Owen McGough (June 29, 1829 - January 5, 1908) was an Irish-American Union army corporal who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. He received the award on August 28, 1897.
Biography Born in Monaghan, Ireland, in 1829, to Peter McGough (1804 - December 23, 1865) and Judy McGough (1802-after 1850) McGough immigrated to America on April 23, 1849, aboard the German ship, Mauran, and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 24, 1859, he enlisted in the Army and was discharged sometime prior to 1861.U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, May 24, 1859New Orleans, Passenger List Quarterly Abstracts, April 23, 1849.
On May 1, 1861, he enlisted to fight in the Union Army at Cornwall, New York, and was mustered out the same day. He became a corporal and fought in Company D, of the 5th U.S. Artillery, at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, McGough "Through his personal exertions under a heavy fire, one of the guns of his battery was brought off the field; all the other guns were lost."
He was discharged shortly afterwards and married Catherine Dungan (1835–1872) and had three sons with her: Patrick (1863-after 1880), Eugene Owen (February 2, 1865 - 1953), and John (1872-after 1880). He and his family settled in Troy, New York, and McGough began to work as a common laborer in the 1870s and a vegetable peddler in the 1880s.1870 United States Federal Census1880 United States Federal Census and received the Medal of Honor on August 28, 1897, and Owen McGough died on January 5, 1908.
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