Mr. Dennis H. Tierney, who was active in the collection of funds for Capt. George S. Anthony, of New Bedford, received a very nice letter from the Captain and in return sent him a letter of which the following is a part:
“Waterbury, Conn., December 8, 1909.
“Captain George S. Anthony, New Bedford, Mass.:
“My Dear Captain—I received your kind letter of the 4th inst. containing the endorsed checks which the contributors to your fund desire to hold as souvenirs. A press of business prevented me from replying at once. It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be among the Irish gentlemen who have contributed towards the creation of a fund which will release the mortgage from the home of a man who exposed himself to the dangers incidental to the rescue of Irish political prisoners who were confined in bondage in western Australia; ‘their only crime being love of country,’ and for that brave and meritorious service in their rescue which occurred April 17th, 1876; and in reviewing the danger which you and your companions in a small boat were exposed to on that stormy night of April 17th, 1876, it is an incident worthy of the brush of Raphael and the pens of Moore and Davis; even those great geniuses in their respective professions would inadequately portray the thrilling incident, and therefore it is with pride and pleasure that I, an Irishman, extend to you the right hand of fellowship, and I believe my countrymen the world over are in sympathy with me in it and do approve of my act.”
Previous to going to New Bedford on December 17, the delegation, headed by Lawrence H. O’Brien and Mr. Tierney, paid a visit to headquarters in Providence, where they met Hon. Jno. W. Cummings of Fall River and Hon. Harry C. Curtis of Providence, and discussed the object of their visit to New Bedford, where they made formal presentation to Capt. Anthony of a check for $1,037.
THE FRENCH CAMP AT WATERBURY.
Mr. D. H. Tierney, vice-president of the Society for Connecticut, has erected on the camp ground of the French army to commemorate its march through Waterbury, Conn., enroute to Yorktown, June 27, 1781, a handsome monument of rustic construction with a good foundation, securely cemented and with a polished granite slab on top on which the following words are cut: “Camp of the French Army enroute to Yorktown, June 27, 1781.” The date of the erection of the monument is cut on the lower left-hand corner which is “1904.” Mr. Tierney writes:
“The erection of this monument brought out and emphasized the fact that in the French army there were a large contingent of Irishmen. At the unveiling exercises, the monument was draped with the American, French and Irish flags. An American boy raised the American flag; a French boy raised the French flag; and my son, Mark Tierney, raised the Irish flag. At the unveiling of the monument, we had a large gathering of representatives of patriotic societies and citizens, and it was learned for the first time that in the French army there was a large delegation of Irishmen who participated with the French in helping the continentals to throw off the English yoke. It created such a controversy that I was compelled many times to give authentic proof concerning the fact that there were Irishmen in the French army on that occasion.
“At the time of the erection of this monument, I entertained hopes that others along the route of the French army would see fit to erect monuments in the different states commemorating the march of the French army while enroute to Yorktown.”