William Corby

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"Fair-Catch Corby" Gettysburg Statue of Father William Corby offering last rites to the Irish Brigade; a copy of this statue is on the campus of Notre Dame University

Rev. William Corby, CSC (October 2, 1833 – December 28, 1897) was a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Perhaps best known for his giving general absolution to the Irish Brigade on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Fr. Corby also served twice as President of the University of Notre Dame. The school's Corby Hall is named for him.

Fr. Corby was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Daniel, an Irish native, and Elizabeth, a Canadian citizen.

Widely remembered among military chaplains and celebrated by Irish-American fraternal organizations, his statue with right hand raised in the gesture of blessing was the first statue of a non-general erected on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

[edit] In popular media

Corby's granting of general absolution to the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg is reenacted in the film Gettysburg.

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

Bergen, Doris L. (ed.), The Sword of the Lord, University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame, IN. 2004. ISBN 0-268-01275-9.
Corby, Rev. William, CSC., Memoirs of Chaplain Life: Three Years with the Irish Brigade in the Army of the Potomac Edited by Lawrence F. Kohl. Fordham University Press: New York. 1992. ISBN: 0-8232-1251-3

Preceded by Patrick Dillon	President of the University of Notre Dame 1866–1872	Succeeded by Auguste Lemmonier
Preceded by Patrick J. Colovin	President of the University of Notre Dame 1877–1881	Succeeded by Thomas Walsh

Gettysburg Figures
Confederate leaders	Robert E. Lee • E. Porter Alexander • Richard H. Anderson • James J. Archer • Lewis Addison Armistead • William Barksdale • Jubal A. Early • Richard S. Ewell • John Brown Gordon • Henry Heth • A. P. Hill • John B. Hood • Allegheny Johnson • James Longstreet • Lafayette McLaws • W. Dorsey Pender • J. Johnston Pettigrew • George E. Pickett • Robert E. Rodes • J. E. B. Stuart • Isaac R. Trimble
Union leaders	George G. Meade • Francis C. Barlow • John Buford • Joshua L. Chamberlain • Andrew Gregg Curtin • George A. Custer • Abner Doubleday • George S. Greene • David McMurtrie Gregg • Winfield S. Hancock • Joseph Hooker • Oliver O. Howard • Henry J. Hunt • Abraham Lincoln • Patrick O'Rorke • Alfred Pleasonton • John F. Reynolds • John Sedgwick • Daniel E. Sickles • Henry W. Slocum • George Sykes • Gouverneur K. Warren • Stephen Weed • Strong Vincent
Other Notable Characters	Ginnie Wade • Father William Corby • Amos Humiston • John L. Burns • Henry Thomas Harrison • Marcellus Jones • Elon J. Farnsworth • Horatio Stockton Howell • Richard Enderlin • Arthur Fremantle • Edward McPherson • Ellis Spear • Traveller (horse) • Abraham Bryan • David Wills (of Gettysburg)