Damian Shiels's Blog, page 2

America Bound: Andersonville Irish, Antietam & a Free Bull Run Tour!

Things have been a bit quiet on the site over the last few weeks as I (Damian) prepare for an exciting upcoming research trip to the United States. The primary purpose of the visit is to undertake research for the Andersonville Irish Project over the course of a week at the U.S. National Archives in Washington D.C. I am incredibly grateful to the Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for funding that research (details here). Over recent days I have been preparing some of the material I hope to look at in the Archives, which will include both original materials from Andersonville Prison relating to the prisoners and a range of records relating to individual Irish American servicemen who experienced it. A particular focus will be on the pension files of Irish Americans who were held there but survived the ordeal, in order to examine the impact it had on their later lives. Following this research trip work will begin on the book that is planned to accompany the digital database, interactive map and stories that are currently available on the Andersonville Irish Project Page.

The timing of the research visit is also providing me an opportunity to undertake some additional research on Irish involvement in engagements fought nearby. On Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September I will be at the Antietam National Battlefield to attend some of the National Park Service events being held as part of the Battle Anniversary Weekend. I am beginning to to take some tentative early steps towards a future planned project to examine the Irish experience of Antietam, but more on that anon. If any readers of the site happen to be planning to attend that weekend let me know so I can say hi! More exciting still, this visit is providing the opportunity to team up once more with Harry of Bull Runnings fame. Harry and I will be offering a free tour at Manassas National Battlefield Park, exploring the Irish experience of First Bull Run. Our previous tour back in 2019 was a fantastic day out, when we followed in the footsteps of the Irish 69th New York State Militia at the battle. This time round, we will be looking not just at the 69th, but also at the stories and experiences of Irish Americans throughout the U.S. and Confederate military, particularly on Matthews Hill and Henry Hill. We are kicking things off at Manassas at 9am on Sunday 22nd September. If you think you might be interested in coming along to the In the Footsteps of Irish Soldiers at First Bull Run Tour, you can find more details over at Harry’s site here. I hope some of you can make it!

Video: Campfire Chat- Remembering Offaly’s Role in the American Civil War

For our latest Campfire Chat we were joined by Danny Leavy, an Offaly man who has made his home in New York. Danny has been working on building a database of Offaly people who served during the American Civil War. We discuss his work, some of the stories he has come across, and what got Danny interested in those from his county who served between 1861 and 1865. You can watch the video below, and if you are keen to follow future Campfire Chats remember you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here!

Andersonville Irish Project Research Funding

I am delighted to announce that the Andersonville Irish Project has secured some important new research funding thanks to the Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. The support that the project has received from the Consulate since its inception has been second to none. The Consulate have not only assisted with previous research efforts but were also instrumental in realising the highly significant Irish memorial which was placed at Andersonville last year. I am deeply grateful to them for their ongoing support and commitment to the stories of those Irish impacted by the prison. The Consulate’s 2024 travel funding will facilitate a research trip to the U.S. National Archives in Washington D.C. in September this year, which has the primary aim of increasing our knowledge of the service histories of the men thus far identified. Much of this will involve the identification and imaging of Compiled Military Service Records of Andersonville Irish victims. As well as adding to what we can share on the Andersonville Irish Project page, this research will also facilitate the advancement of a book manuscript aimed at further disseminating the Andersonville Irish story. Stay tuned for more updates as the research advances!

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Tracing Thomas: The Story of a Young Donegal American’s Death in Normandy, and the Image that Recorded his Fate

Although this site is dedicated to the Irish and Irish emigration in the period of the American Civil War, I wanted to take a moment to share some new research I thought may be of interest to readers in light of the major 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day and the Normandy Landings. As some of you may be aware I (Damian) also enjoy exploring some of the lesser known stories of Irish-born men who served in North American forces during World War Two. I have been gathering together research on some of these men for quite some years (you can find a link to a podcast discussing some aspects of the American Irish and Canadian Irish experience in Normandy at the bottom of this post). Over the last few evenings, I have found myself on the trail of a young Co. Donegal emigrant whose story is not widely known in Ireland. His name was Thomas John McQuade, who came from the area of Ballyshannon. Thomas went to Normandy as part of the famed U.S. Airborne forces; sadly, he never left. What is even more poignant, moving and unusual about his story is that his fate was photographically recorded shortly after it occurred. Since 7th June 1944, that image has become widely used in histories of the Normandy Campaign to illustrate the sacrifices made by U.S. airborne troops, though few in Ireland realise the island’s link to that awful image. It was captured eighty years ago to this very day. (*Please note that towards the end this post contains images of fallen American troops that some readers may find disturbing).

Thomas John McQuade was born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal on 3rd December 1922, just a year after the formation of the Irish Free State. He was the youngest son of Francis and Sarah Anne McQuade, who had married in Ballyshannon in 1912 and who made their home in the townland of Cool More. In October 1930, when Thomas was just seven-years-old, he joined his mother and older siblings Robert, Redmond and Bernard aboard the SS Cameronia, bound from Derry for New York. They were travelling to join Francis, who had left Ireland from Moville in 1927 to pave the way for his family’s new life in the United States.

[image error] Cool More townland near Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, where the McQuades came from, indicated by a red marker. (Google Maps, click here to explore the map). [image error] The SS Cameronia, which brought 7-year-old Thomas McQuade from his Irish home to a new life in the United States. It had also brought his father to America three-years before (World Naval Ships)

The McQuade’s made their new home in America at 452 Palisade Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey. The reunited family were recorded there in the 1940 Federal Census, which listed 48-year-old Francis as a rail-road laborer, together with 52-year-old Sarah, 24-year-old Robert (a seaman), 21-year-old Redmond (a rail-guard), 19-year-old telephone-pole climber Bernard (a telephone-pole climber), and 17-year-old Thomas, who was still at school. The family had settled well into their new life; they were members of the congregation at St. Nicholas’s Parish Church, where Thomas was an altar-boy, and the young Donegal native turned American had also attended St. Nicholas’s School. He later moved on to Dickinson High School, where he became best known for his sporting prowess on the baseball and soccer teams. After three-years at Dickinson ,Thomas joined the workforce. He took a position at the American Terry-Derrick Company in South Kearny, New Jersey. It was while there that his details were first recorded with a view to potential military service. At the time, the Cool More emigrant was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 150 pounds weight, with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.

[image error] 452 Pallisade Avenue in New Jersey, where Thomas McQuade grew up, and where the family lived when he went to war (Google Maps- click here to explore the map) [image error] Dickinson High School in Jersey City, which Thomas attended. It is still in operation today (King of Hearts via Wikipedia)

World War Two did not pass the McQuade family by. After the United States entered the conflict Thomas’s older brother had continued his profession as a seaman, serving in the vital merchant marine; Redmond had served in the Army, and Bernard in the Navy. Thomas’s turn came on 16th June 1943��� the day he became a U.S. Army selectee. He was transformed into Private Thomas J. McQuade, Army Serial No. 32928036. The unit Thomas went to serve with was Company A, 1st Battalion, 325th Glider Regiment, part of the 82nd “All American” Airborne Division. After basic training in the United States, Thomas was sent to England, to prepare for his role in the upcoming Normandy landings. The task he and the 325th were assigned was to land by glider on D-Day plus 1��� 7th June��� to reinforce their comrades in the bridgehead.

[image error] An aerial photograph of Ramsbury Airfield, Wiltshire, taken in May 1944. In the image are the C-47s and Horsa gliders of 437th Troop Carrier Group, which would carry Thomas and his comrades to Normandy (British Government)

In the early morning hours of 7th June 1944, Thomas, 28 of his comrades from Company A, and two-glider pilots clambered aboard their Horsa Glider LJ-135 at Ramsbury Airfield in Wiltshire, England. Thanks to some fantastic research by Neil Jones, who runs the “Honouring IX Troop Carrier Command” Page (check it out on Facebook here), we know that Thomas’s Horsa took off for France at 04.39 that morning. Towed into the air by their C-47, their Horsa was the lead glider in a group of 49 departing for the combat zone. Their original intended landing point had been altered prior to take off due to enemy fire; now they were slated to join the fight via Landing Zone “E,” a little to the west of Ste. Marie de Mont. By 06.55 Thomas’s glider had crossed the channel and was over the landing zone. They were just 2-300 feet off the ground when they were released by their C-47, leaving the glider pilots with just seconds to select an appropriate spot to set down. Fortune did not favour them. LJ-135 struck the earth hard, flipping over on it’s back and breaking it apart as it skidded through a field. Inside, Fourteen of those inside were dead��� among them 21-year-old Donegal emigrant Thomas McQuade.

In the aftermath of the awful event, medics rushed to the scene to aid those on the stricken craft, including those injured who had survived. In the minutes and hours that followed, a series of photographs of the crashed Horsa and its victims were taken, capturing for history the tragedy which had ended so many young men’s lives before they had barely begun (you can read more about the sequence of photographs by exploring Neil’s detailed account of the entire event here).

[image error] This image of men who died in the crash of Horsa LJ-135 was taken by a U.S. Signal Corps Photographer in Normandy shortly after the incident. Eight of the men who lost their lives are in this image; it is not known if Thomas is among them (Image UPL 2037 via the American Air Museum in Britain- for the original see here ). [image error] Another image of the aftermath of the crash of Horsa LJ-135 which occurred near the site of the Holdy Battery outside Ste. Marie de Mont. This image shows all the fallen soldiers laid out, one of whom is Thomas McQuade of Cool More, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal and New Jersey (Image reproduced with kind permission of “Honouring IX Troop Carrier Command” see the original album on their page here ).

After Thomas’s death, a telegram was sent to his parent’s Francis and Sarah to inform them of the loss of their youngest son. A local paper, The Jersey Journal, carried a heartbreaking, smiling image of the young Donegal man in uniform, over an article captioned “McQuade Dies in Action.” It told of his Irish origins, his local Church, his time at School, and the service of his siblings. Today his remains rest at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, where he is interred in Plot F, Row 16, Grave 15. His story, and his final resting place, are just one reminder among many of the sacrifice Irish Americans and Irish Canadians made in the service of their new nations during the D-Day Landings and the Battle for Normandy, 80 years ago.

[image error] The image of Thomas McQuade reproduced in The Jersey Journal following his death in 1944 (Jersey Journal). [image error] Thomas’s grave in Normandy (Image: Ann Cipriani via Find A Grave)

The dedicated research that many have undertaken on the events surrounding the fate of LJ-135 and its men have made this post possible. Special thanks to Neil at Honouring IX Troop Carrier Command for his work on the incident, and permission to reproduce the second image of the crashed glider. Readers who would like to learn more about the glider and its men can also find details of it at the Airborne in Normandy page here and here, the France-Crashes 39-45 page here, the American Air Museum in Britain page here, and the National World War II Glider Pilot’s Association Page here.

For more on the Irish experience in U.S. and Canadian forces on D-Day and during the Normandy Campaign you can listen to this podcast I recorded here.

References

Honouring IX Troop Carrier Command.

U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records.

U.S. 1940 Federal Census.

U.S. American Battle Monuments Commission.

U.S. World War II Young Men’s Draft Cards.

Find A Grave.

Irish Civil Registration Births Index.

New Jersey U.S. Naturalization Records.

New York U.S. Arriving Passenger Lists.

The Jersey Journal 11 August 1944.

Return to Bull Run: Join us on 22 September to Explore the Irish Experience at Manassas

If you haven’t read John Hennessy’s superb Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle for Second Manassas, you definitely should (and while you’re at it, it’s worth picking up his volume on First Bull Run, An End to Innocence, too). As well as being a great volume with lots of Irish interest, John’s title also aptly describes what I’ll be doing on Sunday 22nd September next, and I hope you can join me. I’m once again teaming up with the inimitable Harry Smeltzer of Bull Runnings fame to provide a free tour focusing on the Irish experience at First Bull Run. Back in 2019, Harry organized an extremely successful event where he, John Hennessy, our late friend Joe Maghe and I walked the battlefield with a fantastic group of people to follow in the footsteps of the 69th New York State Militia. This time, we are expanding our view, intending to look at the Irish experience of the engagement from both Union and Confederate perspective as the battle unfolded, while chatting about some of the broader themes of Irish America and Irish service along the way. It would be great if you could join us on the day. If you’re interested, Harry is currently gathering together names of those who would like to come, so drop him a line at Bull Runnings here or over on the Bull Runnings Facebook page here. I hope you can join us!

For a hint of some of the types of stories we discussed back in 2019, below is a short video from our tour on Henry Hill, where I tell the sad story of the Madigan family:

Andersonville Irish: The First 1000 Infographic- 2. Service

We are pleased to release the second infographic to mark the Andersonville Irish Project passing 1000 identified men. You can view the first infographic, which explores the demographics of these Irishmen, by clicking here. The new infographic explores some aspects of these men’s service; things like what their occupations were, where they entered the military, what units lost the most Irish in Andersonville and what states they were captured in. You can explore the infographic below- remember to click on the image to enlarge it.

[image error] Andersonville Irish First 1000 Infographic: Service (Click on Image to Enlarge)

IACW Campfire Chats: How “American” were the 29th Massachusetts Infantry?

Our new IACW Campfire Chat video is now available on our YouTube Channel. We are hoping to do quite a few more in the future, so please consider subscribing to the Channel here.

In the latest video, Brendan and Damian discuss the 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Although not an ethnic Irish unit, the 29th Massachusetts served with the Irish Brigade through much of the Peninsula Campaign and at the Battle of Antietam in 1862. They are represented (and represented themselves) as very “un-Irish,” a regiment filled with “Yankee Pilgrims” who were largely Protestant descendants of the first settlers of Massachusetts. But how true is this image? Taking the Battle of Antietam as one of our focus points, we discuss how the more complex reality, and reveal just how tied many Irish families in Massachusetts were to the fates of men who marched in the 29th’s ranks. You can check it out below or on our YouTube page.

Andersonville Irish: The First 1000 Infographic- 1. Demographics

The Andersonville Irish Project recently went past 1000 identified Irish American victims of the Confederate prison camp. In the first of two infographics, we take a look at some of the demographic information we can glean from their stories. To explore the infographic, click on the image to enlarge it.

[image error] Andersonville Irish First 1000 Infographic: Demographics (Click on Image to Enlarge)

Andersonville Irish Spotlight: Grave 5212. Edward Carter. “My Hand Trembles with Joy”- The Last Letters of a Leitrim Emigrant

The Andersonville Irish Project continues apace; we have now identified almost 1,050 Irish Americans who perished at the prison. One of the men identified in recent days is Leitrim native Edward Carter, who was around 25-years-old when he died at Andersonville. Edward’s records are also one of the few that contain original letters written by the soldier himself. Reproduced below for the first time, these��letters reveal not just Edward’s role in supporting his mother, but just how close he had come to death at the hands of his own side in 1863.

The correspondent that Edward directed his wartime letters to was his mother Ann. Born around 1796, Ann had lived most of her life in Ireland. The death of her husband John in Co. Leitrim on 14th February 1843 seems to have been what prompted the family move across the Atlantic. It is unclear whether they departed Ireland as a family group or as chain migrants, but at least some of them were established in the United States by 1851. The Carters ultimately reassembled around the village of West Troy (now Watervliet) in Albany County. Ann’s son Edward had been born in Leitrim around 1840. By the mid-1850s he was in steady employment as an apprentice shoemaker. He worked for a time in a shoe store in Schenectady, before finding similar employment closer to home in a Boot & Shoe store in West Troy. Like a lot of young Irishmen in this period, he boarded out with another Irish family, the Grattans, and is recorded with them on the 1860 Census. Another of the boarders was his older brother Patrick, also a shoemaker. In the United States Edward became an important financial support for his mother. Later his co-worker Jerry Galvin would recall how Edward would use much of his $15 a week wages to help her, and even the local grocer provided evidence of the groceries and provisions he bought for Ann. It was an obligation that Edward would continue into United States service.

[image error] West Troy in the 1860s (New York Public Library Digital Collections)

In 1862 Edward Carter left shoemaking behind to enlist. He joined up in Albany on 22nd July, becoming a member of the 113th New York Infantry��� the Albany County Regiment. While Edward was probably keen to serve his country, financial considerations also played into his thinking. Just a couple of weeks after enlisting, while still undergoing initial training in Albany, he arranged to meet his friend Timothy Fitzpatrick (a 24-year-old Irish immigrant chair maker in West Troy) to give him $25 of his bounty money for his mother. In December 1862 Edward’s regiment changed its designation, and became the 7th New York Heavy Artillery. The coming months would see the regiment assigned to the defences of Washington D.C. It was from here that Edward’s first surviving letter was written:

Fort Pennsylvania 7th February 1863

Dear Mother,

I wish to inform you that I send you $20.00 twenty dollars out of two months pay which I received on this day. This is the only pay we received since we came out, they owe us six months and out of six months pay they gave us two out of which I send you the above.

The Colonel drew my pay and after all was paid he sent for me and gave my pay to me and he said he would get me out of prison if I would behave myself so I told him I would, so I think he will release me pretty soon. I hope he will and as soon as I am free I will write to you and let you know all particulars about it. You must go to the Express Office and you will get the twenty dollars it is a twenty dollar treasury note. I sent it the same day I wrote this letter. Look after this I will send you the receipt if you can’t get it without it. I have no more to say on that subject, but I send my best respects to you, Eliza, Andrew, John, Mary, Aunt and Bee and Sarah and the children and John Grattan, James and Mrs. Donnelly and Mary Cannon and all friends. I wrote to Eliza last Sunday and I wrote to you the week before and I got no answer.

Edward Carter.

[image error] An 1862 Map of Fort Pennsylvania (Library of Congress)

Fort Pennsylvania, later renamed Fort Reno, was located in what is now the Tenleytown neighbourhood of Washington D.C. (and is now the site of Fort Reno Park). As is common with Irish letters, Edward (by now a Corporal) makes mention of many of his immediate and extended family, together with family friends. His correspondence also demonstrates the constant issues Civil War soldiers faced when it came to the regularity of army pay, conditions that created financial uncertainties which were particularly difficult to navigate for Irish urban working-class families. In this letter Edward also took time to explain to his mother how to go about collecting payments made through the Express Office. This was a novel form of remitting money home, and the letters of Irish American servicemen are filled with careful explanations to parents and dependents about how to go about collecting it properly. But undoubtedly what is most interesting about Edward’s letter is that it is apparent he was writing while under arrest, presumably for having committed a military infraction. Whatever it was, the Colonel of the regiment, Lewis Morris, was clearly taking a deep personal interest in the case. A soldier with considerable pre-war military experience, Morris was described as “strong in will, yet gentle and winning in his manners,” qualities that helped to secure him “the respect and love of those under his command. He was most assiduous in the discipline of his men and unwearied in his efforts to make them good soldiers.” Patently, Morris wanted to give Edward a second chance, but what had been his offence? A letter of a few months later, in August 1863, provides further clues:

Fort Reno 10th August 1863

Dear Mother

As we received our pay this day I thought I would send you some of it. I now send you fifteen dollars by express it is all that I could send at this time, but perhaps the next time I will be able to send you more. I wrote a letter to Mary last week and I did not get an answer as yet. I had a letter from Jerry Galvin last week and I answered the day after I got it.

I [have] not much to say this time but the next letter that you get from me you may look out for good news as I expect it every day. Let you get the New York Tribune of August the eighth and you will see some good news in it.

I have not much time to write tonight, but I will let you know all the particulars in my next. My best respects to all friends.

Goodbye from your affection son, Edward Carter.

P.S. You must write soon and let me know when you get the money. E.C.

You must excuse my bad writing for my pen is bad and my hand trembles with joy.

Evidently, whatever news had been carried in the New York Tribune was momentous enough to make Edward’s hand “tremble with joy.” An exploration of that newspaper reveals exactly what it was. It reveals not only the reason why Edward had been under a cloud for so many months, but the extreme seriousness of the charge (and sentence) that he had been facing. The article from that 8th August 1863 edition, as read by Edward’s mother, is reproduced in full below:

[image error] The “good news” in the 8th August 1863 edition of the New York Tribune that Edward referenced in a letter to his mother (New York Tribune)

Further investigation reveals that the charge against Edward dated back to 4th October 1862, the early weeks of his service. He had stood accused of violating the “9th Article of War” which reads as follows:

Any officer or soldier who shall strike his superior officer, or draw or lift up any weapon, or offer any violence against him, being in the execution of his office, on any pretense whatsoever, or shall disobey any lawful command of his superior officer, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall, according to the nature of his offense, be inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court-martial.

Charged with shooting at his company Captain, Joseph M. Murphy, Edward had plead guilty during his Court Martial at Fort Pennsylvania on 8th October, and was duly found guilty of “discharging…a loaded musket, with intent to kill” his Captain. Two-thirds of the officers of the court found him guilty, sentencing Edward to be “shot to death on the Parade Ground, at Fort Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, between the hours of ten and eleven of the morning of November 14, 1862.” As we know, that sentence had not been carried out, but the charge had hung over Edward for almost a year before being dismissed, apparently on a technicality. But there must have been more to the story than meets the eye, given the willingness of Edward’s Colonel to intercede on his behalf, and the fact that Edward does not even appear to have been reduced to the ranks as a result of the incident (he retained his position as a Corporal in Company A). The episode is one we hope to explore further in the records relating to Edward’s military career.

Understandably, Edward was mightily relieved at his reprieve. It was behind him by the time he wrote the final letter contained within his file. It came from another of Washington D.C.’s defensive forts, Fort DeRussy, on 14th December 1863:

Fort DeRussy D.C. 14th December 1863.

Dear Mother,

You must excuse me for not writing before this. I would have written sooner but I was waiting to send you some money. So I went to Headquarters yesterday and expressed twenty dollars to you, which I expect you will get as soon as this reaches you. I paid the express on so you will have nothing to pay on it when you get it. I would have sent it before this only for we were removed from Fort Reno and sent to this fort. So I did feel [un]well for about a week I had the chills and fever and I got cold out of [it] so that’s what delayed me. So I am quite well again and I am getting very fat. I don’t think I can get home until after New Year’s. New Year’s Day is the day we will be mustered for pay so if every man ain’t there to answer their names they will not get any pay, so after New Year’s I think I will get home for ten days.

I am in first rate health and I hope this will find ye in the same. I heard that Roseanna Mullin was dead. Let me know in your next letter if it is so or not, I was very sorry when I heard about her. It is too bad. I will write to Eliza and Mary this week and to Andrew also. I wish ye a Happy Christmas and I hope that you and Aunt and Bee will drink my health and do not forget to do it for I know you will have the price of it. I have no more particulars to mention so I must bring my letter to a close by sending my best respects to you, Eliza, Andrew, John and Mary and to Aunt and Bee and John Grattan and to all that wishes me well and not forgetting Mr and Mrs Whelan.

So no more at present from your son Edward Carter.

Write soon. Direct to me, Co A, 7th NY Arty, Fort DeRussy, Washington DC.

P.S. Write as soon as you get the money.

It is not known if Edward got home to West Troy to see his family one last time. It is to be hoped that he did. In early 1864, the war changed dramatically for the men of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery, when they were assigned to the Army of the Potomac during the bloody Overland Campaign. There Edward bore witness to the horrors of engagements like Cold Harbor (below), where the regiment suffered terrible casualties, and where Colonel Morris was mortally wounded by a sharpshooter.

[image error] The 7th New York Heavy Artillery took horrendous casualties after they joined the Army of the Potomac in May 1864. This Harper’s Weekly sketch depicts them at Cold Harbor (Harper’s Weekly)

Edward made it through Cold Harbor, but was captured during the initial advance of the regiment on Petersburg, Virginia on 16th June 1864. He was not alone. The New York newspapers reported how the “rebels gobbled up a portion of the regiment on Thursday night [16th]” telling how “the whole skirmish line in front of Barlow’s position, and consisting of detachments from the Seventh New York Heavy Artillery regiment, which is now acting as infantry, were captured, together with their colors.���They were at the time in the rebel works, to which the skirmish line advanced. Barlow lost several hundred men prisoners.”

As a prisoner Edward was soon making his way towards the new horrors of Andersonville. Within days, he had fallen gravely ill. On 31st July 1864 Father Henry Clavreul, a French priest who was ministering to Catholics (and others) within the stockade, recorded in his diary that on that day he provided Edward with the sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction in an effort to prepare the young Leitrim man for impending death. Edward lingered on for another ten days, finally dying on 10th August 1864. It was less than a month after his date of capture. The young Leitrim emigrant was buried in Grave 5212.

[image error] The grave of Leitrim emigrant Edward Carter at Andersonville National Cemetery (Kevin Frye via Find A Grave)

The regiment in which Edward Carter served was not an ethnic-Irish unit, but nevertheless, it was filled with Irish Americans. The degree to which this was the case has become apparent in examining the 7th New York Heavy Artillery men identified as part of the Andersonville Irish Project. To date, 26 Irish Americans who died or were reported to have died in the prison have been recorded. Like Edward Carter, each has their own story to tell. Their names are recorded below.

NAMECOMPANYGRAVEDATE OF DEATHNATIVITYBird, MartinK1283114th April 1865IrelandBird, PatrickK47805th August 1864IrelandBodles, DavidD440131st July 1864Islandmagee, Co. AntrimCarter, EdwardA521210th August 1864Co. LeitrimCusick, JohnI104827th October 1864IrelandDoyle, MichaelI914218th September 1864United States [Irish Parents]Dwyer, DennisE1007730th September 1864IrelandDwyer, StephenH971625th September 1864IrelandFlanigan, EdwardC74521st September 1864United States [Irish Parents]Hammill, HughE–16th November 1864IrelandHart, JohnK1152426th October 1864IrelandHennessey, JohnC81778th September 1864IrelandJordan, BarneyE958222nd September 1864Killoe, Co. LongfordMangum, MichaelI28023rd July 1864IrelandMcCourt, HughG601217th August 1864England [Irish Parents]McEneany, PatrickG958123rd September 1864IrelandMcLean, HenryG–1st September 1864IrelandMcNamara, WilliamL996928th September 1864IrelandMoffat, JamesC412128th July 1864IrelandMorris, EdmundK46864th August 1864IrelandMullen, CharlesI122401st September 1864Errigal, Co. DerryOsborn, WilliamF–10th November 1864IrelandRobinson, AlexanderC–25th September 1864IrelandScahill, JohnL104887th October 1864Kilcommock, Co. LongfordWaldron, JohnE988927th September 1864IrelandWalsh, JamesC–31st August 1864IrelandIrish Americans in the 7th New York Heavy Artillery identified by the Andersonville Irish Project has having died or having been reported as having died at Andersonville.

Photography Focus: Rare Images of an Irish American Family at War

As rare as it is to find identified images of Irish immigrant soldiers of the American Civil in the field, it is rarer still to discover examples that include their families. The National Archives��� collection of Civil War images includes a fascinating series of images of members of the 170th New York Volunteer Infantry, of General Michael Corcoran���s Irish Legion. In several, the familiar face of Captain Thomas David Norris appears alongside his wife Ann and children Mary Ann, Ann Eliza and John, presumably visiting from New York City.

[image error] The first image- click to enlarge (National Archives) [image error] The second image- click to enlarge (National Archives)

These two images were likely taken in front of Thomas Norris���s headquarters tent at the regiment���s winter quarters outside Washington D.C. in the winter of 1863-1864. Note the prominent ���H��� (for Company H) made of pine branches affixed over the tent opening at center left. The 170th New York���s national and regimental colors are also on display, as well as a mysterious third flag. Like the first, the second image also includes Norris’s wife and children (at center); this time Norris is seated with them and accompanied by fellow officers.

[image error] A detail of the first image, focusing on Ann Norris and her three children (National Archives) [image error] A detail of the second image. At left Mary Ann Norris holds a doll on her lap; young John stands between his father’s legs, and Ann Eliza holds her mother’s hand (National Archives)

Norris, whom Damian previously wrote about in this article, was born in Killarney, County Kerry, in 1827. He emigrated in 1851, near the end of the Great Famine, sailing from Cork to New York City aboard the Swedish brig Sirius. Thomas Norris���s wife, Ann (n��e Hannon), was a native of County Limerick. She likewise left Ireland for New York in 1851, sailing on the ship Constellation out of the port of Liverpool. By the 1855 New York State Census, she and Thomas were married and living in New York City���s 9th Ward, where Thomas found work as a tailor. By 1860, the family had moved down to the 1st Ward, located at the tip of Manhattan and the site of the Battery, Castle Garden, the Custom House, and other prominent landmarks. They owned no real estate, and had a total personal estate value of just $200. Thomas served with the 69th New York State Militia at First Bull Run (see his letter to Ann describing the battle at Bull Runnings here). He subsequently enrolled in the 170th New York in January 1862, beginning his service as a first lieutenant of Co. H, and was promoted to captain of the same company the following year. Thomas was wounded at Petersburg on 16th June 1864, and spent months recovering in the hospital before being discharged from the service in May 1865. (1)

[image error] CDV portrait of Captain Thomas David Norris, 170th New York Infantry, Corcoran���s Irish Legion, and 69th New York State Militia (New York State Military Museum). [image error] The brig Sirius, on which Thomas Norris emigrated from Ireland in 1851 (Sj��historiska museet).

Thomas and Ann Norris had three children prior to the Civil War, all of whom are with them in these images. The oldest, Mary Ann, would have been about 10 years old at the time, Ann Eliza, 7, and John D., 5. While we don���t know any details of the Norris���s marriage, they were a rare example of 19th century Roman Catholics getting divorced. One of the few clues we have comes from an 1879 newspaper article about Thomas, which says simply, ���Returning from the war, he found that his wife had deserted him������ Indeed, the 1870 US Census shows Thomas living with his then four children, but Ann is not present with them. (2)

[image error] The Norris household in the 1860 US Federal Census.

Thomas Norris went on to be a prominent advocate for the Irish language, which Damian wrote about extensively here. He died in Greenwich, Connecticut in January 1900, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. His son, John D. Norris (the little boy in these photos) was perhaps inspired by his father���s military service when he made the decision to enlist in the Utah Light Artillery Battalion at the start of the Spanish American War. (3)

References

(1) Shiels, Damian, ������A Few Spoke Nothing But Gaelic���: In Search of the Irish Language in the American Civil War,��� Irish in the American Civil War; New York Emigrant Savings Bank Records; New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists; 1855 New York State Census; 1860 US Federal Census. (2) 1860 US Federal Census; ���An Old Soldier���s Troubles,��� New York Daily Herald, 16 July, 1879 (3) Shiels, Damian, ������A Few Spoke Nothing But Gaelic���: In Search of the Irish Language in the American Civil War;��� United States, Veterans Administration Master Index.