88th New York Infantry The 88th New York Infantry was a volunteer regiment in the Union Army ' s Irish Brigade during the American Civil War . History . 1861 . The regiment was mustered into service in the autumn of 1861 at Fort Schuyler in New York when the government approved the commissioning of an Irish Brigade . Its men were gathered in the states of New York and New Jersey from the various Irish masses of those states . In the beginning , the 88th was not one regiment , but two . One regiment was originally the 2nd New York Infantry , the other , the 4th , respectively under command of a Colonel Baker and Colonel Thomas F . Meagher , future commander of the entire brigade . The two colonels finally reached an agreement that the two regiments should be combined into one . When the issue arose of what number the regiment would be given , many arguments began over it . The men eventually settled on the number 88 , in honor of the British Army ' s 88th Connaught Rangers , a unit composed of Irishmen , also where many of the now American troops received their training . In December of that year , the unit left Fort Schuyler for Virginia . At the time of departure , the unit contained 880 men and officers . Once in Virginia , they made camp for the winter until the next year . 1862 . In 1862 , the 88th officially joined the Army of the Potomac and fought in the Seven Days Battles , Antietam , and Fredericksburg . Seven Days Battles . The 88th fought at the battles of Gaines Mill , Glendale , Savage ' s Station , and Malvern Hill during the Seven Days Battles in Virginia . Antietam . At the Battle of Antietam , the Irish Brigade was one of the many brigades to charge the famous " Bloody Lane , " a road that was sunken down into the ground over years of use , now held by two Confederate brigades . The whole Irish Brigade was armed that day with M1842 . 69 caliber smoothbore muskets loaded with buck and ball . The Irish Brigade did not break the Confederate line at the Bloody Lane , but fired round after round of the deadly buck - and - ball into the Confederate troops until exhausting their ammunition . The 88th and the rest of the Irish Brigade suffered 60 % casualties that day . Fredericksburg . Again , the 88th New York and the Irish Brigade would storm a heavily fortified position , this time being the hills above Fredericksburg , VA , known as Marye ' s Heights . The brigade was led forward by Brig . Gen . Thomas Meagher and sent forth upon the Confederate works . The 88th and their fellow Irishmen were some of the men that made it closest to their objective of the Confederate works . The 88th and the brigade were sent reeling back down the hill under unspeakably devastating artillery and small - arms fire . The Battle of Fredericksburg was again a grim day for the 88th . They suffered dozens upon dozens of casualties . 1863 . By 1863 , the regiments numbers had greatly decreased . The men had gone from nearly 900 men to about 50 in only two years . Gettysburg . At Gettysburg , the 88th fought with the rest of the Irish Brigade , at that time under the command of Patrick Kelly in the John C . Caldwell ' s division of Winfield Scott Hancock ' s II Corps . On the second day of battle , General Hancock ordered Caldwell ' s division to reinforce General Daniel Sickles ' s III Corps at the Wheatfield , Devil ' s Den , and the Peach Orchard . The 88th New York and the rest of the Irish Brigade took up position at the Wheatfield and held against several attacks from Confederate General James Longstreet ' s corps . The 88th and the rest of the brigade eventually broke , but were later considered heroes for holding for so long . 1864 . By 1864 , the 88th had fought in many battles and their men were depleted . They launched a recruiting campaign that year and gained 400 more recruits . 1865 . At the end of the war in 1865 , the men had mustered out . The 88th was then known as the " Wolves of the Army of the Potomac . "