Comrades and Friends

In compliance with the re! uest of your presid—

ffi I re ared F - ing o cer, have p p the story of reder ic bur s g, an event that will forever remain green

one in the memory of the renowned Brigade , while remains to answer the roll call on this side of the river— ea y , while their sons and daughters are here to tell the deeds of their sires on December

In our youthful days— in the Great Rebellion— one hundred thousand men on the side of the

Union and as many more in the Confederate ranks ,

T r N was an unusual thing . oday the Wa of ations beyond the seas , three millions of young manhood of si! or more countries are engaged in deadly

’ strife . Instead of our one to three days battle , in the old world they are counted in consecutive weeks and months ; and if only fifteen or twenty “ thousand fall in a day, it is a mere skirmish .

S — hould this slaughter continue , the leading na tions of Europe will in truth be nothing short of wilderness . Co mrades and friends ! We should sincerely thank the good God that we call ourselves Ameri -

- cans , and that three thousand miles of ocean sep

— arate the Continents . Also that we have a cap “ tain guiding our ship of State— Watching and ! W will— who aiting, if you has steered clear of European entanglements up to the present mo -

“ A m n who ment . sagacious a today at the head

n w im- of this natio , walks ith recollected feet the ! periled path of peace . But to the fair City by the Rappahannock— Fredericksburg

Th R n S m e ight Grand Division u der u ner, found itself on the morning of the 13th of Dec - 1862 ember , , in battle array in the streets waiting H for the word to assault the eights , less than ! half a mile in our front , filled with the eteran

n N ! b e~ infa try of the Army of orthern irginia , E hind breastworks and on a plateau beyond . very spot on which a field gun could be placed was brought into service , protected with earthworks . As though this was not sufficient the famous

“ ! stone wall five feet high , ran along the base of H the eights , in a sunken road , where the infantry

lay protected . This formation was on the right of the Union

’ ’ Army s line , and the left of the Confederate s . The Left Grand Division was under the command F U of ranklin , one of the ablest soldiers of the nion

He . U Army held the nion left , which threatened

’ L R The the railroad from ee s rear to ichmond .

! U e tent of the nion line was less than five miles , entirely free from trenches or field works of any

ur r kind . O description embraces only that pa t of the Union Army ( Sumner ’ s Grand Division ) in

’ H comm and— 2d l st ancock s Corps , Division , and ’ 63d Meagher s Irish Brigade , consisting of the ,

69th 88th NewY 28th , ork Infantry ; Massachusetts , and 116th P ennsylvania Infantry .

The assault was made in brigade lines ; consid-

er bl . a e interval between the commands . Gen Thomas Francis Meagher commanded the Second ’ N il . . J O e Brigade ( Irish ) Capt oseph , senior R 63d . Was Captain present , led the egiment badly wounded in the assault . After which Capt . P nd J . a atrick Condon assumed command , until N ff after the close of the battle . 0 field o icers of the

6 Th 69th R - 3d . e were on duty , owing to illness egi ment was in comm and of Ma! or James Cavanaugh “ ( the Little The 88th was led by C01. Patrick Kelly ( Captain 14th United States In - f n r T 116 h P - S . he t a t y ) . ubse! uently killed enn

f L - i u Col. sylvania had as commanding o ficer e t .

St . . Clair A Mulholland ( afterwards General , also Th 28 h Medal of Honor Man) . e t Massachusetts R 14th was led by Col . ichard Byrnes ( Captain F H United States Inf antry) . ell at Cold arbor . The Brigade line was somewhat demorali! ed in

- the advance by the presence of a mill race , the wdestroyed frail bridges over which were by the

’ The enemy s guns . men were compelled to wade

m through the strea and climb the opposite bank .

T ! H his disorgani ed the line of b attle . aving c passed the ob stru tion , a grand rush for the enemy

P i was in order . revious to this , the nfantry fire from the Confederates was not materially felt , R but the field guns were much in evidence . ound shot , grape and canister swept through the ranks of these five regiments , but not for a moment did they halt until fire from the “ stone wall ! became deadly— a steady withering sheet of ! ame ! This called for a response in kind , and it came with a will , from what was left of those untouched by U U cannon or gun fire . nfortunately the nion w - troops had no protection whatever, hile the Con federates lay behind the “ stone wall ! on which S musketry made no impression . everal lines of infantry were securely protected in this sunken road , and could load at leisure , and when ready “ fire ! come to the front , and fall back .

No permanent relief for the Brigade was ap — of l st parent , although other brigades the Division of the 2d Corps arrived and tried to advance b e- ’ a yond Meagher s line , but failed fter a bloody T sacrifice . hey finally broke and went to the S . o rear to reform, and then advance again deadly were the losses of the Irish Brigade , that the officers of one regiment at least ( 63d) ordered the men to fire lying down, and then turn over and load their guns again and again . Flesh and blood could not stand up before that death- dealin ! T un- g sheet of ame , and live . his even contest was kept up by the five regiments for

! hours , when their cartridges were e hausted ,

“ ! and then fall b ack to the rear was given , which they did in good order, losing many men while doing so from artillery fire . This useless sacrifice of life was kept up all

13th Sum - day on the , and well into the night , by ner ’ s troops: Many regiments that had advanced positions were unable to leave with saf ety in day - light , but succeeded in getting to the rear after T dark , abandoning their dead and wounded . his stupid and insane method of warfare was pro - 14 longed during the th , until the shades of night mercifully ended the une! ual and bloody contest .

“ ’ ! F ! L War o s osses In the American Civil , a

War volume adopted by the Department , gives

’ F - Burnside s killed , wounded and missing at red ericksbur To g at be more precise , the w regimental losses are reported as follo s , in

’ vi! Meagher s Brigade ,

63d NewYork— — Killed 2 38 , ; wounded , ; missing, 4 T . 44; otal ,

69th New 10 95 - ; wounded , ; mis 2 128 3. T . sing , otal ,

88th New York— Killed 17 97 — , wounded , ; mis T 2 13. 1 7 . sing, otal ,

116th Penns lvania— —Killed 7 67 y , ; wounded , ;

14. T 88 . missing, otal ,

28th M assachusetts— Killed 14 124 , ; wounded , ; 20 T 158 missing, . otal , . In that single battle the five regiments of the 545 f Brigade lost in the aggregate , or su ficient to

! make a good si ed regiment . Its losses in killed and died of wounds in the

five regiments in the War of the Rebellion were : 63d 156 69th 259 88th 151 28th , ; , ; , ; Massachusetts , 2 50 1l 6th P 145 T 961. ; . ennsylvania , . otal , It was certainly providential that Lee was in ignorance of the movement of Burnside ’ s Army 14 on the night of December , when the order was sent abroad in the ranks that a night attack with the bayonet on the Confederate lines would be at-

of F - tempted , soon as the shades night covered red erick b r H s u . g with its mantle ours passed , and Lee ’ s veterans waited during the chilly December

m U night , but no hostile sound ca e from the nion

Army . But daylight revealed , to the astonished thousands on the bristling heights , a vacated city , and the Yankee Army on the northern bank of

R h n k Th - the appa an oc . e three bridges had dis i appeared before daylight as f by magic . But the Confederates held possession of the dead , wounded and a few thousand prisoners . T “ ! hat , in truth , was a lost opportunity, that never again presented itself to the Confederacy . On the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of F redericksburg, the Irish American , of this city ,

m published a remarkable poem, fro the pen of E R ! f no leanor ogers Co . I of er apology in adding it to this sketch to show that the fair writer must have inherited in no small degree the combative - “ F h R ! ness of the ig ting ace .

T AN OF R D I K B ! E ER S F E ER C S URG .

To the s urviving members of M eagher ’ s Irish B ri gade on fi B De- the ftieth anniversary of th e attle of Fredericksburg , cemb er 13, 1912:

Who are th es e who hith er marching d own th e vale of misty

years , ’ From th e h eights w here now th e cannon s li ps are dumb , fi M fi From th e el d wh ere eagh er led th em , from th e eld w h ere ! alor s ped th em , All in broken but un daunted column come .

l O d men , brave men , m en of Iri sh birth ! M en wh o on th e foreh ead of th eir d ear n ew lan d afar ,

Set th e name of Ireland , of th ei r knightly sireland, Th ere to shin e forever like a s tar !

! Fred ericksburg the nam e i s graven on th e m emories of men , In ! i mmortal s cript o f thunder and of ame , And 10 ! G od - your comrades th ere wh o perish ed , of an d Free

dom ch erish ed , G leams th eir d eed upon th e faires t h eight of Fam e !

Fontenoy an d Fredericks burg ! In s cribe th em s i d e by s id e ; r fi l D — Sa s e d, illon , M eagh er , all men of th e B rigade Who for every frien ds hi p given to th eir lan d b en eath hi gh Heaven In ’ th e coinage of their h eart s fair valor paid .

Th rough your vein s w hat hero-fire leaped u pon that day ! W f e r-def in hat i mmortal h eritage of a y g mirth , A s w ith ch eer outrin gin g , your b ouyant ranks w ent s pringing ’ Forward to th e b reastworks o er corp se-b estrewn earth !

Forward to th e breas tw orks ! ! from out th e smoke an d ! ame B M ’ H elch ed forth from ary s ei ghts , w e pluck th e d eathless word ! And th e motto of your givin g s hall b e motto of our living Wheres oever s oun d of Iris h s peech is h eard !

B rave men , true men , men of th e B rigad e ! M en wh o follow ed M eagh er of th e Sw ord ! L ook , h ow glows the G od li t emb er of that day in far D ecemb er . How its memory in our inm ost s oul i s stored !