Ireland, Australia and The American Civil War

IRELAND,
AUSTRALIA AND
THE AMERICAN
CIVIL WAR
by
BARRY J. CROMPTON
Archer Memorial Civil War Library
Melbourne, Australia
February 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 and
respected members of the Civil War research community. As we have enlarged our ability to locate
information, 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 has
not 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 Cyril
Pearl 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 William
Heinemann Australia of Melbourne in 1970. Unfortunately not all of Adrian’s research was used and much
remained untouched.
Other members of the Round Table including Stuart Duff, Peter Smith and Frank Noonan provided further
information and another Round Table President, Ross Brooks, was also instrumental in locating Australian
links. Ross has become an expert in uniforms of the Civil War and has done extensive research through
Australian 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 very
appreciative.
The watershed of my research came through the assistance of Roy Parker who came to my attention through an
article in one of Sydney’s daily newspapers which mentioned that Roy was researching Civil War veterans
buried in Australia. As a retired Major of the United States Air Force and having served in World War II, Roy
was linked with the American Legion and along with Lenn Traynor, of the American Civil War Research
Society, had located graves of Civil War veterans buried around Sydney. His work became the catalyst of a
number of Civil War researchers in Australia - Roy, Len, Terry Foenander and Bob Simpson as well as myself
were the representatives for our various areas of interest. Between this group, the results of our hunt for Civil
War veterans buried in Australia has risen by 2000 to over 100 men. Roy died in 1998 and his efforts will be an
inspiration 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 the
United States National Archives, Ed Milligan of Alexandria, Virginia. We have received help above and
beyond 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 create
what I have attempted to put on paper.
Whatever errors and omissions are found in this work are not due to those people who have supplied
information 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.
Barry
February 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 Civil
War living history/re-enactment group which had been in existence since the mid 1960's. By 1972 it was felt
that 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 then
over 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 of
Jerry 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. Another
40 associate members and newsletter exchange means that coverage is maintained for the maximum amount of
interest 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 and
research behind them. There are members in each of Australia's six states plus Canberra in the Australian
Capital Territory, however, the main bulk of members reside in and around Melbourne where monthly meetings
are now held at the Retreat Hotel in Nicholson Street, suburban Abbottsford on the fourth Wednesday of each
month (except December). Each meeting sees a small amount of general business followed by auctions of
materials from members' collections; a "show and tell" exhibit of any new memorabilia collected by members
and a lecture presented by an occasional outside authority or member on some particular aspect of the Civil
War. A monthly newsletter keeps members informed on new finds of historical importance; academic articles
of Civil War history as well as book reviews, trading of items, local news and overseas comment. For more
items of an historical nature, a journal began in 1990 which has received favourable comments from overseas
readers. Each year sees additional issues of items within this framework. The A.C.W.R.T.A. has also hosted
four conferences on the Civil War, the most recent in February 2005 saw over 90 people in attendance which is
the largest group of Civil War enthusiasts to attend any single event in our history. The topic of the conference
was the Navy in the Civil War which drew interest from the outside community and also saw John Quarstein of
Virginia as our special guest speaker. Naturally interest on the visit of the Shenandoah to Melbourne as this
coincided 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 include
the study of philately & currency, uniforms, photographs, wargames, weaponry and accoutrements, tactics and
battles, music, politics and sociological changes, the woman's role in the Civil War, homefront issues, the naval
war and a host of other areas. As diverse as the membership ages and occupations are can be seen in their wide
range of interests. There are members who have been involved with living history organisations, tabletop and
computer wargaming, modelling and painting military minatures, live musket target firing and also due to our
Treasurer 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 researched
on those who had been in Australia prior to the war and the veterans who settled in Australia after the war. All
information 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 per
calendar 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 Society
functions and meetings, issues of both the newsletters and journal plus the opportunity to exchange information
and 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 Secretary
Barry 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 became
interested in the American Civil War during the 1960's when the centennial heightened the amount of publicity
over the war. Since then he has devoted more and more time to the study of this conflict as well as
corresponding with a number of similar historians around the world. He has had six trips to the U.S. where he
has met other Civil War buffs, tramped over the battlefields and museums, attended conventions & meetings
representing Australia and wandered through the hallowed grounds of libraries and research centres seeking
information for his activities.
He is a founding member of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia in 1972 and was
inaugural 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 Past
President, Public Officer, Researcher and Corresponding Secretary for that organization. Barry organised the
first meeting of the members of the ACWRTA in Sydney (which has been become the New South Wales
Chapter of the American Civil War Round Table of Australia; he was present at the first meeting of members of
the ACWRTA in Adelaide, helped to organise the first gathering members in Canberra and met members of the
ACWRTA in Brisbane. Barry has also toured Victoria to speak to members of the society who do not normally
get to meetings in Melbourne. From small beginnings in one city, he has seen the Round Table grow to a
national organisation.
As well as being an honorary citizen of the states of Tennessee and Kentucky (thus a "Kentucky
Colonel") for his efforts in Civil War research; he is a member of numerous organizations in the U.S. and
Europe with Civil War historical links. With almost forty years of experience behind him, he has a library of
over 4,600 volumes as well as 3,000 magazines & journals, microfilm and microfiche documentation and
computer data files, the largest collection of Civil War paper research material outside the U.S. He has been
researching the exploits of a Confederate brigade of Tennesseans for publication in the near future and also has
an 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 historical
societies 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, American
Civil War Round Table of the United Kingdom newsletter "Crossfire", Civil War Round Table of Montgomery
County (Maryland) newsletter, and other Civil War groups.
With the current amount of information available on the Australian links with the Civil War, he can see
this 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 Australia
c) the occurences during the war; and
d) 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 educated
to a high standard and toured Europe before returning to Ireland in 1843 where his father was a wealthy
merchant in Waterford. The father later became a member of the British parliament and then mayor of
Waterford. In 1847, along with other young nationalists, he developed the plans to formulate an uprising. If
for 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 nationalist
movement to start an uprising. He was convicted of being one of the ringleaders and was sentenced to be
hung. However this sentence was commuted and altered to be transported to the penal colony in Van
Dieman'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 the
rebellion 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 a
small house under the care of the farmer landlord in the town of Ross. This cottage is still standing, almost
in 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 in
February 1852 but only survived four months - Meagher was never to see him. His ship sailed for
Pernambuco in Brazil and shortly afterwards he gained passage on a ship bound for the United States. He
arrived at New York in the last week of May 1852 as a hero and spent the next few years lecturing
throughout the U.S. on the Irish problem.
His fame as a leader of the rebellion naturally brought him prominence with the large Irish
community in New York and at the outbreak of the Civil War he was in the forefront of recruiting
volunteers for the Union army. Although supposedly fighting for 'the Union' these enlistees were intending
that their training would put them in good stead for further uprisings against the English in Ireland once the
Civil War was over. He organized a company of zouaves (patterned after a French organiztion with fancy
uniforms) who were recruited specially as Company K of the 69th New York State Militia and was given the
rank of Captain in command of the company. More men and more companies were organized and the
regiment was mustered into service November 1861. When sufficient men had been enrolled in the various
regiments then being recruited a brigade was announced and Meagher was appointed Brigadier-General of
volunteers in February 1862. He was given the command of the New York Irish Brigade comprising the
63rd, 69th and 88th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry and the 29th
Massachusetts Infantry, later replaced by the 28th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Four of these regiments
were composed almost entirely of Irishmen and amassed fame during their service in the Virginian battles of
1861-62, 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 this
charge 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 in
bags, etc., with Gen. Meagher with tall white hat, white pants, and buff tipped boots over his
pants and a ruffled shirt - a regular irish gentleman as master of the ceremonies. The alarm in
the midst of the festivities that the rebs had crossed and were coming in on our rear, the
beating of the long roll and the indescribable skedaddle in every direction from Gen. Hooker
down 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 his
commission in the spring of 1863 however President Lincoln cancelled his resignation and he was restored
to active duty in early 1864. He was assigned to the western theatre of war where he commanded the District
of Etowah, comprised of Tennessee and Georgia, on General William T. Sherman's line of communications
in the Atlanta campaign. In January of 1865 he was ordered to join Sherman's forces in Savannah but did not
take 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 Andrew
Johnson and in the fall of 1866 Meagher became acting governor of the territory. He was holding this
position on 1 July 1867 when he fell overboard from the "G.A. Thompson" on the upper Missouri. He had
decided to travel to Fort Benson in the territory as Indian problems were causing much trouble and he
wanted 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 fell
overboard - whether he was sick, pushed or committed suicide has never been proven. Strangely enough the
name "Thompson" had quite an effect on his life as the ship which transported him after his escape from
Australia 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 Van
Dieman's Land with his family. Mitchel had been born in 1815 in County Derry and first came to
prominence 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 led
to his arrest and he was found guilty of treason, his sentence of death also being commuted to transportation
for fourteen years.
Along similar lines to Meagher, Mitchel was likewise granted a "ticket of leave" and sent to the
district of Bothwell where he found residence in Nant Cottage. His wife, Jenny, along with the children, left
Ireland after her husband's ship had sailed, arrived in Adelaide in the new colony and then headed for
Hobart. There she caught up with John and continued to assist him with his struggles. The three sons and
two 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 together
to the Bothwell police station to hand back his "ticket". Mitchel managed to escape, heading for the sea
coast 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 be
joined 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, of
Company 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 in
Woolloomooloo, a Sydney suburb, then set sail on the "Julia Ann" for Tahiti then San Francisco. On 29
November 1853 they arrived in New York to be met by Thomas Francis Meagher who took them to a house
in Brooklyn. They resided firstly in New York where Meagher and Mitchel jointly edited a newspaper, "The
Citizen", for concerned Irishmen in the new country. A differing of opinions soon made life between the two
ex-convicts unbearable and they parted company. Meagher resumed his law studies and was admitted to the
New 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 "Mitchel
Guards", and William G. Swan, former mayor of Knoxville, was named commanding officer. This infantry
company, named for John Mitchel, was limited to men of Irish descent. The Mitchel Guards and other
companies 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 and
editor John Moncure Daniel died, Mitchel took over the reins of running the newspaper and continued the
policy of being critical of the government. Although at one stage Mitchel had been friendly with President
Jefferson Davis when Davis was Secretary of War in Washington during the 1850's and Mitchel also editing
a newspaper, in his official role as editor of the "Richmond Examiner" he included many attacks on both the
President and the government in the pages of the newspaper.
As well as being an influential part of the Richmond news fraternity, John Mitchel also served
actively with the Ambulance Corps when required. All three of his sons saw service in the Confederate
army.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 The
Civil War" by William Amann nor roster of local companies in the Index to "Confederate Veteran" magazine compiled
by Louis H. Manarin, Volume I. William G. Swan is not listed in the roster of "Tennesseans In The Civil War" as either a
Confederate or Union soldier.
4 "Jenny Mitchel - Young Irelander: A Biography" by Rebecca O'Conner-Moulder. [Tucson, Arizona, 1988] John Mitchel's
membership in the Ambulance Corps is also noted in a listing provided of members in the Southern Historical Society
Papers, Volume 25 (1897). Another biography of Mitchel appeared in a volume in the Virginia Regimental Series
published 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 of
each member of the Richmond Ambulance Company, which was formed by prominent citizens of the city during the
Seven Days Battles around Richmond, to assist the wounded on nearby battlefields and they continued their service until
the 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 Ireland
movement, which advocated violent expulsion of the English from Ireland. Founded the United Irishmen. Arrested and
convicted in May 1848 of felony-treason, and ordered transported. First went to Bermuda and then to Van Dieman’s
Land (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 bitter
controversy 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 the
Southern Citizen in 1857 in Knoxville. Moved to Paris, France, in 1859 and was French correspondent for a number of
Southern newspapers. Returned to New York in late 1862, and made his way to Richmond. Edited the Richmond
Enquirer in 1863, member of the Ambulance Committee. In Spring 1864 left the Enquirer and joined the editorial staff
of the Richmond Examiner, an anti-Davis newspaper. Returned to New York in 1865, began editing the New York Daily
News, and was imprisoned for his violent advocations in the paper. Released after four months in Fortress Monroe, and
returned to Paris, France, and lived there 1865-1866 as a Fenian agent. Returned to Richmond in 1867, and back to New
York by October 19, 1867, when he began publication of the Irish Citizen. Returned to Ireland in 1875, and was elected
to 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 the
regiment on 3 November 1862 at Culpeper Court House, Va., aged 16, and witnessed the Army of Northern
Virginia's campaigns from then onwards. One of his friends in the First Virginia, John Dooley, recalled in
his journal of how Willie would take part in picket duty patrolling the battle line and how he would talk to
his fellow soldiers of the strange animals in Australia. Willie became a casualty of war when he was killed
in 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 the
day after the battle of Gettysburg by a Charles Joice and three others when they were in search of wounded
soldiers between the lines. His remains were found near a "little brick house" that was probably the Cordori
Farmhouse, wrapped in a blanket that was pinned with three pins, the center one being larger and with a
black head whereas the two others were "common pins". Joice found that Private Mitchel's face had been
washed and that a slip of paper had been pinned to the blanket with the words "W.L. Mitchel" thereon. With
the assistance of a black man they dug a grave "on the banks of a small cabin so close that no plow would
ever disturb it" and laid Mitchel in it. They took a cracked board and fastened the slip of paper to it at the
head of the grave. It was not until May of the following year that Mr. Joice was able to locate Private
Mitchel'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 of
Brigadier-General John B. Gordon who commanded a brigade of Georgian troops in the Army of Northern
Virginia. He lost his right arm in one of the Seven Days battles around Richmond, Virginia, in June-July
1862.7 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. He
had to be sent to Richmond as soon as he was able to bear the journey; and it was several weeks before he
was 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 same
roster shows William Mitchel in Company D and a James C. Mitcherl in Company G, thought to be no
relation.
John C. Mitchel, the eldest son, who had accompanied his father to Australia before the rest of the
family followed, was educated at Columbia College, New York, and from that school of engineering went to
Tennessee, where he was engaged in laying out a railroad when a call to arms was raised. 9 He received an
appointment as Lieutenant from the Confederate Secretary of War at Montgomery, Alabama, and was
ordered to join the battalion of South Carolina Regular Artillery, stationed at Fort Moultrie in Charleston
harbour. 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 was
seventeen when he enlisted. There are several quotes on Mitchel in the journal. Both the fathers of John Dooley and
Willie Mitchel served in the Ambulance Corps and it is supposed that John Mitchel was able to secure places for his sons
with this contact in mind.
6 "The 'Old First' at Gettysburg", by Charles Loehr, Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume XXXII (1904), p36, also see
Rebecca O'Conner-Moulder to Superintendent, Gettysburg National Cemetery, 18 May 1864 enclosure. Gettysburg
National 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 not
mentioned 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 Of
The 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 service
of the hot-shot guns of the Sumter battery at Fort Moultrie, which poured shells on Sumter and set fire to it
during the siege. After the evacuation of the Federal troops under Major Robert Anderson, Mitchel was sent
with his company, under the command of Captain Hollinquist, and the Palmetto Guard, to take possession of
the fortress and become its garrison.
From that time until 7 April 1863 all remained quiet at Sumter until the Federals laid siege to
Charleston harbour. Mitchel was then placed in command of Sumter after the promotion of Colonel Stephen
Elliott. On the 20th of July 1864 the sentinel on the parapet of Fort Sumter sent to ask the commander to be
allowed to leave his post because the shelling of the enemy's batteries on Morris Island was too severe for
him to remain outside the bomb-proof. Captain Mitchel refused to give him permission to do so, thinking it a
bad precedent to establish, but when he received another urgent request of a like nature from the same
soldier a few minutes later, he went upon the ramparts to see for himself, if it was indeed necessary to
withdraw the man from his post. He had only been there a short time, when he saw one of the enormous
300-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 the
men under his command an example of courage and coolness. The shell fell near him, burst, and shattered
his 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 Confederate
Artilleryman in the Siege of Charleston" as being a member of Company I, 1st Regiment of South Carolina
Artillery. Company I was added to the 1st Battalion South Carolina Artillery in February 1862. The battalion
was reorganized 25 March 1862 and this unit became Company I, 1st Regiment. It was also known as
Captain John C. Mitchel's Company.
John C. Mitchel entered Confederate service in either March or April 1861 as Second Lieutenant of
Company B. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in May or June 1861 and transferred to Company C; then
promoted to Captain 25 March 1862 and transferred to assume command of Company I. He was assigned 15
July 1863 as commander of Shell Point Battery (later renamed Battery Simkins) and the artillery in nearby
Fort Johnson. Ordered to command of Fort Sumter 4 May 1864, he was fatally wounded at Fort Sumter 20
July 1864.11
Another biography in "The Defense of Charleston Harbor" by John Johnson mentions Mitchel as
thus:
"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 the
regular 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) he
took part in the capture of the Federal gunboat Isaac Smith in the Stono River, and later was
in command of the works on the southern end of Morris Island when the Federal army and
navy combined to capture them. He had become worthily distinguished in the military
district, and the choice was generally regarded as promising well for the growing honor of the
post. Captain Mitchel was only in his twenty-fifth year at this date. His promotion to a
majority 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.
- page 10 -
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"Captain Mitchel, commanding the post, was unremitting in the discharge of all his
arduous duties. Allowing himself but little sleep in the day-time, he was particularly alert to
guard against assault by night, and the constant vigilance of this spirited young officer
became 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 small
boats approaching through the darkness to surprise the fort. In the day-time the sentinels were
reduced 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, Captain
Mitchel ascended the stairway of the western angle of the gorge, about 1 o'clock P.M., to
examine the movements of the fleet and land force of the enemy, preparatory to writing his
daily report for transmission to the city by despatch-boat that night. Arriving at the head of
the stairs and passing out upon the level of the original terreplein of the fort, he found the
sentinel there at his post well protected by breast-high shelter within the massive parapet of
earthwork necessary to secure the safety of the stair-tower beneath it. Stationing himself near
the spot, but not within the sentry-box, he rested his arm and glass on the parapet and began
his observations. Before him, in the sea-view, were the low hulls of the monitors lying at
anchor off Morris Island, the wooden gunboats and blockaders resting also at their appointed
stations outside the bar, and farther out, in the offing, a despatch-boat going North. No
movement 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 of
Morris Island close by, their rifle- and mortar-shelling keeping their gunners as busy as they
could be; hottest time of all at the battered ruin of a fort taking daily transformation into an
indestructible earthwork.
The commander was not unduly exposing himself, but while engaged with his glass a
mortar-shell of the largest kind rose in the air, and descending well to the westward of the
fort, 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 no
more to the garrison than a matter of ordinary occurrence, scarcely noticeable in the climate
of 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 great
laceration on the left hip. Had he been in the sentry-box, he would have escaped all hurt, for
that 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 soon
joined by one or two from the lower casemates. Lifted from the spot where he fell, pale and
much weakened already by the loss of blood, the youthful commander was in perfect
possession of his mental faculties and spoke with calmness of his mortal wound. It was a
difficult task to bear his body, though of light weight, from the highest point in the fort down
to the hospital. The only way was by the dark, narrow, and winding staircase. Tender as the
handling could be, the movement yet caused him the acutest pain. When laid on the surgeon's
table in the hospital he required to be revived with stimulants. Later, as his suffering
increased, anodynes were administered, but no surgery was attempted, as it was seen from the
first that his wound would prove fatal. He lingered for nearly four hours, and expired about 5
p.m.
The death of Captain John C. Mitchel, greatly deplored by the many friends he had
made in his adopted country, was the closing of a brief career which have promise of
undoubted distinction in military service. He commanded Fort Sumter for two months and
sixteen 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 and
General 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 his
release on the premise that he was vital for the cause of Irish freedom.15 Johnson pardoned Mitchel who
presently was let out of prison in October 1989 and went briefly north to New York. The Fenian movement
sent Mitchel to Paris as fiscal agent charged with the safe transmittal of funds to the Irish revolutionaries. In
1866 he resigned his Paris assignment and returned to the United States in December of that year having
been allowed to return by the U.S. Government. He settled in New York with this family where he lived for
the next few years. In 1874 his supporters in Ireland began a campaign surreptitiously for Mitchel to return
to his homeland and campaign for a seat in the new government. Outwardly he would be returning for
family reasons and as he was sailing from New York he found that he had been elected unopposed; however
he could not take his seat due to being declared not acceptable. While awaiting the result a new election was
held and he again was successful, however, his old complaints of rheumatism and phthisis flared up and he
took to bed and died on 20 March 1875 back in his home country of Ireland. One member of the Mitchel
family who continued living in Victoria after the remainder had left and gone to the U.S. was Margaret
Mitchel Irvine, who had been John's sister. She married Hill Irvine16, also an Irelander, and they had come
to Australia as free settlers in the 1870's. Their son, William Hill Irvine Jr., would become premier of the
state of Victoria in the early stages of the new century.17
Another Irishman with an Australian connection was Thomas Lalor. His brother, Peter, became a
well-known identity in the so-called "Eureka" uprising in Ballarat, during the mid 1850's during the
Victorian gold-rush and was later a member of the Victorian Parliament. Most of the Lalor family had
emigrated to the U.S. between 1830 and 1850 - Tom was known to have been killed in the Civil War.18 A
further 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, and
placed flowers on his grave in Charleston thereafter. A future United States Consul in Melbourne, James P. Lesesne, was
a 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 Major
General John A. Dix at New York City, June 9th, 1865, stated “You will proceed immediately to the steamer ‘Henry
Burden’ lying at the Battery with one trustworthy man, and take charge of John Mitchell [sic], who will be delivered to
you by the Metropolitan Police … immediately proceed to Fort Monroe and delivered Mr. Mitchell to the commanding
officer 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 the
Victorian Courts.
18 Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, p30. No mention of a Thomas Lalor has yet been found in any of the usual
source 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 8
May 1812; Patrick, 28 March 1814; John, 5 June 1815; Jerome, Thomas, Richard, and finally Peter, who was born in
1827. Two girls were also born in this large family. The same article, on page 27, mentions that William had emigrated to
the U.S. in 1837 and was followed by Jerome in 1845. Tom and Joseph also left for the U.S. on dates unknown. The
roster of Confederate Soldiers published by Broadfoot Publishing Company, Wilmington, North Carolina in 1996, only
shows one Lalor in the entire Confederate army - James F. Lalor, a Private in the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment so the
story of a Lalor fighting on different sides may be another myth. The New York rosters where a large proportion of the
Irish 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 was
listed.
The "Official Army Register" of U.S. Volunteer officers shows three named Lalor, however, none match up
with the above details. First Lieutenant De Kline Lalor was in the 5th New Jersey Infantry and killed in action at
- page 12 -
**********
The four brothers who went to America were William, Jerome, Tom and Joseph. Tom was supposed
to have died in the war but his name does not appear in the most eligible of rosters in “Roll of Honor” which
lists all Union dead buried in National cemeteries. A search in the family Intenet sites shows that Tom was
killed at the battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, 5 May 1864 (where that information came from I don’t
know) but it is confirmed that Thomas Lalor, a private in Company E of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry, was
missing 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, John
died 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 the
Shenandoah sailing up to Melbourne in January 1865, and as he was then a member of the Victorian state
parliament, no doubt he was involved with celebrations for the visit of the Confederate ship. I wonder
whether 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 born
in the County of Limerick, Ireland on 4 May 1826 but lived in the United States since infancy. He married
American-born Catherine H. Fitzpatrick and left America to search for gold in Australia leaving a record of
correspondence with his wife. He left a collection of letters in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, which shows
where he was digging for wealth. Letters show that he had been in the Goulburn River diggings in Victoria
and then tried his luck in the Ovens River in 1853. Finding that others were making more money providing
goods to miners, Hanley and friends had managed to organise a contract to roof a large building and making
shingles was one way of getting money. With nothing more available Hanley took a job at Wangaratta
building a bridge across the Ovens. Through other efforts of working as a carpenter in Beechworth and then
helping to build a sawmill at Yackandandah he finally had sufficient funds to buy passage home, returning
to the U.S. aboard the "Red Jacket" in May 1855. At some later stage he served in the Civil War although as
yet his exact unit is not known but due to a letter by Hanley in the Mitchell Library dated 13 July 1863 we
know 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 and
researched.20
From research conducted by Roy Parker, he wrote to his wife aboard the Steamboat "Carolina" on
13 July 1863. He was under General Manson and everywhere were stories of [John Hunt] Morgan. In his
letter he mentioned New Albany and Jeffersonville. The book "Generals In Gray", page 310, lists Brigadier
General Mahlon Dickerson Manson as being involved during the raid of John Hunt Morgan in resisting the
draft of Morgan from getting the beef cattle in the neighbourhood of Lebanon. "Compendium of the
Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer, volume 1, page 532 lists the regiment under Manson during June and July
1863, 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 8
July 1862 [Volume 2, page 416]; and Second Lieutenant Frank M. Lalor, 9th Massachusetts Infantry, dismissed 3 August
1863 [Volume 1, page 159].
There was also a Captain Lalor mentioned in "Foreigners of the Confederacy" by Ella Lonn, page 75, as having
been an agent of the Confederate States being sent to Ireland but whether he was a native-born Irishman had not been
established. 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 he
thereupon 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.
- page 13 -
**********
of these regiments, probably the 5th Indiana Cavalry. Furthermore, Volume 3 of the same series shows the
regimental history of the 5th Indiana Cavalry as being involved in the Pursuit of Morgan between July 4 and
26 but no further information.
The 1870 census shows John Hanley as a resident of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, born in Ireland
aged 44, therefore about 1826, occupation grocer, with wife Catherine (aged 41, born Ohio), and children
Mary, Charles, Emma, and John G., plus John Fitzgerald, aged 67 and born in Virginia. Another John
Hanley in Van Buren, Indiana, also born in Ireland around 1826, had a wife Ann so is not considered the
right 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 was
Chauncey, 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 with
Company 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 Indiana
files, there is a John Hauley who served in Company G of the regiment, mustered in on 21 July 1862 and
mustered out 20 August 1862 at Indianapolis, Indiana, the regiment had only been organised for 30 days and
its duty was to repel guerrilla raids. band of guerrillas had crossed the Ohio at Newburg, and captured about
80 convalescent soldiers in the hospital together with some state arms and other property. Col. Gavin and
Lieut.-Col. Wilder, who were at their homes at the time, proposed raising a regiment for 30 days for the
purpose 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 and
equipped. It moved to Evansville, Ind., and Henderson Ky., having several severe skirmishes with
guerrillas. Cos. G and H were employed as guards to protect steamers.Its strength was 786, and its loss by
death, 1. Source: Union Army, vol 3, p. 159
Yet another link between Australia and the Civil War concerns William Joyce Sewell, who had been
born in Castlebar, Ireland, on 6 December 1835 and came to the United States in 1851. He went to sea on
two voyages to China and Australia before becoming a merchant in Chicago, Illinois. In 1860 he moved to
Camden, New Jersey and at the outbreak of war he volunteered for the Union cause. He was appointed
Captain of Company H, 5th New Jersey Infantry on 28 August 1861; wounded at the battle of
Chancellorsville, Va., 3 May 1863 and again at Gettysburg, Pa., on 2 July 1863. He was mustered out as
Colonel of the 5th New Jersey on 6 July 1864. He re-enlisted and was given the rank of Colonel in the 38th
New Jersey from which he was mustered out on 30 June 1865. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for
actions 3 May 1863 at Chancellorsville. Postwar he was a member of the State Senate; he was then elected
to 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 are
two regimental histories of the unit produced during the 19th century. The notation in his file in the Register
of U.S. Officers states that he was brevetted brigader general of volunteers on 13 March 1865 for gallant and
meritorious service in the battle of Chancellorsville, Va., and brevetted major general of volunteers for
gallant and meritorious service during the war; he was awarded the medal of honor on 25 March 1896 for
having assumed command of a brigade at Chancellorsville, Va., 3 May 1863, where he rallied around his
colors a mass of men from other regiments and fought those troops with great brilliancy through several
hours of desperate conflict, remaining in command though wounded and inspiring them by his presence and
the 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.
- page 14 -
**********
James Edwin Love is listed in the Official Army Register, Volume 7, page 370, as Captain, 8th
Kansas 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's
work in a forty-feet deep shaft at Creswick Creek, but he and his brother made enough money in the next
three years in their firm of Samuel A. Love and Company to enable him to return to the States with 1200
pounds in gold. Source being "The Autobiography of James E. Love", Part 1, Bulletin of the Missouri
Historical Society, Volume 6 (January 1950), pages 124-138 which lists his birth in Ireland, youth in
Australia and Civil War service. A second part was printed in Part II (April 1950, pages 400-411. He also is
listed in the MOLLUS Papers for Kansas, Volume 9 (1906), obituary and war service so presumed to be the
same 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 Confederate
prison at Columbia, South Carolina, where he was eventually released.
The 8th Kansas regimental report of the battle at Chickamauga was written by Lieutenant-Colonel
J.L. Abernathy as their colonel was in command of the brigade. Abernathy stated in his report reprinted in
the 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 on
double-quick, we were suddenly turned to the right and marched nearly 1 mile into the
timber, when we were formed into line of battle, facing east. Soon after being formed in line
we were ordered forward, but had scarcely advanced 50 yards, when the enemy poured a
terrible 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 penetrated
the lines of the enemy, when our brigade commander, seeing the terrible fire to which the line
was exposed, gave the order to fall back.
Reforming the line, we again advanced under a perfect shower of bullets, sometimes
driving the enemy and in turn being driven by them, until we had fought the ground over and
over 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 Volunteers
on 11 May 1861 as an Orderly Sergeant. He served continuously with this unit until mustered out with the
company on 31 August 1861.
He was later commissioned as First Lieutenant of U.S. Volunteers at St Louis, Mo., on 10 October
1861 and afterwards as Captain in Company K of the 8th Kansas Infantry and continued until discharged at
St Louis by reason of Government Order #82, War Dept, on 14 May 1865. The designation of this unit had
originally been the 9th Kansas Volunteers; then amended to Captain Herd's Company, 10th Kansas Vols
before eventually settling on Company K, 8th Kansas Volunteers. He was on special duty as acting adjutant
from 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 in
battle with the enemy. He received two wounds of the left thigh, one from a minie ball and another wound to
the 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 appears
that this application was rejected as another was lodged in 1883 for relief of an invalid pension. This
application stated that on the 28th of August 1861 he was commissioned by General J.C. Fremont to raise a
Company for the 14th Regiment Missouri Volunteers. As Fremont was removed from command, the
company was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, about the 3rd of December 1861 and were soon
mustered in to duty with the 8th Kansas Infantry.
After forced marches through Tennessee and Kentucky of over eighteen hundred miles, with the
command sleeping and sitting on wet ground and snow, often without transportation, proper shelter or
- page 15 -
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rations, Love complained of problems with piles. While in command of his company at Chickamauga he
was wounded and disabled, having been shot through the left thigh and with the brigade being forced back at
this 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 near
Columbia, S.C., and crossing the Carolinas and the mountains eventually reached Knoxville, Tenn., where
he was transported to the regimental camp then at Lenox, Tenn., about the 17th of March 1865. Being
disabled by wounds and suffering from his prison sentence, he was granted leave of absence by Major
General 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 four
children. Another application in 1899 showed his address as 5714 Maple Avenue, St Louis. He received an
amount of US$20 per month on pension #54739 until his death on 27 December 1905 at St Louis, then aged
75 years and 3 months. He was buried at the Bellefontain Cemetery in St Louis. Eliza Mary received a
widow's pension until her death on 2 April 1924.
A copy of his autobiography from the Missouri Historical Society magazine and his obituary from
the 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 and
211, stattes that Captain Love wrote a letter to his fiancee the morning of the battle and scribbled a few last
words 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 already
and count the days! Why it is four weeks since I bade you a sorrowful goodbye, and now I
am at the other end of this great country; but happen what may, I feel that in a few more
months I will be with you again a new man! And then? Will we separate much for a long
time? Not with my will I assure you. Unless by your advice! But hark the bugle blows the
assembly for a march and perhaps a fight, so I bid you a hurried adieu, but hope with God's
help 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, then
performing duty on Sullivan's Island, changed their name after the fall of Fort Sumter to "Emerald Light
Infantry". This company and regiment was disbanded sometime before January 1863. Possibly as soon as
Thomas F. Meagher was appointed Union brigadier-general this Confederate unit thought that a change in
name may have been politically expedient. This nickname is not listed in any local designation authority and
was only noticed through the obituary of one of its members, Patrick Walsh, in the book "Foreigners In The
Confederacy" by Ella Lonn. Walsh, an Irishman, had served as lieutenant for this Company. 23 If Thomas
Meagher was considered a "traitor" for leaving the South and going to New York, where he formed the Irish
Brigade, 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 the
Committee Rooms, 100 King Street, Sydney, on 22 July 1865:
“To the honorable the President, the Senate, and House of Representatives of the United States of
America:
The members of the New South Wales branch of the Irish National League have instructed us, their
central committee, to condole with you (the Congress of America) on the calamity that has befallen your
nation, and to convey to you their heartfelt sorrow and sympathy for the loss which, in common with the
cause of freedom, throughout the world, you have sustained by the foul murder by the hand of an assassin of
that 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 loss
by 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 of
modern times.
In the high and responsible position in which he was placed, his powers were great for the
accomplishment of good and evil, and how those powers were used is manifest to the world. By the efforts of
the great mind with which he was endowed, he overcame obstacles which to the most experienced statesmen
in Europe seemed insurmountable; he suppressed a rebellion, more formidable than the annals of any other
country can record; united and brought into amicable intercourse many who were previously actuated in their
opposition by the influence of party spirit or sectarian prejudices, and by his powerful abilities he brought his
country safe and triumphant from that terrible ordeal through which she has been passing for the last four
years.
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 not
forget that when a code of the most ill-conceived laws deprived them of freedom and prosperity at home, and
even seemed to threaten the total extirpation of their race; when unable to meet their landlords’ call, they were
expelled from the homes in which they were born; when they appeared deserted by the world, and nothing
seemed to remain but death from cold and starvation by the wayside, it was then than America, noble
America, with outstretched arms welcomed them to her shores and bestowed upon them her fertile plains and
teeming 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 Alabama
Infantry. Nothing is known of this Company at present.
- page 17 -
**********
reside in freedom and happiness, with honor and credit to themselves, a lasting memorial of the benefits to be
derived 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 a
tribute of respect and admiration to the memory of the great departed. In conclusion, we beg to express a hope
that the united exertions of America’s patriotic sons will secure her peace and happiness, and that the mighty
republic of the west, the great home of freedom, the United States of America, may continue to retain her
exalted 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 who
travelled to Australia after the war; those veterans who settled in the new country to escape the war and
other 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 the
Americas. He was enlisted by Lieutenant Winfield Scott Hancock [later a famous Civil War general] of the
6th Regiment of Infantry in the United States Army on 3 June 1854 in Company A of that regiment at
Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, for the term of five years. He was five feet 9 1/2 inches and 21 years
of age, by profession a farmer. His regiment was ordered to march over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to
Benicia to begin on 21 August 1858. This march contained transportation of 128 wagons, five ambulances
and 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 Benicia
via 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 the
hauling of public wagons over the mountains in California. He was discharged due to this disability on 4
August 1859.
After his service in the regular army and subsequent discharge he later enlisted on 19 April 1861 for
three months as Private in Company B, 12th New York State Militia at New York City. He was mustered in
as Corporal on 2 May 1861 and reduced from Corporal to Private on 1 June 1861. He was mustered out on 5
August 1861 as Private with the remainder of the Company at New York City.25 The 12th New York Militia
was 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 was
mainly spent in garrison duty as it was ordered to occupy Arlington Heights, Virginia, on 24 May 1861. It
was 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 Brady
received a minor injury to a leg and returned to hospital near Washington, D.C., where he was mustered out
with the rest of his regiment.27
He emigrated to Australia aboard the "Great Britain" on 14 August 1862 and after his arrival Brady
was 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 South
Australia. Edward Brady received a pension from the government due to an injured left leg at the rate of
US$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. His
record shows he was then aged 26, with hazel eyes, brown hair, fresh complexion and height of 5'9". His
previous occupation was as soldier, American Army, and he was stationed at the Western District under
Sub-Inspector Black. He was promoted to Senior Constable on 1 March 1874 and discharged 19 May
1881.28
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 but
eventually the desire to emigrate again caused his decision to try once more for Australia. He died 17
October 1914 at his residence, “Kielty", 117 Wallis Street, Woollahra, NSW and was buried in Waverley
Cemetery, New South Wales, in the Roman Catholic Section 17, Grave #701. His widow died in 1928. His
son, Edwin J. Brady, wrote a biography on his father, "Two Frontiers", published in Sydney, in 1944 by
Frank 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 is
buried in the Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. He died 20 March 1894 but no other information is currently
available. Current records indicate that there was a John Bree who served as Private in Company K, 18th
Kentucky 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 Margaret
Mooney. Eight years later he sailed with his family to America and while there he enlisted in the Federal
Army until 1864. At that stage he left the U.S. on his own for Australia and after a look at New Zealand he
arrived in Melbourne aboard the "Great Britain" in August 1864. He then followed the gold rushes around
Victoria, 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 made
boots and saddlery to order. He married there in 1870 and decided to remain in the district, in 1884 having
the contract to distribute local mail and in 1890 being the first man in the district to sign the library's visitor's
book for the new hall and library built in the town. In 1891 he left Gobur with his wife and their three
children, opened another shop in Grant Street, Alexandra, then Euroa and Yea where he remained for about
ten years until his wife's death in 1909. He then retired from business and returned to Gobur to be with his
son 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. One
son, Thomas Francis Brennan, was Chief Accountant of the Victorian Railways at the time of his retirement
in 1936.29
The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages show that Michael Brennan married Julia Maria Joyce in
1870, certificate 2915; James Lawrence Brennan was born in Gobur, 1873/24302, father Michael and
mother Julia Marie Joyce; a daughter, Mary Winnefred, was born in Gobur in 1875 / 23216 with mother
shown 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 who
gave the same birthplace and year of birth as well as the same occupation as the Australian veteran listed
above. However, other details of variance show that the one buried at Yea was supposed to have come to
Australia in 1864 while the one in the 155th New York was still in the army. The one here came out to
Australia 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 and
Sailors thus ruling him out of the equation. This one although born in Ireland, had also served as Private in
Company G of the 69th New York Infantry, was admitted on 15 October 1895 to the Southern home and
was discharged on 16 February 1904. He was a resident of New York at the time of his admission. Aged 63
at the time of admission he was therefore born around 1842; this has not been correlated as he does not
appear 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's
Reports from that state show he was aged 33 when he enlisted 10 September 1862 at New York City to
serve 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 the
Melbourne 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 July
1865 near Washington, D.C.
A further Michael Brennan was a member of Company F in the 128th New York Infantry, however
he was aged 26 when he enlisted in January 1865, and therefore born around 1836, too early for the one
buried in Yea. Yet another enlisted in the U.S. Navy and credited to New Hampshire however he served
until 1867 so is not a candidate.
Other information on Michael Brennan in the 155th New York from his service record stated that he
enlisted 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 three
years on 5 September 1862, was mustered into service with the 155th New York and appointed First
Sergeant of Company B on 18 November 1862, then to First Lieutenant on 29 November 1864, ranking
from 6 August 1864 replacing Lieutenant Dunbar, promoted. He was in hospital at Washington, D.C., from
April 1864 until discharged from the hospital to accept the promotion to Lieutenant around November of
that year. He was noted as being present between January and June 1865. His file noted that he had been
commanding his Company during the six months of 1865. He was also promoted to Captain of Company K
in 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 until
22 April 1864 waiting for conscripts for the regiment; he returned to the field and shortly afterwards, on 18
May 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 the
1864 campaign between May 13th and June 12th:
"The regiment forming part of the Irish Legion, stationed on the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad at Burke's Station, Va., broke camp on May 13, 1864, and was conveyed
from 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 to
the Second Division, Second Corps, and the legion of which it formed a part was designated
as the Fourth Brigade. On May 18 the regiment with the brigade and other troops took part in
the 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 was
medically examined for a Navy pension which resulted in pension certificate # 25220 (letter in Consul files
was 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 at
Philadelphia on 9 August 1867. His invalid pension #28243 states that he was injured in June or July 1865
near Pensacola, Florida, when he fell from the vessel, in the line of duty, striking the edge of one of her
boats on the way down. A further injury was claimed while serving on the U.S. Flagship "Estella" in
Pensacola Bay, Florida, he received a blow to the head by being struck with the irons of a prisoner named
Williams during early 1866. This last named injury was treated at the U.S. Naval Hospital at Warrington
Navy 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; Chicago
1882 to 1885; New York from 1885 to 1887; Ireland 1887 to 1889; Australia between 1889 and 1903; New
York 1903 to 1905; Australia again 1905 to 1907; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1907 until his
next listing at Blennerville, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. He died 24 November 1918, aged 73, having
outlived 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 had
joined the regular army from Oswego, New York, on 15 May 1855 and re-enlisted in 1860 for a further five
years. 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 record
currently 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 1861
at Camp Moore from men recruited mainly in Lafayette, St. Mary, and Tangipahoa parishes. The unit was
engaged 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 1862
until April 1864; fought with the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, was a part of Hood's Nashville
campaign and ended the war defending Mobile, Alabama.32 He married Mary Rice in Stawell, Victoria, and
died there, date unknown, according to the above source.
However, his death certificate, 1885/11088, states he was a contractor and died in the Borough of
Belfast (which was between Portland and Warrnambool). He was 54 years of age at the time of death having
been born in Antrim, Ireland, and having been in Victoria for 23 years (which means he had arrived around
1862 and was born in 1831 and not 1837 as indicated above. His death was due to general debility and was
buried 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 Ararat
in 1862, then aged 22 years, alive at the time of his death. A son, Francis Steven (or Stephen), was born in
Ararat 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 in
1876, age unknown.
James Curtin of Melbourne is another possible Civil War enlistee, having been born 1841 at
Castlerath, Cork, Ireland. He served on the Inman line of steamers as a Carpenters Mate during the Civil
War but left the Company in 1864. He was an eyewitness to many stirring events. He owned the
Ecclesiastical & 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 Register
so other methods may need to be found to search for his records. The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages
show James John Curtin, born in Ireland, was married to Johanna Maria Curtin in 1875; another James
Curtin, 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, Ellen
Margaret 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 50
Abercrombie Street, Sydney. Francis Cusack had been born in Limerick, Ireland around 1843 and enlisted
on 13 January 1862 in the Company for a period of three years at New York City. At that stage he was aged
19 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 Orders
No 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.
- page 22 -
**********
His service record also mentioned that the organization was changed January 1864 from Company
A, Scott's 900 to which designation of organization was changed from Captain Bennett's Company, Scott's
900 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 of
Columbia; 31 December 1864 absent on furlough; 28 February 1865, same; 30 April 1865 absent on scout at
Germantown, Md.; re-enlisted 23 January 1864. As Frank Cusick he was treated March 14 & 15, 1865 for
diarrhoea; 15 and 16 April 1865 for hemorrhoids; 21 to 23 Apr 1865 for piles; returned to duty. After the
above 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 headstone
now exists; he had been 12 years in New South Wales and address was 50 Abercrombie Street (also shows
as #17 and #46); he had been married in Limerick at 32 years of age to Ann Riordan; children - Margaret
May, 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 & United
Brewery.36
His widow, Anne Cusack, was aged 45 at the time of her widow's application and mentioned three
children being alive, Francis born 21 January 1883; Joseph born 23 May 1884 and William born 4
September 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 in
Rockhampton, Queensland, on 9 August 1874 aged 32 years. He had been a butcher and had married Mary
Templeman, of London, England.
His descendant claims he was a Captain in the Union Army. His name does not appear in the
combined 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 which
shows that in Series I, Volume 30, Part I, page 545, there is a report by Major W.D. Williams commanding
the 89th Illinois Infantry at the battle of Chickamauga. He noted in is report that "... of the officers of the
Eighty-ninth... I cannot speak in too high praise... Lieutenant Darcy led (his) command with distinguished
bravery and coolness." Although he is noted in this as Darcy, the index shows D'Arcy and the Official Army
Register shows him as John R. Dawsy (Volume 6, page 351) as having resigned his commission on 15
March 1864. Nothing else familiar is available, however, Lieutenant John Darcy of the 3rd Mississippi
Infantry, 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 was
aged 22 years when he enlisted 24 April 1862 at New York; mustered in as private, Company I, the same
day, to serve three years. He was discharged on 16 March 1863 at Newberne, North Carolina. This is
certainly another close possibility in our research.
The Civil War muster rolls show three soldiers by the John D’Arcy in the Union army – First
Corporal John A. D’Arcy of Company E, 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry; Sergeant John S. D’Arcy of the 8th
Independent Battery of Massachusetts Light Artillery and John S. D’Arcy, a Private in Cooke’s Company of
Massachusetts Light Artillery. There are sixteen listings for John Darcy. John A. D’Arcy was aged 33 when
he enlisted in 1862, residence then shown as Boston; John S. D’Arcy was aged 24 when he enlisted in 1861
in 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 born
in Kentstone, Galway, Ireland and who fought on opposing sides during the war - Netterville for the Union
and John for the Confederacy. They subsequently settled in Perth, Western Australia, where they were
buried in the East Perth Cemetery. Research has indicated that their claims may not be as accurate as
pensions have not been substantiated and further information is being sought.39 Roy Parker was informed
that Netterville Rutledge had served with Company G of the 5th United States Cavalry between February
1862 and February 1866 and received medals for the Antietam and Vicksburg campaigns. He also had a
discharge certificate but research had confirmed that the names of the officers who signed on the certificate
were not with the regiment and medals were not issued for soldiers serving in those campaigns. A letter
from Ross Callaway to the author on December 17th, 1997, noted that John Joseph had served in the Civil
Engineer Corps and had died in 1907; the Roster of Confederate Soldiers published by Broadfoot’s in 1996
does not show any John J. Davies in the lists, one James J. Davies is noted as being a Lieutenant in
Company 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 Fitzgerald
and then was known to have been in Victoria at least eleven years prior to his death in 1893. He lived in
Northcote and is buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery.
One state roster for New Hampshire shows Patrick Downing, born in Ireland, aged 24, enlisted 16
December 1863 at Portsmouth for one year as an ordinary Seaman. He served on the U.S.S. "Vandalia" and
deserted 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 New
York soldiers doesn't show up anyone with that name but the index to the Official Army Register shows
Patrick J. Downing was a Major in the 42nd New York Infantry. The roster of officers in "New York in the
War 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 First
Lieutenant, Company E, 42nd Infantry, 22 June 1861; discharged 24 September 1861; reappointed 1
December 1861; mustered in as First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 19 February 1862; transferred as First
Lieutenant 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 commanded
the 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 New
York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts would be the best places to look for a matching name. Information
supplied 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; his
father was Patrick and mother Mary Mulcahy. Again the Victorian Births, Deaths and marriages now
children 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 a
pension #925895 due to partial inability to earn a support by manual labor. He gave an address as care of the
U.S. Consulate-general, Melbourne.
He was born 4 June 1836 at County Wexford, Ireland; after leaving the service returned to Ireland
for some years and then went to New Zealand and then Australia. His service record showed that he was
born 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 had
allegedly 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.
- page 24 -
**********
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 near
Berlin, Maryland, on 2 November 1862 and then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps 25 November 1862 at
New York, N.Y., for four years. When enlisted he was 5'8", gray eyes, brown hair, dark complexion, former
occupation 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 and
supply 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 marine
barracks, Portsmouth, N.H.; 7 November 1865 transferred to U.S.R.S. "Vandalia" in Portsmouth, N.H.; 23
November 1866 he transferred to marine barracks, Portsmouth, N.H.; 29 November 1866 he was honorably
discharged 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 of
this union - John, born November 1872; Mary March 1874; Winifred May 24, 1879; Murtha, October 28
1881 and Thomas, 20 October 1882. As Winifred had been born in Adelaide, South Australia, it appears that
they were then on their way to New Zealand as they arrived at Lyttleton, N.Z., on 7 December 1878 aboard
the "Opawa". Murtha and Susan were in a small town named Stafford in 1884, in the west coast of the South
island and he was a baker. They shifted to Oamaru from there and at some time after that he left the family
and 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 the
applicant named for about one year during which time he has been often assisted by the Church of England
Seamen's Mission of which Woods was a missionary; that the applicant was totally unable to work by reason
of his physical disabilities and that the said physical disabilities were not brought on by the applicant's
vicious habits; a neighbor's affidavit of 12 December 1895 stated that Doyle had lost the sight of one eye
and 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 was
not 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 of
Parramatta; his personal description was 5'8", fair complexion, blue eyes, dark brown hair and occupation as
baker; 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 was
dropped due to death 10 October 1913.
In 1914 his son, Thomas, wrote to the Commissioner of American Pensions; stating he had died in
Liverpool, N.S.W.40 Through Roy Parker we find that he was buried at St. Lukes Cemetery, Liverpool, now
called "Pioneer Memorial Cemetery".41
John Graydon died 2 July 1906 and is buried in the Yarragon Cemetery in the Gippsland area of
Victoria. He had been born 11 July 1830 in Carrick, near McGires Bridge, Ireland. The family travelled to
Canada in the 1840's; John Graydon apparently went to New Zealand then back to America. He married in
Australia in 1863 and according to family legend he fought in the Civil War as there are stories of him being
addressed as "captain" in Australia. He is mentioned in the book "Lee Through Virginia" written by Hugh
Wynne, 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" by
Tom Broadfoot which is the most thorough guide to available volumes. The book does not appear in the Internet search
engine “Bookfinders” in August 2006 which also lists almoste very publication in the world.
- page 25 -
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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 in
the Victorian Immigration listing as aged 50, arrived May 1872 aboard the “Essex”, which would have made
him born in 1822. The Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages index shows John Graydon married Jane
Wilson 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, United
States Volunteers, at the name was one of the few in the rosters to match, this has now been proven to be
incorrect as the John Graydon of the First Missouri Artillery served until the end of the war and was a
resident 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 in
County Galway, Ireland, in 1826, and due to the potato famine left Ireland to seek a new life in the U.S. He
found himself at Newton, Massachusetts, when the Civil War commenced and joined Captain J. Crosby
Maker's Company K on 17 September 1861. His residence was shown as Newton, aged 35, and occupation
as shoemaker. Eventually he served in General Burnside's expedition into northeast North Carolina. He was
accidentally wounded at the battle of Newbern, N.C., 14 March 1862, and was honourably discharged on 26
May 1863.44
The 24th sustained casualties at Newbern amounting to 10 killed and 40 wounded. General John
Gray Foster, in command of the troops with which the 24th Massachusetts were brigaded, stated in his
report:
"I must mention in my brigade, where all behaved bravely, the Twenty-fourth
Regiment 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 and
canister from Fort Thompson, unprotected by the trees, behaved with marked coolness and
steadiness."
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. He
had been in receipt of a Civil War veteran's pension, #1253271, and was buried in the Catholic Portion of
the 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 nine
months and was discharged as corporal at Flemington, New Jersey, on 27 June 1863 on a disability
discharge as a result of rheumatism. This had been received as a result of exposure and hardship during the
campaign. It appears the only incident of merit which the regiment participated in was General Burnside's
famous "mud-march" in January 1863 while the Army of the Potomac was stationed around the
Fredericksburg, 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 daughter
was 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 regimental
roster in "The 24th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, 1861, 1866, New England Guard Regiment" by Alfred Seeleye
Roe, p555. The same book states he was wounded in battle, p100, although the compiled service record / pension record
shows accidentally wounded.
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He married for the first time at Somerset County, New Jersey, in 1882 to Eleanor Hudnut (14 to 15
years his senior); she died 3 March 1883, aged 64, and he then was next noted in Australia in 1884. He
married 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 of
Haymarket, Sydney, who had known John Richard for a period of 47 years, he could well have been a
younger 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 then
a resident of Newtown, Sydney. An accompanying physician's affidavit stated that he was then suffering
from 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 Haymarket
Post Office and stated he was aged 60 and height 5'9 1/2". He was awarded a pension, #848474, at the rate
of US$6 per month for rheumatism and resulting diseases of the heart. His address in 1899 was 4 Church
Street, 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, who
had known Hunt for seven years; Kinross was another of the Civil War veterans living in Australia who had
previously served in the 21st and 24th Missouri Infantry regiments. At that stage, Hunt was known to have
been born in June 1833 in Warrickshire, England (however the death certificate supports and shows as born
Dublin, Ireland), fair complexion, gray hair, blue eyes, and height 5'9". His post office address was
Ravenslea, Enmore Road, Marricksville. On 17 December 1904 his pension was increased to US$12 per
month 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 and
exhaustion, leaving his widow to apply for another pension. She continued to live with her son and daughter
in law, firstly at Clayfield, Brisbane, Qld., and then Murwillumbah, NSW. This continued until 1945 when it
was found that she was then mentally incompetent and her pension of US$40 per month was then sent to her
son, Walter Hunt, at the address 54 Byangum Road, Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Ione Helen Hunt
eventually died on 4 March 1947 at Lismore, NSW. Their son, Walter J., was then aged 60 and his address
was given as care of "Gemona", Railway Avenue, Bundanoon, NSW; their daughter was deceased at this
stage. 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 United
States and wound up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was there when the Civil War exploded and apparently
was caught up in the conflict. He married Maria Muddock and apparently gold fever had brought him to
Mansfield, Victoria. He died there in 1898 and is buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Gobur, a town between
Merton and Cathkin near the Mansfield area, also near another possible Civil War veteran in Michael
Brennan at nearby Yea. So far attempts to locate Wilson Johnson had failed including research into the name
at Pittsburgh or other Pennsylvania links. Several served in Ohio regiments, one in Illinois and one in
Missouri so it may well be a search is required. According to local records, Wilson Johnson arrived in
Victoria aboard the “Oregon” in July 1853 aged 22 – therefore born in 1831; the death records show that
show died in Merton in 1898 / 13302, aged 67 – therefore born 1831. His father was Charles Hickman
Johnson 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, with
his 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 Rail
Road, decided it was time to migrate to Australia. One reason which helped him make up his mind was due
to an incident while bound for Chattanooga one day. The engine of which he was in charge of was riddled
with 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 was
employed with Mr. Enoch Chambers, of Little Collins Street in Melbourne, where he was once again in
mechanical 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 William
Kenna at this juncture. The Victorian immigration records show that William Kenna arrived on the "Great
Victoria" in November 1864. He was then aged 22. Two other Kenna arrived on the same ship - James aged
30 and Pat aged 32.
He then served for two months on the steamer "You Yangs" before travelling to Ballarat and finding
a job with the brewers Magill and Coghlan. He then proceeded to Geelong and remained there for two years
with Clancy's and then Powell's Queen's Head Brewery before returning to Ballarat in 1887. Here he became
proprietor of the Warrenheip Brewery near Ballarat and lived at Bungaree. He twice contested a seat in the
Victorian State parliament, presumably unsuccessful both times, and died on 28 March 1910, aged 68. He
was buried the following day at the New Cemetery in Ballarat, a well-respected member of the
community.47 His record at the cemetery is shown as having been buried 30 March 1910 in the Roman
Catholic Compartment A, Section I, allotment #42.48 Several other members of the family are buried
alongside 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 not
carry names of those members who arrived in Melbourne however a collection of affidavits supplied by the
U.S. Consul of those Americans captured by the "Shenandoah" again does not feature his name. As he had
left 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 7th
Kentucky Cavalry Regiments, in the Confederate States Army. His regimental roster shows that J.H. Keon
enlisted 5 July 1861 at Camp Boone, Ky., in Company D of the 3rd Regiment of Mounted Infantry as
Private, promoted to Third Lieutenant and then Second Lieutenant on 25 September 1863.49 The regimental
history 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, the
Vicksburg campaign, Fort Pillow, Brice's Cross Roads and Hood's Nashville campaign. In 1864 the
regiment was mounted and continued until it surrendered on 4 May 1865.50 He was noted in a report by
Brigadier-General Hylan B. Lyon, commanding the Department of Western Kentucky, dated 3 January
1865, of the expedition through Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Alabama from November 1864 until the
current date. Lyon thanked Hubert Keon who was then Lieutenant and acting assistant inspector-general on
Lyon's staff, for his performance of duty during the expedition. 51 John H. Keon signed the oath of allegiance
at 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. He
was paroled and also surrendered on 16 May 1865 at Columbus, Miss., as a Major and Assistant Inspector
General for the Kentucky Brigade. He emigrated to Australia in 1897, joined the New South Wales Customs
Department and was an officer with them on the south coast for many years. He remained a bachelor and
lived 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 photograph
and 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, his
daughter-in-law.
49 Report of the Adjutant General for the State of Kentucky, Confederate, Volume I, p102; also shows in rosters of "History of
the 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 presumed
to 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 Hubert
Plunkett, first Attorney-General for New South Wales.53
Harry Ouseley Blake Lane had been born at Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, on 26 April 1846. He
came to the U.S. and near the end of the Civil War enlisted at the age of nineteen at Rikers Island, Hudson
River, New York City on 5 January 1864 for a period of three years. On February 20th of the same year he
was mustered in as a Private in Company B of the 25th New York Cavalry, commanded by Major
McPherson and then Lieutenant-Colonel Seeley. He was promoted to Sergeant of the Company on 1 May
1865 however his pension states his rank as Captain, reason unknown. He had been wounded at the battle of
Luray, Luray Valley, Va., on 24 September 1864. He received a severe injury to the ligaments of the left
knee on which supervened a varicose condition of the veins. At the close of the engagement a charge was
ordered 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 was
bandaged by the regimental surgeon and he was excused from all the duties of a soldier for a considerable
time but still took part in every battle, at times suffering intense pain. He was mustered out with the
remainder of his company at Harts Island, New York Harbour, on 24 June 1865 as a Sergeant (although
pension documents state he was discharged as a Corporal). His personal details were shown as 6'2", grey
eyes, brown hair, and ruddy complexion.54 The year after the war, an inflammatory attack of the knee set in
which laid him up for two years. For a considerable portion of that time he was confined to bed and
incapacitating 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 had
worked in Australia from 1872 or 1873 in the Education Department of the State of Victoria as a civil
servant. Due to the injury to his left knee he applied, #776269, for a pension on 28 March 1890 before the
Consul General, J.P. Lesesne, and then was aged 44. He again applied on 15 December 1891 and again 19
February 1913. He received a pension of US$8 per month, certificate #784556. His address in 1899 was
Tennyson 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 the
Prince of Wales Hotel (St. Kilda) as being of intemperate habits he had been living apart from his wife for
the past two years. He died, aged 69, on 5 December 1913 at the Alfred Hospital in the Melbourne suburb of
Prahran of carcinoma of the stomach and exhaustion. He had been 4 years in Western Australia and then
about 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 was
mentioned 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 of
England 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) at
Wellington 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 in
Springvale.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 have
emigrated 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 in
the 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 the
Shenandoah 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). It
shows 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 in
1905 or 1906 when thought to have changed his accommodation to the Prince Of Wales Hotel. Information from pension
listing 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 at
Brighton to Harry Auseley Lane and Blanche Crisp; Thomas Ousley Blake Lane was born at Brighton in
1888 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 of
General George A. Custer's brigade, comprising the 1st, 5th and 6th Michigan Cavalry Regiments as well as
the 25th New York Cavalry. Reports of the activities on September 24th by officers of the regiments in this
brigade indicate that on September 24th they overtook William C. Wickham's brigade of Confederate
cavalry in the Luray Valley and charged about three miles from Luray at the Confederates. A report from the
commander of the 6th Michigan stated that they "whipped them in thirty minutes, and went on a piece and
halted".57
Mark Lawrence, a local Melbourne journalist has a medal present to Lane from the 25th New York
Cavalry 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 Picnic
Point, but seeing Short could hardly keep himself afloat he stayed by him and kept him up. After showing
signs of exhaustion Short grasped Lane around the neck. Having freed himself, Lane held him with his right
hand, 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. Lane
caught 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 for
the shore directly the boat capsized: he had no doubt he could have reached it, but he determined to stand by
and 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 some
stage emigrated to the U.S. He was a member of Company I, 36th Regiment Missouri Militia, which was
never mustered into U.S. Service but instead served as a state force. The Company, under Lieutenant
Moorehouse, 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 Irregular
Volunteers about September 1861 in Nodaway County, Missouri. At the present time I
cannot remember the name of the Colonel commanding, but he was a Doctor of Medicine. I
served in the Regiment over 12 months.
General Tuttill of the Regular Army enrolled our volunteers in Nodaway County and
the first thing we did was to arrest all the County Officers and they were then released by
General 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 engaged
pursuing Rebel Raiders, and on one occasion, I remember we captured Dr. Lee (Brother of
General 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. He
resided 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 editor
for 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 the
Argus and the Age in Melbourne and was a well known poet and journalist. He finished his career as chief
of the “Hansard” Parliamentary staff. In William’s obituary he claimed that he had served in the Union
Army and was at Appomattox at Lee’s surrender. Roy located William Loughran of the same age in
Company A of the 7th New Jersey Infantry as having been mustered in on 16 March 1865; as the regiment
was at the surrender it could be the same person. This one deserted near Bailey’s Crossroads on 8 June 1865
and was next known to have married in Ireland around 1870 before heading off to Australia with his brother
and both families. As the evidence is still only circumstantial we’ll have to look a little harder before we can
call this complete.
John Lowry was a member of Company F, 14th United States Regular Infantry. His widow, Mary
Lowry, received a pension from the U.S. Government of US$10 per month from April 1876, #148,834. He
had married Mary on 5 April 1863 in New York City and he died at Camp McDowell in Arizona Territory
on 16 August 1867. His enlistment record shows that he was born in Ireland, aged 29, hazel eyes, dark hair
and dark complexion. He enrolled in the U.S. Army, appointed on 26 January 1866 to presumably a higher
position 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 not
been found as of time of writing, but believed to be near Bendigo). The Fourteenth Regiment was organized
in 1861 and continued through until the time of Mrs Lowry receiving her pension so this does not
conclusively 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 an
Australian; 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 later
served in the Civil War. He was due to celebrate his 100th birthday in 1926 according to a local Australian
newspaper. Michael J. Malone shows in the index to Combined Service Records for Civil War soldiers as
having served as a Private in Company F, 20th Connecticut Infantry, however in the rosters of Connecticut
soldiers he appears as Michael J. Maloney.
Samuel McCaul was noted in a letter addressed to the U.S. Department of the Interior mentioned as
a side issue in regard to the pension (#1118002) of a Samuel McCaul, an inmate at the Kew Asylum. This
was a letter in 1916 and we already know that another veteran buried in Melbourne, Henry Solomon
Thompson, had died at the Kew Asylum.
The pension papers for Samuel McCaul of Company I, 144th New York show that he was born on 4
May 1841 at Newry, County Doron, Ireland. He enrolled in 1861 at Devonport, Delaware County, New
York, where he had been residing as a farmer, and was discharged in 1865 at Elmira, New York. He had not
received any injuries during his term of service. The New York Adjutant General's Records stated that he
had been aged 19 years when he enlisted 14 August 1862 at Davenport to serve for three years. He was
mustered in as Private, Company I, 144th Infantry, on 27 September 1862 and was mustered out with the
company on 25 June 1865 at Hilton Head, South Carolina. He had been born in Ireland and at time of
enlistment his personal details were grey eyes, brown hair, light complexion, height of 5' 6 1/2" and
occupation as farmer.
He resided after the war in California until 1868 then returned to Ireland for three months. Still in
1868 he came to Australia where he had lived until his application for the pension in 1904. At that stage he
gave 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 means
he 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 23
December 1917 due to cystitis and pyelonephritis. His niece, Ellen Louisa McIntosh, of 148 Richardson
Street, 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 and
mustered in September 27, 1862. The 144th left New York for Washington, D.C., and was in the defences of
Washington until April 1863. It was then ordered to Suffolk, Va., and involved with the siege of that city
between April and May. During June and July was in Dix's Peninsula Campaign and then ordered to
Washington again on 10 July. It was moved to Folly Island, South Carolina, in August and participated in
the siege of Forts Wagner and Gregg, on Morris Island, S.C., and operations against Fort Sumter and
Charleston to September. In remained in this area until moved to Hilton Head, S.C., in January 1864 and
then to Jacksonville, Florida, in February 1864. The 144th was on duty at Jacksonville until June when it
returned to Hilton Head, S.C., and was involved in the expedition to Johns and James Island against
Charleston July 2-10 and operations against Battery Pringle on July 9th. In November it participated in
Hatch's expedition up Broad River and was in the battle of Honey Hill, S.C., November 30th, 1864. The
regiment returned to Hilton Head and remained on duty in that district until June 1865 when it was mustered
out of service.
The death certificate 1917/#12865, for Samuel McCaul states he was born in Scotland but no other
particulars were known, as against the birth place of Ireland noted on the pension papers. The Index to
Immigration Records in Victoria show Samuel McCaul arrived on the “Somersetshire” in October 1870
aged 28 which would agree with the date of birth on other papers. He died as an inmate of the Kew Hospital
for 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, in
suburban Melbourne. He was unmarried and therefore no details of his life were known. He was buried in
the 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 Veterans
Administration.
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, to
serve three years. His personal particulars were shown as 5'7" high, light complexion, grey eyes, brown hair
and florid complexion, occupation as laborer/machinist. He received a bounty of $60 for enlistment. Present
for duty March & April 1864 until he received a gun shot wound to the right shoulder at the battle of Cold
Harbor, Va., 4 June 1864; admitted to the General Hospital, Davids Island, New York harbor, on 15 June
1864 and furloughed 1 July 1864 for 30 days. No record of his return to this hospital and he was noted as
being 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 City
Point, Va., 6 September 1864; received by Provost Marshal, Second Army Corps on 11 September and sent
the 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 was
transferred 17 April 1865 [also shows on Disability Discharge as transferred 2 June 1865 by order of the
Provost 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 General
Hospital, 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 pension
on 12 October 1878 and was then a resident of the National Military Home at Dayton in Montgomery
County, Ohio, aged 37. At that stage he was receiving $5 per month but due to general disability he was
incapacitated from further labor. The examining surgeon certified that no increase was due to him. Another
examination was performed 15 August 1888. He is also listed in the Annual Report of the Board of
Managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in 1878 as having been re-admitted to the
home 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 3rd
of June:
"We lay in a line of works until 3 p.m., when we moved down farther to the front and
assisted in constructing a line of rifle-pits, and at dark we were ordered to move to the left to
a point which had been designated during the day, to build a redoubt... We moved along in
the darkness to a position held by a certain Michigan regiment, as we supposed, but as a fact
we 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 our
front, there happened one of the most terrific fires of artillery ever experienced by the
command... We were ordered to lie down and then to get back to the lines, and the greater
part made for the rear at a faster gait than even double-quick time. Some however, laid flat
down on the ground. We found the regiment whose line we expected to reach, and a number
stopped 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 regiment
moved into rifle-pits about noon. At dark they sent out a party to build a redoubt but were driven back twice
by 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 at
Dayton, 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. He
died 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 War
service. 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 the
Consul's correspondence in Sydney. A letter from McGuire stated that he had joined the 5th Infantry
California Volunteers on September 29th, 1861, in Camp Union, Sacramento, Cal. He remained there up to
September 29th 1864 when he was transferred from Company C of the 5th regiment, Captain John S. Thayer
commanding, to Company D of the same regiment, Captain William Ffrench, and was mustered out of that
command on 15 September 1866 and enlisted in the United States regular army, on 3 October 1866 in L
Troop, 3rd Cavalry, Colonel W.N. Grier. McGuire also noted that he was not given discharge papers as he
was first duty sergeant at the time of discharge. The letter was noted on the Consul's files as having been
received 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, 5th
Regiment California Volunteers. He had been born in Ireland around 1843 and at time of enlistment was
5'7", 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 present
or absent to December 31, 1861, however, was present from January & February 1862 until promoted to
Corporal on 11 September 1862. He was not stated again in November & December 1862 but present from
March & April 1863 until honourably discharged and re-enlisted into the veteran volunteers, 9 February
1864, by Captain Archer, 5th U.S. Infantry, Mustering Officer. He was due to receive $62 for bounty
payment at this time and was stationed at Mesilla, New Mexico. Three further installments of $50 each were
paid progressively during 1864 and he was present until 30 November 1864 which was the last muster-out
roll in his file and presumed to be the date that he was discharged. His file also stated that he had been on
extra duty in June 1862 in the cook house. He was also on detached service in November 1862 detecting
mule thieves; again on extra daily duty in February & March 1863 as cook, and as escort in May 1863 on
detached service. In February & March 1864 he was on detached service guarding government stock at
Camp Cottonworks, New Mexico.
Frederick Dyer's "Compendium of the Rebellion", volume 3, page 1003-1004, states that the
regiment was organized in California at large between September and November 1861. It was attached to
the Departments of the Pacific and New Mexico. The companies were spread over garrison posts in
Southern California and Arizona after being ordered to Camp Latham, Southern California, on 1 February
1862; Company C was located at Camp Wright and Fort Bowie before final posting at Fort Goodwin while
Company D served at Tucson, Arizona. Both of the companies then were ordered to Las Cruces, Arizona, 8
October 1864.
John Murray, a private in Company F, 7th United States Regular Infantry Regiment, received a
pension of US$10 per month, certificate #13539, and his address in 1899 was care of the U.S. consulate in
Sydney.
He was born in Meath, Ireland, and after arrival in the U.S. he enrolled 7 May 1860 as Private in
Captain P.W.L. Plympton's Company in New York to serve 5 years and was discharged on surgeon's
certificate of disability on 27 August 1862 at Hot Springs, New Mexico; he was then aged 21, 5'8", sallow
complexion, blue eyes, sandy hair and occupation as laborer. He had been unfit due to a complete right
inguinal 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 Plympton
received 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 10th
Infantry Regiment were assigned along with two companies of New Mexico volunteers to protect the left
flank 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 of
sand hills. Led by Major Samuel A. Lockridge, a celebrated veteran of William Walker's
filibustering expedition in Nicaragua, they charged through a storm of grapeshot, canister,
and minie balls toward the Union artillery. Suffering heavy casualties, they paused once to
fire at the Union line, then came on, reaching McRae's position and swarming over the guns
and gunners. The fighting engulfed the two New Mexico volunteer companies and the
infantry 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 McRae
were shot dead - some said simultaneously... The desperate Southern attack carried the
day."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 resident
of Washington; his claim stated that while in the line of his duty at the battle of Val Verde he had been
struck on the spine making him unfit for further service and preventing him from attending to any manual
labor.
He again applied for restoration of his pension in March 1885 due to being in destitute
circumstances, living upon the charity of strangers. A pension was granted to him for US$8 per month from
3 April 1884. He stated that after drawing the first quarter he thought it better to leave it in the hands of the
government until it amounted to a large sum or enough to buy some land and settle down; he had since the
first claim resided in San Francisco. As he could not read or write he applied to the Clerk of the Supreme
Clerk in Washington to submit the declaration form.
By December 1885 he was residing in Orange, New South Wales, and applied for a duplicate copy
of his pension certificate. He placed an advertisement in the "Evening News" a newspaper printed and
published in Sydney, "Lost between the General Post office and Railway Station, Sydney a roll of papers
containing amongst same a certificate of pension from the United States being of no use to anyone but the
owner 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 66
years and a resident of Sydney - his post office address being care of Mr. Markey, Australian Joint Stock
Bank, 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 in
Washington by the then U.S. Consul, George W. Bell (also a Civil War veteran), in 1894, stated that Murray
then 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 never
married and was in receipt of pension #13539.65 He was dropped from the pension rolls on 14 November
1908 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 and
according to family legend eventually moved to Long Island, New York. The family claims that he fought in
the Civil War, was possibly a sergeant and was on General Ulysses S. Grant's staff. After the war he joined
the U.S. Navy and after his service had expired he went to England where he married Mary Burke in
Liverpool. 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 soldiers
known in any war if his story can be substantiated. He was buried in the Liverpool Cemetery, New South
Wales, Section M, Grave #229, in August 1952 having died at the Liverpool Hospital. He was born in
Ireland 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 the
battle of Gettysburg and the story continued his reminiscences. He is not located in any of the available
rosters known to this researcher and does not appear in other likely lists. Nineteen names appear in the index
to the Compiled Service Records - those in Confederate ranks include a Private in Company A, 47th Georgia
Infantry Regiment; Company B, 26th Louisiana Infantry and Company E, 30th Mississippi Infantry
regiment. The 47th Georgia and the 30th Mississippi both served with the Army of Tennessee and the 26th
Louisiana 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 States
and 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 wife
proceeded to rear five children. He died in 1943, a few weeks before his 103rd birthday and was buried at
the Waverley Cemetery, his wife predeceased him by almost thirty years. This makes yet another possible
veteran 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, Michigan
or the Official Records of the Army index. The greatest amount of Irish in the Union forces were possibly in
Massachusetts or New York so that could be the next place for investigation. The Compiled Service Records
show three enlistments for an Edward O’Malley but none for Edmund. Edward Omalley is in the 1890
census for New York; Edward O’Maley served as a Private in Company E of the 7th Missouri Infantry, US
Vols; and another as Private in Company C or E, 136th New York Infantry; we have Edward O’Malley or
O’Mallie in Company L of the 2nd Illinois Artillery Regiment; another in the 10th Illinois Cavalry
Regiment; as Second Sergeant in Company G, 28th Kentucky Infantry Regiment, Company C, 15th
Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (he had been born in Ireland but was in the Soldiers Home admitted 1881
and 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 Infantry
Regiment.
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 when
the family celebrated something of significance, outside the normal. My father always thought that it
may have been a pardon from the U.S. Would this have been likely. One of Edmund’s grandsons was
a movie actor J.Pat Omalley, who was resident in the U.S. for most of his life, and may have been in
a 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 of
deserters, I know from Roy Parker that desertion was a very common occurrence, so there may be a
list.
If I could trace the newspaper article, that would solve a number of problems, It wasn't in any of
the popular dailys, around his birthday in 1942.”
Patrick Power was born in Ireland around 1835 and held the rank of Lieutenant in Company B, 15th
West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, as of 24 January 1865.68 (This shows in the "Official Army Register" as
Powers). He had family in Australia and that is presumably the reason why he emigrated here. He remained
a 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 in
his memoirs "The Flying Gray-Haired Yank". Surprisingly to say, in the four years of war and several
hundred pages of writing, Egan mentions Power only once in passing - Egan took two couriers with him to
inspect a train line in West Virginia and the two men accompanying him included Patrick Power. Egan
wrote of him as being "heavier than I would have wished for the purpose [of riding on horses], but being
brave and reliable ... proved to be more serviceable than would lighter weights not possessing these
qualities".
When nearing the eastern base of Powell Mountain, the dusk of evening was closing in on them and
the beginning of a snow-storm made travelling quite a chore. Power had occasion to stop and dismount
while Egan and the other continued onwards; they shortly arrived at the cabin of a loyal man but being in the
countryside of guerrillas they thought it a dangerous place. Power was still absent behind them but caught up
and displayed his courage by riding up to his two companions with pistol levelled and ready for use. The
two Union men decided to surprise and possible frighten Power, however as he rode the hill and they cried
out "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 on
other occasions while on the line, had no small influence in securing his promotion in Egan's company
afterwards.69
The reason why Egan and Power did not agree can be seen from court-martial records on Power for
April 1865 which stated that he had been charged on specifications for disobedience of orders; disrespect to
his superior officer and absence without leave. He was found guilty of the charges laid and sentenced to the
forfeiture 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 at
the conclusion of his service in the Civil War. He grew up in the townlet of Aghadoe, a part of Killarney in
County Kerry and married Maria Sullivan in the same town on 19 June 1859. He apparently emigrated to the
U.S. with his wife and son Daniel, in 1860 and worked as a butcher in Boston before the war broke out and
he enlisted just after the first sign of war when Fort Sumter was fired upon in April 1861. He served with
Company C, 11th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment from 8 May 1861 to 24 June 1864. His superior officer
was Captain David A. Granger, and Sullivan's personal description showed him as a butcher by trade, light
hair, light complexion, blue eyes and height of 5'8". According to his discharge papers he was involved in
the 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 the
Massachusetts rosters show that he was aged 24 at enlistment and from Boston; he was mustered in 13 June
1861 and mustered out 24 June 1864 at the expiration of service. 71 His service record stated that he was
enrolled 13 June 1861 at Fort Warren, Mass., for a period of three years as Private, aged 24. For most of his
service, Sullivan was on extra duty as brigade butcher, from February 1862 until December 1863, when he
received a furlough. As of the muster roll for March & April 1864 he was marked as present and continued
until mustered-out with the organization at Boston on 24 June 1864.72 If he was involved in the battles
above stated, he must have been granted permission to be away from his duty at the brigade camp as butcher
to fight with his comrades. The regiment as a member of the Third Army Corps, Second Division, 1st
Brigade, from March 1862 until March 1864 was in the battles of the Army of the Potomac through the
Virginia peninsula and Second Manassas, it then went into camp near Fort Lyon until the Fredericksburg
campaign, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and the Spotsylvania Court House - Wildnerness campaigns of
1864.
Sullivan and his family returned to Ireland in 1865 and then sailed to Australia. Another child, age
and gender unknown, was drowned at sea but no other information is available. They emigrated to Australia
and settled in Eganstown, about six kilometres west of Daylesford, Vic., where he became a miner. He left
his 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 Catholic
Cemetery in the same place. A prominent family grave is in an excellent position just inside the entrance
gate and in front of the small timber Catholic chapel within the grounds. He and his wife had six children
between 1861 and 1876. The timber Sullivan family homestead is still standing on the eastern outskirts of
the town by the side of the road.73
Denis Sullivan had applied for an invalid pension (#1133158) through the U.S. Consul at Melbourne
on 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 honorably
discharged at Boston, 24 June 1864. In 1892 he was unable to earn a support by manual labor due to general
disability from rheumatism.
His death certificate stated he died on 23 June 1896 at Eganstown, shire of Mount Franklin and
County of Talbot; he was then aged 60 and described as a miner. Cause of death was disease of the liver and
exhaustion. He had been born in Killarney, Ireland, and had then lived 32 years in Victoria (therefore arrived
in 1864). He had been married in Killarney to Marie (sic) Sullivan on 19 June 1859; six children resulted in
the 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, black
hair, and when enlisted was occupied as a laborer.
An original enlistment in Company D, of the 36th New York Volunteers showed that he was
enrolled on 15 June 1861 at New York City and was present for duty until wounded 1 July 1862 during
action at the battle of Malvern Hill, in the Seven Days battles round Richmond, Virginia. He was in hospital
at Mile Creek, Fortress Monroe, Va., and continued absent until the Company was mustered out 15 July
1863.74
A report by Brigadier-General Darius Couch of the battle of Malvern Hill, stated in part the role of
the 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 Palmer
and Abercrombie, but Kingsbury's battery, together with the steady fire of the Tenth
Massachusetts and a charge of the Thirty-sixth New York, drove them back in confusion, the
latter regiment capturing the colors of the Fourteenth North Carolina in hand conflicts. This
movement of the rebels was a rash one or a ruse to draw our troops on to disadvantageous
ground - undoubtedly the latter - and it did not succeed."75
A second report, by Brigadier General Innis N. Palmer, commanding the Third Brigade, had the
following information about the regiment at Malvern Hill:
"... The Thirty-sixth New York Volunteers, commanded by Major Raney, [was] on
arriving on the battle ground placed in position under the direction of General Couch, and
they were directed to hold the woods on the right of the battery formerly Griffin's, and to act
at the same time as the support to this battery... four companies of the Thirty-sixth, under the
command of Captain Walsh, were thrown out obliquely across the field on my right, in order
to get a cross fire upon any force that might appear from the woods immediately in front of
the battery.
Affairs remained in this state until about 3 o'clock p.m., when, after a sharp artillery
fire from both sides, the enemy appeared in force on the right. This force proved to be a
brigade of North Carolina troops, commanded by General Anderson, and it advanced in good
order until it was within about 350 yards of my men. A heavy fire was then opened upon it by
the Tenth Massachusetts and the four companies under Captain Walsh. As soon as it was
within the view of the battery a fire from it was opened, and I directed the remaining six
companies 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 few
minutes, the enemy broke and fled. After pursuing for some distance my command was
recalled, as a pursuit would necessarily bring them in front of the batteries. In this short
engagement 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 Port
Jackson, La., on 19 November 1870 to serve five years. He was sent to hospital during the Spring of 1871 by
reason 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 Baton
Rouge, 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 from
obtaining 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, while
a guard at night by which the spinal cord was injured in some way. Another letter also stated that Patrick
Thornton had enlisted in the U.S. Navy 28 July 1863 and served as a landsman aboard the U.S.S. "North
Carolina" 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, when
he was discharged. A letter from the Treasury Department in 1884 stated that the was no mention of his
name 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 address
in 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 of
May 1990. He had been 8 years in New South Wales and was not married. He was buried 22 June 1904 in
the 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 Sydney
suburb of Balmain as well as cash. He stated in his will that he felt that the United States had been his best
friend and that therefore he gave his assets to the U.S. Consul in Sydney who proposed to have a stone
carved to mark his grave (something which was only completed in 1992 as a result of pressure from Roy
Parker for recognition of his grave).
Adam Edward Walsh was born in Waterford, Ireland, on 17 June 1841. He served in the Union
navy 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 at
Maryborough, 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 a
private 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 the
U.S.R.C. "Wyandra" had not been built by the time that the Civil War had ended. 78 The "Chocura", laid
down 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 Squadron
until 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 the
recruiting 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 navy
life, 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 officer
aboard his ship. His posting at this time was an enviable one along the California coast. He resented the fact
that the officer in question was making an otherwise ideal situation, difficult. About the same time he
received wonderful news. His father was alive. This gentleman for political reasons had been transported
from Ireland to Tasmania during the 1840's, but was presumed dead. James Francis resolved this coupling of
circumstances by up and deserting. He shortly acquired a berth as a merchant seaman and in 1879 a family
reunion took place. James Francis died on 22 May 1923 and is buried with his wife, Elizabeth Rachel (who
he 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 short
references to each of the vessels mentioned in Waters' career. The USS "Princeton" had been commissioned
in 1852 and served as a Receiving Ship in Philadelphia, Pa., between 1857 and 1866; the "Lilac" was built
and commissioned in 1863 as apart of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1863 and then in the
James River at Beaufort, North Carolina in 1864; the "Vanderbilt" was a gunboat commissioned in
September 1862 and served in the search for the CSS "Alabama" between 1863-64, was a flagship in the
Flying Squadron in the West Indies during 1863 and participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher, North
Carolina, in 1864 and 1865.
The "Pensacola" was a screw sloop and had been built in 1859 and commissioned in 1861. In
January 1862 she was a part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and took part in the passage past the
New Orleans forts and engagement with Confederate naval vessels in April 1862. She was re-fitted between
1864 and 1866 before going into the Pacific Squadron. Waters' next vessel was the "Suwanee" which was a
Mohongo Class ship, commissioned in January 1865 and a part of the Pacific Squadron between 1865 and
1868. The "Independence" is not listed in this book and so is presumed to have been a post-Civil War built
vessel while the "Jamestown" had been in commission since 1845 and after being in the Atlantic Blockading
Squadron during 1861, she became a part of the Pacific Squadron between 1862 and 1865. She was
converted to a transport and storeship in 1866 and served in the North Pacific Squadron between 1867 and
1868.
Henry Wells, a member of Companies B and A, 69th Indiana Infantry, is noted in the files from the
U.S. Consul at Hobart on 16 December 1904 when he made a pension application after veteran pensions
became universal. He had been born at Kellahoe, County Clare, Ireland, on 11 May 1828 and died probably
in Somerset, Tasmania, in 1911. The regiment did not have an active career in the Civil War apart from
being captured almost in total at the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, on 30 August 1861. After applying for
the 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 11
May 1828. Shortly after this his parents moved to the adjacent county of Tipperary. He enrolled on 5 August
1862 as a private in Company B, 69th Indiana Infantry Regiment. At time of enlistment his personal
appearance 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 was
reclassified 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 former
occupation as farmer and resided at Muncietown, Indiana.
In 1869 he went to Leavenworth, Kansas until 1879; and then at Burnie, Tasmania until 1889. He
then 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 married
Jessie 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 pension
was stopped on 4 September 1911 by his failure to claim and no further information in currently known, but
presumed to due his death.
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OTHER LINKS WITH IRELAND AND SOME VETERANS STILL TO BE

CONFIRMED
Augustus George Hance Graham was born in France and is buried in the Rookwood Cemetery in
Sydney; prior to his Civil War career he had served as a member of the British Army in Canada. He slipped
over the border and enlisted in the 41st New York Infantry Regiment. However his name does not appear on
a roster of the regiment which I have, and I surmise that he may have enlisted under a false name to save the
problem of being a foreign citizen. A full story of his adventures appeared in "Improvement Era", the
Journal 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 lived
with his Uncle George Cottam. He grew restless at the age of eighteen, and joined the British
army. At twenty his regiment was sent from Kingstown, Ireland, to Canada, where he went over
the 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 State
Volunteers. Two months later he was on the firing line. He was at most of the historic places of
the Civil War and fought in some of the battles. In 1870 he enlisted in the United States navy and
cruised 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 people
had left some time previously for Australia. He followed them, and finally found them in this
city, which has been his home ever since.”
Augustus George Hance Graham enlisted under the name of George Graham. He was born in
Honfleur, Calvados, France, on 26 September 1841, although his family was English, he was born on the
channel coast of France. His great grandfather, Sir Reginald Graham, had been knighted by Charles I. On his
enlistment papers in the 41st New York Infantry he gives London as his birthplace. At the age of eighteen he
joined 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. He
joined 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. He
appears on a regimental return stating that he was a recruit from the depot and joined the regiment at Folly
Island, South Carolina. He was absent sick in the General Hospital at Hilton Head, SC, from June 28th, 1864
but had returned to the regiment by the time of the next muster roll at the end of August 1864. He saw
considerable action with his regiment, his battles included Cedar Creek, Bermuda Hundred, the sieges of
Petersburg and Richmond and other engagements. The 41st New York had originally been recruited at
Yorkville, NY and mustered into service in June 1861. After service with the Army of the Potomac it was
sent 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 of
Washington, D.C.; from September to December 1864 in the Army of the Shenandoah and then Ferrero’s
Division, 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 reduced
to 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 and
to 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 incident
occurring earlier that year referred to earlier as cowardice and leaving his post without permission while on
picket. He was court-martialled and sentenced to three years at the hard labor prison in Richmond. In August
this was rescinded and he was returned to his regiment by General Order no. 221, dated 15 August 1865. He
- page 42 -
**********
duly received an honorable discharge when the unit mustered out in September. Another listing in the
Company 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” at
Montevideo, 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 Rio
de Janiero.
He never married and died in Sydney on 29 November 1919, he was buried at the Rookwood
cemetery in Sydney, Independent Area, Section H, Grave #1655.
James McIlrath was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He went to Ireland and then to the United States
when young with his family. According to information he served in the American War and was later a
farmer in western and southern states. He participated in a survey party to California and was 10 years in the
United 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 York
adjutant-general's report (Volume 41, page 63) shows James McElrath as a member of Company F, 168th
New York Infantry. He enlisted, aged 18 years, on 20 October 1862 at Pughkeepsie, to serve nine months
and was mustered in as Private in Company F, 168th New York Infantry on 23 January 1863. He was
mustered 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; ordered
to 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 for
mustering-out on 31 October 1863. Its losses during service included 1 Enlisted man killed and 1 Officer
and 36 Enlisted men by disease.
The only officer I found with this matching name was James P. McIlrath, Major of the 23rd Ohio
Infantry, who was an original Captain with this regiment and promoted to Major, mustered out at that rank
of 15 July 1864. The 23rd Ohio was more known as being the regiment which Rutherford B. Hayes and
James A. Garfield, both future presidents, served with. Other James McIlraths which appear in the index are
two from Illinois. James McIlrath, Private of Company F, 30th Illinois Infantry Regiment was a resident of
Dolson, Ill., when he enlisted and was mustered into serviced the same day, 11 October 1864. He was
mustered out of service on 4 June 1865. James McIllrath or McIlrath, a Private in Company G, 31st Illinois
Infantry 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 James
McIlwrath shows as having arrived in January 1875 aboard the “Cashmere” aged 28, therefore born around
1847 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".

- page 43 -
**********
Johnson, Wilson (US Army, born in 1835 in Londonderry County, Ireland, resided Pittsburgh) Hillside
Cemetery, 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 with
Australia came with a letter to John from a descendant from another veteran to be confirmed.
From: John [mailto:kingy.com@bigpond.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 6 September 2005 7:31 AM
To: Barry CROMPTON
Subject: Couple of potentials
Mornin' Barry - Well yet another letter has arrived from a nice lady from Toogabbie in Sydney. She believes her grandfather
and 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 some
more questions.
The name she has given me is Jeremiah RYAN born in Ireland in 1847. Went to America with his brother John in 1861. That
would 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 the
latter 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 in
the CW. This article may contain useful info. There is very little known of his brother John except that he may also be buried in
the Hazelwood Cemetery.
I am hoping that in your present occupation that you have access to the microfiche records of old newspapers and could
perhaps 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 she
can 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'll
attach 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 he
was born about 1848 - you mentioned 1847 and as he was 62 when he died, his birthdate must be between October and December
1847. Parents names were James and Bridget. Widow's name was Ellen Fleming and he had nine children. He had arrived in
Victoria 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 who
was aged 19 in 1862 and served as a Private in Companies D and K, 132nd New York Infantry; he served from 1862 until
discharged in 1863; there were three who didn't have ages against their enlistment age; one from the 21st Indiana Light Artillery
Battery; one from Company G of the 7th Wisconsin and one from Company A of the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry. His service
record 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 done
overseas; 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 check
any 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.
- page 44 -
**********
You've been very good to start the ball rolling and I hope that we can come up with a solution, certainly Jeremiah Ryan looks
like 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 which
haven’t been able to narrow down the search though we do appreciate Sam’s good work. Jeremiah J. Ryan
had served with the 5th Massachusetts Infantry and left a widow, Elizabeth so we can discount him; another
Jeremiah Ryan of Company G in the 7th Wisconsin Infantry didn’t have a location on his pension
application (nor a widow for that matter either); a third Jeremiah Ryan with no location on his application
had served with unassigned New York volunteers but had a widow Emma; finally Jeremiah Ryan who had a
widow Ellen, was in Company G of the 8th New York heavy Artillery and the 2nd Battalion of the Veteran
Reserve 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" <kingy.com@bigpond.com>
To: "Barry Crompton" <BCrompton@bigpond.com>
Subject: Fw: Jeremiah Ryan
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 16:10:12 +1000
X-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. Were
you aware of the 'Early Victorians' book ? Perhaps it also contains some CW service info. of other prominent early Victorians who
also 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 his
birth 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 the
two. Fingers crossed - getting there.
KINGY
----- Original Message -----
From: James Weir
To: kingy.com@bigpond.com
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 12:41 PM
Subject: 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 fathers
name 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 and
have had children as this was mention by word of mouth that this was so. I do not know much about the Ryan Family as my
mother 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 other
cousins 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 next
time 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 Civil
War 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 being
able to compare the two names to see whether there were any in the same regiment however I might try a quick sort of my own
database to see if it is simple.
- page 45 -
**********
The Immigration to Victoria CD has a listing for Jeremiah and John Ryan arriving in January 1869 aboard the "Southern
Empire", Jeremiah aged 20 (born around 1849) and John aged 22 (born around 1847); so that also adds up to being a distinct
possibility. Interestingly, the same vessel also shows Ellen Ryan (aged 19 or 21) and Thomas Ryan (aged 22) on the same ship, I
wonder 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 the
Jeremiah Ryans who we know remained in the U.S. for the census, sadly not having more of an idea of which state does make the
search 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, reading
copperplate 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 go
through them for future reference - but that's a job for my retirement!
As always best wishes
Barry
If John is correct that both of the brothers may have served in the same unit, I copied all of my database
records into one area which I could sort on unit; both Jeremiah and John Ryan had served with the 5th
Minnesota Infantry (though John was in Company I and Jeremiah in Company G); also the names crop up in
the 22nd New York Cavalry (Jeremiah as unassigned, John in Companies K & M); both were also in the
same Company (H) of the 1st New York Infantry; in the 3rd New York Infantry (though separate
companies); also the 10th New York Infantry in separate companies; the 18th New York Infantry (both in
Company B); 86th New York Infantry (separate companies); 132nd New York Infantry (separate
companies); 85th Ohio Infantry (as John O.D. and Jeremiah D., both Company E); John and Jeremiah also
served in the same Company, A, of the 15th United States Infantry, we also had a Jeremiah and a John Ryan
serve aboard the USS “Ohio” both as unassigned Wisconsin troops and as such nothing really looks greatly
convincing 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 his
apprenticeship in Dublin in the office of his uncle who was a wine and spirits merchant. He then went to the
U.S.A. and was looking for gold in the Klondike when caught up in the Civil War. He then went to Florida
as a supervisor of the construction of forts down there. He was stricken with yellow fever and was sent back
to Ireland to recover.
No mention has yet been found of a John C. Smith in connection with Florida although that may
change 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 April
1862. 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. In
1870 he married Elizabeth Cadzow (died 1932) whose family were some of the area's pioneer settlers. Their
marriage was the first to be held in the little stone church of St. Peter's at Carapooee. Smith had become a
mining manager in the meantime moving to a property called "Rahina" at nearby Gower East. In 1884 he
entered local politics as a member for the Kara Kara Shire, becoming known as something of an authority on
municipal 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 the
town in his honour and a large cortege followed the coffin to the graveside three days later on the 24th. He
left eight children, four sons and four daughters.
From: "jim" <cracker3@optusnet.com.au>

To: "Barry Crompton" <bcrompton@telstra.com>
Subject: NZ VETERANS
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2005 10:56:38 +1000
Barry;
I got an email this morning with another name of a "possible" Union veteran.
- page 46 -
**********
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 of
Otago, New Zealand. His name is not on your list, but his national connection at that stage is probably "Irish". He was
born in Cross, near Ballycastle in Northern Ireland before 1840, but I will check family annals to get a more accurate
picture of when and where he was born and when and where and when he was buried. Certificates for the last should
be easily obtained. Details of his birth will probably be available from the baptismal lists of his Catholic Parish
Church. 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 of
the older brothers had stopped off at the Victorian goldfields on their way over here. The others joined them later after
their arrival in Queenstown. My Great-grandfather Robert, the youngest of the six brothers, disembarked at Hokitika
and walked to Queenstown crossing the Southern Alps for a journey which in those days before roads were
established 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 a
Wellington cousin, Jean Paterson, font of all family lore and a really switched on genealogist about what information
she has.
I'll get back to you when I have some more to share with you
Regards and thanks for your initiative.
Sincerely
Donn Livingstone
Civil War Data shows 156 men with the name of John McBride so without a state we might well have to
wait for more information.
Information currently available on these veterans is very scarce and it is highly probable that further
research will uncover more developments. It is known that a host of veterans migrated from the U.S. to
various parts of the world. Confederate outposts were recorded in Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil plus the
more-common post-war residences in Canada, England and Europe. Several prominent army officers found
employment in the Egyptian army and numerous high-ranking officers also led successful careers around the
world. One instance of note was the Confederate guerrilla chief known as the "Grey Ghost", John Singleton
Mosby, who became U.S. Consul to Hong Kong. Many other Confederate officers were also appointed to
government posts during the presidency of Grover Cleveland in the 1880's as a result of political favours (an
example in James Morris Morgan, an ex-Confederate naval officer, as U.S. Consul to Melbourne is
discussed later; another ex-U.S. Army officer was also consul at one stage) and the list is endless. Naturally
with the vast amount of political favours required as well as the majority of the population being involved in
the Civil War, there was obviously some need for these ex-officers to be gainfully employed or rewarded for
their endeavours.
During the 1880's, many Northern states began to process bills through legislatures to aid the Union
veterans and between 1879 and 1888 the states also began building soldiers' homes for those veterans who
had become incapacitated. Under the general law of 1862, Union Army soldiers who had suffered
permanent bodily injury or disability as a direct consequence of military service were eligible for federal
relief at monthly rates ranging from $8 to $30 (depending on rank) for total disability, with lesser amounts
paid for partial disability.82 This was followed in 1890 by the U.S. Senate passing a bill for dependents of
soldiers and the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure to pension every veteran over the age of
62. The compromise of these two pieces became the Dependent Pension Act of 1890 which granted a
pension to every honourably discharged soldier of ninety days' service who suffered from any disability that
incapacitated him from manual labour, no matter what his financial situation and no matter how the
disability 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.
- page 47 -
**********
Between 1890 and 1907, payments under the act totaled more than US$1 billion.83 Confederate veterans
were exempt from this universal act and as a result most Confederate states passed their own bills to give
Southern 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 peaceful
citizens 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-grandson
of a Civil War veteran, Lieutenant Hoyt Palmer who saw service with the Veteran Reserve Corps and
Hancock's First Army Corps between 1863 and 1865, has been able to uncover over eighty graves of
veterans 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, Chrys
Spicer and others in Bob Hanna and Len Traynor have so far turned up the following list of veterans who are
confirmed 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 the
United 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 varied
and colorful events of his life. Through the courtesy of his daughter, Mrs. Lewis B. Stuart of St. Louis, who
has also presented the Society with a collection of letters her father wrote in 1862, and with the kind
permission of his grandson, Lyall L. Stuart, of New York, who now owns the original manuscript, we begin
with this issue, the diary's publication.
. . . He was born at Bushmills, County Antrim, Ireland, September 27, 1830. . . Mr. Love's father
died February 22, 1839, and his mother, February 16, 1842, following which young James spent his
childhood with this Grandmother Love near Derry. Although his father had been a member of a prominent
architectural and construction firm - a family company - the children were left in somewhat straightened
circumstances, and as the boy grew older, he decided to emigrate to the United States, where various family
connections had settled... In 1842, an uncle, Robert A. Love, an architect and a graduate of Edinburgh
University, emigrated to Cincinnati, where he later built a suspension bridge over the Ohio. In 1857 this
uncle accepted a government appointment as Engineer at Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco. He moved
to Australia about 1859. And finally, after the Civil War, another uncle, Matthew Steel, a contractor and
builder, 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 the
army 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, with
punctuation 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 bought
tickets to Albany, Buffalo, Toledo and mail boat to Cincinnati. [He returned home to Ireland in 1851 then
went 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 fire
and burned, I concluded not to resume but to go with the rush to California by way of the Isthmus of
Panama. 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 ones
were coming back from California with doleful tales. . . I engaged with a Yankee Skipper I met, owner and
captain 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 trade
winds to Cape St. Roche and down on the S.E. trades to Rio Janeiro. . . then away before the West wind to
near the Cape of Good Hope. Then along the South of Australia to Melbourne in Victoria. Thirty miles up
the fine island sea 'Hobson's Bay' was Sandridge, the Landing or port of Melbourne, which was two miles up
the River Yarra Yarra. St. Kilda and other fine suburbs were already building around the Bay. . .
- page 49 -
**********
"I bought an outfit and footed it over 80 miles to Ballarat, joined a party of 8 American and one
native 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 we
got bankrupted finally. We had good times however. Often gave a Minstrel Show at the Hall of the Saloon. I
acted a few times as doorkeeper but generally stayed by our tents and claim. . . I put all the money left into a
Horse 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 in
gold, so I resigned and sailed for home in the great screw steamer Royal Charter, leaving Samuel to run his
business alone which he could now do. . .
[After travelling home to Ireland] I made a winter passage again of over 10 days to Boston - arriving
in St. Louis by rail.
"As soon as Lincoln was elected, Gov. Claib Jackson, with others in authority, sought to force
Missouri to secede from the Union, and began to drill and organize a State Guard for that purpose. The
Union men took alarm and also began to drill in more or less secrecy in the cellars and caves of the German
Breweries. As I had been prominent before and at the election in North St. Louis, the Tenth Ward, I was
among the Volunteers who did so. After Lincoln's election, and the call for 75000 Volunteers under the lead
of Frank Blair, Five Regiments were mustered into the service at the Arsenal, although the said Governor
had replied to the call, that Missouri would not send a man to coerce the south. Genl. Lyon used some of
these Regiments to protect it, and the Governor called a large Camp of the State Guard to meet and drill at
Camp Jackson in order to capture it. Already the Liberty Arsenal had been seized by Col. Joe Shelby under
the Governor order; unexpectedly Genl. Lyon and Col. Blair with the troops attacked the Camp on the 10th
of April and Captured it. At the same time a quiet call had been issued for 5 Regts. at Home, which was
promptly filled.
"I was mustered in as orderly Sergeant of Co. D. 5th Regt. Mo. Reserve Corp on Saturday the 11th
April, [actually May 11, 1861] at the Arsenal where we were armed, and marched back home to our Armory
in Stifels Brewery. Stifel was our Colonel. Our March thru the Southern part of town was an ovation, but at
Broadway and Walnut a large crowd was gathered [who] called us opprobrious names - men, women, and
children. On the steps of the 2nd Presbyterian Church was massed a crowd, said to be gamblers, etc. From
these steps a pistol shot was fired on us, and soon a rapid fusillade was in progress. Our men, many of whom
had never fired a gun, were panic stricken and broke ranks and fired without orders at this crowd, at the
windows filled with spectators on Walnut Street, and up and down the street. The officers soon got some
appearance 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 panic
stricken had tried to fire. The panic as the news spread thru the city became intense. The rumor was
circulated 'That the "Dutch" would loot and burn the City,' on the other hand loud threats were made to drive
the 'Dutch' into the river. But panic reigned and on Sunday morning when I came down town to attend
Church after standing guard all night, I found every dray and wagon and carriages of all kinds loading up
with people fleeing to the Country, or across the river, every Steamboat, flatboat, etc. loaded with people
and 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 back
ashamed, for the Military had taken charge and restored order at once, which the police, all rebel
sympathisers, refused to do. Meanwhile the panic spread thru the state, and the legislature and the Governor
prepared to leave Jefferson City, put an army in the field, and force the State out, altho at an election held, a
large majority had voted for the Union. So a large number of troops moved up the railroad and the river to
prevent secession. Our Home Guard Regiments were asked to Volunteer for the field for 90 days. About
2/3rd of them did so and I would not stay back. As we advanced, the Governor fled and our Battalion
garrisoned the State House etc. for a short time, then moved forward to Sedalia and Lexington. While doing
so Genl. Lyon, with reinforcements from Iowa and Illinois, advanced to the Southwest and met a superior
force 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 to
Lexington early in August, and as our 3 months enlisted [ended] began to organize in Regiments for 3 years
or during the war.
"Col. Mulligan with a large force arriving at Lexington; we took boats to return to St. Louis for
muster out, and muster in again. A large force of Rebels were closing in on Lexington and the river to close
it to our boats and capture it. We had to fight our way down the river, being fired at from numerous points as
we passed with muskets and six pounded brass Cannon, under Joe Shelby, these Cannon stolen from Liberty
Arsenal, and muskets at short range riddled our boats from smoke stacks to Hull, and killed some, though
we were barricaded with bales of Hay, Mattresses, and in every way we could think of. Only the speed of
our 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 besieged
and captured after a determined resistance, Col. Mulligan and our new Colonel White 14th Mo. New
Mexican Brigade with many others [were] killed, leaving our Regiment without a Commander, and without
organization save some squads of men mustered in under 1st Lieutenants of which I was one. As we had
authority from Genl. Fremont to recruit, we continued to do so, but our men were stolen from us faster than
we got them, and our numbers decreased. Two Co's recruited on the Mississippi River as far up as Rock
Island, and mine recruited in St. Louis and in the Missouri river as far west as Sedalia. [We] went to Consult
the Quarter Master Lieut. Sheridan (afterwards Genl. Sheridan), asking his help and he advised us to take
our 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 into
Missouri Regiments to fight in Missouri, which now was a battle field from end to end. We lay at Fort
Leavenworth from the 25th of December until February '62,84 when we were consolidated with 7 other
Companies and mustered in as the 8th Kansas. We could drill but little, the snow was deep, we had only hay
for beds in our tents, we were poorly clad and unarmed. But as soon as mustered we were armed, drew
clothing and rations and [were] severely drilled. Five Co's went to Fort Riley and Ft. Laramie on the border
and at times fought and scouted for hostile Indians. Our 3 Co's. camped on the border and scouted in
Missouri 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 the
bluffs.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 for
Columbus, Ky., which had been evacuated by the rebel forces. While in Kansas I acted as Q.M. and also as
Adjutant. The other 5 Co's., A. B. C. D. and E, remained at Ft. Riley for some time as they could not be
spared 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 thru
Tennessee, repairing the Railroad as we went. The Country was very swampy and the bridges and repairs
numerous, 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 4
times the money - whenever this war is over! They are now deserted as their owners dare not live here, for fear of getting
shot, burned out, or their stock jayhawked, by the opposite party, be they Sesesh or Union! Strangers who have no
enemies here can settle without danger even now, are doing so daily - & so the late owners will sell for half what they
cost five years ago . . . We had a narrow escape from being ordered to Corinth. Four regiments are detailed to assist
Halleck from here. Ours was on the list but finally was permitted to remain as it is Home Guard for Kansas. It is very
inactive & 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, better
affected, 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 many
interesting 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 and
scouted all around. Several expeditions in the nearby Hills after Guerillas, who were very troublesome, gave
us much excitement, hard marches, and some skirmishing. Eastport was an important depot of supplies for
our army, and as the rebels were smuggling salt and flour thru our lines our expeditions reached to
Chickasaw and Florence, Alabama, capturing a Rebel Colonel and detachment of his men and large
quantities 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 to
Nashville to head off Genl. Bragg, who with his army had crossed the Tennessee River above Chattanooga
and was hurriedly marching on Louisville, and Cincinnati. We left everything behind us, except what we
carried on our back, one tent to each Regt. and 3 wagons for Ammunition and commissary supplies. At 2
o'clock in the morning on the 26th we started on this terrible march. Hot as a furnace, intolerable dust, water
scarce, the ponds covered with a green scum, stagnant with occasional dead mules and horses, half rations or
less, sometimes only flour and coffee. Our cooks would sit up all night making flapjacks. We had no
cooking utensils, our Canteens split were used for frying pans or perforated to rasp green corn for much or
cakes. Tin cups or old fruit cans had to serve for coffee pots or boilers for coffee once a day. We marched 24
miles the first day from Florence, next 21 miles - 20 miles - 21 miles - 17 miles - 19 miles - 19 miles to
Murfreesboro. We were attacked several times in force, and stood guard and to arms at night. Then 39 miles
to 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 the
rear. I with several other of our officers went off to farm houses and got breakfast. Coming late, [we] were
arrested 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 fearful
storm we started on another race to head Bragg out of Louisville. All the other troops had gone ahead of us
again, as it had evidently been intended we should help defend Nashville. We marched to Edgefield
Junction, then over a spur of the Cumberland Mountains to Tybee [Tyree] Springs then to Mitchellville, then
back again several miles, after a halt of 6 hours enroute again through Franklin, Tennessee. We marched all
night to Bowling Green, Ky.,87 over 47 miles in 43 hours, deprived of food almost and only one rest. On
again after day's rest to let the roads get cleared, leaving all wagons and clothing behind except what we
carried. We forded Big Barren river and along the pike towards Glasgow to attack a body of rebels, who at
once retreated. We bivouacked, having made 18 miles in a heavy rain, no shelter, no provisions, rain falling
heavily all night. At 4 A. M. we started again. We plucked corn in the fields as we went, and rejoined our
corps at Bells tavern at 3 P. M. and found our wagon train and got a good supper - the first meal since
yesterday's breakfast.
"Next day we moved [to] Prewett's Knob, next to Cave City. We formed in line of battle and had a
spirited skirmish with Bragg's rear guard at Green River. We camped at Murfreesboro, which Bragg had
captured 3 days before, and paroled its garrison of 4,000 men. After he had crossed Green, he evacuated and
we occupied it. Next day, 22nd, our division crossed Green river and marched north 13 miles. Next day 23
miles to Elizabeth town (President Lincoln's birthplace). Bragg was still ahead of us, but 12 miles south
turned to the right towards Bardstown, but we marched 25 miles, hot, dusty and tired, to the river near West
Point. 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. and
paraded 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 the
streets with baskets of provisions and refreshing drinks. Ragged, almost barefoot, and hungry, we got a
needed 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, including
Cincinnati and Louisville.
"On the 1st October we started out to fight and drive Bragg out of the states of Kentucky and
Tennessee, and reached Newburg 9 miles; next day 10 miles, next 6 miles to Salt river. The rebels had
burned 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 the
retreating rebels we entered their head quarters, Bardstown, passed thru it 1 mile and camped. At 3 o'clock
on the 6th we moved on, and at dusk passed thru Springfield and camped 25 miles, a large number of killed
and wounded each day. At 9 o'clock next, to the Crash of Cannon, we pressed on, part of the time on the
double quick towards Perryville, where a great battle was on. It was necessary for our army to get some
water, so we advanced to cover some hollows along Doctors Creek, so our Brigade was pushed forward with
the 5th Wisconsin Battery, and had a fierce artillery fight, forcing their Battery to retire in disorder. We had
several wounded, tho lying down over or behind the ridge, the battery one man on the ridge in our front. All
night we slept on our arms, and at daylight the fight was resumed. We would attack and drive them, halt, and
they would attack our batteries in front of us. Again and again we would attack and drive them back, and
always the artillery duel and always we would advance. At dark we entered Perryville, capturing many
prisoners and train loads of ammunition. We camped on the field, sleeping on our arms soundly, amidst the
dreadful Carnage, the dead quiet, the wounded moaning and groaning. Early on the 9th we moved forward
again, shelling the woods with faint replies. We found Bragg in full retreat, dead and wounded uncared for
all over the ground and roads, guns blankets and knapsacks abandoned. We halted at Goodnight Springs and
bivouacked 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 to
Harrodsburg,90 then down the Danville pike to near Lancaster, where we found Bragg in force. We
advanced under heavy fire, but were ordered not to attack, and could hear their trains all night rumbling in
retreat. Next morning entering Lancaster, we were received with joy, and captured many prisoners. We
continued 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 food
and proper food.
We have much to complain of & now that we have been under Buell for a few days we also believe him a
traitor. Had he wished it, we need not have starved, need not have marched so far, as we could have fought and captured
Bragg at Mumfordsville . . . Buell is at least doing all he can to prolong the war . . . I wish they would send us Burnside
or Sigel - We had a sad occurrence yesterday resulting in the death of a good General (Nelson) by the hands of our
General 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 advance
tomorrow, 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 I
joined the company and have been with it since, though really getting weaker daily. I only suffer from a severe cold in
the head at present, and expect to be all the better for this little spell of biliousness, if I can protect myself from the
weather. 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 good
distance 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 took
command on 3rd November. From Bowling we marched to Edgefield, and on 4th December made a
reconnaissance in force to the enemy's lines near Murfreesboro. On the 19th we reported to Genl. Mitchell
for Provost duty in Nashville. We remained until the 8th of June, 1863. I was commissioned as Adjutant on
the 17th Nov., 1862.92 We had lost from killed, wounded, and disability many men, and on December 31st
had but 776 for duty.
"We did strenuous work in Nashville early and late; brought a chaos of anarchy and treason into a
quiet of law and order. The battle of Murfreesboro began on the 28 December and was won on the 31st
December. We arrested thousands of panic stricken stragglers and returned them to the front, sent over 2500
rebel 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 of
Allegiance, 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 were
sent North.
"As ordered on 8th June, 1863, we marched to Murfreesboro. Protests and petitions from the citizens
against 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 just
and fair dealing, soldierly bearing and good conduct. From Murfreesboro towards Millersburg; surprised
after a severe fight the enemy from Millers Gap. Then on to Tallahome [Tullahoma] over the mountains
fighting and skirmishing all the way, only to find it evacuated and burning, but we saved large supplies in
food and ammunition. It rained heavily all the way. We lay in the mud without shelter, while cooking was
almost 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 killed
and wounded, but we captured 1700 prisoners and much artillery. We scouted in the Cumberland Mountains
until the 17th of August, then crossed them to Stevenson, Alabama. On 28th to Caperton's ferry, where our
Regt. and 15th Wisconsin crossed the Tennessee in pontoons, 25 or 30 picked men in each Boat. Under fire
of ours at daylight, surprised the rebel pickets and eat their warm breakfast, driving them to and occupying
the 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 miles
south. 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!! Neither
does many of the best generals under him, but whenever we have overtaken our enemies and there is a good clearance for
a fight, Buell has prevented, to the intense disgust of all those who were in earnest . . . There is no doubt but that he is a
traitor and that thus the services of 200,000 men are lost to the country, that an immense unnecessary expense is incurred
in marching us over the country, and that thousands of valuable lives are lost through fatigue, privation, and poor and
scanty 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 get
leave of absence now or before spring. I failed. I wished to resign for reasons too long to explain, the principal being that
I could never get preferment or gain a name as long as our lazy friend Capt. 'Herd' ranked me, although all my friends
here know I have done all the work, until lately we have had a first rate 2d. Lieut. who is my warmest friend and who has
relieved 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 Brigade
Quartermaster or in a Pioneer or Engineer Corps. I refused the first, and ere I closed with the 2d it was otherwise filled by
a friend of mine.
"I was at the same time offered by Col. Martin the position of Adjutant. This I accepted, and I expect daily to
have my commission. It is as good as Captain, and in fact suits me better, and the chances of promotion are as good or
better. 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 in
the meantime . . . The Governor wanted badly to put in one of his friends but justice prevailed at last, through the
influence 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 other
obstructions. But we were recalled and marched 8 miles along the brow of the mountain and descended thru
Standifers Gap to near Alpine, Georgia.
"Our army was now strung out for 20 miles or more on the east side of the mountain. Bragg had
retreated again and Crittenden occupied Chattanooga. We had to concentrate very rapidly. Bragg had been
heavily reinforced and we learned that Longstreets Corp were coming by rail from Virginia. Our regiment
had to cross Lookout again on the 16th to Mustons, then recross it at Stevens Gap 17 miles Westward, then
23 miles Eastward, climbing up and down on well nigh precipitous roads at times. We reached the Cove at
10 P. M. 17th. Then on to Lees Springs, marching all night after the army between blazing and smoking
cedar rail fences, and so all day of the 18th back and forth thru the Valleys. We camped at 10 P. M. in a corn
field. 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 Head
Quarters, washed our feet and filled our Canteens at Crawfish Springs, and then were rushed into the woods
and into the battle under a terrible roar of musketry and artillery. We got on the double quick two miles from
Widow Glens, our men falling, when line after line of Longstreets Corp charged us, but we drove them for
some time. The advancing again in Superior numbers found several gaps in the line of the army and flanking
us. We had to fall back after losing 5 Captains, 3 Lieutenants, and 150 men killed and wounded. I fell on the
extreme front. The Regt. and Division charged again, were again decimated and driven back with further
severe loss. The 8th Kansas lost 50% in officers and men, but fell back on Genl. Thomas in good order
during the night and went into the 2nd days' fight on the 20th September, which was quite as warm as the
first 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 of
the wounded. Both armies spent a week in caring for the wounded, burying the dead, and exchanging or
paroling the prisoners. Rebel and union wounded were so mixed up and clad so much alike that they were
not separable until later, and I was one of these unfortunates. When I recovered consciousness Longstreet
2nd line was marching past me in the thick timber as if on dress parade, our cannon cutting the trees and
branches 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 of
whatever suited their fancy. One of these placed a bayonet to my breast, when a young Lieut. of the Hospital
Corp 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, got
two rubber blankets off the field [and] placed one below the other over me, to keep me warm (for the air was
frosty). Not quite believing I was an officer, he asked for my sword, which he found to my left dented with
bullets. I also gave him my belt and pistol and thanked him as he had saved my life, 1st from a brute, 2nd
from loss of blood and the deadly chill I felt. Longstreet's 3rd line had passed me and night had fallen. Next
day I was removed to the field hospital in a small peach orchard, where I lay 10 days, waited on by a man of
Co. K, my Co., who had fallen at the same time as I, [and] was shot in the lungs. He died at Atlanta, to
which we were sent, but his careful attention with Cold Spring water saved me from amputation, to the
surprise 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 of
Sanitary 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 thru
the tunnel we had dug, I was not able to follow, and soon we were all shipped south to Macon, Ga. - Camp
Olgethorp - 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 under
the 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 the
signal for some reason, cowardice or perfidy, and we proceeded to cut large holes in the floor of our freight
cars, concealing them with the straw of our bedding, and one dark night in rain and storm we were halting in
the wood for water, got out below the cars and ran for our lives. It was so dark and so unexpected nearly 150
officers 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 not
communicate with them, and famished with hunger we made nightly raids on the Corn fields for roasting
ears. Our tracks were discovered. Thinking it was runaway Negroes they ran us down with hounds and shot
guns. We had to surrender and were turned over by the farmers to a regiment of Home Guards, mostly rich
planters over 60 years of age, by whom we were entertained and paroled, eat with them, visited at their
officers mess, and discussed the State of the Nation and the War. We were mutually surprised at what we
learnt, and after a week [we were] sent to Charleston, with letters and requests that we not be punished for
escape 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 goodies
and clothing, lived comfortably for some time. I would lie on the roof at night and watch the shells fall all
over and around us but only one struck the prisons, tho many of our guards were wounded or killed and
most [of] the residents fled. We could see the shells rise 6 miles away like a star or comet, then rush with a
roar over head and descend and explode.
"In September or early in October the Yellow fever became so virulent among the guard that we
were sent inland to 'Camp Sorghum', Columbia, S.C. Here we built ourselves shantys or holes in the ground
roofed with pine branches, and tried to keep warm during the Winter, built ovens - I was baker to a large
mess - bought flour to mix with our rice and corn meal, also bacon and other luxuries. But in November I
escaped again, passed over two weeks in the swamps, got near the Savannah River, but the guerrillas and
pickets were so numerous between the two armies, we were captured and could not reach Georgia and
Sherman.
"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 into
Carolina and North from Savannah.
"All was then bustle and we started to march and ride by railroad in our old Cattle Cars again
towards Salisbury, N.C., but enroute every night officers escaped in numbers and soon with eight comrades I
was 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. Eben
Grant, 1st Vermont Cav.; and myself, Capt. James E. Love, 8th Kansas Vet. Vol. Infantry. We marched out
600 officers on the 14th February. Found all Columbia excited, Sherman advancing, soon on the cars. Very
cold sleet and frost; we had to help the guards inside the cars to save their lives at 10 P. M. When we
reached Charlotte over 50 officers had escaped, camped in a field wet and weary. More than 50 more
escaped before morning, 16th. We were issued rations of hard tack and bacon. As the exodus continued by
connivance with our North Carolina Guards, we paid them a good fee and ran for our lives after dark. Thru a
swamp to the Tennessee and Ohio R. R. track, we were fired upon and chased but traveled rapidly. At about
3 A. M. we flanked a picket, reconnoitered and crossed a long and high Bridge over Long Creek, wide and
rapid. When we passed the guard house, the fire burnt brightly and their dog chased us, but on the double
quick in a short time we came to another bridge over the main branch of the Catawba River, crossed it, and
were halted by the guard. We told him a fairy story, and finally ran for it. He fired his gun and soon the
whole 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 tried
to arrest me. While he was loading, cursing, I evaded him and running up a high bluff found five of my
companions. 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 to
camp, but found another creek in our way. With the energy of despair we sought a passage, found a log, and
hid in a patch of Hazle Brush. It was cold and wet. A wagon road to a close settlement was nearby with
wagons and horsemen passing. We had done our best but were in great danger during the morning. Some
boys 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, and
they could get a guide for us, a free colored man in whom they could confide. We can never repay their
kindness 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 but
6 miles. We had to make a circuit to escape guards and reach the only bridge across the south fork of the
Catawba, unguarded at Pin Hook Factory.
"We now changed our course to the west to strike Kings Mountain of ancient revolutionary fame and
communicate with Capt. Ellwood at the Iron Works, a strong Union Man. Only the Broad river now between
us and the mountains, we had to decide whether to go down the river to Sherman or up and across the
mountains. We heard much news, called secretly on several Union Men, and as 20 escaped prisoners had
just 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 plantation
roads 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 ore
and pigging iron with a horrible din and bright fires. I reconnoitered and carefully flanked the guards, over
hills thru thickets, gaps, rocks and swamps until exhausted at day break we lay down in a fence corner at the
foot of a hill, a swamp and creek in front. We kept a picket out, and toward evening the owner who was out
mending his fences found us. He proved to be a Mr. Dilner and a good Union Man, giving us valuable
information of roads and men on the way to God country. We started again at 7 P. M., but with so many
roads got lost again and again and wandered for miles - even the North Star deceived us. Meeting a free
Negro, 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 by
free negros. We had a long conversation with Mr. King, but passed on past iron works and clanking stamps
at 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 Blue
Ridge, where an underground railroad for prisoners and refugees commences. We had quite a celebration
and met a few of North Carolina Union Men. At 8 P. M. our guide arrived and we started with full
haversacks 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 the
pickets, our brave guide prospecting the way for us. It still rained heavily, but we built a good fire, a blanket
pitched for a tent. We crawled in one by one and were baked in turn. Our guide left us to call on friends, and
did 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 rained
in 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 the
road. He had a good supply of torches and we pressed on more rapidly to Sandy Run. We could not cross at
the bridge and must cross before the flood. It was very wide and swift, but we made a chain and got over
with 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 we
could not sleep. The wind howled, it thundered and rained. Alex left us as soon as he pitched camp, and
went 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 reached
the Bridge and crossed in safety. Five minutes after Alec and a friend loomed out of the darkness with a
Canteen of Whisky, and never was whisky more needful or beneficial. We went two miles further to a
deserted shanty, a crowd of darkies, a roaring fire, a bountiful supper. We washed ourselves, dried our
clothes, slept 2 or 3 hours on boards before the fire, and at midnight started again for safety and to pass
Rutherfordton 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 march
close to the river we had to expose ourselves. We found a soldier at home. He wished for Sherman's arrival
and to stay at home. His wife baked some bread and boiled some Eggs [for] which we paid. When leaving
she gave us a piece of Bacon, which she had before refused to sell. Alec returned at dark - counselled us to
remain in camp on account of the floods - but at 4 P. M. returned to conduct us to the residence of our next
guide 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 often
makes trips of 100 miles to sell Iron etc. Now he thinks Massa Sherman will free him without cost and he
can save his Iron and Goods for Yankee Gold. His advise to his fellow slaves is to stay where they are and
wait, when they can continue living in their old homes free. Today while others slept I sat us sewing and
mending, cut the tail off my coat to mend the rest, had my shoes mended and half soled by Lewis. My feet
continue 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 sleep
in a good bed. Jim Hamilton is overseer. Crowds of Negros young and old came to see us. Kept some of
them 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 dollars
in confederate money.
"We started with Jim on a mule for guide. We had to cross 3 flooded creeks which but one at a time
we 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 warm
pallet in the loft where we slept to 11 A. M. We could hear the conversation of many visitors during the day
about Sherman and the early end of the War. At night we started with our guide, but hearing of some troops
approaching from Asheville we returned to lay over in a good bed in the hut of a colored woman only a mile
from Andersons. W.A. came early and conducted us before daylight to an old school house in the
mountains. 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. We
called on old man Logan but he was not cordial, so returned to the nigger quarters and at midnight started
again to ascend the mountains with torches in the rain. We made 5 miles after 4 hours climbing, reaching the
top 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 with
Mr. and Mrs. M. we lay down in the parlor before the fire and slept until noon. Mr. Anderson then arrived
and we passed a pleasant afternoon and evening. Our next Stage is across the Blue Ridge and Black
Mountains, but as it rains and snows we can not go forward until the weather clears. We would get lost in
the fog or snow drifts which we can see now in plenty. March 3rd we lay close all day, my heels poulticed
and feet bandaged by kind feminine hands.
"March 4th, Inauguration day. We had many visitors and heard many tales of cruelty to the poor
women, whose husbands had to lie out with their unerring rifles. I saw many with their thumbs crushed flat
and 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 on
being assured of safety and protection within our lines. Our party with 3 guides well armed is swelled to
eleven, Jim Murphy in command, Millington, L. Fortune, and Ben F. Gillem. The journey is a serious
matter. We must leave all roads and travelled gaps where we might be ambushed, and could not evade
pickets or scouts. We started at 11 A. M., sorry to leave our kind entertainers and their pretty and modest
daughter. Got to the top of the Blue Ridge at 4 P. M., had a fine view, and reached a valley on the west side
at sunset. Thence a very rough march to the foot of the Black Mountains at 1 A. M. on the 6th. 20 miles
fatigue was equal to twice as much.
"The Blue Mountains are superb, a mass of lovely Blue Grass extending from N.E. to S. West 20
miles away absorbed as it were into the blue of heaven whether looking North or South. Crumbling
limestone foundation, an angle of about 50 degrees, rich pastures for sheep or cattle, balmy breezes from the
Gulf, 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 the
top at 1 P. M., a terrible climb. Crossed the Swannanoe River again and again to its head spring between a
double summit of Crags. We are now 6000 ft. high and the magnificent thickets of Laurel, gigantic Pine and
Chestnut are behind us - snow drifts in plenty - while stunted and blackened Balsam Fir, etc., lie flat on the
rocks, 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 8
miles down we took refuge at another Union House. At daylight we started down again to the Asheville
road. Travelled 3 or 4 miles quickly, were about to take to the ranges again, when we overtook some young
ladies. They were going to Egypt as we were, [and] assured us the road was safe. Our guides recognized
their 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. for
over a year.
"After a rapid march over a steep Range called Sampson we reached Egypt at the foot of Bald
Mountain, 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 of
its rounded summit and allows a View of Mountains and Valley for it is said 100 miles on a clear day. We
could see over 40 miles when a fog came down and cut off our View. We made a rapid descent and reached
the Valley for dinner at 3 P. M. just as a heavy rain came on. We were very fortunate in our weather, in rain
or 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 and
Scouts, prowling between the Rebel lines and ours. These desperadoes, thieves, and murderers prey on both
parties 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 by
this researcher).
___________________________
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. Hodges
Captain, U.S.V., Recorder
IN MEMORIAM
JAMES EDWIN LOVE was born at Bush Mills, near Giant's Causeway, County Antrim, Ireland, on
September 27, 1830. At the age of twenty-one he came to this country, first residing at Cincinnati, Ohio, and
a year or two later removed to St. Louis. Full of adventure and fond of roving, a few months later he sailed
for the gold fields of Australia.
In 1853, having been fairly successful, business matters concerning his family led him to return to
Ireland, 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, and
he 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 he
was immediately commissioned and mustered as First Lieutenant in the Fourteenth Missouri Infantry; was
soon after transferred to Fort Leavenworth, where he was re-commissioned and re-mustered into the Eighth
Kansas Infantry, serving successfully as First Lieutenant of Company K, Regimental Adjutant, and was
commissioned 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 more
than the average privations and hardships that fell to the lot of the soldiers of the Civil War. He was under
General 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 the
way 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 after
Quantrell and other irregular bands; thence to Columbus, Kentucky, where he was engaged in removing
torpedoes from the Mississippi River; opened up the railroad thence to Corinth, Mississippi, with some
severe fighting; then, in the First Brigade of the Army of the Mississippi, scouting all over Northern
Mississippi and Alabama, as far as Florence, Alabama; then on forced marches with continued skirmishing
and occasionally heavy fighting, to save Louisville from General Bragg - 414 miles in twenty-two marching
days 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 to
attack Bragg; skirmished at Bardstown, Mount Washington and Springfield; fought at Perryville on the 8th
of October, 1862; on the 14th of the same month at Lancaster; thence back and forth three times to and from
Crab 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 in
depth; fought at Winchester, August 29, 1863; crossed the mountains and forced a passage over the
Tennessee River commanding the first pontoon which was laid; skirmished to the top of Sand Mountain, and
back 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 of
the fight of bloody Chickamauga.
The Twentieth Corps was nearly annihilated and Companion Love, desperately wounded twice, was
left for dead on the field and was so reported in the dispatches. While a part of Longstreet's Command was
marching over the dead and wounded, he received kind attention from a Confederate officer who tied up his
wounds and stopped the flow of blood.
On the spot where Companion Love now stands the monument erected by the State of Kansas to the
memory 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 then
removed to Atlanta, and thence to Libby Prison hospital. He was there when Colonel Rose and others
escaped by tunneling under the walls.
Though he aided as best he could in his wounded condition, being still on crutches, he was unable to
crawl through the tunnel. He was next taken to Lynchburg, Virginia, and then to Macon, Georgia, and was
on his way to Charleston, South Carolina, one of the four hundred officers who were to be placed under fire
of General Gilmore's guns, then commanding that city.
While nearing Charleston, Companion Love and others escaped by cutting a hole through the bottom
of the cattle car in which they rode. Through this they crawled when the train was at a standstill, and lay
quietly 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 sent
to the Marine Hospital at Charleston, and then to Columbia, South Carolina, and on to Salisbury, North
Carolina, where he again escaped, and made his way, with others, over the mountains to East Tennessee and
into 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 his
discharge 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 and
was 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 pleasure
of his acquaintance, and his memory will be cherished by his surviving companions of the Loyal Legion and
the 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
___________________
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 his
regiment opposed the 8th Kansas. "On September 19 ... just as our line was ready to advance a friend of
mine in Company C, of our regiment, and I had a contest as to who should strike the enemy's line first, with
the result that both of us ran into the 8th Kansas Regiment and were captured and held as prisoners for a
short 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, 17th
Georgia Infantry who had been severely wounded at Chickamauga. Nothing further has been researched into
this 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.txt
Edition: 1
Language: English
Character set encoding: Latin-1(ISO-8859-1)--8 bit
Date first posted: July 2006
Date 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 the
Derwent. The fortunes and freight of the "Neptune" were uncommon. She had come from Bermuda to the
Cape with convicts, but the inhabitants of Cape Town refused to allow the prisoners to land, refused even to
supply food for them, and the "Neptune," after some red-tapery, was compelled to set sail for Van Diemen's
Land. On board her, rejoicings prevailed. While yet at anchor in Simon's Bay, despatches from Lord Grey
were read, which, "in compensation for the hardships of their long voyage and detention," graciously
extended to all the prisoners Her Majesty's conditional pardon, "except to the prisoner Mitchel." So on the
8th 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 solitary
confinement that had held him at Bermuda, or clapped into the cells at Maria Island in company with the
other prisoner, "William Smith O'Brien."
The sufferings of the "prisoner Mitchel" up to this point are interesting enough, but this is not the place in
which to enlarge upon them. Suffice it to say that he was one of those Irish exiles, those "rash and most
unfortunate men," who, agonised at the struggles of their unhappy country choking in the red-tape bonds of
English misgovernment, attempted to cut the knot with the sword, and failed. The Alexander of Ireland had
not yet come.
Yet, looking back for a moment upon that most miserable time, I cannot see what else remained to the
Young 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 of
Irish hogs) was the lever by which the world was to be moved. The Nation spoke the voice of the leaders of
the people, and, conducted with surprising ability, made itself a power almost before men were aware of its
existence. Like the infant Hercules, it began to strangle serpents in its cradle. But this "moral force" met with
an unexpected check. From universal peace, Europe flamed suddenly into war. France and Austria almost
simultaneously shook with revolution, and in the excitement of the time the prudent leaders of the Irish
people lost sight of prudence and "moral suasion." If ever there was a time to strike for Ireland, it would
seem to have come then! If ever the Irish people were to be free, then did Freedom appear to hover nearest
them! 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 with
traitors, 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 reality
spies, hired with English bank-notes.
Having made itself master of the designs of the "rebels," the English Parliament determined to force the
Revolution to a premature birth, and so abort it without further trouble. The instrument used was a Treason
and Felony Bill, which, passed through both Houses in one night, was transmitted to Ireland by the next
packet. The arrest of the conspirators was resolved upon. The tallest poppies were cropped the first, and the
Confederation saw with dismay its best men plucked from its midst and lodged in gaol. A hurried council of
war 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, and
the "rising" took place. But English policy had been successful. The people were unprepared, foreign
assistance was withheld; the stores, dependent on the harvest of September, were not yet arrived; the very
leader was a makeshift. Mr. Smith O'Brien, a country gentleman of moderate fortune and high social
standing, was forced into the position of general of these ragged forces. He was brave and enthusiastic, but
utterly unfitted for the position in which the turn of fortune had placed him. It was necessary, however, to
have a name at the head of the movement, and "O'Brien" was a watchword as dear to Irish hearts as had
been "Stewart" or "Montrose" to the Highlanders of Scotland. Thus the "revolution" began--we know how it
ended 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 man
will, I trust, deny them that title--had been shot down in the heat of battle, or executed on the scaffold, the
world would have accorded to them the respect they merited; but to raise an insurrection which is put down
by a corporal's guard, to light the torch of revolution only to see it extinguished by a bucket of water, to be
captured in a gooseberry garden and put in a Tasmanian corner like a naughty boy--most miserable! Poor
Ireland's poverty has ever made her ridiculous, and to the sensitive, the torture of merited ridicule is of all
tortures the greatest. In the day of defeat there was scarce a writer of any note in England who had the
manliness to refrain from a sneer at the defeated. Even Thackeray--whose genius should have restrained
him--rhymed in stinging couplets about "Meagher of the swoord," and "Shmith O'Brine." Everything
connected 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 their
nationality--all were assailed in turn. The high aspirations, earnest labours, patriotic enthusiasm, and
unhappy fate of these men, seemed to the English press the best joke in the world. The jokers did not scruple
to invent lies even, and to this hour the malignant fiction of poor Smith O'Brien's cabbage-bed is devoutly
believed by a variety of respectable Philistines.
But to return. John Mitchel, originally an attorney practising in the north of Ireland, had by some writings of
his attracted the attention of the editor of the Nation, who invited him to Dublin, and placed him on the staff
of that journal. The reckless impetuosity of the man--unable to recognise that moderation, when used as
means to an end, is always more damaging to an enemy than ill-judged outbursts of futile anger--could not
understand the apparent sloth of the Nation 's movements. He quarrelled with the editor, and set up for
himself an opposition paper, the United Irishman, which became the recognised organ of the headstrong, and
which, I am afraid, assisted by its senseless kicking against the pricks to exhaust the strength of the Young
Ireland party. When the blow fell, he was among the first of the captured, and was sent to Bermuda, where
he was treated with respect and consideration, but put into solitary confinement. A man of ardour, taste, and
education, his soul sickened at this horrible seclusion from his kind, and he would have become as insane as
one 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 perverse
conceit, is a remarkable production. Though in style slavishly imitative of Carlyle, and overlaid with that
tawdry ornamentation which is at once the blot and the brilliancy of Irish eloquence, the book is marked by
passages of extreme beauty of imagination and vigour of thought. The fact that it was evidently written with
an eye to publication, and that the writer, in the midst of his most unreasoning outbursts of passion and
savagest 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 the
information conveyed. In this journal the slow torments he suffered at Bermuda are all set down. I take up
the 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 of
communication 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 I
think proper, or having accepted I may resign it; but first of all I must give my promise that so long as I hold
the 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-denial
of 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 would
treat England as a hostile power, and instead of protesting against the severity of their sentence, exclaim
with all power of body and breath against what they considered the injustice of their trial. "The whole of the
proceedings are monstrous," was in effect their plea. "We are not traitors, for Ireland has been usurped. If
you imprison us with convicts, we will not tacitly acknowledge ourselves criminals by purchasing
indulgence at the expense of submission. We regard ourselves illegally in duress, and we will escape when
we think proper."
Plots to escape were numerous, and Smith O'Brien was twice nearly torn out of Maria Island. The treachery
of those who should have befriended him, however, caused the failure of the best-laid scheme, and he was
removed to Port Arthur, where a little hut was set apart for his reception. The story of this attempted escape
makes a pendant to that of Mitchel himself. The friends of O'Brien in Hobart Town had bargained with a
man named Ellis, the captain of a small schooner, to hover about the island until a fitting opportunity arose
for the sending on shore a boat which should pick off the prisoner. O'Brien was at that time permitted to
walk over the island attended by an armed constable, and his friends having succeeded in communicating to
him their plans, it was decided that when the boat came ashore he should clude his warder and scramble
aboard her, when Ellis would make all sail for San Francisco. Ellis, however, had sold the details of this
desperate 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 with
grins and jerkings of elbows. At last the boat appeared, and O'Brien, having, as he thought, seen his warder
safely into the bush, ran down to the beach, and plunging into the water, waded towards his rescuers. The
water was shallow, and thick with tangled weeds. He could not climb into the boat without assistance, and
while 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 he
instantly took up a hatchet--no doubt provided by the ship for that purpose--and stove the boat." O'Brien saw
that he was betrayed, and on being ordered to move along with the constable and the boatmen towards the
station, refused to stir, hoping, in fact, by his resistance to provoke the constable to shoot him. However, he
was seized, and carried to his cell. Removed to Port Arthur, he afterwards gave the required parole, and was
set at liberty. Master Ellis was caught afterwards at San Francisco by some of the O'Brien party, and being
brought out of his ship by night, was tried then and there by Lynch law, with a view to instant hanging, but
was "acquitted for want of evidence."
John Mitchel having got over the first agonies of separation and contumely, found life in Van Diemen's
Land pleasant enough. He had money and friends. Liberated on parole, he rode, walked, fished, shot, and
hunted. Around him were many of his old friends; Martin, Meagher, and Doherty were living within a day's
journey of his house, and forbidden meetings were frequent. The squatters, and even constables and gaol
officials, 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, the
overseers "touched their hats" to the well-mounted, well-dressed, exiles. Yet the fact that they were
prisoners--that a slight deviation from the rules laid down for them, that a momentary outbreak of passion
against a "man in authority"--would condemn them to share the fate of the ruffianly hare-shooters, and
desperate snarers of pheasants, rendered the thinking hours of the Irishmen heavy with angry regrets. They
- page 64 -
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were free and merry, but the fabled sword yet hung suspended, and a caprice might at any time give them
over to the coal mines of Port Arthur, or the travelling sheds of the road-gangs. That fortune had not cursed
them with the companionship of those monsters among whom the poachers and rick-burners learnt to curse
God and live, was much to be thankful for; but believing in their detention as infamous and unjust, nothing
short of absolute freedom would content them. At every hour, in every place, the thought of their captivity
embittered their pleasures. Did Mitchel ride afield, or read at home, gallop (in the company of the wife who
had 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 page
of his journal breathes the same sentiment. "The spring day has been most lovely, and the mimosa is just
bursting into bloom, loading the warm air with a rich fragrance which a European joyfully recognises at
once as a well-remembered perfume. It is precisely the fragrance of the Queen of the Meadows 'spilling her
spikenard.' 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 a
police station. Two constables lounge before the door as we pass, and, as usual, the sight of them makes us
feel once more that the whole wide and glorious forest is after all but an umbrageous and highly perfumed
dungeon."
Again--"We approach the brow of a deep glen, where trees of vast height wave their tops far beneath our
feet, and the farther side of the glen is formed by a promontory that runs out into the bay, with steep and
rocky sides worn into cliffs and caves--caves floored with silvery sand, shell-strewn, such as in European
seas would have been consecrate of old to some Undine's love--caves whither Ligeia, if she had known the
way, might have come to comb her hair; and over the soft swelling slope of the hill above, embowered so
gracefully in trees, what building stands? Is that a temple crowning the promontory as the pillared portico
crowns. 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), the
following entry appears in the journal:--"A new personage has appeared amongst us, dropped down from the
sky, 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, drew
me into a private room, and bid me guess who had come to Van Diemen's Land. Guessing was out of the
question, 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 rescuing
us 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 John
Mitchel; but some mischance delayed the coach, and the hour approaching when O'Brien and Kevin must
return to their "registered lodgings," Mitchel was left alone. By-and-bye the coach arrived, and amongst
others a young man alighted. Mitchel guessed that the stranger must be the Smyth of whom he had heard, so
walking round the coach, he abruptly accosted him. Smyth at first took him for a spy, but soon was
convinced that he was one of the men he had been sent to seek. The next evening, at O'Brien's lodgings at
New Norfolk, the plot was unfolded. Smyth was hopeful and acute. He had himself passed through many
perils, 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 provided
with letters of introduction, and with current coin. The sudden "gold-fields" excitement had brought to
Australia many bold spirits ready to venture a ship in such a cause, and by dint of bribery and stratagem it
would be easy to get the exiles aboard her. But Smith O'Brien would hear of but one mode of escape--to
resign the parole, and then trust to fortune. Mitchel suggests that the four should place themselves in such a
position as to be arrested all together, and then rescue themselves by force of arms, or that the parole should
be simultaneously withdrawn at all the police offices; but this notion is overruled. O'Brien's sentence being
for "life," it was pressed upon him to avail himself first of the services of Smyth, but he refused. "I have had
- page 65 -
**********
my chance," he said, "and it has failed; the expenses incurred have been borne by public money; this is your
chance--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 make
use 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 began
also to make his preparations. Mr. Davis, the police magistrate of the district, owned a white horse, "half
Arab, 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 March
came 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, clear
thence for New Zealand, and then coast to Spring Bay (on the east side of the island, about seventy miles
from Bothwell), and lie there for two days. Mitchel was to go to the police-office at Bothwell, accompanied
by Nicaragua and five others, all armed, and having delivered up his parole, gallop on his new horse midway
to Spring Bay, where a relay would be provided, and reach the shore by midnight. A boat sent by
Macnamara would pick him up, and if the police at the Spring Bay Station attempted a rescue, so much the
worse for them. On Sunday evening, however, a friendly resident at Bothwell informed the six that "all was
known," the Governor had for a fortnight been informed of Nicaragua's intentions, the "Waterlily" was
purposely allowed to clear out of Hobart Town, the police force at Spring Bay had been doubled, and two
constables were on watch at Mitchel's cottage. In Mitchel's own language, "the plot was blown to the
moon!" and the party dispersed with heavy hearts.
On the 12th of April an incident occurred which, appearing at the time unfortunate, proved ultimately the aid
to escape. Nicaragua, going to Spring Bay to send off the "Waterlily," was arrested as John Mitchel. He was
carried to Hobart Town, and there lay sick. Mitchel went to see him, and the two determined to seize upon
the first opportunity to escape together. It was not, however, until the 6th of June that such opportunity
offered itself. Then Smyth found a ship about to sail for Sydney, the captain of which would receive his
friend on board. A week after this, Mitchel and Smyth started from Nant Cottage to make their desperate
venture. 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 a
note from the shipping agent. The ship had gone--it was impossible to keep her longer without exciting
suspicion. Nevertheless, it was resolved to give up the parole as agreed, and to hide in the mountains until a
means of escape presented itself. With this last hope, then, the two galloped to Bothwell. They overtook a
Mr. Denniston, who chatted agreeably about agricultural matters, and asked Mitchel if he meant to put any
of his land in crop for the ensuing season. Mitchel answered truly enough that he "did not know." At
Bothwell their companion left them, and the pair rode leisurely down the main street. At the police-barrack
on the hill were eight or nine constables armed, "undergoing a sort of drill," while at the door was as usual a
constable on guard. A Mr. Barr, "a worthy Scotch gentleman and magistrate of the district," was standing
close to the gate. The two boys had by this time reached the township, and flinging the reins to them as
agreed upon, Mitchel and Smyth walked into the police-office. Mr. Davis, the magistrate, was sitting at a
table 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 with
a menacing gesture, one hand thrust into his breast feeling the butt of his revolver. Mitchel held in his hand a
heavy 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 the
police-magistrate of Bothwell, at his office, show him a copy of this note, and offer myself to be taken into
custody. "Your obedient servant,
"JOHN MITCHEL."
- page 66 -
**********
Mr. Davis, feeling doubtless pretty certain that if he accepted Mr. Mitchel's offer he would be shot dead
upon the spot, stared speechless.
"You see," says Mitchel, "my parole is at an end. I offer myself to be taken into custody." Still the
magistrate 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-leave
prisoner, Mitchel," accompanied by his friend, walk out into the court, and--any suspicions they may have
had silenced by Smyth's "judicious bribery"--only ran against each other in confusion. The pair leaped into
their saddles, and nodding to a few "grinning residents of Bothwell," who "knew the meaning of the
performance in a moment," dashed down the street at full gallop. A mile deep in the forest the fugitives
changed horses. Smyth riding due north to Nant Cottage on Fleur-de-lis, intending to make for Oatlands, and
thence by coach to Launceston. Mitchel, a mile further, met a friend, T--H--, who undertook to guide him to
Lake Sorell through the mountains. All night they rode, only to lose their way in the thick darkness, and
camp on the edge of a precipice in the wildest part of the ranges. In the morning they reach the hut of "old
Job Sims," the friendly shepherd of Mr. Russell (Job had assisted already at the escape of Meagher), and
there Mitchel wrote to his wife telling her of his fortune. The next day he fell in with friends, and received
the 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 a
Mr. Burke, six miles from "Wood's," he lay concealed, waiting for news of Nicaragua and a chance of
escape. 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, and
went by it to Launceston, lying hid there duly shaved and disguised. Seven mounted police despatched by
Davis to "scour the country" find Mitchel's Fleur-de-lis reeking with sweat in the stable at Oatlands, and
hearing that a gentleman had been asking for horses to Spring Bay, make desperately in that direction. The
Westbury police are patrolling day and night, though bets are freely made in Hobart Town that Mitchel has
left the island; Davis is laughed at a good deal; Sir William Denison repudiates all notion of the prisoner's
letter; the constable who was on duty at Davis's door is dismissed for having been "bribed," and, getting
amazingly drunk that evening, loudly expresses his hope that Mitchel is safely out of the island. In the
meantime 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 a
letter 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 message
arrives. The "Don Juan" is secured, and will call at Emu Bay on the 27th. Mitchel must by hook or by crook
be 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. In
this dilemma a new arrangement is effected. A trusty messenger hurries to Launceston, there to tell the
captain of the "Don Juan" to lie off a "solitary beach" to the west of the mouth of the Tamar, somewhere
between West-head and Badger-head. To this place Mitchel can get without crossing any river but the
Meander.
On the night of the 24th a start was made. The weather was gloomy and foreboding, the flooded meres and
marshes now sheets of thin ice. Mitchel having despatched two letters, one to his wife, one to his mother in
New 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, and
Foley, "a gigantic Tipperary boy." All day long prudent Mrs. Burke occupies herself with preparations for
the 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, and
shivering benighted among winter woods, the party reached Badger-head, only to find the brigantine
departed. Wearily waiting, at length another brigantine appeared, but, despite all signal-fire and smoke, held
- page 67 -
**********
on her course. Something was wrong, and Mitchel's escort determined to place him for safety in the hands of
a 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 last
hits upon one that seems to have in it some gleam of sense. Four miles down the river lies the "Wave," about
to sail for Melbourne with a cargo of sawn timber, and Mitchel shall sail in her as Miller's brother. All is
arranged, the chief constable who "clears" the vessel unsuspicious, when a message arrives that changes all
their plans. Mr. Dease, a merchant of Launceston, has secured for Father Macnamara a passage in the
steamer to Melbourne. So Father Macnamara, in the person of Mitchel, bids farewell to the Millers, and in
the dress of a Catholic priest gets to Launceston through pouring rain. Mr. Miller's brother will not sail this
trip.
But the haven is far from won. Rumours of the fugitive's midnight rides are afloat, and the captain of the
steamer says that the rigour of searching has been so much increased of late that he durst not take the holy
father aboard. Macnamara must risk his cloth and life in an open boat to the mouth of the Tamar, there to lie
until 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 from
George 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 the
heads, and then pause again. Barrett had gone across to George Town to make some excuse for bringing out
his 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 desperately
down the bay, saw her suddenly sweep round the lighthouse and disappear. There was nothing for it but to
get 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. The
night was as black as pitch, the rain poured in torrents, the woods groaned and shrieked; nothing was visible
but 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 and
disheartened, flung themselves on the wet banks, and slept under the pouring rain. Desperate Mitchel now
resolved to trust to his disguise, and go to Hobart Town by the public coach, so, getting into Launceston by
midday, he walked coolly down the street to the house of a friend, and having eaten, took passage as Father
Blake 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 gaze
unflinchingly. At Bridgewater Father Blake alighted, feeling that to brave the "door of the Ship Inn in
Hobart Town, crowded with detectives," would be madness. He spent the day walking by the river bank, and
took 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 time
they had met since they changed horses on the banks of the Clyde five weeks before. Father Blake was
among 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 take
passage in the passenger brig "Emma," for Sydney; Nicaragua to start for Bothwell in the morning, and
bring down Mrs. Mitchel and the children, who would go on board the "Emma" openly, "Mr. Wright" being
picked 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 has
appeared on board; makes casual acquaintance with Nicaragua and some of the other passengers, and sits
down to smoke and chat. Mrs. Mitchel with her children--the object of compassion to many worthy souls
aboard--watches Mr. Wright eagerly, but does not speak to him. On the 23rd of July Mr. Wright, under the
- page 68 -
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name of "Warren," is domiciled at the house of James Macnamara, in Sydney, waiting for a vessel, and in
the 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 the
2nd 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 province
to here relate. His family followed him, and in America his faculties found scope for expansion. Among the
Confederates 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 afraid
that at best his escape was due to a melodramatic quibble. He certainly gave up his "ticket-of-leave" before
he 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, and
arms. To march like a stage hero into a police-office, and with hand on pistol (purchased by virtue of the
parole) disdainfully ask an unarmed police magistrate to take him into custody, was not an honest
withdrawal of his plighted word. To fulfil the terms of his contract with the Government, he should have
placed himself in the hands of the constables in the condition he had been in when the parole was granted
him--namely, unarmed, a prisoner, with bars and stone walls around him, and no fleet horse waiting at the
door to carry him to safety, or bold companion at his side ready to withstand attempt at capture. Poor Smith
O'Brien, eating his heart in his cell at Maria Island, better understood the nature of the promise of a
gentleman. I am willing to believe, however, that Mitchel--perpetually posing as a hero--was blinded by the
melodramatic heroies of the proceeding to a true comprehension of its merits.

Ireland, Australia and The American Civil War

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IRELAND,

Archer Memorial Civil War Library

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE OF AUSTRALIA

BIOGRAPHY ON BARRY CROMPTON

ANTE-BELLUM: THE IRISH REBELS IN TASMANIA

LOCAL LINKS WITH IN THE CIVIL WAR

OCCURRENCES IN AUSTRALIA DURING THE WAR

POST WAR VETERANS IN AUSTRALIA

24 "Hancock The Superb" by Glenn Tucker, p54.

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

31 Booth, Andrew B. [Compiler] "Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers", Volume 1, p497.

35 Pension papers, National Archives.

40 Pension records, National Archives.

57 Official Records, Series I, Volume 43, Part 1, pages 465-467.

59 Service record from original listing in Register of enlistments.

65 Veterans Pension records.

68 Official Army Register, Volume 4, p1140.

69 "The Flying Gray-Haired Yank" by Michael Egan, p81-83.

OTHER LINKS WITH IRELAND AND SOME VETERANS STILL TO BE

Bree, John. (born Ireland) Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.

81 "Victoria and Its Metropolis".

Further from John:

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

From: "jim" <cracker3@optusnet.com.au>

83 ditto, page 152-153.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES E. LOVE

Captain Francis Raymond, Jr.,

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

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

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