The Leader Of The Irish

One of the leaders of the Union Irish Brigade, Colonel Patrick Kelly was killed June 14^th 1864 while at the head of his men at the Siege of Petersburg.

Patrick Kelly was born about 1822 in Castlehacket, County Galway, Ireland.  He immigrated with his wife Elizabeth to New York City.

When the Civil War started Kelly enlisted, and was made a Captain in the 69^th New York Infantry.  He saw his first action at the First Battle of Bull Run.  He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the 88^th New York Infantry on September 14^th 1861, and had command of the regiment during the Battle of Antietam.  Kelly received his promotion to Colonel on October 20^th 1862.  He led the regiment in its failed frontal attack of Marye’s Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg.  Following the Battle of Chancellorsville, the commander of the Irish Brigade Union Brigadier General Thomas Francis Meagher resigned and Kelly was placed in command of the brigade.  The Irish Brigade with Kelly saw heavy fighting in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg, losing 37% of the Brigade.  As the Union Army was reorganized more senior officers returned and Kelly went back to leading his regiment.  At the Battle of Cold Harbor, with the death of Union Colonel Richard Byrnes in June 1864, Kelly was placed back in command of the Irish Brigade.

 Kelly was leading the Irish Brigade on June 14^th 1864 during the Siege of Petersburg.  They were moving on some Confederate earthworks when he was shot in the head and killed.  His body was taken back to New York City, where Kelly is buried in the First Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York.

For more information about Patrick Kelly check out the web site News from the Irish Brigade Asscciation

Lowest Rate Of Mortality

Located in Richmond, Virginia, the Robertson Hospital treated wounded soldiers from the First Battle of Manassas until the last soldier was discharged June 13^th 1865.

The Robertson Hospital was a small private hospital located in Judge John Roberts donated home and was financially supported by the Confederate government.  The hospital was run by Captain Sally Louisa Tompkins; she was the only women to have a commission from the Confederate government.

Sally Louisa Tompkins was born November 9^th 1833 in Poplar Grove, Mathews County, Virginia the daughter of Christopher and Maria (Patterson) Tompkins.  She took an active role in restoring her neighborhood Episcopal Church, and nursed many locals, both black and white as a young woman.  After her father died, Tompkins and her mother moved to Richmond, Virginia.

After the First Battle of Manassas on July 21^st 1861 the Confederate capital wasn’t ready for the hundreds of wounded soldiers who arrived there.  Tompkins responded to this influx by opening the home of Judge John Robertson as a hospital.  Once the first rush of wounded had passed Confederate President Jefferson Davis had military hospitals set up, but the Robertson Hospital had done such a good job that Tompkins was given a military commission so she could continue to work.  The Hospital treated 1,333 wounded during the four years of the war with only 73 deaths reported.  It had the lowest mortality rate of any military hospital during the Civil War.  The last of these patients was discharged on June 13^th 1865.

Following the war Tompkins continued to serve in charitable work.  She never married and eventually she lived in the Richmond Home for Confederate Women in 1905.  She died July 26^th 1916 and was buried with full military honors at the Christ Church in Mathews County, Virginia.

A Circular Ride

In the early morning hours of June 12^th 1862 Confederate General J E B Stuart left with 1,000 cavalry to make a circular ride clean around the Union army.

Union General George B McClellan began the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862, moving slowly against Richmond, Virginia.  On May 31^st 1862 at the Battle of Seven Pines, Confederate General Joseph Johnston was wounded and replaced by General Robert E Lee.

Lee had JEB Stuart put together his cavalry on June 10^th 1862 to reconnoiter the Union right flank.  The ostentatious Stuart proposed a complete ride around the Union Army starting toward the Lower Peninsula near the York River, returning to the Richmond area along the James River.  Lee gave Stuart an unspecific order, telling him the exercise “due caution”.  At 2 am on June 12^th 1862 about 1,000 of Stuart’s troopers mounted up and started north for the right flank of the Union army.  He picked up another 200 cavalry outside of Richmond, including Confederate Colonel Fitzhugh Lee and Lieutenant Colonel William H F Rooney Lee.

That first day the Confederate cavalry moved as if they were going to support of General Thomas Stonewall Jackson’s approach to Richmond.  They bivouacked that night on the bank of the South Anna River.  The next morning they ran into the Union 6^th Cavalry just west of the Hanover Court House.  Stuart tried to flank them, and the Union commander Lieutenant Edward Leib withdrew down the Richmond Stage Road.  The Confederates continued on, trying to stop a train a Tunstall’s Station.  Stuart ran into trouble crossing the rain swelled Chickahominy River, and had to rebuild the bridge at Forge Site.  They crossed the river and then re-burnt the bridge.

On June 14^th 1862 Stuart left his force under the command of Fitzhugh Lee and he continued to Richmond to meet with Robert E Lee to report on his 100 mile reconnaissance.  At about the same time Stuart was reporting his findings to Lee, Union General McClellan reported to Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton that, “A rebel force of cavalry and artillery, variously estimated at from 1,000 to 5,000, came around our right flank last evening, attacked and drove in a picket guard...at Old Church; they proceeded to a landing 3 miles above White House, where they burned two forage schooners and destroyed some wagons. Then they struck the railroad at Tunstall’s Station, fired into a train of cars, killing some 5 or 6. Here they met a force of infantry which I sent down to meet them, when they ran off. I have several cavalry detachments out after them and hope to punish them. No damage has been done to the railroad.”

If you’re interested in reading more about Stuart’s ride J. E. B. Stuart's Ride Around The Union Army is a good web site.

Thirteen Hundred Union Prisoners

The Second Battle of Cynthiana was fought in Harrison County, Kentucky on June 11^th 1864, a part of Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan’s raid into Kentucky.

Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan moved toward Cynthiana, Kentucky at dawn on June 11^th 1864 with 1,200 cavalry.  The town was defended by a small Union of home guard and a detachment of the 168^th Ohio, about 300 soldiers all under the command of Colonel Conrad Garis.  Morgan divided his men and surrounded the town, launching the attack at the covered bridge.  The Union troops were pushed back north towards the railroad.  The Confederate cavalry set fire to the town.  As the fighting was going on in Cynthiana, the 171^st Ohio under the command of Union Brigadier General Edward Hobson arrived about a mile outside of town.  The soldiers of the 171th fought Morgan’s men for about six hours before being trapped along the Licking River.

Morgan spent the night on the line of battle.  He had 1,300 Union prisoners with him.  The next day the men of the 171^st Ohio were paroled.

A Blast Rocked The Fort

Fort or Camp Lyon in Alexandria, Virginia was rocked by an explosion on June 9^th 1863 that killed 21 Union soldiers.

Fort Lyon was constructed just south of Alexandria, Virginia, named for Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon.  It was a timber and earthworks fort, built in the weeks after the Union defeat at First Bull Run.  Union General Samuel P Heintzelman was the commander of Fort Lyon from October 27^th 1862 to October 13^th 1863, and was in charge of the defense of Washington, DC.

The fort was shook by a massive explosion of black powder on June 9^th 1863.  Men from the 3^rd New York Artillery were refilling shells with powder, when a spark from one of the cast iron shell cases caused the explosion.  It destroyed some eight tons of black powder, and a couple thousand rounds of ammo, as well as killing 21 Union soldiers and wounding another 10.  One witness to the explosion described it as “a most violent thundering explosion, followed by another, in quick succession, the earth shook and trembled... I was so frightened...a shell burst very near, for a little stream of blue smoke came in one door and passed out the other... I looked up at Fort Lyon, which at that moment went up with a tremendous shock.”

Following the blast many civilian, military and political leaders, including President Abraham Lincoln visited the site.

A Businessman Turned Soldier

Confederate Brigadier General George Pierce Doles was killed while inspecting his troops at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 2^nd 1864.

George Pierce Doles was born May 14^th 1830 in Milledgeville, Georgia the son of Josiah and Martha (Pierce) Doles.  He attended local schools, and at 16 tried to run away with his brother to join the army fighting the Mexican American War.  Their father caught them and brought them home.  Doles was a businessman in his hometown, and became the Captain of his local militia company the “Baldwin Blues”.

When the Civil War started Doles enlisted with the rest of “Baldwin Blues” and became a part of the 4^th Georgia Infantry.  He was appointed Colonel of the 4^th on May 9^th 1861, leading them during the Peninsula Campaign.  He was wounded at the Battle of Malvern Hill by a bursting shell.  The 4^th was part of Ripley’s Brigade, and when Confederate General Roswell S Ripley was wounded at the Battle of Antietam, Dole led the brigade in an assault at Miller Cornfield.  Dole was officially placed in command of the brigade November 1^st 1862 with his promotion to Brigadier General. He saw action at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.  At Gettysburg Dole’s Brigade lost 16% of their strength on the first day of the fight.  His Brigade was overrun at the Mule Shoe during the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 10^th 1864.  He escaped capture there only by lying on the ground and playing dead, until a counter attack was made.

On June 2^nd 1864 during the Battle of Cold Harbor, Doles was supervising the building of entrenchments near Bethesda Church, Virginia when a Union sharpshooter shot and killed him.  He is buried in the Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia.

A Small Skirmish

The Battle of Arlington Mills was a skirmish fought June 1^st 1861 right after the Battle of Fairfax Court House.

Around 11pm on the night of June 1^st 1861, following the Battle of Fairfax Court House, there was a skirmish at Arlington Mills, Virginia.  A small group of Virginian Militia; numbering about nine men, soon to be Confederate soldiers, fired at Union soldiers from Company E of the 1^st Michigan Infantry and the 11^th New York Infantry.  The Union soldiers were camped at Arlington Mills and were posted on picket duty when fired on.  In the confusion and darkness the Union troops fired on each other as well as the Virginians.

Casualties were light, with 1 Union soldier killed, a Private Henry S Cornell, and 1 each Confederate and Union wounded.  The Virginians fell back quickly.