“HEADQUARTERS SECOND DIVISION, 23D ARMY CORPS,
In camp near Mossy Creek, Tenn., March 7th, 1864.
“It gives me pleasure to state that, from personal observation, I
deem Lieut. John O’Neill, of the 5th Indiana Cavalry, one of the most
gallant and efficient officers it has been my duty to command.
His daring and services have been conspicuous, and I trust he may
receive what he has so ably merited—his promotion.
“H.M. JUDAH, Brig.-Gen., Com’g. Division.
“The following endorsement, written on the resignation by General Sturges, when forwarded to the headquarters, shows that if merit, military and personal, could meet with its reward, Lieut. O’Neill should get speedy promotion:—
“HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY CORPS,
PARIS, KY., April 7th, 1864.
“Disapproved and respectfully forwarded.
“This is an excellent officer—too valuable, indeed, to be lost to
the service. He was severely wounded near Tazewell, under Colonel
Graham, last December, and is estimated as one of the best officers
of my command. This is not the only resignation which has been
offered on account of the promotions of inferiors having been made
in the 5th Indiana Cavalry over the heads of superiors, based upon
political or other considerations, and altogether regardless of
merit. By this system junior and meritorious officers find
themselves cut off from all hope of advancement, and compelled to
serve subordinate to others for whose qualifications they can
entertain no respect.
“While, therefore, I disapprove his resignation for the public
good, I would respectfully urge that some policy be initiated
or recommended by which officers can see the way open for their
advancement according to merit.
“Respectfully,
“L.D. STURGES, Brig.-Gen. Com’g.
“The following was the reply from Headquarters:—
“HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,
KNOXVILLE, TENN., April 16, 1864
“Respectfully returned from this Headquarters, Cavalry Corps, to
Lieut. John O’Neill, 5th Indiana Cavalry.
“There appears to be no remedy for the evil referred to by General
Sturges.
“By command of
“MAJOR GEN. SCHOFIELD.
“R. MOORE, Ass’t. Adj’t. Gen.
“Such attestations of the bravery, military skill and high moral character of General O’Neill, coming from his companions in arms, from the public press, and from Generals of experience and high position, form a record of which any man might be proud. Comment on them is unnecessary, as they speak forcibly for themselves. Of his noble spirit, decisiveness in the hour of danger, ability, pure character, and gentlemanly bearing, we have produced overwhelming testimony; but as he is now before the public in so very prominent a manner, it is necessary that the people should know minutely his every act and the nature of the man under whose leadership the Irish Nationalists in America are about to renew the good old fight for loved Erin’s disenthralment. No matter whether on the field or in the drawing-room, his calmness of deportment and gentlemanly bearing are the same. The simplest child he would no more offend than the most powerful man. Uniting with such gentleness and heroic bravery, precise military knowledge, and a pure patriotism, may not Irishmen hope that in him they have found the man who is destined to lead them on to victory and liberty. In whatever sphere he moves, he is universally endeared to all; for
‘In him is the heart of a woman, combined
With a heroic life and a governing mind.’
“In the movement on Canada, in 1866, Gen. O’Neill sacrificed a business which, in a few years, would have made him a wealthy man. But he did so without hesitation; for he loved his country, and had pledged his life to her service. With the contingent raised by him in Tennessee, he proceeded to Buffalo, where, finding himself the senior officer, he assumed command of the troops there assembled, and, in obedience to the orders he had received, crossed the Niagara river, at the head of six hundred men, on the night of the 31st of May, and raised the Green Flag once more on the soil of the enemy. On the following evening, receiving information that the British forces were marching against him to the number of five thousand, in two distinct columns, he resolved to fight them in detail, and by a rapid march got between them. On the morning of the 2d of June, at Ridgeway, he struck them under Booker; and, though the enemy out-numbered his force four to one, routed them signally. Falling back on his original position at Fort Erie, he there learned that the United States Government had stopped the movement at other points, and arrested its leaders. Under the circumstances, nothing more could be done, at that time; and he was reluctantly obliged to re-cross the Niagara, and surrender to the United States forces. That he only did so under the pressure of necessity, is attested by his offer to the Committee in Buffalo to hold his ground, as his own report of the battle of Ridgeway attests, in which he simply says:
‘But if a movement was going on elsewhere, I was perfectly willing to make the Old Fort a slaughter pen, which I knew it would be the next day if I remained; for I would never have surrendered!’
“At the Cleveland Convention of the Fenian Brotherhood, in September, 1867, General O’Neill was elected a Senator of that body; and having been chosen Vice President on the resignation of that office by James Gibbons, Esq., he succeeded President W.R. Roberts, on the resignation of that gentleman, Dec. 31, 1867.