The Irish standard., 1890-08-09
OF The IRISH TROOPS.
On Every Battlefield They Proved
Their Fidelity to the Stars
And Stripes. Il

g . u 4 .
Their Fidelity to the Stars
And Stripes.
| THE NEW YORK SIXTY-NlNTH
Performed Prodigies Of Valor and Dashed
Into the Enemy With the
Utmost Fury.
The following article describing the
bravery of the Irish merican troops In
the civil war and giving an estimate Of
the number of Catholic soldiers who
enlisted In the Union army we take
from the Monitor:
At Gettysburg what valor equal to
that displayed by the IRISH brigade?
Go read the inscriptions ON It's marble
monuments; they tell better than words
the history Of that bloody fight; and the
same may be said OF Chlcahominy, SpOtt
sylvania, charlottesville, Wilderness,
Lookout Mountain and Cedar Creek-in
fact, on every battlefield Yf the rebel
lion the Irish Catholic soldier sustained
his past reputation for yalor and proved
his fidelity to the Stars and Stripes with
an enthusiasm that the noble and gen.
erous heart of America will never for
get. What American has not heard Of
General Shields, the hero Of two wars.
Mexican and civil? Who has not felt
his Irish American Catholic blood
tlngle at the mention of the name of
General Michael Corcoran? Who
braver on a foaming charger than one:
armed Phil Kearney? and who were
more fearless or daring IN leading an
attack on the enemy's front than Cen
erals Mulligan, Sickles and Rosecrans?
What schoe1 boy to-day has not heard
of little Phil Sheridans See him as he
rides from Winchester to Cedar Creek
to turn defeat into victorYl Hear how
his charger snorts with eagerness as he
carries little Phil on to the field, as if he
aaould~say, If little Phil were here thls
would not happen!" What cheer is
that that issues from thousand Union
throats2 ''Phil Sheridan is here!'
Hear hum as he shouts, Face the other
way, bows; face the other way! We're
going back!' Face they did, and Early,
to use Sheridan's own expression. was
sent ''whirling uD the Shenandoah
Valley
But see Phil Sheridan in another
scene; see him as he lies on his bed Of
death, with the crucitx in his hands,
and the priest and the sisters around
him. Christian, Catholic as he was.
who quailed not from tie cannon's s
mouth. he who would charge with the
Stars and Stripes even to the mouth Of
hell, was now ready and willing to meet
his merciful God. He has served his
country we'll, and well NAV America
weep over his tomb to day. for America
had only one Phil Sheridan. Who will,
therefore, dare to doubt our love for
the banner Of America? This has been
left to us as an heirloom by our Catholic
ancestry; it has been deeply planted in
the innermost chambers Of our entire
being, and before we would surrender
or give it up the spirit Of '76 would
assert itself and we would rebel-we
would fight to death. We love that
flag. we have marched under that flag
for more than a century, marched and
never halted. We have fought for chat
flag, its folds baYe often drunk IN our
blood, and our line Of battle extends
from Lexington to App0mattox. We
are the sons Of veterans, we have drank
in liberty from our mothers breasts.
nor have we ever drank from the suck
ing bottle Of bigotry. We look with
pride on our long line of leaders, from
Carroll Of Carrollton to Sheridan; and
were 4 foreign foe or a traitor to insult
or pull down that flag we would be the
first to shoot him on the spot.
CATHOLIC SOLDIERS IN THE WAR.
Rev. z. r. Cooney, G. S. c., has COM
piled the following statistics of the
number Of Catholics who volunteered
on the N Northern side during the civil
war
81 'rhe population Of the United States
at the breaking out Of the late war IN
1861 was 81 44433 4443 .322.9 Eleven states re-
ballad with DODulatlon In r,ilnda