Illinois has since honored the memory of her one-time senator and general by causing his statue to be placed in the National Capitol. This was due largely to the active efforts and enthusiasm of a well-known Chicago attorney, William H. Condon, since dead, who also published the life of General James Shields.
The French-Irish Brigades in the War of Independence.
The signal and important services of the French-Irish regiments in the American revolutionary war have scarcely ever found adequate recognition and acknowledgement at the hands of historical writers. Indeed, the same may be said of the great part France had in that war.
Of course, every school boy has read of the exploits of the youthful and enthusiastic Lafayette, and knows that Rochambeau with his army and De Grasse with his fleet were conspicuous in bringing about the surrender of Cornwallis and his forces at Yorktown. Only by the powerful co-operation of the French army and navy at the siege was the crowning victory of the war achieved, and that victory forced from the English king and his ministers the recognition of American independence. All this is well known, but the magnitude of the French aid all through the war is less familiar to the general reader.
HON. HENRY GROVES CONNOR,
of Raleigh, N. C.
An Eminent Jurist and Learned Historian.
Member of the Society.
The army and navy registers in the French archives show that sixty-three ships of war, mounting 3,668 guns, manned by 32,600 officers and seamen, were employed in the naval operations on the American seaboard, and upward of 12,000 land forces. The financial cost to France of the fleets and armies and the loans and gifts in money to the colonies have been computed by a competent authority at $50,000,000.
My present design in this sketch is to emphasize the part the Irish brigades in the French army had in the American war. I do not need to recall to mind the historic renown of the Irish Brigade.
Almost every battlefield in Europe during the seventeenth century was flamed by their valor and crimsoned with their blood. In France, in Italy, in Spain and in the Low Countries these exiled soldiers fought with such furious impetuosity that even the bitterest enemies of their race were forced to pay them the reluctant tribute of their admiration.
King George II. is said to have exclaimed after witnessing the bravery of the Irish brigade at the battle of Dettingen: “Cursed be the laws that deprive me of such subjects.”