As good as it gets
Author:
Kevin Treacy
[Excerpt] The Confederate artillery erupted like a volcano of fire from the tree line a mile away. Our officers told us to lie down behind the split rail fence and cover our ears as over a hundred of our long range cannon returned fire by battery behind us. The ground shook and our position was quickly covered by smoke that belched from the mouth of the guns. The exchange went on for over an hour - modern pyrotechnics adding air bursts and ground explosions. Conversation with the man next to you was almost impossible due to the deafening roar. Slowly the noise abated and we looked across the field, split by the railed Taney town road, to the tree line, which was very still. Slowly the earth tones changed to streaks of gray, lines upon lines, one distinguishable from the next by their red Stars and Bars flags. The rebel yell rent the hot July sky as a bearded figure on a white horse rode down the long lines of gray. The lead brigades stepped off - the tramp of their feet on the earth in time to the beat of their drums.
So this was it, Robert E. Lee was gambling the future of the Confederacy on a frontal assault by the 13,000 fresh men of George Pickett's Virginian division. Facing them was the Irish brigade, part of the thinly held centre of the Union lines on Cemetery ridge, Gettysburg PA. As the sweat induced by our wool uniforms and the scorching sun made gripping our 1842 Springfield smooth bore muskets difficult, I finally knew what it must have been like for a new recruit in 1863 to finally "see the elephant". For a life time history buff and now a reenactor, this was as good as it gets.
An Gorta Mor in the late 1840s had forced over a million Irish to emigrate. The vast majority came to America, mostly very bitter towards their co-subjects across the Irish Sea. They thought that the liberation of Ireland could only come by armed revolt and to this end many enlisted in the various state militias in the US to obtain military training. By 1860 Irish emigrants such as Col. Michael Corcoran of the 69th NY militia regiment had risen to positions of command. Corcoran like many others were members of the Fenian brotherhood and his secret allegiance almost got him court martialled in 1860 when he famously refused to parade the 69th in honour of the visiting Prince of Wales. The outbreak of war the following year necessitated his release from prison and he led the 69th militia with great valour and credit at the battle of first Bull Run that summer. Corcoran was captured while protecting the Union retreat from becoming a rout. A captain in the 69th, the famous Thomas Francis "Meagher of the sword" from the Young Ireland's 1848 rebellion petitioned Lincoln to raise an Irish brigade. He was appointed Colonel and a legend was borne. The brigade ultimately comprised the 69th, 63rd and 88th NY state volunteer regiments (not militia) as well as the Boston Irish 28th Massachusetts and Philadelphia Irish 116th Pennsylvania. The regiments carried green flags in addition to the state and national colours. The green silk was embroidered with the Fenian symbol of a sunburst from under a cloud as well as shamrocks and a harp. In addition the flags had the defiant Gaelic inscription "Riamh Nar dhruid o' sbairn lann" "never retreat from the clash of spears". In 1862 these were the only Irish flags held by Irishmen under arms anywhere. The brigade was renowned for its courage under fire. It was Lee himself who gave the immortal sobriquet "fighting" to the brigade which is memorialized in the WWI film "the fighting 69th" and the nickname of the sports programs of Notre Dame University "the fighting Irish."
The battle cry of the brigade was "faugh a ballaugh" "clear the way", and although the brigade had many notable victories, at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862 the way could not be cleared. Ordered to partake in a suicidal frontal assault on an impregnable position, the brigade was decimated. Over 12,000 Union casualties littered the field in front of the stone wall at Fredericksburg. No Union soldier made the wall yet all of the bodies found closest to it had green Boxwood in their hats which Meagher had distributed to the men prior to the charge. It is said that only an Irishman can appreciate that the brigade's greatest moment came in a losing cause. December 13 and Boxwood have special meaning for an Irish brigade reenactor.
The 3 New York regiment's flags had been sent back to New York prior to Fredericksburg as they had been reduced to tattered shards by hard fighting. The citizens of New York presented the regiments with second colours the following spring that they used for the duration of the war. The 2nd colour of the 69th was presented to the Irish people by President Kennedy on his visit to Ireland in 1963 and now hangs in Dail Eireann.
The brigade fought in all the battles in the eastern campaign and although never the same after Fredericksburg, the veterans proudly marched in the great parade in Washington at war's end.
While blithely surfing the net in late 1997, I typed in Irish brigade and found the website of the 69th NYSV Historical Association. (69thnysv.org). Six months later I was attending my first drill and purchasing my equipment in readiness for the 135th anniversary reenactment of the battle of Gettysburg. You must be prepared to spend around $1,000 to obtain the clothing and equipment. Other than an authentic watch and some buttons all my kit is an authentic reproduction. The musket with bayonet and scabbard accounts for half the total cost. Cap, jacket, socks and pants are all pure wool that you either loathe or love depending on the season. The 69th prides itself on its authenticity standards not only for appearance but for conduct in the field.
With reveille at 6am the days can be long (especially after a late night carousing by the fire) but you get a definite feel for the life of a civil war soldier, which involves a lot of hurry up and wait. Their routines involved a lot of drill and down time interspersed with frantic combat. Drill is necessary for the members of the regiment to act like a unit. The musket can be quite heavy after a time so long drills are not appreciated by us privates. The officers are generally made up of veterans of the hobby. Showing up at your first reenactment dressed as General Grant or Lee would leave you open to some ridicule.
So while reenacting with the 69th is not for the faint of heart, it should appeal to those who first and foremost love Irish history and who can appreciate leaving the modern world and stepping into the life of an Irish emigrant fighting for his adopted land in the 1860's. A land, which disdained him with "No Irish need apply", attached to job advertisements. This discrimination vanished with the sacrifice of the brigade at Fredericksburg and countless other battlefields. This in turn made America the most welcoming of places for the Irish Diaspora which eventually included me. I feel privileged to walk in his footsteps.
Accountancy Ireland Vol 34 No 3 June 2002