Myles Walter Keogh was born on March 25, 1840, at Orchard House, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland. Myles and his twelve siblings were reared in comfortable if not wealthy circumstances, and had he chosen to live the life of a gentleman farmer he could probably have done so. His maternal aunt Mary Blanchfield ultimately willed Myles the family estate in Kilkenny known as Clifden Castle. But while Myles' favourite brother, Tom, was content to follow a staid course through life, there was something in the makeup of the tall, slender blue-eyed youth that craved adventure. His career would in many respects epitomize the peripatetic wanderings of the "Wild Geese" who sought glory on foreign shores, amidst the clash of arms.
In March 1860, Pope Pius IX called upon the young men of Ireland to help preserve the sovereignty of the Papal States, which were threatened with annexation by the armies of Piedmont-Sardinia. While many Italians, sympathetic to the Piedmont-backed revolutionary forces of Garibaldi, viewed the continued existence of the Papal holdings as an impediment to a united Italy, Catholic volunteers from throughout Europe rallied to the Vatican's support.
Keogh was among the 1,400 Irishmen who travelled to Italy, and in July was appointed lieutenant in a four-company battalion garrisoned in the Adriatic port city of Ancona. On September 18, the main body of the 18,000-man Papal Army was defeated in the battle of Castelfidardo, and Ancona was soon besieged by land and sea. The outnumbered Papal defenders put up a spirited defence until their inevitable capitulation on September 29, 1860. Following a brief incarceration in Genoa, Keogh and 45 Irish comrades travelled to Rome, where at the invitation of Pius IX they joined the Papal Guard as the green-uniformed "Company of Saint Patrick."
The dashing young lieutenant now sported two medals for valour, the Pro Petri Sede and Ordine di San Gregorio; but with the fighting over Keogh saw little purpose in remaining at Rome. With Civil War raging in America, Secretary of State William H. Seward began seeking experienced European officers to serve the Union, and called upon a number of prominent clerics to assist in this endeavour. John Hughes, Archbishop of New York, travelled to Italy to recruit veterans of the Papal War, and met with Keogh and his comrades
Thus in March of 1862 Keogh resigned his commission in the Company of Saint Patrick, and with his senior officer – 30-year-old Daniel J. Keily of Waterford -- returned briefly to Ireland, then boarded the steamer Kangaroo bound from Liverpool to New York, where the vessel arrived April 1. Another Papal comrade, Joseph O'Keeffe – 19-year-old-nephew of the Bishop of Cork met with Keogh and Keily in Manhattan. Through Secretary Seward's intervention the three were given Captains' rank and on April 15 assigned to the staff of Irish-born Brigadier General James Shields, whose forces were about to confront the Confederate army of Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley.
He served as aide-de-camp for numerous General Officers and took part in over thirty engagements, rising to the rank of Brevet Lt. Colonel. With high recommendations he entered the regular Army as a 2nd Lieutenant and two months later he was a Captain in the 7th Calvary, in command of Company I.
Perhaps the strongest testimony to Keogh's bravery and leadership ability came at Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. The senior captain among the five companies wiped out with Custer that day, and commanding one of two squadrons within the Custer detachment, Keogh died in a "last stand" of his own, surrounded by the men of Company I. When the sun-blackened and dismembered dead were buried three days later, Keogh's body was found at the centre of a group of troopers that included his two sergeants, company trumpeter and guidon bearer. The slain officer was stripped but not mutilated, perhaps because of the papal medal he received from Pope Pius IX he wore on a chain about his neck.
Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source: http://www.exploringireland.net
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