PRIVATE DANIEL SULLIVAN, UNITED STATES ARMY
A LONG ROAD HOME
When Courtmacsherry and Barryroe History Group compiled the list of servicemen from the parish of Barryroe who died in service during World War One, Daniel Sullivan from Ballinluhig was the only one of the twenty-nine commemorated who had died while serving with the American forces.
Daniel Sullivan was born on January 1, 1894, son of William and Mary Sullivan, nee Kirby, Ballinluhig, Butlerstown.
He had six siblings,Willie, Margaret, Julia, Patrick, Michael and John. Rather unusually for a large family, Daniel was the only one of the six Sullivans to emigrate. It has not been possible to identify Daniel Sullivan on passenger lists of Irish migrants to the U.S. but it is likely to have occurred after he reached the age of sixteen, in 1909.
When Daniel Sullivan emigrated, while there were political tensions in Europe, he could not have imagined the turn his life would take and that the United States would become a participant in a war that would engulf the world and that he would be conscripted to serve in the army of the country to which he sailed with such hope for a life more prosperous than Ireland could offer him.
Notwithstanding these details about his early life, Daniel Sullivan’s closest relative, Mary Fleming, daughter of his brother Patrick, had little detail about his life in America, service in the army and the circumstances of his death. Persistent enquiries have now uncovered answers to some of those questions.
Daniel settled in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. His army records state that his home address at the time of enlistment was 10, 9th Street, Braddock, Pennsylvania. It is interesting that he gave his birth date as August 4, 1894, while his birth certificate gives his date of birth as January 1, 1894. This inaccuracy would not have been uncommon among people born at this time. Birthdays were not celebrated as they are nowadays.
In Ireland, conscription was to prove such a controversial measure that it further destabilised the volatile political situation and, as a result, the government in Westminster decided to exempt men living in Ireland from the measure.
Daniel Sullivan, in his adopted country, was not so lucky. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies. The Selective Service Draft Act became effective in May 1917. All males between the ages of twenty-one and thirty were required to register for military service.
He was drafted into the army on October 6, 1917, given the rank of Private and the Army Service Number 2313881. Daniel Sullivan was assigned to M Company, 125th Infantry.
After being drafted, he is listed as serving in Camp Lee, Virginia on February 1, 1918 and at a camp in New Jersey on March 27, 1918. Shortly after this date, Private Daniel Sullivan embarked for France.
Daniel Sullivan was wounded in action and taken to hospital but died there of his wounds on July 31, 1918. Thus it was, that Daniel Sullivan, having served only a short time on the frontline, lost his life. Private Sullivan was hurriedly buried. The place is described in documentation as being ‘by Reddy Farm’. A little over three months later, on the 11th November, 1918, World War One ended.
On June 4, 1919, the year after the war was over, Daniel Sullivan’s body was disinterred and reburied in Grave No. 66, Plot No. 2, Federal Cemetery, Seringes et Nesles (Aisne Map No. 33, Soissons, SE, 275.4N-195.25E. The details make grim reading.
Body decomposed features unrecognisable. The left femur was broken and the lower jaw was missing. Body wrapped in burlap and buried in a box.
Meanwhile back in Ballinluhig, Butlerstown, the Sullivan family had no knowledge of Daniel’s fate. November 19, 1918, Julia Sullivan wrote to the U.S. Military Insurance Division
Sirs,
I beg to inform you that the insurance Certificate of Daniel Sullivan has reached me safely. I received it on Saturday. I would be most thankful if you would give me any knowledge of his whereabouts. I didn’t hear from him from France since last June.
I am
Your Obedient Servant
Julia Sullivan
Ballinluhig,
Butlerstown, Timoleague,
Co. Cork. Ireland.
It maybe that receipt of the insurance certificates was an indication that her brother had died, but certainly, at this date, the Sullivan family had not received official notification of his death.
Two months later, on January 15, 1919, Julia Sullivan wrote again to the military authorities and at that date, she still had not been officially notified that her brother had been killed in action.
Ballinluhig
Jan 15th 1919
Dear Sir
Replying to your letter which I received yesterday for the number of the certificate of Daniel Sullivan. I beg to inform you that I received two certificates the first number being 801152 and the second number 1763648 I have heard he is dead that he got wounded and died in hospital but for he is dead he would have written home long ago because he was always a kind brother. Please let me know all about him in your next letter.
I am
Yours Truly
(Miss) Julia Sullivan
Ballinluhig
Butlerstown
Timoleague
Co. Cork Ireland
The military files show that there was some confusion between Private Daniel Sullivan and another man of the same name, Sergeant Daniel Sullivan who had also been killed. It took some time to sort out the confusion and initially a letter was sent to the nominated relative of Sgt. Sullivan who lived in Lowell, Massachusetts regarding Private Sullivan. When that error was pointed out to the military authorities, it appears contact was made with Thomas Nolan, a relative of Private Daniel Sullivan who lived in Pittsburgh and it was Thomas Nolan who was officially informed that Daniel had been killed in action.
Daniel Sullivan’s army records include an undated reply card to the army from Thomas Nolan, 7338 Fleury Way, Homewood, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Nolan’s details had been entered in Daniel Sullivan’s army records under the heading ‘Emergency Address’. On the reply card, Mr. Nolan had been asked to state his ‘relationship to the deceased’. Mr. Nolan responded that Daniel Sullivan was ‘a second cousin of my misses’ (sic) and he suggested that the army authorities should contact Julia Sullivan, a sister at Ballinluhig, Butlerstown.
Exactly how and when the Sullivan family heard the news of Daniel Sullivan’s death is not clear as there are no family papers relating to this period preserved. It seems likely that a letter arrived from Thomas Nolan, the relative in Pittsburgh informing them that the authorities had initially made contact with him regarding Daniel’s death and that, in her second letter to the authorities, Julia was seeking confirmation from the Insurance Division of the bad news.
With the instant communication available today it is difficult to comprehend what it must have been like for Daniel Sullivan’s parents and siblings not to have had any communication from him for six months from June 1918 until confirmation of his death in early 1919. They learned that he had died on July 31, 1918 and only began to mourn their loss six months later.
Another letter in the army files dated April 14, 1919 confirms that Julia was returning the claim form for the insurance policies taken out by her brother. The form sent to Julia Sullivan was dated February 21, 1919. That form is the first documentary indication that the family had been informed that Private Daniel Sullivan, son and brother, had died in France on July 31, 1918.
It was the policy of the U.S. Army authorities to give relatives of deceased servicemen the option of having the body of each fallen soldier returned for burial at home. After the Armistice, Julia Sullivan was given the choice of leaving Daniel buried in an army cemetery in France or having his body repatriated to Ireland. She elected to have her brother’s body repatriated and decided that his final resting place should be in Lislee Cemetery in his home parish.
Julia Sullivan signed an agreement relieving the U.S. Government of all responsibility for the burial of her brother’s body and the care and upkeep of the grave after his coffin had been delivered.
The box for transport to Ireland was numbered 42295 and dated February 1, 1922. It was transported to the port of Antwerp and shipped, with the bodies of sixty-three other Irish-American servicemen who had also been killed, on board the SS Millwater to Ireland. The ship docked in Dublin on the May 2, 1922.
Private Daniel Sullivan’s body was transported to west Cork and into the charge of Julia Sullivan, Ballinluig, Butlerstown. It arrived at its destination on June 3, 1922. An American flag was included with the coffin. Daniel Sullivan was reburied in Lislee Cemetery on the June 4, 1922.
The two life insurance policies that Daniel Sullivan took out with the army authorities prior to being posted to France made his sister Julia the beneficiary of the policies in the event of his death. The decision to make his sister rather than his parents the beneficiaries may have been a hard headed business decision taken on the basis that his sister was more likely to survive and benefit from the twenty years of payment under the policies or, alternatively, it may have been taken on the basis that Julia lived at home and was the carer for their parents. In any event, Daniel Sullivan’s decision was fortuitous for his sister as both their parents died during the 1920s and Julia, who married Richard Barry of Kilshinahan, Timoleague on March 1, 1924, continued to receive payments under the policies until 1938.
It took a long time to bring this dead soldier back to his native parish. Beyond his near relatives, his sacrifice went unrecognised. On July 31, 2017, ninety-nine years after his death, a grave marker was placed by Courtmacsherry and Barryroe History Group on Daniel Sullivan’s third and final resting place. On that day, this son of the parish was finally be ‘gathered unto his people’.
A LONG ROAD HOME
When Courtmacsherry and Barryroe History Group compiled the list of servicemen from the parish of Barryroe who died in service during World War One, Daniel Sullivan from Ballinluhig was the only one of the twenty-nine commemorated who had died while serving with the American forces.
Daniel Sullivan was born on January 1, 1894, son of William and Mary Sullivan, nee Kirby, Ballinluhig, Butlerstown.
He had six siblings,Willie, Margaret, Julia, Patrick, Michael and John. Rather unusually for a large family, Daniel was the only one of the six Sullivans to emigrate. It has not been possible to identify Daniel Sullivan on passenger lists of Irish migrants to the U.S. but it is likely to have occurred after he reached the age of sixteen, in 1909.
When Daniel Sullivan emigrated, while there were political tensions in Europe, he could not have imagined the turn his life would take and that the United States would become a participant in a war that would engulf the world and that he would be conscripted to serve in the army of the country to which he sailed with such hope for a life more prosperous than Ireland could offer him.
Notwithstanding these details about his early life, Daniel Sullivan’s closest relative, Mary Fleming, daughter of his brother Patrick, had little detail about his life in America, service in the army and the circumstances of his death. Persistent enquiries have now uncovered answers to some of those questions.
Daniel settled in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. His army records state that his home address at the time of enlistment was 10, 9th Street, Braddock, Pennsylvania. It is interesting that he gave his birth date as August 4, 1894, while his birth certificate gives his date of birth as January 1, 1894. This inaccuracy would not have been uncommon among people born at this time. Birthdays were not celebrated as they are nowadays.
In Ireland, conscription was to prove such a controversial measure that it further destabilised the volatile political situation and, as a result, the government in Westminster decided to exempt men living in Ireland from the measure.
Daniel Sullivan, in his adopted country, was not so lucky. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies. The Selective Service Draft Act became effective in May 1917. All males between the ages of twenty-one and thirty were required to register for military service.
He was drafted into the army on October 6, 1917, given the rank of Private and the Army Service Number 2313881. Daniel Sullivan was assigned to M Company, 125th Infantry.
After being drafted, he is listed as serving in Camp Lee, Virginia on February 1, 1918 and at a camp in New Jersey on March 27, 1918. Shortly after this date, Private Daniel Sullivan embarked for France.
Daniel Sullivan was wounded in action and taken to hospital but died there of his wounds on July 31, 1918. Thus it was, that Daniel Sullivan, having served only a short time on the frontline, lost his life. Private Sullivan was hurriedly buried. The place is described in documentation as being ‘by Reddy Farm’. A little over three months later, on the 11th November, 1918, World War One ended.
On June 4, 1919, the year after the war was over, Daniel Sullivan’s body was disinterred and reburied in Grave No. 66, Plot No. 2, Federal Cemetery, Seringes et Nesles (Aisne Map No. 33, Soissons, SE, 275.4N-195.25E. The details make grim reading.
Body decomposed features unrecognisable. The left femur was broken and the lower jaw was missing. Body wrapped in burlap and buried in a box.
Meanwhile back in Ballinluhig, Butlerstown, the Sullivan family had no knowledge of Daniel’s fate. November 19, 1918, Julia Sullivan wrote to the U.S. Military Insurance Division
Sirs,
I beg to inform you that the insurance Certificate of Daniel Sullivan has reached me safely. I received it on Saturday. I would be most thankful if you would give me any knowledge of his whereabouts. I didn’t hear from him from France since last June.
I am
Your Obedient Servant
Julia Sullivan
Ballinluhig,
Butlerstown, Timoleague,
Co. Cork. Ireland.
It maybe that receipt of the insurance certificates was an indication that her brother had died, but certainly, at this date, the Sullivan family had not received official notification of his death.
Two months later, on January 15, 1919, Julia Sullivan wrote again to the military authorities and at that date, she still had not been officially notified that her brother had been killed in action.
Ballinluhig
Jan 15th 1919
Dear Sir
Replying to your letter which I received yesterday for the number of the certificate of Daniel Sullivan. I beg to inform you that I received two certificates the first number being 801152 and the second number 1763648 I have heard he is dead that he got wounded and died in hospital but for he is dead he would have written home long ago because he was always a kind brother. Please let me know all about him in your next letter.
I am
Yours Truly
(Miss) Julia Sullivan
Ballinluhig
Butlerstown
Timoleague
Co. Cork Ireland
The military files show that there was some confusion between Private Daniel Sullivan and another man of the same name, Sergeant Daniel Sullivan who had also been killed. It took some time to sort out the confusion and initially a letter was sent to the nominated relative of Sgt. Sullivan who lived in Lowell, Massachusetts regarding Private Sullivan. When that error was pointed out to the military authorities, it appears contact was made with Thomas Nolan, a relative of Private Daniel Sullivan who lived in Pittsburgh and it was Thomas Nolan who was officially informed that Daniel had been killed in action.
Daniel Sullivan’s army records include an undated reply card to the army from Thomas Nolan, 7338 Fleury Way, Homewood, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Nolan’s details had been entered in Daniel Sullivan’s army records under the heading ‘Emergency Address’. On the reply card, Mr. Nolan had been asked to state his ‘relationship to the deceased’. Mr. Nolan responded that Daniel Sullivan was ‘a second cousin of my misses’ (sic) and he suggested that the army authorities should contact Julia Sullivan, a sister at Ballinluhig, Butlerstown.
Exactly how and when the Sullivan family heard the news of Daniel Sullivan’s death is not clear as there are no family papers relating to this period preserved. It seems likely that a letter arrived from Thomas Nolan, the relative in Pittsburgh informing them that the authorities had initially made contact with him regarding Daniel’s death and that, in her second letter to the authorities, Julia was seeking confirmation from the Insurance Division of the bad news.
With the instant communication available today it is difficult to comprehend what it must have been like for Daniel Sullivan’s parents and siblings not to have had any communication from him for six months from June 1918 until confirmation of his death in early 1919. They learned that he had died on July 31, 1918 and only began to mourn their loss six months later.
Another letter in the army files dated April 14, 1919 confirms that Julia was returning the claim form for the insurance policies taken out by her brother. The form sent to Julia Sullivan was dated February 21, 1919. That form is the first documentary indication that the family had been informed that Private Daniel Sullivan, son and brother, had died in France on July 31, 1918.
It was the policy of the U.S. Army authorities to give relatives of deceased servicemen the option of having the body of each fallen soldier returned for burial at home. After the Armistice, Julia Sullivan was given the choice of leaving Daniel buried in an army cemetery in France or having his body repatriated to Ireland. She elected to have her brother’s body repatriated and decided that his final resting place should be in Lislee Cemetery in his home parish.
Julia Sullivan signed an agreement relieving the U.S. Government of all responsibility for the burial of her brother’s body and the care and upkeep of the grave after his coffin had been delivered.
The box for transport to Ireland was numbered 42295 and dated February 1, 1922. It was transported to the port of Antwerp and shipped, with the bodies of sixty-three other Irish-American servicemen who had also been killed, on board the SS Millwater to Ireland. The ship docked in Dublin on the May 2, 1922.
Private Daniel Sullivan’s body was transported to west Cork and into the charge of Julia Sullivan, Ballinluig, Butlerstown. It arrived at its destination on June 3, 1922. An American flag was included with the coffin. Daniel Sullivan was reburied in Lislee Cemetery on the June 4, 1922.
The two life insurance policies that Daniel Sullivan took out with the army authorities prior to being posted to France made his sister Julia the beneficiary of the policies in the event of his death. The decision to make his sister rather than his parents the beneficiaries may have been a hard headed business decision taken on the basis that his sister was more likely to survive and benefit from the twenty years of payment under the policies or, alternatively, it may have been taken on the basis that Julia lived at home and was the carer for their parents. In any event, Daniel Sullivan’s decision was fortuitous for his sister as both their parents died during the 1920s and Julia, who married Richard Barry of Kilshinahan, Timoleague on March 1, 1924, continued to receive payments under the policies until 1938.
It took a long time to bring this dead soldier back to his native parish. Beyond his near relatives, his sacrifice went unrecognised. On July 31, 2017, ninety-nine years after his death, a grave marker was placed by Courtmacsherry and Barryroe History Group on Daniel Sullivan’s third and final resting place. On that day, this son of the parish was finally be ‘gathered unto his people’.
