American Civil War

American Civil War (1861–5), fought between the federal government of the United States and eleven southern confederate states, who asserted their right to leave the Union in response to growing demands for the abolition of slavery. Irishmen fought on both sides, but in far greater numbers (perhaps in excess of 140,000) for the Union, whose armies included several Irish units. This was probably due less to ideology than to the concentration of Irish settlement in the northern states that formed the Union heartland. While many distinguished themselves in battle, it should be noted that Irishmen as a national group were actually under‐represented among the combatants. They were also prominent in agitation against conscription, and were often hostile to black Americans, whom they saw as their rivals for employment. In the short term, Irish involvement in the war gave rise to the Fenian raids into Canada (1866), and provided military experience for some who subsequently returned to Ireland. Later it would be used to bolster the image of Irish‐Americans as belligerent defenders of freedom.

Neal Garnham