HE WAS PROMOTED TO ORDNANCE SERGEANT IN 1860 & WAS BASED AT MANY FORTS THROUGHOUT THE USA
Edward Doyle was born in County Offaly, Ireland in 1829. We know the county of his birth from the information in the available US Army Enlistment records. Between the years 1850 and 1890 he confirms his birth place on each re-enlistment as “Kings County, Ireland“, which was the name of County Offaly in Ireland prior to 1923.
This soldier served in the Union Army prior to the outbreak of the US Civil War and continued to serve until his retirement at the age of 61. While originally his was another name on our list compiled during our research into Offaly men who fought in the US Civil War, it was only when we looked deeper into the records his full history became apparent. It revealed a story of 40 years of unbroken service in the US Army, an achievement to be remembered and recognized.
United States Army Enlistments 1798-1914 Image | findmypast.ie – EDWARD DOYLE (ENLISTMENT 1850)
United States Army Enlistments 1798-1914 Image | findmypast.ie – EDWARD DOYLE (RE-ENLISTMENT 1855)
United States Army Enlistments 1798-1914 Image | findmypast.ie – EDWARD DOYLE (RE-ENLISTMENT 1860)
Edward was working as a Tailor in Pennsylvania when he enlisted in the 5th US Infantry in 1850 and would remain attached to this regiment throughout his entire service. In 1860, and after the required 8 years of service, he was promoted to an Ordnance Sergeant which meant several new responsibilities and functions. Edward became responsible for the care of the ordnance, arms, ammunition and military stores on a post or fort. His new role also now meant that while he was still a member of the 5th Infantry he would be assigned to one particular location and not subject to the regular movements that regiments would have to endure. The role would also, over the next few years, morph into one of being the Caretaker at the fortification at which you were assigned. His appointment, made just a few months before the start of the US Civil War, meant that he would not see any combat and instead would be assigned to two separate forts during the years of the conflict.
United States Army Enlistments findmypast.ie – EDWARD DOYLE (ORDNANCE SERGEANT REGISTER)
Luckily for us there is a register available online of all Ordnance Sergeants appointed in the US Army and it gives us the full service record of Edward Doyle and where he was based during his career as a soldier. Between the years 1860 and 1890 Edward served at 6 different forts before his eventual retirement. His record shows that during most of the Civil War he was stationed at Fort Marcy near Santa Fe in New Mexico. This area of the United States was relatively quiet during the period of the war but in 1861 and 1862 the Confederate Army did attempt to take control of the southern routes into the state. Their attempts would ultimately meet with failure as a result of defeat at The Battle of Glorieta Pass in late March of 1862. Interestingly, for movie fans, this is the battle referenced in the famous 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. One scene in particular is set during the post-battle retreat of defeated Confederate soldiers. We can’t find any definite connection to Edward and this battle but no doubt he was very aware of the engagement and its outcome as Fort Marcy was within 20 miles of the battle ground.
Fort Marcy, Santa Fe, N.M., – Digital file from original | Library of Congress
Fort Marcy, Santa Fe, N.M., – Digital file from original | Library of Congress
Battle of Glorieta Pass – Wikipedia
In July of 1864 Edward is transferred to Fort Macon near Wilmington in North Carolina and in as much as any career soldier can make any place their home it is here where he would always have a connection with for the rest of his life. He would eventually marry and have a home in North Carolina and, despite several more transfers throughout the vast United States of America, towards the end of his military career he would return once again to settle in North Carolina.
The years 1867 to 1878 would see Edward based at Fort Abercrombie and Fort Sisseton which were both set in the sparse landscape of The Dakota Territories. The fort at Abercrombie was constructed in the year 1858 and was the first permanent military installation in what later became the state of North Dakota while Fort Sisseton was in the South Dakota region and was used by the US Army from 1864 to 1889 as an outpost inhabited by cavalry and infantry soldiers.
This was at a period of time when the US Army was engaged in several wars with the Native American tribes who had inhabited these lands for generations before the arrival of new settlers. The period would also see inter tribal wars between the Native Americans themselves. Ironically the US Army served as a peace keeping force of sorts during these bitter tribal conflicts.
In the years between 1878 and 1880 Edward was based at Fort Snelling near St. Paul, Minnesota where, once again, the US Army were heavily involved in battles with local Native American Tribes. Fort Snelling was used as a base for several Army Regiments during this time and Edward would have been responsible for maintaining the stock of munitions as well as the day to day upkeep of the forts requirements. Census records for 1880 show him then living close to the army base with his wife Margaret and that there are no children within the marriage.
United States Army Enlistments 1880- findmypast.ie
1880 US Census Image | findmypast.ie
First Fort Snelling Bridge – Fort Snelling – Wikipedia
July 1880 would see Edward once again on the move. He is transferred to Fort Monroe in Virginia which is an army base of particular importance in the history of the United States. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 President Abraham Lincoln quickly reinforced this fort preventing it from falling to the Confederates. It was held by Union forces throughout the Civil War which allowed them to launch several vital sea and land expeditions. It was also here, as a result of an order by Major General Benjamin Butler, which became known as the “Fort Monroe Doctrine“, stating that any enslaved men who reached Union lines would be considered “contraband of war” and therefore would not be sent back to their owners. As a result thousands of slaves escaped to the Union side around Fort Monroe, or “Freedom’s Fortress”, as it had then became known.
Fort Monroe was also the place where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned, after his capture, and it where he remained between the years of 1865-1867 before being released.
Edward would serve for five years at Fort Monroe before being transferred back to his previous home in Fort Macon, North Carolina in 1885. He was coming towards the end of his years of his service but sadly for Edward only one year after returning to Fort Macon his wife, Margaret, died at the age of 59. She is buried in Saint Pauls Episcopal Church Cemetery in Beaufort, North Carolina. The records show that she had always been with Edward as he transferred to new locations between those years of 1870 to 1885.
Margaret Doyle (1827-1886) – Find a Grave Memorial
Beaufort, NC – Old Postcards and Photographs – FORT MACON
After the death of his wife Edward continued his service at Fort Macon in North Carolina and was a popular and well know member of the local community. Amusingly a newspaper report in September of 1888 gives an insight into the personality of Edward as he hosts a picnic for the local population at Fort Macon. He is described as “The Very Prince of Entertainers” and is wished a long and happy life by the reporter.
Edward Doyle makes a surprise decision only one month after this social gathering at Fort Macon when he remarries. His bride is a local woman of only 25 years. Ozella Garner is a school teacher and living in Beaufort which is close to the fort. The newspapers at the time report the surprise wedding but also tell us that “a brave soldier is a true lover” and of how the groom is a “gallant soldier and gentleman”. Luckily for us the marriage cert is available and it adds some more vital information to the background of Edward and helps to indicate a possible place of birth in Ireland. He confirms his parents are Owen & Dolly Doyle and that they are both deceased. Using this new information while checking the Irish records for this period it looks likely that Edward Doyle was from the Birr area of County Offaly.
United States Marriages Image | findmypast.ie – Edward Doyle 2nd Marriage 1888
Edward and Ozella welcome a new son in early 1890 and he is also named Edward, or Eddie as he is referred to, on later census records. In June of that same year Sergeant Edward Doyle, after 40 years of gallant service, is granted retirement and a pension. He was then 61 years of age and must have been looking forward to settling down to a quiet life with his wife and son in Beaufort, North Carolina.
Sadly, only 6 years into his retirement, Edward Doyle died on October 5th 1896 at 67 years of age. Once again it is the army records that give us the details of his death which is also confirmed by his pension record. To this point we have not confirmed the exact location of his grave but it is presumably in St. Pauls Episcopal Church Cemetery in Beaufort, North Carolina and in the same cemetery as Margaret, his first wife, and Ozella, his second wife who passes away in 1910 at 55 years of age.
Ozella Doyle (unknown-1910) – Find a Grave Memorial
Margaret Doyle (1827-1886) – Find a Grave Memorial
United States Army Enlistments 1798-1914 Image | findmypast.ie – Death of Edward Doyle
It had been a truly amazing life for this career soldier born in County Offaly, Ireland. Little could he had known when he first enlisted in the the US Army at 21 years of age in 1850 what a journey was in store for him. He would serve that army diligently at some of its most vital military facilities during his long career. The journey would take him to some of the most remote places in the United States of America where he would be a witness to some of its most historic events. Its just a pity, and a sad irony, that after all those years of dedicated service Edward Doyle did not get too long to enjoy his well deserved retirement.
By Kevin Guing
10th June 2025
For more on this soldier visit his page: Edward Doyle – Americasoffalyheroes
