American Civil War, Battle of Seven Pines, 1862

Lithograph entitled and captioned: General Meagher at the Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, June 1st, 1862. The bayonet charge of the Irish Brigade was the most stubborn, sanguinary and bloody if modern times. The Battle of Seven Pines, AKA the Battle of Fair Oaks, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, as part of the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive up the Virginia Peninsula by Union Major General George B. McClellan, in which the Army of the Potomac reached the outskirts of Richmond. Thomas Francis Meagher (August 3, 1823 - July 1, 1867) was an Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders in the Rebellion of 1848. After being convicted of sedition, he was sentenced for life to Van Diemen's Land in Australia. In 1852 he escaped and made his way to the United States. At the beginning of the American Civil War, Meagher joined the US Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was most notable for recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade, and encouraging support among Irish immigrants for the Union. The Union was defeated at Fair Oaks, but the Irish Brigade developed a reputation as fierce fighters

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Bayonet Confederacy Confederate Currier Ives Meagher Oaks Pines Potomac

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