For the latest of our Irish American Civil War “Campfire Chats” on YouTube we welcomed long-time friend of the site and expert of all things First Bull Run, Harry Smeltzer. Harry needs little introduction, having maintained the excellent and invaluable Bull Runnings website for many years. We had a long and far-ranging chat with Harry......
Drill is the basis of the perfection of the soldier as a military machine. Its object is to ensure that, through the habit acquired by constant exercise, a certain action of the soldier shall instantly and almost mechanically follow on a certain word of command spoken by the officer. In February 1862, newly appointed Colonel......
For our latest post we are delighted to welcome back Aled Jones of Swansea University. An expert on Welsh participation in the Civil War, Aled previously contributed two articles to the site on Welsh native Joshua T. Owen, who led the Irish 69th Pennsylvania during the conflict (you can read them here and here). This......
As I am on a brief visit back to my former home of Midleton, Co. Cork at present, I thought for our next post we might take a look at some work I have undertaken on local men who served in the American forces. This was research I originally put out on one of the......
Earlier this year Damian presented an online lecture for Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council as part of their Rippling Effects of The Great Irish Famine Series. The talk primarily explored the stories of emigrants from around the local area, told through the records left behind as a result of the American Civil War.......
In the latest post, Brendan goes sleuthing to uncover the story behind some unusual Civil War images. With the help of photographs captured by wartime Irish American photographer Timothy O’Sullivan, he reveals the fascinating story behind a wartime amateur theatrical club, revealing the identity and wartime experiences of a “Deadeye in Drag”. It’s not your......
The Andersonville Irish Project has hit another milestone, with 650 Irish Americans now identified who perished at the prison in 1864 and 1865. Many thanks to all those who have contributed and those who have supported the project thus far. The database of the 650 men has now been uploaded and is available at the......
As regular readers of the site will know, I have spent many (maybe too many!) years studying the Widows and Dependents pension files of Irish immigrants. For successful applicants, the most important document they possessed was their Pension Certificate, the piece of paper that allowed them to physically claim the money provided to them by......
Patrick Coffey was a labourer in his 30s when he went to war. In the summer of 1861, he marched off to Virginia as part of Company D, the “Fitzgerald Guard” of the famed 69th New York State Militia. Like many other dedicated Irish American servicemen, his family’s personal story was one of gradual step-migration,......
Owen Moloney was 26-years-old when he was mustered into Company C of the 6th New Jersey Infantry on 7th November 1861. Over the years that followed, the young Co. Clare emigrant saw his fair share of war. He was there every step of the way as the Army of the Potomac grappled with the Army......