Irish Civil War Regiment

"Forward the 9th" was the message of a Civil War recruiting poster used to enlist Connecticut’s Irish immigrants.

The contributions of those volunteers to the Union effort will be remembered by Cheshire Historian Robert Larkin at the March 17 gathering of the Milford Historical Society. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Mary Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church on the Green, 168 Broad St. This will be the annual joint meeting with the Orange Historical Society. The public is invited.

Larkin will discuss the state’s Irish Regiment, the 9th Connecticut Volunteers, which held recruiting campaigns in Middletown and Portland, Connecticut where the unit was advertised as "destined to be a gallant Regiment."

The unit served from 1861-1865. His talk will include stories on how this regiment was the first to land on Ship Island (MS), the first to take Confederate colors, one of the first to enter the fallen city of New Orleans, part of the first expedition to take Vicksburg and heavily involved in the battle of Baton Rouge as well as the defense of the New Orleans area. Later in the war they saw action under Gen. Phil Sheridan in the Shenandoah before serving in South Carolina and Georgia.

Larkin’s interest in the 9th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers was inspired by an ancestor, Pvt. John Marlow, who fought with the regiment and died near Vicksburg in 1862.

The talk will include information on monuments dedicated to the regiment, including a State of CT monument at the Vicksburg National Military Park in 2008.

For information on joining the Milford Historical Society call (203) 877-1851.