For many soldiers, local communities were as important to their identity as their ethnic heritage. While their decision to serve in an Irish unit made them unique, the reality was that Irish regiments were themselves diverse manifestations of local and state communities, linked together only by a loose ethnic identity. This diversity among the regiments—in their wartime experiences, on the home front, and in the preservation and memorialization of their service—highlights the truly complex nature of ethnic service.
Becoming American Under Fire: Irish Americans, African Americans, and the Politics of Citizenship during the Civil War Era (review)