Irish ancestors who fought in the US Civil War?

As part of its newly launched 100 in 100 project (see blogpost), which aims to release one hundred record sets in one hundred days, FindMypast has released a bundle of collections focussing on the US Civil War.

You can be sure there are plenty of Irish men and women, on both sides of the conflict, recorded in these sets. Damian Shiels, author of the acclaimed The Irish in the American Civil War*, estimates there were at least 150,000 Irish-born fighting for the Union (anti-slavery), 20,000 for the Confederacy. They even formed their own specific Irish regiments, among them the 69th New York State Volunteers and the Charleston Irish Volunteers:

The four record sets released today are:

• American Civil War Soldiers 1861–1865
  
• Civil War prisoners 1861–1865
  
• Civil War sailors 1861–1865
  
• Civil War Medal of Honour 1861–1865
  

You can find more details of these record sets by clicking the 100 in 100 logo above.

* The book, published in 2013, will be available in the US from 1 May. You might also like to explore Damian's excellent blog, IrishAmericanCivilWar.com.