Primarily correspondence and writings of Charles G. Halpine, a journalist, poet, and Union soldier, dating from 1848 to 1868.

Charles Graham Halpine (1829-1868) was born Charles Boyton Halpin in Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland, the son of a Church of Ireland clergyman and editor of the Dublin Evening Mail. He studied medicine and law at Trinity College and wrote for various newspapers in Dublin and London. Halpine married Margaret G. Milligan in 1849; he emigrated to the United States in 1850. He became the co-editor of The Carpet-Bag journal, worked for the New York Herald and The New York Times, and in 1857 became the principal editor of The Leader, a newspaper that supported Senator Stephen A. Douglas. In April 1861, Halpine enlisted in Company D of the 69th New York State Militia. During the Civil War, he held various positions with the general volunteers and obtained staff positions with General David Hunter and General John A. Dix; he was twice breveted and ended the war as a brigadier general. Throughout his military service, Halpine continued to write for northern newspapers, often under the guise of Private Miles O'Reilly, a fictional Irish soldier. Following the Civil War, he served as Register of the County of New York, and assumed the editorship of The Citizen, a reform newspaper. In addition to his career in journalism, Halpine also wrote poetry and fiction. He died in New York of a chloroform overdose at age 39.

12.5 Linear Feet (9 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1 microfilm reel)

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