Irish in the American Civil War

The last post looked at the nativity of soldiers in the 23rd Illinois Infantry, based on analysis of records pertaining to 1,585 of its men. The place of birth for 1,270 had been noted; of these 682 were from Ireland. Where were these Irishmen from? How many Irish counties were represented? Were any concentrations discernible? In [...]

The ‘green flag’ regiments of the Union army remain the most recognisable expression of Irish involvement in the American Civil War. These ethnic Irish units were proud of their heritage and sought to combine this with their loyalty to Union, often by carrying green flags amongst their colours or bearing epithets such as the ‘Irish [...]

In July 1863 Lieutenant J.L. Capston, a cavalry officer, received a letter from Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin indicating that he was to be reassigned. His destination was Ireland, and his task was to use legitimate means to counteract the work of agents of the United States operating there. His ultimate mission was [...]

The Irish Times runs a regular column entitled ‘From the Archives’ where stories from past issues of the paper are reprinted. A recent inclusion was a report from their correspondent in New York in 1864 which claimed that many Irish were being effectively abducted from the quayside by unscrupulous fellow countrymen, who sought to gain [...]