Two Gettysburg Clerihews - With Connections

 

Last week was the 166th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. 

Okay, an oddly numbered anniversary, but my wife and I had once visited the site of the battle and have fond memories of that trip, and every year we rewatch the movie Gettysburg,

I have two other connections to Gettysburg, including a family one.

We live in Rochester, New York, and one of the heroes of the battle was from Rochester, Colonel Patrick O'Rorke. 

An Irish immigrant, O'Rorke grew up in Rochester, where he encountered anti-Irish prejudice. He went to West Point, and after the Civil War saw action in multiple engagements. He rose through the ranks and by 1863 was the Colonel in command of the 140th New York Infantry Regiment, which consisted largely of Rochester-area volunteers and was mainly Irish.

When the Confederates were attacking Little Round Top on July 2, and after the heroics of Joshua Chamberlain's 20th Maine on the Union left flank, O'Rorke was ordered to take his regiment to the top of the hill to stop the continued the Rebel advance. He did so, and succeeded in repulsing them, but got shot and killed while urging his troop on. Although Chamberlain was later lauded as a hero of that phase of the three-day battle, historians view O'Rorke's actions as just as heroic and important.

Here in Rochester we have a bridge named after O Rorke.

His widow, Clara Bishop O'Rorke, later became a religious sister, a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

About him I wrote:

Heroic Colonel Patrick O'Rorke
and his wife had dreams about a visit from the stork.
Alas, at Gettysburg he was undone,
and his widow later became a nun.

My family connection to the battle is through Brigadier General Strong Vincent. His mother was Sarah Ann (Strong) Vincent, a granddaughter of Timothy Strong, who is my fourth-great-grandfather.

Strong Vincent was born in Waterford Pennsylvania. He had just begun a law practice when the Civil War began. He enlisted with the Pennsylvania Militia. He saw action in various battles and rose through the ranks, becoming by the time of the Battle of Gettysburg the Colonel commanding the 3rd Brigade - Chamberlain's 20th Maine was one of his regiments.

At the top of the hill, Vincent climbed on a boulder to urge his men on and was shot in the thigh. He died of his wound five days later, but in the interim in recognition of his heroism was promoted to Brigadier General.

Like O'Rorke, he left a young widow, Elizabeth Carter Vincent, though, in her case, she was pregnant. A daughter, Blanche, was born two months after the battle, but died before reaching the age of one. Elizabeth never married again.

In the movie, Gettysburg, Strong Vincent is portrayed by Maxwell Caulfield.

About Strong Vincent I wrote:

Brigadier General Strong Vincent
tended to stand out whatever he did and wherever he went.
At Gettysburg he bid the world goodbye
when he stood out on a boulder and got shot in the thigh