mikeejay2
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Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher (b 1823 - d 1867) was born in Waterford, Ireland.
Meagher was educated at Jesuit boarding schools in Ireland While at school, Thomas Francis gained a broad and deep education and also came into his own as a speaker. After graduating, Meagher left Ireland for a tour of the continent where he became imbued with the spirit of revolution then alive in Germany and France. In January 1847, after the Great Hunger and a typhus epidemic swept Ireland, Meagher help form a group known as the Irish Confederation, which openly preached revolution. In 1848, Meagher went to France to study revolutionary events occurring there, and returned to Ireland with the design for a new Flag of Ireland, a tricolor of orange, white and green . 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. Following the incident known as the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, Meagher was arrested, tried and convicted for sedition, which meant that Meagher was sentenced to be “hanged, drawn and quartered“. His death sentence was commuted to transportation to "the other side of the world," and in 1849 was transported to Tasmania, Australia. Meagher gave his word not to attempt to escape without first notifying the authorities, in return for comparative liberty on the island. In January 1852 Meagher changed his mind and escaped to America. Meagher pursued journalism and studied law, gave lecture tours and published the radical pro-Irish, anti-British "Citizen". At the outbreak of the civil war, he was appointed major and led Company K of the 69th regiment (which would be known as the "Fighting 69th”) of the New York State Militia at Bull Run. He returned to New York to form the Irish Brigade and led it at as Brigadier-General from the Peninsula Campaign through Chancellorsville. 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 After the death of another leading Irish political figure, General Michael Corcoran, Meagher's resignation was rescinded and he was assigned to duty with the western armies, serving under Sherman. Sherman considered Meagher a foreign rabble-rouser and assigned him to non-combat duties which is how he finished out the war. After the war, Meagher was appointed Secretary of the Montana Territory, 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. 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 against the Indians. Meagher fell ill on the way to the fort, which was on the Missouri River and a terminus for steamboat travel, but still took time to visit with local politicians 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. Regardless, the general returned to the steamboat, where he was staying, around 11 pm. The next morning he was no were to be found. The general’s body was never recovered. His 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.
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