The Irish standard., 1918-11-30
of conciliation, corruption and conces-

-al!cd to calm. 1t did not evoke
ISIS till 1882, and it did not make
the country shambles till 1898; but
from the first it was an ever present
danger at the very heart of the British
empire and it gravely handicapped the
war council at Westminster in the
conduct Of their operations against the
American revolutionaries.
First Blow Was Irish.
But apart altogether from the influ-
ence which Ireland's attitude exerted
upon the fate of the American Revolu,
tion, England had direct evidence of
the Irish share in her defeat.
Practically the first blow in the
Revolution was struck on behalf of
the American rebels by the son of a
Limerick schoolmaster, John Sullivan,
Of New Hampshire, who on December
13, 1774, captured the Fort of William
and Mary. The first stroke at British
sea power was delivered for America,
off Machias, on the coast of Maine, in
May, 1875, by jeremiah O'Brien. Rich
ard Montgomery, of Raphoe, and other
Irish generals helped to lead the
American forces in the field; Andrew
Brown, an FISHERMAN, served as mus
termaster general; Stephen Moylan,
brother of the Bishop of Cork, acted
as aide de camp to Washington, and
later as quarte7master general to the
forces; John Barry, formerly of Wex-
ford, founder of the American navy,
secured the sea; the Friendly Sons of
st. Patrick contributed to the revolu-
tionary treasury $4,000, an immense
sum in those days; and men of Irish
birth and blood stood high in the coun-
ellis of the revolutionary government.
The famous Pennsylvania line, the bull
wark of the American defense, was
called "the line of Ireland" so largely
was it formed Of Irishmen. The New
Jersey line 'bristled with Irishmen." Z"
There were Irishmen in every Amer
ican camp and field. In the course Of
a debate in the Irish House of Com
mons on April 2, 1884, the Hon. Luke
Gardiner stated:
Irish In American Forces.
II am assured from the best author
ity that the major portion of the Amer
ican army was composed of Irish and
that the Irish language was as COM
monty spoken in the American ranks
as English. am also informed that it
was their valor determined the contest
so that England had America detached
from her by force of Irish emigrants."
Major General Robertson of the
British. army in 'The Evidence as
Given Before a Committee of the
House of Commons on the Detail and
the Conduct of the American War"
(London, 1850, is recorded as testify
ing under oath that the American
general, Henry Lee, Informed him that
"half the rebel Continental army were
from Ireland"
Irish Brought the French Help.
In 1873 Count Arthur Dillon, the
son of an Irish nobleman in the SER
vice of Louis XVI, addressed to the
French War Office a petition on behalf
of all the Irish soldiers in France crav-
ing that they be allowed to go to fight
for American freedom. The petition
being granted, he sailed from Brest
with 1890 Irish troops. In conformity
with the American plan of campaign,
Dillon was directed to attack British
strongholds in the West Indies. He
and the other Irishmen, the van of the
forcest sent from France, soon para
lyzed British power in the West Indies
and captured there the bases of Brit
ish activity against America. Present
ly, Count Arthur Dillon was governor
of st. Christopher; Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Ntzmaurice, governor of ST..
Eustasia, and Lieutenant Colonel H.
D. Dunn, comma1lant of the Island of
Granada.
The Irish died on the field, Ian
guished in the British prison hulks in
the harbor of New York, lived MANNED,
and were branded traitors, that Amer
lea should be free. And when the
Declaration of independence was is
sued among those who signed it were:
Smith, Taylor and Thornton, of Irish
birth; Mexican, Read and Routledge,
of Irish parentage; Carroll and Lynch,
grandsons Of 1rishmen, and Hancock
and Whipple, of Irish descent on the
maternal side.
Testimony Of Washlnston's
Adopted Son.
Well might George Washington
Parke Custis, the adopted son of the
Father Of the United States, say to his
countrymen:
"The Shamrock should be entwined
with the laurels of the Revolution.
Americans, recall to your minds the
roco11ontione ~ <h;e 1,o,oSo &l,,o "a ri, ~