Clare Maguire - Light After Dark.rar

The Irish that went to fight for the Papal States were not professional soldiers but an entirely voluntary force (a few were members of Cork Constabulary[24]) that was raised with a sole purpose, to defend Pope Pius IX. By 1860 the ability of foreign countries to recruit in Ireland and Great Britain was frowned upon but still technically possible. It wouldn't be outlawed for another ten years with the Foreign Enlistment Act. Despite being promised that they would serve in a single brigade they were scattered among other brigades with men from other European Catholic countries.[25] They were poorly clothed and equipped but fought with gallantry. The first battle they played a part in was Perugia where after most of the Papal force surrendered the Irish continued to fight.[26] The next battle where the Irish fought was Spoleto. 300 Irish volunteers under Myles O'Reilly held off 2,500 veteran Piedmontese, including Victor Emmanuel's elite light infantry the Bersaglieri for fourteen hours including vicious hand-to-hand fighting. The next significant engagement was the Battle of Castelfidardo where 150 Irishmen fought. The war ended shortly after this when the outnumbered and out-equipped Papal army was ordered by Pius to lay down their arms.[27] Apart from Myles O'Reilly this was the first military experience of Myles Keogh who later on fought with distinction during the US Civil War and after in the United States Cavalry until he fell at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. d2c66b5586