From the foregoing it will be seen that the Irish element contributed their full share to the building of the nation, pledging their lives and their fortunes to the cause of liberty, standing faithfully by Washington in every crisis of the prolonged struggle until the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence heralded the birth of a new nation, which was sealed and confirmed by the glory of Yorktown.
After the independence of the country had been established the Irish still continued to come in ever increasing numbers. It was not, however, until the great famine of 1846–1848 that the Irish began to come to this country in large numbers. That fearful calamity, that within two years sent into famine graves over 1,250,000 of the population of Ireland, sent millions to seek a home in foreign countries. The great bulk of the emigration came to this country, and even of those who emigrated to Canada and other countries thousands subsequently found their way into the United States. Between the years 1821 and 1890 Ireland gave 3,781,253 emigrants to the United States, a number greater than the entire population of this country at the time of the Revolution. Ireland contributed more than two-fifths of all immigrants from 1821 to 1850, more than one-third from 1851 to 1860, and very nearly one-fifth from 1861 to 1870. From 1891 to 1900 it gave but little more than one-tenth. The wonder is that after the fearful drain of the previous half century any were left. So much for the original stock. Of the children born of foreign parents, according to the census of 1900, 4,981,047 were born of Irish fathers, and those born of Irish mothers, with fathers of other nationalities, numbered 236,627. The census of 1900 shows that Irishmen and their descendants in the first degree in that year numbered nearly 7,000,000 in round numbers. When you consider the figures which I have given, taken from the most reliable sources, is it an exaggeration to assert, as some do, that one-third of the population of the country is of Irish descent, especially when the fecundity of the race, which is not excelled by that of any other people, is taken into account. To write the history, therefore, of the Irish element in the United States is to write the history of the country. When we add to the Irish element the German element, which for the past twenty-five years has largely outnumbered the Irish, is it not amusing to hear certain Anglo-maniacs speak of this country as “Anglo-Saxon?”
The part which the Irish immigrants played in the war of 1812 and in the war of the rebellion was not less conspicuous than that which their countrymen played in the Revolution. They gave to the Union cause an army greater by many thousands than that by which Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Let me quote but two instances from many that could be given in which men of Irish blood rendered conspicuous services to the country.
For more than two years after the commencement of the rebellion the war was confined almost entirely to the Southern States. Soon after the opening of the campaign in 1863 Lee conceived the idea that he would change the theater of war by marching into Pennsylvania, defeat the Union army opposed to him, capture Washington and thus, perhaps, end the war and make secession an accomplished fact. The plan was cleverly thought out and to a man of Lee’s unquestioned military genius did not seem impossible of accomplishment. He therefore proceeded to put his plan into execution. With a force of 61,000 men he attacked Hooker, with an army of 105,000 men, at Chancellorsville and defeated him. Lincoln was in despair and preparations were made to evacuate Washington. Lee led his victorious army through the valley of Virginia, crossed the Potomac and entered Pennsylvania. The army of the Potomac retreated before him, keeping between the Confederates and the National Capital. On June 28 a new commander was given to the National army, Hooker was removed and General George G. Meade was appointed to succeed him. Meade was the grandson of George Meade, who was one of the founders of “The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick” in Philadelphia, twenty-seven of whom contributed £103,000 to Congress, to which I have already alluded. Three days after the armies came together again. On July 1, 1863, Lee attacked the Union forces on the heights of Gettysburg. For three days the awful conflict raged, each side knowing full well what the consequences of victory or defeat would be. After a battle almost unparalleled in human warfare, the army which Lee had whipped at Chancellorsville whipped him at Gettysburg, broke the back of the Confederacy, saved the National Capital and compelled Lee to recross the Potomac. Thus the descendant of an Irish emigrant saved the Nation from disaster, perhaps from dismemberment.
Once more, in 1864, Lee, hard pressed by the army under Grant, tried to create a diversion in favor of his army by sending General Jubal Early, the ablest of his cavalry generals, to surprise the national forces in camp at Cedar Creek, advance to the National Capital and thus compel the withdrawal of Grant’s army for the defense of Washington. With great quickness and secrecy he marched up the Shenandoah Valley, and on the morning of October 19th, under cover of a thick fog, which concealed his approach, he suddenly attacked the Union forces. Completely surprised, they hastily retreated and a great disaster threatened the army. The Eighth Corps was rolled up, the center gave way and soon the whole army was in rapid retreat. Sheridan had been in Washington, and was then in Winchester, twenty miles away, on his way to join his army, when he heard the firing. Rapidly riding toward the conflict, he found his army retreating in confusion. Raising his hat he shouted to his men, who were panic-stricken: “Face the other way, boys, face the other way; we are going back.” “Who is that?” a soldier asked of his comrade, for Sheridan is scarcely recognizable through the dust on his clothes and the foam on his black steed from hard riding. But there was no mistaking the manner of the man, and after closely scrutinizing the flying horseman, the comrade replies, “Little Phil, by G—!” and in his enthusiasm shouted, “Hurrah for Sheridan.” The enthusiasm spread, along the whole retreating line the shout went up, again and again repeated, and men who were flying in panic before the victorious army of Early, inspired with full confidence in that leader who had never lost a battle, reformed their lines and long before the close of that eventful day Sheridan was able to telegraph to Washington this characteristic despatch: “We have met the enemy under Early and have sent him whirling up the valley.”
Thus a second time was the National Capital saved by the genius and dash of the son of an Irishman.
Grant paid Sheridan the compliment of saying that he was the only man which the war developed capable of commanding a hundred thousand men under his own eye.
But it is not as soldiers alone that the Irish have won distinction; they have been conspicuous in every walk of life, in every department of human activity. They have filled with distinction the highest office in the gift of the American people, in giving to the Presidency such men as Andrew Jackson, who was the son of an Irish farmer; James Buchanan, the son of an Irish emigrant; James K. Polk, the grandson of Irish parents; Chester A. Arthur, the son of an Irish Episcopal clergyman; William McKinley, whose granduncle was executed by the British Government for participation in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Claims of Irish descent have also been made for Taylor, Johnson and Cleveland (see “The Puritan in Holland, England and America,” Vol. 2, p. 493). In the long roll of distinguished names of the Senate and House of Representatives none stand higher for eloquence and statesmanship than those who trace their ancestry to Ireland.
In journalism men of Irish blood have been among the leaders of those who have moulded public opinion. Hugh Gaine, a native of Ireland, began the publication of the “Mercury” in 1752; Matthew Lyon, of Vermont, a native of Wicklow, started the “Farmers’ Library” and later the “Fairhaven Gazette.” He was known as a “peppery, red-headed Irishman.” He was indicted by the United States Court for an article reflecting on President John Adams, and was fined $1,000 and imprisoned for three months. One of the most interesting characters in the early history of journalism in this country was John Burk, a native of Ireland, who published “The Time Piece” in New York. John Dunlap, a native of Strabane, was the first Congressional printer. I can only give the names of a few of those who were prominent as publishers during colonial times and in the early days of the Republic. John Binn, William B. Kenny, proprietor of the “New Jersey State Gazette,” the first daily paper in that State; Henry O’Reilly, editor of the “Patriot” and later of the “Rochester Daily Advertiser,” the first daily paper between the Hudson River and the Pacific Ocean. We have Fitz James O’Brien, Col. James Mulligan, Thomas Francis Meagher, soldier, orator and writer; Robert S. McKenzie, Thomas Kinsella of the “Brooklyn Eagle.” James Gordon Bennett, Scotch by birth, was the son of an Irish mother. The roster of employees on the staff of the “Herald” during his life reads like the roll call of a Fenian regiment. Horace Greeley, one of the greatest of newspapermen, was the son of Irish parents. He made the “Tribune” the most influential paper in the United States during the war, and for ten years thereafter was a power in National politics. I cannot close this brief mention of Irishmen in journalism without naming one whose writings stirred not only America but all Europe, J. A. MacGahan. He was largely instrumental in bringing about the Bulgarian war of 1875, which changed the geography of Europe. John Boyle O’Reilly, of the “Boston Pilot,” exercised a wide influence by his writings, as did also his successor, James Jeffrey Roche. Patrick Forde, of the “Irish World,” has been a power in journalism for more than a quarter of a century.
It is unnecessary to call attention to the part which the Irish have played in the ecclesiastical history of this country. We need only look around us to see what they are doing today. From the Prince of the Church, Cardinal Gibbons, down through a long line of illustrious Archbishops and Bishops, to the latest arrival from Carlow or All Hallows, all zealous workers in the vineyard of the Lord. And what a harvest they have gleaned! And what the Irish are doing today they have been doing from the beginning—zealous, eloquent, self-sacrificing, untiring in the discharge of their duty, giving ungrudgingly to God’s service the best that is in them.