AMDG
The most tragic war and the
deadliest of all was the Civil War as the people of one
nation under God ---founded on the ideals of securing the blessings of liberty,
justice, and domestic tranquility--- were killing each other in a fratricidal
war that was destroying the work of our founding fathers…… 360,222 Union deaths
and 258,000 Confederate deaths more Americans than any other war. The North fought for the right of African
American slaves to be free and to preserve the union. The South fought against what they perceived
as a threat to their economy and way of life.
Enslaving a people considered to be inferior and needing guidance was
strongly justified. Without question, slavery and racism along with abortion are the greatest blots upon the often glorious history of the United States.
Slavery and the slave trade like sin in general produced consequences that continue to this day……first in a bloody civil war after years of tension, then segregation, racism, racial injustice, prejudice, resentment, crime, and violence. We’re still enduring the consequences and must pray for healing and wisdom to achieve justice and liberty for all.
Since there were Catholics on both sides of the conflict, the minority Church maintained a neutral stance. Students from both the North and the South attended Notre Dame, including the children of General William Tecumsah Sherman. At the same time the Holy Cross Fathers sent seven priests to be chaplains in the Union Army and over 80 nuns to minister to the sick and wounded.
Let us examine how one of their priests, Fr. William Corby tried to
do his part as a priest for the common good.
The Church has always responded to mediate, promote peace, and care for
the spiritual needs of the faithful in war and peace. It sends chaplains to be with the troops on the
front, live their life, council and encourage, nurture their faith, say Mass, and administer the
sacraments. Despite murmurings from secularists, the U.S. military recognizes the need for chaplains for the morale and well being of the troops.
William Corby (1833-97) was the son of an Irish immigrant and a Canadian mother in Detroit. He attended public school and at the age of 16 joined his father’s real estate business. In 1853 he entered Notre Dame 10 years after its founding and began studying for the priesthood three years later. French Fathers of the Holy Cross founded Notre Dame that had a reputation for strict discipline and was used as a last resort for desperate parents of rowdy boys.Following ordination in 1860, he taught at Notre Dame and served as a parish priest.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the Holy Cross Fathers sent one third of their men to military chaplaincy. Fr. Corby wanted to do his part and joined the predominantly Catholic 88th New York Infantry, one of the five original regiments of the Irish Brigade as a chaplain for the next three years. Eventually, only one regiment remained, their number reduced from 3000 to 530. Since the Government did not pay chaplains at first, Fr. Corby depended upon his family for support.
He
fought alongside his flock in many of the major battles such as Fredericksburg
where the Irish Brigade earned a fearsome reputation. At the Battle of Antietam he rode back and
forth along the lines of the brigade, shouting absolution to the men, of whom
540 became casualties. While a chaplain,
he was also a soldier frequently involved in the midst of battle, encouraging
the men forward.
Many chaplains succumbed to the rigors of military life; for a time Corby was the only Chaplain in the Army of the Potomac. Frequently under fire, Corby moved among casualties on the field, giving assistance to the wounded and absolution to the dying. For days after battles, he inhabited the field hospitals to bring comfort to men in pain."
According to L. F. Kohl, the editor of Corby's memoirs, “Chaplains, like officers, won the common soldiers' respect with their bravery under fire. Father Corby's willingness to share the hardships of the men with a light-hearted attitude and his calm heroism in bringing spiritual and physical comfort to men in the thick of the fighting won him the esteem and the friendship of the men he served.”
Fr. Corby’s passionate style was evident in one of his homilies: "Oh, you of a younger generation, think of what it cost our forefathers to save our glorious inheritance of union and liberty! If you let it slip from your hands you will deserve to be branded as ungrateful cowards and undutiful sons. But, no! You will not fail to cherish the prize-- it is too sacred a trust-- too dearly purchased.”
Fr.
Corby believed that his ministry was not only for Catholics, but for every
soldier. No matter where he was, he
would improvise an altar to offer Mass for the men who faced death daily. According to one chronicler of the time,
"Father Corby was known as the 'Fighting Chaplain"' and that "no
spot was too dangerous or too much exposed to the fire of the enemy" for
the Irish Brigade's priest.
Fr.
Corby is best known for giving general absolution to the Irish Brigade on the pivotal
second day of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) several hours before
a massive assault by Confederate forces to outflank the Union soldiers
defending Cemetery Ridge. He intended
the general absolution for all soldiers in Gettysburg North and South who were
at high risk for losing their lives. That
scene was included in the excellent 1993 feature film, “Gettysburg”, which is
considered to be an accurate portrayal of the battle which is the turning point
of the Civil War. Of the men he absolved that day the
casualties numbered 27 dead, 109 wounded and 62 missing.
According to statista.com over the three
days of the Battle of Gettysburg,
· The Union Army numbered 92,921 men with
3,155 (3.4%) dead, 14,529 (15.6%) wounded, and 5,365 (5.8%) missing or
captured.
· The smaller Confederate Army in
Gettysburg numbered 71,699 men with 3,903 (5.4%) dead, 18,735 (26.1%) wounded,
and 5,425 (7.6%) missing or captured.
.jpg)
The 8 foot statue done by Samuel Murray of Union Chaplain Fr. William Corby C.S.C. at Gettysburg. The statue stands upon the same rock on which the priest stood while blessing the troops on the pivotal second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The battleground is a most interesting tourist attraction in south central Pennsylvania. Dedicated in 1910, it was the first statue of a non-general erected on the Gettysburg Battlefield.
An eye witness account of the absolution under fire by Colonel St. Clair Mulholland. The Brigade Commander, Colonel Patrick Kelly gave Fr. Corby permission to speak to the men. “Each one would receive the benefit of the absolution by making a sincere Act of Contrition, and firmly resolving to embrace the first opportunity of confessing his sins, urging them to do their duty well, and reminding them of the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers and the noble object for which they fought. The brigade was standing at “Order arms,” and as he closed his address, every man fell on his knees, with head bowed down. Then, stretching his right hand towards the brigade, Father Corby pronounced the words of absolution. The scene was more than impressive, it was awe-inspiring. Nearby, stood General Hancock, surrounded by a brilliant throng of officers, who had gathered to witness this very unusual occurrence and while there was profound silence in the ranks of the Second Corps, yet over to the left, out by the peach orchard and Little Round Top, where Weed, and Vincent, and Haslett were dying, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and reechoed through the woods. The act seemed to be in harmony with all the surroundings. I do not think there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. For some it was their last; they knelt there in their grave-clothes — in less than half an hour many of them were numbered with the dead of July 2.”
Certainly,
God was with them as the Irish Brigade stopped Pickett’s Charge. The next day at great cost victory belonged
to the Army of the Potomac as General Robert E. Lee retreated with what was
left of his army.
In November of that same year President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to dedicate the National Cemetery for the fallen of that epic battle. His speech was brief, but very deep, a speech for the ages, full of excellent prose and poetry. Sister Flora Marie made us memorize it in the 5th Grade. The complete text is in Appendix II.
Back to teaching at Notre Dame.
Fr. Corby later served as its president during two separate tenures: 1866 to
1872 and 1877 to 1882. At the same time
he served as provincial of the Holy Cross Fathers who founded the school. During his administration enrollment at Notre
Dame increased to more than 500 students.
In 1869 Corby opened the law school which offered a two-year course of
study.
In
1871 he began construction of campus buildings and what is today the Basilica
of the Sacred Heart on campus. After a
fire, he rebuilt the Administration Building which is noted for its golden dome
with a statue of Mary its patron on top overlooking the campus.
Motivated by a desire to remind Americans of the patriotic service that thousands of Catholics had rendered to their country in the Civil War, Father Corby wrote “Memoirs of Chaplain Life”, describing his Irish Brigade experiences.
Since
Notre Dame (Our Lady) was still small, Corby taught in the classroom and knew
most students and faculty members. In
1869, the entire student body and the faculty presented him with the gift of a
black horse and, when he left the presidency three years later, they presented
him with a matching carriage. He died in
1897 at age 64.
A
video worth seeing is:
“American Civil War
Chaplain: Fr. William Corby” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDaavQ7OHm0.
The nickname of the Irish Brigade in which Fr.
Corby served as chaplain was adopted by Notre Dame sports teams…….namely the “Fighting
Irish”.
See also Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA#Chaplains in Civil War and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Corby
References
1. ^ Jump
up to:a b "Father William Corby", Stone
Sentinels
2. ^ "Past Presidents // Office of the
President // University of Notre Dame". Retrieved May 28, 2017.
3. ^ Craughwell, Thomas."When Fr. Corby Gave General Absolution
to 530 Men at Gettysburg", National Catholic Register, July 2,
2017
4. ^ "Rev. William Corby at Gettysburg". www.archives.nd.edu. University of
Notre Dame Archives. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 26
February 2016. Corby's famous absolution has since been immortalized,
among other places, in Paul Wood's Absolution under Fire (1891) at the Snite Museum of Art and
in statues on the Gettysburg Battlefield (1910) and on Notre Dame's campus
(1911).
6. ^ "Our Law Department" (PDF). The
Scholastic Year (Notre Dame). January 2, 1869.
7. ^ Miller, Greg. "A Notre Dame Procession" (PDF). Scholastic
Archive. The Scholastic. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
8. ^ Hope, Arthur (1943). Notre Dame -- 100 Years: Chapter XIV. Notre Dame, Ind. : University Press.
9. ^ Miller, Greg. "A Notre Dame Procession" (PDF). Scholastic
Archive. The Scholastic. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
Sources
· Bergen, Doris L.
(ed.). The Sword of the Lord: Military Chaplains from the First to the
Twenty-First Century. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press,
2004. ISBN 0-268-02175-9.
· Corby, Fr. William,
CSC. Memoirs of Chaplain Life: Three Years with the Irish Brigade in
the Army of the Potomac. Edited by Lawrence F. Kohl. New York: Fordham
University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8232-1251-3 [1]
* http://www.archives.nd.edu/about/news/index.php/2013/corby-gettysburg/
Appendix
I
Notre Dame Archives News & Notes
(http://archives.nd.edu/about/news/index.php/2013/corby-gettysburg/
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NOTRE DAME ARCHIVES PHOTO STORE
Rev. William Corby at Gettysburg
POSTED ONJULY 2, 2013AuthorNotre Dame Archives
.jpg)
Notre Dame’s military ties pre-date the Civil War, so when war broke out between the North and the South, Notre Dame inevitably became involved in the conflict. Students and alumni joined the ranks, on both sides of the fighting. Members of the Congregation of Holy Cross also volunteered, but in more peaceable jobs of chaplains and nurses. Rev. William Corby was one of those priests who left his position at Notre Dame and joined up with the predominately Catholic Irish Brigade in 1861. Corby spent the next three years as chaplain for the New York regiment.
.jpg)
Notre Dame’s Civil War Chaplains with two officers from the Irish Brigade at the Union Army camp at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, Summer 1862. Sitting: Captain J. J. McCormick; James Dillon, CSC; and William Corby, CSC. Standing: Patrick Dillon, CSC, and Dr. Philip O’Hanlon. Photo by Alexander Gardner, official photographer of the Army. Original glass negative is housed in the Library of Congress.
On July 1, 1863, the Irish Brigade marched into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They spent much of the next day getting their armament into position near Cemetery Hill. Corby notes in his memoirs that he could see the Confederate lines a mile away, also preparing for battle. Around 4pm, the conflict became heated. Corby recounts, “The Third Corps were pressed back, and at this critical moment I proposed to give a general absolution to our men, as they had absolutely no chance to practise [sic] their religious duties during the past two or three weeks, being constantly on the march” [Corby, page 181].
.jpg)
Portrait of Rev.
William Corby, CSC, 1863
Colonel St. Clair Mulholland was attached with the Irish Brigade and later gave this account of Corby’s famous absolution [Originally published in the Philadelphia Times, reprinted in Scholastic, April 3, 1880, pages 470-471]:
There is yet a few
minutes to spare before starting, and the time is occupied in one of the most
impressive religious ceremonies I have ever witnessed. The Irish Brigade,
which had been commanded formerly by General Thomas Francis Meagher, and whose
green flag had been unfurled in every battle in which the Army of the Potomac
had been engaged from the first Bull Run to Appomattox, was now commanded by
Colonel Patrick Kelly, of the Eighty-eighth New York, and formed a part of this
division. The brigade stood in columns of regiments closed in mass. As
the large majority of its members were Catholics, the Chaplain of the brigade
Rev. William Corby, CSC, proposed to give a general absolution to all the men
before going into the fight. While this is customary in the armies of
Catholic countries of Europe, it was perhaps the first time it was ever
witnessed on this continent… Father Corby stood upon a large rock in
front of the brigade, addressing the men; he explained what he was about to do,
saying that each one would receive the benefit of the absolution by making a
sincere Act of Contrition, and firmly resolving to embrace the first
opportunity of confessing his sins, urging them to do their duty well, and
reminding them of the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers and the
noble object for which they fought. The brigade was standing at “Order
arms,” and as he closed his address, every man fell on his knees, with head
bowed down. Then, stretching his right hand towards the brigade, Father Corby
pronounced the words of absolution. The scene was more than impressive,
it was awe-inspiring. Near by, stood General Hancock, surrounded by a
brilliant throng of officers, who had gathered to witness this very unusual
occurrence and while there was profound silence in the ranks of the Second
Corps, yet over to the left, out by the peach orchard and Little Round Top,
where Weed, and Vincent, and Haslett were dying, the roar of the battle rose
and swelled and reechoed through the woods. The act seemed to be in
harmony with all the surroundings. I do not think there was a man
in the brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. For some it was
their last; they knelt there in their grave-clothes — in less than half an hour
many of them were numbered with the dead of July 2.
Paul Wood’s Absolution under Fire at the Snite Museum of Art
Corby continued, “That general absolution was intended for all — in quantum possum — not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge.” A non-Catholic officer approached Corby after the Battle of Gettysburg and echoed Mulholland’s sentiments about the absolution: that it was one of the most powerful prayers he had ever heard [Corby, page 184-185].
.jpg)
Rev. William Corby, CSC, statue at Gettysburg, c1910s
“Dominus noster Jesus Christus vos absolvat, et ego, auctoritate ipsius, vos
absolvo ab omni vinculo, excommunicationis interdicti, in quantum possum et vos
indigetis deinde ego absolvo vos, a pecatis vestris, in nomini Patris, et
Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, Amen” [Corby, page 183] The Battle of
Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, with casualties exceeding
57,000. Fr. Corby’s absolution of the troops stayed deeply in the
imagination of the survivors for years to come. After the war, Mulholland
remained a friend of Notre Dame until his death. In 1900, Professor Jimmy Edwards invited Mulholland to Notre Dame’s
Commencement Exercises. Mulholland regretted that he was unable to attend
because he had just spent a week with veterans at Gettysburg. He was
surprised to find them still talking about the absolution: “Instead of
being forgotten it is becoming more widely known” [CEDW XI-2-c].
Corby’s famous
absolution has since been immortalized, among other places, in Paul
Wood’s Absolution under Fire (1891) at the Snite Museum of Art
and in statues on the Gettysburg Battlefield (1910) and on Notre Dame’s campus
(1911).
Sources:
Memoirs of Chaplain
Life by Rev. William
Corby
Scholastic, April 3, 1880
CEDW XI-2-c: St. Clair Mulholland to Jimmy Edwards,
06/08/1900
GSBA
GPHR 45/3024
Posted in Notre Dame HistoryTagged Catholic History, Civil War, clergy, events, individuals, military
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Appendix II
The
Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln
At
the Dedication of the National Cemetery
November
19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or
any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a
great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that
nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we
can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here,
have consecrated it,
far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor
long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It
is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which
they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be
here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full
measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and
that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
earth.
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