Sons of Leitrim
Regiments Served In
Regiments Served In
Geographic Spread of Enlistment
The Leitrim men recorded in this study enlisted across a remarkably wide geographic area, reflecting the extent to which they had settled throughout the United States before the Civil War. Of the nineteen free states at the outbreak of the war, Leitrim men joined regiments in twelve. They also enlisted in three border states — West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri — as well as in two Confederate states, Louisiana and Georgia.
Massachusetts accounted for the largest concentration of recruits, with eighty-five men (43 per cent) of the total. Together, Massachusetts (85), New York (57), and Illinois (17) supplied 81 per cent of all Leitrim recruits to the Union armies represented in this database.
List of all regiments served in
Scroll down to see all the soldiers in the database.
Item | State and Regiment | Quantity | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Massachusetts 28th Regiment | 19 | 9.7 |
2 | Illinois 23rd Regiment | 9 | 4.6 |
3 | Massachusetts 25th Regiment | 8 | 4.1 |
4 | Massachusetts 30th Regiment | 8 | 4.1 |
5 | New York 182nd regiment | 8 | 4.1 |
6 | New York 170th Regiment | 7 | 3.6 |
7 | New York 63rd Regiment | 6 | 3.1 |
8 | New York United States 2nd Cavalry | 6 | 3.1 |
9 | Massachusetts 2nd Regiment | 5 | 2.6 |
10 | Massachusetts 9th Regiment | 5 | 2.6 |
11 | Massachusetts 22nd Regiment | 4 | 2 |
12 | Illinois 90th Regiment | 3 | 1.5 |
13 | Massachusetts 26th Regiment | 3 | 1.5 |
14 | Massachusetts United States 2nd Cavalry | 3 | 1.5 |
15 | New York 15th Regiment | 3 | 1.5 |
16 | New York 176th Regiment | 3 | 1.5 |
17 | Unknown Unknown | 3 | 1.5 |
18 | Illinois 100th Regiment | 2 | 1 |
19 | Massachusetts 16th Regiment | 2 | 1 |
20 | Massachusetts 1st Regiment | 2 | 1 |
21 | Massachusetts 20th Regiment | 2 | 1 |
22 | Massachusetts 32nd Regiment | 2 | 1 |
23 | Massachusetts 3rd Regiment | 2 | 1 |
24 | Massachusetts 42nd Regiment | 2 | 1 |
25 | New Hampshire 10th Regiment | 2 | 1 |
26 | New York 25th Regiment | 2 | 1 |
27 | New York 2nd Regiment | 2 | 1 |
28 | New York 69th Regiment | 2 | 1 |
29 | New York 82nd Regiment | 2 | 1 |
30 | Rhode Island 1st Regiment | 2 | 1 |
31 | California 2nd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
32 | Connecticut 13th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
33 | Connecticut 15th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
34 | Connecticut 1st Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
35 | Connecticut 20th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
36 | Connecticut 8th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
37 | Connecticut 9th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
38 | Georgia 1st Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
39 | Georgia 9th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
40 | Illinois 102nd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
41 | Illinois 16th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
42 | Illinois 47th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
43 | Kentucky 28th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
44 | Louisiana 10th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
45 | Massachusetts 15th Independent Battery Light Artillery | 1 | 0.5 |
46 | Massachusetts 17th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
47 | Massachusetts 18th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
48 | Massachusetts 19th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
49 | Massachusetts 1st Light Mounted Artillery | 1 | 0.5 |
50 | Massachusetts 23rd Regiment | 1 | |
51 | Massachusetts 27th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
52 | Massachusetts 31st Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
53 | Massachusetts 34th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
54 | Massachusetts 35th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
55 | Massachusetts 43rd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
56 | Massachusetts 46th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
57 | Massachusetts 48th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
58 | Massachusetts 57th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
59 | Massachusetts 59th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
60 | Massachusetts 61st Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
61 | Massachusetts 8th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
62 | Massachusetts USS Pequot | 1 | 0.5 |
63 | Michigan 9th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
64 | Missouri 1st Cavalry | 1 | 0.5 |
65 | New Hampshire 3rd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
66 | New Hampshire 8th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
67 | New York 11th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
68 | New York 12th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
69 | New York 132th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
70 | New York 14th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
71 | New York 14th United States Infantry | 1 | 0.5 |
72 | New York 188th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
73 | New York 1st Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
74 | New York 2nd United States Sharpshooters | 1 | 0.5 |
75 | New York 37th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
76 | New York 3rd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
77 | New York 78th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
78 | New York 7th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
79 | New York 80th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
80 | New York 88th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
81 | New York USS Cambridge | 1 | 0.5 |
82 | New York USS Weehawken | 1 | 0.5 |
83 | Ohio 10th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
84 | Ohio 11th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
85 | Ohio 18th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
86 | Ohio 63rd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
87 | Pennsylvania 63rd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
88 | Pennsylvania 76th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
89 | Rhode Island 2nd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
90 | Rhode Island 5th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
91 | Texas 2nd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
92 | Unknown 3rd Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
93 | West Virginia 1st Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
94 | West Virginia 7th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
95 | Wisconsin 16th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
96 | Wisconsin 20th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
97 | Wisconsin 44th Regiment | 1 | 0.5 |
The Irish Brigade and Irish-Identified Units
Many Leitrim men served in regiments that openly embraced Irish identity. The most famous of these was the Irish Brigade, one of the most celebrated and hard-fighting units in the Union Army. The brigade developed from the 69th New York Infantry, originally organised in 1851.
Command of the regiment passed in 1859 to Colonel Michael Corcoran, a Fenian born in County Sligo. At the outbreak of war, Corcoran led the brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run, where it distinguished itself while covering the retreat of the defeated Union army. Corcoran was captured during the battle and remained a prisoner until August 1862.
Thomas Francis Meagher and the Expansion of the Brigade
Thomas Francis Meagher, who fought alongside Corcoran at Bull Run, played a central role in expanding the Irish Brigade. Through newspaper advertisements and public meetings in New York, Meagher recruited men into what became the brigade’s core regiments: the 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York Infantry. These were later joined by the 28th Massachusetts and the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments.
Other prominent Irish units included Corcoran’s Legion, which comprised the 155th, 164th, 170th, and 182nd New York Infantry Regiments.
Leitrim Men in Irish Units
Although the Irish Brigade is the best-known Irish unit of the Civil War, only about 7,000 men served in its ranks, and it suffered an extraordinary 4,000 casualties, despite never numbering more than 3,000 at any one time. The brigade represented just 3.5 per cent of the approximately 200,000 Irish-born soldiers who served in the Union armies.
Among the Leitrim men in this database, twenty-eight (14 per cent) served in the Irish Brigade. Of these, nineteen joined the 28th Massachusetts Infantry, while others served in the 63rd, 69th, and 88th New York regiments. A further sixteen men (8 per cent) enlisted in Corcoran’s Legion.
Range of Service and Regimental Diversity
In total, the 196 Leitrim recruits served in ninety-seven different regiments, including three naval vessels — USS Pequot, Cambridge, and Weehawken — across eighteen states. Sixty-three of these regiments included only a single Leitrim man. This extraordinary dispersion meant that Leitrim soldiers were present in virtually every major engagement of the Civil War.
Theatres of War
More than 82 per cent of Leitrim men served in the Eastern Theatre, where the war’s principal campaigns were fought in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. This was also where the vast majority of Irish casualties occurred. Only 14 per cent served in the Western Theatre, which included Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida.
Branches of Service
The overwhelming majority of Leitrim men served in the infantry, with 154 soldiers (79 per cent) recorded. Smaller numbers served in the cavalry (22), artillery (11), and navy (3).