Carlow History

Walt Disney ancestors!

The last resting place of Walt Disney's ancestors is in Carlow - even though the cartoon king's legacy is worth millions. Walt Disney's Irish ancestors are buried in Clonmelsh graveyard, Ballyloo, Co Carlow.

Captain Myles Keogh of Leighlinbridge
& Custer’s last stand

By Willie White

CAN YOU remember sitting on the edge of your seat in the dark spaces of the local cinema, and being on tenterhooks as the Indians were about to overwhelm the circled wagon train?

Then can you remember the roar of delight as a bugle sounded the charge and, out of nowhere, the cavalry arrived riding at full speed, a sea of navy and blue with their peaked hats displaying the crossed golden swords, which was their badge of honour? And within minutes, the Indians were dead, captured or in full flight. You know what, we walked out of that cinema on a high, as if we had led the attack ourselves.

But how close to reality were these films? Very close, as quite a few were based on actual events, so perhaps if we take a little look into history we may get a clearer view of the US Cavalry. The force was activated on 17 November 1775, and retained its title until 1951 when it was absorbed into the armoured cavalry we know today, although the last mounted US Cavalry charge took place on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines during World War II when, on 16 January 1942, the 26th Cavalry Regiment charged Japanese forces near the village of Morong.

The 1st Cavalry Division is the only horse-using part of the force that remains, and is used for ceremonial purposes only. The idea for a cavalry force came to George Washington when he saw the success of a small British light dragoon force during the American Revolutionary War. He requested, and was given, permission to set up a 3,000-strong mounted force, first called light dragoons, then the corps of light dragoons, but mostly referred to as cavalry. Major difficulties occurred in setting up this force - a poor response to recruiting, lack of horses, uniforms and supplies, but most of all, extremely bad discipline. This led Washington to appoint a Polish professional soldier, Count Casimir Polaski, to train them as an offensive force.

This, in turn, led to friction from the American officers, and Polaski resigned. Congress allowed the Pole to form his own corps, and he was joined in 1778 by Harry Lee’s partisan light dragoons, and later by Frenchman, Col Armand’s Boston-based legion. Although problems persisted, this was the birth of the US Cavalry, which with various changes and battle plans had considerable success during the war.

In 1792, the US Congress formed its first official cavalry unit which was better disciplined, trained and equipped than its predecessor, and work on cementing this establishment continued over the more benign years up to 1812 when another war loomed. There were now two regiments of highly-trained professional soldiers called the 1st and 2nd United States Dragoons. The cavalry continued in various guises, and fought and won the second Seminole Indian War in 1835, which began when the government changed the terms of the Payne’s Landing Treaty of 1832 over reservation rights the Indians held in central Florida.

The Blackhawk Indian, then the American-Mexican war followed. One of the early battles saw the now-seasoned US Cavalry, under General Zachary Taylor with 1,700 troops, defeat a Mexican force of over 4,000, led by General Mariano Arista, on 9 May 1846. Thirty-three Americans and 154 Mexicans died, before the latter fled the battlefield, leaving behind most of their artillery pieces. This battle set the theme for the rest of the campaign. The American Civil War loomed, but just before this bloody confrontation, all the dragoon regiments were officially designated as cavalry - the tale of this bloody confrontation is another day’s work. So that is how the US mounted cavalry began and ended.

Now let us have a look at probably the best known of the cavalry stories, that of General George Custer, the 7th Cavalry and their massacre at the Little Big Horn River, Montana, on the 25/26 June 1876, a battle more commonly called Custer’s Last Stand, or to the Indians as the Battle Of Greasy Grass Creek. The battle was the most documented of the Sioux War of 1876-77, and was a remarkable success for the Sitting Bull-led Lacote Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians. With Chief Crazy Horse to the fore, they misled the cavalry into believing it was an Indian force of around 500, when, in fact, more than 2,000 were waiting in ambush. A large number of Irishmen served with the 7th at the Little Big Horn, and many were among the 264 under Custer’s command who died in the battle. Best known would be Captain Myles Keogh, who was born on 25 March 1840 at Orchard House, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow. Baptised Myles Tomas, he was always called Myles Walter, and at the age of 20 fought in the Papal War in Italy on the side of Pope Pious IX where he reached the rank of lieutenant.

Defeated and taken prisoner at the Battle of Ancona, he was released shortly after in a prisoner-exchange deal. Keogh then served in the Vatican with the company of St Patrick, and was awarded a number of medals for gallantry, including the Cross of the Order of St Gregory. When the fighting ended, Keogh saw no reason to stay in Italy, and with the American Civil War raging, he left for the US with Daniel Kiely.

The two men were met in Manhattan by another ex-member of the St Patrick’s company, Joseph O’Keeffe. The trio then joined the Union forces where they were each given the rank of captain. Keogh was quickly noticed as a courageous and intelligent soldier, and quickly reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. He had many citations from senior officers, including one from secretary of war General Schofield, which stated: “He is one of the most gallant and efficient young cavalry officers I have ever known.”

At the end of the war, he was offered a captain’s commission, which he accepted, and was appointed commander of General Custer’s 1st Company 7th Cavalry. As he had done throughout his military career, he quickly became a seasoned Indian fighter, a foe he described as cunning and fleet-footed. In 1874, Keogh spent seven months back in Ireland, and before returning to duty, put his Irish affairs in order.

He may have had a premonition of what was about to take place. On arriving back in the States, he took out a $10,000 life assurance policy, wrote to friends outlining his burial wishes, and gave copies of his will to his comrades. Captain Myles Keogh died bravely at the Little Big Horn, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his troopers who respected and admired him so much. His body was recovered three days later. His funeral took place at Fort Hill Cemetery, New York on 26 October 1877, and was marked by citywide mourning and a massive military procession.

The inscription on his headstone reads: Sleep soldier still in honoured rest, your truth and valour wearing; the bravest are the tenderest, the loving are the daring. Captain Keogh’s horse, Commanche, was found badly injured but alive, and was nursed back to health to become a regimental mascot, the only survivor from that awful day. Just one little footnote worth noting, the marching song of the 7th Cavalry was Garryowen, another indication of the strong Irish connection. We may expand on this aspect in a future story, as it has a lot of history attached.

Arthur Kavanagh : 1831-1889

By kavanaghfamily.com

Arthur was born at Borris House, Co. Carlow, on 25 March 1831, the third son of Thomas Kavanagh (1767-1837), by his second wife, Lady Harriet Margaret Le Poer Trench, daughter of Richard, second earl of Clancarty. His father was M.P. for Kilkenny in the last Irish parliament, and for Co. Carlow in the last two parliaments (of the United Kingdom) under George IV, and the first parliament under William IV. His family traced its descent to the kings of Leinster. Born with only the rudiments of arms and legs, Arthur nevertheless, by indomitable resolution and perseverance, triumphed over his physical defects, and learned to do almost all that the normal man can do, better than most men. Though in general carried on the back of his servant, he had a mechanical chair so contrived that he was able to move about the room without even this assistance.

His chest was broad, but he could make the stumps of his arms meet across it, and by long practice he made the stumps themselves so supple, strong, and nervous, that with the reins round them he could manage a horse as well as if he had them between his fingers, and even make good use of a whip. In riding he was strapped on a chair saddle, and though thus exposed to the gravest risks in the event of his horse falling or breaking his girths, rode to hounds and took fences and walls as boldly as any in the field.

He was also an expert angler, fishing from a boat or from horseback, and supplying the want of wrist-play by dexterous jerks of the stumps of his arms. Nor did his practical dexterity end here. He contrived to shoot, and shoot well, both in cover and the open, carrying a gun without a trigger-guard, resting the piece upon his left arm-stump, and jerking the trigger with his right. He also became a fair amateur draughtsman and painter, and wrote more legibly than many who suffer from no physical defect.

Arthur was educated under private tutors at Celbridge, co. Kildare, and with his mother at St. Germain-en-Laye, and at Rome. He also travelled with his mother and his tutor, the Rev. David Wood, in Egypt, ascending the Nile as far as the third cataract, and in Asia Minor, visiting Sinai, Jerusalem, and Beyrout, in 1846-8.

On his return to Ireland in 1848 Arthur acted as a volunteer scout during Smith O'Brien's rebellion, riding sometimes many miles unattended in the dead of night.

During 1849-1851 he travelled with his eldest brother, Thomas, and his tutor to India by way of Russia and Persia. Tabriz was reached without notable adventure in November 1849, and the party were introduced to a Persian prince, Malichus Mirza. Arthur fell dangerously ill in December, and was nursed in the prince's harem. On his recovery the travellers crossed Lake Urumiah, and rode through difficult country and blinding sleet and snow to Mosul, passing on the way the scene of the recent murder of Stoddart and Conolly and recovering the latter's prayer-book.

Thence, after visiting Nineveh, they voyaged by raft down the Tigris to Bagdad, inspected the remains of the Tower of Babel, and rode by a perilous pass to Shiraz. On the way Arthur, dizzy with fever, saw the mule in front of him tumble headlong over the precipice, and was only saved from the same fate by the strength of his nerve.

At Shiraz he visited the tombs of the poets Sadi and Hafiz, and returned by Ispahan to Teheran, 26 June 1850. Thence a long and intensely hot march brought them to Bushire, where they took ship for Bombay, arriving there on 5 Jan. 1851. Arthur now had some experience of tiger-hunting, in which he acquitted himself brilliantly.

In December his brother, attacked by consumption, left India for Australia. He died on the voyage, and Arthur, who had remained behind, was for a time in want of money, and maintained himself by carrying despatches in the Aurungabad district. He afterwards obtained a post in the survey department of the Poonah district, but returned to Ireland in 1853, and succeeded to the family estates on the death of his brother Charles in that year.

On 15 March 1855 he married his cousin, Frances Mary, only surviving daughter of the Rev. Joseph Forde Leathley, rector of Termonfeckin, co. Louth. Arthur was, by the admission of Sir Charles Russell, 'a landlord of landlords.' He rebuilt in great part the villages of Borris and Ballyragget, on plans drawn by himself, which won the Royal Dublin Society's medal, and in other ways sought to promote the well-being of his tenantry. In this he was ably seconded by his wife, who taught the villagers floriculture and lace-making, the latter having been started by his mother.

Arthur subsidised and managed the railway line from Borris to Bagnalstown until it was taken over by the Great Southern and Western Railway. He was a justice of the peace for the counties of Wexford, Kilkenny, and Carlow, high sheriff of co. Kilkenny in 1856 and of co. Carlow in 1857, and a member, and from 1862 chairman, of the board of guardians of the New Ross poor-house, in which, though himself a strong protestant, he had a chapel provided for the benefit of Roman catholic inmates, the first of the kind in Ireland.

Daily he might be seen seated under an old oak in the courtyard of Borris House, administering justice, adjusting differences, making up quarrels, and even arranging marriages. Here, also, in the winter he distributed beef and blankets among the poor. Arthur represented co. Wexford in parliament from 1866 to 1868, and Co. Carlow from 1868 to 1880. During the Fenian rising he fortified and provisioned Borris House for a siege, and patrolled the country nightly as in 1848.

Arthur was a conservative, voted against the disestablishment of the Irish church, and took an active part in its reorganisation upon a voluntary basis. On the other hand, he supported the Land Bill of 1870. He spoke seldom, but with great weight; his maiden speech decided the fate of the Poor Law (Ireland) Amendment Bill of 1869. He supported the Peace Preservation Bills of 1870 and 1875.

He lost his seat at the general election of 1880, even his own tenantry voting against him; was appointed lord-lieutenant of co. Carlow, and sat on the Bessborough commission. Dissenting from the report of his colleagues, he drew up one of his own, in which the principal feature was a proposal to extend the Bright clauses of the act of 1870. Foreseeing the storm, he initiated the Irish Land Committee, of which he became one of the honorary secretaries.