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On July 1, 1863, the Sixth Wisconsin Regiment arrived in Gettysburg. A battle between a large Confederate force and a Union cavalry division had been waged for hours when the Wisconsin men became one of the first Northern infantry units to enter the battle. The Sixth Wisconsin was a regiment in one of the toughest outfits in either army, the “Iron Brigade.”1
While the Irish Brigade is the most famous immigrant unit of the Civil War, four out of five immigrants who served in the Union army were members of mixed, or “non-ethnic”, regiments. “Western” units like the Sixth Wisconsin were filled with the foreign-born of many nations. These men were often sprinkled throughout the ranks, although German-speakers would typically be concentrated in mono-lingual companies of about a hundred men where they could interact in their native language. This is the story of one immigrant who enlisted right after the war broke out and who was among the first to fall at Gettysburg. 2
James Patrick Sullivan was little more than a baby when his parents immigrated to Wisconsin from Ireland. Cheap land and the lack of a rigid class system attracted German, Scandinavian, and Irish immigrants to what was still a territory. Wisconsin became a state when Sullivan was five years old. By the time the Civil War broke out, Census records show that one-in-fifteen people in Wisconsin had been born in Ireland. some 35% of Wisconsinites were immigrants.3
Three weeks after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April, 1861, Sullivan enlisted in the army. Only 17 years old, Sullivan was a farm boy. He later wrote that he joined the army “to do what I could for the country.” His new regiment included Company F of Germans and Company D of Irish, but Sullivan served in a mixed company of immigrants and native-born.4
Flag of the 6th Wisconsin
In those days, the principles of democracy were not abandoned when a man became a soldier. The men of the new regiment elected many of their officers, among them some immigrants. Dissention set in when an apparent purge led to the removal of Irish-born officers. There were hard feelings between some immigrants and the regiment’s commander.5
The native-born officers sometimes became the objects of humor for the Irish soldiers in the regiment. For example, when an officer criticized the men for being slow, Thomas Flynn wondered out loud if the captain was afraid “we’d miss a chance to be kilt.” The same Irish soldier satirized the “attempts at ready-made piety” of his “Puritan” company commander, Rufus Dawes, with his own mock blessing of the company’s meal: “Now I sit me in my seat and pray for something good to eat. And if this damn stuff my stomach brake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”6
Rufus Dawes could not have been more different from Sullivan and Flynn. Descended from William Dawes, who had helped Paul Revere spread the news in 1775 that the “British were coming” to Lexington and Concord, Rufus was the sort of old-line Protestant whom Irish immigrants suspected of Know Nothing sympathies. His position in the Anglo establishment was secured not only by his New England ancestors, but, later, by his son who was elected Vice President of the United States and who won the Nobel Peace Prize.7
In spite of his alleged “Puritanism,” Dawes was an open man who learned to respect the many immigrants who made up the Sixth. For example, in recalling the early days of training his men, Dawes wrote that Company F;
[was] made up of Germans from Milwaukee, had two of the most highly qualified officers whom I met in all my service, Lieutenant Schumacher and Lieutenant Werner von Bachelle… It was to me an instructive pleasure to watch them drill their company. The influence of this splendid company, …was marked in stimulating others [by] their performance. Both of these gallant men and model soldiers were killed in battle for their adopted country.
Captain Hauser, the commander of the regiments mostly German Company H, was a Swiss-trained officer who had served with Garibaldi in Italy. Dawes called Hauser a “stalwart soldier”.8
Dawes also proved to be a steady sympathizer with the immigrants in his company. When his “young Irish Lieutenant” John Crane was among several immigrant officers “arbitrarily driven out of the regiment,” Dawes wrote that he was “indignant about it” but found himself “unable to prevent it.” He complained in a letter home that “The Irish Company ‘D’ was entirely stripped of its officers” and that there “was much bitter feeling in the regiment over these matters.” Native-born officers replaced them. According to Dawes, “This appointment of strangers to command of the company, and disregard of their natural and reasonable preference as to nationality, made bad feeling among the men of that company.” Dawes understood that immigrants had as much right to choose who led them as any other men.9
The 6th Wisconsin did not only include men from many nations, it was also one of the first regiments to have “colored” soldiers enlist. Two brothers from a black settlement in Wisconsin joined the 6th in 1861. One was killed in battle and the other returned home at the end of the war. They were, according to one of their officers “faithful soldiers, each of them receiving wounds in battle.”10
The very young soldier James P. Sullivan
Young Private James Sullivan was called “Mickey” by his comrades. While we don’t know the source of the nickname, Irish immigrants were often derisively referred to as “Micks” because their names often began with “Mc”, meaning “son of” in Irish. Mickey may have been taking the sting out of an ethnic slur by adopting it and adapting it for his own use.11
Mickey the boy soldier was badly wounded at the Battle of South Mountainin 1862, having a toe amputated to save his foot. After being cared for by Catholic nursing nuns, he was discharged from the army and sent home, but he reenlisted as soon as he was able to walk without too much pain. Years later, Rufus Dawes would remember Sullivan coming back repeatedly from wounds and hardships to stand with his regiment and he described him as a man whom “nothing discouraged.”12
By the end of the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg, as he lay bleeding, Mickey Sullivan must have wondered if he should have stayed retired.
Video: Historian Gary Gallagher on the First Day at Gettysburg (Second in Series)
Sources:
1. The Iron Brigade: A Military History by Alan T. Nolan published by Indiana University Press (1961)
2. The Iron Brigade: A Military History by Alan T. Nolan published by Indiana University Press (1961)
3. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan ed. by William Beaudot & Lance Herdegen pub. by Fordham University Press (1993) pp. 11-12.
4. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan ed. by William Beaudot & Lance Herdegen pub. by Fordham University Press (1993) p. 18.
5. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan ed. by William Beaudot & Lance Herdegen pub. by Fordham University Press (1993) p. 23-25.
6. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan ed. by William Beaudot & Lance Herdegen pub. by Fordham University Press (1993) p. 23, 25, 34.
7. The Iron Brigade: A Military History by Alan T. Nolan published by Indiana University Press (1961)
8. Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers by Rufus Dawes p. 13.
9. In his memoirs, Dawes wrote that “The Irish Company, ‘D,’ …had been stripped of its Irish officers.” Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers by Rufus Dawes p. 26-28
10. The Iron Brigade in Civil War and Memory kindle location 3008
11. An Irishman in the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Memoirs of James P. Sullivan ed. by William Beaudot & Lance Herdegen pub. by Fordham University Press (1993)
12. Service with the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers by Rufus Dawes p. 314.
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
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
