Fenian Invasion Part 2

Who were the Fenians? by Earl Plato
In the 1860’s smart politicians in the Northeastern U.S.A. saw that this Irish “clannishness” helped to deliver the Irish vote as a block. One of the best ways to maintain this Irish cohesiveness was to encourage the Fenian plan for another Irish revolution against Great Britain. We read that where there was a large Irish population congressmen would have “a legitimate political” reason for ignoring the enforcement of neutrality laws. Other congressmen not dependent on the Irish vote for their seats also openly sympathized with the Fenians’ plan to free Ireland. Historian Walker stated,“ The Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 had left a reservoir of resentment between England (Great Britain) that had not fully evaporated.” Many young Irish Americans joined Union militia companies to gain military training in preparation for a revolution in Ireland. Men like Stephens had assured them that would soon be launched. Irish militia such as the New York “Fighting 69th Regiment were among the first at the front in the American Civil War. The Irish were fierce fighters.
Writers’ note: It is estimated over 2 million men of Irish descent fought for the North’s Union Army - 1861-65.
Fenian Brotherhood agents recruited heavily at home and Irish emigrants increased markedly during the war. Government officials in Washington were pleased with the large flow of badly needed manpower for the Union Army. They were grateful to the Fenian Brotherhood for doing something that official Washington could not do openly. The British, with substantial economic ties to the Confederate South, pointed out that the recruiting in Ireland by the Fenian Brotherhood broke neutrality laws between the U.S.A. and them. Washington officials, including President Lincoln and Secretary Seward, said it was difficult to preserve neutrality when the British had not prevented the warship Alabama and other cruisers from leaving British ports to fight for the South against the North. By the end of the Civil War relations between the United States and Britain had become strained.
The Fenian leaders on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean believed the time had come to begin the great revolution against the British. Large sums of money and many Civil War seasoned military officers were sent back to form the I.R.A. Yes, those letters say the Irish Republican Army. The Fenians were not able to smuggle enough military supplies and the revolt failed.
Part Three: What about Canada?