Irish Brigade (US)
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The Irish Brigade was an infantry brigade that served in the American Civil War, consisting predominantly of Irish immigrants. The designation of the first regiment in the brigade, the 69th New York Infantry, or the "Fighting 69th", continued in later wars.
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Civil War
The formation of an Irish Brigade was authorized by the United States Secretary of War in September 1861. The brigade originally consisted of the 69th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the 63rd New York, and the 88th New York. Later additions included the 116th Pennsylvania, 28th Massachusetts, and the non-Irish 29th Massachusetts infantry regiments.
The core regiment of the Irish Brigade, the 69th New York, first 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 latter's visit to New York City. Col. Corcoran was in the process of being court-martialed when the Civil War erupted. Needing as many men at arms as quickly as possible, the Army dropped the charges and rushed the 69th to Virginia.
At the Battle of First Bull Run (First Manassas), the regiment served in the command of Colonel William T. Sherman, and was one of the few Union regiments to retain cohesion after the defeat, despite the 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, the Captain of Company K (Thomas Francis Meagher) 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. As Great Britain was unofficially favoring the Confederacy in 1861, the proposal was accepted as a visible warning to the British that there could be Union-supported military consequences in Ireland if Britain officially entered the war on the Confederate side. Not only was the brigade Irish, but Thomas Meagher was promoted to brigadier general and designated the brigade's commander. He was a leading agitator for Irish independence from Britain, having been a visible participant in the failed Rebellion of 1848, a role for which he was tried and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment in Australia, but he escaped to New York).
Formation of the ethnically based brigade served two Union purposes: 1) It served to warn Britain that there could be Union-supported consequences if Britain sided with the Confederacy (most of the brigade's membership were known Irish revolutionaries), and 2) It served to solidify Irish support for the union. The Irish were naturally predisposed to support the Confederacy for they sympathised with the right of revolution. They also didn't want a flood of freed slaves to head north and compete for the lowly jobs for which they already had to scrabble.
Thomas Francis Meagher lobbied for the creation of the unit and was rewarded with its command. Meagher was a leading agitator for Irish independence from Britain, having been a visible participant in the failed Rebellion of 1848, a role for which he was tried and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment in Australia, but he escaped to New York).
Before the full five 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 Irish regiment was not complete when the Army of the Potomac went into action. Instead, the next available unit, the 29th Massachusetts, 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 Savage's Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. After Malvern Hill, the Army of the Potomac languished at Harrison's Landing on the Peninsula and Meagher gained permission to recruit in New York to replenish the brigade's losses. While other units were transferred to northern Virginia during the summer of 1862 to fight under Gen. John Pope, the Irish Brigade remained on the Peninsula with Gen. George B. McClellan.
After Pope's complete rout at Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), Gen. Robert E. Lee took the offensive, moving into Maryland. McClellan and the remainder of Army of the Potomac were rushed north. The brigade's 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.
On September 17, 1862, the Union and Confederate armies met at Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the Battle of Antietam. Command confusion led to the disjointed use of the II Corps, and instead of supporting renewed assaults on the Confederate left at the West Woods, the Irish 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 brigade's attack gave supporting troops enough time to flank and break the Confederate position, at the cost of 60% casualties for the Irish Brigade.
The brigade suffered severe casualties again in December at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where they assaulted the sunken road in front of Marye's Heights. Ironically, one of the regiments manning the sunken road defenses was a predominately Irish Regiment commanded by Gen. Thomas Cobb. Knowing that Cobb's men manned the wall, and that both Cobb's and Meagher's units were peopled with members of the Fenian 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. Cobb's men helped decimate the Irish Brigade before the reinforcements could settle in place. It was at Fredericksburg that Lee allegedly referred to Meagher's regiment as the "Fighting 69th".
After the Battle of Fredericksburg, Gen. Meagher again requested to recruit the brigade back to strength. This time the request was denied. In May of 1863 the brigade again sustained high casualties at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Meagher again requested to recruit replacements, was again denied, and resigned his commission in protest. Meagher was replaced by Col. Patrick Kelley.
In the Battle of Gettysburg, the brigade distinguished itself in the Wheatfield 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 Winfield S. Hancock).
While continuing to serve with distinction, casualties continued to increase and by June 1864 the Irish Brigade had been reduced to regimental size. The U.S. 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 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 Fighting 69th fought in World War I. For bravery displayed in Lorraine, Champagne-Marne, and Meuse-Argonne, the Medal of Honor was awarded to regiment members, including William Donovan and Richard O'Neill. By the time World War II came, the Irish influence in the regiment had diminished somewhat, but the regiment served with distinction in the Pacific Theater as part of the 27th "New York" Division.
Since 1947, the Fighting 69th has been a unit of the New York National Guard. The first members of the Irish Brigade to die in combat since World War II were killed on November 29, 2004, near Baghdad, Iraq. They currently have responsibility for guarding Route Irish.
See Also
External links
- 69th New York State Volunteers Historical Association (http://www.69thnysv.org/)
- Irish Volunteers: History of the Irish Brigade (http://irishvolunteers.tripod.com/irish_brigade_history.htm)
- Irish Brigade "Fearless Sons of Erin" (http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/FamousUnits/irishbrigade.html)
- Civil War Battles of the Irish Brigade (http://88ny.net/Battles.htm)