Irish Brigade officers at Gettysburg

rpkennedy

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63rd New York

Lieutenant Colonel Richard C. Bentley (WIA)
Adjutant Miles McDonald
Quartermaster James J. McCormick

Company A: Captain Thomas Touhy, 1st Lt. Patrick Chambers, 2nd Lt. Thomas K. Joyce
Company B: Captain James D. Brady, 1st Lt. Edward Lee, 2nd Lt. Dominick Connolly (captured)

Due to very heavy casualties since the previous autumn, the New York and Pennsylvania regiments in the brigade were consolidated into battalions in June 1863. The excess officers (and a handful of sergeants who were up for promotion to lieutenant) were mustered out of the service.

Colonel Henry Fowler was still recovering from the wound that he suffered at Antietam and would be discharged from the service on July 4, 1863.

Ryan
 
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69th New York

Adjutant James J. Smith
Quartermaster Dennis F. Sullivan

Company A: Captain James E. McGee, 1st Lt. Bernard S. O'Neill, 2nd Lt. Luke Brennan
Company B: Captain Richard Moroney (WIA), 1st Lt. John Dillon Mulhall, 2nd Lt. Soucoth Mansergh

Captain Richard Moroney commanded the battalion at Gettysburg and Lt. James J. Smith took over after Moroney's wounding.

Ryan
 
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88th New York

Colonel Patrick Kelly (commanded the brigade)
Adjutant William McClelland (KIA)
Quartermaster Patrick M. Haverty

Company A: Captain Dennis F. Burke, 1st Lt. Thomas H. O'Brien, 2nd Lt. Patrick McCabe
Company B: Captain Patrick Ryder, 1st Lt. Charles M. Grainger (WIA), 2nd Lt. William L.D. O'Grady

Captain Dennis F. Burke commanded the battalion at Gettysburg.

Ryan
 
116th Pennsylvania

Major St. Clair A. Mulholland
Adjutant Garrett Nowlen
Quartermaster Richard H. Wade

Company A: Captain Seneca G. Willauer, 2nd Lt. George Roeder
Company B: Captain Francis T. Quinlan, 1st Lt. Francis E. Crawford, 2nd Lt. Thomas A. Dorwart
Company C: Captain John Teed (captured), 1st Lt. Henry D. Price, 2nd Lt. William H. Tyrell
Company D: 1st Lt. Louis J. Sacriste, 2nd Lt. William H. Bibighaus (I'm guessing that this is a poor transcription)

Ryan
 
63rd New York

Lieutenant Colonel Richard C. Bentley (WIA)
Adjutant Miles McDonald
Quartermaster James J. McCormick

Company A: Captain Thomas Touhy, 1st Lt. Patrick Chambers, 2nd Lt. Thomas K. Joyce
Company B: Captain James D. Brady, 1st Lt. Edward Lee, 2nd Lt. Dominick Connolly (captured)

Due to very heavy casualties since the previous autumn, the New York and Pennsylvania regiments in the brigade were consolidated into battalions in June 1863. The excess officers (and a handful of sergeants who were up for promotion to lieutenant) were mustered out of the service.

Colonel Henry Fowler was still recovering from the wound that he suffered at Antietam and would be discharged from the service on July 4, 1863.

Ryan
Thanks for posting this information on the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg. Can I ask the source of this info and if you have a list of officers of the 28th Massachusetts? Did your source of information for the 116th PA come from the Pennsylvania Memorial on the battlefield? Thanks, Scott
 
Thanks for posting this information on the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg. Can I ask the source of this info and if you have a list of officers of the 28th Massachusetts? Did your source of information for the 116th PA come from the Pennsylvania Memorial on the battlefield? Thanks, Scott

The information on the 116th Pennsylvania comes from Samuel P. Bates' History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers which includes compiled rosters. They are mostly complete but there are some errors, especially in regards to spelling.

I've never found a reliable and complete set of rosters for Massachusetts regiments that is readily available online like I have for other states so I've never sat and compiled my own for the 28th.

Ryan
 
@rpkennedy
It has been my impression for many years that the 88th New York had a portion of its membership that had been members of the 88th Infantry Regt. of the British Army, (I believe referred to as the Connacht Rangers). And that as a result the 88th was the best drilled Regt. in the Brigade and one of the better drilled in the AOP.

If that was the case, I further believe that the number 88 was sought after by the regiments original leadership.

I have never been able to determine if any of this is true and can't remember where I would have come across this information. I wondered if you had any thoughts or opinions in this regard

Thank you very much, John
 
I got called away for a couple of days and won't be able to answer you until Friday. Please accept my apology for that!

John
 
@rpkennedy
It has been my impression for many years that the 88th New York had a portion of its membership that had been members of the 88th Infantry Regt. of the British Army, (I believe referred to as the Connacht Rangers). And that as a result the 88th was the best drilled Regt. in the Brigade and one of the better drilled in the AOP.

If that was the case, I further believe that the number 88 was sought after by the regiments original leadership.

I have never been able to determine if any of this is true and can't remember where I would have come across this information. I wondered if you had any thoughts or opinions in this regard

Thank you very much, John

I don't remember having read that but I can look into it. I would be surprised if that was the case since the 88th was formed from two partially recruited regiments which is why it is also known as the 5th Irish Brigade Regiment (it was a consolidation of the 2nd and 4th Regiments).

For background, the 69th New York was the 1st Regiment and the 63rd New York was the 3rd.

Ryan
 
I just did a quick look and found that the Connaught Rangers was a designation for the 87th New York which itself was organized from the consolidation of several units including the Washington Zouaves, the Brooklyn Rifles, and several individual companies meant for other regiments.

Ryan
 
Are we correct in assuming that due to attrition there were by then only TWO companies in the 63rd, 69th, and 88th N.Y. and four in the 116th Pa.? (As I remember there were only a hundred or so left in the 69th and fewer than 200 in the other two N.Y. regments.)
 
Are we correct in assuming that due to attrition there were by then only TWO companies in the 63rd, 69th, and 88th N.Y. and four in the 116th Pa.? (As I remember there were only a hundred or so left in the 69th and fewer than 200 in the other two N.Y. regments.)

That is correct. After Chancellorsville, the New York regiments were reorganized into 2 company battalions, took their pick of the officers, and discharged all of the others. Some of these officers would rejoin the regiments when they were brought back up to strength by the spring of 1864 but some never returned to the field. A handful would join other regiments that were organizing in the summer of 1863 as well.

Ryan
 
Ryan, what have you found concerning (1st Lieutenant?) Jacob R. Moore of Company D, 116th Pennsylvania? Mulholland listed him as being detailed to the staff of Gen. Birney, and also as being wounded at Gettysburg, but I am unable to confirm either assertion.

By the way, a detailed description of the campaign was provided by Joseph W. Yocum of Company C, 116th Pennsylvania, in a July 16 letter to his parents (Weber State College, Special Collections, Ogden, Utah). Yocum wrote, "Capt. Teed is missing. He is supposed to be a prisoner in their hands, as the burying party of the brigade did not find him anywhere. I hope it is so."
 
Ryan, what have you found concerning (1st Lieutenant?) Jacob R. Moore of Company D, 116th Pennsylvania? Mulholland listed him as being detailed to the staff of Gen. Birney, and also as being wounded at Gettysburg, but I am unable to confirm either assertion.

By the way, a detailed description of the campaign was provided by Joseph W. Yocum of Company C, 116th Pennsylvania, in a July 16 letter to his parents (Weber State College, Special Collections, Ogden, Utah). Yocum wrote, "Capt. Teed is missing. He is supposed to be a prisoner in their hands, as the burying party of the brigade did not find him anywhere. I hope it is so."

Pennsylvania's records for Lt. Moore are sketchy at best. According to the records, Lt. Moore was made a 1st Lt. when he enlisted in August 1862 and remained at that rank until he was discharged in January 1864 but other officers in the company also served as 1st lieutenants so he was clearly away from the regiment. Looking at some correspondence, I found a Lieutenant Moore who is serving as the Third Corps ambulance officer and volunteer aide-de-camp on General Birney's staff. I've found nothing of his having been wounded at Gettysburg but that would explain his discharge the following January.

Ryan
 
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Pennsylvania's records for Lt. Moore are sketchy at best. According to the records, Lt. Moore was made a 1st Lt. when he enlisted in August 1862 and remained at that rank until he was discharged in January 1864 but other officers in the company also served as 1st lieutenants so he was clearly away from the regiment. Looking at some correspondence, I find a Lieutenant Moore who is serving as the corps ambulance officer and volunteer aide-de-camp on General Birney's staff. I've found nothing of his having been wounded at Gettysburg but that would explain his discharge the following January.

Ryan

Found Jacob Ridgway Moore: https://geneagraphie.com/getperson.php?personID=I514099&tree=1

His name does not appear in official records for Gettysburg, but that is not unusual for ambulance officers. As a 1st Lieutenant I surmise he served under Birney in his capacity as a division commander. It does not appear Moore was wounded at Gettysburg, but if he was, it may have been a minor wound.
 
@rpkennedy
It has been my impression for many years that the 88th New York had a portion of its membership that had been members of the 88th Infantry Regt. of the British Army, (I believe referred to as the Connacht Rangers). And that as a result the 88th was the best drilled Regt. in the Brigade and one of the better drilled in the AOP.

If that was the case, I further believe that the number 88 was sought after by the regiments original leadership.

I have never been able to determine if any of this is true and can't remember where I would have come across this information. I wondered if you had any thoughts or opinions in this regard

Thank you very much, John

According to a 1902 write-up of the regiment, it was written that about a third of the regiment consisted of old British army veterans, many of whom served in the 88th Regiment of Foot, an Irish regiment based in Connaught which led to their designation of the 88th New York Infantry. That said, none of the field and staff officers served in the British army that I've been able to find although there is some evidence about there being some veterans of the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny in the regiment. I just can't confirm any numbers.

Ryan
 
Found Jacob Ridgway Moore: https://geneagraphie.com/getperson.php?personID=I514099&tree=1

His name does not appear in official records for Gettysburg, but that is not unusual for ambulance officers. As a 1st Lieutenant I surmise he served under Birney in his capacity as a division commander. It does not appear Moore was wounded at Gettysburg, but if he was, it may have been a minor wound.

I'm curious to see how a Second Corps line officer ended up as a volunteer aide to a Third Corps division commander.

Lt. John Pancoast, ambulance officer for the 110th Pennsylvania described Lt. Moore as the corps ambulance officer who was apparently giving orders to various ambulance and train officers all over the field at Chancellorsville. General Sickles commented on his good service (as well as a number of other officers) in his report.

Ryan
 
I'm ignorant on this question, so I'll ask you experts. Any idea of the % of Irish or Direct Irish ancestry in the Irish Brigade, say just before Fredricksburg?
 
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