The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-05-07
WON FAME In THE CIVIL WAR
Some of the Fighting Regiments
Important Battles.
STORMING OF MARYES HEIGHTS
Where the Most Notable Record
Was Made.

The crack Seventh, the pet and pride
Of the metropolis, and the gallant
Fighting Sixty-ninth" regiments, now on
the qui vive, have made history before.
At Antietam and bloody Gettysburg the
Sixty-ninth fought like devils incarn-
ate," said the officers in command or the
federal forces, says a New York ex-
change
The gallant Sixty-ninth regiment first
acquired distinction when under Colonel
Michael Corcoran's command it refused
to parade for the Prince of Wales on
his visit to New York.
1t was engaged in all the big battles
of the civil war, and gained an epviable
record for dash and tenacity. Organized
IN October, 1851, it promptly volunteered
and went to the front April 26, 1861. On
its return from three months service
large number of the regiment volunteered
for three years forming the nucleus of the
slxty-ninth regiment volunteers and The
famous Irish brigade. Then, too, the Irish
Legion, raised by Colonel mike" Cor
coran, comprised many Sixty-ninth reg
TRENT fighters. In all, nearly 1000 men
saw active service in and through the
SiXty-ninth regiment
Of the regiment proper, 572 were
wounded and 1G2 killed outright, includ-
ing many officers.
Among the engagements where the
regiment is specifically mentioned in or
ders and reports were Ream's station,
capture of Petersburg, June 16, 1S and
%, 1864; Windsor, Vaughan's Road,
Spcttsylvania, where company H distin-
guished itself by stubborn fighting and
irresistible assaults; Blackwater, Edmon-
ton Road, Deep Bottom, Blackburn's
Ford, Amelia Court House, Boynton
Road, Tolopotomy, Glover Hill, Antiet-
am, where time and again the cornfield
was crossed and recrossed, until night
made friends and foes indistinguishable;
Hatcher's run, Strawberry Plain, Marye's
Heights, where the stone wall was as
saulted nine times before being won;
Fredericksburg, Deserted House, North
Anna and First Bull Run.
Tho regiment left the state Nov. 1S,
1861, the second time it was mustered in,
served at Fort Corcoran, D. c., for a
time, then was attached to the First
Brigade, Summers division, Army of the
Potomac, from December, 1861; in the
Second Brigade, Richardson's First divis-
ion, Second corps, Army of the Potomac,
from March, 1862, and was honorably
discharged and mustered out, under Col
onel Nugent, June 80, 1865, near Alex
andria, Va.
Only few of it's veterans are living,
but Colonel James Cavanagh, Colonel Nu-
gent, Captain O'Connell, of company G.,
are among those who may be persuaded
to tell of some of the deeds Of personal
gallantry performed by members of the
fighting Sixty-ninth.'
The old armorer, Carr, said: Sure,
there were not many regiments saw
harder service and it would take roster
of the whole lot to tell who the heroes
were. The records will show what fight
ing was done. At Peach Orchard we had
10S killed and wounded and forty-eight
men missing. On another day. in the as
saults on fredericksburg "a were killed;
81 were wounded and a dozen missing.
At Spottslvania Court House, in May,
1864, we lost 1872 men and the dead,
wounded, missing and captured at Pet
ersburg ran up to 179. At Antietam "A
officers and men were killed and 152
wounded, twenty-seven of them dying
frcm injuries received. That was the
worst loss sustained or any one day.
''It was the storming of Marye's
Heights perhaps that the boys made their
most notable record. No less than eight
times were they led up to the stone wall
the Confederates were holding, and back
they were forced But they kept at it
over and over again, and the ninth time
they drove them back. Just as the color
bearer climbed up the wall the flag was
euoI oo"u. CdH teIl Ills Haliie, DuL lie
was surely a hero, and, anyway, some
body picked up the colcrs and dragged
them over the wall
''Then at Antietam the Sixty-ninth
fought like madmen. Behind thicket
were the louisiana Tigers. Now, they
were half Irish, too, and for six mortal
hours We banged away, fertilfzing that
stubby cornfield with good Irish blood.
It's hard to sec where things would
have stopped If VIC hadn't won before
the ammunition gave out. Colonel Lynch,
Captain O'Conncll, brave mike Cor
coran, Colonel CayanaGh and others did