'Remembering the Ould Sod'
St. Patrick's Day in the Union Army's Irish Regiments
By Kevin O'Beirne
WGT Contributing Editor
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From an early 20th century postcard
| Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated day in the year for an Irishman in the American Civil War was St. Patrick's Day. March 17th was always celebrated in high style back on the "Ould Sod" and in Irish neighborhoods in the United States; soldiers in the Army of the Potomac's Irish units kept this tradition alive and even enhanced it a bit.
Due to its proximity to urban centers of immigration (such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc.) the Army of the Potomac and nearby commands contained a substantial portion of the Irish in the Federal army. Despite the fact that army service usually meant going without the good things in life, the men and officers of Irish regiments were always up for a party, especially on Erin's national holiday. The St. Patrick's Day celebrations of the Irish Brigade (69th, 88th, and 63rd New York, 28th Massachusetts, 116th Pennsylvania) are well-documented; unfortunately, the fame of the Irish Brigade often eclipses other units, such as the Corcoran Legion (155th, 164th, 170th New York, and the 69th NYNGA/182nd New York), the 37th New York ("Irish Rifles"), 9th Massachusetts, and the 69th Pennsylvania, not to mention Irish regiments in the Western armies.
A total of four St. Patrick's Days were observed in the Army of the Potomac, each in varying styles, depending on the unit, its military situation, and its ability to procure materials necessary for a good celebration. Just as the Irish Brigade was noted for its celebrations of St. Patrick's Day, so too were most of the "lesser-known" Irish regiments serving in the Virginia theatre.
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| A pencil drawing of the Irish Brigade's St. Patrick's Day steeplechase in 1863. For a larger view of this drawing (264 K), click here. |
March 17, 1862 was not an especially notable one for the 9th Massachusetts Volunteers. Earlier in the month of March, portions of what would eventually become the V Corps (with the 9th) embarked on an expedition to Fairfax, Virginia. On March 15, the regiment made an arduous return march to Alexandria, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., in a torrential rainstorm, where the regiment spent about five days, including St. Patrick's Day, in bivouac. On March 21, the 9th boarded a ship for transport to the York/James Peninsula and General McClellan's advance on Richmond. Apparently, the 9th was not able to celebrate the 1862 holiday in a noteworthy fashion.
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1863 Steeplechase the Stuff of Legend
It was the most legendary day in camp for one of the most fabled fighting units in the history of the United States Army -- Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher's Irish Brigade. The day was March 17, 1863, St. Patrick's Day, a day when Meagher's soldiers would show the men of
Maj. Gen. "Fighting" Joe Hooker's Army of the Potomac how proud they were
to be sons of Erin.
Many of these men had lived through the horrors of An Gorta Mor
(The Great Hunger) in Ireland and the almost hopeless misery of "coffin ship"
passages across the Atlantic. In America, their adopted homeland, they confronted the mindless enmity of many "Know-Nothings," and now, finally, in the final weeks of 1862, had endured the absolute terror of Antietam and Fredericksburg. It was more sorrow and despair in a decade and a half than any individual should have to endure.
These men had taken it, blow after blow, had been bloodied as few have ever been, before or since; but on this St. Patrick's Day they would show their Federal Army comrades, as their people had so often shown their British oppressors at home, that they would not bow to the burdens they faced.
Besides serving a feast that matched anything most Federal soldiers had
ever seen in their civilian days, the Brigade put on foot races, sack
races, and other contests during the day and a grand theatrical
entertainment with songs, recitations and a poem by Brigade Poet
Laureate, Dr. Reynolds.
The main event of the day was that favorite of all Irishmen, a steeplechase horse race. With all the riders outfitted in silks, it must have reminded many of the native Irishmen present of the country race meets back in the Ol' Sod.
The moment captured the pageantry and exuberance of that memorable day in Falmouth, Virginia, as the hardened veterans of the Brigade let the harsh reality of what lay ahead of them fade away while they cheered on their favorites. It would be the last day of joy in the lives of so many of these men before the roads dried; the roads to Chancellorsville and then to Gettysburg lay ahead.
Only a few would manage to travel all the way to the next St. Patrick's Day.
-- Joseph E. Gannon
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The 9th Massachusetts was not the only regiment waiting to "ship out" to the Peninsula. One other such unit was Colonel Samuel Hayman's 37th New York, an Irish regiment from New York City that was assigned to what would become the III Corps. The "Irish Rifles", as they were known, had a scheduled St. Patrick's Day celebration impacted by McClellan's offensive. Instead of festivities and merriment, the regiment spent the day boarding a troopship in Alexandria for transport to Fort Monroe. The men of the 37th were not to be daunted, however, and they smuggled an entire keg of whiskey aboard their steamer. This "busthead" was enough to get many men in the regiment roaring drunk while on board the ship, and soon several fistfights broke out between the Irishmen and the men of the 2nd Michigan, also on board the ship. The high-seas melee went on until the colonel of the 2nd Michigan halted matters by personally knocking five Irishmen down a hatchway. Apparently, the brawl put a damper on things and the 37th New York spent the rest of the day quietly as their officers attempted to make peace with the Midwesterners.
St. Patrick's Day 1863, saw some of the most raucous celebrations ever held in Virginia. In March 1863, units such as the 9th Massachusetts and the Corcoran Legion were in their respective winter quarters with no significant action at hand. The Army of the Potomac, with the 9th, was in its camp at Falmouth, located across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg, and the Legion was encamped at Suffolk, in the Tidewater region 120 miles southeast of Fredericksburg.
Brigadier General Michael Corcoran knew how to show his men a good time. A member of a non-Irish regiment camped near the Legion at Suffolk remembered March 17, 1863 as, "St. Patrick's Day and Corcoran's Irish Legion celebrate it in high, barbaric fashion ... three or four thousand wild Irishmen all shouting, yelling, and cheering at once."
The day dawned bright and sunny, revealing the decorated camps of the Legion. For days the men had labored to adorn the company streets with grand arches constructed of pine boughs, and smaller arches decorating individual tents. The arches themselves were decorated, including one with a harp and the word "Fenian" woven of pine boughs, and another with "We Mourn Our Loss" (a reference to the recent death in Buffalo of Colonel John E. McMahon of the 164th New York), and still another with a shield woven of moss.
The entire Legion was turned out in their best dress uniforms for morning Mass. The 155th and 170th New York were in standard blue frock coats, while the 69th NYNGA were attired in their red-trimmed artillery-style uniforms, and the 164th were outfitted in their new Zouave garb. Mass was celebrated by Father Paul Gillen of the 170th New York and Father James Dillon of the 69th (formerly of the 63rd New York, Irish Brigade).
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USAMHI
James P. McMahon (shown here as Colonel of the 164th NY) was the younger brother of the 164th's first colonel, John McMahon. James was killed at Cold Harbor in 1864. |
After Mass, Corcoran somehow appropriated every horse he could lay his hands on and mounted over 1,000 of his men. The cavalcade was joined by Corcoran and his staff, several buglers, and a battery of mountain howitzers. Corcoran led the "mounted host" on a wild ride around the Federal camps near Suffolk, blowing the bugles, yelling, and galloping along the roads and through the camps at top speed. The unmounted members of the Legion formed up in ranks with all regimental and company flags flying and, to the accompaniment of two brass bands, paraded noisily through the camps and the town of Suffolk.
The procession made its way to the quarters of Major General John Peck, the overall commander at Suffolk, and was reviewed by Peck and Corcoran. The Legion marched on through the town and along the banks of the Nasemond River where they were cheered by the crew of a gunboat. A sobering reminder of the war occurred during the parade when elements of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry returned to camp with forty empty saddles after being on the losing end of a skirmish with Confederate infantry.
After the parade, Corcoran hosted a dinner party for about seventy invited guests at a hotel in Suffolk. The party was interrupted several times by a series of grand, noisy, torchlit processions by the individual regiments of the Legion. At the appearance of each unit, Corcoran went out on the hotel balcony and made a patriotic speech, to the cheers of the men, and then dispatched them to receive a whiskey ration. Finally, dinner was served and the party lasted until after 4:00 a.m. During the evening, Corcoran declared publicly, for the first time, that he was a member of the Fenian Brotherhood (in fact, Corcoran was the commander of the Fenians' military wing).
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USAMHI
General Michael Corcoran | A veritable ocean of whiskey was consumed by the Legion that day. A member of the 13th New Hampshire Volunteers, camped across the road from the Legion, recorded this incident, which reflects some of the typical racial bias of the period: "Some of Corcoran's men during the day capture a large Negro cook in the 13th, known as 'Nigger Joe', take him to their camp, strip him nearly naked, and make a 'rainbow nigger' out of him, painting him in patches, bars and stripes, yellow, green, red, and blue--every color they can muster, and turn him loose. He returns to the 13th camp, running as if for dear life, scared half out of his wits, and looking worse than the evil one." The soldier concluded this account with the somewhat bewildered statement, "This is another phase of the Irish question."
Later in the evening, the whiskey no doubt had taken its effect when a pistol fight erupted in the camp of the 155th New York. Among other incidents of gunplay, young Corporal Michael Casey of Company I, quite inebriated, pulled a cocked pistol on his commander, Captain John Byrne. As reported by another soldier, Byrne "played the coward" and backed down, avoiding an unhappy ending to the matter. Fortunately, no injuries resulted when some drunks actually fired pistols at their compatriots.
St. Patrick's Day 1863 was well celebrated by Colonel Patrick Guiney's 9th Massachusetts. Regimental historian Christian Samito wrote of their celebration on this day,
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College of the Holy Cross Collection
Col. Patrick Guiney |
The men of the Irish Ninth turned to preparing for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day festivities. The entrance to each company street became decorated with an arch of holly and evergreen. Furthermore, Guiney set aside the present officers of the regiment, and allowed the enlisted personnel to elect their own officers for the day. St. Patrick's Day dawned bright and sunny, and after breakfast Guiney gave an oration on St. Patrick's life, the celebration of his feast day, and the duties of the men to their native and adopted countries. Then the Ninth turned out for a dress parade and, drawing into a hollow square, listened to speeches by both "old" and "new" officers, and gave cheers for Major General McClellan, Major General Hooker, President Lincoln, Guiney, Ireland, America, and Massachusetts. Afterward, the men were dismissed to receive the first of three whiskey rations, and Guiney invited the new officers to his quarters
Then, the men engaged in several games: trying climb a greased pole that had fifteen dollars and a ten-day furlough at the top (no one succeeded), attempting to catch a greased pig, and foot and sack races. A number of horse races took place after the midday meal, but an accident put an end to this activity. Quartermaster Thomas Mooney's horse collided with that of a participating surgeon of the 32nd Massachusetts. The doctor got up with a dislocated or broken arm, but both horses were killed and Mooney was rendered unconscious by the blow; sadly, he died on March 27, 1863. Late in the afternoon, the regiment enjoyed a mock parade, and a member of Company F parodied Guiney's manner and voice while acting as regimental commander. A large crowd of spectators watched the spectacle, and the men ended the day in high spirit.
| "Conviviality reigned supreme; singing, dancing, &c. was kept up until an early hour next morning." |
For St. Patrick's Day, 1864, the Corcoran Legion was stationed on guard duty along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad between Fairfax and Burkeville, Virginia. Due to their dispersed camps, the Legion could not hold a massive celebration as it had in 1863 and each regiment arranged for its own festivities.
Sergeant George Tipping of Company I of the 155th New York recounted how he was detailed to travel by rail from Accotink Bridge to Fairfax to procure four gallons of whiskey for use by the fifty or so men of Company I (this ration works out to be about ten ounces per man). Tipping was happy that day because he was sporting a new green shamrock sent from home, and it was noticed by the Legion's commander, Colonel Mathew Murphy.
The entire 164th New York was apparently quartered in one camp and their celebration seems to have been one of the more organized affairs in the Legion that St. Patrick's Day. The day dawned bright and sunny, and the 164th's camp was gaily decorated with pine boughs. The regiment was assembled in their Zouave uniforms and a program of games and festivities was announced, including climbing a 30-foot greased pole, mule races, a sack race, a wheelbarrow race, a chase after a shaved, greased pig, and a foot race. The prizes offered to the winners of these contests were many and varied: the winner of the pole-climb was to receive a new pair of boots positioned at the top of the pole and a furlough; the winner of the pig chase received the porker itself as a prize. The mule races were a source
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Photo by Kevin O'Beirne
A reproduction of the flag of the 155th New York. |
of much amusement and, in the words of one onlooker, "...many of the animals mastered their masters." In the first race, only five of twelve starting mules finished with their riders. The day was capped off with an officers' reception given by Colonel James McMahon. Notable guests included General Robert O. Tyler (a future commander of the Legion), several colonels, and many ladies. The evening was summed up thusly by one officer: "Conviviality reigned supreme; singing, dancing, &c. was kept up until an early hour next morning."
Boston's 9th Massachusetts Regiment spend the winter of 1863-1864 in winter quarters near Bealton, Virginia, in the vicinity of Culpeper Court House, along with the rest of the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Regimental historian Christian Samito wrote of this St. Patrick's Day,
The excitement of another St. Patrick's Day filled the regiment. At the entrance of each company street an arch of laurel, holly, and evergreen vines was erected… On St. Patrick's Day, all Irishmen in the division were given leave to be in the Ninth's camp, as were many from the army as a whole. The holiday commenced with Father Egan's service. ... Following this, Guiney and M.H. MacNamara both delivered an address, and watched a mock parade held by officers "promoted" from the ranks for the occasion. Foot and horse races and other games accompanied four rations of whiskey per man to make the day merry, and many officers and their ladies walked about with green sprigs on their clothing. At night a dinner was held, and a grand ball at division headquarters in a specially constructed tent wound up the day. The tent was decorated with rifles, crossed sabers, sashes of red, white, and blue cloth, chandeliers made of bayonets, and all the regimental [flags] of the division.
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Library of Congress
A chapel set up in the field by the 9th Massachusetts |
St. Patrick's Day of 1865 was perhaps the saddest spent in the Army of the Potomac. The 37th New York and 9th Massachusetts had long since been mustered out of the service when their enlistments expired, leaving in the Army of the Potomac only the Irish Brigade, the Corcoran Legion, and the 69th Pennsylvania. All of the Irish regiments had suffered heavily in Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign and the on-going siege of Petersburg. By 1865, the four regiments of the Legion, having never received any new recruits, numbered less than 400 men (not counting a large, non-Irish heavy artillery regiment that had been added in May, 1864). Scant information is available on the Legion's celebrations of March 17, 1865, but it most likely included a Mass celebrated by Father Gillen (Father Dillon, of the 182nd New York, had died during the previous autumn), along with games and festivities. It is quite possible, with their diminished numbers and the proximity of their divisions' camps, that the Legion simply made the short trip to the camp of the Irish Brigade and celebrated the holiday there.
The Irish regiments of the Army of the Potomac had a well-deserved reputation as the most able partiers in the Union army. Merriment and conviviality never seemed to be absent from their camps but, when duty called and the Rebels were on the march, the Irish lived up to their other reputation, that of the fiercest fighters in the Federal army. On this St. Patrick's Day, drink a wee bit o' whiskey to the memory of our Celtic ancestors of the Army of the Potomac.
WGT Contributing Editor Kevin O'Beirne (kob@thewildgeese.com) is the author of more than 20 articles on Irishmen in the American Civil War. He is a living historian with The Columbia Rifles and is the editor of The Columbia Examiner, a bimonthly newsletter for "campaigner" reenactors. When not steeping himself in history, he works as an environmental engineer near Buffalo, N.Y.
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