Member Review My Life in the Irish Brigade by William McCarter

James N.

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Asst. Regtl. Quartermaster Antietam 2021
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According to the blurb inside the dust jacket, "My Life in the Irish Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of Private William McCarter, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry", is a sweeping saga of his wartime service - the first full-length memoir ever published by an enlisted man in the Irish Brigade." This statement surprised me when one considers the legendary status of this, one of the two most famous Union units along with the Iron Brigade,. If this relatively short memoir - 266 pp. total, including Appendices, Notes and Index - has a serious flaw or drawback it's merely that its author's service was likewise of short duration: only from his enlistment in August, 1862 through the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of that year. He thereby unfortunately (for us, his readers) missed the Peninsula, Antietam, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness; nevertheless he offers a fascinating look at the workings of this unit and its decimation upon Marye's Heights.

The 116th Pennsylvania wasn't really an "Irish" unit, per se, but one that was combined with the brigade after Antietam to replace the serious losses incurred up until then. Among its recruits were many of Irish descent like McCarter who himself had immigrated to Philadelphia and was already a husband and father. McCarter's description of his first days in camp on Bolivar Heights outside Harpers Ferry depicts a fairly typical experience of a new recruit adjusting to army life. He also provides a look at a relatively "unknown" skirmish at nearby Charlestown that was the 116th's introduction to battle. One of the most interesting aspects of McCarter's service involved his relationship with brigade commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher; his introduction to Meagher occurred when he was on picket in the camp on Bolivar Heights and opportunely saved his drunken and tottering general from falling downhill into a large bonfire! He swears this was the only time he ever saw the general drunk, but for a time afterward Meagher sheepishly avoided him.

The ice between the two men was finally broken when budding author Meagher wished to send back to Ireland an account of his part in the war thus far, and McCarter was recommended to him for his superior penmanship. McCarter suffered from a bad stammer and had compensated for it through his writing, not really what we would call calligraphy, but rather beautiful printing that resembled type or lithography. For his work, McCarter was handsomely rewarded by Meagher who also praised his work to fellow officers. This resulted also in his being detailed to headquarters as a clerk, a position he occupied only briefly; indeed he was ordered to remain behind during the fateful assault on Marye's Heights but disobeyed in the manner of many other volunteer soldiers who feared they would be branded shirkers by their fellows.

One of the most interesting chapters deals with McCarter's personal introduction to slavery in the area around Fredericksburg when he had the opportunity to visit with a family of slaves and their masters before the battle and came to some very surprising conclusions about the institution; I recommend this section alone for the insight it conveys. The real meat of the work, however, is McCarter's descriptions of the battle and his subsequent wounding and removal from the field after laying out in the elements for two nights. First he was taken to a ruined house in the city where he lay almost unattended in the attic for another couple of days before finally being evacuated back across the Rappahannock and thence to a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. It took many months of healing before McCarter was finally discharged to return to his wife and home in Philadelphia; he never completely recovered from his wound, although he survived until 1911, completing these reminiscences in 1879. The book is a wonderful look at the admittedly short service of a "typical" yet highly observant volunteer soldier in the Army of the Potomac and one of its most famous units. If read along with a book I previously reviewed - Hospital Sketches by Louisia May Alcott https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hospital-sketches-by-louisia-may-alcott.135220/ - the two would provide a very good idea of the suffering of the wounded and the travails of their caregivers in the wake of the memorable Battle of Fredericksburg. Highly recommended!

James N.
 
View attachment 143125

According to the blurb inside the dust jacket, "My Life in the Irish Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of Private William McCarter, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry", is a sweeping saga of his wartime service - the first full-length memoir ever published by an enlisted man in the Irish Brigade." This statement surprised me when one considers the legendary status of this, one of the two most famous Union units along with the Iron Brigade,. If this relatively short memoir - 266 pp. total, including Appendices, Notes and Index - has a serious flaw or drawback it's merely that its author's service was likewise of short duration: only from his enlistment in August, 1862 through the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of that year. He thereby unfortunately (for us, his readers) missed the Peninsula, Antietam, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness; nevertheless he offers a fascinating look at the workings of this unit and its decimation upon Marye's Heights.

The 116th Pennsylvania wasn't really an "Irish" unit, per se, but one that was combined with the brigade after Antietam to replace the serious losses incurred up until then. Among its recruits were many of Irish descent like McCarter who himself had immigrated to Philadelphia and was already a husband and father. McCarter's description of his first days in camp on Bolivar Heights outside Harpers Ferry depicts a fairly typical experience of a new recruit adjusting to army life. He also provides a look at a relatively "unknown" skirmish at nearby Charlestown that was the 116th's introduction to battle. One of the most interesting aspects of McCarter's service involved his relationship with brigade commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher; his introduction to Meagher occurred when he was on picket in the camp on Bolivar Heights and opportunely saved his drunken and tottering general from falling downhill into a large bonfire! He swears this was the only time he ever saw the general drunk, but for a time afterward Meagher sheepishly avoided him.

The ice between the two men was finally broken when budding author Meagher wished to send back to Ireland an account of his part in the war thus far, and McCarter was recommended to him for his superior penmanship. McCarter suffered from a bad stammer and had compensated for it through his writing, not really what we would call calligraphy, but rather beautiful printing that resembled type or lithography. For his work, McCarter was handsomely rewarded by Meagher who also praised his work to fellow officers. This resulted also in his being detailed to headquarters as a clerk, a position he occupied only briefly; indeed he was ordered to remain behind during the fateful assault on Marye's Heights but disobeyed in the manner of many other volunteer soldiers who feared they would be branded shirkers by their fellows.

One of the most interesting chapters deals with McCarter's personal introduction to slavery in the area around Fredericksburg when he had the opportunity to visit with a family of slaves and their masters before the battle and came to some very surprising conclusions about the institution; I recommend this section alone for the insight it conveys. The real meat of the work, however, is McCarter's descriptions of the battle and his subsequent wounding and removal from the field after laying out in the elements for two nights. First he was taken to a ruined house in the city where he lay almost unattended in the attic for another couple of days before finally being evacuated back across the Rappahannock and thence to a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. It took many months of healing before McCarter was finally discharged to return to his wife and home in Philadelphia; he never completely recovered from his wound, although he survived until 1911, completing these reminiscences in 1879. The book is a wonderful look at the admittedly short service of a "typical" yet highly observant volunteer soldier in the Army of the Potomac and one of its most famous units. If read along with a book I previously reviewed - Hospital Sketches by Louisia May Alcott https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hospital-sketches-by-louisia-may-alcott.135220/ - the two would provide a very good idea of the suffering of the wounded and the travails of their caregivers in the wake of the memorable Battle of Fredericksburg. Highly recommended!

James N.
McCarter is one of my favorites as well. We all know that wounded men often suffered for hours on battlefields, but reading McCarter's account was harrowing.

I also found McCarter's remiscinces of hospital life, particularly the care he receive from the nuns, as fascinating.
 
View attachment 143125

According to the blurb inside the dust jacket, "My Life in the Irish Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of Private William McCarter, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry", is a sweeping saga of his wartime service - the first full-length memoir ever published by an enlisted man in the Irish Brigade." This statement surprised me when one considers the legendary status of this, one of the two most famous Union units along with the Iron Brigade,. If this relatively short memoir - 266 pp. total, including Appendices, Notes and Index - has a serious flaw or drawback it's merely that its author's service was likewise of short duration: only from his enlistment in August, 1862 through the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of that year. He thereby unfortunately (for us, his readers) missed the Peninsula, Antietam, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness; nevertheless he offers a fascinating look at the workings of this unit and its decimation upon Marye's Heights.

The 116th Pennsylvania wasn't really an "Irish" unit, per se, but one that was combined with the brigade after Antietam to replace the serious losses incurred up until then. Among its recruits were many of Irish descent like McCarter who himself had immigrated to Philadelphia and was already a husband and father. McCarter's description of his first days in camp on Bolivar Heights outside Harpers Ferry depicts a fairly typical experience of a new recruit adjusting to army life. He also provides a look at a relatively "unknown" skirmish at nearby Charlestown that was the 116th's introduction to battle. One of the most interesting aspects of McCarter's service involved his relationship with brigade commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher; his introduction to Meagher occurred when he was on picket in the camp on Bolivar Heights and opportunely saved his drunken and tottering general from falling downhill into a large bonfire! He swears this was the only time he ever saw the general drunk, but for a time afterward Meagher sheepishly avoided him.

The ice between the two men was finally broken when budding author Meagher wished to send back to Ireland an account of his part in the war thus far, and McCarter was recommended to him for his superior penmanship. McCarter suffered from a bad stammer and had compensated for it through his writing, not really what we would call calligraphy, but rather beautiful printing that resembled type or lithography. For his work, McCarter was handsomely rewarded by Meagher who also praised his work to fellow officers. This resulted also in his being detailed to headquarters as a clerk, a position he occupied only briefly; indeed he was ordered to remain behind during the fateful assault on Marye's Heights but disobeyed in the manner of many other volunteer soldiers who feared they would be branded shirkers by their fellows.

One of the most interesting chapters deals with McCarter's personal introduction to slavery in the area around Fredericksburg when he had the opportunity to visit with a family of slaves and their masters before the battle and came to some very surprising conclusions about the institution; I recommend this section alone for the insight it conveys. The real meat of the work, however, is McCarter's descriptions of the battle and his subsequent wounding and removal from the field after laying out in the elements for two nights. First he was taken to a ruined house in the city where he lay almost unattended in the attic for another couple of days before finally being evacuated back across the Rappahannock and thence to a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. It took many months of healing before McCarter was finally discharged to return to his wife and home in Philadelphia; he never completely recovered from his wound, although he survived until 1911, completing these reminiscences in 1879. The book is a wonderful look at the admittedly short service of a "typical" yet highly observant volunteer soldier in the Army of the Potomac and one of its most famous units. If read along with a book I previously reviewed - Hospital Sketches by Louisia May Alcott https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hospital-sketches-by-louisia-may-alcott.135220/ - the two would provide a very good idea of the suffering of the wounded and the travails of their caregivers in the wake of the memorable Battle of Fredericksburg. Highly recommended!

James N.
I have Company Aytch and All For The Union and I think I'll add this one to my other private soldiers' memoirs.
 
IIRC, the 116th was the only regiment of the brigade that didn't have a green Irish flag. The artwork for the book cover is showing troops wearing NY State jackets.
The surviving 116th Pennsylvania regimental colors are the somewhat standard national flag with the Seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania surrounded by thirty-five white stars in the blue field.
 
IIRC, the 116th was the only regiment of the brigade that didn't have a green Irish flag. The artwork for the book cover is showing troops wearing NY State jackets.

The dust jacket painting is of the brigade assaulting the Sunken Road at Antietam, which was before the 116th Pa. joined them. I think it's the 69th N.Y.; the painting wraps around the book with Gen. Meagher riding behind the line-of-battle on the back cover.
 
View attachment 143125

According to the blurb inside the dust jacket, "My Life in the Irish Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of Private William McCarter, 116th Pennsylvania Infantry", is a sweeping saga of his wartime service - the first full-length memoir ever published by an enlisted man in the Irish Brigade." This statement surprised me when one considers the legendary status of this, one of the two most famous Union units along with the Iron Brigade,. If this relatively short memoir - 266 pp. total, including Appendices, Notes and Index - has a serious flaw or drawback it's merely that its author's service was likewise of short duration: only from his enlistment in August, 1862 through the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of that year. He thereby unfortunately (for us, his readers) missed the Peninsula, Antietam, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness; nevertheless he offers a fascinating look at the workings of this unit and its decimation upon Marye's Heights.

The 116th Pennsylvania wasn't really an "Irish" unit, per se, but one that was combined with the brigade after Antietam to replace the serious losses incurred up until then. Among its recruits were many of Irish descent like McCarter who himself had immigrated to Philadelphia and was already a husband and father. McCarter's description of his first days in camp on Bolivar Heights outside Harpers Ferry depicts a fairly typical experience of a new recruit adjusting to army life. He also provides a look at a relatively "unknown" skirmish at nearby Charlestown that was the 116th's introduction to battle. One of the most interesting aspects of McCarter's service involved his relationship with brigade commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher; his introduction to Meagher occurred when he was on picket in the camp on Bolivar Heights and opportunely saved his drunken and tottering general from falling downhill into a large bonfire! He swears this was the only time he ever saw the general drunk, but for a time afterward Meagher sheepishly avoided him.

The ice between the two men was finally broken when budding author Meagher wished to send back to Ireland an account of his part in the war thus far, and McCarter was recommended to him for his superior penmanship. McCarter suffered from a bad stammer and had compensated for it through his writing, not really what we would call calligraphy, but rather beautiful printing that resembled type or lithography. For his work, McCarter was handsomely rewarded by Meagher who also praised his work to fellow officers. This resulted also in his being detailed to headquarters as a clerk, a position he occupied only briefly; indeed he was ordered to remain behind during the fateful assault on Marye's Heights but disobeyed in the manner of many other volunteer soldiers who feared they would be branded shirkers by their fellows.

One of the most interesting chapters deals with McCarter's personal introduction to slavery in the area around Fredericksburg when he had the opportunity to visit with a family of slaves and their masters before the battle and came to some very surprising conclusions about the institution; I recommend this section alone for the insight it conveys. The real meat of the work, however, is McCarter's descriptions of the battle and his subsequent wounding and removal from the field after laying out in the elements for two nights. First he was taken to a ruined house in the city where he lay almost unattended in the attic for another couple of days before finally being evacuated back across the Rappahannock and thence to a hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. It took many months of healing before McCarter was finally discharged to return to his wife and home in Philadelphia; he never completely recovered from his wound, although he survived until 1911, completing these reminiscences in 1879. The book is a wonderful look at the admittedly short service of a "typical" yet highly observant volunteer soldier in the Army of the Potomac and one of its most famous units. If read along with a book I previously reviewed - Hospital Sketches by Louisia May Alcott https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hospital-sketches-by-louisia-may-alcott.135220/ - the two would provide a very good idea of the suffering of the wounded and the travails of their caregivers in the wake of the memorable Battle of Fredericksburg. Highly recommended!

James N.
Thanks for the suggested read sound interesting I’ll have to check them out.
 
I've bought from the Seller before, and their books have always been in excellent condition.
Bought another one too. Can't wait to get them.
 
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