e Sword," the stripling who made
issue with the renowned O'Connell, and divided his applauses; the
"revolutionist," who had outlived exile to become the darling of the
"Young Ireland" populace in his adopted country; the partisan, whose
fierce, impassioned oratory had wheeled his factious element of the
Democracy into the war cause; and the soldier, whose gallant bearing at
Bull Run had won him a brigadiership. He was, to my mind, a realization
of the Knight of Gwynne, or any of the rash, impolitic, poetic
personages in Lever and Griffin. Ambitious without a name; an adventurer
without a definite cause; an orator without policy; a General without
caution or experience, he had led the Irish brigade through the hottest
battles, and associated them with the most brilliant episodes of the
war.

Every adjunct of the place was strictly Hibernian. The emerald green
standard entwined with the red, white, and blue; the gilt eagles on the
flag-poles held the Shamrock sprig in their beaks; the soldiers lounging
on guard, had "69" or "88" the numbers of their regiments, stamped on a
green hat-band; the brogue of every county from Down to Wexford fell
upon the ear; one might have supposed that the "year '98" had been
revived, and that these brawny Celts were again afield against their
Saxon countrymen. The class of lads upon the staff of Meagher, was an
odd contrast to the mass of staff officers in the "Grand Army."
Fox-hunters they all seemed to me, and there was one, who wore a long,
twisted, pomatumed moustache, who talked of steeple chases, all the
while, and wanted to have "a healthy dash" of some kind. A class of
Irish exquisites, they appeared to be,--good for a fight, a card-party,
or a hurdle jumping,--but entirely too Quixotic for the sober
requirements of Yankee warfare. When anything absurd, forlorn, or
desperate was to be attempted, the Irish brigade was called upon. But,
ordinarily, they were regarded, as a party of mad fellows, more
ornamental than useful, and entirely too clannish and factious to be
entrusted with power. Meagher himself seemed to be less erratic than his
subordinates; for he had married a New York lady, and had learned, by
observation, the superiority of the pelfish, plodding native before his
own fitful, impracticable race. His address was infatuating: but there
was a certain airiness, indicative of vanity, that revealed his great
characteristic. He loved applause, and to obtain it had frittered awa