RECORDS INDICATE HE WAS BORN IN 1834, EMIGRATED TO THE USA SETTLING IN NEW JERSEY.

A SERGEANT IN COMPANY H, 39TH NEW JERSEY INFANTRY DURING THE US CIVIL WAR

Richard Cusack – Bottom Left

The painted photograph of Offaly man Richard Cusack relaxing with 6 of his fellow members of the 39th New Jersey Infantry is fascinating in so many ways. Richard faces the camera with a look of a man completely relaxed and comfortable with life while the other men are busy smoking, reading and playing cards. The original black and white picture was likely taken during the later Summer of 1864 as his regiment were among the many laying siege to Petersburg, Virginia. It was during one of those periods of the US Civil War when both sides sat in wait for something to break the deadlock.

The 3 stripes on the left sleeve of Richard Cusack confirm his rank of Company Sergeant and help us to pick him out of this lazy looking gathering. Luckily there are some other photographs available of Richard that further help us to identify him and both those later pictures once again seem to convey that same feeling of a man who was calm, relaxed and comfortable with life despite his experiences of war.

Richard Cusack survived the US Civil War and lived out his days in Essex County, New Jersey, before passing away in December of 1901. He was then 67 years of age and his gravestone makes reference to his Civil War Service.

We have been lucky enough to obtain pictures of several of our Offaly born soldiers from the US Civil War but this particular photo is the only colorized one in our collection. We are currently in the process of creating a media section on each Soldiers page that hopefully will allow readers to put faces to the names of the people we are discussing and add another layer to the stories of these forgotten soldiers.

For more on this soldiers visit his page on – Richard Cusack – Americasoffalyheroes

Kevin Guing – 16th January 2025

Further reading – Richard S. Cusack – Facts – Ancestry.com