69th Regiment Irish Brigade Stick Flag, Poly, 12″x18″

This is the 69th Irish Regiment’s Flag with the Gallic phase: “Who have never retreated from clash of spears”. The 69th was an infantry regiment, consisting predominantly of Irish Americans, that served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. The regiment was reformed into the 1st Irish Brigade The regiment’s 1st Brigade was so decimated after Gettysburg that the Brigade ceased to exist and the 69th was reformed as first Regiment of the 2nd Irish Brigade in the Summer of 1864. The 2nd Brigade served until the end of the war and was present at Appomattox. After the American Civil War, all the regiments of the Irish Brigade were disbanded except for the 69th, which remained part of the New York National Guard. The 69th New York Infantry, or the “Fighting 69th”, continued to serve in the Spanish American War, World Wars I & II as well as in Iraq & Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror.

The Irish were well known in part for their famous war cry, the “faugh a ballagh”, which is an anglicization of the Irish phrase, “fág an bealach”, meaning “clear the way”. Out of more than 2,000 Union regiments, the 69th lost more men than all but six regiments.