Daily Gazette
Davenport, Scott, Iowa
October 20, 1862

State Items
A company of 103 men has been recruited in Dubuque for the Irish Regiment
and the following officers chosen:

Captain - James Brown
1st Lieutenant-Thomas Duffy
2d Lieutenant-Patrick Murray
Orderly Sergeant-William Jones.

Since I am interested on anything about the Irish in Iowa, I decided to try
to research more of this regiment.
After questioning which regiment this might be on a list I received notice
that the newspaper items was probably referring to the 6th Iowa Cavalry, but
according to further research the article was probably talking about the
42nd infantry which failed to complete organization.

Here are some excerpts from History of Dubuque County, Iowa; Weston A.
Goodspeed, ed. by F. T. Oldt and P. J. Quigley; Chicago: Goodspeed Hist.
Assoc. 1911

p. 271- [At a meeting held on September 16, 1861]..."John O'Neill, J.J.
Lambert and James O'Grady were commissioned to raise a company here for the
proposed Irish regiment."

p. 285 - "Late in August [1862] David S. Wilson was commissioned major of
the Irish regiment to be raised. At this time the government bounty was $104
and the county bounty $50."

p. 286 - " In September [1862] Conday, Duffy and Butler recruited for the
Irish regiment...The Irish regiment was called the Forty-second; George M.
O'Breen became it's colonel."

So it appears to me that the "Irish regiment" never was organized.

Now, back to why the Sixth Cavalry came up.
Of the list of names mentioned in the original newspaper article, Company M.
of the 6th Cavalry had 3 of the four mentioned men.

In The History of Dubuque County, Iowa; Chicago: Western Historical Company
1880 the 42nd Regiment is not mentioned.
The 6th Cavalry, Company M did not have all Irish sounding surnames, but are
as follows:

Captain V.J. Williams, com. 2d lieut. Co. I Feb. 2, 1863, prmtd. capt of this company March 5, 1863.

First Lieut. James Brown, com. March 5, 1863.
First Sergt. Patrick Murry, e. Sept. 8, 1862
Com. Sergt. Wm. Jones, e. Sept 20, 1862.
Sergt. Bryan Hays, e. Oct. 1, 1862.
Sergt. Albert Loeper, e. Oct. 4, 1862.
Corp. Patrick Sullivan, e. Sept. 8, 1862.
Corp. H.W. Gardner, e. Sept. 8, 1862.
Corp. R. McKinlay, e. Sept. 20, 1862.
Corp. Paul Falk, e. Oct. 24, 1862, died in field July 22, 1865.
Teamster Thos. R. Flemming, e. Sept. 29, 1862.
Farrier Chas. Johnson, e. Jan 9, 1863
Wagoner John Gaffney, e. Sept. 12, 1862.
Abel, Alex., e. Oct. 15, 1862
Courtney, John, e. Jan. 9, 1863
Connelly, Chas. e. Nov. 3, 1862
Dryer, Henry, e. Oct. 4, 1862
Doyle, Thos. e. Dec. 8, 1862
Dewstoe, M.R., e. Nov. 1, 1862.
Flanagan, Felix, e. Nov. 4, 1862
Gregory, Jas., e. Sept 8, 1862
Gastron, F., e. Sept. 8, 1862
McLaughlin, M., e. Sept 8, 1862
McArty, Alex., e. Dec. 8, 1862
Maltz, Wm., e. Jan. 12, 1862
McCormick, Jas., e. Feb. 2, 1862
McQuillin, P., e. Sept. 13, 1862
Nolte, Henry, e. Oct. 7, 1862, disd. Aug. 23, 1865, disab.
O'Shea, John, e. Sept. 7, 1862
O'Connell, Patrick, e. Oct. 27, 1862
Qualters, Peter, e. Dec. 15, 1862
Schlagle, M., e. Nov. 18, 1862, died at Fort Randall, D.T.
Schoenthal, H., e. Oct. 18, 1862.

And as a follow up to these guys- the following were left living in Iowa in
1886:
From Alexander, Wm. L. Ex-Soldiers, Sailors and Marines living in Iowa 1886;
Des Moines: George E. Roberts 1886.

Dewstoe, M.B. [listed here as M.B. and in other list as M.R.] living in
Dubuque.
Loeper, Albert, Living in Montpelier.
McKinlay, Robert M living in Dubuque.


Anyone else know anything about the "Irish regiment" that wasn't?