LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Civil War Grand Format Auction #663  / 

74314

Colonel Patrick Henry O'Rorke Autograph Document

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Colonel Patrick Henry O'Rorke Autograph Document
<B>Colonel Patrick Henry O'Rorke Autograph Document Signed,</B></I> three pages, 8" x 10", December 27, 1862, nr Falmouth, Virginia, to Thomas Hillhouse, Adjutant General State of New York recommending promotions within the 140th Regiment, New York Volunteers. Among the officers and men promoted were: Patrick H. Sullivan, George Watson, Joseph M. Leper, Porter Farley, Henry S. Pool, Henry Allen, James H. Bishop, William S. Coon, and Hugh McGraw (who died of wounds received at Gettysburg). O'Rorke, was born in Drumbess, Cornafean on March 25, 1837. In his infancy, his parents immigrated to America and settled in Rochester, New York. They lived in an Irish section of the city called "Dublin." Patrick excelled in his education and was acclaimed as the city's finest student. He was offered a scholarship to the University of Rochester but instead accepted an apprenticeship as a marble cutter and mason. He abandoned this career when he was accepted as a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. He was the only member of his class born outside of the United States. In June 1861, he graduated first in his class. Interestingly, George A. Custer, one of O'Rorke's classmates, graduated at the bottom of the class. On his graduation, O'Rorke was assigned to the Corps of Engineers. He was a staff officer at the first battle of the war, Bull Run, where the horse he was riding was killed. He then took part in several key assignments, designing and building the defenses for several cities, and was selected to accept the Confederate surrender at Fort Pulaski, Georgia in April 1862. That summer, he took leave and returned to Rochester to marry his childhood sweetheart on July 9th. Shortly after his wedding, he was promoted to Colonel and given command of the newly formed 140th N.Y. Infantry Regiment. He led the 140th at the Battle of Fredericksburg and the later Battle of Chancellorsville,;he was in charge of the brigade in which the 140th served. O'Rorke was temporarily promoted to brigade command from Jan. 1863 to June 1863. However, his life was to end tragically on July 2, 1863 at the famed Battle of Gettysburg. In an effort to defend the strategic Little Round Top, O'Rorke led his 500 men in a charge over the crest of the hill and was killed after sustaining a bullet wound in the neck. He was 27 years old. His wife, Clara, was devastated by his death and later entered the Sisterhood of the Sacred Heart. The document has minor tears along the folds else fine.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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