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Civil War Soldiers - Corcoran
| Corcoran, Michael, brigadier-general,
U.S. Army, was born in Carrowkeel, Ireland, Sept. 21, 1827. His
father, a captain in the British army, gave him a good education, and
procured for him a commission in the Irish constabulary in 1845. This
he resigned, being unwilling to oppress his people, and in 1849 he
emigrated to America, locating in New York. He joined the militia
there as a private, rose through the grades to the rank of colonel,
1859, and when Prince Albert of Wales visited this country, he refused
to order out the regiment, the 69th, to do honor to the prince. For
this he was subjected to trial by court-martial, that was still
pending when the Civil war began. Upon the first call for troops, he
led the 69th to the seat of war, and, being ordered to Virginia, built
Fort Corcoran on Arlington Heights, and then led it into the battle of
Bull Run, where he fought with impetuous gallantry. He was wounded and
captured, and spent nearly a year in various Confederate prisons,
refusing to accept a release conditional upon his promise not to take
up arms again in defense of the Union. Upon being exchanged, Aug. 15,
1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers to date from
July 21, 1861, and organized the Corcoran legion, which he commanded
in the battles on the James, near Suffolk, in April, 1863, and in
checking the advance of the Confederates upon Norfolk. The legion was
attached to the Army of the Potomac, in Aug., 1863, and Gen. Corcoran
was killed by the falling of his horse upon him while riding in
company with Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher, Dec. 22, 1863.
Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
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