July 2, 1863: While the mass of men bowed their heads for several minutes in a wheat field undisturbed by bursting shells, Brigade chaplain, Father William Corby, granted general absolution to the kneeling and standing men of New York's Irish Brigade. The moment was captured in a sketch by soldier-artist Charles W. Reed of the 9th Massachusetts Light Artillery who kept his sketchbook handy at all times and produced a great body of work including illustrated letters back home.

It was noted that "ears of wheat flew in the air all over the field as they were cut off by the enemy's bullets," and that Father Corby had added a stern injunction to his blessing: "The Catholic Church," he stated, "refuses Christian burial to the soldier who turns his back upon the foe."

-- "Voices of the Civil War, Gettysburg," a Time-Life book