Book Review: Notre Dame and the Civil War

James M. Schmidt, Notre Dame and the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (Charleston: The History Press, 2010).

There are many statues on the Gettysburg battlefield, but only one is dedicated to a chaplain. On the battle’s second day, Father William Corby blessed the famed Irish Brigade before it entered the fight. The son of Irish immigrants, Chaplain Corby belonged to the Holy Cross Fathers, who founded the University of Notre Dame in 1842. No single moment so dramatically embodied Catholic commitment to the Union than the absolution at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.

After the war, Father Corby served as university president. In 1910, Notre Dame Alumni placed his statue on the battlefield. (A copy was later placed on campus.) In his wonderful new book Notre Dame and the Civil War, James M. Schmidt tells the whole story of the university’s involvement in the Civil War, and it’s a great story. It covers the priest who served as army chaplains, the Sisters who served as nurses, and the students who fought in the field.

For twenty-five years, Jim Schmidt has worked as a chemist, but that hasn’t stopped him from writing over fifty articles and three books on the Civil War and scientific topics. He also maintains two Civil War blogs, on Civil War medicine and Notre Dame and the war. Notre Dame and the Civil War is his third book. (The descendant of Volga Germans who settled in 1870’s Kansas, Jim is Irish by marriage to his wife Susan.)

A longtime Notre Dame fan and a lifelong history buff, Jim only got hooked on the Civil War as an adult. It happened nearly twenty years ago during a visit to Virginia, on a guided tour of the Cold Harbor battlefield. From there he started reading avidly, especially on the Irish Brigade. As his interest in Father Corby grew, so did his desire to connect two great interests, Notre Dame and the American Civil War. This book is the result.

No religious order or diocese sent more priests to the war than the Holy Cross Fathers. Between them, they covered nearly every major battle. The Holy Cross Sisters, led by the formidable Mother Angela Gillespie, staffed ten military hospitals. (They’re also recognized as the first nurses to serve aboard a U.S. naval vessel.) Between them, they worked to remove much of the prejudice against Catholics.

And then there were the students and alumni who served on both sides (but mainly in blue). Both William F. Lynch and Robert W. Healy enlisted as privates in the Union Army when the war broke out, and both won general’s stars by its end. Lieutenant Orville Chamberlain, who left Notre Dame to enlist in 1861, won the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery at the Battle of Chickamauga.

One of the book’s most interesting parts is the veterans’ story. After the war, several ex-soldiers and sailors joined the Holy Cross community. The premier veteran organization was the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). Notre Dame had its own post, the only one in the nation composed entirely of Catholic priests and brothers. One of its members, William F. Olmsted, was ordained a Holy cross priest in 1901 at age sixty-seven. He was the only Civil War general to enter the priesthood.

This book is concise and well written. The research is top-notch, and the photos and drawings are wonderful. I learned much I didn’t know; for example, about the strong connection General William T. Sherman’s family had with Notre Dame (his sons went there). Nor did I know Union spymaster Allan Pinkerton’s sons studied there. As the first detailed study of American Catholics and the Civil War, this is an important book.

But, perhaps more importantly, it’s an enjoyable book. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War, Irish American history, and the story of Catholics in America is going to love it. Notre Dame alumni will be especially interested. The arrival of St. Patrick’s Day, and with the Civil War sesquicentennial only a month away, makes this the perfect opportunity to purchase this great book, either for others or yourself.