A US CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS STORY REDISCOVERED BY CHANCE
Lately while checking up details on a soldier already recorded on our site we came across, completely by chance, another new name to add to our growing list of US Civil War soldiers who were born in Offaly.. William Keenan is the name in question and his story, hidden for almost 160 years, is a perfect example of the forgotten lives that we stumble across and are trying to bring to light once again.
https://search.findmypast.ie/record-ENLISTMENT RECORD – 1861
Each record we have uncovered for William Keenan seem to indicate that he was a man very much on his own in the world. His name is not on the 1850 Census so it would appear that he arrived in New York sometime between 1850 and 1860. That years Census records confirm that he is living in an area of New York state called Lousiville which is the county of St. Lawrence. The returns confirm he is living with a fellow Irish man named James Stubbs. What his connection to James Stubbs was, and why he was then living with this man, is unclear but it does seem that at this point of his life William Keenan had no other family living in the USA. He was then only 20 years of age and could not have known what a huge change of direction his life would soon take as a bloody Civil War would ignite in his newly adopted home after years of simmering tensions between the Northern and Southern states of America.
William Keenan enlists in October of 1861 at Albany, New York and is assigned to company C of the 12th Regular Army Infantry Regiment. That initial enlistment record tells us that he was, by trade, a Window Sash & Blind Maker and also confirm that he was born around 1839 in “Kings County, Ireland” (Offaly’s name prior to 1922). Subsequent available enlistment records repeatedly confirm this place of birth and are the single most vital source of information in tracing the forgotten life of William. Combining those enlistment records with the available military history of the 12th Infantry’s role in the Civil War we can begin to unravel his story.
While serving in the 12th Infantry Regiment William and his comrades would see extensive combat during the Civil War and participated in twelve different campaigns as part of the Union’s Army of the Potomac. Its first taste of action was at the bloody Battle of Gaines’ Mill in June 1862 and over the subsequent 3 years they would participate in several other notable engagements such as Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. The regiments final Civil War assignment came at the Siege of Petersburg, including the Battle of the Crater, which took place between the late summer of 1864 through to April 1865. The eventual fall of the Confederate stronghold of Petersburg to the Union army would lead to the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and his once vaunted Army of Northern Virginia and hasten the end of the US Civil War.
It is once again the enlistment records of William Keenan that help us to confirm his presence at all these major battles and also show us that William could have left the Army at the end of 3 years of service in both 1864 and in 1867. Instead he twice chose to re-enlist while firstly stationed at Kettle Run, Virginia in 1864 and in 1867 while stationed at Washington DC.
It is from these same records that we learn that William Keenan was promoted in late 1864 to the rank of Corporal which placed him in a leadership role within his company & regiment. He was still only 24 years of age at the time of his promotion which demonstrates that even at such a young age William was a respected soldier among his colleagues. It would seem from this distant viewpoint that William Keenan who, up to then, was alone in the vast United States of America had now found both a sense of purpose and a place of belonging in the life of a soldier.
United States Army Enlistments 1798-1914 Image | findmypast.ie – (1867)
During the years between 1867 and 1869 William Keenan and his regiment are transferred to California and to a place then named Camp Bidwell. The camp was a very active combat post at this time and several US Army regiments were based there while engaging the local Native American Tribes in several violent battles that became known as The Snake War. As was the case with all of these “Indian Wars” the conflict was a result of increasing tension that had built over several years between the tribes and the new settlers who were encroaching on their lands, and competing for game and water.
Among the more famous engagements taking place during this period was The Battle of Infernal Caverns which took place in September 1867, and while it did result in a victory for the US Army, they had to sustain a high amount of casualties. What William Keenan’s involvement was in these series of battles is not clear from his records but being based in Camp Bidwell at this time and being an experienced soldier in combat would indicate that he likely took some part in at least some of these engagements.
Fort Bidwell 1877 – Fort Bidwell, California – Wikipedia
It also during these 2 years that things seem to take a strange turn for our Offaly soldier and once again the enlistment records help to piece together what is then happening to William. During this period of his army life William is demoted back to the rank of Private which is the first indication that there is an issue with his behavior. He also is recorded as deserting his post on at least 3 occasions during this time. Each occasion he is apprehended and returned to barracks. The reason for his erratic behavior during these years only becomes clearer when we get to the final entry in the enlistment records for William Keenan.
William Keenan died on the 3rd of July 1869 at only 29 years of age in the hospital wing of Camp Bidwell. The record of his death states that he died of “Dropsy” likely caused from Cirrhosis of the Liver. Again we are only speculating but taking into account the information we have uncovered in relation to William’s behavior between the end of the Civil War and his death it does seem that those last few years of his life were blighted by an addiction to alcohol. It was a short and, it would seem, lonely life for a man who had proven himself to be a brave soldier in the service of the Union Army during the Civil War and who then chose to continue that service in the newly formed US Army after the conflict had ended. There does not seem to be a pension record for William which would indicate he had never married or had any other next of kin to make claim to his estate.
William Keenan it seems had been alone in the world all during his eventful life and in death he now also sleeps alone in a small cemetery far from his home county of Offaly in Ireland. It has taken 156 years but we can now at last, belatedly, acknowledge his contribution to the life of his adopted country of America during one of its darkest periods. A truly fitting close to the story of William Keenan would be if anyone reading this article was able to find the grave of this soldier and confirm its location at what is now named Fort Bidwell Cemetery in Modoc County, California.
PVT William Keenan (1840-1869) – Find a Grave Memorial
We are always trying to find the exact birth place within the County of Offaly of each soldier we research. This can sometimes prove to be almost impossible due to the lack of records in Ireland for the period in question. In the case of William Keenan we might just have got lucky for once. On searching through parish baptism records for 1839/1840 we can find only one record for a William Keenan born in the county of Offaly during that period. We may of course be wrong but we sincerely hope that the baptism record in the Rahan Parish Register for October 1839 is the correct one for William Keenan who we now add to the list of soldiers on americasoffalyheroes.com.
Kevin Guing
31st July 2025
** If anyone has any more information in relation to this story please do let us know**
For more on this soldier – William Keenan – Americasoffalyheroes
