The Civil War "Irish Brigade" Shirt

Updated February 24: Today we finished printing the shirts and sweatshirts and began sending them out. If you placed an advance order, thank you, and thank you for your patience. We expect that all advance orders will be in the mail by the end of this week.

The demand for these was much higher than we expected, and as we were getting ready to print, knowledgable, sharp-eyed individuals spotted two small errors in the names of the battles.  We pulled the art to make the changes twice, and then when we got it on the press, we had to make several adjustments to get the design to print exactly the way we wanted it.

All of this created additional delays. Thank you for hanging in there.

—  Lee Wright  |  Founder  |  The History List  |  History Camp  |  The Pursuit of History

The shirt: Your choice of fabrics and colors:

• 100% cotton Made in the USA shirt in Army green — Grown, knitted, dyed, and sewn in the USA. 5.4 oz.  S - 4X. See size chart.
• Our standard 4.3 oz. Poly-Cotton shirt in Forest green that gets rave reviews. Our softest shirt. It's also our thinnest and lightest. It is very high-quality and long-wearing, but it is thin and light. Lots of people love them, which you can see in the reviews, but if you judge t-shirt quality based on weight or thickness, do not get this one. Instead, get the 100% cotton shirt. If you're looking for our softest shirt, the one people rave about, this is the one. S - 3X. See size chart.

Note that the $3 price difference for the 100% cotton Made in the USA shirt is our higher wholesale cost; there is no additional margin.

This design is also available in a crewneck sweatshirt, women's v-neck shirt, a sticker, and a magnet.

Also available, The Civil War "Iron Brigade" Shirt.

Shipping: $4.95, regardless of the number of shirts you order, so order one and all the rest ship for free.

Mission: Your purchases support our mission to engage people with local history and to support historic sites and history organizations across the country.

 Historical background

What became known as the Irish Brigade was formed almost entirely by Irish-Americans from five units: The 63rd, 69th and 88th New York Infantry Regiments, and eventually the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment and the 28th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry, a group famous for yelling “Faugh a Ballagh,” a Gaelic battle cry meaning “clear the way.”

In September 1862, the Irish Brigade helped lead the pursuit of the Confederate rebels in the bloody Battle of Antietam. While heavy casualties were claimed on both sides, the Union was able to force Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee to abandon his invasion of the north, retreating back to Virginia.

The Irish Brigade unfortunately also took part in the doomed Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, where it lost two-thirds of its forces in a resounding Confederate victory. But despite those losses, the men weren’t too tired to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. 

According to a website dedicated to the 28th Massachusetts, the men kept up their “boisterous, rollicking” traditions, including a Grand Irish Steeple Chase, which attracted the attention of the whole army at their camp, as well as several traveling reporters.  According to the website, Col. St. Clair Mulholland, of the 116th Pennsylvania, recalled the festivities, saying, “This time-honored national anniversary was observed with all the exhaustless spirit and enthusiasm of Irish nature."

The Irish Brigade’s forces also played prominently in July 1863 during the second day of the decisive Battle of Gettysburg. The group fended off rebels who were set to overwhelm the entire Union position.

Gettysburg was largely considered the turning point in the Civil War, as well as for the Irish Brigade. By then the brigade had lost the majority of its remaining soldiers. Irish-American support for the war began to wane, too.

The Irish Brigade fought several more campaigns in the south after Gettysburg, but it officially disbanded in June 1864 due to heavy losses among the troops.

 Source: US Department of Defense

 Design © 2018 Larry Stuart Studio.