February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
More than 26,000 soldiers were left dead, wounded, or missing in the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg to the Confederates). It proved a crucial victory for the Union and one that emboldened President Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. It was also a day that saw the Irish Brigade earn wide praise for its courageous performance under fire.
The Irish Brigade was founded in August 1861. Originally composed of the heavily Irish 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York regiments, it quickly earned a reputation for fearlessness and tenacity, especially at the battles of Seven Days, Fair Oaks, and Malvern Hill. Its leader, Brigadier Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher, was an Irish nationalist who participated in the Young Ireland uprising of 1848 and was exiled to Tasmania by the British government. He later escaped and came to America in 1852 where he assumed a leading role in the Irish nationalist movement.
Famous for his oratory, Meagher issued an inspiring call at the outset of the war urging the American Irish to fight for the Union, linking the effort to the cause of Irish freedom: “The Republic, that gave us asylum and an honorable career — that is the mainstay of human freedom the world over — is threatened with disruption. It is the duty of every liberty-loving citizen to prevent such a calamity at all hazards. Above all, it is the duty of us Irish citizens, who aspired to establish a similar form of government in our native land. It is not only our duty to America, but also to Ireland.”
In forming the Irish Brigade, Meagher hoped the unit’s performance would raise the low standing of the Irish in American eyes and provide experienced recruits to a future Fenian uprising in Ireland.
The Battle of Antietam occurred as a result of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s decision, in keeping with his belief that a smaller army needed to wage offensive war, to invade the North. In early September, he led his 50,000-man army into the state of Maryland. His goal was to win a decisive victory on Northern soil, a victory Confederates believed would win them foreign recognition and thus independence. Opposing him was the ever-cautious Union commander Gen. George B. McClellan. Even after he acquired a copy of the Confederate battle plan left at an abandoned campsite, McClellan waited four days before striking. The delay allowed Lee to change his plans and consolidate his army at the town of Sharpsburg, Md., near the Antietam creek.
Union forces attacked early in the morning on Sept. 17. The first thrust came against the northern end of Lee’s line. The Confederates buckled but managed to hold their position against the furious assault. At 10:30 a.m., a second Union assault began against the Confederate center. It was here that Meagher and the Irish Brigade cemented their reputation as one of the most fearless outfits in the Union Army.
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Marching behind three green banners bearing a harp and mottos like Faugh A Ballagh (Clear the Way), the Brigade crossed the Antietam Creek. On the other side they paused a moment to receive a general absolution from Fr. William Corby, the Brigade’s chaplain. After taking out a cluster of Confederates who fired upon them from behind a thick fence, the Brigade marched slowly up a slight hill. Reaching the crest, they were greeted with a tremendous volley of Confederate fire. The Brigade’s battle-hardened soldiers took what cover they could find and began returning fire.
They were at a distinct disadvantage because the Confederates held a protected position along a sunken road. After six volleys of return fire, Meagher ordered a fixed bayonet charge. It was a courageous but ultimately suicidal assault. As many as half the Brigade’s men fell in the first charge. Four more frontal assaults were ordered over the next three hours, each bringing the same horrific result. On several occasions men of the Irish Brigade reached the sunken road — ever thereafter known as the “Bloody Lane” — and fought hand to hand with the Confederates before being killed.
Eventually the Union center, including the Irish Brigade, was forced to pull back to a defensive position. Now it was their turn to mow down Confederates, who several times emerged from the sunken road in an effort to breach the Union line. During one of these attacks, Meagher’s horse was shot out from under him. The fall knocked him out cold. Rumors that he was drunk and fell from his horse emerged after the battle, but there is little evidence to support it (though Meagher did have a drinking problem).
By nightfall the fighting ceased. McClellan had nearly driven Lee from the field, but the last-minute arrival of troops under Generals Stonewall Jackson and A.P. Hill helped save the day for the Confederates. The battle ended with no clear victor, but when Lee took his tattered army back into Virginia the next day, Antietam was hailed in the North as a Union victory. It might have been more, had McClellan chosen to pursue Lee, but the risk-averse general opted to stay put. His failure to seize the initiative would soon lead Lincoln to dismiss him.
The human cost of the battle was simply staggering. In one day more than 26,000 men (12,410 Union and 13,724 Confederate) were killed or wounded. No unit suffered more than the Irish Brigade, which lost 540 killed and wounded. Their performance earned praise from all quarters, including General McClellan, who noted in his report on the battle, “The Irish Brigade sustained its well-earned reputation” by fighting on and “strewing the ground with their enemies” despite suffering terrible losses in men and officers.
Meagher’s Brigade was not the only Irish unit to suffer terrible losses that day. The Irish 6th Louisiana, one of many Irish regiments in the Confederate Army, was part of the force that held off the initial Union assault early Sept. 17. Like its Union counterparts, it suffered fearful losses, including their leader, Col. Henry B. Strong.
The Irish Brigade was soon reconstituted with the addition of the Irish 28th Massachusetts and 116th Pennsylvania. More glory — and slaughter — awaited in future clashes at Fredericksburg and, after Meagher quit in a dispute over his effort to rebuild the Brigade’s ranks, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and more. By war’s end, when the Irish Brigade marched in the Grand Review down the streets of Washington, D.C., on May 22, 1865, it was one of the most famous brigades in the Union Army.
HIBERNIAN HISTORY WEEK
Sept. 11, 1649: Oliver Cromwell and his troops massacre thousands at Drogheda.
Sept. 12, 1919: The British government declares the Dail Eireann illegal.
Sept. 13, 1847: The last of 50 U.S. Army deserters who joined the San Patricios brigade during the Mexican American War are executed.
HIBERNIAN BIRTHDATES
Sept. 11, 1838: The archbishop of St. Paul, John Richard Ireland, is born in Burnchurch, Co. Kilkenny.
Sept. 14, 1879: Birth control advocate and feminist Margaret Higgins Sanger is born in Corning, N.Y.
Sept. 17, 1903: Author Frank O’Connor is born in County Cork.
Read about Ed O’Donnell’s new book, “1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History” or contact him at www.EdwardTODonnell.com.