A recent post told the story of Landsman Thomas E. Corcoran, a Dubliner who received the Congressional Medal of Honor having helped to save the lives of some of his crewmates aboard the stricken USS Cincinnati on 27th May 1863. The vessel had been disabled by fire from the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, having been repeatedly struck by enemy shells. […]
In 1860 the Collins family lived in LaSalle, Illinois. The head of the house, Jeremiah, was a blacksmith, and he and his wife Ellen had done well for themselves. This was despite the fact that they had moved to their new home relatively late in life- the couple and their four adult sons had all been […]
As part of continued efforts to raise awareness in Ireland of the Irish contribution during the American Civil War, members of the Irish American Civil War Trail team have been attempting to highlight local figures across the country. This piece on Kildare man General Michael Kelly Lawler was prepared by Robert Doyle, and appeared in this […]
Private Albert D.J. Cashier served in the ranks of the 95th Illinois from their muster in on 4th September 1862 until they were discharged in August 1865. A member of the regiment’s Company G, he witnessed some hard fighting at battles such as Vicksburg and Nashville. A comrade later remembered that he was the shortest […]
A Washington D.C. newspaper, The National Republican, ran a piece in their May 1st 1862 issue claiming that Irishmen in Confederate service had refused to fire on the United States flag during an engagement. Although most probably a propaganda story, it was committed to verse for the benefit of readers. The poem also includes Colonel […]
Books on Irish regiments in the Civil War have long focused on the Eastern Theatre, most specifically on those units in the Army of the Potomac who formed the Irish Brigade. Although the Western Theatre is now beginning to ‘see some action’ in terms of books on the Irish experience, it has tended to focus on […]
History is filled with ‘what if’ moments, those occasions where a slightly different result or outcome may have radically altered history as we know it. One such moment occurred on 22nd September 1842, when Co. Tyrone native James Shields prepared to face a fellow Illinois politician in a duel. Shields’ opponent had selected swords as […]
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