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Luke Tiernan Brien (December 22, 1827 - November 25, 1912) Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, he spent most of his adult life as a farmer in Baltimore County until 1854, when he moved to a farm outside Hagerstown. During the American Civil War, he served as volunteer aide to Confederate Brigadier General Jeb Stuart in 1861 and was at First Mananssas in July. He was commissioned Captain and Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) on the General's staff on 24 September 1861, and appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry in April 1862. He resigned his commission in the First Virginia on 30 September 1862, probably for reasons of health, and worked a plantation in North Carolina as overseer. Apparently recovered, he took an appointment as Major and AAG on the staff of Major General William "Roony" Lee in April 1864, and served to the end of the War, being paroled at Appomattox in April 1865. After the War he was a commission merchant in New York City, and general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad (1874-1882). He then bought farmland and a mansion - formerly Landon House, Landon Military Academy, Shirley Female Academy - near Urbana, Maryland and resided there for the rest of his life.
Luke Tiernan Brien in Southern Victory[]
Luke T. Brien had been a farmer in Maryland when the War of Secession began in 1861. In-spite of his home state staying with the Union, he joined the Confederate army, and was later appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Virginia Cavalry in April 1862. After the war ended, Luke stayed on in the army.
In 1881, Brien was a proper colonel and cavalry commander attached to the Trans-Mississippi Department. When the Second Mexican War began later that year, Colonel Brien was placed in over all command of a regiment of cavalry and infantry. His force was sent south to Hermosillo and split between it and Guaymas for garrison duty. General Jeb Stuart gave him explicit orders to keep the peace, but Brien countered that there really wasn't anything he could do if the Mexicans did rise up, especially since Stuart wasn't giving him any artillery. He was also worried about supplies for the many men Stuart was taking into the New Mexico Territory, but after listening to Stuart's battle plan, Brien was nonetheless impressed.
