The Irish Brigade During the Civil War.
There were pockets of Irishmen who immigrated from Ireland in the late 1800s who formed brigades that fought for both the South and the North during the Civil War, but Beller focuses primarily on those Irishmen from New York who fought for the Union. The brigade lost hundreds of men and boys at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland in 1862 - one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Through the use of such sources as letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles and photographs from that time, Beller brings the soldiers to life, convincing us of the unflappable and indomitable Irish spirit that drove these soldiers on. Not only about a brigade of soldiers, Beller's account follows the career of one man, Thomas Francis Meaghar and, further, addresses the issue of religious persecution and prejudice, and what it meant for these Irish men to become Americans. Includes a preface, sources for research, and index.
