View source for Edmund Burke

'''Edmund Henry Burke''' (1843-1925) claimed to have been born in Manchester, then in the county of Lancashire, but a record of his birth has not been found. Both parents were Catholics from the Emerald Isle and it is quite likely that he would have considered himself to be Irish.

Records are somewhat unclear though it seems that the family arrived in the United States in 1850 and settled in Iowa.  During the Civil War he served in the 21st Iowa Infantry from 16 August 1862 to 17 July 1865, during which time he attained the rank of sergeant. On [[11 December 1868]] he enlisted for a second spell in the Army and was assigned to Battery C, 3rd Artillery, giving ”Butcher” as his civilian occupation. He was discharged [[11 December 1871]] at Columbia, South Carolina.

Although his age is shown as 30 on re-enlistment on [[14 December 1871]] it seems more likely that Burke was born 10 August 1843 (the date on his tombstone and month and year in the 1900 Census), which makes him two years younger than stated.  He was enlisted in the [[7th Cavalry]] at [[Yorkville, South Carolina]], by Lt. [[Henry J. Nowlan]], and described as having dark eyes, black hair, a ruddy complexion, 5′ 8″ tall, previous occupation, a ‘Horse Shoer.’  As a member of Company K (having been transferred from Company L on 15 August 1872) he took part in the [[Black Hills Expedition]] (1874) and the [[Sioux Campaign]] (1876).  With Benteen’s Battalion on [[25 June 1876]] and took part in the hilltop fight. Following promotion to corporal [[1 August 1876]] he was discharged [[14 December 1876]] at [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]], a “Corporal of Good Character.”

Edmund Burke married 25 year-old Mary Ann Collins, from Ohio, daughter of Irish immigrants, Peter Collins and Mary Welsh Collins, in St. Paul, Minnesota on 20 June 1878 and soon after moved to Frederika Township where at least 10 of their 11 children were born.

Mary Burke died on 21 March 1912 and Edmund on [[21 April 1925]].

A short obituary, entitled  ‘A SURVIVOR OF CUSTER’S FIGHT’ was published in the Davenport Democrat and Leader, 24 April 1925.  Rather surprisingly the obituary itself calls the ‘survivor’ claim into question.  It reads: “Burke evidently could not have been a member of the loyal band of 200 soldiers who were immediately under [[General Custer]]’s command in the Battle of the Big Horn (sic), for they were killed to a man. He probably was in [[Major Reno]]’s detachment, or that of [[Captain Benteen]],* which Custer had sent out to the right and left to reach the rear of the Indians, while he himself charged their center.” It goes on to say: “The slain had been left where they fell, reports being that all the bodies were horribly mutilated except Custer’s, for whom the Indians showed the respect due the leader of an heroic charge.”

Both Burke and his wife are buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Sumner, Bremer County, where a fine pink granite joint tombstone marks the spot. The legend to Edmund includes the words “Sergt. Co. C. 21st Ia. Vol. Inf.’ but no mention is made of his service with Battery C, 3rd Artillery or as a blacksmith with Company K, 7th Cavalry.

Note: (*) Company K was indeed in Benteen’s three-company Battalion and took part in the hilltop fight where five enlisted men were killed and three wounded. Although Burke survived the [[Battle of the Little Big Horn]] unscathed, he had received a gun shot wound to the head during the Civil War for which his pension application was approved in April 1877, back-dated to 18 July 1865 at $4 a month and increased to $18 a month from 5 May 1877 (Military Register, p. 51).