when i watched the scene with the Irish brigade my dad got pretty sad. he's Irish, and the idea of this happening to them after leaving the country with each other (fighting one another) was pretty sad to him
I had a relatives who where forced to fight against each other after immigrating from Ireland to the US during the civil war sad to see. Seems there was slavery on many sides
I have to say it takes a huge amount of courage to walk within 75 meters front of your enemy in order to get in range to fire. The track really details the tension of battle
The Irish Confederates grounded their muskets and clapped and cheered when they saw the Emerald Flag coming up Marye's Heights....then proceeded to volley -fire into them!!
When I first saw this scene, it hit me, knowing what Irish people went through and that they came to the US to escape poverty and famine to have many forced to fight in a bloody war. I had a 2nd cousin x5 removed, Robert Redman Belshaw who was born in County Antrim in 1833 and went from Ireland to the US in the 1800s as his sister and her husband were living in New York. He went to one of the southern states and lived there for a while, I can't remember which one. He ended up being forced by being half drowned 3 times to fight for the Confederacy, even though he never wanted to. The British tried to get involved as he was still regarded as British citizen, but they couldn't do much and they thought he might have been killed after they couldn't find him. Luckily he survived and returned to Ireland, got married in 1866 and lived in Dublin until his death in 1913.
When I saw this very scene for the first time, I was thrilled and torn, I even cried at the end. After that I learned that during the battle of Gettysburg the same thing might have happened with the Polish formations fighting on both sides - so glad it didn't, we already had that during the battle of Wagram in 1809... but in melee...
Is this on Spotify? Where can I find this track? If anybody knows the entire score from the beginning to the second retreat of the brigade can be found, please let me know. Thank you.
Does anybody know the reel played by regimental fife and drum band while Irish brigade marches through the Fredericksburg streets to deploy? They play two tunes, first is a song "The Boys of the Irish Brigade", and then a dance tune - what's the name?
