On 8th September 1864, First Lieutenant Patrick McCarthy of Company C, 182nd New York Infantry (69th New York National Guard), sat down to write a letter to the father of one of his comrades. The young man found himself with the unpleasant task of providing the family with details of their son’s death. Two weeks previously, on 25th August, his fellow company officer and friend Second Lieutenant Daniel Sweeney had died under Confederate fire at the Battle of Ream’s Station, Virginia. Having heard the news, Daniel’s father John had written to McCarthy, seeking further detail as regards his sons final moments. The poignant letter that resulted provides an insight into the sense of loss felt by all those connected with Daniel, and the effect of deaths such as these on those left at home.

Soldiers & Chiefs Exhibition, National Museum of Ireland, with display inspired by the Lieutenant McCarthy letter

While working with the National Museum of Ireland I was fortunate to be on hand when letters relating to Lieutenant Sweeney’s death were donated to the institution. Transcribing the letters, it was immediately apparent how poignant they were, as one young man attempted to comfort the father of his friend and comrade, while still struggling to deal with the shock of the loss himself. The National Museum had very little detail regarding either McCarthy or Sweeney, beyond the fact that they served in the 182nd New York (69th New York National Guard) as part of Corcoran’s Irish Legion. The battle in which Daniel lost his life was a major reverse for the Second Corps of the Union Army, which suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Confederates.

The letters provide a harrowing insight into the reality of combat in the American Civil War. One letter describes the failed attempts by Daniel’s comrades to retrieve his sword to send to his family; these efforts failed partly due to the horrific wounds the Irishman had suffered, which obstructed his belt and prevented the men from freeing the weapon before the position was overrun by the advancing Rebel line. In the other letter, Patrick McCarthy described his friend’s death to John Sweeney (most probably Dan’s father):

Camp 69^th Regt. N.Y.N.G.

(New York National Guard)

Before Petersburg, Virginia

Sept 8^th 1864

Friend John Sweeney,

I am in receipt of your letter bearing the date Sept 2nd, and I have haste to comply with your wishes. Poor Dan was killed in action on Thursday August 25th. He was killed nearly outright, he was hit by a cannon shot or a shell unexploded. When poor Dan was killed, our first line of battle gave way and the Rebels were within one hundred yards of us. I was standing by Dan’s side when he got killed. I had my [head] turned looking where a shell exploded amongst our Regiment and when I looked around again I saw Dan and a Captain in our Regiment by the name of Welpley fall. I was thunderstruck by surprise when I saw the two fall. Poor Dan, him and myself were talking not 20 seconds before he was killed. If there was any possibility of bringing Dan’s body off the field, depend on it, I would do it. We had to leave our wounded to a great majority on the field so you can judge how things were. We had only two small Divisions of our Corps engaged; our Division the 2nd and the first Division, and we had opposed to us two entire Corps and two Brigades of Cavalry, and one of their Divisions was larger than our whole force. You might say we fought them 1 to their 8, and we gave them such a bad cutting up that they abandoned their own dead and wounded. I can not say, my Friend Sweeney, who buried Dan’s body, but I know the spot as well as I know where Mulberry Street is, and if there is any possibility of recovering his body it will be attended to. I was speaking to Colonel Murphy, he told me he received a telegram from you and was going to write to you today. We have not much time to ourselves; we do not know if we be in one place 5 minutes we will hear the dreaded order ‘fall in’ given. As a sample, I will give you since this day week we have not had 3 hours sleep on a stretch, but marching and countermarching and building Breastworks. We are in the line awaiting an attack from the enemy. Lee has got reinforced by Early, we are under arms from before break of day awaiting him. By-him Come, he will get a bloody reception, for we are prepared for him.

Dan’s watch was taken off his body, and he gave $50 to the Quartermaster Sergeant for to keep for him, which will be delivered to you as soon as possible. His valise is in Warehouse No. 3 lower New York avenue and 19th Street Washington. Edgar M. Carr(?) is the gentleman in charge of his commission and other valuable articles are in it. Write to me and let me know if I will send them on to you. Give my kindest regards to all your family.  Poor Dan, the only words he said were ‘give my love to my father and mother and tell them I died doing my duty. Brave my God have mercy on my soul’ 3 times. Friend John Sweeney, any thing that layes in my power I will do it for you about Dan’s body. May God have mercy on his soul, I feel like I’m deserted. I can hardly begin to think about my poor lost Companion.  Write to me often. No more at present, but I remain yours in affection.

P. McCarthy

2nd Brig 2nd Div 2nd Corps

Potential 1860 Census entry for Daniel Sweeney and his family (Fold3)

Dan Sweeney had enlisted in the regiment at the age of 23 in September 1862. He initially served as First Sergeant in Company G, before receiving his commission in Company C in July 1863. Patrick McCarthy had joined up at the age of 21 in March 1863. His promotion from Company C’s Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant in late June 1863 was what opened the way for Dan’s elevation to Second Lieutenant. Patrick survived the war and mustered out on 15th July 1865. The man who died with Dan was Captain Francis Welpley, a Co. Cork native and prominent member of the Fenian Brotherhood. (1)

The deaths of Sweeney and Welpley had lasting impacts that were felt by their families for many years after the guns fell silent. Examination of the 1860 census reveals what may be the 20-year-old Daniel Sweeney living in New York’s First Ward with his father John and mother Ellen. The young man’s occupation was recorded as a mason, while his father worked as a labourer. It would appear that within a few years of Daniel’s death his mother was left without significant financial support- it may be that his father died shortly after the war. In 1869 she sought a pension based on her son’s military service, most probably in an attempt to retain some financial security following the loss of male breadwinners in the household.

Pension Index Card recording the application of Dan Sweeney's mother for a pension in 1869 (Fold3)

Unlike Dan, the man who died with him was not a batchelor. In 1857 the then carpenter Francis Welpley had married Ann Donovan. In February 1865 the 28-year-old Ann travelled from her home on 52 Pike Street, New York, to seek a widow’s pension based on her husband’s wartime service. She was accompanied by Julia Donovan and Ellen Farrell, who vouched for her time spent with the Corkman. Her application was successful, and the pension was paid for some 30 years into the 1890s.

Declaration for Widow's Army Pension relating to Ann Welpley from February 1865 (Fold 3)

Such details provide glimpses into the far-reaching consequences that the death of a loved one caused for many families in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The single Confederate shell fired on 25th August 1864 at Ream’s Station not only killed two young men, it also changed the lives of the Sweeney and Welpley families forever. Over 140 years later, the letter written by Patrick McCarthy regarding the incident inspired the creation of a tableau in the National Museum of Ireland’s Soldiers & Chiefs exhibition, where a Federal soldier is shown writing home to his family, in order to highlight the often forgotten connection between events at the front and the future and well-being of those left at home.

(1) Roster 182nd New York Infantry, Kane 2002: 137;

References & Further Reading

Kane, Michael H. 2002. ‘American Soldiers in Ireland, 1865-67′ in The Irish Sword: The Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, Vol. 23, No. 91, pp. 103-140

New York State Adjutant General’s Office: Roster of the 182nd New York Infantry

Fold3.com

Soldiers and Chiefs Exhibition, National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks

Civil War Trust Battle of Ream’s Station Page

Over 25 Irishmen served as Colonels in units raised in the State of New York. Many are well-known, having served in ethnic Irish regiments such as those of the Irish Brigade and Corcoran’s Legion. Perhaps one of the least recognisable, and certainly one of the most tragic, is Colonel Henry F. O’Brien. He took over command of the 11th New York on 27th June 1863, but his tenure was destined to end in horrific circumstances. Less than a month after what must have been one of his proudest moments, on 14th July 1863, he would be dead. His end came not on the field of battle at the hands of the enemies of Union-Henry O’Brien was beaten to death by his fellow countrymen on a New York street. (1)

Henry F. O’Brien was born in Ireland in c.1823, although little is known about his life prior to the American Civil War. He served as a Captain of Company H of the 155th New York Infantry, part of Corcoran’s Irish Legion, from 12th October 1862 until his honourable discharge from that regiment on 6th February 1863. In June 1863 O’Brien was given permission to recruit in order to re-raise the 11th New York Regiment. The original 11th  had been known as the Ellsworth Zouaves, and had mustered out of service in 1862. Permission to reestablish the unit had initially been granted to James C. Burke in May of 1863, but this authorisation was revoked and passed to O’Brien in June. Thus it was that the now Colonel O’Brien was engaged in recruiting activities in New York when the violence of the draft riots erupted in the city. (2)

Colonel Henry F. O'Brien (New York State Military Museum)

Riots erupted across New York City on 13th July 1863 in response to the military draft, which had been instituted to bolster numbers serving in the Union forces. Protests against the draft descended into a wave of violence which engulfed portions of the city for a number of days. The majority of those involved came from the city’s poorer areas, and included large numbers of the Irish community. Many of the rioters felt they were being specifically targeted by unjust Government policies, which they saw as forcing them to fight for a cause with which they had little affinity. Many homes and premises were attacked, looted and burned during the unrest, and members of New York’s coloured community were targeted and some murdered in horrendous circumstances.

As he was stationed in New York at the time of the unrest, Henry O’Brien decided to face down the rioters and offered his services and those of his men to the police. Reports as to the sequence of events that followed are somewhat confused. What is known is that on the morning of Tuesday 14th July, a large mob had assembled at the junction of Second Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street. According to the New York Times, the crowd had become incensed upon learning that O’Brien and his men were due to march on them, and in response proceeded to his home in the area, forcing his family onto the street and robbing the premises. Some 300 New York police were detailed to confront the rioters, and they marched through a hail of missiles down Second Avenue in an attempt to clear the area. This was the fateful moment when Colonel O’Brien and his men arrived on the scene. (3)

The Irishman approached at the head of two companies of the 11th New York and two field pieces under the commanded of Lieutenant Eagleson. Joining forces with the police, O’Brien moved his men forward to confront the Second Avenue crowd. One account described what happened next: ‘He [O'Brien] unlimbered his pieces, notified the mob in the streets to disperse, and after waiting for them to do so a sufficient time, fired; he had elevated his guns so as to shoot over the heads of the crowd, giving as his reason that he did not want to hurt them if scaring would do as well.’ According to other accounts, far from trying to avoid civilian injury, O’Brien had ridden to the crowd and fired his pistol into them. Whether through some errant firing by O’Brien’s soldiers, a mishap with the artillery blanks, or indiscriminate shooting by the Colonel himself, a woman and child fell dead in front of the 11th New York’s position. The crowd had no doubts about who was responsible. They dispersed, but they did not go far. The mob now had but one focus- dozens of eyes stared at Colonel Henry O’Brien, and they bore an unquenchable thirst for revenge. (4)

It was now around 2pm in the afternoon. As the situation appeared to die down, the Colonel made the bizarre decision to stray from the safety of his men. The New York Tribune related that he went in to a nearby drug store in search of refreshments. On re-emerging in the doorway, he found that much of the mob had reformed, silently surrounding the shop. Drawing his sword and revolver, he walked out amongst them, presumably in the hope of regaining the safety of the troops. Suddenly a man emerged from the crowd behind O’Brien, striking him across the back of the head. Staggering, the Irishman was quickly subsumed beneath a wave of assailants as blows rained down upon him. Despite the violence of the attack, and unfortunately for Henry O’Brien, his end would not be a quick one. (5)

Colonel O'Brien attacked outside the Drugstore (Harper's Weekly)

Whatever the circumstances leading to it, the murder of the Colonel of the 11th New York was among the most savage and brutal to occur during the course of the New York Draft Riots. Bent on vengeance, the rioters sought to make sure that his suffering would last for hours. After his initial beating he was dragged to the nearest lamp-post, where he was strung up by a rope. From here he was taken down and hurled into the street, where, covered in blood and breathing heavily, he lay for an hour periodically being kicked and pelted with stones. Then he was again dragged around the street. Around this time a correspondent with Harper’s Weekly arrived on the scene. His described what he saw: ‘As I arrived at the corner of Thirty-fourth Street and Second Avenue, the rioters were dragging the body of a man along the sidewalk with a rope. It was difficult to obtain any information from the by-standers who were terror struck by the savage fury of the mob. I ascertained, however, that the body was that of Colonel O’Brien of the Eleventh New York. There was not a policeman or soldier within view of whom inquiry could be made. “What did they kill him for?” I asked a man leaning against a lamp-post. “Bedad, I suppose it was to square accounts,” replied he. “There was a woman and child kilt there below a while ago by the sojers, and in coorse a sojer had to suffer.” The brutal roughs who surrounded the body fired pistols at it occasionally, and pelted it with brick-bats and paving stones.” (6)

Incredibly the man was still not dead. Another witness said he had now become unrecognisable: ‘The head was nearly one mass of gore, while the clothes were also saturated with the crimson fluid of life.’ Occasionally the ‘extended mass of flesh‘that had once been Colonel O’Brien would raise his head, only to be struck once again by those surrounding him. Some accounts suggest that he clung to life for up to six hours in this way, all the time being periodically beaten. Eventually his horrific suffering ended, and the unfortunate Colonel died on the street only a short distance from his home. Shortly after his death the riot moved on, making it possible for his body to be recovered and taken to Bellevue Hospital. (7)

Colonel O'Brien being set upon (Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper)

Following the murder a substantial reward was offered for the apprehension of those involved. A number of men including one Patrick Keegan, Patrick O’Brien and later Thomas Kealy were arrested. All were Irish. The suffering of 14th July marked only the beginning for Henry O’Brien’s widow, Anna. On 30th January 1864 the New York Herald published a heart-rending letter she had felt compelled to publish: ‘I am the widow of Colonel Henry F. O’Brien, who lost his life while endeavoring to protect this, the proud city of his adoption, from the ravages of a plundering mob during the riots of July last. Slaughtered with a barbarity seldom equalled by savages, his poor mangled remains were unceremoniously hurried off to a pauper’s grave, where they still lie unnoticed and forgotten. I was myself forced to fly from the fury of the mob, who ransacked my house and destroyed or stole everything I possessed. Thus, at one fell swoop, were carried away home, husband and all that rendered life comfortable and happy.’ The distraught widow found that all her appeals for the honourable reburial of her husband had fallen on deaf ears, as had her request for a pension to support herself. Her letter to the Herald was a desperate attempt to have someone in officialdom take notice. (8)

Whatever the outcome of her appeals for a pension, Anna O’Brien did not have her wish for a suitable memorial for her husband fulfilled. Henry O’Brien today lies in an unmarked grave in Section 1 West, Avenue E, Plot 10 of Calvary Cemetery on Long Island. It remains unclear if Colonel O’Brien was the heartless villain who, as the mob believed, fired indiscriminately at a woman and child, or if he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, a man trying to do his best in difficult circumstances who was undone by unfortunate events. His death, falling at the hands of enraged fellow Irishmen at the junction of Second Avenue and Thirty-Fourth Street on that July day was certainly not the one he would have imagined for himself the previous June, as he set about organising his regiment. (9)

(1) Hunt 2003: 214; (2) Hunt 2003: 214; Bureau of Military Statistics; (3) New York Times 15th July 1863, Barnes 1863: 37; (4) New York Times 15th July 1863, Barnes 1863: 37, Civil War Newspaper Clippings, (5) Civil War Newspaper Clippings; (6) Civil War Newspaper Clippings, Harpers Weekly 1st August 1863; (7) Civil War Newspaper Clippings; (8) New York Herald 9th August 1863, New York Times 4th July 1867, New York Herald 30th January 1864; (9) Hunt 2003: 214;

References

Barnes, David M. 1863. The Draft Riots in New York, July 1863. The Service of the Metropolitan Police

Harper’s Weekly 1st August 1863: ‘The Riots at New York’

Hunt, Roger D. 2003. Colonels in Blue: Union Army Colonels of the Civil War, New York

New York Herald 9th August 1863: ‘The Murder of Colonel O’Brien’

New York Herald 30th January 1864: ‘The Late Colonel O’Brien’

New York State Military Museum: 11th Infantry Regiment: Civil War Newspaper Clippings

New York State Military Museum: 11th Infantry Regiment: 3rd Annual Report of the Bureau of Military Statistics

New York Times 15th July 1863: ‘The Riot in Second Avenue’

New York Times 4th July 1867: ‘The Murder of Col. O’Brien: Arrest of the Alleged Murderer’

The Irish Brigade’s first taste of active campaigning arrived in the summer of 1862, when Union forces advanced along the Peninsula towards Richmond. They had yet to experience serious action when they settled into ‘Camp Winfield Scott’, near Yorktown in April. Despite the absence of the enemy, death arrived in unexpected circumstances for one member of the 69th New York. He was to become one of the Brigade’s first fatalities, but even in death he sought to ensure that his family would learn of his fate. (1)

The unfortunate death which awaited the soldier arrived when a tree fell on him at Camp Winfield Scott. As his comrades examined the body, they came across a poignant note in his pocket. Clearly he had seen death as a possibility, and wanted to guard against the potential that the news might not reach home. The note read as follows:

“My name is Patrick Casey, Co. B, Sixty-ninth Regiment N.Y.S.V. Any one finding this note on my person when killed will please write a note to my wife, and direct it as follows: ‘Mrs. Mary Casey, No. 188 Rivington-street, New York.’ (2)

Casey’s death and the note on his body clearly had a profound effect on others in the regiment; even though there was almost unimaginable slaughter and suffering to come, Patrick Casey had been one of the first. This may explain why his story was retold in Conyngham’s 1867 history. Private Casey’s body was carefully buried and the note he requested was sent to his wife. What more can we discover about this man and his unfortunate spouse?

Evidence for Patrick Casey and Mary McCormick's Marriage in 1860 (Fold3)

Private Patrick Casey was not a young man when he decided to fight with the Irish Brigade. He was 43 years of age when he enlisted on 15th September 1861. His motivations for joining up are unclear, and we may never know if it was an act of patriotism or necessity. At the outbreak of the war he was father to a daughter, Mary Eliza Casey, who had been born in New York on 5th March 1852. She was baptised in St. Peter and Paul Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where family friends Patrick Dowd and Rose Farrell had stood as sponsors.She was nine years old when her father left for war. The wife that Patrick referred to in the note found on his body was Mary’s step-mother, and it seems likely that Patrick’s first wife passed away in the 1850s. The woman who received news of his death in Virginia had been married to the Irishman for little more than a year when he enlisted. Her name was Mary McCormick, who had become Mary Casey on 30th April 1860 in St. Mary’s Church, Manhattan. (3)

St. Mary's Church, Manhattan, where Patrick Casey married Mary McCormick in 1860 (Image via Wikipedia)

Unlike her husband, Mary was unable to write, and so relied on intermediaries to assist her in obtaining the pension she needed to sustain herself. Among the evidence produced for her claim was a letter written by Captain Thomas Leddy of the 69th New York, who had himself been badly wounded at Malvern Hill and later Fredericksburg. While still recovering from the wounds he received at the latter battle, Leddy wrote to confirm the circumstances of Patrick’s death:

New York, January 20th 1863

I hereby certify that Patrick Casey late of Co. B 69th Regt. N.Y.V. came to his death by the falling of a tree whilst in the discharge of his duties on or about the 26th day of April 1862, in front of Yorktown, VA.

Thomas Leddy, Capt. Co. B 69th Regt.

N.Y. Vols. (4)

This combined with evidence of their marriage secured for Patrick Casey’s wife Mary a pension of $8 per month. By now she was no longer living on Rivington-Street, having moved to a nearby address at 223 Delancey Street, also in Manhattan. Mary decided to pursue an increase in her pension entitlements in 1866, when she claimed that she was supporting Patrick’s daughter Mary Eliza, who was still under the age of 16. However for reasons unknown this request was rejected. (5)

An extract for the document where Mary Casey (nee McCormick) grants power of attorney regarding her pension application. She has made her mark with an 'X' in the bottom right (Fold3)

There is little further evidence for the family of Patrick Casey in the records. It is not clear when his wife stopped claiming her pension, and both Mary and Mary Eliza are difficult to trace in later censuses. It is hoped that more details regarding the later lives of Patrick Casey’s two dependants may be uncovered, to discover the fate of the people who clearly meant the most to this member of the 69th New York’s Company B, one of the first casualties of the Irish Brigade.

(1) Conyngham 1867:129; (2) Ibid; (3) Report of Adjutant General 1902:50, Patrick Casey Widow Pension File; (4) Conyngham 1867: 555, Patrick Casey Widow Pension File (5) Patrick Casey Widow Pension File;

References

Conyngham, David Power (edited by Lawrence Kohl) 1994. The Irish Brigade and its Campaigns (1st Edition 1867)

Patrick Casey Widow’s Pension File (Fold3)

New York A.G. 1902. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901

As recent posts indicate, I am currently in the process of conducting extensive research into Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients from the American Civil War. Research work in the United States has added a number of names to the ‘Irish-born’ list, and I would like to put forward a further name that I feel may merit inclusion. This would bring the number of confirmed Irish-born recipients of the Medal of Honor from the American Civil War to 146.

Sergeant Thomas Horan of Company E, 72nd New York Infantry, received the Medal of Honor for actions at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on 2nd July 1863. His official citation reads: ‘In a charge of his regiment this soldier captured the regimental flag of the 8th Florida Infantry (C.S.A.)’. Horan was awarded the medal on 5th April 1898. As part of Sickles 3rd Corps, Horan and his comrades had been involved in fierce fighting along the Emmitsburg Road. Despite Horan’s distinctly Irish name, due to a lack of information his birth place is consistently given as ‘unknown’.* (1)

What evidence is there to suggest Irish nativity for Horan? Looking first to the information regarding his service in the 72nd New York, the following are his roster details:

Horan, Thomas- Age 22 years. Enlisted, May 28, 1861 at Dunkirk, to serve three years; mustered in as private, Co. E, June 20, 1861; promoted corporal, November 1861; sergeant, September 26, 1862; wounded and in hospital, at muster-out of company; awarded a medal of honor for distinguished gallantry in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. (2)

Thomas Horan Muster Roll Extract (Ancestry.com)

Examination of Horan’s Muster Roll Abstract confirmed his roster details, most crucially his age and enlistment location- Dunkirk, a city on Lake Erie in Chautauqua County, New York. A review of the 1860 Census for Chautauqua County to examine likely candidates revealed two Thomas Horan’s living there that year. The first lived in the right city, Dunkirk, but was 28 years old at the time of the census, which does not tally with the details for the Gettysburg Medal of Honor recipient. However, the second Thomas Horan, also a resident of Dunkirk, provided much more promise.

On 2nd July 1860 the census enumerator visited the household of Michael Horan, a fifty-year old laborer, and his forty-year old wife, Mary. Michael had a large family of seven children; four-year old Anna, nine-year old Andrew and eleven-year old Dennis- all of whom were born in New York- as well as thirteen-year old John, fifteen-year old Michael, eighteen-year old Patrick, and the eldest, twenty-year old Thomas. All of the latter children were born in the country of their parents, Ireland. The twenty-year old Thomas is listed as a laborer like his father, and is the only individual who matches the age and location profile for the man who would go on to receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in 1863.

The Horan Family on the 1860 Census, Thomas is third from the top (Fold3)

The birthplaces of the Horan children suggests that the family emigrated to the United States in the late 1840s, most likely between 1847 and 1849, making the Famine the most likely cause of their departure. The surname is most often associated with Galway and Mayo, and it may well be that they hailed from Connacht. More work is needed on Thomas Horan, but there is strong evidence to suggest that he is indeed the 145th Irish-born man to be identified as a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the American Civil War, and that he increases to six the number of Irishmen who earned the honor at the Battle of Gettysburg.

*See Proft 2002:892, Broadwater 2007: 102, Congressional Medal of Honor Society

(1) Proft 2002:892; (2) A-G Report 1902: 806;

References

Broadwater, Robert P. 2007. Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients

Proft, R.J.(ed.), 2002. United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations, Fourth Edition

New York A.G. 1902. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901

1860 United States Census

New York Civil War Muster Roll Extracts

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1911, the ten-volume Photographic History of the Civil War was published. One of the photographs showed a group of Union reserves on picket-duty in c.1863, relaxing by reading, chatting and playing cards. It is surely one of the most evocative images of troops in the field taken during the American Civil War. In 1910, 47 years after it was taken, one old veteran saw it for the first time and it brought him face to face with the ghosts of his past. (1)

As the publication of the Photographic History neared, William W. Silkworth was living in Long Branch, New Jersey. The veteran took an opportunity to view some of the photographs to be reproduced in the books, and was stunned to find one that showed his old unit- Company B of the 170th New York Infantry, Corcoran’s Irish Legion. Most poignant of all was the relationship he had with one of the men captured by the photographer. Seated in the middle of the composition was his younger brother George, with whom he had enlisted on 23rd August 1862. Not long after the photograph was taken, George became one of thousands of young men to lose his life at Petersburg. William described his realisation as follows:

In looking the pictures over, you cannot appreciate or understand fully my amazement and joy in discovering that one was my old Company B, 170th Regt. N.Y. Vol. Why, I could scarcely believe my own eyes, so wonderful was it, that after forty-seven years, this picture should come to me. But there they were, some of them looking right at me, who had been dead for forty-six years- and there was no getting away from the picture.

Today I am a boy again, living once more with the boys, the old army life. There were about twenty-five of us, school friends, who enlisted together, at Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  

There right in the front of the picture sits my brother playing cards (You will note that he is left-handed. We laid him away in front of Petersburg). With him is John Vandewater, Geo. Thomas and Wash. Keating. There is Charlie Thomas and all the rest as large as life. With the exception of two, I have not seen any of the boys for thirty years.

Some younger eyes then mine, say that they can see a figure in the background with a flag. If so, it must be me for I was Color Sergeant.’(2)

The Photograph of Company B, 170th New York with the card-players in the foreground- George Silkworth, John Vandewater, George Thomas and Wash Keating. Click to enlarge. (Photographic History of the Civil War/National Archives)

For William the photograph was far more than just an image of a few nameless soldiers on picket duty; to him it represented memories of his brother and his friends from what must have seemed a lifetime ago. When he enlisted at Brooklyn in 1862 William had been 19, his younger brother George only 18. George was killed in the attempt to take Petersburg on 16th June, 1864- William was himself severely wounded only six days later, on 22nd June. It took him many months to recover- he was discharged for disability from Mower Hospital in Philadelphia on 8th June, 1865. (3)

What of George’s companions in the photograph? John Vandewater had been 22 when he enlisted in Brooklyn on the 3rd September 1862. John had become a corporal by the time he was killed in action at Hanover Junction, Virginia on 24th May, 1864. George Thomas was only 17 when he signed up on 13th August 1862, also in Brooklyn. He was wounded on the same day that his friend George Silkworth was killed but later returned to his company, eventually mustering out as a First Sergeant. The attack on Petersburg on 16th June was a dark day for the little card-playing party. It’s final member, Wash Keating, was also wounded during that fight. Having enlisted in Brooklyn on 22nd August aged 18, he was discharged on 29th June, 1865. (4)

Apart from the card-players, William Silkworth also mentioned Charlie Thomas, a man he clearly remembered well. Charlie had enlisted aged 18 on 20th August 1862. As with all the others he did so at Brooklyn. Charlie appears to have had a colourful career in the regiment, rising to the rank of corporal before being returned to the ranks, and afterwards gaining promotion to sergeant. He was reported missing in action following the disastrous battle of Ream’s Station on 25th August, 1864. Charlie did not make it through his time as a prisoner of war- he died of intermittent fever on 7th December, 1864, at Salisbury, North Carolina. (5)

As for William, he survived his younger brother by over 60 years, eventually passing away on 24th August, 1928 in Long Branch, New Jersey. Of the two card players who survived the war, George Thomas died on 4th September 1920, still making his home in Brooklyn. Wash Keating passed away in New York on 13th January, 1925. (6)

Those of us who look at the grainy black and white images of the American Civil War today often forget that many held an important place in the hearts of veterans in the years following the conflict. We often fall into the trap of reducing such photographs to the role of visual references, using them solely for purposes such as recreating landscapes or examining uniforms and equipment. By viewing them purely in the context of the period between 1861 and 1865 we fail to recognise their value and relevance to veterans who often lived well into the 20th century. It is hard to imagine the immediacy with which William Silkworth viewed this particular photograph in 1910. He must have struggled to contain his emotions as he looked into the faces of these young men, including his own brother- comrades whose lives had been destroyed by the war. Many thousands of veterans must have had similar poignant experiences as they increasingly encountered such images in print in the decades after 1865. Remembering that the men and women in these photographs remained real for their friends and families so long after the guns fell silent brings with it a new appreciation of the value of American Civil War images.

(1) Miller and Lanier (eds.) 1911: 288-289; (2) Baltimore American; (3) A-G Report 1902; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Civil War and Later Veteran Pension Index

References & Further Reading

Baltimore American: 26th April 1911. Finds Brother After 47 Years: New Jersey Businessman Sees Long Lost Photograph Taken During the Civil War

Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index Cards

New York A.G. 1902. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901

Miller, Francis Trevelyan and Lanier, Robert S. (eds.). 1911. The Photographic History of the Civil War: Volume Ten: Armies and Leaders.  288-289

Center for Civil War Photography

As the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Fair Oaks approaches, it is interesting to note the contribution of one Irish woman to the battle, which was remembered long after the war. New York newspapers in 1899 carried the obituary of a clearly remarkable woman, who deserves to be better known amongst those Irish who served in the Civil War.

Mary McCoy was originally from Co. Limerick, and was most probably born in the 1820s. At the outbreak of the Civil War she was living in New York, when her three brothers and 35-year-old husband James decided to enlist in April, 1861. They all joined the 71st New York Infantry, which became part of the State’s Excelsior Brigade. Mary clearly decided that she was not going to leave her four closest male relatives to their own devices, and accompanied the regiment to war. She was appointed an army nurse by Secretary Stanton, and by all accounts appears to have preformed her duties well.

A Field Hospital after the Battle of Savage Station, 1862 (Library of Congress)

Mary is noted as having particularly distinguished herself at the Battle of Fair Oaks, where her work among the wounded on the firing line earned her a compliment for bravery from none other than General McClellan. Shortly afterwards, when President Lincoln visited the army at Harrison’s Landing, he noticed Nurse McCoy and asked her if he could have a drink. The Limerick woman hesitated to serve him in one of the ordinary tin cups she had to hand, and went in search of a glass. The President called her back, saying ‘If a tin dipper is good enough for the soldiers, it is good enough for me.’

Mary returned to civilian life with her husband following the war. After his death in 1893 she once again decided to give her life over to the care of others, and she made her home in St. Mary’s Hospital, Brooklyn, assisting the sisters there in their work. It was here that she passed away on October 7th, 1899, survived by her niece. It is a mark of her impact during the war that 34 years later her death inspired notable obituaries in papers such as the New York Times.

References

New York Times 9th October 1899: ‘An Old Army Nurse Dead’

Irish World 14th October 1899: ‘Mrs. Mary McCoy, who died’

James McCoy Pension Index Card

New York A.G. 1902. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901

The Georgia Daily Constitutionalist received permission in July 1861 to publish a letter received by one of its Irish readers. It was a note from the Georgia Irishman’s brother, who had fought with the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run and had been wounded in that battle. Although the authenticity, circumstances and motivations behind the letter are open to question given the propaganda efforts of both North and South at the time, it is nonetheless an interesting reminder that not everyone may have been enamoured by their decision to put themselves in harm’s way for the Union.

General Hospital No. 1 (Alms Hospital) in Richmond (Library of Congress)

A LETTER FROM A FEDERAL SOLDIER

A gentleman in this city, a native of Ireland, has received a letter from his brother who was a member of the 69th New York Regiment, under command of Col. Corcoran, was wounded at the battle of Manassas, and is now a prisoner in Richmond. Having been permitted to publish the letter, we append it here, as showing that “humanity is still the guiding star of our Government,” and that “a change has come over the spirit of the dreams” of some of our would-be conquerors. Here is the letter:

New Alms Hospital, 

Richmond, Va., July 30, 1861.

Dear Pat, 

I wrote you a few lines last week which a gentleman either posted or took on with him as he resided near Augusta. I know you were surprised to hear that I was in Richmond wounded; but if we had got our rights I would have been in New York the day the battle was fought, our term of service having expired the day before, but Old Abe or Scott would not let the regiment go home. Well, it served us right, when we were fools enough to fight in such a cause; but I hope the time will come when Irishmen will mind their own business.

Early in the fight, I got a ball in the thigh which broke the bone. I lay on the field 35 hours, a rain falling most of the time, and might have laid there since, if it was not for the kindness of the Southerners- enemies I cannot call them, for they have treated us more like brothers than anything else. I got a hard shaking on the railroad, but now, thank God! I am very comfortable here. I expect to have my leg set today. If it is I hope to recover soon, when I will be a much wiser man. Owing to the great number of wounded I could not be attended sooner: besides the doctor was afraid of mortification; but I think I am now safe, and that, with God’s help, I will have the use of my leg.

Dear Pat, you could not believe the way our soldiers were treated by Scott. There were eight regiments on the field whose time was up, but could not get home. But worse than all, they left the dead and wounded on the field, and never sent a flag of truce in to know how or what would become of us. It is Colonel Corcoran I blame for keeping us; he is now a prisoner here. Many is the heavy curse he got from wounded and dying men. I wish you could send a letter to my wife, poor creature; probably she thinks me dead. She lives at 212, West 26th street. Direct, care of Thos. Kiernan. Tell her I hope to be with her soon; also, that I am well treated; get meat three times a day, and splendid soup at dinner time.

I remain, dear Pat, your affectionate brother,

B.R. 

References

Daily Constitutionalist 6th August 1861: A Letter From a Federal Soldier

In the late morning of 17th September 1862, the first elements of Major-General William B. Franklin’s Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac arrived on the Antietam battlefield after a forced march. The bloodiest day in United States history was already in full swing, and Franklin’s lead unit, Colonel William H. Irwin’s 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division, was thrown immediately into the fray. Amongst Irwin’s men was Clare native Richard Curran, Assistant Surgeon in the 33rd New York Infantry, the ‘Ontario Regiment’. The Irishman would soon be involved in a desperate struggle to keep wounded men alive in the midst of an inferno of enemy fire. (1)

Richard Curran in Later Life (U.S. Army Medical Department)

Richard Curran was born in Ennis, Co. Clare on 4th January 1838 (some sources cite 1834 as his year of birth). He emigrated with his family to the United States in 1850, and attended Harvard Medical School from where he graduated in 1859. With the outbreak of war Curran helped to raise two companies for service in upstate New York, before enlisting as a 22-year-old in the 33rd regiment. He initially mustered in as a Private in Company K on 22nd May 1861, but given his medical expertise he became Hospital Steward on 1st October that year, rising to Assistant Surgeon on 15th August 1862. (2)

When Curran arrived on the Antietam battlefield he had little time to seek out other surgeons before his unit were ordered forward. With no instructions as to where to report, he determined to follow his regiment into the action. Irwin’s brigade, of which the 33rd New York formed a part, were ordered into fighting on the Union right, and around noon they charged towards the Confederate positions near the Dunker Church. Although initially successful, the advance came to a halt when the 33rd and 77th New York on the brigade right were struck by a savage flanking volley from the West Woods. The brigade regrouped and rallied behind a ridge east of the Hagerstown Pike, where they would remain for much of the day. However they were far from safe, and those men wounded in the assault were now subjected to a merciless fire from sharpshooters and artillery. (3)

The Charge of Irwin’s Brigade around the Dunker Church at Antietam (Library of Congress)

Richard Curran had made it through the attack safely, and now took the time to assess the situation facing the 33rd New York. He remembered: ‘The ground of the battlefield at this point was a shallow valley looking east and west. The elevated land on the south was occupied by the Confederates, while the slight ridge on the north was held by our troops and batteries. From this formation of ground it was impossible for our wounded to reach the field hospital without being exposed to the fire of the enemy.’ Curran decided that he had to do something to help these men. Despite being repeatedly told to go to the rear lest he be killed, the Irish surgeon refused and moved between the wounded, administering what aid he could. (4)

As the day dragged on Assistant Surgeon Curran looked around to see if there were any suitable locations to gather the wounded men in a temporary field hospital. He finally found what he was looking for: ‘Close to the lines, and a little to the right, were a number of straw stacks. I visited the place and found that many of the disabled had availed themselves of this protection. Without delay I had the wounded led or carried to the place, and here, with such assistance as I could organize, although exposed to the overhead firing of shot and shell, I worked with all the zeal and strength I could muster, caring for the wounded and dying until far into the night.’ Curran remained worried that the straw stacks offering frail protection the men would catch light, as they were still being subjected to heavy fire. While the Clareman was treating the leg of one wounded soldier he briefly turned away to get a dressing for the injury. Turning back, Curran was horrified to see that the unfortunate man’s leg had in the meantime been carried off by a cannonball. (5)

The Temporary Field Hospital set up by Richard Curran behind Haystacks at Antietam (Deeds of Valor)

The bravery of Richard Curran at Antietam did not go unnoticed. In his official report of the fighting Colonel Irwin wrote: ‘Asst. Surg. Curran, Thirty-third New York Volunteers, was in charge of our temporary hospital, which unavoidably was under fire; but he attended faithfully to his severe duties, and I beg to mention this officer with particular commendation. His example is but too rare, most unfortunately.’ Curran stayed with the 33rd New York until they mustered out on 2nd June, 1863, but the medical man still felt he could offer more to the Union cause. Less than a month later, on 1st July, he became Assistant Surgeon in the 6th New York Cavalry, before joining up with the 9th New York Cavalry to serve as their Surgeon dating from 5th September 1864. He finished his war with the 9th, being discharged for the final time on 17th July, 1865. (6)

Richard Curran opened a drug store in Rochester, New York after the Civil War, and became active in politics with the Republican Party. He became an Assemblyman in the New York Legislature before being elected Mayor of Rochester in 1892. Curran was awarded the Medal of Honor on the 30th March 1898, nearly 36 years after the events to which it referred. His citation read: ‘Voluntarily exposed himself to great danger by going to the fighting line there succoring the wounded and helpless and conducting them to the field hospital.’ The Ennis native continued to spend his later years in Rochester, where he died on 1st January 1915 and was laid to rest in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. (7)

(1) Sears 2003: 256, New York State Military Museum: 33rd New York; (2) Medal of Honor Recipients from Harvard University, A-G Report 1902; (3) Beyer & Keydel 1901: 81, Official Records:409; (4) Beyer & Keydel 1901:81; (5) Beyer & Keydel 1901:81-82; (6) Official Records:411-12, A-G Report 1902, Civil War Pension Index Card; (7) Troy Weekly Times 10th March 1892, Proft 2002: 837;

References & Further Reading

Beyer, Walter F. & Keydel, Oscar F. 1901. Deeds of Valor: How America’s Heroes Won the Medal of Honor. Volume 1.

Medal of Honor Recipients from Harvard University

New York A.G. 1902. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901

New York State Military Museum: 33rd New York

Official Records Series 1, volume 19, Part 1, Chapter 31. Report of Col. William H. Irwin, Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Infantry, commanding Third Brigade, of the battles of Crampton’s Pass and Antietam

Proft, R.J. (ed.), 2002. United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations, Fourth Edition

Sears, Stephen W. 2003. Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam

Troy Weekly Times 10th March 1892: Political Posies. Floral Tributes to the New Mayor of Rochester

Richard Curran Civil War Pension Index Card

Richard J. Curran Grave

Antietam National Battlefield

Civil War Trust Battle of Antietam Page

The Rebel attack at Cedar Creek on 19th October 1864 was one of the most audacious and finely executed flank attacks of the American Civil War. Jubal Early’s Confederates overran a large part of the Army of the Shenandoah during the battle’s first hours. The surging wave of victorious Southerners forced back dozens of Union regiments, including the 9th New York Heavy Artillery. However, the New Yorker’s retired slowly and put up a stubborn defence. For one of the soldier’s in the unit, this stubbornness came at a terrible personal cost.*

The 9th New York Heavy Artillery (Company M) manning the Washington Defences (Library of Congress)

In 1899 Alfred Seelye Roe, a veteran of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery, wrote a history of the regiment in which he had served. While retelling the 9th’s part in the Battle of Cedar Creek, he recalled a harrowing story that had stayed with him across the intervening 35 years. The 9th’s withdrawal that day was through a ‘hail of canister, shot and shell’ and air that was ‘boiling and seething with bullets’:

‘Here one of our boys, Anthony Riley, was shot and killed; his father was by his side; the blood and brains of his son covered the face and hands of the father. I never saw a more affecting sight than this; the poor old man kneels over the body of his dead son; his tears mingle with his son’s blood. O God! what a sight; he can stop but a moment , for the rebels are pressing us; he must leave his dying boy in the hands of the devilish foe; he bends over him, kisses his cheek, and with tearful eyes rushes to the fight, determined on revenge for his son.’ (1)

The horror that Anthony’s father must have experienced during these moments is unimaginable. Who were this father and son, and what of their family?

Anthony Riley had enlisted at the age of eighteen on 15th August 1862 in Auburn New York, eventually becoming a Private in Company F of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery. Interestingly his father Charles did not join the regiment at the same time; indeed it was over a year later before the elder Riley donned Union blue. 44-year-old Charles enlisted on 20 December 1863, also at Auburn. It can be no accident that he ended up as a Private in Company F, alongside his son. (2)

The family is not an easy one to trace in the 1860 census. The main reason for this is their listing under the name of O’Riley (which has been erroneously recorded as O’Kiley). On 21 June 1860 Charles was living in the First Ward of the City of Auburn, where he worked as a laborer. His wife Marcella was engaged in housework and looking after the couple’s four children- 15-year-old Anthony, 12-year-old Mary, 6-year-old Ann and 4-year-old Charles. A ten-year old girl, Catherine Doyle, also lived with the family. Both Charles and Marcella had been born in Ireland, but had emigrated to the United States before the mid-1840s, as all their children had been born in New York. Another son, James, would follow in 1861. (3)

When Charles Riley was covered with Anthony’s ‘blood and brains’ at Cedar Creek, it represented the loss of his eldest child. The Irishman survived the battle, which despite the initial Rebel success ultimately ended in Union victory, in what proved to be the decisive action of the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Charles is unlikely to have shared in the celebrations that followed. It is easy to picture the middle-aged Irishman retracing his steps across the battlefield to recover his son’s body, in the hope of saying his final goodbyes and ensuring a proper burial. His next task must have been the sombre one of trying to inform his wife in Auburn of the death of her oldest boy. As if this tragedy wasn’t enough, the final months of the American Civil War were to exact yet more suffering on the luckless Riley family.

Charles Riley was still in Company F of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery as 1865 dawned, with the regiment then engaged in the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. Life in the trenches took its toll on many men, and for a soldier well into his forties it must have been a particular struggle. Charles eventually fell ill and was removed to the hospital behind the lines at City Point. Charles Riley died from sickness on 20th March 1865. The Army of Northern Virginia would surrender only days later on 9th April. Barely five months had passed since Anthony’s death; in that time Marcella Riley had lost her eldest son and become a widow. (4)

The effect of  her husband’s death so near to the end of the war must have been horrendous for Marcella. Apart from the extreme sense of loss she and her children must have felt, the death of her husband and eldest son presented the very real prospect of destitution for the remainder of the family. Her eldest surviving child, Mary, who would have been 17 in 1865, offered the best prospect of earning a wage for the household. Of her remaining children, Ann was 11, Charles nine and James just four. (5)

Marcella applied for a widow’s pension following her husband’s death. On it her name is recorded as Margaret O’Reily -it is unclear which of these names she preferred- perhaps one of the two was a middle name. She was granted a pension of $8 per month dating from her husband’s death, and received a further $2 per minor child to commence in July 1866. This additional $2 would continue until each child reached the age of 16, which in the case of Ann was September 1870, Charles October 1872 and James February 1877. (6)

The American Civil War had a devastating impact on the Riley family, that undoubtedly endured for decades after the conclusion of the conflict. The pain and sadness they experienced was worsened by the financial peril that their loss placed them in. One wonders what hopes and dreams Marcella entertained when she left Ireland, travelling to the United States in the hope of a better life. She certainly would not have counted on the loss of her husband and eldest son in a war between the Northern and Southern States. Her’s was a story of sadness that was undoubtedly replicated among many other immigrant families.

(1) Roe 1899: 181-182; (2) New York Adjutant General: 317; (3) 1860 Federal Census, Charles O’Reily Widow’s Pension File; (4) New York Adjutant General: 317; (5) Charles O’Reily Widow’s Pension File; (6) Ibid.

*My attention was drawn to the existence of this account due to a reference to it in Jeffry D. Wert’s excellent history of the 1864 Shenandoah Campaign.

References & Further Reading

Roe, Alfred Seeyle 1899. The Ninth New York Heavy Artillery

Wert, Jeffry 2010. From Winchester to Cedar Creek: The Shenandoah Campaign of 1864

New York Adjutant General 1897. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1897

1860 US Federal Census

Charles O’Reily Widow’s Pension File

Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Park

Civil War Trust Battle of Cedar Creek Page

Today citizens of the United States go to the polls to elect their President. In that context it is interesting to look back at the key 1864 Presidential election, when the fundamental future direction of the country was at stake. Republican incumbent President Abraham Lincoln was being challenged by Democratic candidate George McClellan, and for a long period it seemed that both a new regime and new approach to the war were inevitable. As voting day neared on 8th November, 1864, the New York Irish-American called on its readers to get out in force, and provided them with an unequivocal message- to remove Abraham Lincoln from office. 

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

THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST

We issue our paper this week in advance of the ordinary time, in order that we may be able once more to urge upon all our readers whom it may reach before the election, the paramount duty that devolves on them to do all that lies in their power, as citizens, exercising the privileges of the franchise to save their country from the dangers with which it is menaced, should the present Administration, unfortunately succeed, through force or fraud, in securing a second term of office. The party now in power have set the example of disregarding all written law, and every constitutional restriction that stood in the way of their fanatical schemes. The effect of such a policy upon society in all its relations is already becoming manifest, and we see around us, everywhere, unprincipled men ready to take advantage of a state of things that must inevitably end in the overthrow of all our institutions. So far has this gone, that we find Abolition partizans- unable to deny the wholesale swindling practiced upon the votes of the army and navy by the agents of the Administration- defending the expediency of a course so opposed to every Republican idea, and exulting in the prospect that, even by such nefarious means, their party may, in defiance of popular sentiment, secure four years more of the public plunder. Hitherto the laws of the Republic have been administered and obeyed, less from the consciousness that the government had the power necessary to enforce them, than from the spontaneous consent of the people, who as the masters of those who made the laws, felt that they had a controlling voice in the matter, and that in respecting their own enactments they were doing homage only to themselves. Mr. Lincoln’s administration has endeavored to substitute a government of force for that of right, and to replace the voluntary obedience of love by the subjection of fear. These are the first of the insidious approaches by which despotism ever seeks to win its way to absolute authority. If the American people, in this election, through default or weakness, entrust the management of their affairs to Mr. Lincoln, they place their liberties at the mercy of a party who have proved themselves already faithless to every trust reposed in them, and who can from their past policy, give no guaranty, that the immunity offered by a new term of office will not induce them to push their invasion of the rights of the people to the utmost extremes.

In voting for General McClellan, on the contrary, the American people are giving their suffrages for one whose whole record indicates his devotion to the old traditions of the Republic- to the unity of the States, and the stability of those institutions, left us as constitutional guides and landmarks by the wise and patriotic men who laid the foundation of our national greatness. Let all, therefore, labor energetically to this end; and with the election of George B. McClellan we shall see fulfilled the promise of the restoration of peace and Union, and the re-establishment of that prosperity for the development of which the country is so admirably calculated by nature, and of which she can only be deprived by the perversity and malignant passions of unprincipled men.  

The majority of the northern Irish-American community were loyal Democrats, supporting the party that had accepted them in the face of widespread discrimination during the 1850s. Short shrift was given to any former community leader, such as Thomas Francis Meagher, who advocated Lincoln’s re-election. Issues such as emancipation and the enforcement of the draft remained emotive for many in November of 1864, particularly in New York. Election day finally arrived on 8th November, with Abraham Lincoln sweeping to a second term in office. The majority of Irish-Americans in the north had voted for what proved to be the losing side, a fact not easily forgotten by many of their fellow citizens in the years that followed Lincoln’s assassination and the successful conclusion of the war.

References

New York Irish-American 5th November 1864. The Presidential Contest

On 13th December 1862 the Irish Brigade had fought at Fredericksburg. Along with many other Union brigades they suffered horrendous casualties in the futile attempt to assault the Confederate positions at Marye’s Heights. The losses sent shockwaves through the Irish-American community. Even as some of the mortally wounded lay dying, it was decided something must be done in New York to remember those who wouldn’t be coming home.

In January 1863 the New York Irish-American informed its readers of the proposed ceremony:

THE DEAD OF THE IRISH BRIGADE

A Grand Requiem Mass, for the repose of the souls of the heroic dead, officers and soldiers, of the Irish Brigade, will be solemnized in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on Friday, the 16th inst., at 10 o’clock a.m. The Rev. Mr. Ouillette, the devoted and fearless Chaplain of the Brigade, will be the officiating clergyman on the impressive occasion. His Grace the Most Rev. Archbishop Hughes and the clergy of the city, as well as of Brooklyn and New Jersey, will be present [Archbishop Hughes was in the end unable to attend]. General Thomas Francis Meagher, the members of his Staff, and all the officers of the Brigade at present in New York, will attend this most beautiful, tender, and solemn commemoration of their beloved and heroic comrades. A magnificent choir, assisted by the splendid band of the “North Carolina,” will perform Mozart’s immortal Requiem, and in every respect the event will be one that must leave a lasting and profound impression. Major Bagley and all the other officers of the ever-popular old 69th, State Militia, are invited to accompany their friends and brother-officers of the Brigade to the Cathedral on the occasion, and pay this last tribute of Catholic love and Catholic devotion to the never-to-be-forgotten dead of the Irish Brigade. Immediately after the ceremonies at St. Patrick’s, General Meagher, accompanied by all the officers of the Brigade who are able to travel, will return to his command. (1)

The Grand Requiem Mass held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral to honour the dead of the Irish Brigade (Library of Congress)

When the morning of the 16th arrived the front of the Cathedral had been draped in black for the occasion. The altar was similarly decorated and lit with large candles. At the top of the aisle a coffin was placed to represent those men who had fallen at Fredericksburg. It was surrounded by a guard of honor made of marines from the USS North Carolina. The ship’s band were located in one of the galleries beside the organ, in order to provide appropriate accompaniment throughout the ceremony. (2)

A large crowd duly arrived for the mass. Pews had been reserved for the officers of the Irish Brigade, and they entered through the central aisle to take their places. Thomas Francis Meagher was seated in front of the high altar along with his wife and staff. Among the other notables in attendance were Colonel Robert Nugent of the 69th volunteers and Lieutenant Mulhall; the latter attended in Papal army uniform as a Chevalier of the Order of St. Gregory. (3)

The ceremony opened with the organ playing Dies Irae, a latin hymn meaning ‘Day of Wrath.’ This music combined with the sombre scene to create a ‘sensation of awe and devotion to which no heart susceptible of the finer emotions of our nature could be indifferent.’ (4)

Mozart’s Requiem was selected for the High Mass, sung by the choir of the cathedral and accompanied by the band from the North Carolina.

According to correspondents who were present one of the strongest pieces of music played was Rossini’s Cujus Animam from Stabat Mater, described by one reporter as ‘one of the finest pieces of concerted instrumentation we have ever heard.’ (5)

Among the other music used for the ceremony were some selections from Tannhauser’s work and from Verdi’s l masnadieri (The Bandits).

After Father Ouellet had celebrated Mass, Father O’Reilly took to the pulpit requesting that widows of deceased members of the 69th New York make themselves known over the coming days, as a fund had been put together for their relief. The religious element of the sermon then began with the 44th chapter of Ecclesiasticus: ‘laudemus viros gloriosos, et parentes nostros in generatione sua’ (‘Let us praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation).’ Father O’Reilly moved on to talk directly and extensively about the Irish Brigade and those who had fallen:

‘Let us praise those glorious men who have fallen, for they were our countrymen and our fathers, the bone of our bone, the flesh of our flesh, and let their memory live amongst us forever. Brethern, here we are today assembled before the altar of the Living God, to pray and to weep for those who have fallen in battle, our fellow-countrymen, our brethern at all events; and, who, as many among us can say, have been nearest and dearest to their hearts, and who have been bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh. Can I, too, not feel emotion in recollecting all those who have fallen, from the first day the Green Banner passed down Broadway. Oh, yes! let us praise them, for they were true men and true Christians. They were true men, those fallen soldiers of the Irish Brigade, and their adopted country shall ever more praise them and honor their memories.’ (6)

Father O’Reilly continued by informing those present why these men were true, and the pride that their families, the Union and Ireland could take from their sacrifice. Speaking directly to the families of the dead, still coming to terms with the loss of their loved ones, he attempted to provide some comfort:

‘And you, families of the departed members of the Irish Brigade, you may well be proud of their memory, and the inheritance of virtue and honor they have left you. Many a father among us might have seen his hopes extinguished every day, and the son whom he loved best fall in some obscure and unholy strife; but when the father, the husband and the son lays down his life in a noble cause- and when by doing so, in the highest patriotic spirit, he ennobles that cause, then I say that his family to the latest generation have a right to boast of his life, to resound his fame and to emblazon his name upon the walls of their household.’ (7)

Delmonicos Restaurant to which the Irish Brigade and 69th NYSM officers retired after the Requiem Mass (New York Public Library Digital Gallery Reference 0340-A1)

Following the sermon the Reverend Dr. Starrs intoned the Requiem and Absolution, after which the mass ended. It was reported that many of the congregation remained in the Cathedral long after the ceremonies had concluded. The officers of the Irish Brigade and officers of the 69th New York State Militia retired to Delmonicos restaurant on Fifth-Avenue. Here General Meagher presented the 69th NYSM with ornate resolutions from the Irish Brigade, acknowledging the services of the militia in paying the funeral costs of the Brigade’s fallen when the bodies had returned to New York. Meagher then spoke to the assembled officers:

‘We have but two wants to-day- one for the dead, and the other for the living. To the dead we have paid our tribute this morning, and listened to the eulogy so eloquently pronounced by my reverend and revered friend, the old chaplain of the Sixty-ninth. I feel that any word I can say in reference to my lost officers and men would be improper, because it would be superfluous. But I will exercise the privilege of being the host on this occasion and avail myself of the opportunity to say that war for me has no attractions beyond those developments which it gives for heart, mind and genius, and the most remarkable and delightful and consoling recollection with me, to my wife, my family and my friends, is the memory of the charities, the amenities, the sweetness of disposition I have seen- and which, in my ignorance, I never gave human nature the credit of possessing, I have seen what we are taught to regard as the rebel soldier, receiving the cup to assuage his parching thirst; I have seen the Federal arm bind his wounds; I have seen friendly and kindly words uttered, and I believe that even on the terrible battlefield there has been more done to cement this Union of American people than anywhere else. I give you The Stars and Stripes, and the heroism of both armies.’ (8)

This received loud cheers, and the festivities continued after Meagher’s speech with a series of toasts. Over the coming days the officers of the Brigade would return to their camps, readying themselves for the next offensive. They were soon to face the battlefields of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg- engagements which would add to the ranks of the fallen ‘glorious men’ of the Irish Brigade.

(1) Irish American January 1863; (2) Ibid; (3) Irish American January 1863; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) Ibid.; (7) Ibid.; (8) New York Times;

References & Further Reading

New York Irish-American January 1863. The Dead of the Irish Brigade

New York Irish-American January 1863. The Dead of the Irish Brigade. Solemn Requiem Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral

New York Times January 1863. The Dead of the Irish Brigade. Grand Requiem Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

New York Public Library Digital Gallery

As newly formed regiments left their home states for the seat of war, many wives chose to accompany their men to the front. When the 37th New York ‘Irish Rifles’ settled into their duties around Washington in the summer of 1861, Private John Dooley had his family with him. Waiting in camp was his wife and the unborn child she was carrying. The regiment would soon celebrate the birth of a son, who was given a name that would serve as a reminder of the great conflict.

Although perhaps not an especially frequent occurrence during the American Civil War, the birth of children to camp follower’s had been commonplace in armies such as those the Britain and France in the 18th and 19th centuries. The children were described as ‘born to the regiment’ (‘né au régiment’ in French) and they often went on to serve in the formations into which they were born. In the majority of cases the fathers of these children were professional soldiers, who could expect to spend much of their lives on campaign or fulfilling garrison duties in far-flung parts of the world. John Dooley ‘s case was somewhat different. As a citizen soldier who had recently volunteered, he and his wife made a conscious decision for her to follow him to the front.

John Dooley formed part of Company K, which had been raised around Pulaski, New York. The 24 year-old had enlisted on 25th May 1861 and been mustered in on 7th June, when his wife was already a number of months pregnant. It is not clear if Dooley’s wife left New York with the regiment in late June 1861 or if she joined up with John in camp later. Clearly they felt that they should stay together- perhaps it was a matter of financial necessity, or a wish not to be separated. Whatever the reasons, the occasion of the birth that September was a special occasion and as such was reported to the New York Irish-American:

THE CHILD OF THE REGIMENT

A few nights ago, we had a birth in the 37th, the wife of Private Dooley, of Co. K, bringing him an heir, which the officers forthwith adopted as their protégé, to be the future “child of the regiment”. He was baptised on Sunday, the 15th, by Father Tissot, Col. Burke and Mrs. Lieutenant Barry standing sponsors in behalf of the regiment. As soon as pay-day comes, it is proposed to contribute a handsome sum, which is to be deposited in bank there to accumulate to the credit of the child when he comes of age. Already has been received several presents of clothing, &c., from kind ladies in Washington and the President is expected to contribute his mite, also, towards his namesake, Abraham Lincoln Dooley. (1)

Baby names was perhaps one of the more unlikely arenas where Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis fought it out (New York Historical Society)

Luckily for the family John survived the war and mustered out with the 37th New York in June 1863. He claimed a pension from 1881 and following his death a widow’s pension was paid out to his wife. The family have otherwise proven elusive , and I have as yet found no further details of their post-war life. (2)

The enthusiastic naming of the Dooley’s boy as ‘Abraham Lincoln’ raises the question as to just how common it was during the feverish days of 1861 to name a child for the Northern (or indeed Southern) President. In an effort to get some idea of the prevalence of this practice I decided to examine the 1870 US Federal Census. My aim was to ascertain how many children estimated as being born around 1861 had been christened ‘Abraham’, ‘Abe’ or had ‘Lincoln’ as part of their christian name. Similarly I repeated the search using the same data for ‘Jefferson’, ‘Jeff’ and those who had ‘Davis’ as part of their christian name.

The results are presented in the tables below. They naturally have to be treated with caution, as they do not allow for alternate spellings (e.g. ‘Abram’ or ‘Jeferson’), nor do they include those who were only recorded by initial, or indeed those who had previously died. Neither can it discriminate between those who were named for reasons other than to honour Lincoln and Davis, e.g. as part of family tradition. Therefore the numbers are not absolute, and there is some potential crossover of individuals (notably with regard to the ‘Lincoln’ and ‘Davis’ elements). Nevertheless taken in a general sense it is an interesting reminder of how many people chose to make a marked and permanent statement about just whose side they were on in 1861.

Table 1. 1870 US Federal Census Data for ‘Abraham’, ‘Abe’, ‘Lincoln’ (Ancestry.com)

Table 2. 1870 US Federal Census Data for ‘Jefferson’, ‘Jeff’, ‘Davis’ (Ancestry.com) (3)

That these names increased in popularity as a result of the two men ascending to political power is clear. As a comparative there were 486 children named ‘Abraham’ and 284 named ‘Jefferson’ who were born in c.1851, providing an indication of these name’s pre-war popularity. The fact that thousands of children were named for these men is testament to the strong feelings on both sides at the time. These figures suggests that in the naming stakes at least, Jefferson Davis may have had one over on Abraham Lincoln in the war’s early days. (4)

One individual not represented in these figures is Abraham Lincoln Dooley, as I have been unable to locate him on the 1870 Federal Census, or indeed find any further reference to him beyond the New York Irish-American. Perhaps he chose not to be defined by the name of the sixteenth President, and went by another name in later years. It is also possible that like so many others in this period he did not survive beyond childhood. Hopefully some further information will emerge that will reveal his ultimate fate.

(1) New York Irish American 1861; New York AG Report 1893: 613; (2) John Dooley Pension Index Card; (3) 1870 Federal Census; (4) 1860 Federal Census;

*I am extremely grateful to friend Mark Dunkelman, historian of the 154th New York Infantry, for bringing this account to my attention. Mark has written some exceptional books on different aspects of the 154th’s history and memory- you can find more at his site here.

References & Further Reading

New York Irish-American 28th September 1861. The “Irish Rifles,” 37th Regiment, N.Y. Volunteers

New York A.G. 1893. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1893.

John Dooley Pension Index Card. Application No. 431707, 24th October 1881.

1860 US Federal Census (Ancestry.com)

1870 U.S. Federal Census (Ancestry.com)

150 years ago today the main Irish newspaper of New York, the Irish-American, reported on the Draft Riots that had engulfed the city in previous days. In the weeks and months to follow the largely Irish make-up of the crowd would elicit much discussion and anti-Irish sentiment from many of the city’s newspapers, which the Irish-American would seek to counter. For now though events were fresh, and a matter-of-fact recounting of the extraordinary early incidents was provided for readers.

Police Charge the Rioters at the Tribune Office (Library of Congress)

RESISTANCE TO THE DRAFT

Serious Street Rioting

LOSS OF LIFE AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY

The draft commenced in this city on Saturday, throughout which the names of a large number of persons were drawn as conscripts. The drawing, in the up town districts, was resumed on Monday morning, and up to about half-past eleven everything went smoothly. Just then, however, the crowds began to accumulate and manifest turbulence; and shortly after, and throughout the day and evening, the most serious rioting was carried on, resulting in loss of life in many instances, and the destruction of an immense amount of property. 

In the morning the men employed on the Second Avenue Railroad refused to go to work, while those on the Sixth Avenue Railroad asked leave of absence from their work, and, in case of refusal, threatened to take summary measures.

All the blacksmiths in the employ of the Third Avenue Railroad Company ceased work, as did also the men employed in Brown’s Iron factory, those employed by Mr. Crimmins, the contractor, in Taylor’s foundry in 41st street and 8th avenue, and hundreds of others employed on buildings, street improvements &c. These crowds paraded through the streets, and forced their fellows to leave work and join them.

About half-past eleven o’clock, the building on Third Avenue, where the drafting was taking place for the Ninth District, was attacked, the Provost Marshal beaten, the ballots and books destroyed, the policemen who attempted to guard them trampled underfoot, and the premises, No. 677, burned to the ground. The neighbouring houses were also fired, or caught fire, and were destroyed. Some 12,000 persons are said to have stood round the flames, and the women from the house tops waved handkerchiefs and shawls in encouragement. Meantime, the telegraph poles were cut down, the cars stopped running, and the rails, for weapons, torn from the tracks. During the conflagration, Superintendent Kennnedy appeared outside, when the crowd attacked him in such a manner that he received very severe injuries.

No. 677, it is said, belongs to Mr. Duane, of the Sheriff’s office, who loses $6,000. The adjoining building, No. 679, was also destroyed; it was tenanted in the lower story by a beer saloon, on the second story by Hy. Frank, who loses $3,000, A. Domerona, whose loss is $1,000: and H. Degelow and A. Wokatock, who lose $1,500. Mr. Robert Pettigrew, who own’s a blacksmith’s and wheelwright’s shop across the street, was struck on the head while running across the street and his shop demolished. 

About noon, a detachment of the Provost Marshal Guard, numbering some 75, reached the scene, and were at once mobbed by the crowd, who jostled them about and wrested their muskets from them. As the soldiers broke and separately fled, they were pursued by the incensed crowd up as far as 20th st., and some even much higher. Two or three of the Crowd were said to have been killed. A strong squad of police, armed with revolvers and clubs, next made their appearance, but were instantly assailed with a volley of stones, knocking down two of the officers. The police at once drew their clubs and revolvers, but after a contest of a few minutes they were also forced to retreat, which they did in good order until near Fortieth-street, when one of them discharged his revolver four times into the midst of the throng, shooting a horse that was attached to a wagon standing on the corner. A rush was made at once for the officer; he immediately retreated into a store close by, the people in which at once barred the door and endeavoured to give him protection. The crowd, however, went to the back of the house; tore down the fence and rushed into the building, seized the policeman, knocked him down, and actually tore him to pieces- stripping the clothes off his back- and kicking him until he was one mass of jelly. This was Sergeant Ellison, of the 8th Precinct. 

The crowd next set off for the Eighth District, where it was understood Captain Maniere was drafting. On arriving, however, they found that the operations had been suspended on account of the riots in the Ninth.

As far as can be learned, the following are the casualties among the police force:- Sergt. Ellison, of the 8th Precinct, is now lying at the 21st Precinct Station, suffering from severe injuries in the head, and is not expected to recover. Dr. Rannoy is in attendance there. Officer Fleming, of the 29th Precinct, has received a most serious wound on the head, and is also not expected to live. He has been taken to Bellevue Hospital. Officer John H. McCarty, of the 29th, is lying in a house on the 3d Avenue in a very dangerous condition. Officers Henderson, Morrison, Swoinson, Holmes, Lee, Mcintyre and Leaycraft are all very badly injured about the head and body, and are receiving medical aid at the Station House and Hospital. Officer Phillips, of the 15th Precinct, was very much injured about the head and body, and is in a very weak condition. Officer Bennett, of the 15th Precinct, was also seriously injured, and was conveyed to the St. Luke’s Hospital for treatment. Officer John Walsh, of the 9th Precinct, is lying concealed at a house on 3d Avenue, seriously injured. Officer Law, of the 8th Precinct, was sent to Bellevue Hospital, suffering from severe wounds in the head.

Capt. Palmer, of the 21st Precinct, was seen in the crowd in the morning, at the commencement of the riot, but has not since been heard from. Several officers who were on the ground engaged in quelling the riot are missing, and it is feared that they are either killed or lying concealed badly hurt. Several of the policemen were so fortunate as to procure disguises and thus made their escape unnoticed by the crowd. Sergeant Wade was struck in the breast with a stone, but sustained no serious injury. Sergeant McCredle has not been heard from. Philip Rubason, a member of the 1st Battalion Invalid Corps, was attacked by the mob, his musket, bayonet and equipments taken from him, and he was beaten in a terrible manner about the head with his own musket. He was finally rescued by some humane firemen when almost exhausted from the treatment he had received. He was conveyed to the 21st Precinct Station House, and there attended by Dr. Ranney. He will probably survive.

At about 2 o’clock, crowds began to arrive from the lower Wards, and as groups arrived they were loudly cheered by the populace. Some of the fresh arrived men brought heavy firearms with them, but nearly every one had a pistol or revolver. As Mr. Howard, city Editor of the New York Daily Times, was standing on the corner of 46th street and 3d Avenue, he was set on by a crowd, shouting “Here’s a d——d Abolitionist; let’s hang him!” Mr. Howard was knocked down with stones, and rendered, for a time, insensible. Subsequently the crowd assembled before the residence of Mayor Opdycke, and were only prevented from demolishing it by the remonstrances of some politicians whom they believed friendly to them. and also a very conciliatory address made by the Mayor himself.

The Burning of the Colored Orphan Asylum (Library of Congress)

At about 3 o’clock a procession of about five thousand people came up First Avenue, all armed with bars, pistols, &c, threatening vengeance on all persons connected with the draft. They halted in front of the 18th ward station house in 22d-street, and sent up yells which were anything but human. About this time, too, the leaders of the assaulting party proceeded to a large and beautiful dwelling on the corner of 46th-street and Lexington Avenue, followed by an excited crowd, and immediately proceeded to attack this building, which was said to be by some the residence of Major-General Sandford, and by others, that of Mr. Dowe, a tailor, who belonged to the Provost Marshal’s department- others thought it was Horace Greeley’s. They smashed in the doors, which they tore from the hinges, smashed every pane of glass both front and rear, and then commenced to fling out of the windows everything upon which they could lay their hands. Pictures, with gilt frames, elegant pier glasses, sofas, chairs, clocks, furniture of every kind, wearing apparel, bed clothes, &c., &c., a whole library was scattered in showers through the windows, and they wound up by setting fire to the building, amid the wild cheers, yells and hooting of those who surrounded the house.

Fires were started in several other portions of the city, and the firemen at times partially prevented from getting to work. The incendiary’s torch was applied to Captain Manniere’s office, 1,148 Broadway, at two o’clock. The fire spread rapidly on both sides, and by 5 o’clock the whole block on Broadway, between 28th and 29th st., and one handsome building in 29th st., had been swept away by the flames. The Bull’s Head Hotel, in 44th st., near 5th Avenue, was sacked and burned early in the day. A handsome brown stone dwelling on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 44th st. was likewise burned to the ground.

About 4 o’clock the crowd reached the Colored Asylum on 5th Avenue, between 43d and 44th sts. They ordered the inmates to leave inside of two hours. At the end of that time the building was fired, front and rear, and destroyed.

A number of houses inhabited by negroes in James st., were fired about 6 o’clock. A fire was also started in some negro tenements in Rosevelt st. about half past eight o’clock.

The State Arsenal, corner of 35th st. and 7th Avenue, was throughout the entire day kept watch on by angry groups. Col. Nugent, however, had detachments of regulars from Governor’s Island and Marines from the Navy Yard on guard, and a cordon of sentinels was kept around the building , in front of which two small howitzers are planted.

Towards 8 o’clock the Tribune office, which had been surrounded several times during the day by a hooting crowd, was assailed by an excited mob, who broke into the lower apartments, smashed down windows and doors, and threatened death to all connected with the establishment. At the present hour we have no means of knowing how much damage was done to that office. Shots were exchanged in the onset, and a policeman was severely wounded.

Amongst the premises destroyed was the store of Capt. John Duffy, in Grand st., Deputy Provost Marshal for the Fifth District, which was set on fire and consumed early in the evening.

Throughout the entire city, wherever a colored person was seen, he was hooted, pelted, or badly beaten; and one even hanged. 

References

New York Irish-American 18th July 1863. Resistance to the Draft. Serious Streeet Rioting, Loss of Life and Destruction of Property.

The enlistment records of many Irish recruits during the Civil War provide detail on age, height, hair/eye colour and complexion. Although informative, this data still leaves us without a picture of life experience, or any insight into character. One exception was those men who enlisted in the Union navy. The marks and scars they acquired during their lifetime were recorded on enlistment, providing us with a unique opportunity to garner more detail about both their appearance and their personalities. Perhaps most fascinating of all are those marks that the Irishmen had chosen for themselves- their tattoos. 

A German Stowaway at Ellis Island. Although taken in 1911 this gives an idea of the types of tattoos prevalent (New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Digital ID: 418057)

I have recently examined the enlistment records of the New York Naval Rendezvous for July 1863 to create a database of those Irishmen who enlisted during that month, 150 years ago. Of 1,064 men who were recorded as signing on between 1st and 31st July, a total of 319 were listed as being of Irish birth. They will form the topic of a number of posts on the site in the coming days. Naval recruits were seen as being of the rougher sort, often with a different set of motivations for enlisting when compared with other branches of service. Many were from extremely poor backgrounds and inhabited some of the most notorious districts of New York, such as the Five Points. By and large they were working class men- to study them is to examine the reality of urban life for the majority of Irish emigrants.

In 1860s New York, tattooing was most popular among the working classes. There were many different motivations for getting ‘inked’, be it for identification purposes, to express feelings for a loved one, or simply to fit in. Of the 319 Irishmen who enlisted in the navy from New York in July 1863, over 30 of them had tattoos:

Table 1. Tattoos of Irish enlistments in the New York Naval Rendezvous,  July 1863 (1)

What was the process these men went through to get tattooed? The best known tattoo artist of the period was Martin Hildebrandt, who operated throughout the American Civil War and in the post-war years had a New York tattoo workshop. In 1876 the New York Times visited him to learn more about the process:

Mr Hildebrandt, with the true modesty of an artist, exhibited his book of drawings. All you had to do, in case you wanted to be marked for life, was to select a particular piece, and in a short time, varying from fifteen minutes to an hour and a half, you could, presenting your arm or your chest as an animated canvas to the artist, have transferred on your person any picture you wanted, at the reasonable price of from fifty cents to $2.50. (2)

Of course many of the working class Irishmen who revealed their tattoos to the recruiters in July 1863 would have been inked by amateur tattooists, often with a varying degree of competence. Hildebrandt’s method was to take a half dozen No.12 needles, that he ‘bound together in a slanting form, which are dipped as the pricking is made into the best India ink or vermilion. The puncture is not made directly up and down, but at an angle, the surface of the skin being only pricked.’ Wet gunpowder and ink were also sometimes used as a colorant to mix into the needle-marks. Once the tattoo was completed, blood and excess colouring were washed off the skin using either water, urine or sometimes rum and brandy. (3)

Examples of some late 19th century tattoos (Wikimedia Commons)

What of the different types of tattoos? In his examination of American seafarers’ tattoos between 1796 and 1818, Ira Dye developed a classification for the types of tattoos he encountered. The July 1863 New York Rendezvous sample shows that a number of the Irishmen had elected for similar designs. Initials and names tended to be the most common form. Men like John McCarthy and James Grady were probably concerned with people being able to identify them should some mishap occur, and wanted the initials to serve as a form of identity tag. William McNally had the initials ‘I.C.’ beneath the image of a woman, and it may well be that these were the initials of a loved one. Robert Whilon had ‘B. O’Brien’ tattooed on his arm. This may either represent a woman, friend or it is possible that he was one of many men who elected to enlist under a false name. (4)

A number of the men sported anchors, the tattoo most quintessentially associated with sailors. Although John Crowley and John Coulter were mariners, it is not clear if the other men with anchors- Laborer Martin Auction and Machinist John Reilly- had previous naval experience. Stars were also a popular motif, as were crucifixes. Depictions of crosses may have had some religious significance, but there is also a suggestion that sailors selected them to mark them out for Christian burial; it may also have been regarded as lucky. Within this group of Irishmen crosses were the most common tattoo, with eight of the men carrying them. (5)

An interest in love and women generally can be seen with the selections a number of the men made. William Allan had a heart on his chest, while Fireman Peter Cahill clearly saw himself as somewhat of a paramour, with women on both his arms. Thomas Flood has also elected for a figure, but he chose a soldier rather than a woman, perhaps to remember service in the army or to recall a relative or friend who was fighting for the North. By far the most intriguing set of tattoos are the numbers that adorned some of the men. William Carter, a 16-year-old boy with no profession, had ’12′ on his arm. Painter William Conway had ’42′, Fireman Patrick Holden ’13′ and Laborer William Wogan ’17′ and ‘East River.’ I have been unable to ascertain what these numbers represent. Having considered areas or wards of the city, ladder companies and infantry regiments, none seem to offer a definitive answer. I would be interested to learn if any readers have come across references to such tattoos before, or if they have some suggestion as to what these numbers might represent.** (6)

Tattoos are most commonly associated with sailors in this period. What is fascinating about this group is that although all of them were bound for the navy, it was clear that many of the men who bore tattoos had no previous maritime experience. This allows us to envisage a scenario where a significant proportion of the working class Irish population (and indeed the working class generally) wore tattoos- indeed it must have been a common sight in areas like the Five Points. I hope in the future to extend my look at the Irish recruits in the navy and along the way discover more regarding the tattoos that were prevalent among the Irish community of New York.

*I am indebted to Dr. Matt Lodder for graciously providing information regarding sources and for his advice generally regarding 19th century tattooing and its interpretation.

**With regard to this question, see the contribution by Marc Hermann in the comments section below, which seems to confirm that these are most probably the numbers of Fire Engine, Ladder and Hose Companies.

(1) Naval Enlistment Returns; (2) New York Times 16th January 1876; (3) Dye 1989:531; (4) Ibid:542; (5) Ibid:542, 547; (6) Ibid:544-545;

References

Naval Enlistment Weekly Returns, New York Rendezvous, July 1863.

New York Times 16th January 1876. Tattooing in New York, A Visit Paid to the Artist.

Dye, Ira 1989. ‘The Tattoos of Early American Seafarers, 1796-1818′ in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 133, No. 4, pp. 520-554.

New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

The first post relating to my work on the New York Irishmen who enlisted in the Union navy in July 1863 looked at their tattoos. However, the marks on their body that they had not chosen for themselves were far more prevalent. Of the 319 Irish recorded as signing on that month, at least 131 exhibited scars or signs of previous illness. Neither were these old men. Of the 131, almost 62% were 25-years-old or younger. Less than 15% were older than 30. The punishment their bodies had taken at such a young age graphically reveals the harsh realities of life for the working classes in major urban centres during the 1860s. (1)

The graphic below has been prepared based on the data from the Irishmen who enlisted at the New York Rendezvous in July 1863. It highlights the extent to which these 131 men were scarred. On some of the records the cause of scarring was also noted; these included burning and smallpox. Other medical conditions were also occasionally mentioned.

The scars recorded on New York Irishmen who enlisted in the Union Navy, July 1863 (Sara Nylund)

Although in the majority of cases the cause of individual scars was not recorded, it is likely that they resulted from a combination of illness, workplace accidents and interpersonal violence. The impact of smallpox on the population was apparent, with a number of men bearing the marks of the disease. 23-year-old Christopher Toole was described as being ‘pitted by smallpox’ while 27-year-old Richard Stretton had a ‘pockmarked face.’ It is probable that smallpox had caused much of the other scarring prevalent among the group, even when it was not specified.

Smallpox was finally eradicated in 1979, but was still a major killer in North America in the 1860s. An infectious virus that caused raised blistering about the body, it had a mortality rate of 15-45%. If you were fortunate enough to survive it, you were likely to be scarred in the areas where the blistering had occurred; 75% of all sufferers had to live with this permanent disfigurement. There had been a number of smallpox epidemics in the United States in the first half of the 19th century, and the disease had ravaged the Native-American population in the late 1830s. Despite the fact that a vaccine had been created, systematic inoculation was not in place during the 1860s. The disease caused 7,058 deaths in the Union army during the Civil War. Some of the July 1863 enlistees may have contracted the disease while children in Ireland- figures for the 1870s show that it remained a deadly illness, claiming the lives of over 7,500 people in Ireland during that decade. (2)

Undoubtedly some of the scarring was as a result of workplace mishaps. Sixteen of the men had worked as Firemen; 45-year-old James Morgan and 25-year-old Michael Rooney both had burn marks on their bodies as a result. Similarly it is possible that 33-year-old machinist Charles Smith lost the little finger of his left hand while operating equipment. However, inter-personal violence had also taken its toll. It is hard to imagine how 29-year-old painter John Browne could have lost part of his right ear on the job. By far the most dramatic cause of scarring among the group belonged to Richard Smith, a 21-year-old machinist. Incredibly he was recorded as having ‘gun shot scars’ on his cheek and his left temple. The fact that he was even alive to enlist in July 1863 seems something of a miracle. Violence was part of everyday reality in working-class New York, and it would have been a fortunate man who navigated his way through life without encountering it.

In a number of cases the recruiters also took the time to note medical ailments. The prospective mariners were stripped for examination before being accepted into the service, leading to the recording of conditions (such as phymosis/phimosis) which were present in even the most private of locations. 34-year-old Fireman Thomas Dalton was the only man in the group unfortunate enough to have his lack of hair recorded, with ‘bald headed’ being jotted into the notes. We also learn that Patrick Sheady, a 22-year-old laborer, was afflicted with varicose veins, 21-year-old laborer Daniel Morrison was flatfooted, while 22-year-old mason John Hennesey had a speech impediment. Each piece of information adds a little more to our picture of these Irishmen and the lives they led.

The scars of these men graphically illustrate the harsh realities of life during this period and serve to dispel any romantic notions we might have about life in the past. Even without the American Civil War, the population had to contend with the threat of disease, fatal accident or violent death, all of which were near-constant companions for many in the poorer areas of New York. Even before joining the naval war, these men had already overcome significant odds to make it as far as the New York Naval Rendezvous in July 1863.

Table 1. Marks and scars (excluding tattoos) of Irish enlistments in the New York Naval Rendezvous, July 1863 (3)

*I am indebted to illustrator Sara Nylund for producing the superb diagram of the scars that were present on these Irishmen.

(1) Naval Enlistment Returns; (2) Fenner et al. 1988: 240, Houghton & Kelleher 2002: 91, Behbehani 1983: 483, 485; (3) Naval Enlistment Returns;

References

Naval Enlistment Weekly Returns, New York Rendezvous, July 1863.

Behbehani Abbas M. 1983. ‘The Smallpox Story: Life and Death of an Old Disease’ in Microbiological Reviews December 1983, pp. 455-509.

Fenner Frank, Henderson Donald AInslie, Arita Isao, Jezek Zdenek, Ladnyi Ivan Danilovich 1988. Smallpox and Its Iradication.

Houghton Frank and Kelleher Kevin 2002. ‘Smallpox in Ireland- An Historical Note with Possible (and Unwlecome) Relevance For the Future’ in Irish Geography, Vol. 35(1), pp. 90-94.

Occasionally one has to look no further than a soldier’s service record to see both the poignancy and cruelty of war. Such is the case with Edward B. Carroll of the 63rd New York Infantry, Irish Brigade. As I carry out work on the 63rd and other ‘green flag’ New York regiments, even a few matter-of-fact lines in the regimental roster cannot but highlight Carroll’s extraordinary service.

A native of Co. Tipperary, Edward B. Carroll enrolled in the 63rd New York as a fresh-faced 21-year-old in Albany, mustering in as a Corporal in Company K on 8th October 1861. He clearly showed his value during the hard fighting of 1862, as he began an inexorable rise through the ranks. He became a Sergeant on 4th August 1862, then a First Sergeant on 17th September 1862 (the same day as the 63rd endured the great bloodbath of Antietam). On 28th January 1863 he became Sergeant-Major, and made the jump to officer when he became a Second-Lieutenant in Company B on 7th April 1863. Then, despite the fact that Edward was clearly a highly-valued soldier, he was mustered out of the 63rd New York and the army on 12th June 1863. This was most likely caused by the consolidation of the regiment, which meant that less officers were required. It was a symptom of the ever-shrinking size of the Irish Brigade. Having survived some of the toughest fighting of the war, Edward would have been forgiven for sitting out the rest of the conflict- but clearly this was not the Tipperary native’s style. (1)

The Pension Index Card of Captain Edward B. Carroll, 63rd New York Infantry, Irish Brigade (Fold3.com)

After the passage of a few months, presumably spent back in Albany, Edward Carroll returned to both the army and the 63rd New York Infantry on 23rd February 1864. Having lost his commission he was back to square one, enlisting as a Private in Company F. It would appear that his feelings for his regiment and his comrades trumped all else for Edward. However, his quality was clearly recognised by all, and once again he began to rise through the ranks. He became First Sergeant on 26th April 1864, a Second-Lieutenant in Company E on 15th September 1864, First-Lieutenant on 22 November 1864 and finally Captain on 13th January 1865. When reading through such an exceptional record of service you can’t help but admire this young man’s dedication to the 63rd, the Irish Brigade and the Union. Unfortunately his long and faithful service was not rewarded with a long life in peacetime as it might have been. The cruelty of war is indiscriminate. Captain Edward Carroll was killed in action at Sutherland Station, Virginia on 2nd April 1865, during the final days of the war in the east. Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia a week later, on 9th April. A cursory look at Carroll’s pension index card shows that he had not married, but that his parents had relied on him for their financial support. Even in regimental rosters, the heartbreak of the American Civil War is often on full display.  (2)

(1) AG Report 1901: 20, Conyngham 1867: 572; (2) AG Report 1901:20, Edward B. Carroll Pension Index Card;

References

Adjutant-General 1901. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1901.

Conyngham, David Power 1867. The Irish Brigade and its Campaigns.

Edward B. Carroll Pension Index Card.

For women whose husbands went to war, it could often be long months before they heard news of their loved ones. For many the only means they had of gauging the well-being of their men was through the regularity of the letters they received. Of course some soldiers were not good at writing home, while others could not. When letters stopped, wives and mothers were left to agonize over the reasons why, and to wonder if the worst had happened. Sometimes it took years to find out the answer. Such was the fate of Catherine Walsh.

On 30th July 1857 in Holy Cross Church, Brooklyn, Catherine Walsh married Daniel Mullen. They were both in their early twenties at the time. We know little of their pre-war life and occupation, but what is clear is that when war engulfed the United States Daniel was quick to enlist. At the age of 26 he joined what became Company B of the 47th New York Infantry, signing up on 15th July 1861. (1)

Unlike many New York regiments the path of the 47th, also known as the ‘Washington Grays’, did not lead to the Army of the Potomac. Instead they spent much of their war in South Carolina and Florida. Daniel was with his comrades as they fought at the Battle of Secessionville and took part in siege operations such as those on Morris Island. By 1864 the men of the 47th New York, Daniel included, were veterans. It would not be long until their three-year term would expire, and they could decide whether to go home or continue the fight. It was also around this time that Catherine stopped hearing from her husband. (2)

It is unclear when Catherine first realised something was amiss. She may well have been alerted to the fact that something was wrong by Daniel’s failure to answer her letters. As the months passed, Catherine’s desperation grew. Eventually in late 1864 or early 1865 she decided to write to the commanding officer of Daniel’s company, in the hope that he might be able to shed some light on her husband’s whereabouts. Writing from the regiment’s base in North Carolina on 30th March 1865, Lieutenant Crawford T. Newell responded to Catherine’s pleas for information:

Mrs. Catherine Mullen,

Dear Madam,

Your letter of inquiry in regard to your husband, I received this day. I am sorry to say that all the information in my possession in regard to him is that he was wounded and afterwards taken prisoner during the Battle of Olustee, Florida, fought February 20th 1864, since which time I have heard no news from him. I am truly sorry that I cannot give you further intelligence but we have no means of gaining information of the condition or whereabouts of our captured comrades. A general exchange of prisoners has been declared and I hope you will soon again have the proud satisfaction of welcoming Mr. Mullen home again after the long separation endured. With many well wishes for your further happiness,

I remain Madam sincerely yours,

Lieut. Crawford T. Newell,

Commanding Co. “B”, 47 N.Y.Vols. (3)

Federal troops go into action at the Battle of Olustee, 20th February 1864 (History of the 8th USCT)

Whether Catherine knew Daniel had been captured over a year previously is unknown. Regardless, she was still no closer to finding out if her husband was alive or dead; at least Lieutenant Newell’s letter appeared to offer hope. If his words offered her any solace, they would not last long. Soon after this letter, and most probably after the prisoner exchange had taken place, Catherine learned the truth- Daniel had died in captivity. She was aware of his death by May or June of 1865, some 15 months after his initial capture. We know this as it was at this time that she began preparing documentation to apply for a widow’s pension. Still, she was unable to discover where, when or how Daniel had died- some reports said it had been in the notorious Andersonville POW Camp in Georgia, but there was nothing definitive. Without this information her claim for financial aid went unapproved- a situation that was to drag on for years. (4)

The struggle for information on her husband’s death must have kept fresh the pain and heartache Catherine felt. Finally, in May 1867- over three years after her husband had been captured at Olustee- Catherine got the information she needed. A former comrade of Daniel’s in Company B, Patrick Dougherty, agreed to make a statement about his fate. Patrick appears to have been captured with Daniel at Olustee and knew of the circumstances of his death. On 28th May 1867 he said that:

He was late private in Co. B 47 Reg. N.Y. Vols.- That he was well acquainted with Daniel Mullen of the same Co. and Reg. That he was with said Mullen at the Battle of Olustee, Fla on the 20th day of Feb. 1864. That he was wounded by bullets in the hip, in the leg below the knee and in the shoulder. and was with this [illegible] captured by the Rebels and confined at Jackson, Fla. where the said Mullen died of his wounds two or three days after their capture, and that he has no interest in this claim.

Patrick Dougherty. (5)

It seems more probable that Daniel was confined at Lake City, Florida- this is the location that was ultimately stated as his place of death. The examining board dated his passing to August 1864, which contradicts Patrick Dougherty’s information suggesting he died in late February. Either way, Catherine finally had the information she required, both from an emotional and financial perspective. She was granted a pension of $8 a month from 23rd September 1867, back-dated to August 1864. Over 43 months had elapsed since her husband had been riddled with bullets, mortally wounded and made a prisoner of war. It is probable that the $8 per month was scant consolation for the woman who would never, as Lieutenant Newell had earnestly hoped, be ‘welcoming Mr. Mullen home again.’(6)

(1) Widow’s Pension File, AG Report: 800; (2) New York State Military Museum; (3) Widow’s Pension File; (4) Ibid.; (5) Ibid.; (6) ibid.;

References and Further Reading

Adjutant-General 1901. Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year 1893

Daniel Mullen Widow’s Pension File WC100483

New York State Military Museum 47th New York Infantry Page

Civil War Trust Battle of Olustee Page

Olustee Battlefield Historic Site

At least 150,000 Irish-born men fought for the Union during the American Civil War. However this figure does not include those first-generation Irish, born in Canada and the United States, who considered themselves just as Irish as anyone born on the Emerald Isle. In an antebellum society where Know-Nothingism and anti-Catholic sentiment were widespread, ethnicity and religion bound Irish-Americans together in a tight-knit community. Tens of thousands of these Irish-Americans laid down their lives during the war, men like James A. Mulligan of ‘Mulligan’s Irish Brigade’ and the oft-quoted Peter Welsh of the 28th Massachusetts, Irish Brigade. Another was Colonel James Edward Mallon, who died 150 years ago this October at the Battle of Bristoe Station.

Colonel James E. Mallon (Library of Congress)

James E. Mallon was born on 12th September 1836 in Brooklyn to Hugh and Ann Mallon. His parents had emigrated from Co. Armagh to the United States in 1822. When James was eight years old his father died, passing away on 9th July 1845. He got his first job at fifteen, working in the Wholesale Commission Business for Wright, Gillet & Rawson and later Holcomb & Harvey. Before long he decided to set up for himself and procured positions on the floor of the Corn Exchange and Produce Exchange. James was doing well for himself, quickly becoming a well-respected member of New York’s merchant class. He was described as ‘a most intelligent, energetic and upright business man, faithful in the performance of all his duties, and scrupulously exact in all his mercantile transactions.’ (1)

Life in the pre-war years was good for James. He became a Private in Captain Roblet’s Company of the 7th New York State Militia before the war, often called the ‘Silk Stocking’ regiment, as many of its members were involved in business and represented the upper levels of New York society. On the 1st September 1859 he married Anna E. McCormick at the Church of the Assumption in Brooklyn; they celebrated the birth of their first child, James Edward, less than a year later on 16th August 1860. With the outbreak of the American Civil War Private Mallon marched off to war with the 7th New York State Militia on the 19th April 1861, bound for Washington, D.C. (2)

The 7th New York State Militia depart for the War (Thomas Nast/ New York State Military Museum)

The 7th did not spend long in Washington, being released from their duties at the capital on 31st May. James was eager to get back to the front, and enlisted in the 40th New York Infantry Regiment, becoming a Second Lieutenant in Company K on 6th August 1861. The 40th was known as the ‘Mozart’ Regiment, as it had received assistance from the Democratic General Committee of Mozart Hall in New York when it was forming. There were more personal reasons for James’s choice, however- his sister Teresa was married to the regiment’s Colonel, Edward Johns Riley. (3)

James became a First Lieutenant in September 1861. The start of 1862 brought more good news for him and his family, as his second child Anna was born on 4th January 1862. He clearly impressed his superiors in the Army of the Potomac, as Major-General Phil Kearny appointed him as an aide; he also acted as Assistant-Adjutant-General on Kearny’s staff. In August 1862 Mallon was on the move again, when he was appointed Major in the strongly Irish 42nd New York Infantry. This was another formation with strong Democratic Party links, and was known as the Tammany Regiment. His younger brother Thomas kept it a family affair, following his sibling into the unit as a Second Lieutenant. (4)

Major Mallon’s organisational talents meant that he initially spent little time with his new regiment. He was appointed Acting-Assistant Provost Marshal of Hooker’s Grand Division of the Army of the Potomac and later performed the same role for the Second Corps. On St. Patrick’s Day 1863 James Mallon was appointed to the command of the 42nd New York Infantry. One of his first acts was raising funds within the regiment for the relief of the Poor in Ireland, a cause to which he personally contributed $25. The 42nd’s contribution of $493.50 was sent to the Head of the Fenian Brotherhood in New York, John O’ Mahony, together with the attached sentiment:

We, of the Tammany Regiment, aware of the present distress existing in Ireland, beg you to transmit to the Rt. Rev. Dr. Keane, Bishop of Cloyne, the following amount. We hope it may contribute, if only in a small degree, to stop the stream of Irish emigration, and to keep our friends from starvation, so that, this war in which we are engaged being ended, there may be some of our race left at home whom we can aid in placing beyond fear of recurrence both the miseries of famine and the horrors of landlordism. (5)

Colonel Mallon commanded his regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg in July, when it played an important role in the repulse of Pickett’s Charge on the final day of the engagement. During the same battle his brother Thomas was seriously wounded, an incident which must have greatly disturbed James. With victory secured and Lee on the retreat, Mallon was detached to New York in the aftermath of the Draft Riots to bring conscripts back to the Army. He remained there during the months of August and September, undoubtedly taking the opportunity to spend time with his wife, three-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter. He departed New York telling his friends that he was leaving ‘for the next fight.’ (6)

The 42nd New York ‘Tammany Regiment’ memorial at Gettysburg. Of the 182 men who contributed to the Irish Relief Fund only two months before, 13 would die as a result of this battle (Photo: J. Stephen Conn)

When A.P. Hill launched his attack against the Union Second Corps at Bristoe Station on 14th October 1863, Colonel James Mallon was in command of the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division at the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. One of the members of Mallon’s 42nd New York described the fighting:

We had a sharp fight with the enemy at Bristow Station on the 14th inst. Our brigade, having been posted along the side of the railroad, which was an admirable position, did good service. Besides shattering a column of rebels that essayed to dislodge us, we captured five pieces of artillery and two stands of colors, and took a number of prisoners. While the battle lasted, it was one of the most desperate ever witnessed by those engaged. Our pickets, posted about one hundred yards in front of the line of the railroad, were driven in by the enemy’s skirmishers; and quickly after the rebel column steadily advanced across the field. Their front line was remarkably well dressed, and with colors flying they presented a good appearance. Our men preserved their fire until this line was quite close, when volley after volley was poured into them. Their advance was checked; their line was broken into pieces, and hundreds of them slain. Our loss is as follows:- one officer and three enlisted men killed, thirty-one men wounded, and twenty-three men missing. These are the entire casualties of our brigade. (7)

The one officer killed was Colonel James Mallon, struck down at the age of just 27. He was reported variously as having been struck by a bullet in the stomach or right breast, dying on the field within an hour of receiving his wound. It appears that Mallon received his mortal wound while rallying a part of of the 42nd New York’s line that was giving way. Lieutenant-Colonel Ansel Wass remembered that:

During the advance of the enemy, and while the fire was hottest, a part of the line of the Forty-second New York, composed principally of conscripts, and much exposed where a road crossed the track, gave way. In attempting to rally them Colonel Mallon, commanding the brigade, was shot through the body and died in an hour afterward.

Mallon’s actions had helped to preserve the integrity of the line. One of his men remembered:

He was fully competent to take command of not only a brigade, but a division, or even a corps; as a gallant and dashing field officer, Col. James E. Mallon was equaled by few- surpassed by none. The bullet that pierced him, struck down for ever one of the brightest stars in our Irish military horizon- one to whom we, Irish soldiers, used to point with proud feelings, for his dashing bravery on the field of battle. In camp and bivouac he was a strict disciplinarian- strict, perhaps, to a fault in the opinion of some; but whatever may be or have been the opinions of a few on this point, none will deny that in Col Mallon were combined the qualities of a true soldier. He was an accomplished scholar, and that, combined with military genius, caused his society to be courted by those within his sphere. In his death the army has sustained an irreparable loss, and old Ireland a true friend and enthusiastic lover. I will not attempt to describe what must have been the feelings of another of Ireland’s valiant and faithful sons , Captain William O’Shea, as he took the dying Colonel from where he had fallen, and had him placed in the rear. Such feelings may be imagined, but cannot be penned. Over the grave of the heroic Mallon let there be an Irish shamrock planted, and let it be strewn with the choicest flowers that will bloom each springtime, in token of the Irish ashes that under them moulders. (8)

The Bristoe Station Battlefield (Jerrye & Roy Klotz)

James Mallon’s remains were removed to his home on Little-Water Street in Brooklyn, from where he was taken for burial on 21st October 1863. He lies in Range 2, Plot 16 of Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn. His widow Anna never remarried. She died at 5am on 14th January 1913 following a long illness, almost 50 years after her husband. She was buried with him in Holy Cross Cemetery. (9)

(1) Irish American Weekly 14th July 1888, New York Death Newspaper Extracts, New York Times 21st October 1863; (2) New York Times 21st October 1863, James E. Mallon Widow’s Pension File; (3) New York Adjutant General Report, Irish American Weekly 14th July 1888; (4) New York Adjutant General Report, James E. Mallon Widow’s Pension File, New York Times 21st October 1863; (5) New York Times 21st October 1863, Irish American Weekly 9th May 1863; (6) New York Times 21st October 1863; (7) Hunt 2003: 184, Irish American Weekly 31st October 1863; (8) Official Records: 283-4, Irish American Weekly 31st October 1863; (9) Hunt 2003: 184, James E, Mallon Widow’s Pension File;

References & Further Reading

Hunt, Roger D. 2003. Colonels in Blue: Union Army Colonels of the Civil War: New York.

New York Irish-American Weekly 9th May 1863. Relief from the Tammany Regiment.

New York Irish-American Weekly 31st October 1863. The Battle of Bristow Station: From The Tammany Regt.- 42d N.Y. Vols.

New York Irish-American Weekly 14th July 1888. Brooklyn Echoes.

New York Times 21st October 1863. Acting Brig.-Gen. James E. Mallon.

New York, Death Newspaper Extracts, 1801-1890 (Barber Collection) for Hugh Mallon.

Official Records of the War of Rebellion Series 1, Volume 29 (Part 1). Report of Lieut. Col. Ansel D. Wass, Nineteenth Massachusetts Infantry, Commanding Third Brigade.

James E. Mallon Widow’s Pension File (WC25436).

New York Adjutant-General Report 40th New York Infantry.

New York Adjutant-General Report 42nd New York Infantry.

Civil War Trust Battle of Bristoe Station Page

Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park

The Irish community in New York has long links to the Fire Service. Large numbers of immigrant Irishmen served in the city’s Engine, Hose and Hook & Ladder companies during the 1850s and 1860s. In an era where insurance firms paid independent companies to put out fires, rivalry between firemen was often fierce. However, when war came, many of these fireman chose to march off to war together- men like Second Lieutenant Daniel Divver of the 11th New York Infantry, otherwise known as the First Fire Zouaves. 

The American Fireman, 1858 by Currier & Ives (Library of Congress)

It is apparent that being a volunteer fireman in ante-bellum New York was far more than just a job. Members of the same company were extremely close-knit, and had to be prepared to defend their territory as well as fight flames. As we have seen previously on the site, many chose to permanently display their affiliations by tattooing the number of their fire company on their bodies. When they went to war these affiliations remained a source of great pride to the men.

There were two major regiments of New York firemen during the Civil War, the 11th New York (FIrst FIre Zouaves) and the 73rd New York (Second Fire Zouaves). Many Irish firemen enlisted in these regiments; the 73rd New York was even commanded for part of the war by Irishman Colonel Michael Burns. There was no more famous body of firemen who donned uniform during the conflict than the 11th New York, initially commanded by Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. Ellsworth became an instant martyr for the Union when he was shot and killed while removing a Confederate flag from a house in Alexandria, Virginia on 24th May 1861.

The Death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth (Currier & Ives)

One of Ellsworth’s recruits was Daniel Divver. He had been born in the northern half of Ireland in 1839, most probably in Co. Donegal. Emigrating with his family when he was a boy, Daniel and his family lived in Lower Manhattan’s Fourth Ward. He attended public school and learned his trade as a tanner in the area known as the ‘Swamp.’ By the late 1850s his father John had died and his older siblings married, making Daniel primarily responsible for his mother Ann and younger brother Pat’s support (Pat would later go on to be an Alderman in the Fourth Ward, and was part of the Tammany Hall organisation). (1)

The 1860 Census found 21-year-old Daniel working as a Morocco Dresser (Morocco being a type of goatskin leather) and living with his 50-year-old mother Ann and 16-year-old brother Pat. By that time Daniel had also become a volunteer fireman. In 1859 he had joined Eagle Engine Company No. 13, based at 5 Duane Street in Lower Manhattan. He was a natural at the job, and soon became popular among the men in his company. In becoming a fireman Daniel had clearly found something which he loved and for which he felt a great attachment. At some point between 1859 and 1861 he had an image recorded of himself, in which he is seated with his arm resting on his fireman’s helmet. When the American Civil War broke out he enlisted alongside many of the men from Engine 13, and was elected to Second Lieutenant in Company G of the Fire Zouaves. This company was commanded by Captain Michael Tagen, also of Engine 13, who went to war wearing Engine 13′s badge number on his uniform. (2)

Daniel Divver with his helmet from Eagle Engine 13 (Our Firemen)

The 11th New York Fire Zouaves were one of the regiments engaged at Bull Run on 21st July 1861, the first major battle of the war. Daniel’s participation is described as follows:

On the march to the battlefield of Bull Run he divested himself of all superfluous garments, entering the field with his gallant comrades in his shirt sleeves, and they rolled above the elbows, sword in hand, and, with the familiar yell of the old engine company, “Get down, Old Hague!” he rushed forward to his death. When the excitement of the charge (the Rebels being driven back into the woods) was over, Lieutenant Divver was found on the field, his life blood ebbing away from over a dozen fatal wounds. He was carried off by some of his faithful comrades and was taken into a wheelwright shop by Paul Chappell and others by direction of Surgeon Gray of the regiment, where he expired almost immediately. The Rebels, being reinforced, made another sally, and all those in and around the wheelwright shop who were able to do so, were off to resist the charge. Those who were left behind were eventually taken prisoners. Lieutenant Divver’s body was never recovered, though many efforts were made by his family. he met the death of a gallant soldier at the head of his men, and lies in an unmarked grave with his fallen comrades. (3)

The fact that Daniel Divver went to his death shouting the motto of his Engine Company speaks volumes about the social importance the fire companies held for many in New York, not least the Irishmen who found a strong sense of belonging in their ranks. Daniel’s beloved Engine 13 did not long outlast him. It moved to 261 William Street in 1864, but was disbanded in 1865 as the fire service in New York prepared to enter a new era. (4)

Daniel Divver’s story also reveals something else about the Irish of 1860s New York. It is clear that many Irish immigrants to the United States maintained close ties with people who hailed from the same part of Ireland. This is particularly noticeable in Widow’s Pension applications, where deponents are often family friends who had known those concerned when they still lived in Ireland. Following Daniel’s death at Bull Run, his mother Ann sought a pension as he had lived with her and helped with her support prior to the war. Her deponents in 1863 were James Friel, who had known Ann for 12 years, and Catherine O’Donnell, who had known her for 13 years. In this case neither James or Ann had known the Divver family in Ireland, but had grown close to them in New York. What is interesting here is that Divver (or Diver) is a surname that originated in Donegal, and today remains most strongly associated with counties Donegal and Derry in north-west Ireland. Friel and O’Donnell are also both Donegal names. There seems a strong possibility that the Divver family in 1850s and 1860s New York were not just part of an Irish community, but were also members of a sub-set of that community based around families from the Irish north-west. These families, familiar as they were with the same people and places in Ireland, could ease the acclimatization process for new immigrants from their area and also provide an additional support network in times of trouble. Such appears to have been the case for Ann Divver, who found solace from among this community just as her son Daniel had taken strength from his community of firemen. (5)

Prisoners of War of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves captured at Bull Run. The image was taken at Castle Pinckney, South Carolina (www.myrtle-avenue.com)

*I am indebted to Marc Hermann who runs the excellent 11th New York Fire Zouave site here, for bringing the ‘Our Fireman’ book to my attention.

(1) Costello 1887: 730, 1860 US Federal Census, New York Times 1st February 1903; (2) 1860 US Federal Census, Costello 1887: 590, Myrtle-Avenue.com; (3) Costello 1887: 730; (4) Costello 1887: 590; (5) Daniel Divver Widow’s Pension File;

References

Costello, Augustine E. 1887. Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Departments

1860 US Federal Census

New York Times 1st February 1903. Patrick Divver Buried

Myrtle Avenue.com Eagle Engine No.13

Daniel Divver Widow’s Pension File WC11048

I receive regular requests from around Ireland to provide information on men from specific parts of the country who served during the American Civil War. Pinning veterans down to a locality of origin is a difficult challenge, but it is often possible to reveal some of their stories. Having recently conducted  research on one fascinating Roscrea man- Private Mathew Dooley- I decided to take the opportunity to share some of the techniques I employ to find out more about men like him. In Mathew’s case, this is a story which was intrinsically linked throughout his life to the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.

Pension Index Card of Mathew Dooley (Fold3)

I have had the occasion (and indeed privilege) this year to give a large number of talks about the Irish in the American Civil War in different parts of Ireland. I always try to give these presentations a local focus, highlighting those from the area who were caught up in the conflict. While it is usually possible to provide information on Generals and Officers, it is generally much more difficult to trace enlisted men back to the exact location of their birth. There are many reasons for this, among them the poor state of records from this period in Ireland, the lack of information on origins gathered at immigration ports, and the tendency for birth data to be recorded only as ‘Ireland’ in contemporary U.S. military records. As a result, despite the fact that we know thousands of men from each county in Ireland served between 1861 and 1865, we often know the precise localities of only a few dozen of them.

Given these difficulties, there are a couple of sources I tend to return to when I hope to find people from specific areas. One is the ‘Information Wanted’ advertisements of the New-York Irish American and Boston Pilot, which often reveal exactly where the subject of the advertisement was from. The ‘Information Wanted’ ads from the Irish American have been published in book form and are also accessible through subscription to the GenealogyBank site here. The ads from the Pilot are freely available through the database at Boston College here. Another resource is the List of Pensioners on the Roll, taken in 1883, which records the location of men, women and children who were receiving U.S. Military Pensions at that time. You can access this either through Ancestry or for free through archive.org. The Roll reveals that a number of individuals were having pensions delivered to local post offices in Ireland, and so it can be used as an an indicator of where they lived, and in the majority of cases where they were originally from. In advance of a recent talk for the Roscrea Heritage Society I decided to see was anyone in that Co. Tipperary town collecting a military pension in 1883. It transpired that there was- Mathew Dooley, Pension Certificate No. 135,213, who was in receipt of $3.00 per month for a wound he had sustained to his right leg. Short of ordering Dooley’s Pension File for additional information (with the associated cost), what more is there to be found out about Dooley? (1)

Men of Company K, 2nd New York Heavy Artillery at Fort C.F. Smith (Library of Congress)

I tend to use Fold3 and Ancestry as a means of tracking men like this. Having Mathew’s Pension Certificate Number means it is possible to source his Pension Index Card (Fold3), which stated that he served as a Private in Company G of the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery. He had enlisted on 11th October 1861 and was discharged on October 14th 1864. His card also indicates that he passed away on 2nd June 1917, in Washington D.C. A review of the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery’s history (on a site such as the NPS Soldiers and Sailors Database) reveals that aside from it’s role in the Washington defences it was engaged at Second Bull Run and during the Overland and Petersburg Campaigns, mustering out on 29th September 1865. If you want to find out more about the specific actions of regiments like this and reports relating to them, the best free resource are the digitized Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, which are available for free via Cornell University. The roster of regiment, available along will those of every New York unit through the New York State Military Museum here, provides additional information on Mathew, which is as follows:

Dooley Matthew.- Age, 20 years. Enlisted, October 11, 1861, at New York City; mustered in as private, Co. G, October 15, 1861, to serve three years; discharged, October 14, 1864. (2)

The most important revelation here is Mathew’s age. Armed now with an approximate birth date and known death date, it is possible to see what other documents there are relating to him. An 18-year-old man named Mathew Dooley arrived in New York on 11th April 1861 aboard the Cultivator which had sailed from Liverpool (Ancestry). Although we can’t be certain this is the same man, it seems likely that it is, indicating that when the Roscrea native enlisted he had only been in the country for a few months. Having made a life in the United States, Mathew decided to return to Roscrea sometime after the war’s end. The major question is why he chose to go back to Ireland, and having returned why did he subsequently return to the United States? The answers ultimately reveal much about the many struggles he endured in the years following the war. (3)

Officers of Companies K and L, 2nd New York Heavy Artillery at Fort C.F. Smith (Library of Congress)

Mathew Dooley’s name occurs again and again in the records of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Ancestry). These homes were designed to give men who had served a refuge and somewhere to live. Although they were run according to military doctrine, veterans applied to enter and could apply to leave whenever they wished. The different entries for Mathew reveal much about both his service and his life in general. He is described as being 5 feet 9 inches in height, with a fair complexion, light coloured eyes and light hair. It was also noted he was unmarried, was a Catholic and could read and write. We further discover that the gunshot wound he had received to his right foot had occurred at the Battle of the Wilderness on 7th May 1864, and that he had left his regiment in 1864 from its position in front of Petersburg following the expiration of his term of service. After the war he had worked as a plumber in New York, but by 1877 had made the decision to enter one of the Homes. It was a pattern that would continue for the rest of his life- Mathew was admitted and re-admitted to different Homes around the United States a total of 21 times, spanning 39 years. He was last discharged only a few months prior to his death in 1917. (4)

Table 1. Admission and Discharge Records for Mathew Dooley at National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.

Mathew’s time in the National Homes did not always go smoothly- at one point he was dishonorably discharged for ‘continued disobedience of orders and general bad conduct.’ It may have been this that led him to return to Ireland, sometime after his discharge from the Southern Branch of the Home in March 1878. While in the Home he had recorded his next as kin as his sister Johanna in Roscrea, and he must have hoped that he could put his difficulties behind him with the help of his family in Co. Tipperary. For whatever reason, be they personal or financial, Mathew spent only a few years in Roscrea before once again heading to the United States, and the support that the National Homes had to offer. He was readmitted on 29th April 1887 to the Eastern Branch. (5)

Eastern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Library of Congress)

By the time of his return to America, at least some of Mathew’s family were making their home there; over the years he recorded as next of kin a sister Mrs. Julia Casey living in New York, and niece, Mrs. Ellen Gillen, who resided at 214 Little 12th Street in Manhattan. He got into trouble again for his conduct at the Home in 1893, but overall the majority of his discharges were voluntarily, no doubt as he sought to make his way successfully in different parts of the United States. However, as the years passed Mathew was beset by a variety of illnesses and disabilities that made him more and more reliant on the National Homes. Aside from his old gunshot wound, he was variously recorded as suffering from Chronic Bronchitis, Sciatica, Prostatic Hypertrophy, Cardiac Hypertrophy, Hemorrhoids, Arteriosclerosis, Chronic Rheumatism and difficulties with his eyes. (6)

The above sources are but a small selection of those that I generally use when attempting to discover more about Irish emigrants in the war- there are many others worth examining, for example the wealth of digitized newspapers freely available through the Library of Congress Chronicling America website or the wealth of online memoirs available at archive.org. Mathew Dooley’s story is also a demonstration of what can be revealed about one Irish soldier’s experience through the resources that are now being made available online. These resources offer us the potential to take a man like Mathew Dooley beyond a mere entry in a list of pensioners, revealing something more about his life and experiences.

Camp of the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery and 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Belle Plains, Virginia, 16th May 1864- 9 days after Mathew Dooley was wounded at The Wilderness (Library of Congress)

(1) Pensioners on the Roll 1883: 640; (2) Mathew Dooley Pension Index Card, New York Adjutant-General 1893: 621; (3) New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957; (4) U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 1866-1938; (5) Ibid; (6) Ibid;

References & Further Reading

www.ancestry.com

www.fold3.com

www.genealogybank.com

www.archive.org

Chronicling America at the Library of Congress

National Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database

New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion at Cornell University

Government Printing Office 1883. List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883. Volume 5

Mathew Dooley Pension Index Card Certificate No. 135,213

New York Adjutant General. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1893

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 1866-1938 (Togus, Johnson City, Danville, Marion, Leavenworth, Bath)