An Irish Regiment in the Nutmeg State

This chapter traces Irish immigration to Connecticut and the formation of the Ninth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. Despite nativist challenges in the decade before the Civil War, Irish immigrants nevertheless secured their place in many of Connecticut’s cities, playing important roles in the state’s growing industrial centers. When war broke out, Irish leaders in the state pushed for the organization of an Irish regiment and, in doing so, drew connections between the Connecticut Irish and the military prowess of regiments such as the 69th New York and the 23rd Illinois. The outspoken patriotism of Connecticut’s Irish as well as the national acclaim earned by these other regiments did little to curb lingering questions surrounding Irish loyalty. As the men of the Ninth Connecticut marched to war in the winter of 1862 they struggled to dispel accusations of disorderly conduct that appeared in the press and only through sacrifice on the battlefield were they finally able to earn acceptance at home.

Irish Americans in the Civil War: Myth and Memory

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.

The Formation of the 17th Wisconsin

This chapter traces Irish immigration to Wisconsin and the formation the 17th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. When war broke out in 1861 the Irish in Wisconsin were slow to rise in unison in defense of the Union. A relatively stable immigrant community, many Irish chose, early in the war, to enlist in ethnically mixed regiments—illustrating the inclusive communities that developed in this Midwestern state during the antebellum period. In winter of 1862, though, vocal Irishmen, playing upon the success of other ethnic units, were given the opportunity to form their own regiment, the 17th Wisconsin. Publicly declaring their allegiances to the Irish American community, Wisconsin’s Irish regiment was, in reality, an ethnically diverse unit that attracted men from across the state. As the regiment prepared to move south in the spring of 1862, though, tensions rose and a large number of men mutinied. Supported by local newspaper editors, the demands of these men were seen as expressions of republicanism, illustrating (when compared to the experiences of the Ninth Connecticut) the diverse responses to Irish conduct in communities throughout the north, and the ways these men understood their military service.

Wounded Warriors, Public Wards: The Consequences of Military Service

The men who marched to war in 1861 and 1862 returned home during and after the war and attempted to rejoin the communities they had left months and years before. Many veterans experienced trials and tribulations as they negotiated post-war America in search of stability and success. But their experiences were by no means unique, for many Americans, veterans and otherwise, immigrant and native born, struggled to secure their place in the bourgeoning cities and towns of late 19th century America. For the veterans of these Irish regiments from Connecticut, Illinois, and Wisconsin, their post-war lives were a mixture of success and failure, of hardship and triumph. Often proud of their service, these veterans were active participants in the social and economic development of the United States after mid-century and actively pursued opportunities that would better themselves and their place within American society.

Patriotism and Sacrifice on the Home Front

This chapter argues that the focus on patriotism and loyalty on the home front and, in particular, expressions of this through women’s war work, often obscures the realities of life for the women and families of soldiers in the field. Although public professions of support for the war effort were vital to creation perceptions of stability throughout the war, families did suffer when their men went to war, and those sufferings ere expounded with the death of a soldier. The ways in which the war impacted the lives of the wives, families, and dependents of soldiers from Connecticut, Illinois, and Wisconsin help to illuminate the collision of public and private spheres as the war forced soldiers and civilians to contend with the personal as well as political consequences of the war.

Illinois and Mulligan’s Irish Brigade

This chapter traces Irish immigration to Illinois and the formation of the 23rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Utilizing census data this chapter argues that settlement patterns and the socio-economic place of Irish immigrants in Illinois differed drastically from those in larger cities such as New York and Boston. As the nation was torn apart by war, Illinois’s Irish responded to Lincoln’s initial call for troops with enthusiasm, organizing into the 23rd Illinois. Enlistment patterns illustrate broad commitment to the war effort by Irish and Irish American volunteers from throughout Illinois and Michigan, and the early service of the regiment at the battle of Lexington, Missouri in the fall of 1861 reinforced, nationally, the notion of Irish loyalty to the Union and encouraged Irish enlistment in other states in the north.

Introduction

In April 1861, newly elected president Abraham Lincoln found himself in a precarious situation. Although he had won the presidency in the November elections, his victory was by no means a mandate from the people for the Republican Party platform. The nation was perilously divided. Winning less than half the popular vote in 1860, the tall, gaunt lawyer from Illinois looked on as his nation teetered on the brink of civil war. To keep the nation together, the new commander in chief drew support from a rather tenuous alliance of political rivals openly divided in their opinions about the actions of their southern brethren. The attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, however, galvanized public opinion throughout the north and fostered, at least momentarily, a powerful wartime alliance between Republicans and Democrats that allowed Lincoln to carry out a war to preserve the Union. As Federal troops lowered the Stars and Stripes in surrender from the ramparts of the bastion in Charleston Harbor, banners were hoisted in towns and cities across the North as men of all ages, ethnicities, classes, and backgrounds rushed to the defense of their flag and their nation....

Disorder and Discipline

This chapter supports the broader argument against relying on an ethnic-specific narrative to analyze Irish American service. The politics and discipline within these regiments reflected the realities of the mass organization of men into citizen soldiers. Understanding military justice in Irish regiments shows how these units operated on the day-to-day basis. This focus allows the experiences of these soldiers to be contextualized as part of the broader war effort. Their experiences in maneuvering the systems of rank and military courts transcends ethnicity and yields fascinating insight into how these men behaved under wartime conditions. All three regiments in this study suffered, to some degree, from disorder. But this was typical within the larger context of the military justice, especially where circumstances promoted such behavior. Volunteers often understood their relationships with fellow soldiers personally rather than within the context of the broader social or political issues of the period.

Ethnicity and Combat

Men in Connecticut and Wisconsin were motivated to enlist in part due to the successes of Irish regiments during the early battles of the Civil War. Beginning in the spring of 1862, this chapter follows the soldiers of these three regiments and speaks to the diversity of military life for Union volunteers. Tested in battle, the faithful service of these men helped preserve support for the Union war effort on the home front and proved a valuable method of rejecting the goals and aims of the rioters in New York City in the summer of 1863. As animosity towards the federal government grew amongst the Irish in America’s largest ethnic enclave of Manhattan, in smaller communities throughout the north Irish men and women reaffirmed, time and again, their support for the war, their soldiers, and their adopted nation.

Connecticut, Illinois, and Wisconsin React to the New York City Draft Riots

The relationship between Irish Americans and the Democratic Party is well documented and widely accepted. The men who served in these units were staunchly allied with that political party. Democratic rhetoric that appeared in local periodicals most often reflected local community issues and attitudes, which were inclusive of the immigrant population. Historians have stressed the decline of Irish American support for the war, most notably after the summer of 1863, and most visibly through the Draft Riots in New York City in July 1863. In shifting the historical perspective towards analysis of local community the extent of loyalty and dissent on the Irish American home front can be more appropriately judged. Although many Democrats questioned the legality of major political decisions such as emancipation and the draft, there was no support in these areas for the rioters in the summer of 1863 and local responses to the events in New York City illuminate how Irish-Americans understood their relationship to their adopted nation and the ways that observers understood the place of these immigrants within their local communities.