Irish-Americans Remembered On The Battlefields
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and it only seems right to nod the kepis respectfully to the Irish-Americans who fought on both sides during the American Civil War.
From the Emerging Civil War editors’ photo collections, here are a couple photos of the Union Army of the Potomac’s Irish Brigade memorials at Antietam and Gettysburg. Let us know if you have a favorite Irish-American memorial on a battlefield, and we’ll try to get a shot the next time we’re in the fields.
Best of luck to you and yours this fine day, and don’t drink too much whiskey before the horse race! (If you’re not familiar with the 1863 St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the Army of the Potomac, you can find the details here on Irish-American Civil War.)
Images displayed as a gallery; click on a photo to enlarge.
Looking for some additional historical posts about the Irish and the American Civil War? We’ve got a few from our own archives:
Thinking About The Irish Brigade At Antietam
“Oh It Was A Terrible Day”: The Irish Brigade At Fredericksburg
My Favorite Historical Person: Thomas Francis Galwey
Gone For A Soldier: Journeys Of Irish American Music & Patriotism
Thanks for posting a photo of the statue honoring William Corby, C.S.C., Irish Brigade Chaplain and second President of the University of Notre Dame du lac. Tthe replica on campus is known as “Fair Catch Corby”. He died in 1897, 10 years after the school played its first football game, so he might have been okay with the nickname.