Sons of Leitrim
Riley
Patrick
Soldier Profile: John Riley
Co. K, 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry
John belonged to a storied regiment that was among the first to answer President Lincoln’s call. For many of these men, the war was expected to be a brief adventure; for John, it was a six-week march toward a tragic, lasting silence.
From the Parish of Cloone to Providence
Born: Circa 1816 in Cloone, Mohill, County Leitrim.
A Leitrim Union: On February 10, 1840, John married Rosanna McCabe in the parish church in Cloone. The ceremony was performed by Father Philip Freeman.
The Emigrant’s Path: Between 1847 and 1854, the Rileys crossed the Atlantic. John brought his trade as a stone mason to Rhode Island, though by 1860, he had managed to secure a farm in Burrillville with real estate wealth of $600—a significant achievement for a Famine-era arrival.
The 1860 Census: A Farmer's Life
By 1860, the Rileys lived in Burrillville, Rhode Island. The census lists John as forty-six years old (suggesting birth in 1814) and Rosanna as forty-two. John's occupation had changed from stone mason to farmer—a common trajectory for Irish immigrants who saved enough to buy land.
The household included four children: James (14), Catherine (9), John (5), and William (2). The names and ages don't quite align with other records—James and Catherine were said to be born in Ireland, while John and William were born in Rhode Island. It's possible the census taker mixed up names, or that Catherine died or went to live with relatives. William's age of "2" might have meant two months rather than two years, given his May 1860 birth date. An affidavit sworn by two of Rosanna’s friends states that she had four children.
John Riley owned real estate worth $600 and a personal estate of $210. For an Irish immigrant who had arrived in America less than a decade earlier, this was substantial. The stone mason had become a farmer and a man of property.
A Brief and Tragic Service
On June 5, 1861, John enlisted in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry. He was an older soldier, roughly 45 years old, leaving behind a wife and three young sons: John, Joseph Lawrence, and William Henry.
First Bull Run (Manassas): Barely six weeks after donning the blue uniform, John marched toward the small stream known as Bull Run. On July 21, 1861, in the heat and chaos of the war’s first major engagement, John Riley was killed in action.
The Toll of Battle: He was one of nearly 500 Union soldiers who fell that day in a stinging Confederate victory. At the time of his death, the government owed him $17.23—the final wages for a life given to his adopted country.
The Widow’s Struggle: Rosanna Riley
Left alone in a foreign land with three young children, Rosanna faced the daunting task of proving her right to a survivor's pension. Because she had been married in Ireland and her eldest children were born there, the American bureaucracy required a mountain of evidence.
The Paper Trail: Rosanna had to gather affidavits from friends and secure birth and baptismal records to prove her marriage to John and the legitimacy of her children.
The Burden of Illiteracy: Like many of her generation, Rosanna could not read or write; she signed her legal claims with a simple "X."
The Award: In 1864, after nearly three years of waiting, she was granted a pension of $8 per month, backdated to the day John fell, with an additional $2 for each child.
A Family Dispersed
Tragedy followed the Rileys beyond the battlefield. Rosanna passed away on January 30, 1867, in Cumberland, Rhode Island, just six years after her husband.
The Guardian: With both parents gone, the two youngest sons, Joseph and William, were placed under the guardianship of Nathaniel Dana of Valley Falls, who managed their modest pension entitlements until they reached the age of sixteen. The eldest son, John, was by then twenty years old and entering a world without the father who had left for Virginia when he was just a boy.
Service & Family Timeline
Date Event Detail
Feb 10, 1840 Marriage Cloone, Co. Leitrim
Oct 20, 1853 Birth of Joseph First recorded birth in Rhode Island
June 5, 1861 Enlistment 2nd Rhode Island Infantry
July 21, 1861 Killed in Action Battle of Bull Run, VA
Mar 5, 1864 Pension Granted Backdated to 1861
Jan 30, 1867 Deceased Rosanna Riley, Cumberland, RI
