| On September 3rd, 1862 at the age of 25, Barney enlisted in the Union Army. Most likely he was motivated by the two hundred dollar bounty payments made by the wealthy to encourage poor immigrants to take the place of the rich in the draft. Barney would go to fight in America's Civil War, a conflict of which he probably had little understanding.
After enlisting he found himself in prison at Fort Independence. The reason is not totally clear but one might suspect that this was not the first time Barney had accepted a bounty to enlist. After receiving the money many young men simply disappeared and never returned to be mustered into their unit. They would continue to repeat the process until caught. Barney's "Irish luck" had run out. |
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| Captain P.J. Cassidy called for Barney to be released from Fort Independence so he could be "mustered" to the 41st Massachusetts Infantry on November 1st, 1862 at Camp Stanton in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.
The 41st was transported by train to Boston where they went on parade. Barney must have been surprised to see the patriotic cheering for his less than enthusiastic service. When the parade ended the men boarded the train for Fall River, where they were transferred to the steamer, "State of Maine" for the trip through the waters of Long Island Sound and eventually landing at New York City. Most of November the 41st camped on Long Island at Union Racecourse.
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 Captain P.J. Cassidy's letter October 27, 1862 (Click image for a larger view) |
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