“April 7, 1865.
“General:
“The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.
“(Signed) U. S. Grant,
“Lieutenant General.”
Thus from Bull Run to Appomattox, from the firing upon Sumter to the fall of Richmond, the 69th Regiment was in continuous service, participating in all the decisive battles of a four years’ war unsurpassed in magnitude and fierceness. When mustered out of the service, after passing in the grand review at the National Capitol, May, 1865, with decimated ranks and shattered banners, it could claim the proud record of never having disobeyed an order, of never having lost a flag. In Fox’s Regimental Losses in the Civil War the 69th heads the roll of regiments recruited in the Empire State in the number of killed and wounded.
By Chap. 477, L. 1862, passed April 23, entitled “An Act to provide for the enrollment of the Militia, the organization and discipline of the National Guard of the State of New York, and for the public defense,” the uniformed and equipped militia of the State became recognized as the National Guard. The 69th Militia as the 69th regiment, National Guard, entered the service of the United States in May of that year and served until the September following, when it was mustered out. It was again in the service of the United States for the thirty days between June 25th and July 25th, 1863, and again in 1864, it was mustered into the service of the general government for three months, or until October of that year. Colonel Bagley was in command of the regiment during these years and until February, 1866, when General Martin T. McMahon was selected to succeed him. This distinguished citizen soldier merits more than passing notice. He, with two of his brothers, served with distinction during the great war; one of them—John Eugene McMahon, Colonel of the 164th Regiment, New York Volunteers, Corcoran Legion, died of disease contracted in the service in March, 1863, and the other, James Powers McMahon, who after serving as Lieutenant Colonel of the 155th New York Volunteers, was selected to succeed his deceased brother as Colonel of the 164th. This daring soldier was killed in action at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, while planting the colors of his regiment on the breastworks of the enemy, in the midst of a hailstorm of bullets, and performing “as proud a feat of arms” as was ever recorded in history. The following extract of a letter from General Thomas Francis Meagher shortly preceding his death describes in glowing words the heroism of James P. McMahon, at Cold Harbor:
“Next came the news that McMahon—planting his colors with his own hands on the enemy’s works—planting them there with a boldness worthy of the grand soldier name he bore, and which perhaps the recollection of the Malakoff and its Irish Conqueror may have inspired, was stricken down by the bullets he so splendidly defied. Who of the old Brigade—the favorite Brigade of Sumner and Richardson—can forget the dashing, handsome, indefatigable soldier, with his strictly defined features, oftentimes with the enthusiasm, sometimes with the scorn and haughtiness of a true blooded Celt, with a heart for hospitality, with a soul for glory, and scorn and sarcasm for what was mean, and a quick look and blow for what was treacherous—who can forget his fine bearing, erect and graceful, his rare heartiness, the decisive character of his intellect, his high pride, his humor, his physical activity, all those healthy and superior gifts which made him a soldier at the start, and qualified him even in the first hours of boyhood to be a conspicuous exponent of his martial race and kindred—who can forget all this whenever that grand picture of McMahon, planting the colors of his regiment in the face of the fire storm, and foot to foot with the desperate foe, is spoken of in the Camp and by the Survivors of the Irish Brigade of the Army of the Potomac?”
The survivor of these three young Irish American brothers, General Martin T. McMahon, had a distinguished career alike in civil and in military life. He was appointed Captain and Aide-de-Camp on the Staff of General George B. McClellan, October 25, 1861, and on the 29th of October, 1862, became Adjutant and Chief of Staff of the 6th Army Corps, successively commanded by Colonels W. B. Franklin, John Sedgwick, and Horatio G. Wright. He was brevetted Colonel August 1st, 1864, and Brigadier and Major General, March 13, 1865. In civil life General McMahon was most distinguished; he was a member of the Bar of the State of New York, of recognized standing and ability for a great many years, and served as a public officer in the National, State and City Governments with ability and integrity, winning general public approval. He was appointed United States Minister to Paraguay in 1868, and was subsequently Corporation Attorney of New York City, Receiver of Taxes, and in 1885 was appointed by President Cleveland United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York. He served in the Senate and Assembly of the State of New York, and at the time of his lamented death on April 21, 1906, was a Judge of the Court of General Sessions, the highest court of exclusive criminal jurisdiction. His honored remains were accorded soldierly sepulchre in the National Cemetery at Arlington, where thousands of his comrades of war’s dread days rest peacefully, awaiting the trumpet of the resurrection, and over whose arched entrances are engraven the touching lines of the hero-poet:
On fame’s eternal camping ground