Irish-American Units in the Civil War (Men-at-Arms) (Paperback)

by Thomas Rodgers (Author), Richard Hook (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: dark blue kepis, gray shell jackets, dark blue forage cap, Osprey Publishing, New York, New Orleans (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A book that rightly belongs on the shelf of any US Civil War enthusiast and one that provides a bit more insight into what is called the first modern war. Highly recommended." -Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com (September 2008)

Product Description
Some 150,000 Irish-American immigrants served in the Union Army, most of them from Boston, New York and Chicago, and about 40,000 fought in the Confederate Army. The best known unit was the Irish Brigade of the Union Army of the Potomac, which distinguished itself at Antietam and, particularly, at Fredericksburg, where its sacrificial bravery astonished friend and foe alike. Famous regiments were New York's 'Fighting 69th', the 9th Massachusetts, 116th Pennsylvania, 23rd Illinois and 35th Indiana. Two Louisiana Confederate brigages from New Orleans were almost entirely Irish and several other Irish companies made a name for themselves at Shiloh, Chickamauga and other key battles. This book will give a brief overview of the history of the units on each side of the conflict and will be illustrated with uniform details, flags and archival photographs.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (August 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846033268
• ISBN-13: 978-1846033261
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #402,962 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Erin go brach!, September 21, 2008

By	K. Murphy "Fortune favors the Bold" (The thriving metropolis of Masury, OH) - See all my reviews

This well-done Osprey volume illuminates the uniforms of all the major ethnic Irish units on both sides in the American Civil War, which often colorfully celebrated their Celtic roots. Also included is a state-by-state guide to the Irish contributions to the war effort in both the North and South, and accounts of the most decorated of these brigades.

Overall, this bright new book is a good introduction to the study of the Irish fighting men of the Civil War, as well as their equipment, clothing, and organization.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent M-A-A title!, September 28, 2008

By	Edward J. Branley (Metairie, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This is my latest purchase from Osprey Publishing's "Men-at-Arms" series. It's a new release I learned about from the company's mailing list. I'm not a big student of the War Between the States, even though I grew up here in the South. A title about the Irishmen in the war caught my attention, however, because of the large Irish community that lived in ante-bellum New Orleans.

Being the second-largest port city in America (behind NYC) for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, New Orleans naturally attracted a large number of immigrants. The Irish, escaping famine and oppression at home, found New Orleans and the areas of the Louisiana Purchase offered a lot more than home. The Irish took on many of the dirty manual labor jobs on which slave owners wouldn't risk their property, such as construction of the navigation canals that connected New Orleans with Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico. When North fought South, it was natural that Irishmen on either side would take up arms and defend their homes, even while thinking back to their Homeland.

Irish-American Units in the Civil War offers a state-by-state overview of the Irishmen serving with both the Union and the Confederacy. The section on Louisiana's Irish troops to be fascinating. The Louisiana Tigers, dressed Zouave-style in blue jackets with red-and-white striped pants are legendary, and their Irish heritage is detailed here. Because it deals with the Civil War, there are many more photographs than illustrations and paintings throughout the book, providing accurate views of uniforms.

The eight pages of color plates, four Union, four Confederate, show the preponderance of green that Irish volunteers wore as part of their uniforms on both sides. Two of the plates show some of the ante-bellum uniforms of Irish volunteer companies. These are great examples of how the influence of mid-Victorian styles in Britain filtered over to the US, complete with high bearskin caps. The plates stir the imagination, as one wonders what would be on the mind of an officer of the Montgomery Guard of the NY State Militia, as he walked through Manhattan on a leisurely Sunday afternoon in 1859.

As always, the book has a Selected Bibliography, which makes a great starting point for more in-depth research on the subject.

5.0 out of 5 stars How Irish-American soldiers looked in the Civil War, February 1, 2009

By	Jackie Lynn (Shreveport, LA) - See all my reviews

This is a thin paperback gem full of interesting facts about the mostly Irish units from the South. Each state's men are detailed with carefully researched information about where they lived before they joined, the different unit numbers and commanders under which they served, and where they engaged the enemy. I especially enjoyed the detailed drawings of the uniforms and the descriptions of them that set each unit apart from others. I found it really fascinating and not as dry as many historic books, an easy read. Even people with no Irish ancestors will find this interesting. If I had a lot of money, I would buy a stack of copies and hand them out to anyone interested in the Confederacy.