Michael Dolan

A 21 year old shoemaker, he enlisted in New York as Private, Company E, 2nd United States Infantry on 21 April 1856, reenlisted in April 1861 in the Wyoming Territory, and was First Sergeant by 1862.

He was noted by Lieutenant Poland among "[t]hose who most distinguished themselves for excellent behavior" in action near the Middle Bridge at Antietam on 17 September 1862.

He was severely wounded by a gunshot to his left shoulder in action at Fredericksburg, VA on 13 December 1862. While still recovering, on 19 February 1863, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry. The Fredericksburg bullet had lodged in the top of his humerus (upper arm) bone, so part of the bone was removed in March 1863. He was sent to the US Army General Hospital in Annapolis, MD in July and returned to duty in August 1863.

He continued in the Army and was promoted to First Lieutenant on 31 January 1866 but was without a command in April 1869 and retired on 15 December 1870 for "incapacity resulting from wounds received in the line of duty."

Service information from Heitman1 and the Register.2 The Lieutenant Poland quote above is from his after-action Report. Medical details from the MSHWR.3

See an 1868 photograph of Dolan and more about his Fredericksburg wound in a post on the blog behind AotW.

c. 1835; County Cavan, IRELAND

05/02/1882