Francis Irsch was born on December 4, 1840, in Saarburg, Germany, to Francis and Catherine Irsch. He eventually immigrated to America. By the early 1860s, he was working as a merchant.

 

In September 1861, he received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in Company D of the 45^th New York Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 5 ½ inches tall, with dark hair and grey eyes. He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in January 1862 and then to captain in February 1863.

 

The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Manassas and the Battle of Gettysburg. Confederate forces captured him at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, and he spent the next two years as a prisoner of war. He escaped from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, in February 1864, but Confederates ultimately recaptured him. He was released in March 1865, and he mustered out on May 15, 1865.

 

He settled in New York City after the war, and he married a woman named Mary. They had at least five children: Katie, born around 1873; Frank, born around 1875; Mary, born around 1877; Edward, born around 1881; and Lulu, born around 1881. He applied for a federal pension in June 1880 and eventually received one. He earned a living as a broker, and one reporter called him a “prosperous commission merchant.” In May 1892, he received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg: “gallantry in flanking the enemy and capturing a number of prisoners and in holding a part of the town against heavy odds while the Army was rallying on Cemetery Hill.”

 

According to one reporter, he eventually filed for a separation from his wife, and a court ordered him to pay alimony “pending the determination of [the] suit.” The case, however, had “never been tried,” and Irsch eventually stopped paying alimony. Finally, in July 1902, he was arrested and ordered to pay his wife $3,779.59. He remained in prison for about a month. He died in Tampa, Florida, on August 19, 1906.

 

Image: Francis Irsch (courtesy Wikicommons)

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