The American Civil War was the first great conflict of the industrial age and developed many of the technological, economic and political features that were to transform later warfare. Superior military leadership enabled the weaker Confederacy to keep the Union forces at bay for four years, but ultimately Napoleon’s aphorism that ‘God is on the … Read more
Union leaders were initially reluctant to establish ethnically based units but were soon swayed by the attractions of enhanced Irish recruitment to a brigade with its own Irish commanders. Significantly, Irish involvement meant the acceptance—for the first time in American life—of a large Catholic force. The brigade’s chief chaplain, Fr William Corby (later president of … Read more
About 30,000 Irishmen fought with the Confederacy, predominantly infantrymen who saw combat against fellow countrymen without giving quarter. Most responded to the call-up for a meagre wage ($8 a month) and probably had no strong convictions. Many had been wharf and dock workers in New Orleans and other southern ports. As Catholics they had found … Read more