Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - The Sword of Meagher - Part I

My previous post (here) was about a group of friends from Ohio who recently had the pleasure of visiting the Archives of the University of Notre Dame and saw some precious Civil War artifacts in their collection. That post featured the regimental colors of the 63rd New York Volunteer Infantry of the famous "Irish Brigade."

My friends also got to see another tremendous artifact: the Civil War sword of the Irish Brigade's intrepid leader, Thomas F. Meagher. Meagher hardly needs an introduction to Civil War enthusiasts, but if you do need one, there is a biography at the terrific "The Wild Geese Today" website (here). Damian Shiels has a great post on Meagher artifacts and monuments in Waterford, Ireland (here) on his equally terrific "Irish in the American Civil War" blog.

Many thanks again to friend Gordy Morgan for sharing these great photos!

My next post will describe the 1914 ceremony in which the sword was presented to the university and why Notre Dame is a suitable resting place for the sword.

Enjoy!

Civil War Artifacts at Notre Dame - A Famous Flag - Part II

So, you're in town to watch the Notre Dame Fighting Irish play against Marquette...what else is there to do? Why, accept an invitation to visit the Archives of the University of Notre Dame and see some AMAZING Civil War artifacts! (And by the way, watch the Irish beat those Golden Eagles!).

That's exactly what some friends of mine from Ohio did and they were so kind to share some photos with me!

"Back Story":

I've had the great pleasure and privilege to be invited to speak to the Mahoning Valley (OH) Civil War Round Table (Youngstown, OH) twice (in 2003 and in 2009). They are a GREAT bunch of folks and I have had the great fortune of becoming friends and keeping in contact with some of them.

The "real story":

Two of them - Gordy Morgan and (bona fide "Golden Domer") Rock Basciano - and their friends and families attended the game and took the time to visit the archives where they were treated to a close look at some great artifacts.

Their host and guide was archivist Mr. Peter Lysy, without whose kind, expert, and enthusiastic assistance I could not have researched and written my book about Notre Dame and the Civil War. Readers of this blog will recall that Mr. Lysy has also written an excellent book about the history and conservation of the colors of the 63rd New York Volunteer Infantry regiment of the famous Irish Brigade (see my previous post about his book here), which is in the collection of the University.

But what's even better than reading about a famous flag? Seeing it in person! Which they did! And Gordy was kind enough to share some photos (see below).

Stay tuned for more photos from their visit this week...here's a hint: Many people have heard of "Meagher of the Sword"...well, you'll get to see "The Sword of Meagher"!

Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, Gordy!

"The American Catholic" Reviews "Notre Dame in the Civil War"!

I want to thank Mr. Donald R. McClarey for posting a very kind review of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) on his popular "The American Catholic" and "Almost Chosen People" blogs this week.

One thing I was aiming for in this book was to craft a story (backed by good scholarship) that would appeal to multiple audiences: Civil War enthusiasts, Notre Dame almuni ("bona fide" and "subway), folks interested in the history of Catholics in America, and more. As it turns out, Don can count himself among several of those intended audiences, and I am so pleased, honored, and humbled that he found merit in the book!

Thanks, Donald!

And if you have a history blog yourself, check out "Almost Chosen People" and consider adding it to your blog roll (I did at my Civil War Medicine blog!)...it's TERRIFIC!

You can read the review here. Excerpts are below.

"I have read hundreds of books on the [Civil] War. Truth to tell, more than a few of the books I have read on the Civil War have left me with a ho hum feeling, not telling me much that I haven’t read many, many times before. I am therefore always pleasantly surprised when a tome on the Late Unpleasantness can give me lots of new information, and such is the case with Notre Dame and the Civil War, by James M. Schmidt...he has brought forth facts and new pieces of information...that I have not read elsewhere.

Schmidt skillfully relates the fever to enlist in the Union army that swept through the students of Notre Dame after Fort Sumter. Along with their students, Notre Dame priests also served as chaplain. Most famous among them was of course Father William Corby, who marched and fought with the Irish Brigade...The book relates the adventures of Father Corby, but also relates the stories of other Notre Dame priests who served as chaplains, including Father Paul E. Gillen, Father James Dillon, Father Joseph C. Carrier and Father Peter P. Cooney...

The Sisters of the Holy Cross...also got behind the war effort. Sixty of the Sisters would serve as nurses during the war. The role of Catholic Sisters as nurses in the Civil War is one of the great largely unsung stories of the War...Mr. Schmidt gives these heroic women their due.

Students and alums of Notre Dame are followed through the war: young Colonel William Lynch who heroically led the 58th Illinois...poet Timothy E. Howard, a private in the 12th Michigan...Sergeant Frank Baldwin who died for the Union at Stone’s River...Lieutenant Orville Chamberlain of the 74th Indiana who earned a Medal of Honor at Chickamauga for his heroism.

While the focus is on the battlefield, the book also keeps an eye on the functioning of Notre Dame during the war. Here the central figure is Father Edward Sorin, founder of Notre Dame and President of Notre Dame. Father Sorin comes across in the book as possessing both the innocence of a dove and the wiliness of a serpent and was a formidable priest, just what Notre Dame needed during that time of trial.

This book is a small gem, only 144 pages in length. Anyone interested in the Civil War and/or Notre Dame, or who simply would like to read a very well written history on a fascinating subject, should pick this up.

"The Best-natured Boys in the Play-yard" - The Pinkertons

While most of the attention on this blog and in my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) is given to the priests, sisters, and students who served as chaplains, nurses, or soldiers during the war, I also discuss other wartime students who may not have shouldered a rifle but still have an interesting "war story."

Among those students are William A. and Robert A. Pinkerton.

Though they didn’t join the army, the Pinkerton brothers shared an exciting war with their father, famed private investigator Allan Pinkerton.
Pinkerton was a native of Scotland but had immigrated to the United States in 1842 in his early twenties. A cooper by trade, Pinkerton set up shop in the Chicago suburbs but soon became engaged and admired for his police work. He was attached to the Windy City’s police force for a short time before founding Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency in 1850 and earning nationwide recognition for foiling and solving railroad and express robberies.

His sons William and Robert were both enrolled during the 1860–61 school year at Notre Dame, where Robert was especially well regarded by his fellow students and the faculty; one of the Holy Cross brothers considered him “the best-natured boy in the [play]yard.” Many years later, William wrote to Notre Dame and recalled that he and Robert both had “the kindest remembrances for the dear old place and everyone connected with it.” Despite their ages—Robert was only thirteen and William fifteen—the boys were as eager as any of their classmates to enlist. William was allowed to leave his studies and join his father—now chief of the Union army’s secret service operation—in the field, while Robert continued his studies at Notre Dame for two more years before joining his father and brother.

William delivered dispatches, escorted agents behind enemy lines, got a bird’s-eye view of the Confederate lines in one of Thaddeus Lowe’s observation balloons and was wounded in the knee by an exploding artillery shell during the Battle of Antietam. In the latter years of the war, Pinkerton and his sons were assigned to the Mississippi Valley, where they investigated contracting and war claims fraud on behalf of the government. Some of William’s thrilling undercover operations are related in his father’s memoir, The Spy of the Rebellion. After the war, the boys became engaged with their father’s detective agency and assumed control when the elder Pinkerton died in 1884.

In Which Jim Gets a Letter from Fr. Pete in Papua New Guinea!

Readers of this blog and of my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) will recall that I happily dedicated the book to my second cousin, Fr. Pete Meis, OFM, Cap., a missionary in Papua New Guinea for the past forty years. You can read about Fr. Pete and the Dedication in a previous post (here).

As soon as I got my first shipment of books I sent a signed copy by airmail to him in New Guinea. I was so happy this week to get a letter from him, parts of which I share below.



The letter demonstrates his sincere kindness, humility, and spirituality (not surprising) but also an eye for an amazing thread of history (read below to find out!):

Dear Jim...

Greetings and blessings on these days of the new year...

You posted your packet on November 26 and it arrived a few days after Christmas. Thank you for your wonderful gift. You really blew me away! Your note advised me to open and read the first few pages of the book - well, it made me feel so humble to have you dedicate this wonderful book to me. I certainly have done nothing as heroic as the persons of whom you write in this account of the Holy Cross priests, brothers and sisters during the Civil War...

I am half way reading through your book and find that your writing style brings these men and women almost to life. I could be sitting here listening to them tell their stories...

Of course when I read the name of Fr. Edward Sorin my thoughts went to Bishop Andre Sorin...these two men might be from the same area or "line" of ancestors in France. Bishop Sorin might be fifty years younger than Fr. Edward...

Another very interesting historical bit of information that I really enjoyed is about St. Martin. Your explanation of how the word "chaplain" came to be used was something I did not know. But from a Capuchin Franciscan point of view we know that Francis of Assisi had as one of his hero saints this very same St. martin. Francis wanted to be chivalrous in everything he did, and as a young man he saw Martin's life and actions as a military person of honor and generosity so inspiring. Francis was a soldier for a time, but not very good at that. He was better in imitating Martin by his own embracing the leper on the road and caring for lepers in their abandoned condition.

Thank you for the inspiring stories of Fr. William Corby and Mother Angela...

With love,

Fr. Pete

Wow - what a great letter, huh?!

First...Yikes! It took a month for the book to get there!

In my mind, Fr. Pete demonstrates every bit of missionary zeal and heroism as the Holy Cross priests and brothers demonstrated on the battlefield and in the hospitals.

His mention of Bishop Andre Sorin is so interesting! Andre Sorin was born in 1903 in France, ordained in 1929, appointed Bishop in Papua New Guinea in 1946 and died there in 1959.



Wouldn't it be amazing if he was indeed related somehow to Notre Dame founder Fr. Edward Sorin? I'll have to do some digging!

In any event, the Dedication of the book to Fr. Pete is sincere and well-deserved and this is a letter I shall treasure always!

The Penn Quakers Commemorate their Civil War Heitage!

In the spirit of my book, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010), I always LOVE to see other academic institutions celebrating their Civil War heritage also!

(I have posted earlier on Hobart College's (Geneva, NY) online Civil War material here.)

Therefore, I was pleased to see a brief note in the most recent issue of The Civil War News stating that the University of Pennsylvania - one of the oldest universities in the United States - has launched a website to commemorate its role in the Civil War.


The site includes brief introduction and links to university archive records and some photographic material regarding the College Administration, Student Life, Medical School Administration, Philadelphia Society, Military Service, Scientific Topics, Remembrances, Miscellaneous, and the Class of 1865.

It looks like a GREAT resource for people researching the role of higher education in the Civil War years, the University of Pennsylvania specifically, and/or ancestors who may have attended the university and fought in the Civil War.

Well done, Penn!

If you know of other colleges or universities who are commemorating their Civil War heritage drop me a line!

"Confederate Book Review" Interviews the Author! (Me!)

I want to thank Robert Redd for posting a very kind review of Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (The History Press, 2010) on his popular "Confederate Book Review" blog this week.

You can read the review here. Excerpts are below.

Robert followed up the review with an interview with questions that were very insightful and fun to answer! You can read the interview here.

Thanks, Robert!

By the way, while you are at "Confederate Book Review," also take time to read his other great book reviews...he'll also be doing more author interviews and I really look forward to that!

Robert is also interested in the Civil War in Florida, genealogy, and visiting historic cemeteries!

Review excerpts:

"Author Jim Schmidt has written an enjoyable, fascinating, and needed book dealing with Notre Dame and the contribution it's students and administrators made during the Civil War. The culmination of more than a decades research Schmidt has proven that the young college did more than just contribute Father Corby to the war effort...

This is an interesting book and a must read for anybody interested in the history of the University of Notre Dame and also anybody with an interest in the Civil War. The chapters are easy to read and the book can be read as a whole or the chapters as stand alones. The book is well illustrated with b/w photos both vintage and modern. End notes wrap up the work nicely."