The Irish standard., 1892-06-25
THE SIXTY NINTH
The Brave Irish Volunteers Whose
Battle Cry was "Remember
Fontenoy."
THE CRACK N. Y. REGIMENT
Fought at Bull Run, Malvern Hill,
Antietam, Fredericksburg
and Gettysburg.


Antietam, Fredericksburg
and Gettysburg.
Had all the volunteer regiments of tn
civil war which were distinguished in tht
recruiting camps as ''crack" organization,
maintained their barrack celebrity aftel
entering the fight, the cruel contlic
must have ended long before it did
Sheer lack Of enemies to overcome would
have spoiled the occupation of those
doughty fellows who we're expected tx
hew way through liv ng breastworkt
straight from the Potomac aud the Big
Sandy to the Gulf. But it is the fortune
of war that all cannot be great. To the
majority the bubble reputation breaks
and is gone before eager hands can toss
it in the air to be seen of I'LL men. Those
who built great hopes on the Sixty ninth
New York volunteers, however, never
had cause to regret their enthusiasm.
The Sixty ninth volunteers sprane
from that old Sixty ninth militia, which
fell into disgrace for refusing to parade
at the Prince of Wales reception in 1858
Irish to the backbone in their hatred OF
England, but not less SO in their love
for their adopted country, when Lincoln
called for militia troops in April, 1861,
they asked to be purged of contempt FOR
insubordination in order that they
might march 20 the defense OF Washing
ton. On April 20 the charges against
their colonel. Michael Corcoran, were
di dismissed, and three days later the regi
ment with overhowing ranks started for
the capital. The order for transporta,
tion called for 1000 men, but over !, soc
were borne on the rolls, and the display
they made. marching down Broadway
was unique even for those days The
city was carried away with excitement,
and their line Of march was almost car
peted with bouquets flung at them from
windows, balconies, pavements and even
housetops. The column was headed by a
banner drawn by four horses, bearing
the motto: "Sixty-ninth! Remember
Fontenoy."
Soon after the regiment reached Vir-
ginia it was joined by company of boy
Zouaves, known as the "Meagher
Guards" and led by the famous Irish
patriot, Thomas Francis Meagher. The
Sixty-ninth made spirited charge at
Bull Run-the men impetuously strip
ping off their knapsacks in order to have
free swing, and came out minis the colo
nel captured, the ieutenant-colonel
killed, and La loss altogether Of 1872. The
killed outright were 80, the second high
est in the battle. Capt. Meagher led the
regiment home, and was the hero OF
the hour. His Zouave company, in
bright red uniform, had been conspicu
GUS at Bull Run, and one of his men,
John d. Keefe, had brought off the
green flag after the first bearer had been
shot down. Keefe was himself wounded
while defending the banner. After his
musket had been torn from his hands he
shot down two assallants with revolver,
and made another one prisoner.
After Bull Run the foodgates OF
eulogy and adulation we're again opened,
and the new Sixty-n1nthr formed from a
nucleus of the military regiment, took
the field handicapped with a reputation
that only the fercest heat of battle could
bring to a proper temper. It was the
current notion that three commands had
done the execution at Bull Run-the
Black Horse cavalry and the louisiana
Tigers on the southern side and the Irish
Sixty ninth on the northern. Meagher
became colonel of the regiment, and in
accepting it's services for three years the
war department. suggested the formation
of brigade composed entirely of Irish
mon. The idea spread like wildfire; re-
cruiting began i New York, Massachu-
setts, Pennsylvania and the west, and in
few weeks the Slxty-ninth volunteers.
75O strong, marched down Broadway
under span new banner Of green, bear
ing Erin's we'll known symbols
harp, the sunburst and the shamrock.
The vanguard Of numberless battaliona
Of Irish heroes, the new regiment was
destined not only to lead that fighting
! raea in thy contest for GLORY nnOn Amari
can battlefields, but to stand number
one among 300 regiments sent out by
the Empire State when the roll Of honor
should be made up from an actual count
Of the killed in battle. Needless to say
that q hot place would be reserved foz
the alien band with the challenging bat,
tie cry, Remember Fontenoy e
The Sixty-ninth was soon followed by