Patrick H. Monaghan (1843–1917)

An Irish famine-era immigrant of the Schuylkill County coalfields who took back a captured flag at Petersburg. Markers: ★ verified · ✔ confirmed · ✎ corrects a common error · ⚑ open/caution.

Patrick H. Monaghan earned the Medal of Honor for recapturing a regimental flag during the 48th Pennsylvania’s dawn assault at Petersburg on June 17, 1864. ★ Catching a knot of retreating Confederates, he recovered the colors of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery, which had been captured the day before. The medal was issued December 1, 1864, and presented to him that December. ★

Monaghan was born in Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland, on November 19, 1843, and came to America as a child around 1848, his family settling in Schuylkill County. ✔ He served in Company F, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry — the Schuylkill County regiment that also produced Robert A. Reid’s Medal of Honor in the same June 1864 fighting. ✔ After the war he made his home in Minersville and later Girardville, where he died on October 22, 1917. ✔

Honored on: Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial.

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Sources

• Congressional Medal of Honor Society — Patrick H. Monaghan
  License: reference

  Authoritative Medal of Honor recipient roster; facts here are summarized from the listed sources, not reproduced.

• The Pennsylvania Rambler — Medal of Honor: Patrick Monaghan
  License: reference

  Supports the biographical detail: Monaghan emigrated as a child (c. 1848), his family settling in Schuylkill County; after the war he lived in Minersville and then Girardville; and the medal was presented to him that December.

• Wikidata: Patrick H. Monaghan (Q57239252)
  License: CC0
• Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial, Pottsville (Historical Marker Database)
  License: reference

Frequently asked

What did Patrick H. Monaghan do to earn the Medal of Honor?

During the 48th Pennsylvania's dawn attack at Petersburg on June 17, 1864, Monaghan recaptured the regimental colors of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery, which Confederate troops had taken the previous day. The medal was issued December 1, 1864.

Where was Patrick Monaghan from?

He was born in Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland, in 1843 and came to the United States as a small child, his family settling in Schuylkill County. He made his home in Minersville and later Girardville, where he died in 1917.