Dramatic Events of April 1865: Irish fought for both the Union and the Confederacy in the American Civil War, and researchers interested in a beautifully and moving account about the last days of the Confederacy should look for a copy of "Richmond Burning..." (pub. 2002) by Nelson D. LANKFORD, a resident of Richmond and editor of the quarterly journal of the Virginia Historical Society. Lankford weaves testimony from Confederate and Union witnesses, both civilian and military, into his very reader-friendly, extremity well-documented account. Mr. Lankford is also the editor "An Irishman in Dixie: Thomas CONOLLY's Diary of the Fall of the Confederacy," Columbia University at South Carolina Press (1988). * In "Richmond Burning," the author also mentions Mr. CONOLLY several times: "Despite the dire military circumstances, the threadbare shops of Richmond offered an array of goods and services for those with money to buy them.... The experience of a wealthy foreign visitor suggests the opportunity for entertaining even this late in the war. Thomas CONOLLY was an extravagant member of Parliament with vast estates in Ireland and a taste for adventure.. By the time he signed the register at the Spotswood in March, the management had cut up its carpets for army blankets and was serving dinner on cracked and broken crockery. Conolly was nevertheless thrilled to see Richmond -- "its Spires & white pillared capital shining above the haze and Roofs in the setting sun." He waltzed his way through town, dispensing gold sovereigns and consuming oysters and champagne as though there were no privation. Hard currency could still winkle the most astonishing luxury goods out from their hi! ding places. To supply his hospitality, he relied on Tom GRIFFIN, a free man of color who owned two eateries and catered private dinner parties for wealthy patrons of the city's hotels. Griffin provided Conolly with elegant meals for his new Virginia friends, complete with mint juleps. "Very swell, despite the blockade. Must have cost him a pretty sum," wrote Malvina GIST, a sociable young widow and one of CONOLLY's guests." *I thought at anyone researching Parliamentarian Thomas CONOLLY's line would be especially interested to know he had written a diary..