TheIrish Brigade was aninfantrybrigade, consisting predominantly ofIrish Americans, who served in theUnion Army in theAmerican Civil War. The designation of the first regiment in the brigade, the69th 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 Ballaugh" which is an anglicization of theIrish phrase,fág an bealach, meaning "clear the way" and used in various Irish-majority military units founded due to theIrish diaspora. According to Fox'sRegimental Losses, of all Union army brigades, only the1st Vermont Brigade andIron Brigade suffered more combat dead than the Irish Brigade during America's Civil War.
The formation of an Irish Brigade was authorized by theSecretary of WarSimon Cameron in September 1861. The brigade originally consisted of the63rd New York Infantry, the69th New York Infantry, and the88th New York Infantry. The three New York regiments were soon joined by a predominantly "Yankee" regiment from Massachusetts, the29th 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 the28th Massachusetts Infantry regiment, made up mostly of Irish immigrants. Soon after that, the City of Philadelphia offered a regiment to the brigade and soon after the116th Pennsylvania Infantry was added to the brigade, bringing the total number of regiments in the Irish Brigade to five.[1]
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 first gained notoriety prior to the Civil War, when ColonelMichael Corcoran refused an order to parade the regiment for thePrince of Wales during the latter's visit toNew York City.[2] The 63rd New York Volunteers, known as the "Third Irish" was composed mainly of the Irish in "the Old 9th" New York Militia[3] and several hundred Irish recruited in Boston.[4] The 63rd was organized byLt Col Patrick Daniel Kelly and later commanded byMajor thenColonel Richard C. Enright.[5] 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, formed these "core" NY regiments, now together only numbering 220 effectives, into a single battalion under the flag of the 88th.
Col. Corcoran was in the process of beingcourt-martialed when the Civil War erupted. As the Army needed as many men at arms as quickly as possible, the charges were dropped and the Army rushed the 69th toVirginia.[citation needed]
At theFirst Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas), the regiment served under the command of ColonelWilliam T. Sherman, and was one of the few Union regiments to retain cohesion after the defeat, despite the wounding and capture of Col. Corcoran byConfederate forces. The 69th served as theArmy of the Potomac's rear guard during the disorganized retreat to the defenses ofWashington.[citation needed]
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 tobrigadier general and designated the brigade's commander. Before the war, he was a leading agitator for Irish independence. A visible participant in the failedRebellion of 1848, he was afterward tried and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment inAustralia, but he escaped to San Francisco CA). Gen. Meagher's battle sword, made by Tiffany & Co, is now on permanent exhibit at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.[citation needed]
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 warnedBritain that there could be Union-supported consequences inIreland if Britain intervened (most of the brigade's leadership were known Irish revolutionaries). Secondly, it served to solidifyIrish-American 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 flood of freed slaves migrating north and competing for the lowly jobs for which they already had to scrabble.[1] An ethnically based brigade would thus solidify the support of the largestCatholic minority for the Union cause. Several officers were permitted to purchase and carry non-regulation model 1850 Staff and Field officer's 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 forIrish Catholics which had eluded them in the antebellum period. Their head chaplain wasFr. William Corby, CSC, aHoly Cross priest and future president of theUniversity of Notre Dame. He became famous for his givinggeneral absolution to the troops of the Irish Brigade before theBattle of Gettysburg.[citation needed]
The Irish Brigade distinguished itself from the rest of the Army of the Potomac by Meagher's insistence on arming the eight line companies of each NY regiment withModel 1842 smoothbore muskets, an obsolete weapon that was largely phased out during 1862, because he wanted his men to be able to fire buck-and-ball shot (a .69 caliber musket ball with four smaller balls), which produced a shotgun effect in close-range combat and could not be used with rifles. The three original New York regiments carried Model 1842 muskets all through the AoP's campaigns and battles in 1862–63, using buck-and-ball shot with deadly effect in the Sunken Road on September 17, 1862 at Antietam and in the Wheatfield on July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg. The two light companies of each NY regiment were issued with either Springfield Models 1854 (A rifled modification of the Model 1842 musket), 1861, 1863 orEnfield rifles and with these sniped at Pettigrew's command during Pickett's Charge. The 28th Massachusetts (which joined in October 1862) had Enfield rifles and were with the 6 Company, NY "Light Battalion" often detailed for skirmishing duty.[citation needed]
Meagher assumed his brigade would perform most fighting at close range where smoothbores were effective and his officers generally agreed. The majority of the soldiers continued to use their Model 1842s through the Overland Campaign until the depleted outfit was temporarily broken up in June 1864. The 116th Pennsylvania was separated from its fellow regiments and finally gotModel 1861 Springfield rifles. Ordnance records also indicate that the New York regiments received the newer weapons as well. In any case, by 1864, officers had at last realized the power of rifles and firing 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 rifle from the field at Antietam to deal with Confederate skirmishers.[6]
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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 toMajor GeneralEdwin V. Sumner'sdivision in theArmy of the Potomac as the 2nd Brigade and shipped to theVirginia Peninsula. While the Army of the Potomac crept slowly towardRichmond, a fourth regiment joined the brigade: the 29th Massachusetts, a regiment formed mainly ofPuritan 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, was sent.[citation needed]
Despite their divergent backgrounds, the 29th Massachusetts and the rest of the brigade fought well together, earning plaudits for hard campaigning during theSeven Days Battles; most notably atSavage's Station,Glendale, andMalvern Hill. The total casualties for the Irish Brigade during thePeninsula Campaign were 493. After Malvern Hill, the Army of the Potomac languished atHarrison'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.[citation needed]
After Pope's defeat atSecond 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 of the number that Meagher had hoped to raise, joined the unit atTennallytown,Maryland, in time to march in pursuit of the Confederates.[citation needed]
On September 17, 1862, the Union and Confederate armies met atSharpsburg, Maryland, in theBattle of Antietam. Command confusion led to the disjointed use of theII 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". Several Irishmen would be awarded theMedal Of Honor for dismantling some fence rails under fire. 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 outdated Springfield muskets came in use when they used Buck n' Ball, which turned the musket into a shotgun, which was very effective at close range.[citation needed]
The brigade suffered its most severe casualties in December at theBattle of Fredericksburg where its fighting force was reduced from over 1600 to 1036. The brigade was involved in the northern battleground at Fredericksburg where they assaulted the sunken road in front of Marye's Heights. The brigade advanced under heavy fire, but, staying resolute, it got close to Confederate lines; however, due to staggering casualties the brigade pulled back. A shattered shell of its former self. The 69th would lose 112 effective soldiers, The 88th would suffer 121 effectives.[citation needed]
After the Battle of Fredericksburg, Gen. Meagher again requested to recruit the brigade back to strength. This time the request was denied. In May 1863, the brigade sustained further casualties at theBattle of Chancellorsville; Meagher repeated his request to recruit replacements, was denied, and resigned his commission in protest. He was replaced by ColonelPatrick Kelly.[citation needed]
Leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, the brigade recovered several hundred of its injured from Fredericksburg and was able to field nearly 600 men - in reality, barely at regimental size. At Gettysburg, the brigade distinguished itself in the Wheatfield under the command of Col. Kelly as the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division (Brigadier GeneralJohn C. Caldwell) of theII Corps (Major GeneralWinfield S. Hancock). Under overwhelming pressure this shattered Brigade held its ground for a lengthy period of time. The brigade has a monument on the Loop on theGettysburg Battlefield.[citation needed]
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 commanderRichard Byrne killed. 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.[citation needed]
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 the7th New York Heavy Artillery (later replaced by the4th New York Heavy Artillery in early 1865).[citation needed]
The lineage of the Irish Brigade has been officially 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 inWorld War I as part of theRainbow Division. For bravery displayed inLorraine,Champagne-Marne, andMeuse-Argonne, theMedal of Honor was awarded to regiment members, includingWilliam Joseph Donovan andRichard O'Neill. ByWorld War II, the Irish influence in the regiment had diminished somewhat, but the regiment served with distinction in thePacific Theater as part of the 27th "New York" Infantry Division.
Since 1907, the Fighting 69th has been a unit of the New YorkNational Guard.
In 1963 President Kennedy presented Ireland with a flag of the Irish Brigade.[8]
1st Battalion, 69th Infantry served with distinction inIraq from 2004-2005. The unit fought in and around Baghdad, most notably securingRoute Irish and the surrounding area ofBaghdad suburbs, and companies from it have since served inAfghanistan.
