Dennis Flaherty was a resident of Mansfield on August 15, 1862 when he enlisted as a Private in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was injured June 3, 1865 in Richmond, Virginia and was mustered out June 16, 1865.

The descriptive muster roll of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 25 and his occupation as farmer. He is described as 5’ 9” tall with a fair complexion and red hair and grey eyes.  His marital status is married.

He was born about November, 1832 to John and _____ Flaherty in Ireland and emigrated about 1848. In the 1870 U.S. census in Mansfield, he was a 37 year old farmer. Dennis Flaherty married Mary ______ about 1860 and they had eight children including: Mary Flaherty, born about 1860; Dennis Flaherty, born about 1863; Daniel Flaherty, born about 1866; Margaret Flaherty, born about 1868 and Annie Flaherty, born about 1873. After the Civil War, he returned to Mansfield and was a farmer there until after the 1900 U.S. census. He moved to Willimantic between 1900 and 1910.

On April 26, 1879, he applied for an invalid pension, No.358,594 that was granted under certificate No. 271,197.

Dennis Flaherty died on January 1, 1917 in Willimantic and is buried at Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Willimantic, Connecticut.