New Britain herald., 1919-08-20
COMMUNICATED.
About tho Irish.

ton I will endeavor 10 give you names l of these great men. The revolution aIN period first overt act of the Strug- gle for independence; of the Boston
 massacre in which Patrick Carr was one of the first to be killed; capture of the fort at New Castle and seizure 1 of gun powder and 15 cannon and many small arms used later at Bunk i CT Hill was the work of Major John Sullivan and John Langdon, both Irishmen. For which act they were both elected to the Continental con- gress and Sullivan was appointed brigadier- general of the northern diVi- sion of the army: was attOrney-gener- al and thrice governor of New Hamp- shire, his brother was governor of Massachusetts. The New Hampshire regiment was almost all Irish and led by an Irishman. John Stark was one of the most renowned men in New
 England while General Knox, another
 Irishman, was Washington'S most
 trusted adviser. Of eight generals
 under Washington at the first council
 of war held in Cambridge in 1176 two were Irishmen. Richard Montgom- cry and John Sullivan and fully one half of the active chiefs at the army
 were of Irish birth or descent. When congress ordered Pennsylvania, in 1775, to raise several regiments, the Colon2lS commissioned were Anthony Wayne, Stephan Moylan, William IrV- ing, William Thompson, Walter Stwert John Shea and Richard But Ter, all Irish. The regiments of Wayne, Stwert, Irving and Butler 1 formed part of the Pennsylvania line also the Irish brigade. They were bo icl- oJo md
 were sent by Washington to guard
 West Point on the discovery of Ar holds treason. Colonel Fitzgerald, an
 Irishman, was Washington's favorite. | Aide de- camp Richard McAlIister an IriShman, commanded the Second Battalion of Pennsylvania volunteers, ! and among it's officers were Colonel | Kennedy, Major Clark and Captain 1 McClosky, all Irish It was an Irish i man, Joseph Reed, private secretary
 to Washington, to whom the British | officers offered a bribe of $50000 and l the best office in the gift of the king ] if he would desert the almost hopeless
 cause Of the colonies His reply was, l I'm not worth purchasing, but the i king of Great Britain is not rich | enough to do it. This patriot was
 appointed adjutant- general by con- 1 l Pennsylvania, three times it's governor i general. Walton Stwert, a mere boy,
 a fearless fighter and noted as the 1 han6SOmeSt man in the Revolutionary ] war, was born in Ireland. Andrew 1 PiCkens, who saved the day at Butaw l and whose sons and grandson filled 1 the governors seat of South Carolina.
 Andrew Porter, the hero of Trenton, 1 Prnceton and Gern antoWn and i whose three sons were governors of 1 Michigan, Pennsylvania and secretary 1 of war in Tyler'S cabinet. David Ram
 sy, soldier and Historian; General
 Robinson of Delaware; General 1 Spaight, who fought at Camden, aft
 erwards governor of North Carolina
 as was his son, General Morgan, the
 hero of Cowpens who with 800 Irish
 men defeated the famous General 1 Carleton and one thousand regulars;
 John Kelly, who covered Washing
 toms retreat from Princeton; AleXan-
 der Maritime, colonel at Brandywine,
 afterwards governor of North Caro-
 lima; General Lewis, General Rache
 Fermey and General Butler, all fa-
 nous fighters and Irishmen. In 1779
 Galloway was asked the following g questions: What, in the service of congress, were they chiefly composed
 of, native Americans or was the great
 est part of them English, Scotch or Irish? Galloway answered the
 names and places of their nativity
 with precision. Scarcely one-quarter
 were natives of America, about one-
 half were Irish, the other English and
 Scotch. You see there were no | ScOtCh-l1iSh at that time. George
 Washington Parke Custis, Washing
 j. E1lI@
 ing authentic statement: Of the oper-
 atives of the war, l mean the soldiers,
 up to the coming of the French, Ire
 land had furnished the ratio whatever l then honored he said be the service of the Sons of Erin in the war of inde-
 pendence. Let the shamrock be en-
 tWiled with the laurels of the reVolu-
 ton and truth and justice guiding the
 pen of history inscribed on the tablets
 of American remem brances; eternal gratitude to Irishmen. And again on 1 July 20, 1862, MT. Curtis said: "I shall
 speak as ar American it is not Irish
 men alone that have cOngregated to
 this interesting bidding, not Catholics
 alone for there are many here that
 worship at other than the Apostle
 Shrine. 'Tis a millenium of feeling
 where various tribes of men have as-
 sembed in the love of one another to
 express their hatred of oppression and
 their sympathy for the oppressed.
 And with such revelations &s these
 can tell you will you Americans talk of interference and withhold voices
 from q general acclaim which should
 thunder in this land till it's echoes 'reac ch the Emerald Isle in prayer for
 her deliverance. If there is an Amer
 ican who does not fight for the wrongs
 of that country which so I obly con-