Scranton Times April 28, 1915
On Fame’s Eternal Camping Grounds Captain DeLacy’s Silent Tent is Spread;
Was Scranton’s Only Medal of Honor Man; Brilliant Record As a Soldier
Won Honor In Bloody Battle of the Wilderness, When Single-Handed He Captured Southern Colors. Was Commander of His Old Regiment and Also of Legion
SOME FEATURES IN LIFE OF CAPTAIN DE LACY
Born in Carbondale November 25 1835
Learned tanners’ trade at Tannersville, in tannery owned by the late Jay Gould
Married Elizabeth Wunder, of Trucksville, 1859
Enlisted in the Union army in 1862. Member 143rd regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers
Won Medal of Honor during Battle of the Wilderness, when he captured a Confederate flag single-handed
Deputy United States marshal, 1867 to 1871
Representative in the state legislature 1871 and 1872
Deputy sheriff, Luzerne county, 1876
County auditor, 1877 to 1879
Chief of police, Scranton, 1879 to 1885
Assistant postmaster, Scranton, 1885
Alderman of the Seventh ward since 1889
Nominated by Democratic Party for secretary of internal affairs in 1898, receiving the largest vote on the state ticket
Commander of 143rd regiment for forty-nine years
U.S. commander of Legion of Honor, 1907
Department commander of State G.A.R. in 1908
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Valiant hero in many of the conflicts between forces of the north and south during the Civil war, intimate friend of such great figures in the military history of the United States as Generals Miles, Hancock, Howard and Drake, prominent member of the Medal of Honor Legion, one of the most picturesque veterans of the country, highly honored and much respected citizen of Scranton for years, Captain Patrick DeLacy died at 4:30 yesterday afternoon at his home, 860 Capouse avenue.
More like fiction than reality reads the thrilling story of Captain DeLacy’s years in the Union army. He was in a great many engagements and he won distinction in all. At the start of his military career, which brought him on the firing line at the battle of Chancellorsville, he acquitted himself with such heroism that he was promoted from private to sergeant. The story of the Battle of the Wilderness, of Gettysburg, of Spotsylvania, at Pamunkey river at Totopotomoy (Creek), at Welden railroad, at Poplar Grove church, at Petersburg, at Dabney Mills and at Cold Harbor and other vital points during the Civil war, are not complete on the pages of history without some mention of the daring, heroic and picturesque Scranton boy in blue.
Captured Rebel Flag
He forced the Confederate lines at the Battle of the Wilderness, captured a Confederate flag and braved the withering fire of the rebels to carry Private H. M. Nogel, of Wilkes-Barre, back to the lines after having been shot. In the same battle the captain was wounded. Later he saved the colors of a western regiment at Plank roads, near Jericho Ford. In the battle of Gettysburg he had also been wounded.
Three years ago the captain was seriously ill for some time and put up a gallant battle against death. He recovered, and during the spring of 1914 he suffered another serious attack. Again his pluck and fighting qualities triumphed. While attending the funeral of a relative at Gouldsboro in February the captain contracted a cold, which developed into pleuropneumonia. Early last week he seemed to be on the road to recovery, but on Saturday he suffered a relapse. The captain lapsed into unconsciousness yesterday and his relatives were notified that the end was near. At his bedside when the last call came were his daughter Mrs. Catherine DeLacy Roche, his sister, Mrs. Margaret Quinn, of Pittston, and two grandsons, David P. and M.D. Roche, of Scranton. Other surviving relatives are: Mrs. Anna DeLacy Peel, a daughter, of Hot Springs, Ark, and Dr. William P DeLacy, a son of Springfield, Ill.
Burial in Moscow
Burial will be made in Moscow, and the Lieut. Ezra Griffin post, Grand Army of the Republic, will be in charge. The post met this afternoon to make the arrangements.
City, county, state and nation have paid tribute in turn to the gallant soldier, the latter honoring him with a prominent place in its history and with the conferring of the Medal of Honor on him in appreciation of his bravery on the battlefield, when during the savage battle of the Wilderness he captured a Confederate flag single handed. From city, county and state he was honored by being placed in the following positions in turn: Deputy United States marshal, member of the legislature, deputy sheriff, county auditor, chief of police, assistant post-master and alderman of the Seventh ward since 1889.
Honored by Comrades
From the boys in blue, the captain also received honors which he bore with pride and for which he displayed keen appreciation. For forty-nine years he was commander of the One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. In 1907 he was named commander of the Legion of Honor, and in 1908 he was elected department commander of the state G.A.R.
As a faithful public official, as a prominent citizen, as an ideal neighbor and as one of the most respected men of the city, the memory of the captain will be highly honored. The memory of his glorious deeds on the battlefield during the struggle of the north and south will ever be kept in the nation’s histories. At the battle of the Wilderness, at Petersburg and at Gettysburg, the gallant and heroic Scranton soldier won his spurs. He was a dashing soldier, a sympathetic enemy and a faithful comrade.
Captain DeLacy was the descendant of a long line of fighting Irish ancestry. He was born in Carbondale November 25, 1835. He learned the tanners’ trade at Tannersville at the plant owned by the late Jay Gould. He married in 1859, and enlisted in the Union army in 1862. At the end of the war he returned to Scranton and continued as a resident.
Was Modest Hero
Like all men of heroic mold, modesty was one of his chief characteristics, and while he dearly loved to narrate stories of withering battle, his own participation was kept in the background and the honors that were bestowed upon him by his country and his comrades were not of his own initiative.
He was one of a very limited number of the legions of Union soldiers who received the decoration of a medal of honor, and was the only private soldier to be elected commander of the Legion of Honor of the United States since that body was organized shortly after the Civil war.
His comrades of the One Hundred and Forty-third Pennsylvania Infantry, which was his regiment, elected him their commander at their organization forty-nine years ago, and he uninterruptedly filled that post till his death.
Brother in Irish Brigade
The DeLacy Family enjoyed better financial standing in Ireland than their neighbors, the Boyle’s, but the Boyles had a most attractive and prepossessing young daughter, Catherine. William DeLacy fell in love with Catherine Boyle, against the wishes of his father. Her family came to America and settled in Carbondale. William DeLacy informed his father he intended to follow. He did so and the next year married her in Carbondale.
They were the parents of Captain DeLacy. Their other children were John DeLacy, Mrs. Mary Siglin, Mrs. Michael Quinn, Mrs. Margaret Quinn, Michael DeLacy and Daniel DeLacy. John, who was a resident of Scranton, was known as “Captain Jack” and like Captain Patrick fought with much gallantry in the Civil War, as head of a company in the famous “Irish Brigade”. He and his sister Mrs. Siglin, were residents of South Scranton and are now dead. Mrs. Michael Quinn died in Oxford, N. J. Mrs. Margaret Quinn is living in Pittston, and the other two brothers, Michael and Daniel are living and residents of Scranton.
William and Catherine Boyle DeLacy, their parents, moved from Carbondale soon after their marriage, and took up their residence in Scranton. After a few years they moved to Daleville, this county, to a farm.
Began As Grocer’s Clerk
Captain Patrick was a small boy when the family went to the farm, and stayed there till he was sixteen. Informing his father it was time to strike out on his own hook to make a living he came to Dunmore and got employment in the grocery store of the father of the late Hon. F. D. Collins.
From that time the boy never went back home to live, but made his own way in the world. He was a most dutifully son, however, and sent his net earnings to his mother.
Leaving the grocery counter he went to Tannersville, Monroe county, and started to learn the tanner and currier trade in a mill owned by the late Jay Gould. He made such good use of his time that he soon had an invitation from Jeremiah Wunder to become foreman of his tannery at Trucksville, near Kingston, Luzerne County. He boarded at the Wunder home.
Mr. Wunder observed that in the evenings when the captain was not devoting his leisure time to reading that he and Elizabeth, were becoming more than mere friends, and on account of difference in their religion counseled them to give up all thoughts of matrimony.
The Wunder family were proud of their genealogy. In the early part of the seventeenth century three Wunder brothers embarked from their home in Germany and settled in Philadelphia. About the same time, a Scotchman named Mason, who traced his family back through the lineage of heroic highlanders, came to Philadelphia.
Enlisted For War
One of the Wunder brothers married a daughter of the Mason family, and moved to Reading, and Jeremiah Wunder was a descendant of that union. Objection on the part of the latter to the marriage of his daughter to Captain DeLacy, as is usually the case, only served to intensify their attachment
One evening they left the Wunder home and on returning informed Mr. and Mrs. Wunder that they had been to Wilkes-Barre and had been married by the late Father Fitzsimmons. That was January 9, 1859.
To simplify matters, Captain DeLacy took his bride to Newark, N. J. where they went to housekeeping for three years, and he had work in a tannery. Father-in-law Wunder discovered that during the absence of Foreman DeLacy from the tannery in Trucksville it did not produce the same volume and efficiency of work as formerly, and he wrote, inviting them back, which they accepted.
Southern invasion toward the north was becoming a most threatening fact early in 1862, and one evening around the lamplight the young tanner said he would like to offer his services to his country. Mr. Wunder’s blood belonged to a combination of proud ancestors, and he cheerfully assented. So did Mrs. DeLacy. They had a fair-haired little daughter. Mr. DeLacy took his wife and daughter to a photographer in Wilkes-Barre for pictures, and when they were delivered he sat down and wrote a letter addressed to his wife. It contained the simple instruction that in the same pocket of his coat would be found a picture of his wife and child, and in case of his death the time and place and circumstances were to be added to the letter and, with the picture, forwarded to her.
Where He Won Fame
It was recognition on his part that he might not come home any more, and his course in the ranks of the brave men in blue sustained the noblest traditions that belong to any warrior of ancient or modern times.
At the awful battle of the Wilderness he was under fire for several days, and there it was he won the Medal so highly prized. Between the northern and southern lines in the harrowing wilderness of Virginia, which even today to the traveler offers ample testimony of the havoc of May 1864, was a thick expanse of underbrush, which was covered with the wounded and dead of both sides.
Musketry fire had put a torch to the brush. DeLacy saw a soldier named H. M. Nogle, still living, and now a resident of Mondovi, Wisconsin, who had been fighting by his side, lying wounded, with a bullet in his breast, not far from the burning leaves and thicket.
Getting from behind the shelter where the union forces were massed he stepped boldly into the open, and in the face of hundreds of guns carried Mr. Nogle back into safety.
Took Southern Colors
That was not the act which won him the Medal, but was a part of it. His daring roused all the fighting blood of his side. The color bearer of the Confederates, with mocking taunt, stood on a rampart of his side waving the southern flag and beseeching his comrades to follow him across the union lines.
Instantly DeLacy left the shelter once more and before his comrades were aware he was across the open space, up on the rampart and had struck the southerner dead with his bayonet and was back again to safety with the southern colors. The other side was so demoralized by the audacity of DeLacy and his own side so refreshed with the spirit of new undertaking that a charge was immediately made upon the southern line and the union men had won the rampart.
His coat was tattered with bullet holes. Afterward, when he came back from the war and was appointed chief of police of Scranton in 1877, he displayed the same degree of bravery in the face of danger. He was going to his home in the Seventh ward one afternoon and saw a rowdy attack a tramp. The moment he interfered the rowdy whipped a revolver and pulled the trigger with the muzzle of the weapon an inch from the chief’s face. Only the fact that it failed to shoot saved his life. But, the chief, undaunted, aimeda blow of his fist at the rowdy’s face, and after a short race across fences caught him and locked him up.
Was a United States Marshal
His appointment as chief of police in 1877 was preceded by his appointment as deputy United States marshal in 1867, which position he held until 1871, when he was elected to the state legislature, serving two terms.
In 1875 he was appointed a deputy sheriff of Luzerne county by Sheriff W. P. Kirkendall, and the next year appointed county auditor for two years, when he became chief of police.
He left that office in 1885 to become assistant post master of Scranton for four years during President Cleveland’s first administration, and later was elected alderman of the Seventh ward, which he held till his death.
The Democratic party of Pennsylvania nominated him for secretary of internal affairs in 1898 at the convention in Altoona and although it was recognized as an impossibility to win the election, he got the highest vote on the state ticket, leading the candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and auditor general.
His comrades in arms honored him in his regiment with commander continuously for forty-nine years; and in the state with election as department commander in 1908 by an unanimous vote. The previous year he had received the distinctive honor of being made United States commander of the legion of honor, that honor having previously been conferred upon men who had won their mark while serving as officers. He had won his as a private soldier. The rank of captain was afterward conferred on him.
Father of Twelve
Twelve children were born to Captain and Mrs. DeLacy. The first four and last four died in infancy. The surviving children are, Mrs. Catherine DeLacy Roche, of Scranton, who made her home with him since the death of her husband, the late Hon. M. D. Roche; Mrs. James J. Hicks, of New Your city; Mrs. John J. Peel, of Hot Springs, Ark. and Dr. William P. DeLacy, of Springfield, Ill.
His wife died April 16, 1899. The womanly devotion to her country, which inspired her to consent with a cheerful, though drooping heart to his departure for the firing line in ’62 was frequently recognized by her sisters of the Ladies’ Circle of the G. A. R. with official honors.
In the hospitable parlor of the late home on Capouse avenue are many pictures and trophies of the dead captain but none so treasured, so filled with the fragrance of bygone years as the now faded, but still distinct, little photo that he carried next to his heart through a baptism of fire which pervaded the dreary and desolating mountain woods of Old Virginia. On fame’s eternal camping ground, his silent tent is spread.
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(Text under picture of Captain Patrick DeLacy) April 28, 1915
HOW CAPTAIN DE LACY WON MEDAL OF HONOR AT BATTLE OF WILDERNESS
Bravery in action brought to Captain Patrick DeLacy the high award of a Congressional Medal of Honor. He won this distinction at the Battle of the Wilderness, fought in May 1864.
On the afternoon of May 6, the battle reached the crisis. The Federal troops were in desperate straits. General Wadsworth was killed and so was Col. John D. Musser, of the 143rd regiment. Major Charles Conyngham took command and the 143rd moved off through a dense woods until they came to the line of General Hancock’s Second army corps entrenched along the Brock road.