Massachusetts Civil War Centennial Commission 1961 Report Details Formation of the Irish Ninth Regiment

 

On December 29, 1961, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts released its Report of the Civil War Centennial Commission. This was the third annual report since the commission was created in 1958. The 28-page document (Senate No 527) recapped a variety of activities undertaken by the Commission for the 1961 calendar year, including various national, regional and local meetings, educational materials and reenactments that took place. Subcommittees reporting on their work included education, publicity and planning. 

Among the activities planned for 1962 was a marking of the Trent Affair, which nearly brought Britain into the civil war; and the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1962.  A full century earlier, on September 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued a Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, stating that enslaved people in those states or parts of states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be declared free.

In 1963, plans were discussed to honor the 9th Irish Regiment during St. Patrick’s Day season in March, and also the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, which left Boston for the war in May 1863. 

An interesting discussion of the Irish Ninth provides insight into how the regiment evolved from the Irish-American militia known as the Columbians, and before that the Columbian Artillery. 

 The Columbian Artillery dated its organization back to 1798 and was mainly comprised of local men living in the North End of Boston, where Its armory was located. 

“At one time it was considered to be one of the finest companies in the State militia. But by 1850, the company became both militarily and financially lax,” according to the report. By then, many Irish families had settled in the North End, including men like Patrick Donahoe, founder of the Boston Pilot, and Thomas Cass, a schoolteacher and businessman. 

“Irish young men were invited to join the Columbian Artillery, and before long, Irish Catholics composed the majority of the membership. The company began to flourish again and to take part proudly in drills and parades, wearing full dress uniforms and tall bearskin hats. Its officers were Irish-American business and professional men of that day.“ 

 Captain Thomas Cass became the commander in 1854, and under his leadership the Columbians expanded with newly arrived young Irishmen and became a “well-drilled, well-disciplined, patriotic militia company. They were ready on any occasion to show their eagerness to fight for their adopted or native country,” the report states. 

 Then in January 1855, at the height of the Know Nothing movement in Massachusetts, Governor Henry J. Gardner announced in his inaugural address his plan “to disband all military companies composed of persons of foreign birth.” It was just another way for certain nativist Bostonians to thwart the progress of the Irish community during this decade. 

The Columbia Artillery was forced to disband, but undeterred, Cass then set up a civic organization called the Columbian Association, ‘for literary and military purposes,’ thus leaving the door open for the group to stay together and to one day make a contribution to their Commonwealth. 

Their opportunity came on April 15, 1861, when Governor John A. Andrew issued Special Order No. 14, calling for troops to muster “in uniform on Boston Common forthwith...” to help defend the Union. Colonel Cass immediately offered to form an Irish regiment, but first had to had to get permission of Governor Andrew because of the previous 1855 law that forbade men of foreign birth to fight for their adopted country. 

 “Governor Andrew issued the authority forthwith, and the recruiting began,” writes the report. “The Columbians enlisted en masse, Joined by young Irishmen from Salem, Milford, Marlboro, and Stoughton. They were designated the Ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, commonly called the Irish Ninth, one of the very few three year regiments. 

Courtesy MA State House, Hall of Flags

“The 9th Massachusetts Regiment carried a green flag into battle along with the American and State flags. The unit was attached to the famous Fifth Corps, the mainstay of the Army of the Potomac, and spent the entire three years at the front, enduring the danger, the labor, the sickness, the loneliness, and all the other hardships of this bloodiest of wars.“ 

 And still, the Irish regiment face discrimination and prejudice during the war, the reported noted. “In 1861, President Lincoln was sought out by many petitioners and complainers, and most of them gained his attention. One of these complainants was an Army officer who told the President that the Irishmen of his regiment gave him more trouble than any other soldiers. Lincoln’s reply was, “Yes, and our enemies, the rebels, have the same complaint.” 

 The 1961 report concluded, “The Commission believes that the plans and programs for the coming year are of utmost importance in bringing to the Common- wealth the prestige that Massachusetts has always had in upholding the principles of democratic government and paying homage to the sacrifices made by Massachusetts citizens in the defense of those principles.” 

 Learn more about Thomas Cass here, and visit the Cass statue in the Boston Public Garden, part of the city’s Irish Heritage Trail.