GENERAL P. E. CONNOR.

 

            GENERAL PATRICK EDWARD CONNOR was a very splendid soldier. He fought through three wars. Every moment of fifty years he held his life, fortune and sacred honor subject to his country's call. His best services were perhaps in Utah.

            It is said that the society which has the building of a monument to him in charge, is at work. Everyone in Utah should invest at least one dollar in the monument. Some men fight when they have to ; some men fight when a fight comes to them ; now and then a man goes out after a fight. General Connor was one of the latter class.

            He was born near the lakes of Killarney in Kerry county, a spot which has some reputation in the world ; and one of the things that it is renowned for is that there is not a living thing in that county- -man, woman, horse, dog, chicken anything, that won't fight.

            He was born there March 17, 1820, on St. Patrick's day, and when but a child he was brought by his parents to New York City.

            When nineteen years of age, in 1839, the Florida war was in progress. We suspect that at that time he had no fixed idea of just where Florida was, but he heard there was a fight there and volunteered.

            He served in the army five years, to November, 1844. Early in 1846 he moved to Texas and when the same year the Mexican war broke out, he joined a regiment of Texas volunteers, of which Albert Sidney Johnston was colonel. He was the second volunteer officer mustered into service in that regiment, and he entered as a captain.

            He was in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and was one of the immortal 4500 men who confronted Santa Ana's army of 22,000 men on that day of days at Buena Vista.

            He fought all day, although he was the first officer wounded in the battle. But that night he had lost so much

266 AS I REMEMBER THEM.

blood that two of his comrades had to lie close to him on either side through the night to keep him from dying from cold and exhaustion.

            For his work on that day he was given a captain's full pension.

            Shortly after the war closed he passed through Mexico and reached California on January 22, 1850. A little after his reaching there, great excitement was raised over gold discoveries on Trinity River. At that time it was believed that Trinity River flowed into the Pacific, and acting on that belief, Connor with some naval officers and sailors went up the coast to find the mouth of Trinity River. Seeing a boat, they tried to reach it. Some were drowned in the breakers, the rest reached the boat that they had seen in the offing, and found it to be the Farragut. They learned from those on board that Trinity River did not empty into the sea.

            In the next spring Captain Connor tried again to reach the same stream. He reached Humboldt Bay, cut a trail through the Redwoods and took his party at last to the banks of the Trinity River. With a small boat he learned the currents and eddies and shoals of Humboldt Bay, and for awhile served as a pilot.

            In 1854 Captain Connor was married to Johanna Connor, then a resident of Redwood City, but who was a native of the same county the Captain was born in.

            In October of that year, he was appointed postmaster of Stockton, California. He was serving at the same time as adjutant of the Second brigade and Captain of the Stockton Blues.

            He lived a very rugged life in Stockton. That was a center of some very determined Southern men. Judge Terry's home was there, and there were a great many others ; and as the war drew near, the feeling ran very high, and Captain Connor was a mark of especial detestation by some of those men. His life was a hundred times threatened and he walked those streets day and night for two or three years when he was not certain that he would live a minute. But he was always resolute for the government and the Union and courted rather than avoided

GENERAL P. E. CONNOR. 267

danger. He established and owned the Stockton waterworks and was drawing from that $8,000 a year and had a contract for building the foundation of the state capitol at Sacramento. He was released from that, however, by the legislature of 1861-2, being ordered to report with his command.

            When the Civil war broke out he tendered his services at once to the governor of California, who appointed him colonel of the Third California infantry. His command was stationed at Benicia barracks, California, during the winter of '61 and '62, pending a transfer to Utah, where the command was ordered, to the great disappointment of the volunteers, who expected to be sent south.

            In May, 1862, Colonel Connor and his regiment, embracing 850 men, consisting of the Second California infantry and four companies of the Second California cavalry, started on foot for Utah.

            He issued a bulletin to his soldiers when the march began, full of patriotic fervor and in splendid form.

            They marched over the Sierras, then on through Nevada to a camping place in Ruby valley. Here the men became very restless -- they wanted to go south. They offered all the money they had, some agreed to forfeit all their pay if they could be permitted to go south, and Colonel Connor sent a petition to General Halleck, secretary of war, begging to be permitted to go and offering to pay their own passage from San Francisco to Panama. But they were ordered to continue on to Utah, and on the 24th of October, 1862, they marched through Salt Lake City, stopping while the band played in front of the house of the governor, and then marched on to the spot which is now the site of Fort Douglas.

            They were threatened with destruction before they reached Salt Lake, but it made no difference. The threats came from no authentic sources and they continued their march.

            In February, 1863, the Indians being very troublesome in the Bear River country, General Connor took the main portion of his command and marched up there. The weather was fearfully cold, dropping to ten degrees before they had been

268 AS I REMEMBER THEM.

out a day. The command consisted of company K, Third infantry, California volunteers, Captain Hoyt, two howitzers, under command of Lieutenant Huntington ; twelve men of the Second California cavalry, with a train of fifteen wagons, containing twelve days' supplies to proceed on the 22nd of January; and the colonel himself followed with detachments of companies A, H, K and M, Second California cavalry; Sur- geon Reed, Third California Volunteers ; Captain McLean, and Price, and Lieutenants Chase, Clark, Quinn and Conrad, Second California cavalry. Major Gallagher, Third California infantry, and Captain Berry, Second California cavalry, went as volunteer aides, leaving Colonel George S. Evans in command at Camp Douglas.

            They found the Indians in a very strong position, and after a fierce engagement of twenty minutes, finding it was impossible to dislodge them without great loss of life, Major McGary, with twenty men, was ordered to turn their left flank, which was in the ravine where it entered the mountain. Shortly afterwards Captain Hoyt reached the Bear river ford, three- quarters of a mile distant, but found it impossible to cross the men on foot. A detachment of cavalry was ordered to cross, and a little later Major McGary 's flanking party turned the enemy's flank.

            Up to that time the Indians were under cover and had much the advantage of the fighting, and did fight with the ferocity of tigers. But the flanking party was ordered to advance down the ravine on either side, which caused the Indians to give way.

            The fight commenced at 6 in the morning, and continued until 10. At the commencement of the battle the hands of some of the men were so benumbed with cold that it was with difficulty they could load their pieces. They suffered terribly during the march, and not less than seventy-five of the men had their feet frozen, some of them being crippled for life. The colonel bestowed particular praise upon Major McGary, Major Gallagher and Surgeon Reed, and indeed he had only good words for his whole command. Eighteen of his soldiers were killed, forty-five were wounded, and seventy-six confined to the

GENERAL P. E. CONNOR. 269

hospitals from being frozen, making the casualties one hundred and forty-three.

            It made peace with the northern Indians which was never after broken.

            Later in the war, when the colonel was promoted to general because of his services, he was offered a high place in the army, but he preferred with the close of the war to give up his army life to devote himself to mining. He mined in Utah and Nevada, and he continued his work up to within a few weeks of his death.

            He gave a detail of soldiers leave of absence to go prospecting, and they found the mines in Bingham.

            He died in Salt Lake City, and was given a splendid military funeral, with Colonel Rose in command.

            He earned the name of being about the best Indian fighter in the army. He was a fine soldier, but his patriotism was superior to all his other traits. He was one of those men who held his life at the service of his country every moment from the time he enlisted in the Florida war until he laid down his life in this city. He did a splendid work in Utah. He was not very successful in business here, because his whole soul was that of a soldier.

            Born in a foreign land, not much accomplished in the schools, coming to this country a poor emigrant, at the first call he offered his life, and that offer remained open until he died. From an obscure foreign-born boy, by his own merits he rose until the stars of a major-general glittered on his shoulders. He was a gifted soldier. His courage was immeasurable. His love for his adopted country was a grand passion. He did the work appointed for him to do perfectly, and he sank to rest with "all his country's honors blest."