ireland, australia and the american civil war

IRELAND,AUSTRALIA ANDTHE AMERICAN

CIVIL WARby

BARRY J. CROMPTON

Archer Memorial Civil War Library

Melbourne, AustraliaFebruary 2008

2nd edition

Ireland, Australia and the American Civil War

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have been very fortunate over the years to find myself in the company of a group of very honoured andrespected members of the Civil War research community. As we have enlarged our ability to locateinformation, this group of researchers have touched many facets of research institutions, private, public,government and secular. All in all it has been a very rewarding experience and I’m sure that the research hasnot been completed as I write.I began to notice the links between Australia and the Civil War through the work carried out by Adrian Pearce,the founding president of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia, inc. Adrian has assisted CyrilPearl with documentation on the visit of the Confederate ship “Shenandoah” to Melbourne in January 1865.Adrian’s work was used in the book “Rebel Down Under” written by Cyril Pearl and published by WilliamHeinemann Australia of Melbourne in 1970. Unfortunately not all of Adrian’s research was used and muchremained untouched.

Other members of the Round Table including Stuart Duff, Peter Smith and Frank Noonan provided furtherinformation and another Round Table President, Ross Brooks, was also instrumental in locating Australianlinks. Ross has become an expert in uniforms of the Civil War and has done extensive research throughAustralian and American collections. He is one of the reasons again why our name is held in high esteem.While he was doing his own research, he passed on information as he located comments for which I am veryappreciative.The watershed of my research came through the assistance of Roy Parker who came to my attention through anarticle in one of Sydney’s daily newspapers which mentioned that Roy was researching Civil War veteransburied in Australia. As a retired Major of the United States Air Force and having served in World War II, Roywas linked with the American Legion and along with Lenn Traynor, of the American Civil War ResearchSociety, had located graves of Civil War veterans buried around Sydney. His work became the catalyst of anumber of Civil War researchers in Australia - Roy, Len, Terry Foenander and Bob Simpson as well as myselfwere the representatives for our various areas of interest. Between this group, the results of our hunt for CivilWar veterans buried in Australia has risen by 2000 to over 100 men. Roy died in 1998 and his efforts will be aninspiration to all those who follow in his footsteps.Additional hard work has been prepared by a number of people including a very dedicated volunteer in theUnited States National Archives, Ed Milligan of Alexandria, Virginia. We have received help above andbeyond the call of duty from other locations across America and Australia - Steve Connolly, Trevor Vaughn-Williams, Don Pedler and Paul Spencer in Adelaide, South Australia; David Court in Perth, Western Australia;Jack Ford, John King, Ed Best and Jim Gray in Queensland; Kerry Webb and Barry Venn in Canberra, A.C.T.;Viv Carroll and Reg Watson in Tasmania and a host of library assistants, newspaper journalists and editors;genealogical and historical society secretaries; the list has been endless but all have come together to createwhat I have attempted to put on paper.Whatever errors and omissions are found in this work are not due to those people who have suppliedinformation or gathered knowledge for our collective opus, instead they are due to my own lack of diligence.Apologies for whatever lays ahead and corrections or additions will be gratefully received.

BarryFebruary 2008


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THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE OF AUSTRALIA

The American Civil War Round Table of Australia was formed in May 1972 out of members of a CivilWar living history/re-enactment group which had been in existence since the mid 1960's. By 1972 it was feltthat more purpose would be served for a centre of serious study of the Civil War and particularly its rela-tionship to and with Australia.

The first Civil War Round Table had been formed in Chicago during December 1940 and since thenover 200 similar Round Tables have been instituted throughout the U.S. with four groups in England, Canada,Australia and Norway. An umbrella organization, the Civil War Round Table Associates, under the auspices ofJerry Russell, in Little Rock, Arkansas, serves as a central point for the clearing of information and when large-scale publicity is required to be done, all member societies receive the news as it comes to hand.

From a small beginning in 1972 with eight members meeting once a month at various members' house,the A.C.W.R.T.A. in 1993 had a membership of over 60 people in Australia and a further 15 overseas. Another40 associate members and newsletter exchange means that coverage is maintained for the maximum amount ofinterest and distribution through the membership.

By 2005 the A.C.W.R.T.A. has grown to over 100 members with many years of membership andresearch behind them. There are members in each of Australia's six states plus Canberra in the AustralianCapital Territory, however, the main bulk of members reside in and around Melbourne where monthly meetingsare now held at the Retreat Hotel in Nicholson Street, suburban Abbottsford on the fourth Wednesday of eachmonth (except December). Each meeting sees a small amount of general business followed by auctions ofmaterials from members' collections; a "show and tell" exhibit of any new memorabilia collected by membersand a lecture presented by an occasional outside authority or member on some particular aspect of the CivilWar. A monthly newsletter keeps members informed on new finds of historical importance; academic articlesof Civil War history as well as book reviews, trading of items, local news and overseas comment. For moreitems of an historical nature, a journal began in 1990 which has received favourable comments from overseasreaders. Each year sees additional issues of items within this framework. The A.C.W.R.T.A. has also hostedfour conferences on the Civil War, the most recent in February 2005 saw over 90 people in attendance which isthe largest group of Civil War enthusiasts to attend any single event in our history. The topic of the conferencewas the Navy in the Civil War which drew interest from the outside community and also saw John Quarstein ofVirginia as our special guest speaker. Naturally interest on the visit of the Shenandoah to Melbourne as thiscoincided with the 140th annioversary of the ship’s arrival was a factor in public awareness.

Special interests amongst the membership of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia includethe study of philately & currency, uniforms, photographs, wargames, weaponry and accoutrements, tactics andbattles, music, politics and sociological changes, the woman's role in the Civil War, homefront issues, the navalwar and a host of other areas. As diverse as the membership ages and occupations are can be seen in their widerange of interests. There are members who have been involved with living history organisations, tabletop andcomputer wargaming, modelling and painting military minatures, live musket target firing and also due to ourTreasurer we now can discuss the Civil War over the computer with own special interest message group.

The relationship of Australia and the American Civil War is highlighted with the study of the C.S.S."Shenandoah" to Melbourne in January/February 1865 as well as to the information currently being researchedon those who had been in Australia prior to the war and the veterans who settled in Australia after the war. Allinformation is keenly sought - books and pamphlets are currently being produced by members of the society.

Subscriptions to the American Civil War Round Table of Australia are currently Aus$25.00 percalendar year and cheques made payable to the "A.C.W.R.T.A." can be sent to the Treasurer, Mr. Jeff Yuille,41 Hampshead Drive, Hoppers Crossing, Victoria, 3029, Australia. Entitlements are invitations to all Societyfunctions and meetings, issues of both the newsletters and journal plus the opportunity to exchange informationand friendship with the finest group of Civil War historians in Australia.

For further information please contact one of our committee members or to the Corresponding SecretaryBarry Crompton at PO Box 4017, Patterson, Victoria, 3204, Australia; telephone after hours [03] 9557 7872.


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BIOGRAPHY ON BARRY CROMPTON

Barry is a Melbourne-born, 56 year-old office-worker from the south-eastern suburbs, who becameinterested in the American Civil War during the 1960's when the centennial heightened the amount of publicityover the war. Since then he has devoted more and more time to the study of this conflict as well ascorresponding with a number of similar historians around the world. He has had six trips to the U.S. where hehas met other Civil War buffs, tramped over the battlefields and museums, attended conventions & meetingsrepresenting Australia and wandered through the hallowed grounds of libraries and research centres seekinginformation for his activities.

He is a founding member of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia in 1972 and wasinaugural secretary of the group; is a past-president and editor of the society's newsletter for sixteen years;awarded a life membership and winner of the society's research award on three occasions. He currently is a PastPresident, Public Officer, Researcher and Corresponding Secretary for that organization. Barry organised thefirst meeting of the members of the ACWRTA in Sydney (which has been become the New South WalesChapter of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia; he was present at the first meeting of members ofthe ACWRTA in Adelaide, helped to organise the first gathering members in Canberra and met members of theACWRTA in Brisbane. Barry has also toured Victoria to speak to members of the society who do not normallyget to meetings in Melbourne. From small beginnings in one city, he has seen the Round Table grow to anational organisation.

As well as being an honorary citizen of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky (thus a "KentuckyColonel") for his efforts in Civil War research; he is a member of numerous organizations in the U.S. andEurope with Civil War historical links. With almost forty years of experience behind him, he has a library ofover 4,600 volumes as well as 3,000 magazines & journals, microfilm and microfiche documentation andcomputer data files, the largest collection of Civil War paper research material outside the U.S. He has beenresearching the exploits of a Confederate brigade of Tennesseans for publication in the near future and also hasan interest in the subjects of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War veterans, Civil War music and philately.

Barry has spoken to several organizations throughout his career. Locally he lectured to historicalsocieties and has also spoken to groups in the United States including Civil War Round Tables at Atlanta(Georgia), San Francisco (California), Oak Ridge (Tennessee), Southern Fairfield County (Connecticut),Jackson (Mississippi), the Civil War Veterans Historical Association as well as other similar associations.

He has also had articles published in the Journal of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia;the Journal of the Confederate Stamp Alliance, Confederate Historical Society of England Journal, AmericanCivil War Round Table of the United Kingdom newsletter "Crossfire", Civil War Round Table of MontgomeryCounty (Maryland) newsletter, and other Civil War groups.

With the current amount of information available on the Australian links with the Civil War, he can seethis area becoming more and more important as new activities are uncovered.

IRELAND, AUSTRALIA AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Australia's involvement with Ireland and the Civil War can be broken down into four main themes -a) those people with an association who had been born in Ireland but previously resided in

Australia;b) those born in Ireland who came here after the war but did not remain in Australiac) the occurences during the war; andd) the Irish-born veterans who came to Australia after the war - either as immigrants or as visitors;

the effects of the Civil War and our reactions.

ANTE-BELLUM: THE IRISH REBELS IN TASMANIA

Thomas Francis Meagher was born 23 August 1823 in County Tipperary, Ireland. He was educatedto a high standard and toured Europe before returning to Ireland in 1843 where his father was a wealthymerchant in Waterford. The father later became a member of the British parliament and then mayor ofWaterford. In 1847, along with other young nationalists, he developed the plans to formulate an uprising. Iffor nothing else, Thomas Francis Meagher was also famous for designing the emblem for Ireland, a "tri-colour orange, white and green" which is now the national flag of the country.

In 1848 he was arrested for high treason during the attempts of his compatriots in the nationalistmovement to start an uprising. He was convicted of being one of the ringleaders and was sentenced to behung. However this sentence was commuted and altered to be transported to the penal colony in VanDieman's Land (now the State of Tasmania) for life. After his arrival in the colony in 1849 he was given a"ticket of leave" and paroled to go at large amongst the countryside. Each of the seven ringleaders of therebellion was consigned to a separate district - Meagher's district being Campbell Town.

He obtained permission to be removed from this limited area and eventually located himself in asmall house under the care of the farmer landlord in the town of Ross. This cottage is still standing, almostin the original condition. After proposing marriage to Katherine Bennett, the daughter of a local landowner,the happy couple continued to live in this house until he managed to escape in late 1851. A son was born inFebruary 1852 but only survived four months - Meagher was never to see him. His ship sailed forPernambuco in Brazil and shortly afterwards he gained passage on a ship bound for the United States. Hearrived at New York in the last week of May 1852 as a hero and spent the next few years lecturingthroughout the U.S. on the Irish problem.

His fame as a leader of the rebellion naturally brought him prominence with the large Irishcommunity in New York and at the outbreak of the Civil War he was in the forefront of recruitingvolunteers for the Union army. Although supposedly fighting for 'the Union' these enlistees were intendingthat their training would put them in good stead for further uprisings against the English in Ireland once theCivil War was over. He organized a company of zouaves (patterned after a French organiztion with fancyuniforms) who were recruited specially as Company K of the 69th New York State Militia and was given therank of Captain in command of the company. More men and more companies were organized and theregiment was mustered into service November 1861. When sufficient men had been enrolled in the variousregiments then being recruited a brigade was announced and Meagher was appointed Brigadier-General ofvolunteers in February 1862. He was given the command of the New York Irish Brigade comprising the63rd, 69th and 88th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 29thMassachusetts Infantry, later replaced by the 28th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Four of these regimentswere composed almost entirely of Irishmen and amassed fame during their service in the Virginian battles of1861-62, fighting with a fierce pride and determination.

Meagher had his horse shot from under him at the battle of Antietam, Maryland, in September 1862.He was again wounded and the brigade almost completely decimated during the battle of Fredericksburg on


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13 December 1862 when it attacked the Confederates strongly entrenched on Marye's Heights. After thischarge the brigade was only a shadow of its former self.

Lieutenant-Colonel (later brevet Brigadier-General) David Berkely McCreary of the 145th Pennsyl-vania Infantry Regiment, in a letter written from the Headquarters of the regimental Camp near Falmouth,Virginia, on 20 April 1863 described the celebration of St. Patrick's Day and Meagher's participation:

"Scenes of the grandest kind have been the order of the day. The celebration of St.Patrick's Day in the morning by the Irish Brigade was a most laughable affair - Irish all over,steeple chases, hurdle races, climbing greased poles, catching greased pigs, running races inbags, etc., with Gen. Meagher with tall white hat, white pants, and buff tipped boots over hispants and a ruffled shirt - a regular irish gentleman as master of the ceremonies. The alarm inthe midst of the festivities that the rebs had crossed and were coming in on our rear, thebeating of the long roll and the indescribable skedaddle in every direction from Gen. Hookerdown to the lowest private and the rushing to arms - all this was both funny and exciting."1

Rather than lead the depleted unit combined with a question of principle, Meagher resigned hiscommission in the spring of 1863 however President Lincoln cancelled his resignation and he was restoredto active duty in early 1864. He was assigned to the western theatre of war where he commanded the Districtof Etowah, comprised of Tennessee and Georgia, on General William T. Sherman's line of communicationsin the Atlanta campaign. In January of 1865 he was ordered to join Sherman's forces in Savannah but did nottake up the post and remained at Chattanooga, Tennessee, until the end of the war.

In September 1865 he was appointed secretary of the new Montana territory by President AndrewJohnson and in the fall of 1866 Meagher became acting governor of the territory. He was holding thisposition on 1 July 1867 when he fell overboard from the "G.A. Thompson" on the upper Missouri. He haddecided to travel to Fort Benson in the territory as Indian problems were causing much trouble and hewanted to superintend the arrival of arms and munitions for the militia.

His body disappeared and was never recovered. No information has been uncovered as to why he felloverboard - whether he was sick, pushed or committed suicide has never been proven. Strangely enough thename "Thompson" had quite an effect on his life as the ship which transported him after his escape fromAustralia to the U.S. was named the "Elizabeth Thompson".2

A compatriot of Meagher's in the Irish uprisings, John Mitchel, was also transported to VanDieman's Land with his family. Mitchel had been born in 1815 in County Derry and first came toprominence in the Irish Movement of 1847. With other dissidents he helped to form the Irish Confederation.A powerful speaker, he travelled Ireland speaking against the oppression of his fellow-countrymen. This ledto his arrest and he was found guilty of treason, his sentence of death also being commuted to transportationfor fourteen years.

Along similar lines to Meagher, Mitchel was likewise granted a "ticket of leave" and sent to thedistrict of Bothwell where he found residence in Nant Cottage. His wife, Jenny, along with the children, leftIreland after her husband's ship had sailed, arrived in Adelaide in the new colony and then headed forHobart. There she caught up with John and continued to assist him with his struggles. The three sons andtwo daughters had accompanied their mother when they arrived in the new colony in May 1851.

On the morning of 9 June 1853, Mitchel and P.J. Smyth, a friend from New York City, rode togetherto the Bothwell police station to hand back his "ticket". Mitchel managed to escape, heading for the seacoast with his eldest son, John C. Mitchel, where they found passage on a pick-up ship bound for Sydney.From here they shipped on board an American vessel, the "Orkney Lass", arriving in the United States to bejoined by his family shortly thereafter. 1 Letter by Lieutenant-Colonel McCreary, item #396 in Catalog #K, Ron Van Sickle's Military Book Shop, Gaithersburg,

Maryland, November 1989. This regiment contained a veteran who later emigrated to Australia - Charles Gorsuch, ofCompany K.

2 "Memoirs of Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher" by Michael Cavanagh.


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Jenny and the remaining children had left Hobart bound for Sydney; there they laid over inWoolloomooloo, a Sydney suburb, then set sail on the "Julia Ann" for Tahiti then San Francisco. On 29November 1853 they arrived in New York to be met by Thomas Francis Meagher who took them to a housein Brooklyn. They resided firstly in New York where Meagher and Mitchel jointly edited a newspaper, "TheCitizen", for concerned Irishmen in the new country. A differing of opinions soon made life between the twoex-convicts unbearable and they parted company. Meagher resumed his law studies and was admitted to theNew York bar. Mitchel became a newspaperman for a short time in Washington and then in Knoxville,Tennessee, where he edited "The Southern Citizen" with distinguished ability.

The first citizens of Knoxville to enlist in the Confederate Army were enrolled in the "MitchelGuards", and William G. Swan, former mayor of Knoxville, was named commanding officer. This infantrycompany, named for John Mitchel, was limited to men of Irish descent. The Mitchel Guards and othercompanies were soon organized and trained at the fairgrounds two miles east of Knoxville.3

Mid-way through the Civil War Mitchel received a position with the influential newspaper the"Richmond Examiner" while the Confederate government had its capital in that city. When the owner andeditor John Moncure Daniel died, Mitchel took over the reins of running the newspaper and continued thepolicy of being critical of the government. Although at one stage Mitchel had been friendly with PresidentJefferson Davis when Davis was Secretary of War in Washington during the 1850's and Mitchel also editinga newspaper, in his official role as editor of the "Richmond Examiner" he included many attacks on both thePresident and the government in the pages of the newspaper.

As well as being an influential part of the Richmond news fraternity, John Mitchel also servedactively with the Ambulance Corps when required. All three of his sons saw service in the Confederatearmy.4

3 "Fort Sanders and the Civil War In East Tennessee" by Digby Gordon Seymour, p10-11. Original source being "John Mitchel,

the Irish Patriot, Resident of Tennessee", by Samuel C. Williams. East Tennessee Historical Society. Publications No. 10(1938), p44-56. The "Mitchel Guards" are not shown in local designations of Confederate units in "Personnel Of TheCivil War" by William Amann nor roster of local companies in the Index to "Confederate Veteran" magazine compiledby Louis H. Manarin, Volume I. William G. Swan is not listed in the roster of "Tennesseans In The Civil War" as either aConfederate or Union soldier.

4 "Jenny Mitchel - Young Irelander: A Biography" by Rebecca O'Conner-Moulder. [Tucson, Arizona, 1988] John Mitchel'smembership in the Ambulance Corps is also noted in a listing provided of members in the Southern Historical SocietyPapers, Volume 25 (1897). Another biography of Mitchel appeared in a volume in the Virginia Regimental Seriespublished by H.E. Howard (Lynchburg, Va., 1998), “Richmond Ambulance Company, Herbig’s Infirmary Company &The Virginia Public Guard and Armory Band” by Jeffrey C. Weaver and Lee A. Wallace, Jr., and contains a roster ofeach member of the Richmond Ambulance Company, which was formed by prominent citizens of the city during theSeven Days Battles around Richmond, to assist the wounded on nearby battlefields and they continued their service untilthe end of the war. Amongst the members was one that touches Australia, John B. Mitchel. His biography reads:

“Born 3 November 1815 in Camnish, Londonderry, Ireland. Graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, in 1834,studied law. Began practice of law at Newry, Northern Ireland. Entered politics in 1845, joined Young Irelandmovement, which advocated violent expulsion of the English from Ireland. Founded the United Irishmen. Arrested andconvicted in May 1848 of felony-treason, and ordered transported. First went to Bermuda and then to Van Dieman’sLand (Tasmania, Australia), escaped in 1853, went to San Francisco, Ca., and then to New York on 19 November 1853.Began editing the Citizen, dedicated to the Irish cause. Openly supported slavery and became embroiled in bittercontroversy with Henry Ward Beecher. Also alienated Catholics and Know-Nothings. Visited Virginia twice in 1854.Moved to Tuckaleechee Cove, in east Tennessee in 1856, and later moved to Knoxville, Tn. Began publication of theSouthern Citizen in 1857 in Knoxville. Moved to Paris, France, in 1859 and was French correspondent for a number ofSouthern newspapers. Returned to New York in late 1862, and made his way to Richmond. Edited the RichmondEnquirer in 1863, member of the Ambulance Committee. In Spring 1864 left the Enquirer and joined the editorial staffof the Richmond Examiner, an anti-Davis newspaper. Returned to New York in 1865, began editing the New York DailyNews, and was imprisoned for his violent advocations in the paper. Released after four months in Fortress Monroe, andreturned to Paris, France, and lived there 1865-1866 as a Fenian agent. Returned to Richmond in 1867, and back to NewYork by October 19, 1867, when he began publication of the Irish Citizen. Returned to Ireland in 1875, and was electedto Parliament and died soon thereafter. Died 20 March 1875. See also Seamus McCall “Irish Mitchell: A Biography”(Thomas Nelson and Sons, ltd., London, 1938).


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The youngest, Willie Mitchel, joined the First Virginia Infantry as a Private in Company D of theregiment on 3 November 1862 at Culpeper Court House, Va., aged 16, and witnessed the Army of NorthernVirginia's campaigns from then onwards. One of his friends in the First Virginia, John Dooley, recalled inhis journal of how Willie would take part in picket duty patrolling the battle line and how he would talk tohis fellow soldiers of the strange animals in Australia. Willie became a casualty of war when he was killedin Pickett's Charge during the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on 3 July 1863.5

According to an article by Charles Loehr of the same regiment, Mitchel's body was recovered theday after the battle of Gettysburg by a Charles Joice and three others when they were in search of woundedsoldiers between the lines. His remains were found near a "little brick house" that was probably the CordoriFarmhouse, wrapped in a blanket that was pinned with three pins, the center one being larger and with ablack head whereas the two others were "common pins". Joice found that Private Mitchel's face had beenwashed and that a slip of paper had been pinned to the blanket with the words "W.L. Mitchel" thereon. Withthe assistance of a black man they dug a grave "on the banks of a small cabin so close that no plow wouldever disturb it" and laid Mitchel in it. They took a cracked board and fastened the slip of paper to it at thehead of the grave. It was not until May of the following year that Mr. Joice was able to locate PrivateMitchel's mother and describe to her the location of the grave.6

The second son, James Mitchel, had helped to raise Company C of the First Virginia Infantry,receiving the rank of Captain for his efforts, and then served as aide-de-camp and Adjutant on the staff ofBrigadier-General John B. Gordon who commanded a brigade of Georgian troops in the Army of NorthernVirginia. He lost his right arm in one of the Seven Days battles around Richmond, Virginia, in June-July1862.7 He is also mentioned as being on the staff of General Gordon during the battle of Chancellorsville,Va., May 1863, when he was struck in the breast by a fragment of shell, and received an ugly wound. Hehad to be sent to Richmond as soon as he was able to bear the journey; and it was several weeks before hewas fit to return to duty.8

In the book "1st Virginia Infantry" by Lee A. Wallace Jr., the roster shows James MITCHELL, clerk,21 years, enlisted 21 April 1861 as Private, Company C; elected Second Lieutenant 30 August 1861,appointed Captain 27 April 1862; wounded 30 August 1862 at the battle of Second Manassas. The sameroster shows William Mitchel in Company D and a James C. Mitcherl in Company G, thought to be norelation.

John C. Mitchel, the eldest son, who had accompanied his father to Australia before the rest of thefamily followed, was educated at Columbia College, New York, and from that school of engineering went toTennessee, where he was engaged in laying out a railroad when a call to arms was raised.9 He received anappointment as Lieutenant from the Confederate Secretary of War at Montgomery, Alabama, and wasordered to join the battalion of South Carolina Regular Artillery, stationed at Fort Moultrie in Charlestonharbour. Having previously survived an attack by an obstinate kangaroo while out hunting in Australia, he 5 William L. Mitchel was aged either 16 or 19 in 1863 according to his service record at enlistment; detailed from Company D

according to Kathleen Georg's, "Nothing But Glory: Pickett's Division At Gettysburg", p239. His age is stated in"Gettysburg Death Roster" by Robert K. Krick as sixteen however John Dooley states in his journal that Mitchel wasseventeen when he enlisted. There are several quotes on Mitchel in the journal. Both the fathers of John Dooley andWillie Mitchel served in the Ambulance Corps and it is supposed that John Mitchel was able to secure places for his sonswith this contact in mind.

6 "The 'Old First' at Gettysburg", by Charles Loehr, Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume XXXII (1904), p36, also seeRebecca O'Conner-Moulder to Superintendent, Gettysburg National Cemetery, 18 May 1864 enclosure. GettysburgNational Military Park files. "Jenny Mitchel: Young Irelander", note, p72-73.

7 Mitchel is shown in "Jenny Mitchel: Young Irelander" by Rebecca O'Conner as being aide-de-camp to Gordon but is notmentioned as being a part of Gordon's staff in "Confederate Staff Officers" by Joseph Crute, a biography of Gordon,"John Brown Gordon: Soldier, Southerner, American" by Ralph Lowell Eckert, nor Gordon's own "Reminiscences OfThe Civil War".

8 "Life of John Mitchel" by William Dillon, Volume 2, p178.9 "Captain John Mitchel, At Fort Sumter" by Miss Claudine Rhett. Confederate Veteran magazine, Volume IV (1896), p6-7.


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participated in the attack on Fort Sumter on the 12th and 13th of April 1861. He was assigned to the serviceof the hot-shot guns of the Sumter battery at Fort Moultrie, which poured shells on Sumter and set fire to itduring the siege. After the evacuation of the Federal troops under Major Robert Anderson, Mitchel was sentwith his company, under the command of Captain Hollinquist, and the Palmetto Guard, to take possession ofthe fortress and become its garrison.

From that time until 7 April 1863 all remained quiet at Sumter until the Federals laid siege toCharleston harbour. Mitchel was then placed in command of Sumter after the promotion of Colonel StephenElliott. On the 20th of July 1864 the sentinel on the parapet of Fort Sumter sent to ask the commander to beallowed to leave his post because the shelling of the enemy's batteries on Morris Island was too severe forhim to remain outside the bomb-proof. Captain Mitchel refused to give him permission to do so, thinking it abad precedent to establish, but when he received another urgent request of a like nature from the samesoldier a few minutes later, he went upon the ramparts to see for himself, if it was indeed necessary towithdraw the man from his post. He had only been there a short time, when he saw one of the enormous300-pound shells coming directly towards himself; but he did not seek shelter in the adjacent bomb-proof.Having obliged the sentinel to stand his ground, he deemed it his duty to run the same risk, and to give themen under his command an example of courage and coolness. The shell fell near him, burst, and shatteredhis frame. After three hours of agony, he closed his eyes forever.10

Captain Mitchel's biography appears in the book "Siege Train: The Journal of a ConfederateArtilleryman in the Siege of Charleston" as being a member of Company I, 1st Regiment of South CarolinaArtillery. Company I was added to the 1st Battalion South Carolina Artillery in February 1862. The battalionwas reorganized 25 March 1862 and this unit became Company I, 1st Regiment. It was also known asCaptain John C. Mitchel's Company.

John C. Mitchel entered Confederate service in either March or April 1861 as Second Lieutenant ofCompany B. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in May or June 1861 and transferred to Company C; thenpromoted to Captain 25 March 1862 and transferred to assume command of Company I. He was assigned 15July 1863 as commander of Shell Point Battery (later renamed Battery Simkins) and the artillery in nearbyFort Johnson. Ordered to command of Fort Sumter 4 May 1864, he was fatally wounded at Fort Sumter 20July 1864.11

Another biography in "The Defense of Charleston Harbor" by John Johnson mentions Mitchel asthus:

"Soon after arriving in the Southern States he learned of the approaching hostilities,and, repairing to South Carolina, was commissioned lieutenant by Governor Pickens in theregular artillery of the State service. His first duty was in Fort Moultrie, under Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Brigadier-General) R.S. Ripley, assisting in the reduction of Fort Sumter,April 12 and 13, 1861. As captain in the First Regiment South Carolina Artillery (regulars) hetook part in the capture of the Federal gunboat Isaac Smith in the Stono River, and later wasin command of the works on the southern end of Morris Island when the Federal army andnavy combined to capture them. He had become worthily distinguished in the militarydistrict, and the choice was generally regarded as promising well for the growing honor of thepost. Captain Mitchel was only in his twenty-fifth year at this date. His promotion to amajority had been warmly recommended and was daily expected."12

The same book also carries the story of Mitchel's death in 1864 at the fort:

10 SHSP. The same story appears as well in "The Siege of Charleston 1861 - 1865" by E. Milby Burton, p298. Sources of article

are "The Defense of Charleston Harbor" by John Johnson, p227.11 "Siege Train: The Journal of a Confederate Artilleryman in the Siege of Charleston" edited by Warren Ripley. Biographical

appendix, p286-287.12 "The Defense of Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter and the Adjacent Islands" by John Johnson, p208-209. Books For

Libraries Press, NY. reprint of 1890 edition.


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"Captain Mitchel, commanding the post, was unremitting in the discharge of all hisarduous duties. Allowing himself but little sleep in the day-time, he was particularly alert toguard against assault by night, and the constant vigilance of this spirited young officerbecame imparted to his whole garrison. Sentinels, straining their eyes from exposed points,were killed or wounded by the shelling while facing the more immediate danger of smallboats approaching through the darkness to surprise the fort. In the day-time the sentinels werereduced to one or two for observation of the fleet and to keep the record of the shots fired.

On the fourteenth day of the bombardment, being the 20th of July, 1864, CaptainMitchel ascended the stairway of the western angle of the gorge, about 1 o'clock P.M., toexamine the movements of the fleet and land force of the enemy, preparatory to writing hisdaily report for transmission to the city by despatch-boat that night. Arriving at the head ofthe stairs and passing out upon the level of the original terreplein of the fort, he found thesentinel there at his post well protected by breast-high shelter within the massive parapet ofearthwork necessary to secure the safety of the stair-tower beneath it. Stationing himself nearthe spot, but not within the sentry-box, he rested his arm and glass on the parapet and beganhis observations. Before him, in the sea-view, were the low hulls of the monitors lying atanchor off Morris Island, the wooden gunboats and blockaders resting also at their appointedstations outside the bar, and farther out, in the offing, a despatch-boat going North. Nomovement in the fleet at all that day, except among the tugs and tenders. The sea was smooth,the sky bright, and the sun blazing with midsummer heat. Hot work in the Union batteries ofMorris Island close by, their rifle- and mortar-shelling keeping their gunners as busy as theycould be; hottest time of all at the battered ruin of a fort taking daily transformation into anindestructible earthwork.

The commander was not unduly exposing himself, but while engaged with his glass amortar-shell of the largest kind rose in the air, and descending well to the westward of thefort, as if about to strike the wharf, burst at an altitude of some eighty feet above the water.The bursting of a mortar-shell so high in the air and somewhat outside of the walls was nomore to the garrison than a matter of ordinary occurrence, scarcely noticeable in the climateof the fort. The commander continued his observation through it all, his eye fixed to the glass,until suddenly struck to the ground by a large piece of the shell, wounding him with greatlaceration on the left hip. Had he been in the sentry-box, he would have escaped all hurt, forthat was protected on the rear as well as front.

The sentinel at once gave the alarm by calling at the head of the stairs, and was soonjoined by one or two from the lower casemates. Lifted from the spot where he fell, pale andmuch weakened already by the loss of blood, the youthful commander was in perfectpossession of his mental faculties and spoke with calmness of his mortal wound. It was adifficult task to bear his body, though of light weight, from the highest point in the fort downto the hospital. The only way was by the dark, narrow, and winding staircase. Tender as thehandling could be, the movement yet caused him the acutest pain. When laid on the surgeon'stable in the hospital he required to be revived with stimulants. Later, as his sufferingincreased, anodynes were administered, but no surgery was attempted, as it was seen from thefirst that his wound would prove fatal. He lingered for nearly four hours, and expired about 5p.m.

The death of Captain John C. Mitchel, greatly deplored by the many friends he hadmade in his adopted country, was the closing of a brief career which have promise ofundoubted distinction in military service. He commanded Fort Sumter for two months andsixteen days, passing through two weeks of its third and last grand bombardment."13

13 ditto, p228-228.


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A large funeral service was held for John at Charleston's Cathedral of St. David. Cadets from the"citadel" of the South Carolina Military Academy at Charleston stood guard while John Jr. lay in state andGeneral Beauregard wrote a letter to John Sr. to console him for his loss.14

The father, John Mitchel, was incarcerated at the end of the Civil War at Fortress Monroe, Virginia,for his part in the Confederate rebellion until a deputation of Irishmen asked President Johnson for hisrelease on the premise that he was vital for the cause of Irish freedom.15 Johnson pardoned Mitchel whopresently was let out of prison in October 1989 and went briefly north to New York. The Fenian movementsent Mitchel to Paris as fiscal agent charged with the safe transmittal of funds to the Irish revolutionaries. In1866 he resigned his Paris assignment and returned to the United States in December of that year havingbeen allowed to return by the U.S. Government. He settled in New York with this family where he lived forthe next few years. In 1874 his supporters in Ireland began a campaign surreptitiously for Mitchel to returnto his homeland and campaign for a seat in the new government. Outwardly he would be returning forfamily reasons and as he was sailing from New York he found that he had been elected unopposed; howeverhe could not take his seat due to being declared not acceptable. While awaiting the result a new election washeld and he again was successful, however, his old complaints of rheumatism and phthisis flared up and hetook to bed and died on 20 March 1875 back in his home country of Ireland. One member of the Mitchelfamily who continued living in Victoria after the remainder had left and gone to the U.S. was MargaretMitchel Irvine, who had been John's sister. She married Hill Irvine16, also an Irelander, and they had cometo Australia as free settlers in the 1870's. Their son, William Hill Irvine Jr., would become premier of thestate of Victoria in the early stages of the new century.17

Another Irishman with an Australian connection was Thomas Lalor. His brother, Peter, became awell-known identity in the so-called "Eureka" uprising in Ballarat, during the mid 1850's during theVictorian gold-rush and was later a member of the Victorian Parliament. Most of the Lalor family hademigrated to the U.S. between 1830 and 1850 - Tom was known to have been killed in the Civil War.18 Afurther two brothers also fought in the war, supposedly on different sides.19

14 "Tassie's Civil War hero" by Stuart Diwell. Article in "The Sunday Tasmanian", 21 July 1991, pages 8-9. According to the

same article, Miss Claudine Rhett, who had written of Mitchel in various Southern journals, was smitten by Mitchel, andplaced flowers on his grave in Charleston thereafter. A future United States Consul in Melbourne, James P. Lesesne, wasa cadet in the Citadel at this stage and may have been involved with the ceremonies.

15 A confidential order to 2nd Lieutenant William H. Harris of the 20th New York Independent Artillery Battery from MajorGeneral John A. Dix at New York City, June 9th, 1865, stated “You will proceed immediately to the steamer ‘HenryBurden’ lying at the Battery with one trustworthy man, and take charge of John Mitchell [sic], who will be delivered toyou by the Metropolitan Police … immediately proceed to Fort Monroe and delivered Mr. Mitchell to the commandingofficer of that post…” Mentioned in a note accompanying a photograph of Lieutenant Harris in “Military Images”,Volume 19, Number 4 (January-February 1997), page 12.

16 "Jenny Mitchel: Young Irelander", p16, 396.17 ibid. A death notice for Margaret Irvine is noted in the Melbourne "Argus" for 25 July 1904, p5. William Hill Irvine was

Premier of Victoria before taking up a Federal parliamentary seat and after holding that was appointed Justice of theVictorian Courts.

18 Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, p30. No mention of a Thomas Lalor has yet been found in any of the usualsource material. An article "Peter Lalor: Ireland and Victoria" in the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Journal,Volume 59, Number 1 (March 1988), p19, shows the family members as William, born 23 July 1810; Joseph, born 8May 1812; Patrick, 28 March 1814; John, 5 June 1815; Jerome, Thomas, Richard, and finally Peter, who was born in1827. Two girls were also born in this large family. The same article, on page 27, mentions that William had emigrated tothe U.S. in 1837 and was followed by Jerome in 1845. Tom and Joseph also left for the U.S. on dates unknown. Theroster of Confederate Soldiers published by Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, North Carolina in 1996, onlyshows one Lalor in the entire Confederate army - James F. Lalor, a Private in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment so thestory of a Lalor fighting on different sides may be another myth. The New York rosters where a large proportion of theIrish population was based, does not show the surname of Lalor with a first name of William, Thomas, Joseph or Jerome.The Massachusetts rosters do have Thomas Lalor as a member of the 2nd Cavalry regiment, no other information waslisted.

The "Official Army Register" of U.S. Volunteer officers shows three named Lalor, however, none match upwith the above details. First Lieutenant De Kline Lalor was in the 5th New Jersey Infantry and killed in action at


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The four brothers who went to America were William, Jerome, Tom and Joseph. Tom was supposedto have died in the war but his name does not appear in the most eligible of rosters in “Roll of Honor” whichlists all Union dead buried in National cemeteries. A search in the family Intenet sites shows that Tom waskilled at the battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, 5 May 1864 (where that information came from I don’tknow) but it is confirmed that Thomas Lalor, a private in Company E of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry, wasmissing in action at the Wilderness on the same day.

Further information on those American brothers does not give any more links to the Civil War, Johndied in Canada and Jerome died on 31 December 1898 and was buried at Independence, Buchanan County,Iowa.

For Peter Lalor, leader of the rebellion at Eureka, it must have been difficult for him to see theShenandoah sailing up to Melbourne in January 1865, and as he was then a member of the Victorian stateparliament, no doubt he was involved with celebrations for the visit of the Confederate ship. I wonderwhether he attended the dinner held in their honour at the Melbourne Club?

John F. Hanley had been another American lured to Australia for the prospect of gold. He was bornin the County of Limerick, Ireland on 4 May 1826 but lived in the United States since infancy. He marriedAmerican-born Catherine H. Fitzpatrick and left America to search for gold in Australia leaving a record ofcorrespondence with his wife. He left a collection of letters in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, which showswhere he was digging for wealth. Letters show that he had been in the Goulburn River diggings in Victoriaand then tried his luck in the Ovens River in 1853. Finding that others were making more money providinggoods to miners, Hanley and friends had managed to organise a contract to roof a large building and makingshingles was one way of getting money. With nothing more available Hanley took a job at Wangarattabuilding a bridge across the Ovens. Through other efforts of working as a carpenter in Beechworth and thenhelping to build a sawmill at Yackandandah he finally had sufficient funds to buy passage home, returningto the U.S. aboard the "Red Jacket" in May 1855. At some later stage he served in the Civil War although asyet his exact unit is not known but due to a letter by Hanley in the Mitchell Library dated 13 July 1863 weknow that he had been in the war. He died 5 September 1895 at his residence in West Lafayette, Indiana,and no doubt information will be known when his unit is tracked down and service papers prepared andresearched.20

From research conducted by Roy Parker, he wrote to his wife aboard the Steamboat "Carolina" on13 July 1863. He was under General Manson and everywhere were stories of [John Hunt] Morgan. In hisletter he mentioned New Albany and Jeffersonville. The book "Generals In Gray", page 310, lists BrigadierGeneral Mahlon Dickerson Manson as being involved during the raid of John Hunt Morgan in resisting thedraft of Morgan from getting the beef cattle in the neighbourhood of Lebanon. "Compendium of theRebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer, volume 1, page 532 lists the regiment under Manson during June and July1863, these were: 10th Illinois Infantry, 23rd Michigan Infantry, 111th Ohio Infantry, 14th Illinois Cavalry,5th Indiana Cavalry and Elgin's Illinois Artillery Battery, which presumed that Hanley was a member of one

Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862 [Volume 2, page 714]; Captain John Lalor of the 15th New York Engineers, resigned 8July 1862 [Volume 2, page 416]; and Second Lieutenant Frank M. Lalor, 9th Massachusetts Infantry, dismissed 3 August1863 [Volume 1, page 159].

There was also a Captain Lalor mentioned in "Foreigners of the Confederacy" by Ella Lonn, page 75, as havingbeen an agent of the Confederate States being sent to Ireland but whether he was a native-born Irishman had not beenestablished. He sailed from Wilmington sometime after February 29, 1864, and that he reported to Henry Hotze,Confederate agent in England, some days before April 16, the same year, delivering his letter of introduction, and that hethereupon proceeded to Ireland. (Originally from Naval Official Records, Series 2, Volume 3, pages 1044 and 1088.

Another Lalor was a Lieutenant in the Confederate army being a member of the Mississippi Artillery as J.F.Lalor (Army Official Records, Series I, Volume 17), and may match up some of the particulars.

19 "Australians And The Gold Rush" by Jay Monaghan, p244; "The Last Frontier" by John Greenway, p24.20 "Young America and Australian Gold" by E. Daniel & Annette Potts, pages 63-64, 234.


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of these regiments, probably the 5th Indiana Cavalry. Furthermore, Volume 3 of the same series shows theregimental history of the 5th Indiana Cavalry as being involved in the Pursuit of Morgan between July 4 and26 but no further information.

The 1870 census shows John Hanley as a resident of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, born in Irelandaged 44, therefore about 1826, occupation grocer, with wife Catherine (aged 41, born Ohio), and childrenMary, Charles, Emma, and John G., plus John Fitzgerald, aged 67 and born in Virginia. Another JohnHanley in Van Buren, Indiana, also born in Ireland around 1826, had a wife Ann so is not considered theright one.

The 1880 census compares information, John Hanley was then aged 54, born Ireland around 1826;occupation granger, wife Catahraine and children Emma L. and John G. Hanley. His residence wasChauncey, Tippecanoe County. Additions to the family were Charles and wife Fanny.

Pension records indicate that John Hanley had applied for a pension in 1890, he had served withCompany G, 76th Indiana Infantry; his widow Catherine H. Hanley applied in 1895.

Therefore I went to locate a service record from the Civil War Data and no John Hanley in Indianafiles, there is a John Hauley who served in Company G of the regiment, mustered in on 21 July 1862 andmustered out 20 August 1862 at Indianapolis, Indiana, the regiment had only been organised for 30 days andits duty was to repel guerrilla raids. band of guerrillas had crossed the Ohio at Newburg, and captured about80 convalescent soldiers in the hospital together with some state arms and other property. Col. Gavin andLieut.-Col. Wilder, who were at their homes at the time, proposed raising a regiment for 30 days for thepurpose of clearing that part of the state of these lawless bands.

Their proposition was accepted and in 48 hours time the 76th had been raised, mustered andequipped. It moved to Evansville, Ind., and Henderson Ky., having several severe skirmishes withguerrillas. Cos. G and H were employed as guards to protect steamers.Its strength was 786, and its loss bydeath, 1. Source: Union Army, vol 3, p. 159

Yet another link between Australia and the Civil War concerns William Joyce Sewell, who had beenborn in Castlebar, Ireland, on 6 December 1835 and came to the United States in 1851. He went to sea ontwo voyages to China and Australia before becoming a merchant in Chicago, Illinois. In 1860 he moved toCamden, New Jersey and at the outbreak of war he volunteered for the Union cause. He was appointedCaptain of Company H, 5th New Jersey Infantry on 28 August 1861; wounded at the battle ofChancellorsville, Va., 3 May 1863 and again at Gettysburg, Pa., on 2 July 1863. He was mustered out asColonel of the 5th New Jersey on 6 July 1864. He re-enlisted and was given the rank of Colonel in the 38thNew Jersey from which he was mustered out on 30 June 1865. He was awarded the Medal of Honor foractions 3 May 1863 at Chancellorsville. Postwar he was a member of the State Senate; he was then electedto the U.S. Senate from New Jersey and died in Camden, 27 December 1901.

Current research has not indicated any lengthy items regarding Colonel Sewell although there aretwo regimental histories of the unit produced during the 19th century. The notation in his file in the Registerof U.S. Officers states that he was brevetted brigader general of volunteers on 13 March 1865 for gallant andmeritorious service in the battle of Chancellorsville, Va., and brevetted major general of volunteers forgallant and meritorious service during the war; he was awarded the medal of honor on 25 March 1896 forhaving assumed command of a brigade at Chancellorsville, Va., 3 May 1863, where he rallied around hiscolors a mass of men from other regiments and fought those troops with great brilliancy through severalhours of desperate conflict, remaining in command though wounded and inspiring them by his presence andthe gallantry of his personal example.21

21 "A Generation on the March - The Union Army at Gettysburg" by Edmund J. Raus, Jr., page 51; "Historical Register and

Dictionary of the U.S. Army" by Francis B. Heitman, Volume 1, p875.


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James Edwin Love is listed in the Official Army Register, Volume 7, page 370, as Captain, 8thKansas Infantry Regiment, mustered out at expiration of term of service, 15 May 1865. He was noted in"Young America and Australian Gold" by E. Daniel & Annette Potts having been bankrupted after a year'swork in a forty-feet deep shaft at Creswick Creek, but he and his brother made enough money in the nextthree years in their firm of Samuel A. Love and Company to enable him to return to the States with 1200pounds in gold. Source being "The Autobiography of James E. Love", Part 1, Bulletin of the MissouriHistorical Society, Volume 6 (January 1950), pages 124-138 which lists his birth in Ireland, youth inAustralia and Civil War service. A second part was printed in Part II (April 1950, pages 400-411. He also islisted in the MOLLUS Papers for Kansas, Volume 9 (1906), obituary and war service so presumed to be thesame person. He is listed in "Prison Life in the South" by A.O. Abbott as having resided in St Louis, Mo.,and captured at the battle of Chickamauga, Ga., on 19 September 1863. He was sent to the Confederateprison at Columbia, South Carolina, where he was eventually released.

The 8th Kansas regimental report of the battle at Chickamauga was written by Lieutenant-ColonelJ.L. Abernathy as their colonel was in command of the brigade. Abernathy stated in his report reprinted inthe Official Records, Series I, Volume 30, Part 1, page 532:

"On the morning of the 19th, after marching nearly 8 miles, most part of the way ondouble-quick, we were suddenly turned to the right and marched nearly 1 mile into thetimber, when we were formed into line of battle, facing east. Soon after being formed in linewe were ordered forward, but had scarcely advanced 50 yards, when the enemy poured aterrible fire upon us from behind a ledge of rocks, where they lay concealed.

Many of the men fell at the first fire, but the others, promptly returning the fire,pressed forward vigorously, and not only maintained their ground, but had nearly penetratedthe lines of the enemy, when our brigade commander, seeing the terrible fire to which the linewas exposed, gave the order to fall back.

Reforming the line, we again advanced under a perfect shower of bullets, sometimesdriving the enemy and in turn being driven by them, until we had fought the ground over andover again, and almost half of our number lay dead or wounded upon the field."James E. Love had been born in Ireland on 27 September 1830 and apparently travelled the world

until his period of Civil War military service.After his discharge he applied for an invalid pension on 23 August 1865 at St Louis County,

Missouri. He stated that he had enlisted first in Company D, 5th U.S. Reserve Corps of Missouri Volunteerson 11 May 1861 as an Orderly Sergeant. He served continuously with this unit until mustered out with thecompany on 31 August 1861.

He was later commissioned as First Lieutenant of U.S. Volunteers at St Louis, Mo., on 10 October1861 and afterwards as Captain in Company K of the 8th Kansas Infantry and continued until discharged atSt Louis by reason of Government Order #82, War Dept, on 14 May 1865. The designation of this unit hadoriginally been the 9th Kansas Volunteers; then amended to Captain Herd's Company, 10th Kansas Volsbefore eventually settling on Company K, 8th Kansas Volunteers. He was on special duty as acting adjutantfrom 17 November to 17 December 1862 and then promoted to adjutant on 17 December 1862.

He had been wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, Ga., 19 September 1863, while engaged inbattle with the enemy. He received two wounds of the left thigh, one from a minie ball and another wound tothe shoulder. He was taken prisoner and remained in the hands of the enemy for about 18 months.

At the time of application, in 1865, he was then residing at 128 Morgan Street, St Louis. It appearsthat this application was rejected as another was lodged in 1883 for relief of an invalid pension. Thisapplication stated that on the 28th of August 1861 he was commissioned by General J.C. Fremont to raise aCompany for the 14th Regiment Missouri Volunteers. As Fremont was removed from command, thecompany was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, about the 3rd of December 1861 and were soonmustered in to duty with the 8th Kansas Infantry.

After forced marches through Tennessee and Kentucky of over eighteen hundred miles, with thecommand sleeping and sitting on wet ground and snow, often without transportation, proper shelter or


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rations, Love complained of problems with piles. While in command of his company at Chickamauga hewas wounded and disabled, having been shot through the left thigh and with the brigade being forced back atthis time, he was left on the field supposed to be dead. He captured and taken to Atlanta, Ga.; Libby prison,Richmond, Va.; and thence to Macon, Ga.. Around the 1st of February 1865 he escaped from prison nearColumbia, S.C., and crossing the Carolinas and the mountains eventually reached Knoxville, Tenn., wherehe was transported to the regimental camp then at Lenox, Tenn., about the 17th of March 1865. Beingdisabled by wounds and suffering from his prison sentence, he was granted leave of absence by MajorGeneral George Thomas. He went to St Louis and was mustered out of service at that place.

James E. Love had married Eliza Mary Wilson on 2 May 1865 at St Louis and they had fourchildren. Another application in 1899 showed his address as 5714 Maple Avenue, St Louis. He received anamount of US$20 per month on pension #54739 until his death on 27 December 1905 at St Louis, then aged75 years and 3 months. He was buried at the Bellefontain Cemetery in St Louis. Eliza Mary received awidow's pension until her death on 2 April 1924.

A copy of his autobiography from the Missouri Historical Society magazine and his obituary fromthe Kansas Military Order of the Loyal Legion appear in Appendix Five of this study.

A new book "This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga" by Peter Cozzens, pages 206 and211, stattes that Captain Love wrote a letter to his fiancee the morning of the battle and scribbled a few lastwords of reassurance before the 8th Kansas went into battle:

"Fear not! The Rebels hold not my life in their hands! I long to see you again alreadyand count the days! Why it is four weeks since I bade you a sorrowful goodbye, and now Iam at the other end of this great country; but happen what may, I feel that in a few moremonths I will be with you again a new man! And then? Will we separate much for a longtime? Not with my will I assure you. Unless by your advice! But hark the bugle blows theassembly for a march and perhaps a fight, so I bid you a hurried adieu, but hope with God'shelp to address you again soon with glorious news for the good cause."Captain Love received two bullets through his thigh, tearing the muscle and jarring the bones. He felt

no pain as he sank to the ground, only the warm sensation of blood oozing down his leg.22

22 "This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga" by Peter E. Cozzens. Originally from the James E. Love Papers, Missouri

Historical Society, St. Louis.

IRELAND, AUSTRALIA AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

CHAPTER TWO

LOCAL LINKS WITH IN THE CIVIL WAR

The "Meagher Guard", attached to the first regiment of South Carolina Rifle militia, thenperforming duty on Sullivan's Island, changed their name after the fall of Fort Sumter to "Emerald LightInfantry". This company and regiment was disbanded sometime before January 1863. Possibly as soon asThomas F. Meagher was appointed Union brigadier-general this Confederate unit thought that a change inname may have been politically expedient. This nickname is not listed in any local designation authority andwas only noticed through the obituary of one of its members, Patrick Walsh, in the book "Foreigners In TheConfederacy" by Ella Lonn. Walsh, an Irishman, had served as lieutenant for this Company.23 If ThomasMeagher was considered a "traitor" for leaving the South and going to New York, where he formed the IrishBrigade, then this story would certainly have credence.

OCCURRENCES IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE WAR

The New South Wales branch of the Irish National League also expressed its sympathy from theCommittee Rooms, 100 King Street, Sydney, on 22 July 1865:

“To the honorable the President, the Senate, and House of Representatives of the United States ofAmerica:

The members of the New South Wales branch of the Irish National League have instructed us, theircentral committee, to condole with you (the Congress of America) on the calamity that has befallen yournation, and to convey to you their heartfelt sorrow and sympathy for the loss which, in common with thecause of freedom, throughout the world, you have sustained by the foul murder by the hand of an assassin ofthat great, energetic, untiring, and devoted champion of freedom, Abraham Lincoln.

We, as inhabitants of New South Wales, are actuated to this expression of sorrow for America’s great lossby the feeling, among others, that as possessors of free institutions we were greatly benefited by the talent,energy, and Christian virtues displayed by one in the proud position of President of the greatest republic ofmodern times.

In the high and responsible position in which he was placed, his powers were great for theaccomplishment of good and evil, and how those powers were used is manifest to the world. By the efforts ofthe great mind with which he was endowed, he overcame obstacles which to the most experienced statesmenin Europe seemed insurmountable; he suppressed a rebellion, more formidable than the annals of any othercountry can record; united and brought into amicable intercourse many who were previously actuated in theiropposition by the influence of party spirit or sectarian prejudices, and by his powerful abilities he brought hiscountry safe and triumphant from that terrible ordeal through which she has been passing for the last fouryears.

The numbers of the Irish National League are also actuated in this far-off land of Australia by gratitude,which is a national characteristic, to express their feelings on the present occasion; they cannot and do notforget that when a code of the most ill-conceived laws deprived them of freedom and prosperity at home, andeven seemed to threaten the total extirpation of their race; when unable to meet their landlords’ call, they wereexpelled from the homes in which they were born; when they appeared deserted by the world, and nothingseemed to remain but death from cold and starvation by the wayside, it was then than America, nobleAmerica, with outstretched arms welcomed them to her shores and bestowed upon them her fertile plains andteeming valleys, where now, beside the grand and majestic rivers that beautify and fertilize your country, they

23 "Foreigners In The Confederacy" by Ella Lonn, p120. Obituary for Patrick Walsh noted in Confederate Veteran magazine,

Volume VII (1899), p177. There is another company titled the "Meagher Guards", Company I of the 8th AlabamaInfantry. Nothing is known of this Company at present.


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reside in freedom and happiness, with honor and credit to themselves, a lasting memorial of the benefits to bederived from that Constitution and that country whose laws they acknowledge and respect.

For these among other reasons we desire to express our warmest sympathy with America, and to pay atribute of respect and admiration to the memory of the great departed. In conclusion, we beg to express a hopethat the united exertions of America’s patriotic sons will secure her peace and happiness, and that the mightyrepublic of the west, the great home of freedom, the United States of America, may continue to retain herexalted position as one of the great and free nations of the world.”

AUSTRALIA AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

CHAPTER THREE

POST WAR VETERANS IN AUSTRALIA

The third part of this study concerns the effect of the Civil War on Australia - the personalities whotravelled to Australia after the war; those veterans who settled in the new country to escape the war andother relationships with the subjects intertwined with the late unpleasantness.

Edward John Brady was born in County Clare, Ireland, on 26 February 1830 and traveled to theAmericas. He was enlisted by Lieutenant Winfield Scott Hancock [later a famous Civil War general] of the6th Regiment of Infantry in the United States Army on 3 June 1854 in Company A of that regiment atJefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, for the term of five years. He was five feet 9 1/2 inches and 21 yearsof age, by profession a farmer. His regiment was ordered to march over the Sierra Nevada Mountains toBenicia to begin on 21 August 1858. This march contained transportation of 128 wagons, five ambulancesand one travelling forge, drawn or accompanied by 1,000 mules.24 At this time the march of the 6th U.S.Infantry was considered to be one of the longest made by infantry troops. From Fort Leavenworth to Beniciavia a brief halt at Fort Bridger was a great trek. On or about the 1st of November 1858 under Captain F.F.Flint of Company A, at the Sierra Nevada in California he received an injury to his left leg caused during thehauling of public wagons over the mountains in California. He was discharged due to this disability on 4August 1859.

After his service in the regular army and subsequent discharge he later enlisted on 19 April 1861 forthree months as Private in Company B, 12th New York State Militia at New York City. He was mustered inas Corporal on 2 May 1861 and reduced from Corporal to Private on 1 June 1861. He was mustered out on 5August 1861 as Private with the remainder of the Company at New York City.25 The 12th New York Militiawas also famous in another sense - Boston Corbett, the soldier who shot and killed John Wilkes Booth,assassinator of Abraham Lincoln, also served in the same regiment.26 The regiment's roll in the war wasmainly spent in garrison duty as it was ordered to occupy Arlington Heights, Virginia, on 24 May 1861. Itwas then ordered to join General Patterson's army on July 6th; was involved in a skirmish near Martinsburg,Va., on July 12th and another near Bunker Hill, Va., on 15 July. At one of these two incidents Bradyreceived a minor injury to a leg and returned to hospital near Washington, D.C., where he was mustered outwith the rest of his regiment.27

He emigrated to Australia aboard the "Great Britain" on 14 August 1862 and after his arrival Bradywas married to Hannah Kenny on 12 July 1868 at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church in Richmond,Victoria. A son, Edwin Brady, was born in 1868 also in Victoria and after that date he departed for SouthAustralia. Edward Brady received a pension from the government due to an injured left leg at the rate ofUS$8 per month; pension #9522, payable from 5 August 1869.

Edward Brady was appointed to the New South Wales Mounted Police on 5 January 1863. Hisrecord shows he was then aged 26, with hazel eyes, brown hair, fresh complexion and height of 5'9". Hisprevious occupation was as soldier, American Army, and he was stationed at the Western District underSub-Inspector Black. He was promoted to Senior Constable on 1 March 1874 and discharged 19 May1881.28

24 "Hancock The Superb" by Glenn Tucker, p54.25 Service information on muster record.26 Information supplied by Terry Foenander; not confirmed with biographical information at present. May have been the same

company.27 "Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer, Volume 3, p1410. A brief resume of his service record

appears in "Two Frontiers" between pages 202 and 210.28 Service record from microfiche "Archives Office of N.S.W., Police, Inspector General: Register of Police 1862-1904" searched

by Terry Foenander.


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After some years in Australia, Brady and his family again returned to the United States buteventually the desire to emigrate again caused his decision to try once more for Australia. He died 17October 1914 at his residence, “Kielty", 117 Wallis Street, Woollahra, NSW and was buried in WaverleyCemetery, New South Wales, in the Roman Catholic Section 17, Grave #701. His widow died in 1928. Hisson, Edwin J. Brady, wrote a biography on his father, "Two Frontiers", published in Sydney, in 1944 byFrank Johnson, which contains small references to his Civil War service.

Another possible veteran may have been John Bree who had been born in Sligo, Ireland, and isburied in the Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. He died 20 March 1894 but no other information is currentlyavailable. Current records indicate that there was a John Bree who served as Private in Company K, 18thKentucky Infantry USA and is the only John Bree indexed in the Union and Confederate armies.

Michael Brennan was born in County Carlow, Ireland, in 1836, to Thomas Brennan and MargaretMooney. Eight years later he sailed with his family to America and while there he enlisted in the FederalArmy until 1864. At that stage he left the U.S. on his own for Australia and after a look at New Zealand hearrived in Melbourne aboard the "Great Britain" in August 1864. He then followed the gold rushes aroundVictoria, eventually arriving at the Godfreys Creek diggings in 1869.

He procured a site in the newly surveyed township and opened a bootmaker's shop, where he madeboots and saddlery to order. He married there in 1870 and decided to remain in the district, in 1884 havingthe contract to distribute local mail and in 1890 being the first man in the district to sign the library's visitor'sbook for the new hall and library built in the town. In 1891 he left Gobur with his wife and their threechildren, opened another shop in Grant Street, Alexandra, then Euroa and Yea where he remained for aboutten years until his wife's death in 1909. He then retired from business and returned to Gobur to be with hisson James, head teacher of the Gobur State School. He died on 28 December 1916 (death certificate #14468)and was buried in the Yea cemetery on December 30th. He was survived by two sons and a daughter. Oneson, Thomas Francis Brennan, was Chief Accountant of the Victorian Railways at the time of his retirementin 1936.29

The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages show that Michael Brennan married Julia Maria Joyce in1870, certificate 2915; James Lawrence Brennan was born in Gobur, 1873/24302, father Michael andmother Julia Marie Joyce; a daughter, Mary Winnefred, was born in Gobur in 1875 / 23216 with mothershown as Julia Maria Joyce. No further records have been located from 1889 to 1913.

Bob Simpson, in researching the name, found Michael Brennan in the 155th New York Infantry whogave the same birthplace and year of birth as well as the same occupation as the Australian veteran listedabove. However, other details of variance show that the one buried at Yea was supposed to have come toAustralia in 1864 while the one in the 155th New York was still in the army. The one here came out toAustralia alone yet the New Yorker had a wife Mary. It also now appears that M. Brennan of Company B,155th New York Infantry Regiment had been admitted to the National Home for Disabled Soldiers andSailors thus ruling him out of the equation. This one although born in Ireland, had also served as Private inCompany G of the 69th New York Infantry, was admitted on 15 October 1895 to the Southern home andwas discharged on 16 February 1904. He was a resident of New York at the time of his admission. Aged 63at the time of admission he was therefore born around 1842; this has not been correlated as he does notappear in lists of residents in the collection of this researcher for 1902.

There was also another Michael Brennan in the 170th New York Infantry and the Adjutant-General'sReports from that state show he was aged 33 when he enlisted 10 September 1862 at New York City toserve three years. He was mustered in as Private, Company D, on October 7th, 1862; promoted to corporal

29 "Gobur and the Golden Gate" by John F. Waghorn, Thomastown, Vic., 1982, p101; "Alexandra Times", 26 January 1917

shows an obituary for Michael Brennan. Gobur is mentioned as being in Anglesey County, 105 north east of theMelbourne General post Office, rail to Yarck and then 8 miles.


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prior to December 1864; promoted to Sergeant, 18 May 1865; mustered out with the company on 15 July1865 near Washington, D.C.

A further Michael Brennan was a member of Company F in the 128th New York Infantry, howeverhe was aged 26 when he enlisted in January 1865, and therefore born around 1836, too early for the oneburied in Yea. Yet another enlisted in the U.S. Navy and credited to New Hampshire however he serveduntil 1867 so is not a candidate.

Other information on Michael Brennan in the 155th New York from his service record stated that heenlisted in Company B as Private, on 5 September 1862. He was aged 26, 5'8", fair complexion, blue eyes,fair hair, born in Ireland and occupation as shoemaker. He enlisted in New York City for a term of threeyears on 5 September 1862, was mustered into service with the 155th New York and appointed FirstSergeant of Company B on 18 November 1862, then to First Lieutenant on 29 November 1864, rankingfrom 6 August 1864 replacing Lieutenant Dunbar, promoted. He was in hospital at Washington, D.C., fromApril 1864 until discharged from the hospital to accept the promotion to Lieutenant around November ofthat year. He was noted as being present between January and June 1865. His file noted that he had beencommanding his Company during the six months of 1865. He was also promoted to Captain of Company Kin the same regiment to take effect from 16 May 1865 replacing Captain McConvey, discharged.

He had previously been on detached service on Rikers Island, New York, from 12 August 1863 until22 April 1864 waiting for conscripts for the regiment; he returned to the field and shortly afterwards, on 18May 1864 he was wounded in action at the battle of Spottsylvania, Virginia.

Major John Byrne, commanding the 155th New York, reported on his regiment's activities during the1864 campaign between May 13th and June 12th:

"The regiment forming part of the Irish Legion, stationed on the Orange andAlexandria Railroad at Burke's Station, Va., broke camp on May 13, 1864, and was conveyedfrom Alexandria to Belle Plain by transport, and marched from there to Spotsylvania Court-House and joined the Army of the Potomac on May 17, when it was immediately assigned tothe Second Division, Second Corps, and the legion of which it formed a part was designatedas the Fourth Brigade. On May 18 the regiment with the brigade and other troops took part inthe assault on the enemy's works in front of Spotsylvania Court-House, but were repulsed."30

Patrick Casey applied for a pension through the Sydney consul, Orlando B. Baker, and wasmedically examined for a Navy pension which resulted in pension certificate # 25220 (letter in Consul fileswas dated 25 March 1905). He had been born 12 November 1842 and baptised in Tralee, County Kerry,Ireland, in August 1843 and served on the U.S.S. "Potomac" (as did another veteran buried in Footscray,Vic., James Brown), having enlisted on 10 August 1864. He served his three years and was discharged atPhiladelphia on 9 August 1867. His invalid pension #28243 states that he was injured in June or July 1865near Pensacola, Florida, when he fell from the vessel, in the line of duty, striking the edge of one of herboats on the way down. A further injury was claimed while serving on the U.S. Flagship "Estella" inPensacola Bay, Florida, he received a blow to the head by being struck with the irons of a prisoner namedWilliams during early 1866. This last named injury was treated at the U.S. Naval Hospital at WarringtonNavy Yard, Pensacola Bay, in early 1867.

The application in 1897 while in Vancouver stated he was then 5'8 1/2", light complexion, blue eyes,light hair and was occupied as a harness marker.

He lived in Chicago from September 1867 to September 1881; Ireland from 1881 to 1882; Chicago1882 to 1885; New York from 1885 to 1887; Ireland 1887 to 1889; Australia between 1889 and 1903; NewYork 1903 to 1905; Australia again 1905 to 1907; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1907 until hisnext listing at Blennerville, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. He died 24 November 1918, aged 73, havingoutlived his wife, Johanna Cronin, by one month. He was buried in his native County Kerry.

30 Official Records, Volume 36, Part 1, p462-463.


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Francis Steven Cullen was born in Ireland in 1837 served in Company A, 8th U.S. Infantry. He hadjoined the regular army from Oswego, New York, on 15 May 1855 and re-enlisted in 1860 for a further fiveyears. He was stationed at various times at Fort Hamilton, New York (where he enlisted); Fort Davis, Texas,and Camp Hudson, also in Texas. Due to the commencement of the war he was discharged on 30 June 1861,possibly in keeping with the practice of releasing those personnel who were sympathetic to the Confederacy.He then changed sides to serve as a Private in Company F, 13th Louisiana Infantry. The only war recordcurrently found shows him as having enlisted 11 September 1861 at Camp Moore, La., for the War.31

According to the regimental history, the 13th Louisiana Infantry completed its organization in August 1861at Camp Moore from men recruited mainly in Lafayette, St. Mary, and Tangipahoa parishes. The unit wasengaged at Shiloh, Farmington, and Perryville, then was assigned to D.W. Adams' and Gibson's Brigade,Army of Tennessee. It was consolidated with the 20th Louisiana Infantry Regiment from December 1862until April 1864; fought with the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, was a part of Hood's Nashvillecampaign and ended the war defending Mobile, Alabama.32 He married Mary Rice in Stawell, Victoria, anddied there, date unknown, according to the above source.

However, his death certificate, 1885/11088, states he was a contractor and died in the Borough ofBelfast (which was between Portland and Warrnambool). He was 54 years of age at the time of death havingbeen born in Antrim, Ireland, and having been in Victoria for 23 years (which means he had arrived around1862 and was born in 1831 and not 1837 as indicated above. His death was due to general debility and wasburied on 3 December 1885 at the Belfast cemetery. He had been married in Melbourne when aged 30(therefore in 1863) to Mary Rice (also shown as Price). There was one daughter, Clara Rice, born at Araratin 1862, then aged 22 years, alive at the time of his death. A son, Francis Steven (or Stephen), was born inArarat in 1864; William Owen in Ararat in 1865; twins John and Joseph in Ararat in 1868; another son,Henry Charles, in Ararat in 1873; Another daughter, Mary, had born in Ararat in 1876 and died at Ararat in1876, age unknown.

James Curtin of Melbourne is another possible Civil War enlistee, having been born 1841 atCastlerath, Cork, Ireland. He served on the Inman line of steamers as a Carpenters Mate during the CivilWar but left the Company in 1864. He was an eyewitness to many stirring events. He owned theEcclesiastical & Staincase Joinery in North Fitzroy (a suburb of Melbourne) and Spring Street, Melbourne.33

Being an enlisted man and with a private company he would not appear in the General Navy Registerso other methods may need to be found to search for his records. The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriagesshow James John Curtin, born in Ireland, was married to Johanna Maria Curtin in 1875; another JamesCurtin, born in Clare, was married in 1873 to Mary Rush. Another James Curtin with wife Catherine Shean,had children born in Fitzroy, Mary Teresa in 1870, Michael John in 1872, William Thomas in 1875, EllenMargaret in 1877, Cecilia Margaret in 1879, Thomas Patrick in 1881 and Mary in 1883.

Anne Cusack, widow of Corporal Francis Cusack, Company A, 11th New York Cavalry Regiment,received a pension of US$12 per month, certificate #441907, and in 1899 gave her address as 50Abercrombie Street, Sydney. Francis Cusack had been born in Limerick, Ireland around 1843 and enlistedon 13 January 1862 in the Company for a period of three years at New York City. At that stage he was aged19 years and mustered in on the same day as Corporal. He re-enlisted on 23 January 1864 at Washington,D.C., for a further three years as Private in the same Company and was promoted to Corporal 25 April 1865.On consolidation of the 12th New York Cavalry Regiment with 4 companies of the 11th, per Special OrdersNo 63, on 16 June 1865, he was mustered out as a supernumerary at Memphis, Tennessee, on 21 July 1865.His personal details were listed as 5'10", light hair, grey eyes, light complexion and by occupation a clerk.34

31 Booth, Andrew B. [Compiler] "Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers", Volume 1, p497.32 "Units Of The Confederate States Army" by Joseph H. Crute Jr., p149.33 "Victoria & Its Metropolis" (1888), Volume 2, p634.34 New York State Archives; similar information in New York State Adjutant-General's Report, 12th Cavalry, p737.


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His service record also mentioned that the organization was changed January 1864 from CompanyA, Scott's 900 to which designation of organization was changed from Captain Bennett's Company, Scott's900 New York Cavalry June 62; from enlistment to muster out he held the rank of private, corporal, private,corporal; during 31 August 1863 he was absent on detached service at the Soldier's Home in District ofColumbia; 31 December 1864 absent on furlough; 28 February 1865, same; 30 April 1865 absent on scout atGermantown, Md.; re-enlisted 23 January 1864. As Frank Cusick he was treated March 14 & 15, 1865 fordiarrhoea; 15 and 16 April 1865 for hemorrhoids; 21 to 23 Apr 1865 for piles; returned to duty. After theabove service he served in the regular army and was discharged 1 December 1871.35

He died 18 November 1894 in Hospital for the Insane, Callan Park, Leichhardt, death certificate#178; which showed as occupation shop keeper; 52 years of age; cause of death was general paralysis;buried at the Rookwood Cemetery Necropolis, Roman Catholic Portion, grave #1352/3/4 where a headstonenow exists; he had been 12 years in New South Wales and address was 50 Abercrombie Street (also showsas #17 and #46); he had been married in Limerick at 32 years of age to Ann Riordan; children - MargaretMay, Francis, Joseph, William, Daniel - living 2 males, 1 female. According to Roy Parker, as of May 1990,the house at number 17 still stands but numbers 46 and 50 are now a part of the Carlton & UnitedBrewery.36

His widow, Anne Cusack, was aged 45 at the time of her widow's application and mentioned threechildren being alive, Francis born 21 January 1883; Joseph born 23 May 1884 and William born 4September 1886. She died 29 June 1923, her address then was 10 Orpington Street, Ashfield, N.S.W.37

John D'Arcy was born around 1842 in Edenderry, King's County, Ireland, and was married inRockhampton, Queensland, on 9 August 1874 aged 32 years. He had been a butcher and had married MaryTempleman, of London, England.

His descendant claims he was a Captain in the Union Army. His name does not appear in thecombined index for the "Official Army Register" for officers in the U.S. volunteer army.

The only name similar to what I required was in the Index to the Official Records of the Army whichshows that in Series I, Volume 30, Part I, page 545, there is a report by Major W.D. Williams commandingthe 89th Illinois Infantry at the battle of Chickamauga. He noted in is report that "... of the officers of theEighty-ninth... I cannot speak in too high praise... Lieutenant Darcy led (his) command with distinguishedbravery and coolness." Although he is noted in this as Darcy, the index shows D'Arcy and the Official ArmyRegister shows him as John R. Dawsy (Volume 6, page 351) as having resigned his commission on 15March 1864. Nothing else familiar is available, however, Lieutenant John Darcy of the 3rd MississippiInfantry, C.S.A., was wounded at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee.38

John D’Arcy was also listed as being a member of the New York Marine Artillery Regiment. He wasaged 22 years when he enlisted 24 April 1862 at New York; mustered in as private, Company I, the sameday, to serve three years. He was discharged on 16 March 1863 at Newberne, North Carolina. This iscertainly another close possibility in our research.

The Civil War muster rolls show three soldiers by the John D’Arcy in the Union army – FirstCorporal John A. D’Arcy of Company E, 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry; Sergeant John S. D’Arcy of the 8thIndependent Battery of Massachusetts Light Artillery and John S. D’Arcy, a Private in Cooke’s Company ofMassachusetts Light Artillery. There are sixteen listings for John Darcy. John A. D’Arcy was aged 33 whenhe enlisted in 1862, residence then shown as Boston; John S. D’Arcy was aged 24 when he enlisted in 1861in the 1st Battery of Massachusetts Artillery and later the 8th Battery.

35 Pension papers, National Archives.36 Letter to author from Roy Parker, 8 May 1990.37 Pension papers, National Archives. The New South Wales Index shows his name in reference #07117, 1894.38 "Military History of Mississippi" by Dunbar Rowland, p148.


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Also of interest were the brothers Netterville Rutledge Davies and John Joseph Davies, both bornin Kentstone, Galway, Ireland and who fought on opposing sides during the war - Netterville for the Unionand John for the Confederacy. They subsequently settled in Perth, Western Australia, where they wereburied in the East Perth Cemetery. Research has indicated that their claims may not be as accurate aspensions have not been substantiated and further information is being sought.39 Roy Parker was informedthat Netterville Rutledge had served with Company G of the 5th United States Cavalry between February1862 and February 1866 and received medals for the Antietam and Vicksburg campaigns. He also had adischarge certificate but research had confirmed that the names of the officers who signed on the certificatewere not with the regiment and medals were not issued for soldiers serving in those campaigns. A letterfrom Ross Callaway to the author on December 17th, 1997, noted that John Joseph had served in the CivilEngineer Corps and had died in 1907; the Roster of Confederate Soldiers published by Broadfoot’s in 1996does not show any John J. Davies in the lists, one James J. Davies is noted as being a Lieutenant inCompany G of the 3rd Confederate Engineer Troops and this is the closest match.

Patrick Downing (other variations were Downie or Downey) born in County Tipperary, Ireland,around 1835; went to America and fought in the Civil War, returned to Ireland and married Mary Fitzgeraldand then was known to have been in Victoria at least eleven years prior to his death in 1893. He lived inNorthcote and is buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery.

One state roster for New Hampshire shows Patrick Downing, born in Ireland, aged 24, enlisted 16December 1863 at Portsmouth for one year as an ordinary Seaman. He served on the U.S.S. "Vandalia" anddeserted 27 September 1864 from the receiving ship at Portsmouth.

Presuming that the next most likely place to start would be in New York, my rosters of indexed NewYork soldiers doesn't show up anyone with that name but the index to the Official Army Register showsPatrick J. Downing was a Major in the 42nd New York Infantry. The roster of officers in "New York in theWar of the Rebellion" compiled by Frederick Phisterer (Volume 3, page 2262, states that Patrick J.Downing, aged 23 years, had enrolled at Long Island to serve three years and mustered in as FirstLieutenant, Company E, 42nd Infantry, 22 June 1861; discharged 24 September 1861; reappointed 1December 1861; mustered in as First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 19 February 1862; transferred as FirstLieutenant to Company K, no date; reappointed Adjutant, 24 July 1862; mustered in as Captain, Company I,28 August 1862; transferred to Company E in January 1863; mustered in as Major, 17 March 1863;mustered out with regiment, 13 July 1864; subsequent service in 99th Militia. Major Downing commandedthe regiment in the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania in May 1864.

Other current indices available do not list anything close to Patrick Downing so I assume that NewYork, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts would be the best places to look for a matching name. Informationsupplied by his great-grandson, Luke Travis, a history teacher at St. Kevin's College in Toorak, Melbourne.

He shows in the Death Listings as Patrick Downie, aged 56 when he died at Northcote in 1893; hisfather was Patrick and mother Mary Mulcahy. Again the Victorian Births, Deaths and marriages nowchildren born to Patrick Downie, Downey or Downing from 1854 to 1888.

Private Murtha Doyle, a member of Company A, 8th U.S. Regular Infantry Regiment, received apension #925895 due to partial inability to earn a support by manual labor. He gave an address as care of theU.S. Consulate-general, Melbourne.

He was born 4 June 1836 at County Wexford, Ireland; after leaving the service returned to Irelandfor some years and then went to New Zealand and then Australia. His service record showed that he wasborn in Gorey, Ireland; had enlisted 2 November 1857 as Private in Company A, 8th Regiment U.S.

39 Letter from Michael E. Pilgrim, Military Service Branch, Military Archives Division of National Archives in Washington, D.C,

to Roy Parker, 30 November 1984, stated that they were unable to locate any records for Netterville R. Davies who hadallegedly served in Company G, 5th United States Cavalry. His name did not appear in the register of enlistments,company muster rolls or the regimental returns.


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Infantry; medical records show that he was treated between 17 and 20 November 1857 with catarrhus;returned to duty, no additional medical treatment was found. He was honorably discharged at camp nearBerlin, Maryland, on 2 November 1862 and then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps 25 November 1862 atNew York, N.Y., for four years. When enlisted he was 5'8", gray eyes, brown hair, dark complexion, formeroccupation as soldier and aged 25 years.

On 21 January 1863 he transferred to the U.S.S. "Union" which at that stage was a despatch andsupply vessel in the Gulf of Mexico; 30 November 1863 transferred to marine barracks, Pensacola, Florida;26 November 1864 transferred to marine barracks, Boston, Mass.; 18 February 1865 transferred to marinebarracks, Portsmouth, N.H.; 7 November 1865 transferred to U.S.R.S. "Vandalia" in Portsmouth, N.H.; 23November 1866 he transferred to marine barracks, Portsmouth, N.H.; 29 November 1866 he was honorablydischarged at Portsmouth, N.H., upon expiration of enlistment.

He married Susan Doyle Cassidy on 27 November 1871 in Tommacork, County Wicklow, Ireland.He was described as a "full age" bachelor, a farmer and living in Coleshill. Five children were the result ofthis union - John, born November 1872; Mary March 1874; Winifred May 24, 1879; Murtha, October 281881 and Thomas, 20 October 1882. As Winifred had been born in Adelaide, South Australia, it appears thatthey were then on their way to New Zealand as they arrived at Lyttleton, N.Z., on 7 December 1878 aboardthe "Opawa". Murtha and Susan were in a small town named Stafford in 1884, in the west coast of the Southisland and he was a baker. They shifted to Oamaru from there and at some time after that he left the familyand went to Australia. His wife continued to live in Oamaru until her death in 1913.

A General Affidavit signed by the U.S. Consul General showed his service as Company A, 8th U.S.Infantry; and that a witness, Edward Woods, of 509 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, had known theapplicant named for about one year during which time he has been often assisted by the Church of EnglandSeamen's Mission of which Woods was a missionary; that the applicant was totally unable to work by reasonof his physical disabilities and that the said physical disabilities were not brought on by the applicant'svicious habits; a neighbor's affidavit of 12 December 1895 stated that Doyle had lost the sight of one eyeand the other was rapidly weakening and he may soon be totally blind.

He appeared before the U.S. Consul General in Melbourne on 12 December 1895, aged 60, and wasnot able to earn living by general debility and loss of eye sight.

On 30 November 1909 he appeared before the Consul General at Sydney, aged 73, and a resident ofParramatta; his personal description was 5'8", fair complexion, blue eyes, dark brown hair and occupation asbaker; claim #925895J was recorded in the Army & Navy Division, 1 February 1910. His pension, #925895,was certified 28 May 1913 to be paid at the rate of $30 per month to commence 13 October 1912. He wasdropped due to death 10 October 1913.

In 1914 his son, Thomas, wrote to the Commissioner of American Pensions; stating he had died inLiverpool, N.S.W.40 Through Roy Parker we find that he was buried at St. Lukes Cemetery, Liverpool, nowcalled "Pioneer Memorial Cemetery".41

John Graydon died 2 July 1906 and is buried in the Yarragon Cemetery in the Gippsland area ofVictoria. He had been born 11 July 1830 in Carrick, near McGires Bridge, Ireland. The family travelled toCanada in the 1840's; John Graydon apparently went to New Zealand then back to America. He married inAustralia in 1863 and according to family legend he fought in the Civil War as there are stories of him beingaddressed as "captain" in Australia. He is mentioned in the book "Lee Through Virginia" written by HughWynne, although a copy of the book has not been found by this researcher.42

40 Pension records, National Archives.41 Letter to author from Roy Parker, 8 May 1990. Further information on the family history was received from a relative of

Murtha Doyle, John F. Turnelle of New Zealand, to Roy Parker, dated 25 August 1992.42 Letter from Helen Wardle to Roy Parker, dated 2 June 1990. No bibliographical information is available on Hugh Wynne; nor

do rosters list any John Graydon. This book is not listed in the 1990 edition of "Civil War Books: A Priced Checklist" byTom Broadfoot which is the most thorough guide to available volumes. The book does not appear in the Internet searchengine “Bookfinders” in August 2006 which also lists almoste very publication in the world.


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His death certificate shows he died in 1907 as John Henry Graydon (certificate number 3249), aged 80(therefore born around 1827), father James Graydon and mother Mary Clark. There is also a John Graydon inthe Victorian Immigration listing as aged 50, arrived May 1872 aboard the “Essex”, which would have madehim born in 1822. The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages index shows John Graydon married JaneWilson in 1863 (registration number 1420) and a daughter was born, Mary Jane, at Linton in 1865,registration number 3168.43

Originally thought to possibly have been a member of the 1st Missouri Artillery Regiment, UnitedStates Volunteers, at the name was one of the few in the rosters to match, this has now been proven to beincorrect as the John Graydon of the First Missouri Artillery served until the end of the war and was aresident of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, until his death and a widow’s pension applied for by his wife, Lena,proves that he remained in America.

Michael Grogan had served in Company K, 24th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. He was born inCounty Galway, Ireland, in 1826, and due to the potato famine left Ireland to seek a new life in the U.S. Hefound himself at Newton, Massachusetts, when the Civil War commenced and joined Captain J. CrosbyMaker's Company K on 17 September 1861. His residence was shown as Newton, aged 35, and occupationas shoemaker. Eventually he served in General Burnside's expedition into northeast North Carolina. He wasaccidentally wounded at the battle of Newbern, N.C., 14 March 1862, and was honourably discharged on 26May 1863.44

The 24th sustained casualties at Newbern amounting to 10 killed and 40 wounded. General JohnGray Foster, in command of the troops with which the 24th Massachusetts were brigaded, stated in hisreport:

"I must mention in my brigade, where all behaved bravely, the Twenty-fourthRegiment Massachusetts Volunteers and the Tenth Connecticut Volunteers. The former,under a severe fire from musketry in the front, and exposed to a flanking fire of grape andcanister from Fort Thompson, unprotected by the trees, behaved with marked coolness andsteadiness."In 1866 he returned to Ireland where he married Mary Conray (or Cunnery) on 11 July of that year

and then joined his brother in New South Wales. His address was shown as 203 Walker Street, Five Dock,Sydney, where he worked as a labourer and stone mason before his death at Five Dock on 26 July 1907. Hehad been in receipt of a Civil War veteran's pension, #1253271, and was buried in the Catholic Portion ofthe cemetery at Rookwood, Sydney.

John Richard Hunt was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1833 and presumably emigrated to the U.S.before the Civil War as his next known movement was his service record.

He enrolled 3 September 1862 in Company E of the 30th New Jersey Infantry regiment for ninemonths and was discharged as corporal at Flemington, New Jersey, on 27 June 1863 on a disabilitydischarge as a result of rheumatism. This had been received as a result of exposure and hardship during thecampaign. It appears the only incident of merit which the regiment participated in was General Burnside'sfamous "mud-march" in January 1863 while the Army of the Potomac was stationed around theFredericksburg, Virginia area. 43 A number of other children appear in the Pioneer index of Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages to John Graydon and Jane

Marshall, also of Linton between 1867 and .1884, one son died in 1872 at Linton aged 6 months and another daughterwas born in Collingwood in 1886. Jane Marshall Graydon died at Collingwood in 1890 aged 48.

44 "Record of the Massachusetts Volunteers", Volume 2, p467, shows date of discharge as of 10 June 1863 as does the regimentalroster in "The 24th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, 1861, 1866, New England Guard Regiment" by Alfred SeeleyeRoe, p555. The same book states he was wounded in battle, p100, although the compiled service record / pension recordshows accidentally wounded.


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He married for the first time at Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1882 to Eleanor Hudnut (14 to 15years his senior); she died 3 March 1883, aged 64, and he then was next noted in Australia in 1884. Hemarried for the second time on 20 April 1886 to Ione Helen Townsend at Rooty Hill, a suburb of Sydney;this marriage resulted in two children. As one of the pension documents is verified by W.H. Hunt ofHaymarket, Sydney, who had known John Richard for a period of 47 years, he could well have been ayounger brother who had migrated directly from Ireland to New South Wales.

He applied for an invalid pension to the U.S. Consul at Sydney on 22 December 1890, and was thena resident of Newtown, Sydney. An accompanying physician's affidavit stated that he was then sufferingfrom rheumatism of the back which made work very difficult and that it was not the result of his own habits,which were steady. A document dated 18 February 1892 then gave his address as care of the HaymarketPost Office and stated he was aged 60 and height 5'9 1/2". He was awarded a pension, #848474, at the rateof US$6 per month for rheumatism and resulting diseases of the heart. His address in 1899 was 4 ChurchStreet, Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney.45 The house is still standing as of May 1990.

Another pension document dated 12 November 1904 included a witness, Andrew W. Kinross, whohad known Hunt for seven years; Kinross was another of the Civil War veterans living in Australia who hadpreviously served in the 21st and 24th Missouri Infantry regiments. At that stage, Hunt was known to havebeen born in June 1833 in Warrickshire, England (however the death certificate supports and shows as bornDublin, Ireland), fair complexion, gray hair, blue eyes, and height 5'9". His post office address wasRavenslea, Enmore Road, Marricksville. On 17 December 1904 his pension was increased to US$12 permonth in respect of a total disability and then aged 70.

He died on 28 August 1911 at the Rookwood Asylum, aged 78, of cardiac debilitation, dropsy andexhaustion, leaving his widow to apply for another pension. She continued to live with her son and daughterin law, firstly at Clayfield, Brisbane, Qld., and then Murwillumbah, NSW. This continued until 1945 when itwas found that she was then mentally incompetent and her pension of US$40 per month was then sent to herson, Walter Hunt, at the address 54 Byangum Road, Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Ione Helen Hunteventually died on 4 March 1947 at Lismore, NSW. Their son, Walter J., was then aged 60 and his addresswas given as care of "Gemona", Railway Avenue, Bundanoon, NSW; their daughter was deceased at thisstage. Another address for Walter Hunt in 1948 was at 35 Queenscliffe Road, Manly, New South Wales.46

Wilson Johnson was born in 1835 in Londonderry County, Ireland. His family moved to the UnitedStates and wound up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was there when the Civil War exploded and apparentlywas caught up in the conflict. He married Maria Muddock and apparently gold fever had brought him toMansfield, Victoria. He died there in 1898 and is buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Gobur, a town betweenMerton and Cathkin near the Mansfield area, also near another possible Civil War veteran in MichaelBrennan at nearby Yea. So far attempts to locate Wilson Johnson had failed including research into the nameat Pittsburgh or other Pennsylvania links. Several served in Ohio regiments, one in Illinois and one inMissouri so it may well be a search is required. According to local records, Wilson Johnson arrived inVictoria aboard the “Oregon” in July 1853 aged 22 – therefore born in 1831; the death records show thatshow died in Merton in 1898 / 13302, aged 67 – therefore born 1831. His father was Charles HickmanJohnson and mother Eliza Isabel Vizer. If this is the same one then he would have arrived before the war.

William Kenna had been born around 1842 in Kilkenny, Ireland, and came to Chicago, Illinois, withhis parents when he was eleven. He was employed in a large Chicago brewery and at some later stage,having served ten years as a mechanical and locomotive engineer on the Nashville and Chattanooga RailRoad, decided it was time to migrate to Australia. One reason which helped him make up his mind was dueto an incident while bound for Chattanooga one day. The engine of which he was in charge of was riddledwith bullets; he was shot in the right arm and carried the scar for the rest of his life, however he remained at 45 Research by Roy Parker. Service information from letter by Terry Foenander to author, 16 February 1990, presumably from

New Jersey rosters.46 Pension Papers, Veterans Administration, Washington, D.C.


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his post and piloted the train through to its destination. In 1864 he left America and after his arrival wasemployed with Mr. Enoch Chambers, of Little Collins Street in Melbourne, where he was once again inmechanical pursuits. This company was also linked with the Civil War as it performed the repairs on the"Shenandoah" when it arrived in Melbourne in January 1865. Perhaps the war again caught up with WilliamKenna at this juncture. The Victorian immigration records show that William Kenna arrived on the "GreatVictoria" in November 1864. He was then aged 22. Two other Kenna arrived on the same ship - James aged30 and Pat aged 32.

He then served for two months on the steamer "You Yangs" before travelling to Ballarat and findinga job with the brewers Magill and Coghlan. He then proceeded to Geelong and remained there for two yearswith Clancy's and then Powell's Queen's Head Brewery before returning to Ballarat in 1887. Here he becameproprietor of the Warrenheip Brewery near Ballarat and lived at Bungaree. He twice contested a seat in theVictorian State parliament, presumably unsuccessful both times, and died on 28 March 1910, aged 68. Hewas buried the following day at the New Cemetery in Ballarat, a well-respected member of thecommunity.47 His record at the cemetery is shown as having been buried 30 March 1910 in the RomanCatholic Compartment A, Section I, allotment #42.48 Several other members of the family are buriedalongside him.

Although family history states that he arrived in Australia aboard the Confederate ship"Shenandoah", no other information has come to hand to confirm this supposition and the records do notcarry names of those members who arrived in Melbourne however a collection of affidavits supplied by theU.S. Consul of those Americans captured by the "Shenandoah" again does not feature his name. As he hadleft the U.S. in 1864 this is considered doubtful.

John Hubert Keon was born in Ireland around 1835 and served as a Lieutenant with the 3rd and 7thKentucky Cavalry Regiments, in the Confederate States Army. His regimental roster shows that J.H. Keonenlisted 5 July 1861 at Camp Boone, Ky., in Company D of the 3rd Regiment of Mounted Infantry asPrivate, promoted to Third Lieutenant and then Second Lieutenant on 25 September 1863.49 The regimentalhistory states it was organized about the 20th of July 1861 with Lloyd Tilghman as Colonel at Camp Boone,Montgomery County, Tenn. After the regiment left Bowling Green it fought at Shiloh, Corinth, theVicksburg campaign, Fort Pillow, Brice's Cross Roads and Hood's Nashville campaign. In 1864 theregiment was mounted and continued until it surrendered on 4 May 1865.50 He was noted in a report byBrigadier-General Hylan B. Lyon, commanding the Department of Western Kentucky, dated 3 January1865, of the expedition through Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Alabama from November 1864 until thecurrent date. Lyon thanked Hubert Keon who was then Lieutenant and acting assistant inspector-general onLyon's staff, for his performance of duty during the expedition.51 John H. Keon signed the oath of allegianceat Macon, Georgia, on 26 April 1865 as First Lieutenant of the 3rd and 7th regiments of Kentucky Cavalry -his personal details at that stage were listed as being 6' high, light hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. Hewas paroled and also surrendered on 16 May 1865 at Columbus, Miss., as a Major and Assistant InspectorGeneral for the Kentucky Brigade. He emigrated to Australia in 1897, joined the New South Wales CustomsDepartment and was an officer with them on the south coast for many years. He remained a bachelor andlived at "Waringa" in Eden with his grand-niece. He died 3 December 1917 at Eden and was buried there at

47 Article from obituary in the "Weekly Times" for 2 April 1910, pages 24 and 33. A larger obituary is in the "Ballarat Courier"

for Tuesday, March 29, 1910, page 6 and a funeral notice in the same paper appears on 31 March 1910. A photographand biography also appears in the "Australian Brewer's Journal" for 20 September 1900, p521.

48 The family plot shows a number of his family also buried there - the most recent being Mary Ann Kenny, died 2 July 1956, hisdaughter-in-law.

49 Report of the Adjutant General for the State of Kentucky, Confederate, Volume I, p102; also shows in rosters of "History ofthe 3d, 7th, 8th and 12th Kentucky" by Henry George, p166 as Third Lieutenant. Volume 2 of the Kentucky rosters,p266, notes that J.H. Keon was enrolled in Company D of the 1st Cavalry Regiment at the same date which is presumedto be a typographical error.

50 ibid, p142-143.; "Units Of The Confederate Army" by Joseph Crute, p131.51 Official Records, Series I, Volume XLV, Part I, p806.


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the Eden General Cemetery.52 His obituary stated that he was the nephew of the Honourable John HubertPlunkett, first Attorney-General for New South Wales.53

Harry Ouseley Blake Lane had been born at Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, on 26 April 1846. Hecame to the U.S. and near the end of the Civil War enlisted at the age of nineteen at Rikers Island, HudsonRiver, New York City on 5 January 1864 for a period of three years. On February 20th of the same year hewas mustered in as a Private in Company B of the 25th New York Cavalry, commanded by MajorMcPherson and then Lieutenant-Colonel Seeley. He was promoted to Sergeant of the Company on 1 May1865 however his pension states his rank as Captain, reason unknown. He had been wounded at the battle ofLuray, Luray Valley, Va., on 24 September 1864. He received a severe injury to the ligaments of the leftknee on which supervened a varicose condition of the veins. At the close of the engagement a charge wasordered and his horse, in jumping a fence which intervened between his position and that of the enemy,breasted it and, rolling over against it and the toe-leather, and, before he could extricate it, using the words,"it is a game leg to you for life, the ligaments were torn". He did not go into hospital, but the knee wasbandaged by the regimental surgeon and he was excused from all the duties of a soldier for a considerabletime but still took part in every battle, at times suffering intense pain. He was mustered out with theremainder of his company at Harts Island, New York Harbour, on 24 June 1865 as a Sergeant (althoughpension documents state he was discharged as a Corporal). His personal details were shown as 6'2", greyeyes, brown hair, and ruddy complexion.54 The year after the war, an inflammatory attack of the knee set inwhich laid him up for two years. For a considerable portion of that time he was confined to bed andincapacitating him from work of any description. For several years he had to keep the knee bandaged.

After the war he resided in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland and then Australia. He hadworked in Australia from 1872 or 1873 in the Education Department of the State of Victoria as a civilservant. Due to the injury to his left knee he applied, #776269, for a pension on 28 March 1890 before theConsul General, J.P. Lesesne, and then was aged 44. He again applied on 15 December 1891 and again 19February 1913. He received a pension of US$8 per month, certificate #784556. His address in 1899 wasTennyson Street, Brighton Beach, Victoria, but by 1905 his name was not registered in the street directory;in 1913 he was aged 67 and a resident of St. Kilda. His death certificate #14787, lists his address as thePrince of Wales Hotel (St. Kilda) as being of intemperate habits he had been living apart from his wife forthe past two years. He died, aged 69, on 5 December 1913 at the Alfred Hospital in the Melbourne suburb ofPrahran of carcinoma of the stomach and exhaustion. He had been 4 years in Western Australia and thenabout 44 years in Victoria. The Immigration Records show that Henry O.B. Lane had arrived aboard the“Western Empire” in July 1867 aged 21. Presumably most of that time had been spent in Brighton as he wasmentioned as having been married in that city in 1882 to Blanche Crisp. Two children resulted in this union.He was buried on 9 December 1913, at the Brighton Cemetery, grave number 8224 in the Church ofEngland allotment V155. A marker on his grave site was installed in February 1991.55

His widow applied for a pension on 17 March 1914; she had been born 15 March 1861 (#10901) atWellington Street, Brighton, and died at East Malvern on 7 July 1938; her son, Thomas Ousley Blake Lane,aged 51 and a resident of Bendigo applied for reimbursement of funeral expenses at her cremation inSpringvale.56

52 Keon is buried alongside his brother, George Plunkett Keon who died 20 June 1899 as well as a nephew, Ferdinand Keon; no

mention of the brother is found in either Kentucky Rosters for Union or Confederate troops so is presumed to haveemigrated directly from Ireland to Australia and probably the reason why John arrived here.

53 Information supplied by Roy Parker as well as obituary in local newspaper, dated 3 December 1917. There is no Keon listed inthe book "Confederate Staff Officers."

54 New York State Archives, through Terry Foenander. There is no major skirmish reported on September 24th as a part of theShenandoah Campaign; one main battle was fought on September 22nd but nothing else of consequence.

55 The Sands & MacDougall Directory of Melbourne for 1885 shows Lane as living at 6B Tennyson Street (nothing for 1884). Itshows Lane as living on the eastern corner of Were and Tennyson Street, Brighton Beach and later the house was named"Opequan". That house is not in existence as of 1990. He was mentioned as living there until 1904 but not mentioned in1905 or 1906 when thought to have changed his accommodation to the Prince Of Wales Hotel. Information from pensionlisting and death certificate.

56 Pension details.


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The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriage records show that Blanche Darcy Lane was born in 1884 atBrighton to Harry Auseley Lane and Blanche Crisp; Thomas Ousley Blake Lane was born at Brighton in1888 to Henry Ouseley Lane and Blanche Crisp. He died in 1965 at Ballarat aged 77.

The 25th New York Cavalry regiment during the Shenandoah Valley campaigns was a part ofGeneral George A. Custer's brigade, comprising the 1st, 5th and 6th Michigan Cavalry Regiments as well asthe 25th New York Cavalry. Reports of the activities on September 24th by officers of the regiments in thisbrigade indicate that on September 24th they overtook William C. Wickham's brigade of Confederatecavalry in the Luray Valley and charged about three miles from Luray at the Confederates. A report from thecommander of the 6th Michigan stated that they "whipped them in thirty minutes, and went on a piece andhalted".57

Mark Lawrence, a local Melbourne journalist has a medal present to Lane from the 25th New YorkCavalry and had run across some information on Lane from the Royal Hume Society of Australasia:

"Harry Ousley Blake Lane, aged 41 years, clerk in the Education Department, rescued Francis Short,aged 26 years, also in same department, from drowning in Port Phillip Bay, off Brighton, on 26th January,1886. A boat in which both Lane and Short were sailing capsized about three-quarters of a mile off PicnicPoint, but seeing Short could hardly keep himself afloat he stayed by him and kept him up. After showingsigns of exhaustion Short grasped Lane around the neck. Having freed himself, Lane held him with his righthand, and, swimming with the other, endeavoured to reach the shore. Short, becoming thoroughly exhausted,called to Lane to let him die and then fell into a state of utter collapse and slipped from Lane's hold. Lanecaught him and raised him to the surface, and kept him there until he saw a boat coming to their rescue.Ropes were then thrown to them, by which both of them were saved. Mr Lane states that he had made forthe shore directly the boat capsized: he had no doubt he could have reached it, but he determined to stand byand not leave his friend. Sharks abound in the vicinity."

James Latimer had been born on 22 December 1829 at Closagh Rock, Covy, Ireland, and at somestage emigrated to the U.S. He was a member of Company I, 36th Regiment Missouri Militia, which wasnever mustered into U.S. Service but instead served as a state force. The Company, under LieutenantMoorehouse, was in the Nodaway County Regiment of Home Guards under Colonel William J.W. Beckett.When applying for an army pension, unsuccessfully, he stated:

"I did not served in the regular army, but enrolled in a regiment of IrregularVolunteers about September 1861 in Nodaway County, Missouri. At the present time Icannot remember the name of the Colonel commanding, but he was a Doctor of Medicine. Iserved in the Regiment over 12 months.

General Tuttill of the Regular Army enrolled our volunteers in Nodaway County andthe first thing we did was to arrest all the County Officers and they were then released byGeneral Tuttill after having given bond and security for their good behaviour during the war.

Our Regiment was ordered to the southern part of the State where we were engagedpursuing Rebel Raiders, and on one occasion, I remember we captured Dr. Lee (Brother ofGeneral Lee) and his two sons and about 30 other rebels, all of whom were shot."

In 1863 Latimer returned to Ireland and afterwards migrated to Australia in February 1864. Heresided in Australia until his death around 1920 in Ormeau, Queensland, where he is buried.58

William Booth Loughren, also a possible Civil War veteran, had been born in Belfast, Ireland,1847, and died in Sydney, 1 September 1916. He had been a journalist on the "Wagga Advertiser" and editorfor twenty five years, he is mentioned in "Town and Country Journal" on 7 October 1914, page 46, and"Queenslander", 23 September 1916, page 16.

57 Official Records, Series I, Volume 43, Part 1, pages 465-467.58 Roy Parker and compiled service records.


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Roy Parker has noted that as well as being editor for the Advertiser, he also had worked for both theArgus and the Age in Melbourne and was a well known poet and journalist. He finished his career as chiefof the “Hansard” Parliamentary staff. In William’s obituary he claimed that he had served in the UnionArmy and was at Appomattox at Lee’s surrender. Roy located William Loughran of the same age inCompany A of the 7th New Jersey Infantry as having been mustered in on 16 March 1865; as the regimentwas at the surrender it could be the same person. This one deserted near Bailey’s Crossroads on 8 June 1865and was next known to have married in Ireland around 1870 before heading off to Australia with his brotherand both families. As the evidence is still only circumstantial we’ll have to look a little harder before we cancall this complete.

John Lowry was a member of Company F, 14th United States Regular Infantry. His widow, MaryLowry, received a pension from the U.S. Government of US$10 per month from April 1876, #148,834. Hehad married Mary on 5 April 1863 in New York City and he died at Camp McDowell in Arizona Territoryon 16 August 1867. His enlistment record shows that he was born in Ireland, aged 29, hazel eyes, dark hairand dark complexion. He enrolled in the U.S. Army, appointed on 26 January 1866 to presumably a higherposition although the remark in his file is illegible and had died of apoplexy at Camp McDowell.59

Her address at that stage of the 1883 pensions listing was Mt. Edgecomb Hale (this location has notbeen found as of time of writing, but believed to be near Bendigo). The Fourteenth Regiment was organizedin 1861 and continued through until the time of Mrs Lowry receiving her pension so this does notconclusively support Civil War service for John.60 She was paid until 4 June 1890 and then dropped due to"death of pensioner".

The Victorian death records state that Mary Lowry died at Sandhurst, Vic., registered number#90/17523. As to why Mary came to Australia, one reason put forward is that John had originally been anAustralian; or secondly, that Mary, although probably American-born, had family in this country.

Michael Joseph Malone, who was born in County Clare, Ireland, migrated to the U.S. and laterserved in the Civil War. He was due to celebrate his 100th birthday in 1926 according to a local Australiannewspaper. Michael J. Malone shows in the index to Combined Service Records for Civil War soldiers ashaving served as a Private in Company F, 20th Connecticut Infantry, however in the rosters of Connecticutsoldiers he appears as Michael J. Maloney.

Samuel McCaul was noted in a letter addressed to the U.S. Department of the Interior mentioned asa side issue in regard to the pension (#1118002) of a Samuel McCaul, an inmate at the Kew Asylum. Thiswas a letter in 1916 and we already know that another veteran buried in Melbourne, Henry SolomonThompson, had died at the Kew Asylum.

The pension papers for Samuel McCaul of Company I, 144th New York show that he was born on 4May 1841 at Newry, County Doron, Ireland. He enrolled in 1861 at Devonport, Delaware County, NewYork, where he had been residing as a farmer, and was discharged in 1865 at Elmira, New York. He had notreceived any injuries during his term of service. The New York Adjutant General's Records stated that hehad been aged 19 years when he enlisted 14 August 1862 at Davenport to serve for three years. He wasmustered in as Private, Company I, 144th Infantry, on 27 September 1862 and was mustered out with thecompany on 25 June 1865 at Hilton Head, South Carolina. He had been born in Ireland and at time ofenlistment his personal details were grey eyes, brown hair, light complexion, height of 5' 6 1/2" andoccupation as farmer.

He resided after the war in California until 1868 then returned to Ireland for three months. Still in1868 he came to Australia where he had lived until his application for the pension in 1904. At that stage hegave his personal description as 5'5 1/4", 10 stones, light brown eyes, brown hair and fair complexion. A 59 Service record from original listing in Register of enlistments.60 "Historical Register and Dictionary of the U.S. Army", by Francis B. Heitman, Volume 1, p108-109; research conducted by

Roy Parker.


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search of the Melbourne directories has not located anything for him between 1868 and 1910 which meanshe may have resided outside Melbourne, lived in a boarding house or did not have a permanent location.

A pension of US$30 per month was paid on certificate number 1,118,002 until his death 23December 1917 due to cystitis and pyelonephritis. His niece, Ellen Louisa McIntosh, of 148 RichardsonStreet, Albert Park, applied for reimbursement of funeral expenses.

If Mr. McCaul had served with his unit during the length of his enlistment, according to the"Compendium of the Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer, he would have been organized with the regiment andmustered in September 27, 1862. The 144th left New York for Washington, D.C., and was in the defences ofWashington until April 1863. It was then ordered to Suffolk, Va., and involved with the siege of that citybetween April and May. During June and July was in Dix's Peninsula Campaign and then ordered toWashington again on 10 July. It was moved to Folly Island, South Carolina, in August and participated inthe siege of Forts Wagner and Gregg, on Morris Island, S.C., and operations against Fort Sumter andCharleston to September. In remained in this area until moved to Hilton Head, S.C., in January 1864 andthen to Jacksonville, Florida, in February 1864. The 144th was on duty at Jacksonville until June when itreturned to Hilton Head, S.C., and was involved in the expedition to Johns and James Island againstCharleston July 2-10 and operations against Battery Pringle on July 9th. In November it participated inHatch's expedition up Broad River and was in the battle of Honey Hill, S.C., November 30th, 1864. Theregiment returned to Hilton Head and remained on duty in that district until June 1865 when it was musteredout of service.

The death certificate 1917/#12865, for Samuel McCaul states he was born in Scotland but no otherparticulars were known, as against the birth place of Ireland noted on the pension papers. The Index toImmigration Records in Victoria show Samuel McCaul arrived on the “Somersetshire” in October 1870aged 28 which would agree with the date of birth on other papers. He died as an inmate of the Kew Hospitalfor the Insane (asylum) at one of their other locations, 15 Ievers Terrace, Carlton, on 23 December 1917,aged 78 years, of cystitis and pyelonephritis. He was buried on December 26th at the Coburg Cemetery, insuburban Melbourne. He was unmarried and therefore no details of his life were known. He was buried inthe Presbyterian Section, Compartment Plain, Grave #589 which was owned by James McIntosh,presumably his niece's husband. A marker was placed on his grave in mid-1993, courtesy of the VeteransAdministration.

Hugh McCormick was born in Ireland around 1841 and mustered in as a Private in Company E,Fourth New York Heavy Artillery, aged 23, on 11 March 1864 at the Fourth District, New York City, toserve three years. His personal particulars were shown as 5'7" high, light complexion, grey eyes, brown hairand florid complexion, occupation as laborer/machinist. He received a bounty of $60 for enlistment. Presentfor duty March & April 1864 until he received a gun shot wound to the right shoulder at the battle of ColdHarbor, Va., 4 June 1864; admitted to the General Hospital, Davids Island, New York harbor, on 15 June1864 and furloughed 1 July 1864 for 30 days. No record of his return to this hospital and he was noted asbeing a deserter and arrested in the Third District of New York on 30 August 1864; sent to Castle William,Governors Island, New York on 31 August 1864. However, the charge was dropped and he was sent to CityPoint, Va., 6 September 1864; received by Provost Marshal, Second Army Corps on 11 September and sentthe same day to Provost Marshal, 1st Division, Second Army Corps in which his regiment was serving.Present from September until December 1864, he was shown absent January & February 1865. He wastransferred 17 April 1865 [also shows on Disability Discharge as transferred 2 June 1865 by order of theProvost Marshal General, USA] to the Veteran Reserve Corps, 5th Company [Captain Francis J. Werneck],2nd Battalion of U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps from which he was discharged 18 October 1865 at the GeneralHospital, Newark, New Jersey.61

61 Report of the Adjutant General of New York, Fourth Artillery, p955. Other information supplied from pension file, National

Archives, Washington, D.C.


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He first received a pension #152087 from 29 July 1876 and he applied for an increase to his pensionon 12 October 1878 and was then a resident of the National Military Home at Dayton in MontgomeryCounty, Ohio, aged 37. At that stage he was receiving $5 per month but due to general disability he wasincapacitated from further labor. The examining surgeon certified that no increase was due to him. Anotherexamination was performed 15 August 1888. He is also listed in the Annual Report of the Board ofManagers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in 1878 as having been re-admitted to thehome in Dayton on the proviso that he assign one-half of his pension for a period of six months.62

From "Heavy Guns and Light: A History of the 4th New York Heavy Artillery" by Hyland C. Kirk,published in New York, 1890, pages 261-262, comes a report of the fighting around Cold Harbor on the 3rdof June:

"We lay in a line of works until 3 p.m., when we moved down farther to the front andassisted in constructing a line of rifle-pits, and at dark we were ordered to move to the left toa point which had been designated during the day, to build a redoubt... We moved along inthe darkness to a position held by a certain Michigan regiment, as we supposed, but as a factwe passed beyond and really moved out some twenty rods in advance of the lines...Considerable clatter was made no doubt by the intrenching tools, for suddenly, directly in ourfront, there happened one of the most terrific fires of artillery ever experienced by thecommand... We were ordered to lie down and then to get back to the lines, and the greaterpart made for the rear at a faster gait than even double-quick time. Some however, laid flatdown on the ground. We found the regiment whose line we expected to reach, and a numberstopped there. Firing became quite general all along the line on both sides."The "Official Records of the War of the Rebellion", Series I, Volume 36, Part I, page 526, carries a

report by Captain John B. Vanderwiele commanding the regiment. He stated that on June 3rd, the regimentmoved into rifle-pits about noon. At dark they sent out a party to build a redoubt but were driven back twiceby the severity of the enemy's fire. They tried again and before daybreak had erected a strong breast-work.

He was first married but particulars of this were not known; a second marriage on 18 January 1879 atDayton, Ohio, to Mary Casey resulted in 6 children. At some stage around 1879 he emigrated to Melbourne,was employed as a cab driver and lived at 39 Tanner Street, Richmond, the house still stands as of 1991. Hedied at Richmond, Victoria, on 12 January 1904 and was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery,Roman Catholic section grave Z717. A marker for his grave was provided in 1990 stating his Civil Warservice. He was survived by his wife and five children aged between 6 and 23.63

James McGuire of California was another veteran in Australia who was located through theConsul's correspondence in Sydney. A letter from McGuire stated that he had joined the 5th InfantryCalifornia Volunteers on September 29th, 1861, in Camp Union, Sacramento, Cal. He remained there up toSeptember 29th 1864 when he was transferred from Company C of the 5th regiment, Captain John S. Thayercommanding, to Company D of the same regiment, Captain William Ffrench, and was mustered out of thatcommand on 15 September 1866 and enlisted in the United States regular army, on 3 October 1866 in LTroop, 3rd Cavalry, Colonel W.N. Grier. McGuire also noted that he was not given discharge papers as hewas first duty sergeant at the time of discharge. The letter was noted on the Consul's files as having beenreceived on 19 June 1878. James McGuire is also noted on another letter dated 15 June 1876 in the U.S.Consul's files in Sydney.

His service record states that he had enlisted as Private in Capt. John S. Thayer's Company C, 5thRegiment California Volunteers. He had been born in Ireland around 1843 and at time of enlistment was5'7", hazel eyes, brown hair and occupied as a miner. He enrolled on 21 October 1861 at Grass Valley for a

62 Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers for the Year Ending 30 June

1878, page 113.63 Death Certificate, Victorian State Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Burial lists at Melbourne General Cemetery.


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period of 3 years and was mustered into service at Sacramento, aged 28. He was not stated as being presentor absent to December 31, 1861, however, was present from January & February 1862 until promoted toCorporal on 11 September 1862. He was not stated again in November & December 1862 but present fromMarch & April 1863 until honourably discharged and re-enlisted into the veteran volunteers, 9 February1864, by Captain Archer, 5th U.S. Infantry, Mustering Officer. He was due to receive $62 for bountypayment at this time and was stationed at Mesilla, New Mexico. Three further installments of $50 each werepaid progressively during 1864 and he was present until 30 November 1864 which was the last muster-outroll in his file and presumed to be the date that he was discharged. His file also stated that he had been onextra duty in June 1862 in the cook house. He was also on detached service in November 1862 detectingmule thieves; again on extra daily duty in February & March 1863 as cook, and as escort in May 1863 ondetached service. In February & March 1864 he was on detached service guarding government stock atCamp Cottonworks, New Mexico.

Frederick Dyer's "Compendium of the Rebellion", volume 3, page 1003-1004, states that theregiment was organized in California at large between September and November 1861. It was attached tothe Departments of the Pacific and New Mexico. The companies were spread over garrison posts inSouthern California and Arizona after being ordered to Camp Latham, Southern California, on 1 February1862; Company C was located at Camp Wright and Fort Bowie before final posting at Fort Goodwin whileCompany D served at Tucson, Arizona. Both of the companies then were ordered to Las Cruces, Arizona, 8October 1864.

John Murray, a private in Company F, 7th United States Regular Infantry Regiment, received apension of US$10 per month, certificate #13539, and his address in 1899 was care of the U.S. consulate inSydney.

He was born in Meath, Ireland, and after arrival in the U.S. he enrolled 7 May 1860 as Private inCaptain P.W.L. Plympton's Company in New York to serve 5 years and was discharged on surgeon'scertificate of disability on 27 August 1862 at Hot Springs, New Mexico; he was then aged 21, 5'8", sallowcomplexion, blue eyes, sandy hair and occupation as laborer. He had been unfit due to a complete rightinguinal hernia caused by a blow received during the battle of Val Verde, New Mexico, 21 February 1862,the degree of disability was one half. (The Captain of his Company, Peter William Livingston Plymptonreceived a brevet commission for gallantry and meritorious service during this battle according to the"Historical Register of the U.S. Army").

Comment on this action is printed in "The Civil War In The American West" by Alvin M. Josephy,Jr., page 72. Captain Plymton's company from the 7th U.S. Infantry and another company from the 10thInfantry Regiment were assigned along with two companies of New Mexico volunteers to protect the leftflank of the six-gun battery of artillery under Captain Alexander McRae:

"... a mass of 750 yelling Texans, exhorted by [Confederate Major-General Thomas]Green and his staff officers to seize McRae's guns, emerged suddenly from behind as ridge ofsand hills. Led by Major Samuel A. Lockridge, a celebrated veteran of William Walker'sfilibustering expedition in Nicaragua, they charged through a storm of grapeshot, canister,and minie balls toward the Union artillery. Suffering heavy casualties, they paused once tofire at the Union line, then came on, reaching McRae's position and swarming over the gunsand gunners. The fighting engulfed the two New Mexico volunteer companies and theinfantry Regulars, who tried to save the battery. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting with revolvers,bowie knives, and clubbed rifles swirled around the guns, and both Lockridge and McRaewere shot dead - some said simultaneously... The desperate Southern attack carried theday."64

64 A similar comment is also listed in "The Civil War In the Western Territories" by Ray C. Colton, page 33.


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On 25 June 1863 he applied for a pension, #13539, at Washington, D.C., then aged 24 and a residentof Washington; his claim stated that while in the line of his duty at the battle of Val Verde he had beenstruck on the spine making him unfit for further service and preventing him from attending to any manuallabor.

He again applied for restoration of his pension in March 1885 due to being in destitutecircumstances, living upon the charity of strangers. A pension was granted to him for US$8 per month from3 April 1884. He stated that after drawing the first quarter he thought it better to leave it in the hands of thegovernment until it amounted to a large sum or enough to buy some land and settle down; he had since thefirst claim resided in San Francisco. As he could not read or write he applied to the Clerk of the SupremeClerk in Washington to submit the declaration form.

By December 1885 he was residing in Orange, New South Wales, and applied for a duplicate copyof his pension certificate. He placed an advertisement in the "Evening News" a newspaper printed andpublished in Sydney, "Lost between the General Post office and Railway Station, Sydney a roll of paperscontaining amongst same a certificate of pension from the United States being of no use to anyone but theowner Five pounds reward on the delivery to the Manager of A.J.S. Bank Orange".

He applied for the arrears of his pension in April 1890 and again on 30 June 1892, then aged 66years and a resident of Sydney - his post office address being care of Mr. Markey, Australian Joint StockBank, Haymarket (or Paddy's Market), Sydney. Another application was made on 10 January 1893, aged 60,and again unable to earn a support due to right inguinal hernia. A letter to the Assistant Secretary of State inWashington by the then U.S. Consul, George W. Bell (also a Civil War veteran), in 1894, stated that Murraythen was earning a precarious living and was employed on a sheep station at Breeza, in N.S.W.

In 1898 he replied to a form sent out by the Department of the Interior to say that he had nevermarried and was in receipt of pension #13539.65 He was dropped from the pension rolls on 14 November1908 due to death and his final days are now being researched.66

Charles Patrick O'Connor was born in Ireland, went to America before the Civil War andaccording to family legend eventually moved to Long Island, New York. The family claims that he fought inthe Civil War, was possibly a sergeant and was on General Ulysses S. Grant's staff. After the war he joinedthe U.S. Navy and after his service had expired he went to England where he married Mary Burke inLiverpool. The couple moved to Australia where they settled and one son was born in Rutherglen,Victoria.67 No Charles P. O’Connor appears in the Compiled Service Records of Army enlistments.

Patrick O'Leary lived for 112 years and would be considered to be one of the oldest of the soldiersknown in any war if his story can be substantiated. He was buried in the Liverpool Cemetery, New SouthWales, Section M, Grave #229, in August 1952 having died at the Liverpool Hospital. He was born inIreland on 8 August 1840 and according to an article written in the "Pocket Book Weekly" for 6 May 1950,pages 22 to 25, he resided in Lomesville, Kentucky, when the war began. He served in Lee's army at thebattle of Gettysburg and the story continued his reminiscences. He is not located in any of the availablerosters known to this researcher and does not appear in other likely lists. Nineteen names appear in the indexto the Compiled Service Records - those in Confederate ranks include a Private in Company A, 47th GeorgiaInfantry Regiment; Company B, 26th Louisiana Infantry and Company E, 30th Mississippi Infantryregiment. The 47th Georgia and the 30th Mississippi both served with the Army of Tennessee and the 26thLouisiana was with the Trans-Mississippi Department so again it may have been slightly exaggerated.

Edmund O'Malley had been born in Galway, Ireland, in 1840. He emigrated to the United Statesand possibly had been conscripted into the Union Army. Having little liking for army life, he deserted and 65 Veterans Pension records.66 Letter from National Archives to Roy Parker, 16 December 1990 contains brief information on reason for being dropped.67 Letter to author from Roy Parker 17 August 1993.


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made his way back to Ireland where he married. He then migrated to Australia where he and his wifeproceeded to rear five children. He died in 1943, a few weeks before his 103rd birthday and was buried atthe Waverley Cemetery, his wife predeceased him by almost thirty years. This makes yet another possibleveteran at Waverley, which continues to be a major internment area for the veterans.

Basic research has found no trace of Edmund O'Malley in rosters for Maryland, Tennessee, Michiganor the Official Records of the Army index. The greatest amount of Irish in the Union forces were possibly inMassachusetts or New York so that could be the next place for investigation. The Compiled Service Recordsshow three enlistments for an Edward O’Malley but none for Edmund. Edward Omalley is in the 1890census for New York; Edward O’Maley served as a Private in Company E of the 7th Missouri Infantry, USVols; and another as Private in Company C or E, 136th New York Infantry; we have Edward O’Malley orO’Mallie in Company L of the 2nd Illinois Artillery Regiment; another in the 10th Illinois CavalryRegiment; as Second Sergeant in Company G, 28th Kentucky Infantry Regiment, Company C, 15thMassachusetts Infantry Regiment (he had been born in Ireland but was in the Soldiers Home admitted 1881and discharged 1883) and as O’Malley or O’Mally as Private in Company B, 5th Ohio Infantry Regiment.Another Edward O’Mally also served as private in Company K of the 3rd United States Regular InfantryRegiment.

A family descendant wrote to the author in early 2005:“When Edmund migrated to Australia, he did so under the name Edward Omalley aged 28, when

in reality he would have been around 40. My father remembered as a small boy, an occasion whenthe family celebrated something of significance, outside the normal. My father always thought that itmay have been a pardon from the U.S. Would this have been likely. One of Edmund’s grandsons wasa movie actor J.Pat Omalley, who was resident in the U.S. for most of his life, and may have been ina position to promote a pardon. It would be unlikely that Edmund would have been in the Cavalry.The artillery would be a distinct possibility, as my grandfather was a member of the Sydney Battery,very early last century, I have photos of him in uniform in 1903. Would there be an existing list ofdeserters, I know from Roy Parker that desertion was a very common occurrence, so there may be alist.

If I could trace the newspaper article, that would solve a number of problems, It wasn't in any ofthe popular dailys, around his birthday in 1942.”

Patrick Power was born in Ireland around 1835 and held the rank of Lieutenant in Company B, 15thWest Virginia Volunteer Infantry, as of 24 January 1865.68 (This shows in the "Official Army Register" asPowers). He had family in Australia and that is presumably the reason why he emigrated here. He remaineda bachelor and died near Tamworth, N.S.W., (Nundle) on 23 March 1886 where he is buried.

His commanding officer in Company B, Michael Egan, was also Irish and wrote his experiences inhis memoirs "The Flying Gray-Haired Yank". Surprisingly to say, in the four years of war and severalhundred pages of writing, Egan mentions Power only once in passing - Egan took two couriers with him toinspect a train line in West Virginia and the two men accompanying him included Patrick Power. Eganwrote of him as being "heavier than I would have wished for the purpose [of riding on horses], but beingbrave and reliable ... proved to be more serviceable than would lighter weights not possessing thesequalities".

When nearing the eastern base of Powell Mountain, the dusk of evening was closing in on them andthe beginning of a snow-storm made travelling quite a chore. Power had occasion to stop and dismountwhile Egan and the other continued onwards; they shortly arrived at the cabin of a loyal man but being in thecountryside of guerrillas they thought it a dangerous place. Power was still absent behind them but caught upand displayed his courage by riding up to his two companions with pistol levelled and ready for use. Thetwo Union men decided to surprise and possible frighten Power, however as he rode the hill and they criedout "Halt", Power replied "All right" and in the same instance his revolver came on a line with their heads 68 Official Army Register, Volume 4, p1140.


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and they gladly called a truce. Egan then stated that this incident, together with the nerve he displayed onother occasions while on the line, had no small influence in securing his promotion in Egan's companyafterwards.69

The reason why Egan and Power did not agree can be seen from court-martial records on Power forApril 1865 which stated that he had been charged on specifications for disobedience of orders; disrespect tohis superior officer and absence without leave. He was found guilty of the charges laid and sentenced to theforfeiture of four months pay and to be reprimanded in General Orders by the Commanding General.70

Denis Sullivan was born at Killarney, Ireland, 1836 as Denis O’Sullivan and changed his name atthe conclusion of his service in the Civil War. He grew up in the townlet of Aghadoe, a part of Killarney inCounty Kerry and married Maria Sullivan in the same town on 19 June 1859. He apparently emigrated to theU.S. with his wife and son Daniel, in 1860 and worked as a butcher in Boston before the war broke out andhe enlisted just after the first sign of war when Fort Sumter was fired upon in April 1861. He served withCompany C, 11th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment from 8 May 1861 to 24 June 1864. His superior officerwas Captain David A. Granger, and Sullivan's personal description showed him as a butcher by trade, lighthair, light complexion, blue eyes and height of 5'8". According to his discharge papers he was involved inthe battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Bristoe Station, Fredericksburg,Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and both First and Second Bull Run amongst others. His service details in theMassachusetts rosters show that he was aged 24 at enlistment and from Boston; he was mustered in 13 June1861 and mustered out 24 June 1864 at the expiration of service.71 His service record stated that he wasenrolled 13 June 1861 at Fort Warren, Mass., for a period of three years as Private, aged 24. For most of hisservice, Sullivan was on extra duty as brigade butcher, from February 1862 until December 1863, when hereceived a furlough. As of the muster roll for March & April 1864 he was marked as present and continueduntil mustered-out with the organization at Boston on 24 June 1864.72 If he was involved in the battlesabove stated, he must have been granted permission to be away from his duty at the brigade camp as butcherto fight with his comrades. The regiment as a member of the Third Army Corps, Second Division, 1stBrigade, from March 1862 until March 1864 was in the battles of the Army of the Potomac through theVirginia peninsula and Second Manassas, it then went into camp near Fort Lyon until the Fredericksburgcampaign, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and the Spotsylvania Court House - Wildnerness campaigns of1864.

Sullivan and his family returned to Ireland in 1865 and then sailed to Australia. Another child, ageand gender unknown, was drowned at sea but no other information is available. They emigrated to Australiaand settled in Eganstown, about six kilometres west of Daylesford, Vic., where he became a miner. He lefthis wife and son in the hands of her brother nearby while he went gold digging in New Zealand.

He died at Eganstown, 23 June 1896, aged 60, of liver disease and was buried in the Roman CatholicCemetery in the same place. A prominent family grave is in an excellent position just inside the entrancegate and in front of the small timber Catholic chapel within the grounds. He and his wife had six childrenbetween 1861 and 1876. The timber Sullivan family homestead is still standing on the eastern outskirts ofthe town by the side of the road.73

Denis Sullivan had applied for an invalid pension (#1133158) through the U.S. Consul at Melbourneon 27 July 1892. He was then a resident of Eganstown and aged 58.

69 "The Flying Gray-Haired Yank" by Michael Egan, p81-83.70 The Service Record for Power includes the Court Martial proceedings transcript.71 "Massachusetts Volunteers", Volume 2, p137.72 Compiled Service Records, National Archives.73 Research conducted by Chrys Spicer, through copies of death certificate and discharge certificate supplied by Ms Diane

Matheson of Trafalgar, Vic., great-great grand-daughter of Sullivan.


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He had enrolled on 5 May 1861 in Company C, 11th Massachusetts Volunteers and was honorablydischarged at Boston, 24 June 1864. In 1892 he was unable to earn a support by manual labor due to generaldisability from rheumatism.

His death certificate stated he died on 23 June 1896 at Eganstown, shire of Mount Franklin andCounty of Talbot; he was then aged 60 and described as a miner. Cause of death was disease of the liver andexhaustion. He had been born in Killarney, Ireland, and had then lived 32 years in Victoria (therefore arrivedin 1864). He had been married in Killarney to Marie (sic) Sullivan on 19 June 1859; six children resulted inthe marriage - David aged 36, Mary Kate, deceased, Humphrey 28, Jeremiah, 26, John 23 and Dennis, 20.

Patrick Thornton was a Private in Company A, 19th United States Regular Infantry Regiment.Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1842, he was in 1870 described as 5'5", ruddy complexion, brown eyes, blackhair, and when enlisted was occupied as a laborer.

An original enlistment in Company D, of the 36th New York Volunteers showed that he wasenrolled on 15 June 1861 at New York City and was present for duty until wounded 1 July 1862 duringaction at the battle of Malvern Hill, in the Seven Days battles round Richmond, Virginia. He was in hospitalat Mile Creek, Fortress Monroe, Va., and continued absent until the Company was mustered out 15 July1863.74

A report by Brigadier-General Darius Couch of the battle of Malvern Hill, stated in part the role ofthe 36th New York in the action and this one the few references in the official records by the Union army:

"About 3 p.m. a brigade broke through the opening of the woods in front of Palmerand Abercrombie, but Kingsbury's battery, together with the steady fire of the TenthMassachusetts and a charge of the Thirty-sixth New York, drove them back in confusion, thelatter regiment capturing the colors of the Fourteenth North Carolina in hand conflicts. Thismovement of the rebels was a rash one or a ruse to draw our troops on to disadvantageousground - undoubtedly the latter - and it did not succeed."75

A second report, by Brigadier General Innis N. Palmer, commanding the Third Brigade, had thefollowing information about the regiment at Malvern Hill:

"... The Thirty-sixth New York Volunteers, commanded by Major Raney, [was] onarriving on the battle ground placed in position under the direction of General Couch, andthey were directed to hold the woods on the right of the battery formerly Griffin's, and to actat the same time as the support to this battery... four companies of the Thirty-sixth, under thecommand of Captain Walsh, were thrown out obliquely across the field on my right, in orderto get a cross fire upon any force that might appear from the woods immediately in front ofthe battery.

Affairs remained in this state until about 3 o'clock p.m., when, after a sharp artilleryfire from both sides, the enemy appeared in force on the right. This force proved to be abrigade of North Carolina troops, commanded by General Anderson, and it advanced in goodorder until it was within about 350 yards of my men. A heavy fire was then opened upon it bythe Tenth Massachusetts and the four companies under Captain Walsh. As soon as it waswithin the view of the battery a fire from it was opened, and I directed the remaining sixcompanies of the Thirty-sixth New York to wheel from its position in the wood and open fire.This was done in gallant style, and after a sharp contest, which, however, lasted only a fewminutes, the enemy broke and fled. After pursuing for some distance my command wasrecalled, as a pursuit would necessarily bring them in front of the batteries. In this shortengagement the battle-flag of the Fourteenth North Carolina Regiment was captured by the

74 None of the campaign books on the Seven Days Battles mention the part taken by the 36th New York at Malvern Hill so it is

presumed not be a significant battle for the regiment.75 O.R. Series I, Volume XI, Part II, page 203.


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Thirty-sixth New York Volunteers, and brought in by Captain Donoghue, of that regiment.The loss in my brigade was small in this affair."76

He then was enlisted in Company A, 19th U.S. Regular Infantry, by Major Hambright at PortJackson, La., on 19 November 1870 to serve five years. He was sent to hospital during the Spring of 1871 byreason of pains in the back which were occasioned by a fall while in the line of duty at Fort St Philip, La. -since July 1871 he had been detailed as a nurse in hospital. He was discharged on 14 May 1873 at BatonRouge, La., having served two and a half years of his original period.

On 13th November 1880 he applied for an invalid pension, was then a resident of San Francisco,California. Since leaving the service he had resided in Ireland and was then two-thirds disabled fromobtaining a living. A further letter in January 1885 placed him in the city of Rio Grande, Starr County,Texas. He stated then that his injury was caused by stepping into a hole in the wharf at Fort St. Philip, whilea guard at night by which the spinal cord was injured in some way. Another letter also stated that PatrickThornton had enlisted in the U.S. Navy 28 July 1863 and served as a landsman aboard the U.S.S. "NorthCarolina" until 13 August 1863; on the "Pensacola" from 14 August 1863 to 29 February 1864, on the"Stockdale" from 1 March to 26 July 1864, and on the "Corypheus" from 27 July to 17 August 1864, whenhe was discharged. A letter from the Treasury Department in 1884 stated that the was no mention of hisname in the rolls of the "Corypheus".

He received US$30 per month as a result of disability of the left eye and resulting loss sight of same,and impaired vision of right eye and disability of urinary organs. His certificate, #340543, gave his addressin 1899 as care of the U.S. consulate-general in Melbourne.77 He died 19 June 1904 at Cambridge Street,Balmain, presumably his address at that time, aged 63, of chronic nephritis. This house is still standing as ofMay 1990. He had been 8 years in New South Wales and was not married. He was buried 22 June 1904 inthe Roman Catholic Cemetery at South Head, Section B, Grave #104.

Thornton's estate at the time of his death was listed as three weatherboard cottages in the Sydneysuburb of Balmain as well as cash. He stated in his will that he felt that the United States had been his bestfriend and that therefore he gave his assets to the U.S. Consul in Sydney who proposed to have a stonecarved to mark his grave (something which was only completed in 1992 as a result of pressure from RoyParker for recognition of his grave).

Adam Edward Walsh was born in Waterford, Ireland, on 17 June 1841. He served in the Unionnavy aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter "Washington" in 1858; the U.S. Brig "Bainbridge" in 1860; the U.S.Sloop "Macedonia" in the same year; the U.S. Gunboat "Chocura" in 1861; the U.S. Frigate "Brandywine"in 1862 and the U.S. Revenue Cutter "Wyandra" in 1867. He married Josephine C. Anderson atMaryborough, Qld., on 8 September 1875 and became an officer in the Queensland State Customs Office.He resided at Boundary Street, Bundaberg, Qld., and died in that city on 21 January 1925. He is buried in aprivate grave at the Bundaberg General Cemetery in Queensland, number A960 in plot A13.

According to records, the U.S.R.C. "Washington" was serving in New York during 1858 while theU.S.R.C. "Wyandra" had not been built by the time that the Civil War had ended.78 The "Chocura", laiddown in 1861, was commissioned in February 1862 and was involved with army operations at Yorktown,Va., in May 1862 before serving in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Walsh's next ship, the"Brandywine", was an old storeship built in 1825 and was also in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadronuntil destroyed by fire at Norfolk, Va., in September 1864.79

On the 24th of April 1863, James Francis Waters joined the United States Navy aboard therecruiting vessel, the U.S.S. "North Carolina" which was the famous Brooklyn Navy Yard. Waters was not 76 ibid, page 213.77 A death certificate for a Patrick Thornton shows that he died at East Melbourne, aged 70, in 1908, #6746.78 "The United States Revenue Cutters in the Civil War" by Florence Kern, p2-10.79 "Warships of the Civil War Navies" by Paul H. Silverstone.


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long out of Louth County, Ireland, where on 4 June 1842 he first saw light of day. Taking a liking to navylife, he subsequently served 4 enlistments aboard the vessels Princeton, Lilac, Vanderbilt, Pensacola,Suwanee, Independence, Jamestown and possibly the Minnesota.

Sometime during the years 1877/78 James Francis suffered a serious altercation with an officeraboard his ship. His posting at this time was an enviable one along the California coast. He resented the factthat the officer in question was making an otherwise ideal situation, difficult. About the same time hereceived wonderful news. His father was alive. This gentleman for political reasons had been transportedfrom Ireland to Tasmania during the 1840's, but was presumed dead. James Francis resolved this coupling ofcircumstances by up and deserting. He shortly acquired a berth as a merchant seaman and in 1879 a familyreunion took place. James Francis died on 22 May 1923 and is buried with his wife, Elizabeth Rachel (whohe had married on 30 June 1869), at Cornelian Bay Cemetery on the peaceful shores of Hobart harbour.80

The book "Warships of the Union and Confederates Navies" by Paul H. Silverstone gives shortreferences to each of the vessels mentioned in Waters' career. The USS "Princeton" had been commissionedin 1852 and served as a Receiving Ship in Philadelphia, Pa., between 1857 and 1866; the "Lilac" was builtand commissioned in 1863 as apart of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1863 and then in theJames River at Beaufort, North Carolina in 1864; the "Vanderbilt" was a gunboat commissioned inSeptember 1862 and served in the search for the CSS "Alabama" between 1863-64, was a flagship in theFlying Squadron in the West Indies during 1863 and participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher, NorthCarolina, in 1864 and 1865.

The "Pensacola" was a screw sloop and had been built in 1859 and commissioned in 1861. InJanuary 1862 she was a part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and took part in the passage past theNew Orleans forts and engagement with Confederate naval vessels in April 1862. She was re-fitted between1864 and 1866 before going into the Pacific Squadron. Waters' next vessel was the "Suwanee" which was aMohongo Class ship, commissioned in January 1865 and a part of the Pacific Squadron between 1865 and1868. The "Independence" is not listed in this book and so is presumed to have been a post-Civil War builtvessel while the "Jamestown" had been in commission since 1845 and after being in the Atlantic BlockadingSquadron during 1861, she became a part of the Pacific Squadron between 1862 and 1865. She wasconverted to a transport and storeship in 1866 and served in the North Pacific Squadron between 1867 and1868.

Henry Wells, a member of Companies B and A, 69th Indiana Infantry, is noted in the files from theU.S. Consul at Hobart on 16 December 1904 when he made a pension application after veteran pensionsbecame universal. He had been born at Kellahoe, County Clare, Ireland, on 11 May 1828 and died probablyin Somerset, Tasmania, in 1911. The regiment did not have an active career in the Civil War apart frombeing captured almost in total at the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, on 30 August 1861. After applying forthe pension he failed to claim it, possibly because he had not been wounded during the war.

His pension file stated that he had been born at Killaloe (or Kellahoe), County Clare, Ireland, on 11May 1828. Shortly after this his parents moved to the adjacent county of Tipperary. He enrolled on 5 August1862 as a private in Company B, 69th Indiana Infantry Regiment. At time of enlistment his personalappearance was stated as aged 28, 5'9", dark complexion, blue eyes, black hair and by occupation a farmer.This Company was subsequently consolidated into Company A owing to losses and the regiment wasreclassified to the 69th Indiana Battalion. He served with this unit until honourably discharged at Mobile,Alabama, on 5 July 1865 and had held the ranks of Private and Corporal. He returned to his formeroccupation as farmer and resided at Muncietown, Indiana.

In 1869 he went to Leavenworth, Kansas until 1879; and then at Burnie, Tasmania until 1889. Hethen changed residence to Somerset in the same county of Wellington, until he applied for an invalid

80 Letter by Roy Parker reprinted in "Membership Update", American Civil War Round Table of Australia, 14 February 1988,

p5.


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pension on 21 November 1904. His post office address was then listed as Somerset River. He had marriedJessie Emily Wragg at Somerset, Tasmania on 9 November 1895, and had no children.

The pension was approved at the rate of $12 per month, pension #1331210, from 3 February 1905,and continued until 1908 when, being aged over 75, the rate was increased to $20 per month. The pensionwas stopped on 4 September 1911 by his failure to claim and no further information in currently known, butpresumed to due his death.


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OTHER LINKS WITH IRELAND AND SOME VETERANS STILL TO BECONFIRMED

Augustus George Hance Graham was born in France and is buried in the Rookwood Cemetery inSydney; prior to his Civil War career he had served as a member of the British Army in Canada. He slippedover the border and enlisted in the 41st New York Infantry Regiment. However his name does not appear ona roster of the regiment which I have, and I surmise that he may have enlisted under a false name to save theproblem of being a foreign citizen. A full story of his adventures appeared in "Improvement Era", theJournal of the Latter Day Saints in Sydney for January 1919, which stated:

“Born in France, 1841. His recollections as a child was the French Revolution of 1848,when he saw the streets of Paris running with blood. He was taken to England, where he livedwith his Uncle George Cottam. He grew restless at the age of eighteen, and joined the Britisharmy. At twenty his regiment was sent from Kingstown, Ireland, to Canada, where he went overthe ground where General Wolfe [sic] and his troops took their stand on the Heights of Abraham.The Civil War had been on for two years, and he and his mate crossed Lake Ontario at great risk.He was in New York only forty-eight hours before he enlisted in the Forty-first New York StateVolunteers. Two months later he was on the firing line. He was at most of the historic places ofthe Civil War and fought in some of the battles. In 1870 he enlisted in the United States navy andcruised under the Stars and Stripes to the South American republics and many African ports.Receiving an honorable discharge from Uncle Sam, and with a desire to see mother and friends,he set sail for England. To his disappointment, he was told by friends in England that his peoplehad left some time previously for Australia. He followed them, and finally found them in thiscity, which has been his home ever since.”

Augustus George Hance Graham enlisted under the name of George Graham. He was born inHonfleur, Calvados, France, on 26 September 1841, although his family was English, he was born on thechannel coast of France. His great grandfather, Sir Reginald Graham, had been knighted by Charles I. On hisenlistment papers in the 41st New York Infantry he gives London as his birthplace. At the age of eighteen hejoined the British Army and two years later his regiment was transferred from Kingston, Ireland, to Canada.

Together with a friend, he crossed Lake Ontario and soon after signed up with the Union Army. Hejoined under a substitute volunteer arrangement, substituting for a draftee by the name of Andrew M.Coombs. The date of his enlistment was 5 November 1863 in Company E of the 41st New York Infantry. Heappears on a regimental return stating that he was a recruit from the depot and joined the regiment at FollyIsland, South Carolina. He was absent sick in the General Hospital at Hilton Head, SC, from June 28th, 1864but had returned to the regiment by the time of the next muster roll at the end of August 1864. He sawconsiderable action with his regiment, his battles included Cedar Creek, Bermuda Hundred, the sieges ofPetersburg and Richmond and other engagements. The 41st New York had originally been recruited atYorkville, NY and mustered into service in June 1861. After service with the Army of the Potomac it wassent in August 1863 to become a part of the 1st Brigade, Gordon’s Division, Folly Island, South Carolina,Northern District, Department of the South, until August 1864. It then spent a month in the Department ofWashington, D.C.; from September to December 1864 in the Army of the Shenandoah and then Ferrero’sDivision, Defences of Bermuda Hundred, Va., Army of the James, to August 1865.

He was promoted to the rank of Corporal on 23 October 1864 (Regimental order 73) but was reducedto Private again on 13 February 1865 by reason of the result of a General Court Martial Order no. 21,Headquarters Bermuda Hundred, Army of the James, which stated he was to be dishonorably discharged andto be confined at Norfolk, Virginia, for three years and to lose all pay and allowances.

In July 1865 George Graham was wound guilty of specified charges arising out of an incidentoccurring earlier that year referred to earlier as cowardice and leaving his post without permission while onpicket. He was court-martialled and sentenced to three years at the hard labor prison in Richmond. In Augustthis was rescinded and he was returned to his regiment by General Order no. 221, dated 15 August 1865. He


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duly received an honorable discharge when the unit mustered out in September. Another listing in theCompany Descriptive List shows that he was aged 19 years, 5’ 7 1/4” with healthy complexion, blue eyes,light hair, and occupation clerk.

On 3 May 1871 George A. Graham joined the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. “Lancaster” atMontevideo, Uruguay with the rating of Landsman. He stated his place of birth as New Jersey, was 5’8”,with blue eyes, brown hair and fair complexion. In September of the same year he deserted the ship in Riode Janiero.

He never married and died in Sydney on 29 November 1919, he was buried at the Rookwoodcemetery in Sydney, Independent Area, Section H, Grave #1655.

James McIlrath was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He went to Ireland and then to the United Stateswhen young with his family. According to information he served in the American War and was later afarmer in western and southern states. He participated in a survey party to California and was 10 years in theUnited States. He came to Australia in 1874 and was a farmer at Kiata in the Wimmera area of Victoria.This town is between Dimboola and Nhill in Western Victoria.81

Although the Washington National Archives have confirmed a soldier by that name, the New Yorkadjutant-general's report (Volume 41, page 63) shows James McElrath as a member of Company F, 168thNew York Infantry. He enlisted, aged 18 years, on 20 October 1862 at Pughkeepsie, to serve nine monthsand was mustered in as Private in Company F, 168th New York Infantry on 23 January 1863. He wasmustered out with the company on 31 October 1863 at Newburgh, New York. Frederick H. Dyer's"Compendium of the Rebellion" shows the regimental history as having been on garrison duty at Yorktown,Virginia, until June 1863; it participated in Dix's Peninsula Campaign between 24 June and 7 July; orderedto Washington, D.C., 9 July (after the Gettysburg campaign) and was then ordered to Funkstown, Maryland.It was involved in the pursuit of Robert E. Lee to Manassas Gap, Va., between the 14 and 24th of July;guard duty along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad until October when it returned to New York formustering-out on 31 October 1863. Its losses during service included 1 Enlisted man killed and 1 Officerand 36 Enlisted men by disease.

The only officer I found with this matching name was James P. McIlrath, Major of the 23rd OhioInfantry, who was an original Captain with this regiment and promoted to Major, mustered out at that rankof 15 July 1864. The 23rd Ohio was more known as being the regiment which Rutherford B. Hayes andJames A. Garfield, both future presidents, served with. Other James McIlraths which appear in the index aretwo from Illinois. James McIlrath, Private of Company F, 30th Illinois Infantry Regiment was a resident ofDolson, Ill., when he enlisted and was mustered into serviced the same day, 11 October 1864. He wasmustered out of service on 4 June 1865. James McIllrath or McIlrath, a Private in Company G, 31st IllinoisInfantry Regiment, was killed at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on 15 February 1862.

His name does not appear in the Immigration index for Victoria through to 1879 although JamesMcIlwrath shows as having arrived in January 1875 aboard the “Cashmere” aged 28, therefore born around1847 which would make him possibly too young to be of use.

To be confirmed

Bree, John. (born Ireland) Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.Downing, Patrick (born Ireland) Melbourne General Cemetery, Vic.Fearn, Ellen (born Ireland, lived in Louisiana as nurse)Jackson, John Eugene (US Army) Born in Ireland in 1837, grave unknown, married Elizabeth Ann Wharton

of Orange, NSW. 81 "Victoria and Its Metropolis".


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Johnson, Wilson (US Army, born in 1835 in Londonderry County, Ireland, resided Pittsburgh) HillsideCemetery, Gobur, Vic., died 15 July 1898

Loughren, William Booth. Born Ireland, Died Sydney, 1916.O'Connor, Charles Patrick (born Ireland, U.S. Army)O'Leary, Patrick - (Confederate Army) Born Ireland, died Liverpool, N.S.W.O'Malley, Edmund (Born Ireland) Waverley, N.S.W.Casey, Patrick (US Naval pensioner, USS "Potomac", returned to U.S., then died in Ireland)Power, Brockholst L. (US Army - 18th New York Cavalry) Napier, New Zealand - believed to have died in

Ireland.

Another follow-up to John King’s successful article in the Australian Senior on Civil War links withAustralia came with a letter to John from a descendant from another veteran to be confirmed.From: John [mailto:[email protected]]Sent: Tuesday, 6 September 2005 7:31 AMTo: Barry CROMPTONSubject: Couple of potentials

Mornin' Barry - Well yet another letter has arrived from a nice lady from Toogabbie in Sydney. She believes her grandfatherand his brother served in the CW. Not very much to go on with this one but she has included an email address so I'll ask her somemore questions.

The name she has given me is Jeremiah RYAN born in Ireland in 1847. Went to America with his brother John in 1861. Thatwould make him only 14 at the time of the outbreak of the war but reaching 18 before it was over so he could have joined in thelatter part of the conflict. Which side he joined is not stated.

Some useful information is included in the letter about his death. He died at the family property of 'Driffield' at Morwell Vic.on the 5th October 1910 and is buried in the Hazelwood Cemetery.

There is apparently an obituary in the local Morwell paper around the time of his death which detailed his life and service inthe CW. This article may contain useful info. There is very little known of his brother John except that he may also be buried inthe Hazelwood Cemetery.

I am hoping that in your present occupation that you have access to the microfiche records of old newspapers and couldperhaps track down the obituary.

Not a lot to go on Barry but worth a try and I will forward this nice lady’s letter on to you together with any additional info shecan supply.

Regards - KINGY

I responded:Hi John and many thanks for the email - amazing how much reaction you've had, it seems that the old timers still have the art

of communication and correspondence far more than the younger ones.I checked the Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages and located the death certificate for Jeremiah Ryan in 1910, gave them my

credit card number and within 5 minutes had a copy of the death certificate on a PDF file (if you want a copy let me know and I'llattach it to an email).

It shows that he was born in Dublin and was aged 62 when he died on 5th October 1910 at Driffield (same as you had) so hewas born about 1848 - you mentioned 1847 and as he was 62 when he died, his birthdate must be between October and December1847. Parents names were James and Bridget. Widow's name was Ellen Fleming and he had nine children. He had arrived inVictoria 40 years previously so came about 1870; was married at Sale, Vic., 35 years (therefore married about 1875).

Adjutant-General's Reports show 19 Jeremiah Ryans in the Union Army and only 1 in the Confederate Army (from Virginia);of the nineteen and discounting those who gave ages as well outside the list of what we want, only a couple made sense - one whowas aged 19 in 1862 and served as a Private in Companies D and K, 132nd New York Infantry; he served from 1862 untildischarged in 1863; there were three who didn't have ages against their enlistment age; one from the 21st Indiana Light ArtilleryBattery; one from Company G of the 7th Wisconsin and one from Company A of the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry. His servicerecord with the Pennsylvania State Archives show he was aged 21 when he enrolled in 1861 at Scranton so was born about 1840(but might obviously have raised his age a couple of years).

On the pension application records there is one which shows the state filed as blank which may indicate that it was doneoverseas; another with Jeremiah Ryan and Ellen Ryan as widow has state filed as New York so that may not be the right one.Other all have either different widows or states filed. I'll get Sam in Melbourne who has access to the genealogy records to checkany of the pension files.

At this stage none look terribly easy to locate and I haven't started with naval records so I'll check further when I get home,also access to the local newspaper in 1910 to look up an obituary - that may have to be done at the state library.

mailto:[email protected]


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You've been very good to start the ball rolling and I hope that we can come up with a solution, certainly Jeremiah Ryan lookslike a very good bet!

Respects from here - sunshine and looks like it will be a delightful day for a change.Barry

Sam Ahearn did manage to locate a couple of pension application covers from Ancestry.com whichhaven’t been able to narrow down the search though we do appreciate Sam’s good work. Jeremiah J. Ryanhad served with the 5th Massachusetts Infantry and left a widow, Elizabeth so we can discount him; anotherJeremiah Ryan of Company G in the 7th Wisconsin Infantry didn’t have a location on his pensionapplication (nor a widow for that matter either); a third Jeremiah Ryan with no location on his applicationhad served with unassigned New York volunteers but had a widow Emma; finally Jeremiah Ryan who had awidow Ellen, was in Company G of the 8th New York heavy Artillery and the 2nd Battalion of the VeteranReserve Corps; she filed here application from New York so I’d be doubtful that she was the one in Victoria.

Further from John:From: "John" <[email protected]>To: "Barry Crompton" <[email protected]>Subject: Fw: Jeremiah RyanDate: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:10:12 +1000X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180

Barry - This e-mail from the nice lady, Alison at Toongabbie gives a bit more useful info in the first and second lines. Wereyou aware of the 'Early Victorians' book ? Perhaps it also contains some CW service info. of other prominent early Victorians whoalso were in the CW. The shipping dates now tie up with the arrival date in Australia of 1869. At 35 years of age in 1883 puts hisbirth year at 1848 although I think you figured it was pretty late in the year of 1847. I think now that John was the elder of thetwo. Fingers crossed - getting there.

KINGY----- Original Message -----From: James WeirTo: [email protected]: Saturday, September 10, 2005 12:41 PMSubject: Jeremiah Ryan

Thank you for your informative telephone call.I have some notes on my Grandfather which came from a bound book "Early Victorians", which may have been printed about

1890.It states in this book that Jeremiah Ryan, went to America 1862 and was in America for about 5 years when he returned to

Ireland for about 3 years the went to New Zealand and to Australia 1869.From the marriage certificate I can verify that he married my Grandmother Ellen Fleming at St Mary's Catholic Church in

Sale, 28th May 1883 at the age of 35 years. At the time the book was published Jeremiah and Ellen had 3 children. His fathersname was James Ryan and mother Bridget Kavanagh or Cavanagh. There is no record of a second christian name.

We know that he and brother John had property about Morwell. Not much is know about the brother he may have married andhave had children as this was mention by word of mouth that this was so. I do not know much about the Ryan Family as mymother and father moved about Victoria and finally to Queensland where I grew up.

My mother was the youngest Ryan child and the last to leave home, which make me very young compared to most othercousins who have now pass to God.

Your Email from Barry Crompton was interesting, and I would appreciate any information he may com across.Thank you again.Alison Weir.

And finally as of this morning my reply to John with my current findings:

Greetings John and thanks for the update. I have heard of "Early Victorians" but can't put my finger on it, I'll take a peak nexttime I'm in the State Library for more information.

Sadly the name of John Ryan is far more extensive than that of Jeremiah Ryan - compared to the 19 Jeremiah Ryans, the CivilWar data list showed 770 John Ryans in the Union Army and 157 John Ryans in the Confederate army so there's not a lot of beingable to compare the two names to see whether there were any in the same regiment however I might try a quick sort of my owndatabase to see if it is simple.

mailto:<[email protected]>


mailto:[email protected]


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The Immigration to Victoria CD has a listing for Jeremiah and John Ryan arriving in January 1869 aboard the "SouthernEmpire", Jeremiah aged 20 (born around 1849) and John aged 22 (born around 1847); so that also adds up to being a distinctpossibility. Interestingly, the same vessel also shows Ellen Ryan (aged 19 or 21) and Thomas Ryan (aged 22) on the same ship, Iwonder if they were also family.

If they did arrive in 1869 then there's no need to check the American census records of 1870 other than to weed out theJeremiah Ryans who we know remained in the U.S. for the census, sadly not having more of an idea of which state does make thesearch a bit more widespread.

I started to go through the New York enlistment records on microfilm but that is going to be a very long job, readingcopperplate is not one of my fondest joys in life and I'm wondering whether I should be transferring the pages one by one as I gothrough them for future reference - but that's a job for my retirement!

As always best wishesBarry

If John is correct that both of the brothers may have served in the same unit, I copied all of my databaserecords into one area which I could sort on unit; both Jeremiah and John Ryan had served with the 5thMinnesota Infantry (though John was in Company I and Jeremiah in Company G); also the names crop up inthe 22nd New York Cavalry (Jeremiah as unassigned, John in Companies K & M); both were also in thesame Company (H) of the 1st New York Infantry; in the 3rd New York Infantry (though separatecompanies); also the 10th New York Infantry in separate companies; the 18th New York Infantry (both inCompany B); 86th New York Infantry (separate companies); 132nd New York Infantry (separatecompanies); 85th Ohio Infantry (as John O.D. and Jeremiah D., both Company E); John and Jeremiah alsoserved in the same Company, A, of the 15th United States Infantry, we also had a Jeremiah and a John Ryanserve aboard the USS “Ohio” both as unassigned Wisconsin troops and as such nothing really looks greatlyconvincing as the ages that we know of those from Civil War data doesn’t give a lot of points either.

John Corneille Smith, buried in the St. Arnaud Cemetery, Church of England Section 28/2/858B,had been born in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1846 to George Smith and Rebecca Corneille. He served hisapprenticeship in Dublin in the office of his uncle who was a wine and spirits merchant. He then went to theU.S.A. and was looking for gold in the Klondike when caught up in the Civil War. He then went to Floridaas a supervisor of the construction of forts down there. He was stricken with yellow fever and was sent backto Ireland to recover.

No mention has yet been found of a John C. Smith in connection with Florida although that maychange with more research currently being conducted on Florida's participation in the Civil War. John C.Smith appears as a Private in Company H, 1st Florida Infantry Regiment. The "Gainesville Minute Men"were enlisted on 5 April 1861 and mustered out on completion of their service period of one year on 4 April1862. No further mention of this Private is listed.

In 1866 John C. Smith arrived in Melbourne and shortly after settled in the St. Arnaud region. In1870 he married Elizabeth Cadzow (died 1932) whose family were some of the area's pioneer settlers. Theirmarriage was the first to be held in the little stone church of St. Peter's at Carapooee. Smith had become amining manager in the meantime moving to a property called "Rahina" at nearby Gower East. In 1884 heentered local politics as a member for the Kara Kara Shire, becoming known as something of an authority onmunicipal affairs, and eventually rose to be the Shire President for a number of years.

He died suddenly of a heart attack on June 21, 1914, aged 67. Flags were flown at half-mast in thetown in his honour and a large cortege followed the coffin to the graveside three days later on the 24th. Heleft eight children, four sons and four daughters.

From: "jim" <[email protected]>To: "Barry Crompton" <[email protected]>Subject: NZ VETERANSDate: Fri, 1 Jul 2005 10:56:38 +1000Barry;I got an email this morning with another name of a "possible" Union veteran.




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Jim;I saw your note and lists on the genealogy page of the Dunedin "Star" this evening. My great grand-uncle, John

McBride fought in the Civil War on the Union side before coming to join his five brothers in the Queenstown area ofOtago, New Zealand. His name is not on your list, but his national connection at that stage is probably "Irish". He wasborn in Cross, near Ballycastle in Northern Ireland before 1840, but I will check family annals to get a more accuratepicture of when and where he was born and when and where and when he was buried. Certificates for the last shouldbe easily obtained. Details of his birth will probably be available from the baptismal lists of his Catholic ParishChurch. What may be more difficult is finding which regiment he was attached to, which campaigns he fought in etc.But it could well be fun trying.

He was one of six Irish McBride brothers who came out with the gold rush to New Zealand in the 1860s. Two ofthe older brothers had stopped off at the Victorian goldfields on their way over here. The others joined them later aftertheir arrival in Queenstown. My Great-grandfather Robert, the youngest of the six brothers, disembarked at Hokitikaand walked to Queenstown crossing the Southern Alps for a journey which in those days before roads wereestablished would have quite daunting. John arrived in New Zealand with some capital after the Civil War.

I hope you don't mind me contacting you but it could be a worthwhile exercise. In the meantime I will contact aWellington cousin, Jean Paterson, font of all family lore and a really switched on genealogist about what informationshe has.

I'll get back to you when I have some more to share with youRegards and thanks for your initiative.SincerelyDonn Livingstone

Civil War Data shows 156 men with the name of John McBride so without a state we might well have towait for more information.

Information currently available on these veterans is very scarce and it is highly probable that furtherresearch will uncover more developments. It is known that a host of veterans migrated from the U.S. tovarious parts of the world. Confederate outposts were recorded in Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil plus themore-common post-war residences in Canada, England and Europe. Several prominent army officers foundemployment in the Egyptian army and numerous high-ranking officers also led successful careers around theworld. One instance of note was the Confederate guerrilla chief known as the "Grey Ghost", John SingletonMosby, who became U.S. Consul to Hong Kong. Many other Confederate officers were also appointed togovernment posts during the presidency of Grover Cleveland in the 1880's as a result of political favours (anexample in James Morris Morgan, an ex-Confederate naval officer, as U.S. Consul to Melbourne isdiscussed later; another ex-U.S. Army officer was also consul at one stage) and the list is endless. Naturallywith the vast amount of political favours required as well as the majority of the population being involved inthe Civil War, there was obviously some need for these ex-officers to be gainfully employed or rewarded fortheir endeavours.

During the 1880's, many Northern states began to process bills through legislatures to aid the Unionveterans and between 1879 and 1888 the states also began building soldiers' homes for those veterans whohad become incapacitated. Under the general law of 1862, Union Army soldiers who had sufferedpermanent bodily injury or disability as a direct consequence of military service were eligible for federalrelief at monthly rates ranging from $8 to $30 (depending on rank) for total disability, with lesser amountspaid for partial disability.82 This was followed in 1890 by the U.S. Senate passing a bill for dependents ofsoldiers and the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure to pension every veteran over the age of62. The compromise of these two pieces became the Dependent Pension Act of 1890 which granted apension to every honourably discharged soldier of ninety days' service who suffered from any disability thatincapacitated him from manual labour, no matter what his financial situation and no matter how thedisability had been incurred. The number of pensioners grew from 537,944 in 1890 to 966,012 in 1893. 82 "Glorious Contentment: The Grand Army of the Republic 1865-1900" by Stuart McConnell (University of North Carolina,

1992), page 143.


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Between 1890 and 1907, payments under the act totaled more than US$1 billion.83 Confederate veteranswere exempt from this universal act and as a result most Confederate states passed their own bills to giveSouthern veterans a pension or other assistance to those who could apply for benefits.

The vast majority of veterans, both Union and Confederate, who arrived in Australia, were peacefulcitizens who led blameless lives and settled into the normal mainstream of life amongst the other colonists.Sydneysider and member of the American Round Table of Australia, Roy Parker, himself a great-grandsonof a Civil War veteran, Lieutenant Hoyt Palmer who saw service with the Veteran Reserve Corps andHancock's First Army Corps between 1863 and 1865, has been able to uncover over eighty graves ofveterans buried in Australia and Roy's help has been invaluable in this research.

Roy Parker's research together with that of other members, Terry Foenander, Bob Simpson, ChrysSpicer and others in Bob Hanna and Len Traynor have so far turned up the following list of veterans who areconfirmed as being buried in Australia and New Zealand.

83 ditto, page 152-153.

AUSTRALIA AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

APPENDIX I

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES E. LOVE

Extracted from "The Bulletin of the Missouri Historical Society", Volume 6, Number 2 (January 1950),pages 124-128 and Volume 6, Number 3 (April 1950), pages 400-411.

Together with Obituary for James Edwin Love extracted from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of theUnited States, Headquarters Commandery of the State of Missouri, 1905.

Toward the end of his life, James Edwin Love, St. Louis merchant, wrote for his children the variedand colorful events of his life. Through the courtesy of his daughter, Mrs. Lewis B. Stuart of St. Louis, whohas also presented the Society with a collection of letters her father wrote in 1862, and with the kindpermission of his grandson, Lyall L. Stuart, of New York, who now owns the original manuscript, we beginwith this issue, the diary's publication.

. . . He was born at Bushmills, County Antrim, Ireland, September 27, 1830. . . Mr. Love's fatherdied February 22, 1839, and his mother, February 16, 1842, following which young James spent hischildhood with this Grandmother Love near Derry. Although his father had been a member of a prominentarchitectural and construction firm - a family company - the children were left in somewhat straightenedcircumstances, and as the boy grew older, he decided to emigrate to the United States, where various familyconnections had settled... In 1842, an uncle, Robert A. Love, an architect and a graduate of EdinburghUniversity, emigrated to Cincinnati, where he later built a suspension bridge over the Ohio. In 1857 thisuncle accepted a government appointment as Engineer at Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco. He movedto Australia about 1859. And finally, after the Civil War, another uncle, Matthew Steel, a contractor andbuilder, moved to St. Louis with his family.

James Love married Miss Eliza Wilson of St. Louis on May 2, 1865, and after his discharge from thearmy in that year, he made his home permanently in St. Louis, at 5714 Maple Avenue. He had four children,a son and three daughters.

And now for his own story, just as he wrote it down, but, in consideration of our readers, withpunctuation added, and some irrelevant sections deleted.

_______________________

". . . I resolved on leaving school to go to sea or America as soon as I could get away."I was at a good school graduated with honor in 1843. I was indentured to Dakin and Company, a

large Tea House of London and Belfast - began as cash boy. . ."I spent six months in Liverpool. . . I then travelled to London . . . I got my brother and 100 Pound in

Bank Notes, and sailed for New York and thence to Cincinnati. Reached New York in July . . . then I boughttickets to Albany, Buffalo, Toledo and mail boat to Cincinnati. [He returned home to Ireland in 1851 thenwent back to New York, then onto the Cincinnati and St. Louis.]

"I was dissatisfied. Running a store was too confining - and when in the Spring of 1854 it took fireand burned, I concluded not to resume but to go with the rush to California by way of the Isthmus ofPanama. I left for New York, taking my brother with me.

". . . At New York we found the conditions such that the party broke up. All the disappointed oneswere coming back from California with doleful tales. . . I engaged with a Yankee Skipper I met, owner andcaptain of the 'Haidee' to go to Australia with him. . . Crossing the Gulf Stream and working south and east,we skirted near to Cuba, Haiti, and St. Thomas, away to the East to near the Azores. . . Then on to the tradewinds to Cape St. Roche and down on the S.E. trades to Rio Janeiro. . . then away before the West wind tonear the Cape of Good Hope. Then along the South of Australia to Melbourne in Victoria. Thirty miles upthe fine island sea 'Hobson's Bay' was Sandridge, the Landing or port of Melbourne, which was two miles upthe River Yarra Yarra. St. Kilda and other fine suburbs were already building around the Bay. . .


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"I bought an outfit and footed it over 80 miles to Ballarat, joined a party of 8 American and onenative with an oxteam, as Axeman, secured a claim on Creswicks Creek 10 miles away, sank a shaft 40 feet,and mined and baled water for a year. Got some gold, but from excess of water and lack of machinery wegot bankrupted finally. We had good times however. Often gave a Minstrel Show at the Hall of the Saloon. Iacted a few times as doorkeeper but generally stayed by our tents and claim. . . I put all the money left into aHorse Wagon and Tent, left Samuel to manage, while I returned to Melbourne to get employment there. . .

". . . Christmas there is Midsummer, and in January 1858 my health failed. I had about $6000 ingold, so I resigned and sailed for home in the great screw steamer Royal Charter, leaving Samuel to run hisbusiness alone which he could now do. . .

[After travelling home to Ireland] I made a winter passage again of over 10 days to Boston - arrivingin St. Louis by rail.

"As soon as Lincoln was elected, Gov. Claib Jackson, with others in authority, sought to forceMissouri to secede from the Union, and began to drill and organize a State Guard for that purpose. TheUnion men took alarm and also began to drill in more or less secrecy in the cellars and caves of the GermanBreweries. As I had been prominent before and at the election in North St. Louis, the Tenth Ward, I wasamong the Volunteers who did so. After Lincoln's election, and the call for 75000 Volunteers under the leadof Frank Blair, Five Regiments were mustered into the service at the Arsenal, although the said Governorhad replied to the call, that Missouri would not send a man to coerce the south. Genl. Lyon used some ofthese Regiments to protect it, and the Governor called a large Camp of the State Guard to meet and drill atCamp Jackson in order to capture it. Already the Liberty Arsenal had been seized by Col. Joe Shelby underthe Governor order; unexpectedly Genl. Lyon and Col. Blair with the troops attacked the Camp on the 10thof April and Captured it. At the same time a quiet call had been issued for 5 Regts. at Home, which waspromptly filled.

"I was mustered in as orderly Sergeant of Co. D. 5th Regt. Mo. Reserve Corp on Saturday the 11thApril, [actually May 11, 1861] at the Arsenal where we were armed, and marched back home to our Armoryin Stifels Brewery. Stifel was our Colonel. Our March thru the Southern part of town was an ovation, but atBroadway and Walnut a large crowd was gathered [who] called us opprobrious names - men, women, andchildren. On the steps of the 2nd Presbyterian Church was massed a crowd, said to be gamblers, etc. Fromthese steps a pistol shot was fired on us, and soon a rapid fusillade was in progress. Our men, many of whomhad never fired a gun, were panic stricken and broke ranks and fired without orders at this crowd, at thewindows filled with spectators on Walnut Street, and up and down the street. The officers soon got someappearance of order again and we finally reached camp leaving killed and wounded behind on both sides.We found our arms in a bad condition, some with 5 or 6 bullets in, loaded but never capped - the panicstricken had tried to fire. The panic as the news spread thru the city became intense. The rumor wascirculated 'That the "Dutch" would loot and burn the City,' on the other hand loud threats were made to drivethe 'Dutch' into the river. But panic reigned and on Sunday morning when I came down town to attendChurch after standing guard all night, I found every dray and wagon and carriages of all kinds loading upwith people fleeing to the Country, or across the river, every Steamboat, flatboat, etc. loaded with peopleand their valuables whether going up but especially going down the river.

"The Secessionists all fled from the wrath to come but in a day or two most of them came backashamed, for the Military had taken charge and restored order at once, which the police, all rebelsympathisers, refused to do. Meanwhile the panic spread thru the state, and the legislature and the Governorprepared to leave Jefferson City, put an army in the field, and force the State out, altho at an election held, alarge majority had voted for the Union. So a large number of troops moved up the railroad and the river toprevent secession. Our Home Guard Regiments were asked to Volunteer for the field for 90 days. About2/3rd of them did so and I would not stay back. As we advanced, the Governor fled and our Battaliongarrisoned the State House etc. for a short time, then moved forward to Sedalia and Lexington. While doingso Genl. Lyon, with reinforcements from Iowa and Illinois, advanced to the Southwest and met a superiorforce of Arkansas and Missouri troops. [He] was carrying all before him when at a Critical Moment he fell,and no further advance was made than Wilson Creek as both armies were in confusion and many killed and


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wounded, hundreds of the leading young men of St. Louis on one side or the other being among the killed.We scouted as far as Weston, Mo. and up and down the border of Kansas for sometime, returned toLexington early in August, and as our 3 months enlisted [ended] began to organize in Regiments for 3 yearsor during the war.

"Col. Mulligan with a large force arriving at Lexington; we took boats to return to St. Louis formuster out, and muster in again. A large force of Rebels were closing in on Lexington and the river to closeit to our boats and capture it. We had to fight our way down the river, being fired at from numerous points aswe passed with muskets and six pounded brass Cannon, under Joe Shelby, these Cannon stolen from LibertyArsenal, and muskets at short range riddled our boats from smoke stacks to Hull, and killed some, thoughwe were barricaded with bales of Hay, Mattresses, and in every way we could think of. Only the speed ofour boat saved us from being captured and sunk.

"At St. Louis we and our crippled boat received an ovation, but after we left, Lexington was besiegedand captured after a determined resistance, Col. Mulligan and our new Colonel White 14th Mo. NewMexican Brigade with many others [were] killed, leaving our Regiment without a Commander, and withoutorganization save some squads of men mustered in under 1st Lieutenants of which I was one. As we hadauthority from Genl. Fremont to recruit, we continued to do so, but our men were stolen from us faster thanwe got them, and our numbers decreased. Two Co's recruited on the Mississippi River as far up as RockIsland, and mine recruited in St. Louis and in the Missouri river as far west as Sedalia. [We] went to Consultthe Quarter Master Lieut. Sheridan (afterwards Genl. Sheridan), asking his help and he advised us to takeour men to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where they would be safe, and he would give us transportation which[he] did at once. This suited us and our men, who having enlisted for the West did not wish to be forced intoMissouri Regiments to fight in Missouri, which now was a battle field from end to end. We lay at FortLeavenworth from the 25th of December until February '62,84 when we were consolidated with 7 otherCompanies and mustered in as the 8th Kansas. We could drill but little, the snow was deep, we had only hayfor beds in our tents, we were poorly clad and unarmed. But as soon as mustered we were armed, drewclothing and rations and [were] severely drilled. Five Co's went to Fort Riley and Ft. Laramie on the borderand at times fought and scouted for hostile Indians. Our 3 Co's. camped on the border and scouted inMissouri and Kansas, capturing rebels, horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc. and destroying far and near,75 miles south of Kansas City, which however was only a landing, a warehouse and 2 or 3 houses on thebluffs.85

"Immediately after the Battle of Corinth we were ordered to join Genl. Rosecrans in Tennessee;86

and 5 Co's at once took boat at Leavenworth for St. Louis. There within a few days we took another boat forColumbus, Ky., which had been evacuated by the rebel forces. While in Kansas I acted as Q.M. and also asAdjutant. The other 5 Co's., A. B. C. D. and E, remained at Ft. Riley for some time as they could not bespared from the border. I returned to my Co. under Captain Hurd. As soon as Columbus was put in defence,the torpedoes taken up and destroyed, and provisions and supplies accumulated, we marched on south thruTennessee, repairing the Railroad as we went. The Country was very swampy and the bridges and repairsnumerous, but during the summer we reached Corinth and finally Eastport, Mississippi. On our March we 84. But on January 3, 1862, Love was in St. Louis and addressed a fervent letter to "My Dearest Eliza," asking if they should

announce their engagement, which was then simply an "understanding.85. From Aubrey, [Kansas ?], May 19, 1862, he wrote to "My Dear Molly" [evidently a pet name for Eliza Wilson]: "I can

purchase cheap Homesteads here all improved, gardens, houses, fences, &c - that will be worth and easily sold at 3 or 4times the money - whenever this war is over! They are now deserted as their owners dare not live here, for fear of gettingshot, burned out, or their stock jayhawked, by the opposite party, be they Sesesh or Union! Strangers who have noenemies here can settle without danger even now, are doing so daily - & so the late owners will sell for half what theycost five years ago . . . We had a narrow escape from being ordered to Corinth. Four regiments are detailed to assistHalleck from here. Ours was on the list but finally was permitted to remain as it is Home Guard for Kansas. It is veryinactive & sometimes disagreeable life . . . After a ride on the prairie and to the creek, I send you a sprig of the red, white& blue I've got to beautify my table & perfume my tent . . . " [The pressed flowers were still with the letter, Editor]

86. From Leavenworth, May 27, 1862, he wrote Molly that he had "just got here after a forced march. We are enroute for Corinth- so I hope to call and see you all as I pass . . . It is all very sudden . . . "


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took many prisoners and compelled them to work for a while, [then] let them go south. Others, betteraffected, we paid, using them as wood choppers etc. Our mechanics built or repaired the bridges, stations,etc. I and others stood guard, scouted, and captured arms, ammunition, and supplies and had manyinteresting experiences, hard work but a very pleasant summer, forming many acquaintances in the Brigade.Our Battalion Co's F. G. H. I. and K. now separated, passed thru Iuka enroute, and garrisoned Eastport andscouted all around. Several expeditions in the nearby Hills after Guerillas, who were very troublesome, gaveus much excitement, hard marches, and some skirmishing. Eastport was an important depot of supplies forour army, and as the rebels were smuggling salt and flour thru our lines our expeditions reached toChickasaw and Florence, Alabama, capturing a Rebel Colonel and detachment of his men and largequantities of ammunition and supplies.

"On the 18th of August we were suddenly ordered to march. Reaching Florence, Ala., on the 24th,we found concentrated two Divisions of the Army of Mississippi all under orders for a forced March toNashville to head off Genl. Bragg, who with his army had crossed the Tennessee River above Chattanoogaand was hurriedly marching on Louisville, and Cincinnati. We left everything behind us, except what wecarried on our back, one tent to each Regt. and 3 wagons for Ammunition and commissary supplies. At 2o'clock in the morning on the 26th we started on this terrible march. Hot as a furnace, intolerable dust, waterscarce, the ponds covered with a green scum, stagnant with occasional dead mules and horses, half rations orless, sometimes only flour and coffee. Our cooks would sit up all night making flapjacks. We had nocooking utensils, our Canteens split were used for frying pans or perforated to rasp green corn for much orcakes. Tin cups or old fruit cans had to serve for coffee pots or boilers for coffee once a day. We marched 24miles the first day from Florence, next 21 miles - 20 miles - 21 miles - 17 miles - 19 miles - 19 miles toMurfreesboro. We were attacked several times in force, and stood guard and to arms at night. Then 39 milesto Nashville. All day and night, reaching it at 11 o'clock in the morning over bad roads - bridges gone,famished and exhausted. Hundred[s] of Strong Men had fallen by roadside unable to proceed for miles in therear. I with several other of our officers went off to farm houses and got breakfast. Coming late, [we] werearrested and placed in the guard house for several days.

"After a week's rest at Nashville, on September 11th, '62, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon in a fearfulstorm we started on another race to head Bragg out of Louisville. All the other troops had gone ahead of usagain, as it had evidently been intended we should help defend Nashville. We marched to EdgefieldJunction, then over a spur of the Cumberland Mountains to Tybee [Tyree] Springs then to Mitchellville, thenback again several miles, after a halt of 6 hours enroute again through Franklin, Tennessee. We marched allnight to Bowling Green, Ky.,87 over 47 miles in 43 hours, deprived of food almost and only one rest. Onagain after day's rest to let the roads get cleared, leaving all wagons and clothing behind except what wecarried. We forded Big Barren river and along the pike towards Glasgow to attack a body of rebels, who atonce retreated. We bivouacked, having made 18 miles in a heavy rain, no shelter, no provisions, rain fallingheavily all night. At 4 A. M. we started again. We plucked corn in the fields as we went, and rejoined ourcorps at Bells tavern at 3 P. M. and found our wagon train and got a good supper - the first meal sinceyesterday's breakfast.

"Next day we moved [to] Prewett's Knob, next to Cave City. We formed in line of battle and had aspirited skirmish with Bragg's rear guard at Green River. We camped at Murfreesboro, which Bragg hadcaptured 3 days before, and paroled its garrison of 4,000 men. After he had crossed Green, he evacuated andwe occupied it. Next day, 22nd, our division crossed Green river and marched north 13 miles. Next day 23miles to Elizabeth town (President Lincoln's birthplace). Bragg was still ahead of us, but 12 miles southturned to the right towards Bardstown, but we marched 25 miles, hot, dusty and tired, to the river near WestPoint. Next day along the river to Green Wood, 15 miles. Three times during the night we were called up to

87 On September 16, 1862, he was at camp near Bowling Green, Kentucky, and wrote Molly: "We have heard that there has been

a fight at or near Lebanon & also at or near Mumfordsville, so I guess that's our route next . . . "


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double quick to Louisville 6 miles, but the orders were countermanded. We finally started at 8 A. M. andparaded thru the principal streets on Review and were so cordially received it repaid us for all our toils.88

"The City was saved and the whole loyal population turned out to welcome us. Ladies thronged thestreets with baskets of provisions and refreshing drinks. Ragged, almost barefoot, and hungry, we got aneeded rest of four days. We had travelled 208 miles in 13 marching days; united with a new northern army;outmarched and got ahead of Bragg; and saved the northern and western part of the state, includingCincinnati and Louisville.

"On the 1st October we started out to fight and drive Bragg out of the states of Kentucky andTennessee, and reached Newburg 9 miles; next day 10 miles, next 6 miles to Salt river. The rebels hadburned the bridges and destroyed the roads so our progress was slow. Next day passed thru Mt.Washington89 after shelling a force of rebels out 8 miles. Next day after a series of skirmishes with theretreating rebels we entered their head quarters, Bardstown, passed thru it 1 mile and camped. At 3 o'clockon the 6th we moved on, and at dusk passed thru Springfield and camped 25 miles, a large number of killedand wounded each day. At 9 o'clock next, to the Crash of Cannon, we pressed on, part of the time on thedouble quick towards Perryville, where a great battle was on. It was necessary for our army to get somewater, so we advanced to cover some hollows along Doctors Creek, so our Brigade was pushed forward withthe 5th Wisconsin Battery, and had a fierce artillery fight, forcing their Battery to retire in disorder. We hadseveral wounded, tho lying down over or behind the ridge, the battery one man on the ridge in our front. Allnight we slept on our arms, and at daylight the fight was resumed. We would attack and drive them, halt, andthey would attack our batteries in front of us. Again and again we would attack and drive them back, andalways the artillery duel and always we would advance. At dark we entered Perryville, capturing manyprisoners and train loads of ammunition. We camped on the field, sleeping on our arms soundly, amidst thedreadful Carnage, the dead quiet, the wounded moaning and groaning. Early on the 9th we moved forwardagain, shelling the woods with faint replies. We found Bragg in full retreat, dead and wounded uncared forall over the ground and roads, guns blankets and knapsacks abandoned. We halted at Goodnight Springs andbivouacked and closed the 3rd day of the Battle of Perryville.

"On the night of 12th October we marched in chilling rain to Nevada Station; next day toHarrodsburg,90 then down the Danville pike to near Lancaster, where we found Bragg in force. Weadvanced under heavy fire, but were ordered not to attack, and could hear their trains all night rumbling inretreat. Next morning entering Lancaster, we were received with joy, and captured many prisoners. Wecontinued to follow Braggs' retreat to Crab Orchard where we remained 4 days, when we marched back to 88 On September 28, 1862, Love was at Louisville, Kentucky, and wrote Molly that since he had arrived there he had been busy,

but crippled. "I am only surprised I ain't sick, as most of the men are - not so much from marching as from want of foodand proper food.

We have much to complain of & now that we have been under Buell for a few days we also believe him atraitor. Had he wished it, we need not have starved, need not have marched so far, as we could have fought and capturedBragg at Mumfordsville . . . Buell is at least doing all he can to prolong the war . . . I wish they would send us Burnsideor Sigel - We had a sad occurrence yesterday resulting in the death of a good General (Nelson) by the hands of ourGeneral of Division J.C. Davis - He is now under arrest and another reigns in his stead . . . "

89 By October 2, 1862, Love was in camp near Mount Washington. "Today we are facing the enemy, but we are the reserve.These new conscripts have done the fighting. Yes we are near enough to hear the cannon & musketry & we advancetomorrow, if they're not run away, to take them on a charge.

"This said they're gone - I hope they wont run far as I dont wish to follow them to Alabama . . . "90 On the night of October 12, 1862, Love wrote to fiancee, Molly, from "Camp at a creek bet[ween] Harrodsburg and Danville,

Ky." He says, in part: "I rode in the ambulance two days before the battle, but when we fell in line and the battle begun Ijoined the company and have been with it since, though really getting weaker daily. I only suffer from a severe cold inthe head at present, and expect to be all the better for this little spell of biliousness, if I can protect myself from theweather. I got the cold on the field of battle. I had to lay all night without blankets, coat or overcoat, in rain and wind.This last two nights were the worst but I managed to buy an overcoat from a wounded soldier, and I sent back my 'nigger'several miles after one blanket - all I can carry and all he could get out of the wagon. The wagons have to be kept a gooddistance behind, as we require all the room in the roads, woods, or fields to maneuver."


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Lebanon, and on the 27th marched towards Bowling Green, arriving 1st November. In the meantime Genl.Buell had been removed from command91 and Genl. Rosecrans whom we all loved, met us and tookcommand on 3rd November. From Bowling we marched to Edgefield, and on 4th December made areconnaissance in force to the enemy's lines near Murfreesboro. On the 19th we reported to Genl. Mitchellfor Provost duty in Nashville. We remained until the 8th of June, 1863. I was commissioned as Adjutant onthe 17th Nov., 1862.92 We had lost from killed, wounded, and disability many men, and on December 31sthad but 776 for duty.

"We did strenuous work in Nashville early and late; brought a chaos of anarchy and treason into aquiet of law and order. The battle of Murfreesboro began on the 28 December and was won on the 31stDecember. We arrested thousands of panic stricken stragglers and returned them to the front, sent over 2500rebel prisoners to the North, sent 100 prominent citizens some to the South some to Northern prisons,arrested whole armies of spies, and compelled every citizen over 18 years of age [to] take the Oath ofAllegiance, or give bond as non combatants and go on parole. Those refusing Capt. Conover escorted south -and all this time rebel prisoners were coming in, many sick and wounded who after being cared for weresent North.

"As ordered on 8th June, 1863, we marched to Murfreesboro. Protests and petitions from the citizensagainst our parting were of no avail. Marching thru town we had an ovation, waving of handkerchiefs,cheers, goodbyes and regrets from disloyal as well as loyal. We had won and kept their confidence by justand fair dealing, soldierly bearing and good conduct. From Murfreesboro towards Millersburg; surprisedafter a severe fight the enemy from Millers Gap. Then on to Tallahome [Tullahoma] over the mountainsfighting and skirmishing all the way, only to find it evacuated and burning, but we saved large supplies infood and ammunition. It rained heavily all the way. We lay in the mud without shelter, while cooking wasalmost impossible. We waded Elk River waist deep, and shortly went into a good camp at Winchester.

"The rain and mud had saved Bragg's army again. We lost only 600 men. Bragg about 600 in killedand wounded, but we captured 1700 prisoners and much artillery. We scouted in the Cumberland Mountainsuntil the 17th of August, then crossed them to Stevenson, Alabama. On 28th to Caperton's ferry, where ourRegt. and 15th Wisconsin crossed the Tennessee in pontoons, 25 or 30 picked men in each Boat. Under fireof ours at daylight, surprised the rebel pickets and eat their warm breakfast, driving them to and occupyingthe bluffs, while the whole army crossed at different ferries.

"We then moved on to and climbed Sand Mountain, crossed it, and camped in Wills Valley 16 milessouth. On 4th September we moved to Muston's Gap, Lookout Mountain, 20 miles south of Chattanooga. On

91 In a letter to Molly written over a period from October 17 to October 24, Love comments: "I am tired of Buell - his

confounded orders has presented us once more from capturing Bragg. He wants the war to last!! We do not!! Neitherdoes many of the best generals under him, but whenever we have overtaken our enemies and there is a good clearance fora fight, Buell has prevented, to the intense disgust of all those who were in earnest . . . There is no doubt but that he is atraitor and that thus the services of 200,000 men are lost to the country, that an immense unnecessary expense is incurredin marching us over the country, and that thousands of valuable lives are lost through fatigue, privation, and poor andscanty diet, all contrary to the laws and regulations of the United States."

92 This date seems to be inaccurate. In a letter to Molly dated Nashville, November 27, 1862, he says bitterly: "I wished to getleave of absence now or before spring. I failed. I wished to resign for reasons too long to explain, the principal being thatI could never get preferment or gain a name as long as our lazy friend Capt. 'Herd' ranked me, although all my friendshere know I have done all the work, until lately we have had a first rate 2d. Lieut. who is my warmest friend and who hasrelieved me much. I expect he will within a day or two take my place as 1st.

"But any how my action spurred my friends up, and soon I had an offer from the Gen'l of a position as BrigadeQuartermaster or in a Pioneer or Engineer Corps. I refused the first, and ere I closed with the 2d it was otherwise filled bya friend of mine.

"I was at the same time offered by Col. Martin the position of Adjutant. This I accepted, and I expect daily tohave my commission. It is as good as Captain, and in fact suits me better, and the chances of promotion are as good orbetter. All I want now is to have some political influence to bring to bear on the Governor of Kansas."

On December 21, Love wrote Molly again from Nashville: "I found my commission as Adjutant had come inthe meantime . . . The Governor wanted badly to put in one of his friends but justice prevailed at last, through theinfluence of the old Adjutant, a warm friend of mine now in Kansas and influential."


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the 9th we crossed Lookout 13 miles to Lafourch Gap, clearing the road of trees felled and otherobstructions. But we were recalled and marched 8 miles along the brow of the mountain and descended thruStandifers Gap to near Alpine, Georgia.

"Our army was now strung out for 20 miles or more on the east side of the mountain. Bragg hadretreated again and Crittenden occupied Chattanooga. We had to concentrate very rapidly. Bragg had beenheavily reinforced and we learned that Longstreets Corp were coming by rail from Virginia. Our regimenthad to cross Lookout again on the 16th to Mustons, then recross it at Stevens Gap 17 miles Westward, then23 miles Eastward, climbing up and down on well nigh precipitous roads at times. We reached the Cove at10 P. M. 17th. Then on to Lees Springs, marching all night after the army between blazing and smokingcedar rail fences, and so all day of the 18th back and forth thru the Valleys. We camped at 10 P. M. in a cornfield. Heavy artillery firing could be heard all day and all night.

"At 8 o'clock next morning we reached 8 miles to the Widow Glens house, Genl. Rosecran's HeadQuarters, washed our feet and filled our Canteens at Crawfish Springs, and then were rushed into the woodsand into the battle under a terrible roar of musketry and artillery. We got on the double quick two miles fromWidow Glens, our men falling, when line after line of Longstreets Corp charged us, but we drove them forsome time. The advancing again in Superior numbers found several gaps in the line of the army and flankingus. We had to fall back after losing 5 Captains, 3 Lieutenants, and 150 men killed and wounded. I fell on theextreme front. The Regt. and Division charged again, were again decimated and driven back with furthersevere loss. The 8th Kansas lost 50% in officers and men, but fell back on Genl. Thomas in good orderduring the night and went into the 2nd days' fight on the 20th September, which was quite as warm as thefirst day. At midnight on the 21st the regiment quietly fell back from Chickamauga badly crippled,Rosecran's had 59870 men, and lost in killed, wounded, and captured 16170 men. Bragg had 62846 men,and lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners 17804 men. Bragg took most prisoners and gathered in most ofthe wounded. Both armies spent a week in caring for the wounded, burying the dead, and exchanging orparoling the prisoners. Rebel and union wounded were so mixed up and clad so much alike that they werenot separable until later, and I was one of these unfortunates. When I recovered consciousness Longstreet2nd line was marching past me in the thick timber as if on dress parade, our cannon cutting the trees andbranches recklessly and the musketry occasionally peppering the tree under which I lay.

"Many stragglers were coming from the front and were rifling the dead and wounded Yankees ofwhatever suited their fancy. One of these placed a bayonet to my breast, when a young Lieut. of the HospitalCorp arrested him, and asked as to my condition. I said my leg seemed to be broken and bleeding profusely.He got two handkerchiefs out of my pocket and with tourniquets tied one above and one below the wound,cutting my trousers open to do so. He placed my head behind the tree, shielding me from Cannon balls, gottwo rubber blankets off the field [and] placed one below the other over me, to keep me warm (for the air wasfrosty). Not quite believing I was an officer, he asked for my sword, which he found to my left dented withbullets. I also gave him my belt and pistol and thanked him as he had saved my life, 1st from a brute, 2ndfrom loss of blood and the deadly chill I felt. Longstreet's 3rd line had passed me and night had fallen. Nextday I was removed to the field hospital in a small peach orchard, where I lay 10 days, waited on by a man ofCo. K, my Co., who had fallen at the same time as I, [and] was shot in the lungs. He died at Atlanta, towhich we were sent, but his careful attention with Cold Spring water saved me from amputation, to thesurprise of the rebel surgeons. With others I was shipped in Cattle cars to Libby Prison, Richmond, Va.

"I was placed in the hospital of the Prison under care of our captured Surgeons. With the aid ofSanitary Supplies sent to us thru the lines I was able to go on crutches I bought . . . upstairs 1st January 1864. . . to the Chickamauga room, Libby prison. In the spring after the escape of Colonel Rose and others thruthe tunnel we had dug, I was not able to follow, and soon we were all shipped south to Macon, Ga. - CampOlgethorp - a mere stockade, with a dead line 10 yards or more inside at the pleasure of murderous guards.We tried to tunnel out again and again, but were detected tho some reached the outside only to be shot down.After the 4th of July 400 officers were picked out to be sent to Charleston and placed near the wharf underthe fire of our guns, the Swamp Angel, and others that were constantly shelling the city.


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"We arranged to capture the Train - had a compact organization. But our leader failed to give thesignal for some reason, cowardice or perfidy, and we proceeded to cut large holes in the floor of our freightcars, concealing them with the straw of our bedding, and one dark night in rain and storm we were halting inthe wood for water, got out below the cars and ran for our lives. It was so dark and so unexpected nearly 150officers got away but were within a few nearly all recaptured.

"I got as far as Port Royal and with Lieut. Hale and others lay in the Cane brakes for several days.We could see our Gunboats patrolling up and down, but the rebel pickets were so numerous we could notcommunicate with them, and famished with hunger we made nightly raids on the Corn fields for roastingears. Our tracks were discovered. Thinking it was runaway Negroes they ran us down with hounds and shotguns. We had to surrender and were turned over by the farmers to a regiment of Home Guards, mostly richplanters over 60 years of age, by whom we were entertained and paroled, eat with them, visited at theirofficers mess, and discussed the State of the Nation and the War. We were mutually surprised at what welearnt, and after a week [we were] sent to Charleston, with letters and requests that we not be punished forescape but well treated. As many of the Officers signing were leaders in South Carolina it had due effect,and we returned to prison with much eclat!

"I was placed in the Marine Hospital and with money received from the North, as well as goodiesand clothing, lived comfortably for some time. I would lie on the roof at night and watch the shells fall allover and around us but only one struck the prisons, tho many of our guards were wounded or killed andmost [of] the residents fled. We could see the shells rise 6 miles away like a star or comet, then rush with aroar over head and descend and explode.

"In September or early in October the Yellow fever became so virulent among the guard that wewere sent inland to 'Camp Sorghum', Columbia, S.C. Here we built ourselves shantys or holes in the groundroofed with pine branches, and tried to keep warm during the Winter, built ovens - I was baker to a largemess - bought flour to mix with our rice and corn meal, also bacon and other luxuries. But in November Iescaped again, passed over two weeks in the swamps, got near the Savannah River, but the guerrillas andpickets were so numerous between the two armies, we were captured and could not reach Georgia andSherman.

"I was roughly treated this time, but we had lived well with the negroes on the plantations when out,had gained in health and strength on the trip, and counted it a gain - even a pleasure - after life in Camp.Excepting the hardships of the winter, we had a quiet, uneventful life in prison until Sherman started intoCarolina and North from Savannah.

"All was then bustle and we started to march and ride by railroad in our old Cattle Cars againtowards Salisbury, N.C., but enroute every night officers escaped in numbers and soon with eight comrades Iwas ready to go again for freedom and Gods Country. These comrades were Lt. Morris, Mo.; Lieut Potter,6th Mich. Cav.; Capt. C.A. Adams, 1st Vermont Cav.; Lieut. J.C. Norcross, 2nd Mass. Cav.; Capt. EbenGrant, 1st Vermont Cav.; and myself, Capt. James E. Love, 8th Kansas Vet. Vol. Infantry. We marched out600 officers on the 14th February. Found all Columbia excited, Sherman advancing, soon on the cars. Verycold sleet and frost; we had to help the guards inside the cars to save their lives at 10 P. M. When wereached Charlotte over 50 officers had escaped, camped in a field wet and weary. More than 50 moreescaped before morning, 16th. We were issued rations of hard tack and bacon. As the exodus continued byconnivance with our North Carolina Guards, we paid them a good fee and ran for our lives after dark. Thru aswamp to the Tennessee and Ohio R. R. track, we were fired upon and chased but traveled rapidly. At about3 A. M. we flanked a picket, reconnoitered and crossed a long and high Bridge over Long Creek, wide andrapid. When we passed the guard house, the fire burnt brightly and their dog chased us, but on the doublequick in a short time we came to another bridge over the main branch of the Catawba River, crossed it, andwere halted by the guard. We told him a fairy story, and finally ran for it. He fired his gun and soon thewhole picket was in chase of us, overtaking us rapidly. We scattered and they captured Lieut. Mather.

"We fell over logs and briers. I dropt my haversack and went back. A guard with gun unloaded triedto arrest me. While he was loading, cursing, I evaded him and running up a high bluff found five of mycompanions. We were in a bend of a creek running into the Catawba, and had to return Eastward. Our


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pursuers followed Lts. Potter and Morris, but they in time followed us and were captured 3 or 4 hours tocamp, but found another creek in our way. With the energy of despair we sought a passage, found a log, andhid in a patch of Hazle Brush. It was cold and wet. A wagon road to a close settlement was nearby withwagons and horsemen passing. We had done our best but were in great danger during the morning. Someboys hunting and snaring rabbits ran right into us. We found their mothers had helped Union officers before,and we arranged to be secreted in an empty shanty for a day or two until the threatened search was over, andthey could get a guide for us, a free colored man in whom they could confide. We can never repay theirkindness and watchfulness day and night. Their husbands were at Petersburg, one a prisoner North. Capt.Adams went home with one of them, which caused much amusement to the others as well as ourselves.

"On the 20th, after 3 days rest, we started with our guide Manuel and full haversacks at 6 P. M.through brake and brier, fields, woods, paths and roads. A rough nights work, marched 20 miles, gaining but6 miles. We had to make a circuit to escape guards and reach the only bridge across the south fork of theCatawba, unguarded at Pin Hook Factory.

"We now changed our course to the west to strike Kings Mountain of ancient revolutionary fame andcommunicate with Capt. Ellwood at the Iron Works, a strong Union Man. Only the Broad river now betweenus and the mountains, we had to decide whether to go down the river to Sherman or up and across themountains. We heard much news, called secretly on several Union Men, and as 20 escaped prisoners hadjust been captured near bye we decided to go West, and it was my turn to lead when at 6 P. M. we left camp.I was frightened at times. Trees on fire looked like picket fires, dogs at every house, we got off on plantationroads once or twice and lost several miles.

"I called at a house (Mrs. Rynes), found a soldier at home on sick leave [who] gave us our direction,and some warm rations quickly cooked. We reached some iron furnaces at 3 A. M. They were stamping oreand pigging iron with a horrible din and bright fires. I reconnoitered and carefully flanked the guards, overhills thru thickets, gaps, rocks and swamps until exhausted at day break we lay down in a fence corner at thefoot of a hill, a swamp and creek in front. We kept a picket out, and toward evening the owner who was outmending his fences found us. He proved to be a Mr. Dilner and a good Union Man, giving us valuableinformation of roads and men on the way to God country. We started again at 7 P. M., but with so manyroads got lost again and again and wandered for miles - even the North Star deceived us. Meeting a freeNegro, we were guided back again to the Old Charleston Road and went a mile south to Mr. Kings son-in-law, to the Capt. Elwood we sought. This is a rich quartz country full of iron and gold, worked mostly byfree negros. We had a long conversation with Mr. King, but passed on past iron works and clanking stampsat intervals to meet Capt. Elwood.

"We passed the day, Washington's Birthday, in a deserted cabin with our friend, found him energetic,well read, a practical miner, tho Union, a native Southern Abolitionist, energetic and quoting Jefferson etc.He found us a brave Negro pilot, Alec. Bryan, assured us we were already safe, only 50 miles to the BlueRidge, where an underground railroad for prisoners and refugees commences. We had quite a celebrationand met a few of North Carolina Union Men. At 8 P. M. our guide arrived and we started with fullhaversacks in the rain, but made 20 miles to camp in the Pine Woods.

"We passed thru Shelby safely at 4 A. M., crossed the Broad River two miles beyond escaping thepickets, our brave guide prospecting the way for us. It still rained heavily, but we built a good fire, a blanketpitched for a tent. We crawled in one by one and were baked in turn. Our guide left us to call on friends, anddid not return until after dark. We became impatient and started to the road, waded knee deep for miles.Enquired our way at a miserable shanty of two Confederate soldiers. They knew us at a glance. It still rainedin torrents, and they bid us God Speed, if we wished to travel such a horrible night.

"We pressed on slowly and painfully, making about a mile an hour, dark as pitch and stumbling,leaving our miserable shoes behind us every few steps. We saw some one preceding us with a Pine torch.We pressed on and found our guide Alec, who had got ahead of us by reason of his better knowledge of theroad. He had a good supply of torches and we pressed on more rapidly to Sandy Run. We could not cross atthe bridge and must cross before the flood. It was very wide and swift, but we made a chain and got overwith difficulty. Went into camp two miles west at 2 A. M. We were only 6 miles on our way but more


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fatigued than in travelling 30 miles. Pitched our blanket again by a good fire, but cold wet and miserable wecould not sleep. The wind howled, it thundered and rained. Alex left us as soon as he pitched camp, andwent on before to prepare for us. We [were] to meet him at Broad river 9 miles ahead at Sunset.

"We plodded wearily along all day, flanking so many plantations we made 25 miles ere we reachedthe Bridge and crossed in safety. Five minutes after Alec and a friend loomed out of the darkness with aCanteen of Whisky, and never was whisky more needful or beneficial. We went two miles further to adeserted shanty, a crowd of darkies, a roaring fire, a bountiful supper. We washed ourselves, dried ourclothes, slept 2 or 3 hours on boards before the fire, and at midnight started again for safety and to passRutherfordton 10 miles ahead before morning.

"Our feet were terribly blistered, our whole bodies sore and tired, but we made it in the rain, sleepy,wet, and tired. We camped in a large Pine Woods 3 miles west of Rutherford. During yesterday's marchclose to the river we had to expose ourselves. We found a soldier at home. He wished for Sherman's arrivaland to stay at home. His wife baked some bread and boiled some Eggs [for] which we paid. When leavingshe gave us a piece of Bacon, which she had before refused to sell. Alec returned at dark - counselled us toremain in camp on account of the floods - but at 4 P. M. returned to conduct us to the residence of our nextguide Lewis thru thunder and heavy rain. We paid Alec and were sorry to part. He is a slave - hires his time- won't keep Confederate Money, has accumulated $3000 in property, the price of his freedom. He oftenmakes trips of 100 miles to sell Iron etc. Now he thinks Massa Sherman will free him without cost and hecan save his Iron and Goods for Yankee Gold. His advise to his fellow slaves is to stay where they are andwait, when they can continue living in their old homes free. Today while others slept I sat us sewing andmending, cut the tail off my coat to mend the rest, had my shoes mended and half soled by Lewis. My feetcontinue very sore. Dryed my clothes, had a nice bath, etc.

"We started at 6 P. M. and made 6 miles to Hamilton quarters, road flooded and soft. Went to sleepin a good bed. Jim Hamilton is overseer. Crowds of Negros young and old came to see us. Kept some ofthem out as pickets. [Hamilton] fed us on the fat of the land. We went to the woods for the day thru choice,and he brought us a good dinner. Had all our shoes soled and mended - leather worth several hundred dollarsin confederate money.

"We started with Jim on a mule for guide. We had to cross 3 flooded creeks which but one at a timewe crossed dry shod with Jim on the mule. We made only 7 miles, the rain preventing all uphill [travel].Before a good fire we forgot our misery in earnest conversation with some intelligent people, then to a warmpallet in the loft where we slept to 11 A. M. We could hear the conversation of many visitors during the dayabout Sherman and the early end of the War. At night we started with our guide, but hearing of some troopsapproaching from Asheville we returned to lay over in a good bed in the hut of a colored woman only a milefrom Andersons. W.A. came early and conducted us before daylight to an old school house in themountains. We passed a pleasant day and he started ahead of us to the next station to prepare for us.

"A colored guide came at dark and we passed over steep ranges to Logans and a good supper. Wecalled on old man Logan but he was not cordial, so returned to the nigger quarters and at midnight startedagain to ascend the mountains with torches in the rain. We made 5 miles after 4 hours climbing, reaching thetop of W. A. Bart Murphy's. We crossed branches innumerable, Cedar Creek half a dozen times we waded,passed several houses, had to extinguish our torches and relight them again. After pleasant converse withMr. and Mrs. M. we lay down in the parlor before the fire and slept until noon. Mr. Anderson then arrivedand we passed a pleasant afternoon and evening. Our next Stage is across the Blue Ridge and BlackMountains, but as it rains and snows we can not go forward until the weather clears. We would get lost inthe fog or snow drifts which we can see now in plenty. March 3rd we lay close all day, my heels poulticedand feet bandaged by kind feminine hands.

"March 4th, Inauguration day. We had many visitors and heard many tales of cruelty to the poorwomen, whose husbands had to lie out with their unerring rifles. I saw many with their thumbs crushed flatand bleeding from the torture, because they would not inform on the men. The tale of the rebels now is -tired - whipped - and Death to the Leaders.


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"March 5th the sun came out. Three young men named Moffat joined us with guns and revolvers onbeing assured of safety and protection within our lines. Our party with 3 guides well armed is swelled toeleven, Jim Murphy in command, Millington, L. Fortune, and Ben F. Gillem. The journey is a seriousmatter. We must leave all roads and travelled gaps where we might be ambushed, and could not evadepickets or scouts. We started at 11 A. M., sorry to leave our kind entertainers and their pretty and modestdaughter. Got to the top of the Blue Ridge at 4 P. M., had a fine view, and reached a valley on the west sideat sunset. Thence a very rough march to the foot of the Black Mountains at 1 A. M. on the 6th. 20 milesfatigue was equal to twice as much.

"The Blue Mountains are superb, a mass of lovely Blue Grass extending from N.E. to S. West 20miles away absorbed as it were into the blue of heaven whether looking North or South. Crumblinglimestone foundation, an angle of about 50 degrees, rich pastures for sheep or cattle, balmy breezes from theGulf, protected from north or west winds by the high Black Mountains.

"After a sleep on the floor with Mr. Glass we started early to climb the Black Mountains, no trail,very steep, over rocks, stumps, and fallen timber. We climbed its Granite sides heavily timbered; reached thetop at 1 P. M., a terrible climb. Crossed the Swannanoe River again and again to its head spring between adouble summit of Crags. We are now 6000 ft. high and the magnificent thickets of Laurel, gigantic Pine andChestnut are behind us - snow drifts in plenty - while stunted and blackened Balsam Fir, etc., lie flat on therocks, can't stand up. After a good dinner we crossed over to the head spring of Caney Creek running West,passed rapidly down the creek. We slid down and rolled down much of the way - too steep to walk. 6 or 8miles down we took refuge at another Union House. At daylight we started down again to the Ashevilleroad. Travelled 3 or 4 miles quickly, were about to take to the ranges again, when we overtook some youngladies. They were going to Egypt as we were, [and] assured us the road was safe. Our guides recognizedtheir names as true blue. One young lady was mounted. She insisted that some of our lame companions ride.Her father Jim Walker and brother had to flee for their lives and had been in the 3rd North Carolina Regt. forover a year.

"After a rapid march over a steep Range called Sampson we reached Egypt at the foot of BaldMountain, and remained overnight with Miss. Frankie Walker, our guides and companions at other houses.An early breakfast and off for the summit of Bald Mountain. A rich meadow as it were extends over miles ofits rounded summit and allows a View of Mountains and Valley for it is said 100 miles on a clear day. Wecould see over 40 miles when a fog came down and cut off our View. We made a rapid descent and reachedthe Valley for dinner at 3 P. M. just as a heavy rain came on. We were very fortunate in our weather, in rainor fog or snow we would have been lost. We stopped at Mr. Edwards, Indian Creek - Clear Branch, P.O.Washington Co. Tennessee. It was necessary before going further to get information about the Guerillas andScouts, prowling between the Rebel lines and ours. These desperadoes, thieves, and murderers prey on bothparties alike, and especially on those going to or coming from our lines or these brave mountaineers. Mr.Edwards and three sons had long since fled to our army."

(This is the end of the second article, whether a third one was published has not been ascertained bythis researcher).

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OBITUARY extracted from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Number 9, 1906.Headquarters Commandery of the State of Missouri

In Memoriam: James Edwin Love, Died at St. Louis December 27, 1905.

Circular No 9, Series of 1906, Whole No. 310. St. Louis, April 7, 1906.At a stated meeting of this Commandery, held at headquarters on the above date, the following

Memorial to Companion Captain James Edwin Love was unanimously adopted.


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Captain Francis Raymond, Jr.,Senior Vice Commander

Acting Commander

W.R. HodgesCaptain, U.S.V., Recorder

IN MEMORIAM

JAMES EDWIN LOVE was born at Bush Mills, near Giant's Causeway, County Antrim, Ireland, onSeptember 27, 1830. At the age of twenty-one he came to this country, first residing at Cincinnati, Ohio, anda year or two later removed to St. Louis. Full of adventure and fond of roving, a few months later he sailedfor the gold fields of Australia.

In 1853, having been fairly successful, business matters concerning his family led him to return toIreland, but in 1860 he again came to St. Louis, which thereafter was his permanent home.

The first signs of hostilities appealed to his natural enthusiasm, and love for his adopted country, andhe enlisted on May 11, 1861, in the three months' service, and was appointed First Sergeant of Company D,Fifth Regiment, United States Reserve Corps, Missouri Volunteers. Upon expiration of this enlistment hewas immediately commissioned and mustered as First Lieutenant in the Fourteenth Missouri Infantry; wassoon after transferred to Fort Leavenworth, where he was re-commissioned and re-mustered into the EighthKansas Infantry, serving successfully as First Lieutenant of Company K, Regimental Adjutant, and wascommissioned Captain of Company K of the same regiment on the 8th of July, 1863.

His service from that date, which was with this rank, was unusually arduous and attended with morethan the average privations and hardships that fell to the lot of the soldiers of the Civil War. He was underGeneral Lyon at Jefferson City, and along the Mississippi River beyond; in the Battle of Lexington,Missouri, where his Regiment suffered great loss, including its gallant Colonel; fought the enemy all theway to Kansas City and back to St. Louis, driving the forces of Shelby and other Confederate Commanders;drilled his men in the snow at Fort Leavenworth; raided Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas afterQuantrell and other irregular bands; thence to Columbus, Kentucky, where he was engaged in removingtorpedoes from the Mississippi River; opened up the railroad thence to Corinth, Mississippi, with somesevere fighting; then, in the First Brigade of the Army of the Mississippi, scouting all over NorthernMississippi and Alabama, as far as Florence, Alabama; then on forced marches with continued skirmishingand occasionally heavy fighting, to save Louisville from General Bragg - 414 miles in twenty-two marchingdays with no transportation, living off the country, and without other rations, except flour; after four days'rest at Louisville, was attached to the Ninth Division of the Center Corps, Army of the Ohio, and marched toattack Bragg; skirmished at Bardstown, Mount Washington and Springfield; fought at Perryville on the 8thof October, 1862; on the 14th of the same month at Lancaster; thence back and forth three times to and fromCrab Orchard, and on to Nashville; serving as Provost Guard during and after the Battle of Murphysboro[sic]; on July 1, 1863, fought at Tullahoma, and skirmished across Elk River, a swift stream five feet indepth; fought at Winchester, August 29, 1863; crossed the mountains and forced a passage over theTennessee River commanding the first pontoon which was laid; skirmished to the top of Sand Mountain, andback and forth over that and Lookout Mountain to Alpena, Georgia, and on the 17th of September, 1863,again to Lee's Springs, Georgia; on the 18th fought all day for position, and on the 19th was in the hottest ofthe fight of bloody Chickamauga.

The Twentieth Corps was nearly annihilated and Companion Love, desperately wounded twice, wasleft for dead on the field and was so reported in the dispatches. While a part of Longstreet's Command wasmarching over the dead and wounded, he received kind attention from a Confederate officer who tied up hiswounds and stopped the flow of blood.

On the spot where Companion Love now stands the monument erected by the State of Kansas to thememory of her gallant sons who gave up their lives on that bloody field.


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He lay on the battle-field until the next day when he was carried to a neighboring peach orchard,which was a sort of surgical station, where he remained two weeks, with little or no attention. He was thenremoved to Atlanta, and thence to Libby Prison hospital. He was there when Colonel Rose and othersescaped by tunneling under the walls.

Though he aided as best he could in his wounded condition, being still on crutches, he was unable tocrawl through the tunnel. He was next taken to Lynchburg, Virginia, and then to Macon, Georgia, and wason his way to Charleston, South Carolina, one of the four hundred officers who were to be placed under fireof General Gilmore's guns, then commanding that city.

While nearing Charleston, Companion Love and others escaped by cutting a hole through the bottomof the cattle car in which they rode. Through this they crawled when the train was at a standstill, and layquietly on the ground between the rails, until the train had passed over them. He had nearly reached our gun-boats at Port Royal when he was run down by bloodhounds and recaptured on the beach; thence he was sentto the Marine Hospital at Charleston, and then to Columbia, South Carolina, and on to Salisbury, NorthCarolina, where he again escaped, and made his way, with others, over the mountains to East Tennessee andinto Knoxville, where he rejoined his regiment the latter part of February, 1865.

While on leave of absence at St. Louis he was discharged from the service on the 15th of June, 1865,in accordance with General Orders from the War Department, relating to "escaped prisoners of war."

Companion Love was married to Miss Eliza Wilson on the 2nd day of May, 1865, and after hisdischarge from the service he was a resident of St. Louis until the time of his death, December 27, 1905.

For more than forty years our late Companion was active in the commercial affairs of our city andwas highly respected for his steadfast but modest integrity of character in every walk of life.

Genial, warm-hearted, and cordial by nature, his friendship was valued by all who had the pleasureof his acquaintance, and his memory will be cherished by his surviving companions of the Loyal Legion andthe large circle of friends and associates among whom he lived so long.

We extend to the widow and surviving children our heartfelt sympathy.T.D. KIMBALL

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Following this report, there was a mention in the "Confederate Veteran" magazine of Volume 20,page 564 (December 1912), by Captain J.H. Martin of Longstreet's forces at Chickamauga. He states that hisregiment opposed the 8th Kansas. "On September 19 ... just as our line was ready to advance a friend ofmine in Company C, of our regiment, and I had a contest as to who should strike the enemy's line first, withthe result that both of us ran into the 8th Kansas Regiment and were captured and held as prisoners for ashort time, until some Confederate cavalry rushed to our left with a yell, and the Federals fled, leaving us,and we rejoined our command, which immediately came up."

A check of the Georgia rosters show this to be Captain John Henry Martin of Company D, 17thGeorgia Infantry who had been severely wounded at Chickamauga. Nothing further has been researched intothis connection.


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APPENDIX II:

JOHN MITCHEL'S ESCAPE FROM VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.

from:Title: Old tales of a Young Country (1871)Author: Marcus Clarke* A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook *eBook No.: 0602691.txtEdition: 1Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: Latin-1(ISO-8859-1)--8 bitDate first posted: July 2006Date most recently updated: July 2006

JOHN MITCHEL'S ESCAPE FROM VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.AT two o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th of April, 1850, the convict ship "Neptune" cast anchor in theDerwent. The fortunes and freight of the "Neptune" were uncommon. She had come from Bermuda to theCape with convicts, but the inhabitants of Cape Town refused to allow the prisoners to land, refused even tosupply food for them, and the "Neptune," after some red-tapery, was compelled to set sail for Van Diemen'sLand. On board her, rejoicings prevailed. While yet at anchor in Simon's Bay, despatches from Lord Greywere read, which, "in compensation for the hardships of their long voyage and detention," graciouslyextended to all the prisoners Her Majesty's conditional pardon, "except to the prisoner Mitchel." So on the8th the prisoners land in high spirits (after an eleven months and seventeen days' cruise in the "Neptune,"land of any sort is pleasant), and twelve of the most powerful ruffians are straightway made constables. The"prisoner Mitchel," however, yet remains on board, ignorant whether he will be returned to that solitaryconfinement that had held him at Bermuda, or clapped into the cells at Maria Island in company with theother prisoner, "William Smith O'Brien."The sufferings of the "prisoner Mitchel" up to this point are interesting enough, but this is not the place inwhich to enlarge upon them. Suffice it to say that he was one of those Irish exiles, those "rash and mostunfortunate men," who, agonised at the struggles of their unhappy country choking in the red-tape bonds ofEnglish misgovernment, attempted to cut the knot with the sword, and failed. The Alexander of Ireland hadnot yet come.Yet, looking back for a moment upon that most miserable time, I cannot see what else remained to theYoung Ireland party. They had carefully planned a revolution of moral force. Ireland was to be regenerated.Irishmen were to be educated out of their prejudices. Ireland was to recover what she had lost by the Union,and claim for herself the right of legislation. The Nation (brilliant meteor, now quenched in the blackest ofIrish hogs) was the lever by which the world was to be moved. The Nation spoke the voice of the leaders ofthe people, and, conducted with surprising ability, made itself a power almost before men were aware of itsexistence. Like the infant Hercules, it began to strangle serpents in its cradle. But this "moral force" met withan unexpected check. From universal peace, Europe flamed suddenly into war. France and Austria almostsimultaneously shook with revolution, and in the excitement of the time the prudent leaders of the Irishpeople lost sight of prudence and "moral suasion." If ever there was a time to strike for Ireland, it wouldseem to have come then! If ever the Irish people were to be free, then did Freedom appear to hover nearestthem! All was arranged, all planned. France and America both gave hopes of assistance; the people,famished and despairing, called out to be led against their oppressors. The "rising" was fixed for September,and had it occurred then it would have in all probability succeeded. But the Irish camp swarmed withtraitors, and the minutest intelligence concerning the projects of the Confederation was borne to the English


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Cabinet. On all sides the enthusiasts were cheated and betrayed--their most trusted agents were in realityspies, hired with English bank-notes.Having made itself master of the designs of the "rebels," the English Parliament determined to force theRevolution to a premature birth, and so abort it without further trouble. The instrument used was a Treasonand Felony Bill, which, passed through both Houses in one night, was transmitted to Ireland by the nextpacket. The arrest of the conspirators was resolved upon. The tallest poppies were cropped the first, and theConfederation saw with dismay its best men plucked from its midst and lodged in gaol. A hurried council ofwar was held in the cell of the Enjolras of this Irish Rue St. Denis, and it was resolved to strike at once.Better to perish with arms in hands than to be silently and ignominiously handeuffed. War was declared, andthe "rising" took place. But English policy had been successful. The people were unprepared, foreignassistance was withheld; the stores, dependent on the harvest of September, were not yet arrived; the veryleader was a makeshift. Mr. Smith O'Brien, a country gentleman of moderate fortune and high socialstanding, was forced into the position of general of these ragged forces. He was brave and enthusiastic, bututterly unfitted for the position in which the turn of fortune had placed him. It was necessary, however, tohave a name at the head of the movement, and "O'Brien" was a watchword as dear to Irish hearts as hadbeen "Stewart" or "Montrose" to the Highlanders of Scotland. Thus the "revolution" began--we know how itended amid a savage horse-laugh from all in England.

There is to me something most pathetic in this Irish rebellion stifled in its birth. If the patriots--for no manwill, I trust, deny them that title--had been shot down in the heat of battle, or executed on the scaffold, theworld would have accorded to them the respect they merited; but to raise an insurrection which is put downby a corporal's guard, to light the torch of revolution only to see it extinguished by a bucket of water, to becaptured in a gooseberry garden and put in a Tasmanian corner like a naughty boy--most miserable! PoorIreland's poverty has ever made her ridiculous, and to the sensitive, the torture of merited ridicule is of alltortures the greatest. In the day of defeat there was scarce a writer of any note in England who had themanliness to refrain from a sneer at the defeated. Even Thackeray--whose genius should have restrainedhim--rhymed in stinging couplets about "Meagher of the swoord," and "Shmith O'Brine." Everythingconnected with the brave and foolish Irishmen which should have been respected, was cruelly sneered at,and held up to laughter. Their names, their accent, their patriotism, their ancestors, their affections, and theirnationality--all were assailed in turn. The high aspirations, earnest labours, patriotic enthusiasm, andunhappy fate of these men, seemed to the English press the best joke in the world. The jokers did not scrupleto invent lies even, and to this hour the malignant fiction of poor Smith O'Brien's cabbage-bed is devoutlybelieved by a variety of respectable Philistines.But to return. John Mitchel, originally an attorney practising in the north of Ireland, had by some writings ofhis attracted the attention of the editor of the Nation, who invited him to Dublin, and placed him on the staffof that journal. The reckless impetuosity of the man--unable to recognise that moderation, when used asmeans to an end, is always more damaging to an enemy than ill-judged outbursts of futile anger--could notunderstand the apparent sloth of the Nation 's movements. He quarrelled with the editor, and set up forhimself an opposition paper, the United Irishman, which became the recognised organ of the headstrong, andwhich, I am afraid, assisted by its senseless kicking against the pricks to exhaust the strength of the YoungIreland party. When the blow fell, he was among the first of the captured, and was sent to Bermuda, wherehe was treated with respect and consideration, but put into solitary confinement. A man of ardour, taste, andeducation, his soul sickened at this horrible seclusion from his kind, and he would have become as insane asone of the hermit-saints. His nature was fiery, impetuous, and kind; his abilities were imitative and acute.His "Prison Journal" (from which this narrative is in part compiled), though drenched with a perverseconceit, is a remarkable production. Though in style slavishly imitative of Carlyle, and overlaid with thattawdry ornamentation which is at once the blot and the brilliancy of Irish eloquence, the book is marked bypassages of extreme beauty of imagination and vigour of thought. The fact that it was evidently written withan eye to publication, and that the writer, in the midst of his most unreasoning outbursts of passion andsavagest denunciation of British tyranny, has ever before him his own figure bowing in the character of a


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martyred man of genius to an admiring reader, tends to raise a doubt as to the trustworthiness of theinformation conveyed. In this journal the slow torments he suffered at Bermuda are all set down. I take upthe thread of the narrative with the landing in Van Diemen's Land.The "political prisoners," as they were called, were permitted to reside at large in the police districts, out ofcommunication with each other, on condition of reporting themselves to the police magistrate once a month."This condition of existence," says Mitchel, "is, I find, called a ticket-ofleave. I may accept it or not, as Ithink proper, or having accepted I may resign it; but first of all I must give my promise that so long as I holdthe said ticket I shall not escape from the colony." Smith O'Brien refused to give this promise, but Martin,Meagher, and the rest did so. Mitchel being in ill-health did not think it necessary to emulate the self-denialof Smith O'Brien, and so was sent to Bothwell, a charming village on the Clyde, there to reside on parole.The reason of Mr. O'Brien's apparent Quixotism was this. It was decided by the poor fellows that they wouldtreat England as a hostile power, and instead of protesting against the severity of their sentence, exclaimwith all power of body and breath against what they considered the injustice of their trial. "The whole of theproceedings are monstrous," was in effect their plea. "We are not traitors, for Ireland has been usurped. Ifyou imprison us with convicts, we will not tacitly acknowledge ourselves criminals by purchasingindulgence at the expense of submission. We regard ourselves illegally in duress, and we will escape whenwe think proper."Plots to escape were numerous, and Smith O'Brien was twice nearly torn out of Maria Island. The treacheryof those who should have befriended him, however, caused the failure of the best-laid scheme, and he wasremoved to Port Arthur, where a little hut was set apart for his reception. The story of this attempted escapemakes a pendant to that of Mitchel himself. The friends of O'Brien in Hobart Town had bargained with aman named Ellis, the captain of a small schooner, to hover about the island until a fitting opportunity arosefor the sending on shore a boat which should pick off the prisoner. O'Brien was at that time permitted towalk over the island attended by an armed constable, and his friends having succeeded in communicating tohim their plans, it was decided that when the boat came ashore he should clude his warder and scrambleaboard her, when Ellis would make all sail for San Francisco. Ellis, however, had sold the details of thisdesperate plot to the Government, and the gaolers at Maria Island were in full possession of every particular.Every step of O'Brien's daily walk was watched, and his eager glances towards the sea-board noted withgrins and jerkings of elbows. At last the boat appeared, and O'Brien, having, as he thought, seen his wardersafely into the bush, ran down to the beach, and plunging into the water, waded towards his rescuers. Thewater was shallow, and thick with tangled weeds. He could not climb into the boat without assistance, andwhile leaning over the gunwale, the constable appeared with his musket. "The moment he showed himself,"says Mitchell, "the three boatmen cried out together, 'We surrender!' and invited him on board, where heinstantly took up a hatchet--no doubt provided by the ship for that purpose--and stove the boat." O'Brien sawthat he was betrayed, and on being ordered to move along with the constable and the boatmen towards thestation, refused to stir, hoping, in fact, by his resistance to provoke the constable to shoot him. However, hewas seized, and carried to his cell. Removed to Port Arthur, he afterwards gave the required parole, and wasset at liberty. Master Ellis was caught afterwards at San Francisco by some of the O'Brien party, and beingbrought out of his ship by night, was tried then and there by Lynch law, with a view to instant hanging, butwas "acquitted for want of evidence."John Mitchel having got over the first agonies of separation and contumely, found life in Van Diemen'sLand pleasant enough. He had money and friends. Liberated on parole, he rode, walked, fished, shot, andhunted. Around him were many of his old friends; Martin, Meagher, and Doherty were living within a day'sjourney of his house, and forbidden meetings were frequent. The squatters, and even constables and gaolofficials, treated the "political prisoners" with respect. When passing a chain-gang of poor devils who,failing the dignity of revolution, had earned their misery by shooting a hare or snaring a partridge, theoverseers "touched their hats" to the well-mounted, well-dressed, exiles. Yet the fact that they wereprisoners--that a slight deviation from the rules laid down for them, that a momentary outbreak of passionagainst a "man in authority"--would condemn them to share the fate of the ruffianly hare-shooters, anddesperate snarers of pheasants, rendered the thinking hours of the Irishmen heavy with angry regrets. They


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were free and merry, but the fabled sword yet hung suspended, and a caprice might at any time give themover to the coal mines of Port Arthur, or the travelling sheds of the road-gangs. That fortune had not cursedthem with the companionship of those monsters among whom the poachers and rick-burners learnt to curseGod and live, was much to be thankful for; but believing in their detention as infamous and unjust, nothingshort of absolute freedom would content them. At every hour, in every place, the thought of their captivityembittered their pleasures. Did Mitchel ride afield, or read at home, gallop (in the company of the wife whohad joined him) through the summer bush, or float with Meagher and Doherty on the bosom of the crater-lake Sorell in the fastnesses of the mountains, the same thought was present--he was a prisoner. Every pageof his journal breathes the same sentiment. "The spring day has been most lovely, and the mimosa is justbursting into bloom, loading the warm air with a rich fragrance which a European joyfully recognises atonce as a well-remembered perfume. It is precisely the fragrance of the Queen of the Meadows 'spilling herspikenard.' At about ten miles distance we descend into a deep valley, and water our horses in the Jordan.Here, as it is the only practicable pass in this direction between Bothwell and the Oatlands districts, stands apolice station. Two constables lounge before the door as we pass, and, as usual, the sight of them makes usfeel once more that the whole wide and glorious forest is after all but an umbrageous and highly perfumeddungeon."Again--"We approach the brow of a deep glen, where trees of vast height wave their tops far beneath ourfeet, and the farther side of the glen is formed by a promontory that runs out into the bay, with steep androcky sides worn into cliffs and caves--caves floored with silvery sand, shell-strewn, such as in Europeanseas would have been consecrate of old to some Undine's love--caves whither Ligeia, if she had known theway, might have come to comb her hair; and over the soft swelling slope of the hill above, embowered sogracefully in trees, what building stands? Is that a temple crowning the promontory as the pillared porticocrowns. Sunium, or a villa carrying you back to Baiae? Damnation! it is a convict barrack."But help was nigh at hand. On the 3rd of January, 1853 (three years out of the fourteen having passed), thefollowing entry appears in the journal:--"A new personage has appeared amongst us, dropped down from thesky, or from New York. When I arrived in Hobart Town two or three days ago, I went first, of course, to St.Mary's Hospital, where I found St. Kevin in his laboratory. He opened his eyes wide when he saw me, drewme into a private room, and bid me guess who had come to Van Diemen's Land. Guessing was out of thequestion, so I waited his revelation."Pat Smyth!""Transported?""No, my boy--commissioned by the Irish Directory in New York to procure the escape of one or more of us,O'Brien especially, and with abundant means to secure a ship for San Francisco, and to provide for rescuingus if necessary out of the hands of the police magistrate after withdrawing the parole in due form."Smyth was to meet O'Brien and Kevin at Bridgewater that evening to arrange plans. Thither went JohnMitchel; but some mischance delayed the coach, and the hour approaching when O'Brien and Kevin mustreturn to their "registered lodgings," Mitchel was left alone. By-and-bye the coach arrived, and amongstothers a young man alighted. Mitchel guessed that the stranger must be the Smyth of whom he had heard, sowalking round the coach, he abruptly accosted him. Smyth at first took him for a spy, but soon wasconvinced that he was one of the men he had been sent to seek. The next evening, at O'Brien's lodgings atNew Norfolk, the plot was unfolded. Smyth was hopeful and acute. He had himself passed through manyperils, had agitated in Ireland, escaped in peasant guise to America, fulminated there with newspapers,raised friends and money, and now adventured his head a second time in the noose. He was well providedwith letters of introduction, and with current coin. The sudden "gold-fields" excitement had brought toAustralia many bold spirits ready to venture a ship in such a cause, and by dint of bribery and stratagem itwould be easy to get the exiles aboard her. But Smith O'Brien would hear of but one mode of escape--toresign the parole, and then trust to fortune. Mitchel suggests that the four should place themselves in such aposition as to be arrested all together, and then rescue themselves by force of arms, or that the parole shouldbe simultaneously withdrawn at all the police offices; but this notion is overruled. O'Brien's sentence beingfor "life," it was pressed upon him to avail himself first of the services of Smyth, but he refused. "I have had


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my chance," he said, "and it has failed; the expenses incurred have been borne by public money; this is yourchance--take it." It was then decided that Smyth, or "Nicaragua," as he was termed among the conspirators,should lend his best aid to rescue Mitchel, on condition that Mitchel gave up his parole, and did not makeuse of the liberty it afforded him to assist his escape.All being decided upon, Smyth departed for Melbourne, there to obtain a ship and crew. John Mitchel beganalso to make his preparations. Mr. Davis, the police magistrate of the district, owned a white horse, "halfArab, full of game, and of great endurance." Mitchel hearing that this horse might be bought, purchased him."I don't know the precise work you want him to do," says Davis, "but you may depend upon his courage."Mitchel, with an inward smile, stables his new purchase at Nant, and waits for news. On the 18th of Marchcame a letter from Melbourne, and on the 24th Nicaragua himself arrived at Lake Sorell. All was prepared.The brigantine "Waterlily," owned by John Macnamara of Sydney, was to come to Hobart Town, clearthence for New Zealand, and then coast to Spring Bay (on the east side of the island, about seventy milesfrom Bothwell), and lie there for two days. Mitchel was to go to the police-office at Bothwell, accompaniedby Nicaragua and five others, all armed, and having delivered up his parole, gallop on his new horse midwayto Spring Bay, where a relay would be provided, and reach the shore by midnight. A boat sent byMacnamara would pick him up, and if the police at the Spring Bay Station attempted a rescue, so much theworse for them. On Sunday evening, however, a friendly resident at Bothwell informed the six that "all wasknown," the Governor had for a fortnight been informed of Nicaragua's intentions, the "Waterlily" waspurposely allowed to clear out of Hobart Town, the police force at Spring Bay had been doubled, and twoconstables were on watch at Mitchel's cottage. In Mitchel's own language, "the plot was blown to themoon!" and the party dispersed with heavy hearts.On the 12th of April an incident occurred which, appearing at the time unfortunate, proved ultimately the aidto escape. Nicaragua, going to Spring Bay to send off the "Waterlily," was arrested as John Mitchel. He wascarried to Hobart Town, and there lay sick. Mitchel went to see him, and the two determined to seize uponthe first opportunity to escape together. It was not, however, until the 6th of June that such opportunityoffered itself. Then Smyth found a ship about to sail for Sydney, the captain of which would receive hisfriend on board. A week after this, Mitchel and Smyth started from Nant Cottage to make their desperateventure. Nicaragua rode Donald the Arab, and Mitchel a half-bred mare named Fleur-de-lis.A quarter of a mile from the house, Mitchel's boy coming at full gallop from Bothwell met them. He bore anote from the shipping agent. The ship had gone--it was impossible to keep her longer without excitingsuspicion. Nevertheless, it was resolved to give up the parole as agreed, and to hide in the mountains until ameans of escape presented itself. With this last hope, then, the two galloped to Bothwell. They overtook aMr. Denniston, who chatted agreeably about agricultural matters, and asked Mitchel if he meant to put anyof his land in crop for the ensuing season. Mitchel answered truly enough that he "did not know." AtBothwell their companion left them, and the pair rode leisurely down the main street. At the police-barrackon the hill were eight or nine constables armed, "undergoing a sort of drill," while at the door was as usual aconstable on guard. A Mr. Barr, "a worthy Scotch gentleman and magistrate of the district," was standingclose to the gate. The two boys had by this time reached the township, and flinging the reins to them asagreed upon, Mitchel and Smyth walked into the police-office. Mr. Davis, the magistrate, was sitting at atable in the court-room. His clerk was with him, and a constable was in the police-office itself."Mr. Davis," says Mitchel, "here is a copy of a note which I have sent to the Governor."Davis cast his eye over the note and looked up at Mitchel. Nicaragua planted himself at his friend's side witha menacing gesture, one hand thrust into his breast feeling the butt of his revolver. Mitchel held in his hand aheavy riding-whip, and had two pistols in his breast-pocket. The note ran as follows:--"Bothwell, 8th June, 1853."To the Lieut.-Gov., &c."Sir--I hereby resign the ticket-of-leave, and withdraw my parole. I shall forthwith present myself before thepolice-magistrate of Bothwell, at his office, show him a copy of this note, and offer myself to be taken intocustody. "Your obedient servant,"JOHN MITCHEL."


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Mr. Davis, feeling doubtless pretty certain that if he accepted Mr. Mitchel's offer he would be shot deadupon the spot, stared speechless."You see," says Mitchel, "my parole is at an end. I offer myself to be taken into custody." Still themagistrate and clerk gaped."Good morning!" says Mitchel, putting on his hat, and moving to the door.The movement, which probably brought the hands out of those dangerous breast-pockets, broke the spell."No, no, stop!" cried Davis; "stay here! Rainsford! constables!"But it was too late. The constables had heard nothing and knew nothing, saw only the "ticket-of-leaveprisoner, Mitchel," accompanied by his friend, walk out into the court, and--any suspicions they may havehad silenced by Smyth's "judicious bribery"--only ran against each other in confusion. The pair leaped intotheir saddles, and nodding to a few "grinning residents of Bothwell," who "knew the meaning of theperformance in a moment," dashed down the street at full gallop. A mile deep in the forest the fugitiveschanged horses. Smyth riding due north to Nant Cottage on Fleur-de-lis, intending to make for Oatlands, andthence by coach to Launceston. Mitchel, a mile further, met a friend, T--H--, who undertook to guide him toLake Sorell through the mountains. All night they rode, only to lose their way in the thick darkness, andcamp on the edge of a precipice in the wildest part of the ranges. In the morning they reach the hut of "oldJob Sims," the friendly shepherd of Mr. Russell (Job had assisted already at the escape of Meagher), andthere Mitchel wrote to his wife telling her of his fortune. The next day he fell in with friends, and receivedthe hospitality of a gentleman who had a "large and handsome house at the base of the Western Tier."Mitchel calls him "Wood," and says in a foot-note that "Wood is a fictitious name." At the farmhouse of aMr. Burke, six miles from "Wood's," he lay concealed, waiting for news of Nicaragua and a chance ofescape. In the meantime Nicaragna had done well. Galloping furiously to Oatlands, he inquired eagerly for"horses to Spring Bay," slipped out of the hotel, climbed the wall, got round to the road, met the coach, andwent by it to Launceston, lying hid there duly shaved and disguised. Seven mounted police despatched byDavis to "scour the country" find Mitchel's Fleur-de-lis reeking with sweat in the stable at Oatlands, andhearing that a gentleman had been asking for horses to Spring Bay, make desperately in that direction. TheWestbury police are patrolling day and night, though bets are freely made in Hobart Town that Mitchel hasleft the island; Davis is laughed at a good deal; Sir William Denison repudiates all notion of the prisoner'sletter; the constable who was on duty at Davis's door is dismissed for having been "bribed," and, gettingamazingly drunk that evening, loudly expresses his hope that Mitchel is safely out of the island. In themeantime a strict watch is kept upon all "suspected persons."So matters shape themselves until the 20th, when a friend, riding to Burke's farm-house by night, brings aletter from Nicaragua. That indefatigable conspirator is at Hobart Town, openly walking about unarrested,and is negotiating with Macnamara, of the "Don Juan," brigantine. Two days after this, another messagearrives. The "Don Juan" is secured, and will call at Emu Bay on the 27th. Mitchel must by hook or by crookbe there to meet her. The floods are up, and to cross to Emu Bay by land is impossible. All the river mouths,moreover, are watched by police constables furnished with written descriptions of the prisoner Mitchel. Inthis dilemma a new arrangement is effected. A trusty messenger hurries to Launceston, there to tell thecaptain of the "Don Juan" to lie off a "solitary beach" to the west of the mouth of the Tamar, somewherebetween West-head and Badger-head. To this place Mitchel can get without crossing any river but theMeander.On the night of the 24th a start was made. The weather was gloomy and foreboding, the flooded meres andmarshes now sheets of thin ice. Mitchel having despatched two letters, one to his wife, one to his mother inNew York, gives himself into the hands of his guides and body-guard. This last is of considerable number,consisting of the two Burkes, Mr. "Wood," and his brother O'K--, O'Mara, Burke's brother-in-law, andFoley, "a gigantic Tipperary boy." All day long prudent Mrs. Burke occupies herself with preparations forthe journey, and "amongst other things," the good creature gets some lead, and judiciously casts bullets.After two days and nights of the flooded bush, scrambling up mountain-sides, fording swollen creeks, andshivering benighted among winter woods, the party reached Badger-head, only to find the brigantinedeparted. Wearily waiting, at length another brigantine appeared, but, despite all signal-fire and smoke, held


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on her course. Something was wrong, and Mitchel's escort determined to place him for safety in the hands ofa Mr. Miller, who owned a station on the shores of Port Sorell. Miller--a hater of Sir William Denison--promised to do his best for the fugitive, and with him Mitchel stopped four days, waiting for the "Don Juan."Sick to death of this hand-to-mouth liberty, he urges upon Miller a variety of desperate schemes, and at lasthits upon one that seems to have in it some gleam of sense. Four miles down the river lies the "Wave," aboutto sail for Melbourne with a cargo of sawn timber, and Mitchel shall sail in her as Miller's brother. All isarranged, the chief constable who "clears" the vessel unsuspicious, when a message arrives that changes alltheir plans. Mr. Dease, a merchant of Launceston, has secured for Father Macnamara a passage in thesteamer to Melbourne. So Father Macnamara, in the person of Mitchel, bids farewell to the Millers, and inthe dress of a Catholic priest gets to Launceston through pouring rain. Mr. Miller's brother will not sail thistrip.But the haven is far from won. Rumours of the fugitive's midnight rides are afloat, and the captain of thesteamer says that the rigour of searching has been so much increased of late that he durst not take the holyfather aboard. Macnamara must risk his cloth and life in an open boat to the mouth of the Tamar, there to lieuntil the steamer in passing can fling him some unseen rope. The night sets in wet and stormy, and drenched,weary, and despairing, Macnamara arrived just before dawn at a point of the river seventeen miles fromGeorge Town. There a man named Barrett was to take him aboard another boat, and get him to the steamer.Lying hid on the banks of the Tamar, the false priest saw the steamer pass, pause, then make direct for theheads, and then pause again. Barrett had gone across to George Town to make some excuse for bringing outhis boat, and did not return for an hour. The steamer could not wait, and after fifteen minutes got up steam.Father Macnamara sitting in the stern of Barrett's returned boat, and pulled by four strong men desperatelydown the bay, saw her suddenly sweep round the lighthouse and disappear. There was nothing for it but toget back to Launceston with all speed.Lying hid in the well-bushed banks again until night, the hunted wretch made the passage up the river. Thenight was as black as pitch, the rain poured in torrents, the woods groaned and shrieked; nothing was visiblebut the glimmer of the white foam on the water. Four times was the boat driven ashore, and the fourth time,when sixteen miles from Launceston, the boatmen refused to proceed further, and exhausted anddisheartened, flung themselves on the wet banks, and slept under the pouring rain. Desperate Mitchel nowresolved to trust to his disguise, and go to Hobart Town by the public coach, so, getting into Launceston bymidday, he walked coolly down the street to the house of a friend, and having eaten, took passage as FatherBlake by the night coach. He accomplished his journey safely, notwithstanding that he had a fellow-passenger, the Hon. T. M'Dowell, then Attorney-General, who tried to get him into conversation about his"bishop." At Green Ponds, where every creature knew him by sight, he had a narrow escape. The chief-constable, on "special business," looked in upon him; but Father Blake, with one hand on the farthest door-handle, and the other grasping the butt of a pistol hidden beneath his cassock, met the inquiring gazeunflinchingly. At Bridgewater Father Blake alighted, feeling that to brave the "door of the Ship Inn inHobart Town, crowded with detectives," would be madness. He spent the day walking by the river bank, andtook passage by the night coach to Hobart Town. In the centre of the town he made the coachman pull up,and walked to Conellan's house in Collins street. The door was opened by Nicaragua himself, the first timethey had met since they changed horses on the banks of the Clyde five weeks before. Father Blake wasamong friends at last.Half an hour sufficed to arrange their plans. Conellan's house was watched and was unsafe, so Mitchel, as"Mr. Wright," was to lie for a week at the house of Mr. Manning (Macnamara's agent), and then takepassage in the passenger brig "Emma," for Sydney; Nicaragua to start for Bothwell in the morning, andbring down Mrs. Mitchel and the children, who would go on board the "Emma" openly, "Mr. Wright" beingpicked up in the evening by a special boat.On the 19th of July the "Emma" cleared out of Hobart Town, and the next day a Mr. Wright, who hasappeared on board; makes casual acquaintance with Nicaragua and some of the other passengers, and sitsdown to smoke and chat. Mrs. Mitchel with her children--the object of compassion to many worthy soulsaboard--watches Mr. Wright eagerly, but does not speak to him. On the 23rd of July Mr. Wright, under the


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name of "Warren," is domiciled at the house of James Macnamara, in Sydney, waiting for a vessel, and inthe meantime lionises Sydney, "a seaport town of 80,000 inhabitants," says he, "and there's an end."At length a cabin passage is secured for Mr. Warren in the "Orkney Lass," bound for Honolulu, and on the2nd of August that good ship was cleared at Sydney Heads, and John Mitchel, at five o'clock in the evening,saw the "coast of New South Wales a hazy line upon the purple sea, fading into a dream."Of his further adventures, until he landed on the 29th of November, 1853, in Brooklyn, it is not my provinceto here relate. His family followed him, and in America his faculties found scope for expansion. Among theConfederates his name is almost famous.

A word, however, about the manner of escape. It is hard to say that Mitchel broke his parole, but I am afraidthat at best his escape was due to a melodramatic quibble. He certainly gave up his "ticket-of-leave" beforehe attempted escape, but he made all the arrangements for escape by virtue of the liberty which that ticket-of-leave afforded him. His parole obtained him interviews with Smyth, freedom to plot, money, horses, andarms. To march like a stage hero into a police-office, and with hand on pistol (purchased by virtue of theparole) disdainfully ask an unarmed police magistrate to take him into custody, was not an honestwithdrawal of his plighted word. To fulfil the terms of his contract with the Government, he should haveplaced himself in the hands of the constables in the condition he had been in when the parole was grantedhim--namely, unarmed, a prisoner, with bars and stone walls around him, and no fleet horse waiting at thedoor to carry him to safety, or bold companion at his side ready to withstand attempt at capture. Poor SmithO'Brien, eating his heart in his cell at Maria Island, better understood the nature of the promise of agentleman. I am willing to believe, however, that Mitchel--perpetually posing as a hero--was blinded by themelodramatic heroies of the proceeding to a true comprehension of its merits.

ireland, australia and the american civil war

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