How thousands of British volunteers gave their lives in America's Civil War

[maildude]

This is a good point, although it is also true that roughly 30,000 Irishmen served on the Confederate side - including outstanding major general Patrick Cleburne

"Irish Catholics were not as persecuted in the South as in the North, mainly because they were so few in the South that they did not draw attention to themselves as those in the North could not help doing by their sheer numbers. As was the case with the Union Irish, the Confederate Irish were usually Roman Catholic, especially those from Louisiana and Missouri. Of course, they were not limited only to those few Southern states, and not all Irish Confederates were Roman Catholic; many were Protestants."

continued here ---------> http://www.curledup.com/irishcon.htm

That's true. The forced conscription came from the Union side, but many of the Irish immigrants were distrustful of the North because of its ties with the British and similarities between the American civil war and the situation in Ireland vs. England. Still, Irish in the northern states way outnumbered those in the South, as you said. There were also many all-Irish regiments in the Union army. Of course, the Confederacy boasted the "Sons Of Erin."

 

[ForumModeregulator]

so were these British citizens, or just British-americans...who fought. becasue its no surprise that the war was fought using people who were of euro descent.

 

[Ulysses31]

so were these British citizens, or just British-americans...who fought. becasue its no surprise that the war was fought using people who were of euro descent.

According to the article thousands of British citizens left from Britain to join in the fighting, apparently ships (CSS Alabama and CSS Shenandoah, see links below) for the Confederates were also built in British shipyards and sent there along with guns and ammunition bypassing Federal blockades. Officially Britain remained neutral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Alabama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Shenandoah