>The figure of two thirds of all casualties being Irish sounds >extraordinarily high. Can anybody give me a source for this figure, >preferably a published source. >Eamonn. I agree the number seems high for casualties. Paul Jones on the first page of The Irish Brigade quotes a US Sanitary Commission Report of 1869 for a figure of 144,000 Irish born in the Union Army. Other sources I have read give 180,000 - 200,000 Union and 10-40,000 Irish born in the South. The numbers vary because with the possible exception of the US Sanitary Commission's Report they don't exist and are conjecture. Casualty figures could be figured using percentages based on the number of soldiers in total and applying it to the Irish. I agree with Capt. Nolan that Irish figures for casualties should end up higher for the Irish for two reasons first the high visibility of the Irish Brigade and its decimation and reputation for gallantry to be upheld with the eyes of their countrymen on them and that is where a large part of the Irish born men fought and, two, the desertions which might ensue based on peer pressure against the war and disillusionment in promises made by recruiters and a desire to get on with the real reason for coming to America land and a place to raise a family. The last is my conjecture also and I have no valid numbers to give. Perhaps the best book on the subject is William L Burton's Melting Pot Soldiers which is still in print. It will certainly give solid base from which to turn WAGs into SWAGs. Mike