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Civil War Genealogy Database

14th Michigan Infantry


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	William was my wife's paternal great grandfather. For the past few years I've been tracking down info on my wife's great grandfather who served with Company B of the 14th Michigan during the American Civil War. According to what I have gathered, my wife Maria's great grandfather William Feeley (sometimes spelled "Pheeley") was born in Bradford, England in 1833. Both of William's parents Thomas Feeley and Annie Kennedy were of Irish birth and originally from Tipperary, Ireland. In later life, William often claimed to be of Irish birth from the County Cork region. According to his granddaughter Margaret, William's wife Mary (who herself was of Irish birth) would counter old William's claim to Irish heritage with: "You are a darn liar William, the only cork you have come out of a bottle!" On September 30,1861 William enlisted with the 14th Michigan also known as "Sinclair's Irish Regiment." A member of Company B, William served throughout the war and was mustered out of the service as a "veteran" on July 18th,1865. Several years ago I managed to obtain William's complete NARA pension files. Pouring over the files I found that soldier Feeley had been wounded twice in the battle of Lavergne, Tennessee on October 9, 1862. Both wounds were severe enough to have William spending several months recuperating at Hospital #13 in Nashville. Recovering from his wounds, William eventually returned to active duty with his regiment. The wounds he received in battle were well documented in his early pension application. Both the separate wound to the ankle and the separate wound to the arm eventually led to a severe disability and inability to do hard physical labor. In 1866, almost immediately after his discharge from the service, William applied for a disability pension. What really intrigued me was a third severe wound that came up in later applications for a pension increase. This third wound had been to the chest and would have proven fatal had it not been for the incredible work of the regiment's surgeon Doctor Edward Batwell. Batwell was evidently a man well ahead of his time. Doctor Batwell was a proponent of an early form of "sterile technique," a definite plus in the case of a Civil War chest wound. Further delving into the pension files turned up the situation in which this wound occured. It seems that William was shot during an altercation with a James Andrews who at the time was helping out at the regimental sutler store. Andrews was temporarily standing in for the owner of the business. Andrews, even at that early date, was considered an outstanding citizen of Columbia and eventually became mayor of the city and a major community benefactor. William's pension application turned up several handwritten notes and affidavits on this third wounding. One of these affidavits is by Doctor Batwell himself. There is also another handwritten affidavit in which William gives his side of the story. It was a process of discovery that I found extremely fascinating. Bill Morrison was the bloke who graciously gave me the historic background and "key" to the incident. William's own version of the incident is somewhat at odds with the accepted historic version. William's version sounds logical and truthful. I could easily imagine the fatal and traumatic results of one man trying to police two angry Irish drunks harassing an innocent, but armed, store keeper.
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