Year: 1863
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Notre Dame and The Fighting Irish
Location: Gettysburg, PA
Year: 1863
Father William Corby CSC (1833-1897) was the Chaplain of New York's Irish Brigade during the Civil War. He is most famous for blessing the troops as they went into battle. After the Civil War, Father Corby became the first President of Notre Dame University in Indiana, a position he held twice. Notre Dame gets its nickname, "The Fighting Irish" from its association with Father Corby and the New Yorkers he blessed.
Year: 1863
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Our family had attended an annual anniversary Catholic Mass on the Gettysburg Battlefield where a bronze statue now stands atop a large boulder as a memorial of where Fr. Colby had given a general absolution to the Catholics of the Irish Brigade by saying the words "I absolve you from your sins, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” He extended his blessing to those of all faiths who were going into the battle. One of the most notable officers said to be in attendance was General Winfield Scott Hancock who joined with those bowing their heads in prayer. Those who served under him had dubbed him as "Hancock the Superb" who was considered as one of the foremost hero's that stopped the Rebels in their tracks from marching on to Washington. While it was common in Europe to grant general absolution to soldiers going into battle, this was the first time it had ever occurred in the United States. During WWII my father fought on both the Pacific and European Campaigns with the "Fighting 69th Infantry Division and with General Mark Clark's 5th Army 27th Division of the United States. He was honored to receive the coveted Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Clusters for valor and several Purple Hearts for being wounded in battle. There was a vintage B/W movie called "The Fighting 69th", staring Pat O’Brien and Jimmy Cagney. While in California with his unit ready to go overseas, my father and some of his fellow soldiers were invited over to Cagney's house as an inspiring send off. Forty years later I met Jimmy Cagney when entertaining for a Testimonial Dinner for his best buddy Pat Obrien. I showed him my dad's "69th" uniform emblem (that was green enamel with a shamrock on it) and told him that they met back in the 1940's and asked, “where is your father now”? I responded that he made it back after 31/2 years of war to his hometown of Fort Lee NJ. It is the historic town where in 1776 George Washington the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army established a fort and stood on the NJ Palisade's Bluffs with his spy glass overlooking the Hudson River for British Troop movements along General Nathaniel Green the fort's commandant and his aid Thomas Paine the patriot famous for penning the "Common Sense" pamphlets. He also wrote "The American Crisis" which was inspired as he marched with the troops from Fort Lee on Washington's Retreat to Victory. It began with the words "These are the times that try men's souls"!
ReplyDeleteI truly appreciate this blog and complement its creator Jeff Konrei Minde for its varied content with an informative platform focusing on the American Civil War etc. And will share my favorable opinion of it with others.
Bruce Robert Balestri (The Traveling Troubadour).
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