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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Irish Democrats, Irish Nationalism, Fenians?, December 27, 2006
This review is from: The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Paperback)
Ms. Bruce breaks the "Irish Brigade" stranglehold on the Irish-American Civil War experience--which is very important. She describes Irish experience, in the 23rd and 90 Illinois, 10th Ohio, 116th and 69th Pennsylvania. However she doesn't connect all the dots. The 69th Pennsylvania elected Welshman Joshua T. Owen as colonel not because he was a fellow European, but because he was a Democratic politician. I feel the role of the Democratic party in helping form these units is very underplayed throughout the book---perhaps because 2006 Irish-Americans are assimilated Republicans today?
Irish nationalism is also truely ignored. Although not every Irish-American was a Fenian, she emasculates the role of Irish nationalism.
For instance she emphasizes the key role of Colonel Dennis O'Kane of the 69th Pennsylvania at the battle of Gettysburg, explaining that he was born, raised, and married in County Derry before moving to Philadelphia. Before Pickett's Charge O'Kane called on the officers and men of the regiment to defend "the soil of our native state" and didn't mention Ireland--a key point in her thesis. However she doesn't mention that O'Kane was a Philadelphia delegate to the great 1855 prewar Irish convention of Irish societies held in New York City. O'Kane was for peaceful, electoral removal of the British Empire--not a Fenian, but still an Irish Nationalist! By the way Ms. Bruce, C company--color company of the 69th Pennsylvania carrying the USA colors and regimental Irish flag--was called the EMMETT GUARDS--named not in honor of the famous American clown---but the Irish Patriot Robert Emmet, hung by the British government 20 September 1803.
All in all, her book is well researched and breaks new ground, I found her writing style superior to most academics. Worth Buying.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Roughs and brutal Irishy, December 22, 2006
This review is from: The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Paperback)
America's first large immigrant group was the Catholic Irish, driven from their homes by a combination of political oppression and famine. They arrived with little more than their lives and hope for a better life. Unlike the Scot-Irish that had come earlier, most were unskilled farm workers with little education and did not always speak English. Above all, they were Catholic in a nation that was anti-Catholic and became violently ant-Irish. However, America is starved for cheap labor and the desperate Irish immigrant fills that void. The Know-nothing movement was aimed at the Irish and Catholic German immigrants. Only the Democrats in the large eastern cities welcomed them. In that party the Irish found a source of protection and support. Within that party, the Irish took the first steps toward equability.
They developed a dual loyalty to America as their refuge from oppression but refused to give up Ireland as home. The American Irish understood that loyalty to America was required of them and the nation had to be preserved and defended. America would always be the refuge for those driven from Ireland. America could be the source of men and funds to free Ireland from British rule.
The Republican acceptance of the Know-nothings and Abolitionists kept the Irish vote for the Democrats. However, they had no sympathy for or interest in secession. As the nation split, they understood that the Union had to be preserved and that they would have to fight to preserve it. Many enlisted either in the famed Irish Brigade, other Irish regiments or in any available regiment. This was the era of good feeling and papers were full of "brave Irish fighting" stories. These stories contained an element of low class violent people too. Some states viewed rising Catholic regiments with alarm and more than a few tried to place "native born" officers in command.
Irish support for the war waned as causalities mounted and army anti-catholic practices continued. The draft laws were seen as making the war a "poor man's fight" and for a Catholic one without benefit of clergy. Stories circulated of financial help being denied families of Catholic soldiers. Other stories told of dying Catholic soldiers being denied a Priest. True or not, coupled with the draft laws and the list of dead and wounded, Irish support for the war slowed. The Emancipation Proclamation killed Irish support for the war. The Irish enlisted to "save the Union"; but were not willing to create a competing work force. Nor were they willing to share the lower rungs of the social ladder with the new freeman. In July 1863, riots erupted in New York City. Not all of the rioters were Irish but the paper would not tell you that. America was disgusted with Irish complaints, refusal to convert and lack of support for the war. All the pent up hate broke lose and the riot became an Irish activity.
The strong Irish support of McClellan in 1864 sealed their doom. By war's end, the Irish had become "hordes of Celts and rebel sympathizers". Most were excluded from the GAR by religion and social status. The GAR was protestant and upper class not the place for a Catholic working man, when labor unrest was sweeping the nation.
Susannah Ural Bruce tells this story factually and without judging either side. She accepts and explains their views staying away from our ideas of right and wrong. The result is a powerful book that can be difficult to read but is very rewarding. She tells most of the story using the Irish newspapers and speeches from community leaders. The depth of the opposition comes from the "American" newspapers that were not slow to point fingers and publish anti stories.
This is not an easy read! The story is very different from the "melting pot" view of American history and can be upsetting. This is a powerful story that needs to be told and should be part of every Civil War Library.
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4 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Factual Error, May 2, 2008
This review is from: The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Paperback)
I am far too lazy to write a full review of this book, but I just want to point out that the anti-slavery address to which Bruce refers on page 25 was not the work of Daniel O'Connell as she incorrectly states. It was a petition written by American abolitionists that was circulated around around Ireland for signatures. One of the signatures was that of Daniel O'Connell. See: Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish became white. (New York: Routledge, 1995), 9.
O'Connell did express very similar sentiment in a scathing condemnation of Irish-American opposition to the abolitionist movement written to the pro-slavery Cincinnati Irish Repeal Association on October 11, 1843. The document was republished in 1863 by the Cincinnati Catholic Telegraph and the Union league of Philadelphia. See: Frank B. Freidel, ed., Union Pamphlets of the Civil War, Volume II. (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1967), 795-812.
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