Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-05-01
Written for THE EVENING STAR
THE BOYS OF OLD ERIN.
The Irish Brigade I'm the Great War
Equally 1T Home In - Fight or n
Frolic - Thrilling Experiences and
Amusing Incidents.
lCOpyrighted, 1851

froiic - Thrilling Experiences ana
Amusing Incidents.
Copyrighted, 1861
The Irish Brigade OF the Army of the Potomac
grew out of the Sixty-ninth Regiment, which
had been organized and maintained as an Irish
regiment. 1t did gallant service at the first
battle of Bull Run, and the experiment OF APP
pealing to national feeling and maintaining an
organization which should attract Irishmen to
Its ranks, was wisely resolved upon.
1t was a spasm of good sense in the midst OF
the political methods that too often misdirected
and misapplied the resources which patriotism
lavishly poured out.
In the work of recruiting the brigade two
men were especially useful,
Hughes and General Thomas Francis Meagher
The first the highest type that we have
seen In America of the clerical statesman, the
embodiment of the intellectual subtlety, the
profound knowledge of mankind, and the
wise adaptation of means to ends which have
perfected in the Catholic church the ablest or
ganization that the world has seen. He was
thoroughly and widely patriotic, and his elo-
quence, his wise counsels, and his personal In
fiuence were all given freely TO the cause of
national organization
GENERAL MEAGHER
was at that time the most popular and repre-
sentative Irishmsn in America. The traditions
of his eloquent words in the cause of Young
Ireland of his sufferings In the Inflated rising
OF '4S, of the Communication of his sentence, to-
gether with Mitchell and Smith O'Brien, to
penal servitude, and OF his romantic escape
were rife at every Irish fireside. His eloquence
was simply a marvel, and a marvel that did
not diminish by repetition. Without the slight
est warning or opportunity Tor preparation; ne
flood of glowing description, of fervid appeal. of
rich and poetic metaphor, lighted up by that
peculiarly pungent wit aud slyly mischievous
humor found in perfection in the Celtic race.
And the extraordinary part of 1t was that he
never revised OF corrected. His longest SEN
luxuriant imagery as technically accurate, as
IL he had sat down To write an essay. The orig
inal brigade consisted of the Sixty-third, sixty
ninth, and Eighty-eighth Regiments OF the New
York Volunteers. The Sixty-ninth and Eighty
eighth probably took their numbers from the
corresponding regiments in the British army
the Faugh-a- Ballads and the famous Connaught
Rangers. During the Peninsula campaign the
rwenty-eighth Massachusetts (Irish), COM
manded by Colonel Byrne, a lieutenant in the
Finn United States Cavalry, and the One Hun
dreo and Sixteenth Pennsylvania were added.
THE b Us START WELL.
My first recollection of the brigade was at the
crossing of a little stream about knee deep
There had been considerable hesitation, a good
deal of stringing out and not little grumbling
at what our somewhat raw regiment thought
hardship. After a regiment which had made
more than the usual amount of fuss came the
head of a new command, and as the first COM
pany halted on the bank a striking figure rode
u. d
soldier, well knit and admirably proportioned,
dressed with unusual care, with the clear blue
eyes, ruddy color and sharp. clean-cut profile of
the typical Irish gentleman. He gave order
to the staff officer beside him, and a nondescrpt
band of ten or twelve pieces formed on the bank
and struck up the cheering strains of .'Saint
Patrick's Day in the Morning Meagher said
a few sensible and solderly words, and the
Irishmen. many of them disdaining TO take off
their shoes stockings, plunged in in solid sets
of tours, and the passage by the brigade was
made in the style of veterans. All this time
riek's pav' SW dow Machree'' ' and the aBould
soger Boy then saint Patrick's Day over
again, followed by the others. 1t was at this
time apparently the whole of their repertoire,
but IL did no end of good.
QUEER CHARACTERS
When Mcclellan was finally ready to move,
IL was found that the enemy had abandoned
their works at Manassas, and we were pushed
forward on their retreating tracks. While
riding through their abandoned camps, two of
us. both youngsters, and about equally green,
came across most curious figure, an old man,
sadly unkempt beard. He was dressed in a
nondescript coat which looked as Ii il had be-
gun life blue, then decided to be green, and
finally hit upon dirty drab. He nodded and
rode by. We wondered who or what he could
be. The more we thought about him the more
that he must be a sort of rebel Rip Van WinkIe.
who had walked up TO find his friends gone and
his toes in possession, and was making the best
OF his way South. We felt proud of our acute
ness and only regretted that we had let him
get such a start that ii was impracticable to ar
rest him, at any rate, to satisfy our suspi-
cions 4 day or two after we met our old rebel
riding along with General Meagher, chatting
most amicably, and that 1t was DIR. Larry Rey-
nolds, of the SiNty-third, familiarity and fondly
known as old Larry, poet of no mean perform
ance, stepped To the eyes in Irish lore honest AS
"a BOOKINGS glass; with the heart of child and
the growI OF a mastiff.-a Celtic Diogenes. His
namesake and antithesis, DIR. Frank Reynolds
OF the Eighty-eighth, afterwards medical direc-
tor of the brigade, was an Irishman with Eng
a a tai
jockey and a fascinating companion, when a
halfveiied insoence Of manner could be kept
10 bounds. He rode three-Quarter-bred chest
nut, which he had bullied timid old citizen
into selling To him at his own price, and mis-
on The march. occasionally cutting of mile of
riding by taking Bully for You over a Vir-
glnia rall-ience Ia manner that surprised and
During the siege of Yorktown we were en-
camped very near the brigade and began to
make many acquaintance. They were one OF
the first organizations TO Introduce something
akin 10 the esthetic in the arrangement oil the
brush-shelters, which most materially assisted
the tents in screening from the sun and the
wind. Little arches, crosses, and wreaths of
evergreen betokened the appreciation of beauty
which distinguishes civilized race more than
our honest saxon one. Tney We're always
Jealous In work, IN sport, in duty. Whatever
their hands found to do, they did with true
HIbernian good will.
While at Yorktown the monotony of camp
life was agreeabIy broken by Captain Hogan's
battery, an independent New York oryaniZa-
tlOil- OUT atldcIeu 10 the Irish Rri-
Gate- i do not remember what circumstance
urst called our attention TO the eccentricites of
h0sans instruction and drill As our own cap
tain was AN ancient terror to lot of green
oungsters. for there was not graduate among
us. probably We went out To see il all CAPTAINS
knew as much, and all lIeutenants as little. as
our own We found the situation reversed
Hogan happened TO have two lieutenants who
were probably the most highly educated and
accomplished young Irishmen I'm the Second
Corps. ROrty and O'Donohue who had been
captured carly in the war, escaped from Libby
Prison, and reached the Potomac after thrilling
ana halroreadth experiences. They studied
hard AID vainly tried TO open Hogan's mind To
"a ray OF tactical light, but he had one quality
OF commander-belief in himself and
PERSONAL dignity only eQualed by Major
General "Boum-' One of the first exer-
clsss we witnessed was instruction To- drivers
AMI chieisoi pieces in drawing sabres Now
thin, min he was grandly above the fayorite
volunteer boys, .whin / saw dhraw We don't
Onrdw LITERALLY true, the first command being
calt!Onary); but whin / say stords livery
mothers SON OF yez whips out his froe-sticker
Now, thln- Attention! Dhraw soorlis.' He
was resilist in drill, and avoided the use of
such vague terms as inches feet, and wards
when he could refer to some sailant feature a.
the landscape. In giving directions for thu
counternarch, he saId, Now, thin whinI saw
coun;ermarch, yen go straight ahead TIN we
come fOTeninst that mud-hole, and thin veil
make two curly cues to the right. Now -
yer sOvls, do yez understand that In CONN
IerInarching in column of sections frenenber
these are the old terms used during The war ha
would make two successive wheels with the
Aestu oi the column and then march past the