PADDY OWEN UPDATES - 2
VOLUME ONE
Page 393 - Line 10    The bullet that grazed the left leg of Lieutenant McNamara had been diverted by the scabard of his sword. The damage done to the scabard was repaired after the battle. Today the sword scabard stills shows the dent damage on both sides.
Page 401 - Line 18     As the battle had been raging at Fredericksburg, another veteran would be dying in a Washington DC hospital. Private William Sharp (Co B) had been with the regiment since the beginning. At the age of 50 the Irish born married man had fought at all the battles through Antietam but had come down with Tyhpoid fever before the Fredericksburg campaign and would die at Douglas Hospital in Washington DC on December 15th
Page 419  - Line 1     Back in Washington DC another veteran would die of Typhoid fever. Private Patrick Cassidy (Co B) who was 40 years old had been sick after the Fredericksburg battle and had been sent to the Armory Square hospital on December 29, 1862. His wife Susan would claim the body and have it returned to Philadelphia for burial.
VOLUME TWO
Page 867 - Line 15        Captured with  Captain McHugh was Private John McNeil of the same company. McNeil was typical of many of the men from the 71st who had been shifted to the 69th after Cold Harbor. McNeil had been drafted and still had time to serve. He would later desert after being paroled  and be kept on the rolls of the 69th. By the end of the war he would owe money for his arrest.
Page 850 - Line 25         The transfer of men from the 71st to the 69th did not result in a very large increase in fighting power. Many of the men that wouldm appear on the rolls of the regiment were sick in hospitals and transfered to the 69th to continue being paid. In addition many of these "new" men had been forced to extend their service because of desertions during the first three years of the war. Often they deserted again. Typical of this pattern are two soldiers who ended up in Compnay B of the 69th.  Private James Denny was a 24 year old farmer who had been drafted into the 71st. He had been court martialed and then wounded at Cold Harbor. He would spend his time with the 69th on paper only. Private Thomas Carvin aged 19 had been captured with the 71st at Fredericksburg and would have served out his three years in July. However he deserted from Camp Parole and had to make up lost time. He ended up working at Division hospital and never served in the ranks of Compnay B 69th Pa. One of the men from the 71st who never saw service
was Private Jospeh Zane. On paper he was transferred to company G of the 69th but his shoulder wound at North Anna resulted in an amputation and kept him hospitalized until the end of the war.
Page 67   line 30  Private Thomas Norman, at age 41, was assigned on August 24, 1861 to the position of Adjutant Clerk. Norman would serve in almost every position in the 69th during the war. Non Irish, he was born in 1821 in Philadelphia, the son of a veteran of the War of 1812 and grandson of a veteran of the revolution. Norman's father died shortly after his birth and he and his brother and sister converted to Catholicism. Norman worked as a tailor before the war and had been married in 1845 to Ellen Flynn. The couple had 6 children but all except one died of disease before the start of the Civil War.
Page 470-  line 3 - On May 1st Private Thomas Norman, who had been serving as Adjutant Clerk was promoted to Corporal. He would remain in this rank until promoted to Sergeant Major before Gettysburg.
Additions to Dramatis Personae
Carvin, Thomas  (B)- 850    Cassidy, Patrick (B)  - 419   Denny, James (B) -   850                    Hough, Joseph  (G)- 850      Kirkland, William - 327        McNeil, John  (B) -  867
Moran,Kerran (H)-362  O'Connor,Thomas (H)- 181  Sharp,William (B) - 401  Zane,Joseph -850
Page 801 Line 28 -   May 5th was the official date for the expiration of the three year term of service for many of the soldiers in Company G of the 69th Pa. It will be remembered that Company G had originally been part of the 27th Pa three year regiment but arranged to be switched to the 69th in October 1861. Many of these men were of Irish stock and were sworn into the 69th on October 31, 1861. They served well as a company and at  Gettysburg being at the far left of the line and almost overrun. Because of the Wilderness Battle, the men who were about to depart were kept in the battleline until May 8th and then released. This would leave a large void in the ranks of the company which would eventually be filled by new soldiers. Of the 36 men who fought at the wall in Gettysburg only three would reenlist. All the rest had been killed discharged or left the 69th at the end of their three year term. Officers for the company would largely come from men from the 71st Pa who reenlisted. This would include Joseph Hough, William Arrison and  F.W. Percell who would transfer to Co G 69th and then become Sergeants.
Page 362 line 10   change "four" to "five" -   add  Corporal Kerran Moran
Page 906  line 9 - On September 16th the teamsters of Company H would leave the regiment at the expiration of their term of service. Corporal Jacob Rittenhouse and 5 of his men would return to Philadelphia.
Page 768 line 25 -  An analysis of the muster rolls of the regiment show a total of 77 men who did not reenlist at the end of their term. Some of these soldiers were sick or wounded in hospitals. Two companies, G & I, had the majority of those who did not reenlist. Company G which had originally been a company with the 27th Pa and who suffered greatly at Gettysburg
had 19 men who choose to leave the service. Only 3 of the men who had stood on the left flank at Gettysburg reenlisted.Company I had 17 soldiers who would return home. This original zouave flanker company would lose the second greatest number of veterans. Most other companies lost from 2 to 6 men each.