The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1917-09-07
SPIRIT OF mEAGlE3ER INSPIRES FDGG1T0MG IRISH
REGIMENT WHICH SOON WILL LEAVE OR FRANCE

Somewhere beneath the shifting
sands of the Missouri river, below
Wind-ribbed bar or, perhaps, Graded
between moldering driftlogs of cot
tonWood in some green bend where
the young willows and quaking as
pens whisper through enchanted
summers and their naked boughs
shiver as they are dashed by the Win
ter blasts from the bad lands, lie the
mortal remains of General Thomas
Francis Meagher, once territorial sec
rotary and acting governor of Mon
tana and the greatest soldier the
state ever knew.
But if, as many believe, the spirits
of those who have crossed to that in
visible world are wont to haunt the
scenes which in life held the greatest
appeal for them, surely the ghost of
-"Meagher of the Sword" today is
restlessly lowering about spot in
New York City, where, amid hurried
preparations for war and battle, his
memory is often present among the
officers and men OF regiment which
for half century has held his name
in reverence, at whose regimental
banquets it is the custom to drink
silent toast TO MS memory.
1t is at the regimental armory Of
New York's famous "Fighting Sixty
NINTH" the celebrated irish regiment
that led most of the desperate charg-
es of Meagher's brigade through the
fiercest fighting of the civil war, that
the very air seems surcharged with
an air of martial eagerness which re-
fleets the spirit of Meagher. for the
men are rapidly completing their ar
rangements for embarking for
France, and all the traditions of the
past are arising to inspire determine
alton to equal on the fields of Europe
the deeds of valor that made the regi-
ment famous in the COS.
Captain Meagher as Fighter.
The Sixty-ninth regiment, with
which Meagher is so closely associat
ed in it's traditions, was organized Oc-
tober IL, 1851, by a number of in
dependent uniformed militia compan-
les in the city of New York. On No
vember 1 of that year it was formally
designated as the Sixty-ninth regi-
ment, New York state militia, under
the command of Colonel Charles S.
Roe. In 1868 it was reorganized as
a regiment of artillery. The majori-
ty of it's members were Irish, and the
phrase, Ninety per cent Irish," al
though not strictly true in later years
has chung to it ever since.
Michael Corcoran, live-wire Irish
man from County Sligo, who came to
New York in 1849, was made colonel
in 1859, and he, with Capt Thomas
Francis Meagher, gave the regiment
it's reputation as the "Fighting Six
ty-ninth." Colonel Corcoran, at the
outbreak of the civil war, was await
ing trial by court-martial for refusing
to order out his regiment to parade
in honor Of the visit of the Prince oil
Wales, the late King Edward, in
1860. The regiment had been de-
prived of it's colors, but had not dis
banded.
After Fort Sumpter was fired on
and the president issued his proclaim
alton for $4,000 men for three
months, Colonel Corcoran issued his
famous regimental order "to rally to
the support of the constitution and
the laws of the United States" He
sent word to the war department.
that, if the colors were restored he
would be ready to march with 1,000l
men at "a hours notice. The matter
was referred to Governor Morgan,
and he was broad-minded enough to
accept this patriotic offer. So the