Captain Hugh McQuade of the 38th New York Infantry had been wounded and captured during First Bull Run on 21st July 1861. The severity of his wound necessitated the removal of his lower left leg, but in August it was reported that he was doing well following the operation. However, secondary infection set in, and by October his prospects had dimmed. Sister Valentine, one of the Catholic Sisters of Charity caring for the wounded in Richmond, felt the time appropriate to write to Hugh’s mother outlining his situation, assuring her of his stoicism and that he had made his peace with God. (2)

General Hospital No. 1 in Richmond where Sister Valentine wrote to Hugh McQuade’s mother (Library of Congress)

GENERAL HOSPITAL. RICHMOND, October 12th.

Dear Madam,- I cannot permit the present favorable occasion, which is afforded by friends going to Maryland, to pass, without sending a few lines informing you of your beloved son’s state of health at present. 

I thought it might be a species of balm to your anxious sorrowing heart, to receive a little word of intelligence, even from an old Sister of Charity, but, from one who has watched near his beside for more than two months.

The Captain is very weak, and still suffers much from his wound, which is not as well as we found it some weeks since. The physician thinks that a second amputation will be necessary; but do not be alarmed at this intelligence, for operations of this description have been frequently followed with complete success; I know that your poor heart trembles when you reflect on the sufferings of your dear son; but have courage; let us trust all to the hands of the good God, from whom we have received so many blessings. He can restore your child’s health, if such be according to his Divine will. As to the Captain, he is perfectly resigned to the good pleasure of God, willing to die, if he is called, or, if restored, willing to serve God by a virtuous, Christian life. He edifies all by his great patience, doing all in his power to avoid giving trouble, accepting every little service with such gratitude, that it is a true pleasure to serve him.

I am very sure you envy me my post near him, and that you very often feel like flying to the sick bed of your absent one far away in a distant land, now rendered inaccessible. You may sometimes imagine that he is in need of something; but permit me to assure you, dear madam, that your son is surrounded with every care that a mother’s affection could devise, or a mother’s hands bestow. We only desire to be able to make him more comfortable; we have procured for him a nice little private room, which removes him from every annoyance, and promotes that quiet his state so much requires.

That he is truly happy, there is no doubt. He intends preparing himself for the amputation by a devout reception of the sacraments, so that in case he is called he will be prepared. What a great satisfaction for you. What greater happiness or higher hope can a Christian mother claim than to see her child submitting himself, willing and loving, to the disposal of his Creator. But you will pray for him as a mother only can pray. Beg for him the prayers of the poor and the orphans, for their prayers pierce the Heavens and reach the ear of God. Uniting myself to your prayers, I remain,

Most respectfully yours,

SISTER VALENTINE. (3)

Hugh McQuade died in Richmond as a result of his wounds on 26th December, 1861. Dr. William F. Swalm of the 14th New York State Militia had been a fellow captive, and was scathing of the treatment which led to his death. In a statement taken on 7th April 1862 he outlined the Irishman’s plight:

He received a wound in the lower part of the left leg, which rendered amputation necessary. The operation was performed in Richmond, by a surgeon of the name of Peachy, I think. The flap was a very good one, but, in consequence of inattention, the inside flap entirely mortified, so that they had to cut it completely off, leaving the bone protruding from one and a half to two inches. Inflammation set in, and extended up the limb, and in this condition he was taken down to the tobacco ware-house at mid-day, his face exposed to the hot sun, and the result was, what might have been look[ed] for, his death. (4)

Liggon and Company’s Tobacco Warehouse as it appeared in 1861, where Captain Hugh McQuade died on 26th December that year. (Wartime sketch by W.A. Abbott in ‘Richmond Prisons 1861-1862′ by William H. Jeffrey, 1893)

Dr. Swalm also had strong views about the Sisters of Charity who were stationed at the General Hospital:

The nurses there were sisters of charity. The left portion of the building, as you entered it, was set apart for our wounded, the right for theirs, and the main body of the building was used as an operating room. I noticed that they used to bring in for their wounded nice biscuit, game, soft-boiled eggs, toast with eggs upon it, &c. This was done by the sisters of charity. I asked them to bring in some for our men, and was told they had none. Of course, seeing what I did, I knew how much to believe of that. (5)

The letter of Sister Valentine and testimony of Dr. Swalm paint very different pictures of Hugh McQuade’s final weeks. The extent to which the Sisters of Charity displayed favouritism to Confederate prisoners at the General Hospital is unknown, but it is difficult to mask the sincerity in Sister Valentine’s letter. Perhaps the nun was attempting to assuage some of the worry she knew Hugh’s mother would be feeling, and sought to shield her from the reality of the conditions he faced. It would seem that the decision to remove the officer from the General Hospital to the tobacco warehouse was what finally sealed his fate, some five months after first receiving his wound. The effect of Sister Valentine’s letter can only be imagined, but it is to be hoped that the correspondence provided some solace for the 29-year-old’s family during the dark days following his wounding and eventual death.

*For more on the military career of Captain Hugh McQuade see posts on the The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry blog here and the Crossed Sabers blog here.

(1) For a superb discussion of how death and dying was dealt with in this period see Drew Gilpin Faust’s Republic of Suffering, particularly pp.3-31; (2) A-G Report 1902, New York Irish American 24th August 1861, New York Irish American 23rd November 1861; (3) New York Irish American 23rd November 1861; (4) A-G Report 1902, Joint Committee 1863: 473; (5) Joint Committee 1863: 473;

References & Further Reading

Barton, George 1898. Angels of the Battlefield: A History of the Labors of the Catholic Sisterhoods in the Late Civil War

Faust, Drew Gilpin 2008. This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War

Maher, Sister Mary Denis 1999. To Bind Up The Wounds: Catholic Sister Nurses in the U.S. Civil War

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

New York Irish American 24th August 1861. Federal Prisoners at Richmond and Manassas

New York Irish American 23rd November 1861. Captain McQuade

U.S. Government Printing Office 1863. Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War

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

Robert Atkins was the son of the local Episcopal clergyman in Mallow, the Reverend Mr. Atkins. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War he had been interested in military affairs, serving as an officer in the Royal Cork City Artillery in the 1850s. With the advent of the Italian War in 1860 he joined the ‘British Legion’, a group of volunteers who fought for Garibaldi’s Republicans. While there he struck up a friendship with an American called Chatham Roberdeau Wheat, a Southern adventurer who had been born in Virginia but had grown up in the State of Louisiana. The fateful encounter brought Robert to the United States, where civil war loomed. (1)

In New Orleans, Wheat organised the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion, a motley group of natives and immigrants (including many Irish) who would prove extraordinarily ill-disciplined but courageous in a fight. They soon took on the moniker of the ‘Louisiana Tigers.’ Robert Atkins became a Captain in the outfit, and served with them in the first major battle of the war at Bull Run. One colourful account of the Irishman’s service in that engagement claimed that:  ’It was Captain Atkin’s who led Wheat’s Battalion at Manassas, after the noble Wheat fell wounded, leading the celebrated charge of the Louisiana Tigers with a bare shillalah. ‘ (2)

Firville House, Mallow. Robert Atkins wrote his letter to the Bishop of Kerry and resigned from the Confederate States Army from here. (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage- http://www.niah.ie)

After his service with the Tigers Atkins went on to become Aide de Camp on the staff of Major-General Arnold Elzey, who commanded the Department of Richmond. It was while in this position that he returned to Ireland on personal business; from his Mallow home in early 1864 he decided to assist the Southern cause from afar by addressing the Bishop of Kerry about Irish emigration to America and their subsequent enlistment in Union armies. The perceived swelling of Northern ranks by immigrants was an issue close to the Southern press’ hearts, and they frequently reported on it, particularly as the war dragged on in late 1863 and 1864. Robert’s letter was published in the Irish Tralee Chronicle and was soon picked up and reprinted in Southern papers such as the The Richmond Dispatch (Virginia), Daily Constitutionalist (Georgia) and Charleston Mercury (South Carolina). It read as follows:

FIRVILLE, MALLOW, County Cork,

January 9th, 1864

My Lord,

The enclosed letter from the Rev. John Teeling, of Richmond, Va., Confederate States of America, must be my introduction to your lordship. I had the pleasure of making that gentleman’s acquaintance before the first battle of Manassas, July 21st, 1861, and have the highest satisfaction in stating that he enjoys the reputation among a vast number of admiring friends (of every religious denomination) of being an upright honorable man, and a zealous Christian Minister. During the first year of this unfortunate conflict, my friend, Mr. Teeling, acted Chaplain to “Wheat’s Louisiana Battalion,” from New Orleans, (in which Corps I had the honor to serve as Captain for eighteen months,) composed almost exclusively of Irishmen, and nobly did he do his duty in camp and on the battle-field. On the presentation of new colors to the command, our worthy chaplain consecrated the standard, and on many a hard fought field of Southern independence has its silken folds floated on the breeze- when the victorious shout of “Stonewall Jackson’s corp’s” proclaimed that the minions of a despot had recoiled, baffled and dismayed, before the impetuous advance of Southern troops.

“Is it not sad, my Lord, to witness the flower of our peasantry, at this moment in America, imbruing their hands in each others blood?- Why does the Irishman, who craves for liberty at home, and who complains of mis-government here, support, at the risk of his life, the most degraded despotism the world has yet seen? and why does he (becoming forsooth fascinating with the flowery rhetoric and persuasive powers of Mr. Ward Beecher, et hoc genus omne) enrol himself under the “abolition banners” of Abraham Lincoln, and congratulate himself that he is on a crusade, to grant an unsolicited freedom to three millions of “Africans,” who are better clothed, better lodged, and beyond all better fed then he is himself? I shall answer these questions briefly. No feeling of animosity against a people gallantly struggling for liberty, influences the mind of the Irish peasant, when he sails to America, no sympathy with despotism actuates him to enlist in the Northern army; no hatred of the institution of slavery prompts him to join the fanatical legions of the invader, and makes it the greatest object of his life to carry fire and sword, lust and rapine into every Southern home.

What reasons then actuate him to fight for a despotism which his soul abhors? His own adventurous spirit- the distressed condition of his native land, and then by far the greatest inducement- the enormous bounty paid by the Yankee Government for fighting material. What spirited young fellow, who perhaps never made (-) note in his life, can stand the golden bait of seven hundred and seventy-seven dollars. As seven was a favorite number in Holy Writ, it is to be inferred that the legitimate descendants of the Canting Puritans of England regard that number with a sort of religious reverence. The cotton, tobacco and corn-fields of the South must, indeed, must be a much coveted prize to the consistent worshippers of the “almighty dollar” when seven hundred and seventy-seven “shinplasters” are to be the reward of the Irishman who “undertakes” to “serve an ejectment.” Why does not the Red Republican of New England, abandoning the shelter of his counting house or factory, lead bravely to the field of carnage these hordes of Irish, Dutch, Germans and free niggers whom he so persistently treats to the sound of that music which has no harmony for him- that is, the whistle of Southern bullets? or actuated by the same spirit of liberality with which he started- why does he no remunerate with a pension his unhappy substitute, who returns from the field with a shattered constitution or minus a limb? No, my lord! the men whom I have described are coolly speculating in the life blood of our gallant countrymen, who are the abject dupes of those who hesitate to immolate them by thousands for the accomplishment of their selfish purposes and bloody ends.

On several battlefields in America I can bear testimony to the gallant fighting and esprit de corps of the Irish regiments engaged on both sides. The history of this war will attest the fact that on the bloody field of Fredericksburg no troops ever surpassed in deeds or daring that “Irish brigade” who, selected to storm the key of the Confederate position, (an impregnable range of hills,) was only finally repulsed when four-fifths of its number lay in front of the bloody parapet from which belched forth the converging fire of our victorious artillery.

In the reply of His Holiness, Pius IX., to the letter of Mr. Jefferson Davis, (which appeared in the public journals,) the Sovereign Pontiff thus proves himself, my Lord, the worthy apostle of Him who taught “peace on earth and good will towards men.” He says, “it is particularly agreeable to us to see that you, illustrious and honorable President, and your people, are animated with the same desires of peace and tranquillity with which we have in our letters inculcated upon our venerable brothers. May it please God, at the same time, to make the other peoples of America and their rulers, reflecting seriously how terrible is civil war, and what calamities it engenders, listen to the inspirations of a calmer spirit, and adopt resolutely the path of peace.” Such are the sentiments of His Holiness, and such ought to be the feelings of all who wish to see this unhallowed conflict brought to a termination. I trust, my Lord, that you participate in my views, and hope that you, in the high position in which has pleased Providence to place you, use all the exertions in your power to dissuade the peasantry of your diocese from emigrating to the shores of America, there either to imbue their hands with the blood of their kindred, or crippled and maimed, like houseless warriors dependent on the public charity of some great Northern city. 

I am, my Lord, with assurances of high consideration, your Lordship’s obedient servant,

R. GOING ATKINS,

Captain and A.D.C., C.S. Army.

Right Rev. D. Moriarty, D.D., R.C., Bishop of Kerry, Killarney (3)

Robert Going Atkins letter of resignation from the Confederate States Army, written from ‘Firville, Mallow, Ireland’ (Fold3)

Robert Atkins did not get an opportunity to return to the Confederacy, as family reasons forced his resignation in February 1864. It is unclear if his letter had any effect on Irish emigration and subsequent enlistment, but there was undoubtedly one person who was strongly influenced by his views. Robert’s younger brother John decided that he would champion the cause of the Confederacy. In March 1864 John arrived in the South and took up arms with the famed ‘Gray Ghost’, John Singleton Mosby. The Richmond Examiner of the 3rd December 1864 revealed his fate:

In a charge upon the enemy made by Mosby’s band at Upperville, on the 29th October, fell mortally wounded JOHN ATKINS, a private trooper, the son of the Rev. Mr. Atkins, an eminent Episcopal Clergyman of Mallow, in the County of Cork, Ireland…John Atkins was the younger brother- a young man of high connections in his own country, of good education and great gallantry, who arrived in the Confederacy in the month of March last, with the purpose of throwing himself into our struggle for independence, and at once purchased a horse and joined Mosby, under whose command he has participated in all the dashing exploits of that noble partisan leader. Thus has fallen another of the gallant young soldiers whom European countries have contributed to our devoted armies. (4)

Following the war’s conclusion Robert maintained his love for the South. In early 1870 he returned to America to participate in a hunting trip in Arkansas. The visit would be his last; his death while in the Natural State was recorded by the Irish American of 19th February 1870, at the age of just 39. The final surviving brother, Phillip, was now heir to Firville. He had reputedly served as a surgeon in the Union forces, but did not return to Ireland in 1865. By the time of Robert’s death five years later, he had been out of touch with his family for several years. Despite its geographical remoteness from the battlefields of the conflict, Firville House and it’s occupants in Mallow had felt the personal and tragic touch of the American Civil War just a strongly as many thousands of families across the Atlantic. (5)

(1) Edinburgh Gazette: 17th August 1855, Personne 1864: 99; (2) Personne 1864: 99; (3) Robert Going Atkins Service Record, Daily Constitutionalist: 13th April 1864; (4) Richmond Examiner: 3rd December 1864; (5) Irish American: 19th February 1870;

References

Personne. 1864. Marginalia; Or Gleanings From An Army Notebook

Robert Going Atkins Military Service Record

The Daily Constitutionalist 13th April 1864. Enlistments in Ireland

The Edinburgh Gazette 17th August 1855. Commissions

The Irish American 19th February 1870. Munster

The Richmond Examiner 3rd December 1864. Death of a Gallant Gentleman

First Battle of Bull Run (Kurz & Allison 1889)

John Donovan described his day as follows:

Went into an engagement at Bull Run, Sunday, July 21, 1861, at 10 o’clock, a.m., or thereabouts. Marched up the hill after getting over a fence, and on reaching nearly to the brow I was struck by a rifle ball in the calf of my right leg, outside, passing through to the skin on the other side. In the cars on the way to Richmond the next evening, a young man, looking among the wounded prisoners, wanted me to let him take it out and keep the ball, to which I consented, and he cut it out. 

After being hit as above I stepped back to the fence, sat down and bound up my leg to keep it from bleeding. I then got up and loaded and fired from where I stood. After firing three times, another ball hit me in the left heel, glancing up along near my ankle joint. This ball remained in about eight weeks, when my leg, being badly festered, the prison hospital surgeon lanced it one evening, and in the night the ball worked down, so I got it out the next morning.

After being hit the second time I still kept loading and firing as fast as I could. In about ten minutes, as near as I can judge, a third ball struck me in the right side, which still remains somewhere within me. This disabled me somewhat for a short time, but I again loaded and fired two or three times as well as I could, when I was struck in the right arm (while in the act of firing) about midway between my elbow and shoulder joints, the ball running up towards my neck. The ball was taken out about nine weeks afterwards by the hospital surgeon at Richmond, about half away from my shoulder joint to my neck bone. I fired my musket but once after this, as the recoil of it hurt my shoulder so, I was unable to bear it.

I then left the fence to get behind a tree standing some two hundred and fifty yards off, and picked up a revolver which lay on the ground, just after I left the fence, at which time a bullet struck on my right wrist glancing off from the bone. I went a little further towards the tree, when some twelve or fifteen Confederate soldiers came out of the woods directly towards me.

I fired the revolver at them three times, and just as I fired the third barrel, a bullet fired by one of this company struck me just below my left eye, going into my head. I knew nothing more until about noon the next day (Monday). When I came to I found myself lying right where I fell the day before. I tried to get up, but could not. After this I made several ineffectual attempts to crawl away to the shade of a tree, the sun shining very hot. About four p.m., a couple of soldiers came along, picked me up, and carried me to the cars, and I was sent to Richmond, afterwards sent to Alabama, and finally released on parole. The bullet still remains in my head; the hospital surgeon says it lies somewhere near my right ear (the sense of hearing being entirely lost in that ear), the drum, or typanum having been injured by it. The slightest touch on my chin, or near it, causes a sever pain in my right temple and over the ear. I cannot see at all with my left eye. I cannot bear to be out in the sun; it makes me dizzy and my head pains me severely; so also does more than ordinary exercise. Ordinarily, when sitting quiet, my head only occasionally troubles me- a little dizziness and heaviness is about all- except when out in the sun or heated, as before stated; and also when I attempt to lift anything, it puts me in severe pain in my head, and my eyes pain me exceedingly, as well then as when heated or out in the sun. I am obliged to keep out of the sun as much as possible on account of this excruciating pain in my head and eyes, and when I read my eyes fill with water, and I have to rest. I cannot write a letter of ordinary length. I have to stop several times for this and from dizziness. There is occasionally a dimness comes over my right eye even when quiet, but not very often. The surgeon said the bone around my left temple was shattered, and that pieces thereof would work out; none has to my knowledge. The bullet which entered my right side has not yet given me any great trouble. (1)

Records confirm that John Donovan enlisted as a Private in Company B, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry, on 22nd May 1861. At that time he resided in Houston, Minnesota. The Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers states that he was wounded five times at Bull Run, made a prisoner, and discharged due to disability on his release. His survival despite receiving so many wounds is remarkable; despite this, the severe impact these injuries had on his life highlight the legacy of suffering that many American Civil War veterans had to endure long after the guns fell silent. (2)

(1) Irish American; (2) Roster 1886: 351;

References

Irish American, 9th September 1862: ‘A Man Wounded Six Times in One Battle’

Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office 1886. Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861- 1865, Volume 1

MIchael Corcoran of the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run, where he was captured (Currier & Ives)

James Haggerty’s parents could not have envisioned that their son would one day participate in such a momentous battle when he was born in rural Glenswilly, Co. Donegal around the year 1816. His early years were spent in his native county, where he took a position as an apprentice house carpenter. It was not until he was in his late twenties that he first left Ireland, moving to Scotland in 1844 where he plied his trade for a number of years. The horrendous conditions in Ireland during the famine of the 1840s undoubtedly played a part in his decision to emigrate with his brother Bryan to the United States in 1849. (1)

James spent time in Philadelphia before settling in New York, where he established his own business in 1856 as a house carpenter and builder, setting up his office at 70 Bleeker Street. He also started a family around this time, marrying Elisa Bentley from Limerick. His first daughter, Anne died when she was only three days old in 1858. Another daughter Rosina was born in 1859. The Federal Census called to the Haggerty household on the 18th June 1860, just over a year before the Battle of Bull Run. James is recorded as a 40 year old carpenter living with 23 year old Elisa and one year old Rosina in the 1st District of the 17th Ward. (2)

James Haggerty 'Carpenter', his wife Elisa and infant daughter Rosina as they appear on the 1860 Census, just over a year prior to Bull Run (Image via Footnote)

The Donegal man was a dedicated Fenian, as were many other Irishmen in the city. Some chose to join New York State Militia units to gain military experience for a planned future rebellion in Ireland. Haggerty had already served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 75th Regiment prior to its disbandment in 1856. When Michael Corcoran was made Colonel of the 69th New York State Militia in 1859, he brought James Haggerty on board as Captain of Company A. He was a popular officer and a strict disciplinarian, and his command earned the nickname ‘Haggerty’s Bullies’. When the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861 and President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers, James Haggerty and the 69th New York State Militia answered. (3)

The Irish New Yorkers went off to war on 23rd April 1861. After a week guarding a railroad junction they were sent to Arlington Heights, Virginia, where they constructed Fort Corcoran (named for the regiment’s commander) overlooking the Potomac. A smaller fort was also built to provide cover to the southern slope of this position, and was christened Fort Haggerty. On the 16th July the 69th moved out from their fortifications, as the campaign that would culminate in the Battle of Bull Run had begun. (4)

Officers of the 69th New York State Militia pose beside one of the guns in Fort Corcoran prior to the Battle of Bull Run (Library of Congress)

The 69th formed part of Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman’s brigade for the duration of the campaign. James Haggerty was to serve as acting Lieutenant-Colonel for the regiment during the days ahead, as Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Nugent had been injured following a fall from his horse. He did not have to wait long to prove his worth. On the 18th July an engagement at Blackburn’s Ford took place, a fight in which the Union troops were forced to retreat. As the 69th advanced to support the attacking units, they encountered another Union regiment moving in the opposite direction. Mistaking their comrades for Rebels, the Irish were about to fire on them when Haggerty ‘dashed along the line and struck the bayonets up with his sword,- his keen eye, which never ceased its watchful care, having detected the error of his men’. During a subsequent artillery barrage the men of the 69th were ordered to lie down, but Haggerty chose to set an example, standing erect on the right of the line.*(5)

The 21st July 1861 arrived, and Haggerty and his men were about to face their first serious engagement. In the early phase of the Battle of Bull Run they preformed a holding role at Stone Bridge while a strong Union force moved to flank the Confederate left by crossing at upstream fords. The fight had already been raging for some time when the Irishmen eventually got the order to cross Bull Run creek. They were to form a junction with the already engaged main attacking force; to do so Sherman’s brigade had to negotiate Rebels who were in the process of retreating from their positions on Matthews Hill to a new line on Henry Hill. The march of the 69th was bringing them up on the right and right-rear of some of these withdrawing Confederates.

Having crossed the creek the Irishmen moved into a meadow, and found the woods to their front filled with a number of retreating Rebels. William Tecumseh Sherman describes what happened next: ‘Lieutenant- Colonel Haggerty, of the Sixty-ninth, without orders, rode out and endeavored to intercept their retreat. One of the enemy, in full view, at short range, shot Haggerty, and he fell dead from his horse.’ Perhaps incensed at what had just happened, the 69th opened fire on the retreating Rebels, who replied in kind. Sherman ordered the firing ceased as he was determined to move his brigade up to join in with the main attack. Captain James Kelly of the 69th related that Haggerty was ‘killed by a Louisiana Zouave, whom he pursued as the latter was on his retreat with his regiment into the woods, and several of our men were severely wounded.’ If Kelly is right in his assessment then it is possible that Haggerty fell at the hands of a fellow Irishman, as many of the Louisiana zouaves were of Irish origin. (6)

James Haggerty's Civil War Pension Index Card, recording his widow's claim for a pension (Image via Footnote)

The 69th succeeded in joining with the main attack, and many more of the regiment would die as they unsuccessfully charged the Confederate positions on Henry Hill. The day ended in defeat for the Union, and the war would continue for four bloody years. We can only speculate as to why James Haggerty so exposed himself in an effort to capture the fleeing Rebels. Perhaps he felt confident they were routing, or suffered a rush of blood to the head in what was his first battle. Maybe as he had shown in the past he was eager to set an example for his men.

James Haggerty was the first man of the 69th New York State Militia to die in the Battle of Bull Run. His experience of combat lasted a matter of minutes before he was killed, leaving behind a widow and infant daughter. Later in the year Thomas Francis Meagher, Captain of Company K (Meagher’s Zouaves) of the 69th and future commander of the Irish Brigade, said that of all the regiment’s dead at Bull Run Haggerty was ‘Prominent amongst them, strikingly noticeable by reason of his large, iron frame, and the boldly chiseled features, on which the impress of great strength of will and intellect was softened by a constant play of humor and the goodness and grand simplicity of his heart- wrapped in his rough old overcoat, with his sword crossed upon his breast, his brow boldly uplifted as though he were still in command, and the consciousness of having done his duty sternly to the last still animating the Roman face -there lies James Haggerty- a braver soldier than whom the land of Sarsfield and Shields has not produced, and whose name, worked in gold upon the colors of the Sixty-ninth, should be henceforth guarded with all the jealousy and pride which inspires a regiment, wherever its honor is at stake and its standards are in peril. (7)

(1) McLaughlin 1992; (2) McLaughlin 1992, 1860 Census (3) McLaughlin 1992, Shea 1861: 104; (4) Shea 1861: 105; Conyngham 1867: 24, 26, McLaughlin 1992; (5) Conyngham 1867: 28, Shea 1861: 106; (6) Official Records: 369, 372 (7) New York Times

*It should be noted that James H. McLaughlin’s book, quoting Thomas Francis Meagher, places this incident on 21st July at the Battle of Bull Run itself. However, Sherman’s brigade was subjected to artillery fire at Blackburn’s Ford on the 18th, and neither he nor Kelly make reference to a sustained barrage prior to Haggerty’s death on the 21st. On that basis the account in The Fallen Brave has been followed here.

References & Further Reading

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

Davis, William C. 1977. Battle at Bull Run

McLaughlin, James H. 1992. James Haggerty of Tir Conaill

Shea, John Gilmary (ed.) 1861. The Fallen Brave

Official Records Series 1, Volume 2, Chapter 9. Report of Col. William T. Sherman, Thirteenth U.S. Infantry, commanding Third Brigade, First Division

Official Records Series 1, Volume 2, Chapter 9. Report of Capt. James Kelly, Sixty-ninth New York Militia

New York Times 30th August 1861 ‘The Monster Festival; Aid for the Widows and Orphans of the Sixty-ninth Regiment’ 

Fort Haggerty Memorial Marker

Captain James Haggerty Memorial, Calvary Cemetery, New York

69th New York State Volunteers Historical Association

Civil War Trust Battle of Bull Run Page

Manassas National Battlefield Park