Patrick Emmet Burke was born around 1830 in County Tipperary, Ireland, to Walter Burke. The family immigrated to America and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. He enrolled at the Vincentian Seminary in Perryville, Missouri, in April 1846, and he graduated with honors two years later.

 

He was admitted to the bar in 1849, and he worked as a lawyer in St. Louis. He supported the Democratic Party, and he opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the extension of slavery into the country’s western territories. Voters elected him to the state legislature in 1855.

 

He remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, and he received a commission as captain in Company K of the 1^st Missouri Infantry during the spring of 1861.  According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 9¾ inches tall, with dark hair and gray eyes. The regiment took part in the Camp Jackson Affair in May 1861. He married Catherine Mackey on May 28, 1861.

 

In late 1861, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in the 13^th United States Infantry under Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman. He later received a promotion to captain in the 14^th United States Infantry. Then, in June 1862, he received a commission as colonel of the Western Sharpshooters, which later became the 66^th Illinois Infantry. The regiment took part in the Atlanta campaign. He was wounded in the Battle of Resaca on May 15, 1864, and he died five days later.

 

Image: Patrick E. Burke (courtesy Wikicommons)

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