The Dying Request: An Irish Soldier Seeks to Secure His Daughters’ Future at Shiloh, 1862

Originally posted on Irish in the American Civil War:

On the evening of 6th April 1862, at Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee, the men of the 12th Illinois Infantry trudged back to their quarters after a hard day’s fighting. Having just endured the first day of the Battle of Shiloh, the soldiers gathered around their tents to discuss what they had just experienced. The danger, though, had not passed. The enemy remained close, and indeed the furious contest would resume the following morning. As C...