St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-22
'"a' IRISH "REMINISCENCES.
To the Editor of the Globe.

Immediately after the collapse OF the
confederation of the Southern states, l
formed the acquaintance OF several
Irish-American eX-Officers of the yOlun-
teer army of the United States. They
were active members of the Fenian
brotherhood, and they were enthusiast
tically Sanguine that the people of Ire
land would be able to drive the English
from Irish soil before the end of 1866.
The Fenian organization was an aux
Hilary to the l. r. b., Qrish Revolution
AIRY BrotherhOOd) of Ireland. Both these
societies were offShOotS from the Phe-
nix society. 1t was owing to the eX-
poses of such Irish Roman Catholic
trimmers as A. M. Sullivan that caused
Sames Stephens to develop the Phoenix
into the Irish Revolutionary Brother
hood. This progressive operation was
we'll executed. But the transformation
of the American Phoenix into the Fen
ian Brotherhood proved the mistake OF
ing devoted himself to the ma
tional cause of an incOnSlStant
people be considered such. He was,
however, advised to this deplorable de-
parture by the leading lights of the
American auxiliary, including Col.
John O'MahOney, who was Mr.Stephen's
American agent, and necessarily the
chief officer of the auxiliary body. The
one reason assigned for the tranSfOrma-
ton was that it would free its members
from the silent and malignant opp0Si-
ton of the church of Rome. This
proved fatal mistake, for while both
the home and auxiliary organizations
retained the true garb of secrecy, the
Catholic priests could only fight them
through the confessional, which, may
here add, they abused in the most
shameful manner. The development OF
the American Phoenix into the Fenian
Brotherhood afforded them that latitude
for which they had cOnSpired. From
that moment the open denunciatiOn of
the Irish national movement rivalled
anything ever before heard from Chris
tian affairs in any age or in any country.
Irishmen specially blessed by the pope
for fighting his enemies in Italy, and
who were afterwards blessed and prayed
for by Bishop Hughes and other church
officials for fighting against the
armies of the South, were now
openly denounced, excommunicated,
and were even told from those Catholic
affairs that the lowest and hottest reg
ions of hell were far too good for them
so long as they remained members of
these revolutionary societies, having
for their sole object the freedom of Ire
land from Great Britain.
1 was moved by the arguments of
those IriSh-American eX-OtficerS. They
seemed to be intensely i'll earnest. l
felt that the people of Ireland were
right, and necessarily requested to be
initiated into the Sanctum OF the Fenian
brotherhood, so that l could be able to
volunteer for active service in Ireland.
This was necessary preliminary, as
h,,f <5,,Ix off
the head center of the F. B. to the l. 4.
B. would be accepted, commissioned
and assigned to military posts by James
Stephens. Becoming member of the
organization, applied at once for active
service. Having waited a time in pa
tience l was instructed to report to Col.
John O'MahOney. | hastily arranged
for farewell to my native land, be-
lieving that the odds were largely
against the possibility of ever seeing it
after sailing from New York. All, if l
could have fOreseen the miserable re-
suit of that movement-well. 1 should
at least escaped many heartaches.
Arriving in New York city about
Sept. l, 1865, | reported in person to Col.
O'MahOney. He then requested me to
be ready to sail the 5th instant as a
''favorite" steamer would sail that day
for Liverpool via Cork. He also gave
me to understand that the officers going
over in that steamer would barely reach
in time for the "rising," according to
the latest information from the chief Or
ganiZer. When questioned about the
number of men ready for active service,
arms and munitions of war, he replied
| that official reports put the fighting
| force at 100000, but that the |. r. b.
could, if pushed. put fully 100000 men
in the field; that the "men in the gap''
were not as well supplied with military
mittance had been recently sent over to
the Paris agent, John Michael; that,
no doubt, arms and munitions of war
were now being rushed into Ireland
from the continent, and that the only
| doubt he entertained about the outcome
| of the movement was that, perhaps,
there would not be sufficient number
of experienced officers for that army of
volunteers. This might lead to some
| confusion at first, but, as the war would
progress, he was sure the 'hOme march
officers would prove equal to the occa-
sion. / am now, however, satisfied that
this would not have been the result.
While the Irish possess many brilliant
traits of character, they seem to lack
that cool, calm, mathematical trending
| .
4th, the day before sailing, l met
| O'Mahoney by appointment. He in
formed me that had been chosen to be
the bearer of both money and official
papers to James Stephens. l protested
against being thus designated for such
grave responsibility. O'MahOney's pri-
Vate secretary, James McDermOtt, was
| present and urged me to comply with
the arrangement, as it was an express
sion of confidence. | formed dislike
to ''Red Jim" at this meeting, and
never changed that opinion of him
and. strange to add, eighteen years aft
with circumstances proving that he had
always been in the pay of Great Britain.
| ~
| 4As I could see no good reason for
having been selected for such risky
work, continued to object thereto, as
signing as the main reason that l knew
nothing of the local surroundings of
Ireland, and therefore the executive
ought to select one of the Irish-Ameri-
can officer who, knowing the ground,
would be more likely to evade
the British officials. O'Mahoney, how
dyer, rejected my line of argument, as
sorting that the Irish officers were far
too careless, they talked too much, they
drank too much, and that they did not
seem to comprehend the requirements
of the cause of Ireland. then thought,
why are such men sent to Ireland?
After events, however, proved that the
'Head Center" bad not miSrepresented
the majority of the military officers. In
order to give the question further con-
sideration, we adjourned for two hours,
and, when we met, O'MahOney was
alone. l then suggested that the drafts
be given to Lieut.. Geary, a brother
eX-cOnfederate officer, and would take
charge of the official documents. Itwas
so arranged. | then requested O'Ma.
honey to confine the affair to Geary, my.
self and the head center, to the entire
exclusion of his private secretary. That
| evening Col. O'MahOneY brought the