Fighting Irish of the Civil War

It wasn't long after the Civil War began that Lincoln knew he was in for a fight. For the North to prevail, it would need the efforts of its immigrants. The Irish Brigade was the brainchild of a charismatic revolutionary, Thomas Francis Meagher, who years ago in Ireland was sentenced to death by the English and later exiled to Australia. Embraced by Irish Americans as a rebel, Meagher rallied his people and they flocked to the Union banner. For the first 18 months of the Civil War, they fought with remarkable courage in battle after battle.

Their valor in fighting for the Union had won the Irish Brigade the admiration of friend and foe alike, but the battle scars were showing. Overcome by the body count, Brigadier General Thomas Francis Meagher resigned, leaving their chaplain, William Corby, to provide leadership and guidance. And they would need it. Severe casualties in Fredericksburg and Gettysburg crippled the Brigade, but never their spirit. By the time the war was over, the Irish Brigade cemented its legend, going down in history as one of America's greatest fighting forces.