Ep. 2. 36: Bannon and Sigel after the War

This episode brings Father John Bannon’s Civil War story to its dramatic conclusion, highlighting his courage during the siege of Vicksburg and his extraordinary ministry to the dying. Monsignor and Teresa share a moving account from Father Farity’s biography, where Bannon baptizes a mortally wounded soldier and converts his brother amid the chaos of battle. After Vicksburg’s surrender on July 4, 1863, Bannon is paroled and summoned to Richmond, where President Jefferson Davis assigns him a covert mission to Ireland to counter Union recruitment schemes. The episode follows Bannon’s journey through the Union blockade, his efforts to rally Irish priests against Northern propaganda, and his historic audience with Pope Pius IX—complete with a memorable exchange about his imposing beard. Ultimately, Bannon enters the Jesuit novitiate and spends 50 years serving in Dublin, closing a remarkable chapter in St. Louis and Civil War history.