The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-24
THE GOTH
Banquet on Anniversary Of Regiments
Start for Front in 1901

The Veteran Corps of the Sixty-ninth
Regiment celebrated the forty-hfth an
n~iversary of the regiments departure for
the civil war by a dinner at Shanley's last
night. The regiment left for the war on
April %, 1881. Referring to the occasion.
the president, Col. j.. r. NJ. Shell, recalled
a half forgotten incident:
Several months prior to the outbreak
Of the war the present king of England,
then Prince of Wales. visited America, and
a great military parade was one of the
features of the demonstration in his honor
in New York city. The then Colonel, Michael
C~orcoran, refused TO turn his regiment out
for the parade, and the regiment, to a man,
voted to sustain him in his refusal.
"Corcoran was placed under arrest pend
ing a court-martial, but before he could
be placed on trial the war broke out. The
court-martial proceedings we're promptly
quashed, Corcoran was restored to his
command and the regiment was ordered to
the front. Its march down Broadway was
an event in the city's history. Seven times
the regiment found itself so depleted hat
it came back to recruit. From its ranks
sprang the men Of the Irish Brigade" and
the Irish, or Corcoran, Legion
bldRlS'Idlb DIt6u, WI va" 'ANC CHof
lain Of the regiment when military clergy
men we're scarce, was POSTMASTER. Among
the guests we're Municipal Court Justice
Tierney, Special Sessions Justice McAvoy,
| Magistrate Zeller, Judge O'Sullivan Of
General Sessions. Assistant Corporation
Counsel Dunno, Col. T. j. O'Donohue,
Major Coghlan Of the Ninth achusetts
Regiment. Thomas F. Gilleran, Thomas j.
D-.ao MApui1nor Anonau and the Raw NJ
S. Littleteld.
Mgr. Mooney spoke on The Irish In
America, Daniel f. Cohalan on The Irish
Nationalist Judge o'Sullivaq on The
Littlefeld on The American Soldier >
President Roosevelt sent a letter of regret,
as did Mayor Mcclellan. Magistrate Breen
also read, with considerable emotion. a
letter Of regret from Gen. Martin T. Mo-
Mshon; who died a few days ago; ,,. rno-
land, both as a financial and a military
power. was fast crumbling to. pieces, and
that the British Empire would be a thing
of the past within a generation. Then,
The veterans applauded vigorously. =,
Mgr. Mooney said in part; Il
wonder when the Irish were not in America.
There is great historic evidence hat as
early as the sixth century this continent
was visited by a great Irish navigator,
and a saint to boot, st. Brendan. And
in the ninth century it is almost certain
that Irish missionaries landed here and
founded what they called Greater Ireland
Even the Norsemen acknowledged tn at
they had been preceded by our ancestors,
for'it is a matter Of hist DRY that the earliest
Morse navigators said that, as far as they
could understand it, the inhabitants Of the
great Western continent spoke Irish. There
can be no question either that many hun
dreds, if not thousands, Of Irishmen, driven
from their own country by Cromwell, came
to New England. And 40 there was a CON
tinuous stream Of Irishmen here long before
the Revolutionary period. Half of Wash
ington's army was of Irish descent
dThe very first commander Of an Ameri-
can ship was Jack Barry of Wexford. He
was the man who. when offered the COM
mand Of an English ship, replied that not
for all England's treasury would he [f'
his hand against his country. He was the
father Of the American navy.
1T behooves us, then, to treasure In gu
hearts the tradition Of our fathers, the
men who fought and died for Ireland anc
for the United States. And the more greer
we keep this tradition in our hearts the
better Americans and the better lrishmer
shall we be-"