Dedicated: 1911.
Location: Located on east side of South Hancock Avenue, South of the New York Auxiliary Monument. The memorial marks the spot where Father Corby granted absolution to soldiers of the Union II Corps prior to their entering battle in the Wheatfield.
Description: A standing portrait of Father Corby with his proper left hand on his chest and his proper right hand raised in a blessing. His hat and gloves rest on the ground near his proper left foot. The sculpture is installed on top of a stone boulder. The monument was erected using funds raised by Maj. St. Clair Mullholland (commander of the 116th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg), mainly from the Catholic community. Tradition states that the statue is placed upon the actual boulder on which Corby performed the Absolution. An identical copy of this statue is located at Notre Dame.
National Park Service List of Classified Monuments Number: MN71.
Sculptor: Murray, Samuel, 1870-1941, sculptor.
About Father William Corby
The Rev. William Corby, CSC, was born on October 2, 1833, in Detroit, Michigan; his father was an Irish immigrant and his mother was Canadian. In 1853, he enrolled at Notre Dame and began to study for the priesthood. Following ordination, he taught at Notre Dame, and served as a local parish priest.
Corby left his position at Notre Dame and joined the predominantly Catholic Irish Brigade in 1861 as chaplain of the 88th New York. At Antietam, he rode back and forth along the line, shouting absolution to the men. But he is best known for pronouncing a general absolution on the Irish Brigade, a scene witnessed by General Hancock and his staff.
Of the general absolution, Corby later wrote:
“That general absolution was intended for all — in quantum possum — not only for our brigade, but for all, North or South, who were susceptible of it and who were about to appear before their Judge.”
Following his service in the Civil War, Father Corby returned to Notre Dame and served twice as president of the college. He was integral in saving Notre Dame after a fire ravaged the campus and was responsible for opening Notre Dame’s law school.
Corby died on December 28, 1897. A copy of the monument at Gettysburg also is located on the campus at Notre Dame. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery on the campus of Notre Dame.
Other Monuments: Main Monument | 1963 Marker