John Bannon

John B. Bannon (1829–1913), was an Irish Catholic priest who served as a Confederate chaplain and diplomatic agent in Europe during the American Civil War. Though forgotten in later times, it has been said that "No religious figure of the South contributed more to the cause of Confederate independence than Bannon." He was called the "Fighting Chaplain", "the most notable chaplain in the Civil War", and "the Catholic priest who always went into battle."

American Civil War Camp Jackson affair and Mississippi campaign At the beginning of the war, Bannon's militia was detained by captain Nathaniel Lyon's federal troops at the Camp Jackson affair. Most of Lyon's soldiers were "Forty-eighters" from Germany. As the militia was led away, St. Louis citizens gathered around and one shot a Polish officer. The other soldiers fired back and killed 28 civilians. People involved in the militia would later comment that most had no intention of going south, and would have joined the Union Army if it had not been for Camp Jackson.

In Italy, Bannon saved the life of a female tourist who had latched to their retinue, by pulling her from her horse before the animal fell off a cliff.