Colonel Richard Byrnes (Donahoe’s Magazine)

Richard asked Father Corby to hear his confession, and afterwards handed the priest a slip of paper. It contained instructions on what he wanted done with his effects following his death. He also asked that the following letter be delivered:

May 17, 1864.

My Dear Ellen,

I am well. No fighting yesterday; but we expect some to-day. Put your trust and confidence in God. Ask His Blessing. Kiss my poor little children for me. You must not give up in despair- all will yet be well. My regiment has suffered much in officers and men. I am in good health and spirits. I am content. I fear nothing, thank Heaven, but my sins. Do not let your spirits sink; we will meet again. I will write you soon again; but we are going to move just now. Good-by, good-by; and that a kind and just God may look to you and  your children is my fervent prayer.

Richard. (2)

Richard Byrnes handed the pencil-written letter to Corby, asking him to send to his wife if, as he expected, he fell in the coming battle. But Richard did not die on 17th May. He survived Spotsylvania to take command of the Irish Brigade in time for their next battle, at Cold Harbor, Virginia. Here, just over two weeks after his feeling of impending death, Richard Byrnes was mortally wounded. He was transported to Washington, where Ellen was able to see him before he died a few days later. The correspondence he had handed to Father Corby remained in the Chaplain’s possession- although the foreboding felt by Richard Byrnes had ultimately proved well founded, the need for the letter’s delivery was overtaken by events. (3)

(1) Corby 1893: 237-8 (2) Ibid. (3) Ibid.

References & Further Reading

Corby, William 1893. Memoirs of Chaplain Life: Three Years in the Irish Brigade with the Army of the Potomac

Civil War Trust Battle of Spotsylvania Court House Page

Civil War Trust Battle of Cold Harbor Page

The exact details of William’s actions on the 12th May remain unclear, beyond the fact that he captured a Confederate color. The fighting during the Overland Campaign of 1864 was so constant that there was no time for immediate after action reports. It was not until the autumn that regimental commanders found time to record their bloody advance through the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, the North Anna and Cold Harbor. The 73rd New York was at this time commanded by William’s fellow Irishman Lieutenant-Colonel Michael W. Burns. On 9th August 1864 he recounted the actions of his men the previous May, when they had been in the second wave of Union troops to take part in a massed assault against the vulnerable ‘Mule Shoe’ salient, the weak point on the Confederate’s Spotsylvania line:

‘…the regiment advanced through the belt of woods…and on arriving in the open field was ordered to proceed to the assistance of the first line, which was then engaged with the enemy. The regiment then moved rapidly forward over the first line of the enemy’s works (which had already been taken) up to and over the second line, under a heavy fire, capturing 150 prisoners, 2 stand of colors, and 2 pieces of artillery, one of which was turned and used against the enemy with great effect.’ (2)

The Union assault at Spotsylvania by Thure de Thulstrup (Library of Congress)

Savage fighting had seen the Army of the Potomac smash a huge hole in the Confederate defences, threatening to cut the Army of Northern Virginia in two. However, Robert E. Lee rushed reinforcements to close the breach, and waves of Rebels descended on the salient in an effort to recapture it:

‘The command succeeded in getting the prisoners, colors and guns to the rear, but being entirely unsupported, and the enemy concentrating his whole fire upon it, the works so gallantly won had to be abandoned, and the regiment fell back to the first line of rebel works captured. The loss of the regiment both in officers and men was heavy, especially the former…In this engagement the regiment suffered more severely than at any other period of the campaign.’ (3)

Among the men of the 73rd New York Infantry left dead on the field at the end of the day’s fighting was First Sergeant William Jones. William had been an old hand in the regiment, which formed part of the famed Excelsior Brigade. By 1864 he was a veteran volunteer; having originally enlisted as a 25-year-old on 25th May 1861, he had renewed his commitment to the war on 30th December 1863. The fact that he had risen to the rank of First Sergeant, re-enlisted beyond his original term of service and placed himself in harm’s way to capture an enemy flag speaks volumes for his dedication to his duty. Unfortunately it was not just the 73rd and the Excelsior Brigade that would feel the Irishman’s loss in the months and years to come. (4)

The 9th November 1857 had undoubtedly been a happy occasion for William Jones. It had been the day that the Irish stevedore had married his Irish sweetheart Margaret Carney, with the ceremony taking place at St. James Catholic Church in New York. The couple celebrated the birth of a daughter, Susanna (known as Susan) on 21st August 1860. The American Civil War intervened to disrupt the young family’s lives, but William did manage to return to their home on Dean Street, Brooklyn at least once on leave while the conflict raged. It was during such a furlough in 1863 that Margaret became pregnant once more. (5)

The couple’s second child, William Jones junior, was born on 17th April 1864. There is a good chance that his father was informed of his birth before the Army of the Potomac began their campaign by crossing the Rapidan River on 4th May. Tragically, the baby was not yet a month old when his father died at Spotsylvania. One can scarcely imagine Margaret’s feelings when she learned of her husband’s death, and with a daughter under four and a newly born son the future appeared bleak. Although the Medal of Honor issued to her husband on 1st December 1864 must have been a moment of great pride, her immediate priorities lay with securing a pension for herself and her children. (6)

Monument of the 73rd New York Infantry at Gettysburg, erected in 1897. (Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg)

Unfortunately it would appear that the worst was not over for Margaret. When she applied for a supplement to her pension in 1866, she did so on the basis that she was supporting a child of under 16 years of age. That child was her daughter Susan- no mention of William junior was made. It seems likely that the boy did not long survive his father, heaping still further tragedy on the Jones family. (7)

The 1860s were not kind to Margaret Jones and her daughter Susan. The war years had taken from them a husband and son, father and brother. Susan would never marry, and as the deacdes passed mother and daughter remained together, their fortunes tied. They emerge on the 1880 census, when 19-year-old Susan was working as a bookfolder to supplement their pension income. Mother and daughter were still together in 1908, living on Butler Street in Brooklyn. It was in that year Margaret became gravely ill. Susan turned to nursing her mother full-time, a task in which she was assisted by Sister Radegonde, a member of the Order of the Infant Jesus, who were French nursing sisters for the sick poor. Despite Susan’s best efforts Margaret died of bronchitis and oedema on 29th October 1908. Susan successfully claimed some of her mother’s widows pension to cover medical expenses. (8)

As the 20th century continued, Susan continued life alone, the last of the Jones family. It is not known if she ever visited the graveside of her father, whom she must have barely remembered. Fortunately unlike so many others his body had been identified on the Spotsylvania battlefield, and he rests today in Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Forty-four years after his death, the pension that his service had provided for his family ensured that his wife’s grave in Holy Cross Cemetery would also be marked; their daughter Susan was able to use the last of the monies William’s sacrifice had secured to erect a granite headstone at Margaret’s grave in New York. (9)

References & Further Reading

Lang, G., Collins, R.L., White, G.F. 1995. Medal of Honor Recipients 1863-1995 Volume 1.

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

Official Records Series 1, Volume 36, Part 1. 505. Report of Lieut. Col. Michael W. Burns, Seventy-third New York Infantry.

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

Rhea, G. 1997. The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864.

First Sergeant William Jones Find A Grave Memorial

Civil War Trust Battle of Spotsylvania Page

Fredericksburg National Cemetery (Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park)

William Jones Widows Pension File WC56122

One of the green flags carried by the 28th Massachusetts Infantry (Wikimedia Commons)

Peter Welsh appears to have been a born soldier, and on St. Patrick’s Day 1863 he had his proudest moment when he was promoted to carry the regiment’s green flag. His letters are in the main written to his wife, Margaret, and many seek to allay her concerns for his safety and to justify his service in the army. When she expressed her fears that he would be even more of a target when carrying the colors, Welsh wrote a detailed explanation to counter this, telling her ‘there is no such thing as taking shure aim in the battlefield’ and that ‘those on either side of the colors…are more likely to get struck then the color bearer’. His attempts to protect his wife as much as possible from the brutal reality of warfare are heart-warming. (2)

Peter Welsh fought with the 28th Massachusetts from South Mountain to Spotsylvania. On 15th May 1864 he wrote the following letter to Margaret:

Washington May 15th/64

My dear wife

i write those few huried lines to let you know that i got slightly wounded on the 12th  it is a flesh wound in my left arm  just a nice one to keep me from any more fighting or marching this campaign  we have had a prety tough time of it  we had been 8 days constantly fighting before i got hit  that was the greatest battle of the war  we licked saucepans out of them  My dear wife i think i can get sent to new york to hospital  if not i will get a sick furlow to go home  Dudly Burns has lost the first finger of his left hand  James was all right when i left the front  my dear wife do not be uneasy about me  i am all right here  give my love to all our friends  God bless and protect you  write to me as soon as you get this and send me five dollars if you can  good by for the present

your loving husband

Peter Welsh 

Pieces of Peter Welsh's left ulna removed during surgery, with the deformed bullet at top (Medical and Surgical History)

Margaret rushed to her husband’s side. He had been sent to Carver Hospital in Washington, where on 14th May Surgeon O.A. Judson reported his injury as a ‘gunshot wound of left forearm, by a conoidal ball, producing compound comminuted fracture of inferior third of left ulna. On 17th May, two days after Welsh had written to his wife, Acting Assistant Surgeon J.S. Wentz operated on his injury, removing broken pieces of his ulna and the bullet. After the procedure he was apparently doing well, but his health began to deteriorate on 20th May. It transpired that he was suffering from pyaemia, a type of blood poisoning. Color Sergeant Peter Welsh died on 28th May 1864. Margaret, who must have been distraught, sent a telegram to her uncle in New York; it read simply ‘HE IS DEAD AND WILL BE IN NYORK IN MORNING’. Peter Welsh is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, Queens, New York. His war letters remain, providing us with some of the most insightful and poignant information on the Irish experience of the American Civil War. (3)

(1) Welsh 1986: 4, 81; (2) Welsh 1986: 156 (3) Welsh 1986: 156-157, Otis 1876: 959;

References

Otis, George A. 1876. The Medical and Surgical History of the War of Rebellion, Part 2, Vol. 2, Surgical History

Welsh, Peter (edited by Lawrence Kohl with Margaret Cossé Richard) 1986. Irish Green and Union Blue: The Civil War Letters of Peter Welsh, Color Sergeant, 28th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers