Adam Colbert, the first son of Margaret and Thomas Colbert, was dramatically affected by the famine. Although he survived the five years of starvation and death, known locally as the Great Hunger, Adam was determined to escape his homeland. To this end, as soon as he was old enough, he joined the English army. This was a step taken by many Irishmen in an effort to escape the grinding poverty that persisted even after the abatement of the famine. Little is known about Adam's military career. Like most Irish peasants, Adam could neither read or write, so he had no way of communicating with his family. After his training, he boarded a troopship bound for India. That was the last anyone heard of him for nearly a decade. Another local boy, who joined the English army at the same time, returned from India years later, and reported that Adam had been killed in an Indian insurrection.