“Here I Am You Son Of A Bitch!”

Thomas Flanagan – 5:15pm 7th January 1863.

US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Union – Louisiana, 1861-1865 – Fold3

US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Union – Vermont, 1861-1865 – Fold3

6TH JANUARY 1863- CAMP BANKS, BATON ROUGE.

The 2nd Louisiana Infantry regiment are in camp near Baton Rouge. The regiment have only been in existence since September of the previous year. The men have mainly been recruited from among the “loyal” population of New Orleans, a vital port city that had, earlier in the year, been seized by the Union Army.

Among the new recruits is Thomas Flanagan. Born in Clara, County Offaly, Ireland and just like thousands of Irish escaping the famine he had ended up in the port city of New Orleans working as a simple laborer. Thomas was 40 years of age when signing up for service in the Union Army on the 1st of September 1862. His recruiting officer is recorded as being Captain Henry C. Abbot who had recently been promoted and transferred to New Orleans from the 8th Vermont Infantry regiment to assist with the recruitment drive in the city. Maybe due to his relative older age Abbott recommends Thomas Flanagan be appointed as a Sergeant in Company B of the new regiment. The man that newly appointed Sergeant Thomas Flanagan will answer to in the chain of command is now ……………….that same Captain Henry C. Abbott.

It does not take long before tensions begin to appear between Abbott and Flanagan. Captain Abbott is the more experienced soldier having signed up in November 1861 at Montpelier, Vermont. He was 30 years old when enlisting and ironically, as with Thomas Flanagan, was quickly appointed to the rank of Sergeant. Maybe the fact that Abbott is much younger than Flanagan or simply down to the man from Clara not being used to taking orders, but whatever the reason, by the end of December 1862 Thomas Flanagan has been severely disciplined and reduced back to the rank of Private at the request of ………………Captain Henry C. Abbott.

7TH JANUARY 1863- CAMP BANKS, BATON ROUGE.

5:00PM.

Captain Henry C. Abbott is feeling unwell and is resting in his tent when he hears an altercation outside and quickly jumps from his bunk to check what is happening. Not far from his tent he sees Thomas Flanagan arguing with the Sergeant of the guard house and two other officers of the regiment. Flanagan is demanding he be given the large stick that is used for punishing prisoners ! Captain Abbott shouts to his men ordering them to arrest Flanagan on the spot. On hearing Abbotts voice , Flanagan hurls insults in his direction and quickly leaves. Captain Abbott returns to his tent to dress but soon receives word that a stand off had now developed between Thomas Flanagan and the arresting party at another location on the camp.

5:15PM.

Captain Henry C. Abbott arrives on the scene of the stand off and sees a visibly angry Thomas Flanagan refusing to accept being arrested. Abbott instructs the party not to delay and to quickly proceed with the arrest. Thomas Flanagan on hearing this angrily shouts “HERE I AM, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!” daring Abbott to arrest him personally.

Things quickly escalate and Flanagan swings his fists in an attempt to strike Abbott. The Captain evades the blows but next sees Flanagan drawing a knife and screaming “I’LL KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH”. Flanagan lunges at Abbott who once again avoids the attack but in doing so stumbles to the ground. As he rises Abbott grabs a musket from one of the nearby soldiers who shouts “ITS NOT LOADED! “.

On hearing these words, and now knowing the musket is not loaded, Thomas Flanagan again approaches Henry Abbott with his knife at the ready. Abbott warns Flanagan to stay back, “KEEP OFF” he shouts but Thomas Flanagan doesn’t head the warning. Captain Henry Abbott thrusts the bayonet attached to the end of his musket towards Thomas Flanagan and “runs him through”. Now badly wounded, Thomas Flanagan, stumbles back but yet again attempts to reach Captain Abbott who again stabs him with the bayonet. Flanagan falls to the floor, mortally wounded, and is finally disarmed by another officer, Captain Peter Laeis of Company E.

5:30PM.

Thomas Flanagan from Clara in County Offaly dies at Camp Banks, Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the hands of his commanding officer……..Captain Henry C. Abbott. He is likely hurriedly buried in the nearby Baton Rouge Military Cemetery with no stone marker to confirm his identity.

19TH JANUARY 1863- CAMP BANKS, BATON ROUGE.

A report of the incident is sent to Army headquarters which includes a full account from Captain Henry C. Abbott and also letters from Colonel Charles J. Paine and Colonel William Wilson corroborating Abbott’s account of the altercation. His fellow officers both state they are:

“Satisfied that Captain Abbott acted in self defence and could not have done less”

_{(**Please note – both Charles J. Paine and William Wilson are worthy of further reading**)}

END OF JANUARY 1863- CAMP BANKS, BATON ROUGE.

As a result of the evidence and corroborating letters contained in the report Captain Henry C. Abbott is fully exonerated and is allowed to resume his duties with his regiment. But by August 1863 his earlier mentioned sickness has caused him to he hospitalized at St. James Military Hospital in New Orleans. He will return to service for a brief period before once again returning to the same hospital in February of 1864 where he is recorded as suffering from “chronic diarrhoea”.

10TH MARCH 1864 – CHARLES STREET, NEW ORLEANS.

8:00PM

On the late evening of the 10th March 1864 Major General JJ Reynolds is walking along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans accompanied by his Assistant Adjutant when he notices two policeman walking towards him with an obviously drunk prisoner in their custody. As they get closer General Reynolds can see that the drunk man is wearing the uniform of a Union Army Officer. Annoyed at this site he stops the policeman and enquires as to the name of the “heartily drunk” man. Reynolds later states that the officer is so drunk that he cannot walk or talk properly. General JJ Reynolds is so disgusted that he orders the policemen to take the drunk officer to the jail house but to be sure to supply him with the name and regiment of the prisoner as early as possible the following morning. On the morning of the 11th March 1863 General Reynolds is supplied with the name of the offending officer as requested, that name ? ………….Captain Henry C. Abbott.

“Major General JJ Reynolds states while walking on Charles Street….in the company of his Assistant Adjutant he met 2 policeman with a man who was heartily drunk and wore the uniform of an officer if the US Army……his name was taken as Captain Abbott, 2nd Louisiana….and he (General Reynolds) suggests the he be dismissed from the service of the US States.“

14TH MARCH 1864 – NEW ORLEANS.

15TH MARCH 1864 – NEW ORLEANS.

Captain Henry Abbott receives the above written confirmation of his immediate dismissal from the Union Army. He is now in an extremely bad position and knows he cannot deny the charges as an extremely high ranking officer is an eyewitness to the incident!

Abbott pens an apologetic letter and requests that his 3 years of service be taken into account and further explains that how on the date in question, feeling close to full health again and excited by the prospects of returning to his regiment, he had secured a day pass from St. James Military Hospital in order to meet some friends in the city. He admits to drinking a “a few glasses of liquor” but goes on to explain how –

“I was suddenly taken, on my way to my quarters, by an insensibility produced by a small quantity of spirits on a stomach weakened with disease”

Captain Henry Abbott’s appeals prove to be fruitless. General JJ Reynolds has made a particular point of pursuing this case and, after further investigations and enquiries of his own, he recommends to the War Department that Captain Henry C. Abbott be dismissed “without trial” for his drunken antics. While dismissal for being drunk at this time was not uncommon in either armies it was unusual for an officer to be dismissed in this manner (without trial) especially taking into account that Henry Abbott was not on duty at the time of the incident.

30TH MARCH 1864 – WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON DC.

Special Order Number 132 is issued by the War Department in Washington DC whereby President Abraham Lincoln directs that the dismissal of Captain Henry Abbott for “having appeared drunk on the public streets of New Orleans is “hereby approved”. Once this ordered has been issued by Assistant Adjutant General Edward D. Townsend the very eventful military career of Captain Henry C. Abbott was officially at an end.

APRIL 2026 – CLOSING.

The unbelievable and shocking story of Thomas Flanagan and Henry C. Abbott has been hidden for over 160 years. It’s a relationship that likely began with courteous and hopeful beginnings, quickly became one of resentment, escalated to one of absolute hatred, and ended with one man being killed at the hands of the other. Its striking from this distance in time how a chance meeting between these two men changed both their lives in such a profound and negative way.

This tragic story was discovered completely by chance while researching details on a different soldier. Despite its content, we felt it deserved to be revealed after all this time. We now add the unusual story of Thomas Flanagan, born in Clara, Co. Offaly, Ireland to the many others on AmericasOffalyheroes.com.

Kevin Guing

17th April 2026.

For further reading on this soldier – Thomas Flanagan – AmericasOffalyheroes

Sources:

US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Union – Louisiana, 1861-1865 – Fold3

US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Union – Louisiana, 1861-1865 – Fold3

US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Union – Louisiana, 1861-1865 – Fold3

2nd Louisiana Infantry Regiment (Union) — Grokipedia

GEN William Wilson (1823-1874) – Find a Grave Memorial

Charles Jackson Paine (1833-1916) – Find a Grave Memorial

Joseph J. Reynolds – Wikipedia