John Renehan, born in 1827 in Kings County, Ireland, served in the Union Army and was appointed Ordnance Sergeant in April 1863. He married Ellen Burgess in 1854 and died on January 16, 1866, at Fort Schuyler, New York. He was present at Fort Sumter in April 1861.
The story of John Holster from Birr in County Offaly, Ireland who was among the Confederate batteries firing on Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor on the 12th April 1861. His story reveals an amazing connection to a fellow Offaly man who was a Union soldier manning the guns inside the walls of Fort Sumter. But did these two men know each other ?
John Renehan, a Sergeant in Company H of the 1st Artillery Regiment, witnessed the first shots of the US Civil War at Fort Sumter in April 1861. Born in Offaly, Ireland, he served valiantly during the conflict, later re-enlisting after the fort’s surrender. He died prematurely from heart disease in January 1866.
