Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Patrick H. Doran

Patrick H. Doran was born 1840 in Ireland, probably the son of Patrick and Ann (Pierce).

Patrick’s family immigrated to the United States and by 1860 he and his older brother Thomas were working as moulders and boarding at John Grady’s in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- and/or residing in the household of one Michael Hughes, a machinist. Patrick may have been a member of St. Andrews Catholic Church in Grand Rapids.

Patrick was 21 years old when he enlisted in Company F on May 13, 1861.

He married Joanna O’Brien (1840-1904) on June 7, 1861, in Grand Rapids, just one week before the Regiment left Grand Rapids for Washington.

On August 29, 1862, at Second Bull Run, wrote Dan Crotty of Company F after the war “Pat Doran, my left hand man, [was] wounded in four different places, but [kept] his place in the line.” Patrick’s wounds were not serious, however, and although he may have been temporarily hospitalized, he soon returned to the Regiment.

Patrick was reportedly killed in action on May 3, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Virginia. Dan Crotty described his last moments: “Once in a while one of our poor fellows is taken to the rear mortally wounded. It is here that a comrade of mine, P. H. Doran, and a better soldier never carried a musket than he. While lying down, a bullet from a sharpshooter did the deed, and passed through his head. Poor fellow, he has fought his last battle, and his campaigns are ended. Let him be inscribed on the roll of honor as a martyr to his adopted County.” He was presumably among the unknown soldiers buried at Chancellorsville.

In 1863 his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 21891), drawing $8.00 per month by 1883. She and was living in Grand Rapids in 1883, and in 1889-90 and is buried in St. Andrews cemetery in Grand Rapids.

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