{{More citations needed|date=August 2018}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name= 9th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry |dates= September 1861 to August 1865 |country= {{flagicon|USA|1861}}[[United States]] |allegiance= [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] |branch= [[United States Army]] |type= [[Infantry]] |equipment=Springfield rifled muskets <!-- Culture and history --> |battles= [[Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)|Battle of Baton Rouge]]<br>[[First Battle of Deep Bottom]]<br>[[Battle of Opequon]]<br>[[Battle of Cedar Creek]]<br>[[Battle of Fisher's Hill]]}}{{Military unit sidebar | title = Connecticut U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865 | previous =[[8th Connecticut Infantry Regiment]] | next =[[10th Connecticut Infantry Regiment]] }}
The '''9th Connecticut Infantry Regiment''' was a volunteer [[infantry]] [[regiment]] in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]]. It was established in September 1861 as an [[Irish regiment]], composed mainly of soldiers born in [[Ireland]] or first generation [[Irish American]]s.{{sfn|Bruce|2006|pp=80}} The regiment saw action in number major battles, particularly in the [[Western Theater of the American Civil War|Western Theater]].
==Organization and early service== The 9th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was formed in September 1861, primarily using recruits whose terms of enlistments in Connecticut's early three-months regiments had expired. Its first field officers were relatively experienced soldiers. [[Colonel]] Thomas W. Cahill of [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] had a number of years experience with the [[Antebellum era|antebellum]] [[militia|state militia]] as [[Captain (United States)|captain]] of the Emmet Guards, while [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|Lieutenant Colonel]] Richard Fitzgibbons and [[Major (United States)|Major]] Frederick Frye had both served as captains of three-month companies at the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] in July.
Although recruitment at Camp English in New Haven proceeded slowly due to the lack of proper clothing and equipment, the regiment had 845 men when it left New Haven in November by rail for Camp Chase in [[Lowell, Massachusetts]]. There, the 9th was part of [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]]’s "New England Brigade" organized for the capture of [[New Orleans]]. The Ninth included [[James T. Mullen]].<ref name=mullen/>
==Duty in Mississippi==
Before the end of the month, they left [[Boston Harbor]] as part of more than 3,000 troops on board the steamer ''Constitution''. They arrived at [[Ship Island (Mississippi)|Ship Island]], Mississippi, on December 3, where they supplied with arms and some improved clothing. After early action at [[Biloxi, Mississippi|Biloxi]] and [[Pass Christian, Mississippi|Pass Christian]], the regiment was directed by General Butler to make a public parade through the city to discourage any outbreaks against Federal authorities.
On June 25, 1862, the unit was put to work upriver on a [[Grant's Canal|canal opposite Vicksburg]] along with regiments from Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan and Wisconsin, all under the direction of General [[Thomas Williams (Union general)|Thomas Williams]]. The canal was intended to connect a loop in the [[Mississippi River]] and allow Union ships to bypass the cannons on the bluffs at [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]] and have free access from the north to the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. However, lack of drinking water, supplies and medicine, as well as the summer heat and exposure quickly took its toll as heatstroke, malaria, and dysentery spread rapidly. With many dying or incapacitated, [[slavery|slaves]] from nearby [[plantations in the American South|plantation]]s were added to the workforce, but, as the water level fell in the river, the canal attempt was abandoned on July 24 and the troops were moved downriver to [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]]. A boat, the ''Algerine'', with 300 sick on board, was left behind with Surgeon Gallagher of the 9th in charge. In a four-month span from July to October 1862, 150 men from the Ninth Regiment alone died of disease.
==Subsequent service in Louisiana and Virginia==
At [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], Williams was killed under a Confederate charge on August 5. Colonel Cahill took command of all the Union troops and repulsed the attack. The regiment was highly praised after the battle and subsequently assigned to the defenses of New Orleans through the end of 1863.
In the spring of 1864, the regiment arrived home in New Haven on veteran furlough amidst great celebration and parades. The re-enlisted veterans landed at [[Bermuda Hundred, Virginia]], outside Richmond in July and participated in [[First Battle of Deep Bottom|an engagement at Deep Bottom]]. After a brief trip to the [[Washington D.C.]] area, they saw action in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] area with battles at [[Battle of Opequon|Opequon]], [[Battle of Cedar Creek|Cedar Creek]], and [[Battle of Fisher's Hill|Fishers Hill]]. The final veterans were mustered out in August 1865.
A total of 250 men from the regiment died during the war.
[[John C. Curtis]], the regiment's 17-year-old [[sergeant major]], received the [[Medal of Honor]] for his actions at Baton Rouge in August 1862.
==See also== * [[List of Connecticut Civil War units]]
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=mullen>{{cite web | url = http://www.jimlarkin.com/9thRegiment/soldiers/James_T_Mullen.htm | title = Soldiers Stories Sgt James T. Mullen | first = Robert | last = Larkin | access-date = August 12, 2018 }}</ref>
}}
==Bibliography== * Murray, Thomas H., [https://archive.org/details/irishregiment00murrrich History of the Ninth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry War of the Rebellion, 1861-65], New Haven, Conn.: Price, Lee & Adkins, 1908. * {{cite book |last=Bruce |first= Susan Ural |author-link= |date=2006 |title=The Harp and The Eagle: Irish American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 |url= |location= New York |publisher=New York University Press |page= <!-- or pages= --> |isbn=0-8147-9939-6 }}
==External links== * [http://www.jimlarkin.com/9thRegiment/9thRegimentHome.htm Ninth Regiment Website] * [http://www.fort-nathan-hale.org/9thCTReg.html Ninth Regiment at Fort Nathan Hale website]
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[[Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Connecticut]] [[Category:Irish regiments of the United States Army]] [[Category:1861 establishments in Connecticut]] [[Category:Military units and formations established in 1861]] [[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865]]