Admin Comment by Joe Gannon on January 26, 2016 at 8:23am

John, I have access to a database of men who fought in the American Civil War, but I need more to go on than just his name. His name is too common. There were 59 John Doherty's who served in the Union army during the Civil War. So we have to have something to narrow it down. Most Irish born Union soldiers served in units other than the Irish Brigade, by the way. Something like 150,000 Irish born men served in the Union army during the war. The number who were in the Irish Brigade were just a fraction of that. If you can get some further info on him, the state he served from, for instance, we could narrow it down more.

Comment by Raymond Patrick Doherty on January 26, 2016 at 10:18am

Hello Joe, my name is Ray, my GGGrandad was named John. He cam from the Miltown Malby area in County Clare, in 1866 he had his second youngest daughter Honora, on the birth certificate he is down as a pensioner, and like I said earlier it had to be a military pension. He had 7 other children who are older than Honora. My GGGrandad was born in 1824, he was married to Mary Kinane who had the first child Margaret in 1855. They all moved to the UK and lived there until their deaths at various times of life. Ray

Admin Comment by Joe Gannon on January 26, 2016 at 11:22am

Now I'm confused. When you said "Irish Brigade" are you talking about him fighting in the US Civil War? Or are you talking about the British Army? They had numerous Irish regiments, but I don't think that they had an Irish Brigade in the mid-19th century.

Comment by Raymond Patrick Doherty on January 26, 2016 at 12:39pm

Sorry about that Joe, They all went to UK circa 1879. My GGGrandad was living in County Clare when he had Honora, on the birth certificate she was born in 1866 in Lackamore, County Clare. On the birth certificate he is down as being a pensioner aged 43, the only way he could be a pensioner in Ireland in 1866 was to be invloved in a war in the U.S., so we believe his pension was a war pension from the United States Army pre 1866. Hope this makes sense.

Admin Comment by Joe Gannon on January 26, 2016 at 1:23pm

No, if he served in the British army and got disabled somehow while in uniform in the 19th century he could have gotten a British pension. See here: http://www.militarian.com/threads/british-army-pensions.6590/ 

Comment by Raymond Patrick Doherty on January 26, 2016 at 2:25pm

Hello Joe. No chance of him in the British Army. He had no pension in the U.K. He workd in the pit until his death in 1889. His pension had to be U.S. Irish Brigade in the Civil War. And I know from past generations my GGGrandad John 59 died blind and chest disease and my GGrandad Patrick 47 died one arm and chest disease or my Grandad Patrick 64 died chest disease, all pitmen, never fought in any wars for the British.

Admin Comment by Joe Gannon on January 26, 2016 at 2:36pm

Ray, what is your evidence that he was in the Irish Brigade? Is it just a family tradition, or an assumption because he was Irish? As I said, most Irish Union soldiers were in units other than the Irish Brigade. If you are certain that he was in the Irish Brigade, it would narrow it down. 

Comment by Raymond Patrick Doherty on January 26, 2016 at 2:51pm

 Hello Joe, the British Army was never mentioned at any time, one of my GGAunts husband who was Irish died in the Boer War in South Africa 1899, he was the only relation to fight for Britisf forces, so my only other option is the U.S. Civil War. All my relatives are resident in Ireland in 1866. I was born in the UK but moved back over to Ireland, County Clare in 1997.

Admin Comment by Joe Gannon on January 26, 2016 at 3:21pm

Yeah, I understand what you are saying, that you think he was in the Union army in our Civil War. What I'm asking is if you have any solid evidence that he was in the Irish Brigade of the Union army or if you just suspect that he was, since that would limit the number of regiments he could have been in.

Comment by Raymond Patrick Doherty on January 26, 2016 at 3:45pm

Ok lets say that I suspect that he was in the U.S. Army, is that any better? If I could find out this next step then it could open up more for me...Thanks for everything Joe.

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