Editing Patrick Cleburne (section)

==Early life==
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was born in [[Ovens, County Cork|Ovens]], [[County Cork]], [[Ireland]] the second son of Dr. Joseph Cleburne, a middle-class physician of [[Protestant]] [[Anglo-Irish]] ancestry. Patrick's mother died when he was 18 months old, and he was an orphan at 15. He followed his father into the study of medicine, but failed his entrance exam to [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College of Medicine]] in 1846. In response to this failure, he enlisted in the [[41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot|41st Regiment of Foot]] of the [[British Army]], subsequently rising to the rank of [[Corporal#United States|corporal]].<ref name=Welsh4041>Welsh, pp. 40–41.</ref>  Cleburne served at Fort Westmorland on [[Spike Island, County Cork|Spike Island]] in [[Cork Harbour]], a large fortress that was then being used as a convict depot. Seeing the wretched state of those filling the prison cells during the [[Great Irish Famine]], Cleburne was further motivated to emigrate with his family to America.

Three years after joining the British Army, Cleburne bought his discharge and emigrated to the [[United States]] with two brothers and a sister. After spending a short time in [[Ohio]], he settled in [[Helena, Arkansas]], where he was employed as a pharmacist and was readily accepted into the town's social order.<ref name=Welsh4041/> During this time, Cleburne became close friends with [[Thomas C. Hindman]], who later paralleled his course as a Confederate major general. The two men also formed a business partnership with William Weatherly to buy a newspaper, the ''Democratic Star'', in December 1855.

In 1856, Cleburne and Hindman were both wounded by gunshots during a street fight in Helena with members of the [[Know-Nothing Party]] following a debate. Cleburne was shot in the back, turned around and shot one of his attackers, killing him. The attackers hid until Cleburne collapsed on the street and then left. After the two recovered, they appeared before a [[grand jury]] to respond to all charges brought against them. They were exonerated, and afterward, went to Hindman's parents' house in Mississippi.<ref name=Hook>Hook, pp. 14–15.</ref> By 1860, he was a naturalized citizen, a practicing lawyer, and very popular with the local residents.<ref>Joslyn, p. 26.</ref>