George Curran [DS.1]
(c. Oct 1837 — 24 Jul 1864)

George Curran [DS.1], the oldest child of Denis Curran [D] and Sarah McKinley [S], came to the United States with his parents circa 1850 or 1851. He resided firstly in Chicago for about 10 years and then moved to St. Louis with his parents. George [DS.1] moved back to Chicago by 22 Apr 1861.

George [DS.1] apparently never married. When he visited Chicago on furlough, he stayed with his brother Daniel [DS.4] and Daniel's wife, Elizabeth Payne (Curran) [DS.4S].

First Enlistment

On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States. On April 14, 1861, Fort Sumter was surrendered to the Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.

President Lincoln at once called for 75,000 volunteers. George Curran [DS.1], at age 23, responded to that call and was enlisted as a Private in Company B of the 23^rd Illinois Infantry Volunteers on April 22, 1861.

For many years after George's death in the War, his brother Daniel [DS.4] told his children and grandchildren of George's perilous adventures. Our only record of these stories is a letter written in January 1962 by Bess Regan [DS.4.1.2], a daughter of Sarah Curran McClevey [DS.4.1] who was a daughter of Daniel Curran [DS.4]. I have incorporated her information into this narrative. Most of the details, however, come from a report⁷ issued in 1900 by the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois.

The organization of the Twenty-third Infantry Illinois Volunteers commenced as part of the "Irish Brigade", at Chicago, immediately upon the opening of hostilities at Sumter (January 9, 1861). The commander was Colonel James Adelbert Mulligan (25 Jun 1830 — 26 Jul 1864) of Chicago. Although the other units from Illinois and Wisconsin which were intended to be part of the brigade did not materialize, the regiment continued to be called a brigade by many people. There was a delay in the formal muster because the quota for volunteers from Illinois had already been exceeded. However, Col. Mulligan convinced the authorities in Illinois and in Washington to permit the regiment to be formed.²²

The formal muster of the 23d was made June 15, 1861, at Chicago when the Regiment was occupying barracks known as Kane's brewery on West Polk Street, near the Chicago River. From a barrack encampment on Vincennes Road, it moved July 14, 1861, to Quincy, Illinois, and thence, after a few days encampment, to the arsenal at St. Louis.

In E. B. Cook & Co.'s Directory of Chicago for 1858, the Illinois Central Railroad advertised train service between Chicago and St. Louis. In addition, by 1861, a new canal had been constructed between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River (which empties into the Mississippi). Therefore, there was no apparent need for the Regiment to travel on foot until it reached Missouri. Nevertheless, the entire trip was described as a "march".²²

During his one week in St. Louis, George Curran [DS.1] most likely met with his parents and various siblings.

On July 21, 1861, the Regiment moved to Jefferson City, Missouri. During the month of August, it made various excursions into the surrounding country. On August 18, 1861, the 23d commenced a march of 120 miles on Lexington, Missouri, where the first notable siege of the War of the Rebellion occurred. Lexington, reinforced by the 23d, which arrived on the evening of September 11, 1861, became a post of 2,780 men, Colonel Mulligan commanding. The Confederate General Price with the Missouri State guards was marching upon the town, a convenient location near where Colonel Mulligan's command engaged actively in fortifying. The rebel advance under Raines with a battery of six guns assaulted the fortifications on September 12 but were repulsed. The post was then regularly invested by an army of 28,000 men with 13 pieces of artillery. Provisions were inadequate and the water supply gave out on September 19, 1861.

The Union fortifications were located on College Hill, a bluff 200 feet above the low-water mark of the Missouri River. In addition to the hastily constructed earth works, there was a substantial brick building on the hill. The Confederates charged and captured the building on September 19, 1861. Captain Michael Gleason (commander of Company B, 23d Illinois) with 80 men of the 23d Illinois (probably including George Curran [DS.1]) counterattacked and re-took the building. But the rebels soon re-gained the building. On September 20, at 2 pm, the Union forces displayed a white flag and the firing stopped.

The Union forces had 42 men killed and 108 wounded. They surrendered 1,624 men (including George Curran [DS.1] ), 7 guns, many horses, and a large amount of stores.

Colonel Mulligan was taken prisoner but was soon exchanged for the Confederate General Frost. (General Price permitted Mrs. Mulligan to accompany her husband during his captivity.)²² The other officers and men captured by the rebels were paroled (i.e. released on their word that they would not fight again). Accordingly, the Regiment was mustered out by order of General Fremont on October 8, 1861. That order was subsequently countermanded by General McClellan, then commanding the Union Army, and by the Secretary of War. General McClellan directed that the organization should be retained and that it should be considered as continuously in service from the date of its original muster. (I presume that this decision made the members of the Regiment eligible to be paid for the entire period provided that they reported for duty.) Nevertheless, some members of the Regiment returned to their homes and some enlisted elsewhere.

A number of enlisted men (including George Curran [DS.1] ) returned to the Regiment. Reassembling at Camp Douglas in Chicago, the camp being commanded by Colonel Mulligan, the Regiment guarded the rebel prisoners there until June 14, 1862, when it was ordered to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.

In the Company Muster Rolls for the period from 15 Jun 1861 (the day that the Regiment was first formally mustered) until 31 Dec 1861, George Curran [DS.1] is listed as a Corporal. Thereafter, he is listed in the Company Muster Rolls as a Private. Apparently, the reduction in rank occurred while George [DS.1] was stationed at Camp Douglas in Chicago.

From Harper's Ferry, the Regiment moved to New Creek, W. Virginia. At least part of the Regiment was at Clarksburg, W. Virginia in September 1862 and later at Parkersburg, W. Virginia. In both cases, the Regiment was defending those towns against rebel forces under Imboden.

Apparently, Co. B of the 23d Illinois was attached to the 1st Virginia Infantry during September 1862. It was with the 1st Virginia Infantry that George Curran [DS.1] fought in the battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862.

On November 10, 1862, companies B (no doubt including George Curran [DS.1] ), D, and K under Major Charles E. Moore of Chicago attacked the forces of General Imboden on the South Fork of the Potomac, capturing forty prisoners and large supplies on the hoof.

January 3, 1863, the Regiment marched 40 miles in 10 hours from New Creek, W. Virginia to Moorefield to the relief of the Union force there being attacked by rebels under General Jones who thereupon withdrew.

In April 1863, being then back at New Creek, W. Virginia, the Regiment was assigned to the 5th Brigade, 1st Division, 8th Corps, Colonel Mulligan commanding the Brigade and Lieutenant Colonel James Quirk commanding the Regiment.

On April 25, 1863, Co. G under Captain Martin Wallace occupied a block house in Greenland Gap near Grafton, W. Virginia. They surrendered to rebel forces under General Jones after the block house was in flames. On the same day, other units of the Regiment were engaged with the forces of the rebel General Imboden at Phillippi, W. Virginia.

The Company Muster Roll for March-April 1863 contains the notation "On detached service at New Creek by order of Genl. Kelly, Apr. 25, 1863." I presume that the entire Company B was on detached duty and not only George [DS.1].

The Adjutant General's report says nothing about the location of the Regiment during the battle of Gettysburg in the first week of July 1863. Bess Regan [DS.4.1.2], however, told the following story about the Battle of Gettysburg:

"George's Regiment had a dog named Pinchie. Once when he [DS.1] had a furlough, he brought Pinchie back to Chicago with him and he gave my grandmother [DS.4S] $7.50 which the Regiment had collected to feed Pinchie and grandma [DS.4S] said their order was steak every day for the dog. (I cannot imagine my grandmother [DS.4S] spending $7.50 for Pinchie's steak.) After George [DS.1] and Pinchie returned to their regiment, Pinchie was shot and died during the Battle of Gettysburg and was buried on the field by the soldiers."

The Regiment was on the flank of Lee during his retreat from Gettysburg and had an engagement with forces of Wade Hampton at Hedgesville, Maryland.

The Company Muster Rolls for July-August 1863 and September-October 1863 contain the following notation on the cards for George Curran [DS.1]: "One-half month's pay to be stopped by sentence of Court Martial. (Lt. Col. Quirk)" The offense is not stated.

Second Enlistment

Kernstown

During July 1864, the Regiment participated in the following engagements: July 3rd, Leetown, Maryland; July 5-7, Maryland Heights, Md.; July 17-20, Snicker's Gap, Va.; July 23 and 24, Kernstown, Va. In the Second Battle of Kernstown on July 24, 1864, the Regiment lost in killed and wounded about one-half of those engaged therein.

On page 249, the Adjutant General's Report states that George Curran [DS.1] died July 24, 1864 of wounds. His name is missing from the roster of the Regiment after consolidation in August 1864.

According to page 244 of the Adjutant General's Report, Colonel James A. Mulligan was killed in action on July 24, 1864. On page 276, the Report says that the Colonel "fell while commanding a division of the Army of West Virginia at Kernstown, in Shenandoah valley, July 24, 1864, and perished while in the hands of the enemy, July 26, of three desperate wounds, received while at the head of his own Regiment to which he had galloped in the confident and justified expectation that he would be able to make it the steady rear-guard of an overwhelming rout, caused by the advance of all of Early's army upon an unsupported and meager force".

Bess Regan [DS.4.1.2] related a slightly different account of the death of Col. Mulligan: "Col. Mulligan was injured on the battlefield, and the story as told to us was, that George Curran [DS.1] and a soldier named John Nugent carried Col. Mulligan off the field under heavy fire and that the Col. died in their arms. This John Nugent was related by marriage to Col. Mulligan."

In a speech presented after the war by a veteran of the 23rd Illinois Infantry, it was stated that more than one man was killed when he remained with the wounded Col. Mulligan and that Col. Mulligan pleaded with his men to leave him and save themselves.²²

The Time-Life Pictorial History of the Civil War states that Lieutenant John A. Nugent was the 19-year old brother-in-law of Colonel Mulligan.

The National Park Service has published a more detailed account of the Second Battle of Kernstown on the Internet.⁸ A few of their comments follow.

• Confederate forces under Jubal Early totaled about 13,000 men.
• Union forces under Brig. Gen. George Crook totaled about 10,000 men.
• Confederate casualties were about 100 killed and 500 wounded.
• Union casualties were about 120 killed, 600 wounded, 480 missing and captured.
• Union forces included 3 infantry divisions, commanded respectively by Thoburn, Duval, and Mulligan.
• When Early's army approached on 24 Jul 1864, Mulligan's division (including Private George Curran) held the U.S. center behind a stone fence at the Pritchard House.
• About noon, the Confederates attacked and Mulligan counterattacked. But the Confederates regrouped and attacked again. Mulligan retreated 250 yards to the stone fence along Pritchard's Lane.
• After another Confederate attack, Thoburn withdrew to the base of Pritchard's Hill and took up a position that exposed Mulligan's right flank.
• Mulligan's division was soon under fire from three directions. While trying to direct the defense, Mulligan himself was pierced by five mini balls and fell mortally wounded. The U.S. center collapsed and soldiers began streaming to the rear.
• The core of the battlefield, the U.S. center, and goal of Confederate assaults is Pritchard's Hill and Pritchard Farm.

Col. James Mulligan, commander of the Union center, was wounded in front of and died in the Pritchard House two days after the battle. The stone fence defended by Mulligan's infantry (including Private George Curran) still runs along Pritchard's Lane.

According to oral family history, Mrs. Pritchard nursed Col. Mulligan until he died.²¹ Another report says that she offered him a glass of brandy which he refused. He said, "Ah madam, I never touched it in all my life and now that I have come to die I will not break my pledge". A Catholic chaplin from a Louisiana regiment gave the last rites to the Colonel. Mrs. Marian Mulligan (nee Nugent) rushed to be at her husband's side but he expired at 4PM, Tues. 26 July 1864 before she could reach him. She recovered his body (which had been put in a coffin on the porch of the Pritchard house) and took it back home.^21,22 Col. Mulligan is buried in Calvary Catholic Cemetery, 301 Chicago Ave., Evanston, Illinois (near Chicago). Mrs. Mulligan was 23 years old at that time and had three daughters. She lived until 11 May 1908. She never remarried.²²

Col. Mulligan was posthumously promoted to Brevet Brig. General on 28 Jul 1864.

The Pritchard property in Kernstown is now owned by the Kernstown Battlefield Association.²¹

Subsequent engagements of the Regiment in the Shenandoah Valley were: Cedar Creek, August 12-16, 1864; Winchester, August 17, 1864; Charlestown and Halltown, August 21-28, 1864; Berryville, September 3, 1864; Opequan Creek, September 19, 1864; Fisher's Hill, September 21 22, 1864; Harrisonburg, October 1864; Cedar Creek, October 13, 1864; and Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864.

General Sheridan commanded the Union troops who drove the rebels out of the Shenandoah Valley. On the morning of October 18, 1864, the rebels under Gen. Jubal Early attacked at Cedar Creek. Gen. Sheridan, who had spent the night in Winchester, rallied his retreating troops and drove Early out of the Shenandoah Valley.

James Curran [DS.8], a younger brother of George Curran [DS.1], told his family that George [DS.1] was killed in "the last battle of the Shenandoah" early in 1865. The last major battle would have been October 18 or 19, 1864, when Early and his army were driven out of the Valley. However, there was at least one minor battle in the Shenandoah Valley in 1865. I think it possible that some minor battle in early 1865 became known as "the last battle of the Shenandoah". It is certainly possible that the Adjutant General's Report is wrong, that George Curran [DS.1] recovered from wounds received at the Second Battle of Kernstown, returned to active duty (perhaps with the 1st Virginia Infantry, to which he had been attached at the battle of Antietam in Sep 1862), and was indeed killed in the "last battle of the Shenandoah" just a month or so before the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House. Some support for this hypothesis is the amount of detail in the oral history that Bess Regan [DS.4.1.2] reported concerning the battle of Kernstown. It suggests a detailed report by George [DS.1] (perhaps my mail) to his brother Daniel [DS.4] in Chicago. The matter can probably not be resolved unless either we find a record of Private George Curran's grave or we find a record of his name in the roster of another Regiment.

Epilogue

The decision of George Curran [DS.1] to enlist in the U.S. Army was typical of the men of Illinois at that time. Approximately 256,297 men served in Illinois units during the War of the Rebellion. Of that total, only about 1.4 percent were conscripted; the other 98.6 percent were volunteers. Only 55 men from Illinois paid the fee of $300 to be legally excused from military service.

The only family history that I have seen as to what motivated George [DS.1] to risk his life in the U.S. Army is a letter written by Bess Regan [DS.4.1.2] in 1962. She wrote, "Well all I can say is that we are a wonderful family and have never ducked a fight." That might have been enough motivation for a civilian, But, after three years of fighting, George understood what it meant to fight in the infantry against an aggressive enemy. Nevertheless, he re-enlisted while many of the other men (and officers) did not. It was not family expectations. His sister Sarah [DS.2] was a nurse in the Confederate Army. His father, Denis Curran [D], was angry with George [DS.1] for enlisting with the North and there was bitterness for years afterwards — with the result that Denis never visited Chicago after the War. Perhaps it was partially the intense unit loyalty that three years of fighting together will develop. Especially when every man in the Regiment is from the same community. Perhaps George [DS.1] (like the members of all three Presbyterian churches in Chicago) found slavery repugnant, and was willing to risk his life to end it. In any event, he died knowing that the Union would win the war and that slavery was gone forever from our country.