In the fall of 1861, Rev. William Corby. C.S.C., had given up his teaching duties at Notre Dame to become chaplain of the 88th New York Infantry, a unit in the Irish Brigade. He was one of eight Holy Cross priests who would serve as chaplains during the Civil War.
In summer of 1863, as the Irish Brigade prepared to rush into the fighting at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the second day of July, Corby donned the purple stole of the Confessional, mounted a large boulder and offered the men a blessing of absolution from their sins.
St. Clair Augustine Mulholland, an officer who was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action during the Battle of Chancellorsville, was a Union major attached with the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg. Years later, Mulholland gave this eyewitness account of Corby’s famous absolution, originally published in the Philadelphia Times, and soon thereafter transcribed in the pages of an issue of The Notre Dame Scholastic dated April 3, 1880:
“There is yet a few minutes to spare before starting, and the time is occupied in one of the most impressive religious ceremonies I have ever witnessed. The Irish Brigade, which had been commanded formerly by General Thomas Francis Meagher, and whose green flag had been unfurled in every battle in which the Army of the Potomac had been engaged from the first Bull Run to Appomattox, was now commanded by Colonel Patrick Kelly, of the Eighty-eighth New York, and formed a part of this division. The brigade stood in columns of regiments closed in mass. As the large majority of its members were Catholics, the Chaplain of the brigade Rev. William Corby, CSC, proposed to give a general absolution to all the men before going into the fight...
“Father Corby stood upon a large rock in front of the brigade, addressing the men; he explained what he was about to do, saying that each one would receive the benefit of the absolution by making a sincere Act of Contrition, and firmly resolving to embrace the first opportunity of confessing his sins, urging them to do their duty well, and reminding them of the high and sacred nature of their trust as soldiers and the noble object for which they fought. The brigade was standing at “Order arms,” and as he closed his address, every man fell on his knees, with head bowed down. Then, stretching his right hand towards the brigade, Father Corby pronounced the words of absolution. The scene was more than impressive, it was awe-inspiring.” Near by, stood General Hancock, surrounded by a brilliant throng of officers, who had gathered to witness this very unusual occurrence and while there was profound silence in the ranks of the Second Corps, yet over to the left, out by the peach orchard and Little Round Top, where Weed, and Vincent, and Haslett were dying, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and reechoed through the woods. The act seemed to be in harmony with all the surroundings. I do not think there was a man in the brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. For some it was their last; they knelt there in their grave-clothes — in less than half an hour many of them were numbered with the dead of July 2.”
Today, a statue of Father Corby stands on the battlefield at Gettysburg. Dedicated on October 29, 1910, it was mounted on what some recalled was the exact boulder where Corby had stood on July 2, 1863. An identical statue was placed in front of Corby Hall, the Holy Cross priests’ residence at Notre Dame, mounted on a similar boulder taken from the battlefield, and dedicated on Memorial Day, May 29, 1911. Corby’s statue at Notre Dame, with the right hand raised high in blessing, is often referred to as “Fair Catch Corby” by Fighting Irish football fans.
Father Corby’s blessing at Gettysburg has also has been commemorated in paintings, poems, books and film. One historian described it as “a symbolic depiction of the bond between Catholic faith and American patriotism at the nation’s supreme moment of crisis.”
Father Corby's Memoirs of Chaplain Life: 3 Years in the Irish Brigade with the Army of the Potomac was published in 1893. It is still in print, and has been described as "one of the best Civil War diaries."
In his memoirs, Corby himself wrote, “That general absolution was intended for all — in quantum possum — not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge.”
After the Civil War, Father Corby would twice serve as president of the University of Notre Dame, from 1866 to 1872, and from 1877 to 1881.
Father Corby’s blessing at Gettysburg has also has been commemorated in paintings, poems, books and film. One historian described it as “a symbolic depiction of the bond between Catholic faith and American patriotism at the nation’s supreme moment of crisis.”
Father Corby's Memoirs of Chaplain Life: 3 Years in the Irish Brigade with the Army of the Potomac was published in 1893. It is still in print, and has been described as "one of the best Civil War diaries."
In his memoirs, Corby himself wrote, “That general absolution was intended for all — in quantum possum — not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge.”
After the Civil War, Father Corby would twice serve as president of the University of Notre Dame, from 1866 to 1872, and from 1877 to 1881.
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