Irish In the American Civil War

Irish in the Civil War

Fr. Corby and Associates
Fr. Corby (front row right)

Books below can be found at the new site (click) The Book Guy

IB056P History of the Ninth Regiment. Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry June 1861 - June 1864
D. G. Macnamara
First published in 1899. When the Civil War erupted, more than 1,000 Irish Americans cast aside their reservations and formed the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry regiment, the first of that state's ethnic regiments. In the years that followed, after losing hundreds of its members at previously unknown places names Gaines' Mill, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania, the regiment had earned its sobriquet, the Fighting Ninth. This is the history of the regiment as told by Macnamara who served as its commissary sergeant and rose to become regimental quartermaster. Paper. 557 pp. Thirty photos and index added to the original.

IB039 My Sons Were Faithful and They Fought: The Irish Brigade at Antietam, An Anthology ed. by Joseph Bilby and Steve O'Neill.
A collection of essays by several noted authors. Royalties will go to support the new Irish Brigade Monument to be dedicated in September 1997 at Antietam. Out of Print. Only one left
Contact me at bks1966@bellsouth.net.

IB022 Desert Tiger: Captain "Paddy" Graydon and the Civil War in the Far Southwest.
J. Thompson.
During the Civil War, no soldier in Gen. Canby's Federal Army did more to help drive the Rebels out of New Mexico Territory than Capt. James "Paddy" Graydon, a pompous but incredibly daring 32-year-old Irishman and veteran of the First Dragoons.

Desert Tiger: Captain Paddy Graydon and the Civil War in the Far Southwest (Southwestern Studies)

Irish Brigade

IB034 My Life In The Irish Brigade. The Civil War Reminiscences of Private William McCarter, 116th PA.
edited by Kevin O'Brien
McCarter, a 21-year-old Irish immigrant, enlisted in the 116th PA Infantry during August 1862. On December 13, he charged with the Irish Brigade at Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, which was the greatest moment in the Brigade's history. Wounded several times during this event, McCarter was discharged from the army and began to write his recollections of military life. Paper.

IB029 Irish Brigade in the Civil War (originally published as "Remember Fontenoy!")
J. Bilby.
The 69th New York and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War. Fathered by the 69th New York State Militia Regiment of Bull Run fame, the brigade's Irish American soldiers fought hard and well in all the Army of the Potomac's battles from Fair Oaks to Appomattox. Heroic charges at Antietam and Fredericksburg gained the Irish Brigade both glory and tragedy. Although sadly diminished in numbers, the brigade stepped once more into the breach at Gettysburg's Wheatfield, sacrificing itself yet again to gain time which led to eventual Union victory.

IB020 Irish Brigade & Its Campaigns
Conyngham. ed. by Kohl.
Originally published in 1867. Includes accounts of the Corcoran Legion, 63rd NY, 69th NY, 88th NY, 28th Mass., and 116th Penn. Conyngham is one of the few writers who was with the Brigade.

IIB047 Never Were Men So Brave. The Irish Brigade During the Civil War
Susan P. Beller
A history of the Irish Brigade written for children ages 9 - 12. Hardcover. 96 pp. out of print one left.