The Emmet Guards Go to War

After the election of Abe Lincoln, expectations of war rose in New Orleans, as in most Southern cities. New Orleans had always had militias, as did most large cities. The Emmet Guards were established in 1850. They were the new Irish militia in the city, after the older and more prestigious Montgomery Guards. I previously wrote about the Emmet Guards here. After Pres. Lincoln levied the states for 75,000 troops in April, 1862, it was clear the U.S. would invade.

The Emmet Guards elected James Nelligan as their captain. Capt. Nelligan was born in Jamaica, apparently as part of the Irish diaspora. The Emmet Guards was a prominent Irish militia unit in New Orleans. Before the war, Mr. Nelligan was a “speculator.” Speculators were merchants who traded goods up and down the Mississippi river. He traded in horses. He also bought and sold horses. Capt. Nelligan had done relatively well for himself, for an Irish immigrant. James Nelligan lived at 482 Carondolet in 1861. He was firmly in the 11^th ward. That part of town was heavily Irish and German.

James was the son of David and Ann Nelligan, both natives of Ireland. David was a grocer in the Second Ward, home to many Irish and German immigrants. Theirs was a blended family, Nelligan and Lane. Judging by the birth dates of their children, it appears the Lanes came to New Orleans sometime before 1838. There is no indication when David came to the U.S. In 1850, the David Nelligan family had their own apartment.

David was very active in the city. He was a member and officer in the Jackson Fire Company. David served in the Mexican War and upon his return, he likely helped start the Emmet Guards militia. David and Ann Lane Nelligan were doing better than many Irish immigrants.

James was married to Mary Jane Harris, a native of County Kerry. Before the war, James claimed $2,000 in personal property and none in real estate. He was also doing well, compared to most Irish immigrants.

The Emmet Guards were deployed early in the war. They became Co. D of the First Louisiana Infantry Regiment. They served in the Army of Northern Virginia until the bitter end. Capt. Nelligan became the commander of the 1st Regiment early in the war. He survived the war to return to New Orleans.

After the war, James became port warden for a time. He acquired real estate after the war, and owned two valuable race horses at his death. “Col. Nelligan,” as he was known, generally supported he Republican party during Reconstruction New Orleans. He died in 1871 due to cancer, after a long illness. His wife died two years later. They left no children.

St. Patrick’s Day in the South

How did the early Irish immigrant share his ethnic identity? The earliest Irish immigrants came in the 1820’s and 1830’s. They were generally more prosperous than the famine immigrants. Many were refugees from the 1798 rebellion. From early on, the Irish in the Old South celebrated both their Irish identify and St. Patrick’s Day. In Charleston, the Irish formed the Charleston Hibernian Society. The members met every fourth Thursday for “sentiment, song and supper.” Reflecting an ecumenical approach, they rotated the presidency with a Protestant president one year and a Catholic president the next year. In 1833, the Society toasted both to the king’s health as well as and the death of the Irish patriot, Robert Emmet. By 1841, the Charleston Hibernian Society had built a magnificent “Hibernia Hall” on Meeting Street.

In 1831, the Louisville Irish met and toasted St. Patrick’s Day. The toasts of James Price, Clement Kennedy and others were published in the Louisville Courier.

In New Orleans and Savannah, the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations grew larger each year. The Catholics and Protestants joined in the same celebrations. In 1824, the Savannah Hibernian Society followed a requiem Mass with a parade to the City Hotel lead by Father Robert Browne and the pastors of the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. At four p.m., the mayor of the city, along with the Spanish and British consuls awarded Charleston Bishop John England, an Irish native, with honorary membership. Then the crowd retired for dinner and watched the unveiling of a “transparency:” a female figure clothed in green with a wreath of shamrocks, intended to represent the “genius of Ireland.” Then came tunes and toasts honoring Ireland, Georgia and the United States.

The Natchez Hibernian Society had its annual celebration in a local hotel. The members enjoyed an evening of “song, sentiment, wit, and sociability.” Some less prosperous laborers collected near the market house on St. Patrick’s Day and enjoyed liquid refreshment. The became inebriated and fought any passerby. The local sheriff came and arrested two or three of the miscreants.

The more well-off Irish formed the Hibernian societies. These societies charged dues that tended to deter the laborers from joining. But, the middle class Irish set a different sort of example and encouraged the working class to avoid trouble.

Louisville Courier, March 21, 2831, p. 2

David T. Gleeson, The Irish in the South, 1815-1877 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: Univ. of North Carolina Press 1995), p. 60-63.

Who were the Sarsfield Guards?

I wrote about the Sarsfield Guards here. They were a newly formed militia, created in New Orleans for the expected war with the United States. Their captain was James O’Hara, a painter. He apparently had a difficult life after the war. The Sarsfield Guards changed their name a few times, finally entering the civil war as the Pelican Guards. With a name like “Sarsfield,” their allegiance to Ireland is apparent. The Guards included many Irish immigrants. Who were those new U.S., now C.S.A. citizens? They did not leave any memoirs or letters. But, we can find some hints about them from public records. Their Confederate States of American service record provides some clues. The rest of the information comes form various sources.

The Pelican Guards were not assigned to a regiment. That was unusual. They were an independent company. That may explain why they were posted to a floating barge at the Battle of Island No. 10 in April,1862. The Confederates lost a quick battle that day The Federals managed to get behind the Confederates and cut them off. As will be seen below, a few of the Pelican Guards evaded capture, but most ended up as Federal prisoners. See more about the Battle of Island No. 10 here. For the Pelican Guards, the real story may be more about what they did after the battle than what they did during the battle.

Peter O’Neil

Peter O’Neil enlisted Oct. 26, 1861 in New Orleans. He was court martialed for assault and battery. He struck a hospital steward. He was sentenced to ten days guard duty. He was also required to walk up and down to the upper deck of their ship for four hours with a placard on his chest and back that said “drunk.” Like the rest of the Pelican Guards (Co. B, apparently not assigned to a regiment) was captured at the Battle of Island No. 10 in Kentucky on April 8, 1862. He managed to escape from his captors. The Pelican Guards were assigned to a barge mounted with artillery guns. It was known as the “floating battery.”

There were two Peter O’Neils before the war, both 31 years old and both living in the Third Ward, close to where Capt. O’Hara likely recruited his company. One Peter O’Neill was married with three children. The married Peter was a laborer who claimed $150 in personal possessions. The mother or aunt of the married Peter lived with the family. The small family lived in their own apartment. The unmarried Peter worked as an “Ostler, “usually spelled as “Hostler” in the U.S. A hostler was a stable groom. The unmarried Peter lived and worked at the Jacob M. French livery located at 98 Dryades. The unmarried Peter O’Neill lived with a dozen other Hostlers, of all nationalities. The Hostler Peter claimed no real estate or personal estate in the 1860 census.

James O’Rourke

James O’Rourke enlisted in New Orleans, but transferred to the 11^th La. Regt of Infantry December 31, 1861. There were only two James O’Rourkes in the 1860 census who were of military age. And, only one was near the part of town where Capt. O’Hara raised his company. That James O’Rourke lived in a boarding house in the Third Ward. The boarding house James O’Rourke was a laborer, 22 years old in 1861. He claimed no personal estate and no real estate. The 15 other boarders were also largely Irish. James was one of thousands of nameless, unknown Irish in the largest city on the South.

Patrick McGovern

Patrick McGovern also lived in New Orleans’ Third Ward. Patrick lived at Poydras and Preyer when he enlisted. His service record is also very brief, indicating he did not serve after the capture in 1862. Pat McGovern was 31 in 1861. He lived in the Third Ward. Pat was a cab driver with a wife and two little girls. He was born in Ireland. In New Orleans, the Irish immigrants had largely taken over the cab driving work from the free blacks. Pat had done relatively well compared to other immigrants. He and his family lived in their own apartment and claimed $500 in personal possessions.

R. Downey

R. Downey was a Sergeant in Capt. O’Hara’s company. He enlisted on Oct. 26, 1861, well after the initial war euphoria. Sgt. Downey may have been Robert Downey, a bricklayer before the war, who lived at 211 Common Street. He was born in Ireland in 1835.

James and Thomas Kennedy

One pair brothers or cousins joined the Pelican Guards. James and Thomas Kennedy, living at the corner of Circus (changed to Rampart in 1852) and Girod Streets joined on Oct. 26, 1861. There was a James Kennedy, a screwman, who lived in the First Ward. The 1860 census does not show a brother named Thomas. In the 1861 City Directory, James the screwman was living on Rampart Street in the Third Ward. This James was the only James Kennedy who lived close enough to Capt. O’Hara to have been involved in his company. James, the screwman, was 23 in 1861 and had been born in Ireland. A screwman was considered a skilled trade at the time. It was the screwman’s job to screw down the cotton bales, so the shippers could squeeze as many bales as possible in the cargo hold. That was very desirable blue collar job in 1861. Thomas Kennedy may have been a recent arrival. There is no Thomas Kennedy living close enough to Capt. O’Hara to be involved in the Sarsfield Guards.

            For 90% of the Irish immigrants before 1860, the skilled trades were the top of the food chain. Screwmen, bricklayers and painters represented Irish immigrant success. One or two were laborers, but the rest worked as skilled tradesmen. None of the Sarsfield Guards appear to have continued their service after the battle in April, 1862. Perhaps they had enough. Or, perhaps, the strain of acting as an independent company, with minimal support, dissuaded then from further military service.

Half a Hundred Tipperary Throats

The Union Army had its famed 69^th Regiment, all Irish. The South too had its Irish Brigade. The Sixth Louisiana Infantry Regiment was largely Irish. A key component of that Regiment was a company sized unit known as the Louisiana Tigers. They were commanded by the remarkable Maj. Roberdeau Wheat. Traveling from New Orleans to Virginia at the outset of the war, the Tigers and the Fourteenth Louisiana Regiment, mostly Irish, started a riot in Grand Junction, Tennessee. The commander had to shoot seven soldiers, killing them and wounding another nineteen to stop the riot.

I previously wrote about the Sixth Louisiana Regiment here and wrote about Roberdeau Wheat here.

But, in the heat of the action, the Irish always distinguished themselves. Gen. Richard Taylor commanded the Sixth Regiment for some time during the Shenandoah campaign under Stonewall Jackson. Taylor was a former Know-Nothing. In Louisiana, the Know Nothings caused riots that killed a few Irish immigrants. At least initially, Gen. Taylor was skeptical about his Irish charges. But, during the Shenandoah campaign they performed exceedingly well. In that campaign, Gen. Jackson had to march his “foot cavalry” over dozens of miles over several days. The Irish always responded. Even today, Infantry would not be expected to march more than 12-15 miles in one day. During the Valley Campaign, they marched 20 miles in one day and 30 the next.

In May, 1862, the Louisiana Brigade, which included the 6^th Regiment, made an exhausting march to Strasbourg, Virginia in the oppressive May heat. Union cavalry pressed them and caused them to panic. The Irish provided a rear guard, which helped restore order. Retreat is one of the most complicated military maneuvers. Even the most experienced units can collapse. But, the Irish then refused to be relieved throughout the night, insisting they would protect the rear. The weather poured that night, dropping hail the size of “hen’s eggs.” Occasional artillery fire would not dissuade them from their duty. They cried out, “We are the boys to see it out!” This loud assurance “from half a hundred Tipperary throats”prompted Gen. Taylor, the former Know-Nothing, to comment years later that ever since, his heart “warmed to an Irishman since that night.”

David T. Gleeson, The Irish in the South, 1815-1877 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: Univ. of North Carolina Press 1995), p. 144-145.