From Rome to Little Bighorn: Captain Myles W. Keogh (1840-1876)

Last updated on: June 25, 2011 at 8:44 am by Pat McNamara

From Rome to Little Bighorn: Captain Myles W. Keogh (1840-1876) 2011-06-25T08:44:00-06:00 Pat McNamara

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Growing up in County Carlow, Ireland, young Myles Keogh’s favorite book was Charles O’Malley, The Irish Dragoon, a novel of the Napoleonic Wars by Charles Lever. An excerpt from the book gives a sense of its spirit:

Here was the glorious reality of war; the bronzed faces, the worn uniforms; the well-tattered flags, the roll of the heavy guns… while the long line of cavalry, their helmets and accoutrements shining in the morning sun, brought back one’s boyish dreams of joust and tournament, and made the heart beat high with chivalrous enthusiasm.

As a soldier, Myles Walter Keogh consciously imitated his hero. As a soldier-of-fortune, he fought in three different wars, ending his days on a Montana hillside along another colorful figure, George Armstrong Custer. Although it was Custer that Errol Flynn played onscreen, Keogh’s life was in some ways closer to a Flynn movie.

Keogh was born to an affluent family in southern Ireland. As a young man, he attended the Jesuits’ St. Patrick’s College, one of the country’s premier boarding schools. Family lore has him working in a bank before beginning his soldiering. In the summer of 1860, along with some friends, he sailed for Rome to join the Papal Army.

Lieutenant Keogh stands third from left in the back row with other Irish volunteers in the Papal Army.

This was the era of Italian unification, when Italy was transitioning from a series of independent kingdoms into a single nation. The Papal States covered much of central Italy, and Pope Pius IX opposed unification, believing that the loss of his political independence would mean the loss of spiritual independence. Hence he issued a worldwide call for Catholic volunteers to defend the Papal throne, known as the See (seat) of Peter.

The Papal Army numbered some 18,000 men from ten different nations. About 1,400 were Irishmen volunteering for what they called “the Last Crusade.” A little over six feet tall, with dark blue eyes and black hair, Keogh was the picture of a soldier. Resplendent in his emerald green uniform, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Battalion of St. Patrick in August 1860.

Six weeks later at Spoleto, three hundred Irish volunteers were attacked by an overwhelming number of Italian troops. For bravery in battle, Lieutenant Keogh won the Medaglia di Pro Petri Sede (meaning “for the see of Peter”), which he wore for the rest of his life. But papal troops were forced to retreat to Rome, where the Irish were reorganized as the Company of St. Patrick within the Papal Guard.

Keogh soon became bored with patrol duty, and looked for soldiering opportunities abroad. At this time, it wasn’t unusual for someone to serve in the armies of several nations. He was also disillusioned with church affairs. Some of the phrases that appear in his correspondence include “ignorant, narrow minded Italian Churchman,” “scandalized,” “scoundrels,” and “licentious conduct.” Still, he always considered himself a Catholic.

Captain Keogh as seen during the American Civil War. He wears his papal army medals.

Archbishop John Hughes of New York was helping recruit Irishmen for the Union Army. Keogh met Hughes in Rome, and resigned his commission early in 1862. Hughes used his influence back home to get Keogh a commission in the Union Army. For three years, the young Irishman served on the staff of several generals, including George B. McClellan, commander of the Union’s principal army, the Army of the Potomac.

A staff officer’s job was to convey the commander’s wishes to subordinates during the course of battle, often dangerous work. Keogh was present at over one hundred engagements, including Antietam and Gettysburg. He ended the war as a brevet (honorary) Lieutenant Colonel. Later he wrote, “I am but satisfied that I have carried out at least some of the rather visionary fancies we as boys indulged of long ago.”

Keogh in his dress uniform as a Seventh Cavalry officer, ca. 1872-1876.

Of the war, Keogh wrote, “I was like in a dream, and completely taken up in war.” At its end, he was commissioned a Captain in the regular army. In the summer of 1866, he was assigned to the Seventh U.S. Cavalry Regiment, where his commanding officer was George Armstrong Custer, a man whose dash and bravery Keogh admired. For the next ten years, Captain Keogh was with the Seventh, where one out of every three soldiers had Irish ancestry.

Lieutenant Colonel (Brevet Major General) George Armstrong Custer, Keogh’s commanding officer in the Seventh Cavalry.

Frontier service alternated between dull and deadly, with turning to the bottle to ease the loneliness. Keogh himself had a brooding sadness about him. He felt he hadn’t lived up to his own potential. A lifelong bachelor, he was described as moody and emotional, possibly depressive and reportedly a heavy drinker. But he loved the army, and at age thirty-four he declined an inheritance in Ireland that would have made him a propertied gentleman.

Keogh’s grave on the Little Bighorn battlefield. He was later reinterred in upstate New York in the family plot of close friends.

In the summer of 1876, the Seventh Cavalry took part in the Great Sioux War to force the Native peoples onto the reservation. Keogh commanded I Troop, and was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25th. Keogh’s body was one of the few not mutilated. This may have had something to do with the religious medal he wore, known as the Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”). His horse Comanche was the only member of the Seventh to survive the battle, and for years it served as the regimental mascot.

Comanche, Captain Keogh’s horse.

Today it’s impossible to think of war as glamorous, given the last century’s grim, impersonal carnage. But in the 1800’s, the potential for heroism and glory still existed. If there was any dash or verve left in war, it was to be found on the back of a horse. And if any individuals embodied the image of the dashing cavalier, surely among them was Myles Walter Keogh, soldier in three wars, from Rome to the Little Bighorn.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 24, 2011

Mother Gonzaga O'Brien, R.S.M. (1834-1920), and the Catholic Church in New Hampshire

Next Post

June 26, 2011 Corpus Christi Celebrated in East New York, Brooklyn, 1879

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category African-American Catholics Alabama Catholics American Catholic History American Catholic women American History Anniversaries Anti-Catholicism Arkansas Catholics Benedictines Bishops Blessed John Henry Newman Book Reviews Books Boston College Brooklyn churches Brothers California Catholics Capuchins Cardinals Carlo Carretto Carmelites Catholic authors Catholic Cemeteries Catholic Historians Catholic History in Less Than 5 Minutes Catholic musicians Catholic Poetry Catholic Press Catholic School Textbook Catholic University of America Catholic Worker Catholics and Music Catholics and Race Catholics in Politics Catholics in the American Revolution Catholics in the Military Catholics in the Movies Catholics in the South Catholics in the West Catholics on Stage Catjolic Women Catolic Poetry Charles de Foucauld Children's Masses Christian Brothers Christmas Church Reform Civil Rights Movement Civil War Colleges and universities Converts D.C. Catholics Deaf Catholics Dominicans. Dorothy Day English Catholics Florida Catholics Fordham University Franciscans French Catholics Georgetown University German Americans Good Shepherd Sisters Hispanic Catholics Historians and Archivists Holy Cross Fathers Holy Name Society Idaho Catholics Illinois Catholics Indian Wars Indiana Catholics Irish Americans Irish Catholicism Italian Americans Italian Catholics Jesuits Josephite Sisters Kentucky Catholics Know-Nothings Laetare Medal Recipients laity Liturgical Movement Maine Catholics Manhattan College Maryland Catholicism Michigan Catholics Middle Ages Minnesota Catholics Missionaries Mississippi Catholics Missouri Catholics Monasteries Montana Catholics Native Americans New England Catholicism New Jersey Catholics New York Catholics North American College Ohio Catholics Oratorians Oregon Catholics Parish Mission Parishes Passionists Pat McNamara's Books Paulists Pennsylvania Catholics Popes Presidents Priests Quotations Religious Orders Rhode Island Catholics Saints Salesians Seminarians Seminaries Sermons Servants of God Siisters of Charity Sisters of Mercy South Carolina Catholics Spanish-American War Sports St. Francis of Assiai St. John Henry Newman Suplicians Tennessee Catholics Texas Catholics The year in review Thomas Merton Throwback Thursday Photograph Trappists Uncategorized University of Notre Dame Video Presentations Vincentians Virginia Catholics Visitation Nuns Washington West Point West Virginia Catholics West Viriginia Catholics Wisconsin Catholicism Women Religious World War II

Select a Month December 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 March 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "I am the resurrection and the life"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Jesus Moses Paul