The Irish, like so many other immigrants coming to America, crossed the Atlantic in pursuit of work opportunities, prosperity, adventure, religious tolerance, and freedom. In the mid-1840s, thousands fled their homeland as a result of the potato famine, and flocked to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Savannah, and Chicago. Job discrimination and prejudice did not dissuade the newest Americans from joinig the Union army in the Civil War and from helping to rebuild the nation after the war. This book presents a glimpse of their struggles in their native land, their journeys to America, and their lives in a new land.