KILLED IN A ACCIDENTAL EXPLOSION DURING THE CIVIL WAR
Michael Briscoe was born in Birr, County Offaly in 1822 and emigrated to the US in 1853. Michael settled in New York and married Catherine Hoare who was also from the Birr area. There were five Briscoe children in the family at the outbreak of the US Civil War.
Michael Briscoe enlisted at Harlem, New York in August 1862 and his enlistment record states he was forty years old. He was originally rostered in the 53rd New York Infantry but later transferred to Company H of the 132nd New York Infantry. This transfer may have seemed like a small detail at the time but it would completely alter the fate of Michael Briscoe.
The year 1864 would see Michael’s unit stationed in North Carolina at Camp Claassen. On May 26th 1864 the soldiers of the 132nd New York Infantry were sent to the nearby Bachelor’s Creek train station. They were there to collect a deadly cargo packed on a train arriving from New Bern. The train was carrying four powerful but crudely built mines, each packed with 250 pounds of black gun powder. The mines were designed to be placed in the nearby Neuse River and act as a deterrent to Confederate war ships.
The soldiers stood near the train platform and watched the rail workers haphazardly remove the cargo from the boxcar. As they rolled the mines from the train a block of wood apparently struck the cap on the last mine, triggering a massive explosion that set off the other three. The enormous blast could be heard at least eight miles away. Newspaper reports state that 40 soldiers and perhaps as many as 25 escaped slaves were killed. Michael Briscoe from Birr was on the platform at Bachelors Creek as the mines exploded and was killed instantly.
In the days following the tragedy, the commanding officer of Michael’s company, Captain John W. Fenton, sat down to write a letter to Catherine, the widow of Michael Briscoe, to inform her of the fate of her husband. He offers his condolences and advises her of what payments are outstanding to Michael. He tells her to forward her details to Adjutant Generals office in Washington in order to collect the money and that she is also entitled to a pension.
LETTER SENT TO CATHERINE BRISCOE (HOARE)
Grave of Michael Briscoe
Michael Briscoe is buried at New Bern National Cemetery in North Carolina along with six other members of his company killed at Bachelors Creek train station.
On the day of the explosion, in a deadly twist of fate, the 53rd New York Infantry, the unit Michael had originally been assigned to, was safely stationed near Washington DC protecting the approaches to the Capital.
