He Was A Member Of The 43rd New York Infantry Regiment During the US Civil War.

William Delaney Died of Disease In Philadelphia on 22nd August 1862. He Was 20 Years Old.

His Surname Is Spelled Incorrectly On His Headstone………..For Now.

On a recent trip to Philadelphia our own Danny Leavy took the time to visit Philadelphia National Cemetery and to locate the grave of Daingean born William Delaney a soldier we have already documented on our site. William was only 20 when he died of disease in the city hospital in 1862 and as a result his Mother, Anne, applied for a dependents pension. Her claim was based on the fact that her son was her only source of income prior to his death. The pension file is in itself fascinating and contains extra information in relation to the Delaney family. It is here we learn that Anne (Egan) had married William Delaney in Daingean (Philipstown) Ireland in 1833 but he had died in 1841 and after relocating to Albany, New York along with her only son she had remarried in 1847. The pension files confirms her second husband, William Carroll, had also died in 1858 leaving her completely dependent on young William Delaney, her son from her first marriage.

At only 19 years old William Delaney enlisted into the Union Army in September 1861. He was a member of the 43rd New York Infantry and for those last few months of 1861 was stationed in the state of Virginia. There are several letters written by William to his Mother during this period contained in the pension files and they were no doubt supplied by Anne in order to prove that her son was sending her money while serving in the Union Army and that she was reliant on him to live. In one particular extract young William writes:

“Dear Mother, I send you those few lines hoping to find you in good health”

“I write to now to tell you I have signed you 10 Dollars per month out of my pay”

“Dear Mother I think that 10 Dollars will be very good for me to give you as I will only have 3 Dollars for myself, and that is small”

Virginia, October 25th 1861.

Fast forward almost 100 years later and to another fascinating document in relation to the life and death of William Delaney. Available war department records reveal that William had originally been buried in Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia but along with several other Civil War soldiers his remains were moved to the National Cemetery some time after 1880. Those same documents also possibly shed some light on how the spelling on his headstone, added in 1964, is incorrect and actually reads as “Delancy” instead of the correct spelling of Delaney. Could it simply be that when the war department were making arrangements to have a new headstone carved and placed on the grave somebody made a typing error on the record of William Delaney ? Typing a C instead of an E ?.

Whatever the reason for the error Danny Leavy is on the case and intends to apply to the authorities at the Philadelphia National Cemetery to have the name of William Delaney from Daingean in County Offaly correctly recorded at this his final resting place.

Kevin Guing

27th March 2026

**Thanks to Danny Leavy for the Photographs and Videos**

For More on this soldier: William Delaney – Americasoffalyheroes

Other Sources:

PVT William Delaney (unknown-1862) – Find a Grave Memorial

US, Civil War “Widows’ Pensions”, 1861-1910 – Fold3