Arthur A. O'Keefe

Age 20, he enlisted and mustered on 19 June 1861 in Albany as a Private in Company B, 34th New York Infantry. He was promoted to Corporal on 13 May 1862.

He was officially reported missing in action at Antietam on 17 September 1862, but had been mortally wounded and probably died on the field. Lieutenant Beach later wrote his father describing his death:

On the 17th of Sept. 1862 your son went with me into the Battle at Sharpsburg Md. & then & there he received a severe wound & I told him to fall back to the rear out of danger as soon as he could and since that time I have neither seen or heard from him. In all probability he died from the effects of his wound and had been buried on the Battle field. I here inform you that your son was a good and brave soldier and a kind companion.

Basic service information from the State of New York,1 as Arthur O'Keef. Personal details, a transcription of the letter quoted above, and his picture, from a copy of a photograph, are from family genealogists, most notably Kathy McGerty, via the FamilySearch database. Further information from the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave, as Arthur O'Keefee, "killed at Antietam."

10/18/1840

09/17/1862; Sharpsburg, MD; burial in Saint Agnes Cemetery, Menands, NY