SNIPPET: Thousands of Irish fought in the American Civil War for both the Union and the Confederacy. Walt WHITMAN (1819-1892) was nearly 42 years old when the ACW began. (See his letter below). Living in Brooklyn (NY) at the time with his mother Louisa, Walt contributed to the Brooklyn weekly "Standard" and was trying to find a publisher for his "Leaves of Grass" (poetry) which had been through three editions since its first publication in 1855. His brother George, ten years younger, had immediately enlisted in the 51st NY Volunteers. In Dec 1862, the WHITMAN family received notice that George had been wounded at the first battle of Fredericksburg in VA. WHITMAN immediately traveled south to find him, first stopping in Washington (DC). There WHITMAN searched the makeshift army hospitals that were being set up in churches, private mansions and government offices to accommodate the overwhelming influx of wounded soldiers. Though he did not find his brother - he saw for the first time the true cost of the War. He subsequently found George, whose wound had not been serious, at the front in VA. Here, too, he was surrounded by the wounded and the dying. WHITMAN's patriotism - no less fervent than his brother's - exhibited itself in his passionate writings. WHITMAN stayed in Washington (DC) throughout most of the War, working as a government clerk and writing articles and essays for the NY newspapers, but he considered his real work tending the sick and wounded soldiers - Union and Confederate, alike - that came through the overworked and understaffed hospitals. He became a familiar sight on the wards, making his rounds, comforting soldiers, writing letters for them, reading to them or simply sitting by their sides. His own impressions he recorded in small notebooks he carried and which were later published as "Memoranda during the War (1875-76)." WHITMAN was profoundly moved by the realities of war and his hospital experiences. A staunch Unionist, he worked in close proximity to the White House and Capitol and WHITMAN remarked that President Abraham LINCOLN, shortly before his death - "look'd very much worn and tired; the lines, indeed, of vast responsibilities, intricate questions, and demands of life and death, cut deeper than ever upon his dark brown face; yet all the old goodness, tenderness, sadness, and canny shrewdness, underneath the furrows." Some of WHITMAN's letters refer to individual soldiers. Many of his poems were published circa 1865 in his "Drum-Taps" or "Sequel to DrumTaps" and later editions of "Leaves of Grass." At the end of war he wrote this letter from Washington (May 25, 1865) to his mother, Mrs. Louisa WHITMAN, in Brooklyn, NY: "Dear Mother, I received your letter of the 22d -- I feel uneasy about you all the time, and hope I shall get a letter to-day, and find you have recovered. Well, the Review is over, and it was very grand - it was too much and to impressive, to be described - but you can see with a great white building half as big as Fort Greene on a hill at the commencement of the avenue, and then through this avenue marching solid ranks of soldiers, 20 or 25 abreast, just marching steady all day long for two hours without intermission, one regiment after another, real war-torn soldiers, that have been marching and fighting for years - sometimes for an hour nothing but cavalry, just solid ranks, on good horses, with sabres glistening and carbines hanging by their saddles, and their clothes showing hard service, but they mostly all good-looking hardy young men - then great masses of guns, batteries of cannon, four or six abreast, each drawn by six horses, with the gunners seated on the ammunition! wagons - and these perhaps a long while in passing, nothing but batteries, (it seemed as if all the cannon in the world were here) - then great battalions of blacks, with axes and shovels and pick axes, (real Southern Darkies, black as tar) - then again hour after hour the old infantry, regiments, the men all sunburnt - nearly every one with some old tatter all in shreds, (that had been a costly and beautiful flag) - the great drum corps of sixty or eighty drummers massed at the heads of the brigades, playing away - now and then a fine brass band - but oftener nothing but the drums and whistling fifes - but they sounded very lively - (perhaps a band of sixty drums and fifteen or twenty fifes playing "Lannigan's ball") - the different corps banners, the generals with their staffs and c. - the Western Army, led by Gen. SHERMAN, (old Bill, the soldiers all called him) -- well, dear mother, that is a brief sketch, give you some idea of the great panorama of the Armies that have been passing through here for the last two days. I saw the President several times, stood close by him, and took a good look at him - and like his expression much - he is very plain and substantial - it seemed wonderful that just that plain middling-size ordinary man, dressed in black, without the least badge or ornament, should be the master of all these myriads of soldiers, the best that ever trod the earth, with forty or fifty Major-Generals, around him or riding by with their broad yellow-satin belts around their waists, - and of all the artillery and cavalry -- to say nothing of all the Forts and ships... I saw Gen. GRANT* too several times. He is the noblest Roman of them all - none of the pictures do justice to him - about sundown I saw him again riding on a large fine horse, with his hat off in answer to the hurrahs - he rode by where I stood, and I saw him well, and he rode by on a slow canter, with nothing but a single orderly after him - He looks like good man - (and I believe there is much in looks) - I saw Gen. MEADE, Gen. THOMAS, Secretary STANTON, and lots of other celebrated government officers and generals - but the rank and file was the greatest sight of all. The 51st in the line Tuesday with 9th Corps. I saw George but did not get a chance to speak to him. He is well. George is now Major George W. WHITMAN, - had been commissioned and mustered in.. (Col. WRIGHT and Col. SHEPHARD) have done it, I think.) The 51st is over to the Old Convalescent camp, between here and Alexandria, doing provost duty. It, the old camp is now called Amgur General Hospital.... it is thought that the 51st will not be mustered out for the present - It is thought the Government will retain the reenlisted veteran regiments, such as the 51st -- If that is so George will remain as he is for the summer, or most of it -- The reason I haven't seen him is, I knew they had left provost duty in the Prince st. prison, but didn't know where they had gone till Tuesday - I saw Capt. CALDWELL Tuesday, also Col. WRIGHT Tuesday night - they said they all have pleasant quarters over there. Dear brother Jeff, I was very sorry you wasn't able to come on to see the Review - we had perfect weather and everything just as it should be - the streets now are full of soldiers scattered around loose, as the armies are in camp near here getting ready to be mustered out. -- I am quite well and visited the Hospitals the same. -- Mother you didn't write whether you got the package of 5 Drum-Taps - I keep thinking about you every few minutes all day - I wish I was home a couple of days - Jeff, you will take this acc't of the Review, same as if it were written to you." Walt. *It should be noted that General Ulysses Simpson GRANT's Irish connection is through his paternal great-grandfather John SIMPSON who was born near Dungannon (Co. Tyrone) in 1738 and emigrated to Bucks Co. PA in 1763.

My husband's great-grandfather, Patrick Skiffington, served for just over ten months in Company E of the Fourth Maryland Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. Unlike Walt Whitman's record of his experiences, Patrick Skiffington left none as we believe he and his wife Bridget Kelly (Ireland) were illiterate, but, nevertheless, he had decided to support his new country in its fight on the Union side. The record on the widow's application for a pension indicates that the recruiting sergeant lied about Patrick's age, and he'd be "old" at 47 to go off to fight. It's likely so because at a retreat from either Williamsport or Antietam (both places mentioned in the army record), he fell on his bayonet and sustained injuries from which he died six months later in Baltimore, where the family lived. There is no paper trail, not even documentation to confirm that Patrick Skiffington might have been born in Donaghmore, Co. Tyrone in 1815 or when he came to America. He needed a Walt Whitman to record his life as he now lies "a-mouldering in his grave" in New Cathedral Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland, unknown and unsung, remembered only among the very few of his descendants who are trying to place him with honour on the family tree. Maisie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: 2009-02-13 13:07 Subject: [Irish Genealogy] ACW Letter/1865 -- Walt WHITMAN (1819-1892) tohis mother in Brooklyn, NY - Gen. GRANT/w Co. Tyrone SIMPSON roots > SNIPPET: Thousands of Irish fought in the American Civil War for both > the > Union and the Confederacy. Walt WHITMAN (1819-1892) was nearly 42 years > old > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

What is the best way to verify this birthplace of John Simpson? He is my gggg or ggggrandfather. My great grandfather, Gen John Simpson, of Ohio was a first cousin of Gen.(Hiram) Ulysses Grant. I would appreciate your assistance for though we have heard that (the first) John Simpson came to Bucks County in 1738 and that he was born in Tyrone county, we have not had any more specific information. Thank you for you help. Nancy I. Baker ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jean R." <jeanrice@cet.com> To: <IrelandGenWeb-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 2:07 PM Subject: [Irish Genealogy] ACW Letter/1865 -- Walt WHITMAN (1819-1892) tohis mother in Brooklyn, NY - Gen. GRANT/w Co. Tyrone SIMPSON roots > SNIPPET: Thousands of Irish fought in the American Civil War for both > the > Union and the Confederacy. Walt WHITMAN (1819-1892) was nearly 42 years > old > when the ACW began. (See his letter below). Living in Brooklyn (NY) at the > time with his mother Louisa, Walt contributed to the Brooklyn weekly > "Standard" and was trying to find a publisher for his "Leaves of Grass" > (poetry) which had been through three editions since its first publication > in 1855. His brother George, ten years younger, had immediately enlisted > in > the 51st NY Volunteers. In Dec 1862, the WHITMAN family received notice > that > George had been wounded at the first battle of Fredericksburg in VA. > WHITMAN > immediately traveled south to find him, first stopping in Washington (DC). > There WHITMAN searched the makeshift army hospitals that were being set up > in churches, private mansions and government offices to accommodate the > overwhelming influx of wounded soldiers. Though he did not find his > brother - he saw for the first time the true cost of the War. He > subsequently found George, whose wound had not been serious, at the front > in > VA. Here, too, he was surrounded by the wounded and the dying. > > WHITMAN's patriotism - no less fervent than his brother's - exhibited > itself > in his passionate writings. WHITMAN stayed in Washington (DC) throughout > most of the War, working as a government clerk and writing articles and > essays for the NY newspapers, but he considered his real work tending the > sick and wounded soldiers - Union and Confederate, alike - that came > through > the overworked and understaffed hospitals. He became a familiar sight on > the > wards, making his rounds, comforting soldiers, writing letters for them, > reading to them or simply sitting by their sides. His own impressions he > recorded in small notebooks he carried and which were later published as > "Memoranda during the War (1875-76)." WHITMAN was profoundly moved by the > realities of war and his hospital experiences. A staunch Unionist, he > worked > in close proximity to the White House and Capitol and WHITMAN remarked > that > President Abraham LINCOLN, shortly before his death - "look'd very much > worn > and tired; the lines, indeed, of vast responsibilities, intricate > questions, > and demands of life and death, cut deeper than ever upon his dark brown > face; yet all the old goodness, tenderness, sadness, and canny shrewdness, > underneath the furrows." Some of WHITMAN's letters refer to individual > soldiers. Many of his poems were published circa 1865 in his "Drum-Taps" > or > "Sequel to DrumTaps" and later editions of "Leaves of Grass." > > At the end of war he wrote this letter from Washington (May 25, 1865) to > his > mother, Mrs. Louisa WHITMAN, in Brooklyn, NY: > > "Dear Mother, I received your letter of the 22d -- I feel uneasy about you > all the time, and hope I shall get a letter to-day, and find you have > recovered. Well, the Review is over, and it was very grand - it was too > much > and to impressive, to be described - but you can see with a great white > building half as big as Fort Greene on a hill at the commencement of the > avenue, and then through this avenue marching solid ranks of soldiers, 20 > or > 25 abreast, just marching steady all day long for two hours without > intermission, one regiment after another, real war-torn soldiers, that > have > been marching and fighting for years - sometimes for an hour nothing but > cavalry, just solid ranks, on good horses, with sabres glistening and > carbines hanging by their saddles, and their clothes showing hard service, > but they mostly all good-looking hardy young men - then great masses of > guns, batteries of cannon, four or six abreast, each drawn by six horses, > with the gunners seated on the ammunition! wagons - and these perhaps a > long > while in passing, nothing but batteries, (it seemed as if all the cannon > in > the world were here) - then great battalions of blacks, with axes and > shovels and pick axes, (real Southern Darkies, black as tar) - then again > hour after hour the old infantry, regiments, the men all sunburnt - nearly > every one with some old tatter all in shreds, (that had been a costly and > beautiful flag) - the great drum corps of sixty or eighty drummers massed > at > the heads of the brigades, playing away - now and then a fine brass band - > but oftener nothing but the drums and whistling fifes - but they sounded > very lively - (perhaps a band of sixty drums and fifteen or twenty fifes > playing "Lannigan's ball") - the different corps banners, the generals > with > their staffs and c. - the Western Army, led by Gen. SHERMAN, (old Bill, > the > soldiers all called him) -- well, dear mother, that is a brief sketch, > give > you some idea of the great panorama of the Armies that have been passing > through here for the last two days. I saw the President several times, > stood > close by him, and took a good look at him - and like his expression much - > he is very plain and substantial - it seemed wonderful that just that > plain > middling-size ordinary man, dressed in black, without the least badge or > ornament, should be the master of all these myriads of soldiers, the best > that ever trod the earth, with forty or fifty Major-Generals, around him > or > riding by with their broad yellow-satin belts around their waists, - and > of > all the artillery and cavalry -- to say nothing of all the Forts and > ships... I saw Gen. GRANT* too several times. He is the noblest Roman of > them all - none of the pictures do justice to him - about sundown I saw > him > again riding on a large fine horse, with his hat off in answer to the > hurrahs - he rode by where I stood, and I saw him well, and he rode by on > a > slow canter, with nothing but a single orderly after him - He looks like > good man - (and I believe there is much in > looks) - I saw Gen. MEADE, Gen. THOMAS, Secretary STANTON, and lots of > other > celebrated government officers and generals - but the rank and file was > the > greatest sight of all. The 51st in the line Tuesday with 9th Corps. I saw > George but did not get a chance to speak to him. He is well. George is now > Major George W. WHITMAN, - had been commissioned and mustered in.. (Col. > WRIGHT and Col. SHEPHARD) have done it, I think.) The 51st is over to the > Old Convalescent camp, between here and Alexandria, doing provost duty. > It, > the old camp is now called Amgur General Hospital.... it is thought that > the > 51st will not be mustered out for the present - It is thought the > Government > will retain the reenlisted veteran regiments, such as the 51st -- If that > is > so George will remain as he is for the summer, or most of it -- The reason > I > haven't seen him is, I knew they had left provost duty in the Prince st. > prison, but didn't know where they had gone till Tuesday - I saw Capt. > CALDWELL Tuesday, also Col. WRIGHT Tuesday night - they said they all have > pleasant quarters over there. Dear brother Jeff, I was very sorry you > wasn't able to come on to see the Review - we had perfect weather and > everything just as it should be - the streets now are full of soldiers > scattered around loose, as the armies are in camp near here getting ready > to > be mustered out. -- I am quite well and visited the Hospitals the same. -- > Mother you didn't write whether you got the package of 5 Drum-Taps - I > keep > thinking about you every few minutes all day - I wish I was home a couple > of > days - Jeff, you will take this acc't of > the Review, same as if it were written to you." Walt. > > *It should be noted that General Ulysses Simpson GRANT's Irish connection > is > through his paternal great-grandfather John SIMPSON who was born near > Dungannon (Co. Tyrone) in 1738 and emigrated to Bucks Co. PA in 1763. > > Check out the Ireland GenWeb website at: http://www.irelandgenweb.com/ > It is a good place to get help with your family research. > Help wanted: County Coordinators > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRELANDGENWEB-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >