J. R. Kealoha

For others with the same surname, see Kealoha.
J. R. Kealoha
Died March 5, 1877
Buried at Oʻahu Cemetery, Honolulu, Oʻahu, Kingdom of Hawaiʻi
Allegiance United States
Union
Service/branch Union Army
Years of service 1864–1865
Rank Private
Unit 41st Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops
Battles/wars

American Civil War

J. R. Kealoha (died March 5, 1877), a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was among a group of more than one hundred documented Hawaiian and Hawaii-born combatants who fought in the American Civil War while Hawaii was still an independent nation. He served in a United States Colored regiment, participated in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and was present at the unconditional surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.[1][2]

Life

After the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Kingdom of Hawaii under King Kamehameha IV declared its neutrality on August 26, 1861.[3] Many Native Hawaiians and Hawaii-born Americans—mainly descendants of American missionaries—abroad and in the islands volunteered and enlisted in the military regiments of other states in the Union and the Confederacy. Native Hawaiians participanting in the American wars during its period of independence was not unheard of; Individual Native Hawaiians had served in the United States Navy and Army since the War of 1812, and even more served during the American Civil War.[4] Many Hawaiians sympathized with the Union because of Hawaii's ties to New England through missionaries and the whaling industry, and the ideological opposition of many to slavery.[5][6][7]

Little is known about the life of J. R. Kealoha before the war. He enlisted in 1864 as a private and was assigned to the 41st Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops (USCT), a colored regiment formed in Camp William Penn, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1864.[8][9][1] Most Native Hawaiians who participated in the war were assigned to the colored regiments because of their dark skin color and the segregationist policy in the military at the time.[7][10] Kealoha is one of the few Hawaiian soldiers of the Civil War whose real name is known;[11] many combatants served under anglicized pseudonyms because they were easier for English-speaking Americans to pronounce than Hawaiian language names. They were often registered as kanakas, the 19th-century term for Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, with the "Sandwich Islands" (i.e. Hawaii) noted as their place of origin.[7]

Samuel Chapman Armstrong was one of the highest ranking Hawaiian combatants in the Civil War and was in command of the 9th USCT and 8th USCT.

From October 1864 to April 1865, Kealoha fought in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, which is better-known as the Siege of Petersburg.[1][2][12] During the campaign, Kealoha and another Hawaiian named Kaiwi, of the 28th Regiment United States Colored Troops, came across Samuel Chapman Armstrong, a son of an American missionary and a native of Maui.[7][10][13] Armstrong wrote of the encounter in a letter that was published in the Hawaiian missionary newspaper The Friend in 1865:

Yesterday, as my orderly was holding my horse, I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Hawaii! He proved to be a full-blood Kanaka, by the name of Kealoha, who came from the Islands last year. There is also another, by the name of Kaiwi, who lived near Judge Smith's, who left the Islands last July. I enjoyed seeing them very much and we had a good jabber in kanaka. Kealoha is a private in the 41st Regiment US Colored Troops, and Kaiwi is a Private in the 28th U.S.C.T., in the pioneer corps. Both are good men and seemed glad to have seen me.[14]

Kealoha survived months of trench warfare during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and fought with the 41st USCT regiment at the Battle of Appomattox Court House; he was present at the unconditional surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.[2][12] The 41st USCT regiment was disbanded in December 14, 1865.[8][9]

After the war, Kealoha returned to Hawaii. He died on March 5, 1877, and was buried with eighteen other Native Hawaiians in an unmarked grave in Section 1, Lot 56 of the Oahu Cemetery, Honolulu.[1][15] During the Hawaii Territorial period, Kealoha's Civil War service was recorded by the United Veterans Service Council (UVSC), a precursor of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, which included his name in their records as a "Deceased Veterans" and listed the location of his burial place.[1]

Memorials

Grave marker of J. R. Kealoha. Adorned with sacred maile lei, a koa branch and other offerings after the consecration ceremony

For 137 years, Kealoha's burial site remained unmarked until a Hawaiian group affiliated with the organization Hawaii Civil War Round Table, consisting of Anita Manning, Nanette Napoleon, Eric Mueller and Justin Vance, started an effort to give him a grave marker. The group petitioned the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for a marker for Kealoha but the request was denied because there was no next of kin to approve the request.[2] After the request's denial, Honor Life Memorials, a local monument maker, donated a granite marker for Kealoha.[11][16] The marker was formally dedicated and unveiled on October 25, 2014; the Civil War Round Table of Hawaii and others took part in the dedication ceremony at Oahu Cemetery.[11][17][18][19] The marker is inscribed with his name, regiment, death date, and the text in Hawaiian and English: "He Koa Hanohano, a brave and honorable soldier".[15]

Other Hawaiian veterans of the Civil War are honored in Honolulu's National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific with a bronze memorial plaque that was erected in 2010 in recognition of the "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War", the more than one hundred documented Hawaiians who served for the Union and the Confederacy.[20][21][22] As of 2014, researchers have identified 119 documented Hawaiian and Hawaii-born combatants from historical records. The exact number remains unclear because of the lack of records.[11][23] Of the 48 identified Native Hawaiian combatants, including James Wood Bush and Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman, Kealoha is the only one buried in Hawaii whose gravesite is known.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Manning & Vance 2015, pp. 138–141.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cole, William (February 23, 2014). "Civil War veteran's grave will remain unmarked". Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Honolulu).
  3. ↑ Kuykendall 1953, pp. 57–66.
  4. ↑ Schmitt 1998, pp. 171–172.
  5. ↑ Manning & Vance 2014, pp. 145–170.
  6. ↑ Okihiro 2015, pp. 88–89.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Vance, Justin W.; Manning, Anita (October 2012). "The Effects of the American Civil War on Hawai’i and the Pacific World". World History Connected (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois) 9 (3).
  8. 1 2 Cox 2013, pp. 489–490.
  9. 1 2 Bates 1871, pp. 1066–1080.
  10. 1 2 Raphael-Hernandez & Steen 2006, p. 321.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Davis, Chelsea (October 26, 2014). "Hawaiian Civil War soldier finally recognized". Hawaii News Show.
  12. 1 2 "Bells Ring at Fort Street Mall to Commemorate 150th Anniversary of the end of U.S. Civil War". Hawai’i Pacific University. April 2, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  13. ↑ Von Buol, Peter (November–December 2012). "Maui's Civil War Hero". Maui No Ka ‘Oi.
  14. ↑ Armstrong, Samuel C. (April 1, 1865). "Extract of a Letter from Col. Armstrong". The Friend 22 (4) (Honolulu). p. 30.
  15. 1 2 Drewes, Paul (October 5, 2014). "Hawaii soldier who fought in the Civil War finally honored. Recognition comes 137 years later". KITV 4 News.
  16. ↑ Kozlovich, Beth-Ann; Nanette, Napoleon (September 22, 2014). "Pvt. Kealoha Tombstone". Hawaii Public Radio-HPR2. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  17. ↑ Silva, Kahu (November 15, 2014). "Hawaiian Hero Honored". Hawaii Cultural Services. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  18. ↑ Manning, Anita (October 2014). "Latest News of Hawaii U. S. Civil War Veterans Elks Invited to Dedication of Hawai’i Civil War Vet Tombstone" (PDF). The Aloha Elk, Honolulu Lodge No. 616 B.P.O.E 70 (7).
  19. ↑ Iwamoto, Karen A. (October 21, 2014). "Living History Day celebrates Tropic Lightning". Hawai’i Army Weekly.
  20. ↑ Cole, William (May 31, 2010). "Native Hawaiians served on both sides during Civil War". Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Honolulu).
  21. ↑ "Memorial Plaque". Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  22. ↑ Manning & Vance 2015, pp. 161–163.
  23. ↑ Punaboy (June 20, 2015). "Hawai’i Sons of the Civil War". Aloha Valley. Retrieved August 5, 2015.

Bibliography

Further reading

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