The Search for Idaho's Civil War Treasure: One Family's Journey from a Missouri Farm to the Idaho Mountains and the Secret They Kept for Almost 150 Years

By Brian McMahan and John F. Luthy

Who would have believed that a simple family history would evolve into a tale of secret societies, complex Freemason and Templar codes, strange symbols and tales of buried treasure?

However, as the McMahan family odyssey unfolds, it appears certain that deprivations and hardship during and after America's Civil War created a parallel story that began in war-torn Missouri and ended in the mountains of central Idaho.

After recalling childhood stories about a lost gold mine in the Central Idaho Mountains and finding markings on one of his grandfather's old maps and strange messages in even older family photos, Brian was able to locate and photograph signs, symbols, directional pointers and carvings high in the mountains. While quite old, they are virtually identical to those shown and described in many books and articles revealing the dark purpose of America's most secretive society— the Knights of the Golden Circle.

This book begins as a history of the Idaho McMahans' travels from Ireland to Missouri, and eventually, to a remote area in the Idaho mountains. But it ultimately reveals what has been discovered and what potentially still remains of a KGC cache of Confederate treasure in the Idaho mountains. Recent discoveries during the past year have generated an even deeper commitment to continuing the search…but they have also created greater apprehension.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gold Mules LLC
• Release date: May 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798987275917

Book preview

Part One Introduction

As I begin the long and somewhat convoluted McMahan saga, I believe it is essential to provide a historic foundation, primarily due to the questions that naturally arise when considering the leap from Irish emigrants to rural Indiana and Missouri farmers, then to rugged Idaho settlers. Who were these people? What made them immigrate to America? What happened in Missouri and how did the Civil War impact my great-great-grandfather Jonathan McMahan and his brother Isaac? And even though they already owned hundreds of acres of property, why did the brothers elect to ride on horseback 1,800 miles to Baker City, Oregon, in 1877? Perplexing questions, to which I believe I have found plausible answers while discovering several mysteries that transcend mere family history.

According to LDS Family Search, the initial McMahan who had immigrated to the U.S. was Alfred. Traveling from Ireland, we have always believed he first passed through New York, Baltimore, or Boston (or perhaps Philadelphia). But there are also records of large numbers of Irish settlers emigrating through Quebec and settling throughout eastern Canada. Regardless of where Alfred arrived, he soon moved west, ultimately settling in Indiana where he farmed and raised several children. His date of birth and age at the time he entered the U.S. are unknown, but LDS Family Search says Alfred was born about 1805 in Ireland and that his wife, whose name remains unknown, was born about 1798 in Pennsylvania. I continue to dispute these records, due to other verified records that show the birth date of Alfred’s first child (George) as December 2, 1820, which would have made Alfred only 15 when his first child was born. Best guess, without either formal or informal immigration records to verify, is that Alfred McMahan was born in Ireland between 1795 and 1800 and immigrated to America as a young man, around 1822-1825. It is also mystifying that Family Search records would cite a wife’s birthplace without knowing her name… it makes no sense.

While all family histories appear to have unknowns and curiosities, one I’ll describe during this unfolding history begins with conflicting stories regarding whether Alfred’s oldest son (and my direct ancestor), George, also emigrated from Ireland with his father, or was born in the U.S. If George was born in Ireland, he would have been a toddler in the early 1820s, and he and Alfred would most likely have emigrated at least by 1822 or 1823. George’s headstone, which still exists in Adair County, Missouri, records December 2, 1820, as his birth date but does not state where he was born. I will explore this in future chapters and pose what I feel is the most plausible scenario, along with assembled data.

But first, it is important to understand Ireland in the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries and the chaotic, desperate environment that finally motivated Alfred McMahan to undertake the perilous trip to America.

Chapter 1

Ireland

One of the great frustrations when writing any historical account is the very real prospect that precise, accurate, and relevant information is unavailable. While family archives provide reasonable detail for the past 150 years or so, there are few historical records regarding the McMahan’s migration from Ireland to America. However, by studying European immigration patterns during the early 1800s and tracking typical transatlantic and overland routes frequented by emigrant settlers, two or three scenarios appear plausible. To forge several options, I first considered conditions in Ireland during much of the 1700s through the early 1800s that may have motivated people to move from Ireland to America. What I found is a story in itself, especially the horrific conditions and treatment endured by so many poor families and individuals who survived a six-to ten-week transatlantic crossing, then either settled in teeming coastal cities or headed west into the barely settled frontier. Similar to all migrations, the prospect of abandoning their previous lives and risking everything required courage, foresight, and spirit; however, for many Irish emigrants like the McMahan family, the primary motivation appears to have been a life of hardship and loss that was ultimately converted into a vision of opportunity and hope.

Ireland: 1700–1825

As with most human migrations during that period, there were precipitating conditions and forces in play through most of the 1700s through the early 1800s involving imperialistic England, the overzealous Anglican Church, corrupt politicians, and greedy landowners, with several famines thrown in for good measure. While most Americans typically cite Ireland’s Great Potato Famine as the primary impetus for outbound migration, that particular cataclysm didn’t begin until 1845 and ended in 1852, long after the McMahans settled in America. As I examined Irish life in the late 1700s, it became clear that there were multiple social, political, and environmental events that encouraged many to abandon their homeland. It was not a singular event, but the culmination of decades of harsh, domineering British rule and an Irish society that had been maligned, pillaged, and persecuted until rebellion became an essential element of the national culture.

British rule of Ireland began with the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. For centuries afterward, there was continuous political and community resistance to British rule, punctuated by a series of quasi-military and active social campaigns intended to force not only British withdrawal but an end to oppressive laws and policies created to control Irish citizens while their country was plundered by wealthy landowners and politicians. Keep in mind that Ireland, during the period studied, was a separate territory of the kingdom ruled by England’s King George I, who ruled from 1698 to 1727, and King George II, who ruled from 1727 to 1760. King George III then ruled from 1760 to 1820 (in 1801 Ireland was combined with Great Britain, losing its independent identity when renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). This, of course, did little to settle disputes, nor did it appease those who yearned and fought for a free and independent Ireland.

The path to this combined (and tenuous) kingdom had been long and perilous. In the early 1700s, adding fuel to already seething Irish discontent, a 1720 declaration proclaimed that Ireland was dependent on Britain and that the British Parliament had the power to make laws that bound Ireland along with all territories under British rule. Policy was set through the king’s appointed viceroy, formally known as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. For the most part, viceroys had typically lived in England while Irish affairs were carefully controlled by a powerful group of Irish Protestants (termed ‘undertakers’) who controlled the Irish Parliament, which, through blatant corruption and patronage, enabled them to accrue wealth and power. Throughout the 1700s, the British decimated forests to provide timber for shipbuilding, while also pillaging (albeit legally under laws passed by the British House of Commons) every imaginable type of crop and animal to feed England’s growing empire. This, of course, was occurring while much of Ireland’s population was destitute. The combination of myopic and self-serving policy and continuous deprivation led to a severe famine in 1740-1741, resulting in over 400,000 dead and untold numbers suffering permanent physical debilitation.

As decades passed, animosities grew, leading to the formation of multiple secret societies, mostly among the Irish peasantry and middle class—all plotting against English rule and seeking more humanistic behavior by landlords. These secret enclaves, with quirky names like the Whiteboys, Hearts of Oak, Rightboys, Hearts of Steel, and others, all lobbied for or more forcefully demanded cessation of high rents, fewer tithes to the state Anglican Church, a ban on evictions, and renewed access to previously accessible crop and forest land. At the time, Ireland was an economically divided country, with the north and east generally better developed and well-off, while the west was roadless farm country without viable cash crops, high illiteracy, and almost total reliance on potatoes for subsistence. Through much of the latter 1700s, various clandestine groups continued to resist English rule by harassing wealthy landowners, local militia, and town bailiffs, destroying crops, slaughtering or maiming animals, and burning structures. For many decades, much of Ireland was a cauldron of social disunity, secret societies, violence, political turmoil, deprivation, and sabotage.

Public outrage and constant attacks by rampaging discontents finally resulted in several reforms beginning in 1767, with the appointment of a new viceroy, English politician George Townshend, who served from 1767–72. Enjoying the strong support of both the king and his London-based cabinet, Townshend maintained a full-time residence in Dublin Castle, from where he centralized all major decisions, dismantled the undertaker system, and consolidated patronage and power. His Castle Party took charge of the Irish House of Commons, fueling violent opposition from Irish patriots who began to emerge from the shadows to challenge the increasingly centralized, oligarchical government. Undoubtedly a culmination of years of oppression, by the mid-1700s, and continuing for many decades, citizen opposition to British rule and pillage had grown into open revolt in various sections of the country.

Religious Persecution

Sparse McMahan family records have hampered efforts to provide clear detail regarding location, political leanings, civic involvement, financial status, or vocation. However, we speculate that the family may have been Catholic at one point, but most likely drifted toward Protestantism when fractures began to occur in the Catholic Church. During the 1700s, most Irish citizens were poor, disenfranchised Catholic peasants. Tired of their political irrelevance, many converted to Protestantism to avoid severe economic and political penalties under penal laws crafted and promoted by the Anglican Church through the British House of Commons.

Protestants divided into two groups: Ulster based Presbyterians in the north enjoyed better economic conditions, but had little political power, which continued to be held by a small group of Anglo-Irish families who followed the Anglican Church of Ireland. They owned most of the farmland, which was typically worked by poor Catholic peasants, maintaining for generations the most significant social and economic division within Irish society.

Presbyterians were concentrated in the northern province of Ulster and mostly descended from Scottish settlers, but also suffered under the penal laws. They could sit in Parliament but not hold office. Both Catholics and Presbyterians were also barred from certain professions (such as law, the judiciary, and the army) and had restrictions on inheriting land. Catholics could not bear arms or exercise their religion publicly.

Many Anglo-Irish families were absentee landlords who continued to live in England and advocate loyalty to England. On the other hand, there were many Anglo-Irish who remained in Ireland and, over time, grew more rebellious of English oversight. As the years passed, these ‘Irish Nationalists’ sought more local control through their leaders, who included Jonathan Swift and Edmund Burke.

As mentioned, during much of the 1700s, Catholics were excluded from political power and land ownership, leading many to convert to Protestantism to retain their lands. Another irritant was the legal stipulation that any historically Catholic-owned land could not be willed to a single heir. This made many landholdings unproductive and caused them to fall out of Catholic hands over one or more generations. With growing fervor, Protestant dogma emphasized the positive aspects of what was referred to as the Glorious Revolution: liberty from absolutism, property preservation, and a degree of electoral power. Wary of the growing prospect of open revolution, by papal decree many penal laws were relaxed or lightly enforced after 1766. This avoided confronting many Catholic landowners who had for years avoided penal laws by making nominal conversions to Protestantism or by getting one family member to convert to hold land for the rest of his family, or assuming a large mortgage on it.

By 1766, Catholics had begun to openly and more strongly favor reform throughout Ireland. Their politics and perspectives were represented by Catholic Committees, moderate county-centric associations of Catholic gentry and clergy that championed repeal of the penal laws and emphasized loyalty to Ireland. Land ownership reform finally began in 1771, becoming more pronounced in 1778–1779. Historically, while most Irish barely tolerated English rule, decades of political and religious oppression finally culminated in a groundswell of citizen demand for more autonomy, political power, religious freedom, and latitude to manage their own affairs. By then, the prospect of open, widespread revolt was simmering just below the surface.

Clearly, Ireland suffered conflict and rivalries among various religions, which were at the time quite powerful, especially when confronting the entrenched Protestant Anglican Church of England. While Irish citizens were ostensibly free to worship as they wished, inter-denominational conflict and restrictions contaminated every aspect of economic, social, and political life. I continue to believe that the McMahan clan may have been Catholic, then converted to Protestant at some point after 1775. While it matters little to our ultimate story, religion has some relevance because my great-great-great-grandfather, George, was a part-time traveling Protestant minister in both Indiana and Missouri. While George was a teacher by vocation, I remain curious regarding what family influences might have encouraged him to become a minister. A difficult question, especially with no accounts of religious preference or records of enduring sectarian conflict that motivated the family to seek shelter in America. Another question I presume can never be answered.

Impact of the American Revolution

Those disinterested in Irish history may wonder why I felt compelled to study historic circumstances that would have motivated the McMahan family to flee its homeland. Considering the difficulties associated with emigration, relocating to another continent was at that time difficult, dangerous, and often terrifying. So, I remain convinced that it is essential to explore what forces combined to encourage my family and thousands of others to abandon their historic homes and seek sanctuary in America.

Civil and political unrest continued during the last quarter of the 18 th century, even though Ireland gained greater control and more freedoms. The principal irritant that meager reforms could not overcome was the fact that Britain ruled Ireland and continued to control its economy, legal system, and options for self-determination. As resistance grew, a key opposition leader, Henry Grattan, led a potent group called The Patriots, which had been deeply influenced by the American Revolution and its ability to ultimately win freedom from British rule. The Patriots and its many affiliate groups banded together to demand a greater degree of home rule, over time winning multiple concessions. This aggregation of pro-Ireland groups is often referred to as ‘Grattan's Parliament’ and continued to achieve greater freedoms and more latitude from Britain, prospectively setting Ireland on a course toward total freedom. Of course, this was not to be. However, by now, the king and his cabinet had grown afraid of another revolution similar to what had occurred in America, so they agreed to a series of concessions to the Patriot faction in Dublin. In the short term, there were a series of new laws that made the Irish Parliament more legitimate, with new powers and greater independence from the British Parliament (but still under the supervision of the King and Privy Council).

The greatest concessions involved reformed trade laws that allowed broader and less restrictive trade with countries other than England. During the 1780s, this led to a sustained economic boom that initially helped quell local fears and delay efforts to overthrow British rule. For a brief period, canals were built, cropland and mills were expanded, and commerce grew exponentially. During this period, Catholics continued to see reforms through 1793, when they could again vote, sit on grand juries, and buy freehold land, although they still couldn’t serve in parliament or work as senior state officials.

After the American Revolution, the English were even more wary of potential long-term consequences from the French Revolution and began to stonewall additional reforms (although the French Revolution timeline is quite long, the English became particularly concerned when, in 1792, the French monarchy was overthrown after the unsuccessful flight of the Royal Family in 1791). For all practical purposes, progress stopped as the English tried to maintain control and derail efforts to create any form of independence. This, of course, did not set well with Ireland’s more progressive intellectuals and radical thinkers, many of whom embraced the more militant approach applied successfully by the Americans and French.

While economic development raised more families out of poverty and brought a measure of tranquility, the issue of English rule and Britain’s passion for ultimate control continued to mitigate trust and goodwill. Within a short time, these concessions, rather than satisfying Irish Patriots, only magnified their impotence. With renewed vigor, they expanded their demands. Ultimately, the Irish Rebellion of 1798 was instigated by those impatient with Ireland’s perceived weakness and the slow pace of reform. Adding to their confidence, they had also been promised French support from those who had instigated the French Revolution (which began in May 1789 and officially ended in November 1799).

Road to Revolution

Formed in 1791 by a group of Protestant freethinkers, the Society of United Irishmen was ostensibly created to abolish religious discrimination and improve voting rights for all citizens. Secretly, this society advocated a comprehensive plan to overthrow British rule and create a non-sectarian republic. The intent of its leader, Theobald Wolfe Tone, is partially captured in an inscription found near his gravesite in the Bodenstown graveyard in county Kildare, which states:

Our independence must be had at all hazards if the men of property will not support us… they must fall… We can support ourselves by the aid of that numerous and respectable class of the community of men of no property.

Membership in the United Irishmen grew rapidly as the broader citizenry found its voice and rallied for a free republic. This ‘Republicanism’ was attractive to virtually all social classes and religions, especially many in the growing Catholic middle class. But it also resonated with the Ulster Presbyterian community, which had suffered severe discrimination and had deep ties to Scots Irish American emigrants who had fought against Britain during the American Revolution. As an organization, the United Irishmen was banned by British overlords in 1793 after revolutionary France declared war on Britain, but it continued to thrive, claiming over 200,000 members by 1798. Responding to being outlawed after 1793, the group rapidly evolved into a quasi-military organization, preparing for armed rebellion.

While rebellious groups were enjoying popular support, there was at least one British Unionist/Loyalist organization (the Orange Order founded in 1795) that actively opposed any form of Irish nationalism or independence. In reality, it was an ultra-conservative/loyalist Protestant group created to protect Protestant civil and religious liberties and was dedicated to preservation, not progress. Bitter disputes between ultra-loyalist Protestant hardliners and progressives desiring freedom from British rule grew into widespread violence and civil disorder after 1795. In retrospect, during the 1790s, Ireland was a cauldron of conflicting political, social, religious, and economic views; it was a chaotic, often violent, period that polarized the entire population.

Apparently dedicated to armed revolution, the United Irishmen allied with the Defenders, the militant Catholic peasant society that had been conducting raids and creating mischief since 1792. Anticipating even more severe conflict in 1796, United Irish leader Wolfe Tone traveled to France, seeking French military support. Siding with the revolutionaries against England in December 1796, the French sent 15,000 expeditionary troops to Bantry Bay, in southwest Ireland, about 114 kilometers west of Cork. However, rather than accomplishing anything other than verifying their support for Ireland’s nascent revolution, the French were unable to land due to stormy weather, poor planning, and questionable seamanship.

After several years battling insurrection and violence, the attempted but failed landing of French troops finally galvanized the English-controlled government to action. Targeting the United Irishmen and its various allies, the government began a broad campaign of repression, including destruction of property, jailing of suspected insurrectionists, torture, public executions, and transportation of prisoners to distant penal colonies. Rather than quell the revolt, repression incited greater resistance, culminating in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which began in Dublin then spread to Kildare, Meath, Carlow, and Wicklow. Irish rebels battled government forces primarily in the southeast, especially in County Wexford, but also in the north in Antrim and Down. Toward the end, French forces landed at Kilcummin in County Mayo to support the last serious outbreak in Longford, Leitrim, and Mayo counties, but had little effect on the outcome. In just three months, approximately 10,000, and all told, perhaps as many as 20,000 lives were lost along with the seminal hope for a harmonious, integrated non-sectarian society. Sadly, during that brief period, old wounds were reopened and polarity among religions returned with a vengeance.

As the conflict intensified, old sectarian inclinations and ideologies on both sides of the rebellion surfaced, fomenting violence throughout Irish communities, quickly devolving into depredations and atrocities perpetrated by various religious sects. Britain responded as it typically did with any uprising within its many territories and principalities, with vicious retribution that served as notice to all who would oppose its rule. Suspected United Irishmen were rounded up for public executions; lands were confiscated; many were tortured and served years in squalid prisons. England was motivated by fear of continued rebellion and the prospective loss of another prized territory, much like it had previously lost America. After dabbling with placation via reforms and acquiescence to growing citizen demands, the British used the 1798 uprising to reassert control and regain dominance.

In the years following the 1798 rebellion and Britain’s harsh response, England’s oversight grew more pronounced, and Irish citizens appear to have retreated into a period of hateful dormancy. Still seething from centuries of domineering British rule, but seemingly without recourse, a kind of detente ensued, as the wealthier Irish tried to preserve their status and assets. Ireland’s weakened parliament, still dominated by the Protestant landed class, encouraged by hefty bribes provided by Lord Cornwallis (at that point the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland), and motivated by its fear of another rebellion, was persuaded to vote for its own abolishment. This surprising coercion was achieved under the Acts of Union in 1800, and by 1801 there was no longer an Irish Parliament. Interestingly, after condemning the rebellion, Ireland’s Catholic Bishops supported the agreement, seeing it as another opportunity to gain power as they continuously sought emancipation (at this point, Roman Catholics still had many economic, social, and political restrictions and constantly sought the means to achieve parity with Protestants; most restrictions were removed by 1829). I mention this because I suspect the McMahan family may have remained conflicted between its Catholic roots and its conversion to Protestantism. Clearly, sectarian conflict had simmered for generations, creating an Irish society with endemic animosities and prejudices that apparently still exist today.

Emigration Decisions

While fraught with violence and occasional revolt, historians label the period 1691-1801 as Ireland’s long peace due to its relative tranquility compared to previous centuries. Even though it ended with violence and open conflict with England, there were many decades of passive-aggressive coexistence among religions, political parties, progressives and conservatives, landowners, and peasants. In reflection, I don’t see it as a progressive, exhilarating, or amicable time, but rather a drab period where, for the most part, personal, economic, and political survival was the primary motivation.

During the last twenty years of the 18 th century, progressives had worked toward a society where old sectarian divides and animosities would be replaced by acceptance, understanding, and cooperation. But as open rebellion grew more prominent during the 1790s and erupted in 1798, the intensity of interfaith retribution and depredation dashed any hope that a new, harmonious age was imminent. Presbyterians apparently abandoned attempts to ally with Catholics and progressives, while most Protestants drifted toward Unionist ideals, which were based on the notion that a union with Britain was the key to their continued political dominance and Ireland’s future economic growth. On the other hand, in a curious reversal, Irish nationalism became the adopted central pillar of Irish Catholic politics.

Though we know very little about the McMahan family’s Irish and presumed Scottish roots, location or social status, subsequent vocations indicate they were farmers and/or craftsmen, but not landed gentry. Therefore, the family most likely lived, to some degree at least, under the heel of wealthy local landowners and were powerless to oppose overbearing laws and policies. Family patriarchs may have also been active in long-standing opposition to English rule and lived in fear of retribution. Or it is quite possible they were among those who had been jailed, tortured, and otherwise punished for real or imagined crimes against the Crown. In any case, I intuit that the family lived a hardscrabble existence, experiencing generational scarcity and turmoil.

In a remarkably short time, the most popular and motivating ideals that had emerged during the previous two decades were either withered or totally transformed after 1801. In virtually every county and community, it must have been a confusing and polarizing rather than transcendent time. Moreover, after studying several historical accounts, I believe it was a period when many weary, disillusioned families assessed the value of remaining in a homeland ruled by Great Britain versus relocating to a land of greater opportunity, broader acceptance, and recently celebrated independence. I count the McMahan family among those who began to plan their exodus from their troubled, fractured homeland. With the constant ebb and flow of conflict and the growing stress of merely surviving, it was only a matter of time…

Chapter 2

War, Discontent and Despair

As the 19 th century dawned, Ireland was still raw from the 1798 rebellion and its aftermath, as the British continued to pursue and persecute known and suspected insurrectionists. For several years, murder, extra-judicial hangings, torture, property destruction, and myriad social and economic deprivations occurred throughout the country. As noted earlier, the rebellion triggered a variety of concessions, but clearly, the overall quality of life was not markedly improved, especially for the vast peasantry. So, while change occurred, it was mostly cosmetic, as England sought to avoid any escalation that would ignite a broader war with Ireland and France. While British overlords were placating on one hand, on the other they relentlessly sought to jail, execute, or expel members of flourishing secret societies, as they continued to attract activists, isolationists, and nationalists. For many unhappy citizens, the new century merely introduced opportunities for continued and more successful rebellion.

Tensions continued to ebb and flow after the formal end of the 1798 Rebellion. In hindsight, even though the Irish Parliament and England’s House of Commons had both passed an Act of Union in 1800, it was not an act of contrition. As reported, through mutual consent on January 1, 1801, it formally abolished the Irish legislature and formally merged the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain. As distasteful as it was for many, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established. But even as the political/administrative lines were being negotiated and redrawn, British-dominant authorities continued to tighten controls while promising greater latitude. Schisms among religious sects, political parties, nationalists, loyalists, and those who sought a true republic continued to grow, even while trade improved, more land was cultivated, and the wealthy enjoyed heightened status.

My interest in this period is twofold: I remain curious about what conditions may have been so extreme that the McMahan family elected to migrate to America, and I have become enthralled with Ireland’s conflicted history with England and how it was able to perpetuate such rancor over so many centuries. Clearly, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland did little to end hostilities, but rather provided another rationale for dissidents to become more calculating, coordinated, and subversive.

Violence continued in County Wicklow, the adjacent county north of County Dublin, where the seat of government remained. Attacks, lootings, and arson were common, culminating in a smaller, abortive rebellion led by Robert Emmet in 1803. After the failed rebellion, most of Ireland’s twenty-six counties shifted into a new, barely restrained normal, which changed little from what they had experienced for the previous hundred years. A review of Ireland’s history from 1803 until after 1818 reveals a conflicted society, with citizens immersed in various political, religious, social, and economic dilemmas, mostly created purposefully or inadvertently by the country’s relationship with England. For a period, overt rebellion ceased as families and businesses returned to challenges associated with vocational pursuit, enterprise development and just plain survival.

A Life of War

Alfred McMahan’s birthdate remains unknown, but the best calculation is that he was born between 1795 and 1800, growing up during a time of widespread scarcity and conflict. Given the environment created by insurrectionists, political disharmony, competition among religions, British overreach, and sporadic famine, merely experiencing a stable childhood would have been remarkable. In addition to internecine conflict between Ireland and England, the Napoleonic Wars began in 1803 and raged off and on for over twelve years, until late November 1815. Being part of the British Empire, conscripts from Ireland were forced into the British army and navy, crops and animals were requisitioned, and the specter of war permeated every aspect of Irish life. Social and economic instability continued, fostered by competing internal forces and Napoleon’s raging intra-continental war.

Over the fifteen years I have investigated the McMahan family’s Irish history, I have become increasingly appalled by the world they endured during the late 18 th century and early 19 th century. I previously focused on what was occurring within Ireland itself as it struggled with questions of independence, self-determination, and religious harmony while it sought new opportunities for economic development. But there was a much larger game afoot, involving dozens of countries and millions of people.

The Napoleonic Wars

France was in disarray when Napoleon Bonaparte I became First Consul of France in 1799. However, demonstrating savant-like organizational and motivational genius, within a short time, he stabilized finances, created a broad and capable administration, instilled a nationalistic spirit, and built a strong army. After studying historic unresolved territorial disputes stemming from the recent French Revolution and attendant conflicts, he began a series of clashes historically grouped into five distinct wars, termed ‘coalitions,’ due to the various combatant coalitions that allied to resist French expansion: the Third Coalition (1805), the Fourth (1806-07), Fifth (1809), Sixth (1813-14) and the Seventh (1815). These were major conflicts, over time involving virtually all of Europe and resulting in Napoleon dominating much of the continent at one time or another.

My primary interest was piqued by the longevity of the entire group of Wars and the time period, which mostly coincided with ongoing turmoil and disunity in Ireland from 1800 through the early 1820s. Not long after the last open Irish revolt against Britain in 1803, Austria and Russia declared war on France in 1805, creating the Third Coalition. It was soundly defeated at Austerlitz by superior French forces, but the combined Franco-Spanish navy was destroyed by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar in October of that year, giving England control of the seas and establishing a naval barrier to a prospective French invasion.

Another coalition, the Fourth, coalesced in late 1806, combining Prussia, Russia, Saxony and Sweden to renew war efforts against France. Unfortunately, seasoned French forces defeated the Prussians at Jena and the Russians at Friedland, quickly bringing hostilities to an end. As a tenuous peace ensued, Napoleon continued aggressive expansion, invading Portugal in 1807, Britain’s only ally in continental Europe. With troops already in place, he then turned on Spain, ostensibly an independent ally, declaring it part of France’s expanding Kingdom. The endgame here was to isolate Britain and block the free movement of food and supplies flowing from the continent to England. However, partisans in Portugal and Spain continued bitter resistance against the French for the next six years and finally, with Britain’s support, won their freedom in 1814.

Claiming serial victories over sovereign nations, Napoleon’s manic expansion continued to create unrest among a variety of vanquished and neutral parties, especially after the fall of the Iberian Peninsula, prompting several nations, led by Austria, to create a Fifth Coalition in 1809. As with previous coalitions, even after an overwhelming victory at Aspen-Essling, coalition forces were quickly and savagely defeated by the French army at Wagram, signaling the failure of yet another effort to end Napoleon’s obsession for conquest.

During this time, Napoleon initially invoked restricted trade or actual blockades as an economic weapon against the United Kingdom, which expanded to all aggressor or non-compliant nations throughout the continent. However, Britain and many others routinely violated controls as the ability of France to manage commerce and historic supply networks declined as its empire grew larger and more unstable. With its massive population and reliance on multiple trading partners, Russia became one of the major violators of France’s Continental (trade blockade) System and in fact fully abandoned it in 1809. Of course, this infuriated Napoleon, who foolishly chose to launch a major invasion of Russia in 1812. Even though Napoleon spent months building a supply line and planning the invasion, it ended in disaster.

With a massive army of over 400,000 soldiers, French forces initially far outnumbered the Russians, but had to endure multiple long forced marches through the vast plains of western Russia as it pursued the strategically retreating Russian army while it gathered strength. Though I find this part of Napoleon’s history truly fascinating, there is far too much detail to report here, so I’ll attempt to summarize. The French enjoyed several moderate victories as they traveled toward Moscow but were losing a war of attrition as they lost soldiers and slowly ran out of supplies, becoming more isolated as they traversed the immense country. When Napoleon finally reached Moscow with around 100,000 men, he found it mostly abandoned, so in retribution and frustration, he ordered much of the city burned. After remaining in Moscow for five weeks awaiting a peace offering from the Russians, when none came, Napoleon began his return to France.

Perhaps the most horrific battle occurred at the Berezina River as thousands of French troops attempted to cross the river, which had previously been iced over and passable but was then running freely. The Berezina debacle occurred from November 26 to 29, 1812, after gallant engineers constructed temporary bridges, allowing thousands to escape as over 85,000 Russian forces attacked. But the few bridges created tight funnels that thousands of people, animals, armaments, and wagons had to negotiate in the midst of continuous Russian attacks. It is estimated that up to 30,000 civilians and soldiers were lost, many while trying to swim the icy river. Witnesses reported that not one person or animal ever made it through the frigid water. With Russian peasants and Cossacks continuing guerilla attacks, only around 10,000 soldiers remained from Napoleon’s main army. He and his drastically depleted and defeated grand army were able to return to France without suffering further military engagements, but the damage to his invincible reputation was irreparable.

Tired of imperialistic and overbearing France and seeing an opportunity to end its heavy-handed empire building with many allies, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia formed the Sixth Coalition in 1813 to launch a coordinated campaign to end French dominance. After a few bloody but inconclusive skirmishes, the Coalition soundly defeated Napoleon at Leipzig in October 1813, then invaded France from the east while the Peninsular War (with Spain/Portugal and their British ally) entered southwestern France. After capturing Paris in March 1814, the Allies forced Napoleon to abdicate and exiled him to the island of Elba, returning the Bourbons to the French throne. As most learned from their world history lessons, Napoleon escaped from Elba and recaptured control of France for about one hundred days before being soundly defeated at Waterloo in June 1815. He was then exiled to St. Helena, where he died six years later.

When gathering information on the Napoleonic Wars, I was astonished by the immensity of the overall conflict, especially when considering the number of countries and soldiers involved over an enormous geographic area. While previously concentrating on Ireland’s plight after 1800, I was unprepared for the overwhelming effect this series of wars must have had on not only the Irish, but citizens of dozens of countries (there were at least twenty-six sovereign nations or principalities engaged against France over the span of the Coalitions). Most shocking is the estimated loss of life during the entire series of conflicts. In all the wars and actions associated with the Napoleonic Wars, it is estimated that over 306,000 French were killed in action; 65,000 French allies killed in action; 800,000 French military personnel ultimately died from wounds, accidents, and disease; and an estimated 600,000 civilians died. The numbers reported for opposing countries are even more appalling. Keep in mind that some of these numbers do not include total dead among citizen populations- they are reported from military actions only: Austrians—550,220 killed in action; Spanish300,000 killed in action and over 586,000 in total; Russian—289,000 killed in action (probably at least twice that if civilians are included); Prussians—134,000 killed in action, total deaths unknown; British (including Irish)—32,232 killed in action and 279,574 lost to wounds, disease, and accidents; Portuguese—estimated 250,000 dead or missing; Italians—120,000 killed or missing; Ottomans—50,000 killed or missing.

As stated before, many readers, like me, may have not studied the Napoleonic Wars, so they have no emotional or even historic interest in their impact on European populations. Calculating by the numbers killed, missing, and maimed, the number of destroyed cities and towns, loss of enterprise, and the number of people displaced, the impact must have been enormous. And, because this disruptive period actually extended from as early as 1792 (the formal period of the Napoleonic Wars is May 1803-November 1815), in some countries many people (including Alfred McMahan) grew up knowing nothing but conflict, fear, and loss.

As I searched for the rationale that would have motivated thousands of Irish families to migrate to America, these wars and their negative impact on the average citizen must have been a critical factor. However, as I studied these seemingly endless wars, I was reminded that the War of 1812 brought even more conflict, confusion, and hardship to the people of Ireland. While seemingly only indirectly involved, Ireland was part of the British Empire, so many of its men were pressed into military service or forced to support the war effort in some manner. It was a time of pervasive, virtually non-stop conflict with profound hardships endured by common people in every community. Once I understood what was occurring in Europe, it seemed wise to consider the effect of the War of 1812. After all, it involved the country that for many had become a shining, enchanting beacon after its own successful war for independence just three decades earlier.

The War of 1812

As the wars against France raged on in continental Europe, both Great Britain and France tried to block trade with America in an attempt to curtail supplies reaching the other country. Due to its control of the seas, Britain relied on sea power to pass the dubious Orders in Council in 1807, requiring that all neutral countries must be licensed by English authorities before trading with France or its many colonies. As with many British pronouncements during that time, this was a sham. Other than military force, it had no means (or rights) to legislate and/or dictate rules for other sovereign nations. The main irritants for America were twofold. First, the Royal Navy had for years overstepped via the practice of ‘impressment,’ which removed seamen from U.S. merchant ships and forced them to serve in the British Navy. Second, the overreaching British also established blockades to prevent merchant shipments from reaching Europe, particularly areas controlled by France.

President Thomas Jefferson had previously championed his unpopular Embargo Act, which prohibited trade with either France or Britain. However, this imprudent legislation soon damaged the American economy more than it hurt the intended countries, both of which had alternative supply lines. Congress quickly replaced that particular Act with the equally disastrous Non-Intercourse Act, which prohibited trade with either France or Britain. Finally, another bill passed in 1810 attempted to create leverage by stating that if either France or Britain ceased all trade restrictions against America, it would reinstate the non-intercourse doctrine against the other country. Obviously, the U.S. Congress was playing each competing power against the other, which, from a historical perspective, proved to be a fool’s game when Napoleon quickly indicated he would cease all trade restrictions. Undoubtedly, as a master of deceit, Napoleon was merely testing the resolve of both the U.S. and Britain as he leveraged one against the other.

Newly elected President James Madison naively accepted Napoleon’s offer, and in November 1810, elected to block all trade with England. To be fair, his quick response was partially due to congressional agitation over Britain’s continuous violations of maritime law and its insidious encouragement of Native American hostility toward settlers as they aggressively migrated into the western frontier. As frontier boundaries were pushed past Ohio and into Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, disputes with Native American tribes had become more frequent and violent. In one of the more consequential battles, Indiana’s territorial governor, William Henry Harrison, led U.S. forces to victory in the Battle of Tippecanoe, which turned many Native tribes toward an alliance with Britain. Among those tribes was the revered Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, who believed the only option left was to seek a military alliance with the British to protect their traditional lands from further settlement. Given the ‘Anglophobia’ that continued to exist among many in the U.S. Congress and the emphasis on westward expansion, there was strong support for military action against the British. Pressure grew on Madison until, on June 18, 1812, he signed a declaration of war against Britain. Interestingly, once formalized, the declaration created a bitter division within Congress between northeastern (New England) states that relied heavily on robust British trade and western and southern states that were apparently more interested in interstate economic growth. Another wrinkle involved the Federalist Party, which still favored a strong, cohesive relationship with Britain and opposed the war. Unlike the War for Independence, the War of 1812 was, at least initially, widely unpopular.

While Congress debated and dallied, alliances between the British and several Native American tribes became both prominent and organized as they anticipated imminent military conflict. Due to its proximity and status as a British colony, Canada, and especially the area around modern-day Ontario, saw early action. Unfortunately, since the Revolutionary War, over thirty years before, U.S. troops had not encountered trained soldiers in strongly fortified positions. As the invasion commenced, they were terribly unprepared for the strength and capabilities of the combined forces of Tecumseh and Sir Isaac Brock, an experienced soldier and England’s administrator of Upper Canada. Predictably, U.S. forces were badly defeated on August 16, 1812, and pursued back across the border by Native American and British troops. To make matters worse, Michigan’s commander, William Hull, was so overwhelmed with the prospect of battling combined Native and British forces that he surrendered Detroit without shots being fired.

The western territories had more seasoned military commanders with well-trained troops who acquitted themselves well, as evidenced by Commodore Oliver Perry’s overwhelming victory during the Battle of Lake Erie, allowing U.S. forces to gain control of the Northwest Territories by September 1813. Detroit was later reclaimed after the Battle of Thames, where Tecumseh was killed. With the British still distracted by Napoleon’s antics, the U.S. Navy was initially able to defeat small British Royal Navy fleets, but once Napoleon was defeated in April 1814, England turned its full attention to America. Within a few months, battle-hardened troops and ships of war arrived in Chesapeake Bay, enabling the British to launch an early-era blitzkrieg, quickly fighting inland toward Washington D.C., which they captured on August 24, burning both the Capitol building and White House. Of course, this outraged virtually all citizens and military leaders and fully engaged the U.S. in the war effort.

Shortly thereafter, the American Navy defeated the British fleet on New York’s Lake Champlain (Battle of Plattsburgh, September 11, 1814) and just three days later, in Baltimore, Ft. McHenry successfully withstood over twenty-four hours of British naval bombardment, defiantly raising a large American flag the next morning. Moved by the defenders’ gallantry and grit, witness Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that later became the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Apparently frustrated and under duress by gathering U.S. forces, the British soon abandoned the Chesapeake Bay area to focus on Florida and New Orleans, seemingly more accessible and sparsely defended portals into the U.S. heartland.

Fundamentally, from mid-September 1814 to February 1815, the British executed its Gulf Campaign