“There were two regiments of South Carolina regulars; about half of the men were Irish. The middle and up-country regiments contained hundreds of the descendants of our race.
“Generals Wade Hampton and M. E. Butler have Irish blood. Gen. James Connor and Gen. Samuel McGowan were of Irish descent. Also Col. Edward McCrady and Capt. W. H. Ryan and Capt. A. A. Allemong, Capts. M. P. Parker, James Mulvaney, John C. Mitchell and Sergeant Dominick Spellman, who was another Sergeant Jasper, were born in Ireland.”
After the rebellion of ’98, in Ireland, a number of Irishmen emigrated to Georgia. Several families settled in Augusta. The Irish and their descendants are to be found in all the Southern cities on the coast, and in the interior from Washington to Galveston.
There were two distinguished lawyers and jurists of Irish birth in Georgia—Judge John Erskine and Judge O. A. Lochrane. Judge Lochrane was a wonderfully gifted man. He had great personal magnetism and unusual powers of brilliant eloquence. He had a handsome person, a noble head and a pleasing countenance. He had a wonderful memory, the imagination of a poet and all the graces of oratory. He was called the Irish orator. With brilliancy and depth and familiarity with the principles of law, he coped successfully with the ablest lawyers before the highest tribunals. As chief justice he made a fine reputation. As lawyer, judge and business man his career was eminently successful. It is with laudable pride I speak of him as a Georgian and an Irishman.
Judge Erskine was appointed judge of the United States court in Georgia, in 1865, by President Andrew Johnson. Of him it might well be said his wisdom enabled him to temper his justice with moderation. Honest integrity and an inflexible regard for rectitude, and the recognition of his sterling worth, made him honored even by those who opposed him politically, and won for him the love and respect of his friends. It may truly be said, “He never forsook a friend, nor forgot a favor.” After nearly twenty years of service he retired from the bench in 1883, with the universal esteem of his associates at the bar. He deservedly attained a place among the honored roll of Georgia’s worthiest sons.
There was the brilliant and lamented Henry W. Grady, journalist, orator and patriot, whose grandfather was named O’Grady and whose father died on the field of battle at the head of his company, fighting for the Confederacy. The South had no more gifted son. He was proud of his Irish blood. His untimely death was a public bereavement. His genius and his talents have won for him a lasting fame.
The Hon. Alexander H. Stephens and the Hon. Joseph E. Brown were two of the most distinguished sons of Georgia. Mr. Stephens had Irish blood in his veins and Governor Brown’s ancestors emigrated from the north of Ireland to South Carolina. These were two of the wisest and greatest of Georgians. They were proud of their Irish blood and were the life-long friends of Ireland and the Irish people. They fought intolerance and proscription and stood boldly for the great principles of civil and religious liberty.
Irish names are common in the Southern states. In many instances the people who have them are removed several generations from the immigrants, thus showing that the Irish immigrant pushed his way into the South in the early settlement of the country.
A host of Irish-Americans in Georgia during the war were true to the Confederacy, and fought for its independence. Augusta sent the Irish Volunteers into the field under Captain Harvey Hull, who was succeeded by Captain T. G. Barrett. The last captain was M. J. O’Connor. This company had 100 volunteers. The men fought gallantly in the Army of Tennessee until the close of the war. Capt. Matt. Rice, a native of Ireland, commanded the Confederate Light Guards, in the Army of Northern Virginia. He left a leg at Gettysburg. There were twenty-five Irishmen in this company. The other companies from Augusta contained Irishmen. They were in the Clinch Rifles, the Oglethorpes and the Hussars.
There are numbers of Irishmen in Augusta who illustrated Irish valor and patriotism in the Confederate army. I regret that I have not the space to mention in detail the names of the Irishmen of Augusta who served the South during the war.