page_title: Irish Brigade (Union Army)
section_title: American Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: Irish Brigade (Union Army) / American Civil War
caption_attribution_description: Saint Patrick's Day celebration, Army of the Potomac, American Civil War. Irish Brigade holds a steeplechase race.
context_page_description: The Irish Brigade was an infantry brigade, consisting predominantly of Irish Americans, that served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. The designation of the first regiment in the brigade, the 69th New York Infantry, or the "Fighting 69th", continued in later wars. The Irish Brigade was known in part for its famous war cry, the "Faugh a Ballaugh", which is an anglicization of the Irish phrase, fág an bealach, meaning "clear the way". According to Fox's Regimental Losses, of all Union army brigades, only the 1st Vermont Brigade and Iron Brigade suffered more combat dead than the Irish Brigade during America's Civil War.
context_section_description: Col. Corcoran was in the process of being court-martialed when the Civil War erupted. As the Army needed as many men at arms as quickly as possible, the charges were dropped and the Army rushed the 69th to Virginia.
  At the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas), the regiment served under the command of Colonel William T. Sherman, and was one of the few Union regiments to retain cohesion after the defeat, despite the wounding and capture of Col. Corcoran by Confederate forces. The 69th served as the Army of the Potomac's rear guard during the disorganized retreat to the defenses of Washington.
  After Bull Run, Thomas Francis Meagher, the Captain of Company K, applied to have the 69th New York Volunteer Militia reorganized into Federal service as the core unit of a larger brigade composed predominantly of Irish immigrants. Meagher was promoted to brigadier general and designated the brigade's commander. Before the war, he was a leading agitator for Irish independence from Britain. A visible participant in the failed Rebellion of 1848, he was afterward tried and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment in Australia, but he escaped to San Francisco CA). Gen. Meagher's battle sword, made by Tiffany & Co,  is now on permanent exhibit at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
  Leaders of the Federal Government were reluctant to form ethnically based brigades, which would undermine the notion of a Union. However, by mid-1861 the formation of an ethnically based, Irish brigade served two purposes for the North. First of all, it warned Britain (which appeared to be favoring the Confederacy, or at least openly deliberating its entry into the conflict on their behalf) that there could be Union-supported consequences in Ireland if Britain intervened (most of the brigade's leadership were known Irish revolutionaries). Secondly, it served to solidify Irish support for the Union. Many Irish were divided between supporting the Confederate States in their struggles for independence or to preserve the Union, which gave the Irish a set of rights and freedoms under the Constitution but which they had to struggle to obtain. There were also concerns by some Irish about a flood of freed slaves migrating north and competing for the lowly jobs for which they already had to scrabble. An ethnically based brigade would thus solidify the support of the largest Catholic minority for the Union cause. Several officers were permitted to purchase and carry non-regulation model 1850 Staff and Field officer's swords bearing a large four-leaf clover pierced into the hand guard.  Having their own paid Catholic chaplains within the brigade implied a social acceptance for Irish Catholics which had eluded them in the antebellum period.  Their head chaplain was Fr. William Corby, CSC, a Holy Cross priest and future president of the University of Notre Dame.  He became famous for his giving general absolution to the troops of the Irish Brigade before the Battle of Gettysburg.
  The Irish Brigade distinguished itself from the rest of the Army of the Potomac by Meagher's insistence on arming the 8 line companies of each NY regiment with Model 1842 smoothbore muskets, an obsolete weapon that was largely phased out during 1862, because he wanted his men to be able to fire buck-and-ball shot (a .69 caliber musket ball with four smaller balls), which produced a shotgun effect in close-range combat and could not be used with rifles. The three original New York regiments carried Model 1842 muskets all through the AoP's campaigns and battles in 1862–63, using buck-and-ball shot with deadly effect in the Wheatfield on July 2 at Gettysburg.  The 2 Light companies of each NY regiment were issued with either Springfield or Enfield rifles and with these sniped at Pettigrew's command during Pickett's Charge. The 28th Massachusetts (which joined in October 1862) had Enfield rifles and were with the 6 company NY "light Battalion" often detailed for skirmishing duty.
  Meagher assumed his brigade would perform most fighting at close range where smoothbore
caption: Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the Army of the Potomac.  Depicts a steeplechase race among the Irish Brigade, March 17, 1863, by Edwin Forbes.  Digitally restored.
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