Joseph Kerin was born in Ireland. He enlisted in Company B, 2nd U.S. Dragoons on January 3, 1853. He joined the company in Texas the following month, and served at Fort Belknap until 1855. In the fall of 1855, the company moved from Fort Belknap to Fort Riley, Kansas. Kerin was involved with his company in the Kansas troubles in 1856, and accompanied the Mormon expedition to Utah in 1857 before his enlistment expired on January 3, 1858.

Kerin returned to the army five months later, enlisting in the General Mounted Service at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania on August 5, 1858. He served there as a private, corporal, sergeant and finally first sergeant of the Permanent Troop until October 1861.
He served as the Drill Instructor for the Anderson Troop, Pennsylvania Volunteers in September 1861, and was appointed a second lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry on October 26, 1861.

Lieutenant Kerin joined the regiment the following month, and was assigned to Captain John Savage’s Company H. He accompanied the regiment to the Peninsula in March 1862, and distinguished himself several times during the campaign. He was engaged in the siege of Yorktown and the battle of Williamsburg, where he captured a Confederate captain. He also participated in engagements at Slatersville, New Kent Court House, Cumberland landing, White House, New Bridge, Mechanicsville, and Hanover Court House. He was brevetted first lieutenant on May 27, 1862 for gallant and meritorious service at the battle of Hanover Court House. He was also present during the destruction of bridges on the North Anna River and the action at Ashland. Following the engagement at Ashland, he served as an acting assistant general for the brigade of regular cavalry during the pursuit of Stuart during his first ride around the Army of the Potomac and the first three days of the Seven Days Battles. He rejoined his company following the retreat to Harrison’s Landing, and was engaged at Charles City, Haxall’s Landing and New Market Road.

In the absence of Captain Savage, he commanded Company H from September 1862 to April 1863. During the Maryland campaign, he saw action at Sugar Loaf Mountain, Antietam, scouting in Loudon and Fauquier counties, the pursuit of Stuart on his second ride around the Army of the Potomac, and an action at Charlestown. Lieutenant Kerin was then appointed Provost Marshall of the Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, in which capacity he served during the actions at Philomont, Unionville, Upperville, Barbour’s Crossroads, Amissville, and the battle of Fredericksburg. Kerin was promoted to first lieutenant, 6th Cavalry on December 23, 1862.

Kerin rejoined the regiment in March 1863, and was present with his company during Stoneman’s Raid. He was taken prisoner while fighting at Beverly Ford during the battle of Brandy Station, and spent the remainder of the war in various Confederate prisons. He was confined at Libby Prison, Virginia, Macon, Georgia and Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina. He escaped once on his way to Columbia by jumping from the train, but was recaptured. He escaped a second time from Columbia, but was recaptured by the aid of dogs. Lieutenant Kerin was exchanged in March 1865, and was brevetted captain on April 1, 1865 for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of Beverly Ford on June 9, 1863.

After spending a month with the regiment in Maryland, he was assigned to duty mustering volunteer regiments from June 1865 to January 1866. Lieutenant Kerin returned to the regiment in Texas, serving seven months with it before he was promoted to captain on July 28th.

Following his promotion, he served on a military commission in Houston before he was transferred back to Carlisle Barracks. After a brief stint of recruiting duty, he was assigned command of the Permanent Troop. He also served as the Treasurer and an Instructor of Tactics at Carlisle Barracks until April 1867. Another stint of recruiting followed this assignment until December 1868, this time Philadelphia and Boston, with a brief return to Carlisle for strike duty over the holidays of 1867-1868.

Captain Kerin served with his regiment at Fort Richardson, Texas until April, when he was assigned to two months of regimental recruiting duty. Following this, he was in charge of the Shreveport Arsenal and grounds until November 1869.

Captain Joseph Kerin retired from the army on June 28, 1878 and died on September 24, 1890.

Sources:

Carter, W. W., From Yorktown to Santiago with the 6th U.S. Cavalry (Baltimore, the Lord Baltimore Press, 1900).

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903), page 594.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Army and Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, Volume II (New York: D. Van Nostrand Publishing, 1873), pg 119-120.

Muster Rolls, 6th U.S. Cavalry, NARA, M744

James Henry Pooley was born in Northamptonshire, England in 1810. He was educated in England and received a licentiate’s diploma for the practice of medicine. He married and had five children before immigrating with his family to the United States in the mid-1840s. They settled at Dobbs Ferry, in Westchester County, New York, where he worked as a general practitioner and obstetrician.

During the Civil War, Dr. Pooley was appointed an Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army on August 5, 1861. He initially served on hospital duty in Washington, D.C. until November, and was assigned to the 6th U.S. Cavalry in December. He served with the regiment throughout the Peninsula campaign, and was assigned to duties at Fortress Monroe in July and August 1862.

When the army evacuated the peninsula, Dr. Pooley was assigned to the Convalescent Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia for the remainder of the year. He served with the Light Battery, 5th U.S. Artillery in the IX Corps, Army of the Potomac until April 27, 1863, when he resigned his commission.

Dr. Pooley returned to New York and resumed his practice. His two oldest sons followed him into the practice of medicine. His eldest son, James H. Pooley, Jr., was a professor at the Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio and later the Dean of Faculty of the Toledo Medical College. His second son, Thomas R. Pooley, was a professor of ophthalmology at the New York Polyclinic and surgeon in chief of the New Amsterdam Eye and Ear Hospital.

Dr. Pooley was described in his obituary as a “man of engaging manners and a fluent and eloquent public speaker.” He retired from his practice in 1880, and returned to England shortly after the death of his wife Anna in 1885. He died on June 3, 1890 in Birkenhead, England, and is buried next to his wife in a cemetery near Liverpool.

Sources:

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903), page 797.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Army and Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, Volume I (New York: D. Van Nostrand Publishing, 1873), pg 105.

Muster Rolls, 6th U.S. Cavalry, NARA, M744

New York Times, June 4, 1890, obituaries

Note: It seemed appropriate to post an entry for an Irish cavalry trooper on St Patrick’s Day, and we’ve been at work on Frank for quite a while now. I am deeply indebted to Patty Millich and Michael Higgins for the information contained in this entry. Patty appears to have been infected by the cavalry bug, and continues to turn up interesting cavalry tidbits. Michael’s done a great job of piecing together the family history on both sides of the Atlantic, and I encourage you to visit his website which is contained in the source list.

Francis McAtamney was born in the townland of Tirhugh, County Derry, Ireland in 1836. He was the oldest son and second oldest child of Hugh and Mary McAtamney. The family emigrated from Ireland in 1848, arriving in Philadelphia aboard the Arab on May 11th. The family settled in Washington township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Francis’ father was naturalized in 1853, and his mother died in January 1854.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, three of the four McAtamney sons enlisted in the Union Army. Francis enlisted as a private in Company F, 28th Pennsylvania Infantry on July 1, 1861 at Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. Bernard enlisted in Company A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry (“Washington Rifles”) on August 28th, and Hugh enlisted in the same company on September 17th. It doesn’t appear as if any of the three returned after the war. The youngest brother, John, was too young to enlist at age nine.

The 28th PA was somewhat unique in that the regimental commander, Colonel Geary, had arranged for a battery of artillery to be raised with and attached to the infantry regiment. Francis served in Company F until October 3rd, when he was transferred at the order of the regimental commander to this artillery battery, commanded by Captain Joseph M. Knapp. He was one of several 28th PA soldiers transferred to bring the battery up to full strength.

Francis served with the battery for a year before again changing units. On October 27, 1862, he enlisted in Company K, 6th US Cavalry at Knoxville, Maryland. He was sworn into the regiment by the adjutant, Second Lieutenant Albert Coats, for the remainder of his original enlistment instead of a normal 3 year term. He apparently didn’t inform the battery of his intentions, as he was listed on their muster rolls as absent without leave for the remainder of the year. The War Department later amended the battery’s records with a note stating “the charge of desertion against this man is erroneous and is removed. He was enlisted in Co. ‘K’ 6th U.S. Cavalry October 27, 1862.”

I found the examining surgeon’s comments on the enlistment form interesting: “I certify, on honor, that I have minutely inspected the recruit, Francis McTamney previously to his enlistment, and that he was entirely sober when enlisted; that, to the best of my judgment and belief, he is of lawful age; and that, in accepting him as duly qualified to perform the duties of an able-bodied soldier, I have strictly observed the Regulations which govern the recruiting service. This soldier was blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, is 5 feet 6 inches high.”

A few days before Francis’ enlistment in the 6th cavalry, his brother Hugh was killed in fighting at Pocotaligo, South Carolina on October 22, 1862.

Private McAtamney served with his new regiment throughout the campaigns of 1863. He was with his company on detached service at Cavalry Corps Headquarters in July, and missed the regiment’s mortal encounter at Fairfield, Pennsylvania.

Frank McAtamney apparently decided that he’d had enough as the spring campaign of 1864 was getting underway. He and another soldier who had joined Company K from Knapp’s Battery, Private John M’Cully, deserted at Fredericksburg, Virginia on May 13, 1864. Five days later, his other brother, Corporal Bernard McAtamney, was wounded and captured during fighting at Drewry’s Bluff. He died in prison in Richmond twelve days later.

Frank McAtamney never returned to the regiment. He surfaced briefly at the U.S. Army General Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland in December 1864. He reported that he was a member of the 6th US Cavalry, and the hospital wouldn’t have been able to refute this. He was treated for scurvy from December 19-23, then placed on furlough for the holidays. He didn’t return, and was again reported as a deserter February 7, 1865. At that point he is lost in the mists of history.

Note: in various records, the surname is spelled McAtamney, McTammany, McTamany, McTamney, often by Frank himself!

Sources:

Higgins, Michael. McAtamney family history information website: http://www.69thpa.co.uk/page29.html

McAtamney, Francis. Enlistment papers, Knapp’s Battery, NARA (copies courtesy of Patty Millich)

McAtamney, Francis. Enlistment papers, Company K, 6th U.S. Cavalry, NARA (copies courtesy of Patty Millich)

Muster Rolls, 6th U.S. Cavalry, M744, NARA

Peter McGrath was born in Ireland, and his family later immigrated to the United States. He enlisted in the Regiment of Mounted Rifles on September 11, 1851. He served in the regiment in New Mexico Territory for the next ten years, as a private, corporal, sergeant and finally first sergeant of Company I. He was commended for his conduct during an expedition against the Navajo Indians in October 1858.

McGrath was one of the original appointees as an officer of the newly-authorized 3rd U.S. Cavalry. He was appointed a second lieutenant in the regiment on May 14, 1861. He never joined his regiment, however. Like all of the officers appointed to the regiment from New Mexico save one, McGrath never left the territory. Trained officers were in short supply, and McGrath was kept busy training and leading volunteers over the next several months.

Peter McGrath was promoted to first lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry on October 24, 1861. This is interesting, since he’s listed on the regiment’s muster rolls as a second lieutenant assigned to Company A whose whereabouts are listed as unknown until February 1862.

On March 9, 1862, Lieutenant McGrath was assigned to a light battery composed of two 12-pound howitzers and two 6-pound guns commanded by Captain John F. Ritter of the 15th U.S. Infantry.

McGrath’s battery fought in the action at Pigeon’s Ranch, or Apache Canyon, New Mexico Territory, on March 28, 1862. Lieutenant McGrath was mortally wounded during the action, and died of his wounds on May 1, 1862.

Sources:

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903), page 667.

Henry, Guy V. Military Record of Army and Civilian Appointments in the United States Army, Volume II (New York: D. Van Nostrand Publishing, 1873), pg 143.
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, as noted within text.

Muster Rolls, 6th U.S. Cavalry, NARA, M744

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Volume 9, pgs 539-540.

Given the wealth of information turned up by super-sleuth Patty Millich since my original post on Albert Coats, I’m posting an addendum. Many thanks, Patty, for all of your hard work gathering all of this additional information! We now have a better-rounded view of the man.

Albert Coats was born to a farming family in February of 1837, the fifth of nine children. He grew up in Perry Township, Allen County, Ohio, just southeast of Lima. His parents had moved to Ohio from Pennsylvania, according to census records.

During the war, Lieutenant Coats was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 6th U.S. Colored Cavalry Regiment on September 19, 1864, but didn’t muster into the regiment until January 8, 1865.

After he resigned his commission, Coats settled in Arkansas. In 1870, he and his wife, Amanda, lived in McConnell township, Chicot County, Arkansas. Amanda was a fellow Ohioan, born in November of 1829. Oddly, his occupation is still listed as soldier during this census.

By 1880, the Coats family had moved to Little Rock. Albert and Amanda had no children. He worked as a carpenter and she worked as a grocer. In 1893 and 1894, they lived in the Eickhoff block of North Litter Road in Little Rock, where he worked a s a druggist and furniture maker.

In 1900, Albert and Amanda lived in Hill township, in North Little Rock. After the 1900 census, they again vanish into the mists of time.