It was in John Duggan’s tavern in Boston that the Boston Tea Party was planned. Several Irishmen were in the execution of the plan.
Eleven of the fifty-four members of the first Continental Congress were Irishmen and sons of Irishmen. Thomas Johnson, who nominated George Washington for commander-in-chief of the American forces, was a Celt of the old school.
The war began April, 1775, but it was not officially declared until July 4, 1776. October 15, 1775, Congress sent a committee to interview General Washington and to decide as to the advisability of continuing the struggle. Of the five who participated in that most important conference, Joseph Reed and Thomas Lynch were Irish. The other members were Benjamin Franklin, Colonel Harrison and General Washington.
A rough draft of the Declaration of Independence was prepared by Thomas Jefferson. It was re-written and carefully revised by Charles Thompson, who was styled the Samuel Adams of Philadelphia, and the life of the cause of liberty. When the Declaration was first proclaimed, it was signed by John Hancock, as president of the Continental Congress, and by Charles Thompson, as secretary. The other names were attached later. Thompson was an Irishman and Hancock an Irish American. John Nixon first publicly read it and Thos. Dunlap first printed it and published it to the world. Both were Celtic to the backbone. Who periled most in signing the immortal document? History answers, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, another Irish American.
Who fought the hardest in the British House of Parliament for the rights of American colonists? Edmond Bourk, an Irishman, and one of the greatest statesmen the world has ever known.
In placing his most important officers, General Washington had Morgan and Hand leading his rifles, Knox at the head of his artillery, John Dunlap as his life guard, Edward Hand as his adjutant-general, Andrew Lewis as his brigadier-general, Stephen Moylan and John Fitzgerald as his aids, and Ephraim Blaine as his quartermaster. All were Irish by birth or ancestry. When Washington was retreating through New Jersey, he sent word to Thomas Johnson, a Maryland Celt, that he had not enough men to fight the British and too few to run away with. Johnson raised a force of 1,800 men and hurried to his assistance.
All students of American history have read of the gallant Richard Montgomery, Mad Anthony Wayne, John Sullivan, Daniel Morgan, Stephen Moylan, John Fitzgerald, Henry Knox, Wm. Irvine, Richard Butler, and Generals Cochran, Campbell, McDowell, McCall, McClary, Jasper, Graham, Hazelett, Colonel Pickens, and many others who were among the most valiant and successful officers in that eventful conflict. All belonged to our liberty-loving, heroic race. It has been officially ascertained that out of 131 of the most prominent officers in the war for American Independence, 20 were of English ancestry, 25 of French, 10 of German and Dutch, 8 of Scotch, 2 of Polish, and 84 of Irish and Welch. Commodores Barry, Perry, McDonough and Stewart, of the wars of 1776 and 1812, were scions of brave-hearted exiles from the Emerald Isle.
June 16, 1779, Joseph Galloway, speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, who had to fly to England because of his sympathy with the Tories, was examined as a witness by a committee of the British House of Parliament, and he testified that the Irish constituted one-half of the American army, the native Americans one-fourth and that the other one-fourth were English and Scotch. This statement is corroborated by Lecky, the English historian, Lord Mountjoy, General Lee, Count Rochambeau, Col. J. C. Custis, the adopted son of General Washington, and Rev. P. Allison, the Presbyterian chaplain of Washington’s army. They are competent authorities. President Roosevelt and James G. Blaine, in public addresses, have acknowledged, in substance, the accuracy of this testimony. Hutchinson, the last royal governor of Massachusetts, declared that his colony would never have voted for independence, had it not been for the rebellious Irish.
There were 15 Irish in the battle of Lexington and 258 at Bunker Hill. The monument at Bunker Hill is covered with Irish names. Captain Parker, who commanded at Lexington, and who was killed, was Irish. Colonels Barrett, Smith and Davis, who commanded at Concord, were also Irish. When the American forces took possession of Boston, John Sullivan was officer of the day and the countersign was “St. Patrick.”
After the treason of Benedict Arnold, General Washington ordered that none but the Irish be placed on guard at West Point.