Thomas Hayden : Short Biography

A. Ireland, Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864-1958 about Thomas Hayden shows he was born 1808 and died 1884 in Thomastown. His father was John Headen (Hayden) born abt 1785 Callaginstown, Killenaule,Tipperary, Republic of Ireland (Ireland)

B. Married Honara Kennedy born 1810 at Kilvermnon,Mullinahone,County Tipperary,Republic of Ireland (Ireland).  Married 1 Mar 1824 at Tipperary, Ireland, Parish of Mullinahone. 

C. Their children were Catherine Hayden (1825-1844 ), Thomas Hayden (1827- 1904), Patrick Hayden (1829- 1901), Mary Hayden (1832-1885 ), James (John) A. Hayden (1833-1905 ), and Michael Hayden (1842- 1917).  All born at Parish of Killenaule.

D. James Hayden was born in 1833 at Killenaule, a small town in the barony of Slievardagh, South Tipperary in Ireland. It is one half of the parish of Killenaule and Moyglass in the Cashel and Emly Archdiocese. It lies at the southwestern edge of the Slieveardagh Hills. Most likely John Hayden lived at Boherlug, Killenaule, Ireland one-eighth mile southwest of the Medieval St. Mary’s Church (now Heritage Center - Site #22103015) near Main and River Streets (source Griffiths Valuation of Ireland - Killenaule, County Tipperary).

The Irish Potato Famine, started in 1845 and lasted until 1849. About one million died and another one million emigrated.

In 1851 at age 18 he settled in America. It is unclear where he first settled. The 1860 US Census lists three possible locations; most likely James Hayden age 26 lived and worked as hostler at a livery stable in St Louis Ward 5, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri. But also a James Hayden, age 27 lived in Third Ward, New York City Minor Civil Division, New York State and another Jas Heydon lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He enlisted at age 28 in the Union Army in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (image shows he lived in Pittsburg). 30 Jul 1861, Company D, Regiment 6, U.S. Cavalry. On 1 Aug 1862 transferred th Company L. General Chaffe was in the same squad serving then as a Sergeant. Hayden became First Sergeant.

Received gunshot wound in left chest at Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 3 Jul 1863. Was missing in action at Fairfield, Pennsylvania 3 Jul 1863.

Captured at Emmettsburg, Maryland and was confined at Richmond, Virginia. Paroled on 2 Aug !863 and reported to Camp Parole, Maryland and rejoined his unit. Discharged 30 Sep 1864 (used accrued leave) in Virginia.

Many who enlisted in 6th Cav were from the Pittsburg area 50 miles to the east of Wellsville, Ohio. Newspaper article about his death indicates he lived in Mansfield the last 35 years of his life (since1870).

James Hayden received a pension payment from 28 Mar 1878 and Mary Hayden, as a widow, a payment from 2 May 1905.

They were married 18 Aug 1864 in East Liverpool, Columbiana County, Ohio.

It is thought that they moved from Wellsville, Ohio to Mansfield before the birth of their second child Ellen on 4 Dec 1869, although it could be before the 12 Jul 1870 US Census and if so both Ellen and Catherine were born in Wellsville.

1880 United States Census: James Hayden 45 is head of household in Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio. Others at this residence are his wife Mary J. Hayden 35; children Catherine E. Hayden 13, Ellen Hayden 10, Mary Jane Hayden 8, John Hayden 4, Edward Hayden 2, and Thomas Hayden 1 month.

1900 US Census shows head of household James Hayden 64 born Ireland (father b. Ireland and mother b. Ireland), Mary J Hayden 52 born Ohio (father b. Canada/Ireland and mother b. Ireland), Catherine Hayden 31, Helen Hayden 30, Mary Hayden 27, Thomas Hayden 19, James A. Hayden 17, and Victor F. Hayden 15. All children born Ohio. James is a salesman, Ellen and Mary Jane are nurses, and Thomas and James A. are tailors. The report shows they live on Wood Street near Cline Avenue, whereas they actually live on Cline Avenue.

James Hayden did not serve with B/General John Morgan July 1863 raids located in Ohio at Buffington Island, St George Creek 19 Jul 1863 and Salineville, Wellsville 26 Jul 1863, as the 6th Cav was not in those engagements since those were Ohio Units. The 6 US Cavalry was a unit of Army Potomac defending Washington, District of Columbia at the time.

Brief History of 6th Regiment Cavalry-Union-US Federal Organized by direction of the President May 4, 1861, and confirmed by Act of Congress July 29, 1861. Regiment organized at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Moved to Washington, D.C., October 12, 1861. Attached to Stoneman’s Cavalry Command, Army Potomac, to March, 1862. Emery’s Brigade, Cavalry Reserve, Army Potomac, to July, 1862. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, Army Potomac, to September, 1862. 1st Brigade, Pleasanton’s Cavalry Division, Army Potomac, to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Pleasanton’s Cavalry Division, Army Potomac, to February, 1863. Reserve Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Army Potomac, to August, 1864. 3rd (Reserve) Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Army Shenandoah, Middle Military Division, to March, 1865. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Army Potomac, to June 1865. Frederick, Maryland, 8th Army Corps, Middle Dept., to October, 1865.

Document of War Department Adjunct General 1 Aug 1878, applied for pension No. 250.717:James Hayden enlisted 30 Jul 1861 at Pittsburg Pennsylvania to serve 3 years and was assigned Co. “D” 6th Regiment of US Cavalry, Muster Roll for Sep and Oct 1861 and present same report to 30 Jun 1862. Transferred to Co. “L” 1 Aug 1862 and reports on rolls to 30 Jun 1863. Missing in action at Fairfield, Pennsylvania 3 Jul 1863 and joined back from missing in action 6 Oct 1863 and same report to 30 Jun 1864. Discharged 30 Jul 1864, expiration of service, in field in Virginia as Sergeant. No evidence of Disability as alleged.

Prisoner of War records show him captured at Emmettsburg, Maryland 5 Jul 1863. Confined at Richmond, Virginia 1 Jul 1863. Paroled 2 Aug 1863 and reported Camp Parole, Maryland 3 Aug 1863. No evidence of medical treatment or wound on said record.

Document of Declaration for Original Pension, 29 Apr 1905 by Mary Jane Hayden - James Hayden received gunshot wound in left-chest at the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on or about 4 Jul 1863 from which he has been disabled and continuos suffers until death relieved him on 26 Apr 1905.

The Washington Post 9 Dec 2004 about US Combat Fatality Rate: Civil War data as follows: Wounded or killed in action 422,295; Killed in action 140,414. The death rate of wounded in the war - did not recover - was 33 per cent.

It is a remarkable story that James Hayden did recover and served the last year of his enlistment and lived for 42 years after the injury.

The four day battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania left a total of 51,000 Union and Confederate soldiers casualties.

*****

JOHN THOMAS (JACK) HAYDEN: Grandson of JAMES (JOHN) A. HAYDEN of Killenaule, was born in America and saw action with the First Army in Germany in World War Two.  He was born 1913 at Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, USA.  Died 11 Apr 1945 at Wuppertal, Germany.  

Jack T. Hayden, age 28 was a World War II Army Enlistee on 4 Mar 1942 at Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. It was for the duration of the war plus six months subject to the discretion of the President.

The Columbus Register (Newspaper), Friday May 18, 1945 mailed to The Hayden Press, 21 W. Main St. in Columbus, Ohio: Three more men from the Columbus diocese have died in the service of their country, another is missing, and four others have been wounded. The dead are . Pfc. Jack T. Hayden, 31, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Hayden, 696 S. Ohio Avenue, Columbus. Pfc. Hayden was killed April 11 while in action with the First Army in Germany.

He was a graduate of Aquinas High School and worked at the Hayden Press before entering the service in March 1942. He went overseas in February. Also surviving are his wife, Mrs. Bertha Tedrow; a daughter Sue Anne; and two sisters, Mrs. Irene Thornhill of Upper Sandusky and Mrs. Ethel Feith.

Information about Uncle Jack: these comments are made by his nephew, LTC Retired William J, Thornhill, USAF 1954-76:

Action of the US *First Army on April 11, 1945 was in the area of Wuppertal and Kehll, Germany which is located 142 miles northwest of Mittenberg, Germany the birthplace of Jack's maternal Great Grandparents Francis Carl Gramling (1822-1902) and Eva Katherine Jacob (1823-1861) who immigrated to the USA and are interred in Columbus, Ohio.

Clear in my memory was Jack's trip to Port Columbus Airport when he left for Europe. I was 11 years then. We are so thankful for the service of Jack Hayden and the sacrifices of his beloved family. History has shown the world is a better place because of the service of men and women like Uncle Jack. God Bless them all, as we remember these events in our prayers.

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            History Battle of the Bulge 1945, World War Two

Spring 1945 Battle of the Bulge: History by General Eishenhower's Chief of Staff, 1956

OPERATION PLUNDER: the last great Allied offensive of the war in Europe, began with a massive artillery bombardment on the evening of March 23, 1945. Its immediate objective was to send two armies, one British and one American, crashing across the Rhine north of the Ruhr.

Once on the east bank, they would consolidate quickly and push forward in a sweeping arc to encircle the industrial heart of Germany.

For more than two weeks the tremendous preparations between Rees on the north and Rheinberg some twenty miles to the south had been concealed from enemy observation in a swirling blanket of chemical smoke. Within this artificial mist, the artillery had been placed in position and troops grouped for the assault.

Landing craft had been trucked overland to serve as ferries. Operation PLUNDER was being staged as a full-scale amphibious offensive, the greatest since the Allies went ashore in Normandy.

Across the Rhine, the whole of Hitler's Army Group B,

SITUATION REPORT Now the front was everywhere, and in that month of April Allied spearheads drove swift armored fingers against all enemy centers of resistance. On March 30, the Supreme Commander had broadcast a message to the German armies, pointing out the futility of further resistance, calling on them to surrender.

There was no reply. In the far north of Europe, as the month rolled on, British troops of the Second Army pushed their way into Denmark and lifted the occupation that nation had suffered since 1940.

In the south, troops of the American Seventh Army pushed to the Brenner Pass and there met the American Fifth Army coming north to make a linkup of European and Mediterranean forces. The April spring was soft and mild, with clear skies for the planes to work in.

Far behind the lines Paris was in bloom. The last flying bomb fell on London in mid-April, landing near the Marble Arch. The civilian population of Holland was desperate for want of food.

                April of 1945 is final month for Hitler:

1. 4 Jan 1945 The U.S.* First and Ninth Armies link up at Lippstadt cutting off a third of a million German troops in the Ruhr area. The U.S.* First Army enters Hamm, 40 miles Northeast of Essen.

2 Apr1945 the British 7th Armoured Division enters Rhine on Dortmund-Ems canal, 60 miles Northeast of Essen.

3 Apr 1945 The British Second Army reaches Münster; the U.S. Ninth Army captures Recklinghausen in the Ruhr, while the US *First Army takes Fulda and Kassel.

4 Apr1945 The US Third Army advancing toward Leipzig takes Suhl and Gotha and finally clears Kassel of German resistance. The British Second Army captures Osnabrück. The French First Army enters Karlsruhe.

5 Apr1945 Eighteen U.S. divisions begin the clearance of Ruhr Pocket. The French First Army captures Karlsruhe on the upper Rhine.

7 Apr1945 The U.S.* First Army takes Göttingen, 25 miles Northeast of Kassel. The US Ninth Army captures Hameln and Eisenach.

8 Apr1945 A British SAS Brigade paratroops into eastern Holland, to clear the way for Canadians troops who are moving North. The British Second Army reaches Hildesheim, while the US Seventh Army captures Pforzheim near the upper Rhine.

10 Apr1945 The Canadian First Army continues its push North into Holland, taking Deventer, 30 miles North of Nijmegen. The British Second Army takes Wildenhausen, 20 miles Southwest of Bremen. The U.S. Ninth Army takes Hanover.

Special Note. The US *First Army was battling the Germans in retreat at WUPPERTAL 10 April 1945 when Jack Hayden was wounded by a German sniper. He was treated by medics and was visited by a Catholic priest who gave him last rites. He died 11 April. God Bless his soul.

11 Apr 1945 The U.S. Third Army takes the historic town of Weimar. The British Second Army takes Celle, 30 miles Northeast of Hanover, cutting the road to Hamburg. The U.S. Ninth Army capture Essen, Bochum and Goslar in the Harz Mountains. The U.S. Seventh Army reaches Schweinfurt, 80 miles to the East of Frankfurt.

12 Apr1945 The U.S. Ninth Army crosses the Elbe, taking Brunswick. The U.S. Third Army takes Erfurt. French troops take Baden-Baden on the southern flank. The U.S. 6th Armoured Division overruns Buchenwald concentration camp. The British Second Army captures Celle 60 miles to the South of Hamburg.

13 Apr1945 A local truce is declared near Celle so that the British Second Army can take over the notorious Belsen concentration camp. The U.S. Ninth Army clears the Duisberg Pocket. The US Third Army captures Erfurt and Weimar.

14 Apr1945 U.S. troops split the Ruhr Pocket in two at Hagen. Glider troops capture the ex-German Chancellor von Papen at a hunting-lodge near Stockhausen along with three generals. The French launch a final assault on the trapped German garrison at Bordeaux.

The British Second Army reaches the outskirts of Bremen, while the US Third Army captures Gera and Bayreuth. The Canadian First Army assumes military control of the Netherlands where German forces are now trapped in the Atlantic wall fortifications along the coastline.

15 Apr 1945 The Canadian First Army reaches the coast in northern Holland and captures Arnhem in the South. The US *First Army captures Leuna and Merseburg in Saxony, while the French First Army captures Kehl and Offenburg on the upper Rhine.

16 Apr1945 In northern Holland the Canadians take Harlingen, 50 miles Northeast of Amsterdam and occupies Leeuwarden and Groningen. The US *First Army captures Solingen and WUPPERTAL.

18 Apr 1945 The Ruhr pocket is finally annihilated, with 317,000 Germans being captured, including 29 generals. The U.S. Ninth Army takes Magdeburg.

The U.S.*First Army enters Düsseldorf. General De Lattre's French troops link up at Freudenstadt behind the Black Forest. The British Second Army captures Ülzen and Lüneburg. The US Third Army captures Nürnberg advancing units across the German/Czechoslovakian frontier.

19 Apr1945 The British Second Army reaches the Elbe and launches an attack on Bremen. The U.S. First Army captures Leipzig and Halle, 50 miles South of Magdeburg.

On the eve of Hitler's 56th birthday, Dr. Goebbels exhorts the nation and predicts that in spite of all misfortunes Germany will yet prevail, that the "perverse coalition between Bolshevism and Plutocracy" is about to break up, and that it is Adolf Hitler ("Our Hitler!") who will still turn back the tide and save Europe, as he has thus far, from falling into the clutches of the Kremlin.

20 Apr1945 The U.S. Seventh Army takes Nuremberg.

21 Apr1945 The U.S. Ninth Army captures Blankenburg, 80 miles to the East of Kassel. The U.S.* First Army take Dessau. The French First Army captures Stuttgart along with 28,000 prisoners and crosses the Danube. Field Marshal Model, commits suicide. German troops keep up their resistance around Elbingerode in the Harz Mountains.

22 Apr1945 The U.S.* First and Ninth Armies clear all German resistance in the Harz Mountains, 40 miles Southwest of Magdeburg. The U.S. Seventh Army captures a bridge across the Danube. The British Second Army is fighting in the outskirts of Bremen.

The U.S. Third Army starts its drive down the Danube valley as the French First Army reaches Lake Constance on the Swiss/ German border. Hitler, ignoring the pleas of his entourage, decides to stay in his bunker at Berlin to await the inevitable end.

23 Apr1945 Dessau is reported as clear of German troops. The British Second Army reaches Harburg across the Elbe from Hamburg. Frankfurt is captured. Goring telegraphs Hitler saying that he will take over command as Hitler's Deputy.

Hitler says he must resign all his posts and orders Goring's arrest. Reichsführer-SS Himmler begins secret negotiations for a separate peace in the West with Count Bernadotte, head of the Swedish Red Cross.

24 Apr 1945 The British Second and Canadian First Armies enter Bremen. The U.S.* First Army liberates Dachau concentration camp. The US Seventh Army crosses the Danube at Dillingen and captures Ulm.

25 Apr1945 The U.S. Third Army crosses the Danube, 70 miles Northeast of Munich. The RAF attacks the 'Eagle's Nest', Hitler's chalet and the SS barracks at Berchtesgarten. Troops of the U.S. Ninth Army and the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front meet on the Elbe at Torgau, 100 miles Southwest of Berlin.

26 Apr 1945 German troops at Bremen surrender to the British and Canadians. Allied troops now line the Swiss border from Basle to Lake Constance. The U.S. Third Army takes Regensburg on the Danube. Goering's fall from grace announced in Germany, General Ritter von Greim is to replace him.

27 Apr 1945 The U.S. *First Army captures Straubing and Kempten in Bavaria.

28 Apr 1945 The Canadian First Army captures Emden and Wilhelmshaven, while the U.S. Seventh Army takes Augsburg and reaches the Austrian border to the South.

Hitler marries his mistress, Eva Braun, and dictates his political testament in which he justifies the political and military actions of his 12-year-rule, blaming the war on international Jewry and exhorting the German people even after defeat to adhere to the principles of National Socialism, especially its racial laws. Grossadmiral Dönitz is appointed as his successor.

29 Apr 1945 The British Second Army crosses the Elbe near Hamburg, less than 100 miles west of the Russian forces in Mecklenburg. The U.S. Seventh Army reaches Munich. The French First Army captures Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance.

30 Apr1945 Hitler commits suicide with Eva Braun. The U.S. Third Army liberates 110,000 POWs in the Moosburg area, Northeast of Munich. The U.S. Seventh Army clears Munich and the French takes Friedrichshafen and cross into Austria.

The U.S.* First Army meet the Russians at Ellenburg, South of Berlin. The British Second Army liberates 20,000 prisoners (two third POWs and one third political prisoners) from Sandbostel camp in northern Germany.

April 1945 was a time when the Second World War in Europe came to end. Thank you Allied Forces and especially Jack Hayden of Columbus, Ohio my uncle --- Bill Thornhill 2004.