Irish Brigade (U.S.

)
This article is about the unit of the United States Army
during the Civil War. For other Irish Brigades, see Irish
Brigade.
The Irish Brigade was an infantry brigade, consisting
predominantly of Irish Americans, that served in the
Union Army in the American Civil War. The designation of the rst regiment in the brigade, the 69th New
York Infantry, or the Fighting 69th, continued in later
wars. The Irish Brigade was known in part for its famous
war cry, the faugh a ballagh, which is an anglicization of
the Irish phrase, fg an bealach, meaning clear the way.
According to Foxs Regimental Losses, of all Union army
brigades, only the 1st Vermont Brigade and Iron Brigade
suered more combat dead than the Irish Brigade during
Americas Civil War.
28th Massachusetts regimental color, presented by Gen. Thomas
F. Meagher

Formation and subordinate regiments

C. Enright.[4] The 88th was numbered out of sequence

after the British 88th Connaught Rangers, and was the
2nd Regiment Irish Brigade. After Chancellorsville, the
new Brigade Commander, Col Patrick Kelly of the 88th,
The formation of an Irish Brigade was authorized by the formed these core NY regiments, now together only
Secretary of War Simon Cameron in September 1861. numbering 220 eectives, into a single battalion under
The brigade originally consisted of the 63rd New York the ag of the 88th.
Infantry, the 69th New York Infantry, and the 88th New
York Infantry. The three New York regiments were soon
joined by a predominately Yankee regiment from Mas- 2 American Civil War
sachusetts, the 29th Massachusetts. The 29th was never
fond of being brigaded with three Irish Fenian regiments from New York and soon after the Battle of Antietam the 29th was replaced by the 28th Massachusetts
Infantry regiment, made up mostly of Irish Immigrants.
Soon after that, the City of Philadelphia oered a regiment to the brigade and soon after the 116th Pennsylvania was added to the brigade, bringing the total number
of regiments in the Irish Brigade to ve.
There were three core regiments of the Irish Brigade, the
69th, 88th, and the 63rd. The 69th New York Volunteers, was largely made up of the pre-war 69th New York
Militia, a unit which rst gained notoriety prior to the
Civil War, when Colonel Michael Corcoran refused an
order to parade the regiment for the Prince of Wales during the latters visit to New York City.[1] The 63rd New
York Volunteers, known as the Third Irish was composed mainly of the Irish in the Old 9th New York
Militia[2] and several hundred Irish recruited in Boston.[3]
The 63rd was organized by Lt Col Patrick Daniel Kelly
and later commanded by Major then Colonel Richard

Saint Patricks Day celebration in the Army of the Potomac. Depicts a steeplechase race among the Irish Brigade, March 17,
1863, by Edwin Forbes. Digitally restored.

Col. Corcoran was in the process of being courtmartialed when the Civil War erupted. Needing as many
men at arms as quickly as possible, the charges were
dropped and the Army rushed the 69th to Virginia.
At the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas), the regiment served under the command of Colonel William
T. Sherman, and was one of the few Union regiments
1

2
to retain cohesion after the defeat, despite the wounding and capture of Col. Corcoran by Confederate forces.
The 69th served as the Army of the Potomac's rear
guard during the disorganized retreat to the defenses of
Washington.
After Bull Run, Thomas Francis Meagher, the Captain
of Company K, applied to have the 69th New York Volunteer Militia reorganized into Federal service as the
core unit of a larger brigade composed predominantly of
Irish immigrants. Meagher was promoted to brigadier
general and designated the brigades commander. Before the war, he was a leading agitator for Irish independence from Britain. A visible participant in the failed
Rebellion of 1848, he was afterward tried and sentenced
to death (commuted to life imprisonment in Australia, but
he escaped to San Francisco CA). Gen. Meaghers battle sword, made by Tiany & Co, is now on permanent
exhibit at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National
Military Park.
Leaders of the Federal Government were reluctant to
form ethnically based brigades, which would undermine
the notion of a Union. However, by mid-1861 the formation of an ethnically based, Irish brigade served two
purposes for the North. First of all, it warned Britain
(which appeared to be favoring the Confederacy, or at
least openly deliberating its entry into the conict on
their behalf) that there could be Union-supported consequences in Ireland if Britain intervened (most of the
brigades leadership were known Irish revolutionaries).
Secondly, it served to solidify Irish support for the Union.
Many Irish were divided between supporting the Confederate States in their struggles for independence or to
preserve the Union, which gave the Irish a set of rights
and freedoms under the Constitution but which they had
to struggle to obtain. There were also concerns by some
Irish about a ood of freed slaves migrating north and
competing for the lowly jobs for which they already had
to scrabble. An ethnically based brigade would thus solidify the support of the largest Catholic minority for the
Union cause. Several ocers were permitted to purchase
and carry non-regulation model 1850 Sta and Field ocers swords bearing a large four-leaf clover pierced into
the hand guard. Having their own paid Catholic chaplains within the brigade implied a social acceptance for
Irish Catholics which had eluded them in the antebellum
period. Their head chaplain was Fr. William Corby,
CSC, a Holy Cross priest and future president of the
University of Notre Dame. He became famous for his
giving conditional absolution to the troops of the Irish
Brigade before the Battle of Gettysburg.
The Irish Brigade distinguished itself from the rest of the
Army of the Potomac by Meaghers insistence on arming
the 8 line companies of each NY regiment with Model
1842 smoothbore muskets, an obsolete weapon that was
largely phased out during 1862, because he wanted his
men to be able to re buck-and-ball shot (a .69 caliber
musket ball with four smaller balls), which produced a

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

shotgun eect in close-range combat and could not be

used with ries. The three original New York regiments
carried Model 1842 muskets all through the AoPs campaigns and battles in 1862-63, using buck-and-ball shot
with deadly eect in the Wheateld on July 2 at Gettysburg. The 2 Light companies of each NY regiment
were issued with either Springeld or Eneld ries and
with these sniped at Pettigrews command during Picketts Charge. The 28th Massachusetts (which joined in
October 1862) had Eneld ries and were with the 6 company NY light Battalion often detailed for skirmishing
duty.
Meagher assumed his brigade would perform most ghting at close range where smoothbores were eective, and
his ocers generally agreed. The majority of the soldiers
continued to use their Model 1842s through the Overland Campaign until the depleted outt was temporarily
broken up in June 1864. The 116th Pennsylvania was
separated from its fellow regiments and nally got Model
1861 Springeld ries. Ordnance records also indicate
that the New York regiments received the newer weapons
as well. In any case, by 1864, ocers had at last realized
the power of ries and ring was now typically being done
from distances of up to 200 yards. There are relatively
few complaints on record from the enlisted men about
their outdated muskets, although one veteran of the 88th
New York recalled that we were sometimes at a disadvantage because of the short range, and that he had to
pick up a discarded rie from the eld at Antietam to
deal with Confederate skirmishers.[5]

Chaplains of the Irish Brigade, Fr. Corby front row, right

Before the full ve regiments of a typical brigade could

be raised, the unit was called to combat. In March 1862
the brigade, composed of the 63rd, 69th, and 88th New
York regiments, was assigned to Major General Edwin
V. Sumner's division in the Army of the Potomac as the
2nd Brigade and shipped to the Virginia Peninsula. While
the Army of the Potomac crept slowly toward Richmond,
a fourth regiment joined the brigade: the 29th Massachusetts, a regiment formed mainly of Puritan descendants. Massachusetts had pledged to provide an Irish regiment, intending to send the 28th Massachusetts, but that

3
Irish regiment was not complete when the Army of the
Potomac went into action. Instead, the next available unit,
the 29th, was sent.
Despite their divergent backgrounds, the 29th Massachusetts and the rest of the brigade fought well together,
earning plaudits for hard campaigning during the Seven
Days Battles; most notably at Savages Station, Glendale,
and Malvern Hill. After Malvern Hill, the Army of the
Potomac languished at Harrisons Landing on the Peninsula and Meagher gained permission to recruit in New
York to replenish the brigades losses. While other units
were transferred to northern Virginia during the summer
of 1862 to ght under Gen. John Pope, the Irish Brigade
remained on the Peninsula with Gen. George B. McClellan.
After Popes defeat at Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), Gen. Robert E. Lee took the oensive, moving into Maryland. McClellan and the remainder of Army of the Potomac were rushed north. The
brigades new recruits, approximately a tenth the number that Meagher had hoped to raise, joined the unit at
Tennallytown, Maryland, in time to march in pursuit of
the Confederates.
Monument at Antietam National Battleeld, dedicated in 1997

Brigade found itself facing the center of the Confederate

line, entrenched in an old sunken farm road. The brigade
again acted conspicuously, assaulting the road, referred to
after the battle as Bloody Lane. Although unsuccessful,
the brigades attack gave supporting troops enough time
to ank and break the Confederate position, at the cost of
60% casualties for the Irish Brigade.
The brigade suered its most severe casualties in December at the Battle of Fredericksburg where its ghting force
was reduced from over 1600 to 256. The brigade was
involved in the northern battleground at Fredericksburg
where they assaulted the sunken road in front of Maryes
Heights. Coincidentally, one of the Confederate regiments manning the sunken road defenses was a predominantly Irish Regiment commanded by Brigadier General
Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb. Knowing that Cobbs men
manned the wall, and that both Cobbs and Meaghers
units contained members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to gaining military experience in the United States, then freeing Ireland from
Britain after the Civil War, Lee ordered reserves sent to
the position. He need not have worried. Cobbs men
helped devastate the Irish Brigade before the reinforceBrigade Monument at the Gettysburg battleground
ments could settle in place. It was at Fredericksburg
On September 17, 1862, the Union and Confederate that Lee allegedly referred to Meaghers regiment as the
armies met at Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the Battle of Fighting 69th.
Antietam. Command confusion led to the disjointed use After the Battle of Fredericksburg, Gen. Meagher again
of the II Corps, and instead of supporting renewed as- requested to recruit the brigade back to strength. This
saults on the Confederate left at the West Woods, the Irish time the request was denied. In May 1863, the brigade

sustained further casualties at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Meagher repeated his request to recruit replacements, was denied, and resigned his commission in
protest. Meagher was replaced by Colonel Patrick Kelly.
Leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, the brigade recovered several hundred of its injured from Fredericksburg
and was able to eld nearly 600 men - in reality, barely at
regimental size. At Gettysburg, the brigade distinguished
itself in the Wheateld under the command of Col. Kelly
as the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division (Brigadier General John C. Caldwell) of the II Corps (Major General
Wineld S. Hancock). The brigade has a monument on
the Loop on the Gettysburg Battleeld.
While continuing to serve with distinction, casualties continued to increase and by June 1864 the Irish Brigade
had been reduced to regimental size, and its commander
Richard Byrne killed. The US Army disbanded it and incorporated the remaining elements of the brigade into the
3rd and 4th Brigades of the 1st Division, II Corps.
A Second Irish Brigade was reformed from the old Irish
Brigade of the 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York, 116th
Pennsylvania, and 28th Massachusetts Regiments as well
as the addition of the 7th New York Heavy Artillery (later
replaced by the 4th New York Heavy Artillery in early
1865).

Modern history

The lineage of the Irish Brigade has been ocially assigned to Fighting 69th of the New York National
Guard, which is the only currently active military unit that
formed part of it.
The Fighting 69th fought in World War I as part of the
Rainbow Division. For bravery displayed in Lorraine,
Champagne-Marne, and Meuse-Argonne, the Medal of
Honor was awarded to regiment members, including
William Joseph Donovan and Richard O'Neill. By the
time World War II came, the Irish inuence in the regiment had diminished somewhat, but the regiment served
with distinction in the Pacic Theater as part of the 27th
New York Infantry Division.
Since 1907, the Fighting 69th has been a unit of the New
York National Guard.
1st Battalion, 69th Infantry served with distinction in Iraq
from 2004-2005. The unit fought in and around Baghdad, most notably securing Route Irish and the surrounding area of Baghdad suburbs, and companies from it have
since served in Afghanistan.

REFERENCES

Brigade successor unit based in New York.

In Fort Apache (lm), Ward Bond plays a Cavalry
sergeant major who had served in the The Irish
Brigade as a major and had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (likely based on St. Clair
Augustine Mulholland, who earned the Medal of
Honor at Chancellorsville in May 1863).
Meagher and the Irish Brigade, as well as the charge
at Maryes Heights, are featured in the novel and lm
Gods and Generals.
The brigade is shown receiving general absolution
from Rev. William Corby before going into battle
at Gettysburg in the lm Gettysburg.
In HBO's Deadwood, George Hearst's Pinkerton
henchman discusses with Al Swearengen his service
in the New York 69th Regiment during the Civil
War. He gives no details, but gives the impression
that the outcome was not good.
Musician David Kincaid arranged and performed
two albums of Civil War era songs about Irish soldiers in the Civil War. The rst The Irish Volunteer includes songs specically about or referring
to the Irish Brigade, Thomas Francis Meagher, and
Michael Corcoran. The second album The Irish
Americans Song features a variety of songs about
Irish soldiers on both the Union and Confederate
sides.
The Irish band Wolfe Tones recorded a song called
The Fighting 69th which was then covered by
Dropkick Murphys on their album The Gangs All
Here.
Andy M. Stewart, on the album By the Hush, title
song refers to the Irish immigrants ghting under
Gen. Meagher during the Civil War.
John Doyle recorded a song called, Clear the Way,
on his album, Shadow & Light.

5 References
[1] Evert Augustus Duyckinck, History of the war for the
union, civil, military & naval
[2] The New York Herald, (New York, NY) Tuesday, July 23
and Thursday, July 25, 1861
[3] The New York Herald, (New York, NY) Tuesday, July
02, 1861; pg. 8; col C

In popular media
James Cagney and Pat O'Brien starred in The Fighting 69th, a 1940 WWI lm based on the Irish

[4] The New York Herald, (New York, NY) Friday, November 15, 1861; pg. 5; col C
[5] The Irish Brigade in the Civil War, Joseph Bilby pp 147

5
69th New York State Volunteers Historical Association
28th Massachusetts Regiment Website
Irish Volunteers: History of the Irish Brigade
Irish Brigade Fearless Sons of Erin
Civil War Battles of the Irish Brigade

Further reading
Samito, Christian G., Becoming American under
Fire: Irish Americans, African Americans and the
Politics of Citizenship during the Civil war Era,
Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009, ISBN 9780-8014-4846-1.

External links
The Irish Brigade in the Civil War - Primary source
documents hosted by the United States Army Center
of Military History
Irish Brigade Monument at Antietam
Irish Brigade Monument at Gettysburg
Irish American Story Project
Irish Brigade The Story of the 38th (Irish) Brigade,
1941-47

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Irish Brigade (U.S.) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Brigade_(U.S.)?oldid=627609159 Contributors: Michael Hardy, Gabbe,

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