Name: Timothy J. Sheehan Company: C
Veteran; First Lieutenant March 9, 1862; previously served as private
in the Fourth Minnesota Infantry.
Birth
Date: about 1838
Place: Ireland
Mustered In
Date: March 9, 1862
Rank: First
Lieutenant
Age: 24
Residence prior to
military service: Ireland; Albert Lea, Freeborn County,
Minnesota
Vocation prior to
military service: Laborer
Death
Date:
Place:
Burial:
Mustered Out
Date: September 6,
1865
Rank: Captain
Age: about 26
Residence following
military service: Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota (1870,
1880); St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota (1900, 1910)
Vocation following
military service: Deputy Sheriff (1870), Sheriff (1880), Deputy
U.S. Marshal (1900)
Timothy J. Sheehan Biography and
Civil
War Narrative
Timothy J. Sheehan was born
December 1836 in Ireland. He migrated to America in 1850 at about age
12. In 1860, Sheehan worked as a Laborer in Albert Lea, Freeborn
County, Minnesota, living with Reuben (a 29-year-old Carpenter and
Joiner) and Elizabeth (age 41) Williams.
The following year Sheehan
enlisted
as a Private in the 4th Minneesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment on
October 11, 1861. He was promoted to Corporal, and on
February 15, 1862, Corporal Sheehan was discharged from the 4th
Minnesota to accept a commission in the 5th Minnesota Regiment. On
March 9, 1862, Sheehan was appointed First Lieutenant of Company C.
Indian Wars
Company C began its active service with
garrison duty at
Fort
Ripley, north of Little Falls, Minnesota. On June 19, Sheehan left Fort Ripley
with
a
detachment of 50 men to report to Fort Ridgely near the Minnesota
River. Marching about 200 miles via Elk River and Henderson, they
reached Fort Ridgely on the evening of June 28th, and reported to
Captain Marsh who commanded the post. On
June 29th, the detachment was
sent on to the Sioux Agency on the Yellow Medicine River to help
preserve order during the annuity payment to the Sioux. They camped at
the Lower Sioux Agency along the Minnesota River the night of June
30th, and arrived at the Upper Sioux Agency at Yellow Medicine on July
2nd, reporting to Major Thomas Galbraith, the Sioux agent at that
place.
On August 4th, about 800 Sioux warriors surrounded the camp of
the detachment and stormed a government supply warehouse, which Sheehan
and his soldiers defended. After annuity goods were distributed to the
Indians, the detachment marched back to Fort Ridgely, arriving on
the evening of August 12th. Five days later (August 17th), Lieutenant
Sheehan and his detachment began marching back to Fort Ripley to join
the rest of their company who had remained there.
News that a massacre was taking place at the Lower Sioux
Agency arrived at Fort Ridgely the next morning (Monday, August 18th)
so Captain Marsh quickly sent a mounted messenger with the following
dispatch:
HEADQUARTERS FORT
RIDGLEY
Aug. 18,
1862.
Lieut.
SHEEHAN: It is
absolutely necessary that you should return with your command
immediately to this post. The Indians are raising hell at the Lower
Agency. Return as soon as possible.
JOHN
S. MARSH,
Captain, Commanding
Post.
Marsh left Fort Ridgely leading a rescue team to the Lower Sioux
Agency and left Lieutenant Thomas P. Gere
in command at the fort. When
the orders reached Sheehan on Monday evening, he and his detachment had
already marched 42 miles from Fort Ridgely and
were setting up camp between New Auburn and Glencoe. Sheehan
immediately led a forced march back to Fort Ridgely and arrived back at
the fort on
Tuesday. They had marched 42 miles in 9 1/2 hours. Upon their arrival
at Fort Ridgely, Lieutenant Sheehan
took command of the fort. Meanwhile, about 2 miles west of the fort,
Indians under
the leadership of Little Crow were congregated and planning their
movements.
On Wednesday, August 20th, while Little Crow approached the
fort from the west, a party of 500-600 Indians attacked from the
northeast. Soon the fort was surrounded, and the Indians kept up their
attack on the fort for five hours, the defenders responding with
artillery and muskets. At nightfall the firing ceased and Little Crow
withdrew his forces to the lower agency.
Two days later on Friday, August
22nd, Little Crow again
attacked Fort Ridgely, this time with a force of 1200-1500 men. For six
hours the battle continued, but once again the fort was successfully
defended. In the following days, defensive works were strengthened. On
Wednesday, August 27th, additional reinforcements arrived.
When
Captain Francis Hall of Company C was
promoted to Major on August 31, 1862, First Lieutenant Timothy J.
Sheehan was promoted to Captain of Company C. That same day a burial
party made up largely of the 6th Minnesota, Company A, began the task
of burying the remains of citizens and soldiers who had died in the
massacre on and about August 18th. Early in the morning of September
2nd, the guard on picket at Fort Ridgely heard guns from a battle
between Indians and the burial party, who had camped at Birch Coolie,
some 15 miles from the fort. Under Colonel McPhaill, a detachment of
240 men from Fort Ridgely--including Timothy Sheehan--was organized to
provide aid. When McPhaill's detachment was also attacked, McPhaill
dispatched Sheehan to Fort Ridgely to bring out the full force. During
his ride back, Sheehan's horse was mortally wounded.
Sheehan and his
detachment once again left
Fort Ridgely on September 18th to return to their companions of
Company C at Fort Ripley. Concluding their
service at Fort Ripley, Company C joined the rest of the 5th Minnesota
on December 12, 1862,
near Oxford, Mississippi.
Civil War
Captain Timothy Sheehan led his
Company C throughout the rest of the Civil War. They participated in
numerous battles and engagements including the Siege of Vicksburg,
Mississippi (May 18-July 4), the Battle of Nashville, Tennessee
(December 15-16, 1864), and the Siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely
near Mobile, Alabama (March 26-April 8), as well as many other smaller
engagements.
Early in 1864, members of the 5th
Minnesota were given the option of re-enlisting as veterans. Those who
did so were given a two-month veterans furlough from June 17 to August
17, 1864. While the veterans were gone home, Captain T. J. Sheehan was
given command of the soldiers of the 5th Minnesota who had not
re-enlisted. On July 14th, they participated in the battle of Tupelo,
Missouri, in which the Union Army under the command of General A. J.
Smith protected the supply lines for William T. Sherman's army in
Georgia from destruction by Confederate Cavalier Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Captain Timothy J. Sheehan was
mustered out with the rest of the 5th
Minnesota on September 6, 1865.
Family Life
About
1866, Timothy Sheehan married
Jennie (sometimes referred to as Jane), born in
November 1844 (1846?) in Ireland. She had
come to America in 1848. Timothy and Jennie had three
sons: Jeremiah (born September 1867 in Iowa or Minnesota), George W.
(born February 1871 in Minnesota), and Edward S. (born September 1875
in Minnesota).
At the time of the 1870 U.S.
Census, Timothy (age 33), Jane (age 24), and Jeremiah (age 3)
were living in Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, where Timothy
worked as Deputy Sheriff. Ten years later, the Sheehan family continued
to live in Albert Lea (on College Street). Timothy was now Sheriff, and
sons George and Edward had been added to the household. A servant
(Matilda Jenson, age 17, born in Denmark) also lived with them.
By 1900, the Timothy Sheehan
family had moved to St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, where they
lived at 831 Ashland Ave. All three sons continued to live with Timothy
and Jennie: Jeremiah (age 32, no occupation listed), George
(29-year-old Broker), and Edward (24-year-old Clerk at the Post
Office). Timothy now worked
as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Timothy (age 74),
Jennie (age 65), and Jeremiah (age 41) still lived at the same address
in 1910, but George and Edward had moved out.
"Last
Indian Uprising"
In October 1891, Deputy Marshal
Timothy J. Sheehan participated in an historic final engagement between
Native Americans and U.S. troops. The clash took place in the vicinity
of Leech Lake in Cass County, Minnesota. In the events that transpired
on the shores of Leech Lake that October, several soldiers and
civilians were killed, and Sheehan and others were wounded.
Following Timothy's death, Jennie
Sheehan continued living in St. Paul. At the time of the 1920 U.S.
Census, her son Jeremiah--now age 53--lived with her.