Damian Shiels's Blog, page 30

Celebrating American Independence in Cork Harbour, 4th July 1862

Just as Americans today celebrate 4th of July–their Independence Day– wherever they find themselves around the World, such was also the case in foreign climes during the American Civil War. Cork Harbour has long had strong connections with North America, and in 1862 many U.S. nationals found themselves there on their national day. Efforts to celebrate the 4th in the Harbour centred around the U.S. Consul in Queenstown (now Cobh). He was joined by many other Americans, British and Irish aboard the steamer Black Eagle, as they set off on an excursion about the area. The Cork Examiner reported on the occasion, a piece that was later picked up by the New York Irish American. 

“The boat steamed out beyond the light-house” Roche’s Point Lighthouse, at the entrance to Cork Harbour (Photo Copyright Charles W. Bash) 

THE FOURTH OF JULY IN QUEENSTOWN

This great American festival, the anniversary of the independence of the United States, was celebrated yesterday in Cork Harbour, by an aquatic excursion and pic-nic, at which the United States’ Consul, Mr. P.J. Devine, and the Captain of all the American ships in the harbour, were present, as well as the consular representatives of several other powers, and a large party of ladies and getlemen. Mr. Dawson, of Queenstown, was the host on the occasion, and his steamer, the Black Eagle, having been put in readiness for the trip, was furnished with a plentiful store of viands, with which to satidfy the sharp calls of appetite that it was anticipated would be evoked by the sea breezes. About twelve o’clock, the party were on board, consisting of, besides Mr. Dawson and family, a large number of gentlemen and ladies from Queenstown, Passage, and their neighborhoods, and the following American gentlemen, besides the American Consul: Capt. Lovel, ship Ortolan, Ellsworth, Maine; Capt. Chipman, Harry Booth, New York; Capt. Gilmore, Lillias, Belfast, Maine; Capt. Chiney, H.D. Brookman, New York; Capt. Hungerford, Mary McRae, New York; Capt. Little, William Creevy, Philadelphia; Capt. Little, C.D. Mervin, New York; Capt. Haskell, Charles and Jane, Boston. The Italian and Greek Consuls were also present, and the Austrian Consul was represented in the person of his son.

The morning was very well suited for an aquatic excursion, being bright, clear, and warm, and the appearance of the sky giving every promise of a continuance of the same weather. The waters were ruffled by a light breeze, which tempered what might otherwise have been the oppressive heat of the sun, and the spacious harbour, with its many ships lying scattered over its bosom, as well as the beautiful scenery surrounding it on every side, looked to the best advantage. The steamer left the quay at twelve o’clock, and steamed out towards the harbour’s mouth, with the Stars and Stripes flying, saluting as she passed the several American vessels that lay on her way out, all of which, having their flags flying in honor of the day, returned the compliment. The boat steamed out beyond the light-house, and the party landed by permission at Trabolgan, where they walked about for some time, enjoying the vast prospect of the boundless ocean that lay before them, and admiring the many beauties of the Trabolgan domain. Dinner having been served and done full justice to, Mr. Devine, the American Consul, who occupied the chair, proceeded to propose the toasts and sentiments which had been prepared for the occasion. Unfortunately, however, a change very much for the worse had taken place in the aspect of the weather shortly before; the rain had begun to come down unpleasantly thick, and a general disposition was manifested towards a retreat on board the steamer, which necessarily obliged the proceedings to be cut short. The Consul, therefore, after expressing the high honor he felt at having such a distinguished company assembled to commemorate what in America was proudly called “Independence Day,” proposed, without any further remark the following toasts and sentiments, each of which, as he read it, was warmly received and drunk with due honors:-

1st. The day we celebrate- May it be our happiness, on its anniversary next recurring, to commemorate the reunited consolidation of the Great Republic.

2d. The President of the United States- As a statesman and patriot he has shown himself faithful to the high trust reposed in him by the people.

3d. The Queen of Great Britain- May her reign continue to be prosperous and glorious.

4th. The United States- The home of the oppressed of all nations, especially so of the sons of Ireland.

5th. Ireland- Faithful and true now as heretofore to the United States.

6th. The friends and promoters of trade and commerce in Queenstown.

Mr. John Dawson responded briefly. The next toast was;

The consular representatives of other nations who have favored us this day with their presence and sympathy.

Mr. Malori, on behalf of the consular body, briefly returned thanks.

“The Ladies” was next given and received with the enthusiasm due to the sentiment. It was responded to by Mr. Page, after which “The Press” was give and duly responded to, when the party re-embarked on board the steamer and returned to Queenstown, arriving there shortly after seven o’clock.

Trabolgan beach, where the 4th of July revellers spent much of their day in 1862. If you zoom out from this Google Maps view you will be able to see Cork Harbour and Cobh, from where the party set off.

References

New York Irish American Weekly 2nd August 1862. The Fourth of July in Queenstown

Charles W. Bash Flickr Page

Filed under: Cork, Ireland Tagged: 4th of July in Ireland, Americans in Cork, Americans in Ireland, Independence Day, Irish American Civil War, Roche's Point, Trabolgan Beach, U.S. Consul Cork

“My Own Dearest Maggie”: The Last Letters of a Scottish Soldier of the American Civil War

My work on the widows and dependent pension files of American Civil War soldiers has revealed many hundreds of letters relating to Irish emigrants in the Union military. During the course of my research I have also come across files relating to other immigrant groups. Among them are many Scottish soldiers, whose dependents– like those of their Irish counterparts– often included letters written by their loved ones from the front in their pension applications. In future I hope to occasionally explore the stories of some of these non-Irish immigrants on the site. The first is the revealing and heartfelt correspondence of Corporal Frank Stewart Graham, written to his wife Maggie in 1863.

The frontispiece of the 165th New York’s History, demonstrating the coloured uniform which Frank and his comrades wore (History of the Second Battalion)

On 9th June 1854 Frank Stewart Graham and Maggie Smith were married in the parish church of Helensburgh– a town on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The couple made their home at 39 High Street in Ayr, where Frank worked as a painter. On 28th October 1855 the Grahams celebrated the birth of their first child, Martha, who was baptised in Ayr’s Trinity Episcopal Church on 6th January 1856. Shortly thereafter, for reasons unknown, the young family determined to emigrate to the United States. There they settled in Harlem– specifically in the 3rd District of the 12th Ward. Before long their first son, William, arrived, born in New York in the Autumn of 1859. The 1860 Census found 26-year-old Frank still following his trade as a painter, with a personal estate worth $100. A second boy, Robert, was born later the same year. Interestingly, unlike their sister, both boys were baptised in a Roman Catholic Church, namely St. Andrew’s on Manhattan. (1)

On 25th July 1862 Frank took the decision to enlist in the Union army, becoming a member of the 165th New York Infantry. Initially a member of Company B, he was transferred to Company E in December and would stay with them for the remainder of his service. Interestingly another Graham, 18-year-old Hugh, also joined Company B of the regiment. His birthplace was recorded as Glasgow, and it may well be that they were relatives, perhaps even brothers. When Frank eventually marched off to war he certainly looked the part. The 165th were intended to be a 2nd Battalion of Duryée’s Zouaves (the 1st Battalion being the famed 5th New York Infantry). They wore striking blue and red uniforms, adorned with sashes and topped off with blue-tasseled fezzes. Frank and his comrades left New York on 2nd December 1862 bound for the New Orleans and the Department of the Gulf, where they would serve as part of Brigadier-General Thomas Sherman’s division. It was from here that Francis would write home. (2)

Hugh Graham of the 165th New York in 1862. From Glasgow, he may have been a relative of Frank (Album of the Second Battalion)

Frank was stationed in Camp Parapet just outside New Orleans, when he wrote the first letter. In a theme common to many Civil War soldiers, he was impatient to receive letters from home, and was not shy in saying so. What is striking is Frank’s above average writing ability; he is particularly eloquent when expressing his affection for his wife and how much he wishes he could kiss her once more. Equally notable is Frank’s fervent support for the Union war effort, and contempt for those who were not giving their all at the front. Not only was Frank fighting for Union, he indicates that he was also fighting to advance the cause of emancipation. Strong support for the Union is a common theme throughout many immigrant soldier’s letters, even where, like Frank, they had only been in North America for a short period of time. In most instances, they had committed to their new home, and this was now their “Country.” Frank’s letter also provides an interesting description of New Orleans, and of his treatment by Confederate women– evidence of how strong support for the war effort was on the Home Front at this time. (3)

Camp Parapet

Near New Orleans

12 March 1863

My Own Dearest Maggie

The mail steamer which left New York on the 26th February and by which I expected a letter from you has arrived- and brought letters to Gelston- Owens- Tower and Baldwin, but none for me. What Maggie can be your reason for this long silence I am at a loss to conceive as since I left New York I have received but one from you and that was written on the 2nd Feby, just one month and ten days ago. I would liked to have known whether you received the $45-00 I sent you or not. Gelstons and Baldwins wives have received their they say- and surely to God you have received yours- If you have why not write me to make my mind easy, as you must know I do feel very uneasy until I am certain whether or not. Gelstons wife mention in her letter that you had written and sent your portrait. If so, I have not received it yet but perhaps it missed the last mail and will arrive with the next. I hope it may, and that it may be a good one, so that when I feel weary and drooping in spirits I can take it out of my bosom and press it to my lips, and think it is my own dear wife I am kissing. Oh Maggie how much would I give this moment to press you in my arms and imprint one kiss on your lips- but it cannot be until we have conquered the foe, which I hope to God will not be long. If once Vicksburg and Charleston was ours then the day would be won, but until then you need not believe any stories you hear about us coming home in May, or that peace will be proclaimed- it is all nonsense, started by cowardly hearted cravens who after 3 or four months soldiering would like to get home, and blow about being soldiers, instead of fighting as men and soldiers until the rebellion is put down once and forever, and then returning home as soldiers and heros with the conscious pride of having fought their country’s battles and conquered their country’s foes. I tell you Maggie from the depth of my heart, that if I was offered my discharge today I would not accept it, nor ever will until the rebellion is put down, no matter when that may be. Since I have enlisted in the cause of freedom I will stay until that cause is triumphant.

On last Tuesday the 10th we marched to New Orleans 8 miles and paraded the City and were received my Major General Sherman and returned in the evening, having marched about 20 miles. You will scarce believe me when I tell you that as passed along the streets and square the ladies closed their window blinds to show their spite. In front of one house where we rested for a few minets, they actually locked the gate to keep us from geting water to drink, and the sun raging high and hot. But our Col. got and give each man to drink a half gill of good whiskey, and then we did not care a fig for their water. I forgot to mention in my last 2 letters that I had been promoted to be color Corporal, that is to form one of the colour Guard composed of 8 corporal and 2 Sergts, whose only duty is to defend and protect the colours- it is no more extra pay, but only a little honour.

In the meantime Maggie I must close by wishing you good night. I hope Martha is a good girl and the 2 little fellows good boys to their Ma. I hope you make them say their prayers for their Father every night.

Your Affectionate Husband,

Frank S. Graham. (4)

Frank’s promotion to Color Corporal was an honour, but would also place him in one of the most dangerous parts of the field during any future assault. Of the soldiers Frank mentions in his letter, Samuel Gelston was a 27-year-old Philadelphia bricklayer who was transferred to the navy in 1864, while William Baldwin was a 35-year-old New York carpenter who mustered out with the unit in 1865. The next letter in the file was written just over two months later, from the Levee Steam Cotton Press building in New Orleans. Again, Frank expresses his dedication to the war effort, but also his love, care and desire to support his family. As he wrote, he witnessed a squad going to collect one of the regiment who had died of typhoid fever. His letter also captures a moment that would have long-term consequences for the 165th, and for Frank. Hastily scribbled in pencil is a postscript, dated 6 o’clock on 19th May 1863. Frank records that the regiment has just been ordered up the Mississippi, to join in the major efforts to secure Port Hudson. (5)

Frank’s friend Samuel Gelston of the 165th New York in 1862 (Album of the Second Battalion)

Levee Steam Cotton Press

Sunday 17 May 1863

New Orleans

Louisiana

No.9

My Dear Maggie,

My last letter written on the 10th was No 8. I forgot to number it. In your letters always mention the number of the last letter you received. Last Thursday I received your letter of the 26 April with the fifty cents inclosed. It was a glad sight, I had just been out marching and was pretty well worn out, with the sweat pouring down in streams when I opened the letter and seen it. I can assure you I was not long in getting the Captain to pass me out the gate, where I soon found means to get a rousing glass of good whiskey which done me a deal of good. Nor did I forget to wish you long life and many happy days for your thoughtfulness in sending it. I now receive all your letter and papers regularly and it gives me a great deal of pleasure when I now am certain of having a letter every week, so that I know how matters are get on with you and the children. I hope by this time you have received the eighteen dollars I sent by the Express to you on the 29 of last month, you say in your last for me not to be angry with you for spending the money, I sent it to you for to keep yourself and the children comfortable and I want you to do it, but Maggie I not want you to be noble hearted but I want you to keep yourself and the children as comfortable as possible until my return. I am enjoying as good health as I ever done in all my life. The weather is now geting pretty warm, but our barracks are nice and shady and cool. We are now geting better and more food than we have ever got since we left Staten Island- Frank Gray is cook again so I fare pretty well, but indeed we have all more than we can eat and plenty to spare.

Dear Maggie, there is a great many rumors around camp every day- some may be true but the most are lies. One day, Col. Hull is going to take command, another day the Secretary of War has ordered all the old 5th men shall be sent on to New York to join the regiment and go to Verginy, another day the regiment is going to be joined in with some other regiment, and all the Corporals and Sergants that pleases can go home for good and be mustered out the service, and every other sort of rumor. If you hear any such news in Harlem you will know what they are worth- nothing.

I can tell you Maggie when we will be home, just when the war is over, not a day sooner, and for my part I do not want to go to the old 5th [5th New York Infantry] over to Virginny either. I am perfectly satisfied and happy where I am, and proud of the regiment for it is the best drilled and disciplined regiment in the Deparment of the Gulph, and the healthest, although Maggie we have deaths occasionally from typhod fever. Just as I am writing this a squad is marching out of the gate for the Hospital to get the remains of their comrade who died last night, to lay him this morning in his narrow bed, over two thousand miles away from his home and friends- poor fellow. his marching days are over. He belonged to Co. B.

The Steamer that sailed from New York on the 6th with mails for here has not yet arrived, although the one that left on the 7th has arrived 3 days ago. We are afraid something has happened her. With the mail I send you a newspaper. It contains some very fine poetry- which I am sure you will admire- the one “After Taps” where at night in his tent, he thinks on his wife at home with the little one on her knee, and little Willie his 2nd oldest by at her side. I like it very much, and I sure you will, you will make Martha learn it. I hope she is still a good girl– she will soon get her necklace. Tell Sonney I want him to be a good boy and keep out of the mud, and when I come home I will drill him for to be a soldier, if ever war should break out again, so that he can go with his father the next time. And the little fellow, God bless him, I hope his little jolly face will always keep his mother’s heart glad until his father returns. I hope they will all have luck with their eggs, although I think you should not have let them until you moved into your new house. On the 10th I sent a letter to the Mercury, on the 21st I will send another so look out.

[in pencil]

Tuesday evening 6 o clock 19th May

My Own Dear Maggie,

We have received orders to go up the river to the battle field where General Banks is playing hell with the rebels- may God bless and protect you and the children- pray for my safety

God watch over you is my prayer,

your affectionate husband,

Frank S. Graham

The men are all in good spirits

[ in pen] All the Harlem men are well Billy Wheat has sent some newspapers and 2 letters. James Riley has written 1 letter, indeed they have all written with this mail. The next one sails on the 29th, 8 days from now. (6)

Again, Frank mentions a number of soldiers in his letter. Frank Gray (Grey) was a 39-year-old Rensselaer County carpenter. He would be captured in 1864 but was exchanged and mustered out in 1865. Billy Wheat was a 28-year-old New York painter who was wounded, but would survive the war. James Riley (Reilly) was a 21-year-old Irish plumber who was wounded and captured in 1864, but survived to be discharged. (7)

The rushed note Frank Graham added to his letter when he discovered he would be moving out to Port Hudson (NARA/Fold 3)

Frank mentions writing letters to the Mercury, a New York newspaper (it would be interesting to discover if these letters were ever printed). Evidently he had been greatly taken by the poem “After Taps” which he had sent to his wife. He clearly felt the soldier in the verse was someone he could identify with, and it impressed him so greatly that he instructed Maggie to have their daughter learn it by heart. The poem was written by Union soldier Colonel H.B. Sargent, and was published in The Atlantic Monthly in May 1863. It is here reproduced in full:

AFTER “TAPS.”

TRAMP! Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

As I lay with my blanket on,

By the dim fire-light, in the moonlit night,

When the skirmishing fight was done.

 

The measured beat of the sentry’s feet,

With the jingling scabbard’s ring!

Tramp! Tramp! in my meadow-camp

By the Shenandoah’s spring.

 

The moonlight seems to shed cold beams

On a row of pale gravestones:

Give the bugle breath, and that image of Death

Will fly from the reveille’s tones.

 

By each tented roof, a charger’s hoof

Makes the frosty hill-side ring:

Give the bugle breath, and a spirit of Death

To each horse’s girth will spring.

 

Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

The sentry, before my tent,

Guards, in gloom, his chief, for whom

Its shelter to-night is lent.

 

I am not there. On the hill-side bare

I think of the ghost within;

Of the brave who died at my sword-hand side,

To-day, ‘mid the horrible din

 

Of shot and shell and the infantry yell,

As we charged with the sabre drawn.

To my heart I said, “Who shall be the dead

In my tent, at another dawn?”

 

I thought of a blossoming almond-tree,

The stateliest tree that I know;

Of a golden bowl; of a parted soul;

And a lamp that is burning low.

 

Confederate earthworks at Port Hudson, the 165th New York’s destination (Library of Congress)

Oh, thoughts that kill! I thought of the hill

In the far-off Jura chain;

Of the two, the three, o’er the wide salt sea,

Whose hearts would break with pain;

 

Of my pride and joy, – my eldest boy;

Of my darling, the second– in years;

Of Willie, whose face, with its pure, mild grace,

Melts memory into tears;

 

Of their mother, my bride, by the Alpine lake’s side,

And the angel asleep in her arms;

Love, Beauty, and Truth, which she brought to my youth,

In that sweet April day of her charms.

 

“HALT! Who comes there?`’ The cold midnight air

And the challenging word chill me through.

The ghost of a fear whispers, close to my ear,

“Is peril, love, coming to you?”

 

The hoarse answer, “RELIEF,” makes the shade of a grief

Die away, with the step on the sod.

A kiss melts in air, while a tear and a prayer

Confide my beloved to God.

 

Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

With a solemn, pendulum-swing!

Though I slumber all night, the fire burns bright,

And my sentinels’ scabbards ring.

 

“Boot and saddle!” is sounding. Our pulses are bounding.

“To horse!” And I touch with my heel

Black Gray in the flanks, and ride down the ranks,

With my heart, like my sabre, of steel. (8)

The final line of Frank’s letter was written on 21st May. Six days later, on 27th May, the Union military launched a frontal assault against Port Hudson’s Confederate works. A member of the 165th described the attack:

Early in the morning we were informed that there was to be an assault on the works…[that afternoon] our regiment…was designated to lead the brigade in the assault; as we advanced through the woods, coming to a clearing, we found trees for several hundred feet felled in all manner of directions; as we emerged from the woods the enemy opened on us with infantry and artillery; we manage to get through the fallen timber, but hardly a man had a decent pair of pants on him; our Colonel formed in division front on color division; this was done under constant fire; as soon as we formed the men were ordered to lie down in their positions, waiting for the rest of the brigade to come up; they did not get up to our line, so the Colonel ordered the charge; when about 150 yards from the works the enemy gave us grape and canister at short range; I never saw anything like it; our men were mowed down; the firing was terrific…the men by natural instinct deployed as skirmishers taking to whatever protection they could; we finally fell back the best we could. Such a sight; the dead and wounded lay thick; the wounded groaning and calling for water (of which we had little to give) and calling upon us not to desert them…(9)

The ground over which the 165th New York attacked at Port Hudson on the 27th May 1863 (History of the Second Battalion)

Among the dead was Frank Graham. The following year his widow Maggie, now living at 8 Mulberry Street in the notorious Five Points district of Manhattan, successfully applied for a widows pension for herself and her three small children. It is not known what became of her two boys, but when she was again in correspondence with the pension bureau in April 1867, neither of them were mentioned as minor dependents. By then Maggie had moved again, this time to 89 Cliff Street in Manhattan. Whether her two sons had died may be unknown, but the fate of the Grahams eldest daughter was recorded. Martha died on 11th October 1867, just two weeks short of her twelfth birthday. The Graham family futures had all been irrevocably altered by the decision to emigrate, and by Frank’s death at Port Hudson. His letters are just one of many Scottish examples in the files, which offer us an insight into what life was like for these Scots immigrants. On the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the 165th New York’s fateful assault, Joseph Mills Hanson, a nephew of one of the regiment’s officers, wrote a poem about the attack. One of the verses (Verse 17) mentions Frank Graham by name, and stands as a lasting memorial to his death, given for a cause in which he fervently believed.

THE ASSAULT

Dedicated to the Veterans of the One Hundred and Sixty-Fifth Regiment New York Volunteers (2d Duryee Zouaves) on the Forty-First Anniversary of Their Assault upon the Intrenchments of Port Hudson, La., May 27th, 1863.

 

Ho! comrades, drain a bumper and fling the cups away!

We drink to long-past glories; to buried friends to-day;

And, as those friends were gallant, those glories dearly gained,

See that the cup be brimming, the last red drop be drained!

 

Our ranks are sadly broken since forty years ago–

When, dressed in full battalion front, we marched to meet the foe.

From some, old age and illness have claimed the mortal price,

But the bullets of the Southron reaped the richest sacrifice.

 

Let’s roll the dead years back to-night and stand with them again

Upon the field where last we met, the living and the slain,

While mem’ry conjures up once more that bloody morn in May,

When grim Port Hudson’s booming guns announced the coming fray.

 

Far roll the lines of battle, o’er swamp and vale and height,

And, far and near, the battle-flags toss in the morning light;

A brave array is spread to-day to joust with waiting Death

And fan the face of Destiny with sacrificial breath!

For there is stretching, wide and deep, across our chosen way,

With giant trunk and pointed branch, the tangled abatis,

And reared beyond like headlands that guard a rock-fanged coast,

The heaving, yellow earthworks where waits the rebel host.

All silent lie those earthworks, as our futile field-guns play

Upon their mightly ramparts of stiff, unyielding clay;

But we know the siege-guns lurking in the redoubt’s curtained slits

And well we know the Enfields that will greet us from the pits!

But, hark! The cannon-fire is slacking to its close,

As down our serried columns, the word of caution goes.

Are any here to falter? Are there any laggards now,

Who tramped the long, forced, midnight march with Nickerson and Dow?

Come breathe a prayer to Heaven; cast terror to the wind,

For Sherman’s galloped out in front, with all his staff behind!

Our gallant Colonel’s in the van; his sword points out the way

Duryee’s Zouaves must follow in Glory’s path to-day!

Forward! The brazen bugle its stirring challenge flings

And forth into the open the line of battle swings;

Straight forth into the open, with measured tread and slow,

The Stars and Stripes above us, the burnished steel below;

Six hundred forms that stride as one, six hundred guns that shine,

Six hundred faces sternly set toward the far rebel line,

And, right and left, the regiments, steady as on parade,

That march with us to hazard the deadly escalade.

One moment yet, in silence redoubt and fieldtrench bide,

As if the foe gaze, spell-bound, upon the coming tide,

Then, like the livid lightning that frees the storm-cloud’s ire,

All down the close-embrasured line, leaps forth the siege-gun’s fire!

Have you heard the wind’s wild clamor when the midnight typhoon broke?

Have you timed the lightning’s measure as it rends the forest oak?

Such sounds will seem but music, sleep-wooing to your bed,

When you’ve harked to the yell of the ten-inch shell as it hurtles overhead?

They come, those sightless reapers; front, flank and rear they strike,

With sickening thud and spirting blood, smite high and low alike;

But our steady ranks close smoothly o’er each ragged fissure torn,

As the sea fills up the furrow that the passing prow has shorn.

We leave the open cornfields; unbroken, hold our way

Till we breast the leveled timber of the bristling abatis;

And, though the files break distance in the labyrinthian net,

There is neither halt nor tremor; we are rolling forward yet!

But see! along the trenches, below the foeman’s guns,

Yellow and swift and spiteful, a line of fire runs!

And, e’en as we hear the volley and the storm of rebel yells,

The abatis breaks forth in flame, lit by the bursting shells!

Come, cheer, Zouaves! No fear, Zouaves! We’re leading the brigade!

The men who fall but bid us all press onward, undismayed.

The men who fall! Dear God above, have pity on their souls!

They fall amid the burning trees, in pits of glowing coals!

Fosdick is down– the gallant lad whose guidon led the right;

No more we’ll see his brave young face, flushed with the battle-light.

Carville and Gatz and Graham are numbered with the slain

And D’Eschambault has fallen, never to rise again.

Extract of the New York Herald casualty list for the 165th New York at Port Hudson, printed on 4th July 18363. Frank’s name is listed among the dead (GenealogyBank)

Yet still, unchecked unconquered, the Zouaves strain ahead

With muskets clutched in bleeding hands, leaving a trail of dead.

While higher still the choking flames, roll like a furnace blast,

And, fast blown, with whirr and moan, the bullets whistle past!

More loudly swells the tumult; across the quaking plain,

Smoke-wreathed the tossing battle-flags rise, sink and rise again;

While, northward, crash the volleys, lashed out by shrapnel’s goad,

Of Augur’s fiery Irishmen, sweeping the Plain’s Store Road.

 

Inwood, the dashing captain, reels with a bitter wound;

Torn by an iron fragment, Vance totters to the ground;

But, Agnus, strong and eager, holds still the desperate path.

With Morris, French and Hoffman, on, on, through the gates of wrath!

Our shatter ranks are pausing upon the brink of doom;

Can human courage win to where those thund’ring breastworks loom?

See! far ahead, the flashing blade of Abel Smith still shines

And onward waves to soldiers’ graves or through the rebel lines!

One moment more his falchion its dauntless sign proclaims;

One moment more his Zouaves follow through shot and flames,

Then, like some forest monarch, crushed down before the storm,

With bleeding breast and nerveless hand, sinks that heroic form!

Ah, grim-faced War, one victim more your authors must atone!

Ah, Freedom, weep! Your wound is deep, for Abel Smith lies prone!

‘Reft of our chief, our columns pause in the scathing fire,

As paused the marching waters before the walls of Tyre.

The pause; then, slow, reluctant to quit the fatal spot,

With many a short-lived rally and many a backward shot,

The riven ranks, the tattered flags, the wounded and the whole

Back from that pit of Hades in sullen billows roll.

Crippled but not defeated; checked– but with bosoms steeled

To vengeance for the comrades lost upon that bloody field.

Ere cease the foeman’s volleys; ere yet the silence falls

The regiments are rearing the breaching-batteries’ walls.

‘Tis past and gone long years ago; we boys in blue to-day

Give cordial hands, not bullets, to the men who wore the gray;

To-day, across the pastures where we charged on that May morn,

The summer breezes whisper through ranks of growing corn.

The blackbird whistles from the fence, the sweet clematis vine

Tangles the earth where stretched but now the smoking fieldtrench line;

And o’er the fragrant grass-lands stand shocks of new-mown hay,

Where swept the Zouaves, cheering, through the burning abatis.

One starry banner flutters from Georgia’s storied ground

To where the snow-capped Cascades stand guard o’er Puget Sound;

Reared by the hands of heroes; guarded by freemen’s shields;

Saved by the men who perished on Southern battle-fields.

To-night, a grizzled remnant of those gallant hosts, we stand,

Dreaming old battles o’er again amid a peaceful land;

Proud that we once were of them; glad that our toil and pain

Helped to restore that banner, undimmed, to it’s place again.

 

But the thought most proud and tender is of those who have gone before,

And we trust to the Lord Jehovah, who rules both peace and war,

That again we may meet comrades, when, too, we are called away,

Who fell before Port Hudson’s guns, that bloody morn in May.

 

So drink the bumper roundly and toss the glasses clear!

To comrades sleeping soundly who would bid us drink in cheer,

As they, smiling, went from battle to the judgement of their God,

Let us, smiling, pledge their slumbers in their tents beneath the sod! (10)

The Brierwood Pipe by Winslow Homer, 1864. This depicts the 165th New York’s sister regiment, the 5th New York, but their uniforms were almost identical (Cleveland Museum of Art CVL491292)

* None of my work on pensions would be possible without the exceptional effort currently taking place in the National Archives to digitize this material and make it available online via Fold3. A team from NARA supported by volunteers are consistently adding to this treasure trove of historical information. To learn more about their work you can watch a video by clicking here.

(1) Francis Graham Widow’s Pension File, 1860 Federal Census; (2) Roster of the 165th New York Infantry, New York Muster Roll Abstracts, New York State Military Museum, Troiani et a. 2002: 34; (3) Francis Graham Widow’s Pension File; (4) Ibid.; (5) New York Muster Roll Abstracts; (6) Francis Graham Widow’s Pension File; (7) New York Muster Roll Abstracts; (8) The Atlantic Monthly May 1863; (9) History of the Second Battalion Duryee Zouaves 1905: 17-18; (10) Ibid., 52-54; 

References & Further Reading

Widow’s Certificate 33677 of Margaret Graham, widow of Corporal Francis Stewart Graham, 165th New York Infantry.

1860 U.S. Federal Census.

New York Herald 4th July 1863.

The Atlantic Monthly May 1863. “After Taps.” 

New York State Military Museum: 165th New York.

New York Muster Roll Abstracts.

Roster of the 165th New York Infantry.

Anon,, 1905. History of the Second Battalion Duryee Zouaves: One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Regt. New York Volunteer Infantry.

Anon., 1906. Album of the Second Battalion Duryee Zouaves: One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Regt. New York Volunteer Infantry. 

Troiani Don, Coates Earl J., McAfee Michael J. 2002. Don Troiani’s Civil War: Zouaves, Chasseurs, Special Branches & Officers.

Civil War Trust Siege of Port Hudson Page.

Filed under: Battle of Port Hudson, Scotland Tagged: 165th New York Infantry, Civil War Letters, Civil War Widows, Department of the Gulf, Duryees Zouaves, Irish American Civil War, Scotland American Civil War, Siege of Port Hudson

“I want to see you before I die”: Last Letters of Ulster Emigrants in American Civil War Pension Files

Two years ago I had the great pleasure of speaking at the Ulster-American Heritage Symposium in Athens, Georgia. The Symposium alternates between Ireland and North America every two years, and this year was back at its spiritual home, the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster-American Folk Park outside Omagh, Co. Tyrone. I was pleased to get an opportunity to speak again at this years event, which took place between 22-25 June. The Symposium also gave me a long awaited opportunity to explore the Folk Park, which is well worth a visit, and includes gems like the house in which John Hughes, the first Catholic Archbishop of New York, grew up. I spoke specifically on letters I have identified in the widows and dependent pension files that relate to Ulster families, both Catholic and Protestant. For the benefit of those of you who may be interested in the presentation, I have reproduced it in full below, together with the powerpoint slides that accompanied it.

The house in which John Hughes, first Catholic Archbishop of New York, grew up. “Dagger John” was an important figure during the period of the Civil War, and was instrumental in getting former Papal Officers like Myles Walter Keogh positions in the U.S. Army (Damian Shiels)

In an Irish context, the American Civil War is this island’s great forgotten conflict. At the outbreak of the fighting in 1861, 1.6 million people of Irish-birth resided in the United States. This is a figure that does not include the hundreds of thousands of Irish-Americans born into Irish communities in the United States, Canada and Britain, who often regarded themselves as much a part of the Irish community as those native to Ireland. By my estimates, some 200,000 Irish-born men served in Federal or Confederate uniform between 1861 and 1865. The vast majority- perhaps 180,000- did so wearing Union blue. Of them, tens of thousands were from Ulster.

As I noted at the 2014 Symposium in Athens, and in my subsequent paper for the Irish Hunger and Migration volume, our failure to appreciate the scale of Irish involvement in the conflict- and more significantly our comparative neglect of its study in Ireland, North and South- has caused us to overlook one of the major sources relating to 19th century Irish emigration. These are the widows and dependent pension files of men who died as a result of their Civil War service in the Union military. The National Archives in Washington D.C. houses some 1.28 million such files, tens of thousands of which relate to Irish emigrants- and thousands of them to people from Ulster. I will not revisit today the background or overall content these files, which is a topic covered in the Irish Hunger and Migration volume. Suffice is to say that these files are filled with vast amounts of social data relating to Irish emigrants, which together constitute perhaps the greatest body of social information on Irish people in the 19th century United States.

In order to be successful with their application, each prospective pensioner- be they a widow, a dependent parent, a dependent sibling, or a minor child- had to prove their relationship with, and often their financial dependence on, a deceased soldier. One way in which they did this was to include original letters written by the man in question, and it is on that particular source which we are concentrating today. Over recent years I have been systematically working my way through the c. 11% of the widows and dependents pension files that have been scanned, searching within each one to determine if they have an Irish connection, and if they contain such letters. To date, I have identified letters in the files of well in excess of 250 Irish and probable Irish-American soldiers, constituting in the region of 1,800 pages of letters. Most of these were written by soldiers and sailors during the war, though there are also some which were penned before the conflict, and a number which were written to soldiers by those on the Home Front. Unsurprisingly, these contain a wealth of insights into the Irish experience of both the American Civil War and America in general. For the remainder of the talk I want to explore some of what these letters have to say, with specific reference to the correspondence of Ulster emigrants.

At the outset, it is worth noting that the existence of letters does not necessarily indicate literacy- indeed many of the soldiers who caused them to be composed were either illiterate or semi-literate. It was not unusual for correspondents to dictate their letters to a literate friend or companion, who would then also read aloud any return correspondence to the recipient. In this respect letters often constituted a more public or communal experience than we might expect, one that was shared between groups of trusted individuals. We must imagine many of these letters arriving home from the front, being read aloud to multiple family members around the table.

What then of their content? Unsurprisingly given the context of their survival, many of the letters make specific reference to finances, and of the efforts of Ulster soldiers to support those at home during the war. This often proved difficult given the erratic nature of wartime pay, which often came many months late. Soldiers also made efforts to see that their family were able to avail of relief monies made available to the dependents of those in the military. What is apparent is the intense pressure that many men were under to provide for those at home while at the front. For example, let’s hear from Bernard Curry, a native of Co. Armagh in the 182nd New York Infantry, Corcoran’s Irish Legion, who wrote home from the trenches outside Petersburg in 1864 to let his mother know that:

the paymaster come to us last night and paid us off so I am sending you 40 dollars with this letter. I am sending it by express, the way we have to do [it] is to give the money to the priest and he will send it for us.

Bernard survived his war service, only to be murdered by a fugitive in Texas while serving in the regulars. Terrence McFarland, from Newry, Co. Down, was also a member of the 182nd New York, and had similar financial concerns. In December 1862 he heard his mother had lost the relief ticket which would have allowed her to get support:

Dear mother I am very sorry that you lost that relief ticket that I gave to you but I am going to see can I get another on this day…I will look after it and as soon as I get it I will send it to you.

Terrence was later killed in action outside Petersburg on 16 June 1864.

Winter in the 1860s always brought increased financial pressures, given the necessity of purchasing fuel for heating. On 1 February 1862 James McGaffigan, a native of Clonmany, Co. Donegal, wrote home to his wife from the camp of the 63rd New York, Irish Brigade, in Virginia:

I see by the newspapers that the winter is pretty cold and stormy all along the northern states, so I am glad that the relief I sent you arrived in such good season…I hope you will make yourself as comfortable as possible and at the same time be as economical as possible, for it may be a good length of time before I have it in my power to send you another money letter, for it is uncertain if we will be paid regularly or not.

James was killed in action at Antietam, America’s bloodiest day, a little over 7 months later.

William McCollister from Co. Antrim, a trooper in the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was among many to explicitly express his desire to take care of his family. Writing from Virginia in 1863 he remarked that:

one of the things that occupies my mind the most is the welfare of my good old mother that has taken care of me from my helpless moments up to the present time…it is my desire that I may comfort her in her old age and I had rather suffer all the privations incident to human nature than to hear of her suffering for the want of one of the necessaries of life.

William would ultimately die of complications relating to an early war wound.

Lieutenant Hugh McGraw of the 140th New York Infantry wrote to his mother from Virginia in May 1863 that he:

was rather grieved and disappointed…to find that your health was rather poor, but I hope ere this reaches you that you will have recovered your former strength, and that God in his infinite mercy will be around you and bring you safe through your sickness… Knowing that I am necessarily absent and that there is none of the other members of the family near enough to pay any attention to you but I trust you will be able to get along…till I can again seek shelter under the old roof. If God in his divine Providence has so willed it that I again return to my home.

Hugh was mortally wounded on Little Round Top in Gettysburg.

Despite the worries of those at home, many Ulster soldiers found that army life agreed with them. Thomas McCready of the 74th New York Infantry, a native of Stranorlar, Co. Donegal, told his mother in November 1861 that:

I like soldiering as good now as I did the first day because I have a chance of seeing the country now.

He added:

I feel as happy now as I ever was, we have a good tent and a good bed that [holds] seven of us, also a good log chimney and a good comfortable fire.

This outlook didn’t prevent his mother from literally becoming sick with worry. In another letter Thomas wrote:

I am sorry that you took sick on my account. I have not been in any battle since I left home. Keep up good courage and do not believe everything that you hear, for I never felt better in my life. 

His mother wanted him to come home for Christmas, but Thomas had to the news that:

I can’t be home at Christmas but I expect to be home shortly after it…there is nothing you [can] do for me to make me comfortable and the best you can do for me is to answer my letter and not to be grieving about me.

Thomas was killed in the 74th New York’s first major engagement of the war, at Williamsburg, Virginia, the following May.

For the most part the men were keen to reassure those at home they were safe and there was no need to worry. Many letters make reference to the likelihood that the war would hopefully soon end. John Monaghan, of Monaghan town and the 165th New York, wrote home from New Orleans, Louisiana telling his mother to:

not worry atall about me, I am in hope that the war will soon be at an end and that I may soon return home.

John was mortally wounded at Port Hudson, Louisiana in June 1863.

Expressions as to motivations or political viewpoints are relatively rare in the letters, but we do get occasional glimpses at how fervently many of these men supported the cause of Union. To turn once again to Antrim’s William McCollister, writing in 1862:

there has been a great many young fellows killed at this last battle that I was acquainted with, but we must not think hard of that. I am as liable to be killed as any one at present but I am just as willing for to die for my country as any white boy living.

While the majority of men stayed away from topics that might worry those at home, some letters indicate the impact that the sights, sounds and stresses of war had on these Ulstermen. Patrick Carney of Fintona, Co. Tyrone, was experiencing his first campaign on the Virginia Peninsula when he described the Fair Oaks battlefield to his mother:

I never saw in my lifetime the sight I saw. Our Company was sent out yesterday afternoon to berry the dead and we ware ought 2 hours and we berried 46 Rebles. We are encamp[ed] on the battle ground.

Patrick died facing Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg a year later. Another man who died in that regiment at that battle was James Hand. His friend, Derry native Charles McAnally- a future Medal of Honor recipient- broke news of his death to his widow:

It is a painfull task for me to communicate the sad fate of your husband (my own comrade)…he received a ball through the breast & one through the heart & never spoke after. I was in command of the skirmishers about one mile to the front & every inch of the ground was well contested untill I reached our Regt. The Rebels made the attack in 3 lines of Battle, as soon as I reached our line I met James he ran & met me with a canteen of watter. I was near palayed [played] he said I was foolish [I] dident let them come at once that the ‘ol 69th was waiting for them. I threw off my coat & in 2 minuets we were at it hand to hand. They charged on us twice & we repulsed them they then tryed the Regt on our right & drove them, which caused us to swing back our right, then we charged them on their left flank & in the charge James fell, may the Lord have mercy on his soul. He never flinched from his post & was loved by all who knew him.

Sickness and disease killed more men than combat, and was a constant worry for both the troops and those at home. James McGinness, from Kill, Co. Cavan, was serving in the 90th New York Infantry when he wrote to his wife on 5 September 1862:

Thanks be to God my health is as good as it ever was and if you saw the hard life that we have to go through you would be astonished to think that men could live atall , but thanks be to God the whole Camp is in pretty good health, Still there are a good many encampments around here that have quite a number of deaths

Before long James’s encampment was also struck down- he died of yellow fever at Key West, Florida, less than a month after writing this letter, widowing his wife, who would also bury at least 7 of the couple’s 15 children.

Robert Boyle from Portadown, Co. Armagh, was serving in the 164th New York, Corcoran’s Irish Legion, when he was severely wounded at Cold Harbor in June 1864. Writing to his wife as a prisoner from Libby Prison in Richmond he told her:

My dear wife, I was captured on yesterday morning the 3rd near this place I am severely wounded through my right thigh. The surgeon has not yet examined my wound and I cant tell whether the leg will have to be amputated or not, I fear that it cant be done with safety…My dear wife I do not know what will be the result of this wound but hope for the best…With much love I remain your loving husband.

Robert died of his wounds while still a prisoner a little under a month later.

Such is the richness of some of the letters that we can combine them with other sources to build a much fuller picture of the lives of individual emigrant families, and I want to spend the remainder of the talk exploring two examples of this. The first is the story of James Kerr, from Co. Tyrone, a soldier in the 26th Pennsylvania Infantry.

We first encounter James at the First United Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, on 14 March 1857, where he married Jane Kennedy. James, who worked as a laborer, was 5 feet 7 ½ inches tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. The couple made their home in Rodman Street, six doors below 13th street on the south side, south of Lombard. It was there that their first child, Agnes- known to all as Aggy- was born at 10pm on 8 April 1858. The difficulties inherent with childbirth so prevalent in the 19th century were visited on the family the following year. At 3am on the morning of 29 October 1859 their first son was stillborn, a result of his being born in the breech presentation. Thankfully, all went well with their third child, Samuel, who was born hale and healthy at 6.30pm on 3 January 1861.

James, who for reasons unknown decided to serve under the alias of “John Kerr”, first enlisted in the 26th Pennsylvania at the age of 22 on 5 May 1861. However, this first stint in the army appears to have been short-lived, as he was discharged due to “great deafness.” Further heartache became the Kerrs’ lot on 8 August 1862, when James’s wife Jane died. Apparently sparked by a need to obtain a regular income, James again sought to enlist that December, and was this time accepted back into his old regiment, apparently with no questions asked. It is in this context that we first encounter his letters, written to the Robb family, where his children were boarding. [SLIDE 14] On 31 January 1863 he wrote from Falmouth, Virginia:

Dear Friends,

Your kind letter of 27th came to hand this morning. I was glad to know you got the money, as I was much afraid from the delay you would not get it…as it regards those 29 dollars, if I live to put my time in it will be sure for me then along with my Bounty…Always remember me to the children also to your own family. All is quiet here at present we have snow a foot & half deep … Excuse the paper I have written this on it got dirty in my pocket.

The next letter was written on 28 March 1863. It would appear that his sister-in-law Margaret Kennedy and a Mrs Major were accusing James of not paying all the funeral expenses following his wife’s death, and their accusations were impeding the flow of relief money to his children. John wrote to the Robbs:

I am very sorry you have so much trouble about the relief money. If I was able to pay for my children’s board without it I should not ask it at all, but this I am not able to do. I think it very hard for my children to be kept from getting what is their right, through the stories of persons who may wish to do me injury… it grieves me to think that any of them should try to injure either your character or mine. I would wish from my heart that this matter could be arranged, I have enough to perplex my mind without it, the duties of a soldier battling for his Country’s rights who knows not the day he may have to march on the enemy and face the music of the rifle and cannon…it is my wish that you should draw the relief money until I return again if I have the good fortune to escape the rebels ball & steel… Always remember me to the children. I hope Aggy is a good girl and has not forgotten me, tell me if she speaks as little as [she] used to do next time you write.

Access to the relief money still dominated James’s thoughts when he next wrote to the Robbs, on 18 April:

I am somewhat surprised you did not answer my last letter- It makes me fear you have not been successful in getting the relief money. Enclosed is a receipt for twenty dollars which you can receive on account for the children’s board, the Chaplin Mr. Beck will hand it over to you. We are about moving on the enemy we are each to carry eight days rations. We have been under marching orders for three days, we expect hot work before us, plenty of marching and fighting both…I am in good health and hope this may find my dear little children together with yourself & family well…please write soon when this comes to hand and give me all the news you can…

The movement he was referring to were the beginnings of a major campaign. Just over two weeks after writing, James Kerr was killed by a bullet at the Battle of Chancellorsville. His orphaned children would receive a minor’s pension based on his service, and their futures passed into the guardianship of their aunt Margaret.

The next letter-based story relates to the Carr family. They were natives of Ballinascreen, Co. Derry, where Arthur Carr and his wife Nancy lived with their five children. In 1850 Arthur died, leaving the family destitute and with few options. Nancy would later recall that in 1851:

“I and family were sent to America and our expenses paid by the local authorities in Ireland”

The family escaped penury in Ireland only to face paupery in New York. Not long after their arrival, Nancy was forced to place her children in institutional care due to an inability to afford their support. Improving circumstances eventually meant that she was able to reunite most of her family, but not all. An August 1860 “Information Wanted” advertisement placed in the Boston Pilot explained what happened:

INFORMATION WANTED OF BERNARD (or Barney) CARR, who left Ireland and landed in New York in 1851, with his mother and her children. Being unable to support them she was obliged to send three of the boys to Ward’s Island, from which place a person named Fenton Goss, from New Jersey, took one of the boys (Bernard, or Barney) to West Liberty, Logan county, Ohio. The unfortunate and disconsolate mother, who is now in certain circumstances, offers a reward of $20 to any person who can give her any information of her son Bernard Carr. Address Mrs. Ann Carr, Walton, Delaware county, N.Y.

Ann’s advertisement worked, but she did not reunite with Barney before the onset of war. By 1862, Barney, then 17-years-old, had made the decision to enlist. Almost certainly underage, he became a private in Company C of the 79th Illinois Infantry, and it is from here that we pick up his correspondence with his mother in New York. In an early letter, written in camp near Nashville, Tennessee, Barney asked his mother to:

pray for me continually I hope that you and me and the rest of the folks at home…see each other once more before I die. If it is the will of God that he may spare my life to get home to embrace my mother as we haven’t seen each other for about 9 years or more.

Life’s simple pleasures were important to Barney. This is demonstrated in a letter he wrote from Chattanooga, Tennessee on 14 November 1863:

…Mother I want you to send me by mail one round of fine cut chewing tobacco just as soon as you can send it to me, for that is the only way I can keep from spending my money and if you don’t send me plenty of tobacco, why then you will have to send me my money to buy it [he was sending home $30] for I can’t do without the article in no shape nor form…as for tobacco you can buy me a number one quality there and not cost near so much as it would here, I have to pay $1.00 for one plug of tobacco and it won’t weigh half a pound and it is musty after I get it so that I can’t chew it.

The following summer saw the onset of the combined Union offensives which sparked some of the most horrendous fighting of the war. Barney and the 79th Illinois were involved in Sherman’s push towards Atlanta, which saw the regiment engaged in heavy fighting through May and June. On 20 June Barney wrote the following letter, penned while under Confederate fire at Kennesaw, Georgia:

Dear Parent, once more I take the pleasure [of] writing to you a few lines to let you know that I am still alive yet. As I suppose you are well aware that Sherman’s army has been a fighting ever since last May and that I am still in his army. So as I have not wrote to you in a good while I thought you would be uneasy about me and thought that I would write you a few and let…[the letter stops at this point, and continues as below]

Dear Mother I have had to stop writing, we are a lying on the line [of] battle and there are 12 pieces of cannons in front of us and they are a shelling the Rebs and that draws the Rebels fire and it is a horrible place to be in. Cannonballs are a flying thick around us and the shells are a screaming in the air and through the woods, cutting the timber and earth in all directions, but thank [God] Mother I am still safe and unhurt, but how long I may still remain so I can’t tell anything about that yet. God only knows how long it may last, I am sure I can’t tell anything about it now, that by the grace [of] God I still live yet and am well and hearty in the bargain…I hope that when this few lines reaches you that [they] will find you all well and doing well.

Dear Mother these are hard times nothing but fighting every day and killing of men. I am a getting tired of it but then I want to see them keep those Rebels a moving to Atlanta and I guess that it is the only way of putting down this Rebellion and the sooner it is down the better it is for them that lives to see it. But Mother pray for me that I may live to see it over and live to see you all. So Mother I want to see you before I die and I want to see all of the Carr family.

Seven days after Barney Carr wrote this letter, on 27 June 1864, Sherman ordered his men to assault the Confederate line at Kennesaw Mountain. In the bloody repulse that followed, the assisted-emigrant from Ballinascreen was killed.

The story of the Carr family is one of a number from Ulster that will feature in my new book, The Forgotten Irish, which is due out this November. Each of those stories draws on the incredible information contained within the widows and dependent pension files to try and reconstruct the Irish emigrant experience at the level of the individual family. This is something that is possible with thousands of Ulster files. Heretofore, we have spent too long concentrating on the ins-and-outs of questions such as the location of Phil Sheridan’s birth, or the degree of Stonewall Jackson’s Ulster-Scots identity. The real story of Ulster in the American Civil War is one for which we have barely scratched the surface. It is the story of ordinary emigrants like James Kerr and Barney Carr, and the tens of thousands of other Ulster families who were irreparably touched by this conflict.

Filed under: Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Tyrone Tagged: Irish American Civil War, Mellon Centre Migration Studies, Scots Irish Emigration, Ulster American Folk Park, Ulster Catholic Emigration, Ulster Emigration, Ulster Presbyterian Emigration, ulster-American Heritage Symposium

“I Sprung from A Kindred Race”: George McClellan Cultivates the Irish Vote, 1863

The Irish of the North overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party during the period of the American Civil War. Many had little time for Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans, and in the 1864 Presidential Election most rowed behind George McClellan– the former commander of the Army of the Potomac– who was hugely popular among the Irish. Though his Democratic affiliations made him the natural choice for many Irish, McClellan nonetheless had put work into endearing himself to them. One such occasion was his appearance at a meeting in 1863, organised to raise funds for the relief of the poor of Ireland. McClellan no doubt saw this as an ideal opportunity to garner significant Irish support. His speech that evening is reproduced in full below, as is an explanation from one Irish Legion voter as to why he intended to support McClellan in the 1864 Election.

George McClellan and his wife during the Civil War (Library of Congress)

 The speech below was given at the Academy of Music in New York on 7th April 1863. The event had been organised in an effort to raise funds for the relief of the poor of Ireland (to read more on these efforts, see posts here and here). The New York Times described the event as follows:

At half-past 7 o’clock the entire edifice was filled with beauty and fashion. On the stage were the officers of the Society known as the Knights of St. Patrick; Mayor Opdycke, who presided over the meeting; His Grace Archbishop Hughes; Rev. Messrs. O’Reilly, Mooney, Schneider, Hon. Judge Daly, Hon. Recorder Hoffman, Brig. Gen. Meagher, Very Rev. Dr. Starrs, Vicar General;Rev. Thomas Quinn, of Rhode Island, Rev. Mr. Moran, of Newark, Mator Kalbfleisch, of Brooklyn, and several other distinguished gentlemen, both of the lay and clerical orders. (1)

The evening wasn’t just for Democrats– Mayor Opdyke, who was also in attendance, was a staunch anti-slavery Republican. Among the other speakers was Thomas Francis Meagher, who although a Democrat, would ultimately support Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Though “Little Mac” protested that he had not intended to speak at the event, he had undoubtedly intended to do exactly that. His speech, which by all accounts was extremely well received, was calculated to link himself still further to the Irish. McClellan spoke of springing from a “kindred race,” and of witnessing the bravery of Irish soldiers on the battlefields of Mexico and the Civil War. He went as far as could reasonably be expected in condemning the British position in Ireland, pointing out that the Irish were little represented in the Government of Ireland and had no influence on the laws of the land. One can imagine what the expression of such views meant for those in the crowd with designs on gaining American support for Irish independence. He accentuated the idea that the United States had become a refuge for Irish exiles, stoking Irish pride by noting what a boon this had been for America. He closed by taking the opportunity to espouse the cause of Union, and the importance of the current fight. It would be more than a year before “Little Mac” would receive the Democratic nomination to challenge Abraham Lincoln, but, as his speech below demonstrates, he was already preparing the groundwork for Irish support in his future political career.

The Academy of Music was an impressive venue. This was the Russian Ball held there, only a few months after McClellan’s speech, in November 1863 (Library of Congress)

MY FRIENDS: I came here to-night as a listener and spectator, not as a participant in the proceedings of the evening. I came to hear the ablest and best of the friends and sons of Ireland plead her cause to-night. I have departed from my usual rule to avoid large assemblies, because I knew that this meeting had neither partisan nor political purpose. [Cheers.]

I knew that you had assembled for the noblest of all purposes– that of charity towards suffering brethren in a distant land. I came here simply to evince my sympathy in your cause; for I have strong and peculiar reasons for feeling an intense sympathy for and interest in all that relates to Ireland and the Irish [great applause.] I sprung myself from a kindred race. I have often seen the loyalty of the Irish to their Government and to their General proved. I have seen the green flag of Erin borne side by side with our own Stars and Stripes through the din of battle [Cheers.] I have witnessed the bravery, the chivalry, the devotion of the Irish race, while I was a boy, on the fields of Mexico, and in maturer years on the fields of Maryland and Virginia [Loud cheers] It has often been my sad lot, pleasant withal, to watch the cheering, smiling patience of the Irish soldier while suffering from disease or ghastly wounds; and I have ever found the Irish heart warm and true. [Cheers]

I feel, then, that I have a right to sympathize with your cause to night. It is most unfortunate that there are so many in Ireland who need our sympathy; but at least we should thank our God that He has given us the means to extend our hands to them. [Enthusiastic cheering.] It is perhaps unfortunate for Ireland that laws, in the making of which the Irish have had but little to do- that a Government in which perhaps they been but little represented- should have induced so many to have left their native land and sought foreign climes. But what has been the loss of Ireland has been the gain of America [Cheers] It has given us some of the proudest intellects that have adorned our history, countless strong arms who have developed our resources, and soldiers innumerable, who, on every field, from those of the Revolution to those of the present sad rebellion, have upheld the honor of their adopted country. [Wild Cheers] And so, I repeated, we have gained what Ireland has lost. [Continued cheers]

One thing more before I close. Although, as I said before, we have come here to-night for no political purpose, yet no true friend of his country, in the present crisis, can repress altogether the thoughts that will crowd upon his brain. What is it that enables us now to extend our hands in succor to your brethren across the Atlantic? What is it that our fathers worked for, and for which we too worked, and are working now? It was to establish on this broad continent one nation, one free Government, that might be a refuge for all from foreign lands. I know, then, that I express the sentiments of all who listen to me when I say that all oue energies, all our thoughts, all our means, and, if necessary, the last drop of our blood, must be given to uphold that unity, that nationality. [Great cheering]

I did not rise to make a speech, but simply to express my warm and most cordial thanks for the greeting with which I have been honored. I will therefore thank you again, and then make way for abler and more eloquent men who will plead the cause of your country to-night. (2)

‘Irish Brigade Giving to the Cause of Ireland’, for which McClellan was speaking. Detail from New York ‘Irish World’, 1903

When the election finally did arrive in 1864, many Irish were extremely vocal in their support for McClellan’s efforts. This widespread support is borne out among the private letters of soldiers I have been studying in the widow’s and dependent pension files. To gain a sense of some Irish views you can see previous posts here and here. A letter published in the Irish-American of 22nd October 1864 is illustrative of Irish backing for McClellan. It was written by Captain Thomas Norris of the 170th New York Infantry, part of Corcoran’s Irish Legion. At the time of his writing the Killarney, Co. Kerry native was in hospital in Annapolis, recovering from a wound received at Petersburg on 16th June 1864. Norris was best known in later years for his efforts to preserve the Irish language, which have been featured in a previous post here. Norris was replying to a letter from a (presumably Irish) Sergeant about the election, and particularly to a comment that all of the officers would vote for “Old Abe and the niggers”, highlighting how many Irish felt about Lincoln, African-Americans, and emancipation. It is worth noting that these views did not prevent men like this unnamed Sergeant from wanting to return to his regiment, and to fight for a Government which by this date had made clear its intent with respect to emancipation. Like many Irish troops, he likely felt emancipation was a means to an end in the goal of preserving the Union, which was the strongest ideological motivational factor for Irish (as for native-born) troops. (3)

Democratic Party Poster for the 1864 election supporting McClellan and Pendleton (Image via Wikipedia)

OFFICER’S HOSPITAL, MIDDLE DEPARTMENT, ANNAPOLIS, MD., Oct. 4, 1864.

Dear Seargeant- I received yours of the 24th ult. I am glad to hear you are well, and in hope of going to your regiment soon. I feel no trouble, save all that my wounds give me, which is enough. I had a letter from the Colonel, stating that he had but sixteen men left with him in the regiment (we got cut up “right smart, I reckon”); but it is consoling to know that there is not a dark spot on our whole career, which is partly substantiated by our colors being still in our possession. We lost our men, but not our colors; we have them both yet.

You compliment me highly, indeed, when you say- “I suppose that all of you (officers) will vote for Old Abe and the niggers.” I think I taught you to be more respectful to your superior officers. But as you are so far away, you think you are all right. Did you ever see me do, or know me to say anything, not right, or honorable, or contrary to my principles, to please any person or to curry any favors? Did you ever hear me say that I did or would vote for President Lincoln? Don’t you know that I could do better out of the army as a citizen, than in it as an officer? and still you make use of the above language to me. As I am in the service for the country’s good, and not for the immediate good of my family, I intend to serve the country by voting for George B. McClellan. When President Lincoln was legally elected (not by my vote) to be the President of the United States, I thought it my duty to support him as such. So did George B. McClellan, and every true Democrat; and, no matter how we liked the workings of his administration (as soldiers), we found no fault. If he is again elected, I have no objection- nay, it will be my duty, to maintain him. I have done it before, with musket and sword, and I challenge a living man to say that I have not done my duty. But I must say, that I hope he won’t require support from either of us as the President of 1865. We are going to lick the South; but I hope the country will have a man that will say to the whipped party- “Arise and don’t whine over your bruises. It’s all your own fault. You have done wrong against your father’s house (the Government and the Constitution), and got the worst of it. Repent now of your past follies, and be good citizens in future, and you shall be men, once more, having all the rights and privileges our glorious Constitution guarantees to the children of the Republic. Yes, as for the Prodigal Son, we shall kill for you the fatted calf, on seeing signs of your repentance: we shall love each other once more, and be as one body and one fold, animated by one spirit, under one Government and one Constitution as framed by the never-to-be-forgotten fathers of American freedom and independence. Your rashness has brought desolation on yourselves and weeping to the whole country, but we must try to turn past evils to future profits. our family quarrel has developed our strength and resources, and proven the ability of our republican form of government to maintain itself from invasion from abroad or commotion from within, and put secession out of the question for evermore. But we are now, as we were before the war, a ‘Republic,’ and as a part of the same you shall stand without distinction. Let remorse be your punishment for the past; you are welcome once more to our sisterhood of States, on that equality which must exist in conformity with the nature and workings of republican institutions.”

The man to say the above is, in my estimation, George B. McClellan. He is the man to unite the whole country. And whilst I think so, I am with him; and I think that every man (soldier), who fought and bled for the Union, ought to be with and for him. No doubt, the mis-named Union men of to-day will call every man a “Copperhead” who does not pretend to endorse their pretended views. But I am afraid that a great many of these would hereafter wish- should they succeed at present in their crazy rantings, and perhaps drift the country into God knows what- that they had copper or brass heads, or no heads at all, instead of adder-heads and numbskulls. I hate what is called- Copperhead, or a rebel sympathiser, as much as the Devil hates holy-water, and, consequently, I detest the humbug calling himself a Republican who would feign have it believed that every good man who loves his country, and who considers it his duty to vote for Seymour or McClellan, is a Copperhead and a traitor. Did not the present President and his Administration force the pay of a Major-General on McClellan since he was relieved from command, whilst they deprived the country of his services. Then, are President Lincoln & Co., traitors and Copperheads? How consistent the prating of those radicals must be. I don’t go for permanent subjugation and a standing army in the South or elsewhere; that would be a military despotism, and only the beginning of monarchy. We must whip the rebels back into the Union, place their States on an equal footing with the other States, and themselves on an equality with the other citizens of the country. If they won’t have that, why I say we must either extinguish or exterminate them; for, with McClellan, I say, “The Union must be preserved at all hazards;” and we all know that there is not a man in the United States that can raise such a volunteer army for the purpose to-day as George B. McClellan. Then I say, my boy, that he must have my voice, and may God grant him success.

Yours, &c.,

THOMAS D. NORRIS,

Captain 170th Regt., N.Y. Vols. (4)

Despite the strength of Irish support, McClellan lost the 1864 Presidential election. President Abraham Lincoln advanced to a second-term, wartime victory, and assassination. In many respects, the Democratic Irish majority’s opposition to Lincoln and views towards emancipation have placed them on the wrong side of history. However, there was far more to their political views than simply racism towards African-Americans, and it is worth listening to their thoughts on the matter in order to attempt an understanding of those views.

Captain Thomas David Norris, 170th New York Infantry, Corcoran’s Irish Legion, and veteran of the 69th New York State Militia at the First Battle of Bull Run. He voted for McClellan in the 1864 election. (New York State Military Museum).

(1) Irish American 9th April 1863; (2) Ibid.; (3) Irish American 22nd October 1864; (4) Ibid.;

References

New York Irish American Weekly 9th April 1863. The Suffering Poor of Ireland. Relief Meeting– Speech of Gen. McClellan.

New York Irish American Weekly 22nd October 1864. The Irish Soldiers for McClellan.

Filed under: 170th New York, Discussion and Debate, New York Tagged: 1864 Presidential Election, Corcoran's Irish Legion, Democratic Irish, Democratic Party, George McClellan, Irish American Civil War, New York Irish, Relief of Ireland

“I Not Onley Loved You But I Adored You”: 19th Century Irish Emigrants Speak of Love, Loss & Alcoholism

On 13th October 1863 Irishwoman Margaret Martin of 84 Fourth Street, East Cambridge, Massachusetts applied for a widow’s pension. Her husband Michael, a private in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, had lost his life at the Battle of Chancellorsville on 3rd May that year. Margaret’s file demonstrates the range of information that can be found in these files. Contained within it is an extremely poignant letter from her husband, expressing his regret at enlisting, and his profound feelings of love for his wife. The file also reveals an interview with Margaret more than twenty years later, following a descent into alcohol abuse that had cost the emigrant her home, her children, and almost certainly was what eventually cost her life. It allows us a rare opportunity to hear in the first person from an Irishwoman who suffered from what was one of the most devastating illnesses to afflict 19th century America. (1)

Michael Martin was born into the Irish community of St. John, New Brunswick around the year 1833. On 15th November 1855, at the age of 22, he married 19-year-old Irish emigrant Margaret F. Mulligan in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Initially life seemed to go well for the young couple. Their first child, Ann Eliza, was born on 31st October 1856, with a second daughter, Catherine, arriving on 8th April 1860. The Census of that year found the family in Cambridge’s Third Ward, where Michael was employed as a journeyman carpenter. He spent the years prior to his enlistment working for Master Carpenter William J. Marvin, who like Michael had come south from Canada, being a native of Nova Scotia. They were part of a sizeable community from areas like New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in East Cambridge, which included Michael’s brother John and likely a number of other members of the immediate Martin family. (2)

East Cambridge in 1854, when the Martins lived there (Boston Public Library)

Michael had been working for William Marvin for three years when, seemingly on impulse, he decided to enlist in the Union army. He took the decision while on his way to work on 1st July 1862, having met a recruiter on the street. He apparently made this decision without Margaret’s knowledge, and was quickly whisked off to initial training. It would seem there was more to this story than Michael revealed, but in anycase, the next time Margaret heard from him he was a private in Company I of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. Michael had enlisted under an alias, serving under his brother’s name of John Martin (his brother also served the Union during the war). Michael seems to have almost immediately regretted his decision. He wrote home to Margaret later that month, in a letter that highlighted both his misery and his realisation of his true feelings for his wife. (3)

Juley the 21 862

My dear wife I received your letter to day and I am glad you ar[e] well dear wife I listed the 3 of Juley and that day I went to work the officer met me on the street and sent me rit up to camp camron and would not let me stir untill the[y] sent me out here dear wife you cant tink ho[w] I suffer here I have to sleep on the bare grond wet al[l] day last week I had to sleep on the ground and it pouring raining all nit dear wife I have but ten minits to write and cant cant [sic.] half a nuf but the next letter I will tell you more dear wife when you write write [sic.] send me the childrens and your pictures an[d] a paper dear wife I would giv[e] all the world to see yous once more dear wife it is now I find out how I loved you and the longer I am am [sic.] a way the more I love you and dear wife I not onley loved you but I adored you but you never [k]new it your immige was ceared[?] on my hart and it is that love that leves me rare to to day

when you write direct your letter to John Martin Company I 2 Mass regment washington D C

Gen Banks Division

dear wife when you write let me no wheter you ar going to git the state helpe[?] I did not understand in your let[ter] whether you ar goying to git it or not dont for get the pictures no more at present

I am you[r] lovin husband un till deth John Martin

when you write dont forget the name

write to me as soon as yo[u] get this

dear wife I will sin[d] my pay to you as soon as I get it

J (4)

Margaret included this letter in her application as it demonstrated that her husband had served in the 2nd Massachusetts under an alias. It is unusual to come across a letter in the files which so strongly articulates a soldier’s feelings towards his loved one, and his profound sense of regret at enlisting. The second letter in the file was written as the Army of Potomac were about to embark on the Chancellorsville Campaign, in which Martin lost his life. In the letter he signed off as “M Martin” rather than under his alias, and that is the probable reason for its inclusion by Margaret.

Staffort corthouse

Virginey april 14 186[3]

dear wife I write you these few lines to let you know that I am in good healt at preasent thank god for it and I hope that this will find you and children in joying the same we ar[e] packing up to day for a long march and a towards richmond or northcartonia I dont no which

no more at present from you husband

M Martin (5)

The Battle of Chancellorsville (Kurz and Allison)

Michael’s company officer wrote to Margaret the following month to inform her of her husband’s death. We will never know the impact it had on Margaret, and if it was a central factor in the problems that plagued her for the remainder of her life. Whatever the causal factors, she was far from the only Irish immigrant to turn to the bottle in an effort to escape the realities of their often difficult lives. Her drinking issues in the coming years resulted in multiple arrests, and by 1870 both her children had been removed from her custody– it is likely she never saw either of them again. The unfortunate woman spent her pension money on drinking “sprees” and became increasingly reliant on charity and almshouses for her support. Eventually the Court ordered a guardian, R.A. Duggan of Quincy, to be appointed to administer her pension for her. It was a dispute she had with Duggan in 1884 that led to the appointment of a Special Investigator to her case, and which led to the interview which provides us with her words in the first person. While Duggan claimed he had returned Margaret’s pension certificate to her in 1882, the Irishwoman claimed he had retained it, and was effectively stealing money from her. In an attempt to get to the bottom of the matter, both were interviewed by the pension bureau. On 1st July 1884 the investigator went to the Chardon Street Home in Boston to meet Margaret. The Home was intended to provide temporary accommodation for women and children. The resultant interview is reproduced in full below. (6)

Question: Why was there a guardian appointed for you?

Answer: Because I had got into the habit of drinking and the Court said I was wasting my money

Question: Don’t you drink now?

Answer: No Sir, it has been a year since I drank anything

Question: Has not Mr. Duggan as your guardian treated you right and acted honestly to you?

Answer: Well he gives me so little, quarters and ten cents, that I dont know how my money went

Question: Don’t he pay your board and buy you clothes?

Answer: No Sire. He never looks after me.

Question: Well what is your wish, another guardian appointed?

Answer: No I do not want another guardian I want to draw my money myself. I want my certificate.

Question: Have you ever been in the Station House?

Answer: Oh yes. I never used to wait for them to arrest me, but I’d go in there myself to raise “Ned.” Have been in No 2 a number of times.

Question: Where are your children?

Answer: They were taken away from me on account of my drinking. Have not seem them in 13 or 14 years.

Question: What has Duggan told you about your pension money?

Answer: He told me he had resigned a year ago last September. That he had settled up with the Judge and the Judge had allowed him to keep forty dollars for his services as guardian. He told me I was free now to draw my own money. A year ago last December I went to the Pension Office downstairs to draw my money and they told me Mr. Duggan had drawn it and they wont pay me now because the Pension Agent says Mr. Duggan is still my guardian and he cant pay me.

Question: Who has your Certificate?

Answer: Mr. Duggan, and I want it. (7)

The International School of Boston, formerly an Almshouse, where Margaret spent time (Photo by Rapaceone)

Duggan claimed in his interview that he had delivered the pension certificate to Margaret on 28th July 1882, and had a signed receipt to prove it. The Special Investigator did note that Duggan had received a further five payments amounting to $120 after this date, but Duggan claimed he had been asked to do this by Margaret, and ultimately was able to produce receipts for them as well. In the end, the Investigator came to the conclusion that Duggan was a “man of good repute.” In contrast, the matron of the Chardon Street Home told him that Margaret was “totally unreliable” and despite the Irish emigrant’s claims to the contrary, during the interview the Investigator felt that “from her present appearance her habits still are those of a hard drinker.” He determined that she had received her certificate from Duggan, but that “owing to her loose habits she lost it.” The case exposed issues with how Civil War pensions were administered in Boston– it was not the first occasion where payments were being made without certificates being produced. The Supervising Examiner annotated the case file, opining that “it shows another instance of the laxity of the administration on the part of the Boston Pension Agency.” (8)

The balance of evidence presented does suggest that Margaret had failed to recover from her drinking problems. Just over a year after the investigation, Margaret’s guardian reported that the troubled woman had passed away. Those pension cases which were the subject of investigation are among the most valuable from a historical perspective. Many were initiated as a result of suspected fraud or due to extreme social issues, and resulted in interviews with a range of witnesses. They allow us to hear from working class Irish emigrants– people like Margaret– whose voices are otherwise beyond our reach. How different her life might have been if Michael had not enlisted on his way to work in 1862, or had he not fallen on the Chancellorsville battlefield in 1863, is impossible to determine. Undoubtedly though many thousands of Irish-Americans, be they veterans or surviving dependents, had to face down their own long-term personal battles as a consequence of the events of 1861-65. (9)

The “Down Hill Road”, an 1878 image which highlighted the dangers of alcohol (Library of Congress)

(1) Martin Widow’s Certificate; (2) Martin Widow’s Certificate, 1860 U.S. Federal Census; (3) Martin Widow’s Certificate; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Martin Widow’s Certificate, Guide to the Temporary Home for Women and Children; (7) Martin Widow’s Certificate; (8) Ibid.; (9) Ibid.;

* None of my work on pensions would be possible without the exceptional effort currently taking place in the National Archives to digitize this material and make it available online via Fold3. A team from NARA supported by volunteers are consistently adding to this treasure trove of historical information. To learn more about their work you can watch a video by clicking here.

References & Further Reading

WC16416 Widow’s Certificate for Margaret Martin, Widow of Michael Martin, Company I, 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

1860 U.S. Federal Census, Cambridge Ward 3, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

1860 U.S. Federal Census, Cambridge Ward 2, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

City of Boston Archives and Records Management Division. Guide to the Temporary Home for Women and Children Records. 

Civil War Trust Battle of Chancellorsville Page.

Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Filed under: Battle of Chancellorsville, Canada, Massachusetts Tagged: 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, Boston Irish, Boston Pension Agency, Civil War Alias, Emigrant Alcoholism, Irish American Civil War, Irish in Cambridge, Irish in New Brunswick

The Ties that Bind: An Emigrant Derry Community & Those Left Behind

The google image below is the modern view of a rural laneway in Ballyriff townland, near Magherafelt in Co. Londonderry. Over a century ago, it was a road that was well known to Thomas McKinney. He had spent his entire life walking it, making a living for himself and his family in the surrounding fields. The Griffith’s Valuation records Thomas living just off this lane, renting a house worth 15 shillings from landlord Robert Archer. Some of his wider family also made their home in Ballyriff. The valuation records two other McKinney’s (recorded as McKenny) renting in the townland, with three more of that name holding lands in the parish of Artrea, of which Ballyriff forms a part. Thomas had the good fortune to live a long life. Born in the 18th Century, he had married Susan Bates in Woods Chapel around the year 1812, and started a family. Thomas lived to see many of his children permanently emigrate to the United States. As was often the case, they would congregate with other Derry emigrants in America; in the McKinney case that was around Brighton, Massachusetts. Thomas would never see them again. However, the remove of thousands of miles didn’t mean they were completely lost to him. In his old age, his sons, daughters and former neighbours in America rallied to his support, demonstrating in their words and deeds their sense of responsibility towards him. (1)

Thomas McKinney had at least one son and two daughters living in Massachusetts during the 1860s. By that time his wife had passed away, but at least one other daughter had remained at home in Ireland with him, though she had difficulties with her sight. In America his son James had spent the 1850s working as a laborer, but with the onset of the Civil War he decided to enlist as a private in the 26th Massachusetts Infantry. Operating principally as a teamster, James spent much of his war around Louisiana and the Gulf. He re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer on 4th January 1864, a year which also witnessed a change of operational base for his regiment. Before he long he found himself part of the 19th Corps in Phil Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah. It was in that capacity that the 26th Massachusetts would experience their worst day of the war, on 19th September, at what became known as the Battle of Third Winchester/Opequon. Though the engagement ended in victory for the Union, it also ended in death for James McKinney. (2)

Back in Ballyriff, Thomas– now well in his 80s– had to cope with the loss of a son who, despite the fact they had not seen each other in 20 years, still formed an integral part of his emotional and economic life. The importance of his long departed boy was accentuated by Thomas’s physical condition, which in 1869 was described by Magherafelt physician Francis Auterson as follows:

He is an old man apparently of above eighty years of age…he is very infirm and wholly unable to earn his living by any manual labour. (3)

In the absence of his son’s remittance from America, Thomas instead sought a dependent father’s pension. His first step was to make a declaration relating to his background and circumstances. Thomas’s statement captures something of the vast remove of rural Ulster from the seat of the American Civil War– the battle in which his son died is referred to incorrectly as “the battle of Wincastle near Richmond.”

Solemn Declaration

City and County of Londonderry to wit.

Petty Sessions District of Magherafelt, in the County of Londonderry Ireland

I, Thomas McKinney, of Ballyriff in the parish of Ardtrea and county of Londonderry, Ireland; do solmenly and sincerely declare that I was married to Susan Bates in or about the year of our Lord One Thousand eight Hundred and twelve by The Revd J.M. Marshall, then the Officiating Minister of Woods Chapel in the parish & County aforesaid. But as the said Revd J.M. Marshall is dead & none of his Register books to be found, I cannot procure the Official Certificate of my marriage. I further declare that I had a son named James who emigrated to America in the year 1846 or 47 and who enlisted in the United States Army; and I am informed he was shot in the battle of Wincastle near Richmond.

I am now about 88 years old. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act passed in the Sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, chapter sixty two, for the abolition of unnecessary oaths. (4)

The Battle of Opequon (Third WInchester) by Kurz & Allison (Library of Congress)

The scant detail Thomas was able to provide regarding his connection to James was insufficient to secure a pension. He now had to rely on his departed neigbours and children to help furnish the evidence required, in the form of affidavits from immigrants both old and new from Derry who were then living in Brighton. If Thomas’s reference to the “battle of Wincastle” demonstrates how the major events of the Civil War could become blurred at such a remove, the response of the expatriate Ulster community in Brighton to his plight demonstrates just how connected Irish immigrant communities remained with their local areas of origin. Among them were Francis and Rose Donnelly, who gave their affidavit in Brighton in 1867. By then they had been in the United States for 20 and 17 years respectively (and clearly, with the use of words like “aught”, had not lost their Ulster accents in the intervening period):

we… have known Thomas McKinney…ever since we can remember, and that is nearly fifty years, and well knew the wife of said Thomas…her name was Susan…Thomas and said Susan cohabited together as man and wife from as far back as we can remember until we came from Ireland to the United States and they were always known and reputed…as husband and wife and we never heard aught to the contrary. After we left Ireland we presume they continued to live together as husband and wife but of that we cannot speak of our personal knowledge because we were not again in Ireland. We knew Henry O’Neill and Jane O’Neill , witness of said marriage, and they are both dead. (5)

Francis Donnelly would later elaborate on how close he had remained with Thomas McKinney’s children in Brighton:

I [Francis Donnelly] have long lived in Brighton and there I long knew and was intimate with…James and his sisters. From what they told me before…James died and from statements made by…James himself I obtained the information which I have given above. I often heard…James declare his intention to contribute to his father’s support and I often heard from his sisters before James died statements as to what money he had sent home to his father and what use said money was intended for. (6)

Yet another Londonderry emigrant in Brighton, Sally Scullen, joined with Francis Donnelly in providing a second statement in support of the octogenarian Irishman:

…Thomas…has no property nor any means of income whatever. He lives and has always lived in County Derry in Ireland…James had been for more than twenty years in America when he enlisted and he was then about thirty-five years of age. He was a laboring man and his pay for several years before he enlisted would average from one dollar and a half to two dollars per day. For the last twelve years before he enlisted he lived and worked in Brighton, boarding most of the time with me or the other of his sisters. He was steady, temperate and industrious. His father, meantime, was very unable, by reason of advanced years, to do enough for his own support and for two or three years before…James enlisted the latter was accustomed to send sums of money out of his own pay and wages for the support and maintenance of his father. We believe that he sent home to his father from fifty to one hundred dollars on each of these three continuous years last before his enlistment. He sent the same in small drafts from time to time and…Thomas received said amounts and was by said monies supported. With the same he paid rent and provided himself with the means of livelihood. (7)

Interestingly, unlike Francis Donnelly, who was a longtime resident of Brighton, Sally was a new arrival. She had travelled from Londonderry only a few months prior to her affidavit, and brought with her the “Irish” side of the story of remittance:

I Sally Scullen came to America first arriving in Octr last. Before this I had always lived in Ireland as neighbours to said Thomas and was well and intimately acquainted with…Thomas and with the whole family and from him and from them I often used to hear, before James, his son, died, about the support which was furnished him by said James. I know the facts testified to from the statements made by…Thomas himself and other persons made both before and after [James] enlisted and I knew them of my own observation that the said father had no means of support save what he had from his children and especially from James. (8)

The statement of Thomas McKinney made in Londonderry (Fold3/NARA)

Aside from former neighbours, Thomas’s daughter Alice was also on hand to give a statement, which was set down in 1869 under her married name of McFlynn:

my father…is now in the 84th year of his age and by reason of his extreme age alone is now not and has not for the past six or eight years been able to do enough labor to support himself. My brother James…gave me upon one occasion whilst he was in the army fifty dollars and directed me to send it to his father for the support of the latter and I did accordingly send the whole of it to him…James was then home on a furlough. Upon another occasion…James sent me home from the army $200 in greenbacks by Adams Express and directed me to send this to his father and to be applied for his (the father’s) support and I did accordingly send the whole of said two hundred dollars home to my father in small drafts and he received and was supported by the said monies. My brother…James always furnished money to send and sent money himself to his father for at least five or six years continuously before he died and it was his express intention to contribute all that he could for his father’s maintenance. I have often, before…James enlisted, sent his money, which he frequently gave me for the purpose, home to his father in drafts which I myself purchased. He contributed as much as seventy five to one hundred dollars per year to his father’s support during the last six years of his (my brother’s) life. (9)

Thomas’s daughter also offered another explanation as to why there wasn’t more in the way of documentary evidence:

I am the daughter of Thomas McKinney…all the children of…Thomas McKinney were baptized in the same parish in which he was married, that is the Parish of Ardtrea, County Londonderry, Ireland; and the Register books of said Parish are lost…there is no record of the baptisms of any of his said children now to be found. (10)

The weight of support from the Derry emigrants convinced the pension bureau of the propriety of Thomas’s claim, and he duly received his pension. The file serves once again to demonstrate not only the transnational impact of the American Civil War, but also the extremely strong ties of community and obligation that bound many Irish immigrants to those they had left behind, even many decades after their departure. Thomas McKinney passed away in 1873. In a postscript to his file, the daughter who had stayed in Ireland with him– now nearly blind– made an appeal to the bureau for the continuance of the pension on her behalf, so reliant had the family become on it. Her request was communicated through an intermediary in Belfast, John Archer, perhaps one of the family who were the McKinney’s landlords. The lack of further detail in the file suggests her appeal was unsuccessful.

5 Chichester Street

Belfast 9th April 1873

Ireland

D.C. Cox Esq.

Sir,

Thomas McKinney departed this life on 4th inst, a few days before his last quarters pension came to hand. He leaves a daughter that is almost blind, and in no way able to earn a living for herself, but was depending on her father and his pension while alive. She is of opinion that if her case was made known to you that she might be allowed the same pension as long as she lived, and to satisfy her I promised to write and leave the matter plainly before you which I have done truthfully and candidly, and respectfully request that you will be kind enough to write me a reply so that I may be able to satisfy her on the point.

I am, Sir,

Yours Respectfully,

John Archer. (11)

* None of my work on pensions would be possible without the exceptional effort currently taking place in the National Archives to digitize this material and make it available online via Fold3. A team from NARA supported by volunteers are consistently adding to this treasure trove of historical information. To learn more about their work you can watch a video by clicking here.

(1) Griffiths Valuation, James McKinney Dependent Father’s Pension File; (2) Pension File, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors; (3) Pension File; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Ibid.; (7) Ibid.; (8) Ibid.; (9) Ibid.; (10) Ibid.; (11) Ibid.;

References & Further Reading

WC131493, pension file of Thomas McKinney, Dependent Father of James McKinney, Company K, 26th Massachusetts Infantry.

Massachusetts Adjutant General. Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War. [Original page scans accessed via ancestry.com].

Civil War Trust Battle of Third Winchester Page.

Filed under: Battle of Third Winchester, Derry, Londonderry, Massachusetts Tagged: 26th Massachusetts Infantry, Battle of Opequon, Battle of Third Winchester, Derry Emigrants, Irish American Civil War, Londonderry Emigrants, Massachusetts Irish, Ulster Irish Massachusetts

Over Here: Researching U.S. Military in Ireland during World War One

Although the main focus of this site is (and will remain) the Irish experience of the American Civil War, I thought readers may also be interested in some work I am conducting on a later aspect of the U.S. military, exploring the impact on Ireland of the thousands of Americans who were stationed here during World War One. The work is part of a project I have established entitled the U.S. in Ireland Centenary Project, an undertaking of the Midleton Archaeology & Heritage Project, which I run as part of my role in Rubicon Heritage. In my spare time over recent months I have been carrying out various elements of research into the American presence, which was particularly strong around Cork Harbour close to where I live. In the coming months and years new elements of this work will be available on the site, but the first elements are already live.

My initial focus has been on the social impact of the American presence, and so I spent a considerable length of time trawling through U.S. passport applications to identify Irish women who married American servicemen during the conflict, a decision which fundamentally changed the course of their lives. In addition to providing biographical information, these applications also offer us another rare insight- photographs of the women themselves. You can view their stories here:

100 of Ireland’s World War One American Women in Pictures: Part 1- The Database

Some of the passport photos of Irish women who married U.S. servicemen during World War One (Damian Shiels/NARA)

As regular readers will be aware, I am a big fan of visualising data. One platform I have used on the site before is Palladio (to map American military pensioners in Ireland, see here). I once again made use of this innovative tool to map both where these Irish women were from, and where they intended to travel to in the United States. You can see the results of that here:

Visualising the Journeys of Irish Women who Married U.S. Navymen in World War One

The intended destinations of the Irish women relative to their place of birth in Ireland- Click image to enlarge (Damian Shiels/Palladio)

Many of the buildings and sites used by American forces in Ireland still survive, revealing something of the impact the naval services had on the landscape. In the first of a number of videos to explore such remains, the example below examines the U.S. Naval Air Station at Aghada, on Cork Harbour:

The next of the World War One posts is due to look at the baseball games that American sailors participated in during their time in Ireland, to the fascination of local audiences. If you are interested in keeping up with these posts, do check out the dedicated project page on the Midleton Archaeology & Heritage blog from time to time– you can also subscribe to the YouTube here.

Filed under: Research, Resources Tagged: Americans in Ireland, First World War, Irish American Civil War, Midleton Heritage, Rubicon Heritage, U.S. Navy, World War One, WW1 Centennial

Whats in an Alias: Civil War Widowhood, Remembrance & Identity in the Words of an “Old Irishwoman”

On 6th September 1864, Private Kieran Fitzpatrick of the 11th Connecticut Infantry lost his battle for life at the 18th Corps Hospital in Point of Rocks, Virginia. His wife Elizabeth sought a widow’s pension based on his service; a lack of documentation meant it would be 1869 before she received it. Then, 35-years after her husband’s death, a decision Kieran had made upon his enlistment in 1862 threatened his elderly widow’s liberty. The major investigation into Elizabeth that descended upon her in 1898-99 revolved around the family surname– which was not and had never been Fitzpatrick, but Phelan. The records of the Special Examiners into the case have left us with not only wartime correspondence from both husband and wife, but a detailed account of Elizabeth’s life, given in her own words. (1)

As has been discussed in previous posts, the widows and dependents pension files offer us unique insights into the Irish immigrant experience in the United States. Occasionally, these files throw up an additional boon for the modern-day researcher, in the form of special investigations. These took place whenever the Pension Bureau suspected there was something amiss with a claim, or if it was in dispute. Reasons for the appointment of a Special Examiner could range from suspicion of fraud, to explorations of past bigamy, to assessments of the level of support being provided to minors. Though largely unwelcome to those subject to the investigation, the detailed interviews which were recorded by these Examiners often add fascinating and insightful information to our picture of 19th century life. In 1898, Elizabeth Phelan was subject to just such an investigation. It was the those events which led to the deposition of much of the material in her file, including a letter she wrote to her husband in 1862, a response from the soldier, and still more unusually, a photograph of her husband. In order to reveal the chronology of their story, I have transcribed not only the Civil War correspondence, but also large tracts of the interviews and conclusions of the Special Examiners in the 1890s. What emerges is a detailed account of the Phelan family story, which spans almost half a century.

The 1860 Federal Census found Kieran Phelan (enumerated as Karin Falan) living in Naugatuck, New Haven, Connecticut. He was recorded as a 23-year-old Irish-born Wool Carder, living with his 21-year-old wife Elizabeth and their 1-year-old daughter Mary. Elizabeth’s sisters Katherine Murphy (23) and Mary Murphy (16), both rubber coatmakers, also lived with the family. All three of the Murphy girls had been born into an Irish family in New York. At the time the census was taken– 12th July 1860– Elizabeth was pregnant. A second daughter, Margaret Ann, was born on 1st December, and a son, William, would later follow. In late 1862 Kieran took the decision to enlist in the army. He was enrolled on 19th September that year into Company E of the 11th Connecticut Infantry. Upon his enlistment, Kieran elected to go by the name Fitzpatrick rather than his actual name of Phelan, a decision that would have fateful consequences for his wife in the decades ahead. We take up their story with a letter from Elizabeth to Kieran in April 1864. (2)

Ansonia April 4th 1864

Dear husband

it is three long weeks since I received a letter from you what is the reason that you dont write the same as always Kerin I though[t] you would send me some money before now the men all got paid down thear for all the women around hear got thear money from thear husbands how do you suppose that I can get along or do you care for three little children and a woman left to the waves of the world if i could get any one to mind the children i would go to work but I cant get no one to mind them for me

Willy is being sick two weeks with the lung fever and doctor has but poor hopes of him i aint got as much wood as will do me a nother week staying up mights it went verry quick and what ill do i dont know if you dont send me some money verry soon

I cant write much now Willy is so sick I cant stay but write as soon as possible

from your wife

write quick (3)

“do you care for three little children and a woman..” Letter written by Elizabeth to her husband from Ansonia in 1864 (NARA/Fold3)

It is very rare for pension files to contain correspondence written to a soldier by his wife. It illustrates the type of pressure soldiers were under to provide for those at home, something often made difficult by the erratic nature of soldier’s pay. Unfortunately, it would seem that Willy did not survive his illness, as no further mention is made of him throughout the file. The next letter in file was written by Kieran to his wife from Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor. He had just been at home on leave, and was returning to his regiment for what would prove to be the final time.

Bedloes Island N.Y.H.

July 31st 1864

Dear Wife

It is with pleasure I now sit down to write a few lines hoping to find you in as good health as these find me I arrived here last night after a teadous ride in the boat. This is the island we came to to go off to our regiment I dont know how soon I shall go any way perhaps I may go this week and perhaps not so soon. any way dont write untill I write again. give my love to all enquiring friends and accept a share for yourself. I remain your own dear husband

Kerian Fitchpatrick (4)

Kieran was illiterate, and relied on comrades to write his letters for him. That this was the case is highlighted by his next letter, which is in a markedly different hand to the Bedloe’s Island example. His file is another example of how illiteracy generally did not prove an impediment to conducting written correspondence with those at home.

1864

Camp of the 11th Regt Conn Vols

Near Petersburg Va Aug 17th

Dear Wife

As I have an opportunity of writing you a few lines hopeing they may find you & the family all well as the date of this leaves me in at present thank God I recd your welcome letter on the 12th inst but could not answer it for we had to break up camp that very same day we are still in the trenches in front of Petersburg a mans life is not safe 5 minutes shot & shell going over our head all the time my regt has not recd one cent of pay since I left them we expect it next month if ever I will enclose a bounty check in this letter let me know how the feeling is about the war we expect to be attacked most any time loss [?] especially Our regt numbers 200 men & we had one thousand leaveing Mr Bryan [?] sent me a letter while I was in New Haven I never recd it our rations have been very short lately sometimes hungry this is the first days rest since the 12th of July I wish you would send me one or two stamps in your letter we cannot get one here

Direct your letter the same as before

Co E 11th Regt Conn Vol

18th AC 2d Division 2d Brigade

Near Petersburg Va via Fortress Monroe

No more at present from your affectionate Husband

Kerin FitsPatrick

Company E 11th Regt Conn Vols (5)

Comparison of the 31st July and 17th August letters from Kieran, illustrating the change in hand. The widow’s and dependent pension files offer some of the best opportunities for demonstrating such changes, which indicate the illiteracy of a soldier. It is notable that an inability to read and write did not stop Irishmen from engaging in written correspondence with those at home. (NARA/Fold3)

Kieran waited to send this letter in the hope of receiving the bounty money to send home, but it was not forthcoming. Four days later, on the same paper, he added the following:

Camp of the 11th Regt Conn Vols

Near Petersburg Va Aug 21st

Dear Wife

I haveing been waiting for 4 days to get a bounty check this letter was detained but as I find that I cannot get it I shall have to send it without I think it will be here by the next letter if it is you will certainly get it

No more at present feom your loveing Husband

Kerin Fitzpatrick

Co. E 11th Regt Conn Vols

2d Div 2 Brig 18 A.C.

Near Petersburg Va

Good Bye (6)

The next correspondence was written following Kieran’s death, which occurred at the 18th Army Corps Hospital in Point of Rocks, Virginia. Written in the same hand as the previous letter, it identifies Michael Flaherty as one of the literate men in the regiment who helped his comrades to keep in touch with those at home. Elizabeth had by this point already been informed of Kieran’s death, which had occurred on 6th September. Flaherty writes to her in response to a number of queries she had regarding the circumstances of his end, and also with respect to his possessions.

Camp of the 11th Regt Conn Vols.

Near Petersburg Va Sept 25/64

Mrs Fitz Patrick

Your favour of the 15 inst was duley recd. on the 20th inst makeing inquiries about the death of your husband & he did not say anything in particular about his familey for he was so far gone that he was not able to hold much conversation about any thing. I did not trye[?] him for I knew that he was not able he was a very sick man when he came to the Hospital & was growing worse untill his death I wrote the last letter for him & sent you a bounty check. he was not hardley able to speak to me at that time but I had hopes of his recovery.

I know nothing about his clothing only that what clothing he took to the Hospital was taken possession of by the Hospital attendants or authorities. I made enquiries about his clothing & I was informed that they were to be sent home. Soldiers clothing are not very valuable all that he had was taken to the Hospital & I know nothing about them farther. As soon as he breathed his last he was taken away clothes & c.[?]

About the Priest– he did not nave one for I can assure you that they are not very plenty in the army I dont know that there is one in the 18th A.C. & as for being prepared for death I can not say I hope that he was & as I said before he was too far gone to trye[?] anything

I know very well where his grave is for I was there when he was buried this grave has a head board marked his name, Regt & Co his body lays in the graveyard of the 18th Corps Hospital at the Point of Rocks on the Appotamax River near Petersburg Va.

On regard to his pay you can get it not have it cut[?] for a cent I would go to the Town Clerk Capt Brown told me last night that you have been written to about the matter if that is the case you will get more information than I can give you at present. I am in hopes of reaching home on the last of Oct & if there is anymore that I shall learn about the matter I will inform you

I deplore your loss you ave my sympathys & I am very thankfull for your blessing for a soldier especially needs them

Anything that I can do for you I would be very glad to be the means of doing you any good & giveing you any information that lays in my way

I must conclude by hopeing to meet you at some early day & answer any question that you may have to speak about the death of your husband

No more at present from your sincere true friend

Michael Flaherty E 11th Regt Conn Vols 2d Brigade 2d Div 18th AC Bermuda 100 (7)

The letter written by Michael Flaherty to Elizabeth near Petersburg. It is on U.S. Christian Commission paper. Flaherty was clearly also the man who wrote some of Kieran’s earlier letters, as they are in the same hand. (NARA/Fold3)

Michael Flaherty would survive his service to be discharged on 27th October 1864, though it would appear he never did visit the young widow. Following the death of her husband, Elizabeth set about trying to secure a widow’s pension. This proved extremely difficult, largely because she possessed no record of their marriage. She gave a deposition in 1866 (when she stated she was 29-years-old) revealing the facts of her marriage to Kieran in Naugatuck in 1856. She also secured corroborating affidavits from Mary Jane Shortell and Annie Murphy. Interestingly, though Elizabeth clearly possessed letters from her husband which proved her relationship with him, she chose not to submit them with her application at this time, indicating the importance they held for her. Crucially, Elizabeth gave all her 1860s statements using the alias her husband had adopted on his enlistment, signing herself (she was literate) as Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, rather than using her real name of Elizabeth Phelan. The statements of Mary Jane Shortell and Annie Murphy also referred to her as Fitzpatrick. That she did so was apparently on the advice of her attorney, who felt there would be a delay in her payment if she chose to clarify her husband’s use of an alias. Eventually, her pension was approved, and for the next 35 years Elizabeth would claim her monthly payments under the name “Elizabeth Fitzpatrick.” All that changed in 1898. (8)

1898 was the year that the Pension Bureau discovered the woman who was claiming a widow’s pension under the name Elizabeth Fitzpatrick was actually known by everyone as Elizabeth Phelan (or Phalen as it was often spelt). Suspecting fraud, Special Examiner G.F. Woodberry was dispatched to establish the facts of the case. He interviewed the woman– now aged 61– on two occasions on 21st and 22nd September 1898. By this date Elizabeth was living at 17 Rose Street in New Haven. Her testimony, given in her one words, adds rich detail to the story of her life.

I was married to Kerin Phelan in 1856 in Naugatuck, Conn. by Father James Lynch, who has been dead for some time…My husband left home in Augst 1862 and said he was going to Harlem, N.Y. to see his brother Thomas Phelan; he did go down to see his brother and then came back here to New Haven at the time he enlisted. I was living in Ansonia Conn. Yes, he came out to Ansonia to see me before he went away; he told me he was going into the army and that he was going to enlist under the name of Kerin Fitzpatrick which he did. I did not want him to do so but he did enlist under his mother’s maiden name of Fitzpatrick.

[Question from G.F. Woodberry] Why did he enlist under the name Fiztpatrick?

Well I can not tell. I do not know. He told me he was drunk when he enlisted. I dont know what his idea was. I think it was just a foolish time[?].

[Question from G.F. Woodberry] Had he gotten into trouble of any kind?

No, not at all. He would drink some but he would get over it in a day or so. I am pensioned under the name Elizabeth Fitzpatrick because that is the name under which my husband served in the army. Sylvester Barbour, now of Hartford, Conn., got my pension for me. I told him about my right name being Elizabeth Phelan when I went to him to make application for pension. After my husband had served two or three years in the army he died of diarrhoea. I took the name of Elizabeth Fitzpatrick in order to get the pension. I am known by all my friends as Elizabeth Phelan. I have never explained to the Bureau of Pensions that my name was Elizabeth Phelan.

The interview continued:

I applied for pension and gave my name as Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, because that was the name under which my husband served in the army. I signed my application as Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, as well as all the other papers & sent to Washington to get the pension.

My maiden name was Elizabeth Murphy: I was born in New York City, my father’s name was Thomas Murphy and my mother’s name was Margaret Quinn & I was never married but once and that was to Kerin Phelan. I married Kerin Phelan in Naugatuck, Conn. in 1856. We lived there until my husband enlisted: I then went to Ansonia Ct. and lived with my father and mother for quite a while and then took rooms in different places and lived there until about 1886 or 1887. I then came to New Haven Ct. and have lived here ever since. I have lived here with my two daughters. Both my father and mother are dead. [Elizabeth followed this by giving the names of people who had known her and her husband, though many were deceased or no longer in the area]

[Question from G.F. Woodberry] Who knows that your husband enlisted in the army under the name of Kerin Fitzpatrick?

I do not know of anybody who can testify to that fact. Kerin Phelan was never married before he married me. I have no brothers or sisters living. Mr. Phalen did have one brother, Thomas Phalen, who worked in a rubber factory in Harlem N.Y. I have not heard of this brother for a long time and don’t know whether or not he is in Harlem at the present time. My husband’s parents have been dead many years, they died in Ireland. I have always been known as Mrs. Elizabeth Phalen; but I have always signed my pension vouchers as Elizabeth Fitzpatrick. (9)

At least one of Elizabeth’s daughters, Maggie, was also in attendance at the interview as she signed her name beside that of her mother. Elizabeth’s fate now rested on whether Woodberry believed her story. Unfortunately, he didn’t. On 22nd September 1898 he wrote the following report based on his investigation:

This woman is known as Mrs. Elizabeth Phalen; she says that is her true name. She says her husbands true name was “Kerin” Phalen but that he enlisted in the army as Kerin Fitzpatrick; she gives us no plausible reason for him doing so…Apparently this discrepancy in names has never been known nor explained to the Pension Bureau. This woman has lived in New Haven about 10 years and so far as I could learn she has been known by her neighbors as Mrs. Phalen…I was not favorably impressed by this woman and was not satisfied that she is the person she represents herself to be…Her pension was granted in 1869: she is now broken in health and bent with age…I recommend examination of the law division. (10)

The Chief of the Law Division sought to take appropriate action. On 17th October 1898 he wrote:

The Special Examiner reports that the pensioner is known as Elizabeth Phalan, and that he is not satisfied that she is the widow of the soldier on account of whose service she is drawing a pension…It is requested that the papers be forwarded to an Examiner stationed at New Haven, Conn., in order than an investigation may be had to determine whether the pensioner is the legal widow of the soldier who served as Kearn Fitzpatrick in Co. E, 11 Conn Vol. Inf. If the investigation develops the fact that the pensioner has been in receipt of pension which she was not entitled to, sufficient evidence should be collected upon which to base a recommendation for prosecution. (11)

“I had you a likeness of soldier taken about time of our marriage. I have this large one in uniform on the wall you may notice that in uniform he wears a moustache otherwise I think the photos are alike.” “she has a large likeness of soldier hung in her room, she handed me a small daguerreotype taken about the time of their marriage, the likeness in uniform has a moustaches, but I could see the resemblance in the two likenesses. The small daguerreotype of Kieran Phelan, which remains in the NARA pension file associated with his widow. (NARA/Fold3)

The potential now arose that Elizabeth could be prosecuted and ultimately imprisoned on the basis of her use of the name Fitzpatrick. Yet another Special Examiner, New Haven based C.H. Jonas Junior, now entered the frame. He started by seeking evidence of the marriage of Kieran and Elizabeth, but ran into the same difficulties that Elizabeth had herself faced when she had tried to do the same in the 1860s. Jonas found that the parish records of Naugatuck only went back as far as 1866, and also drew a blank having searched the town record for the years 1855, 1856 and 1857. The priest who had allegedly married the couple– Reverend Lynch– had been in charge of the Birmingham parish in Derby, so a search was also conducted there, but similarly failed to produce results. Jonas next moved on to the records held in Waterbury, but a letter he sent in December 1898 requesting they be checked had still received no response by July 1899. On the basis of the record evidence alone, Elizabeth’s prospects seemed bleak. (12)

Special Examiners often appear to have been influenced by the opinion they formed of the pensioner they were interviewing. As we saw with G.F. Woodberry, he was unimpressed with the story Elizabeth told, and so sought further investigation. C.H. Jonas Junior sat down to interview the woman again on 30th December. A lot was riding on how Elizabeth came across. This interview and the conclusions Jonas drew from it are the most intriguing documents in the file. They shed light on a number of aspects of Civil War widowhood that are rarely revealed to us, notably the fact that Elizabeth had kept all the letters from her husband (and had not submitted any when she might have done in the 1860s) and that she displayed a photograph of him in uniform in a central position in her home. The very act of her handing over both the letters (transcribed above) and the image of her husband which remain in her file to this day are described. Jonas in his report also puts forward his reasoning in selecting the letters he did for inclusion. The interview and Jonas’s conclusions also speak to diaspora identity. Elizabeth had been born in New York, and had lived either there or in Connecticut all her life. Yet Jonas refers to her as an “old Irishwoman.” Though she was born into an Irish family, this suggests that Elizabeth may have strongly identified herself as Irish, highlighting again the importance of including these American-born Irish in our analyses of the Irish in the 19th Century United States. (13)

I am sixty one years old no occupation. P.O. address #17 Rose St., New Haven, Conn….I have not remarried since his death nor lived with any mans as his wife. We were never separated or divorced. We had four children, two of whom are still living. I only knew soldier a little over a year prior to our marriage he was born in Ireland. We lived in Naugatuck after our marriage until soldier enlisted, then I went to my parents in Ansonia (both dead long ago) and remained in Ansonia until 1887 when I came here. I have lived here ever since. Soldier enlisted under name of Kearn Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick being his mother’s name. He gave me no reason for this he was off with a crowd in New Haven drinking and they all enlisted. He told me most of them enlisted under false names. I know of no other reason for his changing his name…I have never been able to get any record of my marriage there was no church in Naugatuck we were married in a Hall by a Priest named Lynch from Birmingham (Derby). I had no marriage cert nor bible record. I knew no comrades of soldier’s never saw any of them. Soldier was home several times on furlough, he was last home about seven weeks before he died. I here show you several letters written during service by some of soldier’s comrades for him he couldn’t read nor write himself. These letters are all addressed my dear wife and signed either Kearn, Kerin or Kerin Fitzpatrick as they were written by comrades he let them think his name was Fitzpatrick. The envelopes are gone, I forget whether letters were addressed to Mrs. Phalen or Fitzpatrick. I hand you my husbands naturalization paper in which his name is given as Phalen…I hand you a likeness of soldier taken about time of our marriage. I have this large one in uniform on the wall you may notice that in uniform he wears a moustache otherwise I think the photos are alike. (14)

Jonas waited to see if he could get a response from Waterbury regarding the marriage before he filed his report. In July 1899, with no response forthcoming, he decided to proceed with filing his report. The condescending tone of his correspondence is not unusual in such cases– from Elizabeth’s perspective, the important aspect was that he believed her:

…I found the pensioner to be an old Irishwoman of fairly good repute, quite ignorant, can read and write, which covers her accomplishments. She is entirely too ignorant to have ever though of defrauding the Govt. I fully believe her story in every particular, and I haven’t the slightest doubt, that she told her true name to both Attys. Barbour and Plunkett [Elizabeth’s pension attorney after she moved to New Haven], and that they advised her to keep quiet, as several such cases have come under my observation, the Attys. are looking to get their fees quick, don’t wish for complications. I have been unable to find any record town or church, of pensioner’s marriage to soldier. Naugatuck had no Catholic Church in those days, I have tried to find the records without success. Pensioner was always known here and in Ansonia, where she lived before coming here, as Mrs. Phalen, by her friends and neighbors. She could not remember any particular parties who executed her vouchers for her in Ansonia, I went to several, but they could not recall her– I found some people who remembered a Mrs. Phalen in Ansonia, but knew nothing about her, did not know her name was Fitzpatrick. I searched marriage records at Ansonia without finding anything. Pensioner has lots of letters from soldier written during service, she states that he couldn’t read or write, but got comrades to write for him. She didn’t keep the envelopes, I took one letter from soldier, signed Kerin Fitzpatrick, one from pensioner to him, and one from a comrade named Flaherty, informing her as to soldier’s death– She told me that she never saw said Flaherty, judging from his letter, and that from soldier, Flaherty acted no doubt as soldier’s amanuensis [the man who wrote his letters], which would account for soldier’s not signing his right name. Among soldier’s papers, I also found naturalization paper made out under the name of Phalen, which I think prove’s pensioners story– she has a large likeness of soldier hung in her room, she handed me a small daguerreotype taken about the time of their marriage, the likeness in uniform has a moustache, but I could see the resemblance in the two likenesses. The batch of letters in pensioner’s possession proves her to be the widow of the Kearn Fitzpatrick who rendered the service– and the naturalization paper proves that his name was Phalen– Pensioner states that the soldier had a brother named Thos. Phalen, in New York City (Harlem). She thinks he is still living, dosen’t know what trade he follows– It might be well to see him if still living– As the case stands I believe pension should stand, but that title should be changed to Elizabeth Phalen, widow of Kearn Phalen alias Fitzpatrick. (15)

The conclusions of Special Examiner Jonas proved decisive. The Bureau of Pensions instructed that there be a “reissue of certificate to correct names of pensioner and soldier…further action by this division does not appear to be necessary.” Elizabeth Phelan had her pension restored, and she would go on to receive it until her death on 6th October 1906. The trials and hardships she endured in the late 1890s demonstrate the potential long-lasting impact of decisions taken by soldier’s during their service. More significantly, Elizabeth’s misfortune has enabled us to hear her story in her own words and in tremendous detail, shining a light on Civil War widowhood, remembrance and identity in late 19th century America.

“I hand you my husbands naturalization paper in which his name is given as Phalen.” Kieran Phelan’s Naturalization paper, the document which ultimately convinced the Special Examiner as to the truth of Elizabeth’s claims, and saved her from potential prosecution. (NARA/Fold3)

(1) Elizabeth Phalen Pension File; (2) 1860 Federal Census, Elizabeth Phalen Pension File; (3) Elizabeth Phalen Pension File; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Ibid.; (7) Ibid., (8) Record of Service of Connecticut Men: 450, Elizabeth Phalen Pension File; (9) Elizabeth Phalen Pension File; (10) Ibid.; (11) Ibid.; (12) Ibid.; (13) Ibid.; (14) Ibid.; (15) Ibid.; 

References & Further Reading

Pension File of Elizabeth Phalen, widow of Kearn Phlaen, Company E, 11th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, Widow’s Certificate 71372.

1860 Federal Census, Naugatuck, New Haven, Connecticut.

Connecticut General Assembly 1889. Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States during the War of the Rebellion.

Filed under: Battle of Petersburg, Connecticut Tagged: 11th Connecticut Infantry, Civil War Pensions, Civil War Widows, Connecticut Irish, Irish American Civil War, Irish American Identity, New Haven Irish, Special Examiners

Video: Diaspora Ireland- Cobh & The American Civil War

I recently decided to launch a YouTube Channel associated with this page. My intention is to explore sites in Ireland specifically from the perspective of the diaspora, and to explain something of these diaspora connections to viewers. This weekend we travelled to Cobh (formerly Queenstown) in Co. Cork, Ireland’s main emigrant port, to discuss some of the town and harbour’s links with the American Civil War. If you are interested in watching the video you can do so below, I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think, and if you are interested in the concept please consider subscribing to the YouTube channel.

P.S. We are new to the trials of strong winds and editing software, so please bear with us in these early videos! Special thanks to Sara Nylund for all her hard work on it. 

Filed under: YouTube Tagged: History of Cobh, History of Cork Harbour, History of Queenstown, Irish American Civil War, Irish Diaspora, Irish emigration, Irish Heritage, USS Kearsarge

“As If they Were Shooting Ducks:” An Irish Nova Scotian Gloucester Fisherman at War

Many of the Canadians who fought in the American Civil War were of Irish ancestry, often members of families who had first made their homes in British North America before slowly moving down to the United States. In the early 1850s the Cunningham family made the move from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia to Gloucester, Massachusetts. By the outbreak of the American Civil the family had members born in Ireland, Nova Scotia and the United States. At least one of the Cunningham boys– John–  went off to war. Among his letters home was a short but powerful description of combat, when he and his comrades found themselves facing Confederate forces along an exposed riverbank in North Carolina during 1862. (1)

“Ships in Fog, Gloucester, Massachusetts”. Painted by Fitz Henry Lane in 1860, the same year John Cunningham began his fishing career in Gloucester. Currently part of the Princeton University Art Museum (Fitz Henry Lane)

The Cunninghams were a family who were attached to the sea. The patriarch, James Cunningham, had been born in Ireland, and worked as a trader in Gloucester in 1860, when he was 51-years-old. His wife Catherine, then 39, had been born in Nova Scotia. The probability that James’s trading in fish is strengthened by the occupation of his sons. The eldest three, Richard (21), Daniel (20) and the future soldier John (16 in 1860) were all fishermen, as was John Jenkins (25), who also made his home with the Cunninghams. Aside from the three boys, all born in Nova Scotia, the Canadian element of the family also included Catherine (14) and James (12), along with Massachusetts born Mary M (9), William N (6), Ann (4) and Sarah E (1). The Cunninghams had at least some modest wealth, as the family were able to employ and accommodate a servant, 18-year-old Isabella Chisholm. The children received an education, as John would later demonstrate by writing letters home from the war. (2)

Aide from the census, 1860 would also represent John’s first year at sea. The 16-year-old became part of Gloucester’s long fishing tradition when he set off from David Low’s wharf to join the crew of the Electric Flash, an 82-ton schooner owned by Horatio Babson Junior. He remained a fisherman until the second summer of the war, when he exaggerated his age to enlist in the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry on 28th July 1862. Though recorded as 19, he was unlikely to have been more than 18-years-old. He mustered in as a private in Company I, and was deployed with his regiment to Union occupied New Bern, North Carolina. John spent his first Christmas at the front there in 1862, and wrote home to his mother on Christmas Day from Camp Pendleton, lamenting his poor fare:

…we get sutch poor grub that we buy some butter now and again to eat with our hard bread wee get hard bread everey morning and a little coffee to say [it] is Cristmas and wee are going to have some salt horse and three potatoes I wish wee were at home to eat din[n]er with you Mee and Jo are working on fatigue to day it is a dull Christmas with us but we are in good health and spirites that is better than all thanks bea to god (3)

His previous life as a fisherman had given him a love of seafood, something which was in short supply for the soldiers of the 23rd Massachusetts. He hoped his younger brother might be able to provide him with some from home:

I wish Jimey would send out a mackrel for a rarity when you get this rite and let mee know how everey thing is around home I shall rite as often as I can Jo sends his love to you all (4)

John had at least two photographs taken during his time in the army. While based at Port Royal, South Carolina in 1863, he described both to his mother:

I had my likeness taken yesterday with a great friend of mine hea wanted mea to have them taken together so hea could send one to his folks we had to taken one to send to his folks and one to send to you I had one single one every one that see us said that wee [are] like twins…I paied fore dolars for those likneses they charge verey dear for everey thing out hear but there wee have to take things at aney price or else go with out… (5)

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of John’s letters is his description of the fighting he was engaged in during what was known as the Goldsboro Expedition of 1862. This raid by Union Major-General John Gray Foster departed New Bern in December, with the intention of cutting the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad at Goldsboro. As the Yankees advanced into the interior of North Carolina they were forced to fight a series of engagements, which John referred to in his Christmas Day 1862 letter to his mother. By far the most costly of these for the 23rd Massachusetts was the 16th December fight at White Hall on the River Neuse. During the action the regiment was drawn up in an exposed position along the south side of the river, facing Rebel troops who occupied a superior position on the opposite bank. Major Chambers, who commanded the regiment, described the action:

…my regiment was immediately formed in line and shortly ordered forward. I marched it through a small piece of swamp under a heavy fire and came to the edge of the Neuse River, my left resting near where the bridge had been destroyed [by Confederate troops]. The enemy were on the opposite bank, secreted behind trees and stumps , and opposite my left they had a log fort. I immediately commenced firing, which we continued until we had expended about 40 rounds of ammunition, when we were ordered out to give place to a battery which had been posted in the open space in our rear. (6)

Major-General John Gray Foster, who led the Goldsboro Expedition in 1862 (Library of Congress)

At least some of the Union rounds appear to have fallen short, landing amongst troops of the 23rd. Eventually the engagement drew to a close, and the Union force marched on towards Goldsboro. John’s regiment would lose 16 men killed and mortally wounded, with a further 46 injured. The Irish-Nova Scotian gave an account of the action, which captures something of the desperate affair it seems to have been:

wee had a chance to fite the rebels this time in ernest we had a hard month and 3 hard fites wee had a good share of them in the battle at Kingston wee had 3 men wounded but wee paied for that for that at wite hall our regment lost 67 kiled and woun[d]ed our little Companey lost 3 kiled and five wounded fletcher and griffin and peitfield I had a small peice nocked out of my ear and a shell struck Jo and tore the seat of his pants all out and fell down buy my foot and throed the dirt all over my pants and jacket and never hurt either one of us Mr Storey of Company C was cut all to peices with a shel [a Union shell] our regment fought like heroes every man stood to his work well the recruits of our Companey was the first that run out in front of the rebs and commenced fireing as if they were shooting ducks. (7)

John Cunningham appears to have proved a good soldier. He re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer, rejoining his regiment for the 1864 campaign. On 16th May 1864 he was reported missing in action, later changed to killed, at the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia.

* None of my work on pensions would be possible without the exceptional effort currently taking place in the National Archives to digitize this material and make it available online via Fold3. A team from NARA supported by volunteers are consistently adding to this treasure trove of historical information. To learn more about their work you can watch a video by clicking here.

(1) Emmerton 1886: 274; (2) 1860 Census; John Cunningham Dependent Mother’s File; (3) John Cunningham Dependent Mother’s File; McGillivray 2008, 14; (4) John Cunningham Dependent Mother’s File; (5) Ibid. (6) Ibid., OR: 79; (7) Emmerton 1886: 127-9; 

References

1860 United States Federal Census, Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts.

Civil War Widow’s Certificate of Catherine Cunningham, Mother of John Cunningham, Company I, 23rd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, WC119378.

Emmerton, James A. 1886. A Record of the Twenty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

McGillivray, Don 2008. Captain Alex MacLean: Jack London’s Sea Wolf.

Official Records Series 1, Volume 18. Report of Maj. John G. Chambers, Twenty-third Massachusetts Infantry, of operations December 11-16.

Filed under: Battle of White Hall, Canada, Massachusetts Tagged: 23rd Massachusetts Infantry, Cape Breton Irish, Gloucester Fishermen, Gloucester Irish, Goldsboro Campaign, Irish American Civil War, Irish in Massachusetts, Nova Scotian Irish