Notes on Irishmen at Gettysburg

[Tom Elmore]

Thus far having identified 800 individuals at Gettysburg who were born in Ireland (out of potentially several thousand who were actually present), it's worth a look at this ethnic group. Of this number, 548 served in the Union Army of the Potomac, while 252 were with the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Those holding leadership roles:

USA –
Colonel Patrick Kelly, brigade commander (Irish Brigade).
Colonel Thomas A. Smyth, brigade commander, wounded.
Colonel William Gamble, brigade commander (cavalry).
Colonel Patrick Robert Guiney, 9th Massachusetts.
Colonel Richard Byrnes, 28th Massachusetts.
Colonel George Gray, 6th Michigan Cavalry.
Colonel William J. Sewell, 5th New Jersey, wounded.
Colonel Patrick H. O'Rourke, 140th New York, killed.
Colonel Dennis O'Kane, 69th Pennsylvania, mortally wounded.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Flanigan, 24th Michigan, wounded.
Lieutenant Colonel John Leonard, 72nd New York.
Lieutenant Colonel James Huston, 82nd New York, killed.
Major Andrew P. Caraher, 28th Massachusetts.
Captain James McKay Rorty, Battery B, 1st New York Artillery, killed.
Captain James Thompson, Battery C/F, Pennsylvania Artillery, wounded.

CSA –
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Nolan, 1st Louisiana, killed.
Major Peter Brenan, 61st Georgia, killed.
Captain James Reilly, Rowan Artillery, North Carolina.
Chaplain Joseph W. Murphy, 32nd North Carolina.
Chaplain James Sheeran, 14th Louisiana.

Commands at Gettysburg with a substantial percentage of Irishmen:

USA –
Irish Brigade.
U.S. Regulars.
20th Massachusetts.
82nd New York.
69th Pennsylvania.
Company A, 13th Vermont.

CSA –
All Louisiana units.
Company I "Emerald Guards," 8th Alabama.
Company B, 9th Alabama.
Company F, Phillips' Georgia Legion.
Company K "The Irish Volunteers," 1st South Carolina.

A specific county/city of birth (or previous residency) was given for 259 of these 800 individuals (combining both armies):

Cork – 47
Tyrone – 26
Derry (also known as Londonderry) – 16
Galway – 16
Donegal – 13
Dublin (city/county) – 12
Limerick (city/county) – 11
Offaly (King's) – 10
Tipperary - 10
Cavan – 9
Kilkenny – 9
Kerry – 8
Wexford - 7
Antrim – 6
Longford – 6
Mayo - 5
Monaghan - 5
Roscommon - 5
Leitrim – 4
Louth – 4
Claire – 4
Waterford - 4
Armagh – 3
Down – 3
Meath – 3
Queen's (Laois) – 3
Sligo – 3
Belfast (city, part in Antrim and part in Derry counties) – 2
Kildare – 2
Carlow - 1
Fermanagh – 1
Wicklow-1

 

[bankerpapaw]

Other than Patrick Cleburne, were there any Irishmen of any significance with the South?

 

[BCS1973]

Here's a couple in my stash that were at Gettysburg in case you don't have them. Company "B" of the 115th PA was advertised on enlistment fliers as the "Hibernia Greens" under Capt. (at that time) John P. Dunne

Major John P. Dunne Commanded the 115th Penna. Born in Ireland per census documents, County Unknown
Sgt. Major Cornelius (Neil) McLaughlin 115th Penna. Born in Ireland Per Pension Docs. County unknown
CPL. Arthur F. Mooney 115th Penna. Company B Wounded July 2, Born in Ireland per Soldiers home records, County Unknown
CPL John O Brien 115th Penna. Company B Wounded Severely in the thigh July 2, Born in Tyrone Ireland per service records
PVT Patrick Sheran (AKA Sheren, Sherew) Company B 115th Penna. Born Queens County (Laois) Ireland per service records
PVT Thomas Sheran (AKA Shearan, Sheren, Sheeran) Company B 115th Penna. Born in Queens County (Laois) Ireland per service records
PVT Thomas Kelly 115th Penna. Company B Born in Ireland county unknown per service records.
PVT Richard Fitzpatrick 115th Penna. Company B Lost right arm July 2 Born in Queens County (Laois) Ireland per service records.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

CSA –
All Louisiana units.

This is a striking statement. All the Louisiana units had a substantial number of Irish soldiers.

I recall the observations quoted below by the British journalist William Howell Russell on his visit to New Orleans in 1861 that may account for this:

"I was struck by the absence of any whites of the labouring classes, and when I inquired what had become of the men who work on the levee and at the cotton presses in competition with the negroes, I was told they had been enlisted for the war.…

….The British Consulate was thronged to-day by Irish, English, and Scotch, entreating to be sent North or to Europe. The stories told by some of these poor fellows were most pitiable, and were vouched for by facts and papers ; but Mr. Mure has no funds at his disposal to enable him to comply with their prayers. Nothing remains for them but to enlist."


The reason for this, according to Russell, was the loss of trade with the North and with Europe caused by the blockade that wiped out the need for these foreign workers on the docks and in the cotton mills.

Source:
Pages 360-362

My diary : North and South : Russell, William Howard, Sir, 1820-1907 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Vol. 1 includes: Map to accompany My diary North & South, with the author's route colored (60 x 55 cm., folded to 18 x 10 cm.)

archive.org

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Other than Patrick Cleburne, were there any Irishmen of any significance with the South?

Another notable example of an Irish-born Confederate general was B-G Joseph Finnegan (commander of Finnegan's Florida brigade) who was born in County Monaghan, IRL, in 1814.

Other lesser-known Irish-born Confederate generals were:-

B-G Walter Paye Lane (Texas cavalry officer) who was born in County Cork, IRL, in 1817;
B-G (unconfirmed) William Montague Browne (a Jeff Davis staff officer) who was born in County Mayo, IRL, in 1823; &
B-G Patrick Theodore Moore (brigade commander of VA Reserve forces) who was born in County Galway, IRL, in 1821.

 

[BCS1973]

oops, I missed one,

PVT. John Richardson 115th Penna. Company B. Born in County Tyrone Ireland

 

[lupaglupa]

1st Lt. David Marlin, Company H of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry, was born in County Londonderry in 1830 and emigrated to the US about 1836. He is said to have been leading his company in Pickett's Charge when he died July 3, 1863.

 

[Tom Elmore]

This is a striking statement. All the Louisiana units had a substantial number of Irish soldiers.

I recall the observations quoted below by the British journalist William Howell Russell on his visit to New Orleans in 1861 that may account for this:

"I was struck by the absence of any whites of the labouring classes, and when I inquired what had become of the men who work on the levee and at the cotton presses in competition with the negroes, I was told they had been enlisted for the war.…

….The British Consulate was thronged to-day by Irish, English, and Scotch, entreating to be sent North or to Europe. The stories told by some of these poor fellows were most pitiable, and were vouched for by facts and papers ; but Mr. Mure has no funds at his disposal to enable him to comply with their prayers. Nothing remains for them but to enlist."


The reason for this, according to Russell, was the loss of trade with the North and with Europe caused by the blockade that wiped out the need for these foreign workers on the docks and in the cotton mills.

Source:
Pages 360-362

My diary : North and South : Russell, William Howard, Sir, 1820-1907 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Vol. 1 includes: Map to accompany My diary North & South, with the author's route colored (60 x 55 cm., folded to 18 x 10 cm.)

archive.org

Astute observation, @Reconstructed Rebel

My list has 26 Irish-born soldiers in the 10th Louisiana alone at Gettysburg; many if not most of them were casualties (which is often how they come to my attention as foreign-born soldiers). I happen to have in my personal collection a copy of: Lee's Foreign Legion, A History of the 10th Louisiana Infantry, by Thomas Walter Brooks and Michael Dan Jones, Gravenhurst, Ontario: Watts Printing. (I was fortunate to have corresponded with Tom Brooks, a Canadian, back in 1997.) One of the first individual entries is Daniel Callahan of Company A, to which the following notation is added: "Like most of the New Orleans Irish, he worked the docks as a laborer."

 

[JohnnyReb421745]

The 6th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry was approx. 60% Irish born and Irish American. Also known as the 'Irish Brigade' mainly because of their make-up but also because two companies (F and I) were known as Irish Brigade Company A and B. Roughly 6 of the regiment's 10 companies were majority Irish/Irish-American. Also one of only two predominantly Irish Catholic regiments in the Confederate Army (the other being the 10th Tennessee Vol. Infantry).
James Gannon has written a spectacular and engaging regimental history of the 6thLa titled Irish Rebels, Confederate Tigers.

 

[neyankee61]

Major Frederick Cooper 7th NJ was born in Ireland in 1833. Cooper took over command of the 7th NJ after the mortal wounding of Col. Louis Francine and the serious wounding of Lt. Col. Francis Price on July 2, during the fighting near the Peach Orchard

 

[SJU]

Interesting article related to the topic. Some of the New York regiments raised in NYC were largely Irish. The article specifically mentions the 40th, 42nd, 70th, 71st, 72nd, 73rd and 74th NY.

Time to Move Beyond the Irish Brigade? The Problems with Studying Ethnic Irish Units– A Case Study of the New York Irish at Gettysburg

When we think and examine the Irish of the American Civil War, we often consider first and foremost ethnic units; formations such as the Irish Brigade, Corcoran’s Legion or regimental level c…

irishamericancivilwar.com