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

Llewellyn Traherne Bassett Saunderson, or ‘Welly’ to his friends, was a member of the Anglo-Irish gentry. His family owned Castle Saunderson in Co. Cavan, the county from which this adventurous Irishman hailed. Determined to try his hand with the Confederacy, he arrived in the South late in the war, with the intention of serving on the staff of one of the Rebel Generals. As the Confederacy entered its dying days, the veteran of the British 11th Hussars gained a position on the staff of cavalry General Fitzhugh Lee, the nephew of Robert E. Lee. To keep track of his brief service he kept a diary between 17th March and 14th April 1865. (1)

The grave of Llewellyn Traherne Bassett Saunderson, Deansgrange, Co. Dublin (Photo: Eamonn McLoughlin)

With the Confederacy collapsing, Welly recorded on the 31st March that he had to rise at 3.30 a.m. in the morning and ‘after a rough breakfast we all went down to General Pickett’s headquarters where a Council of War took place. We remained here for 3 hours or so, smoking and telling stories in a downfall of rain the whole time.’ On 1st April he noted that there was ‘bad news from Pickett’ as ‘he has lost 5,000 men out of 8,000, and the remainder are cut off from us.’ When their position was attacked by Sheridan, he wrote that ‘we had no idea that the enemy were so close to us…when all of a sudden about 250 Yankees let drive at us, it was so sudden that nobody could help being startled. I looked round and the whole regiment had disappeared.’ (2)

The Irish adventurer was present at the Battle of Sayler’s Creek on 6th April. Welly’s view of the conflict in which he had participated for only a few days was no doubt very different from the vast majority who witnessed the Army of Northern Virginia’s death throes:

‘Shells screaming, passed us, some bursting a few feet off us, volley of bullets coming in every direction. Every now and then, I heard bullets go with a thud into some unfortunate soldier, who would give a scream and all was over. I had a very narrow escape by a Parrot shell passing within 2 inches of my head and bursting within a foot of me, by coming in contact with a tree, a piece of it killing a man about a hundred yards off. It certainly was very exciting. People may talk about hunting, but a good battle is a 100 times more exciting.’ (3)

'Confederate War Veteran' marker at the grave of Llewellyn Traherne Bassett Saunderson, Deansgrange, Co. Dublin (Photo: Eamonn McLoughlin)

As the war drew to a close Fitzhugh Lee acknowledged the assistance he had received from the Cavan native. Following the surrender, the cavalry commander wrote to his uncle Robert E. Lee on 22nd April, commending his staff officers, including ‘Captain Llewellyn Saunderson, who, having just arrived from his native country, Ireland, joined me previously to the fall of Petersburg, and remained with me to the last.’ (4)

Llewellyn Traherne Bassett Saunderson returned to Ireland following his brief time in the Confederacy, forming part of the establishment in his home county. His brief Rebel service was clearly a source of great pride to him, and he certainly found the thrills he hoped for in war-torn Virginia. He is today one of the very few Confederate Irishmen who returned after the war, to ultimately being buried in the land of his birth.

*Special thanks to Eamonn McLoughlin for bringing this grave to light and for permission to use his photographs of the grave.

(1) Foreman 2010:758 (2) Ibid:761 (3) Ibid:770 (4) Ibid:777

References & Further Reading

Foreman, Amanda 2010. A World On Fire: An Epic History of Two Nations Divided

Civil War Trust Battle of Sayler’s Creek Page