Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 4, April, 1886Various
Religion
Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 4, April, 1886
Various
Periodicals
mastery at dancing Irish jigs, reels and hornpipes. An idea may be had
of the provision made for the entertainment of the invited guests from
the following summary of the bill of fare which the quartermaster of the
brigade brought with him from Washington for the occasion: The side of
an ox roasted, thirty-five hams, a whole pig stuffed with boiled
turkeys, and "an unlimited number of chickens, ducks and small game. The
drinking materials comprised eight baskets of champagne, ten gallons of
rum and twenty-two of whiskey." Thus sayeth the record. All of this was
served inside a beautiful bower capable of containing several hundred
persons. The festivities were duly preceded with the religious
ceremonies of the great holyday of St. Patrick's feast, and closed by a
grand entertainment at night, which included theatricals, recitations
and olios of song and sentiment.
It is needless to add that the visiting generals, whose duties admitted
of their remaining, entered into the humor of the hour, and toasts went
freely round, intermingled with flowing bumpers and loving glances at
the fair visitors, who graced the occasion by their presence.
We afterwards trace the heroic work of our Massachusetts
Faugh-a-Ballaghs in their valiant services at Chancellorsville; at famed
Gettysburg, where the regiment lost nearly one-half its force in killed
and casualties; at Mine Run, the Wilderness, Po River, Spottsylvania,
Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Deep Bottom, and at Reams' Station, the latter
part of August, 1864.
The offices and men whose term did not expire with that of their
regiment in December, 1864, were consolidated into a battalion under the
command of Major James Fleming (of North End, Boston), and at the close
of hostilities were mustered out with the remnant of the Irish brigade.
The originals were ordered to Boston, December 20, to be mustered out,
and numbered only twenty-one enlisted men and one officer, Col.
Cartwright. No better close can be made to this article than to quote
from "Conyngham's Concise History," printed in 1867, the record of this
famous Irish-American regiment:--
"The aggregate number joined for duty since the organization was about
1,703; the list of killed and casualties numbered 1,133, a fearfully
heavy proportion. During the Wilderness campaign, but one officer
escaped unhurt in the fearful havoc. Who shall say, in view of this
record of the devotion of Irishmen to the cause of freedom in this their
adopted country, that they are not entitled to the sympathy, aid and
support of this nation, in the endeavor to free their own beloved,
down-trodden land?"
America should never forget it.
STUDENT.
FOOTNOTE:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account