Sons of Leitrim
Stanford
Bernard
Soldier Profile: Bernard Stanford
Co. K, 13th Connecticut Infantry Regiment
Bernard Stanford's war took him from the siege lines of Port Hudson—where he volunteered for a suicidal assault that never came—to a wound at Morganza, Louisiana, and finally to a "desertion" charge that may have been nothing more than bureaucratic confusion after he failed to return from furlough.
Early Life and Family
Born: Circa September 1842, County Leitrim, Ireland
Father: Andreas (Patrick) Stanford
Mother: Eleanor Creegan Stanford
Emigration: Between 1847 and 1850, during or just after the Great Famine
The 1850 Census: A Family in America
By 1850, the Stanfords had established themselves in America. The census found Patrick Stanford, forty years old, working as a laborer, and his wife Ellen, also forty. Three children lived with them:
Mary, 8
Bernard, 6
Margaret, 3
All three children were born in Ireland, confirming the family had emigrated sometime between 1847 and 1850.
The 1860 Census: A Changing Household
By 1860, Bernard (called "Barney") was sixteen years old, living with his mother, now fifty, and his sister Margaret, thirteen. His sister Mary, who would have been eighteen, is not mentioned—she may have married, moved away, or died. Bernard's occupation is listed as "carder," likely working in a textile mill.
His father Patrick is absent from the 1860 census and may have died.
Military Service
Bernard enlisted on December 25, 1861—Christmas Day—and was mustered into Company K of the 13th Connecticut Infantry Regiment around December 30, 1861. The regiment was officially mustered in on January 7, 1862.
To Louisiana
The regiment, over 1,000 strong, left for Louisiana on March 17, 1862, arriving in New Orleans on May 12. Bernard Stanford's war would be fought in the swamps and fortifications of Louisiana, not on the grand battlefields of Virginia.
Operations and Campaigns
The 13th Connecticut participated in extensive campaigns:
Operations Against Forts St. Philip and Jackson (April 1862): Securing control of the Mississippi River approaches to New Orleans
Occupation of New Orleans (May 1862): The largest city in the Confederacy, captured by Union forces
Siege of Port Hudson (May 26–July 9, 1863): One of the bloodiest actions the regiment would see, with costly assaults on May 27 and June 14
The Forlorn Hope at Port Hudson (June 15, 1863)
Following the failed assaults of June 14, 1863, Union General Banks officially called for volunteers to form a "Forlorn Hope"—a volunteer storming party that would lead a suicidal charge to breach the Confederate fortifications. The name itself acknowledged what everyone knew: it was a one-way mission.
Bernard Stanford volunteered.
Men from various regiments stepped forward, including volunteers from the 13th Connecticut Infantry. They were tasked with leading a massive assault to break through the Confederate line, scheduled for early July 1863.
The attack never came. Following the surrender of Vicksburg, Port Hudson was expected to surrender—which it did on July 9, 1863. The Forlorn Hope volunteers never had to make their final charge.
The Port Hudson Forlorn-Hope Medal
Special medals were approved to be awarded to the volunteers who stepped forward, even though they never had to make the suicidal assault. The Hartford Courant newspaper on January 25, 1888, referred to the campaign to distribute the medals, listing Bernard Stanford as one of the expected recipients—recognition for the courage of volunteering, even if the sacrifice was never required.
Re-enlistment and the Red River Campaign
On February 8, 1864, Bernard re-enlisted as a veteran, along with approximately 400 members of his company. The regiment participated in the Red River Campaign from March to May 1864, then served on duty at Morganza, Louisiana, until July 3, 1864.
Wounded at Morganza (June 19, 1864)
On June 19, 1864, while the regiment was camped at Morganza, Louisiana, following the failed Red River Campaign, Bernard was wounded. The nature and severity of the wound are not specified in the records.
Veteran Furlough and "Desertion"
On July 27, 1864, the regiment began a month-long veteran furlough in New Haven, Connecticut. Bernard Stanford's record shows a "desertion" date of August 27, 1864—the day he is shown as mustered out. This appears to indicate he did not report back when the regiment shipped out after the furlough ended.
Whether this was actual desertion or administrative error remains unclear. The evidence suggests it may have been bureaucratic confusion rather than intentional desertion, particularly given Bernard's re-enlistment as a veteran in February 1864, his volunteering for the Forlorn Hope at Port Hudson, and his wound sustained in June 1864.
The Regiment's Final Service (Without Bernard)
After the July/August 1864 furlough, the 13th Connecticut participated in Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign:
Battle of Opequon (Winchester) – September 19, 1864
Fisher's Hill – September 22, 1864
Battle of Cedar Creek – October 19, 1864
The regiment finally mustered out at Fort Pulaski, Georgia, on April 25, 1866.
Regiment Casualties
The 13th Connecticut lost 204 men during the war: 2 officers and 42 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and 3 officers and 157 enlisted men who died of disease.
After the War
Bernard applied for an invalid pension on December 16, 1879—fifteen years after his "desertion" or muster-out in August 1864. The conflicting records about his departure from service would have complicated any pension claim.
Legacy
Bernard Stanford volunteered for the Forlorn Hope at Port Hudson—a suicide mission that never had to be carried out. He re-enlisted as a veteran in February 1864, was wounded at Morganza in June, and then disappeared from his regiment during the veteran furlough in August 1864.
Whether he deserted or was mustered out, whether his wound prevented his return or whether he simply chose not to go back—the records cannot tell us. What they do tell us is that a six-year-old Irish boy who arrived in America during the Famine grew up to volunteer for a suicide mission at Port Hudson, that he re-enlisted when he could have gone home, and that he earned a medal for courage even though the charge never came.
The Hartford Courant listed him among those expected to receive the Port Hudson Forlorn-Hope Medal in 1888. Whether Bernard Stanford ever received it, we do not know. But his name stands with those who volunteered to lead the charge, knowing they would not return—volunteers who were saved only by the surrender of a fortress and the fall of Vicksburg.
From Leitrim to Louisiana, from a six-year-old Famine refugee to a veteran who volunteered for the Forlorn Hope—Bernard Stanford's story is written in the gaps between enlistment and desertion, between courage and confusion, between the medal he earned and the pension he sought fifteen years later.
Service & Life Timeline
DateEvent Detail
Sept 1842 Birth County Leitrim, Ireland
Dec 25, 1861 Enlistment 13th Connecticut Infantry
May–July 1863 Port Hudson Volunteered for the "Forlorn Hope" mission.
Feb 8, 1864 Re-enlistment Signed on as a Veteran Volunteer
June 19, 1864 Wounded Morganza, Louisiana
Aug 27, 1864 End of ServiceRecorded as "Mustered Out/Deserted"
Dec 16, 1879 Pension Claim Filed as an Invalid Veteran
