Chapter IX: Introduction (3)

Bellomont’s requisition for a frigate to suppress piracy was vetoed, for the reason that England needed her entire available marine force for service in home waters because of the war with France. The suggestion of a private ship was more successful and met with the financial assistance of the King, the duke of Shrewsbury, lord chancellor Somers, the Earls of Oxford and Romney, Robert Livingston and others, Bellomont assuming the responsibility of equipment. It was this ship, the _Adventure_, which was turned over to William Kidd, a resident of New York, then in London. Kidd, beyond question, ranks as the transcendent specimen of his class. He was a navigator _par excellence_, a man of the world; a type that, when pushed by fortune into any orbit, commands the situation by the power of his own robust characteristics. Kidd’s orders were simple. He was to prey upon French commerce and to destroy pirates. In the first desideratum he proved a failure; in the second, by becoming a pirate himself he achieved a brilliant and, in the end, a fatal success. Upon his career on the high seas, as a privateer and pirate, it is not necessary to dilate. Two years after his departure from Plymouth he arrived in New York, only to find that his friend, Governor Fletcher, and other piratical sympathizers were no longer in control of the affairs of the province. Kidd sailed Eastward along the Sound and buried part of his plunder on Gardiner’s Island. He then proceeded to Boston, where he appeared on the streets in the gorgeous raiment of a man of fashion. Governor Bellomont happened to meet him, recognized him, arrested him and shipped him to Europe. Kidd was tried and convicted for the murder of William Moore—and was hanged as a pirate.

In the meantime Bellomont deplored the legacy his predecessor, Fletcher, had left him: A divided people, an empty purse, a few miserable, naked, half-starved soldiers, not half the number the King allowed pay for; the fortifications and the governor’s house very much out of repair, and “in a word the whole government was out of frame.” The province was rent with turmoil and turbulence in consequence of the Leisler-Milborne rebellion. The new governor’s sympathies had been drawn toward the martyr Leisler, whose enemies in the aristocratic party resisted almost to the point of violence Bellomont’s efforts to make restitution for a monstrous crime. As a rebuke to the rascality of his predecessor Bellomont had declared: “I will take care there shall be no misapplication of the public money; I will pocket none of it myself nor shall there be embezzlement by others.” To this standard he unflinchingly held. No breath of scandal, no charge of prostitution of duty for self-aggrandizement tainted his reputation. He loyally protected the interests of those whom he was sent to govern. He was distinctively a statesman of the constructive school, in marked contradistinction to many of those governors who preceded and who followed him, who pursued a policy of confiscation or of destruction—of confiscation in grabbing everything in sight and of destruction by undermining the liberties of the people and by attempted restriction of their God-given rights. Under Bellomont’s short administration the frontiers were strengthened, a library was established, printing was encouraged, shipping promoted and education, which had been neglected, stimulated. His untimely death, however, prevented the development of many beneficent reforms which he had under contemplation.

Under the cloak of politics repressive religious measures were adopted and inhuman persecutions practised. Dongan, an Irish Catholic, favored an act permitting Jews to exercise their religion, but the New York Common Council vetoed the proposition, while Bellomont, an Irish church of England worshipper, approved the measure proscribing priests, on the ground that Catholic prelates uniformly labored to excite the Indians against the Anglo-Americans. Both governors recommend themselves to posterity for enlightened statesmanship that throws into deep obscurity the times in which they lived. Dongan brought to the province of New York the first semblance of a representative form of government; under Lord Bellomont the first spark of American Independence flashes, by the demand that the colonists repudiate the laws of England because the colonists are not represented in the parliament that frames these laws. The board of trade of London directs Bellomont to check this heresy because “the independence the Colonists thirst for is so notorious.”

During the Colonial epoch England assigned many men to govern New York. The governor possessed unlimited despotic powers. He exercised authority denied to the King. He not only made the laws but interpreted and executed them, and when necessary unmade them. He usurped the prerogatives of the Assembly and of the courts; his council was merely an aggregation of automatons who danced when he pulled the string. No act of the Assembly was placed on the statute book without his signature and no decision of the court was valid until he, as chief justice, passed judgment, and in this respect he exercised powers denied to the King, for his Majesty, while permitted to sit on the king’s bench, was prohibited from expressing judgment. There were two governors of early New York who never have been brought under the ban of usurping the functions of the coördinate branches of government nor of debasing the powers confided to them by their superiors, Thomas Dongan and the Earl of Bellomont. No charge ever has been brought that they carried away money unworthily raised or dishonestly made. Nor has either ever been accused of using his high position for unmeritorious or discreditable purposes. Both, however, have received the encomiums and praise of historians of England and America as rulers and statesmen of the highest degree of efficiency and honesty at a time when the standard of morals and of statesmanship was lamentably low and unquestionably debased. Toward both every Irishman and every New Yorker should turn with sentiments of the strongest esteem and admiration of the highest calibre, not only in commendation of the success they gained in the fulfillment of official obligations in the face of discouraging and corrupt environment, but for the sturdy and sterling manhood they displayed in the maintenance of their official honor and in the normal performance of their official duty.

In this connection it may not be amiss for us to pay a deserved tribute to Dr. Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan, a native of Ireland, who was more instrumental in awakening the study of the Dutch language and of our priceless Dutch records than any other man since the creation of the State of New York. Dr. O’Callaghan represented the type of the pushing, aggressive and scholarly Irishman. Two years of his early life were devoted to the study of medicine in Paris. At the age of twenty-six he crossed the ocean, settled in Canada and at once became prominent in the agitation for Catholic emancipation in Ireland and England. He became secretary of an organization for Irish immigrants to America, edited a newspaper in Montreal, and was sent to the Provincial Parliament, where his activity and ability placed him in the front rank as a leader. His radical views and conduct, however, brought a mob of tories to his office and led to the destruction of his type, press and establishment. His neighbors, however, made it so unpleasant that he was compelled to seek refuge in the United States when he was forty years of age. He established his residence in Albany, was fortunate in the selection of his most intimate friend, Chancellor Reuben Hyde Walworth, practised his profession with more or less success, and at the same time conducted an industrial paper called the _Northern Light_. It was at this period that, during the anti-rent disturbances, he undertook the study of the Dutch language. His “History of New Netherlands” made him famous and stimulated the study of Colonial records and Colonial research throughout the United States.

HONORABLE JAMES FITZGERALD.

Justice of Supreme Court of the State of New York.
]

THE SIXTY-NINTH REGIMENT, NEW YORK CITY.

_A Paper Read before the American-Irish Historical Society, at its Twelfth Annual Meeting, Held at the Hotel Plaza, New York City, Saturday, January 8, 1910, by Hon. James Fitzgerald, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York._

The patriotic founders of our government looked with disfavor upon the existence of large standing armies in times of peace for very many reasons. Not only did they consider them a tax upon industry and a drain upon the young manhood of the country, but they felt that their maintenance constituted a menace to liberty, and yet these wise and far seeing builders of the Republic realized that there could be no security for personal liberty or property rights in a State that had not at its command an armed force, and so we find imbedded in the fundamental law a provision that “a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” (Art. 2, 1st Amendts. U. S. Const. March, 1789). Freedom had just been achieved by the sword, and that reliance for its preservation must at all times rest upon arms was a doctrine to which the statesmen of the Revolution unreservedly subscribed. Soldiers were necessary but it was not necessary that all good soldiers should be professionals. To citizens engaged in the ordinary avocations of life, in industrial arts, in commercial pursuits, in commerce or trade, in the professions, military instruction could be given, opportunities for practice and drill formations afforded, including lessons in the organization and mobilization of armies, so that when necessity required, a well disciplined armed body might be readily summoned from civil ranks for service in the field and as readily absorbed back into industrial life when the hour of peril had passed, the threatened danger had been averted and the emergency no longer existed for martial music, emblazoned banners, marching legions and tented fields.

Since the earliest settlement of this continent, the Irish race has been prominently identified with our history. Irishmen were among the first settlers; they continued to come uninterruptedly, they are still coming, and unless conditions change very much for the better in the Green Isle, they are going to keep on coming in the future. The spirit of Irish-Americanism is a spirit of intense Americanism; it stands for the Union of States, the sovereignty of the flag, obedience to the laws, loyalty to the government, good citizenship in peace, and in war, prompt response when volunteers are called for. Volumes would be insufficient to spread the record of the achievements of the sons of Erin upon American battlefields; individuals might be cited by the score or by the hundred whose intrepidity and devotion shed glory upon our arms on sea and shore.

The Constitution of the State of New York, adopted April 20, 1777, contained the clause: “The militia of this State at all times hereafter, as well in peace as in war, shall be armed, disciplined and ready for service.” The necessary enactments to carry out this provision were provided for by legislation the following year. (Chap. 33. “An Act for regulating the Militia of the State of New York.” Passed April 3, 1778; Chap. 46, An Act to amend an act entitled “An Act for regulating the Militia of the State of New York.” Passed June 30, 1778.) Outside of a few cities, while the militia force was large upon paper, it was in reality but a mere skeleton. Until at the end of 1860, there were less than 15,000 men uniformed, disciplined and drilled, or in any sort of readiness for military duty, and this meagre force was chiefly confined to the cities of New York and Brooklyn, with contingents at Kingston and Albany.

The first record of the 69th Regiment of New York City is the order issued by the Adjutant General, bearing date November 1, 1851, and designated “General Order 489.” This order provided for the consolidation into a single regiment of a number of independent companies which had been separately organized prior to that time chiefly by men of Irish birth or parentage. About this period, owing to the vast volume of immigration in the preceding decade, New York contained the largest Irish population of any city in the world, and from the first, the 69th became identified in the public mind as a regiment composed of Irishmen. Among its early officers appear the names of some men who were well-known in connection with the Young Ireland movement, which had culminated but a few years previously. Its first commander was Colonel Charles S. Roe, who served until 1854, and was succeeded by Colonel James B. Ryan, who was followed August 26, 1859, by the gallant and beloved Col. Michael Corcoran. The regiment crept early into the affections of the people of the metropolis and was beloved by the Irish residents. Its distinctive character was manifested in numerous and emphatic ways,—sometimes by the wearing of green faced tunics, at others by the display of plumes showing the green above the red, the carrying of the Irish flag, or other similar devices. It had usually the right of the line in the St. Patrick’s Day parades, and in all functions in which it participated, its approach was heralded by the strains of well-known Irish music. It rapidly became the typical Irish military organization of the country, and for its success or failure, the children of the race throughout the Union felt themselves responsible.

In 1860, the then Prince of Wales—now Edward VII, King of Great Britain—visited the United States, and was scheduled to arrive in New York City on Thursday, October 11, of that year. The First Division, New York State Militia, was ordered out to receive him and directed to form at the Battery for the purpose of parade and review. All the regiments of the Division with the exception of the Sixty-ninth Regiment, assembled at the time and place appointed for the formation. The order received by Colonel Corcoran from headquarters was not promulgated, and he was immediately ordered under arrest and a court martial summoned to try him upon a charge of disobedience of orders. This circumstance fixed firmly in the public mind the race and sentiments of the commander and the men of the 69th.

April 12, 1861, witnessed the firing upon Fort Sumter, and on the 15th, President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling out the militia of the several states to the number of 75,000 men, and five days thereafter, the court martial which had been ordered to try Colonel Corcoran was dissolved, the pending charges were dismissed, and he was at once restored to his command. The order dismissing the charges, which bears date, April 20, 1861, is designated Special Order No. 9, and reads as follows:

“In pursuance of Special Orders No. 58 from General Headquarters, the
Court Martial detailed for the trial of Colonel Corcoran is dissolved,
and the charges dismissed, and Colonel Corcoran is directed forthwith
to resume the command of his regiment.

“By order of
“CHARLES W. SANFORD,
“_Major-General_.

“GEORGE W. MORELL,
“_Div. Eng’r. and Div. Insp’r._”

Colonel Corcoran at once resumed command of the regiment and issued General Order No. 1, an historic order concluding with the words: “The Commandant feels proud that his first duty after being relieved from a long arrest is to have the honor of promulgating an order to the regiment to rally to the support of the Constitution and Laws of the United States.” Within twenty-four hours from the posting of this order, six thousand men had volunteered, but the instructions of Governor Morgan prohibited the enlistment of more than the regimental compliment of one thousand men. The twenty-third of April, 1861, dawned bright and clear, but warmer than usual at that season, over the Empire City; apprehension and gloom prevailed throughout the country; ten sovereign states had formed a powerful confederacy and were in armed revolt against the authority of the Federal Government. Many of the ablest soldiers and statesmen of the Republic had taken their stand against the Union; the timid were upon the verge of panic, and misgivings and uncertainty were paralyzing even the resolute and strong. Under such circumstances, faithful and loyal, the gallant Sixty-ninth Militia assembled in Prince Street, near the then St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Cathedral of the great Archbishop of New York, the Most Reverend John Hughes, and proceeded thence to the rendezvous at Great Jones Street. Hope was given to the hearts of the good people of this city as they witnessed the spirit displayed by this brave body of citizen soldiery, and when at the appointed hour, the order to march was sounded and the regiment proceeded down Broadway to the strains of martial music, the surging multitude that lined the streets, the myriad spectators that filled the windows along the route to Cortlandt Street broke into continuous cheers. Twin flags floated everywhere on that day. Twin banners were carried by the regimental standard bearers—the flag of Columbia with all its stars emblazoned on its field of blue, the green banner of Erin with the harp uncrowned. The regiment boarded the Steamer “James Adger,” at Pier 4, North River, reached Annapolis on the twenty-sixth of April, and proceeding up the Potomac to Washington by Steamer “Marion,” was mustered into the service of the United States on May 9 for three months. The following is a list of the field, staff and company commanders at this time:

FIELD AND STAFF.

Colonel—Michael Corcoran, Commanding.
Lieutenant Colonel—Robert B. Nugent.
Major—James Bagley.
Adjutant—John McKeon.
Chaplain—Rev. Thomas Mooney.
Engineers—Hon. John H. McCunn, James B. Kirker.
Surgeon—Dr. James L. Kiernan.
Assistant Surgeon—Robert Johnson.
Quartermaster—Joseph B. Tully.
Paymaster—Martin Kehoe.

COMPANY COMMANDERS.

Company “A”—Captain Haggerty.
Company “B”—Captain Lynch.
Company “C”—Captain Cavanagh.
Company “D”—Captain Clark.
Company “E”—Captain Kelly.
Company “F”—Captain Breslin.
Company “G”—Captain Duffy.
Company “H”—Captain James Kelly.

On the 22nd of May a body of three hundred men, known as Meagher’s Zouaves, recruited after the regiment’s departure, joined Colonel Corcoran at the Capitol City. At midnight on the 23d of May the 69th, together with the 5th Massachusetts, the 28th New York, and a detachment of regular cavalry, crossed the Aqueduct Bridge at Georgetown into Virginia. On the following morning the regiment began the construction of Fort Corcoran, which, with Fort Runyon, constituted the first regular works erected by Federalist forces at the beginning of the Civil War, and the ceremonies attending the raising of the flag on the occasion were participated in by Colonel Corcoran, Colonel David Hunter and Captain Thomas Francis Meagher, two of whom subsequently attained the rank of Brigadier General (Corcoran and Meagher) and the third of whom (Hunter) afterwards became a Major General. The 69th, together with the 79th and 13th New York and 2d Wisconsin regiments, and a Battery of Light Artillery, U. S. A., composed the 3d Brigade of the 1st Division of McDowell’s Army, having for its Brigade Commander Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman, of the 13th U. S. Infantry, whose distinguished achievements in after years elevated him to foremost rank among the great Captains of history. Brigadier General Daniel Tyler commanded the division.

On July 21st, the regiment participated in the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). Col. Corcoran was wounded and fell into the hands of the Confederates. The regiment lost one hundred and fifty of its members, among them its gallant Acting Lieutenant Colonel James Haggerty, of whom the eloquent Meagher said: “No braver soldier was ever produced by the land of Sarsfield and Shields.” The three months period of service having expired, the 69th Regiment, New York State Militia, was mustered out of the United States service August 3, 1861, and returned to New York City, resuming its position as a militia regiment of the State. The time for which the regiment had been called into service had ended but the great war had only fairly begun, and President Lincoln having issued his call for 500,000 men for three years or the war, about 800 of the returned militiamen volunteered to re-enlist, and on August 30, 1861, under orders from the War Department, the 69th Regiment, New York Volunteers, was formed. Robert Nugent was selected as Colonel; James Kelly, Lieutenant Colonel; and James Cavanagh, Major. This regiment was rapidly recruited to full strength, and so many additional recruits presented themselves that it was decided to organize a brigade. The 63d and 88th Regiments, together with the 14th and 15th Independent Batteries, New York Light Artillery, in furtherance of this design, were immediately formed. The organization of the brigade was entrusted to Thomas Francis Meagher, who, on February 6, 1862, assumed its command as Brigadier General. This gifted and daring soldier and patriot, the Commander of the Irish Brigade, will ever be remembered as a conspicuous figure of his time. In his early manhood, by gift of genius, he had leaped to foremost rank among public men in his native isle. He had pleaded the doctrine of armed resistance to tyranny with an inspired eloquence and had defied the might of his country’s oppressors by participating in an insurrection; he had been condemned to death and had suffered a long imprisonment. The electric eloquence of the peroration of a speech delivered by him in Conciliation Hall in Dublin in 1846, during the Repeal agitation, caused him to be referred to thereafter as “Meagher of the sword.” His fidelity to the warlike principles advocated in his youth on behalf of Ireland was demonstrated by gallant conduct in many of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War, and well established his title to high rank among the soldier sons of a fighting race. To tell the story of the Irish Brigade would be to recite the history of the Civil War. It participated rapidly in the Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31st; Gaines Mill, June 28th; Savage Station, June 29th; Peach Orchard, White Oaks Swamp, Glendale, June 30th; and Malvern Hill, July 1st, marching thereafter to Newport News, and proceeding by transports and on foot to Falmouth, Alexandria, Arlington Heights, Falls Church, Fairfax Court House and Centreville, crossing the Potomac at Chain Bridge, and marching to Tenallytown, Rockville and Frederick City, Maryland, crossing South Mountain to Antietam, participating in that battle and leaving two hundred and one of its members either killed or wounded to testify to the character of the resistance offered by these sons of the Gael to the rebel line in front of the “Bloody Lane.” On December 13th the regiment constituting part of Meagher’s Brigade took part in the desperate attempt to carry the impregnable position of the Confederate forces on Marye’s Heights at Fredericksburg. The valor displayed by the officers and men on this memorable day must dwell forever in the memory of mankind. Inspired by the traditions of the old brigades, the brigades of O’Brien, Dillon, Lally, Sarsfield, the brigades of Landen, Ramilles and Fontenoy; aroused by the burning eloquence and encouraged by the intrepid daring of their fearless leader; mindful of the wrongs which exiled them from their native shores; grateful to the free, fair land that welcomed them to home and liberty, there was no danger too great for them to face, no suffering too severe to endure, no odds too overwhelming to encounter. Five hundred and forty-five soldiers of the Irish Brigade fell in that heroic charge in that most bloody quarter of a mile ever dashed over by armed men in the annals of civilized warfare. The testimony of the _London Times_ correspondent will be regarded at least as not coming from an unduly partial source. This is his description of the charge of the Irish Brigade: “Never at Fontenoy, Albuera, nor at Waterloo was more undaunted courage displayed than during those six frantic dashes which the Irish Brigade directed against the almost impregnable position of their foe. That mortal man could have carried the position, defended as it was, seems idle for a moment to believe, but the bodies which lie in dense masses within forty-eight yards of the muzzles of Colonel Walton’s guns are the best evidence of what manner of men they were who pressed onto death, with the dauntlessness of the race which has gained glory on a thousand battlefields and never more richly deserved it than at the foot of Marye’s Heights on the 13th day of December, 1862.” In his official report General Meagher says: “Of the 1,200 men I took into action, only 280 appeared on parade next morning.”

To the achievements of Meagher’s Brigade must be added a reference to the gallant services of the renowned Corcoran Legion, for, in simple justice, all of the regiments composing the Brigade and the Legion must be regarded as branches of the parent tree, the root of which was the old 69th Regiment of ’51, which has continuously flourished so far for nigh a decade more than a full half century. The exchange of Colonel Corcoran as a prisoner of war was effected through the instrumentality of President Lincoln, August 15, 1862, more than a year after his having fallen into Confederate hands, and he was at once commissioned Brigadier General, with rank and pay dating from the day of his capture over a year before. His reception upon his return to the City of New York was most enthusiastic, he having endeared himself to its people, not only by his brilliant and daring actions in the field, but by his heroic conduct in refusing liberty upon the condition that he would not again take up arms in his country’s cause. The Legion was at once organized and was composed of the 155th, 164th, 170th and 69th (subsequently changed to the 182d to avoid confusion) Regiments, New York Volunteers. General Corcoran reported with his command to General John A. Dix, at Fortress Monroe, in November, 1862. The Legion was in active service for nearly three years and participated in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, among them Suffolk, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Reams Station and Port Hudson. Upon these and other fields it served and fought, lavish of blood, reckless of life, mindful only of the honor of the race and the preservation of our glorious Union of States. After Fredericksburg, the remnant of the 69th Regiment continued in the service, fought at Chancellorsville May 3d, 1863, and at Gettysburg July 1st, upon whose historic ground a beautiful Celtic Cross has since been erected by the State of New York as a testimonial of appreciation of the splendid services rendered to the Union cause by the Irish Brigade and of the heroism, sacrifice and patriotism of its members.

After Gettysburg, recrossing the Potomac, the regiment participated in actions at Auburn Ford, Bristow Station and the Mine Run Campaign. By this time it was practically wiped out and returned to New York City January 2, 1864, where it was recruited nearly up to its original strength and returned to the front. On May 4th, crossing the Rapidan, it took part in the Battle of Spottsylvania, May 8, where it met with heavy loss. It was again in action May 27th at Totopotomoy Creek, and at Cold Harbor on June 3d. It later participated in the siege of Petersburg. Colonel Nugent, who had commanded the regiment through the greater part of its long campaigning, was again with it at Hatchers Run, Five Forks, Southerland Station, South Side Railroad, Amelia Springs, Farmville, and down to Appomattox, April 9, 1865.

When General Grant determined upon demanding the surrender of the Confederate forces, the first communication upon this subject was carried by Colonel Nugent to an officer of General Lee’s Army. This famous order was as follows:

“April 7, 1865.

“_General_:

“The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of
further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in
this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift
from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by
asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States
Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

“(Signed) U. S. GRANT,
“_Lieutenant General_.”

Thus from Bull Run to Appomattox, from the firing upon Sumter to the fall of Richmond, the 69th Regiment was in continuous service, participating in all the decisive battles of a four years’ war unsurpassed in magnitude and fierceness. When mustered out of the service, after passing in the grand review at the National Capitol, May, 1865, with decimated ranks and shattered banners, it could claim the proud record of never having disobeyed an order, of never having lost a flag. In Fox’s Regimental Losses in the Civil War the 69th heads the roll of regiments recruited in the Empire State in the number of killed and wounded.

By Chap. 477, L. 1862, passed April 23, entitled “An Act to provide for the enrollment of the Militia, the organization and discipline of the National Guard of the State of New York, and for the public defense,” the uniformed and equipped militia of the State became recognized as the National Guard. The 69th Militia as the 69th regiment, National Guard, entered the service of the United States in May of that year and served until the September following, when it was mustered out. It was again in the service of the United States for the thirty days between June 25th and July 25th, 1863, and again in 1864, it was mustered into the service of the general government for three months, or until October of that year. Colonel Bagley was in command of the regiment during these years and until February, 1866, when General Martin T. McMahon was selected to succeed him. This distinguished citizen soldier merits more than passing notice. He, with two of his brothers, served with distinction during the great war; one of them—John Eugene McMahon, Colonel of the 164th Regiment, New York Volunteers, Corcoran Legion, died of disease contracted in the service in March, 1863, and the other, James Powers McMahon, who after serving as Lieutenant Colonel of the 155th New York Volunteers, was selected to succeed his deceased brother as Colonel of the 164th. This daring soldier was killed in action at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, while planting the colors of his regiment on the breastworks of the enemy, in the midst of a hailstorm of bullets, and performing “as proud a feat of arms” as was ever recorded in history. The following extract of a letter from General Thomas Francis Meagher shortly preceding his death describes in glowing words the heroism of James P. McMahon, at Cold Harbor:

“Next came the news that McMahon—planting his colors with his own hands on the enemy’s works—planting them there with a boldness worthy of the grand soldier name he bore, and which perhaps the recollection of the Malakoff and its Irish Conqueror may have inspired, was stricken down by the bullets he so splendidly defied. Who of the old Brigade—the favorite Brigade of Sumner and Richardson—can forget the dashing, handsome, indefatigable soldier, with his strictly defined features, oftentimes with the enthusiasm, sometimes with the scorn and haughtiness of a true blooded Celt, with a heart for hospitality, with a soul for glory, and scorn and sarcasm for what was mean, and a quick look and blow for what was treacherous—who can forget his fine bearing, erect and graceful, his rare heartiness, the decisive character of his intellect, his high pride, his humor, his physical activity, all those healthy and superior gifts which made him a soldier at the start, and qualified him even in the first hours of boyhood to be a conspicuous exponent of his martial race and kindred—who can forget all this whenever that grand picture of McMahon, planting the colors of his regiment in the face of the fire storm, and foot to foot with the desperate foe, is spoken of in the Camp and by the Survivors of the Irish Brigade of the Army of the Potomac?”

The survivor of these three young Irish American brothers, General Martin T. McMahon, had a distinguished career alike in civil and in military life. He was appointed Captain and Aide-de-Camp on the Staff of General George B. McClellan, October 25, 1861, and on the 29th of October, 1862, became Adjutant and Chief of Staff of the 6th Army Corps, successively commanded by Colonels W. B. Franklin, John Sedgwick, and Horatio G. Wright. He was brevetted Colonel August 1st, 1864, and Brigadier and Major General, March 13, 1865. In civil life General McMahon was most distinguished; he was a member of the Bar of the State of New York, of recognized standing and ability for a great many years, and served as a public officer in the National, State and City Governments with ability and integrity, winning general public approval. He was appointed United States Minister to Paraguay in 1868, and was subsequently Corporation Attorney of New York City, Receiver of Taxes, and in 1885 was appointed by President Cleveland United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York. He served in the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York, and at the time of his lamented death on April 21, 1906, was a Judge of the Court of General Sessions, the highest court of exclusive criminal jurisdiction. His honored remains were accorded soldierly sepulchre in the National Cemetery at Arlington, where thousands of his comrades of war’s dread days rest peacefully, awaiting the trumpet of the resurrection, and over whose arched entrances are engraven the touching lines of the hero-poet:

On fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

A splendid type of an American and a true scion of the stock that has furnished statesmen and soldiers to many lands and had given to the Second French Empire its ablest Marshal, and to the Republic of France a President, whose fame is so universal that a single descriptive word would be superfluous.

General McMahon’s successor was Colonel James Cavanagh, a veteran of one hundred fields, known to many of us and beloved by all, who was retired December 1st, 1893, with brevet rank of Brigadier General, who was followed in command by Colonel George Moore Smith, August 9, 1895, who, on July 1, 1901, was commissioned Brigadier General, and in October following was assigned to the command of the First Brigade of the National Guard.

The breaking out of the War with Spain in the Spring of 1898 afforded another opportunity for the conspicuous display of the spirit of valor and loyalty that at all times animates the officers and men of the 69th. Major General Roe, the commander of the National Guard of the State of New York, at that time was desirous of ascertaining the number of members in the different regiments that could be relied upon to volunteer for service beyond the territorial boundaries of the State, and directed the various regimental commanders to question their officers and men upon the subject. Lieutenant Colonel Edward Duffy was then in command of the 69th, and his answer was immediate and characteristic: “The 69th will volunteer to a unit to serve anywhere that the country might require its services.” Upon his return to the Armory after this interview with General Roe, Colonel Duffy issued Order No. 47, which bears date April 1st, 1898, and contains the following stirring words:

“The Commanding Officer, mindful of the record and traditions of the
regiment, rests assured of the enthusiastic support and co-operation
of every member, and takes occasion to impress upon all the necessity
for the vigorous recruiting of the different companies, so that our
ranks may be swelled to full numbers. The example of our heroic
predecessors of 1861 should be always before us, and it should be our
pride to emulate their glorious conduct if called upon to vindicate
the nation’s honor and defend in any quarter the flag of our country.”

The strength of the regiment at this time was thirty-one officers and five hundred and twenty-nine enlisted men. On the 28th of April Colonel Duffy received authority to recruit the regiment to twelve companies of three officers and eighty-one men each, and so rapidly was this work performed, that on the 2d of May the regiment left its armory for Camp Black, Hempstead Plains, Long Island, with full ranks, and was mustered into the service of the United States on May 19th following, on which occasion it was presented with a stand of colors by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the City of New York. Describing the scene of this presentation in _The Criterion_ the distinguished Irish-American dramatist, poet and journalist, Joseph I. C. Clarke,[4] said:

“The deeper notes in the diapason of history vibrate in us, and Irish
brigades of other centuries and other lands seem once more enacting
their outlined braveries beneath many skies, under many banners
fluttering in a breeze as fresh as that blowing cool and damp in our
faces now. In a good round voice a civilian orator, Judge Fitzgerald,
is telling without oratorical periphrase what the gathering means. His
sentences tell clearly that the thousand men before him love the great
land of their adoption, the great State that sends them forth and the
land that gave them or their fathers birth—a Shamrock of love, he says
poetically. As he speaks, flag after flag is unfurled—first the red,
white and blue of the Stars and Stripes, eagle crowned; next the white
figured flag of the State of New York, and last the green sunburst
flag of Ireland, surmounted by a gold pikehead, all brave and
beautiful, and each one flapping and whipping from its staff like a
great tropical bird first trying its bright wings upon the wind. Cheer
upon cheer rises from the crowd, and rolls back as in echo from the
regiment. Colonel Duffy salutes, and says briefly that his regiment
thanks the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick for their silken gift, and
says for his men that they will carry the flags to the war with pride
and bring them home without stain. It is all very simple and in
proportion touching.”

The regiment left Camp Black, on Hempstead Plains, for Chickamauga, under orders to report to General John R. Brooke, of the United States Army, at that point, and its march through the City of New York on May 24th was a memorable and notable event. The _New York Herald_ of the succeeding day said:

“Not since the stirring days of ‘ ’61’ has New York so thrilled with
patriotic fervor as it did yesterday, when the 69th Regiment marched
through the city on its way to the front. If they had been
battle-scarred heroes of one hundred fights, Colonel Duffy and his
boys could not have received a more enthusiastic welcome than that
which greeted them. From East to West through the city they marched
amid a flourish of flags, and the tramp of their feet was lost in the
cheers that roared from tens of thousands of throats. Fifth Avenue and
Tenth Avenue united in enthusiasm. Truck drivers and longshoremen did
not shout louder than bankers and clubmen, and the fluttering flags in
Fifth Avenue were not less numerous than the banners that waived from
factories and tenements.”

Sub-joined is a list of the officers composing the Field, Staff and Line of the Regiment as it marched through the City on that bright May day, when, after thirty-five years of peace, the dark shadow of war again clouded the horizon of the Republic.

FIELD AND STAFF.

Colonel—Edward Duffy.

Lieutenant Colonel—Joseph L. Donovan.

Majors—Thomas F. Lynch, Michael J. Spellman, Edward T. McCrystal.

Adjutants—John A. Davidson, May 2–Nov. 19th; Granville T. Emmet, Sept.
21–Jan. 31st.

Quartermaster—James M. Cronin, May 2–Oct. 17th.

Surgeons—George D. Ramsey, Francis L. Oswald.

Assistant Surgeons—John H. Fuchsius, Robert M. Daly.

Chaplain—Rev. William J. B. Daly.

Co. “A”—Michael Lynch, Captain; Patrick M. Harran, 1st Lieut.; William
F. Guilfoyle, 2d Lieut.

Co. “B”—Peter W. Maguire, Captain; John J. Henry, 1st Lieut.; Martin
L. Crimmins, 2d Lieut.; Martin O’Neill, 2d Lieut.

Co. “C”—John J. Kennedy, Captain; Patrick J. McKenna, 1st Lieut.;
Felix McSherry, 2d Lieut.

Co. “D”—James Plunket, Captain; James J. Tuite, 1st Lieut.;
Christopher H. R. Woodward, 2d Lieut.

Co. “E”—Michael J. Ryan, Captain; John F. Bolger, 1st Lieut.; John P.
Scanlan, 2d Lieut.

Co. “F”—Anthony J. Griffin, Captain; Phillip E. Reville, 1st Lieut.;
James H. Little, 2d Lieut.

Co. “G”—John E. Duffy, Captain; Bernard F. Cummins, 1st Lieut.;
William J. Costigan, 2d Lieut.

Co. “H”—Daniel C. Devlin, Captain; Timothy H. Leary, 1st Lieut.;
William W. Bryant, 2d Lieut.

Co. “I”—Charles Healy, Captain; Patrick J. Mollohan, 1st Lieut.;
Daniel P. Sullivan, 2d Lieut.

Co. “K”—Daniel McCarthy, Captain; Francis J. Keaney, 1st Lieut.;
Edward P. Gilgar, 2d Lieut.

Co. “L”—Hugh J. Barron, Captain; Francis J. Cronin, 1st Lieut.;
William J. P. McCrystal, 2d Lieut.

Co. “M”—John J. Roche, Captain; John P. Devane, 1st Lieut.; Leo F.
Rooney, 2d Lieut.

May 27th the regiment arrived at Chickamauga and was attached to the 2d Division of the Third Army Corps, and on May 30th proceeded to Tampa, Florida, under orders to report to General Carpenter, and was assigned to the 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 4th Army Corps. June 5th it was placed in the 2d Brigade of the 3d Division, commanded by General Guy V. Henry, and was sent forward to Fernandina, Florida. The regiment was honored by visits from Governor Black of New York, Governor Shaw of Iowa, and Secretary of War Alger, and took part in the general review of the 4th Corps, at Huntsville, Alabama, September 23, 1898. Impressed with the appearance of the regiment upon this occasion, the Brigade Commander addressed the following note of congratulation to Colonel Duffy:

“_My dear Colonel_:

“I desire to express my admiration of the magnificent appearance made
by your regiment today. The Sixty-ninth is certainly a fine example of
the volunteer soldier, and you can well, with your brother officers,
feel proud of so efficient a regiment. Promptness is the foundation of
all military efficiency; your command was halted in position assigned
for the formation for review exactly on time. With best wishes for
yourself and splendid command.

“Respectfully,
“(Signed) JAMES RUSH LINCOLN,
“_Brigadier General Vols._”

The regiment remained in the service of the United States until the 31st of January, 1899, on which date it returned home and received a magnificent welcome, significantly demonstrative of the warm affection and pride in which its officers and men were held by the people of the City of New York. On the evening of this day the regiment was honorably mustered out of the service of the United States. Upon its discharge by the general government, the regiment at once resumed its former position in the National Guard of the State.

The cornerstone of the new Armory was laid April 23, 1904, the forty-fourth anniversary of the departure of the regiment for the Civil War. This splendidly equipped building, from a military standpoint, on the west side of Lexington Avenue, between 25th and 26th Streets, was completed within two years. It occupies the entire front on the Avenue, extending in depth over 300 feet, and is provided with every modern requirement. On October 13, 1906, the regiment left its old armory over Tompkins Market, and made its formal entry into its new home, on which occasion it was escorted by the 7th Regiment, the Old Guard, 1st and 2d Batteries of New York, and the 9th Regiment of Boston, that justly renowned Irish-American Military organization of the old Bay State.

At the Dinner given by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick on the evening of May 20, 1902, in honor of the representatives of the government of the French Republic, at the unveiling of the Rochambeau Statue at Washington, the delegates were escorted by the 69th to Delmonico’s. In response to a toast, Admiral Fournier of the French Navy said: “The 69th Regiment reminded me by its very appearance of a crack French regiment on parade.”

CAPTAIN JAMES CONNOLLY,

of Coronado, Cal.

Vice-President of the Society for California.
]

Again on the 17th of March, 1905, the regiment escorted the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt to the 121st Annual Dinner of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the first appearance of Mr. Roosevelt at any public function in his native city after his installation in the high office of President of the United States for the term for which he had been elected. In his address upon that occasion President Roosevelt said:

“I wish to express at the outset my special sense of obligation—and I
know that no one present will grudge me doing so—my special sense of
obligation to Colonel Duffy and the officers and men of the 69th, who
were my escort today. I shall write Col. Duffy later making formal
acknowledgment to the regiment of my appreciation, but I wish to
express it thus fully tonight.”

Colonel Duffy commanded the regiment during the Spanish War and for many years after its discharge from the service of the United States and return to its position in the National Guard of the State. He is entitled to great credit for the energy, industry and persistency with which he labored, happily successfully, to secure for the regiment the new armory into which he had the pleasure of leading it. Colonel Duffy enlisted as a private in Company “E,” June 3, 1867; promoted Corporal May 14, 1868; Sergeant, September 10, 1868; First Lieutenant, March 14, 1871; Regimental Adjutant, December 31, 1874; Major, September 10, 1875; Lieutenant Colonel, March 25, 1896; Colonel, April 13, 1898, and was brevetted Brigadier General August 14, 1903, for long and meritorious service, and after forty-two years of continuous service was retired, at his own request, in 1909, with the rank of Brigadier General, since which time the regiment has been under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Louis D. Conley, a young officer of experience and capacity, who is zealously laboring to maintain the high record of the regiment for efficiency.

A grave injustice has resulted for years owing to the defective records of the Adjutant General’s Office, no mention appearing therein of the services rendered during the Civil War by the 69th Volunteers of the Irish Brigade or of the Irish Legion. These omissions are about being supplied, as appears from the following letters, composing a part of a correspondence upon the subject, and as it is a most interesting matter of recent occurrence, I give them in full as kindly furnished me by the courtesy of Colonel Conley:

“SIXTY-NINTH REGIMENT INFANTRY NATIONAL GUARD, NEW YORK,

“68 Lexington Avenue,
“New York, December 17th, 1909.

“LIEUT.-COLONEL CHAUNCEY P. WILLIAMS, ALBANY, NEW YORK.

“_My dear Colonel Williams_:

“Under date of August 9th, 1909, we forwarded to the Adjutant General,
S. N. Y., a summary of the record of the regiment for insertion in the
official register, together with a list of engagements for which we
requested authority to place silver service rings on our colors.

“Receipt of our communication was acknowledged over your signature on
September 3, 1909, and further information was asked in regard to
certain engagements, and as to difference in dates of others. We sent
the required information through the channel on October 8th, 1909,
together with a revised list of engagements, and we have not heard
anything further in regard to the matter.

“We would like very much to have the matter adjusted in time to permit
of its being included in the official register for 1909, and to have
the required authority as to the silver rings published in orders
before the end of the year.

“Knowing your familiarity with the subject and feeling that had you
remained at General Headquarters the matter would have been favorably
acted upon by this time, I am taking the liberty to ask if you would
be kind enough to use your good offices with the Adjutant General to
have the matter approved before January 1, 1910.

“With best wishes, I am,
“Yours sincerely,
“(Signed) LOUIS D. CONLEY,
“_Lieut.-Colonel_.”

“HEADQUARTERS DIVISION NATIONAL GUARD, STATE OF NEW YORK, “CAPITOL,
ALBANY, December 20th, 1909.

“COLONEL LOUIS D. CONLEY, 69TH REGIMENT, N. G. N. Y., NEW YORK CITY.

“_My dear Colonel Conley_:

“I have just received your favor of the seventeenth instant, having
been on duty in New York City on Friday and Saturday last.

“I have submitted the matter to Captain Reagan, Adjutant General’s
Office, who has such subjects in hand, and he tells me that the record
has been accepted and will appear in the official register when
published, and that the authority for the silver rings will be
published in the next General Orders, which cover changes in
organization and in which I believe silver rings are generally
authorized.

“With best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, believe
me,

“Yours sincerely,
“(Signed) CHAUNCEY P. WILLIAMS.”

A separate silver engraved ring will be authorized to be placed upon the Lance of the National Color for each of the following engagements:

CIVIL WAR, 1861–1865.

Blackburn’s Ford, Va., July 18th, 1861.
Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861.
Rappahannock Station, Va., March 28, 29, 1862.
Yorktown, Va., April 16, May 4, 1862.
Fair Oaks, Va., June 1st, 1862.
Savage Station, Va., June 29, 1862.
Gaine’s Mills, Va., June 27–28th, 1862.
Peach Orchard, Va., June 29, 1862.
White Oaks Swamp, Va., June 30, 1862.
Glendale, June 30, 1862 (Va.).
Malvern Hill, Va., July 1st, 1862.
Antietam, Md., Sept. 17th, 1862.
Charlestown, W. Va., Oct. 16th–17th, 1862.
Snickers Gap, Va., Nov. 2d, 1862.
Hartwood Church, Va., Nov. 17th, 1862.
Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 11th–15th, 1862.
Deserted House, or Kelly’s Store, near Suffolk, Va., Jan. 30, 1863.
Suffolk, Va., April 11th–May 4th, 1863.
Chancellorsville, Va., May 1–3d, 1863.
Holland’s House, near Carrsville, Va., May 16, 1863.
Blackwater, Va., June 15th–18th, 1863.
Gettysburg, Pa., July 1–3d, 1863.
Auburn Mills, Va., Oct. 14, 1863.
Bristoe Station, Va., Oct. 14, 1863.
Mine Run, Va., Nov. 26, Dec. 2d, 1863.
Wilderness, Va., May 5–7th, 1864.
Po River, Va., May 9–10th, 1864.
Spottsylvania (angle), May 8–21st, 1864.
Landron House, Va., May 18, 1864.
North Anna River, Va., May 22–26th, 1864.
Totopotomoy Creek, Va., May 27–31, 1864.
Cold Harbor, Va., June 1–12th, 1864.
Petersburg (Assault), Va., June 16, 1864.
Welden Rail Road, Va., June 21–23–26–29th, 1864.
Deep Bottom, Va., July 27th–29th, 1864.
Strawberry Plains, Va., August 14–18th, 1864.
Reams Station, Va., August 25, 1864.
Boydtown Plank Road, Va., Oct. 27–28th, 1864.
Hatcher’s Run, Va., Dec. 8–9th, 1864.
Hatcher’s Run or Dabney’s Mills, Va., Feb. 5–7th, 1865.
Skinner’s Farm, Va., March 25, 1865.
Crow’s House near Petersburg, Va., March 31, 1865.
Hatcher’s Run, Va., March 31, 1865.
Siege of Petersburg, Va., June 17, 1864–April 2d, 1865.
Sutherland Sta. Boydtown Plank Rd., Va., April 2, 1865.
Sailor’s Creek, Va., April 6, 1865.
Farmville, Va., April 9, 1865.
Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9th, 1865.
And for the Spanish-American War, 1898.

Also on the Lance of the State Color for meritorious services, as follows: Quarantine Riots, 1858; Draft Riots, 1863; Fire Island, 1892; Brooklyn, 1895.

I am also indebted to Colonel Conley for the following copy of the Roster of the commissioned officers of the regiment at the present time (January 7th, 1910):

FIELD AND STAFF.

Lieut. Colonel Commanding—Louis D. Conley.

Majors—Michael Lynch, John E. Duffy, Philip E. Reville, F. L. Oswald.

Captains—John J. Phelan, Thomas F. McGuire, William M. Ford, Bernard
J. Glynn, John W. Elmes, Thomas J. Barry.

First Lieutenants—Patrick J. Mulcahy, Elwyn G. B. Riley, Felix A.
Donnelly.

Second Lieutenants—Percival E. Nagle, Rhinelander Waldo. Chaplain—Rev.
James D. Lennon.

LINE.

Captains—Co. “A,” Michael J. Dwyer; Co. “B,” Edmond M. Dillon; Co.
“C,” Felix J. McSherry; Co. “D,” John P. Everett; Co. “E,” John J.
Scanlon; Co. “F,” Patrick J. Maguire; Co. “G,” Bernard F. Cummings;
Co. “H,” W. Clayton Woods; Co. “I,” Charles Healy; Co. “K,’’ William
J. Costigan.

First Lieutenants—Co. “A,” William B. Stacom; Co. “C,” T. Harry
Shanton; Co. “E,” William E. Morris; Co. “F,” Michael A. Kelly; Co.
“G,” Edward Kirkpatrick; Co. “H,” Thomas J. O’Reilly; Co. “K,” James
E. Dillon.

Second Lieutenants-Co. “B,” Jeremiah A. O’Leary; Co. “C,” John E.
Chicquette; Co. “E,” James L. Doyle; Co. “G,” John E. O’Brien.

Any sketch of the 69th would be incomplete if it failed to call attention to the Veteran Corps, an organization which has always kept in close touch with the regiment and has done much for its welfare throughout all these years. Not many of the heroic followers of Corcoran and Meagher are within its ranks today, but a few, thank God, are still happily left among us. Each year their diminishing ranks are being still further thinned by the inexorable ravages of time. They are but few indeed, and all the more for this reason we delight in honoring them. Brave veterans, may you long be spared to illustrate by your simple lives the virtues of patriotism and courage, and to inspire the soldier sons of the Republic with a desire to emulate your daring and sacrifice. Captain O’Connell, the President of the Corps, has kindly furnished me with the names of the survivors at present upon the roll of those who followed the colors from ’61 to ’65:

Captain James J. Smith.
Captain John O’Connell.
Captain Garrett Nagle.
Captain John R. Nugent.
Captain Thomas M. Canton.
Lieutenant Richard R. Bermingham.
Sergeant John Lonegran.
Private John Kevill.
Private Thomas Smith.
Private Thomas Burns.
Private Richard Keyes.
Private Richard Finnan.
Private Patrick Barrett.
Private Charles E. Neilson.
Private John Fallon.