In Manchester, England, armed Irish Nationalists free two of their leaders from police custody killing a sergeant.

In northern England, two men "with Irish-American accents" had a week before been arrested for vagrancy in Manchester, found to be armed, and then identified as Thomas J. Kelly and Timothy Deasy, both Union Army veterans of the American Civil War and now leaders in the Irish Republican Brotherhood.  On this day, while being transported between the courthouse and prison in Manchester, armed men assaulted the unarmed police van carrying them, killing a police sergeant, wounding two constables, and freeing Kelly and Deasy who escaped.  Police and bystanders captured five of the attacking group, however, and three of these were later tried, convicted, and executed for murder.  (By John Osborne)

Source Citation

"Chronicle of Remarkable Occurences in 1867", The Annual Register or a View of the History and Politics of the Year 1867 (London: F. & J. Rivington, 1868), 131-134.

    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Crime/Disasters
    How to Cite This Page: "In Manchester, England, armed Irish Nationalists free two of their leaders from police custody killing a sergeant.," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/46638.