Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 5:40am

The Real Fighting Irish: A Review of Notre Dame and the Civil War

The peaks of Notre Dame history are shrouded in the mists of war.

Father Hugh O’Donnell, President, Notre Dame-1941

I think it was in 1964 when I read my first book on the Civil War, The American Heritage Golden Book of the Civil War, and I immediately thereafter developed a life long passion for the subject.  Over the intervening 47 years, I have read hundreds of books on the War.  Truth to tell, more than a few of the books I have read on the Civil War have left me with a ho hum feeling, not telling me much that I haven’t read many, many times before.  I am therefore always pleasantly surprised when a tome on the Late Unpleasantness can give me lots of new information, and such is the case with Notre Dame and the Civil War, by James M. Schmidt.  Mr. Schmidt, knowing of my interest in US Catholic Chaplains in the military, was kind enough to send me a review copy, and I am glad that he did, as he has brought forth facts and new pieces of information about Notre Dame and the Civil War that I have not read elsewhere.

Many Protestant denominations in the country were ripped asunder North and South by the Civil War and the decades of turmoil leading up to it.  Not so the Catholic Church in America.  As a global Church, it was not unusual for Catholics to find themselves on different sides in civil wars or national conflicts, and there was never any threat to the unity of the Church in America.  Individual Catholics fought bravely for both the Union and the Confederacy.  The Catholics of Notre Dame, except for a few students from the South, were whole heartedly for the Union.

Even before the Civil War, as Mr. Schmidt brings out,  Notre Dame students were preparing to fight.  Two student military companies were organized in 1858, part of the craze for militia companies, well drilled, in fancy uniforms that swept the nation in the late Fifties.  It was fun being a part time soldier:  drills, nice uniforms, parades, pretty girls cheering on the side lines.  Many of the students of course were soon to have first hand knowledge of darker aspects of military life.

Schmidt skillfully relates the fever to enlist in the Union army that swept through the students of Notre Dame after Fort Sumter.  Along with their students, Notre Dame priests also served as chaplains.  Most famous among them was of course Father William Corby, who marched and fought with the Irish Brigade and who gave them mass absolution on the second day at Gettysburg before they charged into battle.  The book relates the adventures of Father Corby, but also relates the stories of other Notre Dame priests who served as chaplains, including Father Paul E. Gillen, Father James Dillon, Father Joseph C. Carrier and Father Peter P. Cooney, all of whom will be featured in posts in the future.

The Sisters of the Holy Cross of Notre Dame also got behind the war effort.  Sixty of the Sisters would serve as nurses during the war.  The role of Catholic Sisters as nurses in the Civil War is one of the great largely unsung stories of the War.  Usually nursing Protestant soldiers, the Sisters, through their bravery, skill at nursing and simple charity and kindness, often turned fairly anti-Catholic men into friends of the Church and not a few converted to the Faith.  Mr. Schmidt gives these heroic women their due.

Students and alums of Notre Dame are followed through the war:  young Colonel William Lynch who heroically led the 58th Illinois at Shiloh where he was wounded, and who would end the war as a brigadier general at the age of 26;  poet Timothy E. Howard, a private in the 12th Michigan, who also was wounded at Shiloh and lived after a long recuperation;  Sergeant Frank Baldwin who died for the Union at Stone’s River;  Lieutenant Orville Chamberlain of the 74th Indiana who earned a Medal of Honor at Chickamauga for his heroism.

While the focus is on the battlefield, the book also keeps an eye on the functioning of Notre Dame during the war.  Here the central figure is Father Edward Sorin, founder of Notre Dame and President of Notre Dame.  Father Sorin comes across in the book as possessing both the innocence of a dove and the wiliness of a serpent and was a formidable priest,  just what Notre Dame needed during that time of trial.

This book is a small gem, only 144  pages in length.  Anyone interested in the Civil War and/or Notre Dame, or who simply would like to read a very well written history on a fascinating subject should pick this up.  Go here to Mr. Schmidt’s blog to read excerpts from the book, and to learn about how he researched the book.  I find this type of “backstory” about a book fascinating, and I am glad that Jim Schmidt has put in the extra effort to bring this type of additional detail to his readers.

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Pat McNamara
Pat McNamara
Monday, January 24, AD 2011 7:21am

Thanks for posting this! I can’t wait to read it!

Tito Edwards
Admin
Monday, January 24, AD 2011 8:06am

Pat,

Glad to see you here on The American Catholic!

In Jesus, Mary, & Joseph,

Tito

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Monday, January 24, AD 2011 8:10am

Thank you!

ND has helped train gallant officers for America since.

Today, the University offers Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC commissioning programs. In 2006, 62 ND grads entered commissioned officer service, including three Marines.

My son served with an ND grad officer/PL in Afghanistan. He had played football there, too. I met him when they came home. Another great grandson of Ireland serving America . . .

Jim Schmidt
Monday, January 24, AD 2011 9:56am

Don – I am humbled and gratified at the wonderful review. Thank You so much. One of the great things about this book – and the goal I was shooting for – is that it appeals to different audiences: the typical Civil War enthusiast, Notre Dame alumns (bona fide and “subway”), people interested in American Catholic history, and more. Hopefully I did that.

Thanks so much to the commenters for their enthusiastic response.

I’m an avid reader – and hopefully a more frequent commenter – here at THC.

God Bless!

Jim Schmidt

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