The story of an Irish regiment, the 90th Illinois, will be published by the Southern Illinois University Press in March. The men and officers of this unusual regiment, in which 7 out of 10 were born in Ireland, were recruited in Chicago and across Northern Illinois in the fall of 1862. They were led by Tipperary-born Col. Timothy O'Meara, who had been recommended by General Michael Corcoran. Leaving Chicago for the field on Thanksgiving Day and serving most of their time as the only Irish regiment in W.T. Sherman's XV Corps, they marched 2600 miles across 7 states of the Confederacy, while fighting at Missionary Ridge, around Atlanta and at Fort McAllister near Savannah. After wading the swamps of South Carolina, putting down a riot while Columbia was burning, and hurrying to reach Bentonville at the end of that engagement, fewer than 230 of them arrived back in Chicago after participating in Washington, D.C.'s Grand Review. Father Denis Dunne, pastor of St. Patrick"s Church and instrumental in the regiment's formation, welcomed them back, calling them "the brave, the gallant and chivalrous 90th Illinois." Portions of this story can now be viewed on the Amazon.com site by searching for "Chicago's Irish Legion."