The 28th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was well known as the fourth regiment of the famed Irish Brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher. It was the second primarily Irish American volunteer infantry regiment recruited in Massachusetts for service in the American Civil War (the first being the 9th Massachusetts). The regiment's motto (or battle-cry) was Faugh a Ballagh (Clear the Way!). The men of the 28th Massachusetts saw action in most of the Union Army's major eastern theater engagements, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and the Siege of Petersburg. The regiment was present for Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.
