“From the Archives” Father Kroes and the Civil War

During the Civil War, Alexandria was considered a Southern city and was occupied by Union troops. While there were no military battles in the city, there were a few minor skirmishes involving Saint Mary’s parishioners, their pastor Father Peter Kroes SJ and Union rules. Especially contentious was a Union requirement for citizens – including church leaders and their congregants – to swear allegiance to the North and offer a required prayer for the President of the United States.

Churches whose members ignored the required prayer for the President were closed by Union forces. Saint Paul Episcopal, our neighbor on South Pitt Street, suffered this indignity. Christ Church on North Washington was allowed to remain open because it had been George Washington’s parish and only Union chaplains conducted services there. Saint Mary church remained open throughout the war because of the large number of Irish Catholic Union soldiers who attended Mass. Although Father Kroes was in sympathy with his Southern congregation, he did have a good, protective relationship with at least one of the Union chaplains. That friendship lasted long after the war with the Union chaplain visiting him years later.

However, in February 1862, some “Orangemen” (Irish Protestants from Ulster) from an Illinois regiment threatened to burn Saint Mary to the ground and arrest any priest who did not say the prescribed prayer. An Irish Catholic regiment learned of their plan. When the Orangemen were about to order the arrest of Father Kroes, “the measured tramp of soldiers was heard at the door of the church. Soon they were marching down the aisles, and to the relief of the Catholic congregation, knelt down and blessed themselves.” (From The Woodstock Letters 14, 1885, 253)

Father Kroes was at one point firmly instructed to take the oath of allegiance to the Union. When he refused, he was prohibited from performing marriages in Alexandria. He complied with the letter of the law, but in his own way. It is said that on more than one occasion, Father creatively officiated at marriage ceremonies aboard a ferry off shore from Alexandria on the Potomac River, which is actually part of Maryland. Or he sent the couple into Washington to wed.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series in 2021. An archive of the features is located here.