1st West Virginia Infantry and 3rd Regiment Maryland Volunteer. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army..

These words were written in June of 1908 in New Jersey City and are a small part of the obituary written upon the death of Union soldier Gilbert Proud Robinson. The obituary mentions his place of birth as being Shinrone in “Kings County” (as Offaly was then referred to) Ireland, and runs to 4 full pages. It lists the several, now famous battles, he had taken part in and and the vital role this Offaly soldier had played in the US Civil War.

“he was in the battles of Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and he was in the “crater” at Petersburgh on July 30th 1864″

For any student of the US Civil War it is a dizzying list of battles for any single soldier of that conflict to have been involved in and confirms the undoubted bravery and skill in battle that Gilbert Robinson must have possessed. It also paints a picture of a man who was unflinching in his resolve to ensure the Union cause would prevail in the terrible conflict. His dedication and obvious leadership abilities would see him promoted to the high rank of Lieutenant Colonel in October of 1862 and in fact, for a brief and extremely vital period, in early April of 1865 Gilbert Proud Robinson was overall commanding officer of his regiment as the Union army finally made the vital breakthrough that captured Petersburg on the 2nd April 1865. This event would play a huge part in the final surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Another fascinating piece of information mentioned in the words of his obituary is the fact that Gilbert Robinson “was in the “crater” at Petersburgh on July 30th 1864″. This refers to The Battle of the Crater and to what was then a new departure in warfare. After tunneling under the Confederate strong entrenchments around Petersburg, in early Summer of 1864, a massive explosion was detonated designed to open a breach in the lines that would allow the Union regiments to flood through. In what would prove to be a disastrous turn of events for the Union Army things deteriorated rapidly after the huge explosion as unit after unit charged into and around the newly created crater. While most milled around in confusion in the bottom of the crater the Confederate soldiers quickly recovered and launched several counterattacks and the breach was sealed off. The Union attack was easily repulsed and had sustained severe casualties. Luckily for Gilbert Proud Robinson he would survive this debacle.

The “Crater in June 1865

Gilbert Robinson would serve the Union Army until the end of the war and then return to his life in Hudson City, New Jersey where he and his wife Margaret Downey would raise their family. Gilbert would become the Chief Of Police for Hudson City prior to it being joined with New Jersey City. After this amalgamation of police forces members of the local community lobbied successfully in making sure Gilbert was made Police Captain in the precinct nearest to his home. Later Gilbert Robinson would serve as Chief Clerk of Police for Jersey City until his retirement in 1904. He would always be prominent in any Veteran Soldiers organizations in the New Jersey area and was an extremely popular member of the community.

Gilbert Proud Robinson from Shinrone was buried with military honours in June of 1908 in Arlington Memorial Park in Hudson County, New Jersey. In the Summer of 2024 a fellow Offaly man of Gilbert Proud Robinson, our own Danny Leavy, made the journey to Arlington Park in New Jersey. After a long search he finally located the grave of this brave soldier and draped the Offaly flag over his resting place. This Offaly man with the unusual middle name had indeed made his county and country proud.