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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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