Reviews of Paddy Owen's Regulars
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Don Ernsberger's PADDY OWEN'S REGULARS: A HISTORY OF
THE 69TH PENNSYVANIA "IRISH VOLUNTEERS" is the best
treatment of the Irish soldier in the American Civil War ever written. This
is a work so well researched that we will never see its depth again. This is
a book about the men. There are no flashing bayonets or ruffling flags.
Don's work is character driven. We know the officers and men and the
trials and wounds they overcome - with the warts still on. This is not a
sophomoric glorification of war. This is a revelation of the true courage
of a generation long dead. There are no celebrities, only men who signed
their enlistment papers with an - X- . I would highly recommend this
book that resurrects the immortal soul of a unit of the U.S. Army never
praised in its lifetime because of "Nativist bigotry."
Michael Kane - Irish-American Historian