User:Historical Perspective/Irish-Americans in the Civil War

The role of Irish-Americans in the American Civil War was significant due to the large numbers of Irish immigrants serving in both the Union and Confederate armies as well as the high profile of several predominantly Irish military units.

In the 15 years preceding the American Civil War, more than 1.7 million Irish immigrated to the United States. This mass migration was due primarily to the Great Famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1855 which caused the largest exodus in Irish history. By 1861, the year the American Civil War began, Irish represented the largest percentage of foreign-born residents of many American cities. During the war, approximately 144,000 Irish immigrants served in the Union army and approximately 20,000 served in the Confederate army. Irish immigrants ranked as the second largest group of foreign-born soldiers in both armies, surpassed only by German immigrants.

While most of the Irish-born who enlisted served in non-ethnic military units, some chose to band together to form Irish regiments and even brigades. These units shared a sense of pride in their heritage and were widely known and popular during the war. On the Union side, Irish units included the Irish Brigade and the Corcoran Legion&mdash;both consisting of several Irish regiments. Confederate Irish units included the Louisiana Tigers and the 10th Tennessee Infantry.

Several Irish-born general officers gained prominence during the Civil War. These included Brigadier General Thomas Francis Meagher who led the Irish Brigade, Brig. Gen. Michael Corcoran who led Corcoran's Legion and Major General Patrick Cleburne, one of only two foreign-born officers to achieve the rank of major general in the Confederate army.

Immigration
The large numbers of Irish soldiers in the Civil War was due in large part to the Great Famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1855. Caused by repeated blights on potato crops, the Famine deprived millions of rural Irish of their means of subsistence. The resulting tragedy led to approximately one million deaths in Ireland from disease and starvation and caused millions of Irish to leave the country. In the 1840s and 1850s, approximately 1.7 million Irish journeyed to the United States, an unprecedented migration that significantly changed the ethnic composition of the nation. By 1850, Irish-born accounted for one-quarter of the populations of Boston and New York.