Robert was the son of Hester McMenamin. He became a U.S. citizen on 29 November 1853, and married Mary Duncliff (or Dunnecliff) in Philadelphia on 24 March 1855. They had two children, Annie and Robert, before her death on 7 October 1860.
Robert enlisted in Company "H", 71st Pennsylvania Infantry (originally known as the 1st California Infantry) on 1 July 1861. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle Of Ball's Bluff on 21 October 1861, and moved to Richmond, where he died, likely at General Hospital #1, next to Richmond's Shockoe Hill Cemetery. His mother became guardian of his children.
His remains were first buried just outside of Shockoe Hill Cemetery, along with more than 600 other POWs and at least a dozen Unionist civilians. The remains were disinterred and moved to Richmond National Cemetery in 1866, where they rest today under "Unknown" markers.
A commemorative marker (shown here) honoring the POWs was placed at Shockoe Hill Cemetery in 2002 by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS). His name appears as "R M McMonan", as it was recorded at the time of first burial. Link to his cenotaph memorial here.
For more on the POWs and the marker, see https://soldiersofshockoehill.com.
"On the 17th of December, the writer was informed of the serious illness of a private in his company - Robert McMennamin [sic] of Philadelphia,-then in the hospital.... Resolved to see him, and ignoring prison rules and persons, the writer watched the street and hailed the commandant through the bars; he came, listened and granted the urgent demand.... As the writer bent over him and received his dying words, -
'Lieutenant, see to my mother and little children,'
-...he realized the unutterable horror of war.... He died far from home and friends, and we know not where he sleeps his last sleep."
(Lt. William C. Harris, "Prison Life in the Tobacco Warehouse at Richmond. By a Balls' Bluff Prisoner." Philadelphia: Geo. W. Childs, 1862.)
Robert enlisted in Company "H", 71st Pennsylvania Infantry (originally known as the 1st California Infantry) on 1 July 1861. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle Of Ball's Bluff on 21 October 1861, and moved to Richmond, where he died, likely at General Hospital #1, next to Richmond's Shockoe Hill Cemetery. His mother became guardian of his children.
His remains were first buried just outside of Shockoe Hill Cemetery, along with more than 600 other POWs and at least a dozen Unionist civilians. The remains were disinterred and moved to Richmond National Cemetery in 1866, where they rest today under "Unknown" markers.
A commemorative marker (shown here) honoring the POWs was placed at Shockoe Hill Cemetery in 2002 by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS). His name appears as "R M McMonan", as it was recorded at the time of first burial. Link to his cenotaph memorial here.
For more on the POWs and the marker, see https://soldiersofshockoehill.com.
"On the 17th of December, the writer was informed of the serious illness of a private in his company - Robert McMennamin [sic] of Philadelphia,-then in the hospital.... Resolved to see him, and ignoring prison rules and persons, the writer watched the street and hailed the commandant through the bars; he came, listened and granted the urgent demand.... As the writer bent over him and received his dying words, -
'Lieutenant, see to my mother and little children,'
-...he realized the unutterable horror of war.... He died far from home and friends, and we know not where he sleeps his last sleep."
(Lt. William C. Harris, "Prison Life in the Tobacco Warehouse at Richmond. By a Balls' Bluff Prisoner." Philadelphia: Geo. W. Childs, 1862.)
Robert was the son of Hester McMenamin. He became a U.S. citizen on 29 November 1853, and married Mary Duncliff (or Dunnecliff) in Philadelphia on 24 March 1855. They had two children, Annie and Robert, before her death on 7 October 1860.
Robert enlisted in Company "H", 71st Pennsylvania Infantry (originally known as the 1st California Infantry) on 1 July 1861. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle Of Ball's Bluff on 21 October 1861, and moved to Richmond, where he died, likely at General Hospital #1, next to Richmond's Shockoe Hill Cemetery. His mother became guardian of his children.
His remains were first buried just outside of Shockoe Hill Cemetery, along with more than 600 other POWs and at least a dozen Unionist civilians. The remains were disinterred and moved to Richmond National Cemetery in 1866, where they rest today under "Unknown" markers.
A commemorative marker (shown here) honoring the POWs was placed at Shockoe Hill Cemetery in 2002 by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS). His name appears as "R M McMonan", as it was recorded at the time of first burial. Link to his cenotaph memorial here.
For more on the POWs and the marker, see https://soldiersofshockoehill.com.
"On the 17th of December, the writer was informed of the serious illness of a private in his company - Robert McMennamin [sic] of Philadelphia,-then in the hospital.... Resolved to see him, and ignoring prison rules and persons, the writer watched the street and hailed the commandant through the bars; he came, listened and granted the urgent demand.... As the writer bent over him and received his dying words, -
'Lieutenant, see to my mother and little children,'
-...he realized the unutterable horror of war.... He died far from home and friends, and we know not where he sleeps his last sleep."
(Lt. William C. Harris, "Prison Life in the Tobacco Warehouse at Richmond. By a Balls' Bluff Prisoner." Philadelphia: Geo. W. Childs, 1862.)
Robert enlisted in Company "H", 71st Pennsylvania Infantry (originally known as the 1st California Infantry) on 1 July 1861. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle Of Ball's Bluff on 21 October 1861, and moved to Richmond, where he died, likely at General Hospital #1, next to Richmond's Shockoe Hill Cemetery. His mother became guardian of his children.
His remains were first buried just outside of Shockoe Hill Cemetery, along with more than 600 other POWs and at least a dozen Unionist civilians. The remains were disinterred and moved to Richmond National Cemetery in 1866, where they rest today under "Unknown" markers.
A commemorative marker (shown here) honoring the POWs was placed at Shockoe Hill Cemetery in 2002 by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (MOLLUS). His name appears as "R M McMonan", as it was recorded at the time of first burial. Link to his cenotaph memorial here.
For more on the POWs and the marker, see https://soldiersofshockoehill.com.
"On the 17th of December, the writer was informed of the serious illness of a private in his company - Robert McMennamin [sic] of Philadelphia,-then in the hospital.... Resolved to see him, and ignoring prison rules and persons, the writer watched the street and hailed the commandant through the bars; he came, listened and granted the urgent demand.... As the writer bent over him and received his dying words, -
'Lieutenant, see to my mother and little children,'
-...he realized the unutterable horror of war.... He died far from home and friends, and we know not where he sleeps his last sleep."
(Lt. William C. Harris, "Prison Life in the Tobacco Warehouse at Richmond. By a Balls' Bluff Prisoner." Philadelphia: Geo. W. Childs, 1862.)
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