Joseph Brenan, Irish Rebel

The Young Ireland movement was started by young Irish revolutionaries who believed Daniel O’Connell was not doing enough. The Young Irelanders advocated the use of force if necessary, a step Daniel O’Connell long resisted. In 1846, the Young Irelanders seceded from O’Connell’s Repeal Association. Among those early rebels were William Smith O’Brien, Thomas Francis Meagher, future commander of the New York 69th Irish Brigade and John Mitchel, future Confederate States of America supporter. I previously wrote about Mitchel here.

Joseph Brenan, born in Cork city in 1828, also supported the Young Ireland movement. Brenan found inspiration in John Mitchel’s writings. The Young Irelanders organized a brief uprising in 1848. It was short-lived, but it scared the British authorities immeasurably. The firefight at Widow McCormack’s house occurred on July 29, 1848. Michael Nolan, an Irish native who had emigrated to New Orleans, then returned to his former home County Tipperary in August, 1848. 118 Young Irelanders were arrested in the days after the fight at McCormack’s house. Joseph Brenan was one of those arrested. Upon his release in 1849, he returned to his work for the Dublin Irishman, a militant nationalist newspaper. It was the Irishman that later published a lengthy obituary for Michael Nolan when he was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. See my prior post on Michael Nolan here.

Cappoquin

In September, 1848, some of the Young Irelanders, including Brenan, made plans to launch an uprising in Cappoquin, County Waterford. Brenan and Michal Cavanaugh launched an attack with pikes and firearms on the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks. Even in 1848, pikes were a more than obsolete weapon. One of the rebels was killed and one of the constables was piked to death. The rebels were repulsed, after which they retreated. The band then proceeded to Dungarvan, where the constables were cooperative. The British responded by sending the 7th Fusiliers Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers to Cappoquin. The rebels remained active for another two weeks, at which time they abandoned their efforts. The leaders were not arrested. The British only managed to arrest some of the participants. Brenan and Cavanaugh and others fled to America. [1]

An Exile’s Dream

Brenan first came to New York and worked for Horace Greeley on the Tribune. In October, 1851, now married, he moved to New Orleans to work on the New Orleans Daily/Weekly Delta, published by Denis Corcoran. He published one of his poems titled “An Exile’s Dream.” That poem ends with this stanza:

“I will seize my pilgrim staff and cheerily wander forth

            From the smiling face of the South to the black frown of the North;

            And in some hour of twilight, I will mount the tall Slievebloom,

            And weave me a picture-vision in the evening’s pleasant gloom;

            I will call up the buried leaders of the ancient Celtic race,

            And gaze with a filial fondness on each sternly noble face –

            The masters of the mind, and the chieftains of the steel,

            Young Carolan and Grattan, the McCaura and O’Neill;

            I will learn from their voices, with a student’s love and pride,

            To live as they lived, and to die as they died.

            Oh, I’ll sail from the West, and never more will part

            From the ancient home of my people – the land of the loving heart.

The Slieve bloom mountains are located in central Ireland. The references to “the O’Neill” and “the McCaura” refer to the ancient chiefs of those clans. The name Carolan likely refers to Turlough O’Carolan, said to be the last great harpist of the Gaelic order. Turlough O’Carolan died in 1738. The name Grattan surely refers to Henry Grattan, an Irish politician who supported freedom for the Irish Parliament during the late 1700’s. [2]

Escape from Van Diemen’s Land

Brenan became one of the leading Irishmen in New Orleans. He was President of a Committee that organized a welcome reception for John Mitchel after he escaped the penal colony in Australia, known as Van Diemen’s Land. Mitchel came to New Orleans in 1853. Brenan helped organize a similar reception for Thomas Francis Meagher when he also escaped the same penal colony. Meagher came to New Orleans in 1852. Meagher was received by the leading persons in New Orleans at the time: W.C.C. Claiborne, Barnard Marigny, Judah Benjamin, and by the leading Irishmen of the day: Maunsel White, J.C. Prendergast, and others. Meagher would one day command the famous 69th New York regiment – known as the Irish Brigade – during the Civil War. Brenan delivered a speech welcoming Meagher at the reception.  How things would change in just a few years between Meagher, Mitchel, and Brenan, if he had lived. [3]

An Ardent Secessionist

In 1853, Brenan contracted the yellow fever in one of the worst epidemics to hit the Crescent City. The treatment for the illness left him partially blind. Brenan loved the South. In March, 1857, he started a new newspaper, to be known as the Daily Times. The journal would focus on Southern interests, literature, and criticisms. Walter Hopkins, another former editor for the Delta assisted him. Brenan by this time had become an ardent secessionist. [4]

Brenan published a poem titled “A Ballad for the Young South.” The first stanzas went as follows:

“Men of the South! Our foes are up

In fierce and grim array;

Their sable banner laps the air

An insult to the day!

“The saints of Cromwell rise again,

In sanctimonious hordes,

Hiding behind the garb of peace

A million ruthless swords [5]

In early May, 1857, Brenan became ill. The treating physician reported that he would not recover. On May 28, 1857, the eloquent Irish patriot died of “consumption.” Joseph Brenan was described as an “esteemed friend” by the redoubtable J.C. Prendergast, Irish editor of the Daily Orleanian. Prendergast remarked that those best loved by God often die young. Prendergast lamented the loss of one so intelligent and so skilled with words. The young Brenan was buried in the old cemetery known as St. Louis. [6]

Brenan’s death left his family impoverished. He left a widow and two children. He had been out of work for some months when he passed. The Thespian Club of New Orleans organized a benefit to raise money for his family. It was held at the gaiety Theater in New Orleans and was well-attended. Even the New Orleans Times, not a particularly pro-Irish newspaper, donated several tickets. His family then moved to New York City, where Brenan’s old friend, Thomas Meagher was then living. [7]
 

See Brenan’s entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography here.

Notes:

[1] Anthony M. Breen, “Cappoquin and the 1849 Movement, History Ireland Issue 2 (Summer, 1999), vol. 7

[2] New Orleans Weekly Delta, Dec. 28, 1851, p. 6, col. 4; Dictionary of Irish Biography, entry regarding Joseph Brenan

[3] New Orleans Daily Picayune, Dec. 11, 1853, p. 4, col. 3; New Orleans Weekly Delta, July 4, 1852, p. 7, col. 1; Daily Orleanian, June 27 1852, p. 1, col. 2

[4] Baton Rouge Daily Advocate, March 19, 1857, p. 2, col. 3

[5] Bryan McGovern, “Young Ireland and Southern Nationalism” Irish Studies Issue 2, Article 5 (Celtic Studies, Kennesaw State Univ. 2016)

[6] Baton Rouge Daily Advocate, May 11, 1857, p. 2, col. 3; New Orleans Daily True Delta, May 29, 1957, p. 1, col. 2; New Orleans Daily Orleanian, May 29, 1857, p. 1, col. 1

[7] New Orleans Daily Orleanian, June 10, 1857, p. 1, col. 1; Daily Orleanian, June 13, 1857, p. 1, col. 1; Daily Orleanian, June 22, 1857, p. 1, col. 1

The Burning of Alexandria

The Yankees occupied New Orleans and its surrounding environs from April, 1862 until the end of the Civil War. In 1863, Gen. Nathaniel Banks left New Orleans to start an advance toward Shreveport. He hoped to seize the busy river port. He followed the Red River upstream. Banks joined with forces under Brig-Gen. Andrew Jackson Smith – who were detached to Banks for this campaign from Gen. Sherman’s army. But, the combined forces were defeated at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864. Banks then ordered a retreat. The troops under Brig-Gen. Smith had burned and looted the town of Meridan, Mississippi just a few weeks before. They appear to have brought their torches with them on this new campaign in north Louisiana. [1}
 

Brig-Gen. Smith was extremely angry about the retreat. Having served previously under Grant and Sherman, he chaffed under Banks’ timidity. He was heard loudly berating two of Banks’ division commanders. Too, the troops had arrived on this campaign from the outset determined to “deal their blows very heavily. The people will now be terribly scourged.” [2]

Napoleon P. Banks

Smith’s men were as upset as their commander. On the march back to their rendezvous point with the naval flotilla on the Red River, they sung a marching tune with a line saying they had to “skedaddle.” They sometimes ended their song with a loud yell “Napoleon P. Banks!” They started referring to Gen. Banks as “Mister Banks,” referring to his lack of military training. The retreat was difficult. The Confederate general, Richard Taylor had forces deployed to harry the head of the column, as well as the rear. The Union troops had to hurry to avoid missing the flotilla on the Red River. Nerves began to fray. Smith’s troops devastated the countryside, burning every habitation. They stole everything that could be carried. They applied the lessons they had learned in Meridian. They well-earned the name, “Smith’s gorillas.” Gen. Taylor would later write that the eastern troops, from New Orleans, tried to stop Smith’s troops, but were unsuccessful. Smith’s men continued to burn the world they found all the way to the town of Alexandria, Louisiana. [3]

Banks was not the typical field soldier. He was a politician. Adm. David Porter went to see Maj-Gen. Banks at his tent in the field. Porter was surprised at Banks’ opulent field furnishings. He wore a fine dressing gown, velvet cap. Comfortable slippers. He said his nightly ritual was reading Scott’s Tactics. [4]

In the line of march through Alexandria, another busy river port, Gen. Smith’s 10,000 troops brought up the rear. They were the last troops to pass through the town. After the battle of Mansfield, Gen. Banks was quite shaken. His soldiers aw that he had lost his composure. Banks’ control of his own men had greatly diminished. Brig-Gen. Smith gave serious thought to arresting Banks, but decided against it. [5]
 

The soldiers started burning before reaching Alexandria. The burning and looting continued when they reached the town. They burned literally every farm house and plantation between Shreveport and Alexandria, Louisiana. Alexandria, about midway between Baton Rouge and Shreveport was then a prosperous river town. The Unionists appeared to take particular delight in firing the town. [6]

Prepare the Place for Hell

Maj-Gen. Banks posted 500 cavalry in the town of Alexandria, to ensure there would be no mis-behavior. But, witnesses reported that those cavalrymen were often directing the burners themselves. Some union soldiers were smearing a mixture of turpentine and camphene (an early form of napalm) on buildings. One such soldier was heard to say they were “preparing the place for hell.” Pro-Unionists were attacked as much as the Confederate sympathizers. In three hours, the entire the entire city center ceased to exist. [7]

One Union soldier, Samuel Pincus, was present during the burning of Alexandria. He later returned to Alexandria after the war, settled, raised a family and lived there for the rest of his life. The St. James Episcopal Church submitted a claim to the U.S. government seeking reimbursement for the burning after the war. As part of that claim, Mr. Pincus submitted an affidavit. In his statement, Mr. Pincus said he saw soldiers of Brig-Gen. Smith’s 13th Army Corps – marching as a rear guard – torching houses near St. James. He said the fire from the houses near the church then spread to St. James. The church was given no reimbursement for the torching. [8]

Of course, Gen. Banks issued orders that no looting or burning would occur. But the orders were not enforced. As one Union soldier would write years later, “We were like the Israelites of old, accompanied by a cloud [of smoke] by day, and a pillar of fire by night.” One resident of Alexandria watched as the invaders poured in, helpless to stop them. They forced their way into every store, every house on Front street. The cases, windows, iron chests, shelves, and more were broken into and smashed. Officers and enlisted alike participated in the melee, grabbing whatever they could carry. The resident, E.R. Blossat watched, helpless to intervene, as two Federal privates grabbed the silver watch from his black servant. He then saw two Marines and a naval officer enter the Second Street home of Mrs. Caleb Taylor, grab the clock off her mantle, wrap it in her quilt and then dart out the door. Two other marines plundered the Episcopal church. [9]

Still a Rebel

A little boy of four years old, son of a Confederate captain, loudly proclaimed before a crowd of Yankees that he was a rebel. One of the soldiers then wrapped a rope around his neck and drew him up, choking the boy and asked if he was still a rebel. Gasping for breath, the toddler insisted he was indeed still a rebel. He was again drawn up. Some by-standers then insisted the soldier release the boy. [10]

The Catholic church, St. Francis Xavier, it is said, was almost burned during this infamous campaign. It was the only river front building that was not burned. The local legend holds that the priest, Father J.P. Bellier, saw the Federals approaching his church to set it afire. Disguising his voice to impersonate Gen. Banks, he ordered that the church be spared. The soldiers then left the church alone. See waymarking post here.

Twenty two blocks of the river port were burned. [11] Yes, the Federal troops violated the rules of war as they existed then and now.

Notes:

[1] 64 Parishes website, https://64parishes.org/burning-alexandria, accessed Jan. 2, 2026.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Gary D. Joiner, One Damn Blunder From Beginning to End (Lanham, Md.: SR Books 2004), p. 146, 153, 157.

[4] One Damn Blunder, p. 147

[5] 64 Parishes website.

[6] Walter Brian Cisco, War Crimes against Southern Civilians (Gretna, La.: Pelican Publ. 2016), p. 96.

[7] One Damn Blunder, p. 169.

[8] The Alexandria Daily Town Talk, Feb. 10, 2022

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] City of Alexandria website, https://www.alexandria-louisiana.com/alexandria-louisiana-history.htm. Accessed Jan. 2, 2026

John Mitchel, Twice a Rebel

One of the remarkable persons in Irish history was John Mitchel. He was born in northern Ireland in 1815, son of Unitarian clergyman. His father had been a United Irishman, meaning he supported the rebellion in 1798. John attended Trinity University in Dublin. He practiced as a solicitor until he became editor of the Nation, a newspaper in Dublin. He supported the repeal movement, which advocated repealing the union between Ireland and Britain. He became one of those young men who surrounded the Great Liberator, Daniel O’Connell. Mr. O’Connell’s overarching goal was to repeal the union, so Ireland would once again have its own parliament.

In 1846, Mitchel, Thomas Meagher, and others, separated themselves from Mr. O’Connell, believing his more peaceful methods were too slow.  They formed the Irish Confederation. Soon, Mitchel withdrew from that group, as well. He started a new newspaper, the United Irishmen. Issuing flaming rhetoric, he advocated violent change in Ireland. He called for a holy war to wipe the English name from the Irish isle. Within weeks, he was arrested. He was sentenced to 14 years transportation – meaning he would be exiled to the Australian colony.
 

Transportation

Soon, Thomas Meagher and other members of Young Ireland were also sentenced to transportation, which meant exile in Australia. They were allowed to live in the community on parole. Meagher, Mitchel and the other Young Irelanders became fast friends. With help from a friend from New York, Mitchel escaped and came to the U.S. He arrived in New York to a hero’s welcome. Bands played, crowds cheered, the Napper Tandy Light Artillery gave him a 31-gun salute. Within weeks, however, Mr. Mitchel offended his hosts. Mr. Mitchel never shrunk from controversy. He alienated the Irish born Archbishop, John Hughes for his support of the papacy’s temporal powers. He grievously offended abolitionists with his open support of slavery. Abolitionists tended to be Evangelical and puritan, which was antithetical to his Presbyterian views. And, many Abolitionists tended to be nativists who disliked the Irish immigrants. A friend suggested he be more judicious with his public pronouncements. He responded, “they might as well whistle jigs to a milestone.” Milestones were (and still are) those stones on English and Irish roadways marking the distance traveled.

Mr. Mitchel visited the South. He found their views on slavery consistent with his. He settled in Tennessee in 1855 and bought a farm. By 1857, he and his family were living in Knoxville, where Mitchel started a newspaper and earned money giving lectures. Mitchel’s views on slavery strengthened. He believed the Negro race was inferior, as did many so-called learned men of the day. He believed slavery was good for the slaves, as much for society in general. He started a newspaper advocating slavery and seeking to re-open the African slave trade. Even in the South at the time, most educated Southerners opposed the African slave trade on moral grounds. Some Southern newspapers denounced him and his views. They believed he was playing into the hands of the northern abolitionists. Mitchel believed the North was trying to impose its views on the South, just as England imposed its views on the Irish.

The U.S. Civil War

Mitchel went to Europe in 1859, thinking a breach between England and France might help Ireland. That hope did not materialize. He stayed in Paris. As the states began to secede in 1861, he approved. When war broke out in May, 1861, his two oldest sons enlisted. Mitchel returned to American in 1862 with his youngest son, Willie. Willie also wanted to join the Confederate cause.

They crossed over near Baltimore, evading Federal patrol boats. Willie immediately joined the First Virginia Infantry with one of his brothers, James. Mr. Mitchel himself tried to enlist, but was turned away due to near-sightedness. He did serve with an ambulance unit and performed occasional guard duty. John Mitchel then became the editor of the Richmond Daily Enquirer. He wrote scathing editorials of the Emancipation Proclamation and about Lincoln. He believed the proclamation would incite slaves to rebel, which would get them killed. He denounced Lincoln as the common enemy of “both black and white.”

When some generals, such as Robert E. Lee and Patrick Cleburne (another native of Ireland) supported making slaves soldiers in return for their freedom, Mitchel opposed the move. He noted, ironically we would say today, that if blacks could serve as soldiers, then Southern society had been wrong about slavery from the start. “Duh,” we might add today.

Battle of Fredericksburg

Mitchel’s old friend, Thomas Francis Meagher, became commander of the famed New York 69th Regiment, the Irish Brigade. At the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862, the Federal 69th Regiment faced off against the 1st Virginia Regiment with Willie and his brother, James. John Mitchel visited his sons and cursed his inability to participate. The Irish Brigade advanced over and over, lead often by Meagher himself, and were mown down. The 1st Virginia fell under Gen. Pickett. Pickett wrote his wife that as he watched their green flag advance again and again, “his heart almost stood still as he watched those sons of Erin . . . My darling, we forgot they were fighting us, and cheer after cheer at their fearlessness went up along our lines.” Meagher watched as some 90% of his brigade was killed or wounded.

In subsequent battles, Willie Mitchel was killed. The 1st Virginia under Gen. Pickett was there at the Battle of Gettysburg and suffered its own horrendous charge. Willie died bravely, seizing the colors as its bearer was about to fall. Although wounded, he carried the Regimental flag forward until he was cut down himself. John Mitchel wrote that Willie died in honorable company and could have asked for no more an enviable fate. Upon learning that a son of John Mitchel had fallen, Irish soldiers on the Union side made particular effort to look for his body, but did not locate it.

As the war dragged on, Mitchel became increasingly disillusioned with Jefferson Davis’ leadership, as did many Southerners. Moving to a second newspaper in 1863, Mitchel became a regular critic of Jeff Davis. He also wrote for some Irish newspapers. In a letter to the Nation in Dublin, he applauded the bravery of Irish soldiers fighting for the Union army. But, he added, they were dupes, fooled by false promises of land in the South and said they were fighting for a government that despised them.

As U.S. Grant assumed control of the Federal army, casualties mounted. John Mitchel’s ambulance unit saw carnage and horror. He observed the horror, but noted that he never saw cowardice and found delight as people were roused in this way, determined to meet their fate. He denounced Grant as a butcher willing to sacrifice four Federal soldiers to kill one Confederate.

In 1864, John Mitchel learned that his eldest son, John, was killed at Ft. Sumter. James was now the only son still alive and he had lost an arm. Probably to spare the family further grief, James was transferred to a staff post in Richmond.
 

After the war, James moved to New York and become a city fire marshal. His son, James Purroy Mitchel will be elected mayor of New York in 1913.

Imprisonment

When Lee surrenders, Mitchel will be one of those die-hards who refuse to admit the war is over. He evacuates to Danville, Georgia with some members of the Confederate government. After the last Confederate force surrendered in May, 1864, Mitchel returned to New York, where he thought he could earn a living. Many New Yorkers insisted John Mitchel be arrested. Some claimed Mitchel had advocated mis-treatment of Union prisoners. Mitchel responded by denouncing the harsh conditions in which Jeff Davis was then being kept. He was arrested in June for an allegedly seditious article he had written.

His prison cell was damp, which made his asthma much worse. The food was not edible and he could not exercise. He could not write. The prison doctor warned that if Mitchel’s prison conditions were not improved, he would die. The authorities relented and let him walk, have materials with which to write, and gave him better food. Mitchel was now stooped, haggard and looked much older than his 50 years. Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis praised him as a gallant gentlemen. Many leading Irish-Americans and Fenian veterans from the Union army complained about his treatment. He was released in October, 1865. His lawyers told him that he if said anything offensive, he would likely be arrested, again. They recommended that he move to Europe until passions cooled in the U.S. John Mitchel responded that he had now been imprisoned for expressing his views by the two states in the western world that most prided themselves on progressive and liberal ideals. “They are both in the wrong; but then, if I am able to put them in the wrong, they are able to put me in the dungeon.”

Paris

To get him out of the U.S., the Fenians made him their financial agent in Paris. In the remaining ten years of his life, he was more subdued and contemplative. He acknowledged that his support of the Confederacy, while a good cause, had cost him two sons, for a country that was not theirs. Like many Irish rebels, he gave the best part of his life to the cause of another country. Shortly before his death in 1875, he was elected to Parliament from his old home town in northern Ireland, without opposition.

Today, John Mitchel is often the forgotten revolutionary. His views lead directly to the Fenian movement, which in turn lead to the IRA in 1916. But, his views on slavery have become hard to swallow in a country, where the Irish Catholics themselves were enslaved at times.

See biography of John Mitchel here.

Source:

“Southern Citizen: John Mitchel, the Confederacy and slavery,” History Ireland, Vol. 15, Issue 3, May/June 2007.

Christmas Remembrance, 1866

In the aftermath the war, the wounds were still fresh for most veterans. It has been estimated that some 60,000 amputations were performed during the war. And, of course, apart from the physical scars, many suffered from the unseen wounds. Many accounts and poems appeared in Southern newspapers remembering their days and hard times. The Charleston Daily News published one such poem on Dec. 25, 1866 remembering the fallen:

Shall happy bells, from yonder ancient spires

            Send their glad greetings to each Christmas fire

            Round which the children play?

            Shall the day be celebrated

            With feast, and song, and dance, and antique sports

            And shout of happy children in the courts

            And tales of ghost and fay?

How could we bear the mirth

            While some loved reveler of a year ago

            Keeps his mute Christmas now beneath the snow

            In cold Virginia earth?

The poem evokes a long-time nineteenth Christmas Eve tradition of simply sitting by the family hearth and telling stories, many of them ghost stories. Think A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. “Fay” refers to stories about elves and fairies.

Source:

Tracy L. Barnett, “Holiday Toasts and Homesick Rebels,” Civil War Monitor, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter 2019), p. 54.

Celebrating St. Stephen’s Day

In Ireland, St. Stephen’s Day is a national holiday. It falls on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas. Officially, it celebrates the martyr St. Stephen. St. Stephen, says tradition, was stoned to death shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. There is another legend that says Stephen was hiding in a bush as a wren gave away his presence. Still other stories in Ireland say some Irish soldiers were sneaking up on some Viking raiders when a wren betrayed their presence.

In any event, in Ireland, St. Stephen’s Day is also known as the day of the wren. On St. Stephen’s Day, a group of young men, dressed to look like birds, would parade around the town a dead wren on a stick. They approach various houses asking for a donation. When they accumulate enough money, they hold a party. This custom dates back hundreds of years, perhaps to pre-Christian times. See Irish Central website here for more information.

Fox Hunts

Another Irish tradition was holding the fox hunts on the day after Christmas. J.C. Prendergast living in New Orleans in 1856, would comment that the sounds of the morning horns from steam boats reminded him of the fox hunt bugles on St. Stephen’s Day. He also recalled that it was the day of the wren – the “King of Birds.” That was a day when the working class Irish would dress as a wren and solicit donations, which would end with a party or feast.  [1]

The Irish in New Orleans celebrated St. Stephen’s Day the way the Crescent City celebrated most events. They held a fair at the Armory Hall to raise money for the Sisters of Charity Orphanage for young girls. [2] The Irish also held a fair for the building of St. Alphonsus on St. Stephen’s Day. [3] And, mass was held on St. Stephen’s Day. [4]

Notes:

[1] New Orleans Daily Orleanian, Dec. 27, 1856, p. 1, col. 1

[2] New Orleans Daily Orleanian, Dec. 25, 1851, p. 2, col. 2; New Orleans Daily True Delta, Dec. 26, 1850, p. 2, col. 2.

[3] New Orleans Daily Orleanian, Dec. 25, 1856, p. 1, col. 1

[4] The Louisiana Democrat (Alexandria, Louisiana), Dec. 22, 1880, p. 3, col. 2

A Rebel Christmas

How did the Rebels celebrate Christmas? They were far from home and were always under-resourced. Sixty years after the war, William A. Day recalled that he and his mates in the 49th North Carolina Infantry Regiment celebrated Christmas in 1862 by rolling dice for a watch. Each man would pay a dollar for a chance on the watch and then roll dice for it. They sat under a large canvas tent near a large camp fire. Two years later in 1864, they were in the trenches outside of Petersburg, Virginia. Normally, they endured a steady hail of bullets from the Yanks. But, on Dec. 25, the lines were quiet. But, food was scarce. Each man received just a small piece of corn bread, a slice of bacon, a spoonful of peas, and the occasional bit of coffee.

In more peaceful times, Southerners in general would celebrate Christmas by attending church services in the morning, with a nice meal later, perhaps some homemade wine, sweet treats and sitting around the hearth telling ghost stories.

Most Rebel soldiers recorded that they spent Christmas Day drinking homemade, pitiful liquor and trying to stay warm. In 1862, the men of the 16th Mississippi Infantry Regiment were searching for liquor on Christmas Eve. They were paying $50 to $100 for liquor described as “bad or worse.”

Eggnog

In the early years of the war, liquor was still available. In 1861, the first year of the war, the men of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment shared eggnog en masse. The boys recalled filling their cups, and singing Christmas songs until sunrise. In 1864, Pvt John W. Joyce of the 21st North Carolina Infantry had just a little coffee and sugar for breakfast on Dec. 25, 1864. For him, in that time, that was a treat.

In Christmas, 1862, the men of the First Louisiana Infantry Regiment, celebrated Christmas with six Masses, celebrated by Fr. Hubert, formerly of the downtown New Orleans Jesuit Church, and Fr. Sheeran, formerly of St. Alphonsus, an Irish parish. The two priests and the men then enjoyed a dinner of beer, pork, turkeys, geese, and spiked eggnog.

St. Joseph’s Orphanage

As Christmas, 1863 approached, Fr. Sheeran, chaplain of the 14th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, learned some of the men planned to give him a present. He then passed word that he did not need a present, but remembering the Infant Jesus would benefit the orphans at St. Joseph’s Asylum, an orphanage, in Richmond, Virginia. The men raised $1,204 for the boys at the orphanage. Working with Fr. Hubert, the two priests then managed to hold six Masses that cold Christmas day. The soldiers then enjoyed a feast of beef, pork, turkey, geese, together with some eggnog.

On Christmas Day, 1864, James Evans, of the 13th Battalion North Carolina Light Artillery, just got a sip of eggnog. He said it was the only thing to remind him of “gone by days.” Samuel A. Burney, a Georgian in Cobb’s Legion, missed his wife and children. He begged his family in a letter home for a small box of “good things,” including brandy or whiskey. He said he would miss the annual hog killing. But, a package from home would help remind him of better days. By Christmas Day, he had been unable to buy a turkey or improve his mess. He celebrated Christmas with eggnog and whiskey mailed to him by his father. He said the whiskey reminded him “very forcibly” of better Christmases of days past.

The Rebels saw much privation, even more so at Christmas time. Yet, universally, the contemporary muster reports show a soldiery well-motivated and still full of fight.
 
 Sources:

Tracy L. Barnett, “Holiday Toasts and Homesick Rebels,” Civil War Monitor, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter 2019), p. 54.

Katherine B. Jeffrey, First Chaplain of the Confederacy (Baton Rouge: LSU Press 2020), p. 59

Patrick J. Hayes, ed., The Civil War Diary of Father James Sheeran (Washington, D.C.: Catholic Univ. Press 2017), pp. 138-139.

Robert E. Lee’s Finances

NPS photo

Robert E. Lee had to live down many aspects of his father. One area was surely finances. Light Horse Harry Lee ended up in debtor’s prison and was universally regarded as a wastrel. The son, Robert, did indeed do better than the father in regard to his finances. As an Army officer, his salary was not great, but it was sufficient. In 1841, he was paid $1,817 for the year. At the time, that was a good salary, but far from wealthy.

Robert did inherit some slaves from his mother. But, as an Army officer, running a farm or plantation, even if he could afford one, was out of the question. He sold his slaves. He must have sold them quickly, because no public record shows his actual ownership of any slaves in his own name.

Frugal Lifestyle

What he did do was live frugally and invest well. When he was posted near Arlington, he  could live with his wife’s family. His wife, Mary Custis, was daughter to George Washington Parke Custis, also descended from Martha and George Washington.

But, generally, he was posted in places with no military quarters. He rented a room in Brooklyn, New York for $300 per year. In the 1830’s, he bought stock in two Virginia banks. After the Panic of 1837, he diversified. He invested in canal and railroad bonds. He purchased state bonds from Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky. He relied on investment advice from a friend in St. Louis. By 1846, his portfolio amounted to $38,750, which yielded about $2,000 in income per year. He owned or had a claim to a small piece of land. But, compared to his father, he had done very well with minimal inheritance. Seventeen years after graduating from West Point, he had sizeable assets.

Yankee Investments

By the end of 1861, many of Robert’s investments were in Northern city, state and railroad bonds. He wrote to his son, Custis that he would likely be a pauper by the end of the war. He knew his investments in northern institutions would surely be forfeit. And, he likely knew his investments in Southern assets would surely depreciate substantially.

And, he knew his wife would likely lose her ancestral home at Arlington. And, indeed, now we know that the former Arlington plantation is now the Arlington cemetery. Robert wrote her telling her Arlington was probably lost. Even by January, 1862, Arlington was occupied by Federal troops.

Source:

Emory M. Thomas, Robert E. Lee, (New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 1995), p. 108-109, 214-215.
 
 

General Order No. 11

On Dec. 17, 1862, Gen. U.S. Grant issued the infamous General order No. 11. This was the single most anti-semitic action of the war. Gen. Grant was then in charge of the military district centered in Memphis, Tennessee. Order No. 11 required all Jews to leave the military district, which included Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky, within 24 hours. Fortunately, some Jews from Paducah, Kentucky traveled to Washington City (now known as Washington, D.C.) and approached Pres, Lincoln about this order. Lincoln quickly countermanded the order.

But, many other Unions officers thought the order a good thing. Henry Halleck, Grant’s superior, wired Grant that nether he or Lincoln had any objection “to expelling traitors and Jew peddlers.” Attorney General Edward Bates told the President that he was indifferent to Jewish protests. One Union colonel told one Jewish victim that he was forced to leave because “You are Jews and are neither a benefit to the Union or the Confederacy.”

Forbidding Travel By Jews

Yet, this was an order that never would have been issued by Gen. Robert E. Lee or Pres. Jefferson Davis. Indeed, Gen. Grant had issued similar orders before Order No. 11. Earlier in November, he had issued two orders forbidding travel to all persons, “the Israelites especially,” because they were “such an intolerable nuisance.” Another of Grant’s orders instructed railroad conductors that no Jews were permitted to travel on railroads. Historian Robert Rosem, however, does not believe Grant was anti-semitic. He believes Grant was simply not familiar with Jews and that his actions reflected his uninformed view. In fact. Gen. Grant as President would later count many Jews as good friends and had many Jewish supporters – though, none in Tennessee.

Gen. William T. Sherman was indeed an anti-Semite. Sherman wrote many letters warning other officers about the dangers of “dishonest Jews who will smuggle powder, pistols, percussion-caps, etc. in spite of all the guards and precautions we can give.”
 

When the Civil War began, most Southerners who actually knew a Jew held favorable views about them. The Jewish peddler did exist and he existed in the communities which they served. They were neighbors and shared the same privations as other Southerners did during the war. Jewish peddlers were welcome at the farms and plantations.

Source:

Robert N. Rosen, The Jewish Confederates (Columbia, South Carolina: Univ. of South Carolina Press 2021), p. 265-266, and n. 126.

Memorials in Changing Times

Here in the U.S. we have focused much attention on Confederate memorials in the South. Some folks see them as offensive, while others see them as memorial to the fallen. The change in how these memorials are perceived comes with the dramatic political changes in the South. This phenomenon is new to the U.S. but it is not new in other countries. Ireland has dealt with the question of changing politics and permanent memorials for decades. Ireland achieved its independence in 1922. Yet, it suffered under 700 years of British rule and it inherited dozens of British memorials and statues.

The Irish Republic was in no hurry to remove the statues when independence first arrived. In Dublin, there were several such statues. One statue to the great Admiral Horatio Nelson endured until 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising. It was blown up by unknown Dubliners that year. A monument to William, Prince of Orange, had also been blown up by unknown Irish in the 1930’s.

Queen Victoria

A statue of Queen Victoria, once centrally located in Dublin, was moved to storage in the late 1940’s. Later, it given to the City of Sidney, Australia. But, the figures which once surrounded Queen Victoria, figures representing the sacrifices of Irish soldiers in the Boer war remain. A statue to Prince Albert, the Queen’s husband, remains in Dublin today, tucked away in a corner of a public park. See Dublin Inquirer report here.

Duke of Wellington

But, there are numerous British statues throughout Ireland that still remain. Francis Drake has a statue in County Cork. The Duke of Wellington has at least one monument, located in County Meath. The Duke was born in and grew up in Ireland. In his political life, he advocated Catholic emancipation, even though he himself was Protestant. St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, the center of the Church of Ireland, holds numerous monuments to heroes of the British Empire, including two generals who took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade, and a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or two. And, of course, there is a statue of a young Queen Victoria in Cork City, County Cork. It had been literally buried in a garden until 1995, when it was resurrected and cleaned up for display for University College Cork. The problem with disposing of much of this statuary is that most of it was crafted by the finest Irish sculptors of the day.

If you look closely, most public buildings in Dublin bear some marker, coat of arms, or emblem of the royal family or of the crown itself. Those sorts of markers are literally everywhere on any building constructed before 1923.
 

There is a triumphal arch in Dublin on Grafton Street to commemorate the service of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fell in the Boer War of 1899-1902. Even today, some refer to it as the “traitor’s gate.” But, prior to 1916, many, perhaps most average Irish saw themselves as loyal British subjects. See History Ireland article about the Boer War arch here.

Some 200,000 Irish served in the British Army during World War I. Yet, hundreds of Irish served in the Boer army during the same war. Those Irish were only too happy to serve in an army fighting the British. A few of them would later participate in and lead the Easter Rising of 1916. There is no arch commemorating their service supporting the Boer and against the British Empire.

Not to mention the many street names which mark some British Empire hero or two. One County Cork Councillor has campaigned on the plan to change those colonial era street names. Many residents objected, especially persons who live on those streets and did not wish to change their address.

One significant difference between Ireland and the Southern United States is that after independence, tens of thousands or Irish protestants left Ireland. The families of the persons who first erected and supported these monuments to British strength are much in the minority in Ireland. While in the U.S. South, numerous supporters of those Confederate monuments remain. But, the controversy is the same in both countries. Politics may change, but many of those memorials remain.

What did the United States do to Help with the Great Famine?

The Famine in Ireland during the 1840’s was the worst disaster in Europe during the nineteenth century. A country of some 5 million lost 3 million people in just a few years. It is said 1 million died and 2 million emigrated. It was a scarring experience for all Irish. The Irish children of the 1840’s would grow to become the Irish soldiers, North and South, in 1861.

What did the United States do during the Famine? Private citizens donated huge amounts in the 1840’s. Some 118 ships left U.S. shores for the Irish nation. They carried some $545,145 worth of food stuffs. Doubtless, much of that was donated or generated by Irish immigrants then living in the U.S. What did the U.S. government do during the Famine?

Public Funds for Private Relief

It was not clear at the time that the U.S. government should help. Many Congressmen and Senators argued that it was unconstitutional for the country to use public funds for private relief. At least two bills to authorize the spending of public money to help Ireland died in committee. One Democrat senator, John Niles, a slavery opponent, opposed one bill, saying charity begins at home. The country should aid those within the U.S., not persons in far off lands. Another Congressman, Lewis Levin, an early Know Nothing party leader, always opposed Catholics. He argued one proposed bill was actually intended to feed “party vultures,” not Famine victims. He meant the bill was to help some politicians secure Irish votes in America, not feed the starving. The American (Know Nothing) party started in New York in 1843. The nativist sentiment in the United States was strong in the 1840’s. Rep. Levin wanted to increase the requirement to become a citizen from living in the U.S. from five years to 21 years.

The U.S. government eventually did allow that two U.S. war ships could be used to transport food to the victims of the Famine. Congress passed a bill making this possible. Remarkably, they felt it was constitutional to use government resources, so long as actual ownership of U.S. property was not transferred to private persons. One ship, the Jamestown, was quickly loaded in Boston and was in Cork within 15 days of departure.

But, the second ship, the Macedonian, languished in New York harbor until the Jamestown returned. The New Yorkers simply did not contribute the way Boston’s citizens contributed. That was probably because New York City was ground zero for the new American (Know Nothing) party. The nativist attacks on Irish immigrants in New York were severe. When the Jamestown returned, the Boston committee quickly collected enough donations to finish loading the ship. The captain of the Jamestown, George DeKay of New Jersey, spent $30,000 of his own money outfitting the Macedonian. This set back Capt. DeKay financially. He requested relief from Congress. Before the body could act, however, he died exhausted and penniless.

Source:

Timothy J. Sarbaugh, “Charity Begins at Home: The United States government and Irish Famine Relief 1845-1849,” History Ireland, Vol. 4, Issue 2, Spring, 1996.