It was mid-afternoon of July 22, 1864, and the Confederate infantry of General Cheatham’s Corps of John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee was breaking through the Federal 15^th Corps to possibly win the Battle of Atlanta. Blue-clad Federal soldiers were streaming to the rear in a disorganized mass. Suddenly, from the south, leading a brigade borrowed from the 17^th Corps, came a Federal general on his large black stallion called “Slasher.” He had a huge black mustache and long black hair streaming behind him as he waved his hat. “McPherson and revenge!!,” he cried out causing many to stop running and turn to once again face their foes.

(Below: "Black Jack" Logan rallying his men in the "Battle of Atlanta" cyclorama.)

Soon the rallying soldiers began a faint chant, then picked up by more and more of them until soon the thundering cheer of “BLACK JACK! …. BLACK JACK!” was reverberating over the battlefield and invigorating the soldiers of the 15^th Corps. Their commander, General John “Black Jack” Logan, was here, and every man now believed that, led by him, they could regain the lost ground. As they moved together with the fresh brigade from the 17^th Corps, they did just that, driving the rebels back and ending the their chance of winning the day.

For John Logan, in temporary command of the Federal Army of the Tennessee, this was the pinnacle of the military career of one of the finest so-called “political generals” of the Civil War.

John Logan, the politician, also underwent a political transformation during the war. That transformation was partially fueled by an epiphany on the issue of slavery and human rights that has seldom been seen in any American politician in history.

John’s father, also John, was born in Monaghan, Co. Monaghan, in 1788. The family emigrated to the US in 1793 and settled in Scioto County, Ohio, in 1802. John was born on February 9, 1826, after the family moved to Murphysboro, Jackson County, Illinois. He was known as Jack or Johnny as a boy and grew up on a farm in Brownsville. He had ten siblings. His father and uncles, Alexander and Joel, were leaders of the local communities. His father was elected to the state legislature as a Democrat.

Illinois came to be known as “Egypt” and was mostly settled by Southerners, while the northern areas were more New Englanders and upper Midwest people. Still, one of his father’s friends in the state legislature was a Whig, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln helped get the Logan's home area named “Logan County.”

(Left: Cairo, the southernmost point of the "Egypt" region of Illinois.)

Jack helped recruit other young men for a company during the Mexican War in 1847. He was a lieutenant on the staff of the 1^st Illinois Infantry under Col. Edward  Newby. The regiment was stationed in Santa Fe and never saw combat. Jack then studied to be a lawyer under his uncle, Alexander Jenkins, and later at the University of Louisville. In 1852, Jack was elected to the Ill General Assembly.

Jack, like most in “Egypt,” and like most of his family, was strongly pro-slavery as that issue began to build in the country. His father had once owned slaves. In 1853, he proposed a law prohibiting free blacks from migrating to ILL. It became known as Logan’s Black Law.

Jack continued to work as a lawyer while in the legislature.  He married Mary Simmerson Cunningham on November 27, 1855. She would greatly help him in his life, business and political career.

(Below: Senator Stephen Douglas)

Logan became a well-known orator in support of the pro-slavery position. He was one of the greatest enemies of black people in Illinois. Jack was elected to Congress in 1858 and 1860 9^th district and supported Senator Stephen Douglas against Lincoln for senate in 1858. He continued to strongly oppose abolition in Congress and campaigned hard for Douglas against Lincoln. Still, Lincoln told Illinois Judge Joseph Gillespie, regarding possible secession question: “I know Logan. …. You can count on Logan to do the right thing by the country.”

Logan continued to press for compromise after Sumter was fired on. Meanwhile, many near Logan’s hometown enlisted in the Confederate army, including his wife's youngest brother, Hybert Cunningham. Another brother-in-law, Dr. Israel Blanchard, was arrested for publicly supporting the South. Logan continued to refuse to comment about the rebellion in public through most of June.

In June, Logan was persuaded by the colonel of an Illinois Infantry regiment to speak to his men, encouraging these three-month enlistees to reenlist for three years. His speech was so good nearly all of them signed up. This would leave a good impression of Logan with that colonel, who would greatly help Logan during his later military career. That officer was Ulysses S. Grant.

(Below: Congressman John Logan)

From this point, Logan was no longer ambivalent regarding the secession and fully supported efforts to save the union, though his private letters show he was still antagonistic to the abolitionist movement. Before returning to Washinton, he made a secret agreement with several prominent locals to return after the term and raise a volunteer regiment if the war had not ended. Still, while opposing secession, he had yet to publicly support making war on the South.

On July 9, W. H. Green wrote to him that, given the pro-slavery sympathies of Egypt, “For you to come out for the war is ruin to you politically.” By then, however, Logan was resigned to the idea that war was inevitable and he would support it.

When the Federal army marched south toward Manassas, Logan and three other Congressmen actually attached themselves to Colonel Israel Richardson’s 2^nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In the first skirmish at Blackburn’s Ford on July 17, he followed the 12^th New York. He picked up a musket as they advanced and joined in the firing. Later, he assisted in bringing wounded men to the rear. He wrote his wife that he, “came out without a scratch. I came back black with powder and bloody from carrying off wounded soldiers.” He returned to DC before the rout of the Federal army on the 21^st.

(Below: A drawing of Congressman Logan at Blackburn's Ford.)

Returning to Illinois in August with permission from Lincoln to raise a regiment, he began recruiting with a speech at Marion on August 19. Standing on top of a wagon in the town square, Logan flashed his oratory skills. “The time has come when a man must be for or against his country. . . . The Union once dissolved, we should have innumerable confederacies and rebellions. I, for one, shall stand or fall with the Union, and shall this day enroll for the war. I want as many of you as will to come with me.”

Though his ideas about slavery had not yet changed, he was fully committed to preserving the Union. All of his recruiting speeches emphasized preserving the union. Slavery was not mentioned. Many signed up that day, and later. As he filled out the regiment, he also crossed a line for many of his former Democratic supporters in Egypt. Most of Logan’s own family, including his mother, rejected his embrace of the union cause. However, Logan’s recruitment of a regiment helped swing the majority of Egypt over to support the war.

(Below: The US flag of the 31st Illinois.)

In September, the regiment began training in Camp Dunlap near Jacksonville, later moving to Camp Defiance, a point of land jutting south from Cairo. Logan was more in need of training than any of the men who would be in the ranks and began studying the manuals. Every regimental commander had to also learn how to maneuver a brigade and a division if battlefield casualties should move them up in command. On the 18^th, they were mustered into federal service and designated the 31^st Illinois Volunteer Infantry. They were put in a brigade commanded by Logan’s friend and fellow Democratic Congressman, Brigadier General John McClernand.

On November 6, the brigade embarked down the Mississippi toward their first engagement of the war in a force commanded by Logan’s friend, Gen. Ulysses Grant. The following day, they landed near Belmont, Missouri, and attacked a Confederate force of about 5,000 commanded by Major General Leonidas Polk. They were successful in driving Polk’s men out of their camp but were later driven back when Confederate reinforcements arrived from across the river and reembarked on their ships.

The 31^st was on the left flank of the attacking line, and McClernand said they drove the enemy and “rallied under the gallant example of Colonel Logan.” In his first battle leading the regiment, Logan demonstrated a “lead from the front” style that he would disply throughout the war. He had his horse shot out from under him, and another shot destroyed his pistol. Ten men of his regiment were not as fortunate. Their escape was such a near thing that the Federal soldiers were exchanging shots with the rebels from the decks of their transport before Federal gunboats drove them off.

(Below: The Battle of Belmont)

Logan had shown himself to be quite fearless in battle. He was still a novice regarding the intricacies of maneuvering troop formations, but he had demonstrated one of the most valuable command traits: he could inspire men on a battlefield. His men began to refer to him as “Black Jack,” based on his dark eyes, hair, and dark complexion. The nickname would stick.

(Below: Kurz and Allison print of Fort Donelson.)

In February 1862, the 31^st moved south with Grant on his campaign against forts Henry and Donelson on the Tennessee River. Fort Henry was essentially abandoned by the time Grant assaulted it on February 6^th. With most of the garrison already withdrawn to Fort Donelson, as Fort Henry was slowly being inundated by flood waters, the white flag was run up soon after the Federal gunboats opened fire.

Grant boldly boasted that he would take the other fort the next day but it would take a real fight to capture Fort Donelson. Logan and the 31^st would be right in the middle of that fight. It took another week for Grant to lay siege to the fort. Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd commanded about 16,000 Confederate troops in the fort, as opposed to Grant’s 24,000.

On February 15, after both sides endured two miserable nights of rain, snow, and ice, the Confederates launched an attack to try to break out of the siege. The 31^st was near the right of the Federal line, where the brunt of the attack was made. The Confederate attack was commanded by Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow (below, left).

The surprise of the Federal forces was complete, with only the firing of the skirmish line as they were driven in giving any warning at all. Logan quickly mounted his horse and rallied his regiment as the rebel yell was heard in their front. He formed the regiment on a small hill just to the front of their camp, where they exchanged heavy fire with the Confederates. The immaculate white snow was soon tinged with red all around the opposing forces.

The regiments to the right of the 31^st were driven back, and the Confederates had opened their escape route. Logan refused his line, pulling back at an angle, to oppose the rebels to his right. The 31^st reluctantly gave ground, earning the nickname "Dirty First" for their stubborn resistance. Sometime after 10 am, Logan was wounded in the thigh, but he had it bandaged and stayed with the regiment, ignoring the advice of the surgeon to go to the rear.

Colonel W. H. L. Wallace, commanding the brigade to Logan’s left, reported seeing Logan riding his line imploring his regiment to hold, saying, “Boys! give us death, but not dishonor!” As at Belmont, Logan’s revolver was struck again, smashing the wooden handle. The regiment was soon running low on ammunition, and then Logan was hit by another ball in the left shoulder. Blood was streaming down his left arm now, but he carried on in command.

Finally, Logan had to call for a retreat but got the 11^th Illinois to take over his spot in the line. The Confederates, meanwhile, with a golden opportunity to escape, pulled back behind their works again. The following day they surrendered the fort.

As the 31^st fell back, Logan finally keeled over from loss of blood. His men feared he was dead. For a time, the surgeon could find no pulse. At home, in the Jonesboro Gazette on the 17^th, Mary Logan (right) read this headline in a side story about the battle, “The Death of Colonel John A. Logan.” She was soon on her way to Tennessee to bring his body home.

As Mark Twain would say decades later, “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” but in Logan’s case, perhaps not “greatly.” He came very near death. Mary arrived on the 20^th to bring his body home only to discover this “exaggeration” and help nurse him slowly back to health.

Grant wrote to Washington, recommending Logan be promoted to brigadier general. “A braver or more gallant man is not to be found than Col. John A. Logan,” he asserted. He even requested that Logan be returned to a command in Grant’s army when he was promoted and recovered. On March 21, he was commissioned as a brigadier general. He then resigned from Congress, as a colonel was the highest rank a congressman could hold and retain his seat. He was fully committed to the army now.

Logan recuperated at home in Murphysboro. By the end of March, not fully recovered, and much to Mary’s chagrin, he headed south to rejoin Grant. On April 12, he was back with the army and given a command once again in McClernand’s division. It was designated the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps and included the 12th Michigan and four Illinois regiments: the 8^th, 18^th, 30^th, and, at his request, the 31^st. He had missed the monumental battle of Shiloh by less than a week.

Logan’s introduction to brigade command would not be a happy time. Not because he failed in his duties, but because it coincided with Gen. Halleck taking personal command of Grant’s army. He then proceeded on a slow, plodding campaign to capture Corinth, MS. This he accomplished bloodlessly, but having experienced the exhilaration of combat, Logan was bristling for more action.

Logan was then given command of what amounted to a division of troops to occupy a rail hub at Jackson, TN. This “occupation duty” was not exciting for Logan or his soldiers. But this duty in an area with many cotton plantations did start to educate Logan about the realities of slavery in the Deep South.

In November, Logan was overjoyed to hear Grant’s army was being reformed to begin the campaign to capture Vicksburg. Logan was named commander of the 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps, commanded by Gen. James McPherson. But the month waiting around near Memphis for the campaign to start was not a happy time either. Desertions ran rampant as many rejected Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, seemingly turning the war into one to end slavery. Logan, if not enamored by the Proclamation, remained steadfastly devoted to saving the Union. Democrats at home were starting to wonder if Logan was still opposed to abolition. When he came out in favor of the decision to enlist blacks in the US Army in April, those doubts increased.

(Left: Major General John Logan.)

As the spring campaign began, Logan was promoted to Major General, and once again, Grant was his champion. He had been passed over in the first promotion list, but Grant wrote to Lincoln and got Logan the 2^nd star.

The Vicksburg campaign would be hampered more by the rivers, bayous, and swamps that had to be traversed north of the city than by Confederate opposition. In mid-April, Grant began one of the most innovative campaigns of the war, marching his troops down the west side of the Mississippi and then crossing them over the river south of Vicksburg to attack it from there. Logan’s reputation as a fighting general was enhanced by the victory of his division at Raymond, MS, on May 12 while leading the march toward Jackson. With McPherson not on the field, Logan commanded a battle for the first time. Once again, he was everywhere on the field, often under fire, inspiring his men while having another horse shot from under him. Joseph McCullagh, a Dublin-born newspaperman who watched Logan that day, called him “the radiant incarnation of war.” 

(Below: The Kurz and Allison print of Logan a Champions Hill.)

Jackson was captured after a short fight on May 14, and Grant turned west to deal with General John Pemberton’s army protecting Vicksburg. Logan’s division played a significant part in the victory over Pemberton at Champion’s Hill, successfully assaulting their left flank. Grant sent him a message telling him that he “is making history today.” Pemberton retreated into his Vicksburg fortifications. Granted attacked on May 19 but found the works too strong. His army dug in, and the siege began.

During the siege, Logan spent much time near the front lines, enhancing his popularity with the troops. He even suffered one more wound, a minor one to his thigh. He also spent a lot of time at night back at Grant’s headquarters, where he often socialized with many of the blacks who had attached themselves to the army. It was another opportunity for his outlook on blacks and slavery to evolve. When Pemberton surrendered, Logan’s division was given a place of honor, leading the army into the city. 

That fall, when Sherman was promoted to command of the Army of Tennessee, Grant, now commanding all the western forces, promoted Logan to command of Sherman’s Corp, the 15^th. It was a level of command few political generals ever achieved and a measure of Grant’s confidence in his abilities.

(Below: Logan at the Battle of Dallas.)

Logan commanded his corps under McPherson during Sherman’s Atlanta campaign during the spring and summer of 1864. Logan’s corps would skirmish or fight battles nearly every day for weeks, as Sherman constantly sent McPherson’s corps around Joe Johnston’s left flank over and over, driving him back on Atlanta. On May 28, at the Battle of Dallas, Logan once more demonstrated his amazing ability to inspire men on the battlefield. When a surprise Confederate attack nearly broke his line, he rode along the line and rallied them back into the fight.

With his regiments disorganized and mixed together, he rode among them, calling for them to “Damn your regiments! Damn your officers! Forward and yell like hell!” An Iowa soldier later said Logan was “looking like the very God of war” and proclaimed that even a coward would “stand on his head on top of the breastworks if Logan was present and told him to do so.” Logan was slightly wounded in the arm during the action but remained in the saddle with his arm in a makeshift sling, adding to his reputation with the men. One soldier called it “the most inspiring and magnificent example of personal magnetism and leadership I witnessed during the war.”  Even as a corps commander, the only way Logan knew to lead was “from the front.”  

(Below: The death of McPherson by Kurz and Allison.)

By mid-June, Johnston had retreated to the Atlanta area. On July 18, President Davis relieved the defensive-minded Johnston with the more aggressive Gen. John Bell Hood, who had commanded a division under Longstreet in the Army of Northern Virginia. As the campaign wore on, Logan found that he did not have the same confidence in Sherman’s leadership as he’d had in Grant’s, nor did the two enjoy the same sort of warm personal relationship.

When McPherson was killed during the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, Logan took command of the Army of Tennessee and rallied it against the attack on the 17^th and 16^th Corps on the left flank by Hardee’s Corps. That attack included the veteran division of Irish-born Patrick Cleburne. Riding back and forth between the left flank corps and his 15th Corps, which was assaulted by Cheatham’s Corps, Logan repulsed both after the initial assaults had driven the Federals back.

As he road back from the left to rally the men of the 15^th Corps, he inspired them, waving his hat, his long black hair flowing behind him, shouting, “McPherson and revenge!” His men moved out to retake their lost ground with a rousing chant of “BLACK JACK!! … BLACK JACK!!” It was the pinnacle of Logan’s career. General Mortimer Leggett later claimed that Logan, “seemed to have the power to call out of the men every particle of fight that was in them.” At the end of the day, the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Logan, had regained nearly every bit of ground and inflicted horrendous casualties on the Hood. Twenty-five percent of the Confederates in the assault were killed, wounded, or captured.

(Below: Logan and his staff in a detail from the Battle of Atlanta cyclorama.)

This was probably Logan’s most significant moment of the war, and he had many. Surely, it filled him with pride, but five days later, his spirits were totally deflated. Logan and the rest of the 17^th Corps expected him to be appointed to permanent command of the Army of Tennessee. He likely would have been if Grant had still commanded in the west. However, Sherman did not hold Logan in high esteem, and he was hounded by Gen. George Thomas, who hated Logan, to appoint West Point graduate Oliver Howard. Howard got the command.

Logan took the disappointment well and had a good relationship with Howard then and in the post-war period. On the 28^th, Logan shone on the battlefield in independent command again as his 15^th Corps singlehandedly repulsed Hood’s next attack at Ezra Church. Both Howard and Sherman were effusive in their praise of his performance in once again rallying his corps after the initial success of the Confederate attack. A colonel of the 15^th Corps claimed Logan’s presence “was equal to a brigade sent to the right place at the precise moment.”

In the first days of September, Hood abandoned Atlanta. Late that month, Logan returned to Illinois on leave to participate in the presidential campaign but told no one who he would support. Stanton had sent a request to Sherman to give Logan that leave, however, which indicates that Lincoln believed he knew who Logan would support. Logan did come out for Lincoln, saying he did so “whether I have a friend left in the Democratic party or not.” With his help, Lincoln even carried the Egypt region of southern Illinois. Logan’s old, reliably Democrat congressional seat also went Republican. But it was still not clear if Logan was just a “war Democrat” or was now a Republican.

Logan visited Washington before returning to Sherman and had a last meeting with Lincoln. After Logan left, Lincoln remarked that in a war where so many had disappointed him, Logan had performed “beyond what could ever be fathomed for him.”

Logan rejoined the army in January and commanded the 15^th Corps as they moved north through South and North Carolina until April. Then Lee surrendered; Lincoln was assassinated; Joe Johnston surrendered to Sherman, and the war was over.

Logan finally got his wish to command the Army of Tennessee. Howard was appointed head of the Freedman’s Bureau, and Sherman, who appreciated how well Logan had accepted losing the command earlier, convinced Howard to leave early to allow Logan to lead the Army of the Tennessee during the Grand Review in Washington.

(Below: The Grand Review)

Logan was bursting with pride as he led his command to the reviewing stand, then moved next to Sherman, who watched them all march by. “They marched like lords of the world,” former Ohio Senator Tom Corwin said.  

Logan later said he was offered a permanent rank of Brigadier General to remain in the army. Like most generals then, his rank was considered “of volunteers” and thus not a permanent regular army rank. But he was eyeing a return to politics.

John Logan had one of the most incredible careers of any Civil War general. There were few, if any, Union generals who inspired their soldiers on the battlefield as “Black Jack” did. His men knew he would put his life on the line to lead them; he had the scars on his body to prove it. They would follow him to hell because they knew he would be there with them. It’s nearly criminal that today his name is virtually unknown by any Americans other than Civil War historians and buffs. And that’s without considering his remarkable postwar political career, which we will look at next.

RELATED LINKS:

"Black Jack": John A. Logan and Southern Illinois in the Civil War Era" by Jones, James Pickett. Southern Illinois University Press.

“Black Jack Logan: An Extraordinary Life In Peace And War” by Gary L. Ecelbarger. Lyons Press

“John A. Logan: Stalwart Republican from Illinois” by James Pickett Jones. Southern Illinois University Press

Atlanta cyclorama

John Logan Museum

Mary Logan’s Courage during the Civil War

Other Articles from TWG on the Irish in the US Civil War

The Irish in the American Civil War Monument

Origin of the Word 'Deadline'

Memorial Day: Recalling Those Who Gave Their Last Full Measure

Dispatches From Antietam: Irish Join Throng Marking The Battle's 14...

A Union Officer, A Dublin Backmark Trans-Atlantic sleuthing finally...

Building a trail to recall the Irish role in America’s bloodiest war

Bust of Thomas Francis Meagher Destined for Brooklyn

With Dublin Talk, Irish Gov'ment Highlights America's Civil War

'If It Had Only Been For Ireland': John C. Mitchel Dies in Carolina

Soldier Jennie Hodgers: Irish Woman Fought in America's Civil War

Irish Fight for Union Resounds

Emma Kline: Hoop-Skirt Smuggler During the Siege of Vicksburg

SRO Event Launches Irish Commemoration of America’s Civil War

Those Wonderful, Intelligent Irish Genes - Thank You, Ireland

Gods and Generals: 'Stonewalling' the Civil War

The Stories Behind the Songs: 'Kelly's Irish Brigade'

Irish in America's Civil War with Damian Shiels, Robbie Doyle, Gerr...

The History Show , RTE Radio 1 American Civil War and the Contribut...

A Dog’s Tale: Pat and Mike Go To War

'The Irish Volunteer' Finds His Bard: David Kincaid's new CD resurr...

Color Sergeant Michael Brady: The Luckiest Irishman in America's Ci...

Jews Who Fought in Famed Irish Brigade's 28th Massachusetts

The Irish at Sabine Pass -- September 6-8, 1863

Confederate Hero, Dick Dowling: Miracle at Sabine Pass

Grab Keneally’s Biography of an ‘American Scoundrel’

Brevet Brigadier General Peter John Sullivan

The History of the Irish Brigade

The Stories Behind the Songs: 'The Irish Sixty-Ninth'

Memorials, Tombstones and Cenotaphs

In `92, Billy Yank and Johnnie Reb March in Dublin

Christmas in the Union's Irish Brigades Part 1 of 2: Early War In t...

Remembering the Irish Who Fell at Fredericksburg

Cleburne: Let Blacks Fight for the Confederacy

St. Patrick's Day's Powerful Tug

Special Report: The Irish Battle at Antietam: 140th anniversary

Mary Brady: Angel of the Battlefield

Tom Sweeny: He Wasn't Called "Fighting Tom" For Nothing

Sheridan Rides to Lincoln's Rescue in 1864 Election Parts 1 & 2

Corcoran: From Bane to Toast of the Nation: Parts 1 through 5

Cleburne: A Confederate 'Meteor'

Irish Brigade Clears Way for Governor Mario Cuomo, March 1991

LIVE Community Chat with Mike Harrington - Sunday, Sep. 8 (Sabine Pass)

An Irishwoman at War (Irish Heritage Week 2020)

'The Fighting 69th' Parts 1 &  2 

‘Meagher of the Sword’ – The Civil War Legend and His Kildare Boyhood

The American Civil War at Christmastime: A Community Chat with Kevi...

Private Luke Quinn, USMC, Was He The First Casualty of The American...

U.S. Grant's Ancestral Homestead in Tyrone

The Confederate Monument Issue: Is it Pride or Prejudice?

Cleburne's Incendiary Proposal: Let Blacks Fight for the Confederacy

Confederate Hero, Dick Dowling: Miracle at Sabine Pass

Cleburne: The Defense of Ringgold Gap

Call for Tuam Town Hall to remove memorial to Irish Confederate major

Disquieting Kiss: Embracing the Blue, Gray and Green

Recalling the 155th New York Volunteer Infantry 'Corcoran's Irish L...

'Free and Green': Song -- and Fate -- Bring Limelight to Civil War ...

Scrappy Phil Sheridan - The U.S. Army's Little Big Man

Sheridan Rides to Lincoln's Rescue in 1864 Election

Galvanized Yankees

General Phil Kearny: 'The One-Armed Devil'

Irish Dominate Medal of Honor List

James J. Shields: Tyrone Native Served America Well—and Often

The Stories Behind the Songs: 'Camp Song of the Chicago Irish Brigade'

'South Wind': Awakening the Silent Voices of America's Civil War

"Their Stories, Our Heritage, Not Forgotten" Irish Heritage Week, 2...

The Call to Arms: The Irish at 1st Bull Run, Parts 1 through 5

The Civil War and the Irish in New Orleans

Father Peter Cooney, CSC: Chaplain of 35th Indiana (1st Irish)

Dying Together: From Bull Run to Baghdad

An Irishman In The 8th Ohio Volunteers

The Confederate Monument Issue: Is It Pride or Prejudice?

The Irish Sword': A Community Chat All About Dick Dowling, with Mik...

The Deadliest Day: The Irish Brigade at Bloody Lane, September 17, ...

'The Fighting 69th' Makes History, Yet Again

Mayo's Robert Horatio George Minty: Past Imperfect Hero

Defender of the Faith: Commander Aids Pope, U.S. Army

'Born a Soldier': Myles Walter Keogh - Part 1 through 3: From Carlo...

Dispatches From Antietam: Irish Join Throng Marking The Battle's 14...

"Their Stories, Our Heritage, Not Forgotten" Irish Heritage Week, 2...

How a 22-Year-Old Firebrand Became 'Meagher of the Sword'

Father Peter Paul Cooney: Faithful Servant

Honoring Father William 'Fair Catch' Corby

AOH Historian: Irish vs. Black Narrative in Draft Riots a Fiction

'Undaunted Courage': The Irish at Fredericksburg

The Easter Rising, America's Civil War, and 'The Minstrel Boy'

U.S. Warship Comes to Queenstown, November 1863

A Confederate Chieftain 'Crosses Over The River'

 'The Florence Nightingale of The Army of Northern Virginia'

'Come On Back, Boys! Give 'Em Hell, God Damn 'Em! We'll Make Coffee...

Colonel Patrick Guiney: Boston's 'Good Knight'

Character Assassination in 'Gods and Generals': Shaara Book Portray...

Two of America's Irish Heroes

In Pursuit of Lincoln's Assassin: Roscommon-Born James Rowan O'Beir...

Private Willie Mitchel: An Irish Confederate Boy

William 'Whack' Ryan: Martyr to Cuban Freedom

Long-dead James J. Shields faces GOP in new tussle

The Irish at Gettysburg

The Irish Brigades'S Fifth Regiment (116th PA)

The 35th Indiana: Hoosier State's '1st Irish': Part 1 & 2: Be J...

Dynamite Johnny O'Brien: 'A Captain Unafraid'

For Erin and America - James McKay Rorty

"Their Stories, Our Heritage, Not Forgotten" Irish Heritage Week, 2...

"Their Stories, Our Heritage, Not Forgotten" Irish Heritage Week, 2...

The 5th New York's Daniel J. Meagher

The Wolfe Tone Guard in Civil War California

Irish Confederate at Gettysburg

Fr. John Bannon -- 1st Missouri Brigade, C.S.A. (Irish Heritage Wee...

Band of Brothers: The Day the Irish Brigade Saved the 9th Massachus...

Semmes and the San Patricios: 'Dishonored and Dishonorable'?

Irish Rebels and the Baltimore Riots

Patrick Cleburne's Ireland

"Faithful to us here, we loved him to the last.": Col. Patrick Kelly

The Irish Fight for Grant at Cold Harbor

The First Republican President in Ireland, Parts 1-2-3: Ulysses S. ...

The Mystery of the 69th Pennsylvania's Irish Flags

In Pursuit of Lincoln's Assassin: Roscommon-Born James Rowan O'Beirne (Parts 1 & 2)

"Their Stories, Our Heritage, Not Forgotten" Irish Heritage Week, 2...

Restored Painting Captures Return of the 69th By Liam Murphy / WG H...

Band of Brothers: The Day the Irish Brigade Saved the 9th Massachus...

June 3, 1864: Irish Regiments Fight for Grant at Cold Harbor

How St. Patrick's Day Was Celebrated by The Irish Brigade in the Ye...

Among the Irishmen at Gettysburg

Confederate General's Family Saga: Anglo-Irish and Well-Respected

Confederate Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne

Special Report: The Irish Brigade Monument Unveiling

General Phillip Sheridan: Short in Stature, Tall in the Saddle