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Thomas Francis Meagher aka: '''"O'Meagher"''', or '''"Meagher of the Sword"''' ( August 3 , 1823 – July 1 , 1867 ) was an Irish revolutionary, who also served in the United States Army as a Brigadier General during the American Civil War . BIOGRAPHY Born in Waterford , County Waterford, Ireland , Meagher (pronounced ''Maw-her,'' or more commonly ''Mahr'') came from an established Catholic County Tipperary family of Tailor s & Vintner s. His father, Thomas Meagher ( 1796 – 1874 ), was born in St John's Newfoundland to Thomas Meagher ( 1763 – 1837 ) and Mary Crotty and was a merchant for the "Waterford-Newfoundland" trade. He was an MP for Waterford and its first Roman Catholic Lord Mayor in over two hundred years, thanks to Daniel O'Connell 's successful agitation. His wife Alicia Quan ( 1798 – 1827 ) was the second eldest daughter of Thomas Quan and Alicia Forristall. Early life Meagher was educated at Jesuit boarding schools in Ireland ( Clongowes Wood ) and England ( Stonyhurst College ). While at school, Thomas Francis gained a broad and deep education and also came into his own as a speaker, although he developed what one Irishman called "a Saxon accent", becoming the youngest medalist of the Clowgowes Wood Debating Society at age 15. After graduating from Stonyhurst, Meagher left Ireland for a tour of the continent where he became imbued with the spirit of revolution then alive in Germany and France . Meagher returned to Waterford in 1843, where he also first heard Daniel O'Connell speak. As a result of O'Connell's speech, he joined the campaign for the Repeal of the Act Of Union with Great Britain of 1801. (Cf. Repeal (Ireland) ). In 1845, he became a founding member of the by Meagher supporting armed insurrection as a means of Irish independence that finalized the split with Repeal and earned Meagher the sobriquet " Meagher Of The Sword ". In January 1847, after the Great Hunger and a Typhus epidemic swept Ireland, Meagher, together with John Mitchel , William Smith O'Brien, and Thomas Devin Reilly formed a new repeal body, known as the Irish Confederation and openly preached revolution. In 1848, Meagher and O'Brien went to France to study Revolutionary Events There , and returned to Ireland with the design for a new Flag Of Ireland , a Tricolour of orange, white and green gifted by the French. The acquisition of the flag is commemorated at the 1848 Flag Monument in the Irish parliament. The design used in 1848 was similar to the present flag, except that orange was placed next to the staff, and the red hand of Ulster decorated the white field. This flag was first flown in public on March 1 , 1848 , during the Waterford by-election, when Meagher and his friends flew the flag from the headquarters of Meagher's " Wolfe Tone Confederate Club" at #33, The Mall, Waterford. Following the incident known as the – second only to Robert Emmet 's pre-execution speech in the pantheon of Irish political rhetoric. Meagher and his colleagues were soon joined in Richmond Gaol, Dublin, by Kevin Izod O'Doherty and John Martin ; but the death sentences were commuted to transportation to "the other side of the world," and in 1849 all were transported to Van Diemen's Land ( Tasmania, Australia ). On July 20th, the day after being notified he was to be transported to Van Diemen's Land, Meagher announced he wished henceforth to be known as Thomas Francis O'Meagher. Van Diemen's Land Meagher accepted the "ticket-of-leave" in and shortly after to Ross (where his cottages still stand), MacManus to Launceston and later near New Norfolk (where his lodging "The Grange" still stands), Kevin O'Doherty to Oatlands (his stone cottage still stands), John Mitchel and John Martin to Bothwell ("Nant Cottage" still stands), Smith O'Brien (who initially refused a ticket-of-leave) to the "Penal Station" on Maria Island (where his cottage still stands) and later to New Norfolk. Throughout his time in Tasmania, Meagher continued to meet clandestinely with his fellow Irish rebels, especially at Interlaken on Lake Sorell. On 22nd February 1851 Meagher married Katherine Bennett ("Bennie"), daughter of Bryan Bennett of "The Grange" , friend of MacManus. Mitchel and Martin both attended. A mysterious man looking like MacManus also attended - it later transpired that MacManus had in fact escaped to America, and a friendly Irishman had acted his part at the wedding to divert the authorities. In January 1852 Meagher abruptly surrendered his "ticket-of-leave" (to the disapproval of O'Brien and Martin, but not of Mitchel) and escaped to America. Katherine's health was poor, and she died in Ireland in May 1854 at the home of Meagher's father, having been able to spend only four months with Meagher in America. American Civil War Meagher arrived in New York City in May 1852. When the question of "honour" was later raised, Meagher agreed to subject himself to a "trial" of American notables and agreed to return to Van Diemen's Land if they held against him. The "jury" (of unknown ethnic extraction) found for Meagher. Meagher pursued journalism and studied law, gave lecture tours and with John Mitchel, who had also since escaped, published the radical pro-Irish, anti-British "Citizen". They split over Slavery , Mitchel went to Richmond, Virginia and Mitchel's three sons served with the Confederate States Army ; Willy Mitchel was killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania . Meagher served the . He resigned in May 1863 over the army's refusal to let him return to New York to raise reinforcements for his battered brigade: 4,000 strong in mid-May 1862, by late May 1863 the brigade had only approximately 500 combat-ready men left. After the death of another leading Irish political figure, General Michael Corcoran , Meagher's resignation was rescinded and he was assigned to duty with the western armies, serving under General William Tecumseh Sherman , a Catholic convert. Sherman considered Meagher a foreign rabble-rouser and assigned him to non-combat duties outside of the Theater Of Operations , in which capacity he finished out the war. The Irish brigade was considered by many a general to be the best brigade in the whole civil war Territorial governorship After the war, Meagher was appointed Secretary of the new Territory Of Montana , and soon after arriving in the territory was designated the Acting Governor . As acting governor, Meagher attempted to create a working relationship between the territory's Republican executive and judicial branches and the Democratic legislative branch. He failed, making enemies in both camps. The Territory of Montana was created from the eastern portion of Idaho Territory in recognition of the influx of settlers following the discovery of gold there in 1862 . When the Civil War was finished, a flood of settlers entered the territory...often ignoring U.S. Treaties with the local Native American tribes in their quest for riches. In 1867 the renowned Western explorer John Bozeman was reportedly killed by a band of Crow and several other attacks were made against the territory's settlers. Meagher responded by mustering the militia. He secured funding from the federal government to campaign against the natives, but was unable to find the offenders...or retain the militia's cohesion. Death In the summer of 1867 he traveled to Fort Benton, Montana, to receive a shipment of guns and ammunition sent by General Sherman for use by the Montana Militia. Meagher fell ill on the way to Fort Benton , the Missouri River terminus for Steamboat travel, stopping six days en route to recuperate. When he reached Fort Benton, he was still ill, but took some time with local Politician s and admirers. Some reports state that he spent the afternoon imbibing with his well wishers. Others say that he was simply too ill to drink. Meagher's supposed compatriot, Colonel W. F. Sanders, stated that Meagher appeared to be acting "mentally deranged" and was "loudly demanding a Revolver to defend himself against the citizens of Ft. Benton." It was allegedly suggested to the General that he should get some rest, and that is what he allegedly purported to do, reboarding his steamboat, the ''G. A. Thompson'', sometime in the early evening. After about 11:00 PM, according to Sanders, "there was a colored man...the barber... {Link without Title} said a man had let himself down from the upper to the lower deck and jumped into the river and gone on down the stream." Sanders goes on to say that "the next day some members of the general staff" said that he, Sanders, must not mention anything about Meagher's Mental condition or that the drowning was not an accident in his letter to Meagher's wife. But this Sanders refused to do, and explained everything to Mrs. Meagher as he saw and as he was told by the witnesses. Afterwards, no one seems to have questioned the barber's report as suspicious, or the fact that Sanders had alienated himself from Meagher saying that "the Secessionist s (then called Democratic)...took charge of Gov. Meagher." One other witness, a female passenger who had remained on board the steamboat, recalled that she heard a deck-hand yelling "man over-board" at about the same time Meagher disappeared; and several years later at least two people attempted to "admit" that they in fact had something to do with Meagher being murdered. But none of the accounts did lead to any sufficient Discovery . Meagher's death, is still considered to be suspicious, however; and as he was outspoken, there could have been numerous persons who would have wanted to murder him. Meagher was survived by his second wife, Elizabeth Townsend ( 1840 – 1906 ) the daughter of Peter Townsend ( 1803 – 1885 ) and Caroline Parish of Monroe , Orange County, New York , and at least one child that he had by the first marriage: Thomas Francis Meagher Jr. He is remembered for his service to Montana with a statue on the front lawn of the Capitol grounds in Helena, Montana , and with another statue in Billings, Montana . The county of Meagher County, Montana was also named in his honor. END NOTES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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