ACW

The Minstrel Boys

The American Civil War

Recreating the role of the Irish in the American Civil War 1861-65

During the American Civil (1861-65) over 150,000 Irish born men took up arms to fight for the Union with 40,000 fighting for the Confederacy. The side the immigrant fought for was usually determined by whichever port (North or South) to which he embarked from Ireland.

Many companies, regiments and even an entire brigade on the Federal side were composed entirely of Irishmen. The Minstrel Boys seek to honour the bravery of these men by recreating their lives before the public and doing it to the highest standard possible. We are mindful not to forget the many Irish women who followed their men across the ocean and often to the bloody battlefields of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and Antietam.

The Minstrel Boys portray two regiments, one Federal and one Confederate. To read the history of either of these regiments click on the links below:

28th Massachusetts Volunteers (Union)

8th Alabama Volunteers (Confederate)

The causes of the American Civil War were complex. Simply put, eleven of the states making up the southern portion of the United States (Virginia, North & South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee) decided to break away and form their own nation (known as the Confederate States of America). The reasons were economic and cultural. The south was agricultural, relying heavily on cotton and slavery, whereas the north was becoming industrialised. The south was conservative, the north more cosmopolitan and liberal (most northern states had abolished slavery). The Confederate states believed they had the right to self determination and to be a part of the US if it suited their interests or to leave if it didn’t. Whereas the new US President Abraham Lincoln was willing to let the southern states keep their slaves, what he couldn’t allow was the break up of the Union itself. The first shot was fired in 1861 when the Federal garrison of Fort Sumner outside Charleston, South Carolina was bombarded by artillery and forced to surrender.

The result of the war was never in doubt. The northern states had three times the population and ten times the material resources of the South. That it took four years to win the war was a tribute to the fighting spirit of the Confederate Soldier and the leadership of his Commanders. Twice the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E Lee invaded northern territory believing that if only they could win a major victory on the soil of the United States, that Lincoln might be forced to negotiate a peace that left the Confederacy in being.

However, it wasn’t to be, and the Confederate armies were finally forced to surrender. Over 600,000 American Soldiers perished during the war, either killed in battle, dying of wounds or succumbing to sickness and disease. Indeed, the Civil War cost more American lives than all other wars fought by the US from the American Revolution to Iraq put together.

Left: The Minstrel Boys lay a wreath at the grave of John Mitchell a famous Irish and Confederate patriot who’s buried at Newry.

Right: Where it all began: Members of the Minstrel Boys with their US comrades recreate the 69th New York at the 2001 re-enactment of 1st Bull Run. The first major action of the war.