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

Irish in the American Civil War

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. Hiswife 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 1862threatened his elderly widow’s liberty. The major investigation into...