Sons of Leitrim
Reynolds
Hugh
Soldier Profile: Hugh Reynolds
Co. C, 69th New York State Militia
Hugh was a member of the original 69th—the legendary regiment of the Irish Brigade. Unlike those who joined later in the war, Hugh was a "90-day volunteer," answering the initial call to arms when the Union was at its most vulnerable.
From Gortletteragh to New York
Born: Circa 1834 in Gortletteragh, County Leitrim.
A Young Marriage: On March 7, 1853, Hugh married sixteen-year-old Anne McCormack in Gortletteragh. Hugh himself was only nineteen. The ceremony was presided over by Rev. J. Fitzgerald and witnessed by Eleanore Bohan and Michael Mulligan.
The Emigrant Life: Seeking a future beyond the post-Famine landscape of Leitrim, Hugh and Anne settled in New York City. By 1860, they were living in Ward 14, where Hugh worked as a clerk—a respectable position for an Irishman—while Anne kept house for their only child, a daughter also named Anne.
The First Battle: Bull Run
On May 5, 1861, Hugh marched away with the 69th New York. He would never return to the streets of Ward 14.
The Battle: On July 21, 1861, at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), the 69th charged the Confederate lines under the scorching summer sun. It was the first major clash of the war and a chaotic, bloody defeat for the Union.
Killed in Action: Hugh was among the 460 Union soldiers killed that day. His death was sudden and total, leaving his young wife a widow at just twenty-four years of age.
The Widow’s Fight: Life on Elm and Eldridge
After Hugh’s death, Anne Reynolds was left to navigate the labyrinth of the U.S. Pension Bureau. Her struggle to secure her daughter’s future is a testament to the iron will of the Irish women who remained behind. She signed her own name to documents indicating she could read and write.
Bureaucratic Trials: To prove her marriage, Anne had to write back to Leitrim to secure a Latin copy of her marriage certificate from the parish priest of Gortleitre.
The Pension Battle: In 1867, living at 21 Elm Street, Anne fought for an increase in her pension. She relied on the testimony of her sister, Catherine Young, and friend John Donnelly to prove her identity and her daughter’s birth. Catherine signed her name with an X. Patrick Doyle and James Conlon provided affidavits to support her cause. Both men signed their own names.
The Settlement: She was ultimately awarded $8 per month, backdated to the day Hugh fell, with an additional $2 per month for her daughter until she reached age sixteen.
Later Life
The hardships did not end with the war. In 1887, while living at 150 Eldridge Street, Anne suffered a panicked moment when she lost her original pension certificate while walking downtown to draw her quarterly payment. Despite advertising in local newspapers, it was never found, requiring her to apply for a replacement to maintain her only source of income.
Death: Anne McCormack Reynolds remained faithful to Hugh’s memory for forty-five years, never remarrying. She passed away on November 10, 1906, nearly half a century after the husband of her youth fell at Bull Run.
Legacy
Hugh Reynolds rests somewhere in the chaos of Bull Run—one of 460 Union dead from that first terrible day when Americans learned what kind of war this would be. The 69th New York would go on to legendary fame as the Fighting 69th of the Irish Brigade, bloodied at Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. But Hugh never saw those battles. His war ended on a Virginia hillside in July 1861, seventy-seven days after he took the oath.
His widow fought on—through affidavits in English and marriage certificates in Latin, through signatures and X marks, through lost documents and bureaucratic delays. Anne Reynolds's battle lasted forty-five years, waged not with rifles but with paperwork, persistence, and the quiet dignity of a sixteen-year-old Irish bride who became a widow at twenty-five and never stopped fighting for what her husband's service had earned.
Service & Family Timeline
Date Event Detail
Mar 7, 1853 Marriage Gortletteragh, Co. Leitrim
Apr 14, 1858 Birth of Daughter Anne Reynolds, NYC
May 5, 1861 Enlistment 69th New York Infantry
July 21, 1861 Killed in Action First Battle of Bull Run, VA
