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of a Belfast emigrant, who was master of ordnance,
served in every battle with Washington, and was
appointed first Secretary of War on the organization
of the Government in 17S9. General John Stark, the
hero of Bennington, another native of Ireland. Gen-
eral Anthony Wayne whose father had emigrated
from Limerick and who commanded the troops some-
times known as the Line of Ireland ". His successful
campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas and at the
battle of Monmouth are historic. For his services,
including the recapture of Stony Point from the
British, Congress voted him its thanks and a gold
medal. Cieneral Richard Montgomery, a native of
Donegal, in command of the expedition to Canada,
who fell before Quebec in 1775, one of the earliest
victims in the cause of American liberty. A monu-
ment to him in St. Paul's churchyard in the city of
New York marks the nation's appreciation of his
services. General Stephen Moylan, a native of Cork,
of which city his brother was the Catholic bishop.
He was first (Quartermaster General of the Conti-
nental Army and afterwards commanded the Penn-
sylvania troops known as Moylan's Dragoons. Rich-
ard Butler, a native of Kilkenny, who participated
in many engagements and was present at the sur-
render of Yorktown. Daniel Morgan, a native of Bal-
linascreen. County Derry, Ireland, the hero of Cow-
pens, North Carolina, where with 500 men, mostly
Irish and sons of Irishmen, he defeated twice the
number of British troops and took many of them
prisoners. Edward Hand, a native of County Kerry,
who had served as surgeon of the Irish Brigade (of
France) in Canada. On the retirement of the French,
he cast his lot with the Americans and served through-
out the Revolutionary War with distinction. Andrew
Lewis, an emigrant from Donegal, who came to Vir-
ginia in 17.32, and served with liis four brothers until the
close of the war. His statue in Capitol Square in the
city of Richmond shows that liis adopted state, Vir-
ginia, recognized him as one of her most distinguished
•sons. George Clinton was the son of Charles Clinton,
a native of Longfi in 1 , 1 relaiul, who landed at Cape C'od
in 1729. Besides his military service, he became the
first Ciovemor of New York, in which capacity he
served twenty-one years and was then (ISOl) chosen
Vice-President of the United States. His brother
James was in charge of one of the New York regiments
and succcedcil to the command made vacant by the
death of General Montgomery, and his nephew De
Witt Clinton became governor of tliat state in 1817.
John Sullivan, one of the most distinguished command-
ers in the Revolutionary War, was .son of John Sulli-
van, an Irisli immigrant from Limerick who settled in
Belfast, Maine, in 172:5. His capture of Fort William
and ,\lary near Portsmouth in December, 1774, was the
first blow struck for independence. Besides many
other important civil offices which he filled after the
close of the war, he was President of the Common-
wealth of New Hampshire. His brother James Sulli-
van was chosen Governor of Massachusetts. In addi-
tion we might name General Walter Stewart and
William Irvine, whose regiments formed part of the
fanidus Pennsylvania Line. Wilham Thompson, Wil-
liam Maxwell, James Hogan, John Rutledge, brother
of Edward Rutledge, one of the signers, Colonel
Charles Lynch, son of John Lynch, an Irish immi-
grant who with his brother John founded the settle-
ment now known as Lj-nchburg, Va., besides many
others whose names woidd unduly extend this list.
In recounting the part taken by the Irish in the achieve-
ment of our independence, it would be ungracious if we
neglected to record the presence and services of those
other Irish who, equally exiles as their brethren in
.'\meriea, had taken service in the armies of France and
had thereby tecome allies in that memorable strug-
gle, fighting American battles both by sea and land
under the banner of the fleur-de-lis. We refer espe-
cially to the Dillon and Walsh regiments of Catholic
and Irish troops which in October, 17S1, under de
Rochambeau and de Grasse helped to surround the
army of Cornwallis at Yorktown and compelled its
surrender to the "combined forces of America and
France".
The first naval engagement in the War of Independ- ence was fought and won 11 May, 1775, shortly after the battle of Lexington, by Jeremiah O'Brien of Ma- chias, Maine. This son of an Irish immigrant with his four brothers and a few other fellow-townsmen went out in O'Brien's lumber schooner "The Liberty", and against great odds attacked and captured the British armed schooner "Margaretta", the captain of which had previously ordered the pine tree set up in the town as a liberty pole to be taken down. Easily the fore- most figure in the naval service of the American pa- triots was the Catholic Irishman John Barry (q. v.), a native of Wexford, to whom a commission was issued by the Continental Congre.sson 14 October, 1775, when he was placed in command of the "Lexington" and later commanded the "Alliance". With the former he captured the British war ves.sel the "Atalanta" and, adils the historian, "the 'Lexington' was thus the first vessel that bore the Continental flag to victory upon the ocean" (see Preble, "Origin of the Flag", p. 24.3). How highly Barry's character and ability were es- teemed may be judged from the circumstance that the British General Howe offered £2000 and the command of the best frigate in the English navy if he would abandon the service of the patriots; to which Barry made the memorable answer that he had devoted him- self to the cause of his country and not the value and command of the whole English fleet could seduce him from it (see Frost, "History of the American Navy", p. SG). On 4 July, 1794, after the Government had regularly organized its navy, its first commission was issued to John Barry who thus became .senior captain, the highest rank then known in the naval service. These apiiointments, together with his devoted service continued throughout the war, clearly justify the designation of "Father of the American Navy" ac- corded to Barry. His remains are interred in St. Mary's Catholic churehvard in Pliiladelphia, and a life- size 'statue erected (19()fi) by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick within the precincts of In<lependence Hall attests the esteem in which Barry was hekl. The fact should not be overlooked that Barry's life as a Catho- lic was as consistent and etlifying as his public career was patriotic and valuable to the country of his adop- tion.
In the second war with England (1S12) the services rendered by Irishmen and the sons of Irishmen were among the mo.st important in that inenioralilc eiintcst. Johnson Blakely, who fought and captured the British frigate "Reindeer", was Iri.sh by birth. Stephen De- catur, who captured the "Macedonian", was of Irish parentage. So were Charles Stewart, Caiilain James Lawrence, and Thomas McDonough whose victory on Lake Champlain was a famous achievement. At the battle of Lake Erie the British fleet was almost anni- hilated, and the most brilliant naval victory of the war was won by the American forces under the command of Oliver Hazard Perry, the son of an Irish mother (Sarah Alexander). On land the last decisive battle of the war, that at New Orleans, was won by troops largely of Irish origin under the leadership of Andrew Jackson, another son of Irish parents.
The devotion of the Irish in America to the country of their adoption and their readiness to sacrifice them- selves in her defence were again conspicuously demon- strated when the safety of the republic was imperilled by the unfortimate Civil War. During that long struggle (1S61-1S65) Irish patriotism and Irish valour were everywhere in evidence, and impartial historians have freely acknowledged the great and important mihtary service rendered by the Irish element in de-
