J. R. Kealoha

J. R. Kealoha (died March 5, 1877) was a Hawaiian soldier who joined the Union Army during the American Civil War. Considered one of the "Hawaiʻi sons of the Civil War", he was among a group of more than one hundred documented Native Hawaiian and Hawaiʻi-born combatants who fought in the American Civil War while the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was an independent nation.

Kealoha enlisted in the 41st United States Colored Infantry, a United States Colored Troops regiment formed in Pennsylvania. Participating in the siege of Petersburg, he and another Hawaiian soldier met the Hawaiʻi-born Colonel Samuel Chapman Armstrong, who recorded their encounter in a letter home. With the 41st USCT, Kealoha was present at the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After the war, Kealoha returned to Hawaiʻi. He died on March 5, 1877, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Honolulu's Oʻahu Cemetery.

The legacy and contributions of Kealoha and other Hawaiian participants in the American Civil War were largely forgotten except in the private circles of descendants and historians, but in later years there was a revival of interest in the Hawaiian community. In 2010, these "Hawaiʻi sons of the Civil War" were commemorated with a bronze plaque erected along the memorial pathway at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. In 2014, through another local effort, a grave marker was dedicated over J. R. Kealoha's burial site, which had remained unmarked for 137 years.

From October 1864 to April 1865, Kealoha fought in the Richmond–Petersburg campaign, better known as the siege of Petersburg. Armstrong wrote of the encounter in a letter home that later, was published in the Hawaiian missionary newspaper The Friend in 1865: Yesterday, as my orderly was holding my horse, I asked him where he was from. He said he was from Hawaii! He proved to be a full-blood Kanaka, by the name of Kealoha, who came from the Islands last year. There is also another, by the name of Kaiwi, who lived near Judge Smith's, who left the Islands last July. I enjoyed seeing them very much and we had a good jabber in kanaka. Kealoha is a private in the 41st Regiment US Colored Troops, and Kaiwi is a Private in the 28th U.S.C.T., in the pioneer corps. Both are good men and seemed glad to have seen me.

Kealoha survived months of trench warfare during the Richmond–Petersburg campaign and fought with the 41st USCT at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. He was present at the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The 41st USCT regiment was mustered out of service on November 10, 1865, at Brownsville, Texas, and was discharged December 14, 1865, at Philadelphia. Kealoha's enlistment of service is not present in any existing records or history from the 41st USCT regiment. Historians Justin Vance and Anita Manning speculate that "it is possible that his service is noted under a different name" or his name was never recorded because only the muster-out rolls from the regiment were returned to the Adjutant General's office after the unit disbanded.

After the war, Kealoha returned to Hawaiʻi. He died on March 5, 1877, and was buried with eighteen other Native Hawaiians in an unmarked grave in Section 1, Lot 56 of the Oʻahu Cemetery, Honolulu. During the Hawaii Territorial period, Kealoha's Civil War service was recorded by the United Veterans Service Council (UVSC), a precursor of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which included his name in their records as a "Deceased Veteran" and listed the location of his burial.

Memorials Grave marker of J. R. Kealoha, adorned with sacred maile lei, a koa branch, and other offerings after the dedication ceremony For 137 years, Kealoha's burial site remained unmarked until a Hawaiian group affiliated with the organization Hawaiʻi Civil War Round Table, consisting of Anita Manning, Nanette Napoleon, Eric Mueller, and Justin Vance, started an effort to give him a grave marker. As of 2014, researchers have identified 119 documented Hawaiian and Hawaiʻi-born combatants from historical records. The exact number remains uncertain because of the lack of records. Of the 48 identified Native Hawaiian combatants, including James Wood Bush and Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman, Kealoha is the only one buried in Hawaii whose gravesite is known. According to Hawaiian news reporter Chelsea Davis, Kealoha has come to "[represent] all the men of Hawaii who took up arms in America's Civil War but who have been forgotten."