The Little Known Story Of An Irish Regiment That Helped Turn The Tides Of The American Civil War

July 2, 1863 was a sweltering afternoon, and two miles south of a little Pennsylvania town called Gettysburg, Union Maj. Gen. Gouverneur Warren was horrified. The chief engineer of the North’s Army of the Potomac, he was tasked by his commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Meade, to ascertain the strength of the Union position on the far southern end of the line. Believing that the 90,000-man army’s left flank was solidly anchored atop a steep, bald-faced hill called Little Round Top — which presented a commanding prospect over the entire battlefield — Warren was stunned to find only a handful of signalmen atop this most strategic piece of ground. And through his binoculars the Union general could see waves of men in gray and butternut uniforms, Robert E. Lee’s ferocious Rebel horde, marching at the double-quick through the broken ground to assault this most undefended hill.

Thinking fast, Warren spurred his horse down the reversed slope and galloped over to the first group of blue-clad Federal troops he encountered marching towards the left flank. It so happened to be the 140^th New York Regiment, commanded by Col. Patrick “Paddy” O’Rorke, who was at the head of a long column of men from the 3^rd Brigade, 2^nd Division, V Corps. “Paddy!” shouted Warren as the tumult of approaching battle grew louder, telling all present that a major engagement was underway. “Give me a regiment!”