Although a significant amount has been written about the wartime exploits of the Irish Brigade, particularly between 1861 and 1863, very little ink has been spilt on the other Irish brigade formation- Corcoran’s Irish Legion. This is a serious anomaly given their significance with respect to both Irish-American attitudes towards the Civil War and also their extremely close ties to the Fenian movement. Longtime friend of the site Christopher Garcia is an expert on the Legion, particularly on its most famous unit, the 69th New York National Guard Artillery (also designated the 182nd New York). Christopher completed his Masters on that regiment in 2012, and I am delighted to say that he has generously made it available through the New York State Military Museum website. It is an extremely interesting read and well worth checking out- you can access it here.

Aside from Christopher’s work there are a number of other Masters and PhD theses of which I am aware that are now available online, and I include links to some of these below. I will shortly add them to the Resources section of the site- in the meantime  if you are aware of any other relevant titles of this ilk please let me know!

Selected Masters and PhD Theses Available Online

Garcia, Christopher 2012. The Forgotten Sixty-Ninth: The Sixty Ninth New York National Guard Artillery Regiment in the American Civil War

Gillespie, William T. 2001. The United States Civil War: Causal Agent for Irish Assimilation and Acceptance in US Society

Myers, Kaitlyn 2013. “Walking with Our Ancestors”: Music and Constructions of Irish-American Identities at Civil War Re-enactments

Truslow, Marion A. 1994. Peasants into Patriots: The New York Irish Brigade Recruits and Their Families in the Civil War Era, 1850-1890

Vaticano, Patricia 2009. A Defense of the 63rd New York State Volunteer Regiment of the Irish Brigade