Damian Shiels's Blog, page 17

Bull Run Battlefield Tour 2019

I have some exciting news to share with readers of the site with regard to an upcoming event in the United States next year. Although I have guided a lot of tours on Irish battlefield sites, I have never had an opportunity to do so on an American battlefield. That will change on 11 May 2019. That Saturday I will be participating in the latest Bull Runnings Battlefield Tour, which is going to focus on the actions of the 69th New York State Militia at the First Battle of Bull Run. It has been organised by Bull Run expert extraordinaire Harry Smeltzer, creator of the excellent Bull Runnings Blog. Joining Harry will be noted historian and battlefield guide John J. Hennessy, who needs little introduction. Among many other accomplishments, John is also the author of outstanding histories of both the First and Second Battles of Bull Run. Rounding off the crew will be Joe Maghe, long-standing friend of Irish in the American Civil War, who will be bringing a selection of his remarkable collection relating to Irish participation in the American Civil War. Unsurprisingly, my role on the tour will include sharing details of some of the men who participated (and their families) based on my pension file work, some of which I will be discussing for the first time.

Perhaps the best thing about this tour is that it is completely free. To find out the full details and learn about the logistics, please head over to Harry’s post about the tour by clicking here. If you are on Facebook, you can register your interest in the event here (and while you’re there be sure to give Harry’s Facebook Page a like, if you haven’t already done so!). I am greatly looking forward to this tour, particularly as I believe there is a lot of scope for Civil War battlefield tours which draw on elements of the pension files to discuss the lives of men and their families who fell there. Hopefully it will not be the last one I have an opportunity to be involved in! Please feel free to share the word about the tour with those who you think may be interested.

The post Bull Run Battlefield Tour 2019 appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Famine Emigrants Speaking Ill of The Dead: Revealing the Moral Failings of a Working-Class Irishman

Mary Hogan emigrated from Co. Clare to America with her family around 1851. There she and her husband Michael–almost twenty years her senior–settled into life among the Irish community of Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael was among a number of Clare emigrants to secure low-paid but reliable employment working for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, a firm that employed many who had known the Hogans in Ireland. Normally, we would expect detail of the day-to-day experiences of such working-class Famine-era emigrants to be beyond our reach. Yet the American Civil War led to the creation of a unique documentary record, which has preserved for us the words of Mary Hogan and other illiterate voices from among that Famine generation. In them we can hear Mary describe the tough life she led–one made all the harder for both her and her children by Michael’s drinking habits, and his seemingly relentless pursuit of women.

Mary’s words were preserved in early March 1887 by a man called Charles J. Forbes. Forbes, a Special Examiner for the Pension Bureau, had been sent to investigate discrepancies with Mary’s pension claim. By then in her sixties, Forbes characterised Mary as “a very religious and respectable old Irish woman, but illiterate and ignorant as to any business matter.” Suspicious of the man’s motives, Mary initially refused to discuss the case with Forbes until her adult son could join them. The pension payments that were the subject of the investigation were based on the death of her eldest son John. The former brickyard labourer had enlisted during the first wave of enthusiasm for the war; unfortunately he was also destined to be one of the first to die. A member of the 1st Kentucky Infantry, he had been shot in the head in an apparent friendly-fire incident in Virginia on 13th July 1861. A few short months later Mary’s husband Michael was also dead, run over by an engine at the railroad depot. Mary’s problems lay in the fact that her original application had incorrectly stated that Michael perished first. As she was required to prove her son had contributed towards her support, this discrepancy raised questions about the veracity of her original claim. Charles Forbes was there to determine if her son had indeed helped to support her, and if so, why her husband had not been fulfilling his obligations towards his family. In making her case, Mary had little option but to reveal aspects of her long dead husband’s character that she had left undiscussed for decades.

Forbes’ first action was to ask Mary to set out where she lived, and her relationship with Michael Hogan:

I am about 63 years old and my post office address is No 296 East Pearl St. in this City. I have been living with my daughter for about 3 years, I married Michael Hogan in Ireland but I have no papers to show it. Dennis and John Woods my brothers who live near Greensburg, Jennings County, Indiana were present.

Next he asked Mary to describe her soldier son, and the nature of his support for her:

…he was about 18 years old when killed. He was the only boy we had of any size. The other children then [in 1861] was aged, Anna Maria 6 years, died about the age of 15 years, Ellen 3 years, Michael about 7 months old, my husband then was about 55 years old, I don’t know his age exactly, he was then a flagman at Hamilton and Dayton Railroad Depot in this City. He was getting 75 cents or a dollar a day wages at the time of the death of my son…when my son John was home he worked in the brickyard and he gave me all his wages as he was steady and did not drink and with this and what his father earned we lived plainly. Even then I washed and cleaned house when my children was not too young to leave at home and after my son went to the army I had to do more washing and I missed his wages very much. He never sent me any money for I don’t think he ever drew any pay, for I got his back pay after my husband’s death…we got only one letter from him it came even after we saw an account of his death in the papers, and I don’t know what was in the letter, for my husband took it away and would not read it to me because I had taken it so hard about my son’s death…

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John Hogan died so early in the war that even the Southern press reported on his death. Here his name is mentioned in South Carolina’s Charleston Courier in July 1861 (Charleston Courier)

John’s death had come so early in the war that it warranted mention in both the Northern and Southern press. As a result, Mary had found out about it through the newspapers, before official word arrived. Her husband also exercised control over the household correspondence, refusing to grant Mary access to the last letter from her son. His mastery was all the more complete as Mary’s illiterate status meant she not only had to obtain the letter, but find someone to read it for her. She succeeded in neither. Clearly, her husband’s decision to forever deny her knowledge of what was contained in those lines still rankled after the passage of more than a quarter century. Forbes next asked Mary to recount where she had lived over the previous 25 years. Aside from painting a picture of a rapidly changing cityscape, her answer also highlights how Irish Americans had to remain highly mobile within their communities, a symptom of the inability of the majority to reach the level of property ownership:

…When my son was killed and also when my husband was killed I was living at Corner of 6th and Harriet Street the house was not numbered, it was right against the railroad track and the ground has since been sold to the railroad company and the house torn down. I lived there about one year, then I moved to a tenement house on Front Street between Harriet and Mill Creek. I lived there 2 years, the house has since been torn down. I stayed a short time on 3rd Street and I then moved to Hopkins Street…lived there only a few months and I moved to 184 Cutter Street and I lived there 9 years, and about 1880 or 1881 I was broke down by hard work and the Doctor told me I would not get well unless I went to the Country and I moved to my brother’s Dennis Woods near Greensburg Indiana and I stayed there about 9 months and I came back to this City and got rooms on the corner of Noble Court and Clark Streets and I lived there 2 years and 3 months and I then quit housekeeping soon and since then I have lived with my daughter Ellen Handley at 296 East Pearl Street…

The next topic was that of her husband’s death. Here Forbes even recorded Mary’s thought process, as she first remembered it as occurring in late 1861, but as she considered all the details realised in had in fact been January 1862:

…my husband was killed in December 1861 after my son was killed in July, I know it was in the winter and bad weather when he was killed and only a few days after Christmas yes it was after the New Year’s Day in January 1862. The Switch Engine ran over him and killed him. He had sworn off from the drink then and was sober when he was killed, he had been a tolerably heavy drinking man at times…[my husband] never had any [property] except our household goods and that was generally used in one room and a summer kitchen he always worked for wages. He never lost much time but was not very strongman physically he always had a cough he was broke down by hard work in Ireland in supporting his father’s family. He always said he had to have me help support his own family by washing.

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Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad Map from 1873 (Snile via Wikipedia)

The implication that Michael had been physically impaired by the hard labour he was required to do prior to his emigration from Ireland is a fascinating one. However, the most detailed element of the conversation ultimately centred around Michael’s failings as a husband. Mary’s description of his moral shortcomings was a difficult topic, and one she had sought to conceal from their children:

I know that while the war was going on he had fell asleep while under the influence of liquor and the cars ran off the track on account of his not being on hand to flag the train, he was discharged for this. I made a mistake about this being during the war it was just before the war, for I recollect I sent my soldier son who had not then enlisted to find out where his father was, and he had been arrested and put in the Station House with two women, with whom he had been quarrelling because they had stolen his money from him in Cherry Alley while he was drunk. He got his place back as flagsman just before my son was killed…my husband and I did not get along well together not on account of his drinking but on account of his running after other women, he used to keep one woman Mary Ann Cahill about his switch house for a week at a time, though the Rail Road knew nothing about this, he then did not provide so well for us, and as I was strong enough to wash and work hard I supported the children when he failed to provide for us. I supported all my children in that way after my husband’s death. I spoke more favorably to you yesterday about my husband that I ought probably for the reason I have always hated to speak ill of my children’s father before them…I was ashamed to tell all before my children…I did not speak out plain about it…

Mary counted on a number of other Clare emigrants to assist her during the investigation, principally by providing details as to her marriage and her husband’s failings. The first to be interviewed by Forbes was Thomas McNamara of 69 Ochler Street. The 67-year-old Clare native was a first cousin of Mary’s mother. We know Mary stayed in the room during this interview, as she also asked Thomas some questions. The first topic related to the marriage:

…my sight has failed me and I cannot work anymore, and I was a laborer, I was working for Cincinnati, Hamilton and Ohio Railroad for several years before and during the war. I lived about 3 miles from Michael Hogan in Ireland when he was a young man and before he married Mary Woods. I was not present when they married but I knew they did get married I heard of it at the time and I saw them housekeeping for I could not go to Mass of a Sunday without seeing their house.

During his years with the railroad, Thomas McNamara and Thomas Hogan socialised together, more evidence of the bond that tied emigrants from the same locality together in the United States. He freely admitted his own failings, along with those of his former friend:

[John] was a steadier man than his father, indeed he was a steadier man than his father or myself either for Michael and I both drank liquor and spent a good deal of our wages in that way. I did not drink as much though as Michael Hogan, and he had another fault I did not have, he was inclined to keep company with bad women. I never saw him in bad houses but I was told about his being company with the women, a very respectable woman who lived in the same house with us Ann Burns told me privately that she saw him and Rosa Burns a woman of bad character, in an empty freight car together. This was before the war, and from that time on up to his death when the engine ran over him and killed him he was the same way and every now and then I could hear of his name in this way, mixed up with these bad women and I knew his habit in that way as well as if I had seen him. I knew there was no doubt about it for I plagued him about it and he owned to me once that he went over to Covington Kentucky with a woman one night to satisfy his desires. I told him he did and he said it was so, this was before the war also, of course he had to spend money with these women. We got one dollar a day for wages in 1861, and I know that I had a family of my wife and only two little girls, and my wife had to wash to help me support my family and I know that the wages Michael Hogan got would not support his family, without the help of his wife and son’s wages, even if he had taken all of it home and spent it properly, which I was satisfied he did not do, for he had double in number that I had to support. Of course I spent some of my money for an occasional drink, for I never lost a day on account of liquor, but if I had spent no money in that way my wages would not have fed my family and paid house rent, which Hogan and I had to do…Michael and his wife did not live agreeably on account of his spending his money on other women, she complained to me that she had to make most of the living on account of Michael’s habits. He was not a drunkard for he could not afford to be at our wages, but he drank pretty steady and at times he would spree of a night or Sunday but he never lost any time during the day, except one time he was discharged for not turning the switch right and allowing the cars to be run off the track. I don’t know whether he was drinking then or not, he was out of work a while but it was sometime before he was taken back…I think I recollect now that Hogan and I both were drilled as Home Guards a night after we quit work before he was killed…I know I paid the men for digging his grave, his wife sent me to do so, but still I can’t fix the time I can’t write or read and I cannot keep track of dates. His wife does not talk much of his faults since his death, it is a general rule among Irish people not to speak ill of the dead we let their faults go with them, but when he was alive she used to complain to me of Michael’s faults, mostly about the women. [Mary Hogan asked Thomas if he remembered “the men turning loose the hose on him and two women in a frame house on 6th Street and washing them out of the house”]. Yes, I recollect of hearing the people laugh about that, that was before the war.

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The “W.H. Whiton”, an 1862 locomotive, with President Lincoln’s car attached (Library of Congress)

McNamara chose to note the Irish tradition of not speaking ill of the dead as one reason Mary Hogan had not divulged her husband’s shortcomings, and this was surely a factor. He cites his inability to read and write as a major impediment in seeking to remember dates, a difficulty that led to the common problem of “age-heaping”, the tendency of illiterate individuals to round their age to the nearest 5 or 10 years. During the course of the conversation Mary had brought up yet another incident where her husband had been caught with other women, apparently being hosed out of a house during the course of his activities. Michael McNamara may well have not had any encounters with the “women of ill repute” who his friend liaised with, but even if he had he was unlikely to disclose them, given that his own wife was one of the other interviewees. Catherine McNamara, also of 69 Ochler Street, was 64-years-old at this time. She had yet more stories to add to the litany already told about Michael Hogan’s dalliances with other women:

I know one night he [Michael Hogan] was trying to get in a window where a woman lived in her cellar Rosa Carlin who was a woman that had bastard children and I saw Michael Hogan and another man running away up the alley…of course he spent some of his money with these women, he drank liquor once and a while, I don’t know what wages he got but my husband got one dollar a day during the first of the war, my husband worked 17 or 18 years for the same railroad company Michael Hogan did, they were working near together when Hogan was killed by the Engine running over him. Mary Hogan complained to Michael of his not doing right, I heard her doing it, she complained of his being out of nights with other women, and I have often heard him tell her, he was not depending on her to sleep with he could get plenty from others…I think Michael spent some of his wages on other women from what I heard him say to her, when they were quarrelling, he was cheerful pleasant kind of a fellow and was always making a laugh, his fault of running after women caused a good deal of disunion between him and his wife. He was not a drunkard. but he drank some. I never saw him drunk, my husband and Mike Hogan both drank now and then, my husband did not get enough to support us with what he spent for liquor, Hogan and he were about the same as to drinking.

Aside from corroborating Mary’s account of Michael’s misdeeds, Catherine McNamara did not hold back about what she thought with respect to her own husband’s drinking habits–bearing in mind he was likely in the vicinity (if not in the room) when she offered forth the chastisement. Yet another Clare man interviewed was Michael Brogan, of 273 Carlisle Avenue. He was 63-years-old, and had served as a policeman between 1861 and 1863, before joining the railroad and rising to Yard Foreman in the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton:

I knew Michael Hogan and his wife in Ireland before they were married. I was not present when they were married, but I knew when it occurred and I have heard plenty of people speak of the wedding that were present, there is no mistake about their marriage…I heard his wife complain that he spent some of his money unnecessarily, she complained that he spent it for liquor and on other women she told me this when I was a Police Officer and before Michael Hogan’s death she told me one day he was not giving her his wages as he ought to, I simply had her word for it. I heard of it that he drank and was inclined to run after other women from others besides her but I did not know it myself. I don’t know what conclusion I came to about the matter, it has been so long ago, sometimes they lived agreeably and sometimes not. I know I was called upon to quiet them once while I was an officer, but I made no arrest and I don’t remember the cause of their quarrel them, I don’t know what kind of a support Michael made for his family, that is pretty hard for an outsider to tell…I heard since the death of her husband that Mrs Mary Hogan during the life of her husband had to go out to work, to wash I think, I heard this spoken of by her neighbors…I have the belief that she worked out before and after her husband’s death, but I can’t say how I got it, and I know times were hard for poor people in this City in 1861, as a policeman I only got $1.60 a day.

Brogan’s testimony further demonstrates the extent of the Co. Clare network in Cincinnati. Indeed, it seems probable that his Clare roots were instrumental in him getting a position with the railroad when he did. Another interesting aspect of his testimony is his memory of how hard times were economically in 1861. Many early war Irish volunteers complained of the lack of employment opportunities prior to their enlistment, and similar hardships appear to have remained fresh in Michael Brogan’s mind. Mary Brogan, who was 46-years-old, was apparently Michael Brogan’s wife, and also lived at 273 Carlisle Avenue. She provided the final nail in Michael Hogan’s reputational coffin:

Michael Hogan himself says he spent a good deal of money around town, but he never said how, except he said himself he had other women than his wife. He said it in earnest, and I heard that he did have other women besides his wife from others I thought that was one way his money went…

The litany of witnesses convinced Charles J. Forbes, and at his recommendation Mary had her pension restored. She would undoubtedly have greatly preferred never to have had her family’s dirty laundry aired in such a public setting, but felt she had no choice given the risk to her pension. Her misfortune has been the historian’s boon, as the interviews offer a remarkable insight into some of the struggles of the poorest among Ireland’s emigrant community. It provides a further demonstration of the wealth of social data on 19th century Irish life waiting to be uncovered in American Civil War pension files.

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Cincinnati in 1841, a few years before the arrival of the Hogans to the city (New York Public Library via Wikipedia)

References

John Hogan Dependent Mother’s Pension File.

The post Famine Emigrants Speaking Ill of The Dead: Revealing the Moral Failings of a Working-Class Irishman appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Remembrance Rejected: Reflections on the First World War Centenary & Irish “Forgetting”

The 11th November 2018 marked the conclusion of events remembering the centenary of the First World War. During the last four years remembrance of that conflict has, along with the 1916 Rising, dominated Irish historical discourse and memorial culture. A central theme of Ireland’s remembrance has been the view–deeply held by many–that the story of the Irish in the war had been “forgotten”, “airbrushed from history” and “written out of the history books”. A plethora of commemorative initiatives over the last four years have sought to rectify this perceived historical neglect, ostensibly driven by a desire to create a more complete, inclusive and comprehensive memory of our past. The sincerity of such efforts are undoubted. However, other factors also contributed to the extraordinary outpouring of commemoration in Ireland between 2014 and 2018. Remembrance is about choices–who a society chooses to remember, and who it chooses to forget (or, to put it another way, chooses to “not remember”). That selection process reveals as much, and usually more, about the society doing the remembering than about those being remembered. Using the centenary commemorations as a comparative foil, I wanted to share with readers some of my early thoughts and questions on the drivers of remembrance in modern-day Ireland. It will come as little surprise that I consider the most useful, thought-provoking and revealing way to do so is by looking at the Irish people’s other Great modern War, the one that there can be little doubt has been truly “forgotten”.

In 1950, almost thirty-two years after the conclusion of the First World War, the last Irishman who claimed to have served in the American Civil War died. Today, at least three grandchildren of American Civil War veterans can be found in Ireland. The conflict, which concluded 49 years before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, saw at least 200,000 Irish-born men serve in uniform (recent analysis suggests these figures may be too low). As many as 50,000 more children of Irish emigrants, most of whom considered themselves ethnically Irish, also fought. The great bulk were engaged in preserving the Union. We will never know how many died, but if they follow the standard ratios given for Union and Confederate dead, it is likely to run to at least c. 35,000 Irish-born. By any measure, from an all-island perspective, this is a conflict comparable in scale to the Irish experience of the First World War. There is a distinct possibility that the Civil War represents the largest military experience of Catholic Irishmen in modern Irish history. There is also a distinct possibility that the Civil War represents the largest modern military experience and loss of life for the landmass that currently makes up the Republic of Ireland. There is a probability that for Irish counties which witnessed the heaviest outflow of emigration in the 1840s and 1850s, the American Civil War caused their largest loss of life in modern conflict. We will never know with any certainty whether the First World War or American Civil War saw more Irishmen in uniform, or in which more perished. In any event, such knowledge is immaterial. Remembrance is not a competition to be measured in the piles of dead. What is demonstrable is that they are clearly comparative in the Irish experience, and so exploring how we choose to remember them is an instructive exercise. Below are just some of the ways in which I think we might profitably do so in the future, together with some wider questions I think such exploration prompts.

The Forgotten Irish

The insertion of the word “forgotten” into headlines relating to history/archaeology/heritage topics has grown clichéd (I say this having authored a book entitled The Forgotten Irish, and as a person who makes regular use of #ForgottenIrish on Twitter–because I believe its usage is appropriate in the context in which I employ it). Over recent years it has become most synonymous with the Irish experience of the First World War (e.g. here, here, and a counterpoint here). The degree to which the term “forgotten” can be applied to the First World War Irish is a matter of considerable debate. Though one could argue that the topic may have been neglected through certain periods of Irish history, such a contention is difficult to square within the wider-landscape of research, commemoration and interpretation that long preceded the commencement of the centenary. The two decades prior to 2014 witnessed an increased outpouring of books and academic investigation (e.g. see here, here, here, here), the dedication of the Island of Ireland Peace Park by the President of Ireland, visits by the President to sites such as Gallipoli, a permanent exhibition on the conflict in National Museum of Ireland and the refounding of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, to name but a few. While compelling arguments can be made as to whether this was enough, it is difficult to characterise it as “forgotten”. Nonetheless, the “re-remembering” of the First World War Irish has been a major theme of the commemorations, largely set against a background of a systematic attempt by the Irish state to sideline this memory. It is interesting to consider this issue with respect to memory of the Irish in the American Civil War, which offers a wildly different perspective on what we might qualify as “forgotten”. Prior to the 150th anniversary of that conflict (2011-2015), the Irish State had never held an event relating to Irish participation, there was no major academic research on the subject within Ireland, and there was no burgeoning development of public interest (the conflict did feature in the National Museum, and was the topic of an Irish-published book). Such comparisons raise a range of questions for us to consider. Along with debating whether or not the First World War was “forgotten”, we might wonder why has there been a clamour to rectify Irish memory of that conflict, but not that of the American Civil War. We could examine the perceived differences between them, and why both society at large and the State have chosen to privilege one “forgotten” conflict, but not the other. If indeed the First World War was “forgotten”, what can we say with respect to the American Civil War (which by comparative measure, seems to have done considerably worse than being simply “forgotten”)? If there was indeed a systematic attempt to “forget” Irish veterans of the First World War due to their service for Britain, what was the reason behind the “forgetting” of Irish participation in the American Civil War? I pose these questions without offering comment or viewpoint (though I have plenty of both!), but as a demonstration of how these two comparable conflicts can serve as a vehicle for exploring the historical memory and commemorative culture of the society in which we live from fresh perspectives.

Genealogical Remembrance

One element of First World War remembrance that will require significant attention in the future is the role of the World Wide Web and the explosion in genealogical interest in people’s rediscovery of their military ancestors. This has played a fundamental role in the popularity of First World War commemoration in Ireland. The centenary approached as access to genealogical information became widespread, allowing ordinary people to delve into their family’s past on a mass scale and in ways not possible only a few years previously. This was particularly significant in a country like Ireland, which lacks the annual traditions prevalent in Britain and the United States surrounding the commemoration and celebration of uniformed military service, traditions that (among other things) serve to pass knowledge of a family’s military heritage from one generation to the next. The rediscovery of these historical connections provided a highly personal link for thousands of Irish people to the events of the centenary. The apparent ease with which this information can now be revealed has also likely led to some conflation between forgetting within a family (not unusual after the passage of almost a century, particularly with veterans reluctant to discuss their experiences) and perceptions of a national forgetting. Either way, it is apparent that it was the personal connections that individuals, families and by extension wider communities felt that drove a great portion of First World War remembrance in Ireland. To again employ our comparative framework, the vast majority of Irish who served in the American Civil War had emigrated, never to return to Ireland. Their departures took place just on the wrong side of a genealogical watershed beyond which family history becomes increasingly difficult, meaning that direct personal connections are largely absent. Fundamentally, it has meant they have fewer “champions” for remembrance in Ireland. This in itself raises interesting questions for Irish society, surrounding what we choose to remember and choose to commemorate. Should the prevalence of  genealogical connections be a prerequisite for widespread commemoration and remembrance? By extension, should events that are just beyond our immediate genealogical reach, such as The Great Irish Famine, belong to a secondary tier of remembrance? What are the implications for historical memory if genealogical ties of association are overwhelmingly favoured for historical commemoration?

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The Irish War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge (Osioni via Wikipedia)

 

Remembrance Rejected 1: Society

Irish society embraced remembrance of the First World War in a remarkable way. Books have been published by the dozen, thousands of talks have been delivered, and amateur, local and professional historians have produced vast quantities of new analysis and research. New exhibitions have been prepared throughout the country, and new digital resources made available online. Universities have run numerous conferences and courses on aspects of the conflict and its impact. A new wave of PhD scholars have expanded and extended our knowledge of the period in innumerable ways. Ireland is in the midst of a memorial boom (something not without its own issues in terms of how we choose to understand and interact with the past) and within that sphere the local First World War memorial has reigned supreme. The clamour for further memorialisation show no signs of abating. Many of the old regimental associations have now been revived, and organisations such as the Western Front Association have become well established. The local and national print media fully embraced the centenary, often publishing multiple articles each week related to the conflict. So too did television and radio, with innumerable programmes covering Irish participation. Whatever the pre-2014 claims of the conflict being “forgotten”, any such claims in 2018 are spurious in the extreme.

In stark contrast, the completeness of Irish society’s rejection of remembrance of the Irish of the American Civil War could not be more marked. Although efforts have been made, there has been no groundswell of local interest in remembering the emigrants of the conflict. Local communities (with one exception) have not constructed any memorials to remember those who lost their lives. One temporary library exhibition aside, there have been no major new exhibitions on the island. There has not been a single academic conference (there have been two-day long non academic conferences), and just a couple of Irish PhD’s have taken it as a central theme. Indeed, though there are a number of excellent diaspora historians in Ireland, no permanent academics on the island count the Irish experience of the American Civil War as a primary focus. This has not been without consequence, one of which has been a recent trend towards describing the First World War as unique in scale in Irish history. At a broader level, no association has ever been formed in Ireland to examine Irish participation in the American Civil War. Interestingly, the United Kingdom is home to a long-standing and vibrant Civil War Round Table, despite the disparity between British and Irish participation. In Ireland between 2011 and 2015, not a single television programme or documentary focused on the Irish in the American Civil War (Tile Films did produce Fàg An Bealach/Clear The Way in 2010). The most recent proposal in that sphere was ultimately rejected, as it was felt the topic did not have broad enough appeal when compared with others. Though there have been some radio spots which have looked at the Irish in the war, particularly on RTE’s History Show and to a lesser extent Newstalk’s Talking History, it has not come remotely close to achieving the coverage of the First World War. The reasons for this imbalance are evident. Despite the parallels that we can draw between the two conflagrations, wider Irish society–be it the public, the Universities, or the media, are extremely invested in exploring one, but not very interested in exploring the other. This, of course, is a perfectly reasonable state of affairs. There is no obligation on the part of Irish society to commemorate or remember any particular event or group. However, I would again contend that comparison of how the two conflicts are viewed in Ireland can be profitable; that by seeking to understand why this is the case we can gain deeper insight into what it means for how and what we choose to remember, and to not remember.

Remembrance Rejected 2: State

The State has been an enthusiastic participant in the centenary commemorations in Ireland, and have through their actions (and funding) helped to nurture the interest in the First World War centenary both publicly and academically. There have been numerous State events, speeches and commemorative initiatives. These have been backed with the marking of significant anniversaries by the Government and other agencies, such as the issuance of special stamps by An Post. As with the wider society, there does appear to have been a genuine interest on the part of Government in seeing the colossal scale of Irish involvement appropriately remembered. The centenary also offered contemporary political benefits that were well worth pursuing– an opportunity to continue improving relations with both the Ulster Unionist community and the British state, and a chance to play a role in a major pan-European and (to a lesser degree) pan-Global series of events.

Conversely, the Government (and the broader political establishment) consistently rejected any major efforts towards commemoration or remembrance of Irish participation in the American Civil War. This began in 2010, when a request that the flag of the 69th New York, housed in Dáil Éireann, be temporarily brought out of the setting of Parliament to enable more of the public to view it. That request fell on deaf ears. Despite frequent (and in the case of the Taoiseach, annual) visits to the United States between 2011 and 2015, no speech was given by the President or Taoiseach which took the impact of the American Civil War on Irish people as a central (or peripheral) theme. Some speeches were even delivered in locations where Irish troops had been billeted, without making reference to Irish participation. Indeed, it took significant lobbying to have the topic referenced in any speech, though it ultimately was in 2014. Requests that Government mark the 150th commemorations in any wider way were rejected, the official response being that they were the purview of the United States, and not Ireland–a view diametrically opposed to the position the Government was taking at the very same time with respect to the First World War. A further request to the Commemorations Committee for a small amount of funding to hold a conference also failed. So too did a campaign to see An Post issue a commemorative stamp, despite the fact that the anniversary matched the selection criteria. The state did make three noteworthy exceptions. A small Irish Army colour-guard were sent to the 150th anniversary commemorations at Fredericksburg in 2012, the Civil War was the topic of a Department of Foreign Affairs Iveagh House lecture in 2015, and also in 2015 it was decided that a planned statue of Michael Corcoran in Ballymote, Co. Sligo should act as a “national monument” to the Irish of the American Civil War. It was officially unveiled as such by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Ballymote today contains Ireland’s most significant American Civil War memorial landscape, with the village also home to a 69th New York-9/11 monument.

The disparity in the State’s reaction to the two conflicts is intriguing to consider. It is hard to escape a conclusion that the choices–in both instances–were inherently political in nature; that while the First World War commemorations offered political opportunity, those of the American Civil War did not (particularly given the longstanding good relations with the United States). Was this the case, or is it simply another instance of the Government not being particularly interested in remembering that particular cohort of Irish people? Though protests did accompany the dedication of both Ballymote monuments, similar controversy was hardly absent from First World War commemorations. Was the First World War seen a “safe” conflict, and the American Civil War as a “dangerous” one? Perhaps the main driver was a wish to avoid controversy over discussing a Civil War for no apparent gain; perhaps there was a feeling that commemoration was otherwise inappropriate or unnecessary. Regardless, by considering the State responses to both, it raises intriguing questions about the decision making process when it comes to remembrance and memory, and what is and what is not to be commemorated. In some respects, it is the inverse of the discussion surrounding the historic role of the State with respect to the memory of the First World War.

Ireland for the Irish?

The thoughts put forward in this piece are initial reflections on how we might gain broader perspective by looking at the commemoration and memory of the First World War and American Civil War together, as part of a wider framework. Of the two, there can be no doubt that the First World War was by some distance the more significant conflict when it comes to the history of the island of Ireland. It should–and most certainly does–have primacy in terms of remembrance, memory and historic analysis. The supreme importance of the period that is being commemorated during the decade of centenaries fully justifies the major attention it is receiving. However, the American Civil War is the only modern conflict of comparative scale. Yet far from there being a risk that it might receive greater commemorative and memorial attention, it has historically received almost none, a scenario that will likely continue into the future. Considering it in conjunction with memory of the 1914-18 war allows us to consider anew questions that have been asked about the memory and commemoration of that conflict. It also lays bare the disparity in what we choose to remember and what we do not. Ultimately, as I have discussed elsewhere, it is difficult to escape the reality that within the context of Irish history, memory and commemoration, “Irish” generally means “Irish in Ireland”, rather than “Irish”. Perhaps the most fundamental factor in terms of modern Irish remembrance has not been whether or not you served in the British military, but whether or not you emigrated.

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Island of Ireland Peace Park, Messines, Belgium (Donar Reiskoffer via Wikipedia)

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The post Remembrance Rejected: Reflections on the First World War Centenary & Irish “Forgetting” appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Dying to Vote: How the 1864 Presidential Election Cost an Irishman His Life

It will come as little surprise to readers that my analysis of Irish American correspondence during the Civil War has revealed that they were overwhelmingly pro-Democrat and anti-Republican. When they expressed a political opinion, they showed a general antipathy towards Abraham Lincoln, and strongly supported George B. McClellan in the 1864 Presidential Election. Going to the polls in November 1864 was the event that prompted the majority of political commentary in their writings home. Many of them were undoubtedly disappointed by the result, one which saw President Lincoln re-elected for a second term. But whatever their feelings of loss, they were nothing compared to those felt by the Connolly family. For them, the 1864 Presidential Election had cost them much more than a political reverse. It had cost them their son. To compound their distress, the Government determined that they were to be financially penalised– because when their son died, he had been en-route to exercise his voting rights.

The 1860 Census found the Connollys living in Boston’s Tenth Ward–later documentation reveals their home address as 18 Carney Place. The family consisted of 56-year-old laborer James and his 48-year-old wife Johanna, together with their 22-year-old painter and glazier son Eugene, and 18-year-old daughter Catherine. All had been born in Ireland, and as was common among working-class Irish, all of them appear to have been illiterate. On 12th August 1862, Eugene was enrolled in Company B of the 20th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the many Irishmen in what was known as the “Harvard Regiment.” By that time he was his family’s main support. His father had become almost totally blind in 1861, and his mother had long been unable to work as she battled mental illness. John Cadagin, who had known the family in both Ireland and the United States, recalled in 1866 that “Johanna was unable to do anything from sickness she has been in the Insane Hospital about 15 years caused by the death of several Children and has been feeble minded ever since…” Indeed both parents would “have been in the poor house” without the regular payments from their son, sent from the army via mediums such as Adams Express. (1)

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Adams Express envelope used by Eugene Connolly to send money home in October 1864. Like many illiterate Irish, he sent money and letters to his parents via intermediaries, in this case Morris Fitzgerald. Morris was also unable to write, but was probably able to read. (National Archives)

 

Eugene wrote home to his parents during the conflict, using a literate fellow soldier to prepare his correspondence for him. When the time came, he elected to reenlist as a Veteran Volunteer, providing those at home with his bounty money. But his time at the front in 1864 did not last long. During the fighting at The Wilderness on 6th May he was shot in the face, a severe injury that condemned him to months of medical treatment. The Irishman was sent to McClellan General Hospital in Philadelphia, and a short furlough excepted, he was still there the following November. That month the Government sought to mobilise the soldier vote in the Presidential Election, due to take place on 8th November. Republicans feared the contest would be a close-run thing, and Eugene was among many men allowed home to cast their ballot. Indeed, the crowds of soldiers being crammed onto the trains were so large that they stretched the transportation system to breaking point. For the debilitated emigrant, still suffering from spells of dizziness, it proved catastrophic. The circumstances of his fate were outlined in a long letter written by one H.P. Parrott, an Adams Express agent who was with the Irishman at the end:

Office Adams Ex. Co.

B. Port Nov 8/64

Isaac P. Clark Agt.

Dr Sir Enclosed I send you 8/- and few buttons all there was in the pcokets of E. Connolly there was a letter from Fitzgerald, and his furlough both of which was passed over to the Provost Marshall as he is out of town I cannot obtain them today. I understand it [is] his duty to return the Furlough to the Hospital with statement of circumstances of his death, as the Govt. need positive information of this death, so that his friends may get his Pension &c. Connolly was on the 3 P.M. Express train from New Haven for Boston Saturday eveg the train was heavily loaded with soldiers as well as all the trains that passed over the Road, many of the soldiers were on the Platform, it is said Connolly was on the Platform got a sleep and fell off the train, he was seen to fall off about a half a mile below the Depot at this station. Train was stopped and he was brot. to my Office in the Depot, his left leg just below the knee was run over and badly mangled his other led was also somewhat injured. There was also a slight cut over one of his eyes. At 7 P.M. he was brot. to my Office. Immediately sent for Physicians. Dr. Bennett one of our best Surgeons was shortly to his side also Surgeon Burnett who is Medical Inspector of 23d Army Corp’s happened to be home on a short furlough. They made an examination and was soon satisfied that he could not live but a short time. He had hardly a perceptible pulse and but slight movement of the bead. Brandy was given him but he did not revive in the least. Doctors though that he must have been injured internally as the loss of his leg would not have so reduced him. He lay perfectly quiet apparently unconscious until he died. I heard him say once plainly “I am dying take me home”. I called him by name but heard no response. Doctors said the only hope for him was to let him remain quiet keep feeding him with stimulants and if he recovered sufficiently move him to a Hotel and they would attend to his leg. They both remained by his side until he died together with myself and several others. I did not move him until after 11 O’Clock P.M. As he seemed to live longer than expected I thought he might live the night out. By permission of the Doctors we removed him on a mattress to the “Sterling House” in this City, a House whose doors are always wide open to take in any soldier in distress (and it is the only one we have I am sorry to say) balance are “Copperheads”. They gave us a good room and a good bed free of expense on which we laid him he however lived but about 3/4 of an hour. He died as easily as if going to sleep not a movement of a muscle could be discerned. He died surrounded by quite a number of warm hearted friends and everything was done for him that possibly could be to resuscitate him. He died about 1/4 after 12 A.M. A brother soldier and a Gent. here volunteered to lay him out and remain with him until morning which they did. Dr. Bennett being an officer in the army examined his pockets and found only the enclosed. I enclose his certif. of death, I telegh. immediately to Fitzgerald Sunday. I procured a coffin and prepared the corpse for forwarding as per ins. recd. your telegraph [Nov] 7th and forwarded the body on Tuesday morning by Express free of charge. I consulted the R.R Office and they claim they have nothing to do about it, as I bought the coffin and made some little expense I intended to have sent bill to you to collect of the friends but since reciving your letter stateing that they are so poor, I will endeavor to collect here if possible. I have given you a hasty account of the circumstances attending this sad case. If there is any questions the friends want to ask I will cheerfully give them all the information I possess. My sympathies run out towards the brave men who stand as a wall of iron between us and our enemies, and I stand ready at all times to minister to their wants, sympmathizing deeply with the afflicted family, I Remain, Respy. Yours

H.R. Parrott Agt.

Adams Express Co

Br. Port. Ct.

Have written in such haste that you may find some trouble in reading it want of time forces me to do so. P. (2)

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A military train with Federal troops crosses the Bull Run Bridge in the spring of 1863 (Library of Congress)

 

One cannot imagine the devastating impact Eugene’s death had on his family, particularly his mother, who had been so affected by the premature loss of her other children. The Connollys may fairly have expected, given what their son had sacrificed, that their pension application would be a relatively straight forward affair. Such was not to be the case. Though Johanna applied almost immediately-a necessity given their financial predicament–her hopes were soon dashed. The Pension Bureau determined that Eugene’s death had not come in the line of duty, and as a result no pension could be awarded. The Commissioner of the Pensions stated it succinctly, if coldly:

It appears from the evidence that this soldier was furloughed to go home to vote and was killed by falling from the cars. As he was not in the line of duty the application is rejected. (3)

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McClellan Hospital in Philadelphia, where Eugene Connolly had been recovering from his Wilderness wounds (Library of Congress)

 

Johanna Connolly’s attorney was incensed by this determination. When no progress had been made by late 1867, he decided to take the matter directly to the Secretary of the Interior. His incredulity as to the decision shines through in his letter, reinforced by his decision to underline key passages. A portion of his impassioned argument is as follows:

…the transport furnished was inadequate so many going home to vote. Every train was overcrowded. He was furnished with no money or means of subsistence to lay over and was necessitated to take such conveyance as was offered. The cars were so full that the platforms were crowded. This soldier had a standing place on the outside of the car with others, and in passing Bridgeport CT on the evening of the 5th November making no stoppage and running very fast. Connolly was thrown or crowded off and killed, he was at the time suffering under debility from the effects of his wounds and service rendering him unable to protect himself and hastening his death. He lived several hours.

If he was furloughed to go home to vote I contend that he was [in] line of his duty, that as it was officially permitted by the Executive and War department of the Government for disabled soldiers to be furloughed to vote. It was as much his line of duty to sustain the Government and the army by his vote as in the line of battle. And that movements in the field were delayed to enable the soldiers to vote in their several regiments and divisions. This soldier had just returned from a sick furlough only two weeks previous and it was not by his solicitation that this furlough was granted, but the action of the Government for their own advantage. Had anything occurred to a regiment in the field or camp while voting would it for a moment have been considered that the men were not in their line of duty.

If it should be decided by your honor that it was in fact a sick furlough, then by reason of the enfeebled condition of the soldier suffering from a wound in the head or right side of his face and the imperfect transportation furnished that his disabled condition was the primary cause of his loss of life, his inability to protect himself from liability to dizziness & c.

The elective franchise is no private or personal duty, in the election of a President and Congress, and in war times it is in my humble opinion a great public [duty], and to the soldier suffering under wounds a military duty to sustain and encourage the army by his vote. If it were not so considered by the Government and War department it would have never been permitted.

The army was subservient to the great public duties of the hour. Was not the proclamation of the President to free the negroes considered a military necessity. And I may add the permission and furnishing the soldier with transportation to vote. This soldier was killed while under Government transportation. The Pension Law being the humane and kindly act of the Government, should have a liberal construction by the Executive department of the Government in the soldiers behalf.

An early decision is humbly solicited, all of which is respectfully submitted.

Your Most Obt Svt

Isaac P. Clark

Attorney for Johanna Connolly

I have not the General Orders of the War Department to refer to referring to Soldiers Votes. I.P. Clark. (4)

Isaac Clark sent his letter on 16th September 1867. On 27th September W.J. Otto, the Acting Secretary of the Interior, gave his determination to the Commissioner of Pensions. He was unmoved:

Your decision in the case of Johanna Connolly…mother of Eugene Connolly…is affirmed. (5)

The last hope for Johanna Connolly was a direct appeal to Congress–specifically to the members of the Committee on Invalid Pensions, who had the power to grant individual pensions by private act. She duly sent in a petition, outlining the case and her circumstances. Massachusetts Representative Ginery Twichell (R) took up the baton, and referred it to the Committee. Finally, on 6th December 1867, more than three years after his death, Eugene Connolly’s mother was told that her pension would be awarded. She would continue to receive it until her death in 1881. (6)

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.

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The Act which finally granted a pension to Johanna Connolly, approved on 27th July 1868 (NARA)

 

*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.

(1) WC121737, 1860 Census; (2) WC12737; (3) Ibid.; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Ibid.;

References

1860 Federal Census

Widow’s Certificate 121737 of Johanna Connolly, Mother of Eugene Connolly, 20th Massachusetts Infantry

The post Dying to Vote: How the 1864 Presidential Election Cost an Irishman His Life appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

A Walk Among Storied Tombstones: The Irish Americans of Cambridge American Cemetery, England

I recently took the opportunity of visiting Cambridge American Cemetery, England. The cemetery contains the remains of 3,812 American service personnel and remembers 5,127 others on the Wall of the Missing. It is the only Second World War American Cemetery in the United Kingdom. As I do with National Cemeteries in the United States, I took some time to look for Irish American graves, and to uncover something of their stories. Particularly as many of my readers have likely not had an opportunity to visit, I decided to make a slight departure from the normal content on the site, and share details on some of the men below. 

While I was at the Cemetery (on a Sunday), the bells began to ring– some of the sounds and music are captured in this video

 

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The grave of Technical Sergeant William C. Grady, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Technical Sergeant William C.Grady, Iowa

William was a Radio Operator and gunner aboard B-24 Liberator 42-64490 “Cee Gee II” serving with 735th Bomb Squadron, 453rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. He operated out of Old Buckenham, Norfolk. On 22nd April 1944 William’s Liberator was among a number sent to target marshalling yards in Hamm, part of Germany’s Ruhr Valley. On the return trip “Cee Gee II” was jumped by a JU-88 off the English coast and crashed just after making landfall. For more on the fate of William and his crewmen see Liberator Men of Old Buc. You can also see William’s entry at the American Air Museum in Britain.

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The grave of Private Walter J. Nolan, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Private Walter J. Nolan, Pennsylvania

Walter was a member of the crew of B-17 Flying Fortress “Battlin’ Betsey”, part of 563rd Bomb Squadron, 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, based at Knetishall, Norfolk. On 13 October 1943 they were on a non-operational flight when their aircraft crashed just off the runway, killing four of the crew, including Walter. You can read Walter’s entry at the American Air Museum of Britain here. 

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The grave of Staff Sergeant Edward Monaghan, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant Edward H. Monaghan, New York

Edward was born in Monroe, New York in 1916. He was a member of 394th Bomber Group (Medium), 587th Bomb Squadron, IX Bomber Command. On 6th June 1944 he was part of a B-26 Marauder crew assigned to targets in support of the Normandy Landings. Flying out of Boreham, Essex, the plane tragically collided with another Marauder over Gillingham, Kent, bringing down both planes and killing all aboard. Unfortunately a number of civilians also perished. You can read about more about the story of the fateful incident at the website dedicated to the The Gillingham & Battle B-26 Crashes of 1944.

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The grave of Second Lieutenant Thomas C. Costello, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Second Lieutenant Thomas C. Costello, New Jersey

Born in 1914, Thomas was a star college baseball player (you can see his profile at Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice). He joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and was assigned to B-26 Marauders. A transportation officer with 533rd Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. He had only recently arrived in Britain when he was killed in an accident at Snetterton Heath airfield in Norfolk on 7th June 1943. You can see Tom’s biography and an image of him at his American Air Museum entry here.

 

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The grave of Private John J. Powers, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Private John J. Powers, New York

John, from New York City, was a member of the 130th Chemical Processing Company based in Sloane Court, Chelsea, London. Just before 8am on the morning John and his comrades were loading onto trucks to head out when a V-1 flying bomb descended on them. Though some were able to reach cover, many were caught in the open or on the trucks when the bomb detonated. John was one of them. At least 66 American service personnel lost their lives, the worst death-toll the United States military suffered in a V-1 blast. You can read a detailed account of the incident at the London Memorial website here.

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The grave of Staff Sergeant Robert E. Welch, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant Robert E. Welch, New Jersey

Robert served on P-51D -5-NA Mustang 44-13837, nicknamed “Miss Marilyn II”. He was attached to 785th Bomb Squadron, 466th Bomb Group which were based at Attlebridge, Norfolk, as part of the 8th Air Force. He and First Lieutenant Robert Vogel had just taken off on 28th July 1944 when the plane stalled, crashing at the end of the runway and detonating their two 1,000 pound bombs. Both men were killed. You can read Robert’s entry at the American Air Museum here.

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Grave of First Lieutenant William P. O’Connell, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

First Lieutenant William P.O’Connell, California

William flew P-38J 5E-S 42-68025, part of 385th Fighter Squadron, 364th Fighter Group, part of VIII Fighter Command. He died in his Lightning on 28th April 1944.

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First Lieutenant William P. O’Connell (US Air Force)

 

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Grave of Signalman Third Class James P. Ryan, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Signalman Third Class James P. Ryan Junior, New York

James was a native of Syracuse and member of the United States Naval Reserve. He was a crewmember aboard Landing Ship, Tank (LST) 507. On 28th April 1944 they were taking part in Exercise Tiger, the large-scale training operation that was preparing the men for the D-Day Landings. While in Lyme Bay off the coasts of Devon they were attacked by German E-Boats and torpedoed just after 2 in the morning. A total of 424 men on board were killed, including James. In total 746 personnel died in the E-Boat assault, a disaster that had to remain secret lest it jeopardise the upcoming invasion.

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Memorial to those who lost their lives during Exercise Tiger located at Utah Beach, Normandy (Jebulon via Wikipedia)

 

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Grave of Staff Sergeant John P. Burke, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant John P. Burke, Georgia

John was a gunner aboard B-17 Flying Fortress 44-6133, part of 525th Bomb Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force. John and his comrades were based out of Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire. On 19th June 1944 the Fortress was assigned a mission to bomb suspected V-1 rocket sites in Europe. Flying high about the Kent countryside, they collided with another B-17, “Heavenly Body II”, at over 18,000 feet. Spinning out of control, 44-6133 went into the River Thames, with only one crew member getting out. John was among those killed. You can read a detailed account of the accident, including eye-witness reports, at canveyisland.org here.

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Grave of Staff Sergeant John MacCallum, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant John MacCallum, Connecticut

John was the right-waist gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress “Tenny Belle” which was part of the 525th Bomber Squadron, 379th Bomb Group (Heavy) out of Kimbolton. On the 11th April 1944 they were beginning a mission to target a Focke-Wulf production factory when they crashed at Fen Farm, Stow Bardolph, Suffolk. You can read John’s entry at the American Air Museum here.

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John MacCallum’s B-17, Tenny Belle (US Air Force)

 

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Grave of Technical Sergeant John E. Mahoney, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Technical Sergeant John E. Mahoney, New Jersey

John was the top turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator of 579th Bomb Squadron, 392nd Bomb Group. Assigned to a bombing mission against Genshagen, Berlin on 6th March 1944, his plane crashed into a tree after take-off at Great Dunham, Norfolk. The bombs exploded, killing all ten crewmen aboard. You can read more about the incident and the raid at the b24.net site here.

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Grave of Staff Sergeant John J. Conlin, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant John J. Conlin Junior, New York

John was the right-waist gunner on B-17 42-3268 “Carol Jane” of 413th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group out of Snetterton Heath, Norfolk. Shortly after taking off on 5th January 1944 the plane lost power and veered to the side, detonating the bomb load and the gasoline, and killing everyone aboard. You can see John’s entry at the American Air Museum here.

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Grave of Captain William R. Fleming, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Captain William R. Fleming, New York

Born into a military family in New York in 1921, William flew a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter out of Lymington, Hampshire. He was part of the 10th Fighter Squadron, 50th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. On 19th April 1944 he was involved in a mid-air collision near the base, which ended his life.

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Grave of Private First Class Glenn S. Hayes, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Private First Class Glenn S. Hayes, New York

Glenn, born in Chautauqua in 1921, served in the 359th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division. Wounded during the Ardennes fighting he was repatriated to England, where he died of his wounds on 27th January 1945.

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Grave of Technical Sergeant Joseph F. Boyle, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Technical Sergeant Joseph Francis Boyle, Pennsylvania

Joe was a member of Philadelphia’s Irish American community, where he married Margaret O’Donnell. A member of the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force. A radio operator gunner on a B17 called “Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk”, he was on a mission over Gelsenkirchen on 5th November 1943 when they plane was struck by flak. A fragment penetrated the fuselage and penetrated the top of his flak jacket, piercing his heart. You can read a detailed account of Joe’s life and service at the 100th Bomb Group Foundation here.

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Image taken from “Nine Little Yanks and a Jerk” during a raid over Schweinfurt, Germany, a mission Joe was on less than three weeks before his death (US Air Force)

 

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Grave of Staff Sergeant Edward J. Minehan, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant Edward J. Minehan, New York

Edward was the left waist gunner on the B17 Flying Fortress “Shooting Star”, part of the 323rd Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group (The Ragged Irregulars). When returning from a mission over Stuttgart on 6th September 1943 they ditched in the Channel, having apparently run out of fuel. The plane sank in seconds, drowning all on board, including Edward. You can read his entry at the American Air Museum here.

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Grave of Sergeant Vincent P. Hyland, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Sergeant Vincent P. Hyland, New Jersey

Vincent was the nose gunner aboard the B24 Liberator “Lassie Come Home.” She was a “Mother Ship” on the Aphrodite Project, which sought to use bombers packed with explosive as remote controlled missiles. They flew out of Horsham St. Faith in Norfolk as part of 458th Bomb Group. On 14th January 1945 they took damage while on operations over Europe, and lost their engines before they could make it to their landing strip, crashing just a mile away from the base. Eight of the crew died, including Vincent. Tragically, the Liberator came down in a residential area in Norwich, killing children Mary and Brian Kemp who were playing in their garden. You can read about the incident here and here. Vincent’s American Air Museum entry is here.

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Grave of Boatswain’s Mate First Class Joseph M. Dinneen, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Boatswain’s Mate First Class Joseph M. Dinneen, South Carolina

A member of the U.S. Naval Reserve, Joseph was another who was aboard Landing Ship, Tank (LST) 507 during Exercise Tiger on 28th April 1944 when she was attacked by German E Boats (see James P. Ryan Junior, above), losing his life in the action.

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Grave of Second Lieutenant Richard J. Collins, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Second Lieutenant Richard J. Collins, Michigan

Richard was the navigator aboard the B-24 Liberator “Jack the Ripper II”. It served as part of 791st Bomber Squadron, 467th Bomber Group (Heavy) out of Manston, Kent. Returning from a mission over Lille on 3rd August 1944–their third time out–they crashed, with four of the crew, including Richard, losing their lives. Richard’s American Air Museum entry is here.

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Charles E Gorman (Damian Shiels)

 

Staff Sergeant Charles E. Gorman, New York

Charles was the ball turret gunner on the B17 “Heaven Can Wait”, which was part of 711th Bomb Squadron, 447th Bomb Group, based out of Rattlesden, Suffolk. On 27th March 1944 on a mission to Merignac, France, they took off in bad weather, but crashed near Bullswood Lane, Cockfield soon afterwards, with Charles losing his life. You can see his American Air Museum entry here.

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Name of Joseph P. Kennedy, Wall of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery (Damian Shiels)

 

Lieutenant Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Massachusetts

Joe Kennedy is best known as the older brother of future President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A member of the U.S. Naval Reserve, he was sent to England in September 1943 and flew a PG4U-Liberator on anti-submarine missions, part of Bomber Squadron 110. On 12th August 1944 he was participating in an Operation Aphrodite mission when the explosive-laden Liberator he was piloting exploded prematurely (it had been intended to detonate into U-boat pens in Heligoland, killing both Kennedy and Lieutenant Wilford John Willy. As he had no remains, he is remembered on the Wall of the Missing. Among the others commemorated there are musician Glenn Miller, and Medal of Honor recipient Leon R. Vance Junior.

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The last known photograph of Joseph Kennedy, taken just before he boarded his plane on the day he died (Earl P. Olsen via Wikipedia)

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The post A Walk Among Storied Tombstones: The Irish Americans of Cambridge American Cemetery, England appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

New Resource: Letters from America–American Civil War Correspondence in Irish Newspapers

A brand new resource has been added to the website, and can be found in the Resources section or by clicking here. It deals with letters from America that were published in Irish newspapers during the course of the American Civil War. The letters in question were sent back to Ireland by those with first hand knowledge of the conflict. Often originally written for relatives or friends of the correspondent, many found their way into local newspapers, and thus a wider audience. Others were sent with the explicit intent of publication, aimed at influencing those in Ireland in favour of one side or the other. It is a resource that will be consistently added to over time–I hope you enjoy it!

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 New Resource: Letters from America–American Civil War Correspondence in Irish Newspapers appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

“When a man Forgets his Wife and Child he Does Deserve Nothing Better”: Letters of Abandonment in 1860s America

The pension applications of widows and dependants for Civil War pensions pull back the curtains on the hardships that many 19th century working class Irish American women suffered at the hands of their husbands. For many, physical abuse, alcoholism and abandonment were an all too common feature of their lives. Although they often recounted such hardships in their own affidavits, it is relatively rare for such themes to be explicitly revealed in contemporary correspondence. The case of Maggie McGrane is an exception. When she sought a certificate, she included the last letter her husband sent–even as he was in the process of abandoning her–and the letter from her brother-in-law that outlined his ultimate sorry fate. 

Margaret McGrane was born to Irish emigrant parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the 1840s. When still a teenager she met fellow Irish American Joseph Gallagher (given their surnames, their families may have come from the same part of Ireland). The two were wed in Cambridge on 23rd May 1861, when Maggie was around 19, and Joseph 21. A few months later, Joseph enlisted as a Landsman in the Union Navy, signing on at Charlestown Navy Yard on 10th September 1861. Assigned to the USS William G. Anderson, he was deployed as part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron until his discharge on 21st November 1862. How the next few years passed for the couple is unknown, but Joseph secured work as a coach painter, and by 1866 they had at least one child. In May of that year he appears to have simply disappeared from his home in Massachusetts, leaving his wife and baby to fend for themselves. Maggie heard nothing from him until she received the following correspondence from her husband, penned in Kansas on 4th June:

Fort Leavenworth

Kansas June 4th/66

Dear Wife

I take my pen in hand to write you these few lines to let you know that I am well hoping this will find you and the baby and all the family enjoying the same blessing. Dear maggie i suppose you wondered where i had gone to but i told no one where i was going and i am away from friends and home and i am going to see what i can do and if god spares me i bet i will make a good thing by the time my time is out which will not be long going around we are going to leave here in a day or two they say we are going to relieve the 1st Cavalry they are in California but we wont go for 2 or 3 months although we may go sooner and i bet i will look out for [illegible] Dear Maggie i hope you will forgive me for leaveing you so but i hope in god it is all for the best and if i live to return i think i wil not be sorry for my journey Dear Maggie kiss the baby for me and some for your self i will send some money when i get settled that wont be but a short time if you write direct to Co B 2nd Regiment U.S. Cavalry

Fort leavensworth Kansas

for Joseph Gallagher or else where

i may be gone from here but i think they will send it to the regiment and if i should not get it i will write when we get to the next post no more at present from your affectionate Husband Joseph Gallagher

i had not ought to say affectionate for i was not but never mind if god spares me things might take a change

Good by God bless you and the baby and all the family give my love to all (1)

Joseph’s somewhat rambling correspondence, particularly the postscripts, suggest that he was suffering from a fit of guilt about what he had done. He chastises himself for using the literary convention “your affectionate Husband” when his actions had demonstrated he was anything but. Joseph also appears to have convinced himself–at least while he was writing–that what he was doing was for the best. How Maggie reacted to the letter is unrecorded. Perhaps the promise of financial support for her and the baby together with the expression of hope for a future reunification provided her with comfort; perhaps she was all too aware that these were empty words. Whatever the case, she would never heard from Joseph again. Fifteen days after he wrote this letter Joseph deserted from the 2nd Cavalry, and once again disappeared. It would be almost six years before Maggie discovered his fate. (2)

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Fifth Street, Leavenworth, Kansas as it appeared in 1867. Joseph Gallagher wrote his final letter to his wife from Fort Leavenworth in 1866 (Library of Congress)

 

In the years that followed, Maggie stayed in touch with the family of her estranged husband. She learned from them that Joseph had an older brother James–whom Joseph had never met–living out west. When her mother-in-law died around 1871, Maggie wrote from her Salem home to James Gallagher to break the news, and also to inquire if he had any knowledge of her husband’s whereabouts. In January 1872 she received a long response from Portland, Oregon, which filled in some of the gaps of Joseph Gallagher’s life after he had fled Federal service in 1866:

I received your letter on the 4 of october and i need not say it took me by surprise not only to hear from Salem where i have not heard from for years but to hear of my Mother’s Death and likewise to hear that my Brother had a Wife and Child living there. It took me by surprise you may be shure. You said in your letter that you heard he was here with me so he was and was getting along very well. But to go Back to where i first heard of him Being out here it is a long story But you must have patience and try and bear with the News for it is as bas as you sent me. i am sorry to inform you Joseph has Been Dead over a year he died in San Francisco in the Marine Hospital Had i known he had a Wife i would have Wrote long a go i suppose you will like to know the [illegible] i will tell you. it is not a very interesting subject for me to write about or i suppose you to read And under no consideration would i wrote it only you wer his Wife and i suppose you would like to hear all the perticulars. Had i known he was married things mite Have been different. But i suppose it was to be so and and we must mak the Best of it.

The first i heard of him he was in the U.S. Ship Saginow up in sitka [Alaska] that is up north from here. There is a Steamer running there from here And as i am well known in portland Among Steamboat men being an engineer on A river steamer myself. he inquired of the crew if they knew me and they did so he wrote me a letter claiming to be my Brother this is over two years ago.

However i answered the letter asking him to prove it to me whitch he did and would try and get discharge i was sent by this Company that i work for Now to run a steamer on the sound that Brought me nearer to him. i left my wife in portland and came back over land and brought her And the Children over there and staid 5 or 6 months. in the mean time Joseph had procured his discharge and came down to Victoria where my wife was liveing. i was away then 4 days of the week so When i come back he had found her And he was stopping at the same hotell so they wer acquainted before i got home. i got home late at Night but he sat up for me and came on board the boat with A friend of mine and come in the engine room where i was. he asked me if i knew him i told him i did not so he made himself known and we went home together. we talked over one thing and another he told me he was going to settle down And work at his trade. he Never let on he was Married all this time so i just told him if he would go to portland he would get a job at his trade. he had but very little Money at the time what he done with it i do not know. so he came here and My friends found out who he was he Got work right away but i suppose i not being there my friends was glad to see hime And he got to drinking and after a while lost his job. he promised to go to work for a man and instead he got on a spree So when i come back to portland i found him out of work and out of money and sick from hard drinking you must not think hard of me for writing so plane but i considder When a man forgets his wife and child he Does deserve nothing Better.

Well we went to housekeeping when we got back and made him come and live with us. he stayed with us 5 or 5 Weeks and we got a doctor for him. he had a very bad cough. he used to cough a great Deal. but whenever he got a chance he would Drink and i used to talk to him about it And he did not like it so he thought he Would go to the Hospital at Astoria that is down the river from here so i Got him a pass and he went. i used to hear from him every Night he was Getting Along well for a while then he began to get worse so he thought he would go to San Francisco and go to the Marine Hospital. he got a passage on a sailing Vessel and the day before he left My Wife sent him some Shirts and drawers that she made for him. he sailed for San Francisco Next month one year ago and went in to the Hospital some time in December and in the days after he died. he never wrote me a word after he left hear to let me know how he was or anything but a friend of mine went Down there to find out about him and they told him a man answering that Discription died in ten days after he came there. had i known he had a Wife liveing you should have known it long ago But to write to amy of my folks i thought it mite shair the same fate as the rest of my letters but receiving a letter from you it makes me look back to seans that that has allmost been blotted from my Memory for i have wrote letters and received no answer. i even sent my childrens Pictures home but whether they even got them or not i Never heard. i wish you would let Me know how they all are and what my Mother And Brother Died with. you must excuse this Writing for it is so long since i wrote a letter that i am all out of practice. Give my regards to all that inquire for me and now that We have opened a Corrospondence with each other i am in hopes to hear from there a little oftener Alltho our first letters was verry sad ones

i will close Now with the expectation of receiving an answer from you As soon as Convenient My wife and children join with me in sending our Love to you all to my father and sisters allso. we have 4 children 2 Boys and 2 girls and one died made 5 if you wish to send your pictures and the childs it will be very exceptable i assure you

I Remain yours Truly

James Gallagher

Portland Oregon

Direct your letter to James Gallagher engineer Steamer Rescue (3)

James’s letter provides a remarkable level of detail regarding Joseph Gallagher’s final months. Clearly intending to begin a new life without his family in the west, his descent into alcoholism and the illness that followed cut his life short. Poignantly, James also revealed his own efforts to maintain correspondence with his family in Massachusetts, correspondence that for whatever reason had gone unanswered for years, causing him to give up letter writing completely. Just as Maggie had been forced to endure not hearing from her husband in the west, James had suffered a similar fate, seemingly forever waiting for news from his own kin in the east. Despite the topic of the communication, the joy James felt at finally having a link with family is palpable, and he longed to establish a longer term relationship with Maggie. Whether this ever occurred is unknown. By the time the 1890s swung around, Maggie hoped that her husband’s wartime naval service might secure her a pension. As part of the application she included both her husband’s final letter and that from James. It would have been just reward for her to have received it, particularly given the fact that her husband had deserted his familial obligations. Unfortunately she did not, and the letters today rest in the National Archives among those files that the Pension Bureau marked “Disapproved.”

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.

 

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1871 advertisement from the Morning Oregonian which includes details of the Steamer Rescue on which James Gallagher was engineer (Wikipedia)

 

*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.

(1) 1865 Massachusetts State Census, 1880 Federal Census, Margaret Gallagher Navy Widows’ Certificate Application; (2) Margaret Gallagher Navy Widow’s Certificate Application; (3) Ibid.; 

References

1865 Massachusetts State Census.

1880 Federal Census.

Margaret Gallagher Navy Widow’s Certificate Application (Disapproved).

The post “When a man Forgets his Wife and Child he Does Deserve Nothing Better”: Letters of Abandonment in 1860s America appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Exploring Panels from the Irish Medal of Honor Exhibition

Over the course of the last few years I have been asked to provide historical advice and content for the Irish Veterans charity. One of their primary missions is to explore the experiences of Irish emigrants and the Irish Diaspora in foreign militaries. Earlier this year they launched their first exhibition, exploring Irish connections to the Medal of Honor from the inception of that award to the present day. I curated and prepared the exhibition for them, which remains free to view in the Irish Veterans gallery in Kinsale, Co. Cork (it is hoped in the future that the exhibit will travel). The centrepiece of the gallery is the original Medal of Honor of Irish-born Michael Gibbons, who earned his award during the Spanish-American War. Gibbons returned home to Ireland after his service, and his is the only known Medal of Honor which is today permanently resident in Ireland (still in the care of his family). Although there are numerous panels in the exhibition, I thought readers may like the opportunity to view the three that are most relevant to the time-period covered by the site. They deal with the Medal of Honor in the Union Navy, the Union Army, and the immediate pre and post war period. The gallery layout was designed by Brian Mac Domhnaill, while the graphic design of the panels was undertaken by Sara Nylund and Hannah Sims. I hope you find them of interest!

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The panel which deals with the Medal of Honor and the Union Navy-Click to Enlarge (Damian Shiels/Irish Veterans)

 

 

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The panel examining Irishmen in the Union Army who received the Medal of Honor-Click to Enlarge (Damian Shiels/Irish Veterans)

 

 

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The panel examining the Medal of Honor citations during conflict with Native Americans (Damian Shiels/Irish Veterans)

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 Exploring Panels from the Irish Medal of Honor Exhibition appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

Photography Focus: Snoozing Dogs, Smoking Pipes & Smirks in Corcoran’s Irish Legion

Corcoran’s Irish Legion were, along with the Irish Brigade, one of just two brigade-level formations in the Union military during the American Civil War. Formed by famed Fenian, Brigadier-General Michael Corcoran, the regiments sustained terrible casualties during the 1864 Overland Campaign. One of those units was the 164th New York, a zouave formation with companies drawn from various parts of the state, most notably Buffalo, New York City and Brooklyn. A series of fantastic images of the regiment survive, and a small number of them are the topic of this Photography Focus. One thing the images don’t capture is the colour that was an integral part of the 164th’s uniform. Their blue trousers and jackets were faced with red embroidery, which is visible in a number of the images. The wide belts that the men sported were also red. As an indicator of their ethnic origins, the tassles on their blue zouave caps were green. Attractive in camp, these soldiers were highly conspicuous on the battlefield. The high resolution TIFF files available from the Library of Congress allow us to take a closer look at some of the men who made up one of the most notable Irish regiments of the American Civil War.

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This Library of Congress image is captioned “Guard Mount, 164th New York Infantry.” It originally appeared in Volume 8 of The Photographic History of the Civil War, entitled “Guard-Mount of a Smart Regiment–The One Hundred and Sixty-Fourth New York.” It declared that the morning guard mount was “less arduous than bayonet drill…The men detailed to this duty were about nine o’clock, drilled in a few of the movements of the manual of arms, and inspected by the officer of the day, distinguished by a scarf across the shoulder. Then they were marched out to relieve the guards on duty, and their full tour of this duty was twenty-four hours.”

 

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The first detail from this image zooms in on some of the Irishmen of the 164th, showing the varying heights of the soldiers.

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A closer view. This aspect shows the personal preferences of the zouaves when it came to facial hair, with some sporting beards and moustaches, while others have opted for sideburns or are cleanshaven.

 

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This detail has long fascinated me, because of the soldier visible on the extreme left. He appears to be African American, serving as a regular soldier. I would be very keen to hear any readers thoughts on this serviceman, and if anyone has encountered any parallels.

 

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Beyond the officers in this detail are the drummer boys, their youth clearly apparent. At the left a fifer holds his instrument to his lips. The best modern depiction of the regiment is a fine painting of a 164th drummer executed by noted artist Don Troiani.

 

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Another image in the 164th New York series shows members of one of the 164th New York’s companies. It is filled with detail; some men playing cards while others relax under the trees.

 

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This detail zooms in to look at one of the Irishmen who is grasping his pipe in the image. The wide belt that was coloured bright red is clearly visible, adding to his swashbuckling appearance. He also appears to have a medal of some sort pinned to his chest.

 

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Perhaps my favourite detail from any Irish image of the American Civil War. Two zouaves, one with “164” clearly visible on his cap, sit with their two dogs, which appear to be terriers of some sort. The embroidery that added red splashes to the sleeves and front of the zouave jacket is clearly visible on the soldier at the left.

 

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Another detail showing some of the mixed headgear among the men. The soldier on the right has a particularly “Irish” look, with pronounced sideburns.

 

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Another of the 164th series focuses on the surgeons of the 164th New York outside their quarters, sitting by a table which contains some of their materials.

 

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A detail of two the men  reveals not only the bottles and scales on the table, but also the fact that one of the surgeons has an expression which is all too rare in Civil War images– a smile.

 

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The final image we will take a closer look at in this series is captioned as “Headquarters of 164th New York Infantry” in the Library of Congress. Another that appeared in The Photographic History of the Civil War, it was there titled “A Game of Chess at Colonel McMahon’s Camp.” The description notes that “Occasionally in permanent camps, officers were able to receive visits from members of their families and friends. This photograph shows an earnest game of chess between Colonel (afterward Major-General) Martin T. McMahon, assistant adjutant-general of the Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, and a brother officer, in the spring of 1864 just preceding the Wilderness campaign. Colonel McMahon, who sits near the tent-pole, is evidently studying his move with care. The young officer clasping the tent-pole is one of the colonel’s military aides.” Martin McMahon was born in Canada into an Irish emigrant family (accounts vary as to whether they were from Waterford or Wexford). He was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the war. Both his older (Irish-born) brothers commanded the 164th New York, and both lost their lives during the conflict. John Eugene McMahon died in late 1863, while James Power McMahon was killed leading his regiment in the assault at Cold Harbor in 1864. (as friend of the site Joe Maghe points out, there is some discussion as to whether this image may actually be James Power McMahon rather than Martin).

 

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African Americans were frequently retained as servants by Union officers, and many of them had been former slaves. It seems probable that this man acted in a personal capacity for Colonel McMahon.

 

[image error]A close up of the Colonel studying the board. I don’t play chess, so if anyone who does has an idea of the progress of the game I would be keen to hear from you!

 

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One of the ladies in the image. This detail focuses on the field-glasses she is holding, no doubt having recently used them to survey various military formations and positions.

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.

References

Miller, Francis 1911. The Photographic History of The Civil War in Ten Volumes. Volume Eight: Soldier Life, Secret Service. 

The post Photography Focus: Snoozing Dogs, Smoking Pipes & Smirks in Corcoran’s Irish Legion appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.

The Living & the Dead: Two Letters from Irish American Marines of Bull Run

The participation of the United States Marine Corps at the First Battle of Bull Run is one of the lesser known aspects of the engagement. The few hundred Marines who found themselves on the field of the engagement had never expected to be there. They had enlisted to perform duties on U.S. Naval vessels, but had been commandeered for temporary field service in the field on 15 July 1861, when it was requested that four companies of eighty men each be made available from the Marine Barracks in Washington D.C. (you can read more about that here). Six days later they found themselves attacking Confederate positions in the first major battle of the Civil War.

The Marines who participated in First Bull Run could hardly have been rawer. The reason they were in the Marine Barracks is that they were still in training– the vast majority of them had been in the service only a handful of weeks. A not inconsiderable number of them were Irish American– unsurprising given the Irish propensity for enlisting in this branch of the service. Indeed, it is apparent from both the letters shared below that a number of the recruits had previously seen service in antebellum militia companies, one of whom was the Irish Volunteers. If you would like to find out more about the specific actions of the Marines at Bull Run, you can check out the video below and explore the Marine resources over at Bull Runnings, which includes the official report of their commanding officer here.

The first letter shared below was written by Marine John Reilly. I will be returning to John’s story in a later post, to discuss aspects of Irish American identity and Irish chain migration through England. However, suffice to say here that John was an Irish American from Philadelphia. 21-years-old at Bull Run, he had worked as a laborer before he joined up on 2nd June 1861. At the time of the battle, he had been a Marine for a little under 49 days. John did not survive the 21 July 1861. His parents supplied his last letter to the Pension Bureau after the fighting in an effort to secure a pension. Written on 10th July, it was composed five days before the Marines were ordered to assist the army, and only eleven days before his death. All the more poignant for the fact that it betrays no indication of what was to come, it is reproduced here for the first time:

Marine Barricks

July 10th Washington D.C.

Dear Father & Mother

I send you these few lines to let you know that I am in good health and well satisfied with the life of a Marine. I never had work since I was able to work that I like as well as this. We only have three hours drill a day we raise at half past 3 oclock in the morning and drill one hour and a half before breakfast and the same in the evening. I do not think I will be here over four months at furthest before I be sent on board some ship. They are sending them off as soon as they are drilled to Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston and Portsmouth N.H. As long as we stay about Navy Yards we cannot save over nine dollars per month we have to pay 15 cents a month for washing and 20 cts for to support the Naval Asylum and we get out on liberty every four days for about five hours. I was on liberty on Monday afternoon and I went to Col. Smalls Camps and see a few that I was acquainted with. If I be here in the beginnins of October I will try to send you some money and my likeness for we get paid every three months while we are here. The first of this month was pay day so that the next pay day will be on the first of October. I feel better here than I have felt for the last four years we have nothing to do but lay about the barricks from sick oclock in the morning until five oclock in the evening and then we have to drill for one hour and a half and then go to bunk at nine oclock. We will be drilled better in one month here than the Volunteers would in six months we get prety good living here good wheat flour bread every meal fresh beef every other day with soup. Any body that want to go to Church can go every Sunday to any they want to. We go swim once a week.

No more at present

From your affectionate son

John E. Reily

Write soon and direct your letter for John E. Reily, Marine Barricks, Washington D.C.

A battle marker remembering the service of the U.S. Marines at Bull Run was unveiled at the 150th commemorations of the engagement in 2011.

What did John Riely and his comrades experience? Only ten days after the battle another Irish American Marine who fought at Bull Run had his letter home to Pennsylvania published in the Pittsburgh Daily Post. His name was William Barrett. William’s evocative account has the freshness of one composed while the memory of the engagement was still fresh, and captures something of the horrors he witnessed–as well as his own close escape:

Letter from a Marine who at Bull’s Run

I was in the fight at Manassas Gap or Bull’s Run, as it may be called. The place has two names but I think Bull’s Run is the right one, by the way they treated us there. Out of our band of 320 marines that entered the field we only brought about 150 home with us. We were the first called to assist the Sixty-ninth. We faced them on the left of the battery, and when about fifty yards from it our men fell like hail stones. I had only fired three shots when my musket received a ball right at the lock, which put me back about three feet. As soon as I cam to my ground again two men were shot down on my right and one on my left; about this time I began to look very warlike. As for my part I thought I would lose all presence of mind in such a place, but it was quite different; I was as cool as a cucumber. Then we got orders to retreat and the Sixty-ninth and Ellsworth Zouaves played on them again. This was the time they suffered; they only stood a few minutes when they retreated without orders. Then we were again called on to face the enemy, fifty thousand strong, while we had only about 200. This time we got the Seventy-First to relieve us, but to no purpose; we had to retreat. Then it was a general retreat all round; every one looked out for himself, but they took the short road and caught us again. If you had seen us swimming across Bull’s Run, you have thought there was something after us then. We had to come to Washington, a distance of forty five miles, in our wet clothes, which were badly used up.

The route we took in going to Manassas Gap was by Arlington Heights and thence by Fairfax Court House, where several batteries had been erected. This was the first time we knew we had to fight; they never told us where we were going till then. When we were about a mile from the place they got us to load our muskets. We were the first up to the battery, where we were drawn up in line of battle, when we found that the rebels had fled to Manassas. Then the cavalry were sent in hot pursuit of the enemy, but failed to overtake them. We camped in Fairfax that night, and the boys enjoyed themselves by burning down the houses of the secessionists. Next morning we took the march again, and went to Centreville by night; here we encamped two days.

On Monday morning at three o’clock we marched to the field, and as well as I can mind it was ten or eleven o’clock when we got there. It then looked very hot. The Seventy-first was the only regiment then at them. When we arrived, just as we got out of the woods in the rear of the battery, we lost three men by cannon balls. I could not describe to you what the battle field looked like. At the time of the retreat we ran over the dead and wounded for a mile from the battery and to hear the wounded crying for help would have made the heart of stone ache. All along the road we had men, only wounded a little, who, when the long march came, had to give out and lie down to die. For ten miles this side of the field they could be seen lying here and there on the road-side.

Only four or five of the Pittsburgh boys, that I know of, were killed. One young fellow, named Frank Harris, who joined the Irish volunteers in Pittsburgh, was my right hand man; going up to the battery he did not fire a single shot; he was one of the first to fall.

there were but few of the marines who were not wounded. I believe there are not thirty in the barracks who are not wounded more or less. I think they intended to fix me when they hit the lock of my musket. You could hear the ball playing “Yankee Doodle” around your ears, but could not move . It was about as hot a place as I ever want to be in. I saw a horse’s head taken off by a cannon ball at the time of our retreat; but he kept on ten or twelve yards before he found out that he was dead, then dropped and the poor fellow that was on his back had to take the hard road for it.

I cannot tell you any more about the battle at present, as I am very tired, have not slept any for forty-eight hours and marched from forty to fifty miles, fighting our way. I wish you would send me a Pittsburgh paper with an account of the battle, that I can see the difference in it.

W.B.

As these letters remind us, the Irish experience of Bull Run encompassed much more than just the 69th New York State Militia– indeed the Irishmen of the 69th were surrounded on every side by units that contained large numbers from Irish American communities. It is also a reminder of some of the desperate measures that war engenders, when young men who had barely donned uniform had to be thrown into the meat grinder, some never to re-emerge.

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The memorial in Old Cathedral Cemetery, Philadelphia to James and Mary Reilly, which also commemorates their son John who died with the Marine Battalion at Bull Run (Jenn O. Find A Grave)

References

Pool-Camp, Suzanne & Camp, Dick 2012. The Marine Battalion at the First Battle of Bull Run.

Pittsburgh Daily Post 31 July 1861.

John Riley Navy Widow’s Certificate.

Reilly Find A Grave Memorial.

The post The Living & the Dead: Two Letters from Irish American Marines of Bull Run appeared first on Irish in the American Civil War.