The Irish General
The Irish General

Author: Paul R. Wylie

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 9780806138473

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Irish patriot, Civil War general, frontier governor - Thomas Francis Meagher played key roles in three major historical arenas and is hailed today as a hero by some, condemned as a drunkard by others. Paul R. Wylie now offers a definitive biography of this nineteenth-century figure who has long remained an enigma. The Irish General first recalls Meagher's life from his boyhood and leadership of Young Ireland in the revolution of 1848, to his exile in Tasmania and escape to New York, where he found fame as an orator and as editor of the Irish News. He served in the Civil War - viewing the Union Army as training for a future Irish revolutionary force - and rose to the rank of brigadier general leading the famous Irish Brigade. Wylie traces Meagher's military career in detail through the Seven Days Battles, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Wylie then recounts Meagher's final years, as acting governor of Montana Territory, sorting historical truth from false claims made against him regarding the militia he formed to combat attacking American Indians, and plumbing the mystery surrounding his death. The story Wylie tells is one of contradictions: of a gifted, ambitious man, of a life marred by personal tragedy and drinking, of commitment to comrades who resented his fame. While acknowledging the difficulty in reconciling today's polarized views of Meagher, Wylie has undertaken extraordinary research to realize more fully the complexities of his life and personality. The narrative is amplified by more than forty illustrations, including rare maps and images depicting Meagher's Irish compatriots, the Irish Brigade, and early Montana.

Thomas Francis Meagher and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War
Thomas Francis Meagher and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War

Author: Daniel M. Callaghan

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2012-11-22

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 1476603251

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When President Lincoln issued his 1861 call to arms, the 63rd, 69th and 88th New York Volunteers were among the first to step forward. Comprised primarily of first and second generation Irish immigrants, these three regiments were later joined by the 28th Massachusetts and the 116th Pennsylvania. Suffering heavy casualties, this Irish Brigade, commanded by Thomas Francis Meagher, was one of the most famous fighting groups of the Civil War. This work provides a balanced, historically factual picture of the Irish Brigade and its commander, focusing on their role in the Seven Days' battles and at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Primary sources range from veterans' memoirs published just after the war to letters and memoirs published as recently as 1996.

The Immortal Irishman
The Immortal Irishman

Author: Timothy Egan

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 389

ISBN-13: 0544272471

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In the New York Times bestseller The Immortal Irishman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan illuminates the dawn of the great Irish American story, with all its twists and triumphs, through the life of one heroic man. A dashing young orator during the Great Hunger of the 1840s, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule, for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony for life. But two years later he was “back from the dead” and in New York, instantly the most famous Irishman in America. Meagher’s rebirth included his leading the newly formed Irish Brigade in many of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. Afterward, he tried to build a new Ireland in the wild west of Montana — a quixotic adventure that ended in the great mystery of his disappearance, which Egan resolves convincingly at last. “This is marvelous stuff. Thomas F. Meagher strides onto Egan's beautifully wrought pages just as he lived — powerfully larger than life. A fascinating account of an extraordinary life.”—Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Facing the Mountain

The Irish General
The Irish General

Author: Paul R. Wylie

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2012-10-09

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 0806182636

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Irish patriot, Civil War general, frontier governor—Thomas Francis Meagher played key roles in three major historical arenas. Today he is hailed as a hero by some, condemned as a drunkard by others. Paul R. Wylie now offers a definitive biography of this nineteenth-century figure who has long remained an enigma. The Irish General first recalls Meagher’s life from his boyhood and leadership of Young Ireland in the revolution of 1848, to his exile in Tasmania and escape to New York, where he found fame as an orator and as editor of the Irish News. He served in the Civil War—viewing the Union Army as training for a future Irish revolutionary force—and rose to the rank of brigadier general leading the famous Irish Brigade. Wylie traces Meagher’s military career in detail through the Seven Days battles, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Wylie then recounts Meagher’s final years as acting governor of Montana Territory, sorting historical truth from false claims made against him regarding the militia he formed to combat attacking American Indians, and plumbing the mystery surrounding his death. Even as Meagher is lauded in most Irish histories, his statue in front of Montana’s capitol is viewed by some with contempt. The Irish General brings this multi-talented but seriously flawed individual to life, offering a balanced picture of the man and a captivating reading experience.

The Valiant Hours; Narrative Of “Captain Brevet,” An Irish-American In The Army Of The Potomac
The Valiant Hours; Narrative Of “Captain Brevet,” An Irish-American In The Army Of The Potomac

Author: Thomas Francis Galwey

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2015-11-06

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1786254352

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“Thomas Francis De Burgh Galwey was born in London, England, in 1846, of an Irish family, one of the oldest branches of the Burkes of Galway. The family came to this country in 1851 and settled on a farm just outside of Cleveland, the site now being on Euclid Avenue. When the Civil War broke out, Galwey enlisted in the Hibernian Guard Company of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was a slim, beardless youth only 5 feet 4 inches tall, but with a restless, lively spirit which soon won him promotion to corporal, sergeant, and lieutenant. His dark hair and snapping black eyes, as well as his effervescent and courageous spirit proclaimed his Gaelic ancestry, of which he was intensely proud. During the war Galwey meticulously made daily entries in his diary, a series of small leather-covered notebooks which he carried in his knapsack. From time to time he transcribed these notes into a larger book. Both of these journals have been preserved, and constitute the bulk of this narrative. The editor has simply changed the diary form to that of a narrative, adding a few notes here and there to clarify the background. Galwey’s original sketch-maps have been reproduced, and a few others of the same type added. In transcribing his notes to the larger journal, Galwey frequently switched back and forth between the present and past tense. Some of this has been retained, to preserve the contemporary flavor and authenticity. The last chapter contains some additional biographical data contributed by Colonel Geoffrey Galwey, the author’s son. It deals with Thomas Galwey’s life after the war and sheds further light on the character and activities of a fascinating personality.” - Foreword.

Blood on the Marias
Blood on the Marias

Author: Paul R. Wylie

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2016-02-26

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 0806155574

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On the morning of January 23, 1870, troops of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry attacked a Piegan Indian village on the Marias River in Montana Territory, killing many more than the army’s count of 173, most of them women, children, and old men. The village was afflicted with smallpox. Worse, it was the wrong encampment. Intended as a retaliation against Mountain Chief’s renegade band, the massacre sparked public outrage when news sources revealed that the battalion had attacked Heavy Runner’s innocent village—and that guides had told its inebriated commander, Major Eugene Baker, he was on the wrong trail, but he struck anyway. Remembered as one of the most heinous incidents of the Indian Wars, the Baker Massacre has often been overshadowed by the better-known Battle of the Little Bighorn and has never received full treatment until now. Author Paul R. Wylie plumbs the history of Euro-American involvement with the Piegans, who were members of the Blackfeet Confederacy. His research shows the tribe was trading furs for whiskey with the Hudson’s Bay Company before Meriwether Lewis encountered them in 1806. As American fur traders and trappers moved into the region, the U.S. government soon followed, making treaties it did not honor. When the gold rush started in the 1860s and the U.S. Army arrived, pressure from Montana citizens to control the Piegans and make the territory safe led Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan to send Baker and the 2nd Cavalry, with tragic consequences. Although these generals sought to dictate press coverage thereafter, news of the cruelty of the killings appeared in the New York Times, which called the massacre “a more shocking affair than the sacking of Black Kettle’s camp on the Washita” two years earlier. While other scholars have written about the Baker Massacre in related contexts, Blood on the Marias gives this infamous event the definitive treatment it deserves. Baker’s inept command lit the spark of violence, but decades of tension between Piegans and whites set the stage for a brutal and too-often-forgotten incident.