Irish American 4th May 1861, Carraher Widow’s Certificate, Unknown Captain 2nd New York State Militia (via Bull Runnings), Bressell Widow’s Certificate; (14) Gillon Widow’s Certificate, Gillon CMSR, 1860 Federal Census (Lowell Ward 1), O’Shea Widow’s Certificate (15) Kilroy Widow’s Certificate;

References

1850 U.S. Federal Census

1860 U.S. Federal Census

1870 U.S. Federal Census

1865 Rhode Island Census

U.S. Army Register of Enlistments

Widow’s Certificate for Private James H. Murphy

Widow’s Certificate for Corporal Thomas J. Kelly

Widow’s Certificate for Private William McCann

Widow’s Certificate for Private Matthew Quirke

Widow’s Certificate for Private Michael Carney

Widow’s Certificate for Private Charles Kelly

Widow’s Certificate for Private William Stapleton

Widow’s Certificate for Private James Flynn

Widow’s Certificate for Corporal Michael Rice

Widow’s Certificate for Private Hugh Gillon

Widow’s Certificate for Second Lieutenant Daniel Divver

Widow’s Certificate for Private Thomas Greene

Widow’s Certificate for Private David Donohue

Widow’s Certificate for Private Charles Breen

Widow’s Certificate for Private John McClery

Widow’s Certificate for Private William Geary

Widow’s Certificate for Private Jeremiah Bressell

Widow’s Certificate for Private Hugh Gillon

Widow’s Certificate for Private John O’Shea

Widow’s Certificate for Private Patrick Kilroy

Navy Widow’s Certificate for Marine John Reilly

Compiled Military Service Record of Private Hugh Gillon

New York Irish American 4th May 1861

New York Irish American 24th August 1861

New York Irish American 9th September 1862

Pittsburgh Daily Post 31 July 1861

Unknown Captain, 2nd New York State Militia, On the March to Manassas, the Battle, and the Retreat (via Bull Runnings)

New York Adjutant General 1902. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901

U.S. Government Printing Office 1863. Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War

Augustine E. Costello 1887. Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Departments.

Warren H. Cudworth 1866.  History of the First Regiment (Massachusetts Infantry).

John J. Hennessy 2015. The First Battle of Manassas” An End to Innocence, July 18-21, 1861.

Gustavus B. Hutchinson 1893. A Narrative of the Formation and Services of the Eleventh Massachusetts Infantry from April 15, 1861 to July 14, 1865.

Augustus Woodbury 1862. A Narrative of the Campaign of the First Rhode Island Regiment, in the Spring aand Summer of 1861. 

Augustus Woodbury 1875. The Second Rhode Island Regiment, A Narrative of Military Operations.

The post Beyond the 69th: Exploring the Impact of Bull Run on Irish Americans appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Remembering the Widows of Bull Run: Corcoran & Meagher Intercede

As we look forward to the tour of the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run in May 2019 (details here), the first months of the year will have a number of posts that examine aspects of the 69th’s experience. Among them will be a piece I have been working on for a couple of years that explores the efforts the New York Irish made to support the families of the regiment, both before and after the engagement. The correspondence I am sharing below came to light as part of my research in that area.

Even as the Civil War grew into a conflict that dwarfed the fighting of 21st July 1861, those who had marched onto the field at Bull Run retained a special place in the hearts of their former commanders. By 1862 both Thomas Francis Meagher and Michael Corcoran had gone on to command brigades, but they still found time to assist the widows and mothers of men who had lost their lives at Bull Run. The families of those who had died in the first major battle of the war faced a difficult time financially. The pension act that would ultimately aid them was still a year away in the summer of 1861, and the 90-day character of the 69th’s service also presented problems. Turning to those who held influence became a necessity for many.

[image error] John Dunphy’s name listed among the casualties of Company K in the New York Irish American of 3rd August 1861 (Irish American)

One of the women forced to seek the Generals’ aid was the widow of John Dunphy, who had served with Meagher’s zouaves in Company K. John Dunphy and Matilda Cowell had made their home at 214 East 23rd Street in New York. The couple had married at St. Peter’s Church in the city on 26th October 1860, when Matilda was 20-years-old. By that time Matilda was already a number of months pregnant– the couple’s daughter Maria was born on 15th February 1861. Baby Maria had just turned 6-months when her father was killed in action at Bull Run. Matilda was initially supported by the funds set up for the bereaved families of the 69th, but also sought the pay that her husband had never received before his death in service. In order to aid her efforts, she turned to her husband’s old Captain, Thomas Francis Meagher, who wrote the following note:

HeadQuarters Irish Brigade

New York, July 31st AD 62

I hereby certify that John Dunphy, of the City of New York, was a private in Co. K, 69th N.Y.S.M., and served with his Regt during the three months campaign in Virginia, in the summer of 1861, and that he was killed in battle at Bull Run on the 21st of July, 1861; and I do further certify that he was the husband of the bearer, Mathilda Dunphy, and that she is entitled to all the pay due to her late husband.

Thomas Francis Meagher

Brigadier-General

Coammandg the Irish Brigade

late Captain of Co. k. 69th N.Y.S.M.

Matilda would ultimately receive a pension based on her young husband’s death. It was stopped when she married another Irish emigrant, William Manly, in 1870, but was reinstated after she was once again widowed in 1879. The Dublin-born woman outlived her first husband by almost 70 years, passing away in New York in 1928.

[image error] The letter written by Thomas Francis Meagher on behalf of Matilda Dunphy (NARA)

Catherine O’Neill (née Ryan), lost her husband Corporal Cornelius O’Neill who had marched to Bull Run in Company D of the 69th. Initially reported missing, he was later confirmed as having received a mortal wound. Catherine and Cornelius had married in the famous Five Points Transfiguration Church on 12th June 1853, when Catherine was around 20-years-old. Their first daughter, Elizabeth, was born on 13th February 1856. Their second, Josephine, arrived in their home at 126 Pearl Street on 4th November 1861. By then the father she would never meet had been dead for over three months. Almost a year after Josephine’s birth, Catherine appealed to her husband’s former Colonel for help. She was not requesting intercession with the Pension Bureau; rather she wanted Corcoran to give her a letter of recommendation:

Head Quarters “Corcoran’s Irish Legion”

Astor House

New York Oct 8th 1862

Daniel Devlin Esq.

My Dear Sir

This will be handed to you Mrs. O’Neil wife of Corporal O’Neil of the 69th Regt who was killed at the battle of Bull Run. He left a large family behind him without adequate means of support. Mrs. O’Neil is known to me to be a very deserving woman and merits the needful assistance which her misfortunes renders necessary for her to have. She desires some employment connected with your store, that she may earn a livelihood for herself and children. By granting her request and assisting a person whom I know deserves it,

You will much Oblige

Your Obt. Servant

Michael Corcoran

Brig Genl. U.S.A.

Corcoran was writing from the famed New York hotel for the attention of Daniel Devlin, one of the most prominent Irish citizens of New York. Devlin, a native of Buncrana, Co. Donegal, was a major philanthropist of Irish emigrant causes. He was also a leading supporter of Irish ethnic units, particularly the 69th and the Irish Brigade. The position Corcoran was seeking for Catherine was in the Devlin & Co. Clothing Store, now located in his magnificent new premises at 459 Broadway, built in 1861 (which still stands).

The Devlin Clothing Store as it appears today

Catherine was not just relying on General Corcoran. When she did seek a pension, she secured affidavits from more 69th veterans– Cornelius’s former Captain, Thomas Clarke, and his Sergeant, Martin Ryan. It is not clear if she ever did go to work at Devlin’s premises; she was later listed as a domestic. Catherine was eventually granted a pension in early 1864, but would receive it for just five years. She died of Peritonitis at the age of just 37, leaving her children orphaned.

The everyday experiences of the ordinary men of the 69th New York State Militia and their families will be the focus of much of what I will be talking about in May, together with experts on the battlefield that changed their lives forever. Between now and then, keep an eye out for more explorations of the topic.

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw. 

[image error] Most New York Irish seem to have found out about their loved ones fate via the New York Herald. On 28th July 1861 they filled their back page with a list of the dead and missing, of which this is just a small section (New York Herald)

References

National Archives Widows and Dependents Pension Files

The post Remembering the Widows of Bull Run: Corcoran & Meagher Intercede appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

A Walk Among Storied Tombstones: The Irish of Arlington National Cemetery

Of all the National Cemeteries in the United States, none is more famed than Arlington, the premier military cemetery in America. Established on the former grounds of Robert E. Lee’s Arlington Estate, it has come to be regarded as the most hallowed ground in the United States. Among the more than 400,000 people who rest there are servicemen and servicewomen from all the conflicts the nation has been engaged in since the American Civil War. It is also where some of the country’s most famous individuals are interred, perhaps none more notable than President John F. Kennedy. Among the graves are large numbers of Irish Americans. This post takes a look at the stories of just a handful with connections to the American Civil War. Included among their number are Medal of Honor recipients (including the only one from that conflict ever buried in Ireland), senior officers, Papal veterans, Fenians, and soldiers whose military stories continued into the Spanish-American War and “Boxer Rebellion.” My previous work on one has led to a pub being named in his honour in his Co. Cork hometown. Perhaps the most poignant story is that of an Irishman whose life came to an end amidst the despair of loneliness and depression. This is the latest in the ongoing “Storied Tombstones” series– you can read some of the others here: Cambridge American Cemetery, Annapolis National Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Cold Harbor & Antietam National Cemeteries, and Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin.

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The grave of Martin Conboy, Arlington National Cemetery. Born in Co. Roscommon, the 37th New York “Irish Rifles” soldier was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia, on 5th May 1862. His citation reads: “Took command of the company in action, the captain having been wounded, the other commissioned officers being absent, and handled it with skill and bravery.” He died in 1909. (Damian Shiels)

 

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John Coughlin was born in Vermont to Irish emigrant parents. A Lieutenant Colonel in the 10th New Hampshire Infantry, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions at Swift Creek in 1864. His citation reads: “During a sudden night attack upon Burnham’s Brigade, resulting in much confusion, this officer, without waiting for orders, led his regiment forward and interposed a line of battle between the advancing enemy and Hunt’s Battery, repulsing the attack and saving the guns.” He was breveted a Brigadier-General for his service during the conflict (Damian Shiels)

 

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The grave of Martin Kelly of the 182nd New York Infantry (69th New York National Guard Artillery), part of Corcoran’s Irish Legion. Martin was a First Lieutenant when he was mortally wounded during actions near Spotsylvania Court House on 18th May 1864 (Damian Shiels).

 

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John Joseph Coppinger was one of the most accomplished Irish soldiers to travel to the United States. Originally a member of the Papal Battalion in Italy, he served the Union through the war and was badly wounded at Second Bull Run. He stayed in the army after the conflict, and rose to become a Brigadier-General. I wrote about his remarkable career at my Midleton Heritage site, which you can read here. In a first for me, my research on him caused a pub in Midleton to name their premises after him! (Damian Shiels)

 

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John Joseph Coppinger pictured during the American Civil War, when he was on the staff of General Torbert (Library of Congress)

 

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Henry J. Reilly had enlisted in the ranks of the 5th United States Artillery in 1864, fighting through the final months of the American Civil War. He rose to the command of a battery during the “Boxer Rebellion” in China, where his guns played a key role in the engagement at Peking in 1900, when he was killed. His death was major news in the United States and was widely reported. You can read more about his career here (Damian Shiels)

 

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Captain Reilly’s death was major news in the United States. This is an image of him printed in the San Francisco Call following his death in China (San Francisco Call)

 

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The Civil War Unknowns Monument. It contains the remains of 2,111 soldiers recovered from Bull Run and the route to the Rappahannock. It is unquestionable that there are Irish among their number. The brainchild of Montgomery Meigs, it was originally dedicated in 1866 (Damian Shiels)

 

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There are few sadder stories from Arlington than that of Irish veteran of the American Civil War Simon O’Kane. Born around 1842, he served through the Civil War as Captain of Company G of the 17th Wisconsin Infantry, an ethnic Irish unit. After the conflict he was a claims agent, and spent a lot of time in Soldier’s Homes. By the time he reached his early fifties he was feeling increasingly isolated and struggling for support. When he received news that he may not get a position in the Hampton Soldier’s Home, he decided to take his own life. He was found hanging from a tree at Woodside, Maryland, beside a branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in October 1896, and afterwards buried at Arlington (Damian Shiels)

 

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Artist’s sketch of Simon O’Kane which appeared alongside news of how he died, from The Evening Star (Washington D.C.) on 13th October 1896. The newspaper provided extensive details on the heartbreaking circumstances of the poor man’s death (The Evening Star)

 

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The Gleason brothers were prominent Fenians (both were arrested in Ireland in 1866) and accomplished officers during the American Civil War. From Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary, John had served in the Papal Irish Brigade in Italy in 1860. He fought with the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run, and afterwards became an officer in the 63rd New York Infantry, Irish Brigade. With that regiment he rose to Lieutenant-Colonel, and was brevetted a Major General on 13th March 1865. His brother Joseph also served in the 63rd New York, rising to Captain before war’s end (Damian Shiels)

 

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Michael Emmet Urell was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary in 1844. A member of the 2nd New York State Militia (82nd New York Infantry), he served through the Civil War from First Bull Run onwards. At the Battle of Bristoe Station on 14th October 1863 he was badly wounded during an action that would later see him receive the Medal of Honor. His citation reads: “Gallantry in action while detailed as color bearer; was severely wounded.” He served as an officer in the Spanish-American War, fighting in Santiago and becoming Colonel of the 2nd Infantry, District of Colombia National Guard. Afterwards he was Commander in Chief of the National Army and Navy Spanish War Veterans and a Department Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. He was visiting Ireland when he died in Cork in 1910. He was initially buried in his ancestral family plot at Kilkeary, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary–the only Irish Medal of Honor recipient from the American Civil War ever identified as being interred in Ireland. Though there was some initial dispute as to his final wishes, his remains were ultimately disinterred and removed to the United States for burial in Arlington (Damian Shiels)

 

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The question of where Urell would rest was the subject of significant media attention in the Washington D.C. newspapers. This from the Evening Star of 30th September 1910 (Evening Star)

 

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The famed Union ironclad USS Monitor was lost in rough weather on 31st December 1862, with the loss of sixteen crewmen. Parts of the vessel were raised in 2002, and the turret was found to contain the remains of two crewmen. They were laid to rest in Arlington in a 2013 ceremony. A number of her crew were Irish American (Damian Shiels)

 

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A detail of the Monitor headstone. The remains of the two men were not firmly identified, though it was posited that one was possible Galwegian Thomas Joyce (You can read Megan Smolenyak’s research on him here) (Damian Shiels).

 

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Felix Brannigan was born in Ireland in 1844. He served with the 74th New York Infantry during the American Civil War, and received the Medal of Honor for actions at Chancellorsville in 1863. The story of that action has been covered in detail on the site, and you can read about it here. Brannigan’s correspondence is among the most important surviving Irish American collections from the conflict, and is held in the Library of Congress. For a discussion of his motivations and beliefs, check out the excellent series that focused on him over at Immigrants Civil War (Damian Shiels)

 

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Thomas R. Kerr was born in Coleraine, Co. Derry in 1842. He rose to the rank fo Captain in the 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the war, and received a Medal of Honor for his actions at Moorefield, West Virginia on 7th August 1864. His citation reads: “After being most desperately wounded, he captured the colors of the 8th Virginia Cavalry (C.S.A.).” He died in Pittsburgh in 1926 (Damian Shiels)

 

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Michael Kerwin was born in Co. Wexford in 1837. He rose to the Colonelcy of the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the American Civil War. A noted Fenian, he returned to Ireland after the conflict to aid that struggle, where he was arrested. He held a number of important posts in America in the late 19th century, including that of New York Police Commissioner. You can read the detailed profile of him on the site here (Damian Shiels)

 

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, and gain access to exclusive content. You can find out more by clicking here or visiting https://www.patreon.com/irishacw. 

 

The post A Walk Among Storied Tombstones: The Irish of Arlington National Cemetery appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.