The famous “Irish Brigade,” one of the most important and brave combat units in the Union army, epitomized Irish-American participation in the CiViL War. The brigade began as the 69th New York Militia under Irish-born Col. Michael Corcoran. The unit fought with distinction at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. After serving out its 90-day federal enlistment, most of its members reenlisted in what became the 69th New York Volunteer Regiment. The idea for and formation of the all-Irish brigade was largely attributed to Thomas Meagher. He anticipated that such a brigade would silence the Know-Nothing attacks on Irish Americans and would emulate the glory of Irish brigades that fought in the Catholic armies of France and Spain. After the brigade was formed, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Meagher its brigadier general.
The Irish Brigade saw its first action under George B. McClellan in the Peninsular campaign, gaining quick notoriety for bravery at Gaines’s Mill, Savage’s Station, and Malvern Hill in June and July 1862. That September, as the brigade prepared to take part in a desperate frontal assault at the Battle of Antietam, Father William Corby (later the president of the University of Notre Dame) rode along their line granting general absolution. The Irish Brigade fiercely attacked the strong Confederate position at the “Bloody Lane.” Though decimated by horrendous fire, they held their position until relieved by another brigade. They participated in an even more famous and deadly assault (Marye’s Heights) at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. Following two failed assaults, the Irish Brigade surged
Photograph showing a group of soldiers from the Irish Brigade during the Peninsular campaign, 1862 (Library of Congress) forth while shouting an old Irish cheer, “Faugh-a-Bellagh,” or “Clear the Way.” The brigade was shattered, reduced to less than 400 men. However, the Irish Brigade persisted, serving vital roles at the Battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the assault on St. Petersburg. The Irish Brigade stood at Appomattox Court House, having suffered the third-highest casualty rate of any brigade in the U. S. Army.
See also immigration.
Further reading: Joseph G. Bilby, The Irish Brigade in the Civil War: The 69th New York and Other Irish Regiments in the Army of the Potomac (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998); William L. Burton, Melting Pot Soldiers: The Union’s Ethnic Regiments (New York: Fordham University Press, 1988).
—Richard J. Roder
World History
