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SHOW THE WORLD YOU'RE ONE OF 'THE WILD GEESE' Home WGT Blog The Saga Archives Wild Geese Shops Bookstore Classifieds Heritage Key Dates Events WGT Forum Gallery Lands of Exile Living History Resources Bibliography Contact WGT About Us PROUD SPONSORS OF WGT: For the latest headlines about "Bloody Sunday" and Northern Ireland, visit Newshound, at Nuzhound.com VISIT THESE OTHER FINE IRISH SITES: Tara Hall, Headquarters for 'Fighting 69th' and Irish Brigade Memorabilia, online at Fighting69th.com. Irish Culture and Customs: Traditions, folklore, and more. Get an "Irish Brigade" t-shirt or sweat shirt with the graphic shown above from the Wild Geese Today's Irish Brigade Shop PROUD SPONSORS OF WGT: Derek Warfield tells the story of 1798 in song in Liberte '98: Songs & Ballads of 1798 Get an "I'm one of the Wild Geese" hat from the Wild Geese Today Shops Get an "Irish America: The Fenian Tradition" shirt, or other WGT item at the Wild Geese Today Store Below are links to some of our large collection of articles on the 69th New York and the Irish Brigade. 'The Fighting 69th' at 150 The regiment that Robert E. Lee christened is going strong at 150 PART 1 IN A TWO-PART SERIES By Lt. Col. Kenneth H. Powers, NYARNG (Ret.) The year 2001 is not only the first of the third millennium, it also marks the sesquicentennial of the 69th Regiment of New York, which will be celebrated at a dinner in its Armory on October 13. Originally the Second Regiment of Irish Volunteers, it was accepted as part of the New York State Militia and designated as the Sixty-Ninth Regiment on October 12, 1851. Read the rest of this 2 part article HERE. #################### 'You Have Got Your Chance at Last': THE IRISH AT FIRST MANASSAS The First Battle of Bull Run, or First Manassas, as Southerners named it, unleashed four years of war on a scale never before scene on the American continent. For most of the Irish, who, typically enough, volunteered in large numbers for both armies, it was to be a baptism of fire. Read about the 69th New York at 1st Manassas , and our coverage of the 140th anniversay reenactment of the battle HERE. #################### "The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns,": The Battle of Bull Run WGT presents five-part series drawn from the book "The Irish Brigade and Its Campaigns," by Tipperary native David P. Conyngham, published in 1866. Conyngham served during the Civil War, for a time with Meagher's Irish Brigade, and finally as a correspondent for the New York Herald. Read part one HERE. ##################### The Deadliest Day: The Irish Brigade at Bloody Lane, September 17, 1862 By Joseph E. Gannon WGT Managing Editor By the village of Sharpsburg, Maryland, there is a meandering creek called Antietam. On September 17th, 1862, that little town and lazy creek were witness to a great Civil War battle. In the South it was called the Battle of Sharpsburg, in the North they called it the Battle of Antietam; by either name it remains the bloodiest single day in U.S. history. Read about the rest of the battle, and our coverage of the 140th anniversary reenactment of it, HERE. Register for The Wild Geese Today email updates #################### 'Gallowglass' at Antietam: The Irish Brigade's Fight James Turner, who used the nom de plume Gallowglass, was an attorney from Jersey City, N.J. It was as a lieutenant in the 88th that he would gain fame writing of the brigade's exploits for The Irish American under the pen name of "Gallowglass." Read his account of the Brigade's desperate fight at Antietam here. #################### Soldiers of the Are Honored at Antietam by Joseph E. Gannon Our coverage of the moving unveiling of the Irish Brigade Monument at Antietam Battlefield in 1997. It was the last monument that will ever be placed on the field. Read our report HERE. #################### 'Undaunted Courage': The Irish at Fredericksburg by Joseph E. Gannon In 1862, the second year of America's Civil War, Meagher's Irish Brigade made two of the most gallant charges in American history, crashing bloodily against a Confederate strongpoint at Antietam's "Bloody Lane" and, 87 days later, attacking Confederates, many Irish, behind Fredericksburg's "Stone Wall." WGT is proud to present the story of the Irish at Fredericksburg in a three-part series. Read part one HERE. #################### Remembering the Irish Who Fell at Fredericksburg On December 13, 1997, in stark contrast to New Yorkers' more usual Yuletide shopping, merriment and errands, 24 stalwarts braved blustery winds and near-freezing temperatures to recall the Irish slain or wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg 135 years earlier. Read the story of this commemoration HERE. #################### Special Report: The Irish Battle at Gettysburg Irish soldiers played an immense part in the epic fighting that changed the course of American history. WGT looks at the many Irish connections to the battle, and how Irish America marked their story at the battle's 135th anniversary reenactment. Read our full coverage HERE. #################### The Irish Brigade's Fifth Regiment: The 116th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry By David Kincaid In the spring of 1862, a call was made by the Federal government for more troops. The Civil War had been in progress for more than a year, and the 116th Pennsylvania, recruited principally from Philadelphia, was one of the regiments then authorized. Tipperary-born Dennis Heenan, a man of years of prewar militia experience, had served as Lt. Col. of the Irish 24th Pennsylvania in the early months of the war, and was chosen as the One-sixteenth's Colonel. Shortly they would join the storied Irish Brigade. Read this regiment's full story HERE. #################### COLORFUL AND GALLANT: General Michael Corcoran By John J. Concannon A policeman in Ireland, Michael Corcoran became a symbol of what an Irishman -- and a Fenian -- could make of himself in the New World. Read the story of his gallant but tragic figure here. #################### "Meagher of the Sword" By Joseph E. Gannon WGT Managing Editor THOMAS Francis Meagher as an Irish nationalist, captain in the 69th New York State Militia at 1st Manassas, Civil War general, and first commander of the famous Irish Brigade. Read a brief biography of this legendary figure of the mid-19th Century here. #################### Christmas in the Union's Irish Brigades by Kevin O'Beirne. Perhaps one of the best examples of how religion and the Celtic fondness for revelry and merriment blended together during the Civil War years is the manner in which Irish in the Union Army observed the holiest day of the year -- Christmas. Fortunately, copious accounts of the first two Christmases of the war are available and offer an interesting view of how Irishmen in blue celebrated the birth of Christ.. Read WGT contributing editor Kevin O'Beirne's look back at how the Irish celebrated in the Irish Brigade and in Corcoran's Legion as well, HERE. Search The Wild Geese Today site. Are you one of The Wild Geese? 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