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On May 18, 1864 the men of the Irish Brigade were in nearly the same position they had occupied a week earlier at Spotsylvania. Days of fighting had left thousands dead but the strategic balance had not shifted. At 4:45 AM that morning the cannons of the Union artillery began to pound the Confederate entrenchments as tens of thousands of soldiers awaited orders to begin the assault. One soldier remembered that the “first glimmer of morning was ushered in by the booming of big guns, and the men said another butchery has begun.”1
When the Confederates, safe behind their fortifications, saw the Union troops in close-packed masses marching towards them they were, in the words of one Southerner, “astonished at this and [they] could not believe a serious attempt would be made to assail such a line as [the Confederates] had in open day, over such a distance.” The Confederates knew that the United States troops were entering a killing ground from which many would not emerge alive.2
One immigrant officer wrote that “The ground over which the Regiment charged was very rough and broken…” He said that “No sooner had the charge begun than the movement was discovered by the Confederates who opened with a musketry fire, in which their batteries quickly joined…”3
The Irish Brigade was in the heart of the day’s attack and it had been joined by another brigade of immigrants, Corcoran’s Irish Legion from New York. The two Irish brigades would cross the deadly ground together, and the men lost there would be mourned in the same Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods. They would be under fire for several hundred yards, through territory covered with the bloated corpses of the dead of earlier fighting. 4
This recruiting poster tells us a lot about the attitudes of New York’s Irish community in the second year of the war. The poster urges them to “Remember Fontenoy!”, a 1745 battle in which a French Irish Brigade helped defeat an English army. It also tells recruits; “Irishmen you are now training to meet your English enemies!” This restated the goal of Irish nationalists to use the Civil War as a training ground for Irish nationalists who would later fight against England to liberate Ireland.
An officer of the Irish Brigade recalled the route of the charge years later; “The dead of the 12th [of May] were there, unburied, and the scene was one of horror beyond the power of language to describe. The sight was hideous and the stench overpowering and sickening.” p. 223 Another Union officer wrote that “The stench which rose from [the corpses] was so sickening and terrible that many of the men and officers became deathly sick from it,” breaking out of line to vomit. “The appearance of the dead,” he wrote, “who had been exposed to the sun so long, was horrible in the extreme as we marched past and over them.”5
The Irish Legion, followed by the Irish Brigade, moved up on the attack and passed other stalled Union regiments. The Irish quickly became the target of a Confederate artillery battery which, a soldier wrote, “played on our men incessantly as they advanced on the double quickstep…”6
At the beginning of their charge, Corcoran’s Legion and the Irish Brigade were at the position marked with “A”.
The Legion’s regiments became separated as the attack progressed and their commander was badly wounded trying to reunite them. The Legion’s New York immigrants, losing men every minute, hit the ground and tried to find shelter in the small undulations in the terrain. Confederate snipers in the trees began to pick the Irish off from above.7
The Irish Brigade continued to push forward. The Confederates had added to the defense of their lines a layer of tree branches designed to entangle the attackers like a primitive form of barbed wire. The commander of the Brigade’s 116th Pennsylvania regiment wrote that the Irish Brigade encountered a “deep and heavy abatis…so dense that all efforts to penetrate were impossible.” The abatis was a death trap for the brave. The commander wrote that “[m]any of the men…were shot after they became entangled in the brush.”8
The futility of the attack was illustrated when a member of the 116th Pennsylvania, waving the regiment’s flag, rushed forward leading his comrades shouting “Come on boys and I will show you how to fight.” He was soon shot down and the charge evaporated. Even when the Irish soldiers did penetrate the Confederate position, the rough terrain and the lack of support meant that any gains were only momentary.9
The Irish Brigade, filled with veterans of this new trench warfare, began to dig in. The futility of further advance was apparent and the men were now piling up anything they could in front of them that would stop a bullet. Reflecting on the fighting of May 18, the commander of the 116th Pennsylvania wrote:
The charge was a very noble effort, but absolutely hopeless. The impracticality of reaching the enemy’s line…was soon apparent…To hold the men in front of the abatis to be shot down would be a useless waste of life.”10
The fighting of May 18th is largely forgotten today. It was one of dozens of battles and skirmishes in the bloody Overland Campaign, almost two months of fighting in which more than 85,000 men would be killed, wounded, or captured. But, for the newly united Irish Legion and Irish Brigade, it was an action that left deep wounds. The Irish Legion had, in the words of one soldier, been “blown to atoms” in the futile charge. The men of both brigades had reinforced for them a lesson their generals took longer to learn, that when heroism came up against well-defended fortifications, even the bravest would fail. 11
Video: Army War College Lecture on Irish in the Union Army
Sources:
1. The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion by St. Clair A. Mulholland (1903); The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern by Gordon Rhea published by LSU Press (1997); To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press: Baton Rouge, 2000) Kindle Location 3056; No Turning Back: A Guide to the 1864 Overland Campaign, from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May 4 – June 13, 1864 by Robert M. Dunkerly, Donald C. Pfanz (Author) and, David R. Ruth (Author) Savas Beatie (2014)
2. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press: Baton Rouge, 2000) Kindle Location 3069.
3. The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion by St. Clair A. Mulholland (1903) p. 221-222.
4. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press: Baton Rouge, 2000); The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion by St. Clair A. Mulholland (1903).
5. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press (2000) Kindle Location 3070; The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion by St. Clair A. Mulholland (1903) p. 223.
6. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press (2000) Kindle Location 3110.
7. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press (2000) Kindle Location 3110.
8. The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion by St. Clair A. Mulholland (1903) p. 222.
9. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press (2000) Kindle Location 3114.
10. The Story of the 116th Regiment: Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of Rebellion by St. Clair A. Mulholland (1903) p. 222.
11. To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13-25, 1864 by Gordon Rhea, published by LSU Press (2000) Kindle Location 3328.
The Immigrants’ Civil War is a series that examines the role of immigrants in our bloodiest war. Articles will appear twice monthly between 2011 and 2017. Here are the articles we have published so far:
1. Immigrant America on the Eve of the Civil War – Take a swing around the United States and see where immigrants were coming from and where they were living in 1861.
2. 1848: The Year that Created Immigrant America – Revolutions in Europe, famine and oppression in Ireland, and the end of the Mexican War made 1848 a key year in American immigration history.
3. Carl Schurz: From German Radical to American Abolitionist– A teenaged revolutionary of 1848, Carl Schurz brought his passion for equality with him to America.
4. Immigrant Leader Carl Schurz Tells Lincoln to Stand Firm Against Slavery.
5. …And the War Came to Immigrant America -The impact of the firing on Fort Sumter on America’s immigrants
6. The Rabbi Who Seceded From the South
7. The Fighting 69th-Irish New York Declares War
8. The Germans Save St. Louis for the Union
9. New York’s Irish Rush to Save Washington
10. Immigrant Day Laborers Help Build the First Fort to Protect Washington-The Fighting 69th use their construction skills.
11. Carl Schurz Meets With Lincoln To Arm the Germans
12. Immigrants Rush to Join the Union Army-Why?– The reasons immigrants gave for enlisting early in the war.
13. Why the Germans Fought for the Union?
14. Why Did the Irish Fight When They Were So Despised?
15. The “Sons of Garibaldi” Join the Union Army
16. The Irish Tigers From Louisiana
17. Immigrant Regiments on Opposite Banks of Bull Run -The Fighting 69th and the Louisiana Tigers
18. The St. Louis Germans Set Out To Free Missouri
19. Wilson’s Creek Drowns Immigrant Dream of Free Missouri
20. English-Only in 1861: No Germans Need Apply
21. After Bull Run: Mutineers, Scapegoats, and the Dead
22. St. Louis Germans Revived by Missouri Emancipation Proclamation
23. Jews Fight the Ban on Rabbis as Chaplains
24. Lincoln Dashes German Immigrants Hopes for Emancipation
25. When Hatred of Immigrants Stopped the Washington Monument from Being Built
26. Inside the Mind of a Know Nothing
27. The Evolution of the Know Nothings
28. The Know Nothings Launch a Civil War Against Immigrant America
29. The Know Nothings: From Triumph to Collapse
30. The Lasting Impact of the Know Nothings on Immigrant America.
31. Lincoln, the Know Nothings, and Immigrant America.
32. Irish Green and Black America: Race on the Edge of Civil War.
33. The Democratic Party and the Racial Consciousness of Irish Immigrants Before the Civil War
34. The Confederates Move Against Latino New Mexico
35. Nuevomexicanos Rally As Confederates Move Towards Santa Fe—But For Which Side?
36. The Confederate Army in New Mexico Strikes at Valverde
37. The Swedish Immigrant Who Saved the U.S. Navy
38. The Confederates Capture Santa Fe and Plot Extermination
39. A German Regiment Fights for “Freedom and Justice” at Shiloh-The 32nd Indiana under Col. August Willich.
40. The Know Nothing Colonel and the Irish Soldier Confronting slavery and bigotry.
41. Did Immigrants Hand New Orleans Over to the Union Army?
42. Did New Orleans’ Immigrants See Union Soldiers As Occupiers or Liberators?
43. Union Leader Ben Butler Seeks Support in New Orleans-When General Ben Butler took command in New Orleans in 1862, it was a Union outpost surrounded by Confederates. Butler drew on his experience as a pro-immigrant politician to win over the city’s Irish and Germans.
44. Union General Ben Butler Leverages Immigrant Politics in New Orleans
45. Thomas Meager: The Man Who Created the Irish Brigade
46. Thomas Meagher: The Irish Rebel Joins the Union Army
47. Recruiting the Irish Brigade-Creating the Irish American
48. Cross Keys: A German Regiment’s Annihilation in the Shenandoah Valley
49. The Irish Brigade Moves Towards Richmond-The Irish brigade in the Peninsula Campaign from March 17 to June 2, 1862.
50. Peninsula Emancipation: Irish Soldiers Take Steps on the Road to Freedom-The Irish Brigade and Irish soldiers from Boston free slaves along the march to Richmond.
51. Slaves Immigrate from the Confederacy to the United States During the Peninsula Campaign
52. The Irish 9th Massachusetts Cut Off During the Seven Days Battles
53. Union Defeat and an Irish Medal of Honor at the End of the Seven Days
54. Making Immigrant Soldiers into Citizens-Congress changed the immigration laws to meet the needs of a nation at war.
55. Carl Schurz: To Win the Civil War End Slavery
56. Carl Schurz: From Civilian to General in One Day
57. Did Anti-German Bigotry Help Cause Second Bull Run Defeat?
58. Immigrant Soldiers Chasing Lee Into Maryland
59. Scottish Highlanders Battle at South Mountain
60. Emancipation 150: “All men are created equal, black and white”– A German immigrant reacts to the Emancipation Proclamation
61. The Irish Brigade at Antietam
62. Private Peter Welsh Joins the Irish Brigade
63. Preliminaries to Emancipation: Race, the Irish, and Lincoln
64. The Politics of Emancipation: Lincoln Suffers Defeat
65. Carl Schurz Blames Lincoln for Defeat
66. The Irish Brigade and Virginia’s Civilians Black and White
67. The Irish Brigade and the Firing of General McClellan
68. General Grant Expells the Jews
69. The Irish Brigade Moves Towards Its Destruction At Fredericksburg.
70. Fredericksburg: The Worst Day in the Young Life of Private McCarter of the Irish Brigade
71. Forever Free: Emancipation New Year Day 1863
72. Private William McCarter of the Irish Brigade Hospitalized After Fredericksburg
73. The Immigrant Women That Nursed Private McCarter After Fredericksburg
74. Nursing Nuns of the Civil War
75. The Biases Behind Grant’s Order Expelling the Jews
76. The Jewish Community Reacts to Grant’s Expulsion Order
77. Lincoln Overturns Grant’s Order Against the Jews
78. Irish Families Learn of the Slaughter at Fredericksburg
79. Requiem for the Irish Brigade
80. St. Patrick’s Day in the Irish Brigade
81. Student Asks: Why Don’t We Learn More About Immigrants in the Civil War?
82. Missouri’s German Unionists: From Defeat to Uncertain Victory
83. Missouri Germans Contest Leadership of Unionist Cause
84. German Leader Franz Sigel’s Victory Earns a Powerful Enemy
85. Immigrant Unionists Marching Towards Pea Ridge
86. German Immigrants at the Battle of Pea Ridge: Opening Moves
87. Pea Ridge: The German Unionists Outflanked
88. German Immigrants at the Battle of Pea Ridge
89. The Organization of the “German” XI Corps
90. The Irish Brigade on the Road to Chancellorsville
91. The “German” XI Corps on the Eve of Chancellorsville
92. The “Germans Run Away” at Chancellorsville
93. The New York Times, the Germans, and the Anatomy of a Scapegoat at Chancellorsville
94. An Irish Soldier Between Chancellorsville and Gettysburg
95. Lee’s Army Moves Towards Gettysburg: Black Refugees Flee
96. Iron Brigade Immigrants Arrive at Gettysburg
97. Iron Brigade Immigrants Go Into Battle the First Day at Gettysburg
98. The “German” XI Corps at Gettysburg July 1, 1863
99. An Irish Colonel and the Defense of Little Round Top on the Second Day at Gettysburg
100. A Prayer Before Death for the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg: July 2, 1863
101. The Irish Regiment that Ended “Pickett’s Charge”: July 3, 1863
102. Five Points on the Edge of the Draft Riots
103. Before the Draft Riots: The Cultivation of Division
104. The New York Draft Riots Begin
105. Convulsion of Violence: The First Day of the New York Draft Riots
106. The Draft Riots End in a Sea of Blood-July 14-15, 1863.
107. Pat Cleburne: The Irish Confederate and the Know Nothings
108. Killing Pat Cleburne: Know Nothing Violence
109. Pat Cleburne: Arresting a General, Becoming a General
110. The Immigrant Story Behind “Twelve Years a Slave”
111. A German Immigrant Woman’s Gettysburg Address
112. Pat Cleburne: The Irish Confederate’s Emancipation Proclamation
113. Pat Cleburne: The South Can’t Use Black Soldiers Without Ending Slavery
114. The Suppression of Pat Cleburne’s Emancipation Proposal
115. An Irish Immigrant Colonel’s Warnings Ignored at Chickamauga
116. An Immigrant Colonel’s Fighting Retreat at Chickamauga
117. August Willich: German Socialist at Chickamauga
118. Hans Heg:at Chickamauga: Norwegian Commander on the Eve of Battle
119. Ivan and Nadine Turchin: Russian Revolutionary Aristocrats at Chickamauga
120. German Immigrants Pinned Down at Chickamauga
121. Hans Heg: To Die for His Adopted Country at Chickamauga
122. Patrick Guiney: An Irish Colonel on the Edge of the Wilderness
123. Immigrants March Out of The Wilderness and Into a Wicked Hail of Gunfire
124. Peter Welsh in the Irish Brigade’s Purgatory at Spotsylvania
125. Peter Welsh: What Sacrifice Must the Immigrant Make for His Adopted Land?
126. A Second Irish Brigade’s Catastrophe at a Forgotten Fight Near Fredericksburg
Cultural
Painting of the Return of the 69th from Bull Run Unearthed
Blog Posts
The Real Story Behind The Immigrants’ Civil War Photo
Why I’m Writing The Immigrants’ Civil War
The Five Meanings of “The Immigrants’ Civil War”
The Fallout from No Irish Need Apply Article Spreads Worldwide
No Irish Need Apply Professor Gets into a Fight With Our Blogger Pat Young Over Louisa May Alcott
Books for Learning More About The Immigrants’ Civil War
Free Yale Course with David Blight on the Civil War
Cinco de Mayo Holiday Dates Back to the American Civil War
New Immigrants Try to Come to Terms with America’s Civil War
Important Citizenship Site to be Preserved-Fortress Monroe
Should Lincoln Have Lost His Citizenship?
The First Casualties of the War Were Irish-Was that a Coincidence?
Civil War Anniversaries-History, Marketing, and Human Rights
Memorial Day’s Origins at the End of the Civil War
Germans Re-enact the Civil War-But Why Are They Dressed in Gray?
Leading Historians Discuss 1863 New York City Draft Riots
The Upstate New York Town that Joined the Confederacy
Civil War Blogs I Read Every Week
First Annual The Immigrants’ Civil War Award Goes to Joe Reinhart
Damian Shiels Wins Second Annual The Immigrants’ Civil War Award
Mother Jones: Civil War Era Immigrant and Labor Leader
Immigration Vacation -Civil War Sites
Fort Schuyler-Picnic where the Irish Brigade trained
The Fallout from No Irish Need Apply Article Spreads Worldwide
No Irish Need Apply Professor Gets into a Fight With Our Blogger Pat Young Over Louisa May Alcott
Books for Learning More About The Immigrants’ Civil War
Free Yale Course with David Blight on the Civil War
Cinco de Mayo Holiday Dates Back to the American Civil War
