The Irish Brigade by Russ A. Pritchard

Author:Russ A. Pritchard
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510756878
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2020-01-21T16:00:00+00:00

Brigadier General James Shields, Irish Brigade commander apparent, until the wily Meagher maneuvered him out of the command.

During the savage assaults by Confederate forces under General Jackson at Gaines’ Mill, the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Thomas Cass commanding, refused to withdraw and was in danger of being overrun. In the nick of time, General Meagher, in one of his more elaborate uniforms - green velvet, topped off by a straw hat with green plume - led the 63rd New York to support the 9th and save the day.

All the while, Irish political interests were in play lobbying for the appointment of Meagher as a brigadier, and a deputation of influential people called on President Lincoln. Meagher got the unofficial news of his appointment on December 27 and the Senate duly confirmed this by unanimous vote on February 3, 1862.19 The new brigadier general formally assumed command of the Irish Brigade two days later and staged a grand review of the regiments, ironically accompanied by poor General Shields, and a rather large staff and many guests who later enjoyed a sumptuous banquet accompanied by appropriate libations. This elaborate social occasion evidently established a precedent for entertainment for which the Irish Brigade became well known throughout the Army of the Potomac for the rest of the war.20

On February 8, 1862, Brigadier General Meagher and the Irish Brigade were assigned to the division of Brigadier General Charles Vose Sumner at Alexandria, and reported to Camp California where the division spent the next few weeks in intensive training. The following month the division marched to Warrenton Junction in a frustrated attempt to outflank the Confederate forces there, and then returned to Alexandria in early April. Major General George Brinton McClellan, now in command, had decided on his Peninsula Campaign against Richmond and transported the new Army of the Potomac to the York Peninsula. The Irish Brigade sailed on the Columbia and the Ocean Queen to Fort Monroe, Virginia.21 The real war was about to begin in earnest.

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