The ‘green flag’ regiments of the Union army remain the most
recognisable expression of Irish involvement in the American
Civil War. These ethnic Irish units were proud of their heritage
and sought to combine this with their loyalty to Union, often by
carrying green flags amongst their colours or bearing epithets
such as the ‘Irish Brigade.’ But where were these ‘Irish’
soldiers from? How many of the men were Irish emigrants, how
many were Irish-American, and how many had no connection to
Ireland? Using the nativity records of one Irish regiment, the
23rd Illinois Infantry (‘Mulligan’s Irish Brigade’) this is the
first in a series of posts that seeks to explore this question.
In order to gather data for this discussion, information on the
company, place and country of birth was recorded for 1,585 men
of the 23rd Illinois, using the Illinois Civil War Muster and
Descriptive Rolls Database as a source of data.* Examining the
nativity of Civil War soldiers in isolation is of course an
overly simplistic method of