#OnThisDay 1822 Confederate Colonel James Hagan was born in Tyrone. His family moved to America when he was still young. As an adult, he moved to Mobile Alabama to work in his prosperous uncle’s business.
When the Mexican-American War broke out, Hagan joined Hays’s Texas Rangers, a cavalry unit. He was recognised for his gallantry at the Battle of Monterrey. He was commissioned a captain in the 3rd U.S. Dragoons in 1848 and discharged on July 31, 1848. He returned to Alabama afterwards.
When the Civil War began, Hagan organised and was elected captain of a cavalry company for the Alabama Militia, the “Mobile Dragoons. He then transferred to a Mississippi Cavalry Regiment and led a charge at the Battle of Perryville.
He fought on through the war, was injured and was passed over for promotion even though he commanded a brigade in the Civil War, he was never officially promoted to Brigadier General. His pre-war fortune was converted to Confederate money so he was penniless after the war.
The Irish at War 