BG Thomas Francis Meagher (1823-1867)

Civil War Union Brigadier General. He is most famous for commanding the "Irish Brigade". General Meagher was born in Waterford, Ireland. He was active in the Irish Independence movement and had to come to America to escape British Authorities. During the Civil War, he organized the famous "Irish Brigade" from Irish immigrants in New York. The Irish Brigade took part in all of the major engagements in Virginia from The First Battle of Bull Run to Chancellorsville. In the futile charge during the Battle of Fredricksburg, the Irish Brigade was decimated. The Brigade was consolidated after that and Meagher resigned in protest. The reformed Irish Brigade did go on to fight at Gettysburg where it suffered heavily again. Meagher held various positions in the Union Army for the rest of the war. After the war, he became Acting Governor of the Montana Territory. On July 1, 1867, after complaining of "intestinal" problems for several days, he fell off the deck of a steamboat in the Montana River under mysterious circumstances. He allegedly drowned and his body was never recovered.