Thomas Francis Meagher (/ˈmÉ'Ë r/; 3 August 1823 â€" 1 July 1867) was
an Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders in the
Rebellion of 1848. After being convicted of sedition, he was first
sentenced to death, but received transportation for life to Van
Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in Australia.In 1852, Meagher escaped and
made his way to the United States, where he settled in New York City.
He studied law, worked as a journalist, and traveled to present
lectures on the Irish cause. He married for a second time in New York.
At the beginning of the American Civil War, Meagher joined the U.S.
Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was most notable
for recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade, and encouraging support
among Irish immigrants for the Union. By his first marriage in
Ireland, he had one surviving son; the two never met.[citation
needed]Following the Civil War, Meagher was appointed Montana's
Territorial Secretary of State by President Andrew Johnson, and served
as acting territorial governor. In 1867, Meagher drowned in the
Missouri River after falling from a steamboat at Fort Benton. The
cause of his fall is disputed by historians, with varying hypotheses
including weakness from dysentery, intoxication, suicide, and murder.
A 2016 analysis by Timothy Egan, in The Immortal Irishman, suggested
Meagher may have been murdered by Montana political opponents. Thomas Francis Meagher Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter