# My G-G-G-Grandfather in CW



## sfmike (Oct 26, 2011)

My G.....Grand Father was Thomas Francis Meagher who commanded the NY 69th Regiment at Gettyburg:


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## Dame (Oct 26, 2011)

We have an SS mod with the NY 69th. Interesting history.


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## RackMaster (Oct 26, 2011)

Very cool.


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## HOLLiS (Oct 26, 2011)

That is a great find.    The 69th NY was a great unit.


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## pardus (Oct 26, 2011)

I would be the Mod who is a current member of the Fighting 69th.

I hate to break this to you Mike but your esteemed ancestor did not command the Irish Brigade during the battle of Gettysburg. That honor belongs to Patrick Kelly.


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## sfmike (Oct 27, 2011)

I understand that Kelly was captured by the CSA, leaving Meagher in command!


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## pardus (Oct 27, 2011)

Corcoran was captured by the CSA. Meagher replaced him and then quit the unit (in protest for not being allowed to bring it back up to full strength again after it's mauling at Fredricksburg) before Gettysburg which is when Kelly took over.

Here goes a quick link I found...



> Col. Corcoran was in the process of being court-martialed when the Civil War erupted. Needing as many men at arms as quickly as possible, the charges were dropped and the Army rushed the 69th to Virginia.
> At the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas), the regiment served under the command of Colonel William T. Sherman, and was one of the few Union regiments to retain cohesion after the defeat, despite the wounding and capture of Col. Corcoran by Confederate forces. The 69th served as the Army of the Potomac's rear guard during the disorganized retreat to the defenses of Washington.
> After Bull Run, Thomas Francis Meagher, the Captain of Company K, applied to have the 69th New York Volunteer Militia reorganized into Federal service as the core unit of a larger brigade composed predominantly of Irish immigrants. Meagher was promoted to brigadier general and designated the brigade's commander. Before the war, he was a leading agitator for Irish independence from Britain. A visible participant in the failed Rebellion of 1848, he was afterward tried and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment in Australia, but he escaped to San Francisco CA). Gen. Meagher's battle sword, made by Tiffany & Co, is now on permanent exhibit at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park





> The brigade suffered its most severe casualties in December at the Battle of Fredericksburg where its fighting force was reduced from over 1600 to 256. The brigade was involved in the northern battleground at Fredericksburg where they assaulted the sunken road in front of Marye's Heights. Coincidentally, one of the regiments manning the sunken road defenses was a predominantly Irish Regiment commanded by Brigadier General Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb. Knowing that Cobb's men manned the wall, and that both Cobb's and Meagher's units contained members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to gaining military experience in the United States, then freeing Ireland from Britain after the Civil War, Lee ordered reserves sent to the position. He need not have worried. Cobb's men helped decimate the Irish Brigade before the reinforcements could settle in place. It was at Fredericksburg that Lee allegedly referred to Meagher's regiment as the "Fighting 69th".
> After the Battle of Fredericksburg, Gen. Meagher again requested to recruit the brigade back to strength. This time the request was denied. In May 1863, the brigade sustained further casualties at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Meagher repeated his request to recruit replacements, was denied, and resigned his commission in protest. Meagher was replaced by Colonel Patrick Kelly.
> Leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, the brigade recovered several hundred of its injured from Fredericksburg and was able to field nearly 600 men - in reality, barely at regimental size. At Gettysburg, the brigade distinguished itself in the Wheatfield under the command of Col. Kelly as the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Brigade_(U.S.)


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## The91Bravo (Oct 27, 2011)

Dont we have a charter member of the 69th on here somewhere??  Who's that crusty old bastard??


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## Headshot (Oct 27, 2011)

This is all interesting, but I just thought sfmike stuttered when he typed.


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