The last letter home from an Irish Civil War soldier

On June 8, 1864, Captain Dexter Ludden and his men of the 8th New York Heavy Artillery made their way through the bodies. They were assigned the unpleasant task of burying some of the many, many dead who died during the attack on the Confederate works at Cold Harbor. By then, the bodies they were burying – belonging to their own brigade – had been lying in the field for five days.

As they went about their gruesome work, Ludden’s soldiers checked each body for anything that might identify them. Turning over one of the dead figures, they searched the dead man’s pockets. Finding two pieces of paper inside, the person in charge of the burial notified the officer of his discovery. Reading them, Captain Ludden recognized them as a hastily written letter written by the deceased before the attack. Later, Ludden sat down to sketch out a few short words of his own to add to them, and then sent the dead soldier’s last words on their way to New York.

Battlefield 7 miles from Richmond, Virginia
June 8, 1864

You,

This was cut from the pocket of the man I buried last night – he was killed – June 3, 1864 – and buried where he fell.

The spot was marked by a notch in the tree on which lies his head, Sergt Ewell of my company.

Yours truly

S. Dexter Ludden
Captain 8 NY Arty
Miss Mary McNamara
Buffalo, New York

The body buried by Dexter Ludden and his men was that of Irishman Hubert McNamara, a private in the 155th New York Infantry of Corcoran’s Irish Legion. Hubert had it enlisted in Buffalo August 28, 1862, at the age of 34. Before becoming a soldier, Hubert supported his wife Maria and three children by working as a carter. He was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, with hazel eyes, brown hair and light complexion.

Hubert married Mary Donovan on January 2, 1859, but this was not his first marriage. Hubert’s first wife, Margaret (née McGrath), died in Hudson, New York on January 26, 1855, leaving Hubert alone to support their three-year-old daughter Maria until they remarried.

By 1864, Mary had given birth to two more children to Hubert at their house on Exchange Street; Thomas who arrived November 30, 1859, and Mary, born May 6, 1862 – his youngest daughter was just a month past her second birthday when her father met his death.

On June 2, 1864, the day Hubert wrote his last letter, Corcoran’s Irish Legion had been serving with the Army of the Potomac for less than a month. By the standards of many other brigades, the Legion’s first 18 months of service were relatively uneventful. Everything changed in May 1864 when they joined the Army of the Potomac in Spotsylvania, Virginia. In the following days, the Irish had to get used to almost constant fighting and constantly increasing casualties.

In this context, on June 2, Hubert wrote a few words to his wife. While writing it, he was aware that the next day he would take part in the assault on the Rebel plant. Given the strength of the enemy’s position, many of his soldiers feared what awaited them.

The 155th was brought into the Battle of Cold Harbor by Captain Michael Doran. As he prepared his lines of men for the advance, they were temporarily shielded from fire behind a small ridge. As they moved forward behind this cover, they could see the main Confederate line about 500 feet away, but they never reached it. A firestorm erupted from the Rebel position. One member of the regiment recalled how “the bullets literally started mowing us down”, while another said of the attack that “it was murder, not war”.

The Irish never had a chance; before they reached within 50 yards of the enemy position the charge was stopped and was soon repulsed. The carnage cost the 155th Division approximately 130 casualties, almost half their number. Unfortunately, Hubert was one of them those that are about to fallwith a newly written letter to his family, unsent, in his pocket.

His widow included the sheets of paper found next to Hubert’s body in her pension application to prove both Hubert’s death and her relationship with him. They are transcribed below for the first time and labeled Sheet 1 Obverse?, Sheet 1 Reverse? and sheet 2 obverse. They are written in faded pencil, which, combined with their exposure on the battlefield with Hubert’s body, makes transcription difficult. They are reproduced below as Sheet 1 and Sheet 2, with the original transcription accompanied by an edited version for modern readers.

(Sheet 1 Obverse?)

…almighty God, we will soon come to terms with them. For now everything is fine, I thank almighty god for his grace (illegible) possible (?) for you (advertisement) I dress you in a few lines, I hope I find you and the children in good health, because the departure of these few lines leaves me in this moment, I thank almighty god for his for me. We have been fighting the rebble for the last 10 days and have driven them for the same 30 miles, but many of our people are worried and surprised, but the cleanliness is well surrounded (?)

(Sheet 1 on the back?)

June 2, 1864

Portommack Army Camp 7 miles from Richmond mi Dear wife and children, I take advantage of a favorable opportunity (?) (illegible) tell me at what point I would go mad or surprised, but I trust in God that his mercy will tow me away, there is a terrible fight going on we go into it, we fight with the knight and the day of battle, my dear wife and children, there is nothing more I can tell you, now, I have time now

(Sheet 2, front)

it’s very hard to get paper or ink, whatever. John Dempsey is doing well and so is Michael Lawler. I want you to tell his wife there’s nothing left. My dear wife and children, I think it’s good for you

now more at this moment from your beloved husband Hubert Mc Namara 2nd Corps 2nd Division 4th Brigade Co I 155

Armi Portom Mac

ok, write soon

Edited

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(Sheet 1 Obverse?)

…Almighty God we will deal with them soon. Everything is fine with me, for now I thank Almighty God for His mercy (illegible) is possible, I turn to you in a few words. I hope to find you and the children in good health, as the departure of these few lines leaves me in peace at present, thanks be to almighty God for his (mercy) towards me. We have been fighting the Rebels for the last 10 days and we have driven them as far as 30 miles, but there are very many of our men killed and wounded, but they (are) in quite good condition surrounded (?)

(Sheet 1 on the back?)

June 2, 1864

Army of the Potomac Camp 7 miles from Richmond. Dear wife and children, taking advantage of this favorable opportunity (illegible), I say at what moment I will be killed or wounded, but I trust God to show me mercy. There are terrible battles going on here, we fight at night and we fight during the day. Dear wife and children, I have nothing more to say, I don’t have time now.

(Sheet 2, front)

It’s very difficult to get paper, ink (or) anything else here. John Dempsey is doing well and so is Michael Lawler. I wish you would tell his wife. I think there is nothing more, my dear wife and children, so say goodbye for a while. There is nothing at this time from your dear husband, Hubert McNamara, 2nd Corps, 2nd Division, 4th Brigade, Company I, 155th New York, Army of the Potomac. Goodbye, write soon.

It is not clear from the individual pages in what order Hubert’s letter was to be read. I interpreted their order as shown above based on the content. I believe the first page (Obverse of Sheet 1?) was part of a letter Hubert may have written before arriving in Cold Harbor. In it he refers to fighting the Rebels for “the last 10 days”, which means it was around May 28. I suspect he may have then found himself outside the Cold Harbor Works and, realizing that he was about to go into action, abandoned his previous letter to jot down a few words in case he died. If so, this letter becomes all the more poignant.

The section titled “Sheet 2 obverse” may also have been written at Cold Harbor, although this is not clear. Captain Ludden wrote a note to Hubert’s wife on the back of this page. Of the companions mentioned in Hubert’s correspondence, Cold Harbor was also Michael Lawler’s last battle. He was mortally wounded and left behind a wife and four children. John Dempsey also appears to have been wounded at Cold Harbor, but eventually recovered. Hubert’s wife, Maria, lived long after her husband’s death, remaining a widow for over half a century. The elderly Irishwoman died at the Holy Family Home in Williamsville, New York, on September 2, 1916.

* Damian Shiels is an archaeologist and historian who runs IrishAmericanCivilWar.com website where this article first appeared. His book, The Irish in the Civil War, was published by The History Press in 2013 and is available Here.

*Originally published August 2015. Updated November 2024.