Mike Eggleston, the Father Kelley Division’s historian, is the author of a dozen books of military history and numerous magazine articles. Eggleston can be contacted at maeggles61@gmail.com
A resident of Nokesville with four grown children and nine grandchildren, Eggleston traces his Irish roots through his mother Rose. His grandmother was an O’Connell who emigrated from Ireland to Massachusetts and then Ottawa before finally settling in St. Paul, Minnesota with her sister in 1918. The O’Connells were from County Sligo and the city of Derry.
Eggleston is a native of Minnesota from St. Paul who enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1954 while still attending a military high school there.
Eggleston’s father also served in the Army. Both of his two older brothers served in the Army during the Korean War. He also has a sister.
A 1961 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Eggleston served two years in Germany upon graduation before being sent to Vietnam in 1965-66 as a Vietnamese battalion advisor.
He returned from Vietnam to work at West Point, where he met his future wife, the former Margaret Rogers, who was secretary to the commandant.
They tied the knot after he served a second tour in Vietnam and had a brief stint on the staff at Fort Leavenworth.
Eggleston began working in the Washington Capitol Region in the late 1970s. He has held various positions in the Department of the Army staff at the Pentagon, with the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and for a few months with the Reagan White House.
He retired from the Army in 1986 at the rank of full colonel after a military career of more than 30 years.
Eggleston then spent another 20 years working in the private sector for what is now known as CACI, retiring in 2006.
Since his retirement, Eggleston has focused on his continuing education and writing.
He began writing serious books after earning a master’s degree in history from George Mason in 2010 and subsequent summer study at the National University of Ireland in Galway.
The one exception to the military history theme in his books is a book he published last summer that compared President Trump’s policies to Adolf Hitler’s and made forecasts of Trump’s future actions. The book was inspired by his previous study of Hitler.
“If you read my book I was pretty much on track, including what happened on the 6th of January, although I didn’t call it that,” Eggleston said. “You’ve got to read the book to see my exact words. Anyway, I didn’t make a lot of friends with that one, and I lost a few.”
The History of the Irish Brigade and the Corcoran Legion in the Civil War
This history tells the story of two brigades that fought in the American Civil War: the Irish Brigade and the Corcoran Legion. Most of the soldiers in these units were Irish immigrants who left Ireland as a result of the Great Famine (1845-1849). This book covers the Civil War battles fought by these brigades where they served in the eastern theater of the war. Their campaigns are described in the Civil War battles (1861-1865). At times the brigades served in different campaigns, but in the final years of the war they were together in the same corps. Each relevant battle is summarized including details of the specific participation of the Irish Brigade and the Corcoran Legion. There were other Irish units that fought for the north and the south during the Civil War, but the history of these other units is not included. The focus of this history is on the eastern theater of the war where most Irish-Americans and both of the brigades served.
Since the Civil War, most books record the history of the Irish Brigade and its commander Thomas Francis Meagher. Very little has been published about the Corcoran Legion (also called the Irish Legion) and its commander, Michael Corcoran.
Michael Corcoran was a remarkable person.
Corcoran’s ship docked in New York City in 1849 when he was 22 years old. He found a job working as a clerk in a tavern, the Hibernian House, in Manhattan. He also became involved in Democratic politics at Tammany Hall and could deliver the Irish vote. As a consequence, he became a district leader and a member of the Fourteenth Ward General Committee.
Thomas Francis Meagher arrived in New York City from Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania, Australia) in May 1852. He was exiled there by the British for his participation in the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. Meagher was 29 years old when he arrived in New York City and left his wife in Van Diemen’s Land because she was pregnant and could not make the voyage.
He studied law and journalism becoming a noted lecturer. Meagher founded the newspaper Irish News. He and a friend also published the Pro-Irish, Anti-British Citizen. Meagher became a famous politician in New York City as he had been in Ireland. He was able to draw large crowds and was very persuasive.
Before Corcoran and Meagher were settling in to their new lives in New York City, a new militia unit was created. Its origin came from the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848. When the revolt failed, Irish revolutionary activity moved to New York City. Military drills were going on in the Central Market by late 1848. In 1849 Irish revolutionary leaders convinced the state of New York to approve the creation of an Irish regiment. All involved believed that the troops would return to Ireland to free it from Britain as others had attempted during the Irish Rebellion of 1641: the return of the Wild Geese.
In the words of W. B. Yeats:
Was it for this the wild geese spread
The grey wing upon every tide;
For this that all that blood was shed,
For this Edward Fitzgerald died,
And Robert Emmet and Wolfe Tone,
All that delirium of the brave?
Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone,
It’s with O’Leary in the grave
The Irish Regiment would eventually be known as the 69th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment called “The Fighting 69th” by Robert E. Lee during the U. S. Civil War when his troops fought the regiment.
Tension was building in New York City during the 1850’s between the Catholics and the “Nativists” of the No Nothing Party, Protestant males of British ancestry. Secret societies were formed such as the Catholic Revolutionary “Silent Friends” or “Sinn Feins.” The Nativists formed the 71st Regiment a competing regiment of the 69th. While there was no combat between the two regiments individual killings occurred. An Anglo-American gang leader “Bill the Butcher” Poole was killed and two Irishmen were arrested. Riots occurred and both regiments were occasionally called in to stop the violence. It was into this environment that two Irish newcomers arrived as the Civil War approached.
Thomas Francis Meagher was undecided. He initially supported the South but when the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumpter, he chose to support the Union cause and started recruiting for the 69th.
One hundred young Irishman—healthy, intelligent and active—wanted at once to form a Company under command of Thomas Francis Meagher.
Michael Corcoran enlisted in the 69th New York Regiment as a private and by 1859 he was the Colonel commanding the regiment. He was also the head of the Fenians, an Irish secret society. His star was rising until Britain’s Prince of Wales visited New York City on 11 October 1860. When ordered to turn out his regiment to march in a parade for the Prince, he refused. Corcoran was removed from command and a court martial was ordered. As he waited for his court martial the South fired on Fort Sumpter and Corcoran was freed to lead his regiment in the Civil War. Meagher was one of Corcoran’s company commanders.
At the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 Corcoran tried to stem the tide of the Confederate advance and was captured leading his troops. He would be held by the Confederates for over a year before release. While he was gone, Meagher continued to recruit eventually forming what would be called the Irish Brigade. Lincoln was impressed by Corcoran and invited him to the White House where he offered Corcoran choices including retirement since Corcoran’s health had declined during his imprisonment. Corcoran chose to return to New York and form his own unit with Lincoln’s blessing and the Corcoran Legion was born. He led that unit during the Civil War until his death.
The story of a young man of 15 years helps tell the history of the Corcoran Legion.
Gabriel Edward Maher was born in Rondout, New York in April 1847. His father was an Irish immigrant; his mother from a family of longstanding in New York. He joined the 170th New York Regiment of Corcoran’s Legion on September 10, 1862 stating he had been born “about 1844.” He was actually 15 years old. He was mustered out at Munson’s Hill, Virginia on July 15, 1865. After the war, Gabriel went to Greenpoint where he learned the trade of caulker. He spent the remainder of his life, a bachelor, in Newburgh, New York where he was assistant foreman and then foreman of the Ringgold Hose Company (volunteer fire company) and was also a member of the Newburgh Lodge of Free Masons. He died in Newburgh in January, 1912 at the age of 64.
Original Civil War records in the possession of the author’s family are included in this book. These personal records of Gabriel Maher (1847-1912), an ancestor of this writer’s family, help fill the gap in history about Michael Corcoran and his legion. Gabriel’s story is typical of young soldiers who served in the Civil War.
Recent Comments