Bob....wasn't that the immigration policy in the 1860s? Get off the boat, take this rifle and report to "whoever down south" and if you make it back, we'll have your papers all in order. Sad but true. One of the greatest stories I ever read was about JEB Stuart's artillery on their "Ride Around McClellan". Seems the lone field piece was mired in the mud up to it's axles near Tunstall Station after a raid on some Federal supply ships at Garlick's Landing on the Pamuncky River. The story goes that the Irish gun crew was promised a keg of whiskey that had been captured upriver during the raid if they could get the gun back on the march. The story went on to tell how those men stripped to the waist and waded into the mud and literally carried that gun out. Some tough fellows whatever the reward. Oh yeah, it said they were rewarded with their prize when the column got to the Chickahominy and made it across.

Keith