Patrick Kelly emigrated from Co. Galway to Boston with his parents. In 1861 he enlisted in the 28th Massachusetts Infantry, an Irish regiment that ultimately served in the Irish Brigade. During his service he wrote frequently to his parents at...
I have been spending an increasing amount of time looking at the records of U.S. military pensioners who lived in Ireland. Of the c. 170,000 Irish who fought in the American Civil War, only a relative handful ever returned to...
I have a number of speaking engagements coming up over the next few months, many of which relate to the theme of the Irish in the American Civil War. I have included details below, so if you find yourself nearby...
As many readers will be aware, I do not believe that the Irish State is currently doing enough to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, particularly given the huge impact it had on the Irish community in...
The site has featured a number of posts based on research I carried out on the birthplaces of the men of the 23rd Illinois Infantry (Mulligan’s Irish Brigade) which led to the production of a number of maps to show...
On 23rd March 1862 Stonewall Jackson entered into his first serious clash in the Shenandoah Valley, at the Battle of Kernstown. The fight was part of what became known as the 1862 Valley Campaign, a series of engagements that would make...
Around 4.30am on 12th April 1861, Confederate artillery fire erupted on the U.S. occupied Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. These shots marked the start of the American Civil War. Some two and a half hours later, at about...
Following the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, communities all over the North and South counted the cost of the three-day struggle which had taken the lives of over 7,000 men. One of the more unusual groups to be affected...
In the late morning of 17th September 1862, the first elements of Major-General William B. Franklin’s Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac arrived on the Antietam battlefield after a forced march. The bloodiest day in United States history was already...
A previous post looked at a number of Irish veterans who returned to the land of their birth following the American Civil War and received a pension for their services, delivered to their local post office. Part 2 of the series...
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