deeds of courage, was the first to scale the walls of Yorktown. It
contained many Irish, as shown by its rolls.
Among the men of Irish descent in Lafayette’s army were Count Arthur
Dillon, Aide-de-Camp Isidore de Lynch (who afterwards became the
commander of the Irish-French regiment of Walsh), Lieutenant-Colonel
Barthelemy Dillon. Theobald Dillon also saw service in America and was a
member of the Cincinnati. Matthew Dillon also saw service here. M. de
McCarty was an officer with the French army at Newport and in the Rhode
Island campaign. Edward Stack, another Irishman, was with Rochambeau.
Some of the other Irishmen who served in America with the French were:
Commandant O’Neill, wounded at Savannah; Captain James Shee, Captain
MacDonnall, Captain Mullens, Lieutenant Taaffe, Lieutenant Farrell,
James O’Moran, Lacy and Whalen. Charles Geoghegan, an Irishman in the
French army, received the decoration of the Cincinnati at the hands of
Washington.
In the navy we find the Irish race well represented. It is, of course,
impossible to tell whence these sailors and marines came, but we know
that they served.
John Murphy of Rhode Island commanded a privateer. William Malone was
captain of the _Harbinger_. Francis Mulligan was the owner of the
_Chance_. Oliver Reed was master of the privateer _General Rochambeau_.
Peter Day commanded the _Molly’s Adventure_. M. Mackey was the commander
of the _Greyhound_.
Stephen Ready, John Welch, Edward McGrath, William Kelly, John Murphy
and Charles Buckley, all of Rhode Island, were imprisoned in England.
On the sloop _Providence_ we find Patrick McMullen, Matthew McCaffray,
Bernard Gallagher; on the _Alfred_, Patrick McNamara, George O’Hara,
armorer’s mate, Patrick O’Brien and William Burns; on the _Columbus_,
Edward Burke, Lieutenant of Marines, Thomas Burns, surgeon’s mate, John
McLaughlin, Peter Morris, Charles McDonald, Arthur Nagle and Thomas
Murray.
Mr. Field in his work, “Esek Hopkins, Commander-in-Chief of the
Continental Navy, 1775 to 1778,” tells us that in Hopkin’s command were
many Irishmen, some of them being Anthony Dwyer, Richard Sweeney,
Patrick Kaine, Thomas Doyle, John Connor, Andrew Magee, Thomas Dowd,
John Roatch and George Kennedy.
We also find Captain Mellaly commanding a privateer and capturing the
British sloop _Crawford_.
These are only a few of the names found in the records, but they show
unmistakably the part played by the men and women of our race in our
“Little Rhody” to and including the Revolution.
Some reliable writers have stated that the officers of the continental
army were twenty-five per cent Irish. Some of them were Generals Stephen
Moylan (first president of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of
Philadelphia), Henry E. Knox (first Secretary of War), John Shee, “Mad
Anthony” Wayne, Matthew Irvine, Edward Hand, Richard Butler, Walter
Stewart and William Thompson; Colonels John Nixon, Sharp Delaney,
Charles Stewart, John Patton, George Lattimer, Thomas Robinson, Barrett,
Smith and Davis; Captain Parker and many others. As we have seen, there
were many officers of lesser rank, both in the army and the navy.
Among the first sea fights of the Revolution was the capture of the
British sloop _Margaretta_ at Machias Bay on the coast of Maine, May
11th, 1775, known as “The Lexington of the Seas.” The Americans were
commanded by Captain O’Brien, the son of a native of Ireland.
Captain Parker, killed at Lexington, was an Irishman, as were Colonels
Barrett, Smith and Davis, who commanded at Concord. The monument at
Bunker Hill is covered with Irish names.
The two most famous women of the Revolution were Molly Pitcher and Nancy
Hart, both Irish.
But it was not alone in battle that our race distinguished itself. At
Valley Forge the army of Washington was in dire peril. The troops had
neither food, clothing, shelter nor equipment. Disaster met them
everywhere and failure threatened the patriot cause. Faultfinders and
malcontents were urging the giving up of the struggle. The hopes of
Washington and his devoted band had almost disappeared, when thirty
Irishmen of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Philadelphia
subscribed six hundred thousand dollars. When we consider what that
amount of money meant in those days, is it not fair to assume that this
contribution was the real means by which the power of England was
finally driven from this continent? It entailed hardships and sacrifices
which we cannot appreciate now. Robert Morris, a banker, and Blair
McClenachan gave fifty thousand dollars each. James Mease, a native of
Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, and General Matthew Irvine gave
twenty-five thousand dollars each and the other members subscribed the
remainder.
Among the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence were
eleven of Irish birth or descent: John Hancock, William Whipple, Matthew
Thornton, John Hart, George Taylor, George Read, James Smith, Thomas
McKean, Charles Carroll, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Lynch.
The Declaration of Independence is in the handwriting of Charles
Thompson, a native of Londonderry. It was first read to the public in
Philadelphia by John Nixon, son of a native of Wexford and a member of
the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, and was first printed by John
Dunlap, a native of Strabane, county Tyrone, Ireland.
When the colonists sought the assistance of France Bishop Carroll
accompanied Benjamin Franklin to that country and it was due mainly to
the Bishop’s representations that French assistance was obtained.
[Illustration:
HON. ELMER J. RATHBUN.
Justice of the Superior Court of the State of Rhode Island.
A Member of the Society.
]
In all the battles of the Revolution, at Bunker Hill, Concord,
Lexington, Monmouth, Valley Forge and Yorktown, we did our part. In the
hour of the nation’s peril we gave freely of our substance. We helped to
kindle and keep alive the flame of liberty. Wherever and whenever men
were needed there were found Irish hearts and Irish hands ready to give
up all for the establishment of free institutions, for the right of a
nation to be free. Here at last we had found a country worth fighting
for and worth dying for. Here we had found the principle of individual
liberty a living, throbbing thing. We have been true to America,
whatever our enemies may say; we are true to it today; and America knows
that if ever the liberties of the republic are threatened the Irish, of
whatever faith or political belief, will be found doing their part as of
old.
In peace and in war we have done our part. We are doing it today and
will continue to do so as long as the fame of Washington and Lincoln
endure. We stand for patriotism, for respect for just laws, for the
sanctity of the marriage tie, for the purity of our homes, the education
of our children and the morality of the people. S. Banks Nelson, an
Irish clergyman of this state, has stated that we govern every nation
but our own. We also submit to government and the history of our own
city of Providence for the last few years has shown that religious
bigotry or race prejudice are not failings of the Irish race in Rhode
Island.
All we ask is our share of that reward that goes to labor well
performed. We ask to be treated justly. We do not claim office because
we are Irish and, on the other hand, we insist that office shall not be
denied us because of that fact. We have made mistakes and will make
them, but they are not fatal. We stand on our record as American
citizens and as such entitled to an equal share in its government. All
we ask is that you sympathize with us in our struggle, that you teach
your children some little knowledge of our history, that you learn to
know us as we are and not as we are sometimes represented. Above all we
ask you never to permit men or women, on the stage or elsewhere, to
utter indecencies or obscenities in the name of our womanhood; for all
must admit that our women, by their matchless purity and virtue, are the
honor and glory of humanity.
CAPTAIN JOHN O’BRIEN OF MACHIAS, MAINE—REVOLUTIONARY HERO—A BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH.
BY REV. ANDREW M. SHERMAN, LL. D., OF MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
Captain John O’Brien, the subject of this sketch, was the third eldest
son of Morris O’Brien and Mary O’Brien, and was born in 1750, in
Scarboro, on the Maine seacoast, about ten miles to the southwestward of
Portland.
At the early period under present review, the region including Scarboro
was greatly harassed by the Indians, whose depredations are said to have
sometimes been instigated by the French, who were jealous of the English
settlers in western Maine (then a part of the Province of
Massachusetts), and hoped to thus drive out the English already there,
and prevent others from coming into what was regarded as preëmpted
territory.
In consequence of the frequent attacks of the Indians upon the English,
at Scarboro, it sometimes became necessary, as a means of
self-preservation, for the settlers to flee into the surrounding
wilderness, and there carefully secrete themselves until the savages
should depart from the vicinity; when they would return to their homes,
which were sometimes found to have been despoiled and destroyed during
their enforced absence.
While John O’Brien was an infant in his mother’s arms, an attack upon
the English settlement at Scarboro, by the Indians, was threatened; and
it was therefore resolved to flee for safety into the surrounding
wilderness. Fearing that the crying of the infant would disclose to the
savages the direction to be taken by the settlers in their flight, and
also their chosen hiding-place, it was advised, and insisted that the
mother leave her infant behind, in the settlement. Against this she
earnestly protested, assuring her neighbors that she could keep the
infant quiet. She was, therefore, allowed to take the infant along.
Folding him affectionately to her breast, and soothing him as only a
fond mother could, she succeeded in keeping the infant quiet, not only
during their hasty flight but during their sojourn in the depths of the
wilderness.
This incident is related by the descendants of Captain John O’Brien as a
most impressive illustration of mother-love, which, indeed, it is. They
congratulate themselves also upon the fact that an infant who, on
reaching manhood, became so famous as he as a patriot and as a
successful privateersman in connection with the Revolution; and so
conspicuous, in later years, as a citizen and as a man of affairs,
should have been thus providentially preserved in tender infancy from
the hands of hostile Indians.
To the terrors of Indian depredations, experienced by the early settlers
of Scarboro, were added those of extensive forest fires, which sometimes
devastated the entire region about them, and threatened their
extinction.
Of the boyhood of John O’Brien, in Scarboro, little has been preserved.
He must, however, have been different from other boys of his age, if he
did not, living in such close proximity to the water, acquire a fondness
for it. This much is certainly known; that in the autumn of 1765, when
the robust boy was about fifteen years of age, the entire family,
comprising Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien and six sons and three daughters,
removed to Machias, on the southeasterly coast of Maine; the father and
two eldest sons having been down there on a prospecting trip, in a
sailing vessel, during the previous year.
From the arrival of the lad, John O’Brien, in Machias, until the
breaking out of the Revolution, little or nothing is certainly known
concerning him. That he attended school, for a time, at least; and that
he engaged in the usual sports of lusty boyhood, including swimming,
fishing and boating, may be safely inferred. Neither is it a far-fetched
conclusion, that, on attaining to a suitable age, he assisted his
father, and two eldest brothers, Jeremiah and Gideon, in the sawmills
erected by them in Dublin, as the southern village of Machias was early
named, and by which it is still known.
The Machias River, which separates the northern and southern villages of
Machias, empties into Machias Bay, about four miles to the southeastward
of the town; and the river, as far inland as Machias, is navigable for
large vessels. Machias, therefore, was, and is a seaport town; and
vessels of various kinds were constantly arriving and leaving. Machias
early became the shiretown of Lincoln County, now Washington County, and
hence was a place of considerable importance. In the light of these
facts it is not surprising that most of Morris O’Brien’s “six strapping
boys” were, in early life, at least, seafaring men; for from their
peculiar environment they naturally acquired a taste for that sort of
employment. John O’Brien, as will be seen, devoted himself, in later
life, exclusively to commercial and mercantile pursuits, with excellent
success; indeed, had the acquisition of “filthy lucre” been his chief
ambition, he might easily have become one of the wealthiest men of his
time.
It is in connection with the outbreak of the Revolution that the subject
of this sketch first comes into public notice as a citizen and an ardent
patriot; and as the war progressed, his fame as a privateersman
increased. His achievements as a privateersman have never received the
publicity they unquestionably deserve; and it will be the aim of this
sketch to acquaint the American reading people, so far as can be done in
the limited space allowed, with the story of the truly romantic career
of this hitherto “unsung hero” of New England.
John O’Brien, at the outbreak of the Revolution, was about twenty-four
years of age. He was fully six feet in height; and must have weighed at
that time not far from one hundred and seventy-five pounds. That he was
well endowed with force of character was amply demonstrated at the very
opening of his public career; as an illustration of which it may be said
that none was more resolutely opposed to, nor more fearlessly outspoken
against the repeated acts of tyranny of the mother country, than he. He
was a member of the first Committee of Safety appointed in Machias,
after the issuance of the proclamation of the Provincial Congress of
Massachusetts, authorizing and requiring preparations and efforts to be
made incident to a state of hostility.
At the first recorded gathering of the Machias patriots, held in the
east room of the Burnham Tavern,[21] John O’Brien was present, and gave
his hearty assent to the proposition for the erection of a liberty pole
in the village, as a symbol of the freedom, for the achievement of which
the people of that then isolated frontier town were willing, if need be,
to sacrifice their fortunes and their lives. In procuring, and afterward
raising the liberty pole, young O’Brien played a unique and conspicuous
part.
When Captain Moore, the gallant young Irishman commanding the British
armed schooner “Margaretta,” then lying at anchor in the Machias River,
came on shore, and demanded that the liberty pole be taken down, John
O’Brien, on behalf of the inhabitants, defiantly refused to accede to
the peremptory demand of the King’s officer, The following
conversation[22] is said to have taken place:
“Who erected this pole?” inquired Captain Moore, as he came ashore
from the “Margaretta”; to which the staunch Machias patriot, John
O’Brien, replied:
“That pole, sir, was erected by the unanimous approval of the people
of Machias.”
“Well, sir,” said Moore, “with or without their approval, it is my
duty to declare it must come down.”
“Must come down!” repeated O’Brien, with warmth. “Those words are
easily spoken, my friend. You will find, I apprehend, that it is
easier to make than it will be to enforce a demand of this kind.”
“What! Am I to understand that resistance will be made? Will the
people of Machias dare to disregard an order, not originating with me,
but the government whose officer I am?”
“The people of Machias,” replied O’Brien, “will dare do anything in
maintenance of their principles and rights!”
“It is useless to bandy words,” rejoined the officer, a little nettled
at the determined spirit manifested around him; “my orders are
peremptory, and must be obeyed. That liberty pole must be taken down,
or it will be my painful duty to fire on the town!”
From that rash act, however, Moore was dissuaded by a mutual friend; and
the liberty pole stood until it “rotted down!”
To John O’Brien, so it is said by some writers, belongs the honor of
proposing, at a meeting of the Machias patriots, held in a private house
soon after the notable gathering in the Burnham Tavern, that Captain
Moore be seized while attending the village church, on the following
Sunday; after which, in accordance with the well-conceived plan there
agreed upon, the “Margaretta” was to be captured, also. In compliance
with young O’Brien’s expressed wish, he was chosen to be the principal
actor in the proposed seizure of Moore.
John O’Brien, as he subsequently stated, hid his gun under a board,
before entering the church. He was expected, at a signal to be given by
one of the patriots outside of the church, to personally seize Captain
Moore, when his compatriots were to come to his assistance. So far as
young O’Brien was concerned, the preliminaries were well carried out.
Because of the vigilance and prompt action of the British officer,
however, the plan for the seizure miscarried. Receiving timely warning
of the trap into which he was being lured, he escaped from the church by
way of a low, open window. On reaching his vessel, he was quickly
assisted on board by an officer awaiting his arrival; and, after firing
a few shots over the villagers’ heads, for intimidation, he dropped down
the river to a place of safety.
When it had been resolved by a few of the bolder spirits of Machias to
attack and capture the “Margaretta,” by pursuing and boarding her, John
O’Brien and his five brothers, Jeremiah, Gideon, William, Dennis and
Joseph, were among the party of about thirty-five who sailed down the
Machias River in the lumber sloop “Unity,” on that extremely hazardous
undertaking. After the little American sloop had entered Machias Bay,
and the “Margaretta” had been sighted, Jeremiah O’Brien was unanimously
chosen to the command of the “Unity.”
“The first man who boards her (the “Margaretta”) shall be entitled to
the palm of honor,” said Captain Jeremiah O’Brien, soon after taking
command of the lumber sloop.
After the “Margaretta” had been sighted in Machias Bay, where she was
becalmed, the American sloop was brought alongside of her. As the two
vessels came together, the rigging of the “Unity” became entangled with
that of the British vessel. The two vessels had no sooner touched, than
John O’Brien, who was standing at the bow of the “Unity,” leaped aboard
the “Margaretta.” Almost at the same moment, the American sloop, having
no grappling-irons, the vessels suddenly parted and young O’Brien was
left alone on the quarterdeck of the British schooner. Seven Britishers
almost simultaneously fired at the intrepid Yankee boarder; but he was
unhurt. The Britishers then charged upon O’Brien with their bayonets;
and to save his life he jumped overboard and started to swim to the
Yankee sloop, which had then drifted about seventy-five feet away.
On reaching the side of the American sloop, John O’Brien was promptly
assisted on board. As he stepped upon the deck of the “Unity,” his
brother, Captain Jeremiah, grasped him by the hand, exclaiming, as he
did so:
“Brother John, you’ve won the palm;” and then addressing his men, he
continued: “But man the sweeps, my hearties, and lay us alongside once
more, and stand ready to fasten on to him when you reach him.”
For the second time the two vessels came together; and this time, in
accordance with orders, they were fastened together.[23] The
“Margaretta” was boarded, and in an hour’s time was captured, and was
taken in triumph up the river to Machias, reaching the wharf at about
sunset of the same day, which was the 12th of June, 1775. Captain Moore,
the gallant commander of the captured British vessel, was mortally
wounded, and died next day in Machias.
John O’Brien, as a recognition of the conspicuous bravery exhibited by
him in the capture of the “Margaretta,” was sent, by the Machias
Committee of Safety to the Provincial Congress, then in session at
Watertown, Massachusetts, to officially inform that body of the
brilliant victory won, and to ask protection for the feeble settlements
in eastern Maine, including Machias.
The news of the splendid victory in Machias Bay spread rapidly through
the Colonies, and everywhere the colonists were stirred with the
ambition to emulate the achievement of the Machias lumbermen.
The “Unity” was at once fitted out as a cruiser, the armament of the
“Margaretta” being transferred to her. She was re-named the “Machias
Liberty,”[24] and Captain Jeremiah O’Brien was appointed as her
commander.
After the capture, in July, 1775, of the British armed vessels
“Diligence” and “Tapnaquish,” near Buck’s harbor, in which captures John
O’Brien, on his brother Jeremiah’s vessel took part, the former vessel
was refitted as an American cruiser. Of the “Machias Liberty” (or
“O’Brien”), Jeremiah O’Brien was continued as commander; and his younger
brother, William, was appointed First Lieutenant. John Lambert was
appointed to the command of the “Diligence,” and John O’Brien was
appointed as First Lieutenant. The “Diligence” had a crew of forty men,
and carried eight guns and twenty swivels.
For nearly a year, the “Machias Liberty” and the “Diligence,” by order
of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, cruised, chiefly up and
down the eastern coast, protecting American shipping, and capturing
British prizes. John O’Brien contributed in no small measure to the
success of the cruise. Sometime in the early part of 1776 the
“Diligence” was laid up; but the “Machias Liberty” was continued a few
months longer in the Provincial service.
During the night following its capture, the “Margaretta” was taken up
Middle River, a branch of the Machias River, a few miles, and there
beached.[25] “We cut down trees and bushes and enclosed her from view so
much as we could and returned to Machias in season for a late
breakfast,” said one who took an active part in the disposal of the
captured British schooner.
Early in the autumn of 1776, John O’Brien, and a few others, uncovered
and floated the “Margaretta,” and brought her down the Middle River and
fitted her out as a privateer. New sails were made, a few five-pounders
were placed on board; and with a crew of about twenty men she set sail,
under the command of Captain John O’Brien, in search of British prizes,
of which he brought several into Machias.
It was late in September or early in October, 1776, that the
“Margaretta,” re-named the “Machias Cruiser,” sailed from Machias, going
westward. When in the vicinity of Mt. Desert, O’Brien espied in the
offing what he supposed was a British merchant vessel, going to the
eastward. Upon drawing nearer to the vessel, with a view to giving her
battle, O’Brien ascertained that she was a British warship. Crowding on
all sail, he turned the prow of the “Machias Cruiser” away from the
enemy, for which he well knew his vessel was no match. He hoped to be
able to reach Machias Bay, and there find harbor and shelter. The
British warship was gaining rapidly on the American vessel; sending a
shot now and then after O’Brien, whose vessel, however, remained
unharmed. When off Sawyer’s Cove, about forty miles to the eastward of
Mt. Desert, O’Brien, who saw that he would be overtaken by his fleet
pursuer, ran his vessel into the cove, beached her on the flats, and he
and his men jumped into the shallow water and swam and waded ashore.
They found shelter in half a dozen dwelling houses in the vicinity. This
was the first and the last defeat Captain John O’Brien, in his long
career, ever suffered.