On "The Noxious Institution of Slavery"
Carte de visite of James F. O'Brien by McPherson & Oliver of Baton Rouge, La. Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, O'Brien came to America as a young man and settled in Charlestown, Mass., which was then a hot bed of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment.
After the start of the Civil War, O'Brien began to organize an all-Irish regiment, but his plans were dashed when the U.S. War Department combined the six companies he raised with four non-Irish companies to form the Forty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry. O'Brien received an accepted a commission as lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the regiment.
The Forty-eighth soon received orders to report to Louisiana, where Lt. Col. O'Brien was killed in action while leading a 200-man storming party on a "Forlorn Hope" against the formidable defenses of Port Hudson on May 27, 1863.
A week before his death, he wrote a letter to the mayor of Charlestown in which he summed up his thoughts about the rebellion:
"We are fighting a brave foe, a foe inspired with that desperation of purpose, which, whether in a right or wrong cause, always inspires an invaded people. They are united too, their hopes are fostered by the demonstrations of the copperhead cowards of the north, and also by perfidious England, who, while she holds out one hand to us in friendship, with the other tosses gold and shot and shell to our adversary. But notwithstanding treason at home and deception abroad, I have no fears for the result. The struggle must end in the death of this rebellion and with it must die the cause which produced it. The time has come to speak plain and act resolutely. I say that the crime of rebellion which has caused thousands of our citizens to fill bloody graves is but partially atoned for in the sweeping array of the noxious institution of slavery. The policy of our government with respect to that institution is just, and wise, as any thinking man who has an opportunity of practically witnessing its effect will acknowledge. Slave labor feeds our enemy in the field, digs his ditches, and builds his fortifications. Every slave liberated by our arms is a diminishment of rebel power. Every slave who wields a spade or musket in our cause is so much added to our strength. This is my belief with respect to the Emancipation policy of the Government. The right of the Government to pursue that policy is clear and and will only be gainsaid by designing traitors in order to delude the ignorant. I need not tell you that the news which northern newspapers bring us of dissensions in the north is discouraging to our soldiers in the field. It creates the fear in their hearts, that after all the hardships endured and perils encountered, the noble work to which they have consecrated their lives may be abandoned. Despicable is the crime of those men who turn their backs upon their country and display their poor, weak, cowardly hostility to their government. I comprehend them well. They are scheming politicians. Cowards, and civil revolutionists, hungry for a fame they are so basely earning. But they are powerless for harm. The great American heart beats true to the cause. On its patriotism and courage an Empire might be wagered with security, it was resolute and hopeful in the beginning and will not falter or despair now that we are slowly though surely and successfully approaching the end. The first year of this war was prosecuted compromisingly. We strove to make the people of the South believe that we warred not on their institutions, that all we desired was to save our beloved country. But their blood was hot. They would yield nothing. They would propose nothing. They would accept nothing. Now then our blood is up, our armor is buckled on, the shield and sword are in our hands, and we are ready to stand on the blood sprinkled fields of our ancestors and swear in the presence of high heaven that this Union in which the happiness of unborn millions reposes shall live."
This excerpt was published in the June 20, 1863, edition of the Salem (Massachusetts) Observer.
A profile of this soldier was originally published in Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
On "The Noxious Institution of Slavery"
Carte de visite of James F. O'Brien by McPherson & Oliver of Baton Rouge, La. Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, O'Brien came to America as a young man and settled in Charlestown, Mass., which was then a hot bed of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment.
After the start of the Civil War, O'Brien began to organize an all-Irish regiment, but his plans were dashed when the U.S. War Department combined the six companies he raised with four non-Irish companies to form the Forty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry. O'Brien received an accepted a commission as lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the regiment.
The Forty-eighth soon received orders to report to Louisiana, where Lt. Col. O'Brien was killed in action while leading a 200-man storming party on a "Forlorn Hope" against the formidable defenses of Port Hudson on May 27, 1863.
A week before his death, he wrote a letter to the mayor of Charlestown in which he summed up his thoughts about the rebellion:
"We are fighting a brave foe, a foe inspired with that desperation of purpose, which, whether in a right or wrong cause, always inspires an invaded people. They are united too, their hopes are fostered by the demonstrations of the copperhead cowards of the north, and also by perfidious England, who, while she holds out one hand to us in friendship, with the other tosses gold and shot and shell to our adversary. But notwithstanding treason at home and deception abroad, I have no fears for the result. The struggle must end in the death of this rebellion and with it must die the cause which produced it. The time has come to speak plain and act resolutely. I say that the crime of rebellion which has caused thousands of our citizens to fill bloody graves is but partially atoned for in the sweeping array of the noxious institution of slavery. The policy of our government with respect to that institution is just, and wise, as any thinking man who has an opportunity of practically witnessing its effect will acknowledge. Slave labor feeds our enemy in the field, digs his ditches, and builds his fortifications. Every slave liberated by our arms is a diminishment of rebel power. Every slave who wields a spade or musket in our cause is so much added to our strength. This is my belief with respect to the Emancipation policy of the Government. The right of the Government to pursue that policy is clear and and will only be gainsaid by designing traitors in order to delude the ignorant. I need not tell you that the news which northern newspapers bring us of dissensions in the north is discouraging to our soldiers in the field. It creates the fear in their hearts, that after all the hardships endured and perils encountered, the noble work to which they have consecrated their lives may be abandoned. Despicable is the crime of those men who turn their backs upon their country and display their poor, weak, cowardly hostility to their government. I comprehend them well. They are scheming politicians. Cowards, and civil revolutionists, hungry for a fame they are so basely earning. But they are powerless for harm. The great American heart beats true to the cause. On its patriotism and courage an Empire might be wagered with security, it was resolute and hopeful in the beginning and will not falter or despair now that we are slowly though surely and successfully approaching the end. The first year of this war was prosecuted compromisingly. We strove to make the people of the South believe that we warred not on their institutions, that all we desired was to save our beloved country. But their blood was hot. They would yield nothing. They would propose nothing. They would accept nothing. Now then our blood is up, our armor is buckled on, the shield and sword are in our hands, and we are ready to stand on the blood sprinkled fields of our ancestors and swear in the presence of high heaven that this Union in which the happiness of unborn millions reposes shall live."
This excerpt was published in the June 20, 1863, edition of the Salem (Massachusetts) Observer.
A profile of this soldier was originally published in Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.