Irish in the American Civil War

I wrote a piece this week for thejournal.ie, Ireland’s main online news website. The theme was the St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the Army of the Potomac on 17th March 1863, which occurred 150 years ago today. In addition I hoped to raise awareness among Irish people of the scale of Irish involvement in the conflict, and […]

A little over a year ago friend Jim Swan, author of the excellent Chicago’s Irish Legion sent me on an image of a cigarette case he had come across. It  commemorated a 50th anniversary dinner held in 1912 for the survivors of the Irish Brigade who served at Fredericksburg. I decided to research the object, which […]

On 13th December 1862 the Irish Brigade had fought at Fredericksburg. Along with many other Union brigades they suffered horrendous casualties in the futile attempt to assault the Confederate positions at Marye’s Heights. The losses sent shockwaves through the Irish-American community. Even as some of the mortally wounded lay dying, it was decided something must […]

By September 1864 the Union forces at Petersburg had been facing their Confederate foe across a series of entrenchments and fortifications since mid-June. The Federals decided to commit to a strategy of continually extending their lines westward, seeking to exploit their advantages in manpower. With this stratagem they sought to stretch the Army of Northern Virginia to […]

Captain John H. Donovan of the 69th New York went into action at the Battle of Fredericksburg already bearing the scars of war. While serving with the Irish Brigade at Malvern Hill in July 1862 he had suffered the loss of one of his eyes and the mutilation of his right ear. He had then been captured […]

The Irish Brigade celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day in 1863 are the most famous from the period of the American Civil War, recorded as they were by a number of writers and in a series of wonderful illustrations by Edwin Forbes. But what of festivities in honour of the Irish patron saint in other years? We […]

Part 1 of this series examined the mugshots of ten American Civil War veterans, arrested in Ireland in 1866 for their involvement with the Fenian movement. This post looks at a further ten of these men whose photographs were taken in Mountjoy Prison that year. They form a part of the series of Fenian mugshots […]

The Fenian movement in America was extremely active before, during and immediately after the American Civil War. It recruited Irishmen with the aim of ‘striking a blow’ for Ireland when the opportunity arose. Many high profile Irish officers during the war were members, particularly in the Union ranks. Some returned to Ireland in 1866 to […]

Private William McCarter of the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry, Irish Brigade, is best known for his memoirs My Life in the Irish Brigade. The Irishman’s account of the Battle of Fredericksburg, in which he was wounded, is amongst the most vivid of that engagement (for an account of the 116th Pennsylvania’s experiences on that day see […]