Synopses & Reviews
On the eve of the Civil War, the Irish were one of America's largest ethnic groups, and approximately 150,000 fought for the Union. Analyzing letters and diaries written by soldiers and civilians; military, church, and diplomatic records; and community newspapers, Susannah Ural Bruce significantly expands the story of Irish-American Catholics in the Civil War, and reveals a complex picture of those who fought for the Union.
While the population was diverse, many Irish Americans had dual loyalties to the U.S. and Ireland, which influenced their decisions to volunteer, fight, or end their military service. When the Union cause supported their interests in Ireland and America, large numbers of Irish Americans enlisted. However, as the war progressed, the Emancipation Proclamation, federal draft, and sharp rise in casualties caused Irish Americans to question—and sometimes abandon—the war effort because they viewed such changes as detrimental to their families and futures in America and Ireland.
By recognizing these competing and often fluid loyalties, The Harp and the Eagle sheds new light on the relationship between Irish-American volunteers and the Union Army, and how the Irish made sense of both the Civil War and their loyalty to the United States.
Review
“Anyone serious about their Irish-American history will have to get The Harp and the Eagle”
-Irish Echo,
Review
"Bruce explores with astute insight the complex web of political bonds and personal motivations that sent thousands of Irish Catholic soldiers into the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. Her smooth blending of social, religious, political, and military history makes clear that the comprehensive contribution of Irish Catholic Union soldiers in the Civil War deserves the broad and nuanced appreciation she presents." - Carol Reardon, author of Pickett's Charge in History and Memory
Review
“With remarkable sensitivity and acuity Bruce goes digging among the personal and public accounts of the Irish soldiers in the Union army and presents these soldiers, and their families and communities, on their own terms so that they emerge as real people conflicted and changed by the demands of war and the obligations of 'community.' The result is a book of immediate interest.”
-Randall M. Miller,author of Union Soldiers and the Northern Home Front: Wartime Experiences, Postwar Adjustments
Review
"Through wide-ranging research, Susannah Ural Bruce moves us closer than ever before to a full understanding of the real experiences, in all their glory and horror, of ordinary Irish immigrant soldiers and their transatlantic communities and families during the American Civil War." - Kerby A. Miller, author of Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America
Review
“Professor Susannah Ural Bruce's remarkable - and highly readable - study explores the complex political and historical motives that sent 150,000 Irish Catholic soldiers into the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. For the majority of Irish soldiers the cause of the union was inextricably linked to the cause of Irish independence and Bruce's wide ranging study paints a complex and evocative picture of the network of alliances and experiences that animated Irish participation in the war effort. Recommended.”
-Irish Voice,
Review
“The best book ever published on ethnic units in the American Civil War.”
-Journal of Southern History,
Review
“Anyone serious about their Irish-American history will have to get The Harp and the Eagle”
“Professor Susannah Ural Bruce's remarkable - and highly readable - study explores the complex political and historical motives that sent 150,000 Irish Catholic soldiers into the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. For the majority of Irish soldiers the cause of the union was inextricably linked to the cause of Irish independence and Bruce's wide ranging study paints a complex and evocative picture of the network of alliances and experiences that animated Irish participation in the war effort. Recommended.”
“The best book ever published on ethnic units in the American Civil War.”
“With remarkable sensitivity and acuity Bruce goes digging among the personal and public accounts of the Irish soldiers in the Union army and presents these soldiers, and their families and communities, on their own terms so that they emerge as real people conflicted and changed by the demands of war and the obligations of 'community.' The result is a book of immediate interest.”
“Bruce’s research is deep and thorough, and it is presented effectively. She has made a major contribution to understanding the sentiments of Irish America at a critical time.”
Review
“Bruces research is deep and thorough, and it is presented effectively. She has made a major contribution to understanding the sentiments of Irish America at a critical time.”
---Journal of American Ethnic History,
Review
“Kidada Williamss They Left Great Marks on Me is an impressive and important contribution to our understanding of African American life after the Civil War. Whereas most previous scholars utilized the records of the Freedmens Bureau and other agencies to document the causes, characteristics, and extent of anti-black violence during the postebellum period, Ms. Williams focuses on the importance of the testimony itself, especially to the African Americans who were brave enough to provide such testimony in the hostile environment of the era. She convincingly argues that this act of testifying itself was one of the galvanizing forces for the movement that eventually produced a host of civil rights activists at the turn of the twentieth century. While lifting up the transformative power of public testimony, Ms. Williams also helps re-center the discussion of white-on-black violence in the late nineteenth century, which all too often focuses on the most spectacular form of violence during that period, lynching, to the detriment of the more common and arguably more important day-to-day violence suffered by African Americans. This is an important work that should be widely read by all those interested in late nineteenth century America and the origins of the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century.”-William D. Carrigan,
Synopsis
View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.
aAnyone serious about their Irish-American history will have to get The Harp and the Eaglea
--Irish Echo
aProfessor Susannah Ural Bruceas remarkable a and highly readable a study explores the complex political and historical motives that sent 150,000 Irish Catholic soldiers into the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. For the majority of Irish soldiers the cause of the union was inextricably linked to the cause of Irish independence and Bruceas wide ranging study paints a complex and evocative picture of the network of alliances and experiences that animated Irish participation in the war effort. Recommended.a
--Irish Voice
Bruce explores with astute insight the complex web of political bonds and personal motivations that sent thousands of Irish Catholic soldiers into the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. Her smooth blending of social, religious, political, and military history makes clear that the comprehensive contribution of Irish Catholic Union soldiers in the Civil War deserves the broad and nuanced appreciation she presents.
--Carol Reardon, author of Pickett's Charge in History and Memory
With remarkable sensitivity and acuity Bruce goes digging among the personal and public accounts of the Irish soldiers in the Union army and presents these soldiers, and their families and communities, on their own terms so that they emerge as real people conflicted and changed by the demands of war and the obligations of 'community.' The result is a book of immediate interest.
--Randall M. Miller, author of Union Soldiers and the Northern Home Front: Wartime Experiences, PostwarAdjustments
Through wide-ranging research, Susannah Ural Bruce moves us closer than ever before to a full understanding of the real experiences, in all their glory and horror, of ordinary Irish immigrant soldiers and their transatlantic communities and families during the American Civil War.
--Kerby A. Miller, author of Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America
aBruceas well-researched first book offers the only broad study of Irish Catholic volunteers in the Union Army during the Civil War.a--Choice
A fine overview of the Irish participation in the Union War effort. Bruce describes how the Irish contested the memory of their participation in the conflict thereby highlighting the continued importance of the War to the Irish in the North far beyond 1865.
--David T. Gleeson, author of The Irish in the South, 1815-1877
On the eve of the Civil War, the Irish were one of America's largest ethnic groups, and approximately 150,000 fought for the Union. Analyzing letters and diaries written by soldiers and civilians; military, church, and diplomatic records; and community newspapers, Susannah Ural Bruce significantly expands the story of Irish-American Catholics in the Civil War, and reveals a complex picture of those who fought for the Union.
While the population was diverse, many Irish Americans had dual loyalties to the U.S. and Ireland, which influenced their decisions to volunteer, fight, or end their military service. When the Union cause supported their interests in Ireland and America, large numbers of Irish Americans enlisted. However, as the war progressed, the Emancipation Proclamation, federal draft, and sharp rise incasualties caused Irish Americans to question--and sometimes abandon--the war effort because they viewed such changes as detrimental to their families and futures in America and Ireland.
By recognizing these competing and often fluid loyalties, The Harp and the Eagle sheds new light on the relationship between Irish-American volunteers and the Union Army, and how the Irish made sense of both the Civil War and their loyalty to the United States.
About the Author
Susannah J. Ural is associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi and a Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of War and Society. She is the author of The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 (NYU Press, 2006).