Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-12-17


And night came down upon the field
To end the bloody game.
The next day, little after sunrise,
every officer and man of the brigade,
able again to take the field, recrossed to
Fredericksburg and took up the same
position which we had occupied previous
to the advance, prepared and eager,
notwithstanding their exhausted num-
bers and conditions, to support the
Ninth Corps in the renewal of the as
sault of the previous day. Of the 1000
l had led into action the day before 2s0
only appeared on that ground that
morning.
Thick lay the slain, like sheaves of
grain,
Mattered by battle-guns.
y
And in their caps, unwithered still,
They found sprigs of green.
This remnant of the Irish brigade
unnerved and undeterred, still full of
heart, still wearing the evergreen, in
spired by glowing sense of duty, sor-
rowful for their comrades, but embold-
ened and elated by the thought that
they had fallen with the proud bravery
they did-this noble little remnant
awaited the order that was once more to
precipitate them against the batteries of
the enemy.
Gen. Hancock, in his official report of
the battle of Fredericksburg, thus tells
of the Irish brigade: "The strength of
this brigade when the action was COM
menced was ninety-two officers and 1923
enlisted men. Its loss was fifty-three
commissioned officers and 4SS men,"
Col, Robert Nugent, severely wounded,
commanding the Sixty-ninth, conducted
his troops with his usual spirit, and was
making a final effort to advance when
he was shot His regiment had nine
teen commissioned officers and 2I9 en-
listed men when the attack was made.
Its loss was sixteen officers wounded and
l12 enlisted men killed and wounded.
This gallant regiment was marched off
the field by its fourth commander that
day, the three senior commanders having
been wounded.
Col. Patrick Kelly, commanding the
Eighty-eighth New York Volunteers,
was active and resolute, as he always is,
and, with his regiment, performed their
usual good service. The eighty-eighth
numbered twenty-three officers and 229
enlisted men when the assault COM
menced, of which it lost twelve officers
and ll5 men killed and wounded.
Col Dennis Heenan, commanding the
One Hundred and Sixteenth Penn
svlvania Volunteers was severely wound =,
ed. His regiment suffered heavily, and,
although comparatively young in the
service, behaved handsomely. This regi-
ment marched on the field with seven
teen officers and 280 men. Its loss was
twelve officers and seventy-seven men
killed and wounded. The fourth officer
in command during the battle brought
the regiment off the field, the others be-
ing disabled.
Col. Richard Byrnes, commanding the
Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, entered
the action with sixteen officers and 400
men, of whom seven officers and 149
men were killed and wounded.
Major Joseph O'Neill, commanding the
Sixty-third New York, numbered seven
teen officers and las men. Its loss was
seven officers and thirty-seven men
killed and wounded.
Gen. Robert +. Lee thus adds his tes-
timony to the valor of the Irish soldiers
at Fredericksburg:
Clerbourne, on our side, inherited the
intrepidity of his race. On field of bat
tie he shone like a meteor in a clouded
sky! AS dashing military man he was
all virtue; single vice did not stain him
as a warrior. His generosity and benev-
olence had no limits. The care which he
took of the fortunes of his officers and
soldiers. from the greatest to the least,
was incessant. His integrity was pro-
verbal, and his modesty was an equally
conspicuous trait in his character.
Meagher, on the Federal side, though |
not Clerbourne's equal in military gen.
ius, rivaled him in bravery and in the
affections of his soldiers. The gallant
stand which his bold brigade made on
the heights of Fredericksburg is we'll |
known Never were men so brave. They |
ennobled their race by their splendid |
gallantry on that desperate occasion.
Though totally routed, they reaped har-
vests of glory. Their brilliant though |
hopeless assaults on our lines excited the
hearty applause of our officers and SOL
diers.
To the Irish brigade, says Moore, in |
his Record of the Rebellion" COM |
manded by Gen. Meagher, was princi-
pally committed the desperate task of
bursting out of the town of Fredencks- |
burg, and forming, under the whitening
FIRE of the Confederate batteries. to at |
tack Marye's Heights, towering immedi- |
ately in their front.
Never at Fontenoy, Albuera or at
Waterloo" said the correspondent of |
the London Times, 'was more un-
doubted courage displayed by the
sons of Erin than during those six
frantic dashes which they directed |
against the almost impregnable position
a.. + r.