Last week we brought you Part 1 of our Campfire Chat with Harry Smeltzer of Bull Runnings, examining the origins of the Irish 69th New York State Militia and their road towards the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861....
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...
Brigadier-General Michael Corocoran was one of the most famous Irish Americans of the 19th century. He led the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run, and in the months of captivity that followed he became a hero of the...
Thoughts of the 69th New York State Militia’s leadership at Bull Run immediately conjures images of Michael Corcoran and Thomas Francis Meagher. Yet there were many others who held important command positions in the regiment on that fateful day in...
As we look forward to the tour of the 69th New York State Militia at Bull Run in May 2019 (details here), the first months of the year will have a number of posts that examine aspects of the 69th’s...
The 11th October 1862 was an auspicious day for those associated with the 69th New York State Militia. It was a little less than 15 months since they had returned– to great fanfare– from the Bull Run battlefield. Though the...
Every week the New York Irish-American brought it’s news to Irish readers not just in The Empire State, but all over the United States. Many Irish soldiers at the front remained loyal readers of the newspaper throughout the Civil War....
Towards the end of April I received notification that a new monument dedicated to Irish soldiers of the American Civil War is being unveiled in Ballymote, Co. Sligo next weekend. This is a positive step in what has been, up...
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...
150 years ago, on the evening of Tuesday 22nd December, 1863, a stunned Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Reed prepared to send a message that promised to send shockwaves through New York City. The commander of the 69th New York National Guard Artillery...