"German and Irish-Americans made up a very considerable portion of the Union Army"
Cump,
I can agree with that. We can also find a lot of them who did not want to go. That is true on both sides. In terms of the Germans, that brings to mind the Germans who resided around Fredricksburg Texas. That is the area that Admiral Nimitz grew up in. They wanted to stay neurtal during the war and they had to defend their position to do it but for the most part they were successful. As for the Irish, I think most of them saw a double or maybe triple blessing in service during the war and this is true on both sides especially the blue side. They would be getting paid and they would learn the miltariy skills they needed to go back to Erie after the war and throw the English out of their homeland. That article that George posted mentions Meahger and the 69th. Well Meahger and Col Corcoran of the 69th helped form the Fenians and their goal in life was to defeat the English. The only operation they tried did not come ot to good, but they did try to kidnap Canada by way of Niagra Falls. The only problem they had was that the home guard in Canada stopped them.