After serving briefly under Gen.
Benjamin Butler in
the Carolinas and with the 9th Corps during the
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first campaign into the North, the 28th Massachusetts was assigned to the
II Corps as the fourth regiment of the famed
Irish Brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen.
Thomas Francis Meagher. By April 1862 the 28th was at
Daufuskie Island in South Carolina. A number of companies were sent to
Tybee Island, Georgia to set artillery positions. Twenty-two died of malaria and other illness. The regiment came under heavy musket and artillery fire during the
Second Battle of Bull Run. Known for their distinctive Tiffany-embroidered green flag and
Gaelic war cry, "Faugh a Ballagh" (Clear the Way), the Irishmen of the 28th Massachusetts saw action in most of the
Union Army's major eastern theatre engagements –
Antietam,
Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville,
Gettysburg, the
Overland Campaign, and the
siege of Petersburg – and were present for Gen.
Robert E. Lee's surrender to Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant at
Appomattox Court House. Upon completion of their original three-year term of service, many of the 28th's veteran soldiers elected to return to Massachusetts. But a sufficient number re-enlisted by January 1, 1864, to justify the continuation of the regiment as a five-company battalion of "veteran volunteers" until the end of the war. During the
Second Battle of Bull Run, Lt. Col. George W. Cartwright was severely wounded, placing Captain Andrew P. Caraher, commander of Company A, in command of the regiment during the Maryland Campaign. Following the Battle of Antietam, however, command of the 28th Massachusetts was given on October 18 to Col. Richard Byrnes, who although himself Irish, had been a regular officer and a 1st lieutenant in the
5th U.S. Cavalry. Although resented and protested by the other officers of the regiment, Byrnes served with distinction and was wounded on June 3, 1864, while leading the Irish Brigade at the
Battle of Cold Harbor. He died nine days later. At Fredericksburg, the regiment was put in the middle of the Irish Brigade and led the charge, as they were the only regiment of the brigade that had the distinctive green flag, and since their commander wanted to make it clear to the confederates that they were facing the Irish Brigade, the 28th was planted in the middle. Stage actor
Lawrence Barrett served as captain of the regiment's Company B, but served for less than a year, resigning in August 1862. Father
Lawrence Stephen McMahon was a curate at
Holy Cross Church, Boston and served as chaplain from 1863 to 1865. He later became Bishop of the
Diocese of Hartford. == Casualties and mustering out ==