Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There were several heavily Scandanavian regiments from Wisconsin and MANY heavily German regiments from Ohio, Illinois, Pensylvania, Missouri, Illinois and no doubt other states. The 87th Illinois, the only only Illinois infantry regiment at Gettysburg, was heavily German and had a Jewish colonel. (Most Illinois men served in the western theater and were busy at Vicksburg and in central Tennessee.)
There were heavily Irish regiments from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois.
The United States regular army, the professionals, was heavily Irish with a large proportion of Irishmen who'd already served in the British Army before emigrating. There were also many Germans in the regular army and a fair amount of English and Scots, many with prior experience as soldiers in Europe. After the battle of First Bull Run some of the regulars were heard discusiing the battle and saying it was nothing compared to Inkermann and the siege of Delhi.
There were a couple of heavily Irish regiments (meaning "real" Irish, Celtic Catholics, not Presbyterian Germanic Scots from Ulster) in the rebel armies, I recall one from Tennessee and one from Louisiana.
No doubt you can find statistics if you dig around.
Last edited by Irishtom29; 06-18-2009 at 06:26 AM..
Most immigration was in the north (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc). I do know that a lot of Irish, though living in the north, supported the Confederacy because a freed south meant black migration to the north less jobs for them.
There were several heavily Scandanavian regiments from Wisconsin and MANY heavily German regiments from Ohio, Illinois, Pensylvania, Missouri, Illinois and no doubt other states. The 87th Illinois, the only only Illinois infantry regiment at Gettysburg, was heavily German and had a Jewish colonel. (Most Illinois men served in the western theater and were busy at Vicksburg and in central Tennessee.)
Was the 87th one of the 'Chicago Board of Trade' regiments? I also recall one Illinois infantry regiment that had a fully Jewish company of volunteers, forget which one.
I haven't checked whether you're right about only one Illinois infantry regiment at G-burg, but I'm pretty sure as far as cavalry goes there were a couple in Buford's Division (one for sure, I believe the 8 IL Cav). It would be very odd for a state's cav component on the battlefield to outnumber its infantry component, but could happen given the topsy-turvy nature of CW reorganizations.
There were several heavily Scandanavian regiments from Wisconsin and MANY heavily German regiments from Ohio, Illinois, Pensylvania, Missouri, Illinois and no doubt other states. The 87th Illinois, the only only Illinois infantry regiment at Gettysburg, was heavily German and had a Jewish colonel. (Most Illinois men served in the western theater and were busy at Vicksburg and in central Tennessee.)
There were heavily Irish regiments from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois.
The United States regular army, the professionals, was heavily Irish with a large proportion of Irishmen who'd already served in the British Army before emigrating. There were also many Germans in the regular army and a fair amount of English and Scots, many with prior experience as soldiers in Europe. After the battle of First Bull Run some of the regulars were heard discusiing the battle and saying it was nothing compared to Inkermann and the siege of Delhi.
There were a couple of heavily Irish regiments (meaning "real" Irish, Celtic Catholics, not Presbyterian Germanic Scots from Ulster) in the rebel armies, I recall one from Tennessee and one from Louisiana.
No doubt you can find statistics if you dig around.
Was the 87th one of the 'Chicago Board of Trade' regiments? I also recall one Illinois infantry regiment that had a fully Jewish company of volunteers, forget which one.
I haven't checked whether you're right about only one Illinois infantry regiment at G-burg, but I'm pretty sure as far as cavalry goes there were a couple in Buford's Division (one for sure, I believe the 8 IL Cav). It would be very odd for a state's cav component on the battlefield to outnumber its infantry component, but could happen given the topsy-turvy nature of CW reorganizations.
There were two Illinois cavalry regiments at Gettysburg, the 8th and 12th, both in Gamble's brigade. William Gamble was Irish and the head of Streets and Sanitation for the city of Chicago. Gamble had been a dragoon in the British army and had also served as a regular in The United States Army.
The Illinois infantry regiment was the 82nd, not the 87th as I stated. Their colonel was Edward Selig Salomon, a Jew born in Germany.
There were two Illinois cavalry regiments at Gettysburg, the 8th and 12th, both in Gamble's brigade. William Gamble was Irish and the head of Streets and Sanitation for the city of Chicago.
Ah, yes. Buford at Herr Ridge (I think he advanced that far along the Pike for observation) with Devin and Gamble, watching, awaiting Heth's lead elements with their carbines, and hoping to hell Reynolds comes soon with his Westerners. Buford is one of the most under-credited generals of the war.
Ah, yes. Buford at Herr Ridge (I think he advanced that far along the Pike for observation) with Devin and Gamble, watching, awaiting Heth's lead elements with their carbines, and hoping to hell Reynolds comes soon with his Westerners. Buford is one of the most under-credited generals of the war.
Yes, it was an outpost of the 8th Illinois that made the first contact with Hill's advance on the Chambersburg Pike and Lt. Marcellus Jones of the 8th claimed to have fired the battle's first shot. Jones' house on Roosevelt Rd. in Wheaton Illinois is now a lawyer's office.
Had Buford not died he was slated for command of the Army of the Cumberland's cavalry. He think he would have gotten on well with Thomas and Sherman and the other fellas out west.
Thomas Devin did quite well as one of Sheridan's "hard hitters" later in the war. His parents were Irish immigrants.
It seems to me that many talk about how many of the confederates were scottish or of scotch/irish descent.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
