Article: "When Father Ryan, the Poet-Priest..."

Editor's Note: Details about Fr. Ryan's wartime experiences have long been difficult to document and authenticate, partly because his role as chaplain appears to have been a "free-lance" or semi-official one, and partly because a haze of popular folklore enveloped his wartime history. Stewart Sefakis, in Who Was Who in the Civil War, describes Ryan as "...a mystical character who appeared and disappeared throughout the conflict." The following article that purports to summarize Ryan's battlefield resume probably came from a Norfolk VA newspaper, where Fr. McKey is known to have given at least one major lecture on Fr. Ryan's life. The assertion in the clipping that the Confederate government asked Fr. Ryan to serve as chaplain does not seem to be supported or refuted by documentation within the archive. It seems unlikely, given the paucity of Catholics in the South. However, it is also true that the Confederate government was actively seeking formal diplomatic recognition from the Vatican. Recruitment of one or more priests might have been viewed as strengthening their case. This theory might also explain Ryan's statement in his letter to his mother of Sept. 19, 1864 that "...they are begging for priests in the South." Such an invitation (as opposed to enlistment) would also have given Ryan the autonomy to 'disappear' from military life and return to his home parish during stretches of inactivity between military engagements. McKey suggests in his archival notes that, in addition to the Battle of Missionary Ridge (Tennessee), Fr. Ryan might have been present at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where the Federal charge up Marye's Heights (mentioned below) took place. Irish troops certainly played a prominent role on both sides at Fredericksburg. However, in my own ongoing research into that battle, I have yet to find independent documentary evidence supporting Ryan's presence at Fredericksburg. --DRB