ALEXANDER DUNN and the American Civil War

Transcription

1 ALEXANDER DUNN and e American Civil War By Brian McConnell* Born in Aghabog Parish, County Monaghan, Ireland in 1833, it was doubtless not e expectation of Alexander Dunn, when he moved to e United States of America in March 1860 wi his wife and two children at he would four years later be serving as a Private in Company D of e 153 Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in e Civil War.(1) After enlisting on July 2, 1863 in e Ohio National Gua, he was mustered into service in e newly created 153 Ohio Regiment on May 2, 1864 at Camp Dennison, Ohio. Alexander Dunn and his Regiment spent most of May and June performing gua duty at Harper s Ferry, West Virginia and along e Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The 153 Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment was a 100- day regiment called up in e spring of 1864 to support President Abraham Lincoln s plan to achieve victory over e Confederate armies and bring an end to e War for Souern Independence. Lincoln s plan was e creation of ninety-six 100 day regiments from existing state militia unites called into Union service for 100 days to free up front line troops to attack furer sou.(2)

2 Page 2 Colonel Israel Stough commanded e 153 Regiment which numbered 909 men. The Regiment was strung out along approximately 35 miles of e Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, primarily in Hampshire County, West Virginia where e rail line followed e winding Potomac River as rough heavily forested and rugged mountain terrain in e lower Shenandoah Valley. Control of e Shenandoah Valley changed hands as Confederate forces led by Lieutenant General Jubal Early and his Army of e Valley pushed Union forces back several times. Confederate cavalry brigades struck e 153 on two occasions in July. In e first a force was sent to destroy e railway bridge over e Sou Bridge of e Potomac at its confluence wi e Nor Branch. Led by Brigadier General John Imboden s Norwestern Virginia Brigade, e considerably larger Confederate forces encountered a union scouting party and captured 34 men and killed one officer of e 153 en route to e bridge. Imboden s force continued nor reaching e sou branch of e railway bridge on July 3 and found it heavily defended and protected by a blockhouse and an armored car wi a 12 pound gun. He attacked e next morning and successfully used his own horse drawn artillery pieces to destroy e armored car, but his soldiers were unable to dislodge e Union troops from e blockhouse. Before e brigade had reached e bridge, a portion of it, McNeil s Rangers, split off and moved upriver to attack e somewhat smaller bridge at Patterson s Creek. It was also defended by a blockhouse but e Confederates succeeded in doing some damage wi eir artillery piece until ey saw an approaching armored rail car and en moved off to rejoin e brigade. On July 6 e 153 was attacked by e Confederate brigade at e bridge at Big (Great) Cacapon and successfully defended it. They were also attacked e same day at e railroad bridge at Sir John s Run but beat back e Confederates wi assistance of ironclad railway cars nd under e command of e 2 Maryland Regiment. Imboden s Cavalry brigade en moved east to rejoin Early s Army for e advance on Washington. At e same time as Imboden s brigade had been attacking bridges, anoer Confederate Cavalry brigade led by Brigadier General John McCausland had headed towas Nor Mountain (west of Martinsburg ) to destroy bridge over Back Creek. It burned e bridge, en attacked e Union garrison near Hedgeville on July 4, capturing more an 200 soldiers, mainly from e 153. After e Confederates had moved off, e 153 were oered to complete blockhouses in anticipation of oer attacks. Later in July Early s army came again and destroyed 75 miles of railway line between Cumberland and Harper s Ferry bringing furer combat for e 153.

3 Page 3 Infantry at Harper s Ferry, West Virginia At e end of July, Colonel Stough and e 153 were moved to Old Town, Maryland on e Potomac River to block a Confederate widrawl across e river into West Virginia. The 153 lay in e pa of McCausland s force of approximately 3000 cavalry and a heavy artillery battery. The battle started on August 2 and initially Stough was successful in rowing e Confederates back, however, wi superior numbers ey were able to flank e Ohio troops. Stough retreated back across e river wi e 153 to e blockhouse at Green Springs, West nd Virginia. The 153 received support ere from e 2 Maryland Regiment wi an ironclad car but Confederate artillery knocked it to pieces. The Confederates completely surrounded e blockhouse and sent a note demanding Colonel Stough to surrender. McCausland recognized him as an officer wi whom he had past battles wi and agreed at upon surrender e union soldiers would be immediately released wi eir private property and permitted to transport e wounded by handcar to Cumberland. This was e last documented engagement of e civil war for e 153 Regiment in which Alexander Dunn served. When e Regiment was mustered out on September 9, ere remained 753 men.

4 Page 4 When Alexander Dunn first arrived in America he settled wi his wife Margaret and two young children in Clermont County, Ohio. Alough it might seem he would have been far from e conflict of e civil war is was not e case. On July 14, 1863, General John Hunt Morgan led approximately 2,000 Confederate cavalrymen into Clermont County as part of an attempt to draw Union forces away from e souern conflicts. Morgan s Raiders, as ey became known, crossed e Little Miami River at Dungan s Crossing, and attacked bridges, railway lines and trains across e state before leaving. Alexander Dunn was e i member of is family to come to e United States. In his family of seven siblings, a sister Elizabe and a broer John, came to Ohio before him and may explain how he choose ere to live. Later anoer broer, William, also moved to Ohio in 1869 from Ireland. Perhaps ey left in hopes of finding prosperity in America. The Dunns were Presbyterians. They were descended from Scots who moved to Ireland from Scotland in e 17 century and known as Ulster Scots. Members of e Dunn family attended Drumkeen Presbyterian Church, in County Monaghan which was constructed in e early 1800s. In e graveya behind e church some of eir relatives were laid to rest.(3) The church has remained active into present times and one of its most prominent members is Heaer Humphreys, member of e Fine Gael party who represents e people of e Cavan - Monaghan constituency in government. Drumkeen Presbyterian Church, first built 1803

5 Page 5 Alexander Dunn was my great great great uncle. As e marriage certificate below indicates his sister Margaret married my great great grandfaer William McConnell in Drumkeen Presbyterian Church in Their faer, Alexander Dunn, is shown as a farmer. One of e witnesses was William Dunn, broer of Margaret. During his service wi e 153 Ohio Regiment Alexander Dunn was promoted to Corporal on June 10, He was admitted to hospital in Cumberland, Maryland for intermittent fever on August 2, Approximately one week later, on August 10 he returned to duty. His military reco also indicated he was 5' 8" in height, wi a light complexion, hazel eyes, and auburn hair. After his service in e American Civil War, Alexander Dunn returned to Clermont County, Ohio. However, he did not remain ere. His wife Margaret Mills, who he had married in 1857 before leaving County Monaghan, Ireland, for America, died in November 1870 near Cincinnati, leaving ree children: Mary Elizabe, who became proprietor of a hotel in Elkhorn, Colorado; Alexander, who went gold mining in e Cripple Creek gold region; and John, who graduated in 1897 from e law department of Colorado State University in Denver and became a United States Senator of Alaska. In Alexander married Josephine Crozier, a widow, of Claremont, Ohio, and had six children, Mary, Frank, Thomas, Arur, Charles, and Clarence.(4) Alexander relocated to Cass County, Iowa in 1872, in 1882 to Williams Township, and in 1893 to a farm he was e first to occupy and improve in Cedar Township. For many years he was a Justice of e Peace in Iowa. He was re-elected to e office for ree terms, or six years in Cass County, two terms in Calhoun County, and served ree terms in Cedar Township. He received a pension for his service in e Civil War.

6 Page 6 NOTE: * This article was completed on April 12, To contact e auor, Brian McConnell, brianm564@gmail.com (1) Alexander Dunn was born on April 20, Also see Roster of 153 Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry at (2) The 153 Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment - A Brief History, by David G. Davis, 2004 at (3) The Drumkeen Story - A Story of Aghabog Presbyterians, ", by David Nesbitt, published by Cahans Publications, Monaghan, Ireland, 2003 (4) The Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, Iowa, by Robert E. Flickinger, published by Fonda Times, Fonda, Iowa, 1904