Damian Shiels's Blog, page 9
July 21, 2021
Guest Post Call for Contributions
As part of our current restructuring of the Irish in the American Civil War project, we are pleased to announce we are welcoming guest contributions from our followers and anyone interested in publishing on the website. As we expand the range of topics we discuss relating to the Irish American Civil War experience, and to long nineteenth Irish American history and studies, we encourage regular contributors and guest authors to submit blog pieces (single or a series), reviews, writings, research, and engaging content. Our Associate Editors Catherine and Brendan, and Managing Editor Damian welcome guest post proposals ��� if you want to contribute to the site then please do get in touch with us and share your ideas. Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested in contributing to our work as well. We���ll also help you with the submission process. We have compiled submission guidelines, which we have copied below for you to see. These guidelines have full details for guest contributors, and we urge you to look at these before getting in touch with us. Keep these writing recommendations in mind when you plan your submission, and if you have any questions just ask. Take a look over our blogs to see what we have done before, and feel free to share new ideas. We look forward to hearing from you!
Guest Post Writing Guidelines
We welcome guest posts from those researching, working, studying, and interested in the broad history and studies covered by the work of the Irish in the American Civil War project. We encourage guest posts from non-academics, independent researchers, and academics at any stage of their career. We publish on a wide variety of topics and subjects related to the Irish experience of the Civil War and in the nineteenth century predominantly. Please make sure you are familiar with our work and areas of focus, and see whether your proposed piece���s subject has appeared in posts before you submit your idea.
We advise individual blog posts are kept shorter rather than longer (no more than 1,300-1,500 words), but we are also happy to consider longer articles (within reason) and serialize larger writings over a number of postings. Please consult with the editorial team first if you wish to write a longer piece that will carry over more than one post. We request that footnoted references are included where necessary ��� please see other posts on the site for an idea of how we do general referencing. Please submit proposed blog pieces as Word documents (.doc or .docx). The Managing Editor and Associate Editors reserve the right to edit and alter posts in consultation with the guest author. We also reserve the right to not publish and to decline pieces outright.
As you will have seen on the website, we seek to illustrate posts with a wide variety of photographs and images as much as possible. Proposed submissions are welcome to include images, or this can be done after editing consolation. Any images submitted to a contribution post should be of good resolution quality, and obtain permission for reproduction so as not to cause copyright issues. We can also post public domain images. All images much be cited appropriately as per normal referencing standards mentioned above. Irish in the American Civil War embraces social media fully, so we would also be happy to include our writers��� public personal social media, personal blogs, and/or links to other pages (including Twitter and Facebook) in the contributed post.
The editorial team are friendly, respectful, and always curious to hear new ideas and forge new relationships within the American Studies community. We���re eager to collaborate, so please feel free to email us with any questions you may have. If you are unsure about the suitability of your idea, please don���t hesitate to discuss your post ideas with us first. If you wish to contribute please contact our editors at civilwaririshamerican@gmail.com with your idea or a complete post.
July 7, 2021
Book Review: “We Have Them On Our Own Ground-Zouaves at Gettysburg”
We Have Them On Our Own Ground: Zouaves at Gettysburg by Shaun C. Grenan, Illustrated by Mark Maritato. Independently Published. 92pp. 2021.
I’ve long held a peculiar fascination with Zouaves, which is possibly rooted in a story my Great Uncle Walter told me when I was a boy. The tale was originally recounted to him by his grandfather David, an English immigrant with Irish roots who enlisted in a Zouave company early in the American Civil War. David spent the first few weeks of the war haunting a Manhattan saloon and later told his grandson that when he would come out to the street, throngs of local boys would gather to taunt him and his colorful duds, chanting, “Blue pants, red coat, couldn’t catch a nanny goat!” Uncle Walter would laugh as he described how David charged them with “fixed bayonet,” scattering the bratty urchins in all directions. The image of Uncle Walter’s armed, drunken grandpa stumbling about the New York City cobblestones in a gaudy costume of war is something I could never shake. And the more I’ve read about American Zouaves, from the “beau ideal” vision that inspired their inception to the rowdy reputations they came to obtain, the more that image has endured in my mind. For that and various other reasons, when I learned of the publication of We Have Them On Our Own Ground: Zouaves at Gettysburg by Shaun Grenan, I was easily sold.
Zouave was a style of uniform and drill that originated with the Zouaoua tribe of Algeria, entered the French military during their colonial occupation in the 1830s, and was introduced to the US in 1859 via Elmer Ellsworth’s famous Zouave Cadets of Chicago. By the start of the Civil War, romanticized adaptations of Zouave fashion and characteristic light infantry drill were all the rage across the country. Many volunteer soldiers, from the docks of New Orleans to the goldfields of California, marched off to war sporting Zouave-inspired outfits. Zouaves, specifically Union Zouaves, played vital roles in some of the most pivotal moments in the Battle of Gettysburg. In We Have Them On Our Own Ground, Shaun Grenan, who’s a sort of Zou Zou guru, lays it all out in one comprehensive guide that includes original full color illustrations painted by artist Mark Maritato specifically for this project. The book is a result of Grenan’s years of research into the subject; in addition to being a former resident of Gettysburg, he has painstakingly maintained the Civil War Zouave Database (https://www.zouavedatabase.com/), an online encyclopedia cataloguing every known zouave unit, both Union and Confederate, that served during the war.
[image error]A member of the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry, “Collis’ Zouaves” taken from ‘We Have Them On Our Own Ground.’ Charles Henry Tucker Collis was from Co. Cork. Image reproduced by permission of Mark Maritato and Shaun C. Grenan“We Have Them On Our Own Ground,” begins with a concise history of Zouaves and of the Zouave craze in the United States, while the main body of text is organized by unit (regiment or company as the case may be), outlining the history of each from its inception to muster out, with a focus on their service at Gettysburg. In addition to Maritato’s Zouave paintings, the book is chock full of images, including period portrait photographs, modern images of Gettysburg monuments, and even honed-in details from Library of Congress photographs of showing Zouaves in the field, which Grenan has likely leveraged his expertise to identify based on visible uniform details. In addition to to highlighting the roles of more famous units and actions, like Baxter’s Zouaves role in repulsing Pickett’s Charge, Grenan shines light on lesser-known units and participants, including local militia companies like the Gettysburg Zouaves, who provided vital reconnaissance during the campaign and were later present for Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Additionally, he devotes some time to the roles of female vivandieres in Zouave regiments, and recounts the fascinating story of Marie Tepe, who served with Collis’ Zouaves.
Grenan delves into the realities of different Zouave units’ behavior and appearances, which sometimes contrasts with the Currier and Ives stereotype of well-behaved soldiers in straight lines sweeping across a field in identical crisp, bright uniforms. For example, he explores the background of disciplinary problems in several Zouave units, and describes the motley and ragged appearance of Birney’s Zouaves by the end of the Union 6th Corps’ grueling march to Gettysburg. Grenan also does not shy away from confronting the real horrors of war. One moment from this book that will endure in my mind is his description of the horrific demise of many wounded members of Collis’ Zouaves, who took shelter in the Sherfy Farm on the battlefield, only to find themselves trapped inside when the building caught fire. When burial parties discovered their bodies, they found them burned beyond hope of identification, but enough of the soldiers’ uniforms remained to ascertain they were Zouaves. Consequently, their graves at Gettysburg–among the hundreds of unidentified soldiers–contain the simple epitaph: “UNKNOWN ZOUAVE.”
Grenan provides general context to the battle itself, but it would help the reader to have some further prior understanding of Gettysburg and its major landmarks. For Gettysburg buffs, Zouave geeks, and anyone interested in 19th century military material culture, this is a great read. And for regular readers of this site, I should note that while Grenan doesn’t specifically delve into the ethnic backgrounds of Gettysburg’s Zouaves, most of the units he chronicles were recruited in Northern cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, all of which were hubs of Irish immigration in the pre-Civil War period; there were unquestionably large numbers of immigrants from the Emerald Isle in the ranks and among the officers. Collis’ Zouaves, for example, was named for their colonel, Charles H.T. Collis, who was himself a native of Cork. It could be argued that the history of American Zouaves is indelibly interwoven with the story of Irish America, whether their part in the story involves a tenacious stand against Confederates near the Peach Orchard or a one-man bayonet charge on the children of New York.
July 2, 2021
Andersonville Irish Spotlight: Andersonville’s Gettysburg Irish Dead-Stories of Community & Cohesion
The Battle of Gettysburg is by far the most famed clash of the American Civil War. It is also an engagement of significance for the Andersonville Irish Project, as it is among the earliest points of capture for men who would subsequently perish in the prison. Most men taken prisoner by the Confederates in July 1863 expected they would soon be on their way back to Union lines, benefiting from one of the prisoner exchanges that typified the war up to that point. But the breakdown of the exchange system just after Gettysburg (you can read about the causes and circumstances behind that here) sealed the fate of those still in Confederate custody. By the time Andersonville prison opened in 1864, many of these Gettysburg men had already endured months of incarceration in places like Belle Isle, Richmond. The fragile health they carried into Andersonville boded ill for their survival, and inevitably many succumbed. The Andersonville Irish Project has identified a number of Irish Americans who perished at Andersonville having been taken during the Gettysburg Campaign. On the occasion of the 158th anniversary of that battle, we decided to take a closer look at some of them- and examine what they can tell us about the relationships Irish Americans developed in the notorious prison.
[image error]The grave of Irish immigrant John Daley of the Irish Brigade at Andersonville National Cemetery. He had been captured during fighting in the Wheatfield on 2nd July 1863 (Find A Grave)John Daley, 28th Massachusetts Infantry, Irish Brigade, Born Ireland
Irish immigrant John Daley was 25-years-old when he had married fellow Irish native, 18-year-old Mary Gately, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. At the time John was working as a gunsmith. John enlisted in November 1861- the same month that the couple’s son, James, was born. By then he was being recorded as a laborer, an indication that he was likely not working at the trade for which he had trained, perhaps as a result of the recession the war created. On enlistment John became a private in Company F of the Irish 28th Massachusetts Infantry, seeing continual service with them through all their battles up to Gettysburg. He was captured on 2nd July, during the Irish Brigade’s fight in The Wheatfield. Taken south by the retreating Rebel army, he was initially incarcerated in Richmond before being shipped on to Andersonville in early 1864. He died there on 28th April, officially due to Chronic Diarrhoea. He was buried in Grave 787. In 1867 John’s young widow Mary remarried, wedding another Irish native, Patrick McGee, in Massachusetts.
[image error]The grave of John Eagan from Ferbane, Co. Offaly, at Andersonville National Cemetery. He died on 1 July 1864, almost exactly a year on from when he was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg (Find A Grave)John Eagan, 125th New York Infantry, Born Ferbane, Co. Offaly
John Eagan’s parents had married in Ferbane, Co. Offaly on 15th June 1835. John was born around 1843, and not long afterwards (possibly during the Famine) the family emigrated to Troy, New York. John’s father, John Senior, died there in 1849. They appear to have settled in and around Cohoes, where John went to work with the Ogden Cotton Mills through the 1850s. On 4th August 1862 John enlisted in Troy, and became a member of Company D, 125th New York Infantry. By the time of Gettysburg, he had already endured captivity once, having been taken (along with the entire regiment) at the surrender of Harper’s Ferry in 1862. Then he had been paroled, but he was not so lucky in 1863. At Gettysburg, the 125th had seen heavy fighting on the 2nd July, but John had survived unscathed. Then on the 3rd he and some of his comrades found themselves on the skirmish line just as the Confederates launched what has become known to history as “Pickett’s Charge”. Michael Larkins, another Irish immigrant in Company D- and the man who wrote John’s letters home- later recalled what happened:
Company D were on the skirmish line, and were driven back, but…John instead of falling back with the others, remained to fire his musket, and during the delay was captured…he did not see Eagan taken prisoner but…the above was taken from the statements of men who were paroled during the fight. He was for ten years prior to his enlistment acquainted with…John Eagan…he was with him when he received his advance bounty and pay upon muster into service…
One of the aims of the Andersonville Irish Project is to ascertain how Irish Americans interacted with each other as prisoners, and the case of John Eagan offers some important detail in that regard. Aside from his unit affiliation, what emerges from John’s case is the degree to which he identified not only with the Irish American community, but specifically with the Irish American community where he had grown up in America. One of the men who gave a statement on his widow’s behalf in 1866 was John Tierney, an Irish American who had served as a Corporal with the 5th New York Cavalry. His affidavit reveals the close bond that he and John developed in Confederate prison, borne out of their shared ethnicity, but importantly, also due to their shared home of Cohoes, New York:
…he [Tierney] was taken by the enemy at Culpepper Court House, VA on the 13th day of September 1863 and was taken thence to Libby Prison Richmond CA where he remained three days, was then removed to Belle Island, where he remained about five months and was then taken to Andersonville Prison, GA thence to Millen where he remained until released in November 1864…upon entering prison on Belle Island he met the said John Eagan…Eagan informed [Tierney] he was taken prisoner at Gettysburg, PA. [Tierney] and the said John Eagan were constant companions while on Belle Island, and were removed together to Andersonville…Eagan was taken sick about the month of May or June 1864 of Chronic Diarrhoea and Scorbutus [Scurvy]. [Tierney] was present with…John Eagan during his illness, and was also present when he died, and saw his dead body.
Yet another member of the Irish American community in Cohoes was John Mullen, who had served in the same Company as John Eagan in the 125th New York, and who also saw the inside of Andersonville Prison. He remembered:
…this deponent [Mullen] was taken prisoner by the enemy at Bristoe Station, VA on the 14th day of October 1863 and removed thence to Belle Island where he met the said Eagan when Eagan made known to him the circumstances connected with his capture July 3/63…Eagan and [Mullen] were removed from Belle Island on the 17th day of February 1864 and were taken thence to Andersonville, GA Prison, where this deponent remained until October 1864 when he was removed to Millen from which place he was paroled in November 1864….he was with the said Eagan from the time this deponent entered prison at Belle Isle until in June 1864. That in the month of June and between the 25th and 30th, he thinks the 28th or 29th, he with three others carried the said Eagan out of the prison Camp at Andersonville to the Hospital just outside. That Eagan had been sick about one month when he so assisted in carrying him to Hospital, and he thought at the time Eagan could live but a short time, and that that was the opinion entertained by the others who assisted…he did not see Eagan’s dead body but conscientiously believes he is dead…
John perished at Andersonville on 1 July 1864-one year to the day that the Battle of Gettysburg had begun. He is interred in Grave 2728.
[image error]Though he died at Andersonville, Arthur Mullholland does not appear to be among the identified graves at the National Cemetery (Find A Grave)Arthur Mullholland, 69th Pennsylvania Infantry, Born Ireland
When Pickett’s Charge smashed into the stone wall at Gettysburg on 3rd July, among those engulfed in the maelstrom were the Irishmen of the 69th Pennsylvania Infantry. Their actions in resisting the attack have become famed. But when the Rebel wave receded, an unlucky few of the regiment found themselves being carried back across the battlefield as prisoners, taken at the height of the battle. One of those reported missing was Arthur Mulholland of Company F.
Before his service, Arthur had lived in Philadelphia’s 8th Ward with his wife Mary Buckley, a fellow Irish immigrant whom he had married on 27th October 1842. He was not a young man when he had enlisted- Arthur was at least 43-years-old when he first donned a uniform on 19th April 1861. When he marched off to war he left Mary behind with four children- Mary (17), Tom (13), Kate (12) and Ellen (7). Had circumstances been different in July 1863, Arthur might well have been on his way home rather than facing Pickett’s Charge. An injury he received to his leg in June had caused measures to be taken to procure him a discharge, but by the time it came through the Battle of Gettysburg had already been fought. The Second Lieutenant of his Company, John Eagan, who was captured with him, later attested to the fact that Arthur had still been in uniform when the time came to defend the stone wall on 3rd July.
During his time in Andersonville, Arthur appears to have been another Irish American who developed close relationships with other Irish drawn from his locality. Among them were John Doyle of the 183rd Pennsylvania Infantry and Robert Torrey of the 90th Pennsylvania. Torrey had been captured in October 1863. He later stated that around November 1864 Arthur had died, and that “he placed his name, Company and Regiment on his breast and that he was buried in one of the pits dug for that purpose.” The lack of definitive evidence surrounding Arthur’s fate caused significant issues for Mary, as she struggled to prove her entitlement for a pension. In 1865 she had a letter written explaining the circumstances of Arthur’s death as she understood them:
I am about asking you to do a favor for me and oblige a poor widow woman who has lost her husband in this war. Arthur Mulholland…was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg he was there taken to Belle Island, Richmond, Virginia. The day before his capture he was hit on the leg by a piece of a flying rail when he got to Richmond his leg mortified from the effects of the wound and they wanted to amputate his leg but he would not let them they then removed him to Andersonville, Georgia, where after confinement for some time he died and was buried by some of his comrades…
The balance of evidence currently suggests that Arthur, who was certainly taken prisoner at Gettysburg, and who certainly seems to have been incarcerated at Andersonville, is among the small number of unknown graves at the National Cemetery.
[image error]The grave of Hugh Coyle from Fanad at Andersonville National Cemetery. He was captured in the immediate aftermath of Gettysburg (Find A Grave)Hugh Coyle, 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Clondavaddog, Fanad, Co. Donegal
Those of you who have read my book The Forgotten Irish will be familiar with the story of Hugh Coyle, whose family form the subject of one of the chapters. Hugh and his siblings had emigrated to Philadelphia from the rural Fanad Peninsula in Co. Donegal, where their parents continued to eke out a living during the American Civil War. Hugh had enlisted in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry on 1st October 1861. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment were assigned to protect the Army of the Potomac’s baggage trains at Manchester, Maryland. However, they became involved in the fighting on the 4th July, the day after the repulse of Pickett’s Charge. As Confederates under Richard Ewell retreated from Pennsylvania they were set upon by Union cavalry as they moved through Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania. The engagement was a success for U.S. forces, but a small number of men were captured, and Hugh was among them.
Like his fellow Gettysburg campaign prisoners, after a period around Richmond, Hugh was sent on to Andersonville. He died on 24 June 1864 and is interred in Grave 2399. By the time of his death his parents John and Eunice were living in Muineagh townland on the Fanad Peninsula, where times were hard. When Eunice applied for a pension, she included an eviction notice she had received from her Donegal landlord, the Third Earl of Leitrim. It informed them of the fact that Leitrim wanted their land “to graze black cattle.” A few years after Eunice sent this letter, three Fanad men rowed across the Mulroy, assassinating Leitrim in retribution for his treatment of his tenants. A monument erected to them from where they began their journey still stands in Fanad today.
[image error]Muineagh townland, where Hugh’s parents John and Eunice were living at the time they heard of Hugh’s death (Damian Shiels)References
U.S. Census
Muster Rolls & Unit Rosters
Pension Files
Find A Grave
June 20, 2021
Getting to Know the Work of Brendan Hamilton
In the second of our posts looking at some of the work of our new Associate Editors Dr Catherine Bateson and Brendan Hamilton, we are sharing some of Brendan’s work and writing. You can find out more regarding Brendan’s background and interests on our About Us page. He is certainly no stranger to readers of Irish in the American Civil War, and is the site’s most prolific guest writer. Brendan has particular expertise and research interests in the subject of recruitment (especially illicit recruitment) into the United States forces, and latterly has been undertaking some ground-breaking work into the practice of recruiting boys-many of them Irish American- from Houses of Refuge. His “back catalogue” on the site is extensive, but links to many of his posts are provided here:
Marked Boys: The Tattoos of 19th Century Irish and Irish American Reformatory Inmates
Other Lost Shoes: The Forgotten Reform School Boys Who Fought the VMI Cadets at New Market
“Three Boys Were Taken”: The Yankee Teens Who Became Rebel “Pirates”
“A Brutal, Good Natured Face:” A New York Irish “Rowdy” in War and Peace
‘One of Our Brave Men Twice Wounded’: An Image of Corporal William Kelleher, 125th New York Infantry
“It Was Not For To Be Soldiers We Came Out”: Recruited Straight Off The Boat–Some New Evidence
Recruited Straight Off The Boat? On The Trail of Emigrant Soldiers From the Ship Great Western
Aside from writing for Irish in the American Civil War, Brendan has also contributed to sites such Emerging Civil War, for example this post, “I Objected”: A Black Mother Takes a Stand Against Coerced Enlistment.
As well as being a historian, Brendan is also a poet, two talents he combined in his 2010 book of poetry, Jerusalem Plank Road, which is inspired by the final days of the Petersburg Campaign. You can check out Brendan’s book at this link, or by clicking in the image below.
[image error] Brendan’s book of Civil War inspired poetry, “Jerusalem Plank Road”Most recently, Brendan gave a presentation to the Missouri Historical Society on the topic of local House of Refuge boys who ended up in the Civil War military. The talk, which is excellent, was recorded, and you can watch it at the link below. It is great to formalise Brendan’s links with the site, given his track record of fascinating and insightful research on some of the least understood people who donned Union uniform during the conflict. We are very excited to be working with him!
June 12, 2021
Getting to Know the Work of Dr Catherine Bateson
Over the next two posts we will be sharing some of the work of our two new Associate Editors, Dr Catherine Bateson and Brendan Hamilton. You can find out more about Catherine and Brendan on our About Us page. Catherine is a specialist in Irish American service during the conflict, and has a particular expertise in the music Irish American communities created and listened to during and after the Civil War. She has previously contributed a number of guest posts to the site, both on her musical work and an analysis of a series of letters written by an Irish Brigade soldier. You can check them out here:
“I am the Same Boy yet”: The Civil War Letters of Daniel Crowley, Part 2
“I am so heartily sick of this life”: The Civil War Letter of Daniel Crowley, Part 3
Aside from Catherine’s posts on Irish in the American Civil War, you can find her writing at a numerous other places across the web. Just a couple of examples are shared below:
In addition to her public outreach writing, Catherine has also published a number of important academic papers. One example is ‘Forward For Our Homes!’ Lyrical Expressions of Home Heard in Irish American Civil War Songs which appeared in the Journal of History and Cultures, and which you can read online for free by clicking here. For a full list of Catherine’s writing and publications check out her profile here.
As well as her writing Catherine also frequently delivers public lectures, some of which are available online. Two of her most recent were for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, where she discussed Irish Music and Civil War Medicine, and How Civil War Soldiers Sang About Battlefield Wounds. You can watch them on YouTube via the links below:
I hope you enjoy exploring some of Catherine’s work in more detail. We are very fortunate to have a historian of her calibre on board at Irish in the American Civil War, there promises to be exciting times ahead!
June 5, 2021
Andersonville Irish: The First 350 Infographic
The Andersonville Irish Project has now recorded details of 350 Irish Americans who perished at Andersonville during 1864 and 1865. To mark that milestone we have produced an infographic (below, click on the image to enlarge) highlighting some of the main details we have gathered to date. Thanks to the Irish Consulate General of Atlanta, Andersonville National Historic Site and Professor Nicholas Allen of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts for their ongoing support of the project- and of course the readers and patrons of the site, without whom none of this work would be possible. As the project continues to progress there will be further infographics and updates on order to share our findings as we make them. Please feel free to share the infographic widely!
[image error] Andersonville Irish First 350 Infographic (Click to Enlarge)May 31, 2021
A New Team Structure at Irish in the American Civil War
Irish in the American Civil War celebrated its 11th birthday in May. This past decade of running the site has represented both a lot of work and a lot of reward, and I am grateful to everyone who has helped to develop the community over those years and contributed towards the site’s mission. Over the past 18 months or so I have been putting a lot of thought into the future direction of Irish in the American Civil War, and settled on the decision to fundamentally restructure both how the site is run and the type and range of content that is delivered. To that end, from this month I am delighted to announce that Irish in the American Civil War is no longer a solo endeavour. I am welcoming onto the team two Associate Editors who will work with me to develop and grow the website, and expand on the range of topics we discuss.
Both of the new management team are long-term friends and contributors to the site, and promise to add greatly to its future direction. They are Dr Catherine Bateson, an accomplished historian of the Irish in American Civil War who has conducted important research into Irish songs from the conflict, and Brendan Hamilton, the site’s most prolific guest poster who most recently has been carrying out groundbreaking research into the recruitment of boys from Houses of Industry. You can read more about them on our About page here. As well as continuing to produce content you have become familiar with, together we will be working to develop a range of other offerings, particularly through the encouragement of regular contributors and guest authors. To that end we are currently preparing submission guidelines that will detail the procedure by which anyone can seek to contribute. I am extremely excited about where this will take the site. I hope to continue a concentration on digital projects and the widow’s files, as well as further developing the resources. Both Catherine and Brendan also have a vision for where they would like to see additional content, and lots of exciting ideas about future developments. We hope in the coming months to grow the team, and thereby help to build on what we hope will be a dynamic, varied and wide-reaching future for Irish in the American Civil War. Stay tuned for more soon!
[image error]Dr Catherine Bateson[image error]Brendan HamiltonMay 21, 2021
A Condemned Man: A Tyrone Emigrant’s 1860s Journey Towards Execution
In the first of what I hope will become a series of posts about Irish Americans who were executed during their Civil War military service, we take a look at documents relating to the story of Private Robert Kerr, an emigrant from Co. Tyrone. Robert was making his living as a drayman in California when the Civil War broke out, and was 34-years-old when he enlisted in San Francisco on 12th August 1861, becoming a private in Company A of the 1st California Cavalry. While Robert himself is difficult to track in the pre-war period, at least one brother, James, also appears to have been in California, and may well be the hostler who was enumerated in Stockton, San Joaquin County, in 1860.
[image error]Fort Yuma, California as it appeared in the 1870s (George Baker)At first Robert’s career as a soldier seemed to go well. In December 1861 he was part of a detail assigned to take prisoners on the trek between Camp Wright in San Diego County and Fort Yuma in Imperial County, a journey of well over 150 miles. Indeed the nature of the war in the far West saw Robert spend much his military career on such duties. It was in March of 1862 that the first signs of trouble began to manifest themselves. On the 12th of that month Robert was placed in arrest at Fort Yuma, accused of attacking one Lieutenant Harvey. It was the beginning of a long period of confinement in horrendous conditions. At the end of July, still in irons, The Tyrone man was at his wit’s end. He appealed to his commanding officer for assistance:
Fort Yuma July 31st 1862
Col David Ferguson
1st Cavalry Cal Vols
Sir, From the confidence I have in your kind and humane disposition I am induced to ask your favourable interposition in my behalf. At the time I committed the offence for which I am now suffering I was totally unconscious as to my actions and was in reality no more responsible than a maniac. I have been in irons ever since I have been here and am so reduced physically that I am unfit to perform the simplest duty. Prior to the fortunate occurrence that caused my confinement I am confident there was no soldier who performed his duties with more cheerfulness than myself as the officers I think will justify. May I not then beg you yo write to Genl Wright and have my sentence commuted. I am confident through your influence that I can be released and if you should be pleased to take an interest in my welfare you will receive the heartfelt thanks of an unfortunate man.
I have the honour to be very respectfully your obedient servant,
Robert Kerr
Private Co. A 1st Cav. Cal Vols.
Despite his actions in assaulting his officer, Robert’s plight did elicit sympathy from some of his superiors, perhaps not least because Lieutenant Harvey does not appear to have been well liked within the regiment. A further appeal from Kerr of 6th August had a note added two days later by Major Ferguson, who sought clemency for his soldier:
[image error]Description of Robert Kerr, a document that also outlines his ultimate fate (NARA)
Fort Yuma August 6th 1862
Sir,
From the confidence I have in your kind and humane disposition I…ask your favorable interposition in my behalf as I am placed in a confinement almost beyond endurance. I have been confined five months at this place in irons the first two months solitary. Since that time I have been at work and I am now destitute of everything in the line of clothing I have never drawn any since last December, consequently I am in a manner naked. I have to go bare footed over this hill which is as great punishment as flesh can stand and cannot get shoes or pants to cloth my nakedness as the commanding officer will not issue prisoners anything. Other prisoners is better situated than me as they have all had officers to provide for them of there own company or regiment whilst I have been left here entirely alone a stranger to every officer and soldier here and I have been treated as such for no officer has spoken to me since my stay at this place.
Tucson, Arizona, 8th August 1862
I was present when the soldier Kerr committed the act for which he is suffering punishment. Taking the whole circumstances into consideration I would respectfully recommend that his sentence be commuted for on the commission of the offence Lieut Harvey summarily chastised him and came very near taking his life, unintentionally of course. Drunkneness was the cause of the man’s conduct. Now that he has suffered so long promises reformation. I therefore submit his case to the clemency of the Coming Genl through Col Bowie the commanding officer of this post and district.
D. Ferguson, Major, 1st Cavy C.V.
Major Ferguson’s intercession had the desired effect, and in September Robert Kerr was finally released, after almost 6 months confinement. One wonders the mental impact it had on him. One also wonders if Major Ferguson later came later to regret his intervention. By October Private Kerr was back in the saddle once again riding out on detached service, duty he would carry out again in November and again the following February. During most of this period his regiment was involved in garrison duties, and in engagements with Native American Apache and Navajo peoples. Whatever warning signs there were in Robert Kerr’s career and service through the course of 1863 were either missed or ignored. In the end, the incident that sealed his fate occurred near San Elizario, Texas, on the night of 29th December that year. It was reported in horrified fashion by an officer the next day:
Head Quarters, Texas
December 30th 1863
Captain,
On the night of the 29th instant whilst Lieut Samuel Allyne and several of the men of his Company 1st Cavalry California Vols were returning to their station at San Elizario from a scout in the vicinity of Isleta he was cruelly murdered by one of his men, Private Kerr of the same Company, who shot him. I have not yet fully learned the particulars of this atrocious act, but have heard that he shot him from behind and that he died almost instantly and that it occurred a few miles this side of San Elizario.
Captain French upon being informed of the death of Lieutenant Allyne went out at once and had the body taken to that place where he will be buried tomorrow.
He immediately than started in pursuit of the murderer and I am pleased to inform you that at daylight on the morning and the 30th instant he succeeded in arresting him at Lozano, and now has him in close confinement heavily ironed.
Very Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
G.W. Bowie
This time there would be no reprieve. On 28th January 1864 Robert Kerr was court-martialled at Mesilla, New Mexico, for “wantonly and maliciously” killing his officer. The outcome was a foregone conclusion. The condemned man left behind some property in Washington County, Illinois and some money, which he left to his relatives. Private Robert Kerr was executed by firing squad at Franklin, Texas at 2pm on 20th March 1864.
[image error]The marker on the grave of First Lieutenant Samuel Allyne, who Robert Kerr murdered. The Lieutenant’s body was returned to his home in Brewster, Barnstable County, Massachusetts (Caryn via Find A Grave)References
Compiled Service Records.
1860 Census.
Robert I. Alotta 1989. Civil War Justice: Union Army Executions under Lincoln.
https://www.fold3.com/image/313584692May 3, 2021
Andersonville Irish Project Update
The Andersonville Irish Project is continuing apace, and there has also been some good news in terms of funding recently. I am delighted that Andersonville National Historic Site has awarded the Project a POW Research Grant, a fund made available thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Andersonville. In the months to come, as well as continuing the research into the Irish Americans interred at the National Cemetery, I hope to further develop the Project webpage and mapping to make it is as interactive as possible. In the meantime, the latest Project update is now live. There are now more than 305 Irish Americans in the database, with many of them mapped onto their place of origin in Ireland. You can explore the map here or by clicking on the image below, and search the full database on the project page here.
[image error]April 22, 2021
Extinguished Lives: Exploring Irish America & the Impact of War through the Battle of Williamsburg
Within the files of Irish Americans who died during the American Civil War, certain engagements crop up again and again. As a general rule, the very worst battlefields of the war for Irish Americans were those that took the greatest toll on New York regiments. More than twice as many Irish Americans served in New York units than those of any other state- when New York had a bad day, so did the Irish. The Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia on 5th May 1862 was a particularly black day for New York, and most particularly for the families of men in the Excelsior Brigade.
Though it is rarely regarded as one of the major engagements of the conflict, Williamsburg is a name I come across all too frequently (you can read of its impact on a family from the Aran Islands here and Kerry here). Irishmen were prominent in many of the units closely engaged, particularly those from New York. They abounded in units like the 37th New York ‘Irish Rifles’, the 38th New York ‘Second Scott’s Life Guard’, and the 40th New York ‘Mozart’ Regiment. It didn’t help Irish America that many of the non-New York units engaged at Williamsburg also carried considerable numbers from the “Old Sod” in their ranks. Plenty marched towards the Confederates in the ranks of regiments like the 1st and 11th Massachusetts, and among the Jerseyans of Hooker’s division. When Irish emigrant Alexander McConlogue of the 8th New Jersey fell, the widower left behind a now orphaned 3-year-old daughter. Tyrone native James Taggart went forward at Williamsburg in the ranks of the 7th New Jersey. When he was cut down in the area that would become known as “The Ravine”, he left behind a wife of thirty years and six adult children. These Irishmen’s blood was watering the ground even before the formation that would see the most Irish fall came on the field. At Williamsburg, it was the horrors inflicted upon the Excelsior Brigade that turned the battle from a bad day to a terrible one for Irish America.
[image error]Hooker’s division in action at Williamsburg, as sketched by Alfred Waud. The Excelsior Brigade formed a part of Hooker’s force (Library of Congress)The component regiments of the Excelsior Brigade were the 70th, 72nd, 73rd and 74th New York, men recruited in the main from New York City. The Brigade, which was experiencing its first major battle at Williamsburg, suffered an eye-watering 772 casualties on 5th May 1862, almost 270 of them fatal. Having conducted surname and other analysis on these men, it is apparent that in excess of 50 of the Excelsior’s fatalities were Irish Americans. Dozens more were maimed for life. Below are some of the stories of Irishmen and their families, people whose lives were forever altered as a result of that day’s clash.
70th New York Infantry (First Regiment)
Irish American John Nicholas Coyne was a Sergeant in the 70th New York Infantry at Williamsburg (and would be awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions there). He later remembered the moment as the Excelsiors waited to go into their first major battle at Williamsburg:
[image error]John Nicholas Coyne, whose father had been born in Ireland. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his captured of a Confederate color at Williamsburg (Deeds of Valor)The rain is still falling, and the roads and woods are dismal. The air is heavy with moisture and seems like a pall. At last we are halted, and as the noise of jingling accouterments ceases, we hear peculiar sounds and reverberations. Our cheeks flush, and we begin tighten our belts and inspect our arms. We know what it means…the increasing noise indicates that the resistance is becoming serious.
When the battle did come, it was horrendous. In the savage fighting the 70th New York would suffer the most. They took almost 50 percent casualties. Irish Americans died in every one of their companies. Neither was it just the New York Irish who felt the pain. Sections of Company A had been recruited in New Jersey, including Sergeant Robert Harvey. The Kilwaughter, Co. Antrim native had been a member of the 1st Presbyterian Congregation of Larne, where he had wed Mary Anne Ogilby in 1849. The couple had only emigrated from Ireland to Paterson, New Jersey with their three young children around 1858. Before rushing to the colors in June 1861 Robert had been a laborer- he laid down his life for his new country on 5th May 1862. He wasn’t alone. George Behan of Company D was another New Jersey Irishman. Originally from Newlands near Newbridge in Co. Kildare, he had been working in a hat factory in Newark before enlisting. Before being gunned down at Williamsburg, he had been helping to support his widower father, who was in his seventies.
The losses sustained in Company H meant that the Massachusetts Irish shared in the suffering caused by the 70th New York’s decimation at Williamsburg. Peter Donahoe had helped to support his mother by working in a Boston glass factory before enlisting. That ended when he took three bullets to the head at Williamsburg. Not far away, Patrick Murphy crumpled to the ground. May 1862 would be a month his three children, 15-year-old Catharine, 14-year-old Michael and 11-year-old Mary, would never forget. Just 22 days after Patrick’s death in battle, their mother Joanna died of jaundice in their Boston Home. Yards away, in the same company, Corporal John O’ Leary breathed his last. John had emigrated to America around 1847, in the midst of the Famine. After four years of hard work, he had finally been able to send for his parents. They all settled in Woburn, Massachusetts, where for the next decade John supported them. Williamsburg left his by then widowed 64-year-old mother without a support.
[image error]The Excelsior Brigade after Williamsburg, depicted at Fair Oaks in June 1862 (National Tribune)The impact of Williamsburg was felt by the young as well as the old. In June 1861 Irish American brothers John and Matthew McCann both enlisted in Newark, New Jersey. Their parents has been married in Co. Meath before emigration, and the brothers were born and raised in New Jersey. Their father’s death in 1850 left them responsible for their mother Catherine, who was 62 when they enlisted. Leaving behind their work as Silver Platers, the two boys went to war with Company K of the 70th New York Infantry. 21-year-old John was a good soldier, and by the end of 1861 was a Sergeant, not doubt able to lord-it over his 22-year-old brother Matthew, who remained a private. But war changes everything. While both brothers went into the fight at Williamsburg, only John came out. The impact of his Matthew’s death must have been mental torture. That, together with the fact that he was no his mother’s sole support, may be the reason that John is recorded as having immediately deserted after the fight.
72nd New York Infantry (Third Regiment)
Over in Company C of the 72nd New York, Mathew Henry’s American story ended on 5th May 1862 having only just begun. His sister Margaret had led the way from Ireland, arriving in May 1859. 17-year-old Mathew had followed that Autumn. Both had left their native Co. Cavan to join others from their Irish community in Newark. When Mathew arrived he had boarded with the Boyle family, who had left Cavan around 1857. Their plan was to save as much of their earnings as possible in order to pay for the passage of their other family members. Margaret and Mathew sent regular letters back to their mother Catherine in Cavan. Catherine’s neighbour in Ireland, Michael Sheridan (who would also later emigrate to Newark) remembered “very frequently while in the Old Country being called by Mrs Henry to read letters received by her from her children in America”. Mathew’s letters-and the money that went with them-stopped after 5th May 1862. Later, his mother Catherine would travel to the United States to secure a pension. Once she had done so, she returned to her home outside Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan to live out her remaining years.
[image error]The Excelsior Brigade being inspected, as sketched by Winslow Homer (Smithsonian Design Museum)22-year-old Maurice Hinchey died at Mathew Henry’s side in Company C of the 72nd. Prior to enlisting the young emigrant had spent four years apprenticed in the shoemaking shop of fellow Irishman Edward Hughes in Paterson, New Jersey. The eldest child of widow Ellen Hinchey, Maurice’s death left her in dire financial distress. Not far from where Mathew and Maurice fell, another Irishman was leading Company E into the fray. Captain Patrick Barrett had left his position as the postmaster in Dunkirk, Chautauqua County to lead a company to war. It was a role he felt made for, having been the commander of the local “Jackson Guards” Militia Company. By the time of Williamsburg, the 29-year-old had just celebrated his third wedding anniversary, and his first child Mary’s second birthday was only weeks away. The bullet that struck him in the lower part of his body on 5th May 1862 led to his slow, painful death the following day. Philip Holland of Company H also took a bullet to the body, though in his case it too nearly six weeks to kill him. He was another new arrival in the United States. He and his wife Mary had wed in Kilkee, Co. Clare in 1859, prior to their departure.
73rd New York Infantry (Fourth Regiment)
Patrick Brennan from Muckalee, Co. Kilkenny was one of the Irishmen who marched towards The Ravine with the 73rd New York Infantry, the “Second Fire Zouaves”. His father had died in Ireland in 1847, during the Great Famine, after which his mother Mary had taken Patrick and his two siblings to New York. They settled in the heart of the notorious Five Points district, where Patrick soon took on the role of the family’s chief earner. In early 1861 he had confided to a friend that he was struggling to pay her rent, and had got a loan of $2 to tide him over. Perhaps financial concerns were one of the drivers for his enlistment in what became Company G of the 73rd. Whatever his original motivations and convictions, the 21-year-old gave his life for them on 5th May 1862. Patrick’s Captain at Williamsburg was fellow Irish American John Feeney. John had been a carpenter by trade, but like many other men who had joined the “Second Fire Zouaves”, he also had ties to the fire department. He was a member of Hose Company No. 50, “Hope”, which operated out of 10 1/2 Mott Street in Manhattan. John had been born into an Irish family in New York, and when he wed in 1850, he had married a member of the Irish community who had been born in England, Margaret Cunningham. Their union is an exemplar of the close ties that bound those of Irish ethnicity, even when they had not been born in Ireland itself. Having been wounded at Williamsburg, John lingered until 20 May 1862, dying in New York. Left with three young children, Margaret soon married again, wedding another Irish American in July 1863.
[image error]The author at the 73rd New York (2nd Fire Zouaves) Monument, Gettysburg (Damian Shiels)74th New York Infantry (Fifth Regiment)
Over in the ranks of the 74th New York Infantry one of those advancing towards the Confederate line at Williamsburg was Thomas McCready from Co. Donegal. His family had settled in Brooklyn just a few years before the war, having step migrated through Scotland. Before enlisting in Company C Thomas had worked as gardener in Flushing. Just two days before Williamsburg Thomas the 27-year-old wrote home to his mother and sister:
[image error]The 74th New York Infantry on parade in their camp (Photographic History of the Civil War)
Camp Winfield Scott
May 3d 1862
Dear Mother I take pleasure in writing to you hoping to find you in good health as I am in at present thank God. I received a letter from you on the 2 inst which gave me great pleasure in hearing that yous are all well…There are seventy thousand to work day and night and we think Yorktown will be attacked next week. The only thing that I have learned since I came here was to dodge the shells they keep firing on us day and night, but still we build the batteries right up to their nose. We think this will be the last battle and I hope again the 4th of July that I will be shaking hands with you…Dear sister the reason that I wish that you and Mother were here was to see all the troops that we had laying around here you would think we had enough to sweep the world before us…I am still in good health myself and wish to the see the Battle of Yorktown over I think we would get discharged. You cheer up your hearts and be of good cheer I hope to see you soon again. I hope I will be in O’Briens once more. We are now got two months paid and I promised to send mother some sometime ago I will now send her twenty dollars and she may be looking for it two days from now. Give my love to Mother and all my brothers and sisters…Please write as soon as you get this good bye.
Thomas had told his mother to look for the $20 from him on 5th May, the day of the Battle of Williamsburg. This letter that was destined to arrive around the same time as news of the 27-year-old’s death during that fight. All throughout New York after the battle, news began flooding into Irish American homes of the cost of the engagement. Another of the 74th New York Irish emigrants to fall was 23-year-old Patrick Kennedy of Company H. Back in New York, his sixty-year-old mother Margaret received the following:
Cumberland Va May 18th 1862
Dear Madam
Your letter of the 13th inst was handed to me by Col Butler of the 5th Regiment Excelsior Brigade this afternoon it having just reached him. It is with great regret that I have to inform you of the death of your son Patrick. He died fighting gallantly by my side, being in my Company and under my command. As it was God’s will that he should die in his first Battle it will be some satisfaction to you to know that he did not suffer any, his death being immediate. We buried him with due solemnity and soldiers tears watered his grave. Your son was much esteemed by me for his quick and soldierly manner and I deeply regret his loss. Upon the receipt of my Company Books, which will overtake us in a few days, I will make out a final statement of his accounts and forward them to Washington when you will be enable to get whatever is due to him. He has 2 months and 5 days pay due him, and what is clothing account is I cannot know until I get my books. But as soon as possible I will forward the accounts and at same time write you word. It is with words of regret for your loss, which I know how to appreciate that I now close this and remain,
Very respectfully my dear Madam your humble Servt
Capt. E. A. Harrison
Co. H. 74th Regt N.Y.V.
5th Excelsior Regiment
The author of this letter, Captain Edmund Harrison, was himself killed in action three months later.
While the Battle of Williamsburg does not enter our psyche with regards to Irish American service, it is apparent from the Excelsior Brigade losses alone that it had a devastating impact on many Irish families. The losses there reveal much to us about the makeup and nature of Irish America, and serve to demonstrate how the impact of individual battles can be used as case studies to explore the social history of Irish American working-class groups. For the New York Irish, more losses awaited on the Peninsula and at Second Bull Run, as the nation’s largest Irish enclave continued to pay a high price in blood on the battlefield. The impact of such losses on morale cannot be underestimated, and are a reminder that we must constantly seek to look beyond the Irish Brigade, the “ethnic” Irish regiments, and the most famed engagements if we are to grasp the full realities of what the Civil War meant for Irish America.
*While much of the Williamsburg battlefield has been developed, but there are still tracts that have been preserved and areas that have been targeted for conservation. If you would like to support those efforts you can find out more at the Williamsburg Battlefield Association website.
**The research and cost-of-running of the Irish American Civil War website is self-financed. If you would like to support the work and upkeep of this site you can do so via my Patreon site for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/irishacw, or by making a one-off donation to the site’s running costs via the “Donate” button in the right-hand sidebar.
[image error]Soldiers of the Excelsior Brigade under review (Library of Congress)Casualties in the Excelsior Brigade at Williamsburg
70th New York Infantry (700 men)
330 casualties, 109 mortally wounded
72nd New York Infantry
195 casualties, 84 mortally wounded
73rd New York Infantry
104 casualties, 27 mortally wounded
74th New York Infantry
143 casualties, 49 mortally wounded
Select References
Pension Files
Massachusetts Town and vital Records
Census Records
National Tribune 9 August 1894
Walter F. Beyer & Oscar F. Keydel 1901. Deeds of Valor: How America’s Heroes Won the Medal of Honor. Volume 1.
Augustine Costello 1887. Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Departments.
![[image error]](https://irishamericancivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Andersonville-Irish-The-First-350-2.png){kind=link}