24 Facts About Myles Keogh

Myles Keogh served in the armies of the Papal States during the war for Italian unification in 1860, and was recruited into the Union Army during the American Civil War, serving as a cavalry officer, particularly under Brig.

Myles Keogh was born in Orchard House, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, on 25 March 1840.

Myles Keogh attended the National School in Leighlinbridge where he was enrolled under the spelling 'Miles Kehoe'.

Myles Keogh was long thought to have attended St Patrick's College in Carlow but that college has not found any proof of his attendance.

Myles Keogh was posted at Ancona, a central port city of Italy.

The soldiers, although providing an admirable defence, were forced to surrender and Myles Keogh was imprisoned at Genoa.

Now that the fighting was over and duties of the Vatican Guard were more mundane, Myles Keogh saw little purpose in remaining at Rome.

Myles Keogh was to be with 'Little Mac' for only a few months but served the General during the Battle of Antietam.

Significantly, Myles Keogh received his first brevet for "gallant and meritorious services" during the battle and was promoted to the rank of major.

Myles Keogh would stay by his side and care for him, while they rested in Washington at the home of an old friend General George Stoneman.

Buford was buried at West Point Cemetery, as Myles Keogh attended his funeral at Washington and rode with his body on the train.

Major Myles Keogh was now appointed as aide de camp to General George Stoneman.

The praise garnered from the commanders Myles Keogh served with during the war years was indeed high:.

Myles Keogh's record had been remarkable for the short time he had been in the army.

Myles Keogh appeared to be a most gentlemanlike man, of soldierly appearance, and I was exceedingly glad to have him as an aide.

Colonel Myles Keogh chose to remain on active duty and accepted a Regular Army commission as a second lieutenant in the 4th Cavalry on 4 May 1866.

Myles Keogh was generally well liked by fellow officers although the isolation of military duty on the western frontier often weighed heavily upon him.

Myles Keogh was fond of the ladies, though he never married:.

When Sheridan took over from Hancock in 1868, there is evidence that it was to Myles Keogh he turned for first-hand information on conditions on the front line.

Myles Keogh enjoyed his stay in his homeland, feeling the necessity to support his sisters after the death of both parents.

Myles Keogh gave out copies of his will to comrades, and left behind personal papers with instructions that they be burned if he was killed.

The senior captain among the five companies wiped out with Custer that day, and commanding one of two squadrons within the Custer detachment, Keogh died in a "last stand" of his own, surrounded by the men of Company I When the sun-blackened and dismembered dead were buried three days later, Keogh's body was found at the center of a group of troopers that included his two sergeants, company trumpeter and guidon bearer.

Originally buried on the battlefield, Myles Keogh's remains were disinterred and taken to Auburn, as he had requested in his will.

Myles Keogh was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery on 26 October 1877, an occasion marked by citywide official mourning and an impressive military procession to the cemetery.