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scene as men in the ranks shed tears at the sight. We knew not to ask; their ancestors had fought and died for southern inde- pendence. As an Irishman and a German it was a great honour to be allowed take part in this commemoration. Of Andersons 86 artillerymen 16 were German/Prussian born while 38 were Irish. To bring home this point during the original handover Major Anderson began a 100 gun salute. On the seventeenth shot the gun prematurely dis- charged killing Pte Daniel Hough, from Tip- perary. Embers from this premature firing ignited a nearby stack of blank rounds. This explosion injured five more men including Pte's George Fielding (Waterford), Edward Gallway (Cork), James Hayes (Tyrone), John Irwin (Limerick) and George Pinchard (Orange County, NY). Pte Gallway died in a Charleston hospital five days later, himself and Hough became the first two enlisted men to die in this conflict. At home people have little understand-
ing of the Irish involvement in the Ameri- can Civil War let alone Pte's Hough and Gallway. Many of us have heard of Thomas Francis Meagher who after being exiled to Van Diemen's Land for raising the tricolour for the first time in 1848 went on to raise an Irish Brigade to fight for Lincoln's Union. Philip Henry Sheridan is another man who springs to mind. Said to have been born in Cavan or somewhere on the Atlantic he went on to become one of the most famous Union cavalry generals of the war and beyond. Cork born Confederate Maj Gen Patrick Cleburne made his mark by at one point suggesting arming African Americans to fight for the south, while in Florida Brig Gen Joseph Finegan, a native of Clones, defended his state from Union invasion. Others with Irish blood whom you may be familiar with include: Federal General's George Meade, Michael Corcoran, Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert Patterson, Confederate Generals: Patrick Moore, Wal- ter Layne, James Hagan, William Browne, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart and John C. Breckinridge to name a few. More photos from Fort Sumter can
be viewed: http://zedzay.smugmug. com/Events/April-14-2011/16689087_ wwF8bF#1258494740_TJ2wgnZ
THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE
