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| Father William Corby, C.S.C 1833-1897 |
| Father Corby was born on October 2, 1833 in Detroit on Lake St Clair, Michigan Territory of Irish parents. In 1853, he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame and in the next year, he joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He continued with his college studies at Notre Dame until 1860, when he was ordained. |
| Following the outbreak of the Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C. to minister to the spiritual needs of the Roman Catholic soldiers in the Union Army. In December 1861, he was commissioned as Chaplain of the 88th New York Regiment, one of the units of the famed Irish Brigade, Undoubtedly, Father's greatest wartime achievement occurred on July 2, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. While standing on a boulder near the center of the Union line, Fr. Corby solemnly pronounced a general absolution over hundreds of mostly Irish Catholic soldiers of the 28th Massachusetts Volunteers, as well as many non-Catholic soldiers, all of whom had massed before him spontaneously moments before the start of the battle. In 1864, when the end of the war seemed eminent, his superior asked him to resign his commission from the Army and return to Notre Dame as president of the university. He served in that capacity until 1872 and also served a second term as president from 1877 to 1881. In 1886, Fr Corby was elected Provincial General of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. In the last decade of his life, Fr Corby emerged as one of the most respected and successful clergymen of the Roman Catholic Church in America. In an era of widespread anti-Catholicism, he used his experience as a Chaplain in the Civil War to demonstrate the patriotism of Roman Catholics and the key role they played in preserving the Union. Fr Corby died on December 28, 1897 in South Bend, Indiana. |
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