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Col. David Ireland’s regiment was extraordinary. His 137th New York State Volunteers fought crucial battles in both theaters of the Civil War. In the East, they were in the center of the line at Chancellorsville, alone on the right at Gettysburg. In the West, they held the left at Wauhatchie and led the charge at Lookout Mountain. In 1864 as part of Sherman’s army, they fought in all the battles leading to the taking of Atlanta, the March to the Sea, and the march thru the Carolinas that finally ended the Civil War.
Twice they held the unsupported flank of the line. Twice they fought for hours, after dark – a rarity in the Civil War. Arguably, they saved the Battle of Gettysburg by holding Culp’s Hill on the night of July 2, one regiment against six. Shifted to the Western Theater, they saved Geary’s Division from annihilation in the midnight Battle of Wauhatchie, holding the line though again greatly outnumbered.
Stalwart in defense, they were bold in offense. The 137th NY was “the point of the sword” routing the Confederate defenders of Lookout Mountain in the “Battle Above the Clouds” at Chattanooga.
With Sherman in Georgia, they contributed to the saving of the Union itself. They were the first troops into Atlanta, a victory that insured Lincoln’s re-election. They were first to take the surrender of Savannah, which Sherman gave to Lincoln as a Christmas gift.
After Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, the 137th NY fought on for another two weeks in Carolina until Johnston’s Confederate army surrendered, ending the Civil War.
Of the thousand Union regiments in the Civil War, few if any could claim such distinction, in so many crucial battles, in so many places. Yet history’s indifference has long denied Col. David Ireland and the 137th New York the recognition and praise that they deserve. David Ireland died days after taking Atlanta, so never wrote a memoir telling the regiment’s story. Pieces of the story are told in the writings of more than thirty men of the 137th NY, their commanders and opponents, that provide a first-hand view of the regiment’s 15 battles and 2000 miles of hard-marching. Taken together, the pieces yield a comprehensive history of their regiment, on their “fields of fame and glory”.
This is the story of ordinary men, who under the leadership of a remarkable commander, Col. David Ireland, became an extraordinary regiment – the 137th New York State Volunteers. The author hopes this will at last bring them fame – the regiment long ago earned the glory.
The book includes 40 maps and images of men of the 137th NY, and a comprehensive index of men of the regiment and locations referred to in the text.
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