"The Irish Regiment that Ended “Pickett’s Charge”:..." Topic

…Gettysburg July 3, 1863

"On July 3, 1863, as the Confederates of George Pickett's Division closed on the stone wall near the top of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, they saw a green flag rising up from behind it surrounded by 200 men in blue springing to their feet to open fire on the charging Confederates. The green battle flag was emblazoned with the number "69" but this was not New York's Fighting 69th, it was the 69th Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia had been the scene of some of the worst Know Nothing attacks on the Irish in the years leading up to the Civil War. Antagonisms between the immigrants and the native born led some Irish to join militia companies to defend their community. The regiment that was to later be designated the 69th Pennsylvania was organized around one such Irish militia unit in the months after the attack on Fort Sumter. The regiment would draw most of its men from Philadelphia's Irish ghettos, but it also included native-born Quakers and immigrant Jews in its ranks. The new regiment would incongruously be part of the California Brigade. The western state had agreed to financially support the brigade if it took the unusual name. The brigade would soon discard that designation and its four regiments would be called the Philadelphia Brigade…"

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Armand

My favorite civil war regiment. In fact years ago I re-enacted with company D, 69th PVI based out of Horsham, PA. We had one of the larger units at the time with 60-70 guys.

(smile)

Armand