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Irish born killed at Battle of the Little Big Horn June 25th 1876

January 25, 2010, 4:52 am
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Here are the names of the Irish men who fought with the 7th Cavalry and died either during or shortly after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Their details are displayed in the following format:

NAME - AGE - RANK - COMPANY - COUNTY - OCCUP - PERSONAL DETAILS
Atcheson, Thomas 41 Private F Antrim Unknown 5' 5¼" in height, hazel eyes, dark hair
Barry, John 27 Private I Waterford Laborer 5'7¾" in height, grey eyes, dark hair, ruddy complexion
Boyle, Owen 33 Private E Waterford Soldier 5'6" in height, grey eyes, dark hair, fair complexion
Bruce, Patrick 31 Private F Cork Unknown 5'7" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion
Bustard, James 30 Sergeant I Donegal Soldier 5'6½" in height, hazel eyes, light hair, fair complexion
Carney, James 33 Private F Westmeath Unknown 5'4¼" in height, grey eyes, black hair, dark complexion
Cashan, William 31 Sergeant L Queen's County Soldier 5'9" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
Connor, Edward 30 Private E Clare Unknown 5'8½" in height, hazel eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion
Considine, Martin*28 Sergeant G Clare Unknown 5'7½" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
Cooney, David** 28 Private I Cork Laborer 5'5¾" in height, grey eyes, dark hair, fair complexion
(Promoted Sergeant on June 28th)
Downing, Thomas 24 Private I Limerick Laborer 5'8¼" in height, blue eyes, sandy hair, florid complexion
Drinan, James* 23 Private A Cork Laborer 5'7½" in height, grey eyes, light brown hair, dark complexion
Driscoll, Edward 25 Private I Waterford Laborer 5'6" in height, hazel eyes, light hair, light complexion
Egan, Thomas 28 Corporal E Tipperary/Dublin Laborer 5'5½" in height, grey eyes, sandy hair, light complexion
Farrell, Richard 25 Private E Dublin Laborer 5'8¾" in height, grey eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
Finley, Jeremiah 35 Sergeant C Tipperary Laborer 5'7" in height, grey eyes, brown hair, light complexion
(He made Custer's buckskin jacket.)
Golden, Patrick*26 Private D Sligo Slater 5'9¼" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
Graham, Charles 39 Private L Tyrone Unknown 5'6¾" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, florid complexion
Griffin, Patrick 28 Private C Kerry Unknown 5'9" in height, black eyes, dark hair, ruddy complexion
Henderson, John 37 Private E Cork Unknown 5'7¾" in height, grey eyes, light hair, fair complexion
Hughes, Robert H 36 Sergeant K Dublin Unknown 5'9" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
(Carried Custer's battle standard)
Kavanagh, Thomas G 31 Private L Dublin Farmer 5'11¼" in height, grey eyes, red hair, ruddy complexion
Kelly, Patrick 35 Private I Mayo Unknown 5'5" in height, grey eyes, sandy hair, fair complexion
Kenney, Michael 26 1st Sergeant F Galway Soldier 5'7¼" in height, grey eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
Keogh, Myles W 36 Captain I Carlow Soldier The only Irish-born officer, 2nd-in-command to Custer
Mahoney, Bartholomew 30 Private L Cork Teamster 5'10" in height, hazel eyes, dark hair, sallow complexion
Martin, James* 28 Corporal G Kildare Laborer 5'5" in height, grey eyes, brown hair, fair complexion
McElroy, Thomas 31 Trumpeter E Down Musician 5'5½" in height, blue eyes, dark hair, ruddy complexion
McIlhargey, Archibald 31 Private I Antrim Unknown 5'5" in height, brown eyes, black hair, dark complexion
Mitchell, John 34 Private I Galway Unknown 5'6¼" in height, blue eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion
O'Connell, David 32 Private L Cork Unknown 5'7½" in height, dark eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion
O'Connor, Patrick 25 Private E Longford Shoemaker 5'5½" in height, blue eyes, light hair, fair complexion
Smith, James 34 Private E Tipperary Unknown 5'6" in height, hazel eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion
Sullivan, John*25 Private A Dublin Laborer 5'6¼" in height, grey eyes, brown hair, medium complexion
*Killed with Reno battalion
**Died later of wounds received in the battle

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Top 5 Books about Myles Keogh

April 4, 2010, 7:07 am
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1. Myles Keogh: The Life and Legend of an 'Irish Dragoon' in the Seventh Cavalry -- ed. John P. Langellier, Kurt Hamilton Cox, and Brian Pohanka
A symposium of scholarly essays on all aspects of Keogh's life and legacy. The definitive source-book for all students of Keogh.

2. The Honor of Arms -- Charles L. Convis
The only modern narrative biography. Its great strength: lengthy excerpts from many of Keogh's letters, giving the authentic "voice" of the man.

3. His Very Silence Speaks -- Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence
Principally a study of Comanche, and of the cavalry horse in general; but it contains much good information on Keogh too.

4. Captain Myles Walter Keogh, United States Army, 1840-1876 -- G.A. Hayes-McCoy
The text of a lecture given in 1965. Long out of print; now fortunately republished. Focuses mainly on Keogh's army service.

5. Keogh, Comanche and Custer -- Edward S. Luce
Very rare. First published in 1939. Slightly fanciful in places; but as Luce was able to draw upon the memories of people who had known Keogh personally, it stands as a landmark of Keoghiana.

Books about Keogh's horse, Comanche, are legion. Here are two, both fiction and intended for children, that nonetheless feature very credible portraits of the famous horse's rider:

Comanche of the Seventh -- Margaret C. Leighton
So convincing is this book that some non-fiction writers have been known to cite it as a factual source. While one would not go that far, it is a delightful read.

Comanche: The Story of America's Most Heroic Horse -- David Appel
Dripping with inaccuracies, and endowing Comanche with a melodramatic back-story (the basis of the classic Disney film Tonka), this book still somehow gets Keogh remarkably right.

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Myths & Legends about Myles Keogh

April 10, 2010, 4:37 am
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In the hundreds of books, papers and articles that have been written about Custer's Last Stand, the same misstatements about Keogh turn up again and again. (These can be quite useful in their way; once you are on the alert for them, you have a pointer as to the likely accuracy of the rest of the work in which they appear.) The "Wild I" myth is just one example. There are many more. Here are some of the recurring favourites:

1. Keogh was a "soldier of fortune"
WRONG. This phrase is irritating enough even when applied to his earliest years in America, since it implies he was in the army solely for the money; but as, technically, he meets the definition -- a foreigner serving in another country's army for pay -- it cannot be argued with in that context. That is not where we usually see it, however. Any number of writers cheerfully describe him as a "soldier of fortune" at the time of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Since he had become a U.S. citizen in 1869, this is plainly an absurdity. He was serving in his own country's army. From 1869 onwards, therefore, he was no more a "soldier of fortune" than any American-born officer in the 7th Cavalry.

2. Keogh was a member of the "Custer Clan"
WRONG. A common misapprehension born of two things: a few photographs showing Keogh in social gatherings with the Custers, and his presence in Custer's immediate command on June 25th 1876. The reality was somewhat different. While Keogh and Custer had been on moderately friendly terms during the Civil War, their relationship took on an edgier tone in the first year of the 7th Cavalry's existence. When Custer was court-martialled in 1867, and the regiment split into supporters and opponents, Keogh was among those reported as being in the "not friendly" camp. In the years that followed, spells of reasonably amicable relations alternated with times of considerable friction. So it is a mistake to include Keogh in the close-knit band of unquestioning "Custer loyalists". His relationship with Custer was far more complex and more thorny than that.

3. Keogh's horse, Comanche, was the sole survivor of Custer's Last Stand

WRONG. Leaving aside the thousands of Indians who of course survived the battle, Comanche was not even the sole cavalry survivor. While many wounded cavalry mounts lived only long enough to be put out of their misery by the relief party, one other horse, a grey named "Nap", returned like Comanche to Fort Lincoln to enjoy a long and happy life as a popular pet. Other horses from Custer's command were captured by the Indians, one at least being recovered by the Mounties after Sitting Bull went to Canada. And there are several reports of a dog belonging to Keogh's Co. I who escaped the fate of his comrades, lived with the Indians for a while, and was eventually returned to his troop. (Human claimants to the role of "sole survivor" are also myriad, but all have been successfully exploded -- most recently and exhaustively, in Michael Nunnally's book, I Survived Custer's Last Stand.)

4. The horse conferred fame on its rider, rather than the other way around
WRONG. That is how it may look to us today. However, there is ample evidence that Comanche was spared the fate of other wounded horses on the battlefield solely because he had been Keogh's mount. As the Army and Navy Journal put it at the time, "there were those present who had a tenderness for anything associated with Keogh", and this was the reason the horse was rescued and nursed back to health. Some accounts from enlisted men confirm this. Early poems about Comanche, by G. T. Lanigan and John Hay respectively, put Keogh very much at the forefront. It is only in comparatively recent times that the horse has come to overshadow his rider.

5. Before the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Keogh's experience of Indian fighting was "virtually nil"
WRONG. This assumption is based on the fact that Keogh was not present either at the Washita (1868) or on the Yellowstone Expedition (1873), Custer's only previous encounters of substance with hostile Indians. Keogh had, however, had sole responsibility for defending the Smoky Hill route against Indian raids from late 1866 to the summer of 1867. When Sheridan took over from Hancock in 1868, there is evidence that it was to Keogh he turned for first-hand information on conditions on the front line. And while with Sully's expedition later that year, Keogh was fighting Indians almost every day -- indeed, it was in one such fight that Comanche received his first wound and, as the story goes, his name. Any interpretation of the Little Big Horn battle that hinges on Keogh's supposed "inexperience", therefore, should be treated with due caution.

6. Keogh was a "drunken brute" who was "hated by his men"
WRONG. That Keogh drank is not in dispute; almost everyone did in those post-Civil-War days. That he sometimes drank to excess is not disputed either. Mrs. Custer, in her book Following the Guidon, fixed that image of him for all time with her anecdote about the Irish officer who "sometimes became so hopelessly boozy" that he had thought it wisest to turn all his worldly goods over to his striker [his soldier-servant] for safe-keeping. But it was the indefatigable Fred Dustin, purveyor of the "Wild I" myth, who added in the "brute" element, with a story about a drunken Keogh chasing offending troopers and beating them with his cane. His source for this is dubious -- a self-confessed deserter -- and the conclusions that others have drawn from it ("hated") are at variance with much evidence that in fact Keogh was uncommonly well-liked by the men. A C. Rallya, in Winners of the West: "Every man in our troop idolised Captain Keogh".Sergeant John Ryan: "a good-hearted officer". Blacksmith Henry Bailey: "a nice man". Lt. Henry Nowlan (pictured right): "… his brave troopers, who dearly loved him …". An unnamed former 7th Cavalry private: "The names of most of the leading men of the 7th have left me. But a few can still be recalled. There was Captain Gillette of C Troop, a wild reckless officer who had little regard for God, Man or the Devil. Capt. Keho [sic] was just the opposite. He acted as chaplin [sic] and called all the men 'my boys'". Keogh's first biographer, Edward S. Luce, was deeply suspicious of the Dustin story, having had the privilege of asking Mrs. Custer herself about the truth of the matter. She dispelled for Luce any notion that Keogh was "a mean drunk"; she said he was never belligerent "in his cups", but always benign, happy, and inclined towards singing. She went on to describe him as unfailingly gentle by nature. She knew him; Dustin did not; we can draw our own conclusions.

7. Keogh struggled with bouts of depression
WRONG. Or probably wrong, in any clinical sense. This belief is founded on certain expressions of gloom and despondency that appear in some of his surviving letters. It is true that these are extreme at times ("wrecked life … hopeless aspirations …") and that he comes across, very touchingly, as a sensitive man who lives through his emotions. However, in almost every case his unhappiness can be traced to an objective cause. The most striking example is the death, in 1866, of the woman he had hoped to marry -- something that would make anyone somewhat downcast, one would think. Perhaps those who say there was a streak of melancholy in his nature are not wholly wrong; but before using his letters alone as proof of this, it is necessary to look at what was going on in his life when they were written. It was certainly not a characteristic that appeared to those who knew him. For them, words like "jovial" and "genial" were the ones that sprang to mind.

8. Keogh was a rough, tough, John-Ford-Irishman stereotype
WRONG. This turns up all too often both in non-fiction and in novels, sabotaging credibility wherever it appears. (Even the otherwise peerless Frederick Chiaventone, in A Road We Do Not Know, could not resist the temptation to saddle Keogh with "brogue" dialogue.) Snobbish as it may seem to use such a word today, Keogh was a gentleman in the full 19th-century understanding of that term: well-bred, well-educated, well-mannered, cultivated, at ease in the highest of society. His writings demonstrate an elegant use of the English language. The notion that, in speech, he would suddenly transform himself into a Victor McLaglen figure spouting "begorrahs" is patently silly, and any portrayal that suggests as much is flawed.

It is strange indeed that so well-documented a man should have received so much misrepresentation over the years. Perhaps it is because no-one knows for sure what part he played in the famous last battle; its historians have not felt the need to investigate him further, and have been content simply to pick up whatever the last writer said. Perhaps a certain amount of ethnic stereotyping, the McLaglen syndrome, has gone on. Perhaps, even, we who like and admire the real Keogh are being over-fussy in objecting to the mythical versions. But the further the myths stray from the truth, the further we all are from understanding the essence of history: how things were. It has, then, to be worth opposing these myths with the reality.
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Myles Keogh in 'Military Illustrated'

May 26, 2010, 12:21 am
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Renowned UK historical magazine, 'Military Illustrated' has published an article on the life of Myles Keogh in its July 2010 issue. Titled "Custer's Irish Officer", the article is a synopsis of Keogh's remarkable military career through the three wars he fought in.

A copy of the magazine can be sourced here.
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History Ireland and the Pope's Irish Battalion

September 14, 2010, 2:33 am
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In the latest edition of the bi-monthly publication - 'History Ireland' - an article recounts the brief history of the Pope's Irish Battalion, marking the 150th anniversary of the 28 day long 1860 Papal War. Garrisoned in Ancona on the east coast of Italy, the conflict was to be Myles Keogh's first taste of military life.

A copy of the magazine can be sourced here
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In Remembrance

November 14, 2010, 9:35 am
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It is with deep regret that the creators of this website learned of the death of Miley KEHOE of Orchard, Leighlinbridge, Carlow.

Any researcher or interested party will know that Miley Kehoe was always more than generous with his time when dealing with requests for information about his famous great uncle. We had the privilege of meeting Mr. Kehoe in 2008 and, as General McClellan said of Captain Myles Walter Keogh, we found him to “be a most gentlemanlike man.” What was truly remarkable was his recollections as a boy of talking to elderly men who met Myles Keogh during his final visit to Ireland in 1874. With his passing, the last tenuous link between the present day and the era of Myles Walter Keogh has gone.

Deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Ar dheisDégo raibhaanam.

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Seminar at the National Museum of Ireland

April 7, 2011, 10:27 am
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The Fighting Irish?

Exploring the role of the Irish in the

American Civil War

Saturday 16th April 2011

National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks - The Palatine Room

Programme of Events

10.50 – 11am

Welcome

Helen Beaumont, Education & Outreach Officer, NMI

11.00 – 11.30am

Ireland and the American Civil War

Professor Thomas Bartlett, Professor of Irish History, University of Aberdeen

Irish people were to be found on both sides during the American Civil War and Irish-born soldiers frequently faced each other on the battlefield. Ireland played an important role in the eventual victory of the Union forces - Professor Bartlett discusses these issues in his talk.

11.30am – 12pm

The Lost Cause: Irish Military Experience in the War and After

Dr. Patrick Geoghegan, Department of History at Trinity College Dublin

This lecture addresses the battlefield experiences of Irish people in the war, looking not only at some key battles, but also at the battlefield experiences of regular soldiers. He will also look at subsequent attempts to romanticise and mythologise the war, and the connections there with romantic Irish nationalism.

12.00- 12.30pm

Myles Walter Keogh

Robert Doyle, Historian and author

Although Myles Walter Keogh’s ongoing fame probably stems from his death along with more than 200 men of the 7th Cavalry at Custer’s Last Stand, the Irishman’s three years of service in the Union ranks during the American Civil War is worth exploring as a more enduring legacy. Keogh’s gallantry and deeds prompted one Union general to write – ‘I know of no officer of his grade who made [a] more enviable reputation, or who proved more conclusively that he was a born soldier.’

12.30-1pm

Questions from the floor

Chaired by Dr Úna Ní Bhroiméil, Department of History, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

Dr Úna Ní Bhroiméil is a lecturer in the Department of History, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. She is the author of Building Irish Identity in America, 1870-1915 – The Gaelic Revival (2003) and her publications include works on the Irish American press.

All talks are FREE and no booking is required. Places are allocated on a first-come basis.

For details contact the Bookings Office: Ph (01) 6486453

Email: bookings@museum.ie

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Myles Keogh at the ‘Soldiers & Chiefs’ Exhibition in Dublin

May 17, 2011, 6:19 am
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Soldiers and Chiefs is the largest single exhibition ever undertaken by the National Museum of Ireland. Some 910 objects and 210 loans are displayed in an area of almost 1700m2 on two floors at the Museum’s Decorative Arts and History premises at Collins Barracks, Dublin, Ireland. The exhibition aims to tell the story of Irishmen and women who participated at home and abroad in foreign armies over the past 500 years - from the Elizabethan Wars of the 16th century to the Irish Defence Force's peacekeeping role with the United Nations.


In the area of the exhibition highlighting the role of the Irish soldier in North America, one of the cabinets is dedicated to Myles Keogh. It displays some of his personal effects generously on loan from the Autry National Centre in Los Angeles. Among the items present are Keogh’s 7th Cavalry epaulets, his sabre and scabbard and Keogh’s certificate of U.S. citizenship which he received in 1869. To highlight Myles Keogh’s colourful military career, a cap from the uniform he wore while serving in Italy with the Pontifical Army is also on display in a separate section of the exhibition.

Although the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition is set to be a permanent fixture at Collins Barracks, the objects on display will, over time, be subject to change. For example, many of the Keogh artifacts are due to be returned to the Autry Museum with the expiration of their loan term. However, for any visitor to Dublin with an interest in military history and the role played by the Irish soldier, a trip to 'Soldiers and Chiefs' should be top of the itinerary.

Keogh's sabre and scabbard alongside a Winchester rifle. Above are Keogh's 7th Cav. epaulets. The framed picture beneath is of Major General Buford and staff, Keogh included, taken soon after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Myles Keogh's certificate of U.S. citizenship, dated 1869.

The decorative scarlet kepi that Keogh wore as part of his papal uniform. Myles Keogh served as a Second Lieutenant in the Papal Army between 1860 and 1862.

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Article 16

October 30, 2011, 6:38 pm
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Kildare's James Martin May Be Garryowen's Unknown Soldier

Story and Photos By Robert Doyle
 

The Peace Memorial at Garryowen.
In 1895, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad established a tiny station on the edge of the Little Bighorn battlefield and called it "Garryowen," after the Seventh's regimental marching song. By the mid-1920s, Garryowen was in private hands and was little more than a small market town. In May 1926, almost 50 years after "Custer's Last Stand," construction work was being carried out on an irrigation ditch just east of this station, along the line of retreat Major Marcus Reno's men took early in the battle. While digging, workmen discovered a near complete set of skeletal remains, accompanied by 7th Cavalry uniform buttons. The dead soldier appeared to be have been decapitated after death as no skull or skull fragments were ever found.

Looking down on Reno's retreat route from the area he defended.
The remains were buried in Garryowen with full military honors that year and overlain with a granite memorial inscribed: "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." But was this dead trooper American-born? Possibly not. It's likely, in fact, he was a native of Ireland. James Martin was born just outside Kildare Town in 1847. He enlisted in the 7th Cavalry on February 6, 1872, at age 24, and is recorded as having gray eyes, brown hair, fair complexion, standing at 5'5" tall. He met his end during Major Reno's retreat when he was shot from his horse and killed by a group of warriors.
At the time of the battle, the Santee Sioux still ritually practiced decapitation instead of scalping, and Martin may have encountered them. His remains were never identified, but Private John Foley from Dublin made the grisly discovery of a head under a kettle in the Indian village days after the battle. Foley went on record as stating that it belonged to a corporal from G Company.
Battlefield monument on the spot of a mass grave of 7th Cavalry troopers.
As only two corporals from Co. G were killed during the battle — Martin and a German called Otto Hagemann — Foley's identification of the head probably stems from his recognition of James Martin's facial features and his knowledge that this fellow Irishman was a corporal in the Seventh's Company G. The intriguing possibility is that the skeletal remains uncovered in 1926 and buried in Garryowen as the "soldier known but to God" could, in fact, be Martin's. The bones were discovered near the spot of his death, and the lack of a skull with the skeleton further suggests that the remains could be those of the Kildare man, one of only a few soldiers whose severed heads were found in the abandoned Indian village. Certainty might be established by an exhumation and the use of DNA evidence, but it is probably more fitting that this soldier rests with honors near the monument to the fight in which he gave his life.

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Artilce first appeared on www.thewildgeese.com


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Ireland & the American Civil War

January 8, 2012, 3:58 pm
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A new and noble cause. More Irish fought in the American Civil War than in WWI and WWII combined. It's time for Ireland to recognise their sacrifice...


A number of like-minded individuals, who wish to promote Irish involvement in the American Civil War, have begun to commemorate this iconic conflict in Ireland. The aim is to develop a Civil War Trail and Memorial to those from the entire island who were caught up in the conflict. A site has now been developed to further this goal, called the Irish American Civil War Trail. It provides the project’s mission statement, and also a drop down list of potential trail locations within Ireland categorized by county.

The site is still under development and there are many images and locations to be added, particularly concerning the birthplaces of Colonels and Medal of Honor recipients. However, it will be added to over time and it is hoped it will act as a catalyst for the development of local interest at these locations. Please drop by and have a look at the site, and feel free to make suggestions as to potential additions, clarifications or to provide further detail on entries. We would also welcome any photographs of sites in Ireland that could be added. If you would like to contact the group you can do so on the Civil War Trail site or by emailing americancivilwarandireland@gmail.com.
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Keogh & Comanche - New Painting

January 18, 2012, 4:20 pm
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Commissioned for the National Museum of the Morgan Horse, this original oil painting is now on display at that museum in Middlebury, Vermont. It was the artist's intention that the details relating to period, uniform, accessories and horse tack were accurately represented in the painting. The artist, signed as Lazarus, even modeled a horse in similar tack to get the posture correct.

Behind Captain Keogh and 'Comanche' are Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and, left to right, Crow King, Rain In The Face, Gall & Sitting Bull.

It is expected that prints in two sizes will be commercially available in the near future.
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March 25th 1840

March 22, 2012, 5:03 pm
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On this day, 172 years ago, Myles Keogh was born at Orchard House just outside Leighlinbridge, County Carlow in Ireland. We continue to honour his life and his military career:
"A man who defends his own country or attacks another is no more than a soldier.
But he, who adopts some other country as his own and makes offer of his sword and his blood, is more than a soldier. He is a hero."

Emile Barrault, French author and philosopher


Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
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150 years ago today - Keogh arrives in America

April 1, 2012, 2:46 pm
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SS Kangaroo
Within days of leaving Italy, Myles Keogh, Dan Keily and Joseph O'Keeffe arrived in Liverpool, England en route to America to fight for the Union Army in a Civil War that had raged for almost a year. In their possession was a letter of endorsement from Archbishop Hughes for presentation to Secretary of State, William Seward.

Water Street, Liverpool, England, circa mid-1850's
At the offices of the Inman Line in 22 Water Street, Liverpool, Keogh and Keily booked passage to New York aboard the Steam Ship, SS Kangaroo. They purchased a first class cabin at the cost of $75 and were registered to sail two days later on Wednesday 19th March. The day they booked passage was March 17th - Saint Patrick's Day - and, Liverpool being one of the more Irish-populated cities in England, the festivities must have been something special for two men long since absent from their homeland.

A report of the evening's celebration in a local newspaper makes reference to Keogh and Keily's contribution to the occasion: Father Nugent...saw also on the platform two men who fought nobly in the Pope's Brigade...The gallant defenders of the Pope, at the request of Father Nugent, advanced to the front of the platform, and were enthusiastically cheered. One of them, Lieutenant Myles William Keogh addressed the meeting, and stated that he had only a few hours since arrived in Liverpool from Rome, and hearing that the festival was being celebrated, he hastened to be present (applause). Ten days before he had the pleasure of having an audience with the Pope...Mr. Keogh referred to the festival they were celebrating, and said that "so long as they cherished the glorious reminiscences which belonged to their country, Ireland would never perish. It might be longer or shorter, but sooner or later Ireland would have her own."

On the 19th of March, the 'Kangaroo' stood ready to sail and was boarded by Keogh and Keily. Joseph O'Keeffe would sail the following week aboard the SS 'Etna'.


The following day, the two Irishmen got as close to Ireland than they had been in two years - the SS 'Kangaroo' docked in Queenstown, County Cork (now called Cobh) to pick up passengers. A ship called Titanic would similarly dock at Queenstown to collect passengers approximately 50 years later.

The local paper reported the SS Kangaroo's arrival along with a 'charming' description of the women who boarded;
Source - TheCorkExaminer, 20 March 1862 -
ARRIVAL OF THE KANGAROO.
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THE steam-ship Kangaroo, outward bound, arrived inthe harbour this morning. She took on board 132passengers, principally females of the humble class inlife.

The journey across the Atlantic would take almost two weeks and the vessel docked in New York at 5 p.m. on April 1st, 1862. Keogh and Keily were only among 11 passengers who occupied the first class cabins.
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American Civil War in 1862

April 4, 2012, 2:13 am
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When Myles Keogh reports to General Shields in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, it was just three days before the 1st anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina - an event that began the American Civil War. Prior to Keogh's arrival in America, the Civil War had unfolded as follows;

1861
  • February 9 - The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis as president.

  • April 12 - At 4:30 AM Confederates under General Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons upon Fort Sumter (right) in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War begins.

  • April 17 - Virginia secedes from the Union, followed within 5 weeks by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, thus forming an eleven state Confederacy.

  • April 19 - President Lincoln issues a Proclamation of Blockade against Southern ports. For the duration of the war the blockade limits the ability of the rural South to stay well supplied in its war against the industrialized North.

  • July 4 - Lincoln, in a speech to Congress, states the war is..."a People's contest... a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men..." The Congress authorizes a call for 500,000 men.

  • July 21 - The Union Army under Gen. Irvin McDowell (right) suffers a defeat at Bull Run 25 miles southwest of Washington. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson earns the nickname "Stonewall," as his brigade resists Union attacks. Union troops fall back to Washington. President Lincoln realizes the war will be long. "It's damned bad," he comments.

  • July 27 - President Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as Commander of the Department of the Potomac, replacing McDowell.

  • September 11 - President Lincoln revokes Gen. John C. Frémont's unauthorized military proclamation of emancipation in Missouri. Later, the president relieves Gen. Frémont of his command and replaces him with Gen. David Hunter.

  • November 1 - President Lincoln appoints McClellan as general-in-chief of all Union forces after the resignation of the aged Winfield Scott. Lincoln tells McClellan, "...the supreme command of the Army will entail a vast labor upon you." McClellan responds, "I can do it all."

  • November 8 - The beginning of an international diplomatic crisis for President Lincoln as two Confederate officials sailing toward England are seized by the U.S. Navy. England, the leading world power, demands their release, threatening war. Lincoln eventually gives in and orders their release in December. "One war at a time," Lincoln remarks.
1862
  • January 31 - President Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1 calling for all United States naval and land forces to begin a general advance by Feb 22, George Washington's birthday.

  • February 6 - Victory for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (right) in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.

  • February 20 - President Lincoln is struck with grief as his beloved eleven year old son, Willie, dies from fever, probably caused by polluted drinking water in the White House.

  • March 8/9 - The Confederate Ironclad 'Merrimac' sinks two wooden Union ships then battles the Union Ironclad 'Monitor' to a draw. Naval warfare is thus changed forever, making wooden ships obsolete.

  • Mid-March - The Peninsular Campaign begins as McClellan's Army of the Potomac advances from Washington down the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay to the peninsular south of the Confederate Capital of Richmond, Virginia then begins an advance toward Richmond. President Lincoln temporarily relieves McClellan as general-in-chief and takes direct command of the Union Armies.

  • April 6/7 - Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh on the Tennessee River results in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates, more men than in all previous American wars combined (Painting on right - Battle of Shiloh by Thure de Thulstrup). The president is then pressured to relieve Grant but resists. "I can't spare this man; he fights," Lincoln says.
Timeline from the recommended website - http://www.civilwar.com/
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150 years ago today - Keogh joins the Union Army

April 9, 2012, 2:39 am
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After being reunited with Joseph O'Keeffe in Manhattan, Myles Keogh, Daniel Keily and O'Keeffe made haste for Washington. On April 9 1862, the three Irishmen received confirmation of their commission to the rank of captain. Captain Keogh was officially posted, along with Captain O'Keeffe, to John C. Fremont's staff before being seconded to the staff of General James Shields, operating in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Captain Keily would join them in Virginia within a week.

General Shields' forces were about to confront the Confederate army of Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. From the old world to the new, the three young Irish officers were about to go to war again...



Taken on or just after April 9, 1862, this is the first known photgraph of Myles Keogh in his new Union captain's uniform. Hanging from his chest are his Papal medals.
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150 Years Ago On This Day...

April 9, 2012, 3:00 pm
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As the 150th anniversary commemorations of the American Civil War continue, this site will post moments in history relating to the duties and actions of Myles Keogh on that day 150 years ago, from his arrival in America to the end of the war in 1865.

The series will begin on April 1, 2012, corresponding with Keogh's arrival in America on that date in 1862.

The first known photograph of Myles Walter Keogh in a Union Army captain's uniform, circa April 1862
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Nurse Margaret Kehoe, The Rising's 'First Martyr'

May 1, 2012, 1:51 am
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Courtesy of Keogh Family
A descendant of one of the most heroic and dashing figures from American military history died in the fighting in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising, and was immediately commemorated, not without controversy, by republicans as the Rising's "first martyr."

Nurse Margaret Kehoe, slain during an exchange of rifle fire between Irish and British forces in South Dublin Union, was grandniece to 'Beau Sabreur' Myles Walter Keogh, a captain in the Seventh U.S. Cavalry who perished in June 1876 alongside his commander George Armstrong Custer and about 220 troopers in "Custer's Last Stand."

In Dublin on Easter Monday, April 24,1916, the first day of fighting during the Rising, Kehoe was on duty at the public workhouse and hospital. The 1916 Rebellion Handbook, first published by The Irish Times not long after the Rising, mentions Kehoe, more or less in passing, as an innocent bystander. She was "accidentally killed by a stray shot whilst discharging her duty." However, accounts vary as to how Margaret died in the bloody fight at the South Dublin Union, a place for Dublin's destitute, infirm and insane.

mwkdsm.jpg - 4.73 K

The complex was spread over 50 acres and consisted of an array of buildings. Records show that in April 1916, 3,282 people, including patients, doctors, nurses and ancillary staff, were housed or working among the buildings.

Most sources and witnesses stated that Kehoe had been on duty that Monday in one of the hospital buildings, Hospital 2-3, as the battle raged all around. Six republican riflemen, who had been firing from a top floor on the British soldiers, vacated their position and there was a lull in the firing.

Nurse Kehoe decided to look into the safety of any patients or wounded on the lower floor. At the foot of the stairs, the corridor was occupied by two British soldiers kneeling out of sight, covering the open doorway with their rifles. As she entered the corridor, they both fired, killing her instantly.

A distraught colleague rushed to her aid but it was too late. Her body was placed on a table in the corridor. Shortly afterwards, Irish Volunteer Dan McCarthy, who had been badly wounded in the volley of gunfire that caused Margaret Kehoe to descend, was laid beside her on the table. McCarthy survived, becoming president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) from 1921 to 1924.



The South Dublin Union
Eamonn Ceannt, the commander of the garrison, addressed the men afterward, and declared that the nurse was the "first martyr" of the rebellion, and asked the those present to remember her sacrifice. Ceannt stated: "She died for Ireland just as surely as if she'd worn the Volunteer's uniform."

Since her death, Kehoe has been claimed by republican sources as one of their own, a member of the Irish women's republican movement, Cumann na mBan. Yet the assertion that she was an active participant has never been verified by the canonical listing prepared for the National Graves Association, nor in any reputable sources of the 1916 Rising.

The ownership, as it were, of Kehoe's death remains disputed. Perhaps her fate -- doing her duty while caught in crossfire during the Rising -- provides an apt metaphor for the experience of women in the Irish revolution.

Margaret lived on the family farm at Orchard, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Myles Keogh's birthplace. She was buried in the Union grounds, where she was shot, but afterward her body was exhumed and reinterred in Ballinabranna cemetery, in her native parish of Leighlin. Commemoration ceremonies in honor of her memory and sacrifice commonly take place there.

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This article was first published on the Irish Heritage Site, www.thewildgeese.com
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Lest We Forget

June 23, 2012, 4:59 am
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BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN
JUNE 25-26, 1876
 7th U.S. Cavalry Killed in Action  

Commissioned Officers
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, Commanding Regiment
Captain Myles Walter Keogh, Commanding Company I
1st Lieutenant William Winer Cooke, Regimental Adjutant
Captain George W. Yates, Commanding Company F
Captain Thomas Ward Custer, Commanding Company C
1st Lieutenant Donald McIntosh, Commanding Company G
1st Lieutenant James Calhoun, Commanding Company L
1st Lieutenant Algernon E. Smith, Commanding Company E
1st Lieutenant James E. Porter, Second-in-command, Company I
2nd Lieutenant Benjamin Hubert Hodgson, Adjutant to Major Marcus A. Reno
2nd Lieutenant Henry Moore Harrington, Second-in-command, Company C
2nd Lieutenant James Garland Sturgis, Second-in-command, Company E
2nd Lieutenant William Van W. Reily, Second-in-command, Company F
2nd Lieutenant John J. Crittenden, (20th U.S. Inf.), Second-in-command, Company L
Assistant Surgeon George E. Lord
Acting Assistant Surgeon James M. DeWolf

Non-Commissioned Staff
 Sergeant Major William H. Sharrow
Chief Trumpeter Henry Voss

Company A
 Corporal James Dalious
Private John E. Armstrong
Private James Drinan
Private James McDonald
Private William Moodie
Private Richard Rollins
Private John Sullivan
Private Thomas P. Sweetser

Company B
Private Richard Dorn
Private George B. Mask

Company C
1st Sergeant Edwin Bobo
Sergeant Jeremiah Finley
Sergeant George August Finckle
Corporal Henry E. French
Corporal John Foley
Corporal Daniel Ryan
Trumpeter Thomas J. Bucknell
Trumpeter William Kramer
Saddler George Howell
Blacksmith John King
Private Fred E. Allan
Private John Brightfield
Private Christopher Criddle
Private George Eiseman
Private Gustave Engle
Private James Farrand
Private Patrick Griffin
Private James Hathersall
Private John Lewis
Private Frederick Meier
Private August Meyer
Private Edgar Phillips
Private John Rauter
Private Edward Rix
Private James H. Russell
Private Ludwick St. John
Private Samuel S. Shade
Private Jeremiah Shea
Private Nathan Short
Private Alpheus Stuart
Private Ygnatz Stungewitz
Private John Thadus
Private Garrett Van Allen
Private Oscar L. Warner
Private Willis B. Wright
Private Henry Wyman

Company D
Farrier Vincent Charley
Private Patrick M. Golden
Private Edward Housen

Company E
1st Sergeant Frederick Hohmeyer
Sergeant John S. Ogden
Sergeant William B. James
Corporal Thomas Eagan
Corporal Henry S. Mason
Corporal George C. Brown
Corporal Albert H. Meyer
Trumpeter Thomas McElroy
Trumpeter George A. Moonie
Private William H. Baker
Private Robert Barth
Private Owen Boyle
Private James Brogan
Private Edward Conner
Private John Darris
Private William Davis
Private Richard Farrell
Private John S. S. Forbes
Private John Heim
Private John Henderson
Private Sykes Henderson
Private William Hiuber
Private Andrew Knecht
Private Herod T. Liddiard
Private Patrick O'Connor
Private William H. Rees
Private Edward Rood
Private Henry Schele
Private William Smallwood
Private Albert A. Smith
Private James Smith, 1st
Private James Smith, 2nd
Private Benjamin Stafford
Private Alexander Stella
Private William A. Torrey
Private Cornelius Van Sant
Private George Walker

Company F
1st Sergeant Michael Kenney
Sergeant Frederick Nursey
Sergeant John Vickory
Sergeant John R. Wilkinson
Corporal Charles Coleman
Corporal William Teeman
Corporal John Briody
Trumpeter Thomas N. Way
Farrier Benjamin Brandon
Blacksmith James R. Manning
Private Thomas Atcheson
Private William Brady
Private Benjamin F. Brown
Private William Brown
Private Patrick Bruce
Private Lucien Burnham
Private James Carney
Private Armantheus D. Cather
Private Anton Dohman
Private Timothy Donnelly
Private John Gardiner
Private George W. Hammon
Private John P. Kelly
Private Gustave Klein
Private Herman Knauth
Private William H. Lerock
Private Werner L. Liemann
Private William A. Lossee
Private Christian Madsen
Private Francis E. Milton
Private Joseph Monroe
Private Sebastian Omling
Private Patrick Rudden
Private Richard Saunders
Private Francis W. Sicfous
Private George A. Warren

Company G
Sergeant Edward Botzer
Sergeant Martin Considine
Corporal James Martin
Corporal Otto Hagemann
Trumpeter Henry Dose
Farrier Benjamin Wells
Saddler Crawford Selby
Private John J. McGinniss
Private Andrew J. Moore
Private John Rapp
Private Benjamin F. Rogers
Private Henry Seafferman
Private Edward Stanley

Company H
Corporal George Lell
Private Juilien D. Jones
Private Thomas E. Meador

Company I
1st Sergeant Frank E. Varden
Sergeant James Bustard
Corporal John Wild
Corporal George C. Morris
Corporal Samuel F. Staples
Trumpeter John McGucker
Trumpeter John W. Patton
Saddler Henry A. Bailey
Private John Barry
Private Joseph F. Broadhurst
Private Thomas Connors
Private David Cooney
Private Thomas P. Downing
Private Edward Driscoll
Private David C. Gillette
Private George H. Gross
Private Adam Hetesimer
Private Edward P. Holcomb
Private Marion E. Horn
Private Patrick Kelly
Private Henry Lehman
Private Edward W. Lloyd
Private Archibald McIlhargey
Private John Mitchell
Private Jacob Noshang
Private John O'Bryan
Private John Parker
Private Felix James Pitter
Private George Post
Private James Quinn
Private William Reed
Private John W. Rossbury
Private Darwin L. Symms
Private James E. Troy
Private Charles Von Bramer
Private William B. Whaley

Company K
1st Sergeant Dewitt Winney
Sergeant Robert M. Hughes
Corporal John J. Callahan
Trumpeter Julius Helmer
Private Elihu F. Clear

1st Sgt. Butler's Battlefield Marker

Company L
1st Sergeant James Butler
Sergeant William Cashan
Sergeant Amos B. Warren
Corporal William H. Harrison
Corporal John Seiler
Corporal William H. Gilbert
Trumpeter Frederick Walsh
Blacksmith Charles Siemon
Saddler Charles Perkins
Private George E. Adams
Private William Andrews
Private Anthony Assadaly
Private Elmer Babcock
Private Ami Cheever
Private William B. Crisfield
Private John L. Crowley
Private William Dye
Private James J. Galvan
Private Charles Graham
Private Henry Hamilton
Private Weston Harrington
Private Louis Haugge
Private Francis T. Hughes
Private Thomas G. Kavanagh
Private Louis Lobering
Private Charles McCarthy
Private Peter McGue
Private Bartholomew Mahoney
Private Thomas E. Maxwell
Private John Miller
Private David J. O'Connell
Private Oscar F. Pardee
Private Christian Reibold
Private Henry Roberts
Private Walter B. Rogers
Private Charles Schmidt
Private Charles Scott
Private Bent Siemonson
Private Andrew Snow
Private Byron Tarbox
Private Edmond D. Tessier
Private Thomas S. Tweed
Private Johann Michael Vetter

Company M
Sergeant Miles F. O'Hara
Corporal Henry M. Cody
Corporal Frederick Stressinger
Private Frank Braun
Private Henry Gordon
Private Jacob Gebhart
Private Henry Klotzbucher
Private George Lorentz
Private William D. Meyer
Private George E. Smith
Private David Summers
Private Henry Turley
Private Henry C. Voight

Civilians
Boston Custer, brother of George and Thomas
Henry Armstrong Reed, nephew of George
Mark Kellogg, Newspaper Reporter for the Bismarck Tribune
Frank C. Mann, Chief Packer
Charley Reynolds, Chief Scout
Isaiah Dorman, Negro-Indian Interpreter
Mitch Bouyer, half-breed
Bloody Knife
Bob-Tailed Bull
Little Brave
Battlefield Monument
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Union Cavalry versus Confederate Cavalry

July 26, 2012, 2:26 pm
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"...here there was the glorious reality of war, the bronzed faces, the worn uniforms, the well tattered flags, the roll of the heavy guns.....while the long line of cavalry, their helmets and accouterments shining in the morning sun, brought back one's boyish dreams of joust and tournament and made the heart beat high with chivalrous enthusiasm"

From the novel; Charles O'Malley - The Irish Dragoon by Charles James Lever


In rough terms, military professionals in the 19th century thought it took two years to train a raw recruit into a cavalryman. This is harder when the man you are training doesn't know how to ride a horse to begin with. This gave the Confederate cavalryman a distinct advantage in the first year of the Civil War and even up to the time, July 31st 1862, when Captain Myles Keogh (left)and Captain John O'Keeffe were assigned to the personal staff of cavalry brigade commander, General John Buford.

In Southern states, men generally rode horses and used them in daily activity. In the North, particularly northeastern states, men normally drove wagons or buggies instead of riding horses. As a result, while Southern cavalry regiments were concentrating on turning men into soldiers, Northern ones had the extra task of teaching them to ride. The only advantage the Union horsemen had over their opponents was the centralized horse procurement organization of the Northern army, relieving troopers of any responsibility for replacing an injured horse

In practice, poor horsemanship affected cavalry regiments from the East more, and was felt in the Army of the Potomac/Army of Virginia. Union cavalry there had enough trouble just moving mounted in formation, often losing a substantial number of men to falls and mishaps in a simple change of position. Actually fighting while mounted with such troops must have sent shudders through old mounted troopers like Buford. It was only practical for them to develop an early preference for dismounted action.

Cavalry forces were composed of troops of 100 men (comparable to an infantry company). Two troops composed a squadron, although later in the war these were generally replaced by battalions of four troops. Union cavalry regiments usually contained 12 troops, with Confederate regiments containing 10 troops. By the end of the war, 272 cavalry regiments were formed in the Union army and 137 in the Confederate army.

There were four types of mounted forces prevalent in the Civil War.
  1. Cavalry were forces that fought principally on horseback, armed with carbines, pistols, and especially sabers. Only a small percentage of Civil War forces met this definition—primarily Union mounted forces in the Eastern Theater during the first half of the war. Confederate forces in the East generally carried neither carbines nor sabers. A few Confederate regiments in the Western Theater carried shotguns, especially early in the war.
  2. Mounted infantry were forces that moved on horseback but dismounted for fighting on foot, armed principally with rifles. In the second half of the war, most of the units considered to be cavalry actually fought battles using the tactics of mounted infantry. An example of this was the celebrated "Lightning Brigade" of Col. John T. Wilder (right), which used horses to quickly arrive at a battlefield such as Chickamauga, but they deployed and fought using standard infantry formations and tactics. By contrast, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Federal cavalry under John Buford also dismounted to fight Confederate infantry, but they used conventional cavalry tactics, arms, and formations.
  3. Dragoons were hybrid forces that were armed as cavalrymen but were expected to fight on foot as well. The term comes from the English Civil War, representing a cross between light cavalry and infantry. The fighting tactics of the forces deployed by Union General Philip Sheridan in 1864, and by Confederate General Wade Hampton after the Battle of Yellow Tavern, fit the dragoon model, although those units did not adopt the term.
  4. Irregular forces (partisan rangers or guerrillas) were generally mounted forces. There is little commonality as to their weapons—in general, any available were used. The Confederacy produced the most famous irregular leaders, including William Clarke Quantrill, John S. Mosby, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Hunt Morgan (although the latter two did employ traditional mounted infantry tactics in some campaigns)
Equipping a cavalry regiment was an expensive proposition - approximately $100,000 per year for a Union regiment - and they demanded a large logistical infrastructure to support them. (Pictured above is a blacksmith's station at Antietam, 1862) A cavalry horse ate 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of grain each day, which had to be transported behind the otherwise fast-moving force.

Weaponry varied to some degree among the two armies - some mounted forces used traditional infantry rifles whereas cavalrymen, particularly in the North, were frequently armed with three other weapons:
  • Carbines , with a shorter barrel than a rifle, were less accurate, but easier to handle on horseback. Most carbines were .52- or .56-caliber, single-shot breech-loading weapons. They were manufactured by several different companies, but the most common were the Sharps, the Burnside, and the Smith. In 1863, the seven-shot Spencer (above) repeating carbine was introduced, but it was rarely deployed. A notable exception again was Union Colonel John T. Wilder, who equipped his entire "Lightning Brigade" with repeaters (at his men's own expense of $35 apiece) in May 1863. One Confederate stated that Wilder's men could "load on Sunday and fire all week." As we shall also learn, Buford's cavalry, including Keogh, carried single-shot, breechloading carbines manufactured by Sharps, Burnside, and others into battle at Gettysburg. It is a modern myth that they were armed with multi-shot repeating carbines. Nevertheless, they were able to fire two or three times faster than a muzzle-loaded carbine or rifle.
  • Sabers were used more frequently by Northern cavalrymen. They were terror weapons, more useful for instilling fear in their opponents than as practical offensive weapons; Confederate cavalrymen often avoided them simply because they considered sabers to be outmoded, unsuitable for the modern battlefield. One Southern cavalry commander noted that the only times during the war he used a saber was to roast meat over a fire. There were instances in the war in which Union cavalrymen taunted their opponents to "Pick up your sabers and fight like gentlemen!" Despite Southern attitudes towards such weapons, there were several notable instances where the saber saw much use by both sides, including the Battle of Brandy Station and the cavalry battles on the third day of Gettysburg. The American cavalry saber was lighter than the typical European saber, the latter being similar to the older U.S. Model 1840 "wrist breaker" (right). The curved blade of the saber was generally sharpened only at the tip because it was used mostly for breaking arms and collarbones of opposing horsemen, and sometimes stabbing, rather than for slashing flesh. A notable exception to this was the saber of Nathan Bedford Forrest (CSA), which was sharpened on both edges.

  • Pistols, which Southern cavalrymen generally preferred over sabers, were usually six-shot revolvers, in .36- or .44-caliber (above), from Colt or Remington. They were useful only in close fighting since they had little accuracy. It was common for cavalrymen to carry two revolvers, for extra firepower, and John Mosby's troopers (CSA) often carried four each.
The balance between the mounted soldiers of both armies became more even as the war progressed and in August 1862, Buford's Union cavalry met the famed Rebel cavalry head on during the final stages of the Battle of the Second Bull Run or, as it was called in the South, the Second Manassas. Alongside their new general, both Keogh and O'Keeffe would be in the thick of the action...

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Second Manassas (Second Battle of Bull Run) - August 1862

August 9, 2012, 2:13 am
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"They are young, spirited and accomplished gentlemen and with me have proven themselves to be dashing, gallant and daring soldiers, ready and anxious for service at all hours and under trying circumstances"
General John Buford October 1862


The ground around Manassas was not auspicious for the Union forces. It was here in July 1861 that the Union army had broken on the bulwark of General Thomas Jackson's brigade and thus earned the Southern general his nickname 'Stonewall'. Victory here in 1862 was crucial as, from the battlefield, Washington was only 26 miles away while Richmond was also within striking distance. Union forces were combined in the area in the form of the newly created Army of Virginia under Major-General John Pope (left); a deeply unpopular figure both within his own army and similarly disliked by the normally respectful, Robert E. Lee.


Lee knew that if McClellan's 90,000 strong Army of the Potomac linked with Pope's forces of 63,000 men, the Rebel army would be vastly outnumbered and in serious danger of being heavily defeated. Lee decided to attack Pope with speed and might before McClellan realised what was occurring - he sent Generals 'Stonewall' Jackson and A.P. Hill north with 24,000 men.


In order to draw Pope's army into battle, Jackson (above) ordered an attack on a Federal column that was passing across his front on the Warrenton Turnpike on August 28th. The fighting at Brawner Farm lasted several hours and resulted in a stalemate. Pope became convinced that he had trapped Jackson and concentrated the bulk of his army against him.On August 29th, Major General John Pope launched a series of assaults against Jackson's position along an unfinished railroad grade near Sudley - Pope's intention was to move against Jackson on both flanks. The attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides.
It was at this point that General Buford along with his 500 strong cavalry, including his two Irish staff, Captains Myles Keogh and Joseph O'Keeffe, became involved in the engagement. At around 8.15 a.m., Buford reported that 17 regiments of infantry, one battery, and 500 cavalry were moving through Gainesville - this was General James Longstreet's (left) wing arriving from Thoroughfare Gap - and Buford's report warned the Union generals that trouble lay to their front. Myles Keogh later recorded that Buford's cavalry "engaged Longstreet's advance and cut his communications with Jackson".

Many months later, Robert E. Lee also made reference to Buford's sniping of his army;
"Besides engaging the cavalry of the enemy on several occasions, with uniform success, a detachment under the gallant and lamented Major [William] Patrick, assisted by Stuart's horse artillery under Major [John] Pelham, effectually protected General Jackson's trains against a body of this enemy cavalry who penetrated to his rear on the 29th, before the arrival of General Longstreet."
R. E. LEE
General, Headquarters,
Army of Northern Virginia
June 5, 1863

For some reason, General McDowell (US) neglected to forward Buford's report about Longstreet's arrival to Pope until about 7 p.m., so the army commander was operating under two severe misconceptions: that Longstreet was not near the battlefield and that Porter and McDowell (US) were marching to attack Jackson's right flank. Meanwhile since noon on the 29th, Longstreet was arriving on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and taking up position on Jackson's right flank - Porter and McDowell were in fact about to face Longstreet's fresh and enthusiastic command numbering 28,000 men.
On August 30th, Pope renewed his attacks, still unclear of Longstreet's position on the field. When massed Confederate artillery devastated a Union assault by Fitz John Porter's command, Longstreet's wing counterattacked in the largest, simultaneous mass assault of the war. The Union left flank was crushed and the army driven back to Bull Run - it appeared that Pope's army was going to be chased from the field and devastated. Only an effective Union rearguard action at Henry House Hill by just four brigades prevented a total collapse of the Union army.
Pictured above are the ruins of the Henry house, Second Manassas battlefield

Unlike the calamitous retreat at the First Battle of Bull Run, the Union movement thereafter towards Centreville was quiet and orderly. The Confederates, weary from battle and low on ammunition, did not pursue in the darkness. Although Lee had won a great victory, he had not achieved his objective of destroying Pope's army.

BUFORD'S FIGHT - 30th August

As the demoralised Union troops were retreating from the field, Buford's Federal cavalry engaged in a spirited fight with a Confederate cavalry brigade. South-east of the battle, near Lewis Farm, Colonel Nazer of the 4th New York cavalry rode up to Buford and announced that Rebel cavalry were just beyond the hill, preparing to charge. Buford quickly arranged his troops - the 4th New York fell in behind the 1st Michigan, the 1st West Virginia and 1st Vermont stacked up behind the New Yorkers.From his vantage point to the west, Brigadier-General Beverly Robertson (left), commanding the Confederate cavalry, could only see what looked like a small detachment of Union cavalry galloping aimlessly, apparently dispersing and he gave Colonel Munford and the 2nd Virginia cavalry the honour of attacking the isolated Federal squadron. Munford, in turn, directed one detachment under Colonel J.W. Watts to pursue the enemy which they duly did until coming over the crest of a nearby ridge.

Now coming into view of Watts was Buford's four regiments in column and ready to fight. Buford yelled for the 1st Michigan to draw sabres and, followed by the 4th New York, Colonel Bromhead's Michigan regiment started forward before a bugle sounded to signal the order to charge. Munford had no time to maneuver except to counter charge and both Confederate and Union cavalry clashed in open combat for possibly the first time in the war. Colonel Munford, seriously wounded in the back by a Union sabre, later wrote; "They absorbed us....the shooting, running, cursing and cutting that followed cannot be understood except by an eye witness". Never before had a Yankee cavalry offered such resistance and, indeed, overrun one of Stuart's famed Rebel cavalry regiments in the manner that Buford's had just done. As the 4th New York entered the fray, Munford ordered a retreat back to the rest of his brigade.
Robertson (CSA) now ordered the rest of his brigade forward, in the form of the 7th and 12th Virginia under the command Major Myers and Colonel Harmon respectively. The 12th, followed by the 7th, formed a line and advanced towards the two Union cavalry regiments at a gallop. What followed was a classic melee of mounted men battling, sabre to sabre and pistol to pistol. The Rebel soldiers began to get the upper hand and soon forced the retreat from the field of Buford's cavalry. A member of the confederate 7th Virginia would later recount how the Yankee troops became "a mass of .....men dismounted and horses without riders...all trying to get away." Not all of Buford's men escaped; Colonel Bromhead, commanding the Michiganders, was surrounded and mortally wounded, many others were taken prisoner. Myles Keogh later recorded the cost this skirmish had on Buford's officer corp - "two majors wounded & thirteen line officers killed & wounded."

Pictured above is Lewis Spaun, 1st Michigan, Killed at Second Manassas, 30 August 1862 - The frock coat and Hardee hat are an excellent illustration of the early war uniform of the 1st Michigan.

The rapid retreat of the two engaged regiments also carried away the rest of the Federal cavalry. Despite John Buford's best efforts, within five minutes of the initial retreat, all four regiments were crossing the Bull Run at Lewis Ford."The head of Robertson's cavalry was now on the ridge overlooking Bull Run, and having seen no enemy in that direction, I was returning to the position of the artillery enfilading the Groveton road, when I received intelligence from General Robertson at the point I had just left that the enemy was there in force and asking re-enforcements. I ordered the two reserve regiments (Seventh and Twelfth) rapidly forward, and also a section of artillery, but before the latter could reach the point our cavalry, by resolute bravery, had put the enemy, under Buford, to ignominious flight across Bull Run, and were in full pursuit until our own artillery fire at the fugitives rendered it dangerous to proceed farther.In this brilliant affair over 300 of the enemy's cavalry were put to hors de combat, they, together with their horses and equipments, falling into our hands. Colonel Bromhead, First Michigan, died from his wounds next day. He was cut down by Adjutant [Lewis] Harman, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry. Major Atwood and a number of captains and lieutenants were among the prisoners."
J. E. B. STUART, (above)
Major-General, Commanding Cavalry.

What was significant about the cavalry fight at Lewis Farm on the third day of the battle was that Buford had prevented over 1200 of Stuart's Confederate cavalry from reaching the Union line of retreat on the Warrenton Turnpike. The affect of this engagement, should it have occurred, would have caused the widespread panic that Lee had hoped for. As it remained, the Union army withdrew bloodied but intact and was still a viable fighting force.Buford received some sort of wound in this fight although there are conflicting interpretations of its severity. Indeed, he was reported killed in some southern newspapers. Myles Keogh himself recorded that Buford "was wounded by spent ball in the knee". What ever it was, the wound did not appear to slow down the general - he was able to send an intelligence report the very next day and the brigade medical officer made no mention in his report of personally attending to Buford's injury.

The wounding during the battle indicates that Buford and his staff, Myles Keogh included, were in the thick of the action. Keogh stated in a later document that Buford "commanded in person" the initial charge of the 1st Michigan and where their General went, his two Irish staff, Keogh and O'Keeffe, would have followed. Buford later alluded to this fact when writing to the U.S. Army's Adjutant General, Lorenzo Thomas. In reference to Captains Keogh and O'Keeffe, Buford would state;

"These gentlemen accompanied me into Virginia and took active parts in almost every engagement the army had. They are young, spirited and accomplished gentlemen and with me have proven themselves to be dashing, gallant and daring soldiers, ready and anxious for service at all hours and under trying circumstances"
General Buford to U.S. Army's Adjutant General, October 5th, 1862


Following on from this success, Lee and the Confederate army continued to attack and on the 1st of September made a second large flanking manoeuvre, hoping to cut off the retreating Union army. With 'Stonewall' Jackson's brigade in the vanguard, the Rebels reached a town called Chantilly and there encountered Yankee forces under the command of Major-Generals Stevens and Philip Kearney. In the sharp fight that ensued during a horrendous thunderstorm, the Confederate advance was halted but a price - both Union generals were killed.

Although the four day engagement had now petered out, Myles Keogh may have had one further unusual task to perform before the end of the Second Battle of Bull Run....
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