Irish patriots—Valiant at Gettysburg

Compiled by Katharine Gilbert

Devoted father Dennis O’Kane was only a lieutenant colonel at Harpers Ferry, when he reacted to the crude comments of Col. Joshua Owen towards his daughter Mary Ann. He pulled Owen from his horse injuring him, which resulted in court-martial proceedings that were dropped. O’Kane was promoted to colonel of 69th Pennsylvania Volunteers.
On July 3^rd, 1863, 45-year-old Derry man O’Kane was with his regiment of 241 men out of the original 1,000 who enlisted in September 1861. Most of those men came from Philadelphia Irish militia companies. That day was near 90 degrees and the men wore woolen uniforms at Cemetery Ridge.
To be better armed, O’Kane’s men gathered muskets from dead Confederates in the field…so they could fire without reloading.
O’Kane and his men were determined to prove the anti-Irish nativists wrong by bravery in battle. They signed up amid hecklers in the city of Philadelphia in 1861 and resisted retaliation.
O’Kane trained his soldiers to hold fire until they see the whites of the enemies’ eyes. The fighting at the Angle culminated in point blank range as many used their muskets as clubs.
Col. Dennis O’Kane was mortally wounded and died early in the morning on July 4th.
His funeral was held at St. James Church, West Philadelphia and burial was at Cathedral Cemetery.

Courtesy of Walter J. Fox, Jr., author of “Col. Dennis O’Kane  69th Pennsylvania Volunteers: They Stood Their Ground.” (wfox@netreach.net). His article originally appeared in the Irish Edition, June 1999. He is a descendent of Col. O’Kane. Photo of Col. Dennis O’Kane courtesy of the Civil War Library and Museum, Philadelphia.