Irish in the American Civil War

Some of you will be familiar with efforts that I and a number of colleagues in Ireland are making with regard to an American Civil War trail in Ireland, hopefully to be accompanied by some form of all-island memorial. For any of you interested in reading a little more about this project check out our [...]

The Books section of the site is intended to be a comprehensive resource of all relevant books published since 1861 on the Irish experience of the Civil War. It has now grown to 146 titles, and is, as far as I am aware, the most complete listing of books on the Irish in the war [...]

Irish in the American Civil War has been shortlisted in the Best Arts & Culture Blog category for the 2011 Irish Blog Awards. There are a number of other excellent blogs in the section and it is a great honour to be included- many thanks to the judges for selecting it for the shortlist. I [...]

In the early afternoon of 30th November 1864 Brigadier-General Daniel C. Govan stood with his Division Commander Major-General Patrick Cleburne on Winstead Hill, Tennessee. As they prepared their troops for an attack on the fortified Federal positions around the town of Franklin, Govan looked out across the exposed plain over which the Army of Tennessee [...]

The 1st Battalion, Virginia Infantry Regulars were organised in May 1861 of Irishmen from Hanover county and the city of Richmond. Its five companies were known as the ‘Irish Battalion’. It fought in many engagements from First Manassas to Fredericksburg, and later in the war was assigned to General Headquarters and as Provost Guard for [...]

Thomas Alfred Smyth was born a farmer’s son in Ballyhooly, Co. Cork on Christmas Day 1832. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 21, taking part in William Walker’s Nicaragua expedition before settling down to life as a coachmaker in Wilmington, Delaware. When war broke out he quickly became an officer, first [...]

On October 7th 1861, the New York Times reported on a meeting organised to recruit Irishmen for the proposed Irish Brigade. As the famed orator Thomas Francis Meagher took to the stage in the Academy of Music, the paper’s reporter succeeded in capturing the mood of the moment, down to the cheers and hisses of [...]

A new Generals page has been added to the site with brief histories of the 18 Irish-born Generals who served in the Union and Confederate forces during the war. Check out the page and read about James Shields, the man who nearly fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln, Patrick Cleburne, the Confederate who suggested arming [...]

The November 18th 1863 issue of the Huntingdon Globe carried on its front page an article entitled ‘An Irish Soldier’s Letter’, written by a young Irish volunteer in a New York Regiment to a friend in that part of Pennsylvania. Despite the numerous battles he had been engaged in and the horrors he had witnessed, [...]