Patrick O'Leary:

A Veteran of General Lee's Army.

by Terry Foenander.

Patrick O’Leary, a veteran of the Confederate Army under General Robert E. Lee, was aged 109, when he described his experiences during the Civil War to journalist John Laffin, of the Australian Pocket Book Weekly, in its issue of May 6, 1950.   He clearly indicated that he had been born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1840, and had been a resident of the state of Kentucky at the commencement of the war.   He eventually enlisted in the Confederate Army and states that he served under General Lee, and had fought in the battle of Gettysburg.   One statement, in particular, made by O’Leary, in the four paged article especially stands out: “I was with General Robert E. Lee’s infantry all the time.”   Pure and simple, simple enough even for a seven year old child to understand.   However, it seems that not every person, especially one member of the American Civil War Round Table of Queensland, James Mason Gray, seems to understand the gravity of this statement, or the other facts stated by O’Leary.

Part of the article relating to Patrick O'Leary's service in the Confederate Army.

In a message to the “Civil War Flags Message Board” dated Friday, January 13, 2006, and titled “47^th Georgia Flag”, Mr. Gray makes the confident statement, after placing a query for the provision of a picture of the 47^th Georgia flag, that “I need it to use on a memorial presentation of Patrick O’Leary who served in the 47^th Georgia on the website www.acwv.info.   He is buried in Australia.   Any information on him and the unit would be useful as well.”

The query placed by Mr. Gray at the "Civil War Flags Message Board". Note especially the confident statement that Patrick O'Leary, who is buried in Australia, was a member of the 47th Georgia Infantry.

How Mr. Gray was able to come to the conclusion that Patrick O’Leary had actually served in the 47^th Georgia is beyond comprehension, but it seems to be another one of his numerous assumptions, which are made without any foundation on the actual facts.   A simple perusal of the history of the 47^th Georgia, on the Internet, or in any published volume of regimental histories of Confederate units would have revealed the fact that the 47^th Georgia Infantry was never ever in the Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert Edward Lee.   As well, this unit was never at Gettysburg, but served mostly with the Confederate Army in the west.

Although Patrick O’Leary’s service has never been confirmed through official documentation, his statement of several facts seems to confirm such service.   As for the actual unit he served in, there is no doubt that it was never in the 47^th Georgia Infantry, although a person of the same name had served there.   There are so few details of his own personal service, and even fewer indications of the actual unit he was in.   He may have even served under an assumed name for all we know.   O’Leary died at Liverpool, New South Wales, two years later, in 1952, and is probably the oldest Civil War veteran to have been a resident of Australia.

Page Created, June, 2008.